Monks walk past the LONGITUDE vehicles on their way through town. Every morning, the townspeople give them food for their meal buckets, and this feeds them for the day.

Today was a busy day, starting with a hospital visit. Tracking down information on Parkinson’s disease, in a country where the average life span is less than 60 years and the leading cause of injury is unexploded bombs, is tough. Luang Prabang, one of the biggest cities in the country, was once the Capital of Laos, the seat of royalty. Although I couldn’t find anything online about Parkinson’s disease organizations, doctors, or research in Laos, I still didn’t give up. When I can’t find anything online, or don’t have any contacts, my last resort is to show up at the hospital and see what I can discover. I arrived at the provincial hospital a couple of days ago, and found out that it was not the place I wanted to be. Although it was a hospital and made good use of the few resources it had, it certainly wasn’t a place where I would have wanted to end up. Everyone was friendly, but upon walking in, I knew that I would not find the information I was looking for there, as I saw people walking around caring their own I.V. bags.

I talked to a young med student, and despite the communication barriers, he managed to tell me that there was a bigger Chinese hospital just south of town. It took me a while, but I finally found the Chinese Hospital after taking some back roads. I was impressed; the place was beautiful. Apparently, it had been built just one year ago. The only strange thing about this hospital was that there was nobody there. I was able to walk in, talk to a few people, and find myself in the director’s office shortly thereafter. The director loaned me a book on health care in Laos, and I was able to set up an appointment for this morning, and here I am.

When I arrived I was startled. The person I had made an appointment with wasn’t around, but apparently he had left word with someone, and people had been gathering data about Parkinson’s Disease. A wonderful Lao woman named Singkham helped me find the information and people I needed to talk to. By consulting the computer, they found that there is one person with Parkinson’s Disease in the Luang Prabang area. He was once an official of some kind and is being treated for the disease. With some help, I managed to track down the Dr. who made the diagnosis. We were unable to meet, because he was busy at the time, but I hope to communicate with him later via e-mail. I wasn’t able to track down the patient, unfortunately, but hopefully I will manage to contact him in the future.

After leaving the hospital, I was on my way to locating the UNESCO office, as Luang Prabang is an official UNESCO site. This city is amazing! It is flanked on two sides by rivers, the Mekong being one of them, and mountains. The land is carpeted by a jungle landscape; it seems as though any seed you could toss on the ground here would become a giant lush, green work of art. You can walk down the street and see French buildings, traditional houses (built on stilts), and golden temples. All this beauty, the availability of cheese, the relatively quiet feel of this place, and the somewhat romantic remoteness of this place is a great combination. I will definitely come back here.

The city’s small size doesn’t mean that things are easy to find. In fact, I struggled with almost everything I was looking for. Our hotel manager, Tom, helped me find the UNESCO office. Although it seemed obvious when we got there, it took us about ½ hour to find a place that was about a five-minute walk from the hotel. In our defense, we had asked a least half a dozen people where the office was, and we got a lot of different answers. Walks are usually great, but you have to pace yourself in the tropical heat and humidity.

After I made to the UNESCO office (which was the old French Customs house), they were willing to talk to me about what they were doing. I talked to Emmanuel, and he shared with me his excitement about historical preservation and what they were doing in Luang Prabang. He said Luang Prabang was unique in how the city’s architecture seamlessly flowed from French architecture, to traditional, with gardens stitching everything together. He encouraged me to walk down the back alleys to appreciate the real beauty. It was exciting to hear how he loved his work.

On the way out, I met an intern, Laura, a young French woman. She was heading home for lunch as I was leaving the office. It was fun to talk to her, as we gave each other a hard time for the stereotypes of our countries. I asked why French people complain so much, and she asked me why Americans talk so loud. We had a good time hanging out.

I spent the rest of the afternoon (per Emmanuel’s advice) driving and walking around the city, looking down the back alleys, and genuinely enjoying my own company. There was a place you had to climb 190 steps to overlook the city. This was a great perch, and there was even an old Russian anti-aircraft gun sitting up there, a distinct mark of an era that is hopefully gone by!

Tomorrow we head toward the China border and more adventures.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking HERE. One hundred percent of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research, and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.