Luang Prabang

monks getting their daily rations from people lining the streets
(it was REALLY early)

Luang Prabang is the Laos equivalent to Vietnam’s Hoi An. It’s an adorable French Colonial  town that is actually a peninsula surrounded by two rivers. The French colonial influence is not only apparent in the architecture, but in the many bakeries around the town. The town is also popular as a jumping off point for many different outdoor activities, such as elephant riding, which Kate and I did. It’s unfortunate that Luang Prabang was the last stop on our trip, as we were exhausted from all of our other adventures and were quickly running out of (and sick of spending) money. It was also extremely hot and we arrived in the midst of the burning season, which is when all the farmers burn their rice fields to prepare them for the new crop, so we did not have the clearest of days.

bamboo bridge

Despite the fact that the weather was not in our favor, the elephant ride was definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip. We didn’t just sit on a chair on top of the elephant—we were riding behind its ears and giving it (though not always so effectively) directions. We arrived at the beautiful elephant village, which houses 9 elephants, with 6 other young people eager to play with giant, wrinkly animals. We were introduced to our first elephant and the first volunteer hopped on and took it for a spin. We all took turns with a mahout (elephant trainer) guiding us around and helping us with the various commands: bai bai- go; sai sai- right; qua qua- left; and I forget how to say stop (probably not a very good sign). I was the third one to volunteer. As I approached the elephant, the mahout tapped it so it lifted up it’s leg as a step stool. Unfortunately, this was not very helpful as the animals are so large and I felt bad tugging on its ear, so I was basically pushed up the side of the elephant by the mahout and our main guide. Realizing you’re up on an elephant is pretty cool. The mahout told me to keep moving up closer to the head on the elephant, until I was basically sitting on its head. Once my knees got behind its ears, the elephants ears flapped, the mahout told me that it was happy, and it was time for us to start our walk. The swaying of the elephant was a little unsettling, though calming at the same time. I gripped with my knees at each step rocked me far to the left or far to the right, slowly prickling my bare thighs (I was wearing shorts) against the long, prickly hairs of the elephant’s head.

Beer Lao on the Mekong River

After everyone got their first-run, it was time for us to go for a ride, which started out with us getting into a chair on top of the elephant and then switching to ride on its head. As we were waiting in line, I noticed a beautiful elephant (all the elephants at the village are female) that was having extreme difficulty eating its long stalk of sugar cane. After watching this hilarious elephant for a while, I decided that we must ride it. she was a great pick because she had a wonderful mahout named Mr. Pang and was just an overall sweet elephant. Our ride consisted of going down a steep bank that led to the low river. Before actually getting all the way down, our elephant and the elephant in front of us stopped and began making strange dinosaur noises that came from the bottom of their bellies. It was not only weird hearing these strange noises (that were actually the sound effects for dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park movies), but also to be on the elephant and feel the vibrations while they were communicating.

After our ride we fed our elephant, named Buakham, bananas. We then fed ourselves before hopping back on our elephants and taking them to the river to be washed. Our mahout didn’t even come on Buakahm with us, so it was just the two of us and an elephant in the river. We took turns scrubbing her head. The mahouts even said we could stand on their heads and jump into the river, but I didn’t have good enough balance/didn’t want to hurt her, so I declined. After our swim with the elephants, they made their way back to the jungle (it was about 1 PM), where they hang out and eat until their next day of touring. I felt that the elephants were treated extremely well and led happy, comfortable lives. Our mahout never once used a pick or any other tool to control the elephant. The only time he did was to threaten Buakham with a rock, since she continuously was not listening to him or Kate and I while we were on her alone. We never once felt unsafe, though, and no force was needed to get her to behave.

The rest of our trip in Luang Prabang was fairly low-key, as it was the end of our trip and we were tired and running out of money. It’s also burning season in Laos, which means that all the rice farmers burn their fields to fertilize them for the upcoming planting and harvest. There is a haze all over Laos that makes the hot, lazy days a little less picturesque and a lot more lethargic.

our elephant's mahout: Mr. Pang

we stole an elephant

rice cakes drying in the sun

Vang Vieng

limestone cliffs over Vang Vieng

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...I have had so many adventures and have so much to write about, including 2 countries and one festival! But it will all be coming every couple of days now that I am back in Ayutthaya and have reliable internet connection!
We'll start where I left off...in Laos. After Hanoi we took a 30 hour bus ride to Vientiane, Laos. I am not going to write about Vientiane because I did not really like it that much and didn't really see or do anything that spectacular. So I'll go to my next destination, which was beautiful Vang Vieng, Laos

climbing "lambstone" cliffs

Vang Vieng wasn’t even going to be a stop on our trip, but I’m glad we made it. It’s known as a party town, and still has that vibe, though it has really mellowed out since its main attraction, tubing and bar hopping down the river, basically been shut down since so many people died on the river. Even though the backpacking party vibe still exists in the tiny town, it is absolutely gorgeous and has other activities. We were only in Vang Vieng one full day, but I was totally fine with it since I made the most of my stay.

I decided to go rock climbing on the lime stone cliffs (lambstone to the locals who have a hard time saying lime) that surround the area in the morning. Though I turned out to be terrible, I really enjoyed it and will definitely do it again. I was the only one out of the 5 people in my group that did the half day, but there is no way I could have done the whole day since my body got so exhausted. On my way out of the rock climbing area, which was surrounded by tall lime stone cliffs and a river that had to be crossed by a small, rickety boat that the driver only used bamboo to paddle, I stepped onto a bank and was suddenly surrounded by orange and white butterflies that had been resting there. It was very magical, with the butterflies flying all around me and the limestone cliffs just beyond, I couldn’t help but realize how very special Laos is. 

butterflies

After rock climbing, Kate and I headed to town to do what the town is famous for: tubing down the river. Vang Vieng has long been a stop on the Laos backpacker trail because of its beautiful scenery and huge party scene, which involves tubing down the river and stopping off at bars along the way and getting absolutely trashed. A few months ago almost all of the bars were closed down because so many people were dying or getting injured. Kate and I didn't go to party, but to enjoy the scenery and the beautiful, hot day (no, really! we didn't go to one bar). It's really easy to rent a tube in town, and then the rental place will drive you about 4 km upriver, and then you float back down.

tubing down the Vang Vieng River

About 5 minutes into our float we saw what had once been two opposing banks filled with bars. The steps up to the bars were steep and uneven, and I can’t even imagine attempting to stop at one of these and get out sober, let alone drunk. Lao people had replaced the bars, staring down at us skeptically as we floated down the river.

We enjoyed floating down the river peacefully, except when we had to try to get of the way of kayakers or children who splashed us as wel passed, or try not to get scratched by the rapids that were just a bit too shallow (I didn't get scratched, but I did get stuck).

Overall, Vang Vieng is a nice, lazy stop to make in Laos with incredible scenery.

The Guide: Long Bus Rides

Okay. I don’t wanna toot my own horn or anything, but I think I’ve become a bit of an expert on long Asian bus rides. Longest to date is 24 hours. So I thought I’d write a survival guide—for dummies, if you will—that most people think about, but don’t usually follow through with (well, at least me):

1. get comfortable
• you don’t know how long you’re gonna be on this bus. 10 hours may turn into 15 with breakdowns,  traffic jams, bus driver naps, whatever. Bring lots of comforts and activities. Since my music was stolen, I make sure my Nook is charged, my sleeping pills, neck pillo, menthol inhaler, and Chapstick are in reaching distance
2. don’t drink too much
• I haven’t experimented with alcohol on these long journeys, but you’ll pee it right out, so I’d say don’t do it. stay hydrated throughout the day and then only take sips along the way when absolutely necessary. You’d be surprised how long you can go without water
• Back to the alcohol: if you get motion sick, you probably don’t want to do these hungover as some of them involve speeding down unpaved, twisty, mountain roads.
3. Think of the worst possible thing that could happen
• Think of it. think of what can prevent it. take those precautionary measures before and during the ride.
• Immodium, Dramamine, Tylenol, pepto bismol, and tums are all good examples of things you should have on you.
• Just don’t eat anything weird within 8 hours of getting on the bus. Or the rest stop food. You’re just asking for trouble.
4. Protect your valuables!
• I’ve heard so many horror stories of things getting stolen from people on buses, namely all of their savings for the trip that they so discreetly kept in an envelope. Don’t do that. Separate all of your valuables so that if one thing gets stolen, you have a backup plan. I keep only what cash I need in my wallet in my bag. My cards and the rest of my cash goes in my sports bra (sorry, this is pretty girl-centric advice, but boys, no one would know if you got a sports bra and stuffed it….with your valuables).
• For my larger valuables, I put them in my backpack, which is my cuddle buddy on these wonderful rides. I sometimes even lock my backpack and keep my hand on it so I know no one is being sneaky even if they manage to move my hand!
• I also utilize the blanket—literally a security blanket-- they give you to hide my bag. Even though the bag isn’t entirely discreet, I used to travel with a  Long Champ and didn’t want to advertise that I could afford a pricey bag.
5. Know that as a Westerner, you are going to end up at the back of the bus
• No matter what you do to get a better seat, especially on a sleeper bus, you will be ignored and/or denied. The only way to avoid this is to pretend that you get motion sickness by making barfing noises and then they won’t make you sit in the very back.
• Sleeper buses are a funny invention. They are great, but they try to cram as many people in as possible. So although the people at the front get great single seats, the people in the back get to cuddle with strangers, sleep on the floor, or get put in seats that are smaller than the already Asian-sized (tiny) seats.
• This also might be called Karma….making up for what our ancestors did is better late than never?
6. Don’t wear long, flowing things
• If you go to a rest stop, you’ll more than likely be using a squatter with a bucket to flush. The floor will be wet. 
7. Wear flip flops (Vietnam only)
• Though it can get quite chilly on the buses, if you’re on an overnight bus they insist that you take off your shoes. As hilarious as it is to see Vietnamese people freak out and act as if they need to amputate their leg if the sole of your sneaker touches them, do everyone a favor and wear flip flops for easy boarding and exiting of the bus.

Hanoi

Notre Dame

Not gonna lie—didn’t love Hanoi. I was disappointed because I was really excited to see the capital city and explore the old and French quarters. It was the end of our Vietnam stint though, and it ended up being a jumping off point to Halong Bay and Sapa. It also didn’t help that we saw a man dying in the street as a result of a motorbike accident on our ride into the city from the airport (we opted for a $60, 1 hour flight instead of a $25 15 hour bus ride). It also probably didn’t really help that it was cloudy the first day we had in Hanoi and that we arrived to our hotel at 5 AM from Sapa and couldn’t check into our hotel to sleep. Lots of factors here. The odds were not in our favor to enjoy Hanoi.

After getting off a bus for 12 hours, Kate and I vegged out in front of the TV of the lounge in our strange hotel/hostel. We were apprehensive to leave because of the tiny, crowded, and traffic-ridden streets of the Old Quarter. This was also the day I decided to get more pages in my passport, which should have been an oh-so-exciting day, but of course I got lost on my way to the consulate, ripped off by taxi drivers, and found out that I had to come back because apparently it takes 6 hours for them to tape in more pages into my passport.

the bicycle hat basket man

a narrow Old Quarter street

street-side dining

Even though I had a rough day, our night in Hanoi was really fun because some of our friends from our TESOL course were in town. We also ran into some friends that we had made earlier in our travels in Vietnam. The funniest part of our Saturday night was when the Communist police came into the clubs at midnight to shut them all down. We had been hanging out with people who had been in Hanoi for 8 days though, and they knew the after-hours spots to go to. The club we went to was called Funky Monkey. The outside is completely black and the curtains were pulled tight so no one would suspect that there was actually a nightclub inside.

The next day I decided to do some sight seeing, mainly to see Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body.  In my hotel lobby I got hooked up with two people from Hong Kong and went to what we thought was the Mausoleum, but was actually the museum about the great man Ho was and how he brought Vietnam to a successful Communist revolution. Though there were no dead bodies, the museum itself was very entertaining because of its abstract nature. My favorite room was the red room, which represented the volcano of revolution. I also liked the large fruits on abstract furniture that were meant to remind the communist people of nature amid the great industry of the country. As we were exiting the museum, we saw a slew of school children, all in their uniforms. The Chinese woman I was with informed me that the red scarves of their uniform were a communist thing, and she remembered being a young girl and could not wait to turn 8, when she could wear the red scarf as part of her uniform.

me and the giant fruit

After disappointedly leaving the museum without a dead body in sight, my new friends and I began to walk towards the temple of literature. We THEN found the mausoleum, which closes at 11, and since we were a mere 10 minutes late, we were unable to see Ho. The temple of  literature is Vietnam’s first university and is actually pretty cool. The woman I was with

was able to read the Chinese around the temple, telling me that the names on the stone tablets above turtles represented all of the people who passed a very difficult exam to become a politician or some other important person in Vietnam.

My day ended by being ushered around the corner from our hotel to a travel agency, where our friends from the night before also were. We ended up waiting for our minibus for about an hour, then were taken outside the city center and dropped off in a random parking lot. We all felt as if we were in the middle of a horror movie as we were ushered off (again) to what was a proper bus station. Before even boarding the bus we all joked that we were going to be on the rave bus (due to Kate and my extensive supply of  pills for sleeping, motion sickness, and anything else that might go awry) and it would be a bus ride to remember. We could have not been more right: we got on to the bus, which had multi colored lights, and a rave video playing. Literally, it was the video of a dj

The Road to Laos

playing a massive stadium show.  And as for the memorable part of our bus ride? Halfway through our 24 hour journey our bus broke down for 3 hours just before the Laos border. Once we got to the border, we were told to get off and go through immigration. Per usual, the white people all got left behind. We wandered down a road for about a kilometer after being cleared through Vietnamese customs and before the Laos border. It was a very cool way to enter Laos, though we were very concerned that our bus had left us since we saw no one else until we cleared the Laos border.

turtles with the names of people who had
passed the exams on their backs in the
Temple of Literature

This same species of turtle lives in the lake in Hanoi.
It is extremely sacred.

Sapa

another country...another baby handed to me

indigo dye for indigo clothes

We arrived in Sapa around 9 AM after a long, delayed, and terrifying night bus to the Northern Vietnamese region (about 100 km away from China!). We were greeted by a woman dressed in traditional clothing with my name on a sheet of paper along with the cool, fresh air of Sapa. After a quick breakfast, Kate and I began our trek with the same woman who picked us up at the bus. She was our guide for the entire 3 days we spent in Sapa. Her name is Li and she is of the Lao Chai tribe, which came from China and has been in Vietnam for 300 years. Through our 2 hour trek up and down layered fields of corn, rice, cabbage, and a waterfall, Li told us of her life in her village. Her mother (who we later met and I bought traditional clothing from) gave birth to her when she was 51. Li lives with her husband (who we later found out that is divorcing. that night. And is very uncommon among the hill tribe people) and 3 children. When she married, she moved to her husband’s village, which is 7 km away from Sapa town, which we stayed in one night (and that she walks to and from every day!). She disclosed to us that she does not like how quickly the town and tourism has boomed, especially since it has brought noisy motorbikes and cars in the past 7 years. I can understand her concern, and felt a bit uncomfortable being one of many tourists to enter a Hmong family’s home, which was also selling traditional clothing. Though my intentions were to learn about how different people live, I did feel a bit like I was at a zoo, which was not my intention at all.

in a traditional tunic and belt. I ended up
buying the tunic.

After our hike, Li took us to her mother’s “shop,” which was a table set up in a room full of women from different tribes selling and making their traditional clothing. I tried on a tunic with gorgeous embroidery on the sleeves. Li constantly encouragd us that these were the real things and not made in China by machines (we believed her since we saw the women’s green and blue-stained hands from the various dyes, and them stitching and sewing in front of our eyes. I ended up buying one piece of Li’s mother’s traditional clothing, which is a tunic with embroidery on the sleeves. I cannot wait until I get home in October to rock it with some leggings and boots!) After our shopping excursion of traditional clothing and North Fake (Sapa has a great selection of sturdy, fake North Face attire), we crashed in our hotel room to recover from our night bus and get ready for our 5 hour trek the next day.

Me and Li's mother and a beautiful scarf she made

We met Li outside of our hotel and began our trek with 4 other tourists and a parade of women and children in traditional clothing who lived in the same village as Li. We were naïve enough to think that the children helping us up steep inclines and holding our hands were entirely out of the kindness of their hearts…until we arrived at their village for lunch and realized that we were expected to buy a purse or bracelet. But before this happened, we really enjoyed our trek through the misty mountains of Sapa, almost all of which have layered rice fields. All the people that live in these villages have been moved around so much from country to country (remember: Li’s tribe started in China!) until they finally found themselves in the hilly, rocky landscape of Sapa, which without their hard work and expert planning would be completely unfarmable.

dog for sale at the market

me, Li, and Kate and the waterfall

I went to Sapa naïve enough to think that the people who lived in these villages wanted to preserve their way of life and were happy staying with the traditions they had known for hundreds of years, but with the construction of power lines and dams through their villages that offer electricity to the touristy city of Sapa, and electricity to only the very few of the people in the hill tribe villages that can afford it, I realized that modernization is happening around these villages and it’s not even an option for most of them. I felt guilty walking through these villages with my new clothes that I have acquired throughout my travels while the people around me got one new outfit each year which they made themselves. Everyone around us was constantly trying to sell us something, and even after you had bought something from one person, the next would respond, “but you didn’t buy anything from ME. I need to sell things too.” I’m glad that I was exposed to this part of the world and saw what tourism can do to a culture and to see first-hand that not everyone in this world is equal.

To and Shaung. The mark on To's head is from a burning coin
pressed against her head to get rid of a headache. If you're interested
in hill tribe peoples and their beliefs, I would highly recommend
the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, which
is about the clash between American medicine and traditional medicinal
beliefs.

Our trek for the day ended at our homestay. Unfortunately, our homestay family did not speak English and we had minimal contact with them. They see so many people coming through each day (they have a two-story house. The second floor is lined with mattresses for guests to sleep in, while the bottom floor has beds for the family members), that I would not expect them to want to develop a deep relationship with us. Even though our host family was sub-par, our guide Li made up for everything.

The next day we finished our trekking in Sapa in the drizzly rain, hiking through steep, muddy trails. After going down an extremely steep spot and stopping for lunch, we witnessed a group of men and boys coming down the same trail in sandals and carrying large farm equipment. It was just another example of how hard these people have to work to just get by. None of them are able to farm enough to sell, it’s all only enough to sustain their village.

Though seeing the way people live in Sapa is hard, it is an unbelievably beautiful place. I still have mixed feelings about whether or not people should go, as tourism is certainly tainting the traditional culture, but it is also important to experience other cultures and get out of your comfort zone while traveling. I'm very glad that I ended up doing this trek, especially since I cultivated a really great relationship with our guide Li. She sang me a traditional song, told me of her divorce with her husband, which is very rare and is done through the village, not the Vietnamese government, and her negative feelings towards tourism in the area. Though at times I did feel as if I were taking advantage of the suddenly tourist-populated area, I was able to learn and understand another culture first-hand, which was my initial intention.

bringing farm equipment down a slope we could barely get
ourselves down

sleeping arrangements for the night

me and Li, or as she liked to call herself, "Sugar Mama"

bottom floor of the homestay. Behind the curtain is a bed. Each
member of the family slept in a different corner of the house

Easter Sunday

our group

walking through rice paddies

Halong Bay

My experience in Halong Bay was a bit tainted by the disorganization of the tour company we were with and how rushed our 2 days were, but that did not take away from the sheer beauty and magnificence of the famed bay.
We've heard a few different numbers ranging from 1,969 to 3,000 islands in the bay, but it doesn't matter because we were constantly surrounded by the limestone -- or lambstone as the Vietnamese say-- cliffs.
We did an expedited trip that included a 4 hour tdrive from Hanoi, 40 minutes in Surprise Cave, 30 minutes on an island with a view deck, and 30 minutes kayaking in the dark. We spent the night on the Papaya cruise, which I thought was the coolest part of the tour. It's something that many people do and what I think makes the Halong Bay experience so unique. It's pretty cool waking up to the rocking of the boat and the giant cliffs surrounding you!

surprise cave

Our boat housed 15 of us, all of whom were incredibly nice. I also thought that the kayaking (though dark) was really amazing because of how close we could get to the islands and see how large they really are.
Though postcards will tell you otherwise, Halong Bay is usually cloudy, but I found that the mist and darkness only made the area more beautiful and mystical.
Halong Bay was by no means my favorite stop, as it was impossible for us to get away from the touristy feel of it. We have become so accustomed to being able to go out on our own and have our own schedule, being herded around was a bit difficult and frustrating. I have dreampt of seeing Halong Bay for years though, and it certainly lived up to my high expectations. Even though we could not get away from the numerous boats that go through the Bay each day, it is for good reason since it is such a protected area. It also allowed us to see the scale of the islands and how huge they were next to the cruise ships that dotted the Bay.
Unfortunately, areas of the Bay have floating trash and there is ALWAYS someone trying to sell you something. Though it was so touristy and rushed, it is a sight that cannot be missed if you are in the area.

misty morning

someone on our boat caught a squid