November 9, 2017: Sakura Inn, Bagan, Myanmar

 So it’s been a year and a day since we did the dirty deed, electing a narcissistic fool as president of the United States. I am happily tucked into what is, for me on the road, a luxury hotel room in Bagan, Myanmar. I mention this because it will eventually become part of today’s travel story, but also because there’s a giant flat screen TV sitting right in line with my bed-lounging eyes and CNN is accessible. I picked up the remote to turn it on…  ‘Halt,’ I said to me, ‘you haven’t watched television news for One Long Year. Don’t do it now, the memories of that November night in 2016 will just come flooding back and surely turn your travel dreams to nightmares.’

The intention has been to write about this trip as it happens—which is proving difficult because of time to write, energy to keep it all together (otherwise known as travel-management) and of course doing the actual stuff for which I traveled to these particular places. Here’s to keeping on keeping on…

Back to November 6^th. Luang Prabang, Laos. (Check out A Natural-Born Hermit on the Road, November 5^th for Day One of Luang Prabang.) As mentioned in a previous post, LP included an initial day of general catch-up—getting use to the idea of traveling without my pal Lace and also fighting the once-every-trip-almost-flu bug. Day two was Laotian adventure day and, while not too wild and crazy, it was enough out of the everyday to make me happy to be out in the world.

The Laotian time can really be shared with few words and many photos. Of which there can never be too many of me on an elephant…

There’s an impressive bear rescue mission not too far from LP…and I have the t-shirt to prove it.

And a Buddha cave and bugs and snakes in Mekong whiskey and the odd landscape or two.

Luang Prabang is a perfect rest stop after the intensity of Vietnam. All lush greenery and kind people. And all those elephants and bears.