Sweat

The sequel to "No Sweat" in Hong Kong is "Pouring with Sweat" in Luang Prabang in Laos. In this case, it wasn't just me who found the heat (35C) and the humidity (90%) to be too much, but rather all of us who ventured out. (Lennox stayed indoors suffering from of all things a cold.

We went on a 4km walk along the far side bank of the Mekong, where there are numerous temples and very few tourists. Indeed, we met only one couple, who turned out to be super nice and interesting since Mike had been leading the cleaning up the mess from land mines and cluster bombs after the Vietnam war. His real life stories captivated the kids.

I was prepared with sunscreen, water, Panama hat, and an umbrella as a parasol, but I still turned around after about 90 minutes walking . The others managed 15 minutes more, but then spent the rest of the day telling anyone that would listen how hot it had been.

Why go through such self-inflicted punishment? Well, it's stunningly beautiful, and you see genuine village life mixed with lots of working monsaries.Read more