Day Off

Today was our first day off work since we arrived in Lao and boy did we make the most of it.  I got of work at 730 this morning and after biking home, Anna and I started a day of adventure.  Yesterday we finally found the French Bistro down the street and were able to get a nice western breakfast to start the day.  After breakfast we got a TukTuk and went to the waterfalls.



The waterfall is about 30km from town through the winding foothills of the mountains.  We are pretty sure we are in the foothills of the Himalayas.  We at initially thought of biking to the waterfall but after seeing the roads, I am not sure it would have been safe on the bike, let alone a single gear bike.
At the start of the waterfall there is a bear sanctuary.  They are black bears but they are nothing like American black bears, but instead are cute little bears that look like stalky dogs.  After the bear sactuary, the area opens up to a series of beautiful waterfalls.  We hiked up to the top pool at the waterfalls and the view was amazing!  We swam under the waterfall and enjoyed the cool crisp water.

 We enjoyed our lunch, peanut and butter sandwiches, at the top before hiking down.  On the way down, we adventured into some of the smaller pools.  I think it was the first time since we arrived we were not sweating.  Unfortunately all good things must come to and end so we found our driver and went back to the city.




















While walking back to our guesthouse, we took a slight detour to walk along the Mekong river.  While walking some guy asked if we wanted to go on a boat ride.  His price was higher then we wanted to pay so we started to walk away.  He then offered us a great deal on a sunset boat ride with 4 other people.  We quickly went back, showered, changed and off we went on the sunset boat tour.  It was beautiful.  We had the water below us, the mountains in the background and almost pure peace and quiet.



We then decided to walk through the night market on our way to dinner.  We are so tired after our crazy day but what an adventure.  Tomorrow we are off to learn about dyeing silk and even do our own.

The GoPro is back

Fresh vegetables

I went to the coffee shop where I last remember having my GoPro and there was a note there from someone who had picked it up.  I emailed the nice man and was able to get my GoPro back today!  There are some very honest and nice people in the world.  This man was from Germany and here with his family.  I am so thankful to have my camera back.

looking down the market street

Here in Luang Prabang, much of the morning and evening center around the markets.  The morning market is mostly food and is much smaller compared to the night market.  You can find all kinds of unique foods including live and cooked lizards, cooked bugs, snakes and almost any other animal you can imagine to eat.  I have to admit I have passed on all the meat from the morning market.  You can also find fruits and vegetables of all kinds.  Its a very colorful experience to walk through the market.




The night market is several blocks long and is packet.  The street is actually closed to traffic along the main drag.  It is one of the more popular activities to do here at night.

Vegetables

Tasty

So many colors

Fresh Chicken

Fresh Eggs

Right out of the Mekong

All kinds of meats

So many colors

Woman with homemade baskets

Bugs for breakfast?

Wat Xieng Thong

Monument to the President

Monk walking along the Mekong

Temple building 

Buddha 

I am on nights tonight and since I couldn't sleep, I decided to explore the town.  Armed with a camelback full of water and some kip (Lao money) I walked with Anna through the morning market, biked around for about an hour, found a coffee shop, visited the Buddhist Temple down the road and walked along the Mekong.  Not bad for a few hours of time.  I took bout 100 pictures but will share a few highlights here.  On a sad note, the GoPro has been lost along with all the pictures of the morning market :(

Mekong looking away from town

The Buddhist temple, Wat Xieng Thong,  happens to be where many of the Monks live.  It was amazing and very peaceful to walk through.  The temple overlooks the Mekong river and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  I found the drum they play in the morning to wake up the monks at 4am which also happens to wake me up every morning as well.  They are currently finishing a restoration on the Wat with a grant from the US.  There was a fire there in 2009 that damaged the monk quarters and the rest of the Wat has sustained wear and tear from time.  

While I didn't sleep much before my night shift, I did manage to have a wonderful day around town.  

Lao man working along the Mekong

Hospital

Keeping me safe from Dengue

Anna and I are starting to settle in here and the jetlag is slowly getting better. Today I only needed a little caffeine after noon to keep me going.  Not sure if we will get used to the heat and humidity here though. It puts Kansas City to shame.

View from the 2nd floor

We have had 2 days of work here in Laos and although there are a lot of differences and unique disease to consider, there is a lot more in common then I expected.  There are parents who don't quite trust that you know what you are doing, parents who are tired of waiting to see a doctor and of course the very caring and compassionate parents.  Here in Lao we are paired up with 1-2 Lao doctors who do much of the work while we more or less supervise.  This week Anna is on the outpatient side and I am on the inpatient side.  Its long hours but I have see more beriberi in 2 days then I saw in all my medical training in the US.

The front of the hospital

All the ex-pats working at the hospital have been great.  We have doctors from Australia and the US, nurses from Great Britain, Scotland and Canada and a nutritionist from Denmark.  This place is a little global community.  It has provided us the opportunity to talk about how health care is so different.  In Australia for example I would just be finishing my pediatrics residency rather then my fellowship.  To do pediatric emergency medicine is 9-10 years!

The Bike lot aka parking lot

There are also some crazy storms here! It is monsoon season and last night we have one of the craziest storms I have ever experienced.  I work up in the middle of the night to torrential rain and was mesmerized by the lightening storm outside my window.

The food is amazing! More to come on that later but you can find just about anything you want here.  I have discovered I miss coffee in the morning and gears on my bike.  I am thankful to have a bike to get me to and from work but a single gear provides unique challenges with hills, even if they are super small.  Its about 20-25 minutes to bike to work and the gears would make me so happy.

Overall its been an crazy, challenging and exciting 2 days.  Tomorrow I flip to nights and Anna stays in clinic so we shall see how nights are here.

Luang Prabang

Bangkok airport...one more flight to go

We have arrived safe and sound to Laos.  We got in in the early afternoon and quickly got down to business.  We were able to find the guesthouse we are staying in and get settled.  Our next stop was the hospital for orientation. We took at Tuk Tuk (taxi) to the hospital which didn't seem to far.  Our walk home proved it was much further then we thought. Our guesthouse is about 6km from the hospital.  We were able to rent bikes for the next month.  It is nothing like the racing back home but it will work for the daily commute and comes with a basket.  We also got local cell phone numbers since its required by the hospital.  I am rocking a circa 2000 phone with T9 texting and Anna was able to get a simcard for her regular phone.  Not bad for $20.  

Our colorful plane

Welcome to Luang Prabang

Our guesthouse is in the hotel district of town with several upscale restaurants nearby.  We are about 0.5 blocks from the Mekong river.  Our rooms have private bathrooms, air conditioning and WiFi!! 


The jet lag has caught up with us so we are off to bed.  Work starts early tomorrow.  Wish us luck as we begin this journey.  We will try and update the blog frequently.  Until next time.  

Anna and Laura

Mekong River

walking by the Mekong

Riding in a Tuk Tuk

Our fancy rides