Day 19 & 20: Luang Prabang...

Day 19: Today hung out around town. The town is filled with cute little restaurant and cafes. I tried the yummy curry dish. Then met my friend Anna a Scot, but her parents are originally from England. She was explaining to me even the Scots have problems with the Protestants and Catholics fighting, similar to what is happening in Ireland. Then we headed for dinner and a great Laos hot pot, basically they grill the meat, buffalo, pork, and chicken on top of the hot pot and then on the saw they boil the noodles and veg. They also give you fresh lime, hot chilli's, and garlic to eat it with. Then we headed to 'Hive' a bar next door, boy I felt like I was in a bar in 'San Fran'.

Day 20: Today I left Luang Prabang for Ventiene, the capital. I must say I have enjoyed the people of Luang Prabang, the people are pretty genuine and nice. The people are definitely laid back and don't push you into buying things. It will be interesting to see if their subtle ways of selling will pay off. I figure I end up paying out the same as if someone was pushing me to buy something and I was haggling with them, I would probably try to haggle it down, where these people are so nonaggressive about it that I haggle a little bit, but not much as I know they are poor and don't have as much and I appreciate the nonaggressive approach. In the end I pay about the same, but prefer the nonaggressive approach.

I arrived in Ventiane, the capital of Laos and the streets are not safe, it is the most dangerous place I have ever been to. There are kids (as little as 3 years old) with guns and hand grenades lining the street and they are doing their violence acts in the name of 'Buddha', well that is water guns and water grenandes....yes it is Laos New Year and these people do not have any problem purifying and blessing people as they walk by. There are pickup trucks with kids sitting on the sides, ready to shoot and aim! Boy I had to strategically plan by walk into town, trying to avoid these people. Met up that night with my friend Delaine that night for dinner, who unfortuantely didn't quite get as lucky as I did with the kids.