I love technology

We are in Muang Sing, Laos, a tiny town 10km fom the Chinese border.
There are no internet cafes here, but our China Mobile phone started
working! This entry is posted from our Nokia N800 using our cellphone
as a modem via Bluetooth.

Our Canon Powershot S70 ... (updated)

... has become a paperweight. The lens barrel started to have trouble retracting and I got the dreaded E18 error code. After several days of intermittent troubles, it finally stopped working at all.

There were only 4 brands/models of compact digital camera available in Luang Prabang - all overpriced. So after some online research, we bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70. Ho hum. No wide angle as we were used to, so it has taken a while to get familiar with it.

Laos - A lot of tourists

Chinese New Year has come and gone. There are still a lot of tourists in Laos. In Luang Prabrang, a UNESCO World Heritage site, arguably one of the best preserved historic cities in SE Asia, tourists easily outnumber locals. During the morning alms collection, there are more tourists photographing than monks with alms bowls. I know we are subtracting from the experience by being there ourselves. LP has long been on my list of places to be. It is a little underwhelming, but I could not say that I am disappointed.

Monks receiving alms.


Now we have gone up the Nam Oo, a tributary of the Mekong, to a tiny village called Nong Khiaw. Again tourists almost outnumber locals here. It is easy to see why people are attracted to this place, the scenery is awesome.

Nong Khiaw: Our bungalow on the far right.

Who one travels with

John and I are very proud of ourselves that we have been getting along
together very well so far. It has taken us a lot of practice, but now
we make a good team. We have noticed in Laos that there are many solo
travelers, maybe as many as a quarter of all travelers. It is
certainly doable, especially in Laos. I still think it's more fun to
be on a team. On the other hand, all the Chinese travelers seem to
be in big packs. We have seen several car clubs with caravans as
large as 20 cars, and coming from as far as Suzhou. I cannot imagine
traveling for so long in a big group either.

We are paying for CNY

Knowing that Chinese New Year would be a busy season for Chinese to
travel, we stayed in Shanghai for the past two CNY's, and enjoyed the
tranquility during the exodus. It did not occur to us that CNY travel
woes would catch us in the back waters of northern Laos. We spent the
first five days of the New Year in Vang Vieng which was once a small
farming village. It seemed like Kao San Road in the mountains by the
river. We met a guy there who got a week off for CNY from his
English-teaching job in Malaysia! Not to mention all the people who
have driven in cars from China! We arrived in Luang Prabang on the
12th and that found rooms are tight and prices high.