Thailand, Laos and Cambodia Trip Report
Feb 25th, 2008, 08:56 PM
#43
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Thank you everyone. Your encouragement means a lot!
Gpanda: Funny you mention gremlins. My uncle use to have one a long time ago... I wonder what happened to it.
travelduo: the string is not so much a ritual as much as I do not want to cut it or let it be cut since it reminds me of Thailand. It makes the difficult days go by faster...
cookiescompanion: I think that day made going to Chiang Mai worth it.
Gpanda: Funny you mention gremlins. My uncle use to have one a long time ago... I wonder what happened to it.
travelduo: the string is not so much a ritual as much as I do not want to cut it or let it be cut since it reminds me of Thailand. It makes the difficult days go by faster...
cookiescompanion: I think that day made going to Chiang Mai worth it.
Feb 25th, 2008, 09:06 PM
#44
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November 23, 2007.
Chiang Mai, Thailand. (Doi Inthanon National Park)
Since we had spent almost three days in Chiang Mai, we decided to take a day out of the city and go do something outdoors. Since any strenuous activity was out of question due to my knee injury and seeing elephants was not a novelty for us; we booked a day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park. The trip cost us B950 per person and we had Opas (owner of Baan Orapin, where we stayed) book it for us. This park is Thailands' only rain forest and also has the highest peak in Thailand.
We set off at 9 am and were driven around the city to pick up other people who were part of the group (11 in all, in a Toyota van + a guide and a driver). We got to the park at around 10:30 AM and saw 2 beautiful waterfalls. After that, we went to a Karen village. Honestly, I find all these villages to be setups and made for tourists and nothing else. There were 3 houses (I counted), 1 building in which you could see 2 women weaving and a church. After that, we went to a local market where we bought a lot of dry fruit. After that was lunch. Since we are vegetarians, we were given a separate table from the rest (why, I'm not sure. Maybe the guide assumed that meat offended us (it does not) and so we'd like to be separate). The food was good, however. We had a tofu + vegetables dish, a noodle dish, spring rolls, and red curry. The red curry was really spicy and good!
However, my throat that had been giving me a lot of trouble ever since we got to Chiang Mai, started getting worse and I got some hot water to gargle, which felt a bit better. But I could tell that I'm going to suffer even more. We tried to go to a local store to see if we can get some strepsils or something, but there was no throat medicine.
The next stop was two pagoda’s that were created by the Royal Thai Air Force for the King and Queen, to honor the Kings 60th birthday. The pagoda’s were beautiful and the view spectacular. It was tad chilly up there.
Finally, we proceeded to visit the highest point in Thailand. It was nothing to write home about. There is a military post there and it’s mostly a quick walk through the woods and we were done - no views or anything. At that point, my throat was hurting a lot and I also had motion sickness. I just could not care less where we went. I wanted to get back to the hotel. When we did, we just relaxed for a few hours in our room and headed out to the street near our hotel to get something to eat.
It’s the “hip street” of Chiang Mai and the Thai’s and tourists all come here. It was even more crowded due to Loy Krathong. We went to the Riverside café (a full fledged restaurant really) and ate pizza and some Thai style noodles in a soup. I had been craving pizza forever. It hit the spot. It was Friday night, so we felt like we kept our Friday night = pizza night ritual alive.
Afterwards, we wandered around the area and finally went back to our room to call it a day (10:30 pm ish).
Chiang Mai, Thailand. (Doi Inthanon National Park)
Since we had spent almost three days in Chiang Mai, we decided to take a day out of the city and go do something outdoors. Since any strenuous activity was out of question due to my knee injury and seeing elephants was not a novelty for us; we booked a day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park. The trip cost us B950 per person and we had Opas (owner of Baan Orapin, where we stayed) book it for us. This park is Thailands' only rain forest and also has the highest peak in Thailand.
We set off at 9 am and were driven around the city to pick up other people who were part of the group (11 in all, in a Toyota van + a guide and a driver). We got to the park at around 10:30 AM and saw 2 beautiful waterfalls. After that, we went to a Karen village. Honestly, I find all these villages to be setups and made for tourists and nothing else. There were 3 houses (I counted), 1 building in which you could see 2 women weaving and a church. After that, we went to a local market where we bought a lot of dry fruit. After that was lunch. Since we are vegetarians, we were given a separate table from the rest (why, I'm not sure. Maybe the guide assumed that meat offended us (it does not) and so we'd like to be separate). The food was good, however. We had a tofu + vegetables dish, a noodle dish, spring rolls, and red curry. The red curry was really spicy and good!
However, my throat that had been giving me a lot of trouble ever since we got to Chiang Mai, started getting worse and I got some hot water to gargle, which felt a bit better. But I could tell that I'm going to suffer even more. We tried to go to a local store to see if we can get some strepsils or something, but there was no throat medicine.
The next stop was two pagoda’s that were created by the Royal Thai Air Force for the King and Queen, to honor the Kings 60th birthday. The pagoda’s were beautiful and the view spectacular. It was tad chilly up there.
Finally, we proceeded to visit the highest point in Thailand. It was nothing to write home about. There is a military post there and it’s mostly a quick walk through the woods and we were done - no views or anything. At that point, my throat was hurting a lot and I also had motion sickness. I just could not care less where we went. I wanted to get back to the hotel. When we did, we just relaxed for a few hours in our room and headed out to the street near our hotel to get something to eat.
It’s the “hip street” of Chiang Mai and the Thai’s and tourists all come here. It was even more crowded due to Loy Krathong. We went to the Riverside café (a full fledged restaurant really) and ate pizza and some Thai style noodles in a soup. I had been craving pizza forever. It hit the spot. It was Friday night, so we felt like we kept our Friday night = pizza night ritual alive.
Afterwards, we wandered around the area and finally went back to our room to call it a day (10:30 pm ish).
Feb 26th, 2008, 09:17 PM
#46
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November 24, 2007.
Doi Suthep. Chiang Mai, Thailand.
This was our last day in Chiang Mai. This afternoon we moved on to our next destination: Luang Prabang. However, since we had not visited Doi Suthep, one of Chiang Mai’s most important (and beautiful) temples, we woke up early morning, got dressed and headed there. We got a sangthaew (one of those ubiquitous red truck-converted-to-taxi’s) to take us up to the temple.
We got there we got there before most of the tourist buses so it was relatively quiet. We spent an hour around the temple taking photos and walking around admiring the carvings and shrines. As it started to get slightly crowded, we decided to head back to Chaing Mai.
When we came down the hill, we got a terrible headache and immediately regretted being lazy and not taking the motion sickness tablets.
On the way down, I was feeling low since I remembered a dear one who passed away a few years ago and was feeling sad. When our sangathaew driver, who did not speak any english, dropped us off at our hotel, we thanked him in Thai and he signaled us to wait. He gave me a very small Buddha image and wai'd. I am not sure why he gave it but we took it as a good omen. We wai’d back and it all felt so good. It was definitely one of the top moments of our trip.
The sangatheaew cost us B400 round trip, including the waiting time and we were the only customers.
We packed our bags, checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Luang Prabang, Laos.
Doi Suthep. Chiang Mai, Thailand.
This was our last day in Chiang Mai. This afternoon we moved on to our next destination: Luang Prabang. However, since we had not visited Doi Suthep, one of Chiang Mai’s most important (and beautiful) temples, we woke up early morning, got dressed and headed there. We got a sangthaew (one of those ubiquitous red truck-converted-to-taxi’s) to take us up to the temple.
We got there we got there before most of the tourist buses so it was relatively quiet. We spent an hour around the temple taking photos and walking around admiring the carvings and shrines. As it started to get slightly crowded, we decided to head back to Chaing Mai.
When we came down the hill, we got a terrible headache and immediately regretted being lazy and not taking the motion sickness tablets.
On the way down, I was feeling low since I remembered a dear one who passed away a few years ago and was feeling sad. When our sangathaew driver, who did not speak any english, dropped us off at our hotel, we thanked him in Thai and he signaled us to wait. He gave me a very small Buddha image and wai'd. I am not sure why he gave it but we took it as a good omen. We wai’d back and it all felt so good. It was definitely one of the top moments of our trip.
The sangatheaew cost us B400 round trip, including the waiting time and we were the only customers.
We packed our bags, checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Luang Prabang, Laos.
Mar 1st, 2008, 08:29 AM
#49
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I'm sorry to have been out of action with this report during the week. But hope to put a lot more over this weekend.
Moving on:
Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang: We had initially planned to take a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong and then a boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang. The cheapest version of the boat takes 2 days with an overnight stay in a town with minimal facilities (Pakse). We opted for the second option (~$80 USD), www.nagiofmekong.com - a single day boat.
While I am confident this boat is legitimate and I even got a confirmation from people here that it is, I noticed that on his website the dates of the boat departure had changed, from what I had originally booked. I panicked. I was unable to contact him for 2 days. This was our first real vacation after a really really long time and wanted things to go as right as possible. I booked a flight from CM to LP and got it over with. If I were to do this again, I would do it differently.
Eventually, I did get a reply from him (after a month) and it was a glitch on his website.
Oh well. The flip side of taking the flight was that I had a lot of throat ache (due to the cold) and a 2 day journey in a bus and open boat would have definitely aggravated it.
Moving on:
Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang: We had initially planned to take a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong and then a boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang. The cheapest version of the boat takes 2 days with an overnight stay in a town with minimal facilities (Pakse). We opted for the second option (~$80 USD), www.nagiofmekong.com - a single day boat.
While I am confident this boat is legitimate and I even got a confirmation from people here that it is, I noticed that on his website the dates of the boat departure had changed, from what I had originally booked. I panicked. I was unable to contact him for 2 days. This was our first real vacation after a really really long time and wanted things to go as right as possible. I booked a flight from CM to LP and got it over with. If I were to do this again, I would do it differently.
Eventually, I did get a reply from him (after a month) and it was a glitch on his website.
Oh well. The flip side of taking the flight was that I had a lot of throat ache (due to the cold) and a 2 day journey in a bus and open boat would have definitely aggravated it.
Mar 1st, 2008, 08:35 AM
#50
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November 24, 2007.
Luang Prabang, Laos
I have never used the word charming in my entire life, but that is the word that kept coming to my head about how I felt about Luang Prabang. It’s a sleepy town, nestled on the banks of two rivers, the Mekong and Nam Khan.
Good coffee, baguettes, fresh butter and jam - can life get any better?
Our flight from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang was a little over an hour in a tiny plane with Lao Airlines. These guys take being on time to a different level. The flight left 30 minutes before scheduled time. They served a meal as well. And yes, they had vegetarian options.
We landed in Luang Prabang at around 4 PM. When we arrived, we had to get a visa on arrival and then go through immigration/customs. It’s a two step process: First, you fill out a form, apply for a visa-on-arrival, pay the appropriate fee for your country and give your passport at the first window. Then stand in line to get your passport back from the window right next to it. Once you get the visa, you then proceed to the window that will check your visa (which you just got) to ensure it’s ok and let you in. You pick your bags and you’re out!
We got to our hotel, The Apsara, on the banks of the Nam Khan river and checked in. We booked the standard room for $70 / night and it was smallish and simple. But I have to say, the staff was excellent.
Dumped our bags and decided to walk about town. It’s quiet and peaceful. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO protected world heritage site, which means you will never see the likes of Wal-Marts and McDoanlds here (Thank You, UNESCO). This place has a lot of European influence and we saw a lot of coffee places around town. We walked around the night market had dinner at one of the joints on the main street and headed back to the hotel, since it was getting colder and my throat was getting more and more aggravated.
Luang Prabang, Laos
I have never used the word charming in my entire life, but that is the word that kept coming to my head about how I felt about Luang Prabang. It’s a sleepy town, nestled on the banks of two rivers, the Mekong and Nam Khan.
Good coffee, baguettes, fresh butter and jam - can life get any better?
Our flight from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang was a little over an hour in a tiny plane with Lao Airlines. These guys take being on time to a different level. The flight left 30 minutes before scheduled time. They served a meal as well. And yes, they had vegetarian options.
We landed in Luang Prabang at around 4 PM. When we arrived, we had to get a visa on arrival and then go through immigration/customs. It’s a two step process: First, you fill out a form, apply for a visa-on-arrival, pay the appropriate fee for your country and give your passport at the first window. Then stand in line to get your passport back from the window right next to it. Once you get the visa, you then proceed to the window that will check your visa (which you just got) to ensure it’s ok and let you in. You pick your bags and you’re out!
We got to our hotel, The Apsara, on the banks of the Nam Khan river and checked in. We booked the standard room for $70 / night and it was smallish and simple. But I have to say, the staff was excellent.
Dumped our bags and decided to walk about town. It’s quiet and peaceful. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO protected world heritage site, which means you will never see the likes of Wal-Marts and McDoanlds here (Thank You, UNESCO). This place has a lot of European influence and we saw a lot of coffee places around town. We walked around the night market had dinner at one of the joints on the main street and headed back to the hotel, since it was getting colder and my throat was getting more and more aggravated.
Mar 1st, 2008, 12:24 PM
#53
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gloriaf: We thought it was good, however, our room was a standard room (and it sounds like that is NOT what you will be staying in). For $70, the room was on the small side. The bed was large and almost felt like took a lot of space in the room. Add to that a recliner, coffee table, almira, study table! It was overall clean.
There was no TV (not that we missed it terribly), coffee maker / refrigerator, which we like to have in the room since we sip a lot of tea and like to buy local fruit and store in a refrigerator. But it's certainly not a deal breaker.
I had a peek at the larger rooms and they're definitely large and more spacious/airy.
Enough about the rooms. The staff were extremely pleasant, courteous, attentive and most spoke good English.
The restaurant service (for breakfast everyday and dinner once) was always top notch and VERY attentive. Worth the money. I'm not completely qualified to comment on the food, since we're vegetarians and they had very few options for us. But the one night we did dine there, they made some special Lao style tofu stir fry for us - very good. For breakfast, they served fresh jam and I noticed that it was a different type every day. When they found out my wife does not eat eggs either, they made sure they brought extra fruit for her to eat. Little things that brought a smile to our face...
The hotel is located slightly away from the main drag (5 mins walk) and hence its nice and quiet at night. We always felt safe. A tuk tuk will cost you 10,000 kip almost anywhere in the main city. There is a coffee shop next door where you can relax and get views of the Nam Khan while sipping a nice lao coffee.
Lastly, we stayed in the second building (that is not the main building) and got our laundry done from a lady right next door (just in case you need to as well).
If you have any specific questions please let me know and I'd be happy to answer them for you.
There was no TV (not that we missed it terribly), coffee maker / refrigerator, which we like to have in the room since we sip a lot of tea and like to buy local fruit and store in a refrigerator. But it's certainly not a deal breaker.
I had a peek at the larger rooms and they're definitely large and more spacious/airy.
Enough about the rooms. The staff were extremely pleasant, courteous, attentive and most spoke good English.
The restaurant service (for breakfast everyday and dinner once) was always top notch and VERY attentive. Worth the money. I'm not completely qualified to comment on the food, since we're vegetarians and they had very few options for us. But the one night we did dine there, they made some special Lao style tofu stir fry for us - very good. For breakfast, they served fresh jam and I noticed that it was a different type every day. When they found out my wife does not eat eggs either, they made sure they brought extra fruit for her to eat. Little things that brought a smile to our face...
The hotel is located slightly away from the main drag (5 mins walk) and hence its nice and quiet at night. We always felt safe. A tuk tuk will cost you 10,000 kip almost anywhere in the main city. There is a coffee shop next door where you can relax and get views of the Nam Khan while sipping a nice lao coffee.
Lastly, we stayed in the second building (that is not the main building) and got our laundry done from a lady right next door (just in case you need to as well).
If you have any specific questions please let me know and I'd be happy to answer them for you.
Mar 2nd, 2008, 08:06 AM
#54
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November 25, 2007.
Luang Prabang, Laos.
Day 1
We woke up a bit late (7 am-ish) and took our time to get ready. My throat ache was getting worse and I just did not feel like on the top of the world. At 9 AM, we went down to the hotel restaurant for a breakfast consisting of warm baguette, fresh fruits, orange juice, strong Lao Coffee (very good) and omelet for me.
We booked a private boat to the Pak Ou / Tam Ting caves ($35). It was a 2 hour boat ride, up the mighty Mekong. We started off at 9:30 AM and our first stop was a weaving/paper-making village. The make paper from a local plant: Cut the bark, beat it to a pulp and finally dry it on a net. Voila! You got paper. They also had hand-made silk/cotton scarves and shawls for sale and my wife bought one. Afterwards, we headed to the caves and it was a good 2 hour ride, upriver. The scenery was quite beautiful. Along the banks of the river we saw some beautiful homes. We kept talking about how lovely it might be for whoever lives in those houses. Needless to say, we went over the idea of moving to Laos, as well.
The caves were quite interesting. They’re places where people leave their old Buddhas and when the Lao kings were around they patronized the caves and even paid artisans to keep the Buddha images at the caves in good condition. Today, the caves are locally managed with patronage from visitors and local people.
There are two caves: The lower one (Tham Ting) gets enough natural light and we did not need a flashlight. However, the upper one (Pak Ou) does require a flashlight which you can rent for a small donation. On the way to the upper caves, we saw several kids selling fried potato crisps (that were slightly sweet), bananas and caged swallows. Releasing the birds is supposed to bring good luck (but the chance of the birds being caught again is high, I’m sure). One of the local guides was mentioning that these little kids prefer to sell rather than go to school, which was very sad. However, I’m also sure that there must be family / economic hardships that these children face because of which they need to do this work. At least, they were not just begging.
After the caves, we visited a touristy whiskey village (although when we went, we were the only tourists). They sell snake/lizard/crab rice wine and also Lao Lao. It has 15% alcohol. There was a little girl who was managing the alcohol shop and even offered me a taste of the Lao Lao - which I promptly declined. Should she not be doing her homework or something? It was sad. Selling bananas is one thing, but selling alcohol at this age!?! The ride back was pretty fast since we were going downstream.
Back in Luang Prabang, we set off to find something to eat. We were quite full from the breakfast, but hungry enough to eat a bit. So a full blown lunch was out of question. We walked along the road that hugs the Mekong and popped into one of the many places by the river that sold sandwiches in baguettes. Sounded tasty! We sat down and ordered a vegetarian sandwich for each of us, a papaya fruitshake for my wife and a hot Lao coffee with milk for myself. The sandwiches were really good, in a warm baguette (Thank You, France). The fruitshake was divine and the coffee strong. Hunger satisfied, we took a tuk-tuk back to our hotel. As soon as we got in, we just fell asleep (no words spoken). It was one of those perfect lazy afternoons, where if you don’t sleep, it’s punishable by law!
We got up a couple of hours later, and it was almost dark. Dressed up and headed to the night market. On the way, we booked ourselves a ride to the Kuang Si waterfalls with Green Discovery tours. At the night market, we walked about looking at the wares, but were soon hungry. (I’m not sure how, since we ate lunch and slept). There is this vendor who sells a good vegetarian buffet at the night market. The deal is this: You pile a little plate with as much food as you like: Cut veggies, stir fried veggies, four different kinds of noodles and two types fried rice. Add whatever sauces and spices you want and give it to a lady who will stir fry the mix for you and give it back. Only for 5000 kip! Spring rolls cost 1000 kip each and a soft drink is 3000 kip. Our dinner was a little less than $2! And we felt stuffed. I loved it!
After dinner, we walked about a bit more in the night market and did not like anything that caught our eye. One thing that we noticed is that the wares are similar and no vendor is really unique. And there are a LOT of vendors! After some time it gets quite repetitive. They are hard bargainers and sellers.
We came back to the room by nine and my wife fell asleep early, while I finished up writing my journal and reading.
Luang Prabang, Laos.
Day 1
We woke up a bit late (7 am-ish) and took our time to get ready. My throat ache was getting worse and I just did not feel like on the top of the world. At 9 AM, we went down to the hotel restaurant for a breakfast consisting of warm baguette, fresh fruits, orange juice, strong Lao Coffee (very good) and omelet for me.
We booked a private boat to the Pak Ou / Tam Ting caves ($35). It was a 2 hour boat ride, up the mighty Mekong. We started off at 9:30 AM and our first stop was a weaving/paper-making village. The make paper from a local plant: Cut the bark, beat it to a pulp and finally dry it on a net. Voila! You got paper. They also had hand-made silk/cotton scarves and shawls for sale and my wife bought one. Afterwards, we headed to the caves and it was a good 2 hour ride, upriver. The scenery was quite beautiful. Along the banks of the river we saw some beautiful homes. We kept talking about how lovely it might be for whoever lives in those houses. Needless to say, we went over the idea of moving to Laos, as well.
The caves were quite interesting. They’re places where people leave their old Buddhas and when the Lao kings were around they patronized the caves and even paid artisans to keep the Buddha images at the caves in good condition. Today, the caves are locally managed with patronage from visitors and local people.
There are two caves: The lower one (Tham Ting) gets enough natural light and we did not need a flashlight. However, the upper one (Pak Ou) does require a flashlight which you can rent for a small donation. On the way to the upper caves, we saw several kids selling fried potato crisps (that were slightly sweet), bananas and caged swallows. Releasing the birds is supposed to bring good luck (but the chance of the birds being caught again is high, I’m sure). One of the local guides was mentioning that these little kids prefer to sell rather than go to school, which was very sad. However, I’m also sure that there must be family / economic hardships that these children face because of which they need to do this work. At least, they were not just begging.
After the caves, we visited a touristy whiskey village (although when we went, we were the only tourists). They sell snake/lizard/crab rice wine and also Lao Lao. It has 15% alcohol. There was a little girl who was managing the alcohol shop and even offered me a taste of the Lao Lao - which I promptly declined. Should she not be doing her homework or something? It was sad. Selling bananas is one thing, but selling alcohol at this age!?! The ride back was pretty fast since we were going downstream.
Back in Luang Prabang, we set off to find something to eat. We were quite full from the breakfast, but hungry enough to eat a bit. So a full blown lunch was out of question. We walked along the road that hugs the Mekong and popped into one of the many places by the river that sold sandwiches in baguettes. Sounded tasty! We sat down and ordered a vegetarian sandwich for each of us, a papaya fruitshake for my wife and a hot Lao coffee with milk for myself. The sandwiches were really good, in a warm baguette (Thank You, France). The fruitshake was divine and the coffee strong. Hunger satisfied, we took a tuk-tuk back to our hotel. As soon as we got in, we just fell asleep (no words spoken). It was one of those perfect lazy afternoons, where if you don’t sleep, it’s punishable by law!
We got up a couple of hours later, and it was almost dark. Dressed up and headed to the night market. On the way, we booked ourselves a ride to the Kuang Si waterfalls with Green Discovery tours. At the night market, we walked about looking at the wares, but were soon hungry. (I’m not sure how, since we ate lunch and slept). There is this vendor who sells a good vegetarian buffet at the night market. The deal is this: You pile a little plate with as much food as you like: Cut veggies, stir fried veggies, four different kinds of noodles and two types fried rice. Add whatever sauces and spices you want and give it to a lady who will stir fry the mix for you and give it back. Only for 5000 kip! Spring rolls cost 1000 kip each and a soft drink is 3000 kip. Our dinner was a little less than $2! And we felt stuffed. I loved it!
After dinner, we walked about a bit more in the night market and did not like anything that caught our eye. One thing that we noticed is that the wares are similar and no vendor is really unique. And there are a LOT of vendors! After some time it gets quite repetitive. They are hard bargainers and sellers.
We came back to the room by nine and my wife fell asleep early, while I finished up writing my journal and reading.
Mar 4th, 2008, 01:29 AM
#55
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Rahulm,
Interesting that you thought the Karen hill tribe was just a set up for visitors - becuase that's what is actually is!
We went to the very informative Hill Tribe Museum in Chiang Mai and were planning on following it with a visit to the Karen tribe. However at the Hill Tribe Museum (which is very good and I would recommend a visit there) there were lots of videos and displays about how the Karen villages just outside of Chiang Mai were all set up purely for tourist purposes and the people int the villages are badly exploited It certainly convinced us not to go there!
Interesting that you thought the Karen hill tribe was just a set up for visitors - becuase that's what is actually is!
We went to the very informative Hill Tribe Museum in Chiang Mai and were planning on following it with a visit to the Karen tribe. However at the Hill Tribe Museum (which is very good and I would recommend a visit there) there were lots of videos and displays about how the Karen villages just outside of Chiang Mai were all set up purely for tourist purposes and the people int the villages are badly exploited It certainly convinced us not to go there!
Mar 4th, 2008, 06:17 AM
#56
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cookiescompanion: Thanks for that info. The visit was a part of a tour so we could not really avoid it. But I wish they'd not do these kind of things - since it really adds no value to the tour or the Karen people.
Mar 4th, 2008, 08:31 AM
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November 26, 2007.
Luang Prabang, Laos.
We woke up at 7:30 am, a little later than we expected. One of the "must-do" things about LP is to watch "Tak Baat", the ancient Luang Prabang tradition of monks receiving their daily alms from the locals. Ever since we got here, due to my throat ache we really did not have the energy to wake up at 5:30 AM (it's too cold and that aggravated the pain). Well missed it today as well.
Instead, we woke up and headed to the main street for a spot of breakfast. The destination was the Scandinavian Bakery. People and guide books have raved about this place. We figured since we’re here, a good cup of Lao coffee and pastries for breakfast might be worth a try - and also a change from the daily omlettes and baguettes. Alas, we were disappointed. While the coffee was excellent, the croissants and cinnamon bun was cold. Not even warmed up. The taste was just ok, but half the fun of eating these things is that they're warm and have a fresh feeling! I usually never ever make a scene at restaurants. If the food is bad, I'll suck it up and never come back, unless there is a good reason to. Even when we asked for it to be warmed it was just slightly warm (microwaved - I saw it). If I’m in Laos and I’m paying $3 for something, I want it good. I pay less than that for a warm croissant at GOOD bakeries here in SF.
After breakfast, we walked along the banks of the Nam Ou river. My wife decided to buy some tamarind from a street seller. Two novice monks came by and we tried to talk to them, but they could not understand us and vice-versa. But they were smiling and very cute, so we bought them whatever stuff they wanted as well.
Back at our room, we got ready and headed out to the city for a stroll. Nothing special since we had 2 hours to kill so we made some calls back home and pottered around some shops. At 1:30 pm, we headed to the Kuang Si falls. We had booked a shared van with Green Discovery Laos for $5 per person. The driver and guide, apparently watch a lot of Bollywood movies and were singing all sorts of Bollywood songs and asking me about all the actors and whatnot! They seemed to know a bit more about me.
The drive to the falls was really nice and we passed some scenic villages on the way. We arrived at the falls at 2:30 pm and had about 90 minutes at the falls. At the entrance, are a few Asiatic black bears and a tiger rescued from poachers since these animals’ body parts have high value.
The falls themselves were really beautiful. The water flows in levels and at each level it makes little blue ponds, in which people can swim if they like. According to our guide, the water is blue because the bottoms of the pools have bluish green moss. We hiked up to the top of the falls. While the climb up is a workout in itself, there are hardly any scenic views of any kind. We, however, did see where the falls start. Back down, it was almost time to go.
Overall, while we loved the falls, if we were to do it again, I would reserve at least 3 hours at the falls and spend more time admiring the beauty and do the hike only if I wanted a workout. On the way back, we stopped at a Hmong village. We spent some time walking around the village just watching people do their daily chores. The village was very clean - intentionally or otherwise, I'm not sure. We felt the same for most of Luang Prabang. Either ways, its a very good thing. The village did not seem "made up" like the Karen village in Chiang Mai. There was more activity, ACTUAL families and kids and youngsters playing games.
In the evening, we walked about the night market a bit more and then, got dinner at Tum Tum Bamboo. We instantly loved Lao food! It has subtle flavors, yet can be made spicy. It is unlike Thai food where you have an array of curries, Lao food is slightly drier. I do not want to compare the two since they’re different, and we loved both. During dinner, my throat, that had been bothering me since Chiang Mai, started acting up really bad and I just wanted to get out of the restaurant (and the cool evening air which was hurting my throat with each breath that I took) and head back to our room. On the way, I got some antibiotics to cure my throat from the pharmacy as well. The old pharmacist was like an old uncle and very personable.
Exhausted (from the coughing and throat ache), I just lay in bed hoping sleep would come.
While I hated being sick, I lay there with a very very happy feeling - something I've not felt in a really long time. Yes! I loved being in Asia...!
Luang Prabang, Laos.
We woke up at 7:30 am, a little later than we expected. One of the "must-do" things about LP is to watch "Tak Baat", the ancient Luang Prabang tradition of monks receiving their daily alms from the locals. Ever since we got here, due to my throat ache we really did not have the energy to wake up at 5:30 AM (it's too cold and that aggravated the pain). Well missed it today as well.
Instead, we woke up and headed to the main street for a spot of breakfast. The destination was the Scandinavian Bakery. People and guide books have raved about this place. We figured since we’re here, a good cup of Lao coffee and pastries for breakfast might be worth a try - and also a change from the daily omlettes and baguettes. Alas, we were disappointed. While the coffee was excellent, the croissants and cinnamon bun was cold. Not even warmed up. The taste was just ok, but half the fun of eating these things is that they're warm and have a fresh feeling! I usually never ever make a scene at restaurants. If the food is bad, I'll suck it up and never come back, unless there is a good reason to. Even when we asked for it to be warmed it was just slightly warm (microwaved - I saw it). If I’m in Laos and I’m paying $3 for something, I want it good. I pay less than that for a warm croissant at GOOD bakeries here in SF.
After breakfast, we walked along the banks of the Nam Ou river. My wife decided to buy some tamarind from a street seller. Two novice monks came by and we tried to talk to them, but they could not understand us and vice-versa. But they were smiling and very cute, so we bought them whatever stuff they wanted as well.
Back at our room, we got ready and headed out to the city for a stroll. Nothing special since we had 2 hours to kill so we made some calls back home and pottered around some shops. At 1:30 pm, we headed to the Kuang Si falls. We had booked a shared van with Green Discovery Laos for $5 per person. The driver and guide, apparently watch a lot of Bollywood movies and were singing all sorts of Bollywood songs and asking me about all the actors and whatnot! They seemed to know a bit more about me.
The drive to the falls was really nice and we passed some scenic villages on the way. We arrived at the falls at 2:30 pm and had about 90 minutes at the falls. At the entrance, are a few Asiatic black bears and a tiger rescued from poachers since these animals’ body parts have high value.
The falls themselves were really beautiful. The water flows in levels and at each level it makes little blue ponds, in which people can swim if they like. According to our guide, the water is blue because the bottoms of the pools have bluish green moss. We hiked up to the top of the falls. While the climb up is a workout in itself, there are hardly any scenic views of any kind. We, however, did see where the falls start. Back down, it was almost time to go.
Overall, while we loved the falls, if we were to do it again, I would reserve at least 3 hours at the falls and spend more time admiring the beauty and do the hike only if I wanted a workout. On the way back, we stopped at a Hmong village. We spent some time walking around the village just watching people do their daily chores. The village was very clean - intentionally or otherwise, I'm not sure. We felt the same for most of Luang Prabang. Either ways, its a very good thing. The village did not seem "made up" like the Karen village in Chiang Mai. There was more activity, ACTUAL families and kids and youngsters playing games.
In the evening, we walked about the night market a bit more and then, got dinner at Tum Tum Bamboo. We instantly loved Lao food! It has subtle flavors, yet can be made spicy. It is unlike Thai food where you have an array of curries, Lao food is slightly drier. I do not want to compare the two since they’re different, and we loved both. During dinner, my throat, that had been bothering me since Chiang Mai, started acting up really bad and I just wanted to get out of the restaurant (and the cool evening air which was hurting my throat with each breath that I took) and head back to our room. On the way, I got some antibiotics to cure my throat from the pharmacy as well. The old pharmacist was like an old uncle and very personable.
Exhausted (from the coughing and throat ache), I just lay in bed hoping sleep would come.
While I hated being sick, I lay there with a very very happy feeling - something I've not felt in a really long time. Yes! I loved being in Asia...!
Mar 4th, 2008, 09:14 PM
#59
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We woke up around 7 am ish today, but my throat was in a bad condition. I just felt like staying in bed and not venturing out. With the throat ache, came a bad cold and a weak body and lots of coughing.
We took my health in our stride and took it easy. After all we were on vacation and we did not have to be active ALL the time. So we spent the morning lazing around, reading and talking to each other. What could be better, anyway!
Around noonish, the pain subsided a bit and we decided to venture out. Since it was noon, most Wat’s were closed so we just took photos from outside. We walked around Luang Prabang and along the Mekong river, taking in the sights and feeling; loving ever moment of it. The road along the Mekong river has some art galleries and we went in to whichever caught our fancy, spending time as we liked. For lunch, we ate a Lao sandwich (love 'em). The afternoon was spent resting and lazing back at the room.
In the evening, we walked about the night market and had dinner at our hotel – The Apsara. The food was very good, but the lack of choices for vegetarians left us slightly unhappy. However, whatever was lacking in choice was made up with the excellent taste and attentive service that we got. We had a lovely evening sitting at our table, chatting, watching the river and soaking in the atmosphere. Yes, we love Luang Prabang!
We walked around town for a while, sipping a fruit shake (dessert). By 9:30 the whole place starts shutting down so we made our way back to the room. The weather outside was just mildly cold (if you've been to a hill-station in India, you know what I mean) - just perfect! I sat by the window, on the reclining chair reading and soaking in the peace. This place is perfect…!
However, as Bob pointed out my peace and happiness could have just been effects of the drugs I was taking for my cold...
We took my health in our stride and took it easy. After all we were on vacation and we did not have to be active ALL the time. So we spent the morning lazing around, reading and talking to each other. What could be better, anyway!
Around noonish, the pain subsided a bit and we decided to venture out. Since it was noon, most Wat’s were closed so we just took photos from outside. We walked around Luang Prabang and along the Mekong river, taking in the sights and feeling; loving ever moment of it. The road along the Mekong river has some art galleries and we went in to whichever caught our fancy, spending time as we liked. For lunch, we ate a Lao sandwich (love 'em). The afternoon was spent resting and lazing back at the room.
In the evening, we walked about the night market and had dinner at our hotel – The Apsara. The food was very good, but the lack of choices for vegetarians left us slightly unhappy. However, whatever was lacking in choice was made up with the excellent taste and attentive service that we got. We had a lovely evening sitting at our table, chatting, watching the river and soaking in the atmosphere. Yes, we love Luang Prabang!
We walked around town for a while, sipping a fruit shake (dessert). By 9:30 the whole place starts shutting down so we made our way back to the room. The weather outside was just mildly cold (if you've been to a hill-station in India, you know what I mean) - just perfect! I sat by the window, on the reclining chair reading and soaking in the peace. This place is perfect…!
However, as Bob pointed out my peace and happiness could have just been effects of the drugs I was taking for my cold...
Mar 6th, 2008, 07:17 AM
#60
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November 28, 2007.
Luang Prabang, Laos.
We woke up at 5:30 AM to witness Tak Baat, an ancient Luang Prabang tradition where the monks walk along the main street, getting their daily alms from the locals. We were really excited since it was one of the things about Luang Prabang that had attracted us initially. Sadly, we were disappointed.
Now, before I start my grumbling, I admit I knew it was frequented by tourists. However, what I did not expect was that the tourists would have absolutely no respect for this tradition and would blatantly break all the rules/requests to keep the tradition solemn.
Some of them had perched themselves as alms-givers solely to get close-up photos, and as the monks approached, simply got in their way, flashed the camera right in their face and created a ruckus. It seemed very touristy that we left early.
I really hope that we we were there on a bad day and other days are nicer; otherwise, it would be truly sad if a tradition like this was reduced to a parade for snap happy tourists.
What is wrong with these people??? There are signs everywhere, asking folks to respect this tradition.
Luang Prabang, Laos.
We woke up at 5:30 AM to witness Tak Baat, an ancient Luang Prabang tradition where the monks walk along the main street, getting their daily alms from the locals. We were really excited since it was one of the things about Luang Prabang that had attracted us initially. Sadly, we were disappointed.
Now, before I start my grumbling, I admit I knew it was frequented by tourists. However, what I did not expect was that the tourists would have absolutely no respect for this tradition and would blatantly break all the rules/requests to keep the tradition solemn.
Some of them had perched themselves as alms-givers solely to get close-up photos, and as the monks approached, simply got in their way, flashed the camera right in their face and created a ruckus. It seemed very touristy that we left early.
I really hope that we we were there on a bad day and other days are nicer; otherwise, it would be truly sad if a tradition like this was reduced to a parade for snap happy tourists.
What is wrong with these people??? There are signs everywhere, asking folks to respect this tradition.
