March 3rd.
I decied to get off my fat falang ass and do something productive with my time, so I signed up for a kayaking journey down the Mekong. As I enjoy being on the water and kayking, I figure this would be right up my ally. It was so relaxing, just you and the river, making it a lovely voyage for the most part. I hung out with the lao guide who pointed at every animal he saw and yelled barbecue, until we made a game of it (he won). There were some rapids, but nothing too extreme, and we made it down to a rock where we had lunch, as it would have been illegal to land since it was Cambodia. Here we watched rare Irraway dolphins swimming, which was cool. The freshwater fishies are not as cool as bottlenose, but neat none the less.
We swam since it was 3432432 degrees on rock in the sun, and then kayaked a little further down stream where we saw south east asias largest waterfall, which was neat, but whatever. After kayaking home, I resumed hammock time, finishing Room: a novel (which I recommend) Surfing the Hymilias (which I DO NOT recommend) and called it an early night. Things I love about Laos: My killer tan!
Showing posts with label Laos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laos. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
And what I do? Act more stupidly
Beautiful vang viengSo after Vientiane, I made my way to Vang Vieng,which could quickly see this going blog down hill, so I'll spare you the details. I got to the hostel, and made friends with the people that were staying there. The next morning we head to the river, hang out, drink on the river, do the ziplines and rope swings into the river and things go pear shaped, until that night, when things go reallllly pear shaped.
The next day, to recover from said first day, we go to the blue lagoon to cool off. The water was such a perfect blue, and we spend the day jumping from trees, playing volleyball, and relaxing. The rest of the week was spent on the river, playing flip cup, dancing in the rain, mojito buckets, high jumps, low jumps, swimming for hats, wounds, meeting up with old friends, making new friends and general rowdiness. Its everything I hate in traveling, but at the same time, everything I love.
QbarThe last day we decide to get the tubes, and floated down the river taking in the scenery and chatting. It was generally peaceful and a good way to end my time in Vang Vieng.
Tubing
They shouldn't have to COPE with it
Feb 21st
Woke up early to bike to the Myanmar embassy: Visa DENIED. What a hassle. Now I have to get another letter and/or go to Bangkok instead of spending all of my time in Don Det. BUMMER. After stomping around the city for a while I got on my bike and went to COPE, which is my favorite museum I’ve ever been to.
Little known facts:
The most heavily bombed country in the history of the world is Laos.
1 person/day dies from unexploded bombs that they’re trying to collect for scrap metal.
America needs to come in and clean the fuck up. How can they do this to people?
So COPE builds prosthetics for those that have gotten hit by bombs (and they’re hidden in rice fields, under houses and the like). After watching some documentaries, I honestly wanted to throw up just because I’m American. I really wish I was more trained or could help or anything, because if anybody needs it is the Laotians. America bombed them for NO reason, over 500,000 missions with over 100 bombs dropped per mission, there is a lot of UXO (unexploded ordinance) in this country. The museum in Phnom Phen made me upset, but this is distressing because a) people are still dying daily (most of them children who mistake the bombies for toys) and b) because Its AMERICANS that ravaged this country. How dare they think they could do this to a group of people don’t deserve it. And now they’re turning a blind eye, which is disgusting. In a documentary I watched a child at the end said “They aren’t ours. I want them to take it back”
Learn more or donate to the cause
COPElaos.org
So on that depressing tangent, I continued biking, went to the arc de triumph of vientaine, climbed it, wasn’t impressed and spent the afternoon reading on the Mekong with a beer
Vertical Runway?
Woke up early to bike to the Myanmar embassy: Visa DENIED. What a hassle. Now I have to get another letter and/or go to Bangkok instead of spending all of my time in Don Det. BUMMER. After stomping around the city for a while I got on my bike and went to COPE, which is my favorite museum I’ve ever been to.
Little known facts:
The most heavily bombed country in the history of the world is Laos.
1 person/day dies from unexploded bombs that they’re trying to collect for scrap metal.
America needs to come in and clean the fuck up. How can they do this to people?
So COPE builds prosthetics for those that have gotten hit by bombs (and they’re hidden in rice fields, under houses and the like). After watching some documentaries, I honestly wanted to throw up just because I’m American. I really wish I was more trained or could help or anything, because if anybody needs it is the Laotians. America bombed them for NO reason, over 500,000 missions with over 100 bombs dropped per mission, there is a lot of UXO (unexploded ordinance) in this country. The museum in Phnom Phen made me upset, but this is distressing because a) people are still dying daily (most of them children who mistake the bombies for toys) and b) because Its AMERICANS that ravaged this country. How dare they think they could do this to a group of people don’t deserve it. And now they’re turning a blind eye, which is disgusting. In a documentary I watched a child at the end said “They aren’t ours. I want them to take it back”
Learn more or donate to the cause
COPElaos.org
So on that depressing tangent, I continued biking, went to the arc de triumph of vientaine, climbed it, wasn’t impressed and spent the afternoon reading on the Mekong with a beer
Vertical Runway?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Capital of what?
I finally found and checked into a guesthouse at approx 10:30 am (read, I had been on the road since 7:30am the previous day!) and got some business taken care of, like printing my invitation letter from burma, getting passport photos done and general putzing around until I took a death nap. Upon waking up, I did something EPs never ever do, and went and got a massage. After 2 days of extreme trekking and a 25+ hour bus ride, I was all sorts of sore in places that I didn’t know it was possible to be in pain. Laos massage>>>> any other massages out there. Since Vientiane is such a laid back city, there isn’t a whole lot going on here, or if there is, I just couldn’t be asked to seek it today. Something about Vientiane, its HOT.
PANGLES! WERE LOST
Feb 17
We woke up the next morning to Breakfast, and started our 17km trek down the other side of the mountain. The trek wasn’t really hard, but I was a) the youngest and b) the non-smoker (which I will always be thankful of when I do things like this and scuba diving) so I was cruising up and down the mountain.
Neat jungle tree
One of the girls we went with literally packed everything she owned (roooookie) so was pretty far behind. It was a long haul, but manageable, even in the heat. It was a cool trek, through the Laotian rain forest, underneath the banana trees and the like, and I enjoyed it. That being said, I was really excited to get back to town and get a shower, and use a toilet and the like. I’d like to do more trekking, I just don’t think I expected it to be quite so intense. I really enjoyed getting out of a city, and it was kind of a nice detox for a few days.
Rice paddies
That night we ate dinner and chatted over some Beerlao (best beer in Asia!) and wine, before calling it a night. We decided to leave the next day, Matt to Chiang Mai, and I booked a 24 hour bus to Vientiane, Laos’ capital to get my visa for Myanmar sussed out. I’m not in a rush through Laos since I have 3 more weeks, but theres so much I want to see, and after being lazy through Thailand, I want to get to see most the country.
PANGLES and machete!
We woke up the next morning to Breakfast, and started our 17km trek down the other side of the mountain. The trek wasn’t really hard, but I was a) the youngest and b) the non-smoker (which I will always be thankful of when I do things like this and scuba diving) so I was cruising up and down the mountain.
Neat jungle treeOne of the girls we went with literally packed everything she owned (roooookie) so was pretty far behind. It was a long haul, but manageable, even in the heat. It was a cool trek, through the Laotian rain forest, underneath the banana trees and the like, and I enjoyed it. That being said, I was really excited to get back to town and get a shower, and use a toilet and the like. I’d like to do more trekking, I just don’t think I expected it to be quite so intense. I really enjoyed getting out of a city, and it was kind of a nice detox for a few days.
Rice paddies That night we ate dinner and chatted over some Beerlao (best beer in Asia!) and wine, before calling it a night. We decided to leave the next day, Matt to Chiang Mai, and I booked a 24 hour bus to Vientiane, Laos’ capital to get my visa for Myanmar sussed out. I’m not in a rush through Laos since I have 3 more weeks, but theres so much I want to see, and after being lazy through Thailand, I want to get to see most the country.
PANGLES and machete!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Beatin' Paths
Feb 16th.
We wake up early to start our journey and met the guide. We jumped in a mini van (Cause I haven’t had enough of THOSE) and headed to the night market, where you could buy anything you want. Frogs, Bamboo, raw meat, freshwater seaweed, the works. Matt and I found the SADDEST puppy ever, and I tried a tamarind which is a yummy fruit. We were summoned to start the trek, and we drove to a small village and met the chief, who would be coming with us. We affectionately named him Pengles Bo-Jangles, and he was the funniest man I have ever met, which is saying a lot because he couldn’t speak English. We walked up the mountain, where Pangles, Matt and I were in front because I’m apparently good at hiking? And watched Pang machete trees for no reason and cruise around in is Havana flip flops. Ridiculous. We hiked for about 7km in a few hours, which was no big thing, stopping for lunch of sticky rice and seaweed (I love seaweed) and bamboo shoots.
Mcdonalds in the Jungle
Peculiar, yet delicious. We finally made it to the village for the Lahu people, a group of people who came down from Tibet in the 16th century and HAVENT CHANGED SINCE. They don’t even speak Laotian. There are a few buildings, and lots of pigs, chickens, roosters and dogs (and some very cute puppies).
We roll up into this town and sit down and all of the village kids are just staring at up. They were so cute and so funny! We would take their picture, and they would demand to see it on playback. As they got more curious and more comfortable, they would start pointing at the camera. So I would let them use it to take pictures of each other (with me holding it of course) and they thought it was the best thing ever. Some of the pictures are so funny as well.
Boys will be boys
We saw a house where 4 families stayed in a house maybe the size of my Parent’s downstairs tv room and blue room put together (so maybe enough for 2 people, but not 12!) The food was good as everything was fresh and cooked over fire, but the people didn’t have plumbing, so that was gross. They didn’t even have an outhouse. It was a special few days. Once the sun went down we (the foreigners) chatted with the light of the moon, and looked at the stars. Since there was no lights, we coudlnt’ do anything, no cards, no reading, nothing, and just went to bed around 9. This was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, easily. It makes me really thankful to be born in America, but these people didn’t seem to care that that’s how they lived. They know nothing else, other than living on top of a mountain in the middle of a national park. It was kind of like something you see in a movie, but don’t spend a night in, and in my last year of travel, this is going to be one of the experiences I really remember, and really treasure.
Views from NamHa state park
We wake up early to start our journey and met the guide. We jumped in a mini van (Cause I haven’t had enough of THOSE) and headed to the night market, where you could buy anything you want. Frogs, Bamboo, raw meat, freshwater seaweed, the works. Matt and I found the SADDEST puppy ever, and I tried a tamarind which is a yummy fruit. We were summoned to start the trek, and we drove to a small village and met the chief, who would be coming with us. We affectionately named him Pengles Bo-Jangles, and he was the funniest man I have ever met, which is saying a lot because he couldn’t speak English. We walked up the mountain, where Pangles, Matt and I were in front because I’m apparently good at hiking? And watched Pang machete trees for no reason and cruise around in is Havana flip flops. Ridiculous. We hiked for about 7km in a few hours, which was no big thing, stopping for lunch of sticky rice and seaweed (I love seaweed) and bamboo shoots.
Mcdonalds in the JunglePeculiar, yet delicious. We finally made it to the village for the Lahu people, a group of people who came down from Tibet in the 16th century and HAVENT CHANGED SINCE. They don’t even speak Laotian. There are a few buildings, and lots of pigs, chickens, roosters and dogs (and some very cute puppies).
We roll up into this town and sit down and all of the village kids are just staring at up. They were so cute and so funny! We would take their picture, and they would demand to see it on playback. As they got more curious and more comfortable, they would start pointing at the camera. So I would let them use it to take pictures of each other (with me holding it of course) and they thought it was the best thing ever. Some of the pictures are so funny as well.
Boys will be boysWe saw a house where 4 families stayed in a house maybe the size of my Parent’s downstairs tv room and blue room put together (so maybe enough for 2 people, but not 12!) The food was good as everything was fresh and cooked over fire, but the people didn’t have plumbing, so that was gross. They didn’t even have an outhouse. It was a special few days. Once the sun went down we (the foreigners) chatted with the light of the moon, and looked at the stars. Since there was no lights, we coudlnt’ do anything, no cards, no reading, nothing, and just went to bed around 9. This was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, easily. It makes me really thankful to be born in America, but these people didn’t seem to care that that’s how they lived. They know nothing else, other than living on top of a mountain in the middle of a national park. It was kind of like something you see in a movie, but don’t spend a night in, and in my last year of travel, this is going to be one of the experiences I really remember, and really treasure.
Views from NamHa state park
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