Wow! What an amazing Trip! The trip began on October 15th with a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Rai which is located in the northern part of Thailand. Due to a late flight and a little confusion with our hotel we ended up consulting our trusty Lonely Planet book for a good GuestHouse to sleep for the night. We all jumped into a cab and found our taxi driver taking us down a dark, strange looking Alley. The GuestHouse where we were hoping to stay was called the Chat House. Pulling up to the Chat House we noticed the gate was closed and chained up, which made it appear as if it had been closed for awhile. Our cab driver proceeded to get out of the cab and shake the gate while yelling. As we were loosing faith and were about to pull out our Lonely Planet book again, a light flipped on and we were let in by a lady. The lady was able to give us a room with four beds which is exactly what we needed, so it worked out perfect! It was pretty late so we decided to find the bathroom and go to bed. On our walk down to the bathroom we passed a bedroom with it's door open to find a man whistling/talking to himself while twirling his knife in the dark. Due to the earyness of this we ran to the bathroom, did our deed and proceeded to our bedroom to lock the door and go to bed. After this I knew this was going to be an amazing trip full of story's and experiences!
The next morning we woke up to find ourselves in a such a cute Thai inspired GuestHouse. We cleaned up and went outside where we were given breakfast, omelet and a fruit shake, the best! We decided to see the town a bit and then find the bus station to start our trip to Laos. We stopped at two temples that we discovered in Chiang Rai. The first temple we stumbled across was called Wat Phra Kaew temple. According to the legend, the Emerald Buddha statue was discovered when a bolt of lightning hit a stone on the grounds, cracking it open and revealing the Buddha inside. The original Buddha that was revealed is now housed in Bangkok in a temple. In Chiang Rai was the near-exact replica of the Emerald Buddha. The temple grounds also included a two-story Museum full of artifacts from the Buddhist religion. During our day in Chiang Rai we were also lucky to see one of the most beautiful temples I have seen yet since living in Thailand, it is called the White Temple, officially called the "Chapel of Wat Rong Khun". It is very different to any temple you are likely to see in Thailand. The temple is almost entirely whit, no other colours are used at all. It is though decorated with small pieces of mirrored glass which adds an amazing twinkle to the whole temple. This temple is a lifetime project of an artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. We were able to get into the temple (which we didnt think we could cause there was a sign saying that foreigners werent allowed in becuase of previous rude incedents) and bow to a monk with the rest of the Thais. Such an amazing experience, to see how moved the Thai people are from the monks. This monk that we were able to kneel in front of literally did not move, I thought he was a statue at first to find out it was a real monk. He just seemed to be in such deep meditation and was totally still. Incredible sight. After leaving the White Temple we decided it was time to get on the bus and find our way to LAOS!
We rode on the bus for about 3 hours. The bus had no air conditioning, which would have been okay cause all the windows were open except for the diesel smell is so strong here with so much polution in it that it made it hard to stand sometimes. Best option is to sleep with a scarf or shirt up to your face. The bus took us to the Mekong River which is where we would cross into Laos! The Mekong River is one of the world's major rivers. It is the worlds 12th longest rivers and the 7th longest in Asia. The estimated lengh is about 2,703 miles. Starting from the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China's Yunnan province, Myannmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. An interesting fact about the Mekong River is that the Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of Biodiversity in the world. Only the Amazon boasts a higher level of biodiversity. Although the Amazon has higher biodiversity, the Mekong river has more biodiversity per unit area. More than 12oo species of fish have been identified and there could be possible as many as 1700! We were able to cross the Mekong river in a little old rickety boat in less than 5 minutes. One minute we leave the shore of Thailand to step onto the shore of Laos!
We entered Laos in the city of Huay Xai which is where the headquarters for the Gibbon Experience is. For those of you who dont know for two nights we trekked, ziplined and slept in tree houses in the Bokeo Nature Reserve which is a Jungle in Northern Laos. The Gibbon Experiences' Project is help solve the problem of the Jungles and it inhabitants being destroyed by poaching, logging and slash-and-burn farming in South East Asia. This concpet emerged (the Gibbon Experience) where the local people would build tree houses and a network of zip lines through the canopy of the Bokea Nature Reserve. They provide accomodations in the treetops and local guides fly you over the jungle to meet the wildlife. The funds that are received are reinvested to protect the jungle. It was an amazing experience where we were able to Trek fly and learn about the Jungle. As we trekked our guides would show us leaves or roots they used for medicine, or leaves they used for spices for their food. We were able to eat a leaf that tasted like lemons, they knew that jungle like it was the back of their hand, it was their jungle. :)
After leaving the Jungle we were taken back to Huay Xai where we were able to catch a quick shower at the Frienship GuestHouse where we had stayed two nights previous. We then jumped on an overnight bus that was taking us to Luang Prabang. When traveling through Laos often times you will not find a direct route from any town or city. The coutry seemed to be heavily populated with beautiful mountains which increases travel time, but the views are totally worth it! Because you are traveling in the mountains the roads are very windy and may cause car sickness for some. When we first got on the overnight bus we were given puke bags just in case our stomachs couldnt handle the 15 hour ride ahead of us. Of course the only person to puke pretty regularly on the bus was a man sitting directly across from me. Thankfully the jungle really took it our of me so I slept pretty much the whole way. During the bus ride we got stopped about 6-8 times by Laos Military men who would walk up and down the aisles of the bus and then check underneath the bus. I'm not sure why this happened but it was very unfortunate becuase it would wake everyone up which made it hard to get a good nights sleep. During the 15 hours we also made rest stops to pee or get out and stretch which were litterally on the side of the road. You would walk out of the bus to see a line of men peeing and the women scattering anywhere they could to find a place to pee. The women were told not to travel too far becuase from Vietnam War there are bombs all over Laos that still have not been detinated, so we needed to be careful where we stepped....
We finally made it into Luang Prabang which is the old capital of Laos. We quickly found a little GuestHouse down the street from where we were dropped off. We slept for a couple hours which was definately needed! We decided that day that after all the trekking and excitement we had had the last three days we needed a day by a pool with a couple of drinks. So we found a great pool with a bar and relaxed for the day! That night we went out for dinner and walked through the night market which was huge and FULL of really cool things! We then decided a massage was needed so we found a place that was still open ( at this time it was already past 10) We got the Laos massage, which is hard to believe but are MORE intense than a Thai massage! Lets just say that at one point my feet were over my head and a Laos man was sitting on my legs! After, the unforgettable massage we returned to our room to find a ton of ants in Katies (a friend from Canada, Teacher at my school) bed! We dealt with that and went to bed! Woke up in the morning to getting breakfast and getting on another bus to Vien Vang, Loas!
Vien Vang is the backpacker center of Laos! It is a tiny town consisting of one main dirt road with restaurants, bars, shops, and GuestHouses. It is the home of the most famous tubing experience in the world. While tubing down the river you are able to stop off at bars along the river where they literally throw out huge ropes with pop bottles tied to the end of it and they rope you in to enjoy a beer, a nice small drink, or like me a nice bucket of Tiger Whiskey :) At each bar you will find music, slides entering into the river, huge rope swings that you drop into the river from, and spray paint. This was such a fun and amazing experience, like nothing I had ever seen before, and we all know how much I LOVE to tube down a river with a nice refreshing beverage. Needless to say we spent two nights in Vien Vang which ended our trip with a lot of relaxing, good food, good friends, good tubing, and good drinks :) Perfect way to end our amazing trip in Laos!
The next morning we had to drag ourselves out of bed to get some breakfast and get on a bus to drive us 5 hours to the capital of Laos, Vientiene. Here we boarded a plane which flew us back to Bangkok to start another Quarter of school.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Truck that drove us through the Jungle to the Village where we would begin our trek. Most off roading I have ever done! This beast of a truck got us through the craziest "roads" and none the less a river! Needless to say we were excited to have made it through without getting stuck and having to push the truck!
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