Laos

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.)

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.

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.