luang prabang, laos

Check out the painter taking a break. No need to find a coffee shop or take a siesta at home- just plop down at the job site so there’s no time wasted in transit! Brilliant!

We have moments where the stupidest thing seems like the funniest thing in the world. These bottle caps provided at least 20 minutes of uninterrupted laughter. The table next to us just didn’t get it. Bummer for them. hee

This woman is an anthropologist who has devoted her whole life studying macaque and rhesus monkeys while traveling Southeast Asia. She first came here in the ’60s. She is now working undercover trying to stop the illegal smuggling of monkeys to different countries to be used as pets or placed in zoos. (I hope no monkey smugglers stumble across my blog- then her cover will be blown!) She was exploding with information and passion about what she does. I could have talked to her for hours, but I was recovering from a massive attack of motion sickness on the plane and needed a bathroom stat! I accidentally put my Seabands in a checked bag. Aye-yi-yi! Anyhoo, I saw her waiting for a cab and said goodbye. in case you’re wondering, we did not plan our matching shirts. hee

The monks form a procession that winds through the town to collect rice and other offerings from the towns people. I also saw some of the older monks giving food away. The monks are quiet and look down a lot making very little eye contact. It was cool to see, but kind of weird how some tourists get extremely close so they can take photos and pretend like they are part of the ritual. Buses of people come in to watch which seems to diminish the experience somehow. That being said, the colors of the monks’ robes are spectacular and to see them in a long line walking slowly was beautiful.

Our camera gave out right about here. Jesse was having so much fun taking tons of pictures, that we ran out of battery. We exchanged info with the friends we met so we can share all our photos at a later date! We laughed so hard watching everyone go in the water and try to hold on. One of the elephants wanted to stay in the water and play some more. One of the guys had to swim after her. We were saying “Let her play for Pete’s sake!!!! She deserves a break!”

Only female elephants give rides, male elephants are too aggressive. I think the females give the rides because they’re stronger and sweeter. Just sayin’!