May 22, Vientiane

Today was definitely a Shelly-planned day: out the door by 8, back home after dark, not much down time in between. Still, it was a good -- but once again wet -- day.

We spent this morning in the Lao National Museum, which contained a bit of culture and a lot of politics. For me, this worked out fine. It's always interesting to see the other side's view of war. Exhibits included labels about "the Imperialist Americans and their puppets," there were photos of Laotian leaders meeting with Ho Chi Minh, Gorbachev, and Castro, and lots of examples of how the grand State has provided for the people through pharmaceutical research, electricity, etcetera, etcetera. Propaganda to be sure, in some cases, but still very interesting stuff to see.

The afternoon found us at the Houey Hong Vocational Training Center for Women about 20 km north of Vientiane, dyeing loosely-woven Laotian silk with all-natural dyes. This was surprisingly fun for me, and I know Shell enjoyed it. The center seems well-run, the women friendly and the dyes beautiful. This is something I never would have done if weren't here with Shell, but it was so far one of the highlights of the trip for me.

In the afternoon, we went to visit a traditional Lao sauna that Shelly had read about, located on the grounds of one of Vientiane's many temples (sorry...Shelly has the guide book today, and I'm losing track of where I've been). The sauna and massage beds were on the second story of a small, two-story, open-air building. With trees all around, it was almost like being in a huge tree house. After stripping down to sarongs, we entered the sauna. It is full of aromatic herbs, and is the hottest, steamiest, most fragrant sauna I have ever been in. Shelly lasted longer than I did, but neither of us made it much beyond 15 minutes. After a cup of herbal tea and a chat with the locals, it was off to the massage beds for a round of massage. Neither of our massages were great, but the atmosphere was fun -- and also something I wouldn't have done were I here on my own.