even i feel sorry for beth having to put up with such stupidity....but then after all these years she is used to it in every day life....

did you visit the pansea??

what about brushing your teeth?? did you use bottled water??

Panda,

I'm sorry about your delicate tummy. Perhaps you should avoid the bad karma that comes with you wearing a Speedo. Tell B I send my love.

Your favorite cousin.
MAO

i can't imagine admitting that you are his cousin....has he always been deranged and self-absorbed??

After my little escapade with the bacteria, I brushed my teeth with bottled water.

Not only is MAO my cousin, she was also one of the newbies on our 2004 trip. She's got courage anyway.

We had our day with Tong today and it was great. I cannot recommend her enough. She is a treasure. Anyone visiting BKK should try to book her for a day, even if they've seen everything. We also spent soem time with one of her team, Nui, and she was very friendly with excellent English skills (Apparently, she did not attend Needham High).

i noticed that she has not been with you on later trips?? was she at the fire??

rhkkma: Andrew has always been a challenge, but the Andrew you know is the mellowed version. He's been upgraded.

now that is scary indeed...

he has so many differing jobs over the years i am going to suggest now that he try taxi driver in bkk....

GPanda:
What is the going exchange rate these days in BKK?

Bill T-about 32 B per $.

The first day in LP, we woke up early and went to make merit by donating sticky rice during the monk procession. We fell for the trap and bought it from the MS. Much cheaper on the street for twice as much rice.

For the procession, one sits in a line with outhers and awaits the monks. They walk by in single-file opening their bowls. One puts a small amount of rice in each bowl. The donators are both Falangs and local Laotians. It's a must-do.

Breakfast at the MS and ot for some aimless wandering. At least I thought it was aimless. Beth had a list of places she wanted to see. We started at the morning market. A riot of produce and fish and meat. It's on the street between the Mekong Road and the main drag.

Walked very slowly down the main drag, stopping at various shops and being wowed by the "feel" of LP. Two notable shops were Op Pop Tok and Caruso Lao. Both had great stuff. The shops were a combination of very nice items at some and tourist junk at others.

Luch at Tamarind. We had the sticky rice with 5 dipping sauces and the lemongrass stuffed chicken. Both were very tasty.

Wandered some more, back to the MS for a cigar (for me) and reading for B. It was too cool for the pool.

Late in the afternoon, my stomach got worse and the above-post covers the events.

We had made dinner reservations at the 3 Nagas, but ended up at the MS.

You realize that these random snippets do not qualify as a full- fledged trip report and that you are required to post a complete version upon returning. Since you have entrusted me with a great deal of authority as assessor (accessor) of non-reporting penalties in your absence, I am warning you that the price will be high - at least 1000 kips. I realize this is steep but your meanderings have inspired me to take a hard line.

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely". Craig, I refer you to past practice. Clearly, in each instance in which a poster began a trip report while in situ, the penalty was avoided.

Speaking of which, my memory is that it was the regular practice for posters to provide a long trip report in a single post before 2003 or 2004. Then, a wonderful Japan trip report appeared in segments. Thereafter, segmented trip reports became the norm. They're much easier to digest. Plus, it allows for the use of foreshadowing.

Alas, Pandas have such short memories and take things way too seriously. Whilst posting a live trip report from Cambodia in 2005, I proposed that no further posting would be required. I was overruled and I quote:

"The penalty phase begins only at the close of evidence after a guilty verdict has been entered. While your contemporaneous entries are super, we're keeping an open mind. We we were a little disappointed by the possibility of no trip report. The agonizing details MUST be provided. A separate post in not necessary."

While understanding that no penalty threatened in this case, you will be held to a higher standard.

The second day in LP again began with the monk procession. Street food this time.

Our plan was to visit the silk village and Paper village. We began by wandering some more this time on the Mekong River road.

By way of reference, LP is mostly on a peninsula formed at the confluence of the Mekong and Nan Kham rivers. It has four roads running its length. The Mekong river road, the main drag (Sakkaline Road. I think). A road between these two roads and the Nan Kham road. There are many cross streets and paths. Many of the paths are relatively new brick paths.

There is a lot of construction going on about town. A lot of guest houses are being constructed or refurbished. We talked to the manager of the Apsara ( I felt like Bob, an inveterate suck-up to managers). He said that regulations required guest houses to have at leat 10 rooms and hotels at least 20 rooms. We did not see any new hotels being built, only guest houses.

I suspect the guest house boom/ non-hotel boom is a result of the way that people vcan get to LP. The number of flights into LP is very small. Therefore, the upscale visitors are limited by the number of seats on these planes. The other ways to get to LP are by bus or boat. These cheaper methods are much more popular. This leads me to believe that the possible hotel clientele is limited.

While wandering, we came across a sign for a boat trip to the Pak Ou caves and several villages. including the ones we wanted to visit. I negotiated with a driver for our limited trip, i'e., silk village, papre village and trip across the Mekong. We were off.

I strongly recommend a boat trip to the various villages instead of the usual tuk tuk trip. The boat ride was very pleasant passing through many fields and by some glorious houses.

At the silk village, which is up the Nan Kham, we got the boat driver to lead us to the co-op in the old school. It was slighly tricky to get there walking on dirt roads by mahy houses. We bought a bunch of stuff at the co-op and hopped back in the boat. Up the river further and stopped at the paper village. We navigated this on our own. There's a very good shop on the right along the road on which the school is located. It's a step above the others and obvious. More stuff and back in the boat.

Motored down the N an Kham and across the Mekong from LP. There's an old Wat and some caves that occupies about 1/2 hour. back to our starting point.

As noted above, the boat is a great way to visit these villages and pass 1/2 a day.

In your efforts to post another chapter you may have missed my comments above - please take note.

Craig, I appreciate your efforts to keep GPanda "honest."

craig...don't be so nice...don't let that "legal" talk block you...he is sleezy and sneaky....while the rest of us pay for computer use, he only uses the free ones (ROS---ugh!! and bkk air)....

did you tip the boatman more than 10B, your usual thai tip??

how much was the boat...

First, remembering (and quoting from)a critical post from more than two years ago is just sad. One wonders. Of course, the inherent sadness and shame asociated with Yankee fandom is probably to blame. Therefore, it is forgiven.

Second, substantively, I can assure you that a significant portion of this trip report will be authored upon my return to the center of civilization, i.e., Cambridge.

Third and perhaps most importantly, there's little chance that a guilty verdict will be rendered. Hence, no penalty phase. Only small minded Needhamites and the like would engage in a penalty phase after a judgement of innocence. I need not remind you of the innocence of pandas. that is an essential part of our Charm.

Back to reporting:

Off the boat, we wndered around the Mekong road and decided to have lunch at L'Elephant. Luang Prabang salad, pumpkin soup and a delightful chicken dish, whose name I forget. It was great.

Afterwards, we got a foot massage at Spa Garden. It was relaxing, except for the five minute portion during which four Falangs decided to engage the receptionist in an extended conversation concerning treatments at an incredible volume. The Falangs seemed to yell and then a period of silence, during which I assumed the receptionist was responding at a normal volume. I was glad when the F decided upon traditional massage and they were told that they would have to wait. Out they went. Kharmic justice prevails.

We walked back to the MS after making reservations for massage for the following day.

Dinner at Blue Lagoon. Lori had mentioned her appreciation at dinner. We had a very nice meal. Unfortunately, my portions were very small, but still enjoyable. This place gets high recommendation.

An amusing aspect to this meal was that the waitstaff would place and remove items on the table at a very deliberate pace. Each movement was slow and exact.

The chef/owner moved about the room engaging the diners in small talk. I told him how much we enjoyed the meal.

"If you're not in a snit, you must acquit."

Just back from Chote Chitr. It's as good as reported. The Mee Grob and Eggplant Salad were heavenly. The Banana Flower Salad and Red Curry with fish were merely superb.

Next post will be from the land of the World Champion Red Sox, several days from now. Please soldier on.

Glad you loved Chote Chitr. The mee grob is a revelation. And that smoky eggplant salad goes on our list of possibly the best eggplant dishes in the world!