Luang Prabang - photographer self-portrait!

And here we go -

Enjoying this town very much. Laid back, hot and humid; walking everywhere; good food; comfortable on one's own.... and diet coke! It s a beautiful thing.

Anne

Taken at private shrines - kind of odd icons

Luang Prabang - a place for dreamers?

I read a quote in Lonely Planet's LAOS book that was taken from a woman's journal written in 1909.

Martha Bassene wrote this:

Will Luang Prabang be, in our century of exact scientists, of quick profits, of victory by money, the refuge of the last dreamers, the last lovers, the last troubadours?

Almost 110 years later, I think she nailed it! I think the answer is yes.

Fish eating Feet

Yesterday I tried this thing they have here.........

You put your feet in this big fish tank. 

All these little fish - about 1 -1.5 inches long - then attack your feet. 

What they do is they eat your dead skin!!! 

OMG that was the weirdest feeling ever..... 

You can leave them in for 10 minutes or 30 minutes. 

For my first time I thought 10 minutes was enough.  $5 for 10 min. 

Such an odd feeling and then to watch them noshing on your feet, ankles and shins... seriously crazy stuff. 

Just the kind of thing I am doing with my days. 

weirdest airline snack ever

4 words I never thought I would see strung together.

Have a look!

And I tried them. Really quite bland in fact.

Kind of spoiled the whole thing!

Selfie at Siem Reap

sunrise at Angkor Wat.... this selfie thing may just catch on! look at how much fun I am having. 

battambang or ?

Sitting here on my pool side terrace after my 2 hour swim ...

chatted in the pool for about 1.5 hrs. with a couple - he is French and she is Australian. Met in OZ and now she is on 1 year sabbatical from work to travel for 3 months in SE Asia and then going to France to see what happens!

writing up diary and labelling photos.

listening to CHUMFM on the computer - Roger Darren and Marilyn due to time difference.! Traffic on the DVP this morning - Gardiner closed for the Indy this coming weekend...

just need a DIET COKE with ICE and this would be heaven.
Oh wait, there is my drink just now!
Let's give thanks Balinese style!

and, oh yes, watching Ally McBeal on TV on my 42" HD TV.

Singapore is about signs.

Many of  the public notices are in 4 languages - English, Malaysian, Hindi and Arabic.

But just to make sure everyone understands the government also uses graphics!

I can speak Cambodian now!

Well, only been here 3 days and already I have 3 words now in my repertoire.

Sousdey  is hello or good morning.

Leehi   is goodbye

Aucun is thank you.

Spelling them phonetically so you can all pick up the  language!
That is about it as the temperature continues to hover around 37C.

Phnom Penh - by night by TukTuk

"Welcome to Phnom Penh, the Kingdom of Cambodia", said the head stewardess.
"The temperature outside is 36C."
Just take it slow!

Since the hotel Jaguar was in the shop, my transfer was by Lexus! Seriously!
Suddenly the driver stopped at an intersection with a barrier on one side and some basic mom-and-pop type metal shops, bakery, balloons etc. He motioned me to get out. I ascertained that I had to walk the rest of the way ... down the street with the barrier as the hotel is on the street where the President lives so no vehicles are allowed. Luckily, a guy came from the hotel to bring my bag.

Here are some shots taken from my moving tuktuk last night as I went to dinner.

Birthday presents

Birthday week in Bali

Since my 2 friends were here, after we made it to the disappointing Sunday market - consisting of 3 tables of sarongs - we continued on a lovely shopping kind of a day... after all, it is Bali.

Jewelry is always fun to look at and so we went into a few shops.

Fortunately we spotted a couple of lovely things.
Bev bought me the pendant.
Steph bought me the ring.
I bought me the chain.

Lucky me!

Birthday notes

I am wearing black to day as I mourn the end of my 50's.
It is a sad day indeed.

Had a super day yesterday : It started with a birthday cake from the hotel at breakfast!

We hired a driver to take us to a couple of snorkelling places and what they call a "traditional village". Some great photos and then we went out for a yummy dinner at the Glass House when we got back.

Patch gave me this crazy hat for my birthday - a shower cap in the shape of a queen's crown. So fitting - although as you can see it does not quite fit!

Love the day. Good friends Steph and Bev were here to share it - Both of whom I met while travelling - Steph back in 1983 when Janice and I went to Morocco and Bev in 1988 when she was slottted as my roommate in Pakistan.  Nothing like a shared adventure to make fast friends.

Thank you to everyone for sharing my day and my life - whether by card, email, facebook or just being  you.