Sabaidee

Friday, Aug. 6, 2010—Savannakhet

It was a beautiful day of sunshine with no rain. I should have traveled, I guess, but I enjoyed being here in Savannakhet. I made another excursion out of town. This time I went south. Soon I was on a local road and entering a small village with unpaved streets. As usual, everyone was surprised to see a tourist walking there. A couple of people asked where I was going, but they accepted my statement that I was just walking to see the area as they have done before on other walks.

The village had a Buddhist Temple. I went inside to see it and take a few photos. There was one young monk about who kept watching me. I walked toward him and asked if he spoke English, and he did (to a certain extent). He invited me to sit, and we visited for over an hour. But it wasn’t just the two of us. Gradually other monks and novices arrived (One is a novice until 20 and then becomes a monk.) Maybe a total of 8 were involved over time with all but one of them being 19 or 20; the other was 25. They had lots of questions, and I tried to answer them. They couldn’t always understand my answers, however. They were nice young men. Most of them come from poor families and have become monks to get an education. Two said they wanted to be lawyers. The original one I met is studying physics at the university. Another two said they want to become English teachers.

By the time I returned to my hotel around 13:00, the day was getting hot due to there being no cloud cover. I read and watched TV until the evening. Then I headed to the river. I have been there several times during the daytime, but most evenings there has been rain. With clouds in the distant but clear skies still above, I thought I should go see the sunset over the Mekong and watch the people dining there.

I returned to the same restaurant where I had eaten last night. Tonight, I had a much better meal, however. It was steamed rice with spicy pork. There were thin slices of pork in a sauce with green onions, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, red peppers, etc. With it, I got a bowl of soup and a small banana.

As I returned to the room, I realized that there is one aspect of Savannakhet I do not mind leaving behind. They have too many loose dogs in this town, and many of them want to be aggressive. As soon as I turn toward them and challenge them, they back away, but it is a hassle having to deal with them.

Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010—Savannakhet to Paksan

I jumped awake from a nightmare this morning. I dreamed I was teaching and it was the beginning of the semester. I had been busy on something, and suddenly realized it was 19:03, and my class was scheduled to start at 19:00. I quickly grabbed my things which I had previously organized for teaching the class. However, I had not received a class roll or anything else to tell me the room number for it. I started searching for a class schedule. When I found one, it was so poorly designed with artistic spots of splattered paint that it was hardly readable and only had a few classes listed on each page. I couldn’t find my class listed. Finally, I appealed to some students who were nearby, and one had a “normal” class schedule and looked the classroom up. By the time I got that information, however, it was already 19:30 and I was sure that my students had decided I was not coming to class and had left. That’s when I jumped awake.

That was 5:56. I turned on CNN to hear the headlines and quickly took a shower. By 6:20, I was checking out of the hotel. Within a couple of more minutes I had a tuk-tuk to the bus station. I arrived there at 6:30, and the next bus toward Vientiane was leaving in 15 minutes. Perfect timing.

Of course, my plan was not to go to Vientiane. Even with such an early bus, it wouldn’t arrive in the capital until about 16:30-17:00. I just didn’t want to be looking for a room at that time, especially since Vientiane has the reputation of rooms “selling out” before the end of the day. Therefore, I bought my ticket to Paksan, a town about 150 km (90 miles) from Vientiane.

It was another SLOW local bus. After 1 hr. 15 min., we had only traveled 35 km (21 miles). Throughout the trip, we seemed to stop at least once an hour for a break for buying food, going to the bathroom, picking up people at a station, etc. For the first two hours, I sat next to Grandpa Saly who had only two teeth and was 74 years old. He was a slender, jovial man who spoke English quite well. He was excited because he was going to a village where he two sons live to spend the weekend with them and his grandkids.

We arrived in Paksan at 14:30. It was HOT, since today also had clear skies. The town is spread out. I had seen a small hotel and a guest house on the edge of town, but I hadn’t noticed anything else. Where the bus stopped, there was a sign for a guest house, so I followed the road. But then it branched into a dirt road going straight and a paved road going to the left. There was no sign to indicate which way the guest house would be. Therefore, I returned to the main road and walked back toward where I had seen the other places. About halfway there, I saw the huge, fancy hotel on one side of the road and a sign for another guest house to the right. I checked the fancy Paksan Hotel. They had some very nice rooms at very high prices. But they also had some basic rooms (hot water and fan, but no a/c or TV) for only $6. And the whole hotel has free wi-fi. So I took one of the basic rooms.

Until it cooled down around 17:30, I went through e-mail and read newspapers online. Then I went out walking and exploring. I got LOTS of attention. This is NOT a place where there are usually tourists. The hotel where I am staying is mainly for travelers stopping overnight on their way north or south on the main highway through the country. The people at the big market seemed most surprised to see a westerner walking around. But there seemed to be a pleasant reaction from everyone. People were very friendly. Everyone said, “Sabaidee,” and I said it back in return.

There are few restaurants in this town. I went back to a place near my hotel where there were three small eating establishments together. I bought a vegetable dish that consisted of bamboo shoots, mushrooms, red peppers, and a little bit of pork to season it in a sauce. And I got a basket of sticky rice to go with it.

As I have wandered all over southern Laos now, I have noticed a large number of huge, modern homes. I am sure they belong to the parents of children who have immigrated to the U.S., France, or Australia. It is quite common for Asian immigrants to send money back regularly to their parents—not just for their support but also so that the parents can build grand homes to impress their friends with how successful their children have been. These homes which are usually built of concrete, bricks, tile, etc., are quite impressive compared to the small wooden and woven cane homes on stilts.

I think I have had another spurt of weight loss. My shorts I have been wearing seem much bigger in the waist in the last two weeks. I now have little body fat. My guess is that I probably weigh about 74 kg (163 lbs). But it could be less than that. I don’t know, however, with those fattening French/Lao sandwiches I have been eating each morning. I’m glad I only had one meal today!