I booked a highly rated hostel in Luang Prabang (A World Heritage site in Laos, Described by my friend Thy as the best place to chill in asia) called SpicyLaos. In some
ways it was great. The manager was extremely helpful. They organized excursions
for a lot less then the tour offices in town. Group dinners were organized and
we all sat together for the free breakfast, so the place was very social. They
even had a very nice TV/DVD room with great surround sound and free internet
that worked pretty well. If I was there in the summer I would have loved it, but
when I was there it was near freezing at night (2 C my first night), the place
was built like an outhouse, so it was extremely cold, with only a thin blanket.
So I did not get much sleep. The bathroom/showers where shared and in an adjoining structure, and the floors were often wet (so my pants kept getting wet)
and did not have toilet paper (its really a pain to go back to your stuff, to
get your toilet paper, every time you need to go...). The communal area, other
than the tv and internet, was outside, so that did not work that well in the
cold. Anyway, I spent 1 day just relaxing around town, spent a second night in
spicylaos and then moved.
Actually, I was having trouble planning a trip. I wanted to do a multi-day
excursion with one of the few reputable ourdoor oporators in town, but most of
them charged lots extra if you are alone, and I could not find a group to
join.
Anyway, a few words about Luang Prabang in Laos. It was a beautiful town at
the confluence of 2 rivers (Mekong and Nam Khan), surrounded by jungles and
mountains. The town itself is filled with Buddhist temples (Wats). Both the
Laosian food and lots of french influenced western food is terrific. I ate
really well in town. Its also the most chill place I have been in asia (Good Call, Thy!). Very few people
hastle you to buy stuff, but there is plenty to do and buy if you want it, and
the people are helpful. I really like Luang Prabang (it reminded me some of
Dali, in Yunnan). My biggest criticism of the place is that its a victum of its
own success. There are more tourists than locals there, and prices are triple
what was listed in my guidebook. I eventually found a nicer guesthouse, and made
plans for the next 2 days. I also was trying to figure out how long to stay and
how to get to Chaing Mai, Thailand.
Anyway, my second day, was also chill. I took a cooking class at Tamnak
Lao, (where I had eaten an amazing ginger infused fish dish the night before),
and learned how make a few absolutely delicious Laosian dishes. I really like
the interplay of lots of different flavours that occurs in Laosian food. I am
not sure how to describe it. Its a bit closer to Vietnamese (espeically in its
use of lemongrass) than anything else in the region, but it really is quite
distinct. After a visit to the market, we cooked 2 dishes for lunch (Yum!), and
3 more for dinner (Yum!, Yum!), we got to feast.
The next day I booked a 1 day trip to do Elephant riding and see a
waterfall in the morning, and go white water kayaking (on the Nam Khan) back to
town in the afternoon. This was run by Tiger Trail, one of the first ecotourist
outfits in the area. It was great, and they only charged me a small extra fee
for being the only person to book this trip (lots of people were doing the
morning activities as part of 1 and 2 day trips, but no one else wanted to
kayak). Tom from my cooking class and his wife Aish were there in the morning as
well, I had lunch with them at this lovely jungle resort on the river operated
by Tiger Trail (or their partner operation) and I made plans with them for
dinner.
Anyway, the trip was great. After a bus, to another bus, to a boat to cross
the river, and then a short walk, we got to the elephant camp. The elephant had
a driver/trainer called a mahout. the Mahout was on the elephants neck, and
there was a seat on the back with room for 2 people to sit. I was rushed a bit
and told to sit on the seat. We started to go down the trail, and the ride was a
bit boring for the first 15 minutes. But then the driver and I changed places
and I got on the elephants neck. The Mahout called out commands, and the
elephant gracefully guided me down a path, through some mud, through a stream,
into the river, and back up an embankment. As we went down the hill, the elephant
pressed his ears against me to hold me still. What a good elephant. I alternated
trying to take some photos, with giving my dear sweet elephant a massage just
behind his head (the top of his head has a hard shell, but just behind that its
very soft). The trek was hard work for the elephant, and I felt a little bad
about taking the ride, since I think between the two of us (Me plus Mahout), we
were a bit heavy, but the elephant handled it well. I had a very good elephant.
Anyway, after returning to the camp, I bought a large batch of bannana's and fed
my sweet elephant. I also fed my Mahout. Now that was fun visit.
Next we went to small set of cascading waterfalls. I took a short swim,
walked around, took some photos, and we caught another boat ride to the lodge
for lunch. After lunch, it was time to kyack. I did not get much safety
instruction (and while I have kyacked before and white water rafted before, I
did not know how to roll). Luckily it was just class 1 and class 2 rapids. The
water level was low (5 meters below the rainy season) and it was shallow in
places, and it was not even clear in a few places which way the current was
going, so it was hard work, especially in the early stretch before the rapids started. I went in 1 kayak and my guide took another. For the
few class 2 rapids, I followed him through the rapids. Anyway there was no
problems, and I made it back in 2:50 for a trip that they said might take up to
4 hours. We did see great scenery. First the river and mountains were amazing.
there were water buffalo by the side of the river. There were local villagers,
removing rocks or dirt from the river to build with. And it was peaceful. Sadly,
I could not take any photos since my camera was in the dry bag.
Finally, I had dinner with Tom and Aish at the Indochina Spirit
(reccomended in To Asia With Love) which was great, we sat on pillows ate good
food, and listened to live music of local music (which was similar in some ways
to Gamelon, with this huge curving Zylophone like instument). I also ran into a
couple I had met un Kumning months earlier, and they told me about there guest
house ($12 including HBO a few blocks away from the center of town, I instead
paid $15 for a nice clean place with no amenities, 1 block from the center of
town, and right by the river). Finally I ended the day with a massage. I had to
put on some special clothing and got a very good 1 hour massage with lots of
twisting of the body for about $5.
The next morning was chill. I finally decided to fly to Chaing Mai rather
than have an adventure (2 days by overcrouded boat with very uncomfortable seat,
or so I am told, then 6 hours by bus)- I wanted to leave sunday (today was
friday) but there were no flights, so I booked for saturday afternoon. I then
booked a trip in the afternoon to see the famous waterfalls with a short stop at
a village at the end. Just before I was leaving I ran into a guy I had met at my
guesthouse in Chendgu 2 months earlier. Now this is a funny story. There is an
austrialian junior bridge player named justin howard and I had been getting
travel updates by email from a justin howard, starting with places in
china shortly after the beijing world championships ended. I assumed that
it was this Justin, although I don't actually know him, we do have friends in
common (I still was suprised to be getting those emails). Well, it wasn't. This
fellow I had met in Chendgu, who is from London was the real
Justin Howard in my emails. So I arranged to have dinner with him for after my
trip.
Anyway, back to the trip. The waterfall was nice. I took some photos and
then went up to the top with a guy from Venice beach and a guy from the
Netherlands. We took some nice photos and then on my way back down I ran into
Tom and Aish again, so I stopped and chatted with them. After a few more photos
from different angles I went back to the tuk-tuk. We then went to a village. This
was the low point of my trip (lower than freezing and getting no sleep). It was
a cartoon. The children were trrained to perform for the tourists. Everyone was
selling something (ok they have to earn money), but there was nothing resembling
village life to see there and it left a very bitter taste in my mouth.
Finally I ran into this women Mel from Calgary who I had met my first
evening in town and her boyfriend Dave. They were going to Chaing Mai the next
day also, so we agreed to share a cab. The logistics were tricky. I was suppossed to get a cab, drive slowly by the street next to the Mekong river, and pick them up somewhere along it.
My final day I woke up early to see the monks getting alms. At around 6-6:30, the monks walk though town, and people place rice and other food in their bowls, which is the only food they eat all day. I think they also share somne of the food with the poor. Anyway, before I knew what had happened, people started putting food in my hands to give to the monks, and charging me for it (3 things worth of food cost me $4, about triple the going rate for the stuff, so it was more like charity to the people selling the food than to the monks). Anyway, I gave the food to the mionks as the came by, usually a small handful of rice with a bannana. I also got to take a few photos.
After running into these two Australian women from my Elephant ride (we took photos of each other, which reminds me I need to find the photos and email them), and chatting with them for a while. I went up to the top of the hill in town for some photos
(great view) and then headed to catch the plane. The logisitics did work, as mel and Dave arrived at the street just as we got to there spot (I had to tell my driver to wait 15 minutes so that we didn't leave too early to meet my friends). I am glad I booked the 1PM
flight, becuase the 8:30 AM flight had been canceled and everyone was rebooked
at 1 PM...
