Chiang Mai

After spending two days Embassy hopping in Vientiane, paying over $80 to get more pieces of paper taped into my passport and acquiring a 60 day Thai visa, I was off to Thailand, country number 17 of my trip! We jumped on an overnight minivan from Vientiane to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand located in the northern region of the country. Its known for its unique architecture and over 300 Buddhist Temples. Leah and I spent our first day just roaming through the city, taking in a few of the temples along the way. 

When we got back to the hostel that day, we met up with our friends Monica and Elliot, who we had met the week before in Laos while tubing. They introduced us to a couple from England, Ryan and Jo, that they had met that afternoon. This was the birth of what we called the "A Team." I had no idea at the time how close I would get to these people and the incredible times we had ahead! We spent that night getting to know each other over quite a few Changs and listening to techno music at a "Reggae Bar."

Birth of the "A Team"

Chiang Mai is famous for the huge market that takes over the streets every weekend. We were lucky enough to be there over a weekend and experience it ourselves. One can find absolutely anything and everything you could ever want in this massive market...scarves, jewelry, art, souvenirs, clothes, and even stuff to make you look this cool...

Mom, your lucky I'm not coming off the plane in this!

Not surprising at all...we spent most of our time in the food section of the market...

There are loads of activities and excursions to do just outside of Chiang Mai, like jungle trekking, white water rafting, zip lining, and elephant riding. But, my Aunt Margie is coming to join me in Thailand for the last two weeks of my trip, so I passed on doing any of these this time around so that I can do them with her when she comes! After 3 days in Chiang Mai, Elliot, Monica, and I were planning on heading west to a small town called Pai. With a little bit of encouraging peer pressure, we convinced Ryan and Jo to push back their trip to Cambodia and come to Pai with us!

"Tubing" the Mekong

It didn't take long being in South East Asia to realize that there was a sort of rite of passage one had to do to be considered a true SEA "Backpacker." This could be found right outside the small town of Vang Vieng in central Laos on one of the dirtiest rivers in the world, the Mekong. No matter what country you are in in the region, its hard to go a single day without seeing someone walk past wearing a "In the Tubing" tank top. It was also nearly impossible to have a conversation with a fellow backpacker without it coming up..."Have you done it? When are you going?" So needless to say, I couldn't wait to get there!

Leah and I set out from Luang Prabang in the afternoon for what was supposed to be a 6 hour journey to Vang Vieng. Another 3 landslides, 18 hrs, and a night spent in a minivan later...we made it in at about 7am. We had been told to stay at the hostel Spicy Laos, so we headed straight there. It was made up of 3 or 4 big huts crammed with bunkbeds, a big covered hangout area, outhouses with showers and mirrors and sinks attached to a tree. It definitely was not luxury, but we realized pretty quickly why it was so popular. Immediately upon arrival we met a huge group of people that we would end up becoming good friends with. Originally, we were going to pass on tubing the first day and see some of the natural attractions around the area. But after a looong night in a minivan it didn't take much encouraging for us to be persuaded into joining in with everyone else! Before we knew it we were the proud owners of our own "In the Tubing" tank tops, covered in red motorbike spray paint, and in the back of a pickup truck on our way to the river!

All Painted Up!

Spicy Laos group ready for some tubing

Heading to the river!

When you get to the river, there are three bars right at the beginning that can be reached on foot. Most people don't ever touch a tube the entire time they are there or make it past these first three bars. Upon arrival, you are herded onto a little boat attached to a zip line and taken across the river to the first bar. As the day progresses the crowd migrates back across the river to the next one where there is a zip line out into the river, dancing, and if you were with our group...human pyramid building!

Attempt #1

Round 2

Semi Success!

And we're down

As the day goes on the crowd moves on to the last bar that can be reached by foot where the dancing continues until the sun goes down!

The YMCA

Monica and I

 

This is what our first two days on the river consisted of. By our third day, we felt like we should at least touch a tube at some point while we were supposedly "tubing." So four of us went and rented some and headed out for our final day on the river. We started out at the usual spots, but didn't stay too long so that we would have plenty of time to make it all the way down. As you head down the river, there are loads of tiny shack bars being held up on stilts along the banks. All you have to do is wave to one of the locals on the shore and they throw out a long rope with a coke bottle on the end for you to catch and they reel you in! Each bar as some kind of activity to entice you in...a giant slide made out of bathroom tiles named the "death slide", giant wooden doors attached by rope to a tree to "surf" the river. We only stopped at a couple of them cause the sun was chasing us out of the river. After about 45 mins of tubing and it getting dangerously close to dark we started to panic a bit that we had missed the turn off and were headed for Cambodia! But, right as it was getting dark we saw a break in the river and little kids running out waving us in...who we later found out only wanted to try to rob us! We made it all the down and out of the river in one piece and managed to ward off the vultures after the $2 we had left in our "water proof" bags! I was really glad we did the tubes our last day. It was a good mix up and we got to really see the unbelievably beautiful surroundings that had been missed the two days before!

I see why this has gotten so popular with young backpackers...it was one of the highlights of the Asian leg of my trip, and I even contemplated going back for round 2 with my friends Natalie and Ryan who are there now!! But, three full days of fun was enough for us and we jumped in with the Taxi boys to re-enter civilization!

It's On the Meter

During our time in Laos we were lucky enough to meet a group of three English guys doing one of the coolest things I have heard of. They were currently in their 7 month of driving a London taxi cab from London to Sydney! It all started a couple of years ago when they were in University, over a few pints at a local pub. It started out as a joke, but became reality with the click of the "Buy" button on Ebay. There it was...a London Taxi sitting in Paul's Parents driveway. It took about two years to plan the route, recruit sponsors, work out visas, and get the cab ready to go. Then they were off across continental Europe, through Turkey and the "Stans", into Russia, through China and down into Asia. We met them while tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos. The Taxi was heading south in Laos and down to Thailand. Lucky for us...there were two empty spots in the Taxi. We were able to jump in and hitch a ride down to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We weren't planning on leaving Vang Vieng that soon, but we couldn't pass up an opportunity to take a ride in the Taxi heading around the world!

Us with Paul, his sister, and the Taxi

Everyone who gets a ride in the cab as to leave something behind to make their mark...

After much deliberation, Leah and realized there was only one thing worthy of being left in the cab...our trip mascot, Wally the Whirling Dervish! It was very hard to part ways with him, but it was a good cause! He is now on his way to Sydney!

I had planned on meeting up with the boys again in Koh Phangnan for the Full Moon Party. I failed miserably at finding them, but did run into them by chance in the street for a few minutes! They are now in Malaysia, where they will put the Taxi on a ferry bound for Australia. They will then drive across Australia to what was supposed to be their final destination, Sydney. When I saw them, they told me the good news that one of their sponsors is now going to pay for them to ship the car to Los Angeles and make the trip across the states to NYC! They will have then driven all the way around the world! They get to go home for the month of December while the car makes its way to LA and then will start the next leg in January. So excited I might get to run into these guys again on my stomping ground! Safe travels and see you in the states boys!!

If you are interested in their trip take a look at their blog: itsonthemeter.com

French Colonial Luang Prabang

After finally deciding on our next destination, Leah and I boarded an overnight bus, along with 10 Asian businessmen, loaded with the essentials...Green Tea, Rice Vodka, and of course a Disney Princess coloring book and crayons. Which we used to entertain ourselves by book light on what we expected to be a 20 hr bus ride...

Three landslides, two nights, and 36 hours later...we had finally made it to Luang Prabang, Laos!

Clearing one of many landslides

Unidentified dinner with our busmates

The entire city of Luang Prabang is named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it has been extremely well preserved. The French influence is very apparent throughout the city with tons of Colonial French Architecture and baquette vendors on every corner. It is also known for the over 30 temples and 500 monks within the city. It's hard not to spot many of the small bald men dressed in orange robes strolling through the streets. Leah and I spent our first day here on a "Temple Tour" making our way to a few of the major temples in town. 

 

On our walk back to the hostel for some much needed rest, I noticed some familiar faces looking back at me from across the street. After a few seconds, I realized it was Antony and Gemma, an amazing English couple I spent about a week with at Hak's House during my time volunteering in Cambodia. Nap time immediately went out the window, a catch up and reunion beers were in order!

So happy to run into them again!

 

The next day all four of us headed out to the Kuang Xi Waterfall, about an hour outside of the city. This is the biggest one in the region. There are three different levels to hike up and see. There is a rope swing from a tree into the pool of the first one, which we took advantage of a few times! The top waterfall is absolutely breathtaking, the tallest we have seen yet! Unfortunately, we took all of the pictures on Leah's camera that day, and I didn't get her pictures before we parted ways. So here are some that I found on google of what we saw and did!

The Rope Swing

That night I met up with some friends we had met and headed out for some old fashioned bowling. I was absolutely terrible, but we had a lot of fun!

Fellow American with the Bald Eagle ball

We really enjoyed our relaxing couple of days here. We needed the rest to get us ready for our next stop...Vang Vieng!!

Out of Hibernation!

I've gotten a couple of emails in the last few weeks wondering where all the blogs had gone...well I've just been too busy meeting too many amazing people and having too much fun to keep them up the last month! But I've deserted myself on the Thai Island of Koh Tao and am not allowed to leave until I've gotten them all caught up! Some be on the look out for lots more to come about my time in Laos, Northern Thailand, and the Thai Islands!!

Tam Coc

After a couple of days, and much deliberation as to where our next destination should be, Leah and I chose to jump on a bus for 2 1/2 hours and escape the noise of Hanoi in a small town called Ninh Binh. We had heard from some travelers in passing that their stop here was one of the highlights of their trip to Vietnam. The main attraction is located just 7km outside of the city called Tam Coc or "Halong Bay with Rice Paddies." Like Halong Bay, it is filled with enormous Limestone rock formations left over from a volcano that erupted millions of years ago. But instead of being in the middle of the ocean, these formations are surrounded by a flowing river and never ending rice paddies, making for a much different feel than the Bay.

Our first day in Ninh Binh, Leah and I woke up to very dark skies and pouring rain! With us both coming down with colds, and trying to feel like humans again after Halong Bay, we decided a day spent in bed watching movies was what we needed. We woke up the next day to the same weather, but couldn't afford to waste another day. So we dug out all of our rain gear and jumped back on a motorbike headed for Tam Coc.  There's a small ticket office right on the river where you can buy a ticket for $3.50 which entitles you to your own private paddle boat, equipped with driver! Who can drive like this...

or like this...

We then set out with all the other tourists dumb enough to try this in the pouring rain...

for the 2 hour journey down the river. Where we could take in the beautiful scenery...

and be driven through caves, where the water was so high we nearly got our heads taken off by rogue hanging rocks on multiple occasions!

We got really lucky and the rain cleared up for the return trip down the river, so we were able to come out from under hoods and umbrellas and take it all in! I'm really glad we ended up coming here, even if the weather wasn't ideal. It was really cool to see the same huge limestone formations in such a different way!

We were supposed to board an all day bus at 8:30am this morning, but were informed that the bus would not be running today because it was raining. So, we have spent another day stuck inside watching movies and posting pictures waiting to make our next move. And it's a big move! Hopefully at 9pm tonight we will get on a 20 hour bus ride that should dump us at 5 pm tomorrow in Luang Prabang, LAOS!!! Country #16 here I come!!