Bye Bye LAOS

Tonight we are leaving for China, so this is our last day here in Luang Prabang. I Actually had a lovely time in the past few days: Met a bunch of "siblings" in Beit Chabbad on Thursday, and went bowling- I'm proud to say that I still suck! Gil was actually winning, and Nir was even worst than I was... on the first game.

On Friday we hooked up with Jit and Phil- 2 English guys we met in Vang Vieng (Gil called them Harold and Kummar, guess why) and along with a guy from Denmark we went to a waterfall which was absolutely beautiful- turquoise water, plants, fish... tourist picnicking all over the place... really really nice.

When we returned we went with then to an Indian restaurant- I think there is a hole in my tongue... clearly I was born in the wrong Eda.

In the evening we went to Beit Chabbad for Shabbat dinner- it was lovely. We were about 30, some of them we knew and some not, and it was really nice.

Today we woke up to find out there is no electricity nor running water- and it kept going until the middle of lunch (again, in Beit Chabbad- by the way, the locals don't know what "Chabbad house" is, but if you ask about "Beit Chabbad" they will know exactly what you're taking about)- so that was fun....different kind of mingling, sweaty. Ew.

So now we are pretty much doing nothing.....just burning time until our bus to Jingxong (if I remember correctly)- we are leaving at 10 and it's at least 18 hours.... oy.

Anyhow, have a lovely week:-)

Loang Prabang

So after a horrible yet gorgeous 6 hours van ride were are now in Loang Prabang (silent R)- As I mentioned, the road was amazing but horrible- the Van had natural air conditioning- windows. And rain... and he drove on like 30 KPH because the road is full of turns... but here we are in the center of town!
No, wait a minute-"town" is over estimating...it's like a very big village, not very town-ish. But it's right next to the Mekong and some other river, and there are many beautiful temples.
Last night we went to the night market which was nice, and today we went to the temples. The largest one is located on a hill called "Pou See" and PLEASE- no puns/jokes/dirty associating, I am traveling with 2 guys and so help me god, I had ENOUGH with this joke.
Anyhow nice temples, but they charge 2$ admission fee each, so after one or two we got the idea. Afterwards we went to Beit Chabbad, and we are heading there tomorrow night for Shabbat dinner.
So that's it for now... I've uploaded more photos, so have a look:-)

Vang Vieng- episode 2

I keep telling myself I am over posting.... and even though:
Today we went on a day trip- we went with a group of Eleven: 2 Irish girls, 2 British guys, 3 Israelis and the Four of us. We started with a visit to a Buddha cave- I can convert with all the Buddha info I learned recently...But I learned today that the reason Buddhists don't eat pork is because that's what killed Buddha. Random piece of information for today!
Afterwards we went Tubing in a cave- very dark, and we had to pedal most of the way cause there was no stream..
Then we went Kayaking- a very good day for my biceps, no doubt- once again, no stream...fun. but we also did Omega- with no safety cord- it was fun. Risky, but So fun.
Something else I learned today is that I am a very tasty mosquito food. Oh, the honor...
Tomorrow David is leaving us and in Two days we are leaving to Luang Pabang.
And that completes this series of "Mosquitoes- what Sivan did today".. yeah, that sounds nasty. I'll think of something better for next time... or not:-)
Meanwhile, Have a lovely week!

Vang Vieng

Shabbat Shalom! We are now in Vang Vieng- a small beautiful town about 4 hours north to Vian Tien. The trip was fun- 4 hours in horrible heat, no air conditioning, full of sweaty people.... splendid. But it's a very very nice road.
We are staying all four of us in a nice bungalow right down the Sam Xong riverside, so we have great view. I'm dying to upload photos but in this damn continent finding a cooperating computer is impossible- the ones that do have USB connections do not support them.
Today we rented two motorbikes and went exploring- I cannot begin to describe exactly how pretty the country side is- trees, mountains, river, creeks, fields and villages. The people here are so poor, but their lives are priceless, which to me is nothing but amazing.
Just as we were heading back the sky turned cloudy and as we sat down for lunch it started pouring outside.
Funny thing- Vang Vieng is more of a village than a town, and it's very touristic- they have 2 bar/restaurants that have "Friends" on 24/7. TWO! and they are across to each other. To make things better, there is also a "Simpsons" bar.....so that's what we've been doing to avoid the rain. How odd..
So that's it for now....