Laos: Women Hitting On Monks, Aliens and Responsible Traveling People! Jan 2000

Stories of a Back Packing Addict

Well here we are in the year 2000. I have to admit I was a little disappointed to see there were NO Y2K troubles at all on our beloved cultural imperialistic CNN.com.. Bummer. I was hoping the world would have to suffer a little after all that HYPE. Even the Titanic was less disappointing. Hmm. I quite liked that movie actually.

Here I am leaving Luang Prabang FINALLY. Was supposed to leave two days ago, but seemed like the goodbyes were going on forever, and things had to be visited ONE MORE TIME before I could really say goodbye to this lovely city with all the old and new Buddhist monasteries and big old trees.

I will miss it.

Pet (diamond) my darling little tiger has grown much in the last two months and today as I crouched down to take a photo the little monster leapt at me! Too bad it turned out I had NO FILM in the camera! Thank you Crusty. He finished the film and didn’t tell me, and so there goes the last 36 shots. Into memory they go.

She has loads of thick fur and big paws now. She can climb trees and chase chickens. She still jumps on my lap and start to bite but soon she will be too big to play with. I am so lucky to be one of about ten people who were allowed to go close. Thank you forever, Nic.

I hate the poacher for killing her mother and stealing her and her brothers from the forest. She will never be able to go back to the wild. She’s the only survivor too. They are going to put her in a cage. Makes me want to cry thinking about it. Just leave them alone!! She shouldn’t be here in the first place, and now she’s going to spend her life being gawked at.

As I snivel, I know my Calvin and Hobbs fantasy ends here I suppose. I will come back one day to see her, but she will be behind bars… now I am really crying.. the woman is looking concerned, I told her I was homesick. She is so nice, I took her to dinner once. I am going to miss her too.

Anyway, the new years was a quiet one, but a few minutes after the stoke of midnight there were red things in the sky flying around incredible far off the ground, and I have never seen so much ridiculous fear in my life. Nic was going on about the end of the world and how Laos missiles were flying out, this crazy tourist woman on the street was crying. Crusty is yelling “It’s the ALIENS!! THEY ARE COMING” which I have to admit was a bit of comic relief considering people REALLY thought they were some missiles or bombs.

ALl I could say was… “Don’t be ridiculous… it’s some sort of fireworks or something….. Can we stop freaking because if it is the end of the world, if it really is missiles there is nothing I can do about it, and anyway.. considering how useless most of us have been about war machinery.. we deserve it, and I really prefer to go with a beer in my hand.”

Of course my monologue was ignored and I had to stand there looking at what turned out to be THAI BALLOON FLARES…. set of by a German man who lives here, who ended up in jail for an evening for whatever reason. Poor guy.

Anyway I am FINALLY ready to go home. My brand new sketcher shoes are on their last legs, the toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, and hand cream is running out. I am kinda getting a little homesick and want to see some of you, and call others. Homesick? What? Yeah.. really.

I am looking forward to returning to Hanoi because HO Chi Min is back from Russia from his yearly pickling, and I will go see him. Once I have done that.. I would have seen all the great dead pickled communist leaders in the bag. What collection!

Lenin, Mao, and finally Uncle Ho. Tell you what, the minute Castro goes, I am flying to cuba! The funny part is, Lenin is now buried next to his mom like he wanted, so I can honestly say there aren’t many people in the free world (Yes I use that sarcastically) that can claim that one! Maybe good old communists around somewhere can say the same.

I got hit on by a monk today, he was very sleazy and insisted on me going into his room. I said NO, of course. I have heard of women making out with novices, and I have read love letters written by monks to their foreign girlfriends, and have always always been puzzled by how it happened.

No Longer! It all makes sense now that old monk said the worse part about westerners coming to Laos is how promiscuous foreign women are with Lao men. I guess if they are going of with monks.. there is no telling what they do otherwise. Makes me sick. it’s like.. heard of RESPONCIBLE TRAVELING people??

What a shock. My last bastion of religious romanticism is has been washed away today. No more religion. Buddhism is as corrupt, mismanaged, and uses the scare tactics as everything else.

I don’t remember if I told you, but I considered going into a nunnery for a week to meditate, but after I talked to the head nun who said I would be welcome, I went into the Peaceful Temple and looked at all the murals. Many of them are of hell, and what happens to people who kill, like sex too much, eat meat, lie, steal, and the various violent things that are done to them in full color.

So similar to Christianity really. I decided that Buddhism wasn’t this peaceful philosophy I had always imagined it to be.

I should run because Nic is sitting outside waiting and I think he wants to eat….

Bye bye

Hope your new year was as uneventful as mine. Dying to know what the rest of you did.

Yan

All Laos 1999-2000 Entries