In Laos and Happy Birthday Brian!!

I love Luang Prabang. So much that I would marry it if I could (that’s for you SB). Well, maybe not marry it, but definitely date it.

We left Phnom Penh early yesterday morning and flew through Siem Reap to get to Luang Prabang by early afternoon and wow, it is beautiful! This small city is nestled between the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers and is a Unesco World Heritage city that is full off cafes and lovely guesthouses. Lonely Planet calls Luang Prabang the most “photogenic” city in Southeast Asia. The French architecture is stunning and the buildings are well preserved and maintained. And it’s so clean! Our guesthouse abuts a working temple facing the Mekong. I feel like we’ve been transported to a calm oasis after the chaos of Phnom Penh. The only things that make offensive noises here are roosters and water pumps and thanks to both of those things, Walter and I got very little sleep last night. The guesthouse’s water pump was literally located right outside our window, as was the rooster. Luckily, someone checked out of another room this morning and we have resettled into it. No more water pump noise -- we’ll have to see about that rooster tomorrow morning. Maybe he will have moved on. He started getting rowdy way before sunrise!

Last night we stopped in to see a gentleman who owns a trekking company here that Walter met when he was traveling about two years ago. He thanked Walter for introducing him to compact fluorescent lightbulbs (are you laughing?). He said that after Walter gave him some lightbulbs (yes, Walter brought CFLs with him to Asia two years ago), he replaced all the lightbulbs in his home and his businesses and this has saved him 50% on his electricity bills. This is why we love Walter... And p.s., apparently more people need to be using CFLs since I read that the government is planning on building 11 hydroelectric dams in the near future to meet the demand for electricity.

We plan on staying in LP for about 5 days and doing a lot of relaxing and eating of French pastries while we’re here. I’ve already had a baguette with butter and jam for breakfast and Lao coffee (which Walter said wasn’t like the Lao coffee he had when he was here before – he said it wasn’t the “chocolate deliciousness” that he remembers). I think spicy Lao soup with sticky rice for lunch will hit the spot. And of course, more coffee. Besides my obvious focus on food, we’ll probably engage in some other activities while in LP – maybe go on a trek, rent some bikes and ride out to the temples a few miles away. We shall see. The temperature is much, much cooler than it was in Thailand and Cambodia so outdoor activities will be more pleasant here.

We had an entertaining chat with a Lao girl this morning (she was about 9) while taking a walk down by the Nam Khan River. She was adorable and a total extrovert and she told us that we would have two children – both boys. Hmm. And she said their names will be cookie and mango.

We’re 12 hours ahead of the U.S. so it is officially my nephew Brian’s 15th birthday. Happy Birthday Bri – We LOVE you! I remember the day you were born and how totally cute you were and how happy I was to be your aunt (which, btw, I still am happy aboutJ).