Month: May 2017

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Laos

~ Julie M. ~ Leave a comment

Laos is a slow-paced, laid back country which you must allow to operate on its own time. The nature is vast and beautiful, the villages are simple yet serene and the people are kind and usually smiling.

We had a slow start to our Lao chapter, arriving in Huay Xai from Thailand, which is really more of a tourist catch-all for various activity start points than an actual village. We spent three nights in this town, never consecutive, as we, too, needed it as a base to visit some other attractions. As a town, it was a bit over-priced and underwhelming, with very few things to see or even decent restaurants to relax at. We went, first, to the far-north villages of Luang Namtha and, by motorbike on a winding road that wrapped around the mountains, to Muang Sing, just 13 km from China and 32 km from Myanmar. The very few restaurant-type operations that we did find were mostly all closed. Eventually, a woman approached us and brought us to her “coffee shop” (read: home) and made us fried rice with egg. Something we are, by now, very well acquainted with on this trip. But the north is less about the towns and more about the lush green countryside and catching the occasional glimpse of the local indigenous tribeswomen selling jewelry or opium. Jasper was feeling ill, so we kept it low-key, found a nice bakery in Luang Namtha and drank tea/coffee and read our books during a rainy afternoon.

After another overnight in Huay Xai, we headed out for the highlight of our Lao experience and one of my highlights of the full year: the Gibbon Experience. I remember, back in university, someone telling me about this tree-top ziplining course out in the jungle and I was absolutely in awe, so it was a bit of a dream to actually do this. You are taken out into remote parts of the jungle to take a series of ziplines from high up on the mountains to eventually land in an actual, full-size tree house, fit to feed and sleep 15 people. The zips were very high and it was a bit frightening at first and definitely a huge adrenaline rush but also one of the most spectacular views I’ve had. And the feeling of soaring alog, high above the trees is unparalleled. The treehouse, alone, was a highlight; just being out in nature, high above the ground, with beautiful views, sipping on a coffee. I can’t really describe it with due justice; if you ever have this opportunity, take it, take it, take it! We stayed one night and I hated to leave but we had a nice zip course and hike back to civilization (somewhat), ending in a very small village where there was a lake to swim in while the local women prepared a lunch for us.

Our next journey was also a destination in itself. We took a two-day slow boat down the murky brown Mekong river. We spent about 8 hours each day in the boat as it rocked us slowly all the way down to our final stop in the Mekong region: Luang Prabang. We stopped overnight at the small town of Pekbang and enjoyed the forced relaxation and scenic views of the mountains and riverside towns.

Our final three days in Luang Prabang were a nice wrap up to this chapter. The self-proclaimed jewel of Southeast Asia, it truly is a beautiful and tranquil town. Built up alongside the Mekong, you can spend your days strolling along the riverside and stopping at the quaint little cafes and restaurants. There are some nice temples and a hilltop shrine with large Buddha statues and a vantage point to see the whole town. Nearby are the Kuang Si waterfalls, which drop from a cliff and then stream down into cascading azure pools that you can swim and splash around in. With the heat and humidity, it is bliss and was, for us, the perfect ending to exploring this beautiful country.

As for what we ate, it was a lot of the same dishes that we had seen in Thailand and even Vietnam, though a bit pricier. I continued to love the fresh fruit and juices, the sticky rice that is unique in Laos, small coconut pancakes and our final dinner, a BBQ buffet. I’m getting hungry again just thinking about it… ❤

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Thailand

~ Julie M. ~ Leave a comment

I have been looking forward to visiting Thailand ever since I last left it, eight years ago. The country is so rich in culture, ancient ruins, beautiful beaches and delicious food. We began our trip on the sandy shores of White Sand Beach on the island of Koh Chang. I had been here on vacation when I was teaching overseas and was anxious to show Jasper the beautiful shores, turquoise waters and eclectic collection of colourful ramshackle beach huts. On first impression, I noticed that many of these huts had given way to modern, up-scale resorts. I was worried that my special little paradise was lost to gentrification, but, after a day or so of exploring, we found that many of the old beach huts did still remain on the north end of the beach, including the very one in which I had stayed with friends on my last visit. We were certainly there on the tail end of the tourist season, so there was not much partying or nightlife, but for the two of us on our world trip, it was the perfect laid-back, low key stop to spend four days resting, swimming, snorkeling, eating on the beach and getting massages.

We were glad to have the downtime before moving on to fast-paced Bangkok, where we spent three days, which was plenty. We hit up the major attractions: the presidential palace (which, though overpriced, was a spectacular blur of sparkling tiles and gold tipped roofs), the giant reclining Buddha – among many others- at Wat Pho, some of the smaller temples, the chaos of restaurants, bars, shops and debauchery that is Khao San Road and we caught a performance of the tradition theatre called Khon, which is somewhat like an opera, but more ‘musically spoken’ than outright sung. It was a good experience and the costumes were beautiful, but it was a bit slow moving and likely only something you need to do once. We went out one night on Khao San for some obligatory bucket drinks and dancing and then we were more or less ready to move on.

We took a long bus up north to the city of Sukhothai, which was the capital empire of the Mekong region immediately after Angkor Wat. It was a mighty hot day (38 degrees, sunny and humid), but we rented bikes and drove the 45 or so kilometres to and around the old ruins, temples and Buddhas and it was one of the most beautiful bike rides you could do (or so I, as an inexperienced biker, would imagine). We nearly dropped from the heat at the end so we stopped in an air conditioned café for iced coffees and to wait for the room to stop spinning before heading back to our hotels. We also visited a night market for dinner, where there was live music and a lively atmosphere and, graciously, virtually no other tourists. We were very happy to make a stop that felt a little less on the beaten path and experience authentic Thai culture a little better.

We arrived in the northern city of Chiang Mai just in time for Songkran (Thai New Year). Basically, during this week, and especially on the 13th of April, the whole city shuts down and becomes a massive water-gun fight. Kids and adults alike line up along the old town river and fish up bucket after bucket of water to throw on passersby. Trucks drive around all day with people in the back tossing out water at others on the sidewalks and it is virtually impossible not to be completely saturated after about ten minutes. We bought guns and buckets and spent the day playing along and dancing in the streets to live music. It was a definitely highlight to be able to participate in such a fun and energetic holiday. We need to bring this back home to Canada!

Other than Songkran activities, Chiang Mai has a beautiful old town that is chock-filled with temples on virtually every street. We spent the better part of a day exploring them and probably didn’t even make it to half. New and old, wood, stone and synthetic, there is a temple for everyone in this city. We had also planned on spending a day tubing down a river outside of town, but, sadly, the company that had been offering this had closed down two months prior to our arrival. Instead, we went to the ‘Grand Canyon,’ which is a former mining dredge that has been filled with water and made into a bit of a fun park for cliff-jumping, swimming and lounging around. In this extreme heat, it was a bit of a godsend. We booked a room with a fan rather than AC and all I can say is – NEVER AGAIN. I probably lost five pounds in sweat alone.  🙂

Luckily, the temperature dropped to a merciful 30 degrees when we went to Chiang Rai, which is further north still and in the golden triangle (bordering Laos and Myanmar, a former gateway for the opium trade). We arrived on a cloudy afternoon and went to the one restaurant that was open as most things were still closed for Songkran during the day. The family of the restaurant owners were out front throwing water buckets at passing cars (who were also armed) and invited us to join along. They were incredibly friendly, offering us snacks and drinks, and we spent some time playing and trying to communicate with them.

The next day, we rented a motorbike and took off to explore all of the attractions lying around the city including the modern and elaborately designed White Temple, with mirrors lining all of the curves making it really sparkle. It was a bit morbid as well, with grotesque porcelain heads hanging from trees and gnarled hands reaching out of a pond. Though from a distance, it shines like a diamond. We visited, next, it’s macabre counterpart, the Black House, which is multi-building project by a local artist and every building brings its own brand of dark and sinister décor, including animal hides, bones and skulls. We shivered our way out of there and stopped at two more beautiful temple complexes. One was entirely blue, and one had small temples with blue, deep red and gold embellishments. Both had massive Buddhas inside and, for the new year, large piles of sand out front decorated in tree branches and streamers. Our final stop was the giant, 7-foot-tall, Goddess statue and adjacent temple and pagoda. I joined others in pouring water into the hands of monks to wish them a new year before riding back to back. We visited the Saturday night walking street for a final Thai dinner of pad thai (what else) and then walked back in the rain for our final sleep before heading to Laos.

Almost everything I have eaten here has been delicious and I only regret that I could not eat more things (or more of the same things). My favourites were the curries – green, yellow, red, padang, pad thai, cashew nut chicken, mango sticky rice (mango anything, really!), fresh fruit smoothies, basil pork, tom yum soup, spicy pork noodle soup with wontons and Kao Soi, a local Chiang Mai dish, made with noodles in a thick curry gravy, crunchy noodles, chicken and pickled veggies. I will miss each and every one of these things and am grateful that Toronto has so much Thai food to ease my return. ❤

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Cambodia

~ Julie M. ~ Leave a comment

 

We got to Phnom Penh in the early evening, which is the perfect time to arrive. If you walk to the waterfront, the city comes alive. Mini lights are strung up all around, children are outside playing and the sun is setting over the top of the palace. We strolled along, with no real plans, getting a drink and some street food to eat while sitting in the grass. Phnom Penh is impressive and, coming from Vietnam, what is really striking are the colours. The building are white and orange, with gold embelishments and fine, ornate detailing. In the heart of the city, you would not be aware that is among the poorest countries in the region nor of its tragic recent past.

We spent the better part of the next day digging into this past. In 1979, Pol Pot and his communist army, the Khmer Rouge, overthrew the government and created an intense agrarian society which forced all citizens to live in countryside farming plots that essentially became labour camps. It was declared Year Zero. People starved to death. Anyone with any education, money or ties to the former government were killed, often bludgeoned to death with farm tools. By the end of the four-year rule, over a quarter of the country had been killed off. It is impossible to visit Cambodia and not hear of this. One of the nearby killing fields and a genocide museum serve as top tourist attractions in Phnom Penh, to pay tribute to those lost but also as a reminder that these acts of atrocity are never far away and we must be vigilant in how we manage power. Both the fields and museum were very sad but well-organized and highly insightful.

We also visited the presidential palace which is immense and attractive, decorated in the white, orange and gold scheme. We nearly got scammed as a tuk tuk driver approached us and told us that the palace was closed due to a local holiday and offered to take us to some other attractions a bit further away. We considered it but decided not to, only to find that the palace was, in fact, open, and that this is a common ploy to dupe tourists.

From Phnom Penh, we headed on to the city of Siem Reap, the overly-touristic jumping off point to visit the temples of Angkor. While the city did not feel very authenticly Cambodian, the temples were absolutely spectacular. Build in the early twelfth century, it is the largest temple complex in the world and Angkor Wat is the largest religious building of any denomination. It was miraculously spared by the Khmer Rouge and a symbol of fierce national pride for Cambodians. We rented bikes on our first day and toured around the largest sub-complex, that of Angkor Thom as well as some of the smaller ruins in the area. On our second day, we hired a tuk tuk and got to Angkor Wat at 5:45 a.m. so that we could watch the sun rise over the buildings before going in to explore. We also went to a small but beautiful pink temple, about 20 km onwards from the rest. This was thought to be built by women as the designs are so intricate that it would impossible for men to create. It was very beautiful and worth the detour. One of our favourite stops that day was Tah Prohm, which has been less excavated that the others, allowing trees and brush to overgrow on the site. It is really a struggle of man vs nature, and, as Jasper says, makes you feel like Indiana Jones. (We took too many photos to count. Below are just a few.)

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After Angkor Wat, we wanted to see something of Cambodia that was not strictly touristic, so we spent two nights in the smaller city of Battambang. While not being touristic means that there are not so many attractions to see, I am glad that we made this stop. Aside from just allowing some down time, we got to explore some smaller, active temples and get a better feel for daily life. We had what was surely the most painful massage of my life. Word to the wise – do not do a khmer massage. I felt like I was being punished for something. But the concept was interesting – the massages are given by blind people who would otherwise have difficulty getting work. And they certainly thought it was funny when I was howling in pain. The highlight of Battambang was a ‘circus’ performed by local artists, who were taken off the streets as children or teens and trained in the arts so that they can have a lucrative future. It was a mix of theatre, performance art and gymnastics and done with incredible talent. It was like a low-budget Cirque de Soleil – though equally impressive. ❤