Pan-Asian Gallivanting

Update…I’m now in Laos.

After Angkor Wat I made a couple stops in Kampong Cham and Stung Treung before crossing the border into Laos. Once there I stayed on the island of Don Khone in Laos’ “4000 Islands”. But wait Adam…I thought Laos was land locked? Yes, it is. But, there is a section of the Mekong River in Southern Lao where 4000 islands are dispersed within its banks. While there I read some books, slept on some hammocks, went for a swim, and viewed some beautiful waterfalls.

Following my stay in Don Khone I ventured up to Champasak to view Wat Phou, a pre-Angkorian Khmere Temple. There was a festival going on to celebrate the visitation of a famous monk…quite interesting and fun at the same time.

Now I’m in Pakse. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. Maybe one more day? Maybe not?

So I think I’m going to change the format of this blog a little. Instead of telling you the details of every place I visit I’m going to only update you on my location. Only when a site/event is of great significance to me will I include further details. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. So, what I’ll include as far as content for this is what’s on my mind. Maybe that will keep my readers awake?

So I’ve been in Southeast Asia for almost four months. I’ve seen some sites, drank some beers, and observed numerous cultural habits. One of which is the fact that women do ALL the work here.

When I was in China, who do you think was constructing all of the roads, reducing boulders into pebble size gravel, or cooking and serving all of the meals in the restaurants. Women. In Lao, I’ve noticed that women tend to wake very early in order to get all of their tasks completed by the end of the day. Washing clothes, cooking meals, serving foreigners, gathering fruit, tending to the garden, and taking care of children. The men on the other hand tend to live a much more leisurely life. They sleep in, boss the women around and drink most of the day away. Maybe once in awhile they’ll get off their asses to go catch some fish or drive a tuk-tuk around. MAYBE…

So, even though women’s rights in the west are still not as they should be (i.e. women deserve equal pay for the same jobs that men do, better absence packages for those on maternity leave, and less stereotypical images of uber-thin, anorexic women as the epitome of beauty) compared to S.E. Asia women have it easy.