Life in the slow lane

The words tranquil and unconsciously serene come to mind when it comes to defining the local people,they are poor and proud,work hard always have time for a smile and a wave are apparently non judgemental and very easy to get on with.On a day when fascist thugs will endeavour to demonise fellow humans on the streets of Australia,I know very well where my preferences lie.

Kumar and Tuk Tuk

Negombo Lagoon Wetlands

local fishermen

Purple Headed Heron

Kingfisher

Water Monitor

Cormorant

Kite

Indian Lawyer Bird

Negombo,Sri Lanka

 Arrived late,late Wednesday night,getting used to temperatures in the 30 ,s and high humidity and beginning to feel like a human being again after the 24 hr trip to get here.Met Kumar the Tuk Tuk driver and he has shown me around Negombo and surrounds.Negombo functions as a sort of tourist transit town,it is closer to the airport than Colombo and has a lot of low cost hotels and restaurants,it also has a long beach and surf and not much else,yesterday I visited a Church,A Hindu Temple and a Buddhist temple to get insurance for the rest of the trip,also an Ayuvedic spice plantation where local homeopathic medicines are created.The fish market which smells as attractive as it sounds and the remains of a 1578 Portugese fort which now has become the local prison.

Saint Mary's Negombo

Hindu Temple

Buddhist Temple

Fish Market

Old Portugese Fort

Orchid bouquet.Happy Christmas to one and all.

O

Bangkok,Christmas.

Don Khong to Bangkok.

A marathon of ferry,minivans,bus and taxi brought me from slow, easy going,laid back,take it easy Southern Laos to full on, frenetic,go,go,go Bangkok.Since I arrived ahead of time I went Christmas shopping for minuscule items that I could squeeze into an already bursting at the seams backpack,so  the  A$13,000,000 Rolls Royce,Wraith and the long wheel base Silver Ghost a steal at A$12,000,000 remain on the showroom floor.The Lamborghini people suspected  I was not a serious shopper so wouldn't even let me take a photo,and this used to be such a trusting town.

My last sunrise over The Mekong.Goodbye Laos.

My hosts distributing the sunrise alms and receiving the blessing.

Good morning Bangkok.

You can buy anything here.

Savannakhet

 By virtue of its position at the crossroads for North,South Laos and East,West Thailand to Vietnam,and despite it being the second largest town in Laos,Savannakhet is curiously unexciting.Unless you count the proprietary and meanest street dogs in all of Asia that find sport in western passers by,but it is nice to see that the cats treat the dogs with the total contempt that felines the world over are noted for.But back to Savannakhet also called Savan and now renamed after a dead politician,it has some surviving French Indo Chinese architecture,a few tourist friendly restaurants and guesthouses within a small old city precinct and that is about it for the town itself.There are places of interest within reach but since most transport is the long distance bus to Cambodia or Vietnam arranging intermediate travel is not the easiest here.There were two local buses daily for Pakse,the next  largest  town  south, at 7am and 5pm,after one day in Savvanakhet I was on the former.

Vietnamese Temple.

St Theresa Catholic Church.

Old Villa.

Loved the Orchids here.