Best In Southeast Asia
Jan. 2, 2009
Paris, France
PLUS:
- Adventure Travel Without All The Hassle...
- Pharmacy Clinics, Mating Rituals, And Buck-toothed Main
Courses...Off The Beaten Path In Laos...
- Why You Shouldn't Re-gift Your Presents This Year...
AND:
- Father Frost, The Snow Maiden, And Chinese Astrology...New Year's In
Moscow...
----------
Why You Don't Have to Worry About Outliving Your Nest
Egg...
You can retire in style overseas and live better than you do now...for as
little as $694 a month...
Live well -- including a maid, a gardener, a driver -- all on a Social
Security budget...
Enjoy free medical care or health insurance for $300 a month or less...
Own your own home in the sun for as little as $120,000...and wake up each
morning to the sound of the waves on the sand...or the freshness of clean,
mountain air...
Find
out The Six Best-Value Destinations for Living and Investing in the World
Today -- Free here
----------
Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
"This is my third day on the road," writes intrepid Correspondent Paul
Terhorst, "and so far, Laos seems to be remarkably easy
travel...adventure travel without the hassles.
"The Chinese, Japanese, and others who want to export to Laos have helped to
build roads, bridges, and even buses that make overland travel comfortable.
I'm taking advantage of the new infrastructure at ground level, to explore
beyond the tourist spots.
"In a Lao town (Luang Nam Tha), near the Chinese border, I walked into a
Chinese pharmacy and realized that it also seemed to be a street-side
clinic. See pictures.The
clinic had two patients, one on an IV who was smoking a cigarette.
"I asked for loratadine, a widely used drug for hay fever and other
allergies. The attendant in a white smock handed me the drug guide. I found
loratadine in the English index and turned to the page. Everything else on
the page except 'loratadine' was in Chinese, so I handed the book back to
the medical man. He went to his cabinets but, in the end, shook his head.
"I noticed a sign in English on a recently completed two-story brick house
in the center of town: 'For Rent, $200 a month.'
"In a tribal village farther south I watched a ball game that kicked off a
New Year's courtship rite. Sixteen-year-old girls, some in short white
skirts, others in colorful tribal costumes, warmed up for the event by
tossing a ball back and forth.
See pictures.
"Then the boys--pimply, red-faced, wearing street clothes, and way more
ill-at-ease than the girls--showed up. The boys and girls formed two lines
facing each other. Balls sailed back and forth, along with banter and
giggles. Soon couples formed, and leftover boys and girls somehow
disappeared.
"I'm short on details here, but I think the ball game is the Lao tribal
version of 'will you be mine?'. The game took place in the heart of the
village, with mothers, grandmothers, and little sisters looking on. The
girls' moms were easy to spot, their sharp eyes registering every detail,
raw emotion knifing through them. The men carried on their normal
activities; they hardly seemed to notice.
"Next stop was a tiny village (Nong Khiaw) in a spectacular setting on the
Ou River. See
picture. I ran into adventurous European kids, four boys and two girls,
who had bought two wooden boats to paddle downstream. They figured the trip
downriver to Luang Prabang would take five or six days. I asked where they'd
sleep.
"'We'd like to sleep in guest houses or home stays, if there are any. If
not, we'll stop at some village and get the head man to let us stay in his
hut for the evening.'
"After the trip they hoped to sell the boats for a profit--an important part
of the plan--so they could travel longer. I asked these and other kids I met
which Southeast Asian country they liked the most and which they liked the
least. Vietnam came in as least favorite, while, overall, they chose Laos as
the best country in Southeast Asia. They like the friendly Lao people and
the unspoiled lifestyle, especially in the primitive hill-tribe villages.
"The kids (and I) met hill-tribe villagers who've never lived anywhere
except in bamboo huts in their native villages, who've never seen indoor
plumbing or an electric light bulb. The villagers use firewood for cooking,
because there is no natural gas or electricity.They believe rain dances help
to make the monsoons come.
"Next day, along with friends Roger and Naree, we rode in the back of a
packed truck to Luang Prabang. We sat, squished together for three hours, on
narrow wooden benches. Women on board were carrying their goods to market.
Roger, Naree, and I were heading to our next stop, with all our gear. At one
point, I put my small pack on top of one of the women's market bags. The
woman protested to Naree, who told me to move my bag. I did, but my bag kept
sliding over on top of hers.
"Finally, we looked more closely at her market bag. Something was moving
inside, something alive. Naree speaks Thai and a little Lao, and she asked
what it was.
"'An own.' That's the best I can come to representing the sound. But we had
no idea what an 'own' was. Two days later Roger came back to the guest house
after walking through the Luang Prabang market.
"'I saw an own,' he reported, 'skinned and ready to cook, with big buck
teeth. Perhaps even the same one that lady had in her market bag.'
"He'd also seen rats piled up in the market and civet cats and other
wildlife for sale. I'm guessing the 'own' was a woodchuck or a groundhog or
something similar from the squirrel family.
"In a mild climate like in Laos, they'd hibernate only a few months. This
was just before hibernation, when they'd be at their fattest. The Lao woman
simply took advantage. She captured one and schlepped it off to market."
Kathleen Peddicord
----------
Live Tax-free In Belize
Run Away To A
Beautiful English-speaking Island In The Caribbean...And Live Tax-free!
----------
"New Year's is the biggest holiday in my native land," writes our Internet
Marketing Manager Irina, home in Moscow for the holidays.
"New Year's in Russia is like Christmas in many countries
around the world. Instead of Christmas trees, we have New Year's trees,
decorated with ornaments in the shapes of houses, dolls, animals, icicles,
etc., plus, of course, lights and tinsel.
"Kids wait for New Year's Day in this country the way kids in the West await
Christmas morning, for New Year's is when they open the gifts Grandfather
(or, sometimes, Father) Frost left for them overnight.
Ded Moroz travels with his beautiful granddaughter,
Snegurochka, or Snow Maiden. He closely resembles his Western
counterpart, Santa Claus, with his winter coat (red or blue) and long white
beard, but, unlike Santa, he walks with a long magical staff and travels in
a horse-drawn sled.
"Preparations for the New Year's festivities begin weeks in advance. First,
you must research the right way to greet the New Year. For us Russians, this
means turning to books and articles on Chinese astrology that
identify the animal of the New Year (2009 is the Year of Ox), recommend
colors to wear for the celebrations, give gift suggestions, and advise what
should be avoided. (Don't re-gift your gifts this year, for example, or the
Ox will be upset with you!)
"Much work goes into planning the holiday menu. As one comedian joked, 'Only
in Russia do people start buying food weeks in advance only to eat it all in
one night.' On the evening of Dec. 31, friends and family gather around the
table to say good-bye together to the passing year. Meanwhile, in the
background, the television is on with Russian stars singing their best songs
and wishing everyone a happy New Year.
"Shortly before midnight, the president gives a speech that is transmitted
on all the channels. Then, one minute before midnight, the big clock in Red
Square (Kuranti)
chimes, and the countdown to the New Year begins. With sparklers in one hand
and champagne in the other, everyone counts down together and makes New
Year's wishes. The New Year arrives with a burst of fireworks, hugs, kisses,
and toasts, and the celebration goes on until morning.
"In fact, the celebrations continue for another week. Russian Orthodox
churches follow the Julian Calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian
Calendar, which means, for us, Christmas falls on Jan. 7.
"S Novym Godom! (Happy New Year!)
"P.S. Kathleen, don't worry. Unlike the rest of the country, I am back to
work today!"
Home ♦
SUBSCRIBE ♦
Whitelist Us ♦
Privacy
Media
♦
Search ♦ Site
Map ♦
Advertise
|
| |
