Walk along the MEKONG River for Christmas Eve

I don't celebrate Christmas and neither does anybody here. You'd never know it was Christmas Eve unless you saw the date on your phone. I find living in the United States completely unbearable. I could save why for another post, but I wish I was there today. My daughter is 18 and I haven't seen her for 5 years and this will be the third Christmas I missed with my boy. Life is cheap and wonderful here in Laos. You can survive off $500 a month here and have a great time. Having all my crypto stolen from a fake app last year, plus not really making enough money to save makes it hard to find a $2,000 return ticket to Iowa were my son is. My daughter lives in San Diego with her mom, but will visit her brother the day after Christmas. I miss them both so much especially today. They are getting a great education that they wouldn't get here even if they went to the most expensive private schools. They are healthy and happy in America, but I just wish I could see their faces and give them a hug.

I've gone on this walk at least one hundred times. I honestly don't remember seeing or noticing this until today. If it weren't for this travel/photography blog, I doubt I would have ever noticed it.

They tear down this bridge for the boat races in August and build a new one every year. I don't know why, but it would make me upset to construct something that I knew would only last such a short time.

When I came down to get this close up, the lady said I needed to pay. I told her I'm not crossing the bridge, just taking this picture. She told me I still needed to pay. I just ignored her. It's less than a dollar, but that's how broke I am right now. I could have had hundreds of dollars in my pocket and I probably still wouldn't have paid her just to take this picture.

I was wrong. There were a few Christmas decorations to see.

This is probably the only signs of Christmas you'll see here. They don't do presents or decorations like in the west. These few decorations I saw today will probably be up until mid February.

Laos is almost 100% Buddhist. I've met a few Christians and some of the hill tribes have their own religion, but almost everyone believes in Buddha here.

Luang Prabang is one of the most international places I've been despite being a small town. Ironically the only language I don't recognize is the one above the English. Is it Spanish or French?

Art lovers will enjoy Luang Prabang. There are local artists everywhere. Their style is unique even for South East Asia.

I like these golden elephants. I've encouraged local artists here to post here to Steemit, but no one bothers to try. If I show one hundred people my blog, maybe one will be interested and sign up. Of the few that do sign up, most of them will make one post then quit. I really don't understand why people will spend all day on Facebook, but ignore social media that rewards you. It's like Linux. It is by far the best operating system, but everyone loves to use Windows even though it's slow and full of spyware.

After I shot this gargoyle protecting the stairs from the Mekong river, I ran down so I could get the boat from the water level.

Got it!

There was no need to run and get all sweaty, because there were plenty more boats.

Like these.

Then I had to walk back up the steps.

Even though I miss my kids and just ran down and walked back up those steps, I still had a better day than these ducks which will be dinner for someone tonight.

Monterey, California is the only place I've been in the world that is better for bicycles than Luang Prabang. Nice drivers, cool weather, and not too much distance to get around are the factors for the perfect bicycle town in my opinion.

This nice little park is at the end of the main road.

The trees keep it cool even at noon.

You can see where the Namkhan river flows into the Mekong river. No one is charging a dollar to use this bamboo bridge, but I figured I already had a nice shot of a bamboo bridge today so I didn't go down.

There are many nice places to eat, drink, and relax by the river.

This sandwich costs $1.20 and was a nice way to end the walk. Thanks for walking along the rivers with me today. Merry Christmas!

先生 เจ
Jeremiah Lee Custis

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