Roads less traveled

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“Yeah, that’s right. Yeah, that’s so true. I’m exactly the same. That happened to me too. Geezzz, I love that too.”
Ohhh… creepy. It’s been 4 hours already, sitting next to the Mekong River, just outside the Sokdee Guest House at the fabulous UNESCO world heritage Laung Prabang. I’ve been having drinks with Irish Connor and just chatting about whatever. We came together on the same bus with Matt and Carly and we’ve all been kind’o hanging together over the trip in Laos, but that’s the first time I had a long conversation with him. The view’s spectacular, wide river to the right – French colonial buildings to the left – temples rising over the hills. The weather’s okay, as long as you keep under shades and don’t move around too much. From the guesthouse, down 5 meters to the river balcony, that’s all I’ve walked the whole day. As we tell each other our life’s story a similarity begins to emerge and a strange wondering sensation builds up inside. Could it be possible that two people from different places of the world, different cultures, different languages and background, share so many experiences? Creepy.
We travel alone, we don’t know for how long, we’ve been working in high-tech for way too long, we’re searching for our true passion, we’re looking for our path in life (career, love, family, friends), liking just about the same books-movies-places and it goes on and on. We’re different people, no doubt. Look different, different age, lots of differences. Still, it made me wonder, since it was the first time I could hear someone else expressing some of what I feel inside, in a better English and a with a nicer Irish accent. It’s same same with Matt and Carly, but different. They are about the sweetest couple I met yet, and we’ve been having a great time. Every day we’ve been chilling out, eating wonderful food (I love deer steak!), drinking lots of BeerLao and cocktails, listening to Matt and the neighbors guitar-jam on the balcony and to Rio/iPod-music, not doing too much. We’ve all just came back on a slow-boat from the clear-blue heavenly lagoon KuangSi waterfalls and visiting the local 10th century “pottery” village.

Laung Prabang, Laos, it’s a place worth visiting…. As a wise girl once wrote to me “Lao people are beautiful”. They are, in every sense. They seem such happy people, so simple and naïve. A woman that’s been living here for the past 8 years told us on the boat that Laos has moved up from 200 tourists a year to 20000, so still, everything is untouched and unbelievably raw and fresh. That’s a rare find nowadays. They don’t give a damn about money, they don’t know how to bargain, they don’t want to, they just live their simple village lives uninterrupted, smiling and laughing. No matter how strong you feel about western civilization, it does make you wonder. What is been happy all about? could happiness be found in a money-bigcity-busybusy life? Yet, could someone who’s seen the outside world enjoy such a simple living? I really have no idea.
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