Breakfast in Laos

Good Morning from Laos.

Wow what can I say Laos is going to be an experience, I say that with slight intrepedation. It is a very poor country. We're talking about a country where the biggest bank note is equivalent to $2. There are two or three ATMs in the whole country and none here in Houy Xai, the border point at which I entered the country. Luckily my Lonely Planet said there were no ATMs at all (2005 edition) so I withdrew some cash prior to leaving Thailand.

One crosses the border on a long boat. It takes two minutes to get across, really, you could swim especially since I got done for overstaying in Thailand and charged 7,000 Baht for the luxury of doing so, pretty annoying having bought a six month visa (which according to the Thai immigration officers I spoke to, doesn't exist, tell that to the Thai Consulate in Malta!!) Oh well shit happens and that's the only bit that's happened so far, so I shouldn't complain! :)

It's my birthday tomorrow and I'm off to the Bokeo Jungle to glide the through the forest canopy and see wild Gibbons!

Having bumped into Eva, a Dutch girl who I met at dinner yesterday, we decided to go grab some breakfast: Fried Morning Glory, Noodle Soup with pork, fresh pineapple juice and coffee. We've exchanged stories of what we've heard so far about traveling in Laos, and I have to say I feel quite brave to be here. It's going to be a little different from Thailand and I am sure in a good way. It's all about keeping your eyes open, mainly more theft than in Thailand.

Apart from that we have entered a land were French is spoken and I am looking forward to that. The French left behind their legacy of pastries and pretty colonial buildings, nothing practical like a railway system or proper roads but I intend to travel by boat to some places which will be all the more exciting!

I won't have any access to the net till after the Gibbon project and I have decided to keep my Thai no. just for the time being if that changes I'll let you know.

With love from Laos - T xx