{"id":1992,"date":"2012-02-28T19:32:08","date_gmt":"2012-02-28T12:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2012-02-28T19:51:13","modified_gmt":"2012-02-28T12:51:13","slug":"lazy-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2012\/02\/28\/lazy-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Lazy Days"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 align=\"center\">[Written Monday, February The 27th, Afternoon]<\/h4>\n<p align=\"justify\">Great day for hiking, as it stayed overcast throughout. The sun has been mind-meltingly hot lately, even though it\u2019s still nominally the cool season. Definitely a nice change-of-pace. Almost <em>too<\/em> nice, though, as it appeared on a few occasions, that it would even start raining, and me out traipsing the back forty.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Yeah, the trails are largely zigging and then zagging through rice fields, sometimes meandering off into a patch of jungle, or down by the river. Perfect place to get out and wander. Was surprised, in fact, to not have seen anybody else out there (save for a few locals down at the river, and a few more out harvesting bananas).<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">It\u2019s almost eerie how easily escaped is the noise of the town \u2013 just five minutes\u2019 walking, and it\u2019s wholly replaced by the birds a-singing and the grasshoppers a-jumping. Yes, the scenery was good, too.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/scenery11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"scenery1\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/scenery1_thumb1.jpg\" alt=\"scenery1\" width=\"644\" height=\"429\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/scenery21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"scenery2\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/scenery2_thumb1.jpg\" alt=\"scenery2\" width=\"644\" height=\"429\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">I think I may\u2019ve done a little more walking that the toe\u2019s healing had warranted. Felt great when I started out, but not so great by the time I\u2019d returned. Hopefully, a nice night of sleeping will have it feeling great again by the morrow. Would like to hit the swimming hole if it\u2019s sunny.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">On Saysong Island \u2013 the little island what\u2019s party all night and sleeping all day \u2013 there\u2019s a small herd of buffalo. I like them.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/buffalo1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"buffalo\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/buffalo_thumb1.jpg\" alt=\"buffalo\" width=\"644\" height=\"429\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Back in town, a Laotian hepcat.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/hepcat.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"hepcat\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/hepcat_thumb.jpg\" alt=\"hepcat\" width=\"644\" height=\"429\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">As much as I cannot stand its caterwaul, I can\u2019t help but confess that I find this construction line to be outright mesmerising.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"justify\">\n<div style=\"top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\">\t\t\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vang Vieng Construction\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;\"  src=\"https:\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/photos\/6934665085\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">They\u2019ve balloon flights in the mornings and evenings. They\u2019re kind of all the rage. At $70 for a one-hour trip, too rich for my blood. Anyhow, I think I\u2019d rather do it in the rainy season, when the visibility\u2019d be better.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/balloon.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"balloon\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/balloon_thumb.jpg\" alt=\"balloon\" width=\"644\" height=\"429\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">I asked Arne, the hostel\u2019s owner, about the rainy season. Says it\u2019s really nice here, only rains for a while in the afternoon, cleans everything up, river gets a-raging. Mosquitoes not too bad, he says. Yeah, may have to return here once the rains begin.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Arne always seems to be playing American Classic Rock when he\u2019s hanging out; so I gave him a copy of the awesome new (-ish) remaster of The Stones\u2019 <em>Some Girls<\/em>. Think I\u2019m on his good side now. Hey, I wasn\u2019t trying to brown-nose \u2013 just wanting to share the groove.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Later it came out that he\u2019s a big Zeppelin fan, and I made some casual remark about being impressed with Robert Plant\u2019s solo career \u2013 except which, the guy\u2019d never heard of the concept of \u201cRobert Plant Solo Career\u201d; and so I had to end up giving him a bunch more music. All good!<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Then I told he and a Frenchman and a Swissman about my day waiting on Patti Smith, and serving her coffee, and blah blah. Boy, were they impressed! Way more so than I\u2019d have in a million years guessed.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">It\u2019s a real conundrum with these Europeans. They\u2019re funnier than Hell, so entertaining, great stories. And they love to curse. Okay, perhaps not as much as I love to. But they curse with <em>European accents<\/em>, which acts as a multiplier effect and all.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Bottom line being they\u2019re so fun to hang out with. <em>Except<\/em>\u2026every single last fucking one of them is a chain-smoking demon. Once in a while one of them makes a big show about being conscientious about it \u2013 in practice, this means moving about five feet away. But most of them&#8217;re just completely oblivious.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">So, yeah, it\u2019s a real conundrum with these Europeans.<\/p>\n<h4 align=\"center\">[Written Tuesday, February The 28th, Evening]<\/h4>\n<p align=\"justify\">Purchased my ticket for Vientiane for tomorrow, and was pleased to learn that we\u2019ll be leaping this year; meaning I\u2019ve got one more day in Laos than I\u2019d been thinking I&#8217;d have. Was tempted to stay in Vang Vieng an extra day, but decided may as well spend it in Vientiane.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">One <em>may<\/em> extend one\u2019s visa here, for two bones per day. I\u2019ve still, of course, not set foot in <em>Southern<\/em> Laos; so this possibility, too, is tempting. But I do want to get to Angkor before it gets too hot to even move about. And I do want to spend more time in Northern Laos. So, I\u2019ll planning on in future making a return visit.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Did a teeny bit of hiking to-day, but my toe wasn\u2019t really feeling it, so instead I opted for an unoccupied hammock located inside a little shelter; just down by the river. Walking along down by the river, bumped into Martin from the dorm in Luang Prabang. We each expressed surprise that the other was here.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">He too is off to Vientiane tomorrow, followed by a long ride to Bangkok, and a flight into Burma \u2013 which will be his second visit.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">I finally finished up the book I\u2019d been reading. Good timing, \u2018cause there\u2019s a book exchange here at the hostel. In return, I picked out <em>Christ <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Greek_Passion\">Recrucified<\/a><\/em>, by Nikos Kazantzakis. So if anybody wants to play book-club with me, that\u2019s what I\u2019m on about. \u2026Although it took me two months to read the first one, so will probably be way behind y\u2019all.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">I mean, who could make time to read on a bus in Laos with all the beautiful mountains to look at, and all the wacky entertaining crap going on inside the buses? Not me!<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><em>Speaking<\/em> of beautiful mountains, they\u2019re rather bewitching here. Always re-revealing themselves to you from each different location, and with each different angle. Okay, well, that\u2019s not very profound, is it? <em>Everything<\/em>\u2019s different when viewed from a different angle. But\u2026somehow the mountains here more multifaceted than one would normally expect.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Yes, I know: they just look like <em>any<\/em> old beautiful mountains with a stream in the foreground. But they ain\u2019t, man. They\u2019re some kind of wicked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mountains1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; padding-top: 0px; border: 0pt none;\" title=\"mountains\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mountains_thumb1.jpg\" alt=\"mountains\" width=\"644\" height=\"429\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">One of the highlights of my day was when a fairly decent sized herd of cows was brought in by a nice young lad wielding a stick. I experienced this down on the farm as well: you got a stick in your hand, and cows will just <em>not<\/em> fuck with you at all.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Oh, I don\u2019t mean to say that the whole deal with the cows not fucking with stick-wielding lads was the reason it was a highlight. Rather, the cows were grouped in families; and it\u2019s always fun to watch babies (there were some baby chickens around and about as well). And also that many of the cows were quite beautiful. (And some quite inquisitive vis a vis yours truly.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/cow1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; padding-top: 0px; border: 0pt none;\" title=\"cow\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/cow_thumb.jpg\" alt=\"cow\" width=\"644\" height=\"429\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Realised that I\u2019d misread a handwritten sign before. Big Beerlaos are <em>not<\/em> seven times as pricey here as in Luang Prabang, but instead are priced exactly the same. What\u2019s more, most establishments offer free \u201cbuckets\u201d to entice customers in the door, and\/or one free for each two purchased, and whatever else. So alcohol is actually quite inexpensive here.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Not necessarily a good thing for the clientele, however. I\u2019ve had a few people before now express to me in person this sign\u2019s sentiment.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/booze.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"booze\" src=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/booze_thumb.jpg\" alt=\"booze\" width=\"483\" height=\"724\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Written Monday, February The 27th, Afternoon] Great day for hiking, as it stayed overcast throughout. The sun has been mind-meltingly hot lately, even though it\u2019s still nominally the cool season. Definitely a nice change-of-pace. Almost too nice, though, as it &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2012\/02\/28\/lazy-days\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}