The Long Road Home.....

Yesterday as I left my bungalow on Don Det Island I took my first steps towards the 3 day journey back to California.
I got up around dawn walked to a small boat that took me to the mainland to a Tuk Tuk that took me to a bus that drove me to Pakse, Laos to catch a plane the next day to Bangkok where I will catch another plane the following day for the 22 hour flight home. I had already turned my bike back in to the rental agency as I did not need it on the island as there are no roads on the island.
Leaving Laos is not an easy proposition. The beauty of the land, the smiles of the people, the laid-back atmosphere that pervades their culture, the incredible tribal influences everywhere, the great food, the smell of woodsmoke, the sounds of roosters crowing, the greetings of "sabai dee" from everyone you pass, the little old ladies with their beetle-nut stained teeth and child-like grins, the children always playing so well with one another,the simple way of life in the many ways seems so much fuller than all of our "developed" ways, the friendliness of everyone....

Laos was a dream of mine that came true beyond what I could have expected.
I have seen things that I never imagined existed and learned things that I wish were not true (America's secret war). I still have more to explore in this country. Its way bigger than it looks on the maps and getting around is a lot harder than I thought it would be. But just to be here is a constant revelation- a reminder about slowing down, taking the time to talk to your neighbors, to hug and play with your kids, to eat good food everyday, to enjoy just being............

Feeling blissed and blessed.

Thanks for following my blog and for your comments and emails.
They kept me company on those many days and nights alone in this country very far away.
I will have one last post once I get home.
Blessings,
Jefe

Sometimes you have to go thru Hell to get to Heaven.

Siphondon, Laos, 4000 Islands

It's been a while since my last post as I have been away from anything remotely resembling civilzation. I am in the Four Thousand Islands, this amazing place at the southern tip of Laos on the Cambodian border. Literally, thousands of islands where the Mekong spreads out to 14 Km. Some inhabitied, others small and uninhabited. I am on this island called Don Det. I have a 2 dollar bungalow right on the river watching amazing sunrises as the villagers start their day. Idyllic.
This in my book is heaven. Coconut palms, uber-mellow vibe, great food, costs just about nothing to be here. This is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Truly.
But getting here shall we say was HELL!
I took a detour east in South Central Laos towards the Vietnamese border to do this motorcycle ride I had heard about called the Loop. I think what they meant to call it was "Loopey" cause by the end of the first day I was spent, tired, aching, hurt, and feeling totally exhausted. And I had another 3 days to go before I completed the loop.
The problem was the condition of the road or should I say the condition of the lack of road. And again, the maps that I had were completely wrong but I was used to that part and if I got lost no big deal. But the road was designed by the Devil himself who was having a bad day. The issue is they are building a big dam project here and as the water is flooding the valleys the roads get swallowed and they build these temporary ones that truly suck. All the villages have been relocated so there is no one and there is this uneasy feeling of watching these beautiful jungles disappear as the water fills them in. Kind of like watching a patient slowly die.
At one point on this bumpy, pot-hole, cobblestone-encrusted path to nowhere I see my front end of the bike disappear down a hole, I go flying over the handlebars only to see the front end reemerge so I am now heading into the handlebars, then the back end hits the hole and I am now popping a wheely going backwards off the bike, back end comes back up and now I am off the pegs with my feet dragging the ground-ouch rock, ouch root, BIG OUCH bike peg into my leg. But I am still upright and with my road mantra still intact the rubber is facing down. I finally come to a stop. Ok. Regroup. Assess body. Lets see, no head injuries, aching calf not bad. No bleeding. Bike is not spewing gas everywhere and about to blow. Walk it off Mogalian. Here I am truly in the middle of nowhere. I haven't seen another person or vehicle in hours and I am lucky that I can continue with an intact bike and body. OK slow my ass down and keep going. Finally, after a whole day of this I reach a town that is supposed to have a guest house. I get to it and the young boy say "No guesthouse. Finish". SHIT! Ok, so where is the next guest house, young man,I ask in my best Lao I can speak from my phrasebook? Fifty seven kilometers more. OK. just 57 Km more of hell.
Well to make a long story a bit longer, I safely make it to the guest house in a town called Lak Xao where I grab a bite and then pass out immediately only to be woken to the late night pounding of construction going on next door until midnight. Arrrgh!! Will this day never end? They finally wrap things up around 12am and I fall into an uneasy sleep.
Not my greatest day ever and one for the record books.
The next day was actually not as bad as the views supersceded the hell of the road and I made pretty decent time to Ban Na Hin where I was able to stay with a local family in what is called a Homestay. That is where a local family puts you up for the night, provides dinner and breakfast and you get to hang out in a small village for as long as you like.
That was a great experience. And for dinner? Rice, veggies, some fish and Bar- b- qued Rat soup. No shit. Tasty, in a unique and rodent-like way. Nothing else compares to it that I have had so far. The meat was tender and the soup was spicey and Oh that unique flavor of rat. I get now what my cat Lucy has been enjoying all these years.
It just seemed to add to the overall gestalt of a couple days descent into hell.
But that was what I had to do before getting to heaven here in the 4000 Islands.

My best attempt at being Anthony Bourdain (forgive me Tony)

Today's istallment will be solely on the food of SE Asia (thanks Chas).
My cooking class I took in Luang Prabang really introduced me to what the flavor combinations are here in Lao.
The most commons spices used in Lao are kefir lime leaves, basil (2 kinds), fish sauce, garlic, spring oninons, galanga. ginger, lime, chilis,coriander, fried onions, MSG(!), and sugar. I will be happy to tell you what I learned and how to use all of these ingredients when I get back home.
To keep things easy we will go in order of what you eat and when during the day.
Breakfast
There are plenty of options here and with the French influence in SE Asia some are quite good like bagettes and decent coffee but what do the locals have?
Noodle Soup. It's sort of like Viet Namese pho but different and called feu. "Same same but different" as they say here. It is the perfect meal early in the day: light, filling, full of flavor,highly energizing, easy to digest, does not slow you down and it makes bacon and eggs seem so boring. I love to sit down on these plastic chairs as some sidewalk noodle shop and eat with the locals who are all eating noodle soup. Ok, I'll admit it. I am completely, totally,unashamedly, and throughly addicted to this stuff for breakfast. I think I have had eggs once since being in Asia and the rest of the time it's noodle soup.
Oh yea, the cost for a huge-steamy-bowl-almost-more-than-you-can-finish- 90 cents.

Lunch
Lunch can really vary from where you are in the country. Options include noodle soup again (sure, I'll have another, this time with duck, please) to awesome sandwiches from street side vendors again on bagettes with mayo, tomato, cucumber,onion and your choice of meats or omelet. Good stuff and great for travel on a motorcycle. Get one in the morning eat it along the way. Fried rice and fried noodles with veggies, egg, chicken, or beef are popular and very good. Cost on these items about $1.50.
I should also mention that here in Laos sticky rice is really the most eaten item as it is served with most dishes.

Snacks
The BEST fruit shakes on earth are here in Laos. Great fruit overall with coconuts, mangos, pineapple, banana, dragon fruit mixed in anyway you want chilled with ice then blended. ADDICTING TOO! 50 cents.
The streetside foods are really great. Fresh and hot so I think reasonably safe to eat. Chicken sticks are really one of my favorites. The Lao chickens are skinny and scrawny and really tasty. Cost $1
The locals like these baby dried squid, thrown on a grill for a few minutes to soften and then eaten. I tried one- a bit chewy for me.

Dinner
Wow the options are endless. Great bar b que chicken, pork, fish stuffed with lemongrass then packed with sea salt and grilled on an open fire. OK I'll have two of those, please.
Actually, the fish, which is freshwater here in this land-locked country is maybe one of the best dishes I have ever eaten. Most people who have this also agree. Cost of the fish $2-3 each.
Western meals are offered in the bigger towns but I am avoiding them. You know when in Lao do as the Laotians do. The worst meal I had, in fact, was a plate of speghetti that tasted like noodles with ketchup. So much to for going western here in the east. There are some highly rated restaurants in the bigger towns serving high end cuisine but I am choosing to eat more locally most of my meals.
OK. I will admit it. I had one hamburger. And it was great! OK, Got that off my chest...phew.
Out in the off-road back country away from the main roads the foods get pretty simple. Mainly, sticky rice with a delicious dipping sauce and not much more. Meats are available but I think those are for special occasions.

Weird shit

Ok now comes the fun stuff. Weirdest things I have eaten:
Fried worms
Bar B Qued Sparrow (tastes like canary)
Bar b qued water buffalo skin(tastes like bacon with the consistency of shoe leather)
Water Buffalo soup with chunks of wood that when you eat the outer bark it tastes good and makes your lips go numb

Things I have seen but not eaten nor will ever eat thank you very much (sorry Bizarre Foods guy on cable)
Bar b qued Rats UDATE : Ok I ate BBQ'd rat in a soup. Hmmmm... a little weird.
Fried rats
Bar b qued Bats
Possum
moles
hamsters skinned and ready for the barby
Bags of cow blood and cow bile ( now really, what do you do with cow bile?)

The food here in Laos is much better than I was lead to believe. Thai food still dominates in flavor combinations and and overall creativity. But the Lao food is more subtle and relies on the freshness of the ingredients without trying to overpower with too many nuances of flavor. I love Thai food but I am really appreciating Lao food now too. And that fish stuffed with lemongrass ranks up there in my top 10 of greatest foods ever. May need to put that on my restaurants menu when I get back and call it LaoMex or Mexilao pescado or something like that.
Ok off to bed so I can wake up to some noodle soup to start my day, mmmmmm ..........

Lost in Laos and Loving it....

Today on my motorcycle I got really lost.
And it was fantastic. I ended having one great moment after another.
It seems like when you truly let go and simply go with the flow that is when the magic happens.
Getting a good bike has proved impossible so I have decided to overland to the various spots I want to get to and get a bike there rather than going the very long distances on the shit Chinese motorcycles they offer here.
I was under various impressions that decent bikes do exist here in Laos but I haven't seen them yet. Maybe in Vientiene.
Either way, today I was on a chinese-made something or other bike and headed off west from Vang Vien where I am staying for a few days.
They also lack decent maps in this part of the world but any map is better than none right? Nope! My map lead me to places I could tell from the locals reactions that I may have been the first westerner ever here and I know they are telling all their friends of this crazy "falang" coming through their village.
As I got deeper and deeper along this dirt track full of pot holes chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, kids and other obstacles I was realizing that everyone I saw was getting friendlier and friendlier. Lots of waves and smiles so I knew I was a novelty here.
Ok. I am lost. Novelty or not.

But what a place. What beautiful people. Awesome views. Perfect weather. I'm OK.
I come across these villagers out in their rice fields separating the rice from the stalk and they wave and invite me to help. Of course I will help. Isn't that what Americans do around the world? So they hand me a shovel and off I go throwing the rice in the air while another guy fans it to get rid of the shaft. Great fun. We all laughed. I got some work done. Everyone was happy.
Off I go and come across one of the cutest little girls I have ever seen. I ask to take her picture. She shakes her head no. I bow, give a little prayer sign "please" she agrees and here is a winning picture that occurred minutes after the rice work.
In the zone.......
Since the day was getting later by now and having no clue where I am I ask a local for the direction back to Vang Vien. He points that way. I go that way and sure enough I eventually make it back.
A perfect day. Completely lost and just where I needed to be.