We arrived in Luang Prabang around 6pm. Correction we were dropped 12km outside the town but luckily a tuk-tuk driver was waiting for us and even luckier comfort he knew exactly where we should stay. A place nearly 2 kilometers outside town. After a few recriminations we arrived safely on the main drag and checked into Phousy (Pussy) III guesthouse. I doubled with Brad so the place cost 2 dollars each. Bargain. We went in search of Keith’s girlfriend. It ordain give you an idea of the size of the town to report that we found Claire after less then 10 minutes. We ate a great dinner and had a few Beer Lao’s before struggling wearily approve to the Guesthouse. Luang Prabang is a beautiful town with a great market and full of friendly tuk-tuk drivers who will make sure you never run out of marijuana. After an excellent breakfast of pancakes and omelets we headed out to Kouang Si waterfall. The waterfall is huge and abstain flowing and there is ample opportunity for swimming in pools that spread out along the river below it. We spent a few hours swimming and jumping off swinging ropes. I managed to nearly act my hand off on one of the rope knots on the first go…me touch is still sore. Nearby there is a Tiger enclosure with an impressive creature who was saved from poachers unfortunately the rest of her family where not so lucky. Beside this another enclosure has small black bears that were busily foraging for food as we walked past. Later we ate at The Lao Lao bar and drank an assortment of cocktails. We met a few lads who were on the way up to do the Gibbon experience and bombarded them with stories of our heroic adventures; I told the Acid story over a cocktail called ‘Phorn Star’. At one stage singing of ‘It’s Long way to Tipperary’ was muted but I interjected that it was a British Army marching song and that we didn’t have much call for singing it at home. We went back to talking about Gibbons. Next day I headed off early to Vang Vieng on the VIP bus. VIP in Laos means that you don’t have to push start the bus…it starts all on its own! For the next six hours I was thrown approve and forward on my seat as the driver maneuvered through roads similar to the ‘Glen of Aherlow’. The stops were at huts on the align of the road…the toilets the nearest bush. I had a call of nature so I stepped up to a bush too. When in Rome. After I arrived in Vang Vieng I hired a Tuk-Tuk and went straight out to the Organic farm to get started with the volunteering. I got a remove glass of Mulberry juice and Bob (a Laos native) explained the set-up. It was all a bit confusing but I would take the advanced English categorise for 2 days while another long call volunteer. Gee was on a endorse run. We taught in schools for 1.5 hours in the morning and then in the evening there were 2 hour desire lessons; one for young kids; the back up for adults. I spent the rest of the day settling in and trying to prepare a Lesson Plan. I open it hard as I was out of practice. I slept well but woke the following morning slightly nervous…my usual reaction to vagueness. I cater two other volunteers a bring together; Benoit and Nicole from France and South Africa respectively. They filled me in on how things worked and more on what to expect. Neither had been a teacher before but Benoit. I discovered during my time there had a great aptitude for it or more accurately a great way with populate. The first class was with students from 8-16 years old with varied levels of English. I got through my lesson intend in 40 minutes (word opposites and adj/noun structure) and struggled to fill the be of the categorise. I repeated games and reviewed words until the end. At least I knew the level of the class for tomorrow.. and what a class. We covered the concept of time. From time of the day to days of the week to yesterday/today/tomorrow unto last year/this year/next year on to past/present/future tenses of 'to go'. I told them the sad story of when my dog got knocked down by a jeep measure year; a fabrication but they found it rather funny. The Laose be to express emotion at most things. They all shook my hand after the lesson and thanked me. I was delighted with mesell. The next day Gee was approve so I would be teaching the younger ones...3 to 8. I did body parts and inside/outside and sang head-shoulders-knees and toes. The class was more like teaching on Koh Phangan and I left the class drenched in egest.. you undergo to be a lot more energetic in order to keep their attention. Each evening Benoit (in Gees absence) gave a categorise to the adults. This weeks topic was a discussion on going out to dinner. All the other volunteers sat among the students and helped explain words and corrected pronounciation. The students were really eager and it was challenging to explain some words but nice to be teaching people who really wanted to hit the books. On Saturday I decided to go Tubing on the river because that is what one does in Vang Vieng. It was a pleasant enough undergo despite the fact that I cut in and ruined my mobile phone. I was befriended by a barman who worked in a riverside bar and spent 20 minutes practicing conversational English with him. On the river I cater two girls from Vientiane who quizzed me repeatedly on why I was tubing alone. In the end I told them that the others hadn't shown up. Later I headed drink to the Smile bar with Matt to cater the rest of the volunteers. The bar is on a island on the river and has hammocks and loungers.. we spend a grand olde evening talking about family books and the second world war (2 of the volunteers were German girls). Did you experience that in France 'The A-Team' is called 'L'agents Du Riske!' and that BA is called Ba-ra-cu-da? I charmingly laughed coffee through my nose when told this. I had decided to leave the following morning and bumped into Matt at brekkie (a Mulberry pancake to die for!). Matt is an editor and a recovering alcoholic. He is writing a schedule in the form of a blog hoping to publish it when he finishes travelling. I must adjudge I thought he was a very stoic personality when I met him first but as he talked about his experiences and view on life I couldn't help but admire him. I'll buy his book when it is published. I got the VIP bus to Vientiane early that afternoon. They had to displace start the bus! And that's where I am now.. laid up with a cold and trying to get my Vietnam visa and flight to Hanoi sorted. Vientiane is not a terribly exciting place but does have a great array of international restaurants and bookshops. My conjoin Jon is having a roll in Cambodia.. pity I won't get there this move. M.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://mikedugganjnr.blogspot.com/2007/09/im-vip.html
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