Slow Boat to Laos

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After such an amazing and productive time in Chiang Mai, the day finally came to say goodbye and begin the journey to the third country on our list, Laos. A van came to pick us up at our hostel, but believe me, ladies and gentlemen, when I tell you that this van was unlike any other van we have ridden in on this trip. It was equipped with wide leather seats, air-con control for the back, and even drinking water. There was quite a sound system and a drop-down TV as well, but they didn't get broken out on our drive to the border. We shared the van with an Italian man, a German couple, four German guys just out of their studies, and a couple of young Aussie girls. It was a full car, but still the most comfortable ride yet, and we had fun chatting with Sasha, one of the German guys, and playing Monopoly on my Kindle.

The van made two stops on the way to the border town of Chiang Khong. The first was at a cashew nut factory. Along with a quick lunch, we sampled all sorts of flavored cashew nuts and saw an example of what exactly a cashew nut looks like as it's growing on the tree. It looked something like a red mushroom. A little bit strange, if you ask me.

The second stop was the White Temple that we'd heard so much about. Our first impression was awe as we were blinded by the pure white walls and the silver tiles lining the bridges and rafters. It looked like a glittering ice palace, a miracle in the middle of such a hot place. Every step closer, however, revealed just how strange this temple really was. Demonic heads warning against drinking and smoking guarded the entrance, along with a half-buried Predator. The bases of the sculptures showed distorted bodies and grotesque faces. To get to the entrance of the temple itself, you had to cross a bridge surrounded by disembodied hands reaching upwards and towards the vistors, some holding skulls begging for change, and others making lewd gestures.

The weirdness continued inside. It looked rather innocuous at first: a golden Buddha statue, per norm, and a wax figure of a praying Gandhi greeted you as you walked in. But when you turned around, you were faced with a very bizarre mural. Amongst purple demons and billowing smoke were brightly painted images of modern characters. Among those represented were Neo from the Matrix, Avatar, Sailor Moon, Batman, Spiderman, Bart Simpson, and Goku. There was also an image of the burning Twin Towers and a gas pump. It was unclear if the artist was condemning these things, or if they were fighting the demons. Either way, it was pretty freaky, and I was glad we hadn't made a special trip just to see this place. As it turned out, it was very new, with construction just finished in 2008. I wasn't a fan, but from far away it was quite beautiful!

It was back in the van for a couple more hours before we arrived in Chiang Khong. As part of the package we booked, our accommodation was already sorted for us. Nothing fancy, but we at least got free dinner. Caz and I explored the local market while we still had daylight, then snuck in one last Thai massage after dinner. We joined a couple of the German boys, both named Andreas, for a drink at the bar in the same building as our guesthouse. Someone mentioned that there was live music down by the river, so we went to check it out. Unfortunately, it turned out to be just a couple of drunk Thais singing very bad karaoke, so Caz and I called it a night.

The next day the whole crew grabbed their bags, and we took a wobbly little boat over the river into Laos. We took some time to get through customs and get shuttled around to an office, where we all exchanged money and signed up for a guesthouse in Pak Beng, the first stop on our two day slow boat trip. Then it was on a little pink truck that looked like it came to pick us up straight from Disneyland. It took us to a little store, where we chilled out and had snacks until we were told to go to the pier.

We were prepared for the worst as far as the boat went. We had heard that they were usually overcrowded, and that the wooden seats got pretty painful. We had even purchased cushions to help this situation. As it turned out, we needn't have bothered. All the seats on the boat were sets of car seats, both front and back, mounted on frames that could be easily moved around. Our boat wasn't at all full either, as it was the second one to be launched that day, so we and the four German guys (the last one was named Marc, for reference) moved a few of them around to face towards the middle of the boat, giving us plenty of leg room and the ability to chat. Caz, blonde Andreas, and I played Monopoly, and we all passed around snacks. Later we got some card games going with some of the other passengers, an American named Matt and a French couple named Elvina and Guillame (I am totally guessing at the spelling of the last two names). It was a very relaxed and enjoyable boat ride.

We pulled into Pak Beng before sunset and settled into another passable basic room. The town itself didn't have much happening besides guesthouses and restaurants, so Caz and I went for dinner. We were joined by Matt and a Swedish girl named Stina, and they were very good company. Thanks to Caz's clever ordering, we were introduced to the delious Laotian dish called laap, a concotion of minced meat, coriander, lime, and chili served with sticky rice. Delicious. After dinner we hung out on the balcony of our guesthouse with the Germans for a while, and saw the hugest cricket either of us had ever laid eyes on. It luckily wasn't a fast mover, so we weren't worried when we went to bed.

The next morning we were up early to get some breakfast and sandwiches for the second half of the boat ride (peanut butter and banana! It was good to get our fix!). Then we headed to the pier, dawdling a bit so as to get on the second boat again. When a second boat did not seem to be coming, we found out that there would be only one this time. Bummer. We still managed to find seats, but it was significantly more crowded. Still, it was a really nice ride. We perched on the side of the boat and dipped our toes in the Mekong as we slid past lush mountains and stilted villages. So what if there were a few extra people aboard? The slow boat was hands down the best journey we've had in Asia.

Upon arrival in Luang Prabang, we teamed up with Matt, Stina, and the French couple to find some lodgings. We turned down a couple, then finally gave in to a guy who was petitioning hard for our business. His guesthouse was actually pretty nice, so it was a win-win deal. We went to a cool little restaurant/bar called Utopia for dinner and passed our first evening in Luang Prabang drinking BeerLao and smoking hookah. Not bad. There was an 11 o'clock curfew in place, so the night didn't go on too long, and soon we were asleep after a hard couple days of sitting.

Learn the Art of Thai Massage...Check!

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By the time our third day in Chiang Mai rolled around, we were exhausted. Between the 36 hour trek to get here, the all-day classes, and the late night market, we had been going nonstop since we left the islands. We had also gone 3 straight days without a massage which was unacceptable! So we slept in as long as possible, had a leisurely brunch on the sunny front porch of our hostel, and then headed straight to get a thai massage. Our hostel owner recommended a place down the road, and even though it was a bit weird to be escorted through a family's living room, kitchen, and up 2 flights of stairs to the massage room, it was totally worth it. We were REALLY sore from a day of scrambling all over elephants, plus we got to wear super comfy thai fisherman pants during the massage and one hour cost only 150 baht ($5)!

In our lovely post-massage daze, we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around central Chiang Mai. This is the first chance we've had to see the city on foot, so it was super fun to stumble upon glittering Buddhist temples around every corner and stroll along the moat that surrounds the old town.

The first temple we came across was a giant stone ruin called Wot Chedi Luang and was situated in a very impressive square surrounded by smaller temples, statues, and prayer halls. There was also a Monk Chat Club that invited people to drop in and chat with the monks about Buddhism, monk life, Thai culture, or anything else you're interested in. They love to practice their English so any conversation topic is welcomed.

We continued strolling and came across a smaller temple called Wot Phan On which was over 700 years old and somehow seemed to still be in perfect condition. It was completely covered in solid gold and had the biggest gong I've ever seen, just begging to be rung! I respectfully restrained myself, but it wasn't easy.

As we were on our way back to the hostel, we happened to pass a big wall that lots of people were driving through, so we ducked our heads inside and what was on the other side? Oh, only the biggest temple in all of Chiang Mai! We felt a little dumb for not noticing Wot Pha Singh sooner, but we happily covered up with shawls and sat inside for a bit of a monk ceremony. The sing-song Thai chanting of 100 monks in unison was mesmerizing, especially combined with the ornate golden decor of the temple. The most interesting tale about this temple is that back in the 1400s the chariot carrying the Buddha broke down, so they just decided to give up and build the temple in that exact spot. Good on ya Thailand.

We finished the night off by watching the sunset from our hostel rooftop, Chang beer in hand. It was a pretty awesome way to finish a relaxing day.

The next day was our last day in lovely Chiang Mai, so we had considered booking a hiking trip in the mountains or a tour around the region to see some more temples. But then our hostel owner told us that our bus to Laos would be stopping at the famous White Temple for a toilet break on the way, so we decided "Good enough!" and booked a Thai Massage class for our last day instead!

We're pretty much obsessed with Thai massage, so it only seemed right to learn a few techniques on our last day in Thailand.

The class was about 6 hours long and we learned somewhere around 100 moves! It totally exceeded my expectations as I figured they wouldn't trust spazs like us to do anything more than toe rubs. Not gonna lie, we started out giving each other very mediocre massages, but after just a few hours, we were using our palms, fingers, forearms, knees, legs and feet to squeeze, twist, lock, stretch and crack like a pro. There was only one other girl in our class so it was very personal, and our teacher Ah was adorable and an excellent instructor. She wants us to come say hello next time we're in Thailand!

Performing the moves was surprisingly hard work and we'll definitely have to build up our core strength if we're ever going to give a decent massage - we were both shaking and sweating while trying to do a few of moves! I have a new-found respect for Thai masseuses and loved learning a bit of the trade. Even the butt and groin rubs were less awkward than I thought they'd be...although it does take our friendship to a whole new level of closeness!

After the massage class, we headed to the famous Sunday night market to spend our last night in Thailand indulging in lots and lots of street food. They close down one of the biggest streets in town for this market every Sunday, and it is HUGE. We walked through the market at a steady shuffle for 3 HOURS and there were still side streets and temple courtyards filled with food stalls that we didn't have time to explore. We managed to stuff ourselves beyond belief on popsicles, pork buns, won ton eggs on a stick, sweet potato, corn on the cob, ice cream, fish balls, strawberries, and noodles. This market had the most innovative and unique collection of street food I've ever seen, and as per usual, everything we tried was delicious (oh except the durian fruit I tried...those are really gross). There were lots of great clothes and souvenirs as well, and if we weren't confined to one 15kg backpack, we would've loved to bring the whole market home with us!

Thailand has treated us well and we've added some sweet new skills to our resume in Chiang Mai - Thai cooking, elephant riding, and now Thai massage. I don't mean to brag but...we're pretty awesome!

Who you callin' a mahout?

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For day two in Chiang Mai, we decided to increase our riding repetoire of interesting animals. We were picked up early and taken to Chiang Mai Elephant Camp, about an hour outside the city. Once there we changed into worn out denim shirts, baggy pants, and a straw hat: the uniform of the mahout, or elephant trainer. Our mahout class was comprised of 9 people and 4 elephants.

The morning was spent learning about the elephants; what they ate, how they lived, their physical characteristics, and how to control them. We got a quick overview of general Asian elephant facts, then were introduced to 4 of their herd. We took some time to get to know them and feed them some bananas purchased on the way to the camp. The professional mahouts took their share as well, and the 40-ish bananas we bought for the day disappeared way faster than we anticipated.

Next we learned how to control the elephants using words, a hooked stick, and our feet. Let me assure you from the start: these elephants were coming to no harm. The hooked sticks were made of bamboo and acted much like nudging someone with your elbow might. We all were a bit concerned about that at first, but it was obvious before long that it didn't hurt the elephants one bit. A bit annoying to them, maybe, but ultimately just a way of communication. We practiced the commands for a while, cheering on the others in the class when it wasn't our turn. Honestly, the elephants weren't really listening to us, but to the mahouts. The mahouts train with an individual elephant for a year or more, striking up a strong bond of respect and love. An hour of mispronouncing the Thai command words probably didn't immediately endear us to them.

Lunch was greatly welcomed and comprised of chicken curry, cucumber soup, and fresh fruit. In the afternoon the real fun began. We all got onto the elephants bareback to take a walk down the river. A French couple, a British/South African couple, and two British sisters each had one elephant, while Caz and I shared the biggest one, Som Si, with a Norwegian girl named Mary-Lou. Som Si was 26 and very reliable and patient. Her mahout (whose name I never caught) was friendly and very funny.

As we plodded along towards the river, Sandy and Ania, the British sisters, in front of us began having some trouble with their elephant. It seemed she was just not interested in this little trek and kept swerving off the trail to have a snack. Her mahout was very young and not having much luck getting the elephant to listen. After repeated attempts to get the elephant on track, they eventually had to get off. Instead of just walking the rest of the way, we offered to let them join us on Som Si, something her mahout agreed to. Thus the strong and patient Som Si carried all five of us girls to the bathing area of the river.

As soon as we got there, we were attacked by the two couples who had already arrived and begun washing their elephants, so we were soaked before even touching the water. Once we were off Som Si, "bathing the elephants" turned into a full-fledged water fight as we all threw buckets of water at each other. The elephants, in the meantime, just closed their eyes and sat through it all. Bless their hearts. After we were all suitably wet, we were given soapy bark to rub down our elephants with. Then Som Si and her mahout gave us all the opportunity to get a picture standing on a standing elephant. It was pretty cool, if a bit nerve-wracking.

The elephants and their riders were all fresh and clean, so it was time for the second part of the river walk. Since it wasn't really fair to have 5 people on one elephant, they brought a new one over to replace the naughty one. The British girls were spooked, however, and refused to go on any elephant except Som Si. So Caz and I took her instead. Her name was Boi, and she was 75! A venerable lady. She wasn't really inclined to listen to my commands, and I wasn't really inclined to push the matter. She knew the way and took her own time about it, and I knew enough to respect my elders. Her mahout took over Caz's camera and snapped some shots of us, although most of the time he just looked through the pictures saved on the memory.

The second half of the walk ended with a mudbath, something the elephants supposedly like in order to cool themselves. The mahouts encouraged us to wade in there with them and help smear the mud on their skin. I don't know who threw first, but it almost instantly became a massive mud fight. The riders and a couple of the mahouts went nuts, covering each other head to toe, flinging it across the pool, and rubbing it into each other's hair. The elephants, for their part, all left the pool and had nothing to do with the shenanigans. The mud fight went on for a good long while, but finally we all dragged ourselves out and walked back to the camp center, all of us an appealing olivey brown color. Oh, except for the French couple, who opted out of the immaturity. Their loss!

We hopped back in the river to clean off, then bought pictures and watching video of our day. We paid our respects to the elephant spirit with incense provided by our class leader before getting a ride back to Chiang Mai. Arriving back after dark, we decided to meet Sandy and Ania at the Night Bazaar after a shower. Stalls lined the streets just outside the central city, and inside the market pavilion, more vendors showed their wares as fabulous ladyboys invited us to their free cabaret. We opted for some pad thai and Chang beer instead.

We got back to our hostel just around midnight, exhausted but with a certificate in basic mahout training. Plus Caz got some pretty cool shades. Success!

How do you say 'turkey' in Thai?

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We made it to Chiang Mai! It was no simple journey, let me tell you. It started with a 2 1/2 hour van ride to Krabi, complete with two tiny blonde children yet again. Then, after an hour at a rather sketchy transportation agency, we got in another van and were taken to another sketchy transportation agency. From there it was onto a bus that definitely looked as though it had seen better days. Still, it made the 4 hour journey to Surat Thani. We switched again (after eating some terrible noodles), this time to a significantly flashier bus, and rode another 9 hours to Bangkok. We had a very brief time in the capitol: just enough to get to the train station, stretch our legs, and get on the train to Chiang Mai. The 15 hour trek had us pretty darn happy to reach a shower and bed.

Despite the day and a half of straight travel, Caz and I were up early. It was Thanksgiving, after all! We were far from turkey and pie and green bean casserole, but that wasn't going to stop us from eating ourselves into a coma. We signed up to do a cooking course at Baan Thai cooking school. Our class consisted of a couple girls from Holland, one from Spain, and an American couple. There were five courses to be made, and for each we got to choose from three dishes.

My menu was:

 - Stir-fried prawns with curry powder

 - Spring rolls

 - Seafood in coconut milk soup

 - Green curry with chicken

 - Mango with sticky rice

Caz's looked like this:

 - Pad thai

 - Spring rolls

 - Chicken in Coconut milk soup

 - Chiang Mai noodles

 - Deep fried bananas

In the beginning Bat (I think? She said it means "duck" in Thai), an English major at Chiang Mai University and a trainee at the cooking school, explained the technique for making sticky rice and took us on a tour of the loal market, pointing out all the ingredients we would be using. She was quite nervous as it was her first time leading the first part of the class, and her English had some gaps, but she was very nice and cute and tried hard to get everything across to us.

When we returned we had a few snacks from the market, then got into the good stuff. The teachers divided to dishes between two kitchens, and everyone who prepared the same dish prepared their own ingredients and cooked them side by side as the teacher gave instructions. It was pretty quick, as most cooking must be, and if it were left to my memory, there's no way these dishes would ever get a repeat performance. Luckily we were given a very helpful recipe book, so we'll be able to get some hints if we forget anything. Once our dishes were done, we rejoined our table and all ate together.

All 5 courses followed the same pattern, with about an hour to walk around the neighborhood and digest between the soup and curry courses. We ate all the dishes we created, and it was good. Very good. Anyone who knows Caz and me is aware that a triple decker PB&J is the height of our cooking prowess. As unbelievable as it sounds, however, we succeeded in making some really delicious Thai dishes. Of my menu I think the stir-fried praws or the coconut milk soup were the best. I loved Caz's Chiang Mai noodles and deep fried bananas too. Of course, you can't go wrong with staples such as pad thai, spring rolls, and mango sticky rice either.

It was a day full of incredibly tasty food, and we ate to bursting. We left Baan Thai feeling sleepy and fulfilled, just as one should at Thanksgiving. Happy holidays!

Under the Sea in Koh Lanta

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On our second day on Koh Lanta, we wandered over to a dive shop called "Dive and Relax" at the resort next door to again take advantage of our new scuba certification. The trip scheduled for the next day was to Koh Haa, a group of 6 tiny islands only 45 minutes away, so we jumped onboard and signed up (pun intended). Then we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to keep up with our busy schedule of sunbathing, daquiris, and relaxing in the massage cabana on the beach. Nobody needs to remind us how tough our lives are right now!

We also found a cute little outdoor restaurant/barber shop? on the main street and over the next 3 days helped ourselves to cheap and delicious pad thai, pad see ew, masaman curry, pineapple milkshakes, and banana and chocolate thai pancakes. The adorable lady that worked there was amazed that we could eat so much and still have room for mango sticky rice for dessert! It's kinda how we roll.

The morning of our dive trip was overcast and threatening rain, but we didn't mind because we knew we'd be spending the whole day underwater! Apparently marine life is a lot more active on stormy days, so diving is really the best way to spend a rainy day on a tropical island. We waded onto our speed boat that left from the beach right in front of our resort, and sped across the Andaman Sea towards Koh Haa, passing all the other companies with slow boats that had left hours earlier. Suckers!

We had a really sweet German divemaster named Sandra who seemed to love shrimp as she pointed out different types to us in nearly every crevice we swam past on our first dive. The site was GORGEOUS (and dare I say rivalled the Great Barrier Reef), and we dove along a spectacular reef wall covered in giant blue sea stars with 20 meters of visibility (compared to only 3m at Pulau Payar in Malaysia). The schools of glass fish were so big and thick, sometimes we had to wave them out of the way just to see the coral! We saw some really interesting things like giant clams, lionfish, cleaner fish that kept trying to clean our legs, pufferfish, moon wrasses, a banded sea snake, christmas tree worms, nudibranchs, GIANT moray eels, squid, and a big ole barracuda. It was so amazing and overwhelming to roll over and watch the marine life gracefully swimming around you in every direction as far as the eye can see.

After our first dive, we were served a yummy rice and chicken lunch on the boat, as well as unlimited bottled water, sodas, and iced coffee. Three helpings later we were struggling to get back into our wetsuits but excited to see what our second dive held for us.

The second dive had equally stunning fish and coral, but the real highlight was the underwater cave. Real cave diving requires special training, certifications, and equipment, but this cave opened up inside and had a place where we could surface in an emergency, so it provided a really unique opportunity for beginner scuba divers. Words can not describe how beautiful it was swimming into the back of the coral cave and turning around to see the sunlight streaming in through the opening. There wasn't much going on inside the cave besides one sleeping moorish idol (you know him as Gill from Finding Nemo...), but the scenery was incredible and the adrenaline rush of swimming through a small tunnel to exit the cave has been unmatched in my diving so far.

It was a sad touch of reality when we surfaced at the end of the dive to the cloudy skies and rain. Everything is so peaceful and beautiful and dreamlike underwater that it's always sad when it comes to an end, but on the bright side, we set a new personal record of 59 minutes underwater!

The ride back to Koh Lanta was pretty rough with the waves and rain, but the staff served us heaps of freshly sliced pineapple and watermelon which definitely helped! When we got back to our resort, our divemaster sat with us and helped filled out our dive log books and flipped through fish books showing us what species we had seen that day. Overall a great day of diving and we would definitely recommend Dive and Relax to anyone staying on Koh Lanta.

The rain looks like it's sticking around, so we're leaving our peaceful retreat to head to what we hear is a great city in the far north of Thailand, Chiang Mai. Looking forward to it but first we have to make it through the overnight bus and all day train to get there. Here goes nothing!

สวัสดี from Thailand!

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Our first day in Thailand started out a little rough. We've been quite spoiled by the ease and comfort of Malaysian transportation, so we were a bit cranky when our ferry from Langkawi landed in Satun, Thailand and we were crammed into a small van with 4 other backpackers, several locals, a few deliveries, and a Swedish family with 2 toddlers...adorable blonde kids but not the kind of passengers you want to share a 5 hour van ride with! We thought our trip to Koh Lanta would be straightforward enough, but after several hours, they emptied us out at a random travel agency in Trang, and then 20 minutes later loaded us back up into a different van, where we spent the next few hours making deliveries, waiting in line for car ferries, watching our driver relieve himself on the side of the road, and trying to block out the crying toddlers with our headphones. To make matters worse, the resort where we wanted to stay gave away our room while we were in transit.

Not knowing where we were or where we should stay on Koh Lanta, we asked the driver to drop us off at Sanctuary, a humble resort on Phrae Ae beach that was listed in Lonely Planet. Instantly our luck started to change. They had space for us to stay as long as we liked, and they gave us a cute bamboo thatched bungalow with our own open air toilet and shower attached to the back for only 500 baht per night ($8 each).

Sanctuary is a simple, family owned place right on the beach and has an incredibly relaxed vibe. After such a long day of travel, we headed straight for their Bongo Bar and selflessly helped train the owners' son in mixology by ordering as many frozen cocktails as possible. Sipping a banana colada while watching the sunset glow across the Andaman Sea was the perfect cure for a bad mood, but we took it one step further and topped the night off with a 1 hour oil massage on the beach for only 300 baht ($10). The next 24 hours were spent alternating between frozen cocktails, sunbathing, thai massages, pedicures (we have flowers painted on our toenails!), reading in a hammock, playing with puppies, and of course eating delicious thai food.

I think it's safe to say we'll be spending a few days on Koh Lanta...