these boots were made for something

more pictures on the photo site: www.dropshots.com/eeking
a few comments about the pictures.

1. lao is the most bombed country in the history of bombs. america did it. not very nice, considering lao was not, well, vietnam. almost $2 million dollars was spent per day. that's per day people. on bombs raids over lao.

2. the big cement jar things. circa 200 b.c.e. not a lot is known about them, but they are thought to have been used for this cool stage-by-stage burial process. one jar for decomposition, one jar for bones, one jar for cremation, etc. very cool. but this site was bombed like crazy during the raids.

3. got homemade ice cream. i think it was chicken flavored. sigh.

4. in vang viang you can add marijuana or shrooms or opium to any pizza for $1. hmm. and they play family guy and simpsons on repeat all day in the restaurants that have couches instead of chairs.

5. vientiane, the captial, is pretty cool. there is an arch de triumphe here. the u.s. gave lao a big ol' hunk of cement to build an airport. instead, they made the victory arch. the locals call it the vertical runway. huh huh.

6. buddah park. lots of cement buddahs. took 60 years to complete, finished about 10 years ago. the big circle thing with the mouth is the hell ball. if you have a pure soul, you can enter and leave. if you don't have a pure soul, well, you can never leave and you have to live in the ball forever. i didn't know this before i went in. i am writing from the ball.

7. COOL LINGUISTIC INFORMATION!! the laotian language does not have the sound "v." the french language does not have the sound "w." laotian cities like "vientiane" and "vang viang" should be "wentiane" and "wang wiang" but those darn french came in and now laotian has acquired a "v" but only in words that would have been relevant to the french colonialists. grumble.

i'm having a beautiful time. the caves in vang viang were so amazing. i'm getting a nice farmer's tan, and a monk today told me that my pronunciation of the laotian greeting is so dead on that he thought i must speak lao. oh, seriously sir, you make me blush.

okay i must go now. lao new year is fast approaching and rich and i are going to take a long overnight bus down to the south to the 4,000 islands to celebrate in style with a beer lao in one hand and a water gun in the other. more news from bangkok probably next week.