July 2

Needed to use the toilet at Laos’ most famous national monument
Which is a golden phallus of a temple
And which we visited just as the afternoon skies opened up
In a tropical rainstorm.
Waited out the worst of it in a breezy arc of temple
Drinking a too-sugary iced green tea from a bottle
Imported from Japan
No bathroom in sight
I formulated my question by patching together a few learned words
And basic grammar.
Mii hawng nam.
Have room water.
The answer was mii.
Have.
Yes, we have a bathroom.
Which she showed me.
Outside of the temple, across a square
Very, very slowly in the rain
Without my umbrella
Opened the padlock on the outside of the building
Inside, a hole-in-the-ground affair
Which you flushed by dipping an oversized ladle in a bucket
And pouring the water quickly into the toilet hole.
Mission accomplished.
Toto, not in NY anymore.
Covered all of Vientiane by foot
Hitting most streets
And several numerous times
Visited an impressive wat
What wat is what?
Well this one was the only building that wasn’t razed
When the Siamese sacked this city
Which was rebuilt by the French
When they moved in and took over.
And they’re still everywhere.
The French, I mean.
The gringos of Laos.
Along with Aussies
For whom this is their back yard and
Who speak a language that’s not exactly mine.
Highlight of the day
Talking our way into a middle/high school
Where I was once again at the front of a room of students
Forty of them, maybe
No behavior management, either
Hello! What’s your name?
You speak excellent English, but I want someone else to answer now.
Served water (do you want some coffee) by the associate director
Who was happy to move slowly and graciously and give us a tour.
Awesome lunch. This is the Oaxaca of Asian food.
Leo would be in heaven.
Dinner in the night market.
We could have been far more adventurous
Fried assorted organ meats, anyone?
But we were adventurous enough.
Beerlao by the river.
Heavy talk.
Insomnia. What else is new?
Good day. I love traveling.