i rested my feet at a cybercafe near the riverside, and spoke to katy online. the cybercafe had webcams so we webcammed. in the hour or so that we spoke online i saw her light at least 4 cigarettes. i noticed she had painted her nails red too.
i returned to the hotel and took a shower, taking my time to scrub every square inch of my body. when i was done i packed my bags for tomorrows departure and laid out a fresh change of underwear and a shirt.
for dinner i went down a block and stopped at a random local restaurant and ordered a bowl of beef noodles. it was one of the best noodles i've had in my life. everything was that was served in the bowl was sublime. the delicious bowl of noodles was served with a standard plate of basil, mint, bean sprouts, lettuce, a wedge of lemon, and a small saucer of delicious chili sauce. the slices of beef are placed into the bowl raw, and piping hot beef broth is poured right over it, which cooks it instantly, leaving it tender. the beef balls are springy and delicious. an iced drink that looks like chrysanthemum is served for free as well, but it tastes like strepsils water. i was so impressed with the meal after i left i thought about it until i went to sleep. the beautiful harmony of noodles, salad, beef, and soup.
i slept early that night after having three beers and of course a spliff, waking up extra early to return to the beef noodle shop before i catch my flight to luang prabang.
9TH NOVEMBER
i wake up at six thirty. the sun had risen and when i left my room the hotel staff were mopping the coridoors leading to the lift. so i took the stairs instead.
'excuse me, excuse me. i think you smile very nice smiling!' the pleasant young lady told me.
'thank you very much. big smile to you keke' i said, while smiling of course. i guess it pays off to smile alot in laos. people reciprocate your smile often, and it is a win win situation.
i had half an horu to have my beef noodles. it was jut as good as the night before. a large brown dog sat next to me as i ate my breakfast, occasionally prodding my leg with its snout to ask for food.
'sorry mate', i said to the dog, and devoured the noodles. walking a block back to my hotel i watched as vientiane slowly rose in unison with the sun that hung low in the cloudless sky. the morning air was cool and the dust on the streets was beginning to get kicked up by the early bustle of commuters.
remembering suddenly that i had a huge bag of chronic with me i bundled it up in two layers of plastic and went on a street corner where there was an abandoned building, and left the bag on top of a tall letterbox. if it is there when i return then great. if it is not then too bad i guess.
i checked out and in five minutes arrived at the wattay international and domestic airport. on the left the international terminal, and on the right the domestic terminal. it was the oldest airport i've been to. there were no TV screens to display flight info, no air conditioning, and no conveyor belts to transport checked in luggage. instead, a boy in a faded blue untucked uniform came to place a tag on my backpack and carried it away on his back.
in between the departure hall and the arrival hall was a small cafe. wattay airport cafe. i had a coffee for 50 cents. this is the only airport i know that you can smoke in. there are no smoking signs around but you can smoke in the cafe.
soon enough i was on the plane, i have never been on such a small plane in my life. there were 2 rows of 2 seats. i had an aisle seat next to a local man who was referring to a lao to english dictionary and writing something in his notebook. although the plane was very small, the entire process was so much mroe enjoyable than a 50 minute flight from singapore to kl. since the plane was so small i could feel every manoeuvre it made. i sat in the plane for 10 minutes waiting for everyone to board and secure their luggages in the overhead compartments, and in that 10 minutes the plane was absolutely motionless with no hum of the engine whatsoever. once the doors closed, the ignition came on as speedily as that of a car's would, and the propellers spun steadily to life. as quickly as it had started the small plane quickly sped down the highway on the sun baked tarmac and leapt off into the light breeze. it was a short flight, and in no time we were descending upon the low lying clouds that blanket luang prabang. at first it was all hazy and visibility was zero but once we fell out of the bottom of the clouds, the beauty of luang prabang was evident in the landscape.
the security at luang prabangs airport shocked me. there was no one to check my passport. people collected their luggages and bags right out of the cargo compartment as though they were taking it out of a buddies car. as it is peak season in luang prabang, the prices of the guesthouses go up. i walked along the river asking if they had vacancies and it was not long before i found one. for 20 usd a night i got a room next to the mekong river. it was large and clean although old. the day passed slowly as i knocked back beer after beer seated on a concrete ledge by the river mekong. at night i had a plate of fried rice for dinner, then headed to the snack stand to buy a dragonfruit shake. while ordering i thought i would indulge in a nutella with banana crepe. i sat by the roadside on a tiled stone chair and thought of absolutely nothing at all. a little girl in a dusty little sweater plonked herself on the seat opposite me and asked if i were interested in purchasing a bracelet from her cardboard display. i declined but offered to buy her some food from the snack stand. her eyes lit up and she asked to have what i was having. sure, why not? i thought.
'drink?' i asked her.
'yes coke and cola!!' she said excitedly.
so i ordered the crepe and cola for her and we sat eating together. she spoke a lot and told me how much she loved nutella and coke. explaining in halting english learned from hawking her wares to tourists, she told me her school horus and general things that affect a 12 year old girl. janleng was here name.
the sun had gone down. as i took off my sunglasses that were hiding my red eyes, i noticed her watching excitedly to see my eyes.
she smiled sweetly, the way people do when they find out harmless and meaningless little things. i sat in the hotel lobby drinking beer, and when i got bored, bought a few bottles from the convenience store nearby and returned to my room to watch the pink panther and tom and jerry while smoking up. this is how i spent the last night of my teenage life.
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