right outside the lazy gate of winters summer home

MY NEW RENTAL HOME IN LUANG KAO, CHAMPASAK PROVINCE, LAO

      I departed Bangkok, early one morning, and headed to southern Lao. I spent the day traveling by taxi, express train, another taxi, international bus, and finally, saam-laaw (motorcycle with sidecar), to my favorite guesthouse in Pakse, Lao. A long fourteen hour day, but I made it in time to get the last available bed in the dorm room of the Nang Noi guesthouse. Here, I met a man from Mexico, and a man from Brazil, and we went off to my favorite Pakse restaurant, Dao Linh, where we had dinner with two French women. The next day, I got my own room, and settled into Pakse to celebrate my 50^th birthday. I met a woman from Slovenia, and after days wandering around Pakse, we walked out to my friends house, who was throwing me a birthday party. We ate and drank with many foreigners working for various NGO’s in the area, a few living in Pakse, the rest moving on after their contracts expire. We returned to Pakse around midnight, and the fireworks started lighting the sky. My birthday was the same day as the Chinese new year and Vietnamese new year, and the next few days, I just made into a longer birthday celebration.

     Early one morning, I took a boat from Pakse downriver to Champasak, my choice of town’s to settle. I got a room at my favorite Champasak guesthouse, Vong Paseud, and began my house search. That first day, I looked at my future rental, but it was the first place I looked at and I wanted to compare others houses and prices. My guesthouse owner took me to look at various rentals, and after five days looking at eight houses, I chose the first place to rent. The house is located a bit south of Champasak in the village of Ban Vat Luang Kao. This small town is the subject of archaeological restoration, as it is the ancient city of nearby Wat Phou, a Khmer religious complex which predates Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Luang Kao, about 1500 years ago, was the capital of the Mon-Khmer Chenla kingdom. Little remains of this original city, but I am thrilled to be able to live here!

     My rental house is owned by Simone, a spry 85 year old Lao woman who spent many years living in France. The house had been empty for years, and needed a good cleaning. I was willing to clean and furnish the place, but while we were working out the financial details, Simone had the place cleaned top to bottom, and furnished. I now had a home with beds, bedding, tables, chairs, fridge/freezer, propane stove, water pump for the well, shower, and toilet. Everything was ready for an easy move-in! The downstairs is one big room, with tiled floor, and plenty of windows with wooden shutters. There is an attached kitchen and bathroom out back, that looks out into a big back and side yard. Upstairs are two rooms, with enough windows to allow a good breeze throughout the day and night. I like the tile-floored front porch, where I can watch the world ease by. It is still winter, yet is 30-40 degrees Celcius (90-100 F) during the day, and I can sit on my porch and look through the lazy gate of my winter’s summer home!!!
 

all good things in all good time

WAT PHO, BANGKOK

    
     The planning and preparation has finished! I have used my one-way plane ticket from Seattle to Southeast Asia, and my adventure abroad begins. Roald Amundsen once said ‘chance favors the prepared.’ I patiently waited to use my one-way plane ticket, to complete my to-do list. By waiting, I was able to depart, knowing there is nothing left undone. All my belongings have been given away, my financial arrangements have been taken care of, and last years taxes have been filed. Everything falls into place, when I let go, and let things flow naturally. Good things happen when I relax, kick back, and let nature take its course. I find it’s true, what I was told years ago, ‘all good things in all good time!’

     What I wasn’t told, or learned about in any book or website about being an expat, is the emotions experienced from saying ‘goodbye,’ or ‘see you later,’ to family and friends. When traveling before, I treated these departures lightly. But, I have learned, it is best to be realistic, life and death go hand in hand. Sickness and dying are part of the process of life, and it is not known, when a person’s life will end. I think it is best to be present and truthful, when saying ‘goodbye,’ because it really may be the last time you see that person. All my planning did not prepare me for the strong emotions from leaving my family and friends. I made sure they knew I loved them and that each of their lives have helped me to be here, now!

TEMPLE OF THE DAWN, CHAO PHRAYA RIVER, BANGKOK

     Meeting people while traveling is quite easy. While waiting for my flight in Seattle, I met a lovely couple returning from their travels. While waiting for my flight in Taipei, I met a man just beginning his travels. Once in Bangkok, meeting people is simple. Travelers from all over the world come through Bangkok, as it is the Southeast Asian hub for travel. Inexpensive flights, cheap accommodations, and delicious food, bring travelers through Bangkok, before they depart for other destinations. Here, it is easy to arrange flights, trains, and buses out of the city. Transportation in Bangkok, however, is a mess. The streets are packed, and it is best to use the river transport, the skytrain, and the subway, to get around town.

RIVER TRANSPORT, CHAO PHRAYA RIVER, BANGKOK

I spent some time in Bangkok, eating at my favorite thai restaurant, buying new shirts, and picking up a few new movies. I stay in a part of town that is full of tourists and travelers. It is easy to spot the first-time traveler, as I was once one of them. It is easy to spot the tourist as well. The seasoned travelers are the ones I now choose to share food and drinks. We spend hours sharing our travel stories and travel dreams. I did not meet any others moving to this part of the world, but I talked with many of them who understood my move to southern Lao. My planning and preparations are finished, and I am now in Southeast Asia with no return plane ticket! LET THE WILD RUMPUS BEGIN!!!

DUSK ON THE CHAO PHRAYA RIVER, BANGKOK