ok, in the 'city' of Pakse now.. cheaper internet. anyway, i got a whole lot of white strings around both my wrists now! before i left my previous place the guy and his immediate family (minus the kids) said some prayers for me (mentioning my name and where i come from and where i'm going..) and each tied a string around my wrists... don't think its the same as ravin's, but i was still very touched =)) They've been wonderfully nice to me. The room rate was higher than all the other US$1 places the other tourists stay at, but this was more like a homestay and it turns out that all the meals and water and food I had with them are included, as well as the bost trip back to mainland, which makes it really really pretty darn cheap. Of course I gave them more than i should, the experience was priceless.

They never left me alone: there's always someone with me, talking to me, trying to teach me lao, make me teach them english, make me eat, watch me eat or just sitting and enjoying the view with me.. they sit around a lot.. guess cos it's not planting season (they're farmers) and the fish traps only need to be set up then collected once each day. The water i drink i presume is boiled mekong water (yes, the same water i piss in, bathe in, brush teeth in, wash my hands with, do my laundry in..), the food is basically rice and fish for every meal. Their bbq fish is perfect, the fermented fish takes some getting used to, I refused to touch the raw fish though. Everything is seasoned with rice. And they keep giving me food. Lots and lots of food: pudding, potatoes sweetened with sugar and rice, coffee, fish, leaves.. I loved their salad and laap.. ate a lot of different leaves. Not the chinese vegetables kind. really leaves. Sigh. My tummy is coming back =(

The guy keeps telling me every once in a while to "follow me!", and before i know it, i'll be on the boat to see something, visit some neighbours, eating with the family, bathing or swimming with them, or, one night, with the whole village in this bigger house w electricity and a tv and a vcd player where the old men were sitting and drinking (lao whisky is quite nice)