Well....time for bed - should be easy - we hiked all day in mostly monsoon rain conditions, up and down hills and valleys, enjoyed amazing visits, delicious local food, etc... We were settling in just fine. Our guide actually brought in a candle because there were no lights - anywhere. However, Chris had his iphone and I had a kindle reading light (because we were so-roughing it) and were about to go to sleep anyway. Of course, I knew I wouldn't want to get out of bed in the middle of the night all alone in the dark so I thought I might sneak out to the restroom (or "donation toilet") before tucking in the mosquito net for food. As I put down the kindle and prepared to step out off the mosquito-netted platform. I eyed several eyes looking back at me amidst eight very hairy legs. Fortunately the beast was outside the mosquito net, but my heart skipped a beat and my jaw dropped and for a moment I was unable to communicate my thoughts...I managed to alert Chris and pointed to the giant spider on the woven wall separating the platform into semi-private sleeping areas. He informed me that there were probably more and helpfully shined the iPhone flashlight around to reveal several more large spiders around the mosquito net, just hanging out on the "wall." At this point, I got am outside the mosquito net and am not in a very courageous stance. Our guide hears me and comes out of his platform section a few feet away. He tries to spray the spider nearest my side with bug spray, this method was ineffective for the first few squirts, the spider just stayed there so he tried to brush it away with the can....the spider ran/fell away from it's hunting stance straight down into the nebulous space between the floor/wall of woven bamboo - with no way of knowing if it had instead crawled right into the bedding. So now I feel more miserable and Chris - still inside the mosquito net is scrambling to check and see if our spider friend is, in deed, planning to cuddle up with me in the bedding - really breaks out the "newlywed husband line of the century" as I say I'm heading out to the bathroom and looking Chris for reassurance - secretly he wants to come out there and stand by the door just in case I'm too scared and too proud to ask for such unnecessary help..."If they're in here, they're definitely going to be in the bathroom." What reassurance! now I could know with certainty that something giant and gross, but not lethal could join me anywhere in this Hmong paradise. I bravely set out and walked around the corner, coming up to the open doorway of the cellblock bathroom and crawling up and down the doorway were little scorpions just a few inches long and very light in color. Needless to say, I didn't make it inside. Finally upon returning to Chris a minute later, he informed me that "the small ones are the most poisonous." Of course, I've heard the same thing on National Geographic, but was pushing it to the back of my brain as I decided to simply avoid the tiny devils all together. Eventually, we both slept til almost dawn and were very glad to wake up and move on with our day of hiking. Breakfast turned into the most delicious meal of our time in Laos - eggs scrambled up with bamboo shoots. We had survived the night and were ready for more adventure. The morning light was soft on the village and we were able to see the school they'd just built and take photos with some of the kids. They loved seeing themselves so immediately in the frame. After packing up we were back on track to hike on a more downward path this time to Luang Prabang. The second day was much drier, hot, and humid. We enjoyed the greater proportion of downhill hiking and clear weather to further take in the lush landscape of the Laos countryside. Finally, 3 hours later, we ended up back at the Elephant Sanctuary. We handed over our camera to the guide and climbed up to a hut on stilts where we could step into a bench like site tied to to the top of our elephant for a one hour tour.
Riding the elephant was one of the highlights of our trip. As we started out, Chris and I sat on the bench hiding from the sun under an umbrella while a mahout, or elephant driver, sat on the elephant's neck. She walked down a standard path, stopping whenever possible for delicious leaves, branches, bananas, etc. The mahout would nudge her behind the ears with his knees, but she wasn't overly concerned with his desired pace. Finally we made it down to the river and actually walked right into the water while our elephant cooled down in the water and walked straight down the middle to a little sand island (with tasty reed snacks) and then back to the river bank and onto the path. Chris climbed down on her neck and practiced his mahout skills and enjoyed riding up in front. I got my chance as we turned back toward the camp. The mahout sits right up on the elephant's neck with knees up behind the ears. Our elephant's appetite was not staved by her walk in the water or the reeds on the sand island and she kept stopping on the way up the path and at one point had an entire branch with several stems and full of leaves! She was amazing - the size and strength of these animals down to the extraordinarily long eyelashes and stiff thick hairs all over the leathery skin is so much more real in person! Supposedly we're now honorary mahouts but I don't intend to take up as an elephant driver any time soon!
The rest of our Luang Prabang visit was less eventful but really wonderful. I'm heading to bed now after a wonderful visit from mom, but I will relate more soon and try to figure out the photos...
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Leave and Love in Laos!
One of the reasons we decided that I would take this year in Korea was to take advantage of travelling more on this side of the globe. In May, we did just that. I spent days reading every travel article and commentary I could get my hands on regarding South East Asia (the on-going front runner), Australia, tiny Pacific Islands, Fiji, the Maldives, Guam, etc etc. The original plan was a week backpacking Vietnam from top to bottom or vice versa. However, the weather just didn't seem like it was going to cooperate. Eventually I settled on Laos. It's a tiny, developing country with just the kind of reputation I was hoping to find. Laos is certainly not an undiscovered paradise, but at the same time, it's far away from the standard tourist line from Bangkok to Phuket with 5 star resorts all the way. I've enjoyed travel throughout China and the experience really changed my perspective on life. This trip was a way to invite Chris into the world of international travel and begin to share with him the perspective I found through travel. We met in Bangkok and spent the night at TripAdvisor's highly recommended Silver Gold Garden Hotel for a mere $19. There were, in fact, rooms for $10, but we splurged on something with air conditioning and a free airport shuttle. It was near the airport and no frills but served our purposes just fine. We managed to meet up in the Bangkok Airport despite no cell phones and coming from different continents. After a short overnight, it was back to the airport at 0700 for our flight to Luang Prabang, Laos. The Bangkok Airways turbo prop flight was uneventful (except for a nice breakfast on a <2 hr flight) and we arrived before noon. Walking off the plane made us laugh and Chris commented that "This isn't the sort of airport where you get lost." Ours was the only plane there...the airport is a single runway and then the planes taxi to a small parking lot size space where passengers enter and exit. We stepped up to the visa window then over to immigration, grabbed our bags and headed out to the hotel shuttle which held up a sign with our names (or mine, because I made the reservations). I've never had a sign with my name on it before and the concept was rather exciting. The shuttle took us to Le Bel Air Boutique Hotel. This lovely little place was our jumping off point for our five nights in Laos. We were welcomed to the open air reception desk with champagne flutes of a sweet, pulpy fruit drink and checked into our "upgraded" room. The dark floors and mosquito net created a lovely ambiance to go with the scampering lizards and door that locked at the bottom, just above the floor. First things first, Chris went to sleep, trying to overcome some jetlag. I headed back out to reception to discuss potential travel plans with the reservations desk. Through the hotel we got quotes for potential trekking opportunities which I shared with Chris later. He talked me down from my overly excited idea of a long journey and we booked a 2 day trek with a village overnight. Looking forward to a trek at 0800 the next day, we borrowed bikes from Le Bel Air and began a ride to town. Alas, Chris's tire went flat and rain began to fall less than 10 minutes into our trip. Not to be thwarted by such inconveniences, we returned our rickety bicycles and walked back across the pedestrian bridge in search of ponchos and a taste of Luang Prabang. Ove the next hour, we found none of the markets that had been recommended and sweltered in the humid afternoon air. The city is quite charming, though, and we enjoyed walking around outside the normal backpacker alley places. Poncho-less we continued into town in search of dinner and ended up at Tamarind - a place recommended by the guidebook I downloaded for the Kindle - which showcases a small menu of great local food. I opted for a minty lemongrass drink with steamed fish in a banana leaf complimented with vegetables. Chris got some kind of chicken and the quintessential Beer Lao. Dinner was a success, but we weren't impressed enough to invest in their day-long market-to-table cooking experience later in the week.
Day Number 2 was the far and away the rainiest of our trip. We met our guide at 0800 and rode out in the back of a pickup truck to the Elephant Sanctuary where we would begin our trip. Hardcore hikers that we are, we elected for the 6 hour Day 1 trek and after a 10 min ride in a long boat, began hiking up and up and up into the hills outside Luang Prabang. On this trip to the village, I had read we might see lots of giant spiders or possibly pieces of metal that seemed very out of place. Fortunately, both of these seemed to be outside our attention, the former were waiting for later and the latter, UXO from previous wars, stayed hidden. We walked into monsoon type rain after a couple of hours and with our single borrowed umbrella from the hotel, Chris mananged to stay semi dry and I used my jacket to try and cover the backpack with my clothes and camera. The rain was manageable because we were quickly saturated, but the ground did not have the same issue and the mud got to be tricky. Eventually, we stopped and took shelter under a little hut to eat fried ride out of banana leaves for lunch. The rain abated for a short while and we continued on through the Lao jungle appreciating the weather that creates lush and green foliage in seemingly unpenetrable numbers. However, as we climbed over the crest of some of the hills we were treated to views of truly untouched valleys and endless skies. The clouds had begun to clear in the afternoon and the jungle gleamed with a fresh coat of moisture. Sometimes we'd walk by hills that were cultivated by villagers with the tasty and profitable crop of mountain rice, but most of the landscape was rugged and natural and verdant with wild shades of green. Eventually we reached the village of Hmong people where we would spend the night. The villagers were mostly unconcerned but the small, often at least half naked, children were interested in our arrival. The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully. We were invited to shower off in the "donation toilets:" A concrete basin was full of water with a large plastic scoop floating on the surface. This scoop allowed one to either flush the flat ceramic "toilet" on a raised platform in the floor or supposedly pour water over one's head and body in the form of a shower. Despite our dirty, muddy, and DEET covered skin, we opted for the less scary use of Dove face cleaner towelettes, vowing for a nice shower when we returned to the hotel. So much for living like a local...but as Chris had convinced me and slightly degraded my over ambitious plans to trek for 3+ days to 2 days total, this was a feasible and not overly disgusting plan. After a stroll around the village with pigs and tiny dogs roaming freely, we sat down to eat sticky rice, soup, and stir fried vegetables with bits of pork. The meal was plain but delicious and soon we were ready to pass out as the sun began to dip and the mosquitos came out hungry. Leaving all of you friends in suspense...I'll publish now and continue this a little later!
Day Number 2 was the far and away the rainiest of our trip. We met our guide at 0800 and rode out in the back of a pickup truck to the Elephant Sanctuary where we would begin our trip. Hardcore hikers that we are, we elected for the 6 hour Day 1 trek and after a 10 min ride in a long boat, began hiking up and up and up into the hills outside Luang Prabang. On this trip to the village, I had read we might see lots of giant spiders or possibly pieces of metal that seemed very out of place. Fortunately, both of these seemed to be outside our attention, the former were waiting for later and the latter, UXO from previous wars, stayed hidden. We walked into monsoon type rain after a couple of hours and with our single borrowed umbrella from the hotel, Chris mananged to stay semi dry and I used my jacket to try and cover the backpack with my clothes and camera. The rain was manageable because we were quickly saturated, but the ground did not have the same issue and the mud got to be tricky. Eventually, we stopped and took shelter under a little hut to eat fried ride out of banana leaves for lunch. The rain abated for a short while and we continued on through the Lao jungle appreciating the weather that creates lush and green foliage in seemingly unpenetrable numbers. However, as we climbed over the crest of some of the hills we were treated to views of truly untouched valleys and endless skies. The clouds had begun to clear in the afternoon and the jungle gleamed with a fresh coat of moisture. Sometimes we'd walk by hills that were cultivated by villagers with the tasty and profitable crop of mountain rice, but most of the landscape was rugged and natural and verdant with wild shades of green. Eventually we reached the village of Hmong people where we would spend the night. The villagers were mostly unconcerned but the small, often at least half naked, children were interested in our arrival. The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully. We were invited to shower off in the "donation toilets:" A concrete basin was full of water with a large plastic scoop floating on the surface. This scoop allowed one to either flush the flat ceramic "toilet" on a raised platform in the floor or supposedly pour water over one's head and body in the form of a shower. Despite our dirty, muddy, and DEET covered skin, we opted for the less scary use of Dove face cleaner towelettes, vowing for a nice shower when we returned to the hotel. So much for living like a local...but as Chris had convinced me and slightly degraded my over ambitious plans to trek for 3+ days to 2 days total, this was a feasible and not overly disgusting plan. After a stroll around the village with pigs and tiny dogs roaming freely, we sat down to eat sticky rice, soup, and stir fried vegetables with bits of pork. The meal was plain but delicious and soon we were ready to pass out as the sun began to dip and the mosquitos came out hungry. Leaving all of you friends in suspense...I'll publish now and continue this a little later!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Better Late than Never!!!!
Hello All!!!
The first mass email had so many wonderful responses that I decided perhaps a blog would be easier. This will make sharing photos easier and perhaps make for a more community-environment in the recording and sharing of life! Currently my track record isn't stellar (read: 1 email in 7 weeks...) but I promise to try and be better. I was working on a secondary email which I never sent because I've been planning on this for at least 2 weeks.
Fortunately - I have lots to report, but I'll try to break it up a little so no one gets bored.
The less recent adventures...
'm living in a flat now - no longer in the lodging on base. The flat is basic but much bigger than the on-base dorm rooms. It has it's own set of complications, but involves a wonderfully hard bed (I know it sounds odd, but really, I love the beds here) and a gas stove. Work continues much as before - I've learned a lot, but there are always new things to learn that I haven't yet discovered. So I'm continuing to meet more people, get accustomed to how things work and trying to do my best.
I can't believe I've been here almost 8 weeks....which also means I'm a terrible correspondent. I've had several adventures since the last email. I moved into a flat just off base. It's got 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a tiny office, a small kitchen, living room space, and a special little galley shaped room behind the kitchen - for the washer/dryer which is a 2 in 1 machine. It's not the most homey yet, but I'm ok with that because it's not really my home. It's nice to have space away from work and base, but still close enough not to have a car, but I also know it's not a long term arrangement. For the moment it smells like banana bread but often it smells like whatever people in other flats are cooking. I'm sure that will be even more appetizing come summer when it's hot and humid here.
In the past few weeks, I've had a few adventures including E-Mart (a great Korean store with a little of everything from groceries to outdoor equipment (maybe by The Red Face, the unknown cousin of The North Face, maybe) which has cheery uniformed attendants welcoming cars out in the parking lot, a Wine Train trip with the ITT office on base, singing my first solo at Church ever, a 4.1K run, and Costco - all Korea style.
The Wine Train trip was billed as a train ride to a "wine-factory (read: vineyard) with unlimited snacks and wine tasting of award winning wines, a chance to make personalized cosmetics, a foot spa experience, and concert. What actually happened - we took a 2 hour train ride in a gaudy train car with tasseled curtains, tasted 4 wines, one was ok the other three were hideious, and enjoyed a plate of stale strips of white bread, cut up pieces of processed cheese still in their plastic wrappers, half an orange and Ritz/Saltine crackers. The Italian buffet was a long line of delicious Italian favorites like plain salad with strawberry yogurt topping, vegetables, boiled tiny octopi, small sandwiches with something un-discernable inside, noodle soup, and a large tray of lo mein-type noodles and a red sauce (read: Korean food with make believe spaghetti). After lunch, we made bath salts that looked good but fell apart then sat with our feet in tubs of warm wine-colored wine. Our concert was cancelled because the musicians were unavailable - they took us to a traditional music museum and school. What looked at first to be a hideous experience of the tour trying to fill our extra time, ended up being the best part of the day - we had a class banging on traditional Korean drums taught by an instructor who didn't speak English. Let's face it, who doesn't love to wail on a drum sitting right in front of you! On the way home, we dined on a delicious tray of kimbap (a Korean dish of rice rolled around cooked vegetables, egg, and ham), hard boiled eggs, and a muffin because a muffin is always the way to round our a meal!
In other news I've had a few more new experiences...The Seoul Marathon was a great race and I had a blast. A friend of mine really wanted to break 4 hours so I helped pace him through the race. I ran the first 30 km all covered up in gortex because the weather was cold and rainy. Fortunately my gortex (read: trash bag) was the perfect and very cheap solution to miserable starting conditions. I had a super race and felt amazing at the end, but I stayed with my pal trying to help him beat the elusive 4 hour mark. Alas, we entered Olympic Stadium just at 4 hours and finished in 4:01:48! Overall, it was a great experience, but I wouldn't run that race again. I'm partial to races that have restrooms (not cities that want to be 1st world developed cities and yet encourage evacuating on the side of the race route in bushes or between buildings. Again - a 55 gallon trashbag is excellent for modesty - but I still prefer restrooms.
Costco in Korea- there are live fish in a giant tank and more people than the mall parking lot on Christmas Eve - it was bananas. However, I was able to get a bag of demi-baguettes and several bottles of French and South American wine. I had been hoping some of the Kirtland Signature brands and other standard Costco products would be the same price as in the U.S. but my efforts were unrewarded as most of the American products were far more expensive than here in the states. It was worth a try though and I'm enjoying the baguettes so far.
With that I'll sign off, promising to write more in the future. I miss you all quite a lot, but each day brings me closer to coming home to all of you and my little family in Colorado! Many kisses and prayers each day!
The first mass email had so many wonderful responses that I decided perhaps a blog would be easier. This will make sharing photos easier and perhaps make for a more community-environment in the recording and sharing of life! Currently my track record isn't stellar (read: 1 email in 7 weeks...) but I promise to try and be better. I was working on a secondary email which I never sent because I've been planning on this for at least 2 weeks.
Fortunately - I have lots to report, but I'll try to break it up a little so no one gets bored.
The less recent adventures...
'm living in a flat now - no longer in the lodging on base. The flat is basic but much bigger than the on-base dorm rooms. It has it's own set of complications, but involves a wonderfully hard bed (I know it sounds odd, but really, I love the beds here) and a gas stove. Work continues much as before - I've learned a lot, but there are always new things to learn that I haven't yet discovered. So I'm continuing to meet more people, get accustomed to how things work and trying to do my best.
I can't believe I've been here almost 8 weeks....which also means I'm a terrible correspondent. I've had several adventures since the last email. I moved into a flat just off base. It's got 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a tiny office, a small kitchen, living room space, and a special little galley shaped room behind the kitchen - for the washer/dryer which is a 2 in 1 machine. It's not the most homey yet, but I'm ok with that because it's not really my home. It's nice to have space away from work and base, but still close enough not to have a car, but I also know it's not a long term arrangement. For the moment it smells like banana bread but often it smells like whatever people in other flats are cooking. I'm sure that will be even more appetizing come summer when it's hot and humid here.
In the past few weeks, I've had a few adventures including E-Mart (a great Korean store with a little of everything from groceries to outdoor equipment (maybe by The Red Face, the unknown cousin of The North Face, maybe) which has cheery uniformed attendants welcoming cars out in the parking lot, a Wine Train trip with the ITT office on base, singing my first solo at Church ever, a 4.1K run, and Costco - all Korea style.
The Wine Train trip was billed as a train ride to a "wine-factory (read: vineyard) with unlimited snacks and wine tasting of award winning wines, a chance to make personalized cosmetics, a foot spa experience, and concert. What actually happened - we took a 2 hour train ride in a gaudy train car with tasseled curtains, tasted 4 wines, one was ok the other three were hideious, and enjoyed a plate of stale strips of white bread, cut up pieces of processed cheese still in their plastic wrappers, half an orange and Ritz/Saltine crackers. The Italian buffet was a long line of delicious Italian favorites like plain salad with strawberry yogurt topping, vegetables, boiled tiny octopi, small sandwiches with something un-discernable inside, noodle soup, and a large tray of lo mein-type noodles and a red sauce (read: Korean food with make believe spaghetti). After lunch, we made bath salts that looked good but fell apart then sat with our feet in tubs of warm wine-colored wine. Our concert was cancelled because the musicians were unavailable - they took us to a traditional music museum and school. What looked at first to be a hideous experience of the tour trying to fill our extra time, ended up being the best part of the day - we had a class banging on traditional Korean drums taught by an instructor who didn't speak English. Let's face it, who doesn't love to wail on a drum sitting right in front of you! On the way home, we dined on a delicious tray of kimbap (a Korean dish of rice rolled around cooked vegetables, egg, and ham), hard boiled eggs, and a muffin because a muffin is always the way to round our a meal!
In other news I've had a few more new experiences...The Seoul Marathon was a great race and I had a blast. A friend of mine really wanted to break 4 hours so I helped pace him through the race. I ran the first 30 km all covered up in gortex because the weather was cold and rainy. Fortunately my gortex (read: trash bag) was the perfect and very cheap solution to miserable starting conditions. I had a super race and felt amazing at the end, but I stayed with my pal trying to help him beat the elusive 4 hour mark. Alas, we entered Olympic Stadium just at 4 hours and finished in 4:01:48! Overall, it was a great experience, but I wouldn't run that race again. I'm partial to races that have restrooms (not cities that want to be 1st world developed cities and yet encourage evacuating on the side of the race route in bushes or between buildings. Again - a 55 gallon trashbag is excellent for modesty - but I still prefer restrooms.
Costco in Korea- there are live fish in a giant tank and more people than the mall parking lot on Christmas Eve - it was bananas. However, I was able to get a bag of demi-baguettes and several bottles of French and South American wine. I had been hoping some of the Kirtland Signature brands and other standard Costco products would be the same price as in the U.S. but my efforts were unrewarded as most of the American products were far more expensive than here in the states. It was worth a try though and I'm enjoying the baguettes so far.
With that I'll sign off, promising to write more in the future. I miss you all quite a lot, but each day brings me closer to coming home to all of you and my little family in Colorado! Many kisses and prayers each day!
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