And Now Back to Our Regular Scheduled Programming– Boys.

DAY: 28
LOCATION: Hanoi, Luang Prabang

I spent my last morning in Vietnam taking care of business. And by business, I mean getting a refund for the return ticket on China Airlines I would no longer be using. This process was not as easy as it seems. I needed to be there in person to present my passport, and the office had been closed until today for the holiday. But even then, the matter wasn’t fully resolved, and I was told I’d be receiving an email once it had been looked over. Always a pleasure dealing with bureaucracy.

At the airport Levi sent me a photo – an Amazon package containing my book. My stomach flipped inside out. What was I afraid of? Him seeing how easily I fell in love with guys? Him not liking my writing or finding me silly? Or maybe it was something even deeper, something I couldn’t quite access yet, something I needed to meditate on in the plane…

Nope. The scenery was too epic to obsess about boys. I spent the hour in the air with my forehead glued to the window, blown away by the geography. Lakes cut through untouched green mountains stretching for miles in every direction. How I’d ever disliked flying was a mystery to me as I relished the aerial view. Probably cuz I was too concerned with the micro to ever consider the macro.

As we descended upon the airport, there was no civilization to be seen. My excitement mounted at the prospect of spending four days in this lush oasis, hiking, reading, relaxing by a river. Just a little more visa processing bureaucracy and I could rollick amongst Buddhist temples.

Well, almost. I still had to figure out how to get to the hotel. There was barely any WIFI available, and certainly no Uber. In fact, there seemed to be only way – their taxi system. I withdrew money from an ATM and joined an older man in a van.

“Good afternoon!!” I was in an extremely buoyant and talkative mood. He wasn’t, but he played ball anyway as we waited to fill up the other seats. He was from Northern California, and this was his third time in Luang Prabang. He was killing a few days before a wedding in Vietnam.

“It’s quite nice,” he said flatly. “What I enjoy the most is that it hasn’t changed in the forty years since I first came.”

“That sounds perfect!” I chimed as two guys around my age boarded into the back. “Hey boys! How’s it going? Where you from?”

“Great,” the one with a beard responded. “Canada.”

I quickly discovered they worked in the film industry in Toronto as cinematographers, making most of their money in commercials. As much as I’d loved meeting people from all sorts of backgrounds, I was thrilled to meet two cute dudes who spoke my language, literally and figuratively.

“You guys wanna grab lunch after we check in? I can text you on WhatsApp,” I shamelessly made myself their third wheel. They were down, and we exchanged info. The bearded one was named Jordan, the other Austin.

The taxi dropped me on the main street next to the river and directed me up a narrow lane to my hotel. I’d been standing on Luang Prabang soil all of 30 seconds and I was already in love. It was so charming.

My hotel, Lao Lu Lodge, was simple but cute, with a nice courtyard and extremely friendly receptionist. I unpacked a few things, ate a couple of oranges (Hang had bought me another half dozen that morning), and put on a little makeup. Not that I planned on hooking up with the Canadians, but, well, you know.

As I waited for the boys in the shade in the courtyard, I researched vegan spots and things to do. There were actually quite a few recommended places on Happy Cow – not necessarily vegan, but with good veg options. The main activities were boat rides, day trips to see waterfalls, temples, and the night market. This was not going to be Sydney or Hanoi or Saigon, cramming entire cities into single days. I could relax.

They found my hotel and we went in search of food. Austin wanted to eat at one of the outdoor places along the river, so we chose one that looked good. To be fair, they all looked pretty much the same with the same food and similar pricing, but this one had a lot of customers and only one table available closest to the water.

Jordan was definitely a foodie, having done his homework on Laotian must-tries and restaurants. He’d also done his homework in the conspiracy world, well-informed on the Rothschilds and banking cartels, 9/11, the media stranglehold on people’s minds, etc. He did not, however, follow any of the more metaphysical or occult aspects, although a couple of drug trips prevented him from being a true materialist.

While Jordan was familiar with many of the things I was bringing up, like Aleister Crowley, the Rosecrucians, and chaos magick, Austin studied me like an odd creature from outerspace (or maybe the Hollow Earth.)

“You really believe we’re living in some sort of inverted spirituality with dark forces and light?” He asked credulously.

“Absolutely. Total Star Wars out here. But I’m telling you, two years ago I would never have imagine that this could be the world we were living in. The more you dig though, and see these brilliant minds throughout history all pointing towards the same thing, the harder it is to deny. And it’s all around us,” I glanced around at the bucolic river, the now empty patio. “Okay, well maybe not right now in Luang Prabang, but you know what I mean.”

We put a pause on the heavy philosophical talk to appreciate our curries and sticky rice and the calming view. It was close to 5pm when we finished, and Jordan wanted to climb Mount Phousi in time for sunset. We made our way to the center of town, paid the admission fee, and started our ascent.

It was surreal. The salmon tinted clouds, the mist creeping through the valley, the golden temple off in the distance. The higher we climbed, the more rarefied the air became. Unfortunately, the top was jam packed with tourists, but with good reason – the view of the sunset over the river was out of control. Heaven on earth.

Jordan and I admired the flaming sky for awhile before heading down. Austin had disappeared, doing his own thing. We waited with some stray cats at another viewing point further down the hill until it was pitch black.

“He does this a lot, wandering off on his own. It’s annoying, but you get used to it,” Jordan explained. I didn’t mind, I was digging his energy. He was funny, insightful. We headed down to the market without him.

“Ha, look at this bench,” I pointed to a wood and wrought iron number missing its seat.

“Perfect metaphor for our culture. You could do a whole photo series of broken public benches,” he remarked dryly. I laughed. Was I attracted to him?

We walked up and down the aisles of the night market with the familiar tourist wares – t-shirts, scarves, carved objects. A lot of the stuff was quite beautiful, and the vendors sweet-natured and not at all pushy. I bought a pair of elephant pants, satisfying my inner backpacker.

Austin finally found us, and we headed to Utopia, a restaurant and bar Jordan had heard about through the grapevine. If you’re a millennial traveler, this is the place to be. The outdoor venue was buzzing with youthful energy and good vibes. We got seated on some cushions on the deck overlooking the river.

“Uh, this is incredible,” Austin sipped on his beer, the happiest I’d seen him since we met. He wasn’t wrong. “We should come back here every night.”

“Well, I’m definitely coming back here tomorrow morning for yoga,” I said. I’d seen a sign at the entrance.

“I’ll try and join you,” Jordan said. “I’m sure I could use it.”

“Everybody can,” I smiled.

The music eventually turned from chill to club, and we decided to call it a night. None of us were in the mood to join the growing dance floor, and I didn’t want my vision of the garden oasis morphed into an alcohol and drug-fueled party scene. We walked up to one of the main roads, and then parted ways.

It was barely after 10pm, but the streets were completely silent. It was almost eerie how quickly and fully the town had shut down, how little evidence of the bustling market remained from just a couple of hours before. But I liked it. And I liked Jordan and Austin. I really hoped I’d see more of them.