Are We There Yet: My Trip to Laos

With my visa about to expire again (each entry into Thailand allows US citizens 30 days to explore), I had to leave Thailand for at least a few hours.  With the unexplored neighboring country of Laos being so near to me, I decided to make a trip out of it - why not?!  

Similar to planning and executing my trip to Cambodia, I had little knowledge of the country at large, nor did I have a firm plan or timeline.  I thought I'd take a bus to Vientiene, the capital city, and head north from there; the initial "plan" was to go through Vang Vieng from Vientiene, and then onto Luang Prabang.  I had ten days, a fresh journal, and about $300 for the entire adventure. Let's do this, Laos.

Because of the Songkran festivities in Chiang Mai, the bus company I wanted to use was closed for a few days.  By the time I got in touch with the company, AYA Service (which we had used to go to Pai and very much enjoyed), they only had tickets available going to Luang Prabang.  I hadn't even left, and already the "plan" was changing.  No problem.  One, please. 

When I arrived, as instructed, at the bus office on Tuesday morning, I was not surprised that I had to wait.  Thai time runs about a half hour behind schedule, which I usually openly embrace.  What did surprise me, however, was the three hour wait that ensued.  Luckily, a catch up session with my youngest sister provided ample entertainment and left me with a nice collage to remember the morning by...

I openly acknowledge that I will pay for posting this one day.  Probably soon.

We finally got on the road about three and a half hours after scheduled departure, and my reading and napping during the drive was only interrupted by a thirty minute stop in Chiang Rai, Thailand.  Having not visited Chiang Rai before I was excited to explore the famous Wat Rong Khun.  

We were able to visit the famous "White Temple" - it was very different from the traditional Thai wats I had seen before.  Despite it's outer color, the temple has a surprisingly dark theme.  

There were evil characters lurking everywhere.  From what I took to be sci-fi creatures emerging from the ground, hanging heads, and gargoylesque creatures "protecting" the wat, I had already had enough of it before I even entered the temple.

How do people meditate here? Chiang Rai, Thailand

Although I am a proud Georgia Tech graduate, I wasn't inclined to spend my entire thirty minute break exploring the World of Warcraft temple, and opted for snapping a few quick photos and heading to stimulate the local economy by purchasing a coconut shake from a nearby vendor.  

Once back on the road, the napping and staring out of the windows was continued by all parties in the minibus, myself included.  After a few more hours, someone's phone rang.  Immediately, the driver pulled over, turned around in his seat, pointed to me and shook his phone in my direction. 

Note: This event was as absolutely sudden, random, unwelcome, and startling for me in that moment as it is within the confines of this story for the readers. 

I had never spoken to the driver, nor could I even remember him actually taking our tickets when our journey began.  The extent of our relationship consisted of him honking a warning 'beep' two minutes before leaving Chiang Rai, which was our signal to re-board the bus. In my brief history, that didn't constitute phone buddies. 

Despite the randomness of the mobile phone incident, I already knew what the voice was going to say - something was not right.  As it does in situations such as this, my mind started to race.  Did I get onto the wrong bus?  Did I sleep through a necessary stop?  Why didn't I study harder in my Thai lesson to actually ask what is going on?  Knowing that I had no options, as his phone-waving was insistent and all eyes were on me, I grudgingly took the phone and whispered a confused and concerned 'Hello?' 

Shrieking into the phone from an unknown location was a female voice informing me that I was going to have to spend the night in this town and that "No bus tonight, you ask again tomorrow".  Umm, what does that even mean?

The driver took the phone back after I pathetically muttered "Sure", knowing that this slight detour would be for the best, despite my initial attempts to avoid it.  For the best is an understatement.

The Mighty Mekong River

When we arrived at the village where we would be staying, I began to make friends with the passengers who I had so willingly ignored for the previous 5 hours.  Luckily, Luiza, a Polish girl immediately asked me if I would like to room with her for the night.  As before, I was unaware of the options, or lack thereof, and was not about to balk at a new friend.  Of course, I want to be roomies!  

We unloaded our packs in the room, then took off to explore the village before dinner was served to us.  The exploration was uneventful, but I enjoyed my time with Luiza and became friends with some young Brits who were also part of our group. 

We didn't have a ton of options...

Early the following morning we were loaded into a flatbed truck and hauled to another small town, where we were fed breakfast and a liquid that they identified as coffee.  As the group of us finished eating, we were directed to a man who was separating us into "Speed Boat" and "Slow Boat" riders.  Everyone was planning to take the "Slow Boat", which would not arrive until the following night; the "Fast Boat" was notorious for crashing and fatalities.  I wanted the bus I was promised.

I felt bad for this man; without having prior knowledge of my situation he was about to received a loving ginger-wrath if a bus wasn't an option.   

Hi new friend!  Welcome to your worst nightmare - an angry Ginger with all the time in the world.  Get me a bus to Luang Prabang.  Thanks.  

This slightly psychotic wavelength of mine was picked up by two Israeli girls who were also looking for the "VIP Bus".  My borderline irrational insistence on a bus and absolute indifference to the audience watching me struggle to get it impressed them.  They joined the fight.

As for the details of the following hours, all I can say is that it included the following: another flat bed truck, a squat toilet, threatening to call the police, many languages, Google translate, two perfect travel companions, extreme use of hand gestures, a few curses (Note: these are universally recognized and generally the quickest way to get someone to understand your level of anger regardless of understanding the details of the exchange; they should be reserved for extreme situations; use responsibly), a border, a card-eating ATM machine, a rural market, many loud noises, a bus that had the windows blown out of it, and being started at the entire time.  

The hours ended with a VIP bus and it hadn't cost us a baht, shekel, dollar, kip, or riel more.  These Jewish girls were making me look like a big spender; I loved them from the beginning.

Royal Palace Museum, Luang Prabang

 When we arrived the following morning, as promised, to Luang Prabang, we immediately found a guesthouse and fell asleep for a few hours.  Rotem and Yafit were Israeli girls who had just completed their service in the Israeli army and were taking a few months to travel in South East Asia.  

Surrounded by stunning scenery

We had a great time exploring the city and surrounding areas over the following days, and I was beyond grateful at the travel gods who had put Rotem and Yafit in my travel path.  

Kids playing in the Mekong

 The following days were spent lazily soaking up the atmosphere and natural wonders that Luang Prabang had to offer us, as well as mixing with some of the locals.  

Rotem making friends

Exploring the famous Night Market, spending a day at Kuangsi Waterfall, stumbling upon some incredible street food vendors, escaping the afternoon heat in the riverside cafes, participating in morning yoga by the Mekong river, lounging and smoking shisha at Utopia, and chatting about our travels and lives were just some of the activities we found to pass the time.  

Avocado Shake after morning Yoga on the river - surprisingly delicious!  

View Overlooking Luang Prabang from Wat Chom Si

All too suddenly, Yafit was headed to Vang Vieng and Rotem and I decided our next adventure would be a three day trek into the jungles of Northern Laos.  Within a week, we had grown from slightly horrifying bus riders to relaxed and excited new friends.  

Straight out of a dream!

I am so grateful at their appearance on that fateful morning, and I am glad to say that I left Laos feeling refreshed, blessed, and excited for my next adventure.  My time in Laos, especially Luang Prabang, was wonderful.

Kuangsi Waterfall - Perfect Day!

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The Trek from Heck

Riverboat after our Trek

My recent Lao adventure began like most of mine have been starting this year.

Arrive in New Country:

Stranger Yesterday, But Now New Travel Friend: "Hey, I have an idea!"

Me: "Let's hear it."

Semi-Stranger: "Let's do [insert dangerous or mentally overwhelming activity here] tomorrow!"

Me: "Sure. Why not!?" 

Fast forward through 3 days of trekking in the jungles of Northern Laos, sleeping in tribal villages, and playing drinking games using only a chicken head with people who got electricity in their home less than two weeks ago:

New Best Friend Who I Could Now Tell You Anything About: "That was interesting."

Me: "I need a shower." 

Laotian countryside

If you haven't already guessed, Rotem and I spent the past few days trekking in northern Laos.  For those of you who aren't avid outdoorspeople, this activity consists of a vast combination of hiking, walking, crawling, swimming, sweating, praying, sliding, sitting, balancing, laughing hysterically, and most importantly not crying.  

When we began to ask around to friends we had met in our first day in Luang Prabang, Rotem and I could not decide which northern region to choose for our trek.  Being an avid avoider of all things nature related up until the dawn of 2014, I wanted to ensure we were not going to be carrying our own tents and setting traps to catch dinner.  After exploring our options, we settled on the "Moderate" 3 day trek with a guide from Luang Prabang who spoke English, or at least more English than we spoke Lao.   

Pat - what a gem!

On Tuesday morning, we were greeted pre-coffee by our guide, Pat.  After a quick cafe run, we drove a few hours north from Luang Prabang to begin our adventure.  Once we arrived at the designated starting point, we were promptly instructed to get out of the amazingly air conditioned van and into the 36*C heat, handed three half liter water bottles and told to follow Pat, who was already halfway up the first hill.  

Having played soccer in the scorching, Southern summer heat, I initially chuckled at this minuscule amount of water, but immediately got nervous when I realized this was actually all the liquid we were receiving for the day.  This water wouldn't last me 4 minutes, let alone 4 hours that we had to hike to the first village!  

When I asked Pat if this was really all the water, he began to impart the trekking wisdom that we would be receiving for the following three days: "Drinking much water make you slow.  It not good for you."  Ah, Pat!  Why didn't you say so sooner?!  All these years of being so hydrated have been keeping me so slow!  To imagine what could have been of my soccer career! Damn you, Gatorade!  

In hindsight, maybe he was thinking that if we were drinking less it would be easier for him to carry us if things got bad, which I'm sure crossed his mind more than once. 

After the mini-monologue in my head, I decided to stop worrying and trust him, after all I certainly had no clue what was going on.  During the first few kilometers, we learned that Pat is 35 and has been a guide in these mountains for the past 13 years; he is one of 9 children; he spent 8 years studying as a monk; and his dream is to build a house outside of Luang Prabang on the property he purchased 5 years ago.  He told us about all things Lao and happily answered our ceaseless questions about his culture, food, people, politics, and country.  With the exception that he was obviously a mountain goat in a past life, I was starting to like him.  

After about an hour, we arrived at a small stream in the jungle, which signaled our break for lunch.  Pat told us that we could wash off in the water while he prepared lunch.  

Note: At around this point, I was very happy with my choice to join Rotem and the days that lay ahead on our trek.  

When we returned from the stream, Pat had arranged huge banana leaves into a picnic blanket set up and opened our lunch, which was all packed in the traditional Lao containers: more banana leaves.  Our lunch consisted of pork sausage, anchovy something, pork (I think) and cilantro noodle salad, fish with extra bones, and sticky rice from the village we passed on the way earlier.  It was a fine feast, except we are with our fingers. 

Rotem and I exchanged looks that said we were both calculating our options, shrugged, and dug in.  Regardless of our silverware situation, and true to form when it comes to food, I tried everything.  My favorite combination ended up being the anchovy dish and sticky rice.  It was surprisingly delicious and flavorful after I mastered scooping up a few little fish using only my ball of rice and fingers.   

After lunch, we continued through the dense jungle and saw some of the most incredible sights I have ever seen.  Walking beside and (literally) up through a waterfall with hundreds of beautiful butterflies dancing around us was breathtaking.  We both agreed that we felt like we were in a dream!

After about 3 more hours of over the river and through the woods, we arrived at the first village where we would be staying for the night.  We put down our packs and, after downing an entire liter of water each, decided to walk about 20 minutes to visit the caves outside of the village.  

Rotem handed out colored pencils to the village kids and within minutes we had a small gang of excited tour guides to show us to the caves.  With Pat's help, we chatted with them and got to know some of them.  The caves were cool, but after our first day, I was almost indifferent to the exploration due to my state of exhaustion.  

Playing songs on the iPhone

We got back to our bamboo room, and wanted to shower before dinner.  After voicing this desire, we were pointed to a spicket in the middle if the village huts.  We had no idea what we were in for.  The spicket stood about a meter high, and about two seconds we realized it was all-purpose.  

While waiting in line, we watched a half-naked woman, freshly showered, wash a bucket of Mekong seaweed for dinner.  (And to think of these people who have vegetable sinks!  Don't they know they have a shower they could be using for this task? We could be saving time, water, and sinks!).  Following the woman in line was a child, presumably hers, who had shown us to the caves earlier, but who was now naked and taking her daily shower.  We were next.  By this point, I guess word had spread through the 120-something person village that we were going to attempt to shower.  People literally stuck their heads out of their windows and sat down nearby to watch and see how these two farangs were going to bathe.  There's no such thing as bad publicity, right?

Note: if you hadn't already assumed, at this point I was second guessing our choice to join Rotem for this trek. 

If the immediate laughter we received from the locals was any indicator, we were obviously newbies at this showering process and entertaining the village in the process of learning.  At one point, a chicken hopped into the small spicket area, clucked, and just stood staring at us.  

Rotem read my mind and blurted between dousing her hair in the water, "We're also being mocked by the animals, this is really good." 

We were laughing so hard that we couldn't contain ourselves, and after my 5-minute initiation I left with soap coating my hair.  I thought the day was almost over, but there was still fun to be had.  

Eating fresh berries with our Tour Guides

All over South East Asia, New Years celebrations have been happening over the past few weeks.  This past weekend was Laos New Year, but the village hasn't had their feast yet.  We were just in time. 

After our second day, we pushed our bodies to new levels, and reached a level of exhaustion I have never experienced, marathon included.  During the last hour, even our incessant "Are we almost there yet?" chirping ceased.  When we heard the promising calls of chickens and then the laughter of children, we thought it was a creation of our imagination.  

Luckily, it wasn't, and they had cold BeerLao waiting for us.  Though it wasn't the smartest option, we greedily gulped our liters without a second glance.  About three minutes later, Rotem laid down on the bench despite the crabs, roosters, and ducks within inches of her face.  "I think I'm drunk."  

And Pat, as always, had a hearty laugh in the background while I sat in semi-misery and was honestly confused at why people signed up for things like this for "fun".  Maybe, like Rotem, I was just instantaneously drunk.

Shortly thereafter, we headed for bed.  The next morning we awoke, packed our bags for the last time, and began our last portion of our adventure.

Rotem speaking with a teacher

We stopped at the village's elementary school and spent about an hour playing games with the kids during their break and took the opportunity to share the remaining school supplies we had purchased with the various classrooms and teachers.  

School girls playing a game similar to hopscotch

Although the classrooms were very basic, they had the same alphabet, chalkboard, and desk set up that one would imagine of any classroom environment.  There were about 25 children in each classroom, and we were told that this school is for the children of three surrounding villages.  

Gorgeous views of surrounding mountains - how can they pay attention to their lessons!?

As we continued on our final stretch of the trek, we were mostly silent and slightly spread out over about 100 meters.  It was wonderful to spend time enjoying the beautiful natural setting and reflecting on the quite eventful past few days.  About three hours later, we heard Pat shout that he saw boats, which meant our journey had come to an end. 

The boat took us down the river to the small town of Luang Namtha, and we had a few hours to relax there and explore.  We used the tour office's bikes and enjoyed seeing the town, but were not upset when they said it was time for our 4 hour drive back to Luang Prabang.  I'm so happy that I met Rotem and that she was persistent about finding a trekking opportunity; I'm quite sure it's not something I would have done on my own!

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