There is a lesson to be learned from every interaction ...

by Pete Adams
(Vang Vieng, Monday 10th December 2007)

There is a lesson to be learned from every interaction you have with anyone or anything. You can either learn the lesson and move on to the next, or repeat the lesson maybe in a different way some time later

My friend Bob asked if I could "spice up" my blog for the boys. Well, I don't know about spicing it up but I'm gonna share with you more of the experiences I have with the people I meet and maybe lessons I learn. And I'm gonna take pictures of some of the people I chat with. I started yesterday:

Anika

I shared a kayak with a guy named Dave yesterday, a lawyer from England who is here for 2.5 weeks. I also chatted with Anika (forgive me if I've got your name wrong Anika, I'm not very good at remembering names at first meeting so I'm starting to write them down now). Anika is a german girl who woks in a kindergaten but is travelling now I think for a couple of months. Anyway, Dave, Anika and I arranged to meet for dinner and a drink at 8 last night, but they didn't turn up or got the wrong place. Where were you guys?


Lena, Maria and Laura

So, I was sitting on my own and after 20 mins or so and realised they weren't coming so introduced myself to 3 girls sitting at a table oppsite and joined them.
A picture of Lena, Maria and Laura is attached. Lena (left) is from Germany, Maria (middle) and Laura (right) are from Switzerland. I chatted mostly with Laura and had an interesting chat about life. Mail me girls and let me know about your travels.


Ollie

I decided not to eat there however so while wandering around town looking for somewhere I stopped at a rock climbing shop and chatted with the guy offering courses. I am pretty sure I'm going to do a 2 or 3 day course. Whilst there I chatted to a guy, Ollie from England. He was very intersted in some of the books I've read so we had a beer and a bite and swapped e-mail addresses. I mailed him some stuff this morning.

I then wandered back to the guest house at about 11 pm and went to the bar round the back. I chatted with the girl behind the bar who happened to be the same girl who gave me her room when I arrived. She said her name was Belgium and that she came from Belgium, was helping out at the bar for something to do, and was heading home in a couple of days. After a little while a strapping English guy who I think is a partner in the bar came over and made a point of telling me she was staying him. He told me his name was Bear so I told him mine was Puppy . He went off and Belgium and I chatted some more. I commented that her boyfriend seemed very jealous and she emphatically pointed out she didn't have a boyfriend. Being a peaceful guy (now :-) I decided not to persue the matter, but when I ordered another drink Bear told me they were now closed!

This morning at breakfast Belgium was checking out. Circumstances changed she told me. Whoops, hope I had nothing to do with it. No picture of Belgium for you, I don't think that would have gone down well. I may chat with Bear another time though and take his picture. Hope he doesn't read my blog though or I may be mincemeat. Is that spicy enough for you Bob?

Today I've decided to take it easy, catch up on mail and try to get my blog onto my website to make it easier to post pictures etc. As you can see I've now done it. And you get to post a reply if you like by filling in the form at the bottom. I think it it might get interesting especially if Bob makes some comments .



After breakfast I took a walk down to the river. Laos apparently is the most bombed country ever and I found a reminder of that at a bridge I crossed. Notice a bomb on either side.







After walking for an hour or so and crossing a few ricketty bridges, I'm now relaxing in the shade on a wooden platform at an abandoned bar beside the river, listening to the birds singing and writing this. I had a dip in the river to cool off first as it's really hot walking in the sun in the day. A little cool early in the morning and late evenng, but nice.

I chatted with Niel, the guest house owner, yesterday before going out and asked him about the Garden of Eden Retreat Centre. It turns out it's not actually open but he is testing the market. He is in the process of buying some land to start the project. Oh well, for now it looks like it's rock climbing instead of a retreat for me.

So, I spent 3 hours this afternoon in an internet cafe getting the website sorted so I was able to make this blog live. And it cost $35. The internet cafe's are very expensive here.


Dan-Alice

On the way back from home I dropped in a cafe-bar for a beer and met Dan from Kent and Alice from Liverpool. They've been travelling together for 5 week and have nearly 2 month's left to go. We had a good conversation and a good time. They were giving me all sorts of advice about where to go in Vietnam and Cambodia with such excitement that I asked them if they'd write me a sort of summary travel guide and route. They have agreed and I can't wait to see it and to follow there guide in the new year. They took a picture of me for my blog as I'd taken one of them.


Pete

We had dinner afterwards and chatted some more. It turn's out that Dan's first ever best friends name was Danny. My son is Danny & he is Dan. Funny how co-incidences happen like that. Or are they just co-incidences? Well, I'm finishing off now as I've spend far too long in internet cafe's today & I'm off tubing tomorrow morning with Alice & Dan so it's time I went.

You are now able to reply to me just like you've been doing up to now by replying to my e-mails, but let my other friends and family read what you have to say.
This could be fun! I hope you'll join in the fun & post your thoughts and comments in the form below.

Peace