Laos, more than just tubing
We have quickly realized that our time was coming short. We had to decide on how much to see in Laos and if we were heading for Vietnam and/or Cambodia. We settled for cutting out Vietnam from our planned itinerary and visit Seam Reap in Cambodia. Sorry if we have upset anybody for our choice but we had to make sacrifices. I guess it gives us a good excuse to come back some other time.
After our odyssey on the two day slow boat we arrived in the old Laotian capital, Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang is a town located where the Khan and Mekong Rivers meet and has the privilege of being part of the World Heritage of UNESCO. The presence of temples and specially monks is a common sight. We only stayed in town for a couple of day so we visited some of the main temples. To tell you the truth, I am a little templed out. You see one it's great, you see three it's pretty nice, you see fifty and I get the point. The only bad part of this town is that they charge you for every temple you see so this helped us out on selecting a minimum number of them to visit. The one we do recommend was the Phu Si (no I didn't make it up). You should get there for sunset because this temple is located on the top of the hill and you get a nice view of the city.
How many monks can you fit on the back of a trunk?
While walking through town we came upon a man selling a very strange looking concoction. There was a large glass jar containing all kinds of snakes, scorpions and giant centipedes. When we asked the man about it he said it was Lao Whiskey or better known as Cobra Whiskey. Honestly, it looked more like a witch's potion. Once again i had to prove my manhood and give the alcohol a try. After all, when in Lao we should do like Laotians do and I drank it. It really wasn't too bad!
Cobra Whiskey: Scorpions, snakes and other things
Our next stop in Laos was Vang Vieng. This town is known by travelers as a party town. We thought the place would be touristy but not to this extent. Here you will find a handful of restaurants playing back to back to back Friends and Family Guy episodes and a tour agency in every corner. The main reason people come here is for the infamous tubing experience.
We didn't know what to expect about tubing but let me say it, it was awesome. You start your day by renting the tube from one of the two shops in town. They take you on a tuk-tuk up the river and this is where the fun begins. Lined up on the river there are bar after bar. The music is pumping and the drinks are flowing. You get the chance to swing and slide from some questionable swings, ziplines and water slides but at that state you don't care too much about your well-being. Ah, you can't forget to stop for some mud wrestling and mud volleyball! One catch about the tube rental is that you have to be back by 6 pm if you want your full deposit back. Be careful not to get stuck in the bars because it takes a good amount of time to get back, I am speaking from experience.
Vang Viang and it's surroundings do have things to offer including some caves and not too far off some almost untouched villages. We rented scooters to explore. When we pulled over by a small village, all the children came out to meet us. They were excited and scared, as if they've never seen a white person before. One baby even burst into tears as I waved hello.
Village children
For our next destination we wanted to mix it up a bit with our transportation method. We opted to take a kayak tour to get to the city of Vientiane. It was very nice but I wish we were in the wet season so that the river would have more rapids.
Truthfully, Vientiane was my least favorite city in Laos. For a big city there was no night life. There is a curfew and everything closes at 11:30 at night, I think it got something to do with the communist regime.The highlight of our time there was when we visited the Buddha Park. This place as the name suggests is where a bunch of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures are laid out in a park. The sculptures are said to have been made by unskilled artists under the direction of the designer.
The famous leaning Buddha in Buddha Park
After hopping from place to place we were ready to relax in the 4000 islands. The tiny island of Don Det is very chill place. We got a tiny bungalow overlooking the river which contained a bed, mosquito net and two hammocks. There wasn't even electricity in our room but that didn't matter since electricity is only turned on between six and ten at night. We had some down time and caught up on our reading while swinging in our hammocks. It was paradise.
A Lao Sunset
Chiang Mai, a city not to be missed
Chiang Mai is a city that is not hard to fall in love with. The lack of ladyboys, touts and noise streets is a plus but the friendly Thai and the chill out atmosphere is what makes this city of the north of Thailand and great place to visit.
Our exploratory visit started by getting some wheels. As the city's main attractions are quite spread out we decided that a scooter would be ideal as there is some big slopes that will take a lot of effort.
The first stop was the famous temple on top of the hill called Doi Suthep. I think this is a must-see temple. It is very nice inside with lots of people praying at the different Buddhas. We actually stopped at one of this rooms where a monk was doing some blessings. I did like the locals and got on my knees in front of him with my arm extended. He sprayed some "holy" water on me followed by some prayers and continued to tie a white bracelet on my wrist. I didn't understand what he said but he probably converted me into a rare combination of Buddhist-Jew.
I think I was just converted!
With the scooter we also visit the ancient city of Wang Kun Kan, believed to be the foundation of Chiang Mai. We also went to the town of Bo Sang, a handicraft area where they do wood carving and umbrella making.
A Thailand visit would not be complete if we didn't take a cooking class. We selected the Siam Rice Cooking School. We got to visit a local market and cooked seven different dishes of our choice. Yep, I got to prove myself that I am not a lost case in the kitchen!
Enjoying my creations
We felt adventurous so we signed up for a two day trek. The trek consisted of hiking through the jungle to get to some isolated hill tribes, elephant riding, bamboo rafting and water rafting. The only part of the tour that I was not thrilled about is when we went to visit the Karen "long neck" tribe. These people were waiting for us in a market style huts. They all wanted us to buy stuff from them. It sort of felt like a human zoo. We thought it would be more like them showing us their lifestyle but it was nothing like that.
Karen "Long neck" village
Our tour concluded on Halloween so what better way to finish our night than getting dressed up and making fools of ourselves. All the guys from our tour group dressed up as ladyboys and we made cat calls to all those cute guys passing by.
I love you long time.
It seems to happen a lot that we arrive in a town not knowing of the upcoming festivities. In this case we got to Chiang Mai for the Loi Krathong Festival. Here people lunch their lanterns in a hot balloon fashion. The sky is filled with these lanterns for 3 nights! It is quite the party.
Lantern getting ready for some air time