The rainy season is here!

The last two days have been spent here in Laos, with one more to go. It has poured here. It's tremendous, soaking and it has made the landscape lush, green and gorgeous! It hasn't slowed us down a bit but there are times that I feel like Bubba Gump ("it rained down, sideways and sometimes it rained up!"). Despite neighboring both Vietnam and Cambodia, it couldn't be more different. Instead of plains, there are tons of mountains. The people are much more laid back and smile-y. (I know my fourth grade teacher is reading this so I hope my grammar isn't too appalling Mrs. Jones!).
The population consists of 130+ ethnic groups. Up until recently, none of them interacted or inter-married because they all speak different dialects. Our home base is in a small city called Luang Prabang. It's a UNESCO world heritage site and its well preserved charm is due in part to their numerous temples which still houses 300+ monks. Boys can become monks starting at the age of 12 and can stay for days to years. Most young boys join in order to get a free education and learn English. There are no scholarships or government funded student loan programs and free public education only lasts through elementary school. The monks wear bright orange robes and can be seen all over town. We even saw a few riding motorcycles! Every day they go into town around 5:30 to collect alms from the locals. They all line up along a 1-2 mile road and offer rice, bananas, cookies, etc to the men as the walk by with their buckets. We got to watch this morning. Very surreal experience. Felt like we were being let in on a secret.
Yesterday we hiked to their well-preserved, spearmint-colored waterfalls to swim (brrrrrrr) and today we head out on the Mekong river to see small villages and caves where all retired Buddha statues are placed into retirement. The river is huge! Nearly 2-3 times as wide as the Mississippi. Hopefully my sea-sickness will remain dormant...
I'm starting to get vacation saturated. It's the downslope of our time here and we're quickly starting to count our blessings back home: safe water, diverse food (not sure ill eat rice or Asian food again), no malaria meds needed, etc. It's a good thing. It's part of why I travel. Never in a million years did I ever dream I'd be sitting in Laos, but I'm so grateful for the opportunity. I'll catch up with you again in Thailand!
Erin.