Lao and My Man

Much time has past since I have last updated this blog.  My boyfriend met me in Thailand, we went to Laos, I got engaged, went to Cambodia and on to Vietnam.  After Pai I returned to Chiang Mai where George flew in to meet me for two and a half weeks.  I rented a motorbike with my new found confidence and picked him up.  Driving with two is a lot more difficult then alone but we managed safe and sound. 

The first couple days after Georges arrival we stayed in Chiang Mai, ate good food at good restaurants, drank wine, shopped in the markets, went to a Mai Thai fight and rode elephants.  Everyday we found ourselves entertained and keeping busy.  We both enjoyed a rambungtious night out watching the Mai Thai fighting that I nearly killed myself trying to do in Pai.  The fighters started off young, maybe 13 years old and slowly got older.  There was even a girl fight.  Mai Thai is different then other boxing in that it is done to drums and looks more like a dance when they are in the ring.  As they dance around eachother they swing and kick and try to beat the other up.  George and I sat front row and had a great view of the cometition and really enjoyed the different fighting. 

Now I don't want to brag but we are offical maouts now!  Well techniqually, officially unoffical mahouts.  Mahouts are the people that ride and control the elephants when they are working to clear a forest or move logs and we did a training course all the next day.  We went to an elephant farm where they teach you to ride the elephants, without the basket.  You sit on their neck and learn to control them.  For the whole morning we found ourselves playing with the elephants, getting picked up, sitting on them, turning them, going forwards and backwards.  We took tons of photographs and discovered it was a little more difficult than we thought. After lunch we went for a jungle trek on our elephant and realized, our elephant really didn't like to listen and eventually gave up to let the real mahout walking with us get our slow poke going.   After we got to play in the water with her and wash her where she sprayed us multiple times. 

George and I enjoyed Chiang Mai but it was neccessary and we needed to move on so off we went in a mini van to the Lao border.  On arrival we had to check out of Thai immigration, cross the river and check into Lao immigration.  Half of our minivan followed us to the Lao side for the night the other half stayed on the Thai side.  We found cheap accomadation and met up with our new friends.  We got dinner and drank and had a fun night.  In the morning we had to get up pack for the two day boat trip down the Mekong river. 

The slow boat trip downt the river is two days of motoring with a night stop in a small town on the Mekong.  The boat is very long and there were many tourists on board but the boat also made multiple stops to pick up and drop off locals on the way.  The scenery was very beautiful as we floated through the valley.  The boat itself had many wooden benches inside which were completely uncomfortable.  Despite the views and beer and having eachother onboard the seats were awful and the slow boat slowly got boring.  We both thought, two days of thsi???!!!!  ahhh, we already been there done that.  When we eventually arrived at the town we would stay for the night we were so happy to be getting off the hard seats.  We wondered and stumbled on an amazing bungalow overlooking the river and got some Indian food, I know but we had a craving!

The next day again up early for a second day, except we got lucky.  One of the first people to arrive we got to select the VIP seats which were new car seats with cushioning and were wonderful.  The day started off fantastic.  The boat was same same but different, no sore ass this time. 

After two days of floating the Mekong we were definitely happy to arrive in Luang Prabang.  LP is a cute little artsy touristy French town.  It has great French architecture and good food.  Here is were we spent the next five days in our French mansion hotel.  We rented bikes, saw the silk village, caves, had good wine, good food, ran into old friends, rented a motorbike and saw the waterfall, where George proposed and I nearly forgot to say yes I was in so much shock.  Good job babe!

LP was the perfect place to relax and enjoy our time together but we eventually grew restless and needed a change so off we went to Vang Viene for some partying and tubing.  We booked a minivan and off we went for our 5 hour drive twisty turny mountainous drive which was beautiful but not so good on the stomach.  On our way up the mountian we turned a corner to an overturned beer truck.  It was shock, disappointment and love at first sight.  Shock because there was thousands of beers sitting in the road, disappointment because it was impassable, and love for the beer.  No one was hurt which made the whole situation ok.  After oranizing a clean up process to expedite our trip everyone banned together and helped to pick up the bottles and put them in crates on the side of the road.  After the work was finished we were each granted permission to take a victory bottle.  On we went.

Vang Viene is a small town with a very backpacker feel.  It is a party town and though the mountains are beautiful there was not a whole lot to do beside tube down the river and drink.  We enjoyed some good food here, especially the goat meat and cheese and had a good day tubing.  For the tubing you rent a tub and they drive you to the start of river.  The river here is lined with bars that have rope swings, trapeez, ziplines, and slides, plus buckets.  Buckets of what you may ask, the answer is unclear but they are loaded with booze.  Tubing and booze can be a dangerous activity but it was good fun and we had a great day, but had no need to do it again.  The only way to describe it would be, spring break Cancun, except in Lao. 

After we left Vang Viene we went to our final destination together, the Lao capital of Vientiane.  Here we relaxed again, had nice dinners and enjoyed the celebrations they had along the river for their big festival that was going on.  We lite off a candle floating lantern with the locals along the river and enjoyed the French food and architecture.  While in Vientiane we went to a national soccer game, Lao vs. the Philippines, tie game where we drank wine and got a ride home in the back of a pickup truck full of drunk Loasians singing and playing drums.  Here we also shopped our hearts out at the market and enjoyed our last days together and eventually said a tearful good, (for me at least).

Chiang Mai and Lovely Pai

Northern Thailand immediatly has a different vibe and feel to the south.  It is refreshing and slower paced and has a more relaxed less touristy feel.  Chiang Mai is a central point to see the northern territory, ride elephants, go rafting and trekking to hill tribe villages but also has a great Sunday market and amazing cooking classes, all of which interested me. 

I arrived in Chiang Mai 6 days before George would be meeting me and I didn't want him to miss any of it, especially the elephants so I took it easy wondered around on my rented bike checking out hotels for his arrival, got a couple massages, went to the movies, went to a local club with a couple English teachers, enjoyed mango shakes, numberous coffees and Kau Soy, the curry noodle dish special to the north.  I spent two nights before I hit the road for the smaller hill town of Pai.

A minivan picked me up and was soon filled with other travelers who all wanted to see the famous Pai.  We were told it was only a three hour minivan ride through the mountains.  Our van climbed and climbed into beautiful scenery overlooking the valleys.  We drove fairly slow around numerous switchbacks and a few of us started to feel a little queasy, if you are prone to car sickness this is definitly a trip to set it off even in the most hardened of us.  On my way I met another girl my age traveling as well and we decided hang together. 

As we arrived we were given free motorbikes to use for an hour to find a hotel.  We were both very excited having never driven one, though they were only free for the experienced.  It was only a little white lie....  We got on our bikes and mostly drove around exploring, and not guesthouse, bungalow options.  We gave back our bikes after our hour of learning to drive and found a place right in town. 

The town town of Pai is filled with cute bars, coffee shops, shops with artisan and artsy sale items and has a real backpacker, artsy feel.  It is very small and everyone is very nice.  It is a slow paced town and a wonderful change.  We spent our night dinning and drinking cocktails at a couple of the low key bars, listened to live music and met a group of four other backpackers who were leaving on a motorbike trip the next day.  We decided to join.

The next morning we rented our motorbikes and met up with the other four.  We were a gang of 6.  We had a quick breakfast and hit the road.  Pai is in the northeastern part of Thailand and is close to many caves, waterfalls, and hill tribes.  It boarders with Myanmar and has a lot of Chinese influence. 

We set off without a true destination but with hopes of crossing into Myanmar for the day.  Our confidence quickly improved as we drove our bikes into the hills and down the valleys.  The countryside was absolutely breathtaking.  Green rice patties in the valleys with beaufiul green hillsides and bright flowers.  The riding became relaxing and enjoyable.  We saw waterfalls and small towns and eventually arrived at a very small town on the boarder with Myanmar.  It was getting to be late afternoon and we were all quit hungry. 

The quiet town we stopped in was deserted.  Only a couple people about and one expensive restaurant.  As we looked for cheaper food a couple school girls pointed us to a big empty restaurant where the owner came running from no where to open for us.  As the orders went in food was very slow to come out.  Eventually, asian style, orders came out one at a time with a lot of time waiting.  As we waited we looked for guesthouses but the others were set on finding something cheaper which meant moving on to another town. 

It was already getting late, past four and it would be getting dark.  Against my recommendation and better judgement we left for the next big town over an hour away.  We got on our bikes as huge rain clouds rolled in.  I prepaired myself for the miserable journey ahead.  As we drove it grew dark and started to rain heavily.  We creaped through the hills and down the roads, stopped for gas and searched for a new guesthouse in the bigger town.  Eventually we found one, but it didn't save us much dough, go figure.

By the time we got in it was late and I was freezing.  I stripped off my wet clothes, asked the owner for a blanket, I am pretty sure he thought I was nuts, and tried to warm myself.  Eventually I got warm and fell asleep.  The next day we got back on our bikes and road back to Pai.  The drive was equally amazing and enjoyable as my clothes had luckily dried overnight.

My last couple nights back in Pai were spent at a very cheap bungalow with the others.  We had to cross a not so safe bridge over a stream to get there.  We explored on bikes the surrounding area finding waterfalls and beautiful bungalows, scenery, canyons, ravines, hot springs and elephant camps.  Additionally, during one of my bright ideas I decided to try Mai Thai.......

Mai Thai is Thai boxing.  When watched it's like a dance.  The boxers bounce around to the beat of drums trying to kick the living daylights out of eachother using their hands, feet, elbows and knees.  I thought it would be like a kick boxing class for two hours.  I arrived at the training facility and was placed with a trainer.  We started jump roping then got immediatly into basics, stance, arm position and movement.  Then I began to beat him up.  Kick, punch, punch, elbow, knee, knee, knee etc etc.  The trainer seemed impressed.  He kept on me and pushing me and told me one month training and I would be really good.  Feeling confident I continued fighting hard. 

As I punched and kicked and the trainer blocked I realized my leg was starting to hurt where I had been kneeing and his hand blocking. As I looked down I realized the vien in my right leg above my knee had swollen up far beyond it's normal size.  I freaked out and stopped the training.  They poked and proded at my vien in my leg and the viens in my arm like a science project shocked.  They gave me some rub for my leg and tried to convince me to continue.  I went with my gut and took it easy.  Within an hour a bruise the size of a soccer ball took over my leg. 

Pai: http://picasaweb.google.com/linseypaddock/Pai?authkey=Gv1sRgCL_7jOHs9cLfTQ&feat=directlink

On the Move, River Boat, Bus, Van and Train

I spent the next couple days from Phenom Penh to Chiang Mai on the constant move.  I stayed one night in Battambang and got the river boat north to Siem Reap.  It was interesting though the boat had mostly travelers with occasional locals.  We motored up the river through very narrow passages trying to avoid getting hit by tree branches and through floating villages.  The floating villages have some structures on stilts and some structures the are built on a rafts.  Every house and store along the river has it's personal boat for transport.  The people here seemed very nice and always were smiling.  The isolation they have from most tourists separates them from the national psyche which comes across as hostil and rude at times, the attitude of you have and I want.

The river places seemed very clean and we stopped for a bathroom brake at one of the shops.  The toilets were around the back and when I went to use it I realized that it is a little hut with a hole in the floor which dumps directly into the river, mental note....don't swim!  Although the bathroom itself was very clean I am not sure how clean the river was.

Upon arrival in Siem Reap I jumped on the back of a motorbike taxi and got a ride down town where I spent an uneventful night before again waking early to move on to Bangkok....again, the next day.  I was picked up from my guesthouse early in the morning and we took a mini van then bus to the boarder where it took over an hour to get through Cambodia immigration and Thailand immigration.  Once in Thailand we jumped on another bus to Bangkok.

My next mission was to get to Sukathai to break up the long jorney north, but having arrived late in Bangkok I had to hunker down for a night and get a bus in the am.  After second thoughts ran through my head I decided to abort Sukathai and more wats and head direct to Chiang Mai on the night train.   I booked my ticket in the morning for the 10pm train with a bed due to arrive in Chiang Mai at 12:45pm the next day.

I headed for the train station. The next night with a supposed departure time of 10pm, not so much the case.  Delayed till over midnight the train finally arrived and everyone boarded.  The train looked like an old style wild west train.  Inside there was double bunks on either side. The bottome bunks had huge open windows open to the elements if desired and the top had shared fans and no windows. I climbed into my top bunk and quickly fell asleep to the rythmic sounds of the train. 

Throughout the night the train made multiple stops which I dreamily slept through and more and more people got on.  By morning the light and vibrations of the train gently woke me.  The next couple hours I spent reading, sitting in the open door watching Thailand go by, hanging out the door without a care or safety precaution and sitting by the window after they transformed the bottom bunk into two oppossing seats.

Slowly our 12:45 arrival dragged onto 2 then 3 then 4.  We made one stop were everyone had 20 minutes to disembark and run to the local minimart to stock up on cookies, chips and whatever you could find as the dinning cart that was supposedly available did not truely exsist.  With a bit of food, some beautiful scenery and relaxing trip I was not too bothered about the final late arrival into Chiang Mai.

Battambang boat: http://picasaweb.google.com/linseypaddock/BattambangBoatToSiemReap?authkey=Gv1sRgCI3N2ueG5KffWw&feat=directlink

Train: http://picasaweb.google.com/linseypaddock/TrainToChiangMai?authkey=Gv1sRgCL3_rP2djvOk9AE&feat=directlink