Laos

At long last, I have found a decent enough Internet cafe to post some pictures of my journey so far. I left the islands in the south of Thailand for Laos about a week ago. It's a staggeringly beautiful country full of rivers, mountains, and caves to explore.

I've been spellunking about in Vangvienne. The mountainside is littered with caves large and small that have been used by monks and by peasants hiding from the Vietnam war (which, as I understand, spilled over into Laos a good deal). Above is Nangyuan island in Thailand.

This friendly monk bears a tattoo from his wild youth, which he tells me was centered around wine, women, and football (soccer). Now he spends all day in his quiet retreat behind a waterfall, reading, learning, and praying.

Poaching is still a problem, so the locals befriend tiger cubs and keep them locked in cages for the entirety of their natural lives. What's worse? Long life in a cage, or a short life free...

This is a real picture, of a real place--honest. I think there was a cosmic oversight on God's part to allow so much beauty in one place.

A drive-by photo taken from my rented bike as I searched for some caves to explore.

And the obligatory sunset photo. A fishing boat speeds past on the river as the sun sets. The Laotian mountains are gorgeous spire-like formations with sheer cliff faces, called karst peaks. It's truly otherwordly, like most of southeast Asia.