Where everybody knows your name

It’s nice once in a while to have some familiarity in the midst of all the transience of travel. It’s nice to walk up to a fruit shake stand and for the woman making the shakes to ask, “the same?” and to prepare your shake exactly the way you love it, even though the last time you were there was a week ago and you never thought that she’d remember you (although you had hoped she would). It’s nice to walk down a street and say hi (or “sabaidee” over here in Laos) to people you recognize, or who recognize you. It’s comforting to have a preferred food stall, or restaurant for dinner, and to know exactly where to go for the best fresh spring rolls, rice soup, rice pancakes, or even plain and simple mashed potatoes.

Laos has been a welcome experience in familiarity. For the first time since I started travelling I’ve allowed myself to stop, and to just “be” for a bit, with no pressure to go anywhere or to do anything, with the notable exception of the damned waterfall last week in Lunag Prabang, definitely a worthy exception. It’s been refreshing, and I have to admit that it’s exactly what I needed. Three weeks ago when I left India I left with the feeling that I was done with traveling. For some reason I didn’t really feel like I needed to keep going anymore, I felt like I’d accomplished all that I’d aimed to achieve on my travels, although I couldn’t actually tell you what those aims were. If I didn’t have other plane tickets booked, and other plans made, I could very easily have just picked up and gone home. I think that’s one of the reasons why the two weeks I spent in Thailand were so difficult for me. Thailand threw me into the mode of a tourist, when at that stage I was done, and all I wanted to do was act like a traveller. A tourist tries to “see” everything, and will more than likely be moving around quite a lot, while a traveller is more interested in “experiencing”, and will be on the move a lot less, preferring to stay in one spot for a few day at a time to get a feel of the place, rather than race from place to place. Of course the two overlap all the time, but when you’re on the road for an extended period of time, you find that there are times when you prefer to be in the “experiencing”, and more lazy mode a lot more than in the “seeing” mode.

I arrived in Luang Prabang with no idea how long I’d stay. In the end I stayed for four days before moving on to Muang Ngoi, a place I only heard about by chance. During the time I was in LP I established a routine. I’d scavenge breakfast from the street market a minute away from the guesthouse, which would usually consist of rice pancakes, snow peas and a fruit shake, give or take some vegetables and fruit and maybe a coffee. Lunch was hit and miss, depending on the day and where i was when I got hungry. I watched the sun go down every evening at my trusty wifi spot, the Vieadesa café (or at least that was the name of the wifi connection there), with an incredible sunset view of the Mekong, and had dinner at the awesome vegetarian buffet, generally with another fruit shake plus or minus some delicious baby rice pancakes to follow. It’s no wonder the fruit shake lady recognized me! By the way, for those who are wondering, the winning fruit shake combination is as follows: banana, mango and pineapple blended together, with passionfruit mixed in at the end and blended for only a couple more seconds to prevent the pulp being crushed too much. Delicious!

Muang Ngoi was my paradise. It’s a small village on the banks of the Nam Oh River, which has started to become popular with tourists, yet it still retains much of the small village feel. While I love the ocean, I have never been so comfortable spending hours on the beach, probably because of my body image issues, of which I unfortunately have many. Water has always been my haven though, whether sea, river, lake or even just a swimming pool or pond. Of the moments that I can remember over the past year or so that I have truly felt relaxed and at peace, most of them are related to water, with examples being weekends spent camping on the Jordan River in August-September last year, and my first weekend in Nepal back in October relaxing for hours in the gorgeous waters of Begnas Tal. It’s no wonder that Laos has been so calming for me, with the mighty Mekong winding its way through the country, with various tributaries and other vast rivers snaking their way through other areas, visible at almost every turn.

In Muang Ngoi I treated myself to a river-view bungalow, with its own balcony and hammocks, and a “room service” option which meant that I theoretically didn’t have to leave my hammock. If course I didn’t avail myself of the room service option until the very last morning, preferring to explore the town and find my own places to relax. I spent most days by the river; either on the banks of the river, at cafes overlooking the river, or climbing impossibly steep rock formations to get a view of the river from up high. I woke up early every morning, both by choice and thanks to the overwhelming amount of roosters vying for attention, opening my door to reveal the early morning sight of the mists enveloping the mountains, the river boats revving up and the sleepy village awakening into activity. Over buffet breakfasts, I would watch the mist slowly evaporating to reveal the majestic riverside mountain peaks and feel the heat of the sun start to beat down. It was a peaceful morning routine, after which the day would follow its own pattern, usually based on how tired I was, or on the erratic behaviour of my permanently unsettled stomach. I stayed in Muang Ngoi for five nights, the longest I’ve stayed in one spot during the past few months, with the exception of Varkala in India, the location of my failed Ayurveda treatment, and Unawatuna in Sri Lanka, where we stayed for six days instead of the planned four, because we didn’t have the energy or will to move to the next location.

Leaving Muang Ngoi was bittersweet. It felt right to leave when I did, especially since a boatload of my fellow countrymen had arrived the day before, including some people I knew, changing the atmosphere and putting pressure on me to be sociable at a time when I was enjoying my relative solitude. When they arrived, I knew it was time to go. I said goodbye to the owners of the guesthouse, who had been wonderful to me, and a special goodbye to the grandmother, with whom I communicated in depth numerous times, although neither of us could understand each other’s language.

After a long and exhausting day, I finally made it back to Luang Prabang where the wifi connected as soon as I reached the city center, thanks to a previously saved password, and where I checked into a guesthouse, run by the same people from my previous stay, who remembered and welcomed me. I went to get my shake and my delicious baby rice pancakes, and deviated from my usual routine by heading down to the beach to watch the sunset. I made my way back to my favourite vegetarian buffet table, and piled a plate high, savouring the delicious and familiar flavours. And of course I got another fruit shake.

I’ve spent the last couple of days in Vang Vieng, notorious party town on the bans of the Nam Song River, which I have to admit that I haven’t really enjoyed so much. The place is pretty, with a gorgeous river and mountain views, but when you’re traveling alone and not in the mind space for partying, being in a place where most of the young people are congregating in groups and the bar scene is the highlight, can be a bit uncomfortable. Lucky for me, I found myself a fun dinner partner, and we’ve been checking out the restaurant scene here. After trawling the streets last night looking for something different to the usual street fare, we found a great Indian place and had an awesome meal, with the best “alu gobi” (potatoes and cauliflower) I’ve eaten since India. It was a nice change from the Lao food that I’ve been consuming for the past almost two weeks. I've also been relaxing with random people I met on the the bus to Vang Vieng and a friend from Muang Ngoi, eating Israeli breakfasts at Victor’s, and watching the non-stop Friends marathons that are screened at some of the restaurant, a marathon that has apparently been running repeatedly for over ten years.

Laos is beautiful, but most of its beauty is found in nature, with gorgeous river views and mountain vistas, and natural attractions such as caves and waterfalls. There aren’t many other types of attractions, except for the temples that are found in every city. Historically there are remnants from the Vietnam War that can be found in the east, but if you’re not trekking to the villages, or kayaking through the rapids, there’s not so much to do except for relax. While relaxing is definitely a good thing, and I’ve really enjoyed my time here, I am definitely ready to move on. From what I have experienced here, if you’re not traveling with people, or joining organized tours, as a solo female traveller who has trouble walking long distances, it can be difficult to get to some of the remote areas alone and to really appreciate the real Laos. Luckily, there’s still enough authentic Laos to experience that isn’t so far off the beaten track, and I’m glad to have managed to experience part of it.

I’ve been taking it relatively easy for the last almost two months since coming back from Sri Lanka, and I have to admit that I’ve started to become restless. Laos has been a great interlude, but as someone who in real life never stays still for too long, I am itching to get up and to start moving again. It’s no wonder that I’ve spent the last few days obsessively researching, booking and organizing my spontaneous upcoming trip to Vietnam. When I landed in Laos almost two weeks ago I made a decision to give Vietnam a miss and to just take it easy for the next month in Laos and Cambodia, but after recognizing that I would probably go crazy without some stimulation, I decided that Vietnam would be good idea after all and that I should actually plan in advance in order to see and experience as much as possible in the short time I’ll be there. I have exactly one month until I board the plane to Australia and in the end I’ll be dividing that time between here, Vietnam and Cambodia. I’ll be arriving in Vietnam just in time for Purim and I’m really looking forward to celebrating for the first time in two years, after being in Ireland last year for Purim and "celebrating" at the St Paddy’s day parade in Dublin instead of at a proper Purim party. While Dublin was great, and our Purim seudah (meal) at the pub was fun, I’m looking forward to a bit of traditional festivities.

Tomorrow I’m off to Vientiane, sleepy capital of Laos for a few days and from there I will say goodbye to the lovely familiarity that is Laos and board a plane which will take me to Hanoi in north Vietnam. I’m really looking forward to the next month and to all that it will bring, my last month in Asia before heading to Australia and embarking on a very different trip with a whole new set of experiences and expectations. Vietnam is supposed to be awesome, and I’m really glad I decided to not be lazy and to give it a chance. I hope that it’s all I’m expecting it to be and I have to admit that this time, for the first time in a long time I actually do have high hopes.