A drive through the clouds

After a long night's drive, we arrived in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, in the morning. We had been warned by other travelers that there weren't any attractions in Vientiane, and therefore not much to do there. We were pleasantly surprised at the sight of this small capital; there wasn't any traffic, the people were laid back, and the European influence made the city charming. Every sign was even written in Laotian and in French. Best of all, it wasn't as hot as anywhere else we had previously visited. We spent most of our time walking around the city by the river, looking through handicraft shops, and making the hard decision of where to eat every meal, since the city was full of great restaurants, most of them of European cuisine. Every morning we spent some time eating fresh pastries at the nearby Scandinavian Bakery. We only spent three nights there, but really enjoyed our stay.

After Vientiane, we headed north for the small but touristy town of Vang Vieng. The town is surrounded by beautiful mountains, fields, and of course the Vang Vieng river, infamous for its tubing. After spending our first night in the worst hostel we stayed in yet (we slept on the floor because of bed bugs), we spent the next few nights in a much better, same-priced hotel, with a beautiful balcony view of the mountains and the river below us.

We rented a motorbike once again and had a bumpy ride through a gravel road. There are many caves to visit in the Vang Vieng area, so our first stop was a cave recommended in our guidebook. After getting off the main road, we drove on a narrow, steep and rocky road, where I often had to get off the motorbike for Alex to trudge through mud. After a while, we arrived on a little farm, where we paid the cave entry fee, took some flashlights, and walked through their fields and around ponds to get to a shaky bamboo bridge. After crossing it, we hiked along the mountain to arrive to a very dark and narrow cave. We decided not to venture in too far, for it twisted a lot and it was too dark for us to see, even with our flashlights. So we hiked back, and continued on to another cave. This one was even narrower. We had to leave our bag, and Alex had trouble squeezing in his shoulders sometimes. We kept going because apparently there was a natural swimming pool at the end of the cave, and we were both soaked through and through. What we discovered at the end of the cave was a ladder that went from the narrow passage into the small pool of turquoise water. The passage was so narrow that there was no way of changing out of our clothes, and the pool twisted around, so we couldn't see where it led, and what the bottom was like. On top of it all, there was no natural light shining onto the pool, so we would've had to swim in the dark. We doubled back, disappointed.

Hungry and tired, we decided to keep going on the main road anyway to try to find the Blue Lagoon, along with the most visited cave. When we got there, we climbed very steep steps carved into the rock to get to the cave, but this time it was worth it. The cave was gigantic compared to the narrow ones we'd seen, and there was a big statue of Buddha along with bats flying around. We had finally found the Batcave. After climbing back down, we swam in the freezing Blue Lagoon, its turquoise water coming from the mountain.

Before leaving Vang Vieng, we knew we had to try tubing down the river, for it is the town's main attraction. We floated down for two hours, meeting along the way kayakers, fishermen, and many children playing in the river. We also encountered many rapids, where we had to move swiftly to avoid sharp rocks jutting out. The tubing ended up being tiring instead of relaxing, since we spent most of our time trying to avoid rocks and tree trunks.

After staying longer than expected in Vang Vieng, we left for the city of Luang Prabang. The drive there was long, but breathtaking. We drove through the mountains, admiring from atop the beauty of the region. We even drove up so high that we drove through puffy white clouds. It was amazing. We crossed many little towns, and saw locals chatting, tending to their animals or their fields, and small children chasing each other. The Lao people are very laid back and a very happy people. They also live in an absolutely beautiful country, which would make anyone envious.

We were immediately charmed by the city of Luang Prabang, who sits between two rivers, one of them being the Mekong. The European influence is even more pronounced here than in Vientiane, and the guesthouses and shops are very endearing. Our guesthouse was located in a small alley behind a bakery, and about a hundred meters from the Mekong in one direction, and another hundred meters from the night market in the other. We really loved the night market, and spent time walking around it every night. There were well over a hundred tents and kiosks of handicrafts, clothing, paintings and souvenirs, all locally made. On a narrow alley off the market road is the night food market, where we ate dinner a lot, because the delicious buffets only cost us $1,50 each.

Yesterday we took a trip up to the Kuang Si Falls, where beautiful exotic flowers surround the area. One big waterfall drops from the top of the mountain into a turquoise pool, which then cascades on many different levels. A few bridges cross a few of the cascades, and people are able to swim in most of them. The mountain water was cool, and little fish nibbled at our feet and legs in the water.

All and all, we loved our stay in Laos, and we are very glad we kept this lush country for the end of our trip, because we really enjoyed relaxing on our balconies, watching the beautiful scenery, eating great food, and walking around these more peaceful streets.

Elephant hickey

We've had an incredible last few days here in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. Surrounded by hills and mountains, the city attracts many tourists for hiking, rafting and zip lining. We did none of the above though.

After we explored the city the first day, we were picked up the next morning to visit the Baan Chang elephant park 45 minutes out of the city. The site itself is beautiful, with rolling hills, bright red-leafed trees and green ponds. Oh, and a few dozen elephants. There were some young little elephants, around our height, some newly adult ones, big and strong, and other older, calmer, wiser ones.

First we were given information about the elephants, where they came from, how they were cared for, and their individual needs. It was important to learn that most elephants found in Thailand are domestic animals, and have been domesticated for centuries. Only a few wild elephants remain in Thailand. Therefore, as any other domestic animal, such as a dog or a cat, they cannot be released in the jungle, and have to be cared for by mahouts, men and women who stay and take care of the elephants almost 24 hours a day, living at the park, and developing a strong connection with their elephant. We were in awe at how well each elephant understood and listened to their mahouts.

Then we got to feed all the elephants. Excited at the sight of bananas, most of them would reach out their trunk and try to grab the bananas from our hands. I received a wet hickey on the cheek from one of the smaller elephants as I was feeding him. Afterwards we ate lichee straight from the trees above us while we listened carefully to directions on how to control elephants while riding them. We each got to practice how to get on the elephant and how to give them directions. We all rode the elephants bare back.

After a great lunch and a few minutes to relax in a hammock, we went to see our friends the elephants once more, but this time to ride them. Alex and I shared an elephant, and took turns at the front and at the back. We rode for over an hour, going down and up steep hills, and getting splashed by water and mud that our elephant would send our way with her trunk.

After our ride in the heat, both us and the elephants eagerly cooled off in a nearby pond. The elephants were especially happy, and we helped the mahouts bathe and clean our elephant. Our elephant had been one of the biggest ones, but also very calm, and she half closed her eyes in appreciation of the water we poured on her. Another small elephant was very playful and sent water our way with his trunk.

The day at the park ended too fast, but fortunately our day wasn't over yet. After eating dinner, we walked over to a recommended massage parlor. After being served green tea and getting a complimentary foot scrub, we changed into soft comfortable clothes and laid back as we were given a 90 minute traditional thai massage, which was topped off at the end with a herbal hot compress. We received more green tea after the massage, and left relaxed. We ended our great day by getting a coffee and a dessert at a coffee shop by our hotel. That day was clearly our most expensive one to date.

The next day, we had decided to sign up for a recommended cooking class. We were brought to a local market, and shown the different kinds of thai rice, then how one can obtain coconut milk. We bought the necessary ingredients for the day, then were brought to our teacher's (Sammy) organic farm just outside the city. He showed us the different herbs, fruits and vegetables he was growing, and his rice fields in the distance. He also showed us his amazing toilet.

Together, Alex and I cooked yellow and green curry, thai vegetable soup, chicken cooked in basil and roasted cashews with chicken. We ate everything with rice. We tried to eat it all, but we couldn't. With our bellies full, we took a nap in a hammock for an hour or two before resuming the class. We cooked deep fried spring rolls then a pumpkin custard. Others in the class chose to cook different meals, but we wanted to learn how to cook meals that we had eaten and enjoyed in Thailand. At the end of the day, we were each given a cookbook with all the recipes we had used that day.

Sadly, we could not stay in Thailand longer than fifteen days, which is the length of a thai visa obtained inland, so we couldn't stay in Chiang Mai any longer. We would've loved to, because the area is beautiful and has so much to offer, but for now, we're headed for Laos.

Cast away

Needless to say, we've been slacking to update this blog, big time. And we haven't even been that busy these past ten days...

After Siem Reap, we left for the long drive to Bangkok. Having landed in Ho Chi Minh city at the start of our trip, we were more than ready to attack this bustling metropolis. There was so much to see, so much to do, so much to eat... But we were wiped our entire stay, and ended up sleeping in pretty late every day, late enough for us to decide there wasn't that much time to start an excursion before the sunset around dinner time. We were just so tired. We wanted to visit the city, truly, but every time we'd put an alarm, we'd end up turning it off and sleeping until noon. We did manage to get out of our neighbourhood for one night though; we had ourselves a little date night. As if the trip itself wasn't an extended date already. Alright, so a date within a date.

We took a tuk-tuk out to one of Bangkok's big malls to watch Iron Man 3 in one of their VIP cinemas, where drinks were complimentary, and we sat comfortably in sofa chairs with blankets wrapped around us in the freezing but much welcomed air conditioning. Before the movie we had gone out to eat, where we had our first experience of a do-it-yourself kind of meal. We ordered vegetables, noodles, dumplings and meats to cook in a boiling crockpot. We even enjoyed a little blizzard at a Dairy Queen after the movie, which cost just as much as back home, unlike all the other local foods.

After three nights in Bangkok, where we enjoyed walking around at night amongst sellers, food vendors, restaurants, blaring club music or even live music, we left for the beautiful tropical island of Koh Phangan.

The island itself is infamous for its monthly Full Moon parties (which we didn't attend), so we where pleasantly surprised to see there weren't any gigantic all-inclusive resorts one may find in Mexico, but also on its sister island, Koh Samui. Basic bungalows and more luxurious villas were scattered along the coastlines and in the hills. There were even quite a few villages on the island, where locals seemed to live like kings and queens in the tropical scenery full of turquoise water, bright fishing boats, tall palm trees, rushing waterfalls, and majestic elephants.

We stayed at the Seaflower Bungalows in a spacious wooden bungalow not far from the beach. The beach was quiet, there was barely anyone else there, and it faced west, so we admired beautiful sunsets every night. After the sunset, a roaring fire was installed on the beach in front of small tables and cushions, and various meats and seafood were grilled every night. One night we ate grilled chicken wings and pork ribs, and another we tried grilled prawns and baked potatoes. Crazy enough, we watched every night the approach of a thunderstorm coming from the south. Five nights in a row we witnessed great lightning bolts under dark clouds coming towards us to swallow up the starry night.

We spent a lot of time reading in hammocks or on the beach, but we also took out a kayak one day and paddled over the coral reef off the shore of our bungalow, and admired the fish and their homes. Since it was the low tide, the water on our beach was very shallow, and consequently boiling hot. That didn't stop us from walking in the water and cutting ourselves on coral and getting pinched by a crab when trying to grab it (Alex). We also found a coconut floating in the water and named it Wilson.

Our favourite day of the trip so far was the day we rented two motorbikes for the day, and explored the island on our own. The island has many hills, some of them very steep, so it was a blast to challenge them. We honestly went everywhere and nowhere that day, not following any maps, but still (somehow) managing to fall upon some key spots we'd wanted to see, namely the Paradise Falls (since its the low tide there was barely a trickle coming down over the boulders, but it was beautiful nonetheless) and Had Rin beach, where the Full Moon parties are held, probably because its the best beach on the island.

Unfortunately for us, our day was just short of being perfect at this point. Even though we'd drenched ourselves in 60 SPF sunscreen before leaving, we could already see we were both burning. Wanting to cool off in the clear blue water, free of rocks and coral where we might cut ourselves, and deep enough for us to swim in, we practically ran in. Soon enough, we both started to feel tiny stinging pains across our legs, then on our arms also. At first we thought it was only the salt in the ocean, but the stinging persisted and intensified. So much so that we ran back out, cursing. It turns out that day wasn't a very good day to swim, because the little jellyfish were quite present. I even tried going back in the water further down the beach, but was greeted by the same inhospitable hosts. We were disappointed, but we still had had a great day, and raced back to our bungalow on our motorbikes. We ended our last night by releasing a big Chinese lantern into the sky, and made a wish.

After leaving the island with long faces, we headed back to Bangkok, a boat and bus ride that took twelve hours, stayed there for the night, then left again the next morning to take the train to the northern city of Chiang Mai, which in turn took fourteen hours. Exhausted and hungry, we arrived in our dorm and blew sighs of relief.

It's a holiday in Cambodia

On Sunday we rented bicycles and rode out to the famous Angkor Wat temple. The ride there was done under sky scraping trees, then around the river of water that surrounds the temple. We marveled at the intricacy of the carvings on the walls, the ceilings and the statues, and climbed a steep set of stairs to the top of the temple, to then admire the breathtaking view of lush vegetation. We had to stop midday because we realized we had burnt pretty badly. On the way back, we stopped and bought two fresh mangoes and a pineapple. We ate them gluttonously while wading in the pool at our hotel.

The next day, we decided to hire a tuk-tuk driver for the day, because we hadn't realized how big and how far away the temples were from each other. We got up at 4:30 to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. While we were told it was a good way to visit the temple as it wasn't busy, we discovered hundreds more were probably told the same. We admired the sunrise with a myriad of tourists from all over the world. We then continued to visit seven more temples, some of them still in great condition after hundreds of years, and others almost in ruins. Unfortunately, all the temples were swarming with sellers and beggars, which tarnished our experience a little, because while we were trying to admire the temples in awe, we were constantly being tugged to buy, give and pay.

Then yesterday we walked to the Old Market, and bartered our way to great prices. The market was much better maintained than the market in Ho Chi Minh city. The smell was minimal and all the shops were busy and full of Cambodian silk clothing.

And here's a little song we kept referring to during our travels in Cambodia:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-KTsXHXMkJA

Alex & Elena