Sitting in Buddha's Lap

In case you missed it, I have am posting two entries today. The first chronicles my last few days in Luang Prabang, including the elephant experience. I felt my next topic deserved and entry of its own. The day we arrived in Vientienne included a quick visit to a few temples followed by dinner and drinks at sunset along the river. This morning was the main event, a visit to COPE, the national rehabilitaion center here in Laos. This has been the most moving part of my journey yet. It was one of those moments when I found myself wondering how on earth the public conscience keeps things like this a secret.

Little known fact: Laos is the most heavily bombed country in history. During the Vietnam War (referred to as the American War here) over 260 million pieces of sub-munition was dropped inside Laos' borders even though the country was considered "neutral" in the conflict.

I don't know if anyone else will be as suprised by this fact as I was, and I am not about to start preaching on something I know so little about. And let me add that my goal here is not to make any kind of political statement whatsoever. All I will say is that I learned quite a bit about the efforts to recover and clear the remaining unexploded bombs and it left a significant impact on me. UNICEF and the UN have recognized that there is a significant risk to the population and estimates say it will take 100 years to clear. For any cause this is a daunting task.

The COPE visitors center is a must see on any travler's list when in Laos. It will open your eyes, move you to tears and reaffirm that there really are people out there making a difference.

After such an emotionally draining morning, we took a break and several of us rented a tuk tuk to take us out to "Buddha Park." It is like a religious playground filled with giant Hindu and Buddhist statues that you can climb on, around and inside of. Can you imagine?! I think I speak for us all when I say that sitting in Buddha's lap was reviving.

We depart in the morning for southern Laos and the village homestay before crossing the border into Vietnam. Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! I am sad that I am missing the dinner party, fireworks and tree lighting this year but I will be there in spirit. Tomorrow night, in lieu of champagne, I will say a toast with the bottle of gin I was able to buy at the European market. It will go something like this: "I am thankful for the opportunity to share my life with such a wonderful group of family and friends, I am thankful that every day I wake up to another opportunity for something great to happen, and I am thankful for all the paths that have led me to were I am today. You only get one shot at it, make it good. " Cheers!