Scattered
throughout the quarters of Lao I've seen so many once stately,
beautiful, french influenced homes, now with a unequal different
ambiance - dirty, unkempt, yet with hints of rustic romanticism - then
on 2nd looks the grime and mold certainly removes the rose coloured
glasses. I like the familiar European feel though as I bike pass but
they they do deserve some major TLC.
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| What Dam and French Villa |
The
Lao people are different than the smiling respectful Thai, their
demeanor being indifferent and even snaring as you walk by and shopping
is rather nightmarish. Then again I'm not used to shopping with someone
small almost pressed up against me (unless a child which I'd rather
leave at home while shopping). I dear not show any interest at any of
the contents inside shops or stalls because. I became aware of
how much I value being given room to shop back home. This 'attention'
totally put me off shopping altogether - their loss. However one woman
literally kicked me out of her shop with "You go, You go!" as I made the
mistake of actually looking at 3 tops she had but didn't like them. To
her was committed - then I realised this was a major culture issue.
No
sooner had I jotted down the above thoughts my bike chain fell off and I
got all greasy trying to reattach it. I prayed for help and I started
hearing workshop equipment and headed for it. Sure enough I found a
small work-site on a private property and before I could string any
badly spoken Thai together (Lao can understand Thai - sometimes) the men
figured out my hand signals to mean screw-driver (clever eh?) and they
fixed my bike quick-smart and were all very good natured about it. Over all I had a couple of lovely experiences but mostly people were harder to talk with as they seems to look at me as if I had money to spend. So it got frustrating fast.
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| My favourite place in Laos: Hophtakeo Temple built in 1565 |
 |
| Images of Laos |
 |
| My little hotel room at 500B a night - round $20NZ |
 |
| Typical street view |
 |
| Wild and dirty and different all at the turn of the head |
 |
| The water front |
Well there you have some of the best pics of my week in a communist country, a fact that was lost on me until I left. I have a new visa giving me 3 months in Thailand before I visit a new land.
The
Lao people are different than the smiling respectful Thai, their
demeanor being indifferent and even snaring as you walk by and shopping
is rather nightmarish. Then again I'm not used to shopping with someone
small almost pressed up against me (unless a child which I'd rather
leave at home while shopping). I dear not show any interest at any of
the contents inside shops or stalls because. I became aware of
how much I value being given room to shop back home. This 'attention'
totally put me off shopping altogether - their loss. However one woman
literally kicked me out of her shop with "You go, You go!" as I made the
mistake of actually looking at 3 tops she had but didn't like them. To
her was committed - then I realised this was a major culture issue. 
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