Ban Phe to Laos...

Taken from one of our favorite places to eat and drink with friends. Thai kids playing on the beach in Ban Phe.


Melians Beachside cafe. Great Pad Thai and happy hour.


Lisa at Sue's Seaside Cafe. Our favorite lunch spot. All you can eat, 30 baht and ladies first. Neither are customary here in Thailand.

Hmm...where to begin. Once again we have let too much time pass between now and our last update. Diligent and loving though you all may be, I know that I could not pack in all the things we have been up to and have you stop to read about it. If you are anything like me (Lisa) you skip over long e-mails and such to read later when you have more time. The problem is that sometimes (most-times), later never comes. So, in honor of my lazy self, I will try to keep this short, sweet and limited only to the best of the best.

Leaving Ban Phe:


Our Hotel, Pines Beach...a novel in itself.

Tim won the Mr. Media Kids award for his fabulous teaching skills. I am proud to mention that he earned the nickname “Teacher Tim,” from the folks that observed him teaching during our training. When he was presented with the Media Kids sash (much like the dmns dubbing sashes) the whole room was chanting “Teacher Tim, Teacher Tim.” It was a riot.


Teacher Tim, exhausted but still smiling.


Our walk from the hotel to teacher training. Dog dodging was the name of the game. Write and ask for pictures if you are interested.


Dear Mamma. This was our surogate mother. She made the best breakfast in town. Mamma is a type of noodle and the name of her food shop but she let us call her Mamma anyway.


Birthday party in Ban Phe. This evening ended up in the hotel pool. Thank goodness for chlorine!

We managed to pawn off 7 of our bags on Media Kids so we could travel light to Laos. Yes!
By the way, 4 of those are work bags (2 of our own and 2 we acquired from Media Kids, full of curriculum).

Laos:
Essential background info.
A. 15ish of us were crossing into Laos to get Immigrant B work visas for Thailand. I do not understand why you have to leave the country for this, but you must.
B. It costs $30 American dollars to get into Laos. Or the equivalent in Baht. Dollars are best.
C. The company we have been hired by brought the money for this transaction and were doling it out to those who had finished their paperwork. Slow Jones failed to grab onto the free-flowing $10s and $20ies and select $100s.

“The system”
1. You go to one window to receive the proper paperwork.
2. Fill it out, don't mess up.
3. You go to another window to hand it to a gruff man.
*Note: This gruff man may choose to ignore you for a solid 5 minutes (and he did). Although it had nothing to do with me, I could feel the eyes behind me in the long line piercing my back and trying to cause my instantaneous combustion so they could move up one in line.
4. Then, your paperwork, money and passport disappear for a duration of time.
*Note: Getting your paperwork through to window #1 does not mean that the others behind you will be processed after you.
5. A woman (or so I am assuming one was attached to the hand) slides open the same window that your original paperwork was passed through, gives 3 or 4 solid taps with passport in hand. 6. Hopefully you are watching because if you miss it, the magic hand will disappear along with your passport. Revert to #4.
*Note: The magic hand is mysterious and unpredictable.

**If you give more than $30, you will not get your change until the magic hand produces it with your passport. This unforeseen part of “the system,” caused Lisa and an unlucky few to not have money until others were processed. (Refer to C on essential background info.)

7. You pass by a booth where your documents are scrutinized. If approved your passport will be vehiminatley stamped and scribbled on.
8. You will pass one last table where you can see a van load of hot people waiting for you to hurry up and received your final approval to enter Laos.


In short, we had to spend an extra night in Laos because by the time we all finished, the Thai embassy had stopped accepting visa paperwork.



Taken from the balcony of our hotel in Vientiane, Laos.

But it all worked out well in the end. We had fresh baguettes, wine, and hot showers in Laos. The people there were very friendly and Tim and I had some adventurous meals (ask us about this sometime). We also indulged in a sauna and massage located in a small hut surrounded by tropical flora. The people there spoke English incredibly well. When we asked where they had learned to speak, the answer was the spa itself. It attracted so many foreigners that not only do they speak English but Thai and French as well. Humbling.
I have to describe this quickly.
We were greeted in English, “Would you like a sauna and a massage?” We used two Lao phrases we know, “Sabai-dee,” (hello) followed by “yes, cup jai” (thank you).
The hut was built up off of the ground so a fire could be kindled underneath to create heat for the sauna. I would say the sauna could seat 6. We were given serongs to wrap up in and then we stepped into a steamy room that was impossible to see in at first. We sat in the sauna sweating like crazy and soaking up the smell of the fresh herbs they put in the steaming water. When it was too hot to handle we walked out into the hot Laos air which felt cool in comparison. We were offered a seat and some tea at a table horse-shoed with seating and other sweaty guests.
You may go into the sauna as many times as you want before you dry off and get your massage. Scrumptulescent, as Paul would say.

Okay, okay, I'm going to stop.

For you map lovers out there we were in the capital of Laos along the Mekong River, I'll let you look it up.


Ocean Creatures, Scrumptulescent! You may know them as Goldfish.


Market in Laos.


Best iced coffee in Southeast Asia so far.
I want more.


The Arch de Triumph of Laos given as a gift by the Chinese. It is larger than the one in France, partly to spite the colonizing Frenchies. Ha.


The ceiling of the arch. The first time we saw this it was at night and there was someone watching T.V. in the leg of the arch. Weird, someone lives in there.


You can climb the seven floors to the top for 3,000 kip (falong price), if you are Asian 2,000 kip. This is about 30 cents, a reasonable fare we thought.


This one is especially for Sherri, who requested more nasal shots.