The Buddha Park was marvellous, if a little odd. It's quite a small park, well field, 25km south of Vientiane by the Mekong river, just full of the most unusual statues we've seen in Asia! Plenty of scope for Ric's novelty brand of camera poses. (I've now manged to upload them. Hurrah!)
We didn't stay there long. It's just so incredibly hot here and this isn't even the hot season!
Ric sat on his sunglasses earlier and popped a lens out but has managed (after 4 hours) to fix them. One less expense. While doing this however, he caught a glimpse of the top of his head in the mirror which he can now see thanks to his short hair cut, and after careful inspection and some debate we've concluded that his hair is definitely thinning on top. He's mortified! Another three years maybe before he goes really bald.
We've also had to send another package off to Oz after our shopping frenzy in Luang Prabang. You wouldn't believe how expensive a couple of rugs (erm...plus a few other things) are to post! I checked out the Australian Government's rules on what you can send and bring in to the country...not an awful lot it seems! I hope my wooden elephants don't get destroyed.
As our arrival in Australia beckons, we have been talking about the future. Where will we live? What will our set up be? Should we try a house-share so we speed up the making new friends process? Should we even have a mini-break from each other after this fairly intense time together? Should we travel around first and then settle or get straight back in to work of some sort? And then of course there's the question of what exactly we'll do career wise. I don't think we can decide anything until we get there.
I'm a bit frustrated that I'm still clinging to so many the habits and hang ups I had in London. I never expected them to evaporate but I hoped they'd dissipate a bit. If anything I have clung to them in order to implant routine in to a hectic schedule of moving around constantly. That's been a bit of a shock especially since I thought I knew my strengths and weaknesses so well before.
In some ways though I think we've both grown a lot calmer and we're not phased by what's thrown at us or what we've got ourselves in to! Neither of us can believe how many little things we've lost or forgotten along the way. Travelling forces one to be patient that's for sure and not just with your companion.
I certainly never thought I could sit on a bus in sweltering heat for 14 hours and haven't once panicked about losing or missing something. I've even been eating things with meat in them, all be it reluctantly.
It has been obvious how calm Asians are in general. It's rare to hear raised voices or see confrontation. When we have on occasion expressed our exasperation to somebody, we've received only stoney faces or simply disinterest in response. I admire that in a way although I miss a bit of passion at times!
We'll be out of here tomorrow and have a long day ahead including two flights and a long wait in between. What to do in Kuala Lumpur for 8 hours apart from browsing a mall?!
Fortunately, a kindly Irish girl we met yesterday (who's a trainee solicitor in Singapore) has offered us a bed to crash in when we get there late tomorrow. We really didn't fancy an airport hotel or its prices!
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