Mr Japanese Businessman: ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ (rattles off excitedly in Japanese)
Big fat question mark balloons above clueless cat's head...
Mr Japanese Businessman: ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓
Cat rummages through memory archives - where da hell is dat magic incantation when i need it??
Mr Japanese Businessman: ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓
!!!! WAIT !!!!
Cat pulls Japanese rabbit outta magic language hat
Cat: 日本語はできません nihongo wa dekimasen (lit. Japanese language cannot)
Mr Japanese Businessman: ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓
*FAINT*...
Cat: 日本語はできません nihongo wa dekimasen
Mr Japanese Businessman: !!!! ah sodesu ka! Sorry I thought you said dekimasu! (dekimasu = can)
* Thank you to Japanese-literate colleague for teaching the cat how to recite this magic incantation in preparation for its 2005 trip to Kyoto - long after that trip it's still coming in useful :P
Beside the stairs leading from riverside road up to Wat Chom Khao - chickens that don't care about the sky falling on their heads...
...but for stars(fruit) falling from the sky:
The 4 men who sponsored the cat's trip:
Within Laos - the 20,000 is worth less than the 500 or 5. Outside of Laos - the 20,000 is worth less than even the 2. Such is the deal with 'soft' currency. Hence this morning's project to use up the remaining 20,000 & a few of its counterparts.
The cat left Wat Chom Khao shortly after the resident monks & novices returned from collecting alms. They + a temple boy + Mr Japanese Businessman + a few scattered almsgivers had been the only sign of life on the otherwise empty streets + empty temple. Wandering south along the river road...
Stationery shop with a few books in glass display case - 50,000kip for standard green Lao-English/English-Lao dictionary - second last souvenir for this trip.
Little gift baskets wrapped in red cellophane on a table outside - in ones & twos they disappear with people stopping by on motorbike to pick up their orders - reminder that it's New Year's Day.
Turn inland somewhere beyond the Post Office - intended destination = market.
Roads leading inland don't run perpendicular to the Mekong but curve off at all sorts of angles...??
Every road seems to go uphill...
Every road seems to have both paved & ex-paved sections...
Every roadside plant seems to be brown...
At last - crowd of people - but no market...?
Many green uniforms with red + gold epaulettes.
Civilians carrying babies.
Tall fences topped with barbed wire.
Uniforms & civvies squat + stand around outside concrete building.
Bare rooms with wooden beds & not much else, not even doors.
3 ladies walk past in pristine magically dustproof white nurses' uniforms...
*MYSTERY SOLVED!*
Cat has wandered into military base + military hospital...
Hopelessly lost cat asks for directions...
Puzzled but friendly green uniforms point to steep dirt path through backyards of several homes.
Cat walks downhill past several households' worth of laundry & chickens into back of Huay Xai market.
Dry goods section - no luck.
A little row of shops behind dry goods section - a seamstress points to another structure further behind.
An entire section devoted just to clothing!
Stacks of sinh piled on wooden platforms + more sinh hanging from bamboo poles.
Wooden floor raises market above grass + mud beneath - exactly like pasar malam in Singapore :)
Mission to track down green silk sinh accomplished:
Prices all quoted in Thai baht - cat requests to pay with combination of kip + baht...
450 baht sinh = 88,000kip + 125 baht = last souvenir for this trip.
Mission to use up remaining Lao kip accomplished!
More ex-paved road + brown roadside vegetation...
Cat now hopelessly lost somewhere to the east of Wat Chom Khao.
Not even a passing soul on motorbike around to ask for directions.
Bokeo province hospital - like Nambak district hospital, even sadder-looking & more run down than the military hospital...
Unlike Nambak district hospital - devoid of all sign of life...& this serves the entire province...
Gas station.
Arimid Guesthouse - extremely vague recollection of mention in Lonely Planet guidebook.
Nice paved road - the main riverside road again!
To the right - Mr Luang Prabang-Pak Beng slowboat captain & sons walking into town - big fat smiles :)
Cat has walked entire inland road from market to junction near slowboat landing...
First Beer Lao delivery of the year for roadside noodle stall:
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