The Slow Boat and Luang Prabang

So hot....I'm not sure how hot it is today, but it hurts to be outside. Even the locals are complaining a bit (and even breaking a sweat). Welcome to Laos--(don't pronounce the 's').

We hopped the Thai/Laos border about 5 days ago, which runs neatly down the middle of the Mekong River, and booked a two-day 'slow boat' journey. The flurry of the border crossing put us on a boat crossing to Laos, through customs, on a tuk-tuk ride, and back on the slow boat all in a matter of an hour. Pure chaos. But like most borders we've crossed, it somehow seems to work out...for better or for worse.

Although we were not in the most comfortable river-faring vessel, our trip down this main artery of Asian life was a pretty relaxing and entertaining experience. For a few days we got to see (albeit it from a distance) how the people of this country utilize the murky waters of this massive river for sustainment and entertainment. Naked little boys entertained the 'falangs' with crazy river antics, old men used massive fishing nets from the rock banks or from make-shift boats, and women sifted large pans on the sandy shores (maybe panning for gold). In the end we had pretty sore butts, but the experience had been great.Our end destination was the temple studded city of Luang Prabang. Like many cities in this country it is situated right on the bank of the Mekong, but instead of the rural life we had witnessed the previous two days while on the water, this place is a tourism magnet with plenty to do and see. After being witness to hundreds of Wats over the course of the past few months, we resisted our temptation to not visit any more temples, and we hit the muggy streets. After all, Buddha and the colorful monks who worship him make for great photo-ops.

To beat the heat we also spent an afternoon in the cool waters of a large waterfall near the city--a nice reprieve from the sweltering sun and crippling humidity.

We also ran into our friends Alan and Becky who we had spent time with in Nepal. As always, it was nice to see some familiar faces. Being the brave souls that we are, Alan and I hit the night bazaar and each got a small sample of the insect/reptile stuffed bottles of Lao Lao--the local rice based elixir. (In case the image is hard to see, one bottle is stuffed with a small Cobra and the other with a giant Scorpion.) Through our bravery, I must confess that neither concoction was the least bit tasty--in fact they were horrible, and in the morning I had a hard time keeping my balance. The point is that we are brave. Even Shanon had a small taste of the scorpion--and managed to hold it down. We all vowed, 'never again!'

This is a great country so far, full of lovely people and beautiful scenery. Since we have a lot to do we will head south tomorrow, taking a few days to relax and float the river before arriving in the capital city.

----------------

Note on the Camera: For now our pictures seem to be back (not sure what's going on with the virus), but the internet here is painfully slow. As a result, the photo count on the blog may be kept to a minimum for a while.

Note on the Blog: For our dedicated readers....when you look at the comments, if you ever do, there seems to be several notes from various strangers who provide a link and say something like, "Click Here." Don't ever do it. I do believe it's something bad (i.e. virus).

Beating the Heat, Thai Style

We said farewell to the beautiful but way too expensive south and headed back up to Bangkok. Bangkok with its longtail boats, ancient wats and major modern mega malls kept us busy and entertained for the 2 days we were there. We found that the air conditioned cinemas were a much needed break from scorching midday heat. We managed to wander through the chaotic and lively china town and stopped in at the weekend outdoor market which is a gigantic maze full of junk, any kind of junk you never knew you needed; but the people watching is priceless if you can manage the heat in the over packed stalls. We also got a chance to meet up with my uncle Randy who frequents this tropical paradise from his own tropical paradise in Hawaii. He treated us to a couple of great dinners and it was fun to do things in style for a couple of days.

As we tend to get stuck in big cities we decided to high-tail it out of there and head for the northern city of Chang Mai. Our first day here, we rented cruiser bikes and wandered through the crazy streets in search of a tribal museum. Our bike day turned out to be a bit rainy, but we did stumble upon the museum after much aimless wandering through streets, puddles and parks.

The next day, we rented a scooter and headed up to Doi Suthep which is a famous wat and surrounding national park. The wat was beautiful and full of Thais, foreigners and monks alike. It supposedly has a great view of the city, but due to the haze in the air which is common this time of year, we didn't get to see it. We continued past the wat and visited a few tribal villages that are located in the national park. It was a long day on the scooter, and despite very sore buns, we had so much fun that we kept the scooter and visited another national park, Doi Inthanon, for 2 more nights. Doi Inthanon claims the highest point in Thailand, a whopping 2,500 meters. Relatively not too high, but the cooler air was very welcome. We saw many great waterfalls and stayed in a little hill tribe village right in the park. Our bungalow was old and made of bamboo, but it had a great lounging spot right out in front where we had campfires under the full moon. It seemed that we had the whole park to ourselves, luckily the high season is winding down. The lush green forest hosted many creepy crawlies including one "choncho", the spider who lived under the ply board steps in our bungalows bathroom and would come out at night to scare the living **** out of me when I would wake up to do business. This thing was gigantic, a monster. Think tarantulas, lurking in the corner with its beady eyes, watching you when your half asleep...not so cool. Luckily I got a little sleep in our bungalow since it had a spider proof net (a.k.a mosquito net), although I think Chancho could've eaten his way through if he was hungry enough. We are now back in Chang Mai and are heading toward the Laos boarder tomorrow for what may be 2-3 days of transit before we settle down in Luang Prabang.

Slow Going in Thailand

So after months and months of what locals in many countries called, "unusually cold/wet weather", we are working hard to adjust to the stifiling heat of SE Asia. Lucky for us our current locale makes it easy to keep cool as we have been sure to keep the ocean no further than a stones' throw away. Here in the 'Land of Smiles', the sweat flows non-stop, the 'farangs' (or tourists), bake themselves into different hues of pink and red, and Shanon and Jared seem to come to a screeching halt as the combination of these things has made it difficult to function in an effecient manner. A small price to pay for paradise.

Our quick tour of S.Thailand has been a condensed version of our trip from 2004, although this time the prices are inflated and the US dollar is down--bad for a couple of penny-pinchers who know the end is on the horizon and have to make the most of every cent, or bhat, or yen, or whatever. Either that or we need to start looking into work visas so we can extend indefinately...

Hard to imagine all the destruction that occured here from the Tsunami in 2004--unlike it's much smaller and more volatile counterpart of Sri Lanka who was visibly scarred, Thailand really doesn't show the physical effects of the disaster beyond a few memorials and plenty of Tsunami evacuation signs. The island we're on right now, Koh Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee...you immature kids can go ahead and laugh at the name), was ravaged by the waves, but being here now you would never know anything happened--and it's still as beautiful as it was the last time we saw it.

Lucky for us we got to enjoy some of the beauty with some fellow SLC-ers (Candace and Cody). Shanon worked with Candace at Huntsman before we quit the rat race, so it was nice to spend some time with friends from home.

Now we know that the past few updates haven't been very exciting, so we think it's time to get back on the road before the tropical heat either melts our will to move on, or the monsoon rains begin and ruin our future plans for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Within the next week or so we'll likely cross the border into Cambodia to start checking out Wats (temples), relaxing on more beaches, exploring steamy jungles and dodging landmines left behind from the Vietnam War. Hopefully we won't be bringing home any shrapnel as souvenirs.

Burned Noses and Mango Shakes

So gone are the days of layering everything in our tiny bags to try to stay warm...it's hot here, really hot and we are finally having the weather that we packed for 6 months ago.

Thailand is, as always, paradise and we wish all of you were here with us. We arrived in Bangkok 4 days ago and bummed around the city for a couple of those days. It was nice to be in a modern city for a change, it has been awhile. Then, when the city became too hot to stay, we took an overnight bus south toward the ocean. The bus was heaven compared to the ones in India and Nepal as everyone had a seat and they weren't blasting Hindi music in our ears for the duration of the ride. The bus and a short boat ride later got us to the beaches on the quiet island of Koh Lanta in the south. Here we have been lazing about ever since and eating the most amazing fresh fruit (you miss this kind of stuff). It's so beautiful here and the beaches are absolutely amazing. Our bungalows aren't quite as fancy as they were 4 years ago, but the budget is definately coming to an end as is our time. However, even our smallish thatched hut room still feels like paradise. We opted for this island first as it is a little more laid back and quiet compared to some of the islands to the north.

Yesterday, we had scooter day, which is always a highlight when you have your own means of transportation. We toured all over this island and found private, remote beaches at every turn. There is not much else to report of other than a lot of general beach bumming. Oh, how we wish all of you were here with us. Candace is here, where are you Candace?!

Our plans are open now, actually we have no plans to speak of, but we do know that in the next 3 months we need to get to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam as well as northern Thailand. Wow, it's crazy how things to see, money to see it with and time to do it all in are wrapping up. We still have about 3 months, but we all know how fast that time can go...