M-whY

A place as nice as this, especially in southeast asia, just can't escape tourism. Even in low season, foreigners were everywhere. The main tourist stretch consisted of nothing but travel agents, internet cafes, and restaurants serving french fries and other western dishes. Managed growth though, has kept booming nightclubs from springing up on every corner. And with 30 temples scattered nearby, most within walking distance of the guesthouses, it's rather easy to escape the crowds.

Like Chiang Mai, I would pick and choose which I wanted to see. Built by King Sethathirat in 1560, Wat Xieng Thong is probably the most significant of the wats. It had remained under royal patronage until 1975, when the revolution overthrew King Savang Vattana and banished his whole family to the north, never to be heard from again. The main structure is a classic example of Luang Prabang temple architecture. In one corner of the courtyard stands the royal funeral chapel. A dragon headed funeral chariot is housed inside, as well as spooky looking statues and urns for deceased royal family members. And though the smaller wats all had intricate designs to marvel at, none of them featured erotic scenes from the Ramayana epic like Wat Xieng Thong did.

Wandering about worked up my appetite, so I had a late breakfast at a venue overlooking the Mekong. By the time I finished eating, rain had begun to fall. Thinking it wouldn't last for more than an hour, I hopped online to pass some time. The rain had gotten heavier by the time I finished, and so with nothing better to do, I rushed across the street to a restaurant and ordered some Beer Lao.

It's impossible to travel in Laos without hearing about this local brew. Almost unanimously regarded as the best in southeast asia, it's one of those things you have to try, even if you're not a beer drinker. When Carlsberg, the Danish beer company, bought a stake in the Beer Lao Company, it sent in experts to improve the product, only to find that Beer Lao consistently beat out foreign beers in blind taste tests. I don't consider myself heavy drinker, but I definately recognized it as a class above the Singha and Chang beers I've been consuming in Thailand. Maybe that's Beer Lao isn't allowed to be sold there. It would bankrupt the Thai beer industry overnight.

It continued to pour, and so when there was a lull, I rushed back to my guesthouse. The storm finally passed in the late afternoon. The rain delay caused me to miss out on the Royal Palace Museum, which I wasn't too keen on visiting anyways. I just don't have the attention span for museums, and when they don't allow cameras inside, I become even less enthusiastic about them. Instead, I paid the small fee to scale to the top of Phu Si. The views of the Mekong and Nam Tha River from up here were well worth climb.

I had come up the northern side of the slope, and decided to descend down the southern, passing an array of Buddha figures. The night market had pretty much been set up by the time I reached the bottom and circled back around to the main street. Lined along the street were vendors selling enticing silk textiles and handicrafts. There was a pum pao booth, a game where if you can pop three balloons with three (tampered) darts, you win a prize. For 3000kip (US$1 = 10,000 kip), it was cheap enough for me to give it a go. My first dart failed to burst anything, killing any suspense for my second and third throws.

"Sorry, no Beer Lao," smiled the woman as she handed me some candy as a consolation prize.

And of course, any night market wouldn't be complete without food. While I was eating, an American woman sat down nearby and began a conversation with a German guy across from her. The conversation began normally enough. Where are you from, what do you do, how's your food? Then it took a very strange twist.

"How old are you?" asked the German in his thick accent. A rude question to ask a woman, especially a stranger. She answered, though with a somewhat annoyed expression.

"Do you have any children?" was the next inquiry.

"No, I don't," she replied.

"When do you plan on having them?"

"I don't know, when I'm ready and want them I suppose."

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

By now I had finished eating, but I had to stick around to hear where this was going. I ordered a bottle of Beer Lao and listened to the conversation turn into an argument about whether women should get educated (Kara was planning on returning to graduate school) or raise a family. The German seemed to think it was impossible to do both. I kept out of it, covering my mouth to hide my amused grin. She glanced at me a couple times, as if to say 'Can you believe this guy?'

"That was a really weird conversation just now," I told her after we had paid and left.

Kara agreed. "When he asked if I had any children, I thought he was going to propose to me next. Like, 'Well, would you like to go make some?'"

We caught up with her friends, to whom she relayed her bizzare story.

"And then you jumped in and rescued her right?" grinned Daniel.

"No, it was so strange, I had to let it play out," I said.

The four of us had some more drinks together (another Beer Lao for me) while they shared their travel stories, including a couple horrible experiences they'd endured. I have to admit, so far, I've been pretty lucky and have not had any real horror stories to tell. I haven't even gotten sick yet. Let's hope it stays that way.

It started getting late, and so we asked for the bill to call it a night. We split at an intersection, and I ran as fast as I could back to my guesthouse. After all the beer I had consumed, I really needed to pee!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!