Lionel's Angels

What an interesting thing the nature of friendship is. I have been traveling for the last few days with three of the nicest people you could possibly want to bump into anywhere in the world not the least here in Laos.They make my day, they lift my spirits and they make me feel that life is truly beautiful. They are fun to be with and they seem to value my company. Yeeha!!!


Yesterday I and my three Angels hired 2 motorbikes and rode out to a set of waterfalls.Tat Kuang Si. They were about 35 Km out of Luang Prabang. Erica and Emilly on one bike and Sandra and I on the other. It took about 40 minutes to get there and was a very pleasant run up and down gentle hills with great vistas of paddy fields and tailored forests. At the falls we came first to the " Free the bears " sanctuary. We were lucky ( or maybe it was just Kismet) to arrive just as the bears were dutifully strolling back to their cages while the staff and some volunteers distributed food around the enclosures. The food was carefully hidden so to give the bears some stimulation and to simulate their foraging in the forest. After a while the bears were let out and it was real fun to watch them scrabbling about finding the sweetest morsels. While we were standing there looking at the scene we started talking to the bloke who manages the facility. He is from Cairns Australia and his name is Luke. The organisation is an NGO funded and organised through Australia. The upshot of this was that we got an invite to go and have a look at some bears at close hand. It was great. In one pen there was a very forlorn female who had been born with Hydro-encephalitis. She was now blind and possibly deaf. She was undersized for her age and very slow poor thing. We were allowed in her cage to give her a pat. While we were changing places Sandra got a bit close to the cage next door containing 4 very boisterous young boys (1 year Old). Next thing she is fighting with the bears for the possession of her very nice fleecy jacket. It was a loosing battle. Those bears had such fun with the jacket. We watched for about 5 minutes as they pulled and stretched and tore at the jacket. It was fantastic to watch, that is if you weren't Sandra who I have to say looked a little nonplussed. I really have to take my hat off to her she was very good about loosing a very nice jacket.After all this drama we started off to the waterfalls with assurances from Luke the bloke in charge to meet us that night at the Utopia bar with a replacement "hoody" from the center.


The falls themselves were stunning. They formed a staircase of little falls almost like rice paddies down through copses of trees. The water was crystal clear or a vivid blue which we were assured by a fellow traveler was the result of copper in the water. Several of the pools were set up for swimming and I kicked my self for not bringing my togs. Later however I was rather glad I had not taken the opportunity as a mob of rather unpleasant people turned up, each with a beer Lao in hand and proceeded to wreck the ambient atmosphere for the more sensitive of us. I was secretly hoping one of them in particular would injure himself seriously even terminally but alas there is no justice in the world at that time. They have already been to Vang Vieng so I can't even hope that he will break his neck there! Such is life.


Returning to Luang Prabang we stopped off in a little village on the way and had a very pleasant  (for me Lunch). I was thinking to myself "Lionel you lucky old bugger how to you get into these situations?" Here I was sitting at a roadside in a very nice quiet little village watching school kids riding home on their tredders with three absolutely stunning young women who were great conversationalists, funny, witty and very interesting. Sharing life stories and enjoying each others company. It can't get better than that. Peel me a grape Scotty I've found nirvana!


When we got back to Luang Prabang we still had a lot of fuel. So we carried on through LP and rode for another 10 -15Km the other side until we found a bar on the banks of the Mekong. Low and behold we got there right on the most spectacular sunset I have seen yet in SEA The colors went from a light peach to the most rich purples and reds and deep deep gold. It was better than fantastic, more than amazing. We took photos and had a Beer Lao to celebrate. We started taking photos of each other and that"s where "Lionel's Angels" were born. Thank you to the gods that don't exist. Thank you to the forces of whatever that created that moment. I will cherish that time for a long time. As long as my memory lasts that will be right up there with the best of them.


I came to Laos to put to bed the ghosts of the past. I have done that adequately. But I now have the best dreams for the future. Thank you girls from the depths of my heart.