slow boat from china

actually not a boat, but every other type of transportation.
after 4 straight days of overnight trains, overnight busses, and one flight, i've finally made it to laos from china. made some critical traveller errors by buying a ticket from hong kong ahead of time, not booking a train ticket to laos in time, and so on. i broke my own cardinal rule of buying a ticket ahead of time instead of buying as i go. anyway, had to stop in bangkok (yuk) for a night as well as chiang rai in thailand. today, i crossed the mighty mekong river, and now i'm finally in laos at the border town of huay xai. border towns are usually not too exciting, but this one isn't bad (for one night that is). there's a buddhist temple at the top of the hill with beautiful views across the mekong towards thailand (would post pics, but with super slow ancient dialup, the process would take a week).

planning on getting out to luang nam tha for a trek or mountain bike ride, then luang prabang which is a UNESCO world heritage site...the entire town is. looking forward to a lot slower pace of life. already, it's like a breath of fresh air after the busy polluted cities that make up china. the people are warmer and friendlier, buddhist monks walking around everywhere, and even the border crossing officials are laid back and friendly.
although, it's pretty surreal at this internet place. these two kids (maybe 9 or 10 years old), keep yelling 'yu fukked yup, yu fukked up'...really weird. the parents are right here to. the australian couple next to me just looked at me, i looked back, and we both had our eyes bugging out till we started to laugh.....these surreal situations make every moment of travel an adventure. and, i think the parents might need to restrict their kids viewing habits and internet time.

anyway, don't know when i'll post again. not till luang prabang which is a bit more on the tourist trail. pretty rural right now, and internet is hard to come by....and really, really sllloooooowwwwww. till next time --- peace, love and Dónde está Ché Pelotas?'