Nam time: Hanoi, Halong Bay & Hue

ahhhhhh there is a lot to mention in this entry. Less pictures, more writing. I'm still trying to feel out Vietnam, still not 100% sure how i feel about it yet, then again it just started. I feel like this Vietnam/Cambodia half of my trip is starting off the same way my Thailand/Laos half of my trip started with the unfamiliarity, the new adjustments, the 0 expectations, and maybe the periodic reminders of home by seeing familiar faces? The way I'm feeling this week is the same way I felt while i was in the Thailand islands. Just unsure, or anxious. If the pattern continues however, then that means great things are yet to come for the south of Vietnam and Cambodia.

I've also been thinking a lot lately about how traveling solo is the way to go. You are forced to make decisions on your own. When there's a moment or an open invitation to do something with new people, you don't ask your travel friend for their approval or agreement, you just GO. You just DO. You just decide. You act more on impulse, you follow your gut. Also, your inhibitions are stripped away. I've relied so much on other peoples' decisions and suggestions over my own in the past. This trip i've felt has made me grow exponentially in my own decision making.

Anyway...

Hanoi

My time in Hanoi could not have gone any better with the weather, sites and company. Randy and Kevin were the most hospitable, accommodating hosts I could've ever asked for and were it not for them i wouldn't have had nearly as good of a time learning about Hanoi and experiencing living like a Hanoian, or at least a foreigner whose lived in Hanoi for a while like they have. And the weather was not bad at all.

I spent my entire week hanging out with them (with the exception of a side trip to Halong Bay... amazing). The day after our delicious BBQ dinner Kevin, Delaney and i went to go visit Ho Chi Minh's preserved body, which was sort of interesting... thousands and thousands of people lined up, only to shuffle through a severely air-conditioned room where you saw him peacefully sleeping in his glass case under a warm orange light, with 4 guards dressed in white at each corner of the case. You were literally in this room for 40 seconds. No cameras or phones were allowed, and the guards tapped you to put your arms by your sides, and no one was allowed to speak, it was so unusual. Little Vietnamese nuns shuffled through holding pictures of Ho Chi Minh with them, mumbling a prayer of sorts in those short 40 seconds with him. What's funny though is that it was actually against HCM's wishes to be preserved, he wanted to be cremated and tossed into the mountains. Not sure how he'd feel about this then...

Kevin Delaney and i got some Pho noodles afterwards out on Food Street and with unfortunate knowledge and timing watched our cook cut her fingernails with the same giant scissors she used to cut our food with. [EW].

We visited a cathedral, shopped around, had an amazing sushi dinner that night (i was missing sushi SO BAD...), and went to a bar that had Trivia Night. It was such a fun time, even though we placed 8/9. We also spent some time playing tons of card games at their apartment, getting excited over the first monsoon weather Randy and Kevin had since moving here, killed a giant cockroach, and going to some great local bars to drink Bia Hoi (brewed only a day or 2 prior?). I also went to a crazy local market where they sold everything imaginable. And I went to a water puppet show, said to be a must-see in Hanoi. It felt like i was watching an ancient, asian Sesame Street. It was so weird, funny, cool, random, peculiar.... Live traditional music played as well, saw instruments i'd never seen before..

All in all my time in Hanoi was defined by my friends from home - definitely a special part to my whole trip. I enjoyed the brief taste and comfort of the familiar, and the chance to experience more of the local life from 2 experts! I even got a nice sheet of paper from Randy listing important phrases and words in Vietnamese so i can survive. Thanks guys!!!

Our traditional Japanese dinner

Water puppet show

Puppeteers come out at the end

 

Halong Bay

In between my week in Hanoi, I took a 2-day 1-night trip to Halong Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site. I experienced the most insane vibes from this place. This whole site was just BEYOND. I initially wasn't looking forward to it because the weather was terrible, foggy, misty, and colder than Hanoi. I changed my mind as soon as i got there. You couldn't see the picturesque, sunny postcard representation of Halong Bay - this was different. The fog and mist created a totally different atmospheric environment, one that forced you to look at Halong Bay and its jetting rocks and landscapes differently. We visited a cave there which initially i was indifferent about seeing that I had already seen 3+ during my trip and was just about caved out. But this place blew them all away....

I have never felt so stunned or seen anything more breath-taking and magical in my life. It was the most beautiful cave i've ever seen. Something just breathed through this cave. And it wasn't even the use of colored lights to illuminate the walls to attract tourists, it was something else - i felt like i had entered a new world, one that could've existed underwater, or just another dimension.... Everything appeared to be frozen entities, caught in the middle of a movement. Forms that were so still and frozen, yet so alive. I had goosebumps the whole time. My whole face and body tingled with some kind of unannounced presence, positively vibrating within and without me... I'd never felt anything like it before. I felt like i had just entered another kind of Alice in Wonderland, another kind of life. The connecting stalactites and stalagmites took on directions that defied the natural flow that billions of years of water droplets would create, forming faces and creatures that just spoke to me. Not to toot my own horn but I felt like i was seeing and hearing things through these walls in a way that none of the tourists taking photos paid attention to at all. I'd never felt the presence of life and the invisible as much as i did in that cave. I felt oddly rejuvenated, awake, like i was glowing. The colored lights too, although artificial, helped create a harmonious mood as you followed the path. I don't think i'll ever forget that hour. There was a 2nd cave as well but with no colored lights, but no tourists either, so you could appreciate the moment of silence and resonating echos. The caves have also completely inspired my art work - i could see some forms that I had already made in my art, a few of my 2D forms came to life and were staring me in the face. Maybe that was the connection..

On a completely non-profound note, maybe it was that child in me that used to watch Fern Gully on repeat that jumped with excitement over the imaginary fairy ponds, creepy oil monsters and lairs i thought lurked in the cave. The bay and fog and creaking boat sounds made me feel like i was in Pirates of the Caribbean about to dock. And the caves also reminded me of the dragon's lair in disney land in the big castle. (don't pretend like you don't know what i'm talking about).

We also went kayaking again in Halong bay, and this time it was much more enjoyable than in Laos. It was so enjoyable. I paddled through small underpasses which led to small closed-off spaces of water surrounded by soaring mountain rocks. There was a moment where i was the only kayak there, and it was amazing. I tilted my head up at the foggy sky, and heard nothing but the water, and the resonating caws of the birds above, flying in circles. It really was just so beautiful. And i loved that it wasn't a sunny day. Even in the eerie fog and mist spread across the horizon,  with each rock gradually dissipating into the unknown gray, something was breathing, living. The cave walls, the formations, the echos, the colors, everything was breathing. Needless to say, it was one of my more beautiful days, despite the lack of sun. I was also in great company on the boat, ending our night singing karaoke on the ship with other people on another ship jumping over to join us.

loved this...

Same rock as on the 200,000 VND bill!

The craziest, most intriguing natural underpass form with locals rowing through it...

The drive there and back was also lovely, as we passed by tons of rice paddy fields and farmers with their conical hats.

Hue

The ride to Hue was another rough one. It was a sleeper bus again but this time we DID NOT STOP ANYWHERE... EVER. No food or bathroom break, which forced me to eat tons of Ritz crackers and Oreos, and hold my pee in until 5AM until i couldn't take it anymore and walked into the bus' dungeon bathroom at the back and was greeted with the stench of swaying diluted poop. Eeeewwwww. I never went back in there again. On the brightside our bus driver was the most informative one i've had yet, and told us that we were passing through Dong Ha, a DMZ zone where the north was separated from the south by over 5km worth of bombs. 

Hue was a very historical and beautiful place, but i didn't really spend time with anybody here. I spent my first day walking around and exploring the city on my own, visiting the Imperial city (which was actually pretty impressive and thought-provoking), the royal museum of fine arts where they had a small collection of gorgeous imperial costumes, and the giant Hue market (probably the grossest, most unsanitary street to walk through in flip flops) - my feet were COVERED in mud, and some more poop, and god knows what else lurked those brown-gray puddles. My hygiene has really gone down the tubes here.

Gifts to the imperial city for each emperor

one of the many walkways

The next day I booked a tour through my hostel to visit the historical tombs spread across the city.  But you never really know when things you book at your hostel will primarily have other similar-aged people from your hostel as well or not. I wound up going on a tour with ONLY 50+ year old couples picked up from 4- and 5-star hotels. To be honest, i found myself kind of bored on this tour. Yes the tombs were beautiful and historic, but i learned that i'm not as interested/captivated by these as i am with European history like Versailles. Still, it was a nice way of spending my last day in Hue. One cool part was watching a martial arts performance, with people breaking cement bricks with their head, sword fights and stuff.

guards and elephants to protect the emperor in the afterlife

This tomb was beautiful

Inside - the emperor's tomb and relics

Traditional fan/wind/thunder martial arts dance

Incense!

Pagoda

A rather unusual thing happened at the end of my tour. My 30 year old Vietnamese TOURGUIDE asked me out for a drink later to tell me more about vietnamese culture and take me to a local bar. Uh....... needless to say what was running through my head was "is this guy going to drug me? steal all my money? take me down a dark alleyway?" I was nervous as hell and thought for a solid 3 hours whether i would leave him stranded at the street we decided to meet on or not. Finally I decided to meet him and it was perfectly fine and safe - he told me about Vietnamese family cultures, how tourism is one of the greatest fields to get into here, and that surprisingly, Nail salons in America made amazing money and that if he wasn't a tour guide he'd be happy moving to america and working at one of those. He bought 6 beers for the 2 of us and I couldn't finish my 3 so he did, and got so drunk. He kept feeling his face and saying, "I'm.. drunk." hahahaha i guess he doesn't drink very often. This was just a strange but unique experience going to a local bar with a local. Won't forget this happened.

Where I am Now

Hoi An. This place is GORGEOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could seriously live here for a while. Beautiful yellow 1-2 story houses, wooden shutters, gorgeous trees and lanterns decorating every street. I visited a japanese bridge built in the 1600s. Had delicious Hoi An soups and specialty dishes. Got some CUSTOM-MADE SANDALS! Might get a dress made here as well. This place is just too beautiful. Great bars as well with free pool tables everywhere. Bumped into a few people i met at a previous hostel, we were thinking of going to Marble mountain today but it's raining. It's been bad weather the past few days. I'm looking forward to heading further south for some beaches so I can relax again! I'm also planning a trip to My Son where there are 4th century ruins.

Can't believe I only have 1 month (to the day!) left of this trip..... time is flying so fast. I've already learned SO, so much about myself, how i work, how i cope, how i adapt.... I've already gone through so many transformative moments and i just don't want this to end... I want to keep going. This trip has definitely planted a seed... one which has sparked a strong desire to continue traveling, solo or not, and keep learning about myself, keep exploring and discovering more about the world. It's been quite an adventure.... I'm really excited for what lies ahead.

the spring break I never had, and a few familiar faces..

The last week has been COMPLETELY different than the previous one. I have also passed the half-way mark of my trip and am not feeling good about it - 3 months is FAR too short, I truly wish i could stick around here longer...... what a journey it's been so far.

Vang Vieng

So i spent 7 days and 6 nights here - there really was barely anything cultural about this place at all, it was just a crazy week of really insane (and cheap) partying. Vang Vieng does, however, have amaaaaazing landscapes of the most gorgeous mountains west of the city. There was also a restaurant that specialized in DOG dishes, which i can't say i ever made it to.......
Nearly every day i rode a tuk-tuk up to the "starting" point of tubing, and worked my way down to multiple bars. At each bar you get a free shot of whiskey (I don't think i spent a single penny at these bars the whole week), and a free bracelet. Some people have their entire arms covered in these bracelets. There are ziplines, swings, slides and ropes going from the bars into the river, as well as that huge blowup blob that catapults you off once someone else jumps on it (like in the movie Jackass). I understand how this place can be a trap to most backpackers because of the lazy living, cheap accommodations, cheap drinks and the restaurants: EVERY single restaurant plays all-day marathons of Friends episodes and Family Guy episodes, with an occasional How I Met Your Mother marathon. What a trap to stay here forever!!!!!
So I never actually went tubing, I just bar-hopped the entire time. You can cross over by land or swim across the river in which case the locals throw ropes at you and pull you into the bars. My 2nd day i was passing over to a bar and once i grabbed a hold of the rope they pulled me and i crashed into this giant water tank, swallowed 2 giant gulps of river water, helplessly holding my bucket in my other hand, and my bathing suit top trying to escape with the speed of the rope pulling - it was quite a hilarious scene. thankfully i didn't get sick from the river water. So it is basically non-stop partying all day, then once the tubing is over at around 7pm everyone gets dinner and gets ready to go to the night bars where from 9-10pm everyone gets a free bucket at bucket bar. What the hell kind of a place is this??????
I have to say, this truly was the spring break i never had. It was unlike anything i had ever seen/experienced. They had crazy musical chairs but with tubes, dancing, hilarious Jenga games and dares, these crazy scorpion venom and whiskey shots (which were actually really smooth!!), whiskey shot train competitions, tons of boys vs. girls games, and this gross games called "pass the ice cube" which i enjoyed watching but not participating in (hint: only use your mouth?).
My last day tubing (the day before st. patrick's day) a woman actually interviewed me about vang vieng for an american newspaper she was the asian correspondent for. That was awesome! she said she would email me the article once she wrote it, and it'll be published some time in the May issue. She asked me what i thought about the dangers, what's shocked me, etc.

One of the views looking west in Vang Vieng

Sitting at the restaurant i always ate at, watching hours and hours of Friends.

Pre-whiskey shot train game,cool river tables in the background

Crazy Jenga game, each block with a different challenge

Musical tubes!

My friend Celine (!) ziplining into the river

As a good 'halfway' point (3 days in) to my time in Vang Vieng, I decided to skip the tubing and visit the Blue Lagoon where there's a gorgeous pond to swim in and a very impressive cave called Phu Kham to explore. I went with 2 boys, one of which I had actually met on the 2-day slowboat and just bumped into at a restaurant here. We traveled on the most horrific dirt road of all time and climbed what felt like over 200 steps up a steep hill to get to the cave entrance. This place was gorgeous. It was mandatory to rent headlamps as it can get pretty dangerous and very dark. It was advised not to walk for longer than 10 minutes, but we walked in more like 20.... We reached a point where little by little the sunlight of the entrance dimmed, the volume of birds chirping at the entrance lowered, until we were in complete darkness, solitude, and silence. We felt nothing but the cool air and walls of the cave, heard nothing but our breaths and the occasional water droplets and their echos, and saw nothing but an oddly relaxing and tranquil black canvas before us...... We sat there in silence for a good 3 minutes. I thought it was such a phenomenon, a place with the most beautiful and sparkling stalagmites and stalactites, salt crystals and impressive unique formations growing for millions and millions of years in complete darkness. It's a beauty only revealed to those who are curious enough to wander and explore.

En route to the Phu Kham caves...

Had to make a photo-pit-stop... these mountains were awesome.

Just past the entrance to the Phu Kham caves, we went behind these rocks past the Buddha shrine on the bottom right

Just to the left

 Just outside the caves back down the 200+ steps was the gorgeous pond, Blue Lagoon, with swings and ropes to jump off as well. The water was an amazingly clear, deep glacier water blue. And it was so deep too. It was soo gorgeous here I could've hung out here for days.

After my 7-day 6-night streak of partying and mingling, I left on st. Patrick's day. Leaving was a tough decision for me to make, also considering I had a friend coming in a day or 2 later, but I was beginning to get cabin-fever from the same thing every day. Not to mention it was St Patty's! But i got myself to escape finally, and began what i didn't know would be THE MOST HORRENDOUS commute of my life. I went straight from Vang Vieng, Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam. The commute wound up being a whopping 31 hours long. A mini-van journey and the most cramped, stuffy, claustrophobic and plainly uncomfortable sleeper bus.......ever. Thankfully i ran into people i met at the Vang Vieng bars, so i was in good company. But wow it was terrible. Not to mention i don't think they wash their fleece blankets they give out to everyone, because mine smelled like homeless feet stuck in canvas shoes for too long (that is a surprisingly accurate description...).

The cramped, stuffy, bunk beds with no-leg-space sleeper bus. And a marathon of pretty terrible Vietnamese musical shows called "Paris by Night".

Byebye Vang Vieng! a collection of my free bracelets from the bars

Where I Am Now

HANOI, Vietnam!!!! This place surprised me - I found it to be a lot more developed than expected.... About an hour after my arrival (and the best shower of my life) i was picked up by none other than Randy Lovelace from conn. It was so amazing seeing a familiar face!!!! He drove me on his motorbike to meet with Kevin Ford and Delaney who was visiting. They were eating dinner down on Chicken Street (which was delicious). I spent the rest of the night with them catching up, totally excited and feeling so odd to see friends from home for the first time in a while.
Today was also spent entirely with them, exploring Hanoi, visiting the fabric market (where they all got custom-made clothes, i'll be doing that in Hoi An), hanging out in the park, and having an incredible do-it-yourself BBQ dinner. Their place is so great, it's amazing to see how well they've both adapted to this new place and home and it's been so great having a taste of home/conn for me as well. Apparently I got lucky coming to Hanoi now because it was the first sunny day in ages. Apparently since Randy and Kevin were here they'd only seen the sun 7 times, including today.

reunited!

Fabrics in the fabric market

Figuring out tickets and showtimes for the Water Puppet Show

Taken from the back of Randy's motorbike during Hanoi rush hour

View from Randy and Kevin's roof/balcony

BBQ dinner tonight

On my way back to the hostel I bumped into my friend Levi from Chiang Mai and Pai. What a small world! He said Vietnam has been his favorite so far. I'm staying in Hanoi for another day to see the water puppet show and the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, totally preserved in this mausoleum.... Then i'm off to Halong Bay for a day or two, back to Hanoi for one more night, and continuing my travels south to Hue and beyond. Vietnam's felt promising so far, and I'm feeling really good about things.
:)

Luang Prabang, Laos: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

What a week it's been. I also couldn't've come up with a more appropriate title.... Things have really been all over the place this week.

Golden Triangle

Before taking the 2-day slow boat into Laos I hung around the Golden Triangle which was actually pretty cool, you could literally see thailand, myanbar/burma and laos all at the same time. Funny that you could literally swim across and make it to both countries in 2 minutes. I also went to the Opium museum which was cool because they showcased the entire history of opium, how it's been perceived for hudreds of years and how they grow it and prepare it.

At the Opium musem, what they used to smoke

at the golden triangle. Standing in Thailand with Myanmar on the far left, Laos on the far right

Chiang Khong

That day was a painfully frustrating route to Chang Khong, which is where i would take the slowboat into Laos. I had the most frustrating conversation with the Songthaew driver. it sort of went something like this.

me: how to get to Chiang Khong?
drivers: no more chiang khong. tomorrow chiang khong.
me: no, i can't. i have to leave today, today chiang khong? how?
drivers: haad bai, 50 baht.
me: where's that?
drivers: yes.
me: ... can i get to chiang khong from there?
drivers: chiang khong 500 baht.
me: that's too expensive! where is haad bai on the map?
drivers: yes.
me: no, can i get to chiang khong from haad bai?
drivers: oh.

this pointless language barrier conversation goes on for a solid 20 minutes before i just say screw it all and get at the back of a songthaew where i hear the driver yell "HAAD BAI!" I check on my phone and notice that haad bai is directly halfway from where i was and where i wanted to be, so i figured... i'll get halfway closer? So i hop on the songthaew and am literally standing at the back (all seats were taken), holding on for dear life, getting all the road dust in my face, but at least enjoying some nice scenery... Well, we make it to haad bai and the driver is condescendingly nodding, smiling and gesturing with open arms around him saying that this is haad bai and that the route to chiang khong i'd have to figure out for myself. Excuse me? the guy demanded 400 baht to take me there if i wanted to stay on the songthaew. We were LITERALLY in the middle of nowhere, some remote village, with 4 locals sitting with me waiting to be dropped off somewhere as well. This driver stood there at the back of the songthaew with me and refused to continue driving me OR the rest of the locals until i either got off or paid him 400 baht. I did neither, and just sat there - my haggling was admirable, i tried so hard. i was so annoyed and felt so ripped off. He and i literally stood and sat there in silence for a solid 5 minutes. In those 5 minutes i contemplated my options, which weren't really good..i'd be stranded in the middle of nowhere with NO place to stay and NO transportation to get me out. He was also using the locals as bait to make me feel guilty. If the locals weren't in the Songthaew we literally could've stood there in silence for a half hour until he lowered his price. Chiang Khong was still 20 km away. My only option was to surrender and give him the money, accepted with his dirty smile... i seriously wanted to slap this guy. but at least i got there safe. god it was frustrating, I almost cried. Actually i may have. Category: Bad.
I wound up staying at a wonderful guesthouse once i made it to Chiang Khong, took my 2nd shower of the day, and relaxed for the first time all day with a cold drink. I left in the morning for the slowboat, saying goodbye to my Thailand chapter....

2-day slow boat into Laos..

This boat ride lost its charm after the first day. The 2nd day everyone was antsy, restless, tired, ran out of things to do and say, and we all just wanted to get off and walk.. a lot of people also stocked up on a bunch of beers to get them through the day. The 6 hour boat ride on day 1 provided amazing views of the mekong, with rocks resembling thin slices of slate, stacked and piled on top of one another - some appearing melted, forming undulating waves as if to mimic the flow of the mekong's stream. Modestly elegant boats with enthusiastic Lao children from the villages in the hills completed the picturesque landscape along with plateau upon plateau on the land, made up entirely of sand. Category: Good.

We stayed in Pak Beng, the halfway point between Chiang Khong and Luang Prabang, Laos. Nothing exciting here really, but they had hilariously bad translations in their menus that we all got a kick out of.



That's supposed to say Fried Pumpkin.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Once the 2nd day 7-hour long boat ride was over, we were all eager to shower and have a good time that night. I was in Laos, feeling great about things, excited for a change, curious about the unknown.... I was feeling good about how my mentality towards negative situations improved, how i was coping with language barriers, how i was readjusting to meeting a new group of people...
We had gone out to an amazing bar with these awesome mattresses to lie on near low tables after we had the most INSANE dinner at the night market - the handicrafts in Laos are BEAUTIFUL. I like them so much more than the ones in thailand and literally wanted to buy everything. There was a food alley where we were able to buy a plate-full (filled as high as you wanted) for 10,000 Kip, which is roughly $1.25. WOW. Category? Definitely good.

Pick out anything you want here until your plate overflows, for $1.25

Every bar in Laos closes at around 11:30pm, but there is one bowling alley that stays open until about 2:30am, so everyone ends their night here. It was so fun. We hired a tuk-tuk to take us there but here's another one of those annoying scams. We say bowling alley 8,000 kip each, the driver says ok and agrees but takes us to an air conditioned van instead. Once we get there he says 10,000 kip. We say "no we agreed on 8." He says "no, this is van." We say "but we didn't ask for a van, and you agreed to 8." and he says "10." this got me so annoyed i just gave him 8 and walked away, which was followed by angry and aggressive gestures and caused him to lose face. I'm sorry, but you don't trick us into that kind of crap. I got so annoyed after my 400 baht story i wasn't gonna take it anymore. Category: Bad, and straight up annoying.

It was the moment we got back to the hostel that i realized i lost my cell phone. My GPS, my morning alarm, my iternet, my connection to friends texting me, my way of letting my parents know i was ok, a few pictures as well, it was my everything... my money belt where i kept it was unbuckled, which was a first. i hadn't noticed it until that moment. I still don't know if somebody stole it or it just fell out. It really, really, really sucks. I've never lost my phone before. I had been so careful... My camera and money belt never left my side. But my phone left my money belt. I felt so naked without it. I GPS tracked it 2 days later and it pinged to Vientiane, 15 hours away. And no, I never found it again. Category: Really Bad.

I didn't go to sleep that night. I couldn't get my phone off my mind. We had heard things about the "Morning Alms Walk" that the monks do - it's when they walk around the city to receive offerings from the locals for their meals (that's their only way of getting food) and it started at 530AM. It was 3AM already, and my mind was just racing, there was no way I was going to sleep. so I stayed up with a few others and had a stiff drink. I needed it. 530 came around and we bought some sticky rice, bananas and wafer snacks to get ready to offer to the monks. It was a unique experience, i really will never forget it. The monks will also just keep walking if you don't extend your arm out, since they never "ask" for anything. It was sooo interesting to be a part of, watching monks walk single file with their alms all on their right side. It was only a shame that half of my mind was fixed on the loss of my cell phone. I was grieving pretty hard but was also trying to let it go and enjoy the moment. I tried being very subtle with pictures. Category: Good.

What we offered to the monks. We can only offer with our right hand

Once that ended, we checked out their morning market (with Squirrel Alley, where they sell some crazy things) and then all went back to bed for another 2 hours before headed to the Kouang Si Waterfall, a GORGEOUS place to spend several hours, it was incredible. The water was like glacier water, light blue and crisp. I could've visited that place every day if there wasn't an admission fee and if it wasn't a half hour away from the center of town. The boys enjoyed swinging on a high rope into the water above 20 feet, it was fun to watch.

Those are cooked rats, and 2 dead birds up for sale...

i was barely able to keep that pose.. borderline drowning

The next day was filled exploring the beautiful city of Luang Prabang. It has gorgeous French Colonial architecture and in turn, has incredible french bakeries.... i had a pain au chocolat with ALMONDS and it was to die for. The whole scene of the bakeries, the french-style windows and tall narrow doors, the labels for croissants and specialty breads in perfect and flirty french script lettering... I was happy to get a taste (both literal and figurative) of Paris. We explored the many temples, had a delicious pizza lunch, and visited the National Museum which was SO interesting and refreshing, I hadn't been to a museum yet. It was the former king's house and also felt like i was walking into an Asian version of Versailles... later that night we went to a bar to celebrate International Womens Day! They have a huge celebration here for that holiday, with a drink called LaoLao which is the only cheap alcohol the locals can afford, made up of 50% alcohol and 50% rice. Here we learned all about Lao culture. SO many wild, interesting facts including:

1). Locals who earn minimum wage have an annual salary of only 1,000 kip (that's 13 cents), which is less than what a BeerLao costs.
2). Locals can also get by on only spending under $1 USD a day (especially farmers)
3). Foreigners can only sleep with locals if they marry them
4). The average age to marry in Laos is 15.
5). Drugs are a serious crime in Laos and if you're put in jail, THEY DON'T FEED YOU. A family member has to come visit you to feed you and keep you alive, so if you're a foreigner traveling alone... you're screwed.
6). Laos is so poor and relatively new to tourism and development that it didn't become accessible by road until nearly the 21st century.
7). "Farang" which is the term used to describe foreigner, originally just meant "French" from when it was colonized.
8). The reason why all the meals at a big dinner never come at the same time like in Western countries is because locals don't believe in individual possessions, which explains why their word for "mine" is exactly the same word they use for "yours." They are entirely community based.


The next day, I got ready to do a 2-day 1-night Mahout training elephant course. IT WAS INCREDIBLE (for the most part). I initially wanted to do the program with Elephant Village but it was just too expensive. Opting for the cheaper one was well worth it, though. I got so emotional initially noticing the elephants in the distance, they are such interesting giant majestic creatures, so different yet so similar to us. We got on the elephants immediately but with their saddles on and just walked down the stream, but i got bored of this because we did nothing but sit on a wobbly uncomfortable saddle. Then it was time to "bathe" them. And by bathing i mean us getting totally slaughtered as a joke made between the Mahout (trainer) and the elephant. You went into the river (which i felt gross about because the elephants poop in it) with the elephant half submerged and the mahout who helps you get on (which is A PROCESS.). Once you've achieved the moderately difficult task of moujnting the elephant, the mahout yells a command resembling "HOOK!" which makes the elephant completely submerge into the water, shake his head around, until you're thrown off. This happened to me about 5 times. I felt like i was on a mechanical bull, and hated it... I wound up being in the deep end of the river, doggy-paddling my little heart out, UP STREAM. I was doggy paddling as fast as i could just so i could stay in the same place and not get pushed downstream. I was losing all my energy, i had to reach out to the mahout and just lie on the elephant sideways, because i thought i was going to pass out. i could not take another dunking, and just wanted to be out of the water. I had completely over-exerted myself and it felt like the only thing pushing me through to keep on swimming was survival. I just wanted to wash the elephant, not get totally owned by it! A beautiful photograph came out of it though, where the mahout and the elephant save me and emerge from the cold water and i am panting, relieved, and at the same time totally taken aback that for the first time ever i was riding an elephant bareback. I thought it perfectly captured the moment and emotion running through me:


The exhaustion, the relief, and the amazement - all in one.

 After a much needed shower (which was not even that satisfying because it was with the same bucket of water used to flush down the toilets with), we had a delicious lunch made by the mahouts and hung out on this GORGEOUS balcony overlooking the river and the village on the other side, watching the elephants eat and the children play in the water. A cold diet coke with me sitting in my bamboo chair completed the scene.
Then we fed the elephants BANANAS, unpeeled. So cool how they just wrap and pick things up with their trunks, that little nose at the end is seriously like a 3rd functional hand. I was so overly excited about all of this, watching them politely gesture that they would like more...
Afterwards we got a sheet of paper with all of the basic Mahout commands, which we tried out later. IT WAS SOOOO COOOOOOOL. I had so much fun with this. It was just amazing. It's something i'll never forget. Granted my elephant didn't always entirely understand my female voice and accent, so the mahout helped me out a few times... It was amazing riding these elephants bareback, with your legs tucked right behind its ears and your palms resting on its prickly head. What a magical experience, I thought. We also went off to cut some "White Banana" trees to feed them, and at the end of the day rode them into the forest, where we'd leave them for the night and pick them up in the morning. Category: Amazing.

Our sheet of commands, all phonetic too!

 We were asked if we wanted to stay at the elephant center or spend the night in a village homestay. Apparently most people stay safe and choose the elephant center, but we decided to do the village homestay. I didn't even know this was a part of the program, but it was so incredible. We trekked into the most remote village where only 200 people live, 75 families. We were warmly greeted into the home of a large family, one guy passed out on the floor from drinking too much LaoLao the night before for the International Womens Day celebration. We sat in their house and ate a local dinner with them, all food grown or caught by them, it was so amazing. Locals occasionally peeped their head in the door to see who the visitors were this week/month. (They rarely get 'farangs' in their village). I thought it was the most amazing, authentic experience. And we got to chat with them all night (with the help of our tourguide who also spent the night there with us, translating bits and pieces). Category: Amazing.



Classic Lao home with 2 stories.



Our meal with the family, SO AMAZING. Morning Glory leaves, seaweed from the river with sesame, fish with cooked tomatoes and onion, cooked watermelon greens and pork soup.... I helped myself to 4 servings (and felt sick from having eaten so much)

Inside their home just started dinner, our tourguide is in the striped shirt.

We woke up at 7AM the next morning and were unexpectedly thrown into an aggressively quick and steep trek uphill to go pick up the elephants from the forest. I was exhausted, feeling like i completely overexerted myself, especially from having no breakfast yet and totally panting and preventing myself from drowning the day before with the elephant dunking me in the deep end. Finally we got to bathe the elephants (for real this time) and it was SO much better. The elephant gave me a bath by splashing the water at me with its trunk. it was so much fun. Category: So good.

Afterwards we had breakfast, and that's when i seriously began to feel  ill... I felt nauseous from this point on, and it didn't go away for another 24 hours. it could have been one of many things - a). maybe it was my absurd 4 servings of the local food, b). i swallowed some river water when the elephant splashed me, c). my exhaustion and overexerting in ridiculous exercise, or d). all of the above.

It didn't help me out when we said bye to the elephants and got ready to go kayaking, which was also a part of the package. Now i was thinking, ok an hour of kayaking, i can do that. No, this was 4 HOURS. i was feeling hot, sick, overly exhausted from the elephants and trekking, and was completely DREADING going down rapids in a kayak for 4 hours. So we start and every time i exert some energy to move forward, i got a little bit more nauseous. eventually i just felt like a slave to the river. My friend erik said i looked miserable, and my tourguide said i looked sick. I was definitely feeling miserable, sick, exhausted and frustrated. Towards the very end through our last rapids and water splashes, shoulder sores and hand blisters, i was dangling by a thread, trying not to get sick or pass out. I was relieved it was over, pissed, exhausted and feeling ill. I think this moment was the grossest i had felt all trip. I was covered in sweat, sunscreen, bugspray, dirt, toilet water, river water, probably elephant poop, elephant sweat, and god knows what else was in that river. Seriously though, under NO circumstances, should 4 HOURS of nearly non-stop kayaking, BE FUN. We kayaked 15 km.... are you kidding me? Maybe i would've enjoyed it if i wasn't so tired and sick. But otherwise... Category: Ugly.

The second we got back to the hostel i got sick. Went to bed that day at 6PM, did not go out, did not eat dinner, i was just so physically ill. It was bad news bears. It was during my half-slumber that I sort of realized that i need to get out of Luang Prabang. There were strange vibes all over the place here. From getting sick for the first time ever on the trip, losing my cell phone, feeling overly pushed into exhaustion, more scams, i just wanted to get out and move onto the next place. But it was strange that this was also the place that provided some of the most beautiful moments of my entire trip as well, like taking care of and conserving the elephant wildlife, diving into beautiful waterfalls with good company, and providing monks with their only food for the day... Still, I decided to not waste another moment and got on a 9AM bus to Vang Vieng.


Where I am Now:

Vang Vieng. This place didn't reach popularity until the mid 90s when a group of backpackers discovered it for its river and awesome tubing opportunities. You literally tube down a river and get pulled into tons of bars which are all lined up along the sides, and it's an all day event. I haven't done this yet since I just got here yesterday, but today i will !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm relieved to be here and out of Luang Prabang. The roads to get here are TERRIBLE, but I saw some of the most scenic mountain views as well, passing by villages that were lined along the highway, half on the highway and half on stilts above the cliffs... kind of scary. I'm excited for Vang Vieng. It actually reminds me a bit of Pai, and that definitely feels like a good thing. Every restaurant here has soft cushions to lie back and eat on and all of them have TVs, either playing day-long marathons of Family Guy or Friends. I COULD stay here forever.

This trip has made me feel everything at a highly enhanced, concentrated level. I'm feeling every possible emotion on this trip, both the good and the bad, which includes emotions that i haven't visited for what feels like years including the most heightened feelings of defeat, accomplishment, frustration and complete euphoria...

I will be in Hanoi, Vietnam in a week or less. Let's see what Vang Vieng has to offer first.
Til next time,

Celine