It is my last full day in Luang Prabang, Laos. It has been wonderful and saying goodbye is a bit bittersweet. Everyone was right. I did, very much, love Laos.

Today was filled with “one lasts”. One last morning at Big Brother Mouse. I brought ice cream for all of the kids and from the look on their faces, you would have thought it was Christmas morning. Who cares if we were all eating ice cream at 9:30 in the morning? One last trip to the waterfall for a swim. One last meandering walk through the night market, trying not to give into temptation and add to my already too heavy pack. One last stroll along the Mekong river just watching life happen….

So it is officially time to wrap things up and say goodbye to Luang Prabang. It is also now time for the bit I like to call “10 Random Things about Laos”. Just a few little tidbits that don’t really fit anywhere but I wanted to share all the same.

1. Nothing in Laos leaves on time. You think your tour leaves at 9am? Oh my friend, you should consider yourself lucky if you hit the road (or water) by 9:45am. Life just seems to move slower here. It has taken me a lot of getting used to.

2. Never assume that the bus (boat, plane, etc.) you are currently on will be the bus (boat, plane, etc) you will stay on.

3. I know that you are supposed to bargain when buying stuff. But when the seller tells you that something costs 12,000kip (about $1.50), it hardly seems worth haggling over $0.50.

4. I’ve eaten more bread, rice, cakes, and muffins in the past week than I have in the past year.

5. This morning I discovered that my favorite fruit shake stand also does an absolutely amazing oreo shake with nutella. No lie, it may be one of the best things I have ever tasted. It is both a good thing and a bad thing that I discovered this on my last day.

6. If you had told me a month ago that I would eat (and actually enjoy) an entire fish (head and all) on the grill, I would have laughed in your face.

7. The number of times I have taken my shoes off to go into a wat, guesthouse, or shop: a thousand at least. The number of times I’ve worried about my shoes getting stolen and having to walk home in socks: about the same.

8. I was walking through the national museum (in socks, of course) and one of the guides struck up a conversation with me. At the end of our chat he said “You speak the best English I have ever heard.”  Awww…well shucks…thank you.

9. The number of middle aged to older white men with young Asian companions astonishes me.

10. I realized today that I have not seen a single traffic light or stop sign in the entire town. At intersections, an amazing thing happens. People wait patiently for their turn. No honking. No shouting. I think you sometimes forget that the human race has the capacity to be patient, kind, and helpful to one another. Luang Prabang reminds you of this.

So two countries down and three to go. Next stop Siem Reap, Cambodia….see you there! :))