Scenes From Around Vientiane

These are some of the scenes that we see as we explore Vientiane and the surrounding area.

These children are planting and caring for a garden at a local neighborhood school.

One of our favorite restaurants in on a river where you order your food to eat as you go upstream and then float down stream on a 1 hour trip. 

Typical fruit vendor that can be seeen around town.

Local transportation that is called a Tuk-Tuk.  It's a motorcycle with seats build in the back.

We see more bicycle shops.  However, the rage is the "fixed gear" bike.  These sell for $250  to $300.  They are made in China and are bright colors and one size!

Pick out your cable connection.

The World Peace Gong was a gift from Indonesia.

This is a coffee shop owner who we met several years ago and likes to practice her English.  She invited us to sit down for typical Lao coffee.  It is made with strong coffee, sweetened condensed milk and coffeemate.  We pass her shop when walking or going to the fitness room at a local hotel.

A Trip to Nam Ngum Lake

The church that Kris attends took a Saturday trip to Nam Ngum Lake which generates electricity.  It was created by flooding an area that included 24 villages.  The persons were farmers, but now needed to learn fishing as a livelihood. It was a 2 hour bus trip to the dam and went to an island for a picnic for another 2 hours.  What appears as islands are the tops of mountains after the area was flooded.

Andy's 12th Birthday Party

For Andy's birthday, Mao started cooking outside at noon.  A friend came and began making spring rolls some of them were fried and some fresh.  The caterers brought a large tent which filled most of the front yard.  About 5:30 pm they came with the food.  We baked 2 cakes and decorated them on a basketball theme.  There were at least 60 people attending including family friends and school classmates.  The cliildren had pizza inside and adults ate outside.   Kris organized games for the kids with prizes.

Laos That Luang Festival

That Laung is a stupa, which is a burial for the remains of a cremated person.  That Luang stupa is reportedly contains relics of the Buddha.  At this festival, pilgrims pay homage to Buddha and give alms to the monks.  The monks are from all over Laos.  There were thousands of monks receiving alms as well as tens of thousands attending.

The day before the festival, there is a processional from downtown to That Luang.  People carried miniature temples made from banana stems and decorated with flowers, money and other offerings.

The festival is the morning of the full moon.  In order to beat the rush, we got up at 5:15 AM to leave for the festival.  Parking was at a premium.  People were sitting on straw mats with their alms which included money, sticky rice and cake.  When we got there, monks were sitting at tables ready to receive alms.  We did participate in giving alms.  At about 7:30 AM prayers were coming over loudspeakers.  People lit candles and were praying.  Many people were walking around taking pictures.

 

Andy and Mao

Mao, Kris, Ruthann and Chet

Tucson, AZ 2012

 
We arrived in Tucson on March 1, 2012.  Hiking and biking are our most rigorous activities.  We also enjoy seeing the beauty of the desert.  Yes, there is beauty in the desert!  Wild flowers and blooming cactus.  

Flowers were much nicer and more abundant than last year due to receiving more rain last fall.

The Phoneline Trail on our decent has many switchbacks that you can see in this photo.

Our friends, Elaine Unzicker and Harold Kauffman who live several months of the year in Tucson and have done many hikes are in the first photo.  The next photo is of Janet and Stan Reedy on the left and Nancy and Don Miller on the right.  Sharon and Norm Kauffmann are in the last photo.

Here we are on the Phoneline Trail.  It's a great hike with spectacular views.