Laos... Where?

Our stay in Laos has been limited to only a few days. The border control did let us into the country despite our outward appearances and we even made it all the way down to the beautiful islands in the southern part of the country (formed my the Mekong River not the ocean - for those of you looking at your maps wondering what I am talking about). While there we stayed in a small, quaint bungalow perched on stilts over the river. Each night we slept under a thatched roof with the sounds of crickets near-by (Jason hated it... his biggest fear... if one gets near him he screams like I do when many things get near me ;) ), until that is... we were forced to flee back into Thailand. After only 3 days of sipping coconut juice from a straw stuck in the top of a coconut that the guest house owners daughter just climbed a tree to retrieve for us was too soon to leave for our tastes... but that is what the situation demanded...

The Situation:
One day as I was heading to brush my teeth before bed, minding my own business, and out of the shadows leaped a ferocious animal that attacked my hand tearing away my flesh and leaving two marks about the size of the tip of a fine point pen. I bled a little. After being slightly stunted and feeling a bit as if I had been the culprit of a terrible act of terrorism, my first instinct was to run to Jason. Hand outstretched I showed him my minor wound with tears in my eyes and pointed to where the assault happened.

Strategizing Next Steps:
After cleaning out the wound, that stopped bleeding long ago, we discussed our strategy. Feeling that the lighting fast animal would be hard to catch for any acts of revenge we decided to focus more on the prospects of rabies. Rabies is a virus that is spread through the saliva of animals and people almost always die once symptoms start to show, which can be anywhere between a week to a couple of years after the bite. Over 50,000 people a year die from rabies and, although, it is not a huge problem in America due to the fact that most animals people typically come into contact with are vaccinated from the virus but in many countries (such as Laos) it is epidemic. People do not have the means to vaccinate their children from common childhood diseases so you can imagine how many pets get their shots. (side note: we read today that China has just created a law that restricts it's citizens from having more than one pet in efforts to curb rabies which killed over 2,000 Chinese in 2004 - only 3% of pets in China are currently vaccinated) In order to ensure the virus does not take over the body, a series of 5 shots over a month and a special "lifesaving" shot immediately after the bite is given.

Our choice was either to take our chances and hope that this crazed animal was not one of the few animals with rabies or to be safe and get the shots. After talking with the US Embassy in Laos we learned that rabies, although rare, is still a big concern and that it is recommended to get vaccinated... in Thailand, as they cannot votch the sanitary conditions of clinics in Laos. Because I am fortunate enough to have the money to afford the shots (which my travelers insurance ended up paying for), the ability to travel back to Bangkok, and the fear of an AIDS infected needle we decided to head back to Thailand. Thus we are in Bangkok again. Which really isn't such a bad spot to be.

In the process of making this decision we thought a lot about our privilege to be able to afford insurance versus that of those around us who would not be able to afford such a simple life saving shot.

The Updated Plan:
I got my first three rounds of shots were in Bangkok. Tonight we will leave and make our way to Chang Mai over the next week where I will get my forth and then head towards Udon over the next two weeks were I will get my last shot before hopping back into Laos, hopefully for more of a sustained period of time.

So when I was writing everyone from India complaining about being sick all of the time I am sure many of you wanted to write back and tell me to quit drinking the water (which I did not do for all of you who were temped to do so ;) ) but I do give you permission to scold me for being silly enough to pet (which is what really happened) the animals in rabies infected countries, even the cute ones.

Below is a picture of the culprit showing little apathy and regret the next day, as well as an updated picture of the two of us... that's right my hair is SHORT... it is the consequence of differing fashion opinions between cultures.




Wat Champasak:




Si Phan Don Islands: