Leaving Ban Saphoun (the other name of the village I was in when I last posted) was a hard decision, but Luang Prabang is also a stunning city/town. When we arrived in Laos, we ended up in a town called Mouang Khua. We had to exit the bus and get into the longboat to cross the river to get to the town, as there is no bridge for miles. The town is stunningly located on the bank of the Nam Ou river. We stayed in a guesthouse right by the river and enjoyed the silence and the fact that there was nothing to do. In the evening, the electricity came on for four hours, so everyone in town gathered around the television. While travel in Laos is incredible, if you leave Luang Prabang or Vientiane, you do need to be prepared to encounter rats, geckos, or other critters. Plus almost no roads are paved, so travel is very very slow (especially in rainy season as one negotiates parts of the almost washed-out roads). But the country is so delightful that the pace seems rather an advantage than not.

From Mouang Khua, we decided to head downriver to Nong Khiow/Ban Saphoun. We chartered a boat with some Australians and puttered along for about three hours. As we entered the village, I saw some adorable new bungalows on the left bank and knew that this is where we would stay the night. Well. You know those pictures from Balinese resorts that cost $600 per night that show beautiful bungalows with local prints, four-poster beds, your own private terrace overlooking the water, and a stylish bathroom? That's pretty much where we stayed. We and AD had a bungalow each, four-poster bed with pristine white sheets, a writing desk, subtle lighting, the works. This at the exorbitant price of $24 for a double including breakfast. It was paradise.

The resort is owned by a Dane who speaks fluent Lao and has only been open for a year, explaining why it wasn't listed in our book. But it is probably the nicest place I have ever stayed, both for simplicity and ambience. Watching the river flow by was so relaxing, the food was excellent (especially the deep-fried eggplant and the tom yum soup), no one was trying to sell me anything, and there was no honking on the (paved) road as there was hardly any traffic. B and I went out for a quick five-mile run and, for the first time on this entire journey, were not treated as freaks who should be mocked but instead welcomed with smiles and "saibadee!" (Lao for hello) which we returned with enthusiastic smiles and waves. I know this sounds too idyllic to be true, but what can I say? It was awesome. We passed villagers gathering at the waterspouts to wash (the women wearing sarongs), carrying water using the traditional method: two buckets hanging from a stick across the shoulders, classic bamboo stilt houses with space underneath for cooking, water buffaloes, chickens, and storage, a cave we had visited earlier that was used by the villagers during the American bombings and a crater right outside the cave where a bomb hit. It wasn't too hot, because as we're here in rainy season it rains every couple of hours for a little (5-30 minutes, usually) and then clears up for a bit.

I could have stayed forever, but unfortunately, the hotel had a tour group booked the next day and only one room available for more than a night. So off we went on another boat to Luang Prabang. This boat ride was a bit less spectacular than the last, although we joined the Mekong and spent the last half-hour on it, which was amazing: the river is HUGE!!! But the ride was also made somewhat less pleasant by our company. There was a Scot who kept trying to urinate off the back of the boat (but didn't have the sense to go to the very back) so he kept hitting himself and the boat instead of the river, the four identically dressed Poles who literally took pictures (they had two huge cameras and a camcorder) of every single person we passed, including children playing in loincloths who were clearly shy (treating people like animals in a zoo again)--it was an unpleasant reminder of what tourists must look like to Lao: bizarre, rude fools with lots of money. It is terrifying to think of what tourism will do to this country, although it will enrich many people as well, and that is the paradox of travel. Laotians are poor. Really, really poor. The huge bridge over the Nam Ou that links Ban Saphoun and Nong Khiow had perhaps three cars pass over it the entire time we were there, plus a couple of trucks. Maybe 10 motorbikes. Most Laotians are not going hungry, but many, many children die before the age of five of preventable diseases like malaria (endemic). We are taking anti-malarial drugs (Malarone), but at a cost of $5 per pill, the price would have to be reduced to a very small fraction before most people here could afford the drugs. Not to mention that counterfeit drugs (especially for malaria) are a huge problem in Southeast Asia. It wouldn't matter if the drugs were effective, but they often contain only a small amount of effective ingredients and thus contribute to the increasing problem of resistant malaria.

Luang Prabang is already showing the effects of tourism, both good and bad (the city exists now primarily as a tourist destination). The city is gorgeous: containing dozens of wats (Buddhist monasteries, sort of), French colonial buildings, Lao buildings, a mixture of all styles and all preserved due to the lack of money for economic development that Laos has experienced for so long. (Here we call it Lao, because the real name is the Lao People's Democratic Republic, or Lao PDR.) Prices are reasonable, although higher than in the countryside (we are still struggling to spend over $5 each for a big meal with lots of drinks). But there are children roaming the streets constantly selling trinkets. I could almost shoot any tourist who buys them. The children are adorable (and seem mostly adequately dressed and fed), but it is the idiot tourist who feels sorry for them and buys one of their trinkets who is responsible for their being out of school selling crap to tourists and having to humiliate themselves in this way. If there was no market, farming families wouldn't take their children out of school and send them around telling tourists "beautiful hair, would you like to buy?" But I have seen at least 8 children so far roaming the streets here. We were also accosted by a drugged-up beggar wearing only shorts who reached for our purses when we refused to give him money. Many drugs are readily available in Laos (it is, after all, part of the golden triangle) and although the government, responding to US pressure (not accompanied by money) has tried to eradicate opium growing, it remains an important source of income for some, including minorities in the north who have no other way to make money.

Anyway. After days on end of moving around, we are settled in Luang Prabang for a few nights. B, unfortunately, is pretty sick with food poisoning so he's staying in as AD and I take care of business. We're hoping to arrange an elephant ride and maybe some kayaking for Monday. Tomorrow we'll probably wander Luang Prabang looking at buildings (and B will take pictures--he already has some pretty spectacular ones to post). Unfortunately, it is HOT here, and I don't think there is a gym, so some pretty unpleasant running may have to take place. But in mid-week we'll be in Vientiane, which is supposed to have at least one nice gym. Here's hoping!