Curry, Part Two/Time Machine please

Last year, Moon and I enjoyed curry just about every day.  I'm looking forward to doing that again.  Green, brown, red, yellow, Thai or Indian.....all different, all delicious...as my Sister would say, "Yummers."    

This is the second part of the itinerary I started a couple of days ago.  This leg of the edventure will take us east from Chiang Rai to the Thai/Laos border where we'll board a 40 meter long riverboat for a trip down the Mighty Mekong River...floating lazily down the historic waterway to Luang Prabang, Laos. 

Luang Prabang is one of the spiritual centers of Laos....however, it could be argued that Laos, as a whole, is a spiritual center with many Wats and many more monks in their saffron robes....which are said to be unchanged over the last 25 centuries and originally worn by Buddha and his disciples…(which, at this point, could probably use a good washing). 

Generally, the Lao people are calm, friendly in a casual way, and polite.  This is a peaceful place with high mountains on all sides, a faint smell of campfires, and a relaxing ambiance all its own...we walked to a funky little restaurant/bar/oasis named Utopia above the river the last time we were here.  There is a sign at the entrance of this little gem than reads, "Zen during the day, Groovy at night."  That pretty much sums up  Laos in a nutshell. 

After 4 days we board a plane for Pakse, Laos....and immediately South of that is Champasak on the Mekong River in southern Laos.  Some unusual sites here with names like Plain of Jars, 4000 Islands, Bolaven Plateau…and Chick Fil A….(just kidding about the last one.) 

We’ll leave there for Can Tho, which is right smack dab in the middle of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.  The Mekong  River originates in the plateaus of Tibet and meanders 2700 miles through China, Myanmar Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and finally empties in this delta....there is seriously fertile soil here.  They can grow just about anything here and do...with names like dragon fruit, mangosteen, longan, and durian....by the way, the 2-7 pound durian has a thorn covered husk that is called the King of Fruits in SE Asia. Unfortunately the fruit also has an odor that has been described as a cross between rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage.  Although many enjoy the fruit it has been banned from many hotels and public transportation due to it's..."fragrance."  

On to Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of Angkor Wat, one of the most visited religious sites in the world.  Amen.  

Then moving from divinity to chaos....we return to Bangkok for a couple of days of rest before returning to the home land.  But before we leave....we gotta get there first.  So I'm frantically looking for a time machine to step ahead 19 hours so I don't have to sit through a long 19 hour flight filled with 5 movies, bad airplane food, and a permanent imprint on my behind, from the cross-stitch of my hiking shorts.  I've checked Craig's list every day for the past two weeks and nothing.....no time machine, no time booster, no "I just saw it a second ago and then it was gone" kind of thing......bummer.  

Moon and I leave in two days.  Looking forward to reporting from the front lines.....Enjoy your week everyone.  Ed out.