At one point we stopped and they were pulling tools out. That was only about half an hour or so of delay and we were on our way again. We were stopped again at a relatively recent mud slide. There was a van stuck in the mud. A bunch of locals eventually pushed it out. The bus let people that were behind us go. We watched a few trucks and a van go through without a problem. However, instead of the bus going, a van on the other side went... With not even close to enough speed, he, of course, came to a stop and was stuck in the mud. His van sat there for basically 20 minutes with barely anyone helping to push it out or get it unstuck. Sure, he tried driving backwards only to slide deeper into the mud, but that's about it despite quite a few tourists standing around. Finally, Joe went out there and eventually started yelling push! After just 5 minutes the van was out of the mud.
The bus driver was smart enough not to let anyone else ahead of us this time. We made it through without a problem and continued on our way. We made it to Vang Vieng only a couple hours later than planned.
Since we've been here it's mostly been raining... This is the 'party' town of Laos. The main thing to do here is tubing. Along the river are bars playing loud music and they have rickety slides or swings to use to get back into the water. Anyway, we decided to do a one day trek our first full day. It sprinkled on and off all day, but we did a cave hike. The trails to the caves were incredibly muddy. The caves were big and limestone. Some formations were pretty neat, but it was mostly black from old candles and torches and from people touching them. There were Buddha statues in each of the caves.
The coolest one was the water cave. We got into an inner tube then pulled ourselves along a rope into a cave. It didn't go super far, but it was still neat. I took some video that, if it turned out, I'll try to get up later.
The last thing we did was tube down the river. The bar section was pretty annoying. Not many people, fortunately, but it was nice to get past that to the quiet section. Since then, it's mostly been raining and we've just wandered around town or hung out in the hotel room. Nothing too exciting.
-Miranda
Peanuts we bought when the bus was stranded the first time. They were a lot softer than the ones that have been dried.
The van stuck in the mud with all the tourists standing around.
Some amazing scenery on the way in. These huge limestone pinnacles are everywhere.
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We attended 1 day "mahout training" today. Mahouts are the local elephant handlers. We took turns mounting an elephant involving pulling up using an ear while she lifts her front knee for you to step up on. We also learned and practiced a few simple lao commands which the elephant was sure to ignore. We then went for an hour long basket ride and bare-back riding session through some jungle. It was so hot and I was sweating all over the poor elephant, so I decided to walk for half of the slow trek. After lunch and some fancy pool?! time we went back to the elephants to bathe them in the Mekong.. Rather they bathed us. We each got on one where they then waded into the mekong and proceeded to duck underwater a bit, while we tried to hold on and scrub them a bit. Good times, other than the mahouts being a little juvenile. Some were splashing the person on the elephant, one was even pouring buckets of water of a girls head and shoulders. Finally the day ended with a wonderful waterfall visit. It was a more horizontal falls than vertical, With various ledges and 1-6ft falls bubbling down over a large jungle-covered area. All in all it was a fun and tiring day.
-Joe
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Us with the elephant we 'trained' on. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
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Bathing the elephant. Yes, my mahout was a kid... (Click on photo to enlarge.)
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Miranda's elephant decided to go back up to where the other elephants were instead of letting her off at the bank like everyone else. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
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The waterfall. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
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To get from Northwest Laos(silent 's') to Central Laos, one of the best options is the slow boats. These leave every morning, overloaded with people sitting in non-fastened backseats from vans. Roughly 80 people were on our long boat measuring 10ft wide and nearly 200ft? long!
The trip was 7 hours the first day, with an overnight stop in a ready-for-tourists village. Many places offered accommodation, morning to-go baguette sandwiches, and some good dinner. The second day's boat trip was longer, close to 10 hours. We were very happy to be off since we had been sitting on the floor most of the time. The scenery was nice, mostly the same for the 16 hours, but occasionally some notable moments.. Like a floating bloated dead Water Buffalo we passed... A nice river-front rock-face-cave-dwelling monk temple... And a similar boat with 2 giant elephants on it rather than loads of tourists...
We are now in Luang Prabang, and while not super cheap, the accommodation and food has many options and confusingly french-asian in architecture and menu. It is hot though. We feel a bit bad about using some AC, but the alternative of constant full-body sweating is tiring.
We have purchased a full day of elephant wrangling tomorrow, so it should be exciting.
-Joe
The lineup of slow boats ready to go. Since it's low season, only a few went.
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The next day, we headed to Chiang Rai. Our goal was to get closer to the Loas/Thailand border, but break up the bus ride some. It only took three hours to get there, so it wasn't terrible.
The city was cute. The first evening we didn't do much. The next day we rented scooters again though. We headed to the 'white temple', Wat Rong Khun. It was stunning. White and mirrors. The statues around the temple were crazy. The guy that is designing it has been working on it for decades and hopes to have it completed in 2070. Apparently it's supposed to represent Nirvana. You would expect the guy was a heavy metal fan. There were a lot of skulls around and generally creepy faces. Inside the temple they were working on a very colorful mural which included all sorts of images, but some things you would not at all expect, such as Michael Jackson, Superman, Batman, Neo from The Matrix, the Terminator, Captain Jack Sparrow, etc. You're not allowed to take photos inside the temple, so I don't have any images of those.
After leaving there, we went to a temple in a cave. It was so quiet. Nothing too significant. Lots of dogs and cats and one monk. We left there only to have a torrential downpour start. We got under a canopy of a small shop before we got too wet and were stuck there. Fortunately, it was only about 15 minutes or so. We didn't wait for it to stop, but it had let up quite a bit. The roads were pretty flooded, but once we were moving it wasn't too long before the roads were a lot better and it wasn't raining anymore.
That night we decided to go to the foot market, but, of course, it was raining again. So, we didn't stay for long.
We didn't do much on our last day in Chiang Rai. We walked to the Hilltribe museum to check it out and watch the movie on it. We went to the night market and walked around some. That was about it.
This morning we hopped on a bus to the border city of Chiang Kong, which was only two hours. Upon arriving, we went to the port and crossed the Mekong River into Laos. It's hot! When we were eating lunch, I noticed their thermostat said 40. That's basically 104!! We're melting. Our plan tomorrow is to get on a 'slow boat' and head down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, which will take two days of travel. Staying at a village along the way for one night. Should be interesting.
-Miranda
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A panoramic of the white temple. (Click photo for larger view.)
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The front of Wat Rong Khun. (Click photo for larger view.)
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The no smoking sign. There was a similar one for no alcohol. (Click photo for larger view.)
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A pit of cement hands in front of the temple. Kinda freaky. (Click photo for larger view.)
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We had a chocolate fondue at Swenson's. Yummy. (Click photo for larger view.)
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On Thursday we went to the Elephant Nature Park. This park was created to rescue elephants that were abused by their previous owners. Many domesticated elephants in Thailand were out of work as of 1989 when logging was outlawed in Thailand. So, begging with elephants on the street became common as well as giving rides.
We got to feed the elephants and bathe them in the river. Well, throw buckets of water on them. It was pretty fun. We were given a buffet lunch. Most of it was vegetarian and there were so many different dishes. It was crazy!
We spent a lot of time with the elephants. There are two babies there. They are just over 2 years old. In the video you can see them walking with the rest of their family group.
It was enlightening and fun. We did hear some very sad stories about the abuse some of these elephants went through, but it's good to know they have a safe place to live now, especially since they can live almost as long as humans.
-Miranda
Elephant video!
Elephant Nature Park
Feeding an elephant.
Elephant getting a bath.
The family coming with the mahouts (locals that watch the elephants).
The three of us hanging out with another elephant we got to feed.
Sandra getting a photo with two elephants. heehee
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