It's Bohemian

September 5th, 2010 was one of the most amazing days of my life. It changed the way I look at the world. Let me explain…

After a quick month in Cambodia, I found myself on a bus crossing the border into Laos. I was proud of my neat, new visa stamp in my passport, but slightly worried that my passport is becoming too full, too fast?! Alas, I arrived at the 4,000 islands alongside the mighty Mekong River in Don Khon, Laos.

We spent a few days lazily hanging in hammocks, reading books, playing cards, eating local food, playing in the rain, and adventure biking all over the islands. I often contemplated if the size of the locals smiles was directly correlated to the laid-back, relaxed style of life here?…We spent a couple more days admiring the graceful flow of the Mekong, watching long, thin boats float rapidly downstream, and making friends with the local children between their schooling hours. Life was simple here as we lived in our hut for 5 dollars a day, but we decided our time was limited in Laos, before heading to India, and reluctantly needed to move to our next destination- Pakse, Laos.  

September 5th, 2010 became an unexpected delight. I awoke at about 9:30, went in search of a tailor to customize the Laos skirt I bought at a market, scavenged for breakfast (and ended up finding a DELICIOUS noodle stand that served excellent Iced Coffee with Sweet Milk) and rented a motorcycle for the day. I have had plenty of experience driving motorbikes around South East Asia, but they have all been Automatics. Today, I decided to put on my big girl panties and ride a manual. It felt different, but I easily adapted. My best friend, James, and I rode off into the wind in search of Plateaus, waterfalls, and new adventures. It wasn't too hot and the rainy season was nice to us, deciding to only sprinkle instead of drenching us in a downpour. The ride was smooth and free…until I crashed the motorcycle!! I thought I had a flat tire so turned to look behind me as I was going about about 30 kilometers per hour down a steep, gravely hill. I didn't realize how fast I was hauling down these backroads until the foot break did something funky, and my handle bars started convulsing uncontrollably and for a moment I regained control, but before I knew what happened I was thrown/jumped off my bike, barrel-rolling forward on the 'pavement,' the bike dropped and skidded to a halt, James looked pretty shaken up near the ditch, with his foot stuck under the bike- but not to worry!…There was no bloodshed or broken bones. We walked away with minor scratches…although that bike had seen better days. Lots of bent metal. I was just  impressed that I managed to keep both my flip flops on and protect my electronics and mangoes that were in my bag!… A little perturbed, we cautiously hopped back on the bike and arrived at the Waterfall 5 minutes later.

The location of this waterfall was made into a kind of tourist resort. It was a very natural setting, using the earths materials to provide the snazzy ambience. You could take elephant rides to visit local villages, or cross rickety old bamboo bridges to get a get a panoramic view of the Tad Champee Waterfall. It was really refreshing, but after 'suffering' through what could have been serious trauma, we decided we needed a nice relaxing drink and a game of cards. Muay Thai Fighting was playing on a rather clear screen, and I sipped my Rose Herb tea while whooping James in cards. I am always in awe of the beating the martial artists take. Satisfied with the last bloody bout, we decided to head back to that bright red bike and again assess the damages.

In renting motorcycles, we are responsible for any destruction. I wasn't about to pay quadruple the price, so I knew I had to find a man in a shack on the side of the road to help me fix it! After several failed attempts, I gave up. The communication barrier with the pleasant Laos locals wasn't the problem, it was the bent handle bar that needed replacing. We carried along our merry way, with James sitting quietly on the back of the bike, worried that we would wipe out again. After an unsettling ride back to the main roads, we decided we needed to pull over for a stretch.  

The sun started falling as we stumbled upon a lovely little bridge, which was never finished being built. It was overlooking a serene pond, with a trickling stream, and lots of green around us. There was misty mountain tops in the distance and a bright sun illuminating the sky behind that. We sat and continued to reflect on how bad our crash could have been, meanwhile adoring the environment around us. A little old lady and her husband pulled their motorbikes over beside ours and proceeded to walk down near the water. It looked like she was taking off her clothes, and I didn't want to be a voyeur, but I also wasn't quite ready to leave yet. She ended up getting in the water up to her waist in a t-shirt and rolled up pants, while searching for prawn. Her husband silently observing, smoking cigarettes.

Then I heard James tell me, "Don't freak out….but…there's a gigantic insect on you!"… With my mind racing, I slowly glanced down only to see a dragon fly! It was fairly large and had flown into me while I was driving down the road. It was probably stuck there for 30 minutes before it was noticed. I pulled it off and laid it on the railing next to us. While appraising it's impressive wing structure, and it's pulsating body, we got up close and personal with this neat little creature and took plenty of photographs and video footage. It wasn't until about 15 minutes of solid examination that we realized it's head was ripped off and hanging by a thread. I felt so horrible for this animal, and although I don't fully believe in reincarnation, I put it out of its' misery hoping it would come back as something stronger.

This 'spot' we had chosen to chill at was such a beautiful setting, with the purest of nature around. It made me feel so alive and healthy. We decided to carry on with our journey, but I really wanted to keep exploring the remote back roads we were on and continue following the good omens. It was a great decision, because what I saw next was what opened my eyes.

Riding free down the road gives one such a sense of freedom- Off to my left was ginormous green mountains covered in trees, providing crispy fresh air, wisps of happy clouds flowing around them, and the sun setting between the magnificent hills providing the sky around it with warm, comfortable colors. On my right was clusters of villages of simply constructed dwellings raised high on stilts in case of floods. The shirtless brown men would play football (American soccer), while the kids would play in streams or amuse themselves with toys made of sticks. The women would be cleaning dishes, washing clothes in buckets of river water, or chopping away at bloody meat with a shiny butchers knife in hand while chatting amongst themselves. The chickens were busy pecking at the ground and crowing obnoxiously, while the flea bitten dogs would either sit in the middle of the road, play fight with other dogs, rummage for food, or bark at the few passerby's. You'd see wild pigs living along side the locals, and would often have to stop our bike to wait for the burly bulls to take their time crossing the road.

This was life made simple out here.

No high-rises to block the sun, no electricity to distract you from duties, and no smoggy haze from carbon emissions… This city girl was in great appreciation of the naturally  harmonious elements providing such a relaxed atmosphere, but the thing that made it undeniably exceptional, was every smile on the Laoatians faces. Never in my life have I felt such a sincere, warm, 'thank you for experiencing this' feeling from a group of people. I exchanged smiles with everyone in my path and was amazed at how these locals…poor as could be, performing back-breaking farming every day…were so happy to see me. The young girls would look at me in  amazement- The little boys would hope they have a new friend to play with, women would look at me and wonder my story, and the men…well…who knows what they were thinking?…This random journey into the unknown provided me with such an appreciative and enlightened heart. It made me really FEEL the dynamic of family. It made me FEEL the amiable locals hearts. It made me FEEL simplicity. And it made me ADMIRE life for what it is. It was genuinely one of the most illuminating moments in my life. I rode away with the highest of sprirts.

To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to coming to Laos. After exploring the rest of South East Asia (with the exception of Indonesia & the Phillipines) I though I had covered all I need to see…How could things be that much different there?…Every fellow traveller I ran into before coming to Laos seemed to be at a loss for words about how exactly to describe the place, but all said how beautiful it was and that they enjoyed it. This is a common thing to hear from everyone who has gone abroad and out of their comfort zone…"This place was AMAZING" or "Wow, that place was so beautiful." You can read about it, hear about it, and watch it on TV or in movies, but unless you have been to that place- you will never understand the magnitude of it…You simply have to see for yourself to understand.

We continued on our way home, hoping to get back to the town of Pakse before it got too dark, but I was still in search of gear to fix the damn broken motorcycle. I stopped at a long row of shacks where there seemed to be lots of activity. I found a piece that was needed and bought the part, that would have been $100 bucks back in the US, for $2!!… Now, I just needed someone to install it and some of the minor damage to the bike would be gone. So, we continued wandering the dirt roads until one of the shacks caught my eye. It was 5 drunken Vietnamese men blaring karaoke, singing, drinking, and laughing hysterically. I slowed down while passing to observe their belligerence, and before I knew it- was holding the mike in my hand trying to think of a song they might know. Although no one had any idea what was being said by the other party, we had a blast laughing at the party popper who drank too much and passed out early, attempting to sing along to the foreign syllables flashing across the screen, and venturing to guess what was being said by the men in this filthy old shack. The only thing I really understood was, "I-am-Vietnam" being said over and over by the main man in a drunken stupor.

Now, normally I would pounce on the opportunity to fully experience a locals' culture, but when they offered me some of what they were drinking, (which I was hoping they would!) I took a look at the homemade bottle of…rice whiskey?… and saw chunks of what I think was charcoal at the bottom and opted out. Anything that kills that many brain cells is bound to be a good time, but I had a mission to get my bike fixed. We shared a couple more laughs, and I was able to make out, "forget-me-not" as I was leaving. I tried to assure these debauched Vietnamese that I never would forget them, and continued on my way.

After another failed attempt, we drove back into town deciding to deal with this motorbike mess in the morning. James was mostly silent as we road along- I'm pretty sure he was still shaken by the anguish of our first crash- but that little wipe out didn't phase me in the slightest. I learned to never break on a hill of loose gravel, and that my acrobatic recovery skills were pretty impressive. The vanilla sky above me left me speechless…and somewhat hungry (the clouds had evolved to closely resemble cotton candy- my fav!)

We had developed quite a hunger throughout our venturesome day, so we went to a highly acclaimed Indian Restaurant where we quickly saw an Austrian friend we had met in previous cities. We quickly swapped stories and ordered half of the menu (for $7) When a stranger behind us asked to join our table. Of course we obliged and really enjoyed his company throughout the duration of our meal. His name was Felix and he was German. He was a true traveler, had been all over the world, and his stories certainly reflected this. My favorite story he told was how he was looking for work in Australia, called a number posted on a board next to a grocery store, and all the sudden he found himself picking pearls out of clams of on the coast of a private island bought by a wealthy wallstreet broker. The island was infested by alligators so as they worked, people with guns would keep an eye out for any gator coming too close. They lived and worked on this island for months, killing their meals, hunting wild pig with nothing but knifes, hoping the small airplane would come and deliver goods to live off. He had been injured and sick many times thought his travels and his body reflected this. He showed us his battle scars which accompanied enthralling stories. We talked about how some travelers aren't as respectful to people and their cultures as they should be. He was so passionate about this subject. I tried my hardest not to giggle at his thick german accent as he was complaining about ill-mannered backpackers and how they have changed for the worse throughout the years…He was an unforgettable character. I wish I could have recorded his stories and put them on youtube. Yall would have got a real kick out of him!!

We ended the day with a much needed shower, sterilized our petty wounds, and went to bed early. Since I enjoyed the sunset outside of town so much, I really wanted to enjoy sunrise outside of town as well! After what took some skilled debating, James reluctantly decided  to join me the next morning, and we rode off with half a tank of gas, and a calm morning breeze tickling our skin. I'm sure James was still holding on for dear life as I rapidly drove down dirt roads paying more attention to the colors glistening in front of the sun and the saturated clouds flowing around the shadowed plateaus.

We found a temple that was in the process of being built and decided to go explore up the hundreds of muscle burning steps leading to the top. We crossed paths with Buddhist Monks in their bright orange robes and freshly shaven heads wildly swigging weedwackers along the way. Finally at the top we were granted a view of the entire city, the Mekong River flowing through it, and rural villages outside of town. We sat up here for quite some time admiring our surroundings. Visually. Mentally. Spiritually. It was quite the spectacular view and another eye-opening excursion.

We finally decided to give in with this whole motorcycle situation. I think none of the locals wanted to fix the bike because they knew these 2 foreigners messed up another bike, and were trying to take the cheap way out. We just decided to pay the fine to the rental company. We messed up their bike and knew we had to suffer the consequences…Turns out the motorbike only cost us 150,000 Kip ($20) in damages…I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!!… That would have never flied back home in America?!…I would have paid much much more for the experiences and memory that were made in those short hours...