01 Nov
Today we started out “trek” to the hill tribes. We drove out to a national park and picked up supplies. We also registered with the authorities. First on the trek was an elephant ride. We went in pairs on the back of an elephant through the local jungle. It was a short 45 min. ride highlighted with a section in a river. I am not certain the elephants were treated perfectly, but it was a unique experience. After lunch, we started hiking. After about 2 hours we got to a waterfall and went for a swim. An hour later we got to the village we were going to spend the night. The village was wooded houses on stilts on a hill. Livestock and dogs were in the dirt streets. The town was not that large, but there was a school. It seemed the school taught subjects and other skills. Each student had his/her cup and toothbrush on hooks on the wall. We slept on blankets on the floor of a house for tourists…a little touristy and not as much interaction with the people as I expected, but still an insight into life. Not as poor as rural Africa, but still not the best.
02 Nov
After breakfast we walked down off the hill for 3 hours. We then took a truck to a location to take a bamboo raft down a creek. After poling down the creek for an hour, we headed back to Chang Mai on a truck. Once in Chang Mai, we checked on our transportation north to the Laos border. It was not correct and had us arriving a day later in Laos than planned. We contacted the travel agent and got it set up for a private driver to take us up north that night. We got a quick dinner at a nice restaurant in town (very upscale, but still less than $10 USD per person) and then boarded a four door lowered truck. The driver was very fast…almost scary. We ran over a mattress at one point and he didn’t notice that he dragged it for miles. All in all, we made it safe and sound to Chang Kong.
03 Nov
Today was the entry into Laos. We crossed the Mekong to Laos, went through customs and then by noon we were on the “slow boat” heading into central Laos. The slow boat was a flat bottom boat (the river is quite shallow in some places) with wooden bench seats. The seats sat 2 people and were as close together as school bus seats. Not the most comfortable. Once underway, a breeze came through the boat and it took on a party like atmosphere. It was a good mix of people: 50 yr. old runners, hippies and various travelers from around the world. With $1 USD 640 mL beers flowing freely and a 6 hour boat ride in cramped seats ahead of us, everyone started moving around and socializing. It was a lot of fun. In the late afternoon we arrived at the half way point and stopped for the night. We got a $6 USD hotel room (split 3 ways!) and had some dinner (equally cheap). We learned Laos has few rules…the waiters sell everything from food to opium and are not afraid to offer. We didn’t partake in the later. We had dinner with 2 girls from NYC that sat behind us on the boat. The power went out at 9 PM, so we went to bed.
04 Nov
The second day on the slow boat was not as festive as the first, but still a lot of fun. The scenery is quite pretty on the Mekong and we were traveling through areas not seen to often by tourists. We got to Luang Prabang, our final destination, in the early evening as the sun was setting over the mountains. It was beautiful. We checked into a hotel for the next 3 nights. It had all the western amenities and fairly inexpensive. That night we went out to eat and walked the town.
05 Nov
One of the biggest tourist attractions in Luang Prabang is the “saffron procession.” In the early morning, all of the monks from the temples do a loop through the town and are given food for the day from the people. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO site because it has the highest concentration of Buddhist temples in SE Asia and thought to be the best preserved French colonial city in SE Asia too. Tamara and I got up at 5:30, but the procession was not until 6:30. We did get to see the sunrise and the procession. The procession was neat. About 300 monks of all ages quickly walk the loop and take offerings. Later that day we got spa treatments…3 hours for about $10-12 USD. The town was very pretty. The mixture of temples and French builds was great. Food was of extremely high quality and cheap. Lao food is really good (a mix of thai and Vietnamese) and so is the French. That night, we went to a festival at a temple, had dinner along the Mekong and went to bed.
# posted by Adam @ 9:21 PM
