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The sun was just rising when we got up and got our things packed and checked out. After a quick breakfast, we walked with our guide down the main road watching the morning hustle and bustle. People were cooking breakfast on their charcoal fires and kids were crammed into an old truck (their school bus)…some even standing on the back bumper since it was full to get to school. Just a bit further down the road, the morning market was going on and the guide walked us through the little isles pointing out various foods. Money was being exchanged for all kinds of goods, we saw fresh fish being grilled, fried seaweed and dried water buffalo skin amongst regular veggies/fruits.
After the market, we walked back to our boat continuing to ask all kinds of questions in regards to the Laos customs…like the Chinese, they also eat dog. As we walked up to all the long boats docked…we took a picture, it was so beautiful…the sun was just coming up over the mountains and everything was still being it was so early. Once our stuff was loaded, and we had a hot cup of tea in our hand, we were again gliding down the Mekong and watching the locals begin their day. Fisherman were casting their nets, kids were running along the sand, we saw some tents set up holding a market, farmers were working their land and again women were kneeling down using their sifter’s to find minerals.
After sitting for a few hours on the boat, we approached a weaving village…as we pulled over we saw a monk dressed in orange standing on the sand between bags of rice. We jumped out of the boat and walked up the steep path to the top of the hill. Once we were at the top, we saw a building where the monks sleep, a church and many small shacks made of sticks and bamboo. As we continued walking, we saw the women of the village with all of their scarves and shawls hand-made displayed on the floor for sale. They also had some hard homemade alcohol they were selling and offering to taste out of used glasses which we politely turned down. We talked with some of the women and ended up buying a couple scarves before walking back down the hill and onto the boat.
We really never got tired of the scenery…it was relaxing just to sit and gaze out at the mountains and trees passing us by as we ate lunch on the boat. A few hours later we reached the Pak-Ou Caves…there were a few other long boats already docked since these caves are a major tourist attraction. We got out of the boat and walked up the steps built into the mountainside. Once we were at the top, we saw the cave had hundreds of Buddha statues sitting all over the walls and in every nook and cranny. We walked through the cave taking pictures and reading the little plaques about the history of the cave. There was also one set area with a bigger buddha where people were down on their knees in prayer.
Above the lower cave was an upper cave which was extremely dark with steep stairs, I decided for the sake of my ankle to sit outside and wait for Giff to check it out on his own. He said it had less Buddha figures but was much more of a work out with over 100 steps to get inside.
Back on the boat, we enjoyed our last two hours on the river as the sun was setting before arriving in Luang Prabang. We got checked into our new hotel which was about a mile from the center of town. It was right across the street from the river where they had little tables set up for breakfast. We were hungry so after getting our things settled in, walked a couple blocks over to a restaurant we had heard was good, Tum Tum Cheng. We ordered a few different dishes to munch on, sticky rice, spring rolls, spicy green mango salad, soup and a noodle dish which we washed down with Beer Lao. The restaurant began to fill up and the entertainment started…there were traditional musical instruments being played as well as dancers.
It was a long day on the boat and dinner was delicious…we decided to call it a night and went back to our place for the rest of the evening.
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Published by Giff Kabat
I grew up in Ohio as a kid, so of course I went to college at “THE” Ohio State University. I graduated in 2001 with a major in business finance. A month after graduation, I moved out to California with my college girlfriend (whom I married in 2005)…and started my career in sales (industrial sales for 5 years…then moved into medical laser sales for 4 years).
In 2009 I was 31 years old. I had a great job, a new house, and a beautiful wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better…my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby. Everything was going according to plan…and I couldn’t have scripted a better life for myself.
Then in the same year…everything changed. My wife, Brandey, called me when I was on my way to work and told me over the phone, something I never thought could be possible in a million years. My beautiful 30-year old pregnant wife was just told that she had breast cancer. At that moment, everything stopped all at once. I immediately went to her…and learned of our new plan…which began with her needing surgery immediately…and the rest we would find out later.
The day we returned from the hospital after Brandey’s surgery…my father died. He had been battling an aggressive cancer of his own…and although he was the one person I wanted to speak with about Brandey having cancer…I never told him. My sister, Brooke, had just gotten married a few months ago, and although he was weak, he was able to walk his little girl down the aisle of her wedding. On the night before my sister’s wedding, Brandey and I told him that we were pregnant and about to make him a grandfather. It made no sense to tell him that everything had changed for us…so he died in peace knowing everything was “the way it should be” for his only 2 children.
2010 was the worst year of my life. We had lost our baby…and for 12 months I watched my wife fight cancer with multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and drug therapy. It was a difficult year for us…but we made it. When you go through something like this in life, you learn a lot about yourself and the people around you. I was amazed at the strength and courage of my wife…and how many good people there are in this world. I will be forever grateful for the ones who never ceased to amaze me with their kindness during this hard time. Family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers…helped us make it through this. I am, and will always be especially grateful to my mother, who was with my dad at the very end, when I couldn’t be there, and when things were at their worst. She has been so supportive throughout all of this, and without her everything would have been so much harder for me.
It’s 2011 now…and the plan we have for our life this year…is to make it the best year of our lives. Brandey is officially in remission from breast cancer and she has a 95% chance the cancer will never come back. Besides the love that I have for my wife and family, the loves of my life are food, wine, and adventure travel. My wife and I love traveling to new places, seeing natural wonders, and meeting new people from different parts of the world. So for the next 400 days…we’ve decided to travel the world…and celebrate our lives. There are so many things I took for granted in life that I will never take for granted again. My father worked for over 30 years at the same job with the same company…rarely took time off…and died at 64 years old right after his retirement. For me, this trip is a combination of a tribute to him, along with wanting to spend the time of my life with the “love of my life.”
* The only thing I will miss while we are gone is our family and friends (who we hope will meet us somewhere throughout our trip) and especially our 3 little kitties we left with my mom in Ohio to catsit for the next 400 days. I will also miss watching “American Football” over the weekend…but I’ll do my best to check the scores in the middle of the night.
GIFF
View all posts by Giff Kabat
Spinning Around The World 
I love the photo of the two of you at the beginning of this post!