Out To The Burbs

We went to Toom's house to drop off presents. Toom's father is a jeweler, and seems to be providing quite a nice middle-upper class existence for his family: New Honda Jazz in the driveway, big television with DVD and karaoke in the living room, carved teak staircase and trim all around, and teak furniture throughout. Not bad when you consider that 90% of all Lao people survive on a dollar a day.

After Toom's house, we drove out to Da's sister's house, which is actually about 5 miles back past the border crossing into Thailand. Rick bought some land close to Da's sister's house (some 400 square meters for $1,500 or so), but had not seen it yet. It is a pretty little piece that will hold a nice bungalow, situated back a quiet lane off the main highway.

About a mile down the road, we arrived at Da's sister's house, had some soda. Some duck was put on the grill, and while we were waiting for it to cook, Rick, Toom, myself, Da's brother, and Da's older daughter decided to drive yet another mile down the road to Buddha park... which is basically an opportunity for Lao artists to show off their cement-working skills. It's a big park-like place with lots of sculptures, foremost of which is this giant pumpkin that you climb inside and work your way up through, eventually arriving at the top for a vertiginous view over the gardens. (The climb is no picnic either.)

After getting down from the pumpkin, I had pretty much shot my walking-climbing-wandering energy load and we wandered over to the pavilion along the Mekong and had beer and sodas.

After that, it was back to the sister's house for duck. After that, at about 7:00 in the evening, it was off to Toom's daughter's birthday party. (I thought it rather strange that Toom decided to spend the day with Da, Rick, and myself, instead of overseeing her daughter's party preparations, but whatever.)