DATE: October 7, 2005
New Photos:
Markets in Bangkok, Cooking in Chiang Mai, & Flooding in Pai
Northern Laos
In the last few weeks, I've wandered from huge markets in Bangkok, to cooking in the north of Thailand, getting flooded out, and landing in Laos. It's been an exciting few weeks! In many ways I feel like the real travel is just beginning...
I mentioned flooding in Chiang Mai in my last update. Well... it had been a month since the flood when I got there, and the night market was JUST reopening. I decided to try my hand at left-of-the-road motorcycle riding and happily clutched the keys to my shiny newly-rented 100cc Honda Dream. Of course I picked rush hour to start, and managed to get myself completely lost! (Reading signs in Thai can be a problem). ;) After four and a half months of being in left-lane countries, driving on the left was luckily a snap. It was dealing with what I call "flow motion" that was more exhilirating. Trying to see where everyone is as well as decide which way to turn, all at the same time.
I spent my birthday in Chiang Mai, aside from doing a visa-run to Burma, and had a great time. Somehow we went from 3 people to over 15, and I got to explore the night scene in style. :) Randomly, bumped into one of my best diving buddies from Koh Phi Phi, Isabelle.
The rolling birthday bar
How to drink from a bucket
I also took a day-long cooking course with a couple from New York (he's from Italy) who are also travelling the world with no schedule.
The result of a day's cooking class: mmm...
After this, we continued north to Pai. Apparently it is "good luck" if Gecko poo lands on you (from the little guys hanging about the ceiling), or so the Thai people say. I learned the hard way. ;) Anyway it must not have worked, because we proceeded to get flooded out of town the next day, the DAY before we were meant to go rafting, of course. This was the storm from the typhoon that hit Vietnam, which some of you may have heard about. My aforementioned friends ran out of their bungalow in water over waist deep! They had to wade through a strong current of flood-soup before they finally made it to my place. Luckily (OK, maybe the gecko poo does actually work) I was in a guesthouse that was on higher ground and I stayed dry. I still decided to leave immediately to stay ahead of the water... Back in Chiang Mai, they were awaiting the same flood (downstream). I booked a ticket to Laos for the next morning, and from the plane I could see just how flooded it got. Word is the river rose 4.7 meters.
And that brings me to Laos. That's pronounced "Lao" btw - the French added the damn silent 's' which apparently has resulted in most of the world mispronouncing the name, including me until I got here!
I flew to Luang Prabang, which has sleepy old French colonial buildings and sits peacefully along the Mekong river.
What. A. Wonderful. Place.
It is truly spectacular. I shouldn't tell you - it's the best kept secret EVER! Well, maybe it's not such a secret anymore... people are definitely discovering this country, which I am calling the New Zealand of Asia. You can see it changing before your eyes. But it was everything I was looking for in northern Thailand but couldn't find - it isn't hard to get off the beaten track here!
The Mekong in Luang Prabang
A temple
The Mekong at Sunset
Still itching to go rafting, I signed up for a kayak/rafting trip from there. Ended up breaking my right middle toe during a river rescue where a couple tipped from their kayak in the middle of a class III rapid. I learned a lot about river rescues that day! Namely that it's wise to keep your sandals on, so when you walk along the sharp riverbank (after your kayak also tips due to mishandled rescuing), you can protect your feet... I guess I learned a bit from that "mishandled rescue" part as well... that it's best not to paddle toward the frothy side of the river when towing a panicked swimmer.
Just before "The Incident"
Children on a natural waterslide (better said, mudslide) :)
Child during alms-giving at dawn
From here I went north to a very small village (with only 4 hours of electricity a day) named Muang Ngoi where I got to go hiking a bit (complete with broken toe). I limited myself to dayhikes, so don't worry. The highlight of the trip was walking through striking green rice paddy fields surrounded by limestone peaks up to a village you can only reach by foot, trying to communicate with locals in Lao, and serenading little girls with "Old McDonald Had a Farm" etc. only to be outdone by them when they serenaded us in Lao!
Children in a small village north of Muang Noi
Rice farmer
Playing around in a waterfall
Now I'm back in Luang Prabang, just had a FABULOUS 2-HOUR massage for... can you guess? SIX DOLLARS. haha. :) Heading south in the morning. We'll see how things go down there - I hear this place has no end to its wonderful experiences. I can't wait. :)
p.s. More roosters in Muang Ngoi. I have no qualms about eating chicken. ;)
p.p.s. Yet another Dori reference from folks I met in Bangkok. Hmm.