Random Laos observations

Imagine buying cigarettes from a 6 year old little Laos girl who doesn't speak a word of English.

You don't need a permit to build something here. As long as you have the time and money start building :)

Imagine a barber shop, 2x2m, three walls and a roof. One seat in the middle. Nothing more. It looks more like an abandoned trash dump.

Imagine bars at the river just selling all kinds of thee, pancakes, and fruitshakes with opium , mushrooms or marihuana.

Imagine on top of that there are severe jail punishments when you get caught consuming any of it. Or of course, you just pay :)

Imagine that when you actually go to jail, no one knows how long you are going to stay there. No one will even know you ARE there.

Imagine that in Laos jail you don't get any food. It's up to your family to provide you with food. If not, you just die.

Imagine that when something bad happens like an accident, people will run away instead of helping you. Just to avoid any responsibility.

Imagine the police is not here to help you at all. They're only here to get your money or put you in jail. Or just to make your life miserable :) Even if you didn't do anything wrong.

Imagine the average monthly wage in Laos is about 100 US dollars.

Imagine this country is like 80 % jungle with wild tigers, bears, elephants, leopards, monkeys and much more wildlife.

Imagine there are approximately 6,5 million people in Laos and more than 10 million unexploded landmines.

Imagine that subsistence agriculture still accounts for half of the GDP and provides 80% of total employment in Laos.

Imagine that approximately 77% of Lao farm households are self-sufficient in rice.

Imagine that this is the land of a million elephants.

Now imagine yourself traveling here, alone. Priceless :)

Looking for that something special

I'm looking for something extraordinary. Something others can only dream of. Help people transform their lives in a positive way. To open doors I didn't know even existed.

It’s about life transformations—both my own and of those around me.

I've now had some time to think about all of this. When I'm back home I'm gonna start saving money with a purpose. I wanna get my divemaster and teach people how to dive around the world.

Sounds like a dream, right? Dreams are there to make them happen. And I'm gonna challenge myself to do this. There will be many obstacles and difficulties to overcome. But that's what's gonna make it even more fun.

I believe I can do it. And so can you. Make your dreams come true! :)

Pat.

The world is a crazy place

Hey

It's been a while, hasn't it?

It's been a while for me too. It seems like months since I've blogged but it's only been two weeks.

I guess after being eaten alive by two nests of red ants during my sleep, my feet being completely destroyed from jumping on and off sharp rocks after buckets of alcohol, swiping those bleeding wounds in the most ridiculous mud pool filled with people I've ever seen, being lost at night alone in the jungle, not having taken any malaria medicine yet, having lost my iPhone at night on some jungle - fucking - island with random bars on it and having some unknown dude find it the next day .... and many days of tubing.... it was time for another blog.

I've been two months in Asia now, visiting random places in random countries. I just zoom in to the places I hear from people are cool and worth seeing. It's the moooost relaxing way of traveling possible. No dates, no deadlines, never in a hurry, never knowing what will really come the next day. The kind of adventure I've always wanted to experience.

After two ripping party weeks in South Thailand I headed north to see the "real" Thailand. And real Thailand I like :-)) Bangkok was way too messy when looking back, although I loved it at the time I was there. Not really a charming place to go back to :)

After a week in Bangkok I stranded for another week in Changmai. Cooking school, Jungle Tracking, Tiger Kingdom and other random anomalies made Changmai an unforgettable experience. Spicy was great and the people I met there even better.

It was when planning my trip to Pai, that I found out my visa for Thailand just expired. Yawn! Change of plans I guess. Skip Pai and book ticket out of Thailand asap. So off I went to Laos. It took me one day to make it to the Eastern border. There we got on some 'slow boat' which goes slowly over 2 days on the Mekong river to Luang Phrabang in Laos. The surroundings and visuals on this trip were absolutely amazing but the boat was HIGHLY uncomfortable. Never again :) But a must-do for at least one time in your life ;)

Once in Luang Phrabang i stuck around there for the Spicy anniversary and visiting the waterfalls for jumping and swimming. Again, lots of good times with lots of great people. After that i did the Elephant training camp. So I can call myself a "mahout" now. An "elephant handler" hehe. Two weeks in Luang Phrabang. Too long too long...

But you see, I travel and try to feel the places I go to in a bit of a different way. If they are good energy I like to stay there for a while and indulge myself in this positiveness. It charges me up and makes me very very happy. Yes, it's that simple. So no hurries. I'd rather miss a few destinations then let go of this feeling.

So then I arrived in Vang Vieng, Laos. The fucked up little tubing town where I've now been for 11 days. Stuck out of fun. It's that energy again I feel. "Relaxness" I call it. Tubing. Meeting new people every day. Drinking. Swimming and jumping into the rocky river. Risking my life. Day after day. I feel 18 again here. Careless. Irresponsible. Happy. Timeless. Alive.

So what's next? I don't know. Every day I tell myself tomorrow I'm leaving :) Maybe I'll try to leave tomorrow again? If not you'll find me with a bucket at the river. Yeah. Good place there at the river. Kinda fucked up but really nice to forget about the rest of the world.

I guess the next best thing would be falling in love again :D


Peace to all the travellers and all the campers ;)

X

Intermezzo

I haven't been writing for a long time. I'm at Luang Phrabang in Laos at this point leaving to Vang Vieng in 30 minutes. Vietnam and Cambodja lie ahead of me. I have been looking back at the thousands of pictures I've made during my trip and I cannot believe I've been through all of this. It's simply amazing... The sheer amount of experiences that I've had is overwhelming. I almost get tears in my eyes when I see some of the pictures. Life can be so intruiging and intense. It's almost unbelievable. If I compare this to what I have been doing the past years of my life, I must have been asleep. Focused on work and career. Round the clock. Not tasting life in a way I should have done at a much much earlier stage of my life.

I wonder what I will do when I get back? Will I return to the system, blend in and return to all the mindless routines? I don't know if that will be possible. I'm gonna need a change. And it's gonna be the biggest and most positive change I'm gonna have in my entire life. The only really valuable things I can leave behind is my family and friends. No fancy cars, flashy businesscards and fancy sounding titles. I don't feel that is what I need to be happy. I used to though. I guess things change when you explore the world...and yourself.

The life I have right now is the most addictive drug I have ever tried.

I send out all my love to my family, my friends in Belgium and all the friends that i've made all over the world.

Happiness, success and love redefined.

Alice in Wonderland.