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snapshots of memory

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

i’ve been taking so many photos on this trip, but i’m starting to realize that sometimes not having my camera at the moment that i see something happening isn’t the tragedy that i thought. in fact, my memory card picked up a virus at an internet cafe and i lost a majority of my pictures temporarily, i was freaking out! they were able to recover them for me and burn them to disk (and most i’ve put up on flickr already), but it made me realize even more just how much i depend on my camera…

but so much happens in between the shutter clicks anyway… a few examples:

– watching a cow (with cowbell and all!) chase chickens on the side of the mekong

– on the drive to vientiane, we sped through rural villages and i caught a glimpse of a little boy sitting up in a tree, watching us fly past

– passing by a small store and seeing a mother inside (the shopowner?) with her child on the floor, singing songs to her and just oblivious to anything else… you could just see the love on her face!

– waking up in the morning to take a stroll around the neighborhoods of luang prabang and stepping backwards into a sewer ditch trying to get this shot! in between giggles, an old lady helped me use her hose to wash off my smelly feet. haha
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slow boat to luang prabang

Thursday, March 13th, 2008

yesterday morning we woke up early and drove about an hour on bumpy, unpaved mountain roads again until we finally arrived at the banks of the mekong. the slow boat coming from the huay xai border crossing was due to arrive in an hour so we killed time playing with the stray dogs, tasting beef jerky and snacks from the vendors set up at the landing, and talking with our tour guides and other locals waiting for the boat to luang prabang. i had fun trying this REALLY sour fruit (i think it might be a type of cherry?) that you dip in a plate of salt and sugar then pop in your mouth.

these tasted like REALLY sour cherries

the boat ride wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as i thought it would be. we were warned that the wooden seats are pretty uncomfortable (especially after six hours!) and so we used little cushions to sit on to try to make it more bearable. i contorted myself into a little fetal position to try to take a nap, but that was pretty rough on the rock hard benches, so i ended up doing sudoku puzzles and taking pictures of the scenery to pass the time.
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