Listening to the Rice Grow

There is a saying over here. " The Vietnamese grow rice. The Cambodians watch the rice grow. And the Laotians listen to the rice grow". Yes we are truly in Seinfield Land - and Kitty is loving it. Louang Prabang is on the Mekong in the deep North of Laos - 10 hours bus from Vientianne. It is like a setting from a Somserset Maugham story. Any moment Sydney Greenstreet or Peter Lorre might appear in our Cafe. Darwin and beyond is inhabited by the "Grey Nomads". The equivalent in Louang Prabang are the Seinfield Nomads. Cashed up retirees (or near-retirees) who just want to stroll and chat and "do nothing". Unfortunately they have pushed up the price of everything (except massages and the Internet) by at least a factor of 2 in the last two years. Kitty chats to them all - between (or during) meals. Meanwhile I "chill out" with a one or two hour massage.

Kitty should not pick on me re sandals. I have told her for a week she needs to wear sandals on treks (you can pick them up anywhere ! - I did ! Any guesthouse, restaurant, Wat or Internet cafe has lots outside their doors). But no she has to wear her shoes and socks - and remove them up to 7 times in two hours as we trek through 7 creeks. And I don't tell stories about her ! I don't discuss how she got into the hotel and within one minute placed the only toilet roll on top of an open 12-inch-high jar on the floor that was filled with water and then screamed for my assistance. (At least the tissues were soft after that - very soft). Nor how she is still a factor of 10 out (either way) on EVERY currency conversion.

Well tomorrow off to Hanoi - by the sounds of it, the chase for the tourist dollar in India is mild compared to Hanoi. Yet another world.