Trunk or Treat

Our church hosted a "Trunk or Treat" in the church parking lot this evening and it was a great Halloween event. We all decorated the trunks of our cars and gave out treats for the neighborhood and the church's "trickers."  Will and I came up with a "Wheel of Fortune" theme.  The kids had to spin the wheel which decided which color of container they could pick thier candy from. It was great fun and the little ones really got into it. Every spin was a win!!

They are lining up for thier turn. We had about 300 kids in the 2 hours we were set up.

Tucson, we are on our way

We are pretty much packed and ready for early morning departure. Last chance to enjoy the deck with a cup of coffee and the city view.

One last dinner out to Crystal Jade for XiaoLongBao--dumplings!!

We are leaving as Doug and Aeri are returning from 10 days in New Jersey. Those two arrived at 6:30am and my flight leaves at 8 so we crossed paths at the airport long enough for last hugs and kisses. Aeri goes back to school today.

We are taking separate flights home. I'm flying through Tokyo to LA and he's flying directly to San Fran and home. Best deals when we booked them. Hopefully if it all works we should arrive in Tucson about a half hour apart.

End of travels

On our way "home" to Singapore. I usually try to get an isle seat just for comfort in planes but today's flight from Laung Prabang to Bangkok was not crowded at all so had isle and window and could actually see out. Here we are just taking off. 

You can see how mountainous Laos is, and that's the Mekong River that we just traveled.

Closer to Bangkok I could see the rice patties of Thailand. They can grow two crops a year, just starting the second.

Now landing in Bangkok for a 3 hour layover. Much bigger city.

Laotian handicrafts. One last handmade item for sale made me stop and cringe. We saw it at street markets, not in shops, with detailed signs explaining what it was. Items--jewelry, statues, etc. made from melted down scrap metal from bombs dropped on thier country during the "secret war." Took me a while to get over that when my generation knows exactly what they are talking about.

One night in Luang Prabang. . .probably not long enough. Is UNESCO world heritage city and first impression is pretty nice.  Will picked a great old style hotel in heart of town. Had dinner and breakfast outside on balcony overlooking street.

Our villa was behind the street/restaurant. All French Colonial architecture.

More temples, monks out early morning collecting alms, and a night market that went on forever.

Morning coffee outside on our guesthouse balcony early morning in  Pak Beng. 

Time to board Longboat for 7:30 departure.

Farewell PakBeng. . .we are off in the morning mist, which didn't take long to turn into warm, sunny skies.

A barter market. Hill tribe people come down to riverside to trade for needed items. No money needed. 

Passed another touring longboat. Ours a tad bigger.

Stopped at a cave temple containing 4000 Buddhist statues of all sizes.

Cave entrance 

Stopped again at village where women hand weaving. Really beautiful stuff. I think these were Hmong people.

Lots of  water buffalo along the river. Major livestock for Lao farmers.

These two ladies cooked for us on board from this small galley. Plenty of chilies--should last us!!

Longboat tour down the Mekong River

Sunrise over the Mekong was our breakfast view from hotel. At 7:30 sharp we were picked up and driven to port of entry to begin our trip in Laos. First stop was passport control and Laos Visa application. We were advised to pay the $35 fee for Visa in US dollars but was a glitch. They needed new bills and most of ours were not good enough condition. We ended up paying for one with Thai bht and cost us more but, oh well. . .

For 20 Bht each we took the required shuttle to the actual entry into Laos. Except we were early---so they charged us an extra 10 Bht!! One does not argue with immigration,  pay it and get on with it!

And we did. . .Boarded our long boat and started our journey.  Only 14 if us on boat that had capacity if 40 so plenty of room to stretch out.  Quite comfy, really. 

Floated down the River and watched the countryside float by. Thailand on one side and Laos on the other, but soon the river turned inland and we were truly in Laos.  Calm water, lovely green mountain scenery.  Village life all along the river so intetesting.  The boat truly is long and comparatively narrow--maybe 50 or 60 ft long-- and skims the water quietly (except for the rumble of the engine.)

Watched some cattle being unloaded from boat to shore!

A family shrine floating out in river.

A village

Served us a great lunch from small boat galley.

Stopped for the night at small town guest house very close to river. Room small but clean and certainly adequate.  We'll be up early in the morning to start again.

Chaing Mei to Chaing Khong and the White Temple

We booked a tour to drive us to the Thai/Laos boarder to city of Chaing Khong. Was a 6 hour drive in a comfortable car across Northern Thailand. Terrain varied from forests, fields and mountains. We stopped for a break at a hot spring and then continued to Chaing Rei for lunch and a visit to the White Temple. 

This is a privately owned Wat dedicated to the faith that is the work of a contemporary Thai artist named Chalermchai Kositpipat. It is only 20 years old and the work continues to evolve.  It also houses the sum of his life's art work throughout his life. It's very contemporary and includes modern imagery along with traditional temple images. I wanted to photograph so much but cameras not allowed inside temple or gallery. Found images of George Bush and Ayatollah with references to 9-11, Michael Jackson, and cartoon characters, just to name a few.

All in white as opposed to most Thai temples in gold, to reflect purity. Bits of mirror and silver add to the "sparkle" and ornate design. 

To get to the main hall you walk over a bridge that looks down on thousands of writhing hands that recall greed and desire of humanity.

Our first view of Makhong River and then looking across the river to Laos. That's where we are going tomorrow