I forgot to mention the best part of Vientiane... the three of us stumbled into an artists' gallery. The Chinese painter, Chen Lin, set up his studio in Laos because he was so inspired by the people and history of the country. He was a tiny little man who barely spoke English so using the bits he knew, O2's Korean, some sign language and sound effects, and his computer's translator, we were able to learn about his inspirations. When I first saw his paintings and sketches I thought they were very serene portraits of women, children, and monks. But after speaking with Chen he explained his real muse - the UXO. Laos is the most bombed country in the world and has the most UXO's in the world. When I looked at his work again I saw that the "playground", "boat", "grill", or "vase" were actually UXOs. The tension in his work was remarkable and I only wish I had enough money to support him by buying one of his pieces!
We removed ourselves from the Cancun-esque Vang Vieng yesterday by joining a kayaking tour. It was absolutely gorgeous to paddle along the river and look up at the huge, tropical-plant covered mountains.
Then I dawned my orange shirt and headed to the bar where a sea of orange greeted us, singing, "we all live in an orange submarine!" Though I'm finding sitting down quite hard (because my legs and tailbone are so badly bruised from the jump!) it was lots of fun... even though our team didn't win.
Off to Luang Prabang today... heard great things and can't wait!
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