I am busy today preparing for houseguests, which will arrive in about one hour, and preparing for the BIG party tomorrow - the celebrating of my husband's 50th birthday. I love all the food preparations, but in between I need to rest mind and body. My perfect pasttime then is armchairtravelling. And my armchairtravel this Christmas goes to East Asia, to Laos and to Thibet, and to the Mekong River.
I started the read a new (for me) book the other night, My Journey to Lhasa by Alexandra David-Neel. This French women died in 1969 at the aga of 101. She spent moany of her years in Asia, most of them in Thibet, and she is the only western woman who has succeeded in entering the forbidden cisy Lhasa. She wrote about her adventures, and the book, which originally was published in 1927 tells the remarcably story of this travel. And it is remarkably well written.
I love to read travel literature, and most of all travel books written by women. I have a huge library of this type of books, and they take me all over the world. Alexandra David-Neel's trip to Lhasa started near the Mekong river. I was lucky enough to visit part of this river last year when I spent two weeks on Laos with the Norwegian humanitarian organisation Norwegian Church Aid. We spent two days on the Mekong Flood, one day in speed-boats, another day 10 wonderful hours in a river boat taking is from the north of Laos into the wonderful UN Heritage Lis city Loang Prabang. A wonderful travel visiting wonderful people. A travel I will never forget. I have a few photos for you so you can armchair travel to Laos together with me:
