The first time I came to Laos, it was by a demand from my mother who had been here before and said it was a beautiful country where people don't even honk their horns. She even bought plane tickets for us.

The first day in Laos, I was sitting in a Cafe in the main part of Visitor’s Section of Vientiane just outside my hotel. There were a lot of Tuk-tuks and not many cars as I was sipping burnt cup of coffee. Then, a feeling came over me as if I had seen all this before. A sense of familiarity. Deja vu. My eldest brother was living in Laos at the time showing me around and when we were passing Patuxai monument, I sensed that I will be seeing that often.

It was as if I had been there before even though only thing, I knew about Laos was that it was a country that got bombed to oblivion by the US during the Vietnam War. I didn't even know where it was. I had to look up in a map.

I just slept the first time here, may be my body wanted just to sleep. Away from all the stresses in Korea. Not many photos from the first trip, no shots breathtaking enough to keep.

Back in Korea, I was drinking a bottle of scotch a day. It took a toll and rushed to the hospital. Alcohol had eaten away the lining of my intestines. The doctor said that if I came 3 days too late, I would have been dead. That got me into a deep depression for few months until I met a monk who told me that I didn't belong in Korea. I needed to be in some warm place seeing a lot of Sun. I asked him if a country like Laos is okay for me. He didn't even ponder and said just go. So, I packed up in one month and came to Laos.

It seems as if it was the third great expectations of life. A move to finding oneself without knowing the path.

Here in Laos, my body recovered, but more importantly, my mind became sober. So sober that I became too lazy and instead of becoming well, I just became selfish and egotistical.

Then. . . . . .

(In part 2)