On the move

We have purchased tickets for an overnight bus to Vientiane, Laos' capital. It is a city of around 200,000 people which is mind boggling to think that it is the capital. The bus takes roughly 8 hours though I am sure it will take a little longer. There is also a meal involved which I am sure will be take place around midnight. Just in time to wake everyone up. We are fortunate enough to have friends of friends living in Vientiane that have offered us a place to stay. It will be a nice stopover considering the next bus we will need to take is an 18 hour poor road condition extravaganza of doom.

This trip starts our journey to Cambodia. Our itinerary for Cambodia so far is to visit Angkor Wat, find a small town to stay in and observe, and to head south to the beach. Angkor is supposed to be astounding the small villages are supposed to be welcoming and interesting to visit, and the beach is supposed to be the most pristine in the world with miles and miles of no one around.

We are very excited to be on the move. Laos has been a restful experience for us which is exactly what we needed at this point in our travels.

A peaceful time

We have returned from our four-day adventure in Mong Ngoy. Here is what we did:

-Eat- There were only really three options for food; a breakfast and dinner buffet supplied by a young Swedish fellow and his young wife and very young (6 months) daughter, An indian restaurant, and two riverside bar/restaurants. There was also a roadside (there was only one dirt road) restaurant. We ate at the roadside restaurant once; the food was tasty but we could not get past the amount of pepper used in it which must have been a couple of spoonfuls for each dish. Other than this it was mainly combinations of buffet and Indian. The buffet was all you can eat and it was hard to justify not eating as much as possible, especially because the other restaurants charged almost as much or more for a simple meal.

-Sleep- We stayed at a riverside bungalow with a bed, table, two chairs, and two hammocks. The bathroom did not have a sink but only three faucets. One to shower, one to rinse, and one to refill the toilet flushing water. Very basic but it had everything we needed.

-Read- I brought only one book on our trip, The Great Gatsby, and I lost it on the first day. Luckily through book stores and book exchanges I have been able to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Cider House Rules, and now Hard Times by Charles Dickens (which I am thoroughly enjoying). I think Ashley has read more than I have even but I can't name her books. Most of our days we could be found swinging in our hammocks enjoying a good read.

-Walk- We mainly ambled around town and to food and back but we did take a day to walk up the road to some smaller villages. We walked through the tiered, dry rice patty fields and chatted of past and future this and that. We did not even realize until after that we had spent around five hours that way.

-Enjoy- If we were not reading in our hammocks we were to be found playing cribbage or rummy, listening to music, or just listening to the cacophony of insect, lizard, amphibian, and bird sounds. I even broke out the harmonica I said I would try to learn and played a bit. The town had power from 6:30-9:30 every evening and we mostly were asleep before the power was off. It was good to go to bed early because it was impossible to sleep past 6 due to the rooster intent on waking the world.

It seems to be a theme for us at this point in our travels to just "be" and Mong Ngoy provided just the right mixture for us to do precisely this.

Pathok Caves

This morning was a skype morning with my family. It is always fun to hear and see the goings on back home even though skype does its very best to disrupt all conversation.

We ended up going on a walk and found that 3km outside of town was a cave system. Pathok cave is the name. We knew nothing about it other than it could be a good way to spend a few hours. When we reached them we were met by a small hut selling tickets to the cave for about seventy five cents. We paid and were on our way when a small child, maybe five years old, ran up behind us and got our attention. He was a spry young fellow with a husky voice, bright eyes, and torn clothes; the most prominent tear was the seat of his pants which were split wide open vertically providing us a view of the waxing, full, and waning moons all at once. He carried a flashlight which was constantly flicking off and he always smacking it, unscrewing it, fastening it, and smacking it again until it worked properly. He asked our names, told us his and proceeded to guide us to the cave. Though he only spoke a few english words he managed to communicate that these caves were used during the wars of the past hundred years and especially during the Vietnam conflict.

Upon further research I learned that villagers, government, and military personal all stayed in these caves. It was especially used during the Vietnam conflict when US bombs fell on the land regularly. In the caves different sections are marked out by signs. There was the military headquarters, the government headquarters, the military and government sleeping quarters, the hospital, an arts and crafts area, a kitchen, a bank, and the civilian living areas.

Laos remains to this day the most heavily mined country as well as containing the most unexploded ordinance. We may have even heard one go off while we were in the caves. Our guide at least attempted to sign that the explosion we heard was something big. The ordinance still kills and maims many Laos citizens every year and is a sorrowful reminder of the destructive efficiency of men. Even years later these devices are doing what they were built for.

On a happier note after we left the caves we met a few of the other children from the nearby village. Our guide asked for money from us which we provided for his services. My favorite moment was a little girl who picked a tiny wild flower for Ashley. She handed it over and bashfully and requested not money but candy. A child after my own heart. Another boy asked if we had any pens which we had not packed along. If we could have I would have brought our headlamp, a couple pens and candy although I probably would have eaten most of the candy before we arrived.

Tomorrow we are going to a smaller town about an hour north of Nong Khiaw. We have heard that power runs only from 7pm-10pm but we will see. Still I doubt that I will be able to post many blogs. Tonight we continue the tradition in this town of eating delicious curries and watching a movie. There is a restaurant that provides both and it has been fun to meet other travellers who have come to watch.

Nong Khiaw

We arrived at Nong Khiaw yesterday afternoon. We took a mini bus here. I had a pleasant trip, Ashley felt a little queasy. After our arrival Ashley slept on bus bench while I went to find a guest house. It took much longer than I thought and I hour later I arrived back at the station with a key to a room. I was surprised to find that I woke Ashley up from her nap; motion sickness is tiring.

This town is set in the northern mountainous area of Laos. It is built on a stretch of road that runs parallel with the main highway and I believe that the main road through town was paved within the last two years. It is a big switch from Luang Prabang. In Luang Prabang I couldn't walk for more than two minutes without being offered a taxi ride or a trip to the waterfall or a boat ride. Here in Nong Khiaw I walked for about an hour without even seeing a taxi (Tuk tuk is what they're called here). It is not what you would call a remote village but it is definitely small town Laos. That being said there are plenty of guesthouses, restaurants, and other amenities for the tourists that come through.

It was definitely eye opening to drive out of the city. Luang Prabang is one of the three biggest cities in Laos but the population is 50,000. Not five minutes drive from the bus station there are large sections of the road that are gravel. I believe there is only one two lane highway in Laos and most of the population lives within one kilometer of that road. There are a few remote villages away from the road but not that many. Laos is definitely unique to our travels so far.

Today we are enjoying life together, exploring the riverside, swimming, and exploring the town. We have already walked the main street in town a number of times but we ware planning of looking for good food. This morning we had breakfast at a little guest house restaurants. We ordered a mixed fruit shake and a Laos pancake. The Laos pancake was a sticky rice patty coated with egg and served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce; it was delicious, filling, and cheap. The shake was so good that we are planning on going back for lunch. Shake and Pho soup, yummy!

Cultural heritage, alms, and tourists

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to a cultural arts and heritage museum. I was excited about going and I am very glad that I went. The museum was set in an unassuming little building and was not very glamorous but what it lacked in these areas it made up in charm and authenticity. It had a lot of information regarding the dress, daily lives, arts, and the courting and marriage traditions of the people groups in Laos.

There are over 100 different people groups and sub-groups in Laos but the official government classification recognizes 3. These 3 people groups are broken up into people who live in the valleys, people who live between the valleys and the mountains, and people who live in the mountains. Anthropologists have 4 main groups with many sub-groups attributed to each. Laos seems to have been populated by people either migrating in prosperous times or by refugees who found a suitable land for themselves. I suppose it is similar everywhere. Here are some highlights that I can remember:

Courting is done in public. Any type of touching is strictly taboo so the interested individuals will engage each other in verbal sparring.

In some of the groups a woman will sew a bag, fill it with a cooked meal (chicken, rice, and vegetables) and bring it to the house of the man that she is interested in. The family will evaluate the match based on the girl's means as well has her sewing and cooking ability. If the family approves they will fill the bag with gifts of cloth, material, and metal trinkets and give the bag back. If they do not approve they just give the bag back.

In some of the groups the women wear a head wrap made up of many different materials. The women start working on this head piece once they come of age and keep working on it until they die. It is a sign of status, age, and wealth and is made up of cloth, silver bells, and coins. Many of the groups will actually put in a day labor to be paid in silver coins to melt down for head piece decorations.

The men in one culture wear a red head band that is very long. He puts it on with the help of two or three friends who hold the band taught. The man will hold one end to his head and spin down the line until the end. He then ties it and wear it around with cloth balls dangling from the top. Very stylish.

This morning we woke up for the alms giving ceremony. This ceremony happens at dawn and provides the monks with enough food for the day. The people will sit on mats and present the monks with sticky rice, bananas, and other small amounts of food. The Monks walk solemnly in a line with a basket at their sides. It is a tradition dating back many years and is still very special, except for all the tourists. We tried to be respectful in that we stood at some distance, we sat down with our feet pointing away from the monks (it is disrespectful to stand above the monks ie on a bench or balcony or wall and it is disrespectful to point your feet at a person when sitting down). We also attempted to be unobtrusive in taking photos. We saw monks the had to step around some tourists who were trying to get photos. We saw tourists running after monks, stopping in front of them, and then have the flash go off right in their faces. We saw down the street in either direct cameras flashing and I felt ashamed for even observing. Ridiculous. Tourism would be much better without all of the other tourists. We have been trying to find ways to travel responsibly; I don't know that there are.

Laos activities

We are still in Luang Prabang. We've been taking it easy as we have been battling colds and weariness. Today we are planning on trying to get to some waterfalls and some sort of bear sanctuary. It should be interesting to get outside the city a little way and see what there is to see. So far we have only seen tourists and their antics.

The old town of Luang Prabang is settled on a 1km by .25km stretch of land where two rivers meet. It is packed with Buddhist temples and is still the center of Laos Buddhism. It is also almost entirely made up of guest houses, restaurants, tourist agencies, and other tourism industry support services. I doubt that there is much of interest to see outside of this area which is probably why it developed the way it did. The restaurants try to cater to western desires serving eggs with ham or bacon and toast with jam. They also serve coffee with orange juice. What we learned yesterday morning is that the ham is processed ham, the toast is a baguette from yesterday, the jam was seriously strawberry jello, the orange juice was tang, and the coffee... well it may have given me nightmares lastnight.

We are morning the loss of hostels that provide breakfast (even if it is just bread, butter, and jam). We are also learning that it is much better and cheaper to eat the local food here. The past three nights we ate at a buffet type street vendor. We learned quickly that if you go right at five o'clock the food is still warm and the flies have not had much chance to get on it. We have felt bad about eating here though because by the time we are done with choosing our food we have a mountain of noodles and vegetables on our plates. We have stuffed ourselves full every night and feel a little shameful for it. The cost of this buffet for two people is 20,000kip; around $3.

Tomorrow or the next day we may be moving on to the north but we will see. We are still trying to figure out transportation in this country. Buses are replacing boats but everything is still a bit up in the air. Meanwhile we are taking each day as it comes and enjoying our time.

Luang Prabang

Greetings from Laos! We survived the slow boat experience with only minor nuisance. It was a very pleasant and relaxing time, boats generally are. The boats, that now serve as floating buses, began their lives as cargo boats. This means that the seats in them can be anything from comfortable chairs at desirable table settings (we did not have those on our boats), to old van seats screwed to the floor, to plastic patio furniture (we did have both of these). The boats are very long but narrow, I'd say 10-12 brothers long but only a brother and a nephew wide. On it we weaved our way down the Mekong river. We stopped at various fishing villages along the way to drop off and pick up both people and packages. Along the way were many young children playing in the water. Most of the boys were nakies and they loved showing off when we passed. They would wave and shout while jumping off rocks and doing flips. There was many a camera click along the way.

We were caught in a tourist trap on our first night. A small town mid-way between destinations making it the perfect place for a trap. I think it has more tourists than infrastructure which is why when I turned on the water at our bathroom sink half of it went down the proper channels and the other half went on the floor. Obviously the plumbing needed improvement. We also found when we went for dinner that "noodles with vegetables in coconut milk" actually meant "microwaved spinach and cauliflower in strained ichiban." It was a minimalist culinary masterpiece. Unfortunately they used the ichiban spice package with the noodles so that was the only flavor. For those of you who may not know ichiban it is cup o' noodle in a small brick instead of a cup.

So here we sit in Luang Prabang. It is a very busy town but it has a very charming character. We have already found the night market and the street food market and have been happy with both. We will take a few days here to swim, relax, see the sights and enjoy the scenery. We will also hopefully enjoy the bakeries and baguettes courtesy of the French conquerer types. Who knows maybe we will rent scooters and run amok.

Scotland Summary

It has been so long since I have been able to sit and reflect on our travel experiences. Our experience in Europe is responsible for this. I feel that from Amsterdam on I didn't even have a moment for anything other than what we were doing next. A very busy, but most worthwhile, part of our trip. I don't know what else I expected with only 10-12 days to see everything that we could.

Because of our time constrictions we did not see everything that we could have but I feel that, what we did see, we saw well. I am glad to have had the advice that it is better to see a few things well than to sprint past everything. Even though we were in constant motion it was still so pleasant to be there. I felt a familiarity that I hadn't felt before. Maybe it was that everyone spoke the same language again (if you can call the Scottish accent the same as English), or maybe it was the familiarity with the vegetation and landscape, or still maybe it was a familiarity and similar history of the people. I don't know but it was so very nice to be there.

We were very lucky in Scotland. We were there 10 days and the majority of them saw the sunshine. I don't think it rained even once during our stay. Travel was very easy and distances between destinations were short. The longest bus ride we had was four hours; an easy feat after our twenty one and thirty one hour trips through Peru. Hostels were easy to come by in the cities that we needed them and we were able to cook our own food at every opportunity. Our main fortune however, was that we had friends staying in the country. They were our hosts, our tour guides, our friendly faces, our cooks, and our entertainment.

Scotland's charm lies in its rich history, its people, its more remote culture, and especially its landscape. The right to roam within the country has created a trail system that can be walked from north to south without backpack, tent, or care in the world if one so desires. This of course would only be recommendable with the proper rain gear and time to stay in a town if the weather gets ugly. The land has been tamed but the ocean surrounding the country seems to take offence to this sending vengeful wind and rain throughout the country.

Another charm and a surprising one for me was how sparsely the country is actually populated. Even its capital city has a population of only 500,000. Though it is quite touristy it still retains a small town feel and stays true to its roots.

Scotland's only detriment for us was how expensive it is. Even bargains took bites out of the budget and left us wondering how much we will have to adjust for the next three months. Luckily it did not break the bank and we are actually doing okay on that end of things.

Ashley and I both loved Scotland and I would love to go back again if only to breath the air and listen to the silence.

The river

We have decided. We will float down the Mekong river by slow boat. It will take two days boating for seven hours each day. We will arrive in Luang Prabang on March 19. Luang Prabang is supposed to be a city still in the old ways of life. There is supposed to be a Hmong market and beautiful architecture.

After Luang Prabang we will attempt to go northwest to a smaller, less travelled sort of town. We will see how it works out. Laos has much less infrastructure than Thailand which may make it difficult to travel through. Never try, never know the proverb goes.

See you in a few days.

Chiang Kong

We traveled yesterday by bus to a border town called Chiang Kong. We are becoming lazy or maybe more comfortable with travelling as we didn't even look at places to stay before we arrived. Maybe it is just how well Thailand is set up for tourists but there was a hostel owner and his partner waiting for people at the bus stop. The rooms were a reasonable 200 baht ($8) per night and they are the most comfortable we've had so far. We are also ideally located on the Mekong river enjoying a beautiful morning. I really like it here and could probably stay for a while longer except that Laos is calling.

I hate getting off the bus. The bus ride is always so peaceful with the landscape moving by the windows. It's a protective shield from decision making. We know where we are going and it is someone else's responsibility to get us there. Getting off the bus is a little bit like being born I would imagine. It is a new and unfamiliar place, I often feel like crying, there are a lot of things going on that I don't understand, and people have expectations of me again. I've never been able to relate to a newborn so much.

Tomorrow we will be heading to Laos and we will be deciding today whether we float down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang or go to the less touristy northern part of Laos first. Decisions decisions.

Mr. Smiley's barbecue

The story goes like this. On our first night of the trek we ate dinner and sat around a campfire. La said we were staying in a million star hotel and he was correct because we could see at least that many after dark. La has a friend who keeps up the lodge that we stayed in and brings water, soft drinks, and beer in for tourists to buy. He drives the food in for the group and helps prepare it. I cannot remember his name but we later called him Mr. Smiley due to his extraordinary happiness.

Mr. Smiley sang and taught us songs, told jokes, and shared his rice spirits with the group. At around 9:30pm after drinking most of his bottle of hard rice liquor Mr. Smiley disappeared with another assistant. We calmly sitting suddenly saw Mr. Smiley in a dead sprint up the path from the creek. He ran past us into the kitchen area and emerged a second later with what looked like a rifle. He again ran past back down the pitch black path towards the creek. He had put on a ski mask earlier in the night and propped the part that should have been around his chin up to his head using a head lamp which made it look as though he were wearing a turban. After a few seconds we heard one shot of the rifle. We looked at each other in silence and then heard an exclamation of joy from the creek.

After a minute or two our curiosity got the better of us and we made our way down to the creek. Ashley arrived in time to see Mr. Smiley on the far bank rooting around in the vegetation making a joyous racket. In time he found what he was looking for and held up to the group a river otter the size of a small house cat. He then ran it back across the creek and informed us that he had seen second one. I maintain that he definitely saw two of them but whether there actually were two is up for debate. He put down his rifle and poured something into the barrel and that is when I noticed that his rifle was actually a muzzle loading, powder charge, flintlock musket rifle. We're talking circa 1850 make-your-own-musket-ball here.

This man had shot a river otter with a musket rifle in the dark with only a headlamp for light after drinking 750ml of rice liquor. They then skinned and gutted the otter, marinated it in spices, and barbecued it on the fire. It was quite a tasty experience truth be told.

Oh my buddha.

Trekking near Chiang Mai

The past three days went by quite quickly. We were elephant riding, hiking, and bamboo rafting northeast of Chiang Mai. This is the second trek we have participated in during our travels and we have definitely enjoyed the different perspective that they bring and the different mix of people that we meet. The usual bar crowd of backpackers isn't usually interested in walking through countrysides and learning about peoples and histories.

This trek had twelve of us, which is a large group. There were two pleasant German university students, a thirty something Polish couple with no awareness of cultural sensitivity, three very upperclass English people who had just finished university, two really awesome Scottish fellows, an opium seeking creepy German, and us. It was a very diverse group and while there was some tension between participants here and there it was overall a very pleasant group of people.

Our guide's name was La. He guides for four months of the year and lives in a village of one hundred and fifty people for the rest of the year. He has a wife and a child. Five years ago when he started guiding he did not speak any English. Since then he has learned and continues to learn from the tourists that he guides. He is short, around five feet or a little less, he is usually found smiling, and he is very keen on sharing his life with others. Throughout our hikes he would stop to show us plants that he uses for food, medicines, weapons, and building materials. He also carved from bamboo a set of chop sticks and a fork and knife for each member of our group to take with us. He could be heard stating things such as "never try, never know" and, when alarmed about something, "oh my Buddha".

The first day saw us riding elephants. I don't have much to say about the elephants. They were large, we sat on top of them, and they walked us around a big loop. After the elephants we drove to the trailhead. We were out of city limits and therefor allowed to ride on top of the taxi truck which was a blessing because before there were twelve of us herded in with our bags. Along the hike La showed us a pine tree wood chip candle, a heart medicine plant, ants that tasted like lemon sour patch kids, and many uses of bamboo. We bathed in a waterfall and slept in a lodge made from the woods around.

The second day we hiked seven hours through the woods and into La's village. La cooked for us and made us to-go lunches wrapped in leaves and tied with stems. We found ourselves walking through tiered rice patties being prepared for the wet season, pasture land, and farmlands. La brought us to see a traditional home inhabited by a 95 year old woman. She prayed a blessing for us. We stayed at La's father in law's house. After dinner La told us the story of the people groups around the hills. The Karen and the Hmong and seven other people groups immigrated due to wars throughout the years into this region to start new lives.

Day three saw the group in the back of a pick-up truck. The German students had to catch a train to Bangkok and so instead of hiking we drove to our destinations. The highlight of the day (and one of the trip as well) was floating down the river on traditional bamboo rafts steered by poles. The raftsmen were very skilled even though there were a few sketchy incidents. We were a little skeptical at first thinking it may be another impersonal elephant riding session but the raftsmen were interactive. They joked and splashed us and even allowed some people to steer. We even did a little cliff jumping though it was nothing like the forty foot drop I experienced this past summer but it was really nice to get in the water and play.

In the end we had a good experience. Not even the creepy German guy ruined the fun with his creepy vibe, excessive drinking, and opium seeking. Today we were supposed to do a cooking course but we bumped it until tomorrow and that finds us sitting pleasantly in the "Sweet Love Coffee Shop" writing out our adventures and laughing over the good times and planning what is next.

Tune in next time to here the story of Mr. Smiles, the musket, and the barbecue.

Trekking

Today we are going on a three day trek through the mountains. The area surrounding Chiang Mai is home to a number of small tribes. Two of these tribes are notably the Karen tribe which has an offshoot tribe that is very famous for putting rings around their necks elongating them and the Hmong people who have a long history with the US. Our trek will also bring us to the highest peak in Thailand (2,500m) and we will also be doing some elephant riding and other fun things. Chiang Mai is known for its tourism treks.

We had a meeting yesterday to prepare for our trek. The guide informed us of what to pack and explained the first day; elephants and three hours of hiking. We were surprised when he cut if off there. When we asked what we should expect for the second and third days he said that it is a surprise but expect 6-7 hours of hiking on day two. This has made us a little nervous because we don't know if we are going straight up or straight down the whole time or what. So we are trekking into the unknown yet again.

When we return we have scheduled a thai cooking class which we are both very excited about not least because we get to cook 7 dishes and we get to eat what we cook. Very excited.

Well... See you in three days... Hopefully.

Bangkok

Bangkok may be the largest city we've seen to date. It is crammed full of buildings, people, rivers, street vendors, and vehicles. It was hot when we arrived, blazing the next day and almost unbearable the day after (I'm sure Ashley would use the terms "nice, nicer, and nicest").

I was surprised at how quiet of a town it is all things considered. Other than the hustle and bustle of a city it didn't make that much noise; except at night, it was terribly loud at night. Our hostel was right next to a particularly loud bar. The music shook our beds until 2am and then empty bottles and dishes would clink for another hour or so after. Poor Ashley and I were so exhausted from jet lag and colds that we didn't even look for different accommodation. In fact we hardly left our room except to get pad-thai or as we called it, "breakfast, lunch, and dinner." We walked around for only a few hours and then found ourselves heading back to our room. We split our sleep times from 6-8pm and then 4-11am. Did you know that Michael Jackson songs are only played once the DJ has run out of over-basses nonsense songs? Did you also know that Mambo number five is used to clear the bars out before closing? I do now.

We are now in Chang Mai. We were bullied into coming here by a government tourist association rep. She told us that all other ways of getting here were too hard or were unavailable. Now we are here safely but I am holding a grudge. The bus ride was interesting. They woke everyone up at 1:30am to go inside for a meal then started playing music videos at 6am. Bizarre.

We are feeling drained and overwhelmed. We essentially have to start learning all over again. Neither of us knows any of the language and signs are rarely in English. We also don't know the scams to stay away from or the the lines in which to read between. All we know is that there are a lot of temples and that the food is delicious.

Found them

Remember when I questioned where all the Russians are? I found them. They're all in Thailand. There were plane-loads of them at the airport.

Needless to say we arrived in Bangkok yesterday, found a hostel and napped the day away. Today is looking to be similar. We are both jet lagged but moreover we both have colds. So here we are runny noses and all saying "thag you bery buch" to the locals. I don't expect to see much of Bangkok as we have plans to take a train out tomorrow evening but we'll see what we can squeeze in between naps.

It is also very warm again.

Whoa

That went by quickly. As in too quick. As in wow that was fast.

Ashley and I are sitting at the Cairo airport awaiting our next flight. Only two hours left and then we get to sit for another twelve hours. It is warm in here. We just paid $7 for a definitely-not-worth-it. Also we are very much the minority. About one hundred meters from us there is a smoking room which we can both see and smell. There are also prayer rooms all over with carpeted mats to bow on.

We spent last night in Amsterdam again but this time we stayed at a relative of Ashley's, a second cousin I believe. A big thank you to them for being so hospitable. This morning we went on a bike ride through the countryside stopping at a small bakery that had been run by the same family for five generations or so. Ashley had "appleflop" in Holland which she tried to pass off as not a big deal. Appleflop may or may not be the correct spelling but I know for sure that it either flops or flaps. Either way appleflop is like a strudel except that it is a triangle instead of a rectangle. We rode along a dike and even took a twenty foot ferry ride to cross the river. It was truly a magical ride and the weather was gorgeous.

We tried haggis before we left Scotland. Black pudding too. There was a restaurant at the airport and we ordered what we had been dared by many to try while we were there. It was actually very tasty. The haggis had grain in it and was actually very tasty. The neeps and tatters that went with it were good too except the tatters were definitely rehydrated. I hadn't heard of black pudding until recently. What through me off more than its main ingredient being blood is that it was more of a cake disc than a pudding. Strange but tasty.

Scotland was hard to leave. We had amazing weather throughout our trip. We went on long walks every day without any rain at all. Maybe it would have been easier to leave if we had seen a lot of rain but as it was we loved every minute that we were there. The tranquility, the accessibility of walking paths, the right to roam made Scotland very dear to us in a short amount of time.