TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT?

Chinese food - no big deal, we have all been eating in Chinese restaurants for most of our lives! We wondered what it would be like: better? Worse? Too different for our tastes? or just give me some good old KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), which they love to eat here, to get me through our three weeks in China. Well, just like anywhere else, it depends where you eat. We have had some really great Chinese food and we have had some really mediocre Chinese food and we've even had some bad Chinese food. Either way, there are definitely some difference...

1. Rice will NOT come with your food. If you don't order rice, you won't get rice. When you get your rice it comes in a small bowl. You do not dump your rice onto a plate placing your Chinese food on top. Instead, you leave the rice in it's little bowl and slowly move individual pieces of your meat or vegatable into your rice bowl and eat from there. It's a little bit of a challange.

2. Bones will come with your food - and lots of them. The meat in your dish is most likely still attached to it's bone, however, it is still cut into bite size morsels which means that the bones are in lots of little pieces. Allow extra time to eat!

3. I've always thought that Chinese food in America is pretty salty. That is not the case here. You will often need to add salt or soy sauce to your dish. If you want salt, just make the gesture of holding a salt shaker in your hand and shaking salt onto your food and you will get the salt. If you want soy sauce, learn the Chinese word for soy sauce as we can't seem to make them understand what it is we want.

4. We have seen no dish call Egg Rolls. They have spring rolls here and they come in a meat variety and a vegtable variety but the two don't ever seem to mix the two of them.

5. Speaking of not mixing meat and vegtables, unlike at home where dishes usually have meat and vegtables both, here there are meat dishes and there are vegatable dishes but almost no mixed dishes of meat and vegtables. Maybe it's a Chinese thing like Jews don't mix milk and meat.

6. Soup or no soup. When ordering a noodle dish you need to decide whether or not you want the noodles in soup or just on a plate. All noodle dishes require that this decision be made clear to your wait person.

7. Fried rice at home is good (or not so good in some restaurants). Fried rice here is not good. It's filling but it's tasteless.

8. You get no fortune cookies at the end of the meal. They must export all the fortune cookies to foreign countries and therefore have none left to hand out here.

9. Each dish you order is prepared fresh and one at a time. This means in order to serve your food hot, they bring out dishes one at a time. There could easily be a 15minute difference between when you receive the first dish ordered until you receive the last. This also means that if you want to eat your food hot, that you end up eating your dishes one at a time.

10. They eat everything here: chicken, pork, beef, duck, snake, rat, dog...and every part of it. Therefore when you see street food or an item on the menu that reads "Mixed Meat" you have to make the decision of whether TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT!

The Cycle of Talking

When we started our trip it was easier to get along with each other. Now, six and a half months out, we crane our heads over the crowd to look for people to talk to other than each other. That's okay, it works!! The only problem is, when we can't find someone that's open to talk to, it results in.......................constantly being bored with each other.

Every morning, I wake up and see Avocet sleeping in the same bed or in the bed right next to me. If she's awake, (most of the time she wakes up before me) we play with Seelia and Fuzzy or our dolls. Then Mom and Dad will come in to say good morning. We go out together, talk together, and see each other, EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! Seeing each other everyday results in more arguments, annoyance, calling each other names, frustration, etc., etc., etc.,.

Whenever we hear someone speaking English, we POUNCE!! I mean we don't literally, "pounce on them," we just go up to them and start talking. The good thing about this is that we now know a lot more travellers that are doing the same thing as us. The bad thing is that when we have apartments, we go crazy, as there is only our family staying at the apartment and no one to talk to but ourselves and the wall. The whole thing is just one, huge, endless cycle!

HANUKKAH ON THE ROAD

Once we set up our itinerary and realized that we would be in China for the duration of Hanukkah, we pretty much gave up on the idea of any type of celebration. That was until I ran into two Israeli travelers at the acupuncturist who told me that there was a bar in town owned by an Israeli. I soon left to check out this story and sure enough, there is a bar in Yangshuo, China, The Alley, owned by 2 Israelis and a Chinese. Oren, Israeli #1 told us that they would be lighting Hanukkah candles at 8:00 PM. We all returned for a candle lighting on a menorah made out of beer bottle caps. It wasn't the prettiest menorah we've ever seen but it will certainly be one of the most memorable Hanukkah celebrations we will ever have. Oren, thank you for making Hanukkah 2008 one to remember.

Since Hanukkah is typically oriented towards children, Marty and I receive no presents at this time of year. Avocet and Siena, however, usually receive one present per night for 7 of the 8 nights of the holiday. On one night, they receive no present but instead, we all give a present to someone whose need is greater than ours. Given the gift that we all have of taking this one year trip around the world, we decided that all 8 nights of Hanukkah this year should be dedicated to giving to others. Based on our travels, we have chosen the following organizations for our donations.

Night 1. Tibetan Children's' Village (TCV) - A school and home for orphaned and refugee Tibetan people for the purpose of education, care and survival of the Tibetan culture.

Night 2. Elephant Nature Park - Provides a sanctuary and rescue center for elephants in Thailand.

Night 3. Malaria Foundation International - Supports awareness, education, training, research and leadership programs for the immediate and long term development and application of tools to combat malaria.

Night 4. The Hunger Project/India - An organization committed to the sustainable end of hunger in India. It seeks to end hunger and poverty by empowering people to lead lives of self reliance, meet their own basic needs and build better lives for their children.

Night 5. Dalai Lama Foundation - An organization that promotes world peace and is working for a free Tibet.

Night 6. Lao UXO (Unexploded Ordnance Program) - An organization created to reduce the number of casualties caused by unexploded ordnances (bombs and land mines), and increase the amount of land available for food production and other socio-economic development activities.

Night 7. Nightlight/Bangkok - To meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of women in prostitution and their children, by building relationships and providing a center that offers emergency aid, educational and employment opportunity, emergency child-care, language tutoring, literacy training, and biblical teaching and healing for their community.

Night 8. Spring Bud Plan - Due to uneven social and cultural development in China, there are a large number of illiterate children, predominately girls. Spring Bud Plan assists girls of poor areas of China to return to school.

It's a strange way of looking at it, but we have been blessed to have had the opportunity to see misery and heartache in the world. We hope that our decisions will make a difference. Change can occur one small step at a time.

THE LI RIVER

The Li River is famous. Go into any Chinese restaurant in America and you will see a painting where a lonely little river runs through pointy rock formations. It's right beside the fish tank and the little red lanterns for sale. That's the Li River. Kidding aside, this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It's outer worldly. I have difficulty using words to describe it. You have to have a better camera than mine to properly showcase it. Simply breath taking.


We rode on the bus to Yangdi with our trusted Chinese guide Feng Ping. She was quite adept at English and we were helped into buses, boats, etc. without worrying that we were taking the wrong road, wrong river, etc. The river itself was calm but had a lot of activity. Big tourist boats from Guilin plied the waters, accompanied by smaller fishing boats. Our small craft was illegal on the waters being that only the large "ships" out of Guilin are allowed to carry tourists - the government collects large tax dollars from these businesses and not from the local fisherman. We had to stop at a stone beach partway in order to wait for the authorities to leave a section of the river before we moved on. Follow the money. Even in China!!



These "karst" or limestone peaks sometimes go directly up three hundred meters. They are partially covered in vegetation and their stone faces "peak" through. They don't just follow the water but go for many kilometers in all directions. The scenery is noted to be especially beautiful on the river from Yangdi to Xingping, our drop off point. One pretty view is so nice it's on the back of China's 20 yuan note.




Now when I eat my Kung Pao Chicken at Happy Garden (or any other Chinese restaurant) and glance at the paintings, I can think about the great afternoon we spent on the Li River.

WHO STOLE THE SUN?

When we were in Thailand, Marty and I were joking that our image of China was that it was gray and dismal. This image, of course, was derived from a period in time when China was closed off to the outside world and the portrayal that the US government gave of "Big Bad China" was bleak. Thank God that was just government propaganda and it wasn't really going to be that way.

So here we are in Yangshuo, freezing our butts off in the gray and dismal land of China. We left 90 degree and balmy Bangkok and arrived in Guilin where we had to promptly don our jackets. It's OK; it's night time; it will be better in the morning, right? - NOT! We awoke to unusually cold (freezing) temperatures, wind and gray skies. We transferred to Yangshuo where we will be staying the next two weeks but unfortunately, it's not any better here. Everyone keeps telling us how just last week it was warm and spring like (which it is suppose to be) but that doesn't do us a bit of good since we are here this week (and next) and it's cold! We are not physically nor mentally prepared for this and don't have the proper attire. We were going to southern China to stay out of the cold, not to be in it!

Yangshuo is a city of about 300,000 people. It is in the region that is known for it's karst formations - limestone hills that dot the landscape for about 1000 km. in Southern China. These karst formations are famous throughout China and are featured in many Chinese paintings. Because of Yangshuo's natural beauty, it is a popular tourist destination for the Chinese. Many westerners find their way to Yangshuo as well. It is a very picturesque city.












We have lovely accommodations here complete with a western flush toilet (versus a squat toilet which is standard throughout China) and heat, which even most homes in this area do not have. All of these will make our two week stay here much more comfortable. Shops and restaurants also typically don't have heat but many (not all) restaurants will set up charcoal pits next to the tables to make it warmer. It has become one of our criteria of whether or not we will eat at a particular restaurant.



Yangshuo is not big and gliltzy like Bejing or Shanghi nor is it rural China. It's in between the two and would be just perfect, if someone would just return the sun.

THAILAND'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip team for their Top Ten (Plus Two) of Thailand and the results are in:

12. Salakaewkoo - Nong Khai's Sculpture Park
11. Baan Thai cooking class in Chiang Mai
10. Flight of the Gibbon
9. The Atlanta Hotel in Bangkok
8. Lumphini Park in Bangkok
7. Tadkham Village Guesthouse in Chiang Mai
6. Our Thai and Foot Massages
5. Loy Kathong Festival in Chiang Mai
4. Baan Bakery in Chiang Mai
3. Elephant Nature Park
2. Siena and Avocet's 10th birthday celebration in Chiang Mai

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF THAILAND IS:

1. Mut Mee Guesthouse of Nong Khai and the wonderful friends we met there

Results of this country's survey were tabulated by Marty

INT'L STREET PERFORMERS FESTIVAL

For the second time on this trip we had the opportunity to see an International Street Performers Festival. The first was at Rynek Glowny, Krakow Poland's beautiful central square. This one was held in Lumphini Park, about a forty minute walk from our hotel. We stayed for about three hours and saw break dancers who “said” they were from New York, a juggler from New Zealand, a Thai person who could blow darts to break balloons and ride a bike only twelve inches high, etc, and finally a funny Japanese lady who performed a cool comedy mime routine. When the crowd grew large, the sponsors sold "periscopes" so people could see over the people in front of them.











This is also our first attempt at placing a video on the blog by way of YouTube. I credit my friend Erwan from Paris who instructed me how to do it. Thanks, Erwan!!! Enjoy.

OH, BY THE WAY, I DIDN'T KNOW THE CAMERA HAD TO BE SIDEWAYS...OOPS. TO STRAIGHTEN IT OUT, SIMPLY TURN YOUR LAPTOP ON ITS SIDE. FOR DESKTOPS, DON'T ELECTROCUTE YOURSELF.

The Westin Grande And The Joe Louis Theatre

On the first day of our four day stay in Bangkok, we didn't want to go out. Dad, while reading Mom's notes on Bangkok, started wondering whether going to Tea would be a good idea. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel was way too expensive and so were many others. Mom happened to stumble across an ad in the Bangkok Post for the Westin Grande Hotel,saying that there was to be a special Tea from December 17th to the 4th of January. We looked into it a little further, and Voila!!, a reasonably priced tea on the 7th floor at a very fancy hotel in Bangkok. And we were going that afternoon.

The Westin Grande was VEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY fancy!!! The lobby (inside) had water in ponds that would flow under glass walls to the outside. The "Tea Room" was called the Zest Piano Bar, and had large slanted glass windows on both sides of the room. A huge glass lamp on the wall hung over a bar that changed colors every few seconds.

We ordered two Festive Tea sets, including pastries, tea sandwiches and several different spreads. Also, and most importantly, Vanilla Ceylon and English Breakfast Tea. It was all VEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY tasty, and we got good photos!!!






Afterwards, we headed to the Joe Louis Puppet Theatre. We headed past Lumpini Park (see Bangkok - The Sleepless City) to the night market and then onward to the theatre itself. The theatre was created for a man nicknamed Joe Louis who was committed to the puppets. The puppets of Thailand are a dying art, and this man loved them. He started making the puppets for his own satisfaction, and then for the satisfaction of his audiences. His children and grandchildren are all taught traditional Thai dance and the way to control the puppets. The show, The Birth of Ganesh, was about the birth of Ganesh with characters from the Ramayana, a traditional Southeast Asian theatrical dance. In the Hindu religion, the mother of Ganesh is Parvati, Shiva's wife. In the show, his mother was Uma, wife of Isuan.

SCHEDULE YOUR NEXT MEDICAL PROCEDURE HERE

Toward the end of our stay in Nong Khai I wasn't feeling all that well. I took some medicine that I carry with me but I didn't seem to be feeling better. Upon arriving in Bangkok, I decided to go to the doctor – mostly because I figured this would be a better move than waiting until we went to China which was only 5 days later. According to my research as well as upon the recommendation of our hotel, I went to the Bumrungrad Hospital where I was told I would find an English speaking doctor.

I found more than an English speaking doctor. I found an international hospital that was like a five star hotel! Upon entering, a person immediately greets you in English and inquires as to your needs. I was sent to the 10th floor where I was again greeted by an English speaking person who directed me to registration. Using state of the art computer equipment, I was rapidly registered and told which floor to which to proceed. Passing by the Starbucks (which I was tempted to stop in but didn't), I went to the 16th floor and waited to see the doctor. In the waiting area you could hear languages from all over the world as people come here from everywhere to receive first class medical treatment – sometimes at a fraction of the cost of what it would cost in their own country. I had heard about this on NPR, but now I was seeing it first hand.

The doctor I saw spoke English very well and was a good humored person. My lab test came out negative and he just felt that I needed to give the antibiotic treatment that I was using a little more time. Hearing that I was leaving soon and heading to China, he prescribed an alternative antibiotic for me to carry just in case I didn't feel better within a week. For his time, I was charged 500 Baht ($14.08 US), a facility fee of 200 Baht ($5.63 US) and a lab fee of 200 Baht (also $5.63 US). This was less than my health insurance co-pay at home and all at a first class medical facility.

Before leaving the hospital, I stopped in Au Bon Pain on the first floor to pick up some desperately needed “American Style” chocolate chip cookies for the family. As I looked around, it was clear to me that this would be the ideal place to have a future medical procedure performed. And recuperating in Thailand after the procedure wouldn't be too bad either!

THE ATLANTA HOTEL

Our abode in Bangkok is the Atlanta Hotel, a “venerable” institution, dating from 1952. lisa found this place on the www when she was frustrated that all hotels in Bangkok were either $200 US per night or cheap and hovel-like. I had the same experience in Delhi. Nice and expensive or cheap and bad!! The Atlanta was nice AND cheap. And has a history and a mission.

The hotel makes a statement at the front door “SEX TOURISTS NOT WELCOME”. At every corner we read that you can't take “new PAID FOR girlfriend” here. You will get kicked out. Even Siena and Avocet noticed the large number of older Western men with young Thai women (girls sometimes) throughout Thailand. The Atlanta wears its mission on its sleeve.

The history of this place includes having the first hotel swimming pool in Thailand (and quite nice), a restaurant that serves food using 1950's recipes and a lobby that has been in more movies than any other lobby in Thailand. It's unique in that everything you need to know about the hotel and Bangkok is explained in voluminous detail by the owner, a Dr. Henn. Pictures of its history are all over the walls.


Nothing much has changed for fifty years. The rooms are 1950's style; spartan, but with the materials of the past: nice terracotta concrete floors, beautiful teak wood used in a reading room and, I understand, most of the same bathroom fixtures, repaired instead of being replaced. I read on one of the literature boards in the lobby that General William Westmoreland, famous (infamous, really) for being “in charge” of the US involvement in Vietnam, stayed in what are now rooms A-5 and A-6. We stayed there! Who knows what strategies were wrung out behind these closed doors. Today it's much simpler with the girls playing Webkinz on the laptop using a very nice wireless signal. How things have changed!!



We would all like to thank Roger of the Atlanta for helping us along our journey. He has been communicating with lisa for over a year and helped us on numerous occasions: helping us book train tickets to Chiang Mai while we were still in Italy and for assuring us that Bangkok was still a good place to bring your family after the airport takeover and the protests that followed. We enjoyed having good conversations with you about travels and the City of Bangkok. LONG LIVE THE ATLANTA!!

Bangkok - The sleepless city

Bangkok - it's a glitzy city that never sleeps and is home to about a billion traffic police, (there's a LOT of traffic!!) and all the pretty ladies in high heeled shoes. It is also our five day, last stop in Thailand, before we move on to Guilin, China. Bangkok's really touristed but when you think about it, there are not many famous tourist sites to see in Bangkok except for a couple of Wats and the Grande Palace; but we did more things than just that.

To escape from the noisy streets of Bangkok, I suggest you go to Lumphini Park. Lumphini Park is just like any other park in the U.S. except that there are these crocodile looking reptiles that walk all over the grass. You can also rent a paddle boat and steer yourself around a small lake. This park is a perfect place to relax and enjoy yourself!!!


If you are interested in looking at Wats, then you sure will like Wat Arun and Wat Pho!! In the old city, Wat Arun and Wat Pho are two of the three Wats that you definitely want to see. Wat Arun is entirely decorated with broken China and is pretty amazing!! (it's just like saying, "I made a stupa out of my broken tea set!") CAUTION! The steps to walk up are VERY steep. Wat Pho is home to the largest reclining Buddha in the Kingdom of Thailand - literally!! The Buddha's about as long as 5 school buses, and about the width of one too!! He has really awesome feet, as they have designs out of black paint on them. I said Wat Pho and Wat Arun were two of the three major Wats to see and the third one is located in the Grande Palace.




The Grande Palace looks exactly like a street in Disney World. It has perfectly manicured lawns, trees, shrubs, and topiaries (except that the topiaries are not of Disney characters!). The Royal Wat (which is also home to the famous “Emerald” Buddha) is probably my favorite Wat in Thailand. The different stupas that all make up the temple complex are located on a stone terrace. They are all beautifully carved with gods, demons, and decorated with pieces of colourful Japanese glass. The main Wat is home to the “Emerald” Buddha. It's not really emerald but when people first discovered it, they thought it was. It's really jade. The Grande Palace itself was okay but the grounds were pretty elaborate!!!!!




Bangkok has lots of sky-scrapers and tall hotels. We went to the top of the tallest in all of Thailand - The Baiyoke Sky Hotel II. There are 84 floors. Three of them are dedicated to looking out over Bangkok at the highest point. 81 is a museum like area with scenes to take your picture in. 83 is a bar where you can get alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 84 is a revolving observation deck from which you can view Bangkok. Very amazing!!!!


Bangkok has lots of forms of transportation. To get around inside the city, you can take a meter-taxi, tuk-tuk, or sky train. The sky train is like a subway but up in the sky. For going outside the city and beyond, you can take a bus, train, or plane. Since Old Bangkok is built on water, another form of transportation is a water taxi. Sometimes if you walk into a hotel, you will smell a putrid, dirty, water smell.


As I said in the title, it is true that Bangkok never sleeps. It is most lively at night and is most crowded at night. The traffic is worse at night too. The best place to hang out at night is one of the many night markets. If you are interested in seeing a traditional Thai puppet show with traditional Thai puppets, then go to the Joe Louis Puppet Theatre.


Overall, Bangkok is a pretty nice, crazy, city!!

"SUMMER'S" OVER

We arrived in Nong Khai on December 9th and one week later it was time to leave. No big thing,we've done this many, many times before. So why was it so difficult to leave this time? Nong Khai was a nice city with lovely people, but it wasn't Nong Khai that was tough to leave, it was Mut Mee Guesthouse.

This place was different from any other place that we have stayed. It wasn't an accommodation, it was like a "summer" camp. Here in the common garden, we ate together, played together, socialized with each other and shared information. Not just our family, but everyone who was there. Age didn't matter, young interacted with old; background didn't matter, the French interacted with the Australians; marital status didn't matter, the singles fit right in with the families.

After reading our blog one day, our friend Dianna commented "Do you just ever take a week off to totally zone out, watch TV, or just do nothing?" Well Dianna, we didn't have a TV, or radio, or CD player...but we sure "zoned" out - all week!

We met so many wonderful people at Mut Mee, some with whom we had extended conversations with over multiple days; with others, it was in passing while waiting for a meal. These are just a few of the many people that made our week at Mut Mee memorable.


Charlotte and Erwan from Paris who left it all behind to travel for a year. Our paths will cross over 3 airports as we enter/exit the same city on the same day in Sydney, Auckland & Papeete. Hope we meet up with you somewhere!


Leslie and Dino from Ann Arbor, MI who we met in Luang Prabang and then again in Vientiane and yet again at Mut Mee (were you guys stalking us?).


Vince, Petra, Annouk and Norgca from Holland who have been on the road for 3 months now with their 5 and 3 year old daughters and were heading to New Zealand to see if they might like to settle down there.


Ben from NY/CA who is in Nong Khai to create a community garden and a healing center.


Cara, from Montreal, who after finally admitting she didn't like her job, fired herself, and took off to travel by herself. Hope to see you in New Zealand!


John and Shirley from Greece. They left it all behind in England to an old stone cottage on the island of Lefkada 7 years ago. They were out doing Thailand and Laos for 2 months.


Marta, Luis, Lucille and Carola from Spain. A lovely family who arrived the day we were leaving. How very sad. They quit their jobs and are doing an around the world with their 4 and 7 year old daughters. Hope to meet up with you in Sydney!

Thanks to each and every one of you who helped nourish our souls.

SALAKAEWKOO - TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

As lisa reported in her post "Mut Mee Guest House", Nong Khai is a working Thai city, with just a few things for tourists to do. One that we couldn't miss is Salakaewkoo, the sculpture park six km. outside the city. Here was our day's adventure:

We rented bikes in two different places because most rental places do not have kids bikes. After almost striking out a woman says we can take her daughter's bike for the day. How nice of her. The Thai (and Lao) people seem to go out of their way to help you, even if it doesn't pad their pockets. A second kid's bike couldn't be found but Siena was happy to ride on the back of mine. Thai adult bikes have seats above the back wheel for another rider so it worked well, kinda like riding on a scooter. We used our map and promptly got lost. Only with the help of a young Thai man/boy on a scooter were we able to find our way. We kept thanking him (Krop Kun Krop), and he pointed to his sleeve which said "Rescue 50";. Rescueing people is what he did!!


Arrival at the park takes your breath away. Concrete sculptures, some more than seven stories high, grace the grounds. They are a mix of Hindu and Buddhist, with a particular leaning to Buddha statues. A huge one of seven snakes with 10-15 foot long tongues is especially cool. These statues began when the sculptor bought the land after being removed from Laos in 1978. He built his first sculpture park near Vientiane on the Laos side of the Mekong River. The place also had a series of lakes which contained giant catfish. These monsters were about three feet long. I would die of fright if I fell in and had these guys start to swarm on me. Yikes!!!



The most important sculpture in the park is the Wheel of Life which covers life from conception to death with additions of the Buddhist six senses and components of our lives such as Prayer, Democracy, Business, Begging, Poverty. Death and dying is represented by your funeral and a man and woman walking outside the Circle of Life following Buddha to Nirvana.

MUT MEE GUESTHOUSE - NONG KHAI, THAILAND

Typically when one travels, you pick your destination and then you find an accommodation at that destination where you desire to stay. We have followed this "formula" for our entire trip with the exception of this one. We came to Nong Khai because that is where the Mut Mee Guesthouse is located.

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When researching Southeast Asia trying to decide where we wanted to go, I came across the website for Mut Mee. I immediately decided that I wanted to stay there. There were a couple of things to do in Nong Khai that were of interest, but basically, I wanted to go there so I could stay at Mut Mee. So finally, after a two year wait, here we are.


Mut Mee is not a luxurious place. In fact, it is probably the most rustic place that we have stayed in so far. The rooms are simple and the walls are so thin that we can hear every sound coming from the rooms upstairs and next door. You even have to pour water into your toilet in order to create a "flush" and where tiny ants hang out in your bathroom. So you ask, "What's so special about this place?" It's about the serenity of a garden on the banks of the Mekong. It's about being in a real Thai town that sees very little in the way of tourists. But mostly it's about the community of people who gather here on their way North into Laos or South into Thailand.

While we planned from the beginning to stay here a week, that is the exception vs. the rule. Most people check in for just a night or two but then seem to never leave. The Irish guy at the table next to us came for a night and 4 days later is still here. The Australian at our breakfast table was leaving for Laos this morning but by 11:00 said, "I guess I'll leave tomorrow." The place is very seductive. The garden tables are perpetually filled with people regardless of the time of day. People are talking, playing cards, reading, eating, drinking, painting... Occasionally people leave to go to see a site in Nong Khai (there are a few) or nearby, but mostly people are just hangin. You talk to everyone and one person's life and travels are as interesting as the next. Many people out there think that our family traveling around the world is an unusual adventure ,but here, it's just another adventure, nothing terribly unique, for everyone who passes through here is having an adventure of their own.

Tomorrow we will rent a car and drive 70 km to a historical park that is suppose to be incredible. Yesterday we were at a sculpture park that was amazing. But today, like everybody else, were just a-hangin!

LAOS' TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

We surveyed the 4 participants of the One World One Trip team for their Top 10 (plus two) of Laos and the results are in:

12. Tak Bat (giving alms to the Monks)
11. The people we met in Luang Prabang
10. City of Luang Prabang, the night market and the rivers
9. Fruit Shakes
8. The Royal Ballet's Ramayana
7. JoMa Bakery and Cafe
6. The food of Vientiane
5. Mt. Phousi and the Buddha Garden
4. Movie night at L'Etranger Books and Tea
3. Kuang Si Waterfall
2. Ock Pop Tok (Weaving Center)

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF LAOS IS:

1. Saeng, Wang and Villa Phathana

Note: Results for this country's survey were tabulated by Avocet

Vientiane - the capital of Laos

After eleven days in Luang Prabang, we took a forty minute plane ride to Vientiane for a two day stay. Vientiane is the capital of Laos but for us it's like a small town!! It's true - Vientiane is a pretty tiny capital.

For us, three days is really, really, short. We're used to three, two, one, etc. week stays but there's not much to do in Vientiane so Mommy and Daddy said it was enough.

On the day we arrived we didn't do anything except go to our hotel, settle in, and have dinner. Vientiane has much more French influence then Luang Prabang. There are French restaurants all over the place, French writing on signs and menus, and that doesn't even include all of the French tourists!!! Anyway, for dinner we did go to a French restaurant. THE FOOD WAS GREAT!!!!!!! I had smoked salmon ravioli which was very delicious (especially since I love smoked salmon!!) and for dessert I had caramelized apple pie (not so good)!! If we had stayed here longer we would've eaten our way through Vientiane.

The next day we went sight seeing. Vientiane is home to the famous Pha That Luang (a monument to a Buddha), a huge arch called Patuxai, and a couple of famous Wats. Pha That Luang is a big pyramid shaped Stupa that is painted gold and has a gate around it. There are multiple small shrines with Buddha statues and burning incense. There's not much to it but it's a national monument.



The Patuxai arch has a strange history. It started when the U.S. Government gave cement to the government of Laos to make an air strip for planes to land. Instead, the government of Laos took the cement and built this huge concrete arch!! It's very pretty with carved designs and a great lookout at the top. However, on the sign board inside the arch of the arch (ha ha!!) it said, “it looks pretty from a distance but up close it looks like a big concrete monster.” Saying that is kind of like wearing a t-shirt that says, “I'm ugly!”!!! After you get out of the arch there are two fountains and gardens. The lookout at the top of the arch was also nice. A very good view and very good souvenir shopping!!



That's mostly all the stuff to do in Vientiane so we've spent today either walking around, or going to the bus station getting info on how much it costs to get to Nong Khai by bus. Oh well. I got to finish my book anyway!!!

54, then 53, then 54

I had my birthday party on the night of the 4th of December, two days ahead. This early party was due to us travelling on the 6th, my actual birthday. So I was "54" on the evening of the 4th. The party put me into a very good mood, but at the stroke of midnight, I became a young man of "53" again.

The next morning, lisa came back from the Internet access shop and told me only a few people were there and the connections and speed were strong. I headed out as quick as I could! I successfully edited about 20 pics in our KodakGallery.com account and loaded up and edited a few more. Wow, things were working without fail. It's time to play the lottery. This Internet luck doesn't happen all the time in SE Asia.

I got back, joined the family, had breakfast and a couple of hours later headed to a waterfall called Kuang Si. Incredibly beautiful. lisa and I both agreed that this was the most wonderful waterfall we had ever seen. You couldn't climb to the top which was wise as you could kill yourself. A writer I later met in Vientiane fell three meters there and broke his wrist. He said "Thank God the cameras were OK!! Downstream were pools in which to swim and lush forests surrounded by two hundred foot rainforest giants. On the way back I conversed with two English medical students who were out of school for two months traveling in SE Asia. Luang Prabang is a conversationalists dream and these two were not an exception.




That evening we went to L'Etranger Books and Tea, a place that had intimate low lighting (something semi-rare in Laos) and a nice cozy feel. There we had dinner and watched Mama Mia!, the movie. Very nice; especially since the owner allowed us (the girls especially) to pick the movie. Originally it was to be a semi-slasher adventure movie and she switched it because "we just don't get too many kids here."


All in all, the day went perfectly. Internet GREAT. Waterfall and nature WONDERFUL. Conversation with other travellers INTERESTING. Movie night FUN. A wonderful way to reenter youth at "53" before reaching "54" at midnight.

SIX MONTH STATE OF THE UNION

As of today, December 10th, we have been on the road for six months or one half of our trip. On the one hand, it feels like it was not that long ago that we were sitting in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport waiting to leave the US. On the other hand, it feels like a life time ago. Time is a very funny thing. Overall, it feels that the second three months have passed much faster than the first three months. I'm not sure if that trend will continue for the next six months or not.

At this point we are ¾ the way through what we perceived to be our toughest countries. We knew that Europe, Australia and New Zealand would be the easiest places. Africa, India, Thailand, Laos and China would be the toughest. And the countries of South America, somewhere in between. Europe was in fact very easy, but as it turns out, so was Thailand and Laos. Africa was not what I would call easy, but much easier than expected. Only India was in fact as challenging as what we had predicted. I'm guessing that China will be that way as well.

On the road we don't take anything for granted and we have much to be thankful for. At this point we have had 13 flights which have all landed safely and our luggage has always been there waiting for us. We have not missed any trains, planes, ferries, buses or other forms of transportation and nothing has been more than two hours late and has never been a hardship. We were out of India by the time of the Mumbai bomings, and out of Thailand before the Bangkok airport closed and things got intense there. We are now back in Thailand for 11 days with a flight scheduled out on December 21st and at the moment it looks as if flights will be leaving Bangkok as scheduled.

We have all had days where we are “tired of traveling” but then we seem to be able to snap out of it after a short while. Avocet and Siena say they “miss home” with a certain amount of frequency with the specifics usually being: their friends, the house and their stuff. They make no mention of missing school. Marty misses his friends and his car and me, well, I miss my friends but that's about it. We are all longing to get back to apartments! We have managed in guesthouses/hotels fine and have learned to make common areas our “living room,” but we really miss having a kitchen a lot. It's nice when someone else cooks and cleans up for you but it really does get old eating in restaurants. We wonder if we'll ever eat in any restaurants in Sydney after having had to do it for four months!

Everyone has been healthy (another thing we are thankful for) with the exception of an occasional tummy ache or headache. This is particularly significant at this stage of the trip as we had assumed that we would all have gotten sick in Africa and/or India. Our first aid kit is intact with the exception of the use of some bandaids, antiseptic ointment, Advil, Dramamine and an occasional OTC sleeping aid. It would be nice if we could come home with the kit looking the way it does right now. We have less than a month more of taking our Malerone (anti-maleria) pills and will all be happy to stop taking them. Fortunately, we have not had any “known” side effects of taking them.

I try to think of how we have all changed for certainly, after an adventure like this, we are bound to change. We've watched Avocet and Siena blossom into amazing beings; they are sophisticated way beyond their years. We all see how we can live with a lot less than we're use to, not unlike the many people we see in the countries we are traveling in. It's clear to us that relationships are what life is all about. It's what we miss most from home and what we so much enjoy in our travels. And having been in Buddhist countries for the past month, learning and living the concept that the past is over and done and the present is what we have, will be something that we will continue to strive toward. My guess is that all the ways in which we have changed won't be apparent until after we get back home.

What's most amazing is that even after six months on the road, sometimes we have to pinch ourselves and say, yes, this is really happening. We are here in Thailand, half way around the world and we are spending a year of our lives traveling the world. It's hard to believe it now and I'm sure when we return home it will all seem like a dream.

Saeng and Wang

At Villa Phathana, the rooms were very nice and the included breakfast was delicious but that wasn't what was so special about the hotel, it was Saeng and Wang. Saeng and Wang were the 2 receptionists at our hotel. At first they were very nice, by just talking to us. Later on, we started goofing around with them and eventually discovered Wang's interest in the game of Hangman. We also got Saeng's email address and we started to email. At the end, we also got Wang's email. When we left Luang Prabang, one of the worst things was leaving our new friends.

~Avocet,

Eventually, we learned what their working shifts were. Saeng worked form 3:00 PM till 7:00 AM. Wang got there at seven and was therefore there during our breakfast time. After breakfast we would sit down at the table in the lobby and play hangman, tic-tac-toe, word games or drawing games with Wang. He always beat us in hangman though because he had practically memorized every word in his English-Lao dictionary!! Whenever we would get back to the hotel late at night, Saeng would be in his little sleeping bag under mosquito netting waiting for us. At the end of our stay in Luang Prabang, Wang gave us each a Christmas card and a bag of three hair bands and a nail-clipper. We had a very enjoyable stay there!!!

~Siena



Wang


and Saeng!

THE MEKONG

The Mekong. The name stirs up memories of helicopters scurrying over its surface in television shots of the Vietnam War. To me, as a late teenager, this river meant death. Or at least the possibility of it. Two days ago I turned fifty four and thirty plus years ago I DEFINITELY had no desire to be a soldier in a war that was half way around the world. I didn't want to see this river.

Now we eat in fancy riverside cafes on its banks in Luang Prabang. We watch locals transport their wares and food items up and down the river. It is different from my thoughts from the past. It is nice. We watch boatmen repair their wooden crafts, dipping into the water to check something or other. We watch women, probably their wives, hike their long skirts and bathe in its brownness. The river is alive with activity.


The four of us took a “longboat” (my term) from the dock area of Luang Prabang to the Pac Ou caves. The trip took two hours upriver and only one hour back. You think of the Mekong and you think hot. Not the day we went. I'm guessing the temp to be in the low sixties when we left at 9:00. The shallow, almost flat bottom boat slid quickly across the surface. This speed, plus the cool temps, made the passage bitterly cold. Av crawled on lisa's lap for warmth while I held Siena, her hands inside my fleece and mine in hers. Brrr....


The Mekong is very shallow. When you saw “waves” you knew there were rocks just inches below the surface. In high water season it doesn't matter, but now our boatsman had to be vigilant, winding his way through the deeper parts. You would see grasses grow out of the water, not at the edges, but in the middle. The river is wide, possibly a mile at its widest.

We saw villages on the riverside that were well up on the banks. This is the low season for the river with its obvious high marks showing on the banks many meters higher than where the river now stands. Gardens abounded. Here people grow vegetables to eat to sustain life, not as a hobby. On the way to the caves we stopped at a touristy village to look at stuff to buy. Not really interested in shopping, the four of us visited quickly and returned to the river. I noticed an older woman hoeing in the soil. I reached down and touched the soil noticing how rich, loose and apparently fertile this ground is. When I asked her if it was lettuce, she nodded her head.



They say that there are lots of villages on the upper banks of the river. We can't see any of them from the water, but you know they are there because you see people walking down to the shore. The river is alive. It isn't at all the vision of death that I thought years ago.

TAK BAT

Tak Bat is the Laos ritual of giving alms to the Buddhist Monks. Every morning at 4:00 AM the monks awaken to the sound of drums. If you are staying near a Wat, you too will awaken at 4:00 AM to the sound of drums. They then meditate and chant for the next two hours. At 6:00 AM, just as the sun is beginning to rise, the novice monks travel the streets collecting the food that they will eat for the day. Since monks do not grow or purchase food, they are dependent on the community for their nourishment. The community takes care of their monks and in exchange, the monks tend to the spiritual needs of the community. It is a symbiotic relationship that has existed for hundreds of years and the ritual of Tak Bat is quite a beautiful site to witness and to participate in.

At dawn, you head out to the streets having prepared your offering (or at least ordered it) the night before. The most common offering is sticky rice, however, you can offer fresh fruit, candy or really anything that you desire. You lay out your bamboo woven mat on the cold ground, remove your shoes, sit down, place your basket of warm sticky rice in front of you and wait. In just a short time, a sea of orange will round the corner and you rise to your knees. The monks approach you wearing nothing other than their robes,which aren't all that warm. Their feet are bare against the cold pavement. As they walk up to you, you reach out with your right hand holding that which you are offering them and place it in their alms bowl. You do this in silence and with a bowed head. There should be no eye contact at all. You make an offering to each monk as they pass until the line has ended. At that point there may be a break until the next line of monks reaches your street.

It is difficult to give alms during Tak Bat and take pictures at the same time. If you want to take pictures, the community asks that you do so at a distance so as not to detract from the ritual. They understand the tourists' desire to document this event but at the same time, they are trying to maintain their ritual with the dignity it deserves. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there are many signs posted of the Do's and Dont's of Tak Bat, many tourists are in the monks' faces with their cameras. It's quite sad and degrading.

We as a family participated in Tak Bat one very cold morning here in Luang Prabang. We ordered baskets of sticky rice from our guesthouse the night before which were waiting for us when we got up. We stationed ourself just in front of our guesthouse and waited. As the first monks rounded the corner there was a feeling of anticipation – we were about to take part in a ritual that has been done in this part of the world “forever.” It felt very peaceful and solemn and touched a deep part of my soul. There were fewer monks than we had expected but it was a rewarding experience none the less. This morning I went out again by myself. This time I went to a different location, closer to one of the town's many Wats, with my basket of sticky rice and a kilo of clementines. I watched as the locals held their rice basket in prayer and I too held my basket in prayer for my Mother who is sick at home. I then handed out all of my rice and clementines.


It must be a humbling practice to rely on others for the source of your food. It certainly felt like a humbling practice to ask others for spiritual help for my Mother.

THE PEOPLE WE MEET

We go on and on in these posts about what “we” do, mainly as a family. Sometimes we ramble about our thoughts on an occurrence or how a place makes us feel. But what usually comes out is what we, that is Siena, lisa, Avocet and I do while we are out exploring this great big world. What we don't usually express are our thoughts about the people we meet and talk to. These talks can be in our hotel lobby, in a restaurant, at the Internet cafe, on a tour, or just walking down the sidewalk. They last from twenty minutes to several hours. Today we had a twenty minute discussion with a gentleman that started while we were getting Kip (Lao $$$) out of an ATM machine. So the following are the stories of our “friends” we met this week in Luang Prabang (LP):

We met a globe trotting family (Mom, Dad and two teenage boys) from Toronto at our original guest house. They described what they have done so far as they circumnavigated the globe west beginning in New Zealand to now SE Asia. We had dinner with them on the shores of the Mekong and enjoyed hearing how another family handles travel and their differences as well as similarities to the way we “work” our travel year. Good luck Teamspiers!!

Gavon and Emma from Britain. Lovely couple we spoke to for an hour or so in an Internet access place. They gave us the perspective of two twenty somethings who get tired of hanging with the drunken early twenties crowd. They planned to be on the road for eleven months and had taken the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Moscow through Siberia to Ulaan Bataar, the capital of Mongolia ( TOO COOL!!!). Also their perspective on quitting their jobs and just traveling was refreshing. We commiserated on the use of fluorescent tubes here in Laos (gives that ugly cold look to a room).

JenEric and Corey from Delft in Holland. We shared a “longboat” for three hours to and from the Pac Ou Caves. JenEric was Dutch but went to school a hundred miles west of Chicago in the 60s. He talked about his mid-twenties daughters who have the travel bug. They were very easy to talk to and talked about their native Holland. They inquired about our feelings of Holland and were somewhat surprised at how much we liked their country.

Doug was from Canada. He started a conversation with us as we were petting the neighboring guest houses' “twin” dogs. He regaled us in a short time with stories of his pet crow and how it showed up by calling it when he was hundreds of miles away. He was a true storyteller. He had been traveling almost full-time for awhile now and loved Luang Prabang. Twenty minutes of funny stories.

Richard was our ATM contact. He is 60, six feet six inches tall from Oregon-Washngton-Alaska, and retired for twelve years. He gave up the full time career to teach English in Guatemala for four years. When he gets tired of doing something he moves on. He now lives in LP but I could tell that it was getting too “Western” for him. He described a seaside village in Vietnam where doing things around the water was BIG and the “DisneyWorldization” had not yet occurred. He was a good person to share with about future careers.

“Miss Arizona” or Katie. Cute, young and very communicative. We talked to her at the L'Etranger Books and Tea book store. She recognized us as Americans and communicated as American to American in a place thousands of miles away. She couldn't get back to Bangkok because of the airports being taken over by the PAD opposition party. We saw her over and over on the streets of LP. She might have gotten annoyed with us calling her “Miss Arizona”. Sorry. A very nice person.

Katie's friend Carrie was on her umpteenth trip to SE Asia and LP. She was an executive director of a NGO stationed in the States that required several trips per year to this area of the world. She brought Katie (above) with her on this trip. She now consults with the same NGO without all the pressures. Her stories on how LP has changed over the last ten years were sad as it has become a “Western magnet” and new guest houses pop up weekly. I hope you made it back to Arizona!!

Eric and Emily from Colorado were a young couple we also met at the bookstore one night. They were traveling for about nine weeks which is EXTREMELY long for Americans. They will worry about their careers when they get back. Eric and I shared some thoughts on how we missed Autumn back in the States. Av, Si and lisa held court with Emily and she was very attentive to the girls. They were a very nice couple.

Margo. We met Margo as we were giving alms to the monks. She was very open and talked about her life on the border of Tibetan China. She is Australian and married to a Tibetan. We have seen her repeatedly. She is a real traveler and gave us advice by telling us her stories. She took pictures of us giving alms with her quality camera and we hope will get these in “My Pics” instead of the bad ones we have. Again, a very open and nice person. Travellers are nice people .

Martin and Dale from Great Britain. Met them today in our guest house lobby. This was an adult only conversation as Av and Si were playing hangman and tic-tac-toe with Wang and losing horribly. Martin and I talked about sports, the places they had traveled to and their feelings of different places. He warned us about which section to sit in when we watch the Boca Juniors soccer (football) matches in Buenos Aires!!

And finally three guys who now live in Boston, one who works for Fidelity Investments and grew up in Cincinnati (Wyoming High School) of all places!!!! They are winding their way thru SE Asia, buying clothes, and talking to knuckleheads ilke us in Internet Cafes.

Tomorrow we might talk to a person from Argentina, Albany or Albania. Travellers open up to each other and know that joy is not always in what you see while you are on the road but with whom you share it.

LEAVE THE TIE SHOES AT HOME

In India it is custom (and required) to remove your shoes before entering a Temple. This is true whether or not the Temple is Hindu, Moslem or Bahai. It didn't take long to get into the habit of taking off your shoes if you wanted to go in. Of course some Temples in India we just choose not to go in (See Monkey Temple Blog).

By the time we got to Thailand and Lao, the situation had changed slightly. Not only do you remove your shoes prior to entering a Buddhist Temple, but you take them off pretty much before entering anywhere. This is even more pronounced here in Laos. Wearing shoes into someone's home is considered disrespectful and almost any place can be considered a “home” of sorts. In Thailand we found ourselves taking shoes off before entering the Wats, the massage parlors and even the dentist's office where we went to have our teeth cleaned. Here in Lao, the shoes come off in the hotel before we walk up to our room, shops, Internet cafes and even museums. You just leave them outside and no one ever takes them! They are always there when you get back!

Marty keeps wearing his sneakers around town which makes for a laborious process when you have to untie and then retie your shoes a dozen times a day. I wear my Birkenstocks and the girls usually have on their Crocs; we can just slip in and out of those in seconds. People around here pretty much wear slip on shoes as well. Coming to Southeast Asia? Leave your tie shoes behind.

OCK POP TOK - SOMETHING TO "DYE" FOR!!

On the morning of November 30, we got up and pulled our warm covers off of us and got dressed in the freezing cold weather! Avocet and I did not want to wake up so early when the weather was freezing but we knew we were going to do something exciting today- we were going to go to Ock Pop Tok!!!!!!!! Ock Pop Tok is a place where they raise silk worms, dye silk, and weave silk. That morning we would get to experience all of that.

After getting out of the tuk-tuk, the first thing we did was sit down and get some tea. I don't think it was for drinking though, it was probably a hand warmer!!!! Then after we got a little warmed up, we learned the history of silk and how the silkworms are raised. Silk was first discovered in China. It was discovered by a Chinese princess thousands of years ago. Some say she discovered it when a cocoon dropped into her tea!!! YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! Soon, the Chinese were happily trading silk as far as India and the Mediterranean. These routes were called the silk roads. Soon India was producing silk and later on Italy had the biggest silk industry in Europe.

Silkworms live a happy life. Once they are born, they are put in a basket along with the other babies and mountains of mulberry leaves which they eat. They get fresh mulberry leaves for every meal: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After 28 days, they start to build their cocoon. After their cocoon is built the poor little creatures have to die!!!!!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! You may wonder how they still have silkworms when they all have to die? Well some are lucky and don't have to die and are just used in the breeding process.

After we learned about silkworms, we went down to an area where we would be dyeing our silk. At Ock Pop Tok, they only use natural dyes and colours from the Earth. Each colour comes from some kind of plant and can be mixed with different things to alter the colours. We got to choose three different colours. I choose: yellow, purple, and green. Yellow comes from a Tumeric root, purple comes from the Sappan tree and green comes from the Indigo plant. To make yellow, the first thing you do is chop the tumeric root. You then mash it with a mortar and pestal and then add the paste to a pot of boiling water on a fire. After it is ready, you take the pot of water off the fire and poor the water into a bowl. The tumeric you throw away. This is because the water is dyed with the colour of the tumeric. Finally, you put the silk in the bowl of water and after it is ready, put it out to dry in the sun. To make green it is the same process except it is a cold water dye meaning that you don't use boiled water. The purple we couldn't make totally by ourselves since it had to be fermented before hand. Then you put the purple dye in a pot to boil. After it's finished, you pour the dye into a separate bowl and let the silk soak. After we finished dying we each had three beautiful braids of coloured silk!!!!!!



Before lunch, we picked out 2 braids of silk from a bag and spun them onto spools using a spinning wheel.



Then we had lunch. After lunch we went to the area where we would be weaving silk into short wall hangings about 45 centimeters. When we got there we saw our 2 colours of silk that we picked out on spools which were on shuttles. Weaving on a big loom is a bit complicated at first. You start off on one side of the loom. Whichever hand the shuttle's in you press down on the pedal on the same side. You only use one foot. The pedal makes a space where your shuttle can slide through to the other side. Once it's on the other side, you press down on the other pedal and bring the comb down. The comb pushes the part you just wove down to tighten it. After a couple of hours we each had created beautiful wall hangings!!!!!!!!!!!!

Luang Prabang - Jewel of the Mekong

We are now in Luang Prabang Laos. Getting here was not a hassle and the city itself is hassle-free. It's also relativity small and easy to walk in so we will be getting back the exercise we lost in Africa and India.

A little bit of history. Luang Prabang used to be the ancient capital of Laos. Before the renaming of the city to Luang Prabang, it was supposedly called Muang Sua, named after King Khun Xua. During the reign of King Fa Ngum (1354 AD), the city was renamed. The city had one Buddha that was specifically revered . So holy in fact, the city is named after it. The “Prabang Buddha” is known throughout the city and is the city's current name. In 1560, the capital was moved from Luang Prabang to Vieng Chahn which is now the current capital of Vientiane. 1707- Luang Prabang was colonized by the French. The royal residence was in Luang Prabang but the true capital was still Vientiane. The French left much behind including style of architecture and food. Everywhere you go, you can get a full or half baguette with your meal and they're all very good. There are many French bakeries, even on the side of the street. Ladies with Skippy peanut butter, nuttela and about 24 baguettes will make you a Reese's Cup sandwich in no time.

The country's main religion is Buddhism. Everywhere there are stuppas, (mini chapels) small little garden Wats and large normal sized Wats. And the Monks. Monks are everywhere. At 5:00 in the morning the monks start their day by collecting alms for their daily meal. Then they are off doing normal stuff, chanting, meditating, going to school, checking emails in an Internet cafe... people love to take pictures of them. There is an estimated population of 1,000 Monks in the city of Luang Prabang. They are very prominent with orange robes (looking like togas) on; they're kinda hard to miss.







Luang Prabang is a peninsula, surrounded by the Mekong and Nham Khan rivers. The Mekong is the wider and better known of the two as it continues all the way to Vietnam. The Nham Khan is much less known but there are still many hotels that say “We have rooms looking over the Nham Khan River”. But many more hotels look over the Mekong.




There are many things to do in Luang Prabang. Even more elephant adventures, 1 weaving center, 2 waterfalls, at least 1 night market to shop at, 2 festivals going on right now, 2 museums, a Royal Ballet Theater, and many Mekong river cruises. We lengthened our stay in Luang Prabang by cutting our time short in Vientiane but I'm still not sure that we will get everything done that we want to do!!!