Austin in Laos

Well, the Holmes family is all back, safe and sound, from different parts of the world.  Austin went on a school trip to Laos and Savannah went on a school trip to Bhutan.  With both kids gone for the week, I decided to tag along on Joe's business trip to China.  I have been sifting through thousands, yes thousands, of pictures.  So perhaps you will understand if these blog posts are long.  :)

Today I have a guest blogger-- my son Austin!  I will let him tell you about his trip to Laos.  I am the one who uploaded all the pictures, so they are in no particular order.  

Hello to all followers of my mom's blog. I indeed went to Laos for a school trip. We stayed in the village for a week and  built a house/hotel to help bring revenue to the village. This was my home away from home. A pretty typical house in the area. Wooden walls, straw and bamboo roof, and just one room. It was pretty snug to say the least.

  My mom is just so impressed with this long legged chicken. It does look quite disproportionate though! Chickens and rooster were very common as they roamed around.

Naturally, it was the rainy season. More mud than you can possibly imagine!

 That shirt didn't stay white for long... 

In the school teaching the kids English numbers as they taught us Lao ones. 

I got them to line up without saying a word in English. That is not to say that I speak much Lao. I just flailed my arms about with my camera and they got what to do.

This "semi-strenuous" hike was up the side of a mountain. Us students had trouble going up in hiking boots carrying just water bottles. The natives did the same thing in flip flops while carrying heavy baskets of corn and without slipping once.

The view from the second hike of the trip. I really do love the lush green landscapes that this part of the world can offer. 

Laos really is jungle. This is actually one of the better parts of the trail. At some points I would have to crawl just to get to the next section of trail.

This water from the waterfall was not supposed to go over the stairs.  It rained so much that the river swelled and caused more water than normal to flow which flooded many of the areas around the river. 

A terrified selfie.

I just look Texan there. A Dallas shirt. A camouflage Longhorn hat. A knife stuck into the strap of my backpack. Oh well. I had this picture taken at the last minute before we left the waterfall because I realized that I had no pictures of myself and my mother would be angry!

I don't think a comment needs to be made here.

This is a video of the procession of monks. I, one of my trip leaders, and one other student got up at five to see the monks receive their alms for the day. Buddhist monks are forbidden to own materiel items so they rely on worshipers and follows of Buddhism to provide sticky rice and other food for them. Every day they meditate for around two hours before they walk down the street and receive their food for the day. 

A cave that contained over four thousand Buddha statues. Truly an impressive sight.

[This is Wanda, making a quick note.  The rest of these pictures were taken by Austin's GAP leader, Kate Meinenger.  She did an amazing job!]

They call it the Golden Temple. I wonder why.

Local fishermen casting their nets for the day.

Just chillin'

They learn young how to handle knives and how to help out in village life. I also saw a baby playing with a machete.

Had to split bamboo to make fences for around the house. Needless to say, I was a pro. :)

The Lao language when we went to the school.

After a hard day's work I need my water. Did not have the energy to actually suck it from the pouch. I had to hold it above so that the water flowed. 

I had finally conquered a tree stump that me and one of the guides had been working on all day. Near the end we gathered and audience of villagers and students alike to see the momentous act as we pulled that tree stump out of the ground. And me casually rocking the US Army shirt in a Communist country. 

Local lady makes these purses. (Should've gotten one for my momma. Oops.)

We took a boat ride and the views were fantastic. 

These boats were very slim and very shallow. Very similar to the ones in Vietnam and also similar to a gondola. 

This picture was taken by a very amused teacher. This is in an airport as we are waiting for our flight. I would like to draw your attention to the gun magazine in my hand, the "Born In The USA" t-shirt, the bullet hanging around my neck, the camouflage hat, the red communist shirt, the camo and communist hat that my friend has on, and the overall irony of this situation.  

A depiction of village life. 

Stunning. What more can I say?

This was my meal. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's safe to say that I am not going to be eating rice for a good long while. 

A ceremony for good luck and as a thank you from the villagers.

The hike to the waterfall. 

Another view of the Golden Temple. 

I find piglets cute. And here is a prime example of why.

My house mates. The two biggest guys on the trip rooming with the smallest. He still had enough energy for us all. 

Building a ladder out of bamboo. Shirt still surprisingly white.

That stump was my proudest accomplishment. We had to dig the hole so deep that I needed people to sit on me so that I did not fall into it! Thus, the Butt-Sitters were formed. 

It had been a hard week. Sleeping on a wooden pallet doesn't make for the best rest, so I had to catch up on some Z's.

Wow. Just wow. Well, this is the end of my contribution to this blog. Thank y'all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. If you want to learn more about the hectic life of an ex-pat then you can look at some of my mom's other blog posts and even at her previous blog which recorded our adventures in Oman. I'll make her put a link to it below. Peace!

Wanda again.  A big thanks to my son Austin for describing these pictures for us.  I consider myself fortunate, since he could be catching up on sleep!  :)  Anyways, I am including my link to my prior blog, just because Austin asked.

wandainoman.blogspot.com

I will work on Savannah's Bhutan post next.  But I don't think she will be much help.  :)