Photo Update

I have noticed that Erik hasn't been posting photos. If you are anything like me photos hold your attention longer than words. And if you aren't like me, then I hope you still enjoy photos. In any case, a good balance of both is generally appreciated. I do not have Erik's gift of words so I will briefly share what each photo is of.

This first photo is from our trek in Chiang Mai, Thailand (see original post here). Erik was enjoying a shower in an extremely cold waterfall.

This next photo is from Luang Prabang in Laos. I actually have nothing to say about it.

And here we have the only temple we visited in Luang Prabang. It was incredibly beautiful with intricate paintings on all the walls. We were told it is the only temple like this and that the paintings were covered up for a long while before being rediscovered in the recent past.

This photo was taken in Muang Noi, Laos. Erik was playing cards with a few girls who invited themselves over to our bungalow. The game consisted of picking an arbitrary number of cards and placing them in a pile. I think the key to the game was to giggle uncontrollably while placing said cards on the pile.

We just spent a week in Siem Reap. We meant to stay for three or four days, but we were enjoying ourselves so we decided to extend the visit. To put it simply, we found excellent food and wanted to keep eating it. We spent three days visiting the temples in the area. They were big and beautiful! We attempted to bike the first day, but only made it as far as Ankgor Wat (about five km from our hostel) before we decided that was enough exercise. It was HOT! We took a tuk tuk the next two days and it was still hot and exhausting, but we didn't have to pedal ourselves around so it was much more enjoyable. All that to show you this next photo. I sadly can't even tell you which temple this was at, they have all become a bit of a blur.

These were a couple monkeys that entertained us while we were taking a snack break at Angkor Wat.

And another temple I cannot name. It may be Pre Rup, or something of the sort. Forgive me, but we saw so many and there weren't any signs to tell us which we were at. I do remember that this one has elephant statues at each of the four corners and there were so many stairs to climb.

We saw this little lady at Ta Phrom. She was playing around the ruins while her mother swept and worked. I have been missing the presence of children in my life so I enjoyed watching her scamper around without a care in the world. She was very sweet.

And that, dear friends, is all for now.

Laos review

Currently on a bus ride through the south of Laos heading into Cambodia, I thought it would be a good time to write up a review of this country. My experience is more of northern Laos at we have had only this bus to see the south. There are a few notable places in southern Laos that we would maybe have seen, these are the bolevan plateau and Si Phan Don (Four thousand islands). We opted to see the north instead.

Laos is a very poor country. It has a two lane road significantly patched, a medical system in the dark ages, and many many landmines and unexploded bombs to deal with. What makes Laos unique to other countries we've seen is that while it lacks in wealth it is very rich in life sustaining resources. Rivers are abundant with fish, chickens and ducks are easy to raise, and gardens can be grown year round with a little irrigation. Laos is at a unique stage in its development which makes it an exciting country to see.

Something is always on fire in Laos. Hillsides, roadsides, garbage, cookstoves, and sometimes backyards are not safe from being burned. The people burn the ground before and after planting and sometimes it seems just because. The burning situation is actually terrible, especially during the dry season. We had days when ash was falling like snow and there was always a smokey haze covering the land. Garbage is also burnt to be disposed of which may not have been such a big deal in the past but since plastic has come in to play there needs to be better ways of disposal.

Laos has a very small population. There are roughly 5 million people with 70% of the population living in small agricultural villages. Power and roads have yet to be available to all villages still. This makes Laos a very unique country in many ways uncorrupted by tourists but it is all changing quickly. Here are a few things that we had to become aware of as we went along:
-Pointing your foot at someone is equivalent to flipping the bird.
-Shoes are taken off before entering a home or a business.
-Holding hands or any public display of affection is very offensive to the older generation.

A home

The latter half of our trip has been very introspective for Ashley and I. We have intentionally slowed our pace and given ourselves time to really soak in what we are experiencing. Part of this has been due to learning a new continent and partly to weariness from a lingering Scotland cold. The result of this has been time to read and write, time to think and reflect, and time for listening and discussion.

Our discourse has been varied in subject but one of the recurring themes has been a home. We realized that we have been living very much like college students; miss-matched and uncomfortable. While we by no means need the newest and most stylish of possessions we have come to understand the importance for us of a comfortable space instead of a sterile environment. This encompasses layout, practicality, lighting, aesthetics, and comfort. A space to live and invite others to be in with us.

We have been learning about elements of a comfortable space from the many different guest houses, hostels, hotels, and homes we have stayed in throughout our travels. We were drawn to rooms that were obviously well loved by the people living in them and that is what we want for our space, wherever we end up. We want our home to show that we enjoy being in it and reflects our values and I suppose that our previous spaces did at that time.

This trip was a difficult goal to reach as it took a lot of commitment to save up for. Our previous spaces reflected that commitment. Every purchase and decision was weighed against how much we could save if we did not. Though that will still be apart of our lives (my Dutch is exceptionally frugal) we are excited to shed this particular undertaking and start a new chapter of our lives.

Sad to leave

We have been staying in Vientiane in the home of our friend's friends whom we have fast become very fond of. They are couple about our age with a one year old boy who is very active and adorable. They have recently moved to Laos to help run an NGO. They also moved into the house we are staying in the day before we arrived!

We have seen the sights of the city, booked our bus tickets to Cambodia, helped unpack, cleaned, celebrated my birthday, babysat, and painted some furniture; all while relaxing and enjoying each other's company. It is sad for us to leave. We will even be attempting to put our Thai cooking skills to the test tonight for dinner. Today we will be going to a gym/pool/massage facility.

Another reason we are sad to leave is that we have a thirty-five hour bus ride to look ahead to. Tomorrow evening at seven we will be boarding a night bus that will take us close to the Cambodia border. From there we will switch to a mini-van which will take us across the border (hopefully expediting the process). We have no idea how long the mini-van ride will take and we are dreading that the most as they are much smaller and tend to be much more speedy than the buses making it easy for them to whip around corners and other vehicles. They also usually try to fill them to their full potential of seats which is fifteen passengers in what looks like a seven passenger mini-van. Ugh.

The heat here is astonishing for me. Ashley has been places with sustained high temperatures without any relief but I have not. We have been other places that have been similar in heat but have offered luxuries like an ocean nearby or cool evenings and nights. It is just a good old fashioned oven here and it is only supposed to get warmer the further south we go. The only relief here is air conditioned houses and businesses which we head directly to when traveling about town. It is hot!

The Bus

We are alive and well in Vientiane. The bus was quite a singular experience; even from Thailand buses. The sleeper bus means that it is made for sleeping. There are no seats, only bunks. The bus has one aisle. Ladders run to the top bunks with the bottom bunks situated directly underneath. The best part is that there are two spots per bunk so if you're traveling alone you will be forced become rather closely acquainted with a stranger.

We had the pleasure to be at the very front of the bus in the top bunk looking down onto the road ahead of us. While this provided a great view it also meant that we shared our bunk with two German girls and our bunk was also about a foot shorter than the rest. Though it was cramped I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

The meal provided was a 2:30am stopover where dazed tourists stumbled off the bus determined to get the full dollar value of their purchase. Pho soup is yummy no matter what time of day and soon with still glazed eyes and now full bellies we climbed back to our bunks and prepared for another 4-5 hours.

I was transported in memory to our family trips to Minnesota when my father would make a bed out of the suitcases in the back of the van and I would watch the moon move back and forth through the windows. Then the thought of why aren't these popular in North America followed by the realization that laying without safety harnesses violates a few laws in some places. After these I set up my faithful sleep aid; Radioheads Kid A album (which has put me to sleep the majority of nights for almost ten years) and floated down the Liffey.

Three hours later I awoke with the sunrise and an hour after that we arrived in Vientiane. A most pleasant experience.

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.