Thursday, February 10, 2011

Blurbettes from Asiana...Loas

Taking a moment to escape the heat of the day, our last day in Laos, our last day in Vientiene. We take a bus over the border to Chang Mai, Thailand, where I will be taking a Thai massage course, and Xilla will be flying out to Bali for a little self adventure. Good stuff!

As Xilla has dove deep in our meanderings through Laos, I just wanted to share a little bit of my fancy and concern. As beautiful and inviting as this land is, as accommodating and kind as all the locals have been, I feel sensitive to what all this tourism is creating in some of these towns. Yes, Vangvieng is gorgeous and peaceful and totally overrun with drunk tourists, everywhere.And the town caters to this. Long nights of partying and drinking and slow mornings, hungover and lounging in bars watching repeats of Family Man and Friends.

Granted not everyone is doing this because there is so much to experience, and I feel fortunate that Xilla and I are amongst those who went out of the main strip and saw some villages and went deep into the caves.

I am just saying that, I hope this beautiful little spot of Vanvieng maintains with integrity, a way that can be supportive for the enjoyment and support of the locals first, and then offer a fun and inspiring place for tourists to visit as well. I think I experienced a lot of the distortion displayed by too much alcohol ingestion (and no, not by me), and the heart full ness of the villages and the people maintaining beautiful farms, family, and charm.

I guess we get both sides everywhere we go. And it is good.



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