"Alice Died, In The Night..."

Hey folks,

So I'm officially in a new country and exploring new terrain. It was quite the long haul to get to Laos and I am looking forward to the days where I don't have to take planes, trains, or automobiles anymore! All in all, the commute to Laos consisted of: a 15 minute subway ride, a 1 hour bus ride to the airport, a 2.5 hour flight to Bangkok, a 1 hour cab ride to the train station, a 15 hour train ride to Nong Khai at the border of Thailand and Laos, another 20 minute train into to Thanaleng over the border, and a 45 minute tuk-tuk to central Vientiane, the capital of the country. I was pretty exhausted by the time I arrived, but I met a guy from Australia and we hit it off and decided to split the cost of a room. We explored the surrounding neighbourhood for a couple of hours and I hunted desperately for a book store to trade some of my books, a much harder venture than I expected but eventually I was successful. The area of Vientiane I'm in is very French-influenced as well, and I have already spoken nearly as much French here as English which is always a perk and good practice. Good French cuisine doesn't hurt either!

Unfortunately, I seem to have bad luck with bug infestation on my first nights in new countries! I'm 95% sure that the hostel room I was in my first night had bed bugs although it was a little more expensive, I did check and didn't find any proof (although I did see unidentified bugs on my mattress last night and on my roommates), and my roommate didn't have bites today. Despite all this counter-evidence, I have a multitude of red bites all over my body now, all resembling the ones I had several summers ago in Vancouver and itching like crazy. I really, really hope it's not the case and it's just ants like last time in Malaysia, but I'm afraid I'm not so lucky this time and it really is the dreaded bed bugs! I will hold out on doing laundry for awhile until I know for sure, also because I just did it and it's not cheap over here when you're a backpacker, but unfortunately I will have to suck it up and cover the expense of washing EVERYTHING! This includes my bag itself and the many souvenirs I have bought for myself and family members, which will now arrive back in Vancouver not quite new...

I also might not be the best judge of character when it comes to first impressions. This guy I met and hit it off with I somehow got stuck with very quickly and I'm regretting the decision. He's much older than me (he's 40) and it seemed logical at the time to save money on a room. At times, he's all right and we get along but he is very opinionated and quite self-righteous on a variety of topics and it is getting on my nerves within 24 hours of meeting him. This includes his ridiculous views on Israel which he jumped into when I revealed I had volunteered there and his pretentious do-gooder attitude when it comes to the environment (e.g. willing to accept a plastic cup of water from a local but commenting on me taking a straw with it because there is no "need" to waste the extra plastic... he said this as he fumbled for ten minutes to get the lid off of his water while I pretended to listen as I enjoyed mine). I plan on ditching him after my duty to share the room I have paid for has passed...

Aside from all of this frustrating news... the commute... the bugs... the companionship... I am actually quite enjoying Vientiane so far. The French atmosphere is certainly welcoming and I can't complain about the availability of good baguettes and crepes on every block. Even some of the architecture is similar to France, with Vientiane boasting its own version of the Arc de Triomphe in the heart of the city, named Patuxai. The over-all vibe is a chilled-out one and that is something I relish at this point in my travels...

The monks honouring the oldest woman in Vientiane

Her funeral pyre, burning bright and silencing cicadas

On top of all that, I had a very unique experience while quickly checking out a temple, or wat (as they're referred to locally). We were just about to enter the gates when three buses arrived with women all dressed in white and monks in their traditional garb of all ages. Over one hundred people disembarked and were followed by a small truck with a huge ornamental centerpiece in the back. I wasn't entirely sure what it was used for, but we watched and snapped photos as the monks and women all grabbed onto a long white cloth and started walking slowly along the narrow pathway, through the gardens that house the giant wat with the truck behind them. At the end of the pathway, they took the ornamental centerpiece off the truck and set it up outside the wat, adding several pieces to it. Other men set up hundreds of chairs to the point I thought I was witnessing a wedding. After all, this seemed to be a big deal and there were a ton of people there. Someone came by where we were watching and handed out refreshments and a few moments later, someone else came by and asked for donations for the ceremony. We watched in silence as the beginnings of the ceremony took place, with unknown prayers being recited and many more decorations and incense being added to the large centerpiece in the middle of the courtyard. Finally, I leaned over to one of the monks standing by and asked what the ceremony was for, more specifically, where the bride and groom were because I hadn't seen them yet and was convinced by the preparation and atmosphere that it was a wedding I was standing witness to. The monk notified me that it was no wedding, but rather a funeral! I was shocked because I have never been to a funeral, but the vibe I would expect is a somber one and I saw many people smiling or seemingly in good spirits. The reason for this I soon discovered was that they were celebrating the life of the mother of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Laos, and she just so happened to have been the oldest woman in the city! At only 84 years old, this is a little surprising but the life expectancy in a third-world country like Laos is understandably much lower and so it didn't shock me too much. All the people at the funeral welcomed us to join the ceremony of placing something on the centerpiece, which I now discovered was a pyre, and I went up and placed a flower and some incense and bowed my head and offered my condolences to the family of the deceased. Within minutes after the ceremony had finished, they set the pyre ablaze and the giant wooden structure burned to the ground, body and all, in a matter of minutes. Eerily, the cicadas that had been busy chirping away for over an hour went dead silent just as they lit it on fire! The whole experience was completely unique and I am very fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time, getting a full taste of Laos culture and a special memory for my first funeral attendance, not one of sadness or loss but of celebration and spectacle...

Next, I plan on continuing the cultural exploration by visiting a museum that focuses on the history of land mines in Laos and has demonstrations and explanations on how they create prosthetics for those affected by the war. After that, it is time for a bit of a party, a trip to Vang Vieng which is home to some world-class tubing and a good night-life.

Other than that, I can only cross my fingers about the bed bug situation and hope for the best. Hope you're all doing well!

Ciao for now,

Max

P.S. You should know the routine by now, but try and guess the song I stole the blog title from!