Sunday, July 10, 2011

Halfway Point

Huay Xai, Laos, 7/10/11

Upon crossing into Laos, I've hit the halfway point of my trip. I actually expected I would already be in Laos by the beginning of July, but I just had to much fun in Thailand - meeting amazing people, eating spectacular food, going on wild adventures.

Here's a quick update as to where I stand one month in.

Lost/Stolen:
-ATM card (replaced)
-SD card reader
-Camera charger (replaced with a terrible knockoff Laos version that glows while it charges and makes it difficult to sleep)
-Cargo pants (likely swapped in a hostel washing session)
-Watch

Survived:
-Consumption of copious amounts of street food, including utterly rancid fried fish
-Amateur motorbike riding at 60MPH
-Saddle-less elephant riding
-Feral monkeys climbing all over me
-Scuba diving at 30meters/100ft of depth with lethal 5ft long barracudas
-A 15,000 person island rave
-Nearly being hit in the head with an underwater longboat motor
-Multiple Pompeii-like bouts of traveler's diarrhea

All the ways I have consumed bananas to date:
-Raw, with almost a candy-like sweetness
-Crepes (plain banana, banana/nutella, banana/peanut butter, banana/egg/chocolate)
-Pancakes
-Grilled whole
-Smashed, grilled, and served with a deuce de leche sauce
-Chips with salt and sugar
-Chips sans salt and sugar
-Fruit shakes (alone, with pineapple, mango, and/or passionfruit)
-Dried into fruit leathers that look like bacon
-Donut on a stick
-Fried with ice cream
-Wrapped with sticky rice in banana leaves
-Carmelized with mango and served alongside black sticky rice, cooked in coconut milk, and topped with sesame seeds
-Shared with monkeys
-Shared with elephants

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