Soon, I promise!
I realize it's been a while, and so much has happened! Motorbike rentals, kayaking, elephant rides, in the tubing Vang Vieng, interminable bumpy bus rides, mountain bike tour, new friends, trekking, listening to geckos, trading travel stories, waking up to beautiful views, (and moldy beds), village homestay, (scything weeds in the fields on Laos hillsides!) delicious food, sticky rice, waiting hours for the food, drinking lots of beer Lao, getting really really disgustingly dirty, (and hoping the laundry actually gets clean!), exchanging movies and music on portable technology, cultural confusion and so much more...
I think it will take a while to sink in and become a story, as opposed to mere relating of events. Until then, chew on that paragraph above I just spilled out, it's pretty much how it all seems right now!
I just arrived in Luang Namtha and SO relieved to be off the bus- it was 4 hours of extreme bumpy from Nong Khiaw to Oudomxai, where we almost resigned ourselves to staying overnight but somehow a bus showed up and after packing people into all available crevices we took off, this time on a surprisingly smooth road, but another four and a half hours after not having anything other than breakfast... And me with no more Laos kip left, luckily I was traveling with a friendly group of Spainards, who spotted me the 10,000 kip for the minibus ride into LP central, and we settled in a REALLY NICE guesthouse, where we ate a huge dinner and then took a HOT shower, and am now lying in a CLEAN bed, (it even smells good!) and enjoying the luxury of a good wifi connection as I lie here!
I feel like a king. It's amazing how important the little things are. :-)