Tripping through Laos

Pakse, Laos

We spent 4 days in the capital city Vientiane. The day we arrived was the final day of a boat racing festival. This meant that the streets were packed with people and covered with garbage. Over the next 4 days we observed the slow cleanup but as a whole found the city unremarkable.

A 15 hour night bus ride delivered us to the southern Laos city of Pakse. From here we will sample the coffee of the Bolaven plateau and visit the largest "most important" ruins in the country.

It's easy to get bored when site seeing. Museum fatigue, when you've just seen too many pieces of history for it to have any sense of uniqueness to it. When you've seen too many big cities, too many long bus rides, too many impressive landscapes, too many whatever... I think humans are trained to like routine. From when we're young to when we're old, routine is omnipresent. Nap time, play time, school time, work time, time to eat and time to sleep. What happens when you have no commitments to be anywhere or do anything at any given time. We don't eat at the same time and we don't sleep at the same time. We've started to get up everyday at the same time and do a workout the same way and talk and pray together. It's been a welcome addition to our days.

We've decided to study German. Maybe a bit of a random decision but we found a really good online tutorial that talks you through it. www.dw-world.de is the main page.

We've managed to find some good books lately. The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford is a standout. Answers some good questions like "Why coffee is expensive (but not too expensive)" and "What could be done with healthcare in Canada". It's a pretty interesting book that probably addresses at least one issue that affects your everyday life.