Laos: Fortunately not such a "Laos-y" trip

One of the most important visits on our trip to Laos was the Plain of Jars. It's a significant monument because first, it has massive amounts of these huge stone jars, dating back to about 100 b.c., but also it was the location of a lot of the fighting during the secret war in Laos. Almost everyone has a story to tell that involves the Plain of Jars, especially Hmong people, so it was interesting to be in this very historically rich place. 

 (note: any photos of me were shamelessly stolen from comrades who posted them on the facebook.)

By the way, we love having Jacob's kids around; they are totally social, and hilarious, and the baby is the cutest. Most of our photos we take end up being of him. 

It is an incredibly serene place. It was hard to imagine a constant warfare going on here.

 We stopped by as many Hmong villages in Laos as we possibly could. One of the places we visited wasn't actually a Hmong village but temporary housing for when everyone works in their fields. We saw everyone out planting rice, and like the curious and energetic Americans that we are - we joined them! It was actually incredibly valuable and interesting to have experienced firsthand this ubiquitous aspect of Hmong/Thai/Lao daily life.

 This is the part of the planting that comes before the wet rice paddies; all the rice is planted here and then transplanted out. I helped for about five whole minutes; I was too worried I was going to ruin their crop!

This was not one of my finer moments. I can usually avoid tourist traps, but my camera got the better of me: these little gypsy girls were selling these ridiculous little dolls. When I got down by the boat they were already pestering a few other individuals, and I started taking photos. That girl in the polka dots was a tougher saleswoman than ANYONE I've ever seen before. She said I had to buy one for taking a picture. That's okay, I thought, I wanted to buy one anyway. Unfortunately I had just gotten my kip from the ATM, so I didn't have change; in the end I got flustered and just got two to get rid of those girls!

Here's the shot that cost me 20, 000 kip (about $3).

The reason we were standing on that pier was because we were waiting for our boat to take us to the Cave of Wonders! It's a buddhist holy site for monks and the religiously devout. It is a shrine built into a cliffside.

It was a two hour trip there, and one hour back; we had to amuse ourselves. 

I have loved visiting all these Buddhist sites; these people are terribly respectful and calm. Also, any shrine you go to smells like sweet incense with candles flickering all over. A little farther up there was an actual cave that we went into (not the one pictured below), and you could only see with flashlights. It was such a nice cool place, and had tiny buddhas and large statues everywhere.

This photo is so blurry, but it really shows best what the inside was like. 

Also, this is my bike, for those that were wondering. It's a life saver.