Feeling Down In Ventiane

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

It's Tuesday evening and I'm here on my own in the Laos capital feeling rather down. On Friday I received some really sad news from home, and it's been on my mind ever since. I found out, through email, that a friend of mine back in Vancouver had died. His name is Peter Schaub, and while not a really close friend of mine, is someone who I went to university with and had a lot of great times with him during my school days. Both Peter and I were active members of the Geography Student Union, and, with our tight-knit group of 9 or 10 or so other 'core' members, had many great adventures together. Potluck dinners, camping trips, school fairs, Geography conferences, snowshoeing, and a million and one laughs.

Peter, apparently, had been unpacking his stuff after having moved to Penn State to begin his Masters degree when he just collapsed and died. They think it was a heart attack but at this point don't really know. Even though it's been a year and a half since I last spoke to Peter, I'll miss him greatly. Peter was the kind of guy who you met once and never forgot. He was exceptionally friendly, and had such an infectious enthusiasm for everything that you couldn't help but smile when you were around him. He was everybody's friend, and always made sure that everyone felt included. And he was also, easily, the most brilliant man that I have ever had the priviledge to meet. Peter's intelligence and understanding always blew me away. He was the kind of student that you wished you were, but few ever have that kind of motivation or dedication for their studies. We graduated together in June of 2002, and Peter was given an award for having the highest GPA in the university. He was the kind of guy that you knew was going to go very far in life. Smarts or not, he was a wonderful man with a kind heart and a love of learning, travel, and people. The world is a less brighter place without our Peter. He will be missed greatly by all of us, and his passion for life will remain as bright memories with us for always. I'll never forget you, Peter...

For the first two days, after hearing the news, I was able to not think about it too much as Kristian, Shimrit, and Chen kept me busy and occupied as we toured around Ventiane. We checked out the National Museum, the giant arch that's not unlike Paris' Arc de Triomphe, Buddha Park, and the gold-emblazed National Monument. Ventiane is a pleasant enough city, but you can easily see and do everything here in a day or two. It's actually been named the Most Relaxed Capital in the world, and I can see why. It's rather sleepy here, things shut down early, and well, it certainly ain't no Bangkok or Hong Kong.

On Sunday morning my three friends left for Cambodia, and I've been on my own ever since. I'm stuck here until Wednesday as I'm waiting for my Vietnamese visa to be processed. To be honest I've been bored to tears, and with all of this free time (with nothing really left to see or do) I've been feeling down. Sad about Peter, and really missing my friends. (my travel buddies, and my friends back home.) For the first time on my trip I'm alone...and feeling lonely.

Tomorrow I fly up north to Phonsavanh to go and see the Plain of Jars, and then I'm travelling overland to Hanoi, Vietnam. It's going to be quite the adventure for sure. I'm promising myself not to feel so down starting tomorrow, as visiting the Plain of Jars has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I want to enjoy every minute of it. And besides, Peter, being quite the traveller himself, would never want me to just be sitting around feeling sad.

Life is a fragile and precious and completely unpredictable thing. Enjoy every day as the beautiful present that it is.