Tubing, Glorious Tubing

A few days ago in Vang Vieng we decided to spend the day tubing on the Nam Song river. We rented our tubes and were dropped off a few kilometers north of town. Even though it's dry season, the water seemed to be high enough and we enjoyed drifting along in the late morning. The local people have set up little "bars" along the side of the river. They will corral you in with a bamboo pole while yelling "Come on! Come on! Beer Laos!" and try to give you free shots of "Laos Lao" which is Lao rice whiskey. Yuck...it tastes like eating grass! For the purchase of a drink, you are allowed to play as much as you want on their various contraptions such as trapezes and zip lines. The first time i went on the zip line, i was a bit freaked out and didn't want to let go. I found out the hard way that if you don't let go, you will be flipped violently into the air. It happened so fast that i was more surprised than scared and somehow managed to land feet first in the water. Haha...i definitely let go earlier the next time. Some places had rope swings from high cliffs and other sorts of things that would definitely require signing "in case of injury, we are not responsible" waivers in the states. We floated on our huge rubber tubes for hours, stopping every now and again to rest on the riverbanks. What a lovely way to spend the day.

Tam Pu Kham (Crab Cave)

Yesterday we cycled 7 K outside of Vang Vieng and went to a glorious cave and lagoon. It was hard work climbing up the jagged rocks of the mountain and scrambling around in the dark cave. But it was well worth it!! We had met a german cyclist (named Uwe) who showed us this cool place. The cave was interesting but i was more excited by the Blue Lagoon which was literally, naturally blue and so clear that you could see all the fish around you and even see clear to the bottom. There were various rope swings, jumping spots and pulleys to jump into the water. It's a bit scary sometimes but sooo much fun. The water was so cool and refreshing after the long, hot bike ride. It's been ridiculously hot and even the locals are surprised so a nice swim in the lagoon is the best thing.

The Cave:

Sala Kaew Ku

Just a few pictures of the sculpture garden we checked out in Nong Khai. It was soooo surreal, magical and full of wondrous energy.

How the heck do you say Vientiane?

Very carefully. and for those of you who don't know, the "s" at the end of Laos is silent.
First, second and third impressions of Laos would be something like falling in love. How different it is from Thailand though its just next door! Vientiane has quaint touches of Paris...wide strolling boulevards, baguettes and brie at all the market stalls and what do you know...its own little Arc de Triomphe which is called Patuxai. We climbed up it...whew! and saw a gorgeous view of the city.

Two great things we've discovered about Laos is that their language is so similar to Thai (most people can speak and understand Thai) so we are already funcional. And, Beer Lao (the national beverage) is spectacular. We thought that there was not going to be a very cool music scene in Laos but last night we were pleasantly surprised at a place called Music House which looked dark and scary from the outside but full of laser lights and drunk Laotians dancing on the inside. That house band seriously rocked so hard that i found myself even enjoying their Bon Jovi and Eagles covers. Many thanks to the silly, sarcastic Swedes who brought us there. There seem to be many Scandanavians in this part of the world and i'm glad. Something else that there are a lot of here...mosquitos. and the ones near the Mekhong river are like no other. They are rabid and their appetites cannot be sated. Hilary and i bathe in bug repellent daily as well as sunscreen (which just doesn't seem to work for me.)

So yesterday we checked out the Laos National Museum which very thoroughly recounted the history of Laos (starting at pre-history!) which was a long journey in a not-very-air-conditioned building. There was an exhibit up about a guy who worked for the Dutch East Indian Company and had come to Laos in the 1640s. Very interesting to read his journals and see the perceptions of Laos at that time. I also found the section about French colonization and corvee quite disturbing. We learned a bit about America's "secret war" in Laos towards the end of the Vietnam War. Most of the sign labels condemned the "American oppressors and their puppets" which i think is a pretty adequate description of what was going on. Looking at pictures of people disfigured by agent orange and landmines really brought the point home. Even to this day, there are still so many unexploded "bomblets" and "bombies" which are deceivingly cute words for such horrifying things. I found it interesting that the communist Pathet Laos built their headquarters in caves near the border with Vietnam and even managed to construct underground cities with schools, stores, cave meeting rooms and such.

We also made merit at the oldest surviving temple in Vientiane (Wat Sisaket). Most of the temples in the city were destroyed during a war with Thailand so it is quite an anomaly. This temple was full of awesome murals and the walls around the sim (hall) were filled with little niches holding tiny Buddhas. I made merit for my sister who has been sick (I love you AMY and i hope you are getting better) by lighting two yellow candles and exactly three incense sticks, praying and bowing my head to the ground three times. But we didn't spend much time here as it was mid-day and blazing hot.


Vientiane has quite the scene for international food. Of course we enjoyed our scrumptious French pastries and cafe au laits every morning. We had Indian, Mexican and Chinese food in just two days. However, we haven't had a chance to try Lao food. We've gathered that a lot of it is similar to Thai food but there are two very special things that we want to try when we get to Luang Prabang: a kind of watercress vegetable and river moss. If you don't already know, Hilary, my roommate is absolutely addicted to seaweed. I mean she buys something called "Big Sheet" which is, literally just a huge piece of seaweed. She eats it like crazy so you could imagine how her eyes lit up the moment she heard about river moss. We also want to try a Laos salad made of mashed up bananas, chili and other spices.

Today we made it to Vang Vieng which is like a paradise in the mountains. We hear there is plenty of tubing down the Mekhong river, spelunking and hiking. Here is a view from our hotel room:
Wish you were here.

Is this Hell???

Close competition for Worst day ever:

so i woke up yesterday feeling not the best but decided that we needed to start our journey. hoping for the best, we hopped on a supposedly 9-hour bus ride from Lampang to Udon Thani. well merely 3 hours after the beginning of our journey, the bus completely broke down on the side of the road. it was mid-day and way too hot to be outside so we waited for an hour inside the sweltering bus. i was strangely calm even though i felt like shit. and then they told us, there is another bus coming. and they put our bus onto a bus that was already full so we got to ride for 2 more hours standing/sweating and trying not to supphocate. i admit that i had a moment of "OHMYGODICAN'THANDLETHIS" but just kept humming to myself and trying not to think about it. there was so much tension and frustration in that bus. right when it seemed that everyone was about to explode, this little baby boy started singing quietly at first and then soooo loud!! everyone on the bus started cracking up. he was singing long crescendos of "UUUGHH and aye!" and when he finished he was so much out of breath that he was panting. at that moment, i sincerely thought that baby was an angel.

so we get to one of the larger cities and most people get off the bus. Unfortunately, the loud lady who constantly shouts comments at the bus driver does not descend from the bus. we also didn't know that there would be no food stops. the bus ride continued to go on and on. we had a moment of calm and laughing at our situation around sunset but after that, the bus got frigid, we got hungry and the lady got even louder. after all the delays, it ended up being a 12 1/2 hour bus ride. this troubled us for a number of reasons: 1. we were friggin starving and surely there would be no vegetarian restaurant open or near the bus station at that hour and 2. we didn't have a hotel room or even know the name of a hotel in Undon thani. this isn't america where you can just pop into a HoJo or red roof inn whenever you please. i considered the options of sleeping at the bus station or at a 7-11 which are open 24 hours.

getting off a bus in thailand, one might easily feel like chattel. once the bus starts pulling up to the station, all manner of transport drivers run over and violently start waving, especailly when they see foreigners. they are shouting at you things like, "Hey, where you go?" and "Hello I love you." it's not exactly what you want to be greeted by when you step off a bus for the first time in hours. we told a driver that we wanted to go to a hotel. what's the name of the hotel? we don't know. where is it? we don't konw. we want to sleep. he wants to know what we're doing tomorrow. going to nong khai. okay, so he says he will take us to the sleep hotel. i'm really hoping it's not a brothel but i'm too tired to resist. he turned out to be our second angel of the day. he took us to a hotel right near the bus station that was new, immaculate, cheap and had air-con and cable TV. we kept looking around wondering if it was a joke. so the fates really delivered on the hotel room but unfortunately there was no food to be found. we settled for snacks and called it a night.

anyways, we are in nong khai now and have already seen some crazy stuff. pictures later. tomorrow laos!

Songkran

Wellwellwell how to describe this craziest of all thai holidays? We knew it would be wet and that there would be parades and celebrations in the street but we didn't exactly expect it on such a grand scale. Of course, people had already started playing when we were in Pai last week and then in Chiang Mai but we were not prepared for the onslaught on Thursday. But first let me explain the meaning of this holiday. It was originally based on the vernal equinox but has now become fixed to the dates of April 13-15. It began as a way for Thais to teach their children about the values of family, home and temple. Most thai people will go back to their Mu-bans (or districts) and spend time with their family. Younger people will give gifts of respect to their elders and people will visit the temples to start the new year with blessings. Originally, people poured small amounts of water on each others hands as a sign of respect. They also brought the statues out of the temples and paraded them around town, allowing people to pour water on them and clean them for the year. Nowadays, these traditions still occur though they are somewhat obscured by the craziness of the all-out water fights going on.

On songkran days, you cannot leave the house without being prepared to be drenched. That means everything of value has to go in a plastic bag and best to wear light materials that won't get heavy. Remember that we can't just walk around in our swimsuits because of Thai modesty. And also sunglasses are a must because you will definitely get shot in the eyes from squirt guns. So we hit the streets and everyone is busy drinking whiskey and/or beer (including my 13-year old students!) and the police officers could care less about anything (not that they would be able to control the huge crowds). Loud music is blasting from every street corner and the thais are openly grinding and getting down (which is shocking considering this is a culture where people don't even kiss in public). They have set up little shade tents made out of banana leaves and flowers and it seems that people just find a spot and stay there all day drenching the passersby. OR they decide to ride around in the back of a pick-up truck throwing water every which way. We found a spot down by the river and it was pure madness. It was fun to see all the funny people going by and we quickly discovered the worst part about songkran: some people throw ice cold water which is rough on the immune system and literally shocking. You are constantly screaming, dogding water, trying to shoot water at others, avoiding drunk motorcyclists, and dancing. It's like all bets are off. I shot a police officer with a water gun and he just laughed. I also saw a guy gryating on that particular cop's leg and the officer just pretended like nothing was going on. My other favorite thing was the powder paste which they sell in little blue jars. The powder is in a rock-like form and you have to add water and mash it up. Then you are allowed to smear this powder paste all over people, cars, whatever comes by. It's really the first time in thailand that i've seen so much physical contact between people. One thai guy even ran up and hugged me from behind and then kissed me!! Can i just say again that this kind of behavior is ridiculously un-thai.

In the middle of all this madness, the police tried to clear that streets for a parade that was coming through. It took them awhile because people kept bounding back into the streets and dancing. Finally when the parade came, they were carrying some relics from temples which everyone poured water on. Then some elders came and were gently pouring nice, fragrant water on everyone as a blessing. It was something suddenly formal in the midst of madness but it was beautiful.

There is good water and then there is bad water. The best water has been mixed in with "Nam ob thai" which is a mixture of lovely-smelling thai herbs that leave a nice perfume on your body. Bad water is the ice-cold water or riverwater that goes in your mouth and/or drink. Thus I awoke on friday with a wicked case of dysentery (?) which has luckily subsided today. Honestly, though songkran lasts 3 days, i was content to play for 5 hours on the one day. I got a taste of riding around in a truck today as i tried to get a ride back from a market out of town. I was adopted by a thai family and invited into the back of their pick-up along with 14 other people. They took me to Wat Lampang Luang to make merit for the new year and we drove through small towns around Lampang getting soaked and freezing cold after awhile. So i will probably play a little bit tomorrow since it's the last day but i'm glad i stayed in lampang. Don't think i could have handled the craziness in chiang mai. Anyways, Tuesday we are off to Laos so for now, just trying to relax and get packed.

Why I Love Pai

1. The awesome fashions of the Lisu Hilltribe. I thoroughly enjoy these clothes and hope to someday learn how the tradions of these wicked outfits came about.


2. SLIDERS!!! unfortunately we didn't bring our cameras this time but you get the idea from the picture. this time we went on the BIG slides that are scary and a little bit rough on the bum but we were proud of ourselves because some other guys were too scared. i love it when we are braver than the boys.



3. Meeting new young people for a change. yes, we've only been here one day and we are meeting kind interesting people left and right. Pai is truly an incredible place with amazing energy.

New Feeling

I have been trying to have at least one new experience per day and in the past week, they seem to have really accumulated. Some highlights:

1. ART! Thanks to my friend Otto for showing me around some galleries in Chiang Mai. I didn't realize how much i missed being around art. There was also an art and culture festival going on at the time so there was much to see. And i discovered an amazing little place called Fern Forest Cafe which is a lush haven in the middle of the hot, polluted city.

2. Cricket. I never would have believed that i would be going to an international cricket match in Thailand but there we were. Karen's brother Janni has been visiting from South Africa and they really wanted to go watch cricket. I desperately tried to understand what was going on but frankly, there wasn't much to understand. I noticed many old men getting drunk (possibly to make it more interesting?) and watched as the players batted around the ball and trotted from post to post. Still, it was an interesting atmosphere and they had good vegetable samosas there.

3. Headstands! Hialry and I went to yoga on Tuesday and got to practice our headstands. Hilary did her first one unassisted! I'm so proud of her. And i managed to stay up for about 5 minutes with the help of our teacher William. We're going back again this Tuesday and we will also check out a poetry reading.


4. Snake Liquor. Why is this so popular in Asia?? Well, my friend Amy was returning to springfield and we took her out for her last night in Thailand. She asked the bartender to give her a special shot and she ended up with some sort of whiskey with snakes distilled in it. Apparently it was from Laos and the Thai people believe it will give you strength in bed. All i know is that it literally tasted like death. I would also like to note that no snakes were killed in the process of making this liquor. The people wait until they die and then put them in the whiskey. Appetizing eh?


5. Kick-ass accomodations and food. We went to Sukothai with Karen and Janni who had never been there. We stayed in this place called Cocoon Guesthouse which is like a jungle-garden menagerie with cool little rooms decorated with Thai antiques. Seriously, they had peacocks, turtles and deer at this place...in the middle of Sukothai! We found a cool restaurant called Terrace and Trees. We got to sit up in the terrace and look over the garden full of twinkling fairy lights. It was a new place so the service was very unorganized (they brought us the wrong food and i almost ate meat!) but when we did get our correct food, it was amazing. Janni, who is a cordon bleu chef proclaimed that it was the best food he'd had in thailand. Hilary and I got jungle curry which just about burned our tongues off and left us feeling crazy after eating so many chillis. We loved it so much that we went back again the next night. The waiter gave me a rose made out of a paper napkin!


6. Old Cities and Frenzied Parades. We had a blast riding around Sukothai on our bicycles. The next day, Hilary and I planned to go to Mae Sot (a town on the border with Myanmar) but it fell through. We decided to go to these other old ruins that an old thai man had recommended to us. The place was called Sisachalai near Sawan Khalok. Once again, we rented bikes and rode across this rickety wooden bridge that reminded me of Indiana Jones and the temple of doom. The old city was gorgeous and there were notably less tourists. We strolled around and took picutres, climbed up very steep steps to enjoy the views. After awhile, we noticed that there were many Thai people loitering about the grounds. They tried to explain that it was some sort of festival were they would pray to the Buddha. We saw a parade coming down the road and heard a brass band playing Thai music. All of the people in the parade started dancing like crazy. They were drinking some sort of rice whiskey. There were adolescent and teen boys almost breakdancing to this old-fashioned music and very very old grandmas getting down like never before. All the people were wearing these funny hula skirts and straw hats. They grabbed Hilary and I to join the procession. When we started dancing, they all cheered and screamed. Then all of a sudden,there was a huge fire truck with a hose spraying water over everyone in the parade. We walked/danced towards the temple in the old city and proceeded to go around the main vihara 3 times. The people had given us hula skirts and hats to wear and we were just dancing away while soaking wet. They called the festival "Bu-ut Phra." Eventually, we had to leave because we didn't want to miss our bus back to Sukothai but it was an amazing to get to be part of a celebration that foreigners don't usually see. I will upload a video of this on photobucket.



Anyways, new experiences left and right. That's what life is all about chai mai?