laos, the wrap-up

our comments and observations of laos:

• the people of laos are shy, generous, and genuinely friendly. they are also modest, decent, and carry themselves in a respectful manner. with the majority of the country unaffected by tourism, we feel the lao people are some of the kindest in south east asia.
• lao people are honest. we didn't feel the need to worry as much about being grossly overcharged or scammed as we have in other south east asian countries.
• the coffee keeps getting better and better. in our opinion, lao coffee is some of the best in the world.
• a lao person will not eat in front of you without offering you some of their food.
• lao food is tasty, fresh, and absolutely delicious - it's better than we anticipated.
• there are no western fast-food restaurants in laos.
• when it comes to food, the lao are particular and critical. it's common and acceptable for a lao person to touch, poke, smell, and even taste a food item prior to selecting it to purchase.
• we have come to love the unidentifiable dried meats of laos - they are delicious!
• compared to other south east asian countries, not as much english is spoken in laos.
• with double rooms including satellite tv and hot water bathrooms in the $4 to $8 range, lao guesthouse accommodations offer some of the best value in the region.
• with a population less than 6 million, laos has one of the lowest population densities in asia. over 70% of laos is covered with forest and plateaus. the majority of the land and people share the same qualities of being rural, primitive, and untouched.
• lao children start working at a young age. we encountered numerous child waiters, cooks, and vendors. additionally, especially in rural villages, lao children care for children. it's not uncommon to see a young child caring for an infant.
• the lao people are the most laid-back of south east asia. we find their non-aggressive manner quite refreshing.

what things cost in laos:

• the mekong border boat crossing from thailand $1.00 per person
• double ensuite room at the khamking guesthouse in luangnam tha $6.50
• a one-day guided trek through ethnic villages and countryside $17.00pp
• one day scooter rental $8.00
• one liter of gas $1.10
• lao coffee with condensed milk $0.33
• bottled water $0.22
• a 12oz can of diet coke $0.55
• a large bottle of beer lao $1.15
• a fruit smoothie $0.55
• american breakfast at a café $2.20
• an order of laap $1.75
• a bowl of khao soi soup $0.70
• an order of sticky rice $0.30
• an italian-style pizza $3.50
• a chicken baguette sandwich $1.10
• a little bag of dried meat $0.50
• admission to the ti dam festival $0.50pp
• admission to the children's cultural show in luang prabang $5.00pp
• admission to a wat $0.50pp
• a five-hour bus ride from udomxai to luang prabang $5.00
• standard tuk-tuk ride from the bus station to the city center $1.00pp
• laundry service $1.10 per kilo
• postcards $0.15 each
• postage to the usa $0.95 each
• internet usage at a cafe $0.75 per hour
• the lao mask $6.00
• a cross-stitched purse from a tribal village $2.00
• silver earrings $3.00
• hand-woven scarf $5.00
• cloth ornament $0.60
• cross-stitched change purse $0.55
• hand-embroidered wall hanging $15.00

what's next?

from the southern city of pakse, laos, we'll board a 3 hour bus that will take us across the border and back into thailand. from the eastern city of ubon ratchathani, we'll take a 10 hour bus back to bangkok to hang out for the weekend. following bangkok, we'll be moving south for a couple weeks of much anticipated fun in the sun and beach relaxation in the southern islands of thailand. here we come thailand….again!

onward!

alina

the lao mask

communication with the spirits has always been an important aspect in lao daily life. to this day, ritual dances continue to be performed in many parts of the country, both by ethnic lao and by many minority groups. one of the best known animistic dance rituals
still performed today is that associated with the guardian deities of luang prabang. the red mask and costume are worn at a festival that takes place every lao new year at wat wisu, in luang prabang. this is the mask from laos. it is a guardian of luang prabang named nha nheu po nheu.

alina

the road to pakse

roughly a year ago, i was sitting in a cramped minibus with my wife and about 20 panamanians. the bus had only about 12 seats, as i recall. if it had shocks, they were in a very questionable condition. it most certainly did not have air conditioning. it was at least 95 degrees outside… and inside the bus for that matter. with open windows to facilitate airflow, we zoomed through the interior of panama on our way to las tables for the most spectacular carnival celebrations in the country. sitting next to an enormous, sweaty local woman, and, myself, sweating profusely - i was struck with a thought… this is great - why didn't we do it more often? somehow, as terrible as that ride was - it was fantastic. to share that experience with so many people could be called enlightening. here we were, 20 plus strangers, toughing it out on a long, bumpy, hot, dusty bus ride and i couldn't get enough of it. it was a window into a world that i had not yet known. you can learn a great deal about people, culture, language and food on a ride like that. a few smiles and greetings bonded us together when we otherwise would have never met.
it was on that very bus ride that i told myself, if possible, alina and i were going to travel - the way we had always wanted to. certainly, there had to be more bus rides like that to experience around the world. only days after, during our flight back to hawaii in fact, we took a sheet of paper and made a list - where we wanted to go, how much it would cost, how much we had to save, how much we needed to return home on, how long we needed to save and, of course, how long could we travel for. and there it was settled, first 6 months, then 12, then 10. first 22 countries, then 19, now 20 maybe.
now, twelve months later, i found us again on a bus. this time in laos, from savannakhet to pakse. although worlds away, there is much in common between laos and panama - scorching hot dry seasons, bumpy roads and rusty old buses to name a few. it is also the benevolence and warmth of the people that i draw a parallel on.
we started our journey at 12:30, leaving savannakhet in the heat of the day. with only about 30 of the 40 seats full, i thought we were in for a relatively quiet and peaceful trip. i was wrong. our driver slowly puttered through the streets of savannakhet, hammering the horn at every pedestrian he saw, looking for a few more fares… in the 15 minutes it took to get to the outskirts of town, we were pretty much full. in addition to the now 40 passengers, we carried a full cargo, five feet high, on the top of the bus. as well, we carried about 20 bags of garlic, each weighing roughly 35#. one stuffed under every seat, creating a heady aroma, akin to my days working at mad mushroom pizza back in lexington. as we headed on out of the city, i soon realized that we would not be making the journey in 4 hours, as our guidebook suggested. instead, we stopped, and stopped, and stopped. we stopped so passengers could run into stores and drop off payments of money. we stopped at every crossroads, picking up more passengers. we stopped at rural markets, where villagers sold eggs, fruits and vegetables - everyone got off to shop and eat. we stopped every time the driver saw a suitcase, duffle bag or sack of rice along the road. he honked and people came running from the shade of houses, bars and restaurants. they loaded onto the bus with their bags, baskets and smiles. we stopped when anyone had to pee. we stopped when vendors appeared from outdoor restaurants. they piled onto the bus, selling grilled chickens, sticky rice, drinks, beers, grilled eggs, corn, and delicious unidentifiable dried meats. they stood on luggage, climbed over people, and on seats offering their treats. people smiled, we all leaned on each other, our dirt, grime and sweat were common. no one seemed to mind. the bus attendant weaved her way through, over and sometimes on, the crowd, collecting new fares and positioning people in a way to allow the driver to stop for more. at one point i counted 16 people in front of me that did not have a seat - we were in the second row… there were easily 80 people on the bus. the driver continued to honk, stop and pick up more people. he balled the gas on straight-a-ways, passing cars and scooters and dodging water buffalo, cows and pigs to make up time lost stopping. i figured if we crashed that we would all be okay. there was no free space in the bus for us to fall to or fly through. our driver smiled in the rearview mirror with delight, counting the fares and calculating how many more he could fit. i was ecstatic and smiled dumbly at everyone. they all smiled back. everyone seemed to enjoy the whole experience. we stopped more. now, we were too crowded for the vendors to board the bus. instead they shoved food through the windows, yelling and smiling. alina had bamboo skewered grilled chickens pressing against her head. she smiled and laughed, it would wash out and the vendors didn't seem to notice or mind. the lady in front of us bought a few and quickly devoured them with the help of the three others in her seat. afterwards she started chewing beetle nut and spitting it out her window. the momentum of the bus carried most of it past alina's face and right into the window of the passengers behind us, splattering bright red everywhere. i looked back to see the lady behind us, leaning over, smiling and laughing. she didn't seem to mind. all part of the experience, i thought. we stopped at a provincial checkpoint. police looked into the bus and let us pass. i thought, what are they checking for? is everyone drinking beer? is the bus double capacity? does anyone need more grilled chicken?
as we approached pakse, more passengers boarded. by now, the teenage girls in the isle next to me were laughing and giggling. they sat on each other, their bags and the floor. they covered their noses, as the heat of the motor warmed the floor of the bus and, in turn, the garlic. it was like the inside of a pizza oven. alina and i laughed and snuck pictures of the scene. we smiled and laughed more. in a few minutes, we would be in the city center, climbing over our new friends and out into the cooling night air. our routine would shift, focusing again on finding a room. our attention would drift away from the events of our bus ride. we wanted to enjoy the last few minutes of it. later, we found ourselves in the only italian restaurant in southern laos. we were eating pizza and garlic bread. tired from the hours of bouncing around in the heat and dust, we didn't talk. i thought about panama and the course of events that have taken place to get us all the way to pakse. life is great and i'm enjoying every bus ride. - david

luang prabang

luang prabang. at the convergence of the khan and mekong rivers sits luang prabang. encircled by green mountains, full of buddhist temples, saffron robed monks, green markets, vendors selling hill tribe handicrafts, french colonial architecture, as well as the cafes and bistros the french left behind… it is no wonder that alina and i were eager to get to this little city, a unesco world heritage listed historic site. not to mention, luang prabang is about 20 degrees (fahrenheit) warmer than the northern hill tribe areas, where we had been for the last few days.
motivated by the cold, the promise of hot water showers and the best food of laos, alina and i boarded a bus heading to luang prabang via udomxai via luang namtha via muang sing… two days later we stepped out of a tuk tuk and set out to find a room. after getting settled in we decided to take a stroll and seek out some of the highly esteemed cuisine that the city boasts. i loaded up on super strong lao coffee, french inspired salad and a crispy baguette sandwich stuffed with chicken, lettuce, cucs, tomatoes, onions, watercress and mayonaisse - my batteries were quickly recharged after a week in unseasonably cold weather.
leaving the paradise cafe we headed down the street into the town center and passed the children's culture center, an after school program set up to preserve lao culture through traditional dance, puppets, singing, music and handicrafts. they were moments away from starting their performance (held once a week) featuring epok puppets, traditional dance and music. since it was rather serendipitous that we passed by at exactly the hour of the performance, and being that we had no where to really be, decided to join them for the show. what a good decision it was. we were welcomed with something that i really wanted to be a part of while in laos, the baci ceremony.
the baci ceremony is traditionally performed in laos for special occasions, weddings, homecomings, farewells, festivals or to mark a journey. performed by monks or a village elder, chanting and prayers start the ceremony to bless the group and bring good luck, health and prosperity to the group. then white strings, symbolizing purity and meant to bring good luck, are tied onto the participants wrists. it is a really cool ceremony and it was very special to be a part of it, conducted by an older man and the lao teachers and students of the ccc. it was highlighted by a little 2 year old boy, welcoming alina with a warm "sabaidee" and with full concentration, struggling to tie strings onto her wrists. it was great.
afterwards, we were treated to some small candies, lao tea and performances of puppets, music, dance and martial arts. a pretty cool evening, especially considering it was totally unplanned…
we finished off the evening with a few bowls of khaw soi, lao noodle soup with fermented peanuts, chiles and buffalo meat, then headed back to the room for some much anticipated sleep, undisturbed by the chilly air we were escaping in the north.
we'll be here for a few more nights - with plenty of temples, markets to explore and food to sample, i am sure we'll make the most of our days here in luang prabang. more to come… david
if you want to check out some more info on the baci ceremony look at this site: http://www.laoheritagefoundation.org/ceremonies/baci.jsp

muang sing

from luang nam tha, we took a two hour bus north to the small, dusty town of muang sing (pop 29,300). only about 15km from the chinese border, the area serves as a trade center for the local hill tribe groups of thai dam, akha, hmong, mien, and yunnanese. the main market in muang sing was once the biggest opium market in the golden triangle. a local tribal lady selling scarves and purses did try to sell us opium one morning while we were having breakfast, which is about the closest we came to an "opium market". our primary reason for visiting muang sing was to experience more of the ethnic hilltribe culture in he area. we did exactly that by going on another one day guided trek to the surrounding ethnic villages. this time the terrain wasn't nearly as mountainous and the trek was truly "easy" as described by the tourism office - thank god! only one river crossing and one "real" mountain to conquer made for a great experience as we visited (5) of the local ethnic villages. we had a fantastic guide, ket kau, that was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and fun. it was a cold day, so fires (for warmth) were burning throughout all of the villages. warming our hands by the fire gave us good, up close interactions with the locals - and our guide taught us a lot about the different tribes and their cultures.

the hmong - this group lives at some of the highest points in the mountains. they are known for their knowledge of forest, natural medicines, and expertise at raising animals. they are also very industrious and trade a variety of forest products and agricultural goods. they wear traditional dress with intricate embroidery and heavy silver jewelry.

the akha - a tibetan-burmese speaking ethnic group that have an amazing knowledge of the forest and rotation agriculture. they also live at high elevations in the mountains and are expert hunters and also grow sugar cane and rubber plants. the akha women wear distinctive costumes of black mini skirts with decorative jackets and an ornate headdresses.

the tai lu - originally from southern china, they are known for their beautiful stilted houses with long sloping roofs. they sell their traditional head scarves and blouses at markets. tai lu are buddhist and every village has a buddhist temple and monks. our guide, ket kau, is tai lu.

although the weather was cold and the conditions were rather primitive, we thoroughly enjoyed the week we spent in northern laos. we got the exact experiences we were hoping for and will always remember the hill tribe ethnic groups of laos.

alina

eating lao style

the food of laos probably isn't one of the best known in the realm of world cuisine, but maybe it should be. wedged right in-between two south east asian culinary powerhouses, thailand and vietnam, laos manages to take some from both, add a few unique touches and come up with something a little better. focusing on simple, fresh flavors, lots of local produce, chiles, mint, cilantro, galangal rot, ginger, lemongrass, fish sauce, fresh water fish, local meats, game and tons of sticky rice - lao food has definitely proven to be some of the most exciting of our travels. i have developed a strong appreciation for their simple, ingredient driven, rustic dishes. it reminds me a lot of thailand, and even our days in hawaii, with loads of wetland taro, pineapple, mangoes and several varieties of bananas. here are a few of my favorites so far:
- sticky rice. even a good old kentucky boy can be changed… my days of white bread and mashed potatoes are over. instead, give me about a ½ kilo of sticky rice kept warm in a few cleverly folded banana leaves, and i am a happy man. sticky rice is the base of all lao meals. we've had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, tucked away neatly into woven bamboo baskets, wrapped in banana leaves, and even fire roasted in foot long sections of bamboo. it is usually served communally (one large serving for the table) and is eaten with the hands. after mashing it into a little patty with an indentation in one side, it makes the prefect vehicle for getting tasty sauces, curries and stir fries into your mouth.
- laap (or laarp). laap is a staple dish of the lao table. it is found ready made in the morning market and on about every menu we have seen so far. laap is a mixture of minced meat (usually chicken, pork or water buffalo) mixed with ground toasted rice, fiery hot chiles, onions, ginger, galangal, lime juice, mint and garlic. my favor versions have been mouth numbingly hot, served with lettuce, mint, pea shoots and, of course, sticky rice. it is makes for a great meal, especially side-by-side with an ice cold beer lao (the national drink, seriously!).
- som tam (or papaya salad). just like their thai neighbor's, laos has a lot of papayas. and if they are not whipping them with sugar, milk and ice into a tasty fruit shake, then they are probably shredding them by hand into green papaya salad. they mix it in the mortar and pestle with dried red chiles, garlic, peanuts and tons of fish sauce. it is a usual accompaniment to wood grilled fish or meat.
- khao sawy. khao sawy (pronounced cow soy) is a rice noodle soup made with a chile of tomatoes, fermented peanuts and ground buffalo meat. it is served with a few bean sprouts in the bowl and a huge choice of garnishes and seasonings on the side including lettuce leaves, pea shoots, mint, basil, lime wedges, shredded banana blossoms, fish sauce, roasted ground chiles, dried ground chiles, chile sauce, msg, sugar and salt. the base soup is tasty, but served a little plain so each diner can make their favorite version. mine includes tons of fresh greens, fish sauce, roasted ground chiles and lime. alina's version is heavy on the dried ground chiles and usually about 10 tissues to wipe her nose afterwards…
- grilled bananas - at most of the morning and night markets a few ladies are always set up with a small charcoal grill to toast small fingerling bananas. after they are toasted all the way around, they get cut open and stuffed with fresh coconut shavings - hands down, one of the best desserts of all time - sweet but not overly sweet and still somewhat healthy for you.
- lao coffee. even stronger than their neighbor's in vietnam, the coffee of laos' bolaven plateau is considered some of the best in the world. it is filtered through a cloth strainer and served with loads of sweetened condensed milk. a few months ago i though vietnam had the best coffee i had ever had, then a few weeks ago, i though thailand's was better - now, i am sure that laos' coffee is the best in south east asia. it is best in the middle of the day, under laos' relenting sunshine, served over a heaping glass of crushed ice.

more to come... david

it's rice!

well after three months of eating steamed rice, sticky rice or rice noodles at every meal, alina and i had the chance to get up close and personal with some of it. here are a few photos of the rice paddies surrounding luang nam tha, laos. - david

a gentle day's walk...

after a quick stop for a couple of bagged lao coffees, we make our way to trekking office. two others have joined our trek: a french guy that manages a castle property (no joke) outside of paris, and an american guy from seattle that’s an engineer and works on airplane engines. they are both really nice. we meet our two guides as well: "paul" the english speaker that specializes in tribal culture and customs, and another guide that is the trail master. we start out by tuk-tuk and ride to the edge of a large section of out of season rice paddies. we walk through section after section of rice paddies that are connected by small wooden foot bridges. small thatch roof wooden structures on stilts are scattered throughout the rice paddies. paul tells us that they are used by the workers to rest and eat meals during the harvesting season. during the harvesting season, the community all work together to harvest one section of paddy at a time - until all the rice is harvested. with good irrigation one hectare will yield about 3 to 4 tons of rice. after a couple of miles, we reach our first bit of shade and stop to rest and drink some water. then we moved on towards the first village. we enter a flat forested area with a trail that runs along a river and a rubber plantation. much of this area of laos is used to grow rubber trees and sugar cane, both of which are transported to china for processing. about a mile later we begin to approach the nam hoy village, a hill tribe of hmong peoples that are originally from china. paul tells us there are 14 houses, 17 families, and 80 people that live in the village. they worship spirits, speak their own dialect, and have a written language that is very similar to english. the village is only 7 years old, as they have recently relocated from considerably further up the mountain. the children can now go to school, they are closer to town for needed conveniences, and most importantly - are closer to the river, their source for water. as we are entering the village a man on a scooter stops and warmly greets our guide, paul, who says the man is his friend from years ago when they met while attending drivers education classes together. the man invites us to sit on his porch and visit with his family. on the way to the man's house, we walk through the village and stop to watch some men building a new house. they allow us to take their photos. we reach the man's house and he invites us to take a look inside if we would like, and to sit on his porch. with paul translating everything, we learn that the man is one of three men in the village with a high school education. additionally, he is also trained as an auto mechanic and a professional driver. unfortunately, he is unable to find employment in either profession. for the past few years he has worked in the rubber plantations, which is considered to be a good paying job with a good future. the man is very curious to learn about all of us and asks a number of questions, such as where are we from? how many hours away by airplane is it? how long have we been in laos? how long will we be here? how long is our entire trip? what is our profession? the man says he is happy to interact with us because he likes meeting people from other countries and hearing english spoken. david asks him for permission to take his photo, which he denies. we thank him for the visit and we move on.

as we descend from the village area, we make the first of several river crossings. as we begin to enter a thick forested area, paul says, "welcome to the jungle". we immediately begin a somewhat steep ascent into a dense jungle. for the first time, i question the type of trek we are on. i remember the tourism office advertised it as "a gentle day's walk" and categorized it as "easy" on the scale of difficulty. i instantly drop to the back of the pack so i can move at my own pace as well as take a quick pee. i see the group stopping ahead to wait for me to catch up. after another descent and river crossing, we stop at a clearing to have lunch. one of the guides gather large palm fronds to place the food on. we all sit in the jungle and enjoy a tasty lunch of beef with bamboo shoots, cabbage and greens, sticky rice, and tomato dipping sauce. after a bit more of a rest, we continue on through the jungle. the second phase of the trek appears to be considerably more difficult than the first. the ascent up the next mountain takes much longer and i am completely winded when we reach the top. the vista is beautiful, but all i can focus on is breathing. everyone else seems to be out of breath too. we all rest under a thatch roof wooden structure as we gaze at the next mountain ahead of us. i keep telling myself, it's only a "gentle day's walk". i squeeze out the last bit of biofreeze from the packet and apply it to my knee. thanks, di. after a good 15 minute break, we begin the somewhat steep descent. at one point we abruptly stop and the trail master tells us there is some uncertainty about the trail. it stops. apparently, we have lost or taken the wrong trail on the descent. our only option is to cut across a 200 ft portion of steep grade mountain, basically bush-wacking our way across slashed and burned terrain. i think, "are you kidding?" not. the group begins to cut across the mountain. i fall to the back of the pack again and begin cursing under my breath. "a gentle day's walk, a gentle day's walk" i keep telling myself. i move slowly and take great caution to not bust up my already junk knee. i make it across the mountain to see that our situation only gets worse. the group is descending through a portion of dense brush that is a vertical 20 ft drop. sweet. i follow david's lead and slide down the cliff face on my bottom. after that, an immediate 20 ft climb up a rock cliff puts us back on the trail. thank god! everyone seems a bit shook up. the guides seem to feel a bit bad. i think, "a gentle day's walk", my ass.

we move on. within a few minutes we are at the base of a mountain with a long dirt trail leading to the top. completely exposed to the sun, the group begins up the mountain. i need to stop twice during the ascent to catch my breath. i keep wondering, if this is the "easy" trek, then what the hell is considered to be moderate or difficult? when i reach the top, the rest of the group is laid out under a shade tree. we rest for 15 minutes and drink water. we continue on and move through two smaller mountain ranges before the terrain flattens out and we begin to approach another village. finally!

we hear music. it sounds like a party! i feel like i could use a party at this point. we arrive to the village and find out there is a wedding. we stand at the entrance of the reception for a few minutes when our guides are warmly greeted by a couple of men. the guides tell us the men are their friends and that we are all invited to join the celebration. as we walk into the reception, everyone smiles at us and people come up to shake our hands. people speak to me in lao. i say, "sabaidee" and smile goofy as usual. we sit at a table next to the dance floor that is trashed with dirty plates and drink glasses. a lady bring us bowls of soup with unidentifiable meat. another lady starts moving around the table pouring shots of lao lao, the local rice wine whiskey. she pours one round, then two, then three. i feel like i can't drink anymore or i may puke. i would hate to puke here. a really drunk old lao man sits next to david and continues to talk him up (in lao). they are insisting that we eat, going so far as to push spoonfuls of laap into each of our mouths (fortunately, it was tasty). our guides eat some of the soup. we watch the locals do the traditional lao dance. i hope they don't think i'm lao and make me dance. i'll be so embarrassed. i wonder who the bride and groom are, but I can't find them. everyone is
dressed the same. is there a wedding cake? i don't see one. i could go for some cake. pie would be even better. i haven't had pie in forever. do they have pie is laos? a man is using a gasoline jug to fill up empty beer bottles with lao lao behind me. i take his photo. we all watch and enjoy the lao wedding celebration. after about 30 minutes, the guides suggest that we best be on our way. we shake many hands on the way out and people continue speaking to me in lao. i wave bye and say "sabaidee!". as we are exiting the village, we see that several of the village ladies have displayed about 100 scarves for us to take a look at. i feel a bit obligated since they were so kind to us and went to so much trouble, and purchase a beautiful hand-made scarf for $5.00. we exit the village and have a nice, easy walk to the next village.

after about a 15 minute walk we reach the last village, which is the location of the ti dam festival that we attended the previous day. i am amazed that the festival area is still completely covered with rubbish with no apparent clean up in progress. i wonder when or if it will be cleaned up. we see children playing amongst the rubbish. we walk through the village without stopping to visit or chat along the way. after one last river crossing, we walk across some beautiful green rice paddies and finish off the day with some great photos. as we wait for the tuk-tuk for a ride back to town, we make friends with some lovely young lao girls who pose with me for a "japanese style peace out" photo. as we ride home in the tuk-tuk we talk about the great day we had taking an easy trek with a "gentle day's walk". although we are tired and weary, we both have a sense of accomplishment and are happy we had such a great experience.

alina

a scooter, a festival and a village

the bus ride into northern laos wasn't quite as bone-rattling as we expected. the newly sealed road made for a smoother and faster arrival into the small town of luangnam tha, our first destination in northern laos. we easily settled into the khamking guest house, which is run by a lovely lao family. the squeaky clean room with a hot water bathroom, satellite tv, and daily maid service qualified as our best valued room as of yet at 60,000 kip, or $6.60 per night. after a much needed meal, we decided to (quickly) walk the one road town and make a visit to the local tourism/trekking office. this is where we learned about the 3 day tai dam festival that was currently taking place only 15km outside of town. the festival is held only once every 5 years and was created to celebrate and preserve the cultural traditions of local ethnic hilltribes for future generations. we made plans to attend the festival on the following day - it's third and final day. while at the office, we also booked one of their full day guided treks to the surrounding countryside and ethnic villages. additionally, the tourism office also directed us to mrs. chin, the black market currency exchange lady that lives around the block - as there are no official currency exchanges in town and the one atm machine that we saw does not display our card logo. unreal. after a bit of neighborhood charades we located mrs. chin, a friendly, round lady that was counting huge stacks of money with no apparent fear of being robbed. we accepted her fair rate, exchanged some dollars for kip, bought some pink thread, and we were on our way. before getting back to our guesthouse, we stopped by a place that rents scooters by the day to inquire about a rental on the following day. with full bellies, a pocket full of kip, and our plans in place, we headed home for a relaxing evening and a good night's sleep.

festival day:

the man renting the scooters tried to be nice when telling us that due to our size we would require the largest and most powerful 125cc scooter. within a few minutes we were motoring along with a powerful (enough) scooter and ill-fitting helmets. our first stop was the market. we were hoping to see ethnic villagers dropping off their wares, but didn't see any. we presume you need to be there really early in the morning when the market is opening. we did see fruit and vegetable vendors, rattan items, along with lots of buffalo meat for sale. there were also about 10 vendors all selling the same soup, khao sawy - a couple of large bowls made for a satisfying breakfast. after the market we headed out to find the tai dam festival.

the festival took place in the phiengnam village, with several ethnic tribal groups from the luangnam tha province participating in the festival. we watched the large groups dressed in their traditional clothes perform their native songs and dances. they walked on stilts, played big drums, and competed while playing their traditional games. ladies sold their hand-made clothing, scarves, and headpieces. out of the couple of thousand people in attendance, we noticed only a few other tourists present. a couple of times we noticed ourselves being videotaped and photographed by the locals! we made sure to smile as big and goofy as possible. the people were so nice and welcoming.


after the festival and some dinner, we set out for a ride in the countryside. we passed many green rice paddies and beautiful mountain vistas. trying to find a remote waterfall, we stumbled upon a black hmong village. the ladies were wearing their traditional clothing and headpieces. two cute little boys ran to us yelling "sabaidee!" (hello) . we had a nice conversation with them, even though they spoke lao and we spoke english. they were happy to pose for photos and were excited to see the digital photos we took of them. as we left the village we saw many people carrying huge loads wood and water back to the village.

we completely enjoyed our day and our interactions with the ethnic peoples of the region. we are even more excited now to take our guided trek tomorrow and explore more of the surrounding area and the local people.

alina

the akha hill house

three days ago we set out from chiang rai for the akha hill house. located about 25k outside of chiang rai, the hill house is the only wholey hill tribe owned and operated guesthouse in thailand. our journey began when we were picked up at about 4pm in chiang rai. our transport, a four-wheel drive sport pick-up truck, was already carrying one couple so we tossed our bags in the back and jumped in. we stopped at another guesthouse in town and picked up one more couple, making our number six - plus the driver. alina and i struck up a conversation with our new guests in the back of the truck, a swiss couple that arrived into thailand only hours earlier from the border at huay xai, laos. their account of two 10-hour days on wooden plank seats traveling the mekong river north from luang prabang sounded spine rattling. alina and i happily listened as we had already decided to forgo that same journey (in opposite direction) and instead head further north into laos, only 10 km from the chinese border to muang sing.

our pick-up journey to akha hill house took a brief detour at the pha soet hot springs to pick up 7 more travelers (with backpacks…) that were heading up to the hill house as well. now the ride got exciting, as we made the last 6k standing in the back of the truck ascending to 1200m elevation on a bumpy, unsealed dirt road. admittedly, i loved the departure our travels had quickly made as only 48 hours earlier we had been in the heavily touristed city of chiang mai. the ride gave us a chance to take in some of the crisp, fresh air and to enjoy the landscape - made up of all the tropical fruits, citrus trees, and plants that now remind us of our last home in hana. as we reached the village i had to quickly duck to avoid being decapitated by the wooden sign welcoming us. apea, the village chief, and his family efficiently dispersed the small crowd, getting us settled into our bamboo-thatched bungalows. ours, a simple room and attached bathroom, had a small window and a deck that faced north overlooking the steep terrain that surrounded the village and our new home for the next few days. after settling in we had a nice dinner of curry and rice before heading back to the bungalow for the night. our first night's sleep was a little restless, as we were not used to the cooler temperature in the mountains. however, we quickly adapted by opting to cram into one single bed to double the body heat and the amount of blankets. warmed by the morning sun, it was difficult to pry ourselves from bed at 9am, but our excitement to get out and see the area made it possible. after a quick consult with a few fellow travelers and the village's defacto guide, we headed out to see a lahu village close by before climbing down to lumnamkok national park and back to pha soet hot springs to finish with a soak in it's mineral baths. similar to the akha tribe (the largest minority group in the chiang rai region), the lahu came from yunnan, china and settled in the high mountains of the area. they are expert hunters and terrace the hillsides for farming. they worship spirits and celebrate the new year, as their roots are chinese. our hike through the mostly bamboo forest was highlighted by a brief sighting of an unidentifiable snake, olive in color with a yellow stripe down the side. fortunately, it was scared off by us stopping through its territory. as we entered the lahu village and descended to the riverbed below, we were greeted by squealing piglets, lazy, sleeping pigs, and a few smiles and greetings by the villagers. largely, though, we were left alone in peace to wander through the village on our way to the national park below. at the base of the village we paused along the banks of the nam se river and took in the stunning views of the river valley. the national park was a surprise, neatly manicured and raked, and completely deserted, sans the few grounds workers and attendants that were resting in the afternoon heat. further down the road we made a pit stop at the hot springs for a dip. the sulfur rich baths were nice, although they smelled a bit of egg salad (i love to eat it, but rarely have the desire to swim in it…). after watching several thai tourists wandering around with eggs in small bamboo baskets hanging from a pole, we began to wonder, "what the hell is with the eggs?". a few minutes of investigation uncovered people huddling around the source of the baths, a 240f degree spring. everyone was dangling the eggs in the water! i wanted to yell out, "13 minutes for hard-boiled!", but resisted my chefly urges. after hitching a ride back up the hill (yes, we were too lazy to hike it…) we spent the evening around the campfire with our fellow travelers and a couple more bowls of curry. the conversation bounced all over the place and held my attention for a few hours. it is a rare occasion to converse with a dutch sports journalist and i.t. specialist, a canadian english teacher residing in far north china, a swiss social worker and precious medal engineer for the watch industry, a new zealander and englishman (both with undisclosed professions), and us, a server turned wedding planner and a chef.

our last full day was spent hiking to nearby huai kaeo waterfall and the chinese huai kaeo village and tea plantation below our akha village. we relied on our trusty tour guide (the amiable dog that followed us for a few hours on the previous day), and the helpful pointing by a few villagers to find our way to the secluded waterfall. the views were spectacular, but matched by the trail below and tea plantation even further. this time around, however, we bit the bullet and climbed the hill on our own - rewarding but tiring. tomorrow morning we are leaving our friends here at akha hill house and heading back into chiang rai, en route to chiang khong and across the mekong river to huay xai, laos. we are planning on spending about three weeks in laos before heading back into central and southern thailand. as i mentioned earlier, once across the border, we are skipping the grueling boat ride 2 days down river to luang prabang and instead opting for a bone rattling 8 hour bus ride north to muang sing, laos to spend time in the national park and hopefully interact with a few more hill tribe villages. - david

since we left bangkok...

on a mission to absorb some thai history and to view some of thailand's most impressive buddhist and hindu ruins, we traveled a couple of hours north of bangkok to the small city of ayuthaya. the ancient capitol of siam for 417 years, ayuthaya once had a population of over a million people. now a unesco world heritage site, ayuthaya's historic temple ruins are scattered throughout the once magnificent city.

unesco world heritage = a united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization that seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.

we enjoyed a couple of (hot) days touring the temple sites of ayuthaya, before continuing on about 4 hours north to the nice city of phitsanoluk. the city was an excellent base for touring the nearby unesco world heritage site of the sukothai ruins - which were quite impressive with huge standing buddhas. the food markets in phitsanoluk were exceptional, as were the fabulous foot massages and our interactions with the smiling and friendly locals.

from phitsanoluk we boarded a 3rd class train for the 7 hour journey to the northern city of chiang mai. the seat was a bit hard towards the end, but we enjoyed the fresh air (no a/c, open windows) and sitting with the nice locals for the trip. chiang mai is a nice smaller city that has over 300 temples. it's set amongst the mountains and we are certainly enjoying the cooler temperatures. it's quite a touristy town and has lots of guesthouses, restaurants, and bars. it also seems like a place to hang out for a while and take lessons/schooling for a number of things - such as massage, cooking, buddhism and meditation, or yoga. no lessons for us - some relaxation, massage, and a bit of touring was on our agenda. we were here for 4 days and enjoyed 3 massages. i think we've officially acclimated to thailand… we are moving on today about 4 hours north east to the city of chiang rai. we're hoping to do some trekking and possibly visit some local hill tribes. we'll keep you posted!

alina

the thailand mask

buddha = "awakened one"

thai buddha refers to a statue or form of buddha that either resides in, or was created in the country of thailand. heavily influenced by buddhism, the thai buddha image is everywhere throughout thailand. this is the mask from thailand. it is thai buddha.

alina

bagged drinks, tangerine juice and taro bubble tea

i know you are asking yourself, "bagged drinks, what the hell is he talking about?" well, let me tell you - thais serve, sell and drink an endless array of beverages - and of course, the best ones are made and sold along the sidewalks and roads of every city and town we have visited so far. while some vendors do offer heavy plastic cups for a few more baht, the vast majority serve their creations over crushed ice in a clear plastic bag with handles and a colored flexi-straw. the only major exception to this would be the bubble tea vendor, but we'll get to that later…
while we know it at home as thai iced tea, chaa jiin, my personal favorite, translates to 'chinese tea.' it is usually a mixture of black tea and dried spices served with granulated palm sugar, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk - can anyone say type two diabetes??? fortunately, the serving size is never more than a few ounces poured over a ton of crushed ice - plus thailand is full of first class dentists, so some mild tooth decay is no problem.
tea vendors, marked by their two stainless steel pitchers sitting over a steam well, also sell coffee in a similar fashion - stronger and sweeter than their south east asian neighbors in cambodia and vietnam.
in most markets and along city streets, vendors also display a vividly colorful assortment of fresh fruit and vegetable juices - sweet tangerine juice is everywhere, along with young coconut juice (alina's favorite), pineapple, christathamum tea, tomato, cucumber and a rather unusual but refreshing sweetened watercress juice that tastes about as green and healthy (sans sugar) as anything that you could imagine.
there is also a huge assortment of bubble teas ranging in flavor from coconut to pineapple, milk tea, green tea and even more interest taro, pumpkin or carrot - made with large tapioca balls and slurped down with an enormous straw… even more unique are the sweetened ginger and other unidentifiable root drinks made with agar agar thickened little strips that are reminiscent of gummy worms - pretty bizzar, but worth a try for only 10 baht!
we are enjoying thailand's endless options for beating the heat - as alina said, "just their beverage selection alone is enough to make you a happy camper!" no wonder thailand is called the land of smiles. - david