…….So that was pretty much my life style while I was in Tadlo. I’d get up, have breakfast, read in my hammock, have lunch, go for a swim, coach the kids, play volleyball, then go for dinner and have a beer. It was as cool as the f word ending in K……..covered in gravy……….. baby!!!! 🙂
The next evening I was back down the local and had joined a bunch of Germans (lovely people!) at their table……but I wasnt really participating in the conversation…..its pretty hard when you dont understand German!!!!! I was gonna try and impress them with my command of the phrases I did know…….but no matter how many times you say it…… “Mutter Ficker” never goes down well around a dining table!!!!!! 😉 Even if, at times, the phrase seems quite appropriate!!!!!! 😉 No…it was my fault really…….I should really go out and learn properly another language, instead of doing impersonations of Del boy all the time!!!!! The only thing is……. I can only ever remember the swear words!!!!! 😉
But in the end, Ze Germans…….who turned out to be Swiss…… finished their meals and said Auf Videsian, retiring to a bed and i was left sitting there, quite happily, minding my own business, when the geezer with the silly bandana came up to me with a bottle of Lao Lao (thats the Laos equivalent of turps!!!! 😉 Strong shit which tastes like a mixtrure of Vodka and Whiskey…..what a combination!!!!! 🙂 ). He goes…. “Dude….we’ve all done a bit of this (signalling to a bloke and 2 birds) ….you’ve got to have some to……….go on!!!”
I wasnt feeling in the mood for it and so I said “Nah, I’m alright mate” and then the lad did something that really impressed me. Usually in those situations, when someone who’s already half cut offers you alcohol….its not an offer and they continue to harass you until you give in…..but he replied “Sorry bud” in an almost apologetic tone “No pressure…its up to you, but have some if you want”……leaving the power of choice completely in my hands………..and thats exactly the type of thing I would of done!!!! This bloke was cool!!!! So I went over and joined them!!!
And in the end…..joined them with the Lao Lao too….it was good stuff!!!! So we did the name thing and James said that him and Simon were from Tunbridge Wells. So I goes…remembering a bird I used to have who lived close by…. “Do you know a village called Mayfield….I used to have a bird that lived there”. James and Simon looked at me dumb struck!!! “NO WAY!!!!:-)” James shouted in disbelief “Thats our village….we only tell people we’re from Tunbridge because no ones ever heard of Mayfield and its a lot easier!!!”. “Its true” Simon carried on “We’ve never ever met anyone who’s heard of Mayfield!!!!”. “I love you Man!!!! 🙂 ” James declared giving me a big hug!!!!!
Bloody hell ……he’d only known me 2 minutes and he already loved me…….I started wondering if he was really from Essex!!! 😉
Now, I found James to be a very special person……… the thing is, everybody on this planet is special, only billions seem to walk around everyday in darkness not realising it…..and the biggest step on the path to enlightenment………is the realisation that you’re special………I’ve always felt that I was special……..for as long as I can remember……..and I’m sure James has always felt hes special too……..
…………….James shines light around him wherever he goes…..he’s the type of person you’d want with you in the trenches, not to fight, but just to be there…………because if he’s there, you know you’ll be getting out of there alive……..such is the strength of his positivity.
And Simon, well…..When I knew him he was wearing a beard that made him look like the lanky love child of the geezer from Fiddler on the Roof!!!!!! 😉 And I’ve never known anyone who’s made me laugh so much!!!!! The only thing with Simon is that sometimes you dont know if you’re laughing at him or with him!!!!! And I’m sure at times he has no idea whether he’s being serious or being funny!!!! Simons a diamond surrounded by 24 carrot pukka!!!! And between them they make quite a double act and could fill any stage with their presence!!!!…… Bob will have to wait in the Green Room cos hope is taking the encore!!!! 🙂
So we all had a bubble and got on mighty jollily, and I told them about the falls and climbing in them…….and the next day I saw them in the afternoon and they proceeded to tell me about the ordeal they and the girls had just been through. They tried swimming over to the falls, which is a strong current it had to be said, and like a bunch of muppets they’d all been swept down river……..through all the rocks and rapids!!!!!! One of the girls had even caught her foot in some rocks and reckoned she almost drowned……but I was cracking up!!!!! 🙂 They’d ended up clambering onto some rocks and being rescued by some Laos villagers……….I can just imagine the scene now. ……what a pair of plonkers!!!!!! 😉
The next day we arranged to do a coffee plantation and waterfall tour, which was on the back of mopeds with us each having a driver. And it was here I witnessed James ability to instantly manefest his own reality……..even though he didnt seem aware of it!!!!! As we talked about booking the rides, James goes “Ahh….I wanna drive the moped myself”, which no one thought anything of……..but then 10 minutes later, when the Laos guys couldnt get hold of enough drivers for the six of us, they said one of us would have to drive and without asking selected James for the privelege!!!
He was really in the flow man!!!…..fucking hippy!!! 😉
So we went off and had a pukka day, getting high on pure coffee and hiking to the most beautiful waterfalls…..oh yeah……and when we stopped at a town, I bought a football so I could coach the kids!!!! And the colour of the ball………well it was only claret and blue!!!! Sorted!!!! 🙂
And coaching the kids was amazing!!! Some days I had up to 30 or 40!!!! Some of the villagers used to watch and even some westerners I noticed sitting and enjoying the spectacle!!! It was great fun and the kids really seemed to apprieciate it…..the language barrier wasnt a problem….I feel pretty comfortable when trying to get a message across!!! And everyday as I sat in my hammock in the morning…..the kids used to go running by, see me and start pretending to kick a football asking if it was time to play yet!!! “No…….later!!!” I’d say, pointing to my wrist and mimicking the time!!! It gave me the warmest sensation!!!!!!! 🙂 But now bugger off and let me read!!!! 😉
When we returned from the trip, I got back and low and behold…..somebody was sitting in my hammock…..and it wasnt goldie locks!!!!! No…..it was some one far more beautiful….a beautiful asian woman called Bee! “Sorry” she said. “No problem, its cool….stay there if you want” I said and we started having a chat and really got on well. It turned out she was with her boyfriend (bugger!!!) Tim, her friend Caroline and her boyfriend……Tim!!! Well that was easy then!!! And they turned out to be the most chilled pair of couples you’re ever lightly to meet…….and they came from Tunbridge Wells!!!! “You’re gonna have to meet James and Simon” I said and introduced them that night.
It turned out that Bees family owned a shop……..the shop James used to go in everyday on his way to school!!!! But they didnt recognise eachother, even though their paths must’ve crossed! It was another good night and we all had fun.
The next morning, I was having breakfast and a picture caught my eye…..it was a picture of a jar that looked quite plain……..I was intrigued………it was taken at a place called…………wait for it………..The Plain of Jars!!!!! 🙂 ….Thats where I was going next!!!!!! Moments later James and Si turned up and announced they were moving on. So we said our goodbyes, but had the feeling it wasnt the last we’d see of eachother……… and me……..well I spent the next few days chilling with the double couple!!!! 🙂
….. and as it was to turn out, they were going to be the only people I travelled with on the whole of my journey…
………. And so I was hanging out with Bee, Caroline and Tim (times 2) for the next couple of days in Tadlo, enjoying their company and also enjoying being the Tim’s guide in exploring the falls…..and it turned out they had an affinity with taking liberties too!!!!……and even though they were a bit dubious about following me in some of the places at first, we all went onto push back further the frontiers of Tadlo Falls exploration!!!! 🙂 ……….but drew the line at conquering the ledge where the German almost became brown bread!!!! 
I’d told them of my plans to go to the Plain of Jars, and they were interested, but decided it was too far out the way……….
* It was on the north eastern side of Laos, where you would only normally go only if you were in transit to Vietnam………but the Americans know it well……..they were very generous in donating copius amounts of land mines to the area, so that the evil monsters in Vietnam couldnt get out and destroy the free world………and since those evil monsters turned out to be hard nuts……. well …. they decided to bomb it too…… would’ve been rude not to, especially as that meant there was less chance of Americans getting hurt ……. and to further reduce the risks of Americans getting hurt……. why not train the Laos people to do the bombing for you…….. now there’s an idea………. maybe twist their arm a bit too……….. and with all the health care and education problems which existed in America………. what better way to spend the peoples taxes…….. then by spending $2 million a day, everyday, for over decade……. dropping bombs on Laos……… well you cant drop them all on Vietnam can you….. they’re hard bastards over there…….they’ll beat you up!!!! 
Well at least the free worlds safe……. WHEREVER IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *
…………but in order to get there I had to go via Vientienne (the Laos capital) where they were heading too, so it was cool to travel together. I wanted to go to the Plain of Jars because it felt like a bit of a spiritual place to me, although there wasn’t much information about it. So I looked in Bee/Tim’s lonely planet and it said that…
“The plain of jars might be a bit of a spiritual place!”
Well, not in those exact words, but words to that effect…… apparently no one knew what it really was…….. so I was heading to the Plain of Jars….. which might be a bit of a spiritual place!!!
So we left Tadlo, it seemed a shame to say goodbye to the place, but it was time to move on……. and as for that Laos woman…….. well, it was a shame……. but I guess some things go unfulfilled! 😦
Love and Light,
Miller
The Adventures of Miller 