sabaai dii (the new hello!!:)

sabaai dii my friends!

im not sure if my last email in bangkok came through or not but just letting you know that after a long gruelling 16 hour(yes it was 16 in the end)bus ride we made it to the far reaches of laos where im now sat,not quite so stuck to the chair as a, its night time and b, its alot cooler up in these here parts ya know!anyway the bus wasn't the most luxurious but it wasn't the worst ride i've ever had either infact allbeit sporadic intervals i did actually manage a few moments sleep here and there!i only know that for sure as i had a few crazy dreams that shook me a little from side to side on my awakening!: ) its all good,good or bad i still love to dream!anyway,there we were dropped off by the bus in no mans land bang in the centre of what i hear but am not entirely sure is the capital of laos and its called vientianne.staraight away out of my comfort zone my back crippling me,five different tuk tuk drivers(or jumbo's as they're called here)hard on our cases for our freshly delivered back sides to part with some cash!not knowing any of the local lingo or dialect i was a whole world away from my comfort zone of good ol' thailand!hence yes,we got ripped off bigtime(i say that,it was still only a pound each!)and the guy took us around the block after choosing a cheap guesthouse from the lonely planet guide(or the bible as we hippy kinds know it!:)and pretty much dropping us off in the same place!haha little did we know we were almost standing next to it as it was about twenty yards around the corner!haha no wonder they were having a damn good giggle at our expense!weeeeeell,it was worth the money to see them all happy hey!anyway after a day of trying to recover some sort of comfort zone by getting stuck into the language i ended up with a whole page of local words,some the same as thai that mean the same and some the same that mean other things so i'm a little confused somewhat but after 12 hours work i appear to be on the right track im glad to say!the city it seems,after a little pedestrian investigation isn't actually that big whatsoever and you can pretty much get to where ever you want by foot and the people here are beautiful,kind and funny!whoever told me about this place and including the authors of books ive studied weren't kidding about this being one of the last untouched places on the planet!just before sunrise i hiked off on my lonesome and sat with my first laos beer and sat in the centre by a big water fountain surrounded by flowers to take in some of the atmosphere,and that i did!whoa and i mean this from the bottom of my heart,this place has such a vibrant atmosphere,i felt myself overcome by the awe inspiring energy that surrounded me,hearing nothing but childrens cries of untamed laughter that filled the air as families played throughout the streets and smiles were the order of the day.what an extremely happy place,it truly seems untouched by the outside world and for me,how everywhere on this wonderful planet should be!children with absolutely nothing playing merrily throughout without a care in the world!the people here are so patient,accepting and inspiring and i suppose this is why i am wriring this to you as i myself have ,in only a few hours,been inspired!!i did not know what to expect when i got off that bus,but one things for sure,and that is that i have merely touched the surface of this deep ocean of wonder and i cannot wait to dive a little deeper!


tomorrow we head for veng vieng (spelt wrong probably) to meet a couple of irish friends and i will keep you updated on my progress should i encounter an email place there!
take care one and allyou can sleep now as ive probably just bored you to tears!: )
much love
damo x