Laos

For a country of only 5.6 million people, there are probably about a million tourists here. Laos is the backpacker's paradise of Southeast Asia it seems. We spent 2 weeks here in 3 different towns. We crossed the border from Vietnam and ended up in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. It's a pretty small city though and less frequented by tourists than its Northern counterpart, Luang Prabang. The first day we visited the Buddha Park, which is a statue garden filled with different style Buddha statues. I'm not sure why it exists or what it's purpose is (besides to take silly pictures next to the statues), but there were a few monks hanging around (also taking pictures). We sipped on fresh coconuts and played dominoes looking over the river. The next day we decided to be more adventurous so we rented a motorbike and ventured to a national park, Phu Khao Kwai National Protected Area, supposedly an hour and a half from Vientiane. After a few rough starts on the bike, I finally got it going pretty well, until we got lost, and lost again, and lost again. The only directions we were given were to bear right at the bus station, go 87 kilometers until we see the stuppa (temple) and take a left. Naturally we were lost in about 15 minutes and it took us almost 2 hours of pulling over and shouting to random people along the side of the road "Phu Khao Kwai?" ("poo cow quay") and hoping they'd point us in the right direction (which surprisingly they all did). Eventually we arrived and went on a 5 km trek to the elephant tower, where there is a nearby salt lick where wild elephants hang out. What we didn't know is that they only come around in the evening, and we had to leave by 4. So no elephants. But an adventure nonetheless.

After leaving Vientiane we went to Vang Viang, which is about 3 hours north. Vang Viang is a super laid-back town, whose main attraction is the infamous "tubing." I put tubing in quotes beacuse mostly it means going back and forth across the river (with or without an actual tube) to the bars on either side, each of which has a rope swing, a giant slide or a zip line to propel you into the water. Not to mention that on either side of the river are huge limestone mountains and forests...absolutely georgeous location. We also went swimming in a swimming hole right next to the bungalow we were staying in with a whole bunch of Lao children. The boys were doing flips off a platform and the girls were taking their long skirts that they were swimming in and fill them up with air to make a little floatation device. It was genious. Jenny and I also went rock climbing along the limestone crags; the highest climb was 18 meters, which is about 60 feet. I've never really been rock climbing before so when the guide pointed to the top of the rope we were heading to, i had a small moment of panic. I did make it to the top (and back down again) without hurting myself.

Next we took a bus to Luang Prabang, which is a super cute city in Northern Laos. There are dozens of Wats (Buddhist temples) within and around the city, some of which have really intricate wood carvings, engravings and mosaics coating the outside and inside walls. Here we took a tuk-tuk to a waterfall (it was way too cold to swim!) called Kouang Xi and there was also a rescue center for Asiatic Black Bears, also called Moon Bears, who had been taken from poachers. Traditional Chinese medicine uses the bile of these bears for something or other. They keep them in tiny cages and remove the bile. Eww, I know. We also took a 6 hour trek to 2 ethnic minority villages North of Luang Prabang. One was a Khmu village (aka Khmer, ethnic Cambodians) and the other was a Hmuong (aka Muong in Vietnam). Neither village had running water, although there were a few satellite dishes sprinkled throughout. The people are mostly farmers, growing everything from sticky rice (Laos staple food) to corn to herbs, and raising chickens, pigs and cattle. Our guide told us we hiked 35 km (21 miles!) but I don't know if I believe him. We woke up early one morning to watch the Monks receiving alms. Monks from each Wat in the city line up to accept food donations (usually sticky rice, sweets and other stuff) from local people. As the monks walked past, there was a second line of young boys, maybe 9 or 10 years old, who were standing with cardboard boxes or plastic bags to accept food donations from the monks. Anything the monks either didn't want or could spare they would toss to these boys, who actually seemed to be making out pretty well for themselves.