I might have to try and come up with a new word to describe the extremes of taste and artistry which bookended this one day. I'll keep that thought in the back of my mind as I relate the story. Because to call the day's activities 'wide ranging' wouldn't even come close to conveying an almost absurd 6 hour period.
First the ridiculous: I caught a ride with a group of tourists who were arranging for a tuk tuk taxi to take them to the famous waterfall south of town. There is a fixed rate of $25 for the roundtrip fare, and that includes the driver waiting around for a few hours while his charges swim, snap photos and hike around the gorgeous park. I certainly wasn't about to pay the whole thing myself, so when I saw the group talking to a driver, I asserted myself into the mix and joined the festivities.
On the way out there, I started getting some lyrical ideas going for a 'bar song' that I wanted to create called 'Boom Boom', which is pigeon English for the 'sex act'. Some rhymes were coming to mind and I didn't have any paper, so I ripped the 'dedication page' in the Elmore Leonard novel I'm reading, and started writing a few ideas down. The driver was interested so I explained that I was writing a song called 'Boom Boom' which amused him no end. It's definitely a juvenile, ridiculous idea, but since anything goes on this trip, what the hell, see if i can come up with something that makes me laugh... which I did. I imagine a group of drunken revelers joining in on the Boom Boom line, while I offer the counterpoint and everyone laughs and jams along. Definitely dumb, but something intrigues me about it, so I continued until I wrote 3 verses and a bridge. I started playing it a bit out front of the guest house and the locals thought it was funny. I'm still not sure if it's something I'll use, but we shall see.
At 6pm, my artist friend June arrived to walk me over to this reception with the Prince, which was held at a location not too far from my Guest House. I put on some clean clothes, and was hoping that I wouldn't be too underdressed for whatever was to occur. We walked a few blocks and turned into what used to be the former hospital, but now is one of the exclusive 'Amanresorts', which are super high-end destinations for the wealthy. The suites are $1000/night, and it was a world apart.
The grounds were incredible, a large reflecting pool, a broad, lantern lit expanse with everything immaculately presented, lovely landscaping, and it was hard to believe that the bustling town was right outside the gates. You couldn't hear a thing. And here's the prince himself, dressed in a black nehru style outfit, smiling, gracious, attending to his guests (there were about thirty of them seated near the reflecting pool awaiting a performance of music and dance. He was mayb 50 years old, and his vibe was that of high culture and kindness.
At one point after the performance, he walked the two of us around the grounds showing us one of the suites, and then talking about his mission to reinvigorate the local arts and introduce a new generation of artists to the traditional art forms of the culture. It's his job, as he is the artistic coordinator for a number of the Amanresorts, including in Cambodia, Bhutan, Beijing and I can't remember tha other places that he mentioned. But he travels a lot and is dedicated to high art.
And wow, what a presentation his young charges gave us. There was a 6 piece ensemble of musicians, guys around 20 years old who played a luscious 90 minute set of traditional Laotian music on the following instruments: gamelan gongs, marimba, flute, chinese violins, hammer dulcimer (he called it 'sitar', and who's gonna argue with the prince? and hand drums. The sound was incredible, precise, haunting, jangly, alive and so evocative of this region at the crossroads. He made that point several times, how the music borrowed from India, China and the rest of the world who passed through this region.
The musicians were seated on cushions as they played different instruments, switching often. They were a tight ensemble, and it seemed effortless. They were joined by dancers for many of the pieces. The dances were very beautiful, slow paced with gorgeous hand movements, body undulations, much changing of levels and plies as they moved. It was as though we were seeing 'The King and I', with the lanterns, the dancing and the playing, as we sipped wine and enjoyed the spectacle. I was in artistic heaven.
When the music ended, we were invited to come talk to the musicians and try the instruments, so I spent a great twenty minutes going from musician to musician, asking questions, allowing them to demonstrate their techniques, taking it all in. It was a great music lesson for me as I got to experience at close range how these things work. They kept showing me the do re mi fa sol of their instruments, which was funny, because it's almost do re mi etc, but the intonation is slightly different which is part of the reason it sounds so deliciously foreigh. The musicians were uniformly kind and willing to share, and that twenty minutes was a highlight of the trip. What a world of sound!
After our little walkabout with the prince, June and I finished our wine (2 glasses, $28, Yikes!) and then walked to this great barbecue alley where there are many food vendors grilling fish, chicken, deep frying spring rolls, noodle soups etc and we grabbed some dinner back in reality. I felt incrdible gratitude for having gotten the chance to experience the high art of this region, followed by some grilled fish down the alley. Luang Prabang! Wow!
And of course, its opposite....
Ain't that the way? You express sadness rather than keep it inside, and it's almost inevitable that things turn in a more positive direction. At least it seems to work that way for me on a fairly consistent basis. My day started swinging upward when I took a climb to the famous Wat, which dominates the landscape of Luang Prabang. It's about 350 steps up to a commanding view of the city and the rivers which meet up here. It was mid to late afternoon, and I sat in the sun and started getting my geographical (and other) bearings. It was another beautiful sunny day, perfect temperature and a lovely vista.
I noticed an Asian woman doing some sketching up there, and she struck me like a real artist, just something about her ease in the act of drawing. A few minutes later, I started wondering about where our boat had come into town yesterday. If the sun is setting in the west, then how come it looks like we came in from the east? Maybe the river does a big bend here or something? I was confused.
I asked a couple of English speaking guys if they could straighten me out about it, and she overheard and said that the sun would eventually set over there, not where I mistakenly thought. I was about 90 degrees off in my orientation. She mentioned that she had been in town some seven years earlier and knew that the sun would set over that a way. We got into a conversation, quite an interesting one, as she is yeah, a real artist from Seattle who is doing a residency here, thanks to a grant from the King County (WA) Arts Association (or whatever it's called). And further, she has a solid contact with the 'Prince', a son of the exiled king who was deposed by the communists in 1975 after the Vietnam debacle.
Her name is June Sekiguchi, a Japanese American artist out of the Seattle area, and she met the prince when they both had some work displayed in a show in the US. They began corresponding, and it eventually led to her trip here. Apparently the prince is a strong advocate for keeping the native Laotian arts alive and thriving, so he is educating and supporting young local artists in various ways. June is here to observe, immerse, absorb and learn, and then take her experiences and use them to create new work that will be shown in Seattle. It sounds really interesting, all the more so because I saw a sample of some of her installations and it is super. She's a big league artist, and a really nice person.
We ended up having some soup together at a great local place, very old fashioned, no menu, just a woman making one dish, a noodle soup with chicken and green vegetables. Cheap and delicious, and exactly what I was needing, rather than some overpriced, tourist menu which is prevalent here. I asked if it would be cool for me to tail along tomorrow to see what was happening in the arts scene, and yeah, we made a plan for 6pm to go to some highbrow place which is part of the prince's purview... or something like that, it's a little vague at the moment, but I'll know more when I see it. It's nice to have made an interesting connection.
Then back at the guest house, I was talking with the young (20 something) Lao dude who works there, and he was really interested in my guitar playing. I did a little impromptu thing out front for some of the guests. When it was just us, I pulled out the new one I had written on the boat and he really liked it, and was reading the lyrics and looking at the music. I had written it out in music notation, because I didn't want to forget any of it, so I showed him briefly how that system worked, singing along and pointing at the music. He said, he didn't understand that stuff, only knew some chords on the guitar.
I asked him if he knew what 'tab' was, and he said no, so I gave him a little quickie lesson in how the system works. It's really simple and he picked it up in no time. And was really excited and grateful about it. He had seen it online, but didn't understand it, so suddenly he had this whole new world of stuff that he could access, which I'm sure he will. The interesting thing is that I've been offering all of my musical contacts any free information that I could help them with, but something about the western guys prevents them from taking me up on it. I love to teach and love to share the knowledge, but they can't or won't accept the offer. This guy just lapped it up in about 5 minutes, he got it right away, and now he's off. I felt super good about the interaction. It's part of what I'm here for. Sharing the good stuff. Makes me happy to connect like that.
And I even got a surprise email from M, hoping that I'll come back to Chiang Mai, missing me etc. I'll keep in touch with her, and we'll see what happens. I have no predictions at this point, well actually I do, but I'll hang onto it for now...
This tuk tuk driver just offered a great sentence, the gist of it was 'do you want to get laid?' His verbatim quote was this. 'Tuk tuk lady boom boom' That is some quality pidgin English, my friends...
I'll close with my first Thai joke, told to me by a buddy in Chiang Mai.
A Thai guy goes on vacation in New York, and goes to the bank to change some money. He gives the banker 3000 Baht and receives $100. The next week he goes and gives the 3000 Baht but only gets back $92. 'What is this, last week I get $100, and this week only $92' The banker shrugs his shoulders and says 'Fluctuations'
The Thai guy replies, 'Fluck you Americans!'
I noticed an Asian woman doing some sketching up there, and she struck me like a real artist, just something about her ease in the act of drawing. A few minutes later, I started wondering about where our boat had come into town yesterday. If the sun is setting in the west, then how come it looks like we came in from the east? Maybe the river does a big bend here or something? I was confused.
I asked a couple of English speaking guys if they could straighten me out about it, and she overheard and said that the sun would eventually set over there, not where I mistakenly thought. I was about 90 degrees off in my orientation. She mentioned that she had been in town some seven years earlier and knew that the sun would set over that a way. We got into a conversation, quite an interesting one, as she is yeah, a real artist from Seattle who is doing a residency here, thanks to a grant from the King County (WA) Arts Association (or whatever it's called). And further, she has a solid contact with the 'Prince', a son of the exiled king who was deposed by the communists in 1975 after the Vietnam debacle.
Her name is June Sekiguchi, a Japanese American artist out of the Seattle area, and she met the prince when they both had some work displayed in a show in the US. They began corresponding, and it eventually led to her trip here. Apparently the prince is a strong advocate for keeping the native Laotian arts alive and thriving, so he is educating and supporting young local artists in various ways. June is here to observe, immerse, absorb and learn, and then take her experiences and use them to create new work that will be shown in Seattle. It sounds really interesting, all the more so because I saw a sample of some of her installations and it is super. She's a big league artist, and a really nice person.
We ended up having some soup together at a great local place, very old fashioned, no menu, just a woman making one dish, a noodle soup with chicken and green vegetables. Cheap and delicious, and exactly what I was needing, rather than some overpriced, tourist menu which is prevalent here. I asked if it would be cool for me to tail along tomorrow to see what was happening in the arts scene, and yeah, we made a plan for 6pm to go to some highbrow place which is part of the prince's purview... or something like that, it's a little vague at the moment, but I'll know more when I see it. It's nice to have made an interesting connection.
Then back at the guest house, I was talking with the young (20 something) Lao dude who works there, and he was really interested in my guitar playing. I did a little impromptu thing out front for some of the guests. When it was just us, I pulled out the new one I had written on the boat and he really liked it, and was reading the lyrics and looking at the music. I had written it out in music notation, because I didn't want to forget any of it, so I showed him briefly how that system worked, singing along and pointing at the music. He said, he didn't understand that stuff, only knew some chords on the guitar.
I asked him if he knew what 'tab' was, and he said no, so I gave him a little quickie lesson in how the system works. It's really simple and he picked it up in no time. And was really excited and grateful about it. He had seen it online, but didn't understand it, so suddenly he had this whole new world of stuff that he could access, which I'm sure he will. The interesting thing is that I've been offering all of my musical contacts any free information that I could help them with, but something about the western guys prevents them from taking me up on it. I love to teach and love to share the knowledge, but they can't or won't accept the offer. This guy just lapped it up in about 5 minutes, he got it right away, and now he's off. I felt super good about the interaction. It's part of what I'm here for. Sharing the good stuff. Makes me happy to connect like that.
And I even got a surprise email from M, hoping that I'll come back to Chiang Mai, missing me etc. I'll keep in touch with her, and we'll see what happens. I have no predictions at this point, well actually I do, but I'll hang onto it for now...
This tuk tuk driver just offered a great sentence, the gist of it was 'do you want to get laid?' His verbatim quote was this. 'Tuk tuk lady boom boom' That is some quality pidgin English, my friends...
I'll close with my first Thai joke, told to me by a buddy in Chiang Mai.
A Thai guy goes on vacation in New York, and goes to the bank to change some money. He gives the banker 3000 Baht and receives $100. The next week he goes and gives the 3000 Baht but only gets back $92. 'What is this, last week I get $100, and this week only $92' The banker shrugs his shoulders and says 'Fluctuations'
The Thai guy replies, 'Fluck you Americans!'
On the down low....
What does that mean, anyway? On the down low.... Because I seem to be riding that way since I left the security and the warm embrace. It was a lousy parting out of Chiang Mai, actually, and I found myself wanting to not write about it, wanting to censor again, but what the hell, what's the good in that? Especially sitting here with a headache and a few days worth of negativity rolling around.
The lovely M chose our final night together to have a little extra to drink, 'I don't know why I can't get drunk', she said, but she was pretty buzzed and that bummed me out. My story was that I was gonna have to wake up early the next day, but I was, of course willing to stay up late to have a nice 'farewell' at her place after work.
Maybe she was sad about me leaving, but for whatever reason, she got into a space of wanting to drink, and she asked me to go for a drink after her shift ended at about 2:30am. Uh, no, I don't want to drink. I could tell she was tipsy, something about her changed attitude and the way she was floating, and less than open when I tried to communicate. We got back to her place and just as she was locking the gate behind us, one of her neighbors pulled up on a motorcycle with her boyfriend, and called for her not to lock it. She did so in kind of a phony voice, and I could feel M react to it. Then as we went into the flat, she said that this woman is one who gossips about her and 'fuck her' (said with some venom). I hadn't heard that tone from M, and that clued me into the effect of the alcohol.
We had some food, but the vibe was wrong, She went to turn on the television, and I asked that she didn't, which she agreed to, but her whole energy was escapism and lack of contact. I tried to initiate some conversation, and since it was met with less than openness, I got my button pushed. But I tried to be patient as the minutes clicked by and I'm counting down in my head how little sleep I was gonna get that night. I asked why she wanted to get more drunk, and she said, I don't know. I had the thought that whatever bad shit happened to her growing up was the 'I don't know' she referred to, and that yeah, she tried to bury it, but you can't really get away from it until it's dealt with. I managed to express that idea to her, and she said, 'no one else ever said that' 'no one else ever understood me' or words to that effect. I asked if she wanted to tell me some of what she hadn't shared. 'No, I don't want to cry'
But she started to talk, and before long, her voice broke and the tears came, as she was leaning against me telling her story. Part of it had to do with listening to her parents fight day after day after day with no respite. But the thing that really crushed her was the fact that since she was a girl in a Chinese family, she didn't have nearly the same chances as her brothers. This is a girl who LOVES TO LEARN, and her parents told her that the only way she could continue her studies was if she passed the governmant test which they take at 17. If she made it through that hurdle, she could get a scholarship and continue. Otherwise, you have to work for the family. She didn't make the cut, and they stopped her from studying for a year.
She had to get up at 2:30 in the morning to work with the family, preparing and then selling food at some stall. Then she had to go to her money job, and then she could go to take some courses which she had to pay for. Unlike her brothers who were close in age to her, they got to sleep in, not have to work for the family, and just go to school all expenses paid by the family. This brutish unfairness, especially to someone with the thirst for knowledge, is the source of a rage and resentment that has become central to her 'no one will see me cry' core. It's what drives her to incredible determination and achievement, and likely to alcohol as well. My heart goes out to her in a big way. It's just flat out not fair, and I don't know how she gets over it. But I know that she's got to find a way through. I'd like to help her.
But after that story, she still was high, she wasn't ready to relate to me (read 'make love') and I ran out of patience as I was falling asleep and feeling ripped off. I got up, put my shoes on and we had a fairly silent parting, of course I was hoping she'd beg me to stay, but she was into that place of 'bad girl' that ruled the moment. That's how I saw it, anyhow, so our delicious two week romance ended in a brittle parting in the middle of the night. I wrote her an email without rancor, being grateful for what we shared, and maybe I'll hear back. She only seems to check her email on her day off, so, oh well, it was a wonderful chapter, and who knows, maybe she did us a favor by getting buzzed on our last night. That's how I look at it, anyhow. And I miss her... could cry myself, actually...
The lovely M chose our final night together to have a little extra to drink, 'I don't know why I can't get drunk', she said, but she was pretty buzzed and that bummed me out. My story was that I was gonna have to wake up early the next day, but I was, of course willing to stay up late to have a nice 'farewell' at her place after work.
Maybe she was sad about me leaving, but for whatever reason, she got into a space of wanting to drink, and she asked me to go for a drink after her shift ended at about 2:30am. Uh, no, I don't want to drink. I could tell she was tipsy, something about her changed attitude and the way she was floating, and less than open when I tried to communicate. We got back to her place and just as she was locking the gate behind us, one of her neighbors pulled up on a motorcycle with her boyfriend, and called for her not to lock it. She did so in kind of a phony voice, and I could feel M react to it. Then as we went into the flat, she said that this woman is one who gossips about her and 'fuck her' (said with some venom). I hadn't heard that tone from M, and that clued me into the effect of the alcohol.
We had some food, but the vibe was wrong, She went to turn on the television, and I asked that she didn't, which she agreed to, but her whole energy was escapism and lack of contact. I tried to initiate some conversation, and since it was met with less than openness, I got my button pushed. But I tried to be patient as the minutes clicked by and I'm counting down in my head how little sleep I was gonna get that night. I asked why she wanted to get more drunk, and she said, I don't know. I had the thought that whatever bad shit happened to her growing up was the 'I don't know' she referred to, and that yeah, she tried to bury it, but you can't really get away from it until it's dealt with. I managed to express that idea to her, and she said, 'no one else ever said that' 'no one else ever understood me' or words to that effect. I asked if she wanted to tell me some of what she hadn't shared. 'No, I don't want to cry'
But she started to talk, and before long, her voice broke and the tears came, as she was leaning against me telling her story. Part of it had to do with listening to her parents fight day after day after day with no respite. But the thing that really crushed her was the fact that since she was a girl in a Chinese family, she didn't have nearly the same chances as her brothers. This is a girl who LOVES TO LEARN, and her parents told her that the only way she could continue her studies was if she passed the governmant test which they take at 17. If she made it through that hurdle, she could get a scholarship and continue. Otherwise, you have to work for the family. She didn't make the cut, and they stopped her from studying for a year.
She had to get up at 2:30 in the morning to work with the family, preparing and then selling food at some stall. Then she had to go to her money job, and then she could go to take some courses which she had to pay for. Unlike her brothers who were close in age to her, they got to sleep in, not have to work for the family, and just go to school all expenses paid by the family. This brutish unfairness, especially to someone with the thirst for knowledge, is the source of a rage and resentment that has become central to her 'no one will see me cry' core. It's what drives her to incredible determination and achievement, and likely to alcohol as well. My heart goes out to her in a big way. It's just flat out not fair, and I don't know how she gets over it. But I know that she's got to find a way through. I'd like to help her.
But after that story, she still was high, she wasn't ready to relate to me (read 'make love') and I ran out of patience as I was falling asleep and feeling ripped off. I got up, put my shoes on and we had a fairly silent parting, of course I was hoping she'd beg me to stay, but she was into that place of 'bad girl' that ruled the moment. That's how I saw it, anyhow, so our delicious two week romance ended in a brittle parting in the middle of the night. I wrote her an email without rancor, being grateful for what we shared, and maybe I'll hear back. She only seems to check her email on her day off, so, oh well, it was a wonderful chapter, and who knows, maybe she did us a favor by getting buzzed on our last night. That's how I look at it, anyhow. And I miss her... could cry myself, actually...
Blind Faith
Yeah, what could go wrong? I'm sure that 'Lao Experience Travel' will handle all my needs. The guy is at least 21 years old and when I went in there this morning, he was counting different stacks of money, looking a bit confused and worse for wear on this fine morning. He assures me that my passport will be back right on schedule, with hours to spare before I get on the all night bus to Vientiane on Monday evening.
You have to give up your passport when you apply for a visa and they airmail it off to the consulate in Vientiane where they process the information and the money and then send your passport back to you. It allegedly arrives back here at 4:30 Monday, (don't worry, there's never a problem) and then I'll take a tuk tuk to the bus station to catch my ride.
To use my visa card for the airline ticket, I rode on the back of a motorcycle driven by his younger assistant (slight whiff of alcohol at 8am), no helmets, what could happen?, to the main office of the agency, where the two young women were watching some adventure TV show while they dealt with my credit card. Occassionally they'd look over at the set when the music changed, so as not to miss any plot twists. It wasn't quite the way it's done in the US, but like I say, Blind Faith, and all will be well?
There's some different Mojo going on during this stage of the trip, and rather than the relaxed, internal meditation of the Chiang Mai chapter, I feel like I'm keeping some balls in the air and hoping for the best. I'm making some decisions on the fly, and it feels like the adventure quotient is beginning to ratchet up. And that's fine, I'm not too nervous, though I prefer not to think about some of the stuff that could happen if say the passport doesn't make it back in time, or I can't figure out what to do from the Hanoi airport. Ah screw it, it'll all be fine, right?
Of course it will... (insert 'whistling past the graveyard music')
You have to give up your passport when you apply for a visa and they airmail it off to the consulate in Vientiane where they process the information and the money and then send your passport back to you. It allegedly arrives back here at 4:30 Monday, (don't worry, there's never a problem) and then I'll take a tuk tuk to the bus station to catch my ride.
To use my visa card for the airline ticket, I rode on the back of a motorcycle driven by his younger assistant (slight whiff of alcohol at 8am), no helmets, what could happen?, to the main office of the agency, where the two young women were watching some adventure TV show while they dealt with my credit card. Occassionally they'd look over at the set when the music changed, so as not to miss any plot twists. It wasn't quite the way it's done in the US, but like I say, Blind Faith, and all will be well?
There's some different Mojo going on during this stage of the trip, and rather than the relaxed, internal meditation of the Chiang Mai chapter, I feel like I'm keeping some balls in the air and hoping for the best. I'm making some decisions on the fly, and it feels like the adventure quotient is beginning to ratchet up. And that's fine, I'm not too nervous, though I prefer not to think about some of the stuff that could happen if say the passport doesn't make it back in time, or I can't figure out what to do from the Hanoi airport. Ah screw it, it'll all be fine, right?
Of course it will... (insert 'whistling past the graveyard music')
Paying the Piper
Went down to a travel place to see about the possibilities for making it into Vietnam in time for Tet on Feb 3. It's do-able, but I'm gonna have to pay the price for leaving it til the last minute.... not that I'd change a thing, as the day to day check-in seemed truer than any fixed itinerary. But now that I've uprooted from chillin' in Chiang Mai, I'm ready to push it a little bit and put on some miles.
The best option would have been a direct flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi, but they're sold out, so I have to go south through Vientienne and then connect to Hanoi. I could fly to Vientienne, but the connection isn't good so I'm looking at an overnight, 12 hour bus ride and then a flight that puts me into Hanoi on the 1st of Feb. in the late afternoon. Then I'll have to figure out how to get to Lan Anhs mom's house the next day, or maybe later that same day. There's also the matter of the visa, which is $90 for a month's stay in Vietnam, but that can't be helped.
It would be easy to just say, forget it, do something else, but there's a huge draw in seeing my Vietnamese friend, and more than that, I'm REALLY ready to get off the gringo trail and get away from 'where you from?' 'how long are you traveling' It's been too easy, too tourist centered, and it's time to get off that train. So I'm gonna spend the money and stay up all night as some kind of penance, that hopefully puts me into a non-tourist environment. That's the theory anyhow, and once I lay the money down tomorrow morning, It's a go. I'm ready.
The best option would have been a direct flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi, but they're sold out, so I have to go south through Vientienne and then connect to Hanoi. I could fly to Vientienne, but the connection isn't good so I'm looking at an overnight, 12 hour bus ride and then a flight that puts me into Hanoi on the 1st of Feb. in the late afternoon. Then I'll have to figure out how to get to Lan Anhs mom's house the next day, or maybe later that same day. There's also the matter of the visa, which is $90 for a month's stay in Vietnam, but that can't be helped.
It would be easy to just say, forget it, do something else, but there's a huge draw in seeing my Vietnamese friend, and more than that, I'm REALLY ready to get off the gringo trail and get away from 'where you from?' 'how long are you traveling' It's been too easy, too tourist centered, and it's time to get off that train. So I'm gonna spend the money and stay up all night as some kind of penance, that hopefully puts me into a non-tourist environment. That's the theory anyhow, and once I lay the money down tomorrow morning, It's a go. I'm ready.
Rhymes two and three
Mekong King on a slow boat like a rowboat
Tobacco smoking tourists, purists, professors, low stressers
Headin down the waterway, land before Saturday
Heritage City, French style pretty
Fill up, rest stop, Pang Bang next stop
What was i thinking, everybody drinkin
They talk incessantly, sound is depressing me
Can't you take a breather, even the geezers go
Flapping their gum gum, why's it so humdrum
Silence is golden, insight to beholden
What's there to say, Jack, I heard it all way back
When I judge 'em, start to begrudge 'em
It's my reflection, self inspection
Ball breaker, that's me, check the history
Loud mouth critic, What's up wid it?
Time for a chill pill, take one? yes I will
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't know why they can't show some respect
Maybe act like a guest, not some drunken pestilence
Loud with your cronies, proud but it's phony
Ain't nothin' behind it, you're blinded, can't find it
Those rad tattoos and ratty hairdos
Won't hide an inside that's tacky and lacking
In substance and story, sorry it's boring
Whoring is whoring
Is it some fear of being alone?
Having a thought, taking a shot?
Leaving the herd, getting free like a bird
When the words all matter and the colors spatter
With your own secret pattern against the sky, Give it a try
Nothing to lose but the blues of banality
And that chump mentality, ain't no guarantee
But that's how you roll it, don't really control it
See what you're made of and what you're afraid of.
Tobacco smoking tourists, purists, professors, low stressers
Headin down the waterway, land before Saturday
Heritage City, French style pretty
Fill up, rest stop, Pang Bang next stop
What was i thinking, everybody drinkin
They talk incessantly, sound is depressing me
Can't you take a breather, even the geezers go
Flapping their gum gum, why's it so humdrum
Silence is golden, insight to beholden
What's there to say, Jack, I heard it all way back
When I judge 'em, start to begrudge 'em
It's my reflection, self inspection
Ball breaker, that's me, check the history
Loud mouth critic, What's up wid it?
Time for a chill pill, take one? yes I will
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't know why they can't show some respect
Maybe act like a guest, not some drunken pestilence
Loud with your cronies, proud but it's phony
Ain't nothin' behind it, you're blinded, can't find it
Those rad tattoos and ratty hairdos
Won't hide an inside that's tacky and lacking
In substance and story, sorry it's boring
Whoring is whoring
Is it some fear of being alone?
Having a thought, taking a shot?
Leaving the herd, getting free like a bird
When the words all matter and the colors spatter
With your own secret pattern against the sky, Give it a try
Nothing to lose but the blues of banality
And that chump mentality, ain't no guarantee
But that's how you roll it, don't really control it
See what you're made of and what you're afraid of.
Luang Prabang, Laos
Well it took 3 days, one of them in a van, two of them on these cool 'slow boats' down the Mekong River, into the historic and beautiful city of Luang Prabang. At least they tell me it's historic and beautiful, but I haven't had a chance yet to explore. The town is fairly thick with visitors, and there were no openings at the first three guest houses I checked with, so I was happy to find the last room in a nice and friendly place, and there's even a computer or two for the guests to use. Et voila, I get to get back online.... something I missed while on the river.
Since it's the 'high season' in this part of the world, there are many westerners interested in making the same trip I did, with the result that the boats were oversold and crowded. There were a hundred on our boat that should hold about 60, but it wasn't too bad, like those ferries that keep going down in Sri Lanka, for instance, but it was tight. And they managed to get the numbers down and not have to put another boat on the route by giving us a little talk about how there might not be electricity in the first night's stayover... and with the mosquitos and malaria and all.... if you want to take the air conditioned bus, it will only cost you an extra ten bucks. Sounded like a bit of a scam, which it likely was, but some 20 people went for it and the company managed to cram us into two boats instead of three. Ah sweet capitalism!
The Mekong is muddy, about a hundred yards wide on average during this stretch, and wends through beautiful hilly jungle into the interior of Laos. It was a relaxing ride, watching water buffalo, the occassional elephant, fishermen, gold miners panning for sparkly stuff, small villages, a fair amount of low-to-the-water flatboat traffic, kids running along the shoreline, sun shining, wind cooling.
We arrived at the stopover town, 'Pak Ben', something like that, and we disembarked to find a bunch of locals showing us pictures of the guest houses we could stay at cheaply. I got off the boat early, so I had my pick of places and was happy to find a ten dollar room with a private shower and a nice family. It's always nice to lay the pack down and know that you're covered.
Not surprisingly, a large percentage of the town's economy is geared to the 150-200 westerners who come through daily, so there were many stores where we could supply up for tomorrow, get our water and sandwiches and whatever else. Among the 'whatever else' was some contraband material. The girl who hooked me up with the room is the daughter of the owners. She's 21, cute, has a kid, and her English is pretty good. In the evening, she asked if I wanted to order some breakfast for the following morning. Do you want some beer, cigarettes, water, weed? I said, 'did you say weed'. She said, yeah, a lot of the travelers want weed. Uh, no thanks, but hey, talk about your full service guest houses. Who knew?
A few young men from the town were also trying to sell pot or opium to the westerners, which felt a little sad. Also sad was the behavior of some of the younger tourists, many of whom got roaring drunk on the boat, knocking down shots of straight vodka after a bunch of beers, and getting loud and obnoxious. One Irish girl passed out and had to be helped and cared for. Way to go, Molly Malone.
On the boat ride yesterday, I was feeling quite musical, and I first wrote a little jazz tune that I liked, and even came up with some solid lyrics, so it was a one-shot song creation, and it's a tune that fits into that 1930's type stuff that I love so well. I'll be using it for sure, and for sure I'll intro it by saying I wrote it on a boat that was floating down the Mekong River in Laos.
One little glance, a bit of a look
Was there a chance? I put down the book
That's all that it took
A little word, and after a while.....
I caught a little smile
And oh what a world would open up that night
A boy and a girl, destiny and delight
Who could have known that the rapture of romance
Would all begin with one little glance
Glauber, you are a retro dude.... But it's a good tune, you'll like it, kinda Cole Porterish (if I do say so.... and I do)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spent today's ride next to a 54 year old guy from Menorca (Spain) and we had some good conversation, 90 percent of it in Spanish. His best line. 'Nos ven como billetes con patas' 'they see us as dollar bills with feet' (rough translation, talking about how the Laotians see us). The younger crowd was more sedate, and undoubtedly hung over, so it was a pleasant 8 hour cruise into Luang Prabang. It's night time now so I'll go and find some dinner, get my bearings and start researching what it's gonna take to get a visa into Vietnam. I have about 6 days to get to where I'm going, north of Hanoi so it will be good to get the process going now so I have time to explore this area... Deep breath, glad to be here and located. Let's see what's up...
Since it's the 'high season' in this part of the world, there are many westerners interested in making the same trip I did, with the result that the boats were oversold and crowded. There were a hundred on our boat that should hold about 60, but it wasn't too bad, like those ferries that keep going down in Sri Lanka, for instance, but it was tight. And they managed to get the numbers down and not have to put another boat on the route by giving us a little talk about how there might not be electricity in the first night's stayover... and with the mosquitos and malaria and all.... if you want to take the air conditioned bus, it will only cost you an extra ten bucks. Sounded like a bit of a scam, which it likely was, but some 20 people went for it and the company managed to cram us into two boats instead of three. Ah sweet capitalism!
The Mekong is muddy, about a hundred yards wide on average during this stretch, and wends through beautiful hilly jungle into the interior of Laos. It was a relaxing ride, watching water buffalo, the occassional elephant, fishermen, gold miners panning for sparkly stuff, small villages, a fair amount of low-to-the-water flatboat traffic, kids running along the shoreline, sun shining, wind cooling.
We arrived at the stopover town, 'Pak Ben', something like that, and we disembarked to find a bunch of locals showing us pictures of the guest houses we could stay at cheaply. I got off the boat early, so I had my pick of places and was happy to find a ten dollar room with a private shower and a nice family. It's always nice to lay the pack down and know that you're covered.
Not surprisingly, a large percentage of the town's economy is geared to the 150-200 westerners who come through daily, so there were many stores where we could supply up for tomorrow, get our water and sandwiches and whatever else. Among the 'whatever else' was some contraband material. The girl who hooked me up with the room is the daughter of the owners. She's 21, cute, has a kid, and her English is pretty good. In the evening, she asked if I wanted to order some breakfast for the following morning. Do you want some beer, cigarettes, water, weed? I said, 'did you say weed'. She said, yeah, a lot of the travelers want weed. Uh, no thanks, but hey, talk about your full service guest houses. Who knew?
A few young men from the town were also trying to sell pot or opium to the westerners, which felt a little sad. Also sad was the behavior of some of the younger tourists, many of whom got roaring drunk on the boat, knocking down shots of straight vodka after a bunch of beers, and getting loud and obnoxious. One Irish girl passed out and had to be helped and cared for. Way to go, Molly Malone.
On the boat ride yesterday, I was feeling quite musical, and I first wrote a little jazz tune that I liked, and even came up with some solid lyrics, so it was a one-shot song creation, and it's a tune that fits into that 1930's type stuff that I love so well. I'll be using it for sure, and for sure I'll intro it by saying I wrote it on a boat that was floating down the Mekong River in Laos.
One little glance, a bit of a look
Was there a chance? I put down the book
That's all that it took
A little word, and after a while.....
I caught a little smile
And oh what a world would open up that night
A boy and a girl, destiny and delight
Who could have known that the rapture of romance
Would all begin with one little glance
Glauber, you are a retro dude.... But it's a good tune, you'll like it, kinda Cole Porterish (if I do say so.... and I do)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spent today's ride next to a 54 year old guy from Menorca (Spain) and we had some good conversation, 90 percent of it in Spanish. His best line. 'Nos ven como billetes con patas' 'they see us as dollar bills with feet' (rough translation, talking about how the Laotians see us). The younger crowd was more sedate, and undoubtedly hung over, so it was a pleasant 8 hour cruise into Luang Prabang. It's night time now so I'll go and find some dinner, get my bearings and start researching what it's gonna take to get a visa into Vietnam. I have about 6 days to get to where I'm going, north of Hanoi so it will be good to get the process going now so I have time to explore this area... Deep breath, glad to be here and located. Let's see what's up...
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