I understand that it is not customary to make long status updates, but perhaps that can be overlooked in that I almost never create a status update. For those who are interest in reading a pretty long update on my travels in Thailand and currently in Laos, here goes I am standing in a very long slow moving line at the Thai embassy in Vientaine Laos to request and hopefully get a visa extension for the remaining 60 days of my stay in Thailand. (btw typing with one finger on my iphone since I cant manage two fingers) Why leave thailand to extend your visa when there r many immigration offices in thailand? Good question. It haS been that way for along time. No one seems to be able to answer that question in a way that makes sense to me. So with few exceptions all foreigners do it by exiting to a neighboring country every 30 or 60 or 90 days or one year depending on the category of visa you have. To complicate matters a bit the Laotian immigration office at the border gave me a one day visa automatically when I said my purpose was to renew my thai visa. Even though I went on to say I wanted to stay 7 days as a tourist. Before I could finish my sentence she officiously stamped my passport and said one day. Come back tomorrow that could have been viable with the one day turnaround for the thai visa, except that the office closes at 1130am and I did not arrive at the embassy until 2:00pm. In my internet searching I had not found that there is a two day turnaround, no matter what, or the 1130 closing hour. So, I must stay two nights to pick up my passport tomorrow after 1:30PM. Not to be distracted by bureaucratic nonsense with which my own country has its share...the people here have been super pleasant. Last night outside a very French cafe (wonderful locally made truffles and croissants and baguettes) I chanced to meet a dental student just finishing his Masters. Having just had major dental surgeries, we had plenty of common ground to start a conversation. He comes from a small village across the Mekong river which separates Laos and Thailand. He has been on a full scholarship paid 50/50 by the King of Thailand and the government of Laos, specifically for low income youth. What a concept. He must repay it after 3 years which he explained will not be at all easy. But he is glad for the opportunity, lives by himself in a modest one room apartment and cooks every meal for himself in what sounds like a homemade Top Ramen diet, except always with an egg. He has never been far from Vientiane but has read a lot. First in extended family to past secondary school. Eldest of three, and two siblings are following his path. His mother is very proud of him. Whose mom wouldnt be? You will surmise that Im meeting delightful people along the way. Finished todays process and walked to nearby cafe with wifi. Just before the near daily downpour began, usually lasting about 30 minutes. Dental student met me there and took me to national museum which covers from paleolithic to contemporary with plenty on the Vietnam war era. Very reveal map of Laos with red dots for places American bombs fell. More than 1/3 of country was solid red. On the train from Bankok yesterday sat near 30 something man who took me under his wing. Lives in far south near Malaysian border and grew up in far north (near Vientiane border crossing) and coming to visit 75 year old mom in hospital. Not grave but duty of son to take precious vacation time for home visit. At age 12 he joined Buddhist monastery til age 17 when he fell in love and decided to go back into the world. He loved his time as an orange robed novitiate starting each day at dawn with begging bowl walking through neighborhood seeking alms in the form of food. Before his breakfast, walking with a bowl of food he could not touch until back at the monastery where all the donations were split up for a common breakfast. I asked to visit his monastery and as it was in town he was very happy to oblige. Said sometimes when he returns he has tears in his eyes. The monastery has evidently fallen on hard times which is a reflection of lagging community support (and maybe bad management). There was literally no one in sight. Some roofs were sagging, buildings abandoned, and everything in general need of maintenance. There was not even a caretaker in sight. I gently asked for an explanation and when none was forthcoming I didnt press the issue. I presume it be like US small churches that are eclipsed by new and energized growing churches, only to end up shuttering their doors. In any case, after he left the monastery at 17 he was obliged as all young Thai men, he spent two years in the military. Thereafter he became a policeman, who has a specialized job. His job is to protect Buddhists where they have become the minority (as little as 10%) in areas of Thailand where immigrating Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims are menacing Buddhists, who used to be the 90% majority across the country. He did not go into details as to the extent of the menacing, but did say that no violence has occurred yet. I assume they dont make for friendly neighbors for Buddhists. But I digress. This fellow has been in frequent contact with me since I arrived in Vientiane. He took me to the border and literally walked me to the immigration window, and being a police officer, even out of uniform, seemed to speed things along. So my voyage continues, actually it feels like it has really just commenced now that I am mostly recovered from my dental surgery. There is still some lingering pain in the area of the first surgery, which concerns me a bit, but 63 year old bone does not heal so fast I can only think. And, I will see the surgeon in about a week for a check up. Greetings to you one and all. Carl the Intrepid and sometimes weary ps, I cant figure out how to label the pics so, the first one is visa line, dental student, x monk, gateway from Meykong river to monastery, typical meal of seafood, young monk who rearranged his robe 5 times in just two hours (tricky to learn I guess), mandatory cancer anti-smoking notice (among many graphic options) on each cigarette pack (dental student immediately recognized it as cancer, after surgery,) I wonder how it affects smoking prevalence? Toodles for now. Sent from my iPhone
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 13:54:06 +0000