Northern Laos: Early Symtoms of the Willy Fog's Disease

No, not dead yet. Once again I would like to apologize to my loyal followers for this 13-day disruption but there is a good reason for it as I will explain later.

During the last weeks I've continued my course across the infamous Golden Triangle. After my short visit to Myanmar I re-entered Thailand just for a few hours before proceeding to Laos. Accompanied by Jane (19, English) I crossed the Mekong river and paid the $35 that would grant me a tourist visa. 35 minutes later our bus to Luang Nam Tha crashed into a cow (R.I.P.). The driver got off, picked the broken pieces of the right indicator, shook off his hands and started the engine again. Welcome to Laos.

The incident with that poor beast (I mean the driver) is pretty much the only exciting event that I can recall from the last two weeks. How's is that possible in one of the most interesting destinations in the entire world? - some may wonder. Well my guess is that I'm suffering the early symptoms of one of the most common diseases among long-term travelers: Amazement Overdose.

The Amazement Overdose (also known as Willy Fog's Disease) stands for the difficulties that some globetrotters experience to perceive the actual degree of coolness of the places that they visit. In most cases the AO is the result of a prolonged exposure to a large set of adrenaline-bursting once-in-a-lifetime experiences. There is no medical treatment for it and even though it is not potentially dangerous for the traveler's life it makes the whole traveling experience a lot less worthwhile.

Aware of the problem I've drawn a list of measures that I'm putting in practice right away:

Iñaki's Plan to Overcome the Amazement Overdose

1. Find a nice place to settle for a while

1.1. It must be cheap
1.2. It must be small and close to nature
1.3. It must offer interesting things to do

2. Hang out with the same people for a while
2.1. Try to remember their names and make them remember yours
2.2. Try to learn a little bit about them
2.3. Try to learn a little bit of their language (if possible)

3. Do something useful
3.1. At the end of the day I should be able to mention one useful thing that I've done

4. Eat and sleep well
4.1. Never skip meals or hours of sleep
4.2. If possible cook, eat (and sleep) in company (hahaha, good luck with that!)

I've already sorted out the most critical aspects of this master plan. Now it's time to put it in practice. I estimate that if everything goes well I should be completely recovered and able to continue with my trip in a couple of weeks (I won't leave until my morale rises above 90). However if it goes too well I might end up stuck in Laos for longer than I thought :)!

To be continued...

PS: I'm so glad that this post gave me the opportunity to honour Sir William Fog. I grew up with these cartoons and they might be the reason why I'm here today. For those who want to know more about Mr. Fog and his friends here you have some info.

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Durante las dos ultimas semanas he continuado mi periplo por el infame Triangulo de Oro. Tras mi visita a Birmania retorne a Tailandia por unas horas antes de volver a cruzar el rio Mekong para entrar en Laos. Laos es un pequeno pais en medio del subcontinente sudasiatico con una vegetacion abrumadora y pueblos legendarios. A pesar de esto, durante los 13 ultimos dias he intentado recapitular eventos interesante sobre los que escribir en el blog y no he encontrado ninguno (bueno, tal vez pueda comentar el pequeno incidente entre mi autobus y una pobre vaca que acabo con esta ultima hecha filetes antes de tiempo). La unica explicacion que se me ocurre para esta falta de interes es que tal vez este sufriendo los primeros sintomas del Mal del Gran Viajero al cual he bautizado como el Sindrome Willy Fog.
El Sindrome Willy Fog se define como la insensibilidad que algunos viajeros de largo recorrido presentan ante la continua sucesion de actividades, eventos y paisajes que en cualquier otro contexto serian imborrables en su memorial pero que al confrontarse uno tras otro acaban generando una falsa sensacion de normalidad. Que quiero decir con esto? pues bien, por ejemplo aqui en Laos me he topado con unos paisajes de montana/selva arbolada que gozarian de mi mas alto reconocimiento si no fuera porque hace apenas dos meses estaba surcando los Himalayas. Esto, aunque no es peligroso en si, hace la experiencia de viajar menos provechosa e interesante. Siendo consciente del problema antes de salir de Vitoria, he trazado un plan que me devolvera la capacidad de asombro para seguir con mi viaje. Basicamente se trata de establecerme en un pueblo/ciudad y tomar una rutina diaria durante algunas semanas. Si es posible tratare de hacer algo util e interesante que me haga sentir como en casa antes de volver a lanzarme a la carretera. Si todo va bien un par de semanas deberian bastar, si todo va DEMASIADO bien tal vez acabe atascado en Laos por mas tiempo de lo que pensaba! Continuara...