After the whole fiasco of getting across the border from Cambodia, we all hustled to the awaiting truck that was a little down the road and piled into the bed of it. As the tall, white border security buildings, that were dirty from constant monsoon showers, disappeared with the exhaust of the truck speeding us away, we all felt like we could breathe again. I made eye contact with one of the guys and it bubbled out before I could stop it. I couldn’t stop laughing at the frantic situation and soon everyone followed suit, feeling comfortable as we made our way deeper into Laos, passports in hand.
We were dropped off at the edge of this murky brown, fast flowing river. Most of us were heading to see the Four Thousand Island Villages of the Mekong Delta but some turned and headed to wherever the bus stop was. I honestly had no idea what there was to do or see there but it was talked about as a major thing to do. There were two girls I met who were from Europe, they both had blonde hair and had been friends for most of their lives. They were doing a similar loop to me but were staying in a slightly more expensive place for the night so I decided to wander around and find a hostel.
There was a young guy, I’d guess around my age, with shaggy brown hair who was also heading to the river edge. He mentioned he was going to try to find a hostel as well so we decided to embark on the adventure together.
All four of us made our way to the river’s edge, looking for some kind of way or indication of how to get a boat to one of the main islands to stay on. There wasn’t a sign but eventually there was a thin man standing with one foot on the boat and one on the wooden dock holding the boat against it. He started waving us to him, with a glance around, and multiple shrugged shoulders we decided to comply. He had skin that was tanned and weathered like leather, and he smiled with slightly misshapen teeth. With little to no English (not that I expected any) he told us to hop on and we would go to the island.
As we were driven along the calm waters, someone pointed at the sky and to our surprise I saw a beautiful sight. There was a thick rainbow that seemed to be forming in the cloud above us. I had never seen anything like it. It had these bright colors all forming off the edge of the cloud. My old iPhone didn’t have the ability to capture it fully but I was surprised and had many questions as to why and how that formed.
We stopped at another wooden floating plank, acting as a dock, as we all hopped off and went our separate ways. I followed along with the tall, lanky guy, though something told me he wanted to be alone on his trip. I wouldn’t mind if he ditched me, I just wanted to walk with someone at least until the hostel.
We made our way pretty far down the road until we came to what seemed to be the last building. There were hardly any foreigners around, though this seemed to be the place tourists went. We either were at the wrong time or there were already limited tourists who visited this country. We walked to the building and he decided he was going to stay there for the night. I didn’t want to walk any further alone, with hardly anyone out or about so I nabbed a room as well. The price was reasonable and I ended up with my own second story bedroom. It was quite relieving to have my own room for a bit, as I’d been bunking in hostels with many people per room, so the privacy was greatly appreciated.
I relaxed for a while in the room, then made my way to the balcony, settling into a hammock for the last few hours of daylight and enjoying the scene of the mekong, moving steadily along, bouncing between rock outcroppings and small, wooded jungle islands. I eventually made my way into some blissful sleep in my room.
The next morning I woke up bright and early, making my way to the restaurant across the road for some breakfast that came with the room. I loved the feel of the place as pillows were lined along the floor with short resting tables. We were on and sticking over the river, for an incredible view. In my blurry eyed view of the world from just waking up, I saw a brown haired man sitting and facing the river at one of the tables overlooking the view. Without even looking closer, and with the assumption the young guy and I had been the only two at the homestay, I plopped right across from him.
Of course, the man looked surprised and when he turned his face to look at me, who was sitting there with a dumb smile on my face, I realized I had no idea who this man was. He was not the guy I met the night before and I must’ve looked so weird just sitting there. I figured for once in my life just to roll with this extroverted experience and try to look like I actually meant to do that, rather than the truth of mistaking this man for someone else.
I smiled and quickly said, “Hi! My name is Emma, it’s really nice to meet you.”
I’m grateful to myself for giving it a shot, as this man’s story really stuck with me over the years and I love telling people it. He introduced himself and we had some small talk before jumping into our life stories, which so often happens when I travel alone.
I’m paraphrasing, but he said something similar to this, “Cliche but I’ve followed love here and I have no regrets so far. I was a big time lawyer in Boston, I’m forty-one years old now and I realized that I was unhappy. I had no real relationships, I was working myself to the ground and I had all this money I never used. So I decided to quit and travel, quite the thing people always make movies about,” he said as he chuckled a bit to himself. “I have been in southeast asia for a year when I bought a motorbike to drive all around Northern Vietnam. That was when I met this woman. She had the same plan and had been driving around longer than I had. Previously, I had been tenting in most places and she thought that was a great idea so she joined my tenting escapade. We bonded over the next couple months and made love under the stars overlooking hundreds of rice terraces.”
He paused and though previously had been staring at the weaving river, he looked directly at me.
His eyes were difficult to describe, a dark blue that seemed almost brighter the more he spoke. It was like diving down into the abyss of ocean water, at first terrifying and deep and dark, became lighter and less scary as the white sand came into view.
He continued, “Not long after she had to get back to her life. She actually lives here in Laos and teaches English. She’s been here for 8 years doing that and doesn’t plan to ever move back to the US. I lasted two days before I too sold my motorbike. She gave me her address before leaving and said if I happen to go to Laos, stop by and see her.”
“I chose love and I couldn’t be happier to go and find her and hopefully she’ll give us a shot. That’s why I’m here, I’m on my way to her,” he finished.
I feel like people think I’m making that story up when I repeat it, it sounds like the millions of romance movies out there, but he was so genuine and in love with her and his newfound life.
Soon we parted ways and I walked back to the start of the town area to find something to do for the day. I came across the two women from the boat ride over, asked what they were up to when they stopped and smiled at me asking if I had found the hostel. They were heading to a waterfall that was super famous to see and I asked to tag along. They went and asked their hotel so I gave them my part of the split cost and off we went.
It took a boat ride, truck bed ride, and small tuk tuk but we made our way to the entrance. It was a pretty magnificent sight, though a bit further than we wished. The waterfall was huge and thunderously loud as gallons of river dumped over each second. We hiked and wandered and took pictures for a while before making our way back and finding a bus ticket to the next town.
I was so happy to share this, even with complete strangers. Something I learned then and still learn on my travels is that it is always the people you meet who make or break a trip. They make the journeys worth it. You can see all of the natural and manmade wonders of the world, but I will always say it is the people who make the trips worth it and not necessarily the sights.