As I sit here in reception at the Aspara Hotel in Luang Prabang watching the local people go about their daily business I would like to reflect on our wonderful journey.
This time last year we travelled from North to South Vietnam and saw a little bit of Laos. This year we have explored a little of Cambodia and we have now explored a little more of Laos.
Our experiences have been plentiful and some of the highlights have been exploring the temples at Siem Reap including Angkor Wat, the huge silk cotton trees with their giant silver grey roots slowly strangling the massive stone structures that were constructed here hundreds of years before. If you allow, your imagination can run riot and you can picture a small bird or animal leaving the tiny seed that is now a massive tree over a hundred feet tall with the Jungle slowly edging closer to swallowing the Temple whole before they were rediscovered many years later.
Then on to the lake with the floating village, children full of laughter playing in the brakish waters, large Boa Constrictors that coiled around some of the little childrens tiny bodies as they playfully tried to extract money from tourists for a photo with them.
Into Southern Laos and Wat Pho with its dramatic sacrificial stone the shape of a woman's body carved into it; you could picture her lying there as the tribes people gathered around ready to make her the sacrifice to the Gods.
Back up to Luang Prabang, always an enchanting and mystical place where one can wind down by the banks of the Mekong.
Every one you say Sabaidee (Hello) to always responds with a lovely smile and a Sabaidee back, in fact this is true of Vietnam Cambodia and Thailand and is so uplifting. Talking of Thailand the Arun Wat in Bangkok deserves a mention as it is truly amazing and a sight to behold at night from the opposite side of the river.
Meeting Fan again was amazing, we arrived unannounced at his temple and a young novice went looking for him calling his name, he suddenly appeared at the door of his small wooden dwelling which is raised up some four to six feet from the ground on wooden
stilts. His face was a picture as he realised it was us and he tried to suppress a huge smile as he is very calm and shows little emotion due to his mantra as a Monk and Buddhist. I was incredibly moved at this point and I'm sure Debs was bursting with excitement.
I have to take this opportunity to heap praise on Debs, from the first time that we met Fan, she has shown a huge amount of faith and a dogged determination to see this thing through and help a boy from a very primitive back ground make something of himself.
I have at times been a cynical and over cautious old bugger, whom on many occasions has warned Debs of the perils of getting too involved or being taken for a ride.This has in fact driven Debs on and she has made absolutely certain through research and from finding someone on the ground in Luang Prabang who is from the UK and hopes to open an English School in the not too distant future, that Fan is in fact a hard working and worthy student, who is now relying on us to help him. As Alan the guy Debs got in touch with and who has been hugely helpful pointed out, these boys are often let down by people offering sponsorship once the novelty has worn off or if their own circumstances change.
I was really quite shocked when we sat in Fans tiny room, he has a bed with a wooden panel for a mattress and a few old covers, he shares his space with another novice and his most treasured possession is his ancient mobile phone which Debs sent him, it means he can call his mother from time to time and he also has many tiny pictures of friends and family in its memory and now of course pictures of us. Debs, a big thank you to you for allowing me to be part of this very worth while and moving experience, well done.
What a lovely time we've had.
P.S. It wouldn't be the end of the blog if we didn't comment on some of the best and worst of's:
Best breakfast: Green Park, Vientiane
Softest bed (most were really hard): Room 5 at the Apsara
Best meal: lunch at the Reahoo Restaurant in Siem Reap, especially the pumpkin in coconut milk pudding with tapioca
Best guide: Phonsy in Luang Prabang, especially for arranging our visit to Fan's home village
Worst landing: Pakse from Siem Reap almost on a par with Heathrow on a jumbo from Bangkok (very windy)
Best Hotel: They were all good except the Nong Khiaw Riverside but we did really like the Apsara in Luang Prabang - especially Room 5 (we stayed in three rooms!) and we loved our rickety floating bungalow Salaphae on Don Khone island.
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