Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The bobkatz Thai invasion

Our good friend Rob (aka "bobkatz") visited us in Chiang Mai last weekend. Had a great time hanging out together for the first time in years. Next month we'll reverse things up and visit Rob at his home in Mumbai.

We took a Thai cooking class one evening, and Rob put up a great post on his blog documenting the event, which involved our 4 ft. Thai cooking teacher doing the Ray Lewis dance, French girls and sweet banana spring rolls. What more can you ask for?! Check out Rob's blog here.




Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Day trippin' outside of Luang Prabang

After checking out the town for a day or two, we took a few day trips out of Luang Prabang with our crew that we met on the slow boat. One day we hired a boat and checked out some caves just off of the Mekong. They were actually kind of lame, but the journey on the river was cool. On the way back we convinced our boat driver to stop at a beach along the riverside - definitely the best idea of the day.

The next day we went to the Kuang Si Waterfall, basically the most beautiful waterfall I've have ever seen! Because of all of the dissolved calcium carbonate (same stuff that makes limestone), the color of the water was milky teal, and the rocks and trees in the water had a hard calcium/limestone shell on them. The pictures below don't do it justice!






Our boat and driver














A local fishing with no pants...obviously the only real way to fish on the Mekong

Kuang Si Waterfall
















After about an hour of hiking and wandering lost in the forest trying to find the right trail, we finally found the top of the main waterfall!





















Looking down from the top of the main waterfall

Sunday, December 18, 2011

West meets East

One of my absolute favorite cities on the entire trip, Luang Prabang is a crazy mix of West and East, wealthy and poor. The old town is surprisingly hip, with french cafes (and the best croissants of the entire trip!), wine bars, and antique stores catering to all the tourists. Though walk through some of the side streets and venture across the river, and in no time you are on a dirt road lined with bamboo and grass huts, and chickens running around.

I had always heard of Vietnam's ties with the French, though I didn't realize that Laos also had these same ties, and that the French influence is still apparent in their food and architecture. Curious to learn more, I did a little google searching and found out that Luang Prabang was one of three kingdoms in Laos unified under French colonial rule in 1893. The French had influence over Laos until 1954, when it then became an independent nation. Until the communists took over the country in 1975, Luang Prabang was the main capital of Laos, and I'm guessing this is why the city has even more French influence than the current capital, Vientiane (aka Viang Chan).

This mix of cultures, together with the lush, tropical vegetation made for some amazing photos.




























Communist flags, together with Laos flags, were in front of many stores and houses
















The bridge to the other side of the river, which was a stark contrast to the more developed old town.
















Sunday, December 11, 2011

Biking through rice fields to school

In Chiang Mai I have been volunteering with Travel to Teach, organizing and supporting volunteers who are here to teach English, helping them with resources to plan lessons, and supporting them in the classroom. One of the schools we volunteer in is about 45 minutes outside of Chiang Mai, in a village near Doi Saket. This is a snapshot of my journey to school from the dorm where all of the volunteers stay in.  -November 30, 2011-

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Floating down the Mekong

Ryan and I just returned from an amazing 10 day trip to Laos, a SE Asian country just East of Thailand. The country is noticeably poorer than Thailand, and the small villages, basic homes, and dirt roads winding through the hills of Laos reminded us somewhat of Bolivia. We were overwhelmed by the natural beauty of Laos. The French influence in food and architecture throughout the country was also something we didn't expect. You will hear more about that in a later post...

Our first major stop was Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage city tucked away in Northern Laos along the Mekong river. However getting to Luang Prabang was a wonderful adventure in itself, since we decided to take a two-day slow boat down the Mekong to get there. The Mekong is massive--it is the tenth longest river in the world and goes through Tibet, China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam...basically every single country in the region. Laos is a land-locked country and the Mekong and its tributaries are central to their culture, food, and economy.

We started by first taking an eight hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, a Thai border town on the Mekong where we caught the slow boat. We were pleasantly surprised by the great guesthouse we stayed in. We got a nice room with a big deck overlooking a picturesque garden and the Mekong river with views of Laos on the other side!

The next morning we began our two day journey down the river to Luang Prabang, stopping halfway in Pakbeng, Laos, where we stayed overnight. The river trip was a great introduction to the beauty and relaxed nature of of the country. We met some great friends along the way, played cards, read, played a little ukulele, and just stared out of the boat soaking up the views.

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The view from our room in Chiang Khong, Thailand.
















The Mekong River at Pakbeng.
















Playing rummy with our friends Dawson and Sherri on the first day. We were not as lucky with the boat situation on the second day, where they decided to combine two boatloads of people into one...
































Two boys on the back of a boat checking out our boat full of "farang" (aka white people).




















































Special delivery mid-ride...chickens and a puppy!






















The Laos version of trying to squeeze between two SUVs parked in the compact parking spots.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Land of elephants

This past weekend I went on a great overnight hike NW of Chiang Mai in Huai Nam Dang National Park. Ryan was still in Cambodia for the week, so I ended up going with another American traveler, a Dutch brother and sister, and our guide. It was so nice being in a small group and we were friends instantly. On the first day we visited the Mokfa waterfall and went swimming, then relaxed in the Pong Deod Hot Spring pools before beginning the 9km hike through the woods. We visited rural villages along the way, which included cute little kids and puppies at each stop! The next day we bathed elephants and rode them down the Mae Nam Taeng river, then went on a bamboo rafting trip where we went over fairly substantial rapids and almost flipped over a few times into the icy cold water. This jam-packed 36 hour trip was a perfect combination to see all that Northern Thailand has to offer. My sisters will definitely have to do this when they come visit us next month.

Ryan had our camera for his trip to Cambodia, but I did snap a few shots with my phone. More photos will come at some point on Facebook once my fellow travelers upload their pics, so look for those too!





Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Fire and water

This past weekend, Chiang Mai had massive celebrations for both Loy Krathong and Yi Ping. (For more on Yi Ping, read Ryan's recent post here). During the Loy Krathong festival, a small raft is made out of banana leaves, stalks, flowers, candles and incense, and then released into the water. In Chiang Mai, all of the Krathong float down the Ping river, the main river in the city. The holiday is meant to symbolize letting go of negative thoughts and habits, and many Thais also believe that releasing a Krathong brings you good luck Near the river you could also buy small bags of live fish, eels, or turtles, and release them as well.

Loy Krathong is also seen as a way to give gratitude to the goddess of water. During this celebration they give thanks for the life that water brings the people, and it's also a way of saying "I'm sorry" for using and polluting the water. It's interesting that it takes place at the beginning of the dry season in Thailand...I think usually the Thais want to please the water goddess in hopes that they get a short dry season in return! However this year, I'm sure the water goddess heard lots of prayers for no more floods in Southern Thailand.

Chiang Mai was crazy this past weekend, with tons of extra visitors, lanterns in the sky, Krathong rafts floating down the river, parades...you name it. Despite the fact that most of the fireworks here are homemade and tend to explode at or just above eye level, it was a pleasant and beautiful weekend!

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Buddhist novice monks helping us light our lantern.


Parade + watching lanterns float up in the sky + foot massage along parade route = best combo ever!
Lantern speks at a distance
















Lighting and releasing my Krathong (which I made here!)
Baggies of fish and turtles ready for release