lazy days on the mekong

Hi Everybody,

I have been holed up in a quiet guesthouse on the banks of the Mekong River the past couple days. Laos is calling me on the opposite shore. Nong Khai is a border town with a laid back friendly vibe in stark contrast with the frentic energy of Bangkok. It will be hard to leave this place. I am making friends with the cooks here spending time in the kitchen and enjoying their terrific food. As I suspected the cuisine here is very different from that of the rest of Thailand. I can't wait to try some of these dishes in my kitchen for you all. I have been eating fish pulled right out of the river cooked in a style unlike any I have experienced before.

It's hot here and rains from the monsoon drop sheets of rain on me while I write this under a thatched roof with the muddy river flowing swifty below me. In between bouts of rain the tropical sun beats down and the air is fresh, clean and earthy. Everything is growing like mad. Orchids, poppies, and so many flowers I don't recognize complete with the greenest greens I have ever seen. When I awoke a butterfly I mistook for a large bat fluttered into my open air bathroom. That said the mosquitos are also very robust and enjoying this wet environment. Malaria is a reality but no worries, I have plenty of deet on hand.

I will be moving on to Laos tommorrow, a country that has turned it back to rest of the world in favor of a repressed political ideology. Ranked 178th in the World, behind Bangladesh and Sierra Leone. There is no research in Laos because there are no scientists. They have never filed a patent, something even Burundi can't claim. Things are only getting worse in Laos I'm afraid. In '91 25% of roads were paved, by '99 that number dropped to 14%. But I'm told it's beautiful, the people are very friendly and the food is very similiar to what I have been enjoying the past couple days.

I'll post again when I return to Thailand as I hear the internet hasn't made it there yet.

Mike.