Seven Days in Laos

To be completely honest, our trip to Laos is probably more exciting to hear about to our time spent in Laos. So I'll start there. We left Thailand through Chiang Khong in the north where we bussed it to Huay Xiao, Laos to take the aptly named slow boat down the Mekong river into Luang Prabang. It takes two full travel days on the boat to get to Luang Prabang, with an overnight stop in a tiny town called Pak Beng. Truth be told, I think the tourism coming through the little town is where it gets most of its income. The second you dock, you're swarmed with people selling everything from lodging for the night to three meals for the next day. Oh, and beerlao of course! The people have a knack for emptying your pockets here. The trip put our patience (with humanity) to the test. It was frustrating to wait two to three hours each day before our boat left the dock but admissible because we were eager to continue. However, when we were dropped on the shore outside of town presented with a highly overpriced taxi as our only option to go the final 10 km, we seriously considered walking the distance with all our gear fueled by pure American tenacity. Eventually we set our pride aside and joined all the other exasperated travelers in the back of the truck. I can proudly say that when we finally arrived in Luang Prabang, after two long days sitting in our loosely bolted seats which no doubt were reclaimed from some airline in the past, we arrived happy with each other and with some faith remaining for our time in the country. Nothing can bring us down! 

Wrong. Something can bring me down. And that thing is Laos food poisoning. Being sick is crummy. Being sick in a bathroom with your oh-so-handsome travelling partner on the other side of the half-door in the teeny tiny guest house bedroom is even worse. The fact that he didn't catch the next plane off the continent still surprises me. What a lucky, lucky, girl I am. Needless to say, I spent the rest of those 24 hours in bed. 

The rest of our time in Laos was mellow. Luang Prabang is full of retirees, so we fit right in. We walked through the markets, frequented a noodle soup place that Nate fell in love with, watched the beautiful sunset over the Mekong River, and spent an afternoon at some mega-hippy bar where Nate assured me that the people were not hippies but just travelers like us. He enjoyed it, so that was great. I went straight to our room and showered. We found a bookstore/cafe in town where we spent some mornings catching up online and we laid poolside at a resort in town for one afternoon where you ordered one drink and they brought you two. How fun! 

We took a day trip to the gorgeous Kuang Si waterfall, about an hour outside of town. The water carried calcium carbonate which made it the same blue-green shade that we couldn't get enough of in Havasupai. The falls fed into a wide stream that had multiple swimming holes. Unfortunately it was pretty chilly outside so we only swam for a little while but we made our way under one of the cascades and Nate found a tree to flip off of while I sat in the sun.

The trail to the falls passed through a bear sanctuary. It was feeding time on our way out so we stopped to watch the bears feast for a while. At the base of the trail there was a tiny town with lots of food where we ate our own whole fish. I usually have a hard time eating food that is looking at me but I guess the bears rubbed off on me because I stuck my head right into the water and grabbed that thing out with my own teeth. Talk about fresh! Just kidding, it was already cooked but it did taste pretty good.

And that pretty much sums up our time in Laos! We considered but ultimately decided against spending another week or so in Vang Vieng (to the south) because Nate had already been, Laos was fairly cold, and we were getting antsy to get into Vietnam. 

Chiang Rai White Temple

After we left Chiang Mai we went north into Chiang Rai, where we saw the White Temple. It's pretty indescribable, but our pictures somewhat capture the essence.

Here's my recipe for the white temple: 

1 handful of large white buildings, architecturally complex

1 giant koi pond

3,000 cups silver glitter

10 cups creepy, poured into a moat

5 tall glittery lawn ornaments 

Add a few fancy gargoyle-esque warrior statues

Sprinkle with intricate shiny decor

Enjoy.

j

a

Loy Krathong and the Yi Peng Festival

Once a year Thailand celebrates Loy Krathong and the Yi Peng festival. Lucky for us, our timing allowed us to be a part of it, and even better- in Chiang Mai, where the crowd celebrating is massive. Between preparation and the latecomers, the three day festival lasted nearly two weeks.

Loy Krathong and Yi Peng festival are two separate entities that coincide with the full moon. For Loy Krathong, many people send handmade floating 'krathongs' down the Ping River in order to pray to the river god. The baskets were handmade from either flowers and leaves or the more fish friendly empty ice cream cones and small cakes- all beautiful. Yi Peng is also known as the Lantern Festival or the Festival of Lights. Thousands of people each night send all their negativities away on floating hot air balloon-like lanterns into the night sky. The river docks were weighed down with masses of people gently placing their baskets into the river and the streets were filled with local people waiting as their lanterns fill with enough hot air to be carried away, and finally watching them soar. As it turns out, praying to the Thai river gods didn't seem especially relevant to Nate or me, but sending away all the negativity from this year? Bring it on! So instead of sending our food baskets down the river, we ate. And then bought a lantern to send off.

After our lantern drifted out of sight, we stayed on the bridge for a while soaking in all the excitement. We watched a Thai couple as they released their first into the sky, and shortly after they gave their second to us. What a generous pair! In retrospect, it may have been because we stared in awe for nearly five minutes as their giant lantern filled and they probably thought we needed something better to do than creep on Thai folk. But I think I'll just attribute it to their generosity.

After a while we removed ourself from the hustle and bustle of the bridge and sat on the less crowded side of the river to watch the commotion from afar. Nate set up his camera for some time lapse action and I played with some local kids who shared their fireworks (so I guess not THAT far from the commotion). The boys showed me how to swing the fireworks around let go right before they shoot off in whichever direction they choose. I'd like to think that the people here really give it their best attempt to light the country on fire, but to no avail. I may have caused a minor injury to one pedestrian, which is when I walked away from the fireworks. 

The days surrounding the festival were filled with things to do too. A few days before the release we stopped by this tunnel of colorful lanterns at a nearby temple where we watched some bands play traditional music, watched kids pour their own wax candles, and saw Thai women teaching foreigners to make their own handheld candleholders. Every night there was a parade weaving around the town full of bands, exquisite floats, and  hopeful contestants in the beauty pageant. The streets of Chiang Mai were flooded with people and intricate decoration

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The night after we released some more lanterns with some monks at a temple in town. 

While the lanterns floated each night, fireworks shows surrounded the city which added even more festive noise to that surrounding us. Thousands of people flowed through the streets, all with giant smiles.

The festival did not end abruptly. While we partook in the fun on the busiest 'official' nights, we continued to watch sparse groups of lanterns trail through the sky from our apartment window across town for most of the following week. Its never too late to say goodbye to some negativity in a positive way, right? All in all, by far one of the best weekends we spent in Chiang Mai and a once in a lifetime experience.