C & C globetrotting around the world…

We booked a VIP bus from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai and were very angry when we were put on the local bus, having paid more than double the fare. We will return to Chiang Mai and see what we can do about it. The ride was 6 hours long and still comfortable, but we don’t like scams. 12Km from the Ancient town of Sukhothai a new city has developed, where all the guesthouses are, so we stayed there too, but there is a sangtau service connecting the two.

In the old town we rented bikes and set out to discover the Ancient Town of Sukhothai, considered the Cradle of the Thai Culture and Kingdom. Ancient Sukhothai rose as the Khmer empire’s power started to diminish in the late 13^th century. Sukhothai was the first Thai Kingdom and a period during which the kingdom flourished. Free trade was encouraged and Buddhist art developed its own Thai style. For example, Buddha was still portrayed with its 32 distinguishing features, but some Thai components were added.

Sukhothai Historical Park is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site and covers about 70 sq km, which comprises most of the ancient kingdom’s capital. Our first stop was the “Ramkhamhaeng Monument”, the monument to the great king of Sukhothai, considered the nation’s founder. The bronze statue shows him seated on a throne holding a book in his right hand and the left hand raised as if he was teaching his people. This great king invented the Thai alphabet still used today. He also declared Theravada Buddhism to be the state religion. To this day, the Thai King has to be a Buddhist.

The second stop was Wat Mahathat, the crown jewel of the old city. Located in the heart of the old town, this Wat is the largest and principle temple of the Sukhothai Kingdom. It is also one of the best examples of Sukhothai architecture, typified by the lotus-bud stupa topped by a conical spire. This vast temple once contained 198 chedi (stupa), but now only some broken columns and Buddha statues remain. The large standing Buddha is in the position of “protecting” with its right hand bent at the elbow. Theravada Buddhism came to Thailand from Sri Lanka and is also practiced in Burma, Laos and Cambodia. It focuses on conquering desire and suffering to reach bliss, enlightenment or nirvana. Buddha is said to have reached enlightenment under a Boddhi tree, so these trees are venerated in Buddhist culture.

Our next stop was Wat Si Sawai, which resembles a Khmer temple with its laterite 3 corn-cob-shaped towers and moat. As it dates back to the Khmer period, it is a former Hindu shrine and a statue of the god Shiva was found there. Next we visited Wat Traphang Ngoen, which is wonderfully surrounded by a water. The main chedi (stupa) has 4 Buddha images in 4 niches at the 4 cardinal points. The one facing the East is walking. Also to the East is an island where an “ubosot” (ordination hall) is located, which can only be accessed by people who have been ordained (eg. monks).

From there we went to Wat Sa Si, also known as Lake Temple because it’s situated on an island. As you enter you see a “Walking Buddha”, which is the least common sight for Buddha. Usually he can be seen sitting (meditating with his hands in his lap or with his right hand down, touching the ground “conquering evil”), standing (either with his right hand up “protecting” or his arms by his sides “calling for rain”) or reclining (the position in which he reached enlightenment under the Boddhi tree before he died). It also has many columns still standing, a wonderful stupa and a sitting Buddha. Close-by there was also a small altar which is still venerated today and where Thai people bring offerings because the city spirit is believed to house in this shrine.

We then biked around the central area to Ta Pha Daeng Shrine, which dates from the Khmer era and is believed to be the first building in Sukhothai. Across from it is Wat Traphang So, a smaller stupa encircled by 24 elephants. In Buddhism elephants represent mental and physical strength, but are also believed to bring wealth and power.

We then biked through the northern city gate passed the 3 city walls and the moat to arrive at a few other temples. Unfortunately we would have had to pay more, so we contended ourselves to see the old Thuriang Pottery Kilns. The 49 kilns discovered were used to produce all the brick and pottery in use for Sukhothai and is believed to even have exported pottery to China. The Kingdom of Sukhothai lasted until the 16^th century, but already became a vassal state of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (close to Bangkok) in the 14th century.

The complex is beautiful and we enjoyed biking around while listening to our audio guide. The people of Sukhothai also had an irrigation system bringing water to the numerous lakes regardless of season. It’s wonderful with lots of coconut palm trees, sugar palm trees, Boddhi trees and mango trees everywhere. Considering it was built after the Temples of Angkor, we were surprised by the simplicity of the architecture. There are hardly any bas-reliefs, only columns, stupas and Buddhas. The buildings are built of laterite and brick, so maybe these materials didn’t allow for intricate carvings.

Back in the new settlement, we walked around to see the new town with its 40,000 inhabitants. Not only is there nothing to see, but it is a very ugly town and with lots of stinky garbage bins everywhere. Definitely not worth going there for that, but the Historical part was very interesting, so a full day suffices to see everything.

We took a one-day Elephant Mahout Training at the Baanchang Elephant Park and learnt how to ride an elephant. A Mahout is a person who drives the elephant. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the ‘family business’ when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant’s life. Asian elephants are smaller than their African cousins, but still enormous creatures, weighing about 2-3 tons each. They live about as long as humans, between 60 and 75 years. The Asian elephants also have 2 hemispherical bulges on their heads, unlike the African elephants. Elephants are very intelligent animals and have been used by humans in Asia for a long time for labour, such as logging and milling. Because of destruction of natural habitat (the jungle), poaching, live capture and conflict with humans living on the edge of protected areas, the Asia elephants have become an endangered species. There are an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 still in the wild and another 2,000 in conservation camps and elephant parks. The “domestic” elephants have been used for domestic labour, ceremonial rituals and tourism.

To familiarize ourselves with the elephants, we were shown how to feed them. We gave them bananas and sugar cane, which are only snacks for them. They usually feed on grass and leaves, about 200kg of them. When you feed an elephant, you can give it the food directly in its mouth, but it is easier (and safer) to hand it from a distance where it can grab it with its trunk. We also learnt that when petting them, it is best not to touch the tip of the trunk, where they are the most sensitive, but rather pet the head. The trunk is a very complex organ composed of more than 60,000 muscles. Elephants use their trunks for breathing, watering, feeding, touching, dusting, sound production and communication, washing, pinching, grasping, defence and offence.

Next we learnt simple commands to ride the elephants bare-back. The first one was “Non Long” to get the giant to kneel down. Once he kneels, you grab one ear, step on its bent leg and swing your leg over its back. Then you quickly grab the other ear too and hold on tight, since the elephant will immediately stand up. You then slide forward on its neck and try to find a comfortable spot while holding onto its head (not the ears anymore). When you want to get off, you grab the ears and shout “Non Long”, until the elephant kneels down. Still holding the ears, you swing your leg over and slowly slide down its side. We got to practice it on 2 different elephants and although it’s freaky at first, you eventually get the hang of it.

The next step was to learn the basic commands to turn and stop once you’re on the elephant. To turn right, you squeeze your right thigh a bit and kick the elephant’s ear with your left foot while shouting “Gue”, meaning “this way”. You do the opposite to turn left, of course. In order to get the elephant to stop, you shout “How”. It sounds very easy, but we were happy the mahouts were there with us, as we were not very confident about our steering skills. The elephants were also well-behaved and had done this a million times before, which was reassuring. We tried this in a circle, again with 2 different elephants. While riding Cecilia accidentally dropped her flip-flop, but the elephant was so smart that she picked it up. Cecilia was worried that the elephant might eat it, but instead she handed it back to Cecilia. How cool is that! We even have a video of it, but unfortunately we cannot post it on the blog.

We had lunch and then set out to ride them through the jungle. We shared an elephant, as it would have been way to expensive for each of us to have our own. First Cecilia rode on the neck and Christoph sat in the back. It was very exciting and we were hoping not to fall off. Riding up- and downhill is not very easy, but we managed. Riding in the front is more comfortable, so we took a break half-way before switching. During the break our guide told us more about elephants. There were 2 baby elephants in this park. One was 5-years old and could already be ridden, the other one was only 2 years old and still too young. A female only gets a few babies during her lifetime, one at a time. She carries a baby for about 22 months in her womb. The calf is fully developed by the 19^th month, but stays in the womb to grow so it can reach its mother to feed. At birth it weighs about 100kg and is suckled for 2-3 years. Once a female gives birth, she usually does not breed again until the first calf is weaned, resulting in a 4–5-year birth interval.

We then rode some more through the jungle, but it’s very tiring, so we were happy that we only took a one-day course. We had left our flip-flops at the base, but at some point we dropped our water bottle. The elephant picked it up again. We guess they mahouts have trained them well to do this. At the end of the jungle ride we took the elephants to bathe. Since their skin is so thick, elephants have to bathe 3 times a day. The mahouts took them into the pond and we were given a bucket and brushes. Our elephant knew the drill and lied down in the murky water for us to scrub her. Others were more playful, especially the young one, spraying water at us. Overall we had a great time and enjoyed getting close to this fascinating giants.

Since we crossed into Thailand by land, we only got 15 days in the country (as opposed to 30 days if you arrive by air). So before our 15 days are up we did a “visa run”, as it is called here. Many people do these for an extended period of time, as there is no restriction on the amount of entries you can have. Apparently this 15-day entry was introduced to help control drug trafficking over land borders. The closest border crossing from Chiang Mai is at Mae Sai in the North, at the border with Myanmar (Burma). We first took the bus to Chiang Rai to visit our CS hosts and friends (Taylor and Oh). The guys are just so nice. It’s the week-end and they don’t work, so they decided to come with us. First we drove to Mae Sai about an hour away to do our “Visa run”. When we arrived in Mae Sai the guys dropped us off right by the gate and we did the formalities of checking out of Thailand and crossing into Myanmar over a small bridge. We had to pay 500 baht each (17$), filled out a short form, got our picture taken and received an “In” and an “Out” stamp. Christoph even chatted a bit about soccer with his border officer, but we were out of there very quickly. We can say we set foot in Myanmar and were also at the northern most point of Thailand. It took longer to get back into Thailand since the queue was long with many foreigners doing the same thing as us. While we were waiting, there were hundreds of Thais passing us. They had gone shopping into Myanmar and many were coming back with hair dryers and blankets. As many things that are illegal in Thailand (eg drugs, guns) are permitted in Myanmar, who knows what else was hiding in the blankets…

We then spent about an hour in Mae Sai, which is surprisingly larger and nicer than many border towns. The market is huge, selling lots of Chinese products brought over the border. Wat Pra That Doi Wao on the hill overlooks Mae Sai and Tachileik (Myanmar). There is also a monument to King Naresuan, a Lanna king famous for beating back several Burmese invasions and killing the Burmese crown prince in a duel. As a symbol, there is a giant scorpion statue brandishing its claws towards Myanmar.

After our successful visa run we drove to the Golden Triangle, the junction between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos at the confluence of the Ruak and the Mekong rivers. Historically it has been one of the most extensive opium-producing areas of Asia and the world since the 1920s, but since the Princess Mother started eradication programs to free the area from opium-growing and drugs have become illegal in Thailand. The Golden Triangle is now a touristic area with a giant gold Buddha and 2 elephant statues. The Thais believe that walking under elephants brings a long life, so we tried our luck too.

On the way back to Chiang Rai, we stopped in Chiang Saen to visit the temple where Oh was a monk. Wat Phra That Pha Ngao is situated on a hilltop that provides panoramic views of the Mekong river and the border of Laos. At the top of the hill is a large white chedi (stupa), which contains a bone from Buddha’s knee. The temple is made of Teak wood with intricate carvings depicting Buddha’s life from birth to enlightenment. We had dinner on the Mekong riverside sitting down on mats. The food was amazing once again and we tried some new dishes Oh and Taylor ordered for us.

Back in Chiang Rai, met up with Sandra and Lena at the clock tower for them to see the 7pm performance. We also had dessert together: Mango Sticky Rice. It was a huge portion and we also got plenty of extra coconut milk, so Cecilia was in heaven. We strolled through the “Saturday Walking Street”, but we were in no mood for shopping. At the end of the bazaar, there was a place for Thai “circle dancing”, which was our actual destination. Except Oh, everyone joined in the dancing and we had fun. The music was pleasant and the steps not too difficult, so we participated in a few. There were Thai ladies happy to show us the steps and delighted that foreigners are interested in their culture.

The guys are just too nice. They drove us to town in the early morning because they said “friends don’t take the bus”. We had breakfast with Taylor and Oh. The Thai tea was really really sweet and with milk. It’s funny because it gets served with jasmine tea, I guess to reduce the sweetness. Even Christoph’s coffee was served with jasmine tea. Cecilia had rice with chicken, but Christoph tried “chok”, a thick rice porridge served with ground pork, ginger and coriander and liked it. You always discover new things when you are with locals. Thanks again!

We had signed up for a 3-day trek around Chiang Mai because we heard it’s beautiful and the thing to do. We were picked up in a sangtau and were surprised when we didn’t change to a mini-van after a while. The entire drive was by sangtau, and there was a lot of driving! Our group consisted of Britta and Jan, a German couple who just started a world trip, Lena from Germany who is doing a 6-month Asia trip, Sandra from Austria, Francis, a 49-yr-old Frenchman with his 26-year-old Thai girlfriend Koy and us. We drove for a while and arrived at an elephant camp. We were not too happy to see that many of the elephants had scars on their heads, probably because they were being mistreated. We weren’t sure about wanting to ride them, but finally decided to do so anyway. We chose one that didn’t have so many scars and were happy that our elephant driver didn’t use the metal pole at all during the ride. Francis kept on telling us how it is totally ok that they mistreat the animals, but the rest of us didn’t feel the same way. The elephant drivers (mahouts) are supposed to be in a peaceful relationship with the elephant, starting training at a young age and caring for the elephant for its entire life. The guys there didn’t seem to care and were just doing this as a job, so we were disappointed about this. The elephants are huge and kind of scary in a way, but they are also very cute. Their trunks are just amazing! We embarked on one together sitting in a seat on its back while the driver was sitting on the elephant’s neck and was controlling him with oral commands and his knees. We bought some bananas to feed to our elephant and were amazed by the speed with which he eats. Every now and then he would stop, reach back with his trunk asking for bananas. Pretty cute. There was also a little one around, really adorable. There was also an adult attached and who bored out of his mind, so he was doing a dance. Too funny. One was itchy behind the ears so he was scratching against a tree, also interesting to see.

The ride afterwards was simply horrible. We could not even absorb the bumps with sleeping bags under our butts, so big were the potholes. Then, we finally arrived to the trekking area. We hiked for about 3 hours through the jungle and were happy not to be in the sangtau anymore. The forest was beautiful and shortly before dark we arrived in a village inhabited by the Karen hill tribe. This is where we spent the night, in a wooden hut. The family taking care of the hut prepared dinner for us and we ate a nice meal. Afterwards we sat around the fire, chatting and even singing German songs. It was hilarious when the local lady asked us something. We didn’t understand what she said, so Cecilia guessed she had said “animal”, figuring she wanted to know what animal we were in the Chinese Horoscope. Since Cecilia is wild boar, she started making pig sounds “hrk hrk”, then Britta joined in with “wau wau”. We were laughing at how ridiculous we sounded. Then, to top it off, Koy (the Thai girl) translated that the lady wanted to know our names, not the animal. Wow, what an embarrassing moment! But we definitely had a good laugh. Koy also translated stuff about the family. Sometimes some things got lost in translation and it felt a bit like playing “broken telephone”, but it was interesting and fun nonetheless. It was really cold and we were dreading going to sleep. We had a sleeping bag and some blankets, but everything was really thin and didn’t keep us warm at all. We were cold from beginning to end and were happy when the morning came. Because of exhaustion we did fall asleep after the roosters crowed and before breakfast, but it wasn’t the most restful night. What was really nice though was the beautiful starry sky above us.

On the second day we woke up frozen and immediately went to the fire to warm up. We spent some time sipping tea and complaining about the night until we had breakfast and the weather warmed up. That’s what’s really weird: during the day it’s super hot and at night it gets really, really cold. We started trekking and this time it was more strenuous than one the first day, but very enjoyable. We were also pleasantly surprised how fit we were after a sleepless night. We hiked through the jungle, crossed streams and had fun chatting, laughing and taking in the beautiful nature around us. Just like on the trekking tour in Laos, we had a very eco-friendly lunch. The meal was packed in banana leaves and we had fruit and purple sticky rice cooked in bamboo sticks. We also got tea in bamboo cups, with water cooked in bamboo sticks. It’s pretty cool how versatile the bamboo can be and how ingeniously the locals use it. We trekked some more (6 or so hours in total) and arrived at our hut still in daylight. We immediately set up our “beds”, trying to improve on the technique used the previous night. We then had dinner and sat around the fire again chatting and singing. The night wasn’t as cold as the previous one and we got some sleep, but not warm by far. We survived without a cold, so that’s good.

The last day of our trek we woke up a bit more rested. We sat around the fire having breakfast, packed our things and off we were to bamboo rafting. In China (Yangshuo) it was delux rafting compared to what was awaiting us here. We were sent off on bamboo rafts that the village people had made the day before. It was fresh bamboo rods held together by bamboo strings. We had to stand, with a guide in the front steering and one of us in the back, also helping in the steering. Christoph was not very happy about his position in the back since there were no explanations as to what had to be done and he had no experience in bamboo raft steering. Shortly after we left we got stuck in some rocks due to our lack of experience and finally Francis conceded to taking over the rear steering, so he and Christoph switched places. He sat down for the rest of the ride. Cecilia was still standing in the middle, since the river water was too cold for her to sit down. Whenever the water got rough, she crouched down holding on with her hands not to loose balance. About half-way down the river we stopped to repair the raft since the bamboo rods were slowly drifting apart. What an adventure! After the rafting experience, we drove on more bad roads before having lunch. There were some helicopters flying around and we were told that one of the Princesses is in the area, visiting a neighbouring village, but unfortunately we didn’t get to see her, although we have so much experience with royalty already… From there we drove to Doi Inthanet National Park and the Wachirathan waterfall. The waterfall is about 80m high and pretty nice. This National Park is also home to the highest peak in Thailand with its 2565m altitude. On the drive home we got stuck in traffic close to Chiang Mai, but we made the best of it and started singing again, which was lots of fun.

When we arrived back at the guesthouse, the electricity was out, so we checked in with candle light. Our dreams of hot showers were shattered, but after about half an hour, the waiting was rewarded with one of the best showers ever. Although the trip itself wasn’t the best, we had a really good time with the group and it made it all worth it. We had such good laughs and will remember it as a fun time with lots of jokes, laughs, songs and great new friends.

We hopped on the mini-van to the Lao-Thai border. We checked out of Laos, took a small boat across the Mekong and then did the border formalities for Thailand. They were very nice and we even got candy from the border officer. That’s a good start. The bus ride to Chiang Rai was pleasant since the road was good and there were no curves. Arrived in Chiang Rai we went to a bakery right by the bus station to kill time before our meeting with our CS hosts. While we were there, Liz and Bruce from Perth (Australia), whom we had quickly met in Luang Nam Tha, came in. They come to Thailand almost every year, so they gave us some tips about Chiang Mai. They were really nice and we decided to meet up later in Chiang Mai. Then it was time to meet our CS hosts at the bus terminal. Taylor is a Canadian from Sudbury (Ontario) and Oh is Thai from Bangkok. We had dinner at an open-air food court. The food was delicious and we are very happy to be in Thailand.

Chiang Rai was founded by King Mengrai in 1262 and became the capital of the Mengrai dynasty. Subsequently, Chiang Rai was conquered by Burma and remained under Burmese rule for several hundred years. It was proclaimed a province of Thailand in 1933.

Our first day in the city we visited the Doi Tung Royal Villa and Garden area. We waived down a local bus and told them we wanted to go to Doi Tung. After about half an hour the lady selling the tickets also told us where to get off. From there we headed to a tourist store from where the sangtaus leave for the last 20km. The Doi Tung Royal Villa was the final residence of the mother of the King, known as Princess Mother. The magnificent villa was built on the mountain overlooking the surrounding hills and valleys in a unique mix of Swiss and Lanna architectural styles. We skipped the villa visit, but spent time in the large adjacent flower-filled garden. It was beautiful and reminded Cecilia of Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, but with more exotic plant varieties and stunning orchids. We also visited the Hall of Inspiration, which tells the story of the Royal Family and how they inspired each other to serve the country. We learnt a lot about Thailand’s history and how the King (Rama IX) came to reign. The exhibition presents the characters and philosophies of the Royal Family that helped them bring Thailand to the prosperity it enjoys today. It shows how the King and his family work for the benefit of the Thai people. The Princess Mother also helped people in the region to alleviate their suffering. She implemented a plan to help the hill tribes in Thailand stop growing opium and trafficking it. She also set up programs to integrate them into society by improving their health, literacy and empowering them to become viable and self-sustaining.

Christoph had a coffee there from a funny street vendor. The man started preparing the instant coffee by pouring hot water into a cup. Christoph told him no sugar and no milk, so the man asked if also “no coffee”. Funny guy! We then wanted to head back to Chiang Rai by catching a ride to the local bus. We hopped on a sangtau full of Thai people that was going down. When we arrived, we asked how much we owe them. They refused to accept any money, thanking us for sharing a ride with them. We couldn’t believe it! We are really pleasantly surprised by how nice the Thai are and are already loving the country. Our CS hosts, Taylor and Oh, decided to cook dinner that night, so we went to the local market together to buy the necessary ingredients. That is really amazing about food in Asia. Everything is prepared fresh, be it in restaurants or at home. We cooked Tom Kha Gai (a spicy chicken soup with coconut milk) and a stir-fry. We helped chop everything and wrote down the recipe for Tom Kha Gai. It is called a soup, but it’s more like a thin curry you eat with rice and it’s absolutely delicious. Oh is a great cook, so Cecilia hopes she can make it at least half as good. We spent the evening chatting with them and they told us a lot about Thai culture and customs. It was a great idea to surf in Chiang Rai as our first stop, especially with a local who gave us amazing advice on do’s and don’t in Thailand.

On our second day Oh offered to show us Chiang Rai’s biggest attractions, which was very much appreciated. The Black House and the White Temple are the creations of 2 artists who are in competition with each other and their styles are complete opposites. The Black House is black (surprise!), made of wood, with animal skins and a dark mood reigns. The White Temple is white (who would have guessed?!), made of concrete and mirror glass. Both artists fund their art themselves, so entrance is for free to both. Our first stop was the Black House, also known as Baan Si Dum. It is made of wood, mainly black and in a shady area. It is decorated with lots of animal skins and buffalo horns. The main building is really impressive in its size and the furniture made of huge tree trunks and buffalo horns stunning. On the central table there are snakes skins that are over 10m long. There are also other smaller buildings into which one can peer and see crocodile skins and other animals, but they are not open to the public. Christoph thought he is walking through the movie set of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ and Arnold Schwarzenegger would jump around the corner at any moment.

The White Temple, Wat Rong Khun, is different from any other temple in Thailand. The main building is white with pieces of glass, making it sparkle. The white colour stands for Lord Buddha’s purity; the white glass stands for Lord Buddha’s wisdom that “shines brightly all over the Earth and the Universe.” The artist’s intention was to build a temple in imitation of heaven, a “heaven on Earth”. The bridge symbolizes transition from the cycle of life to the land of the Buddha. In front of the bridge is a small semicircle, representing the world. The large semicircle with the demon king’s fangs embodies passion and desire. We need to throw our passion and desire away into the mouth of the demon king to clean ourselves before going inside the main building. Unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures inside, but the paintings inside are rather bizarre. There are modern images, such as “Predator” from the Hollywood film, “Spiderman”, “Batman”, “Keanu Reeves’” character in the Matrix, rocket ships, etc. The sea of hands rising up towards the bridge to the temple, some holding skulls are very striking. He has dedicated his life to this project, funding it with his own money. The project is so large and encompasses 8 buildings, that it will take 60-70 years to complete, according to the artist.

In the evening we met up with Taylor and together we went to watch the 7pm performance at the Clock Tower. The Clock Tower is built by the same artist as the White Temple, in a similar style with lots of sparkling glass. On the hour in the evenings there is a little “show” of colour and music. Back at the house, the guys wanted us to send of a sky lantern, a traditional Thai custom. We went out to a field close to their house and lit it up. We held it and made a wish before letting it go. We had seen lots of people do it in Luang Prabang for New Year’s and now it was our turn. It was lots of fun and we watched it go off in the distance.

After a week in Luang Prabang, we finally got going. To get to Thailand from here you can take a 2 day boat ride, or do a loop to the North by bus. We decided to do the loop and stop along the way to hike. The bus finally came, but we left 2.5 hours late. It was almost the time we were supposed to arrive in Nong Khiaw, as the bus ride was 3 hours. We were in a mini-van and the bus driver was driving a little fast. The bus was rattling on the winding road, so Cecilia wasn’t feeling that good. The scenery was very nice though, with hills and the Nam Ou river on our left. After finding a guesthouse in Nong Khiaw, we set out to walk around. We headed to Tham Pha Tok cave, which was used as a hiding place for the local people during the US bombings of the Indochina war. There are a few of these here in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, but it’s the first one we visit. We had to climb up some very steep stairs and then went through the cave. It’s big and the stations were pointed out where the different groups were working from (police, governor, art).

The next morning we took a songtau from Nong Khiaw to Pakmong. Luckily the road wasn’t too bad and we met a German couple with whom we chatted, so the time passed pretty quickly on the short distance. Then from Pakmong to Oudomxai we had a mini-van, but it was the worst road ever! The mini-van was rattling on the bumpy road and the curves were just awful. If you could take your eyes off the road, there was beautiful mountainous scenery around us. Then we caught a local mini-bus for the last stretch between Oudomxai and Luang Nam Tha. Here the road was really good (recently built by the Chinese), but the seats were uncomfortable. The important thing is we made it.

Luang Nam Tha is known as “trekkers’ Mecca” in Laos because there are lots of opportunities to hike in the area, so we also took a trekking tour for a day. We were driven to a village, not very far from the town of Luang Nam Tha, inhabited by the Lanten people, who wear indigo-coloured clothes. The trek was to take us through the jungle and to hill tribes, but to go to the National Protected Area (NPA) you need at least 2 or 3 days in order to get deep enough into the jungle. At first we were walking through rubber tree plantations and were sad to notice garbage lying around. Our guide said that the village people are paid to clean the path once every 3 months, which is a good thing. But it is them to litter in the first place. The worst part is that the litter didn’t only include candy wrappers and chips bags, but also empty plastic packages of chemicals. When we asked what that was, the guide said it was herbicides the village people put on the grass because “they are too lazy to cut the grass between the rubber trees”. It is a pretty depressing story. The Chinese come and offer the hill tribes money to plant rubber trees on the hills. When they do that, they also do the villagers “a favour” by taking the cut lumber with them back to China. The villagers then have to wait 7 years before the rubber trees start producing any rubber. During this time, they don’t have any income, no more forest to collect food from, no more space to grow rice, but they buy herbicides (from the Chinese, of course) for the grass. What they don’t know is that all these harmful chemicals end up in the water they drink downstream. The guide was pretty upset about the Lao government not banning this, but we guess the Chinese pay some good money to the “right” people. Not to mention the dangers of monoculture.

When we reached the jungle, it was beautiful. The rustling of dead leaves on the forest floor and the dappled light falling through the canopy made us forget the disaster we had just seen. The air was nice and cool and the shade made the hike very enjoyable. We had lunch in the forest under a small shelter which was really nice. Our guide quickly made some bamboo chopsticks and the table was set. The tablecloth were huge banana leaves our guide had collected en route and we were served our food in banana leaf packages. It was very nice, delicious and eco-friendly too. On the way down, our guide picked some fruits and flowers to bring home for his family dinner. He was from a hill tribe (the Black Tai) himself and had grown up gathering the forest fruits. He also showed us elephant ear leaf and told us how to make tea if we ever get malaria and are stuck in the woods. Good to know, but hopefully we won’t need to put it into practice.

After a while we reached a village inhabited by the Sita people (there are only 2 villages of Sita in Laos), a people with an animistic religion and their own customs and culture. The village had about 200 people and looked very orderly. There were lots of children running about, but we didn’t see many adults. We think they might have been at the market. While we talked to our guide, he complained about the poor pay, but he gets $15 per day of work, which we think is pretty decent for a developing country. We don’t know if he was complaining because he was hoping for tips, but we tried to point out to him that he had a good job getting exercise, being in the fresh air and not really working, only hiking in the jungle. He usually works 2 or 3 days a week, but his wife and children apparently complain that he works too much, so he has to buy them candy when he gets home. No comment.

The bus ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang was so loooong. The road was always winding and although in better condition than from Vientiane to Vang Vieng, the 220km still took 7 hours!

Luang Prabang has a nice feel to it, so we stayed longer than we had planned. The town is pretty small with its 55,00 inhabitants, but it has a charm. Until the Pathet Lao (communist party) took over power in 1975, Luang Prabang was the capital of Laos and seat of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Lane Xang (“Kingdon of a Million Elephants”, as Laos used to call itself) since 1353AD. To this day, it is the religious capital of the nation, with over 30 temples (Wats) still active and orange-clad Buddhist monks everywhere on the streets. The UNESCO-protected down-town area is very beautiful, show-casing the typical Luang Prabang architecture where temples, Lao-style stilt houses and French colonial villas alternate to create a wonderful mix. There is sight-seeing to be done, but also just wondering on the streets and taking in the relaxed yet historic atmosphere is very pleasant. There are lots of good restaurants, beautiful terraces along the 2 rivers (Luang Prabang is a peninsula between the Mekong and the Nam Khan river), a night market with local handicrafts, as well as beautiful small alleys with an abundance of flowers.

On our first day we visited Phu Si, a small hill in the middle of town. There are lots of Buddhas all over the hill as part of Wat Tham Phu Si, as well as a cave-shrine and Buddha’s footprint (phutthatbat). At the top there is a golden stupa called That Chomsi, which is visible from the town below. We were thinking of going on a day tour outside town, but they are all very expensive, especially if you consider that many of them only involve trekking. For us, paying $40 per person to walk behind some guy in the jungle is not really worth it. Unfortunately you cannot go trekking by yourself because paths are not well marked and there are still many unexploded American bombs from the Second Indochina War.

As we were walking on the street, a lady spoke to us because Christoph was wearing his Trier t-shirt. She’s German and he is an 81-yr-old American who taught English in the US Army (soldiers’ kids). They now live in San Antonio, Texas and we sat down to chat with them. We were totally impressed when they told us they travel every year for 4 months (at his age!). They also showed us the “food alley”, an alley with lots of stalls of local food. You get a plate for 10,000 kip ($1.50) and can pile as much on it as fits from various dishes they have. The only thing you have to pay extra for is meat (10,000 kip for a big chicken breast skewer), so we had dinner together there and it was delicious.

One evening we went to watch the “Ethnik Show”, where they parade traditional costumes from the various ethnic minorities in Laos. A bit outside town is Pak Ou cave, reachable by boat. The 2 caves hold thousands of Buddha statues and is the place where the kings came on a yearly procession. The boat stopped at a village where they make Lao Whiskey (called Lao Lao) made of sticky rice.

We finished off the year at “Utopia” bar. The bar is a really cool place, half outside, half indoors, so we stayed there for the Midnight Countdown, but left shortly afterwards. When you’re not with friends, New Year’s Eve is not as much fun. There were many “candle/hot-air-balloons” being sent up in the air and people shooting fireworks, which was nice to see.

We started off the year by spending a few relaxing days planning the next few weeks of our trip. Our guesthouse had a nice terrace, so we read and researched a lot there. We also visited the Royal Palace Museum, where the Royal family lived until the 1975 revolution when they were exiled to caves in northern Laos and the Pathet Lao took over the power. The museum is home to “Phra Bang”, a small Buddha statue of gold, silver and bronze after which the city is named. The statue is believed to have been made in Sri Lanka and brought to Laos as the symbol of Theravada-Buddhism. Since 2003 there is a shrine built on the museum grounds for the “Phra Bang” statue, but the statue has not been transported inside yet. This building is beautifully decorated with gilded walls on a red background. The actual royal residence showcases a mix of French and Lao architecture. On the facade one can see the three-headed elephant. The symbol of the Lane Xang Kingdom. Inside the residence, we visited the reception halls, the library, the bedrooms and many exposed artifacts and Buddhist sculptures. In the garage there is the King’s fleet of vehicles. There was also an exhibition (called “Floating Buddha”) from a guy from Trier (Mr. Berger), which we were excited about. He accompanied monks on a meditation camp to the jungle and displayed his photos of the excursion. Quite interesting.

Luang Prabang is a great town to walk around. Once we stumbled upon “Tamarind Cafe”. It is one of the guidebook recommendations and although we don’t usually follow them, we wanted to check it out. The menu looked really good, so we decided to try something. We had the dips platter with sticky rice, a Lao speciality. You take some sticky rice in your hand and form a small ball. With it you scoop up some of the dip and eat it. It’s fun to eat and the dips are delicious (we had eggplant, sweet chili, coriander and marinated veggies). We washed this down with tamarind juice and ginger/lemongrass juice, which were also delicious and cooling after the fiery chili.

One day we walked through town towards the tip of the peninsula to visit 2 of the more famous Wats. Wat Saen has a giant Buddha and very peaceful grounds. Wat Xieng Thong, is the oldest and most famous in town and Cecilia’s favourite. It was built in the 16^th century and is the best example of the architectural style of Luang Prabang, especially the roof. It also served as inspiration for later buildings. The outside walls of the buildings are decorated with tiny pieces of coloured mirrors, like a mosaic. Inside the main building (sim), the walls are also decorated with gilded pattern on red or black background, depicting the enlightenment of Buddha. Also on the grounds is the royal funeral chapel with the funeral chariot and funeral urns for each member of the royal family. The corpse was placed in the urn in the foetal position until cremation. At the back of the hall are also many old wooden statues of Buddha in the “calling for rain” position, the most typical for Laos.

Our lunches in Luang Prabang often consisted of a baguette with chicken and veggies from a street vendor. These baguettes are really delicious, better than Subway’s. They have different combinations, but we like this one: toast the bread, put the grilled chicken inside and add all the veggies you want (lettuce, cucumber, onion, avocado, etc) and top it off with mayo and chili sauce. It costs 15,000 kip ($2) and then we get a fruit shake for 5,000 kip ($0.65) to top it off.

We visited some more temples (Wats), including Wat May. Most Wats have a central temple (sim) where the praying is done and are surrounded by the monks’ quarters, stupas and other Buddha shrines. The central temple at Wat May was very nice, with a gilded bas-reliefs on its facade. We enjoyed our massages in Vientiane so much, we decided to get another one here in Luang Prabang. We went for a Lao-style massage, but without the hot herbal one. It felt really good too (although not quite as good) and we walked home happy. We should do this more often, especially at a price of $5 an hour.

For dinner we went to “Delilah’s” restaurant, the place run by a German, we think. I ordered Spaghetti Carbonara and Christoph asked if the Fried Chicken Breast with fries and salad has tomatoes because Christoph is allergic to tomatoes. The waiter asked the chef and came back with a negative answer, so Christoph ordered it. The Carbonara arrived, we split it and it was good. Half an hour later Christoph’s chicken breast arrived with mayo and ketchup on it and tomatoes in the salad. We told the waiter that we said NO TOMATOES and he said they can take them out of the salad. But what about the ketchup? The guy didn’t know that ketchup is made of tomatoes… So we sent it back to the kitchen. They took the tomatoes out of the salad and WASHED the ketchup off the chicken breast. Great! Christoph started to eat and as he cut the chicken breast, there were sliced tomatoes inside (sort of like cordon bleu). We called over the guy and he said sorry. By this time we were really mad and asked for the bill. He brought the bill with all the items on it. We only paid for the carbonara, not the chicken breast and he asked us if we can’t pay for it. Is he kidding? We said no and he didn’t quite seem to understand why. Luckily Chris’ allergy is not that bad, but he still didn’t want to eat that dish. Laotians always amaze us.

Between all the reading and planning for Thailand, we also booked our flight to Europe on April 6^th. Very exciting and cool since we can now plan with a time line in mind.