Pictures of Laos

I’ve realised that I barely covered Laos in my blog. It's not easy to upload photos and I don’t feel like writing. So here are some photos of Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane.

This and many other parts are on sale in the market in Luang Prabang.

A miniature lottery ticket seller in Luang Prabang.

Snake whisky. I have been told that it is good for old men because it relieves stiffness. I have also been told, in the alternative, that it induces stiffness.

Protective spirit at the National Museum, Luang Prabang.

Elegant scooterists in Luang Prabang.

Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang. Xieng Thong is the old name for LP.

In Vang Vieng: the bridge posts are bomb casings.

Vang Vieng is on a river. Most of the bridges are made of bamboo.

Vang Vieng is a backpackers' hangout between Luang Prabang and Vientiane. You can float down the river in an inner tube or, as I did, sit in a hammock eating sticky rice with mango. People recline in cafes watching endless reruns of 'Friends', or in internet cafes, surfing. In either case they stare into space like opium addicts. For that reason I didn't take to it, but its location is picturesque. This is the street in which we stayed.

From my hammock I watched some cattle ford the river to graze. One of the guys from the cafe shooed them off by flinging stones. It seemed unnecessary; I think he just enjoyed catapulting cattle.

The shooter is southpaw. My sinistrality attracts a lot of attention here. Many people in this part of the world are prohibited by parents and teachers from writing with their left hands. Forcing people to write right-handed against their nature is extremely bad for people and can induce stuttering or dyslexia.

I took this photo from the moving minibus on the way to Vientiane.

In Vientiane we ate by the river one night. (Actually the river, very low, was flowing on the Thai side several hundred yards away.) And the moon really was this red.

At the same restaurant I took this bizarre photo of Izzy and Ed on a long exposure.

Wat Mixayaram, Vientiane.

A boat on the Nam Theun, allegedly made from the fuel tank of a B-52.

PS The day before yesterday I went to the beach and took two long swims with my phone in my pocket. It seems to have drowned. I've spent two days on the back of a motorbike - my arse is history - and I'm posting from Kon Tum, which is in the epicentre of absolutely bloody nowhere.