Dry Land: Luang Prabang!

Yes, it's true. I evidently was tipping the boat over with my big American butt. Not sure why they didn't switch the sturdy 6 foot tall German couple next to me...but I'm over it. Kind of...

Mar put it perfectly, the slow boat was definitely a majestic experience. Equally as exciting was stepping off the boat onto dry land and regaining my personal space! Luang Prabang, besides being the most fun city to pronounce, is a really neat town with an interesting cultural mix of French and Lao culture. The colonial influence is seen by western-style villas and buildings, contrasted by the colorful Lao street markets and Buddhist temples right across the street. We stayed here two nights--no ghosts here, by the way--and rented bikes to explore the city. We saw breathtaking temples, enormous spiders, and ate excellent Lao food. Our exploring energy was a bit dampered by the heat, so we allowed some good rest time in there, too. (I treated myself to a $4 pedicure. Now my toes are monk's-robe orange!)

-T

Slow boat, go boat, whoa boat

The slow boat ride down the Mekong was one of those majestic, unforgettable experiences that can only truly be enjoyed quile squatting on the floor wedged between a Lao mother who's baby keeps hitting her and a group of Lao men playing careds on a suitcase. Waking up early after a ghost-ridden night we headed down to the dock to ensure we got a seat on the boat, which proved to be a good idea, as group after group of tourist and locals alike came marching down the stairs to cram into the vessel. After 3 hours of playing the "this has to be the last group they can't possibly fit any more" game, we were off on our journey.

The trip was fantastic, with every bend in the river offering a new and interesting glimpse into local lao life, as kids swam, villagers of all ages fished, farmed and congregated by the beaches and jutting rocks of the river. That night we stayed in Pakbeng and got our first taste of local buffalo Lap (ground up with mint), along with instructions from the locals on how to eat it with our hands and the sticky rice. The next morning we strolled down to the boat dock, only to find the boat already crowded with everybody who hadn't gotten a good seat the day before. We nestled into our little corners in the front of the boat with the before mentioned locals. This seating arrangement worked out great, as I joined in the card game with the lao men (a loa version of asshole, which I got dominated at and had to excuse myself before they started playing for money), shared food and drink with the family, and got to practice a little lao.

Things learned on the Mekong:
- When you think the boat is full, it can always fit at least 6 more people and 12 more bags of rice.
- When the boat lists port side, the captain will have Tina switch seats with a tiny old lao woman across from her to correct the problem (this actually happened).

Laost in Translation

Hi! Found internet again, and this time I'm not paying 250 kip per minute!

A few good stories from our first night in Laos:

Marshall and I were warned that Lao people were not very friendly and wouldn't look us in the eye...and found the exact opposite. After checking into a nice guesthouse (for a whopping $10), we walked around the neighborhood and were immediately invited to a local Lao party! They sat us down, fed us dried fish, and poured us BeerLao (the beer of choice here) and LaoLao (local whisky)...and lots of it. They sang kareoke and we tried to communicate with our limited Lao and their limited English...mostly it was just them smiling, nodding, and pushin a laolao cup to our lips. As much as we wanted to participate in local culture, we had to escape or we would have never been able to find our way home.

I'll tell the second story from this night, but you all must promise you won't think I've lost it over here. That night, in our guesthouse, we were visited by a ghost. I woke up at 1am and our doorknob was rattling and shaking. I could hear a faint jingle of keys too. I woke up Marshall and he went over to the door to make sure it was double-latched, and called out that we were in the room. The rattling continued, and he said it was probably the wind. I almost threw up I was so scared...the light shining from under the door showed no feet or anyone standing there...When it quieted down, Mar opened the door to see if anyone was around. There was nobody around at all...but it wasn't windy at all either.

Updates!

So much to catch up on folks, sorry we haven't been internetting recently.

First, a clarification on my 'panic' in the cave (thanks Mar): SOME people (ahem, Mar and Cody) were too busy having deep conversation to notice our guide took a turn on the path to go to the caves. Everybody went in (I thought they were behind me) and started deep into the dark. I realized my headlamp didn't work, so I waited a minute for MAr and Cody to catch up (Mar is always bragging about his 70-lumen headlamp) but they never showed! So I was stranded in the dark cave, couldn't go back out or deeper in! Had to yell out to the group, who was already deep away into another cave room. So, anyway. If you call yelling to the group to avoid being lost forever in a dark cave, then yes. I had some panic. (Also, Mar and Cody never got to see the cave. So there.)

Anyway... a quick update on our location currently: (Details and stories to follow later)

We celebrated Songkran in Chaing Mai which was incredible. Kind of overwhelming. Escaped the next day to Chiang Rai with Cody, but we had to leave our travel buddies Apoi and Marche behind. From Chiang Rai, Cody went back South to find the Perfect Island. Mar and I went on and crossed the border into Lao and spent a night there. From Huay Xai (I think this is the name of the town?) We hopped on the Slow Boat, stayed overnight at Pak Beng, and ended up in Luang Probang. Spent 2 nights there, very awesome place. Today we took a 4 hour bus ride (in the back of a pickup truck with 15 other people....not the most comfortable...) to a town called Nong Kiew (not sure on spelling there). We're staying here for 2 nights and then the adventure continues!!

Will update more soon!

Love to all,

T and M

Songkran has begun. Happy new year everybody. We're in Chiang Mai for what must be the worlds biggest water fight. Just remember, the wetter you get, the more luck you have for the new year. So I plan to get drenched.

The last few days have been incredible. After a brutal overnight bus trip up to Chiang Mai, we spent one night then were off again to Pai, where we found a delightful mix of hippie, Thai and tourist culture. We immediately ventured out to explore the surrounding hills on 2 scooters, one of which was a finely tuned machine and one a struggling piece of junk that left Cody all but pushing with his feet up hills. We found a refreshing waterfall, great views at Pai canyon and a smoking hotspring where the tradition was to boil eggs right in the water that was bubbling up. We sat for a while and boiled ourselves a little downstream.

The next day we ventured out on a trek. Guided by the all knowledgable Mr. Day (the self described Brad Pitt of Thailand) we marched for a good 5 hours to a hill tribe of the Karen people who immigrated from China 70 years ago. The entire experience was surreal, as we explored caves (where Tina had a brief panic attack due to a malfunctioning headlamp), played a pickup soccer game with the local kids (who proceeded to quickly score 2 goals on me in the 3 minutes I stepped in goal), ate a delicious home cooked meal, drank home brewed whiskey and slept in the house of one of the families. After a 3 am wake up call thanks to an eager rooster, we set off to find a great waterfall swimming hole. The drive back to Pai was highlighted by a 5 foot Cobra sunning itself in the middle of the road. We all agreed it was a good thing we saw that fella after the hike and not before.

And now we find ourselves in the heart of Chiang Mai, with the entire town, young and old, tourist and local, sporting a water gun or bucket and ready to soak their nearest neighbor in the name of cleansing for the new year. Wish us luck.

Much love,

Mar

We're Okay

For anyone who saw the news of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and heard reports that the 8.6 was felt in Bangkok, we're okay! We were way far north in the town of Pai when it happened, and now we're in Chiang Mai--far from being in danger from the Tsunami warnings.

Bangkok

Ughhh just spent 20 minutes writing super-detailed account of our first day adventures and it got deleted. Cliff notes version:

- Figured out subway and skytrain

-Got visas at the Vietnamese consulate (have to get them far in advance)

-Got textbook conned into a wild tuk tuk ride ending at super high pressure travel agency. Figured it out, made no friends there. Only out 40 baht (a dollar fifty?)

-Found awesome public park with lake, almost got eaten by man-size swimming lizard that hauled up on land right where I was sitting (obviously I had climbed a nearby tree by that time, but Marshall and Cody were manly and stayed to take pictures).

-Took amazing canal boat ride with the locals (got a lot of funny looks...this was not for tourists)

-Saw the KING drive by (all traffic, even pedestrians, were stopped. Lot of people bowed to his rolls-royce).

-Found Buddhist festival with 3 stages of music, Thai dancing, singing. Incredible place to spend the sunset stretched out on the grass with a lit-up golden temple behind us.

-Ate incredible street food for dinner.

Heading up to Chiang Mai today. Wish us luck!

T