So long China… hello Laos
After five amazing weeks in The Motherland, China, I continued southward into Northern Laos. Upon crossing the border, many cultural differences were immediately noticeable, particularly the width of smiles and the poverty level. Broken and cracked wooden shacks made up family homes and clothing was ripped, torn, and either under or over-sized. Kids ran naked everywhere and old men repaired boats in their tighty whiteys (that’s street talk for white briefs – the kind all of our fathers and grandfathers wear/wore), only they weren’t so tight anymore due to years, if not decades, of wear and tear. Everything moved slowly in Laos – transportation, the preparation of food, even the heat from the day. The sticky humidity was unbearable so any chance to dip into a river was had with speedy steps. To cool down, Laotian women take so many showers a day that they simply resort to a single towel as their daily garb, which they comfortably wear in the streets outside their homes. Undies and towels aside, the point is that even though the Laotian people are poor, very poor, and a semi-nudist nation, they are arguably the kindest people I have met on my travels through Asia.
… til soon.  cw.
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