Gapgo

The appearance of a large lizard (or gapgo) in our outdoor kitchen added some life to after dinner cleanup this evening. If any of you are conjuring up images of the teaspoon sized geckos that frequent the walls of many tropical abodes, I invite you to make space for a new image. Pale green, spiky and the size of my forearm, this creature was every bit a full fledged lizard. As we crept close enough to snap a few photos, my sisters told me tales of leaping lizards (yes, the figure of speech is based on a reality). The only solid advice I could pry out of them on how to deal with a lizard which has attached itself to your arm was to scream run and peel off your clothing as fat as you could. I think I’ll work on the prevention side of things and try to avoid such scenarios altogether.

Every library book I so eagerly absorbed this spring before coming to Laos was filled with descriptions of Laos’ incredible eco-diversity. Everything from giant catfish to rare white tigers can supposedly be found in this country, but so far the only exotic creatures I have encountered are this lizard, some overgrown cockroaches and an excessive amount of geckos and ants. From all accounts, Vientiane (the capital of Laos and my home) seems a world apart from the rest of the country in many respects. Vientiane certainly does a good job of presenting an appealing face to the outside world, but I am excited to begin my travels into the countryside. The other world.