Thailand to Singapore, and the inbetween

After leaving Thailand, knowing the next time I return will be mid June for my flight home, I venture on. Country #3 (I know, it feels like much more), MALAYSIA.
There were things that were shaping up to make this experience great;
- Number 3 of anything is usually lucky
- It was my first Muslim country to visit ever
- Malaysia is known for it's cultural crossroads, which should provide interesting sightseeing, good eats, and an understanding environment
- Malaysia was enroute to Singapore, where I was ready to meet some new family!
- Malaysia's interior contains the Cameron Highlands, supposed to have a cool climate, and if I sweat one more day in my clothes I think they'll fall apart.

So...with my spirits high, I cross over into Malaysia and head to Penang. I only had a limited amount of time allotted for Malaysia and Singapore because I had booked a flight May 19th from Kuala Lumpur to Phonm Penh, Cambodia. So I had to be picky, and narrowed my choices for Malaysia down to two. The first stop Penang. I chose this place for own reason and one reason alone, to eat. Penang is an island, and was a great port town when the British were colonizing and pushing their culture on everybody. That means that many different cultures migrated here, the three main cultures being Indian, Chinese, and Malay. These cultures which are very different in their customs have been able to live peacefully on this island while still prospering with their business and maintaining their culture. The peace was evident when I started walking down one of the main roads known as Harmony Rd. In a matter of a half a mile, maybe less, I first passed an Indian temple, followed shortly by a Chinese shrine and shop house, which was right next to a Christian church. All three full of people. It may not sound like much, but to me it seemed like Tolerance. This history of the island and in particular the main town of Georgetown is complex and I won't pretend to write like I know all about it because I don't and I only spent a couple of days there. What I did start to understand in that couple of days was one of the best parts of traveling, food.

Ask any traveler and they know, food is wonderful. Food gives pleasure but also gives gas. It brings people together to talk and share and laugh, and also brings diarrhea. It can be comforting and it can be intimidating. And it comes in all shapes and forms.

Some of the possibilities of things to eat in Georgetown included; Koi thiaw (Chinese dish) a dish based around a large flat noodle and turns into a soup like consistency or can be served regular. 3 out of 5 stars. Laksa (Malay dish) based around some shredded meat and is mostly a soup and contains noodles. It also has a really potent taste, I didn't enjoy it that much. 2 out of 5 stars. Naci Lemak (Malay dish) I didn't get to try this one, but heard it was good. Quie (Malay) Malay word for sweets, and it contains a whole variety from Jellies to pastries. 4 out of 5 stars. Roti Chani (Indian) not usually sweet and typically served with a dipping sauce. It is a flat bread. 4 out of 5 stars. Banana leaf meals (Indian) usually in the afternoons the Indian restaurants offer a compilation meal served on a banana leaf. You can sometimes choose what main things you get on the leaf (i.e. which meat) but it usually contains about 7-10 items and is a great way to try many different things, plus your eating off a leaf! 5 out of 5 stars. Tea Tarik (Indian) a drink, tea with milk, but something about the way they prepare it, they pour it in and out of a glass like 5 times. I got it every time! These are just the food items I can remember, and unfortunately I could only eat so much, but I enjoyed all of it- Thank you Georgetown!

From Penang, I headed to my second destination in Malaysia, the Cameron Highlands. This is high up in the interior of Malaysia and has one of the coolest climates around.   I want to be cold!!! I headed to the small town (really small) of Tanah Rata, tucked away in the mountains. I stayed at a really cool guesthouse/lodge and met quite a few people that I really enjoyed, which led me to stay here longer than intended. This region is known for two things, strawberries and tea. Yes and Yes. We all went for a hike one of the days to a nearby mountain of 6,666 ft ( :-/ ) that you hiked through moss forests to reach. It was a nice couple of hours hiking through the jungle, and although the top was covered with clouds it was still really nice. On the way down, we first stopped at a strawberry farm and met the farmers, held a baby goat and had amazing strawberry popsicles. It was really cool to see rows and rows of strawberries, which I've loved ever since I was a little girl, just ask my Nana- I'll take all the strawberries. These ones in the mountains were also the most fresh and delicious tasting strawberries I've ever had. We continued on down the mountain and walked through a tea plantation. Although I didn't learn what the process of making tea is, it was a beautiful sight, all the young tea plants, bright green and rolling all the way into the distance. After admiring the fields we hitched a ride on the back of a recycle truck and went back into town.


But my time was up and I booked a bus ticket to Kuala Lumpur and then transferred on the bus to Singapore, headed to see family....

Southern Thailand

 So now that I'm back in Thailand traveling on my own again, I decided it was time to see the much talked about Southern Thailand.

Southern Thailand is known for it's beautiful beaches, friendly people, great diving and snorkeling, good food, limestone formations and plenty of other things.

I started off by going to Hua Hin, which is just about 4 hours south of Bangkok. This is more of a vacationing spot for the city dwellers of Bangkok and less a backpackers haven, for example the royal family has a vacation beach house here. But I wanted to see it regardless. Luckily, I met a French lady on the train, Magalie, and got to chatting and found out that she lives in Hua Hin with her long time boyfriend, David, from South Africa. He is teaching there at Webster University and they have been livin gin Hua Hin for 2 years. She was kind enough to invite me to their home and give me a place to stay. This resulted in me staying here much longer than most backpackers would stay in Hua Hin. They were so nice, we spent the days going to the beaches, hanging out with their Thai friends, other foreign teachers, riding bikes, eating seafood, noodle soup and other yummy cuisine, and just hanging out . They were so lovely and it was a nice thing for me to be in a home and be able to relax in one place for a bit. Plus their puppy, named 'Puppy' was just to adorable with it's cone on her head from her recent neutering!

After thanking them for letting me crash at their place and for showing me around Hua Hin, I got a over night bus ticket to arrive in Phuket (pronounced Foo-ket , in case you were wondering!) I chose to go to Phuket because my good friend Jenna who is in the Navy was going to be in port there and we go the chance to meet up. How cool right, a friend since middle school and we are meeting up on two very different kind of trips...in Thailand!! Once there, I met up with Jenna and was introduced to her friends, and from there the Navy 'In port' adventure began. Quite a different pace from my normal travel style, Jenna and her friends had about 48 hours to enjoy Phuket and Thailand, and they were aware that definitely ISN'T enough!! We ended up walking around the town, trying some cuisine, trying the beer, going to get them custom tailored suits (a very popular thing for people to do when they come to SE Asia because it is so much cheaper), and that was just the first day. We ended up spoiling ourselves some more, and Jenna was kind enough to spoil me (THANK YOU JENNA!!!). That night we went out on the town of Phuket, which basically meant the one pedestrian street full of bars, parties, restaurants, and many many other things. The next day was spent relaxing and recuperating and getting Thai massages. The 48 hours we spent together in port were definitely memorable, and I had a great time seeing my friend while traveling abroad. Cheers to more stories chica!

After the whirlwind pace of Phuket, I once again headed off by myself south toward Krabi. I stayed on the remote beach of Rai Leh, which was accessible only by boat although it was on the main land. This beach was absolutely gorgeous and a great place to walk up and down the beach and watch the avid rockclimbers scale the 100's of feet cliffs on the beach. The limestone formed cliffs here are just surreal to look at, and make for an unforgettable and unique beach scene. I was running short of days for my visa, and only had two full days to enjoy Rai Leh. My fullest day I spent on an excursion, which was a blast! We started off by heading on the boat to Bamboo beach, a white sand beach a few miles off the coast. We got to swim and check out the local huts on the beach and see the tsunami evacuation route. From there, we headed to a Pirate cave (!) yes used previously by pirates or just people looking to hide out, and monkey bay. After that to Maya Beach. Maya beach is where they filmed the Hollywood movie "The Beach" made off the popular travelers book. I read the book at the beginning of this trip and I thought this island was quite a good fit, beautiful crystal blue waters, white sands, a small cove, jungle-inland etc... it was gorgeous, packed with tourists, but gorgeous. From there we headed to the popular island of Koh Phi Phi, iconic Southern Thailand. I know I keep repeating myself, but this beach was gorgeous too! Plus I had random groups of Asian tourist come and ask to take pics with me on their camera, and then on mine. Offshore of Phi Phi, we did our first snorkel spot. I LOVE snorkeling, it is so awesome. It also helps when the visibility is about 20 feet in every direction, and I felt like I was diving in the movie 'Finding Nemo.' I saw a puffer fish, anemones, the black and white 'scarfish', huge schools of fish that ate bread and anything else you threw them, coral beds, and much much more. I was the first one in the water and the last one out both times, it was just too pretty!! From Phi Phi we headed back to Krabi and Rai Leh beach, at about 4pm, plenty of time to swim and lounge at the Rai Leh beach until I got to see the repetitively spectacular sunsets! Ahhhh, I see why people get stuck in the South of Thailand and never leave...but I had to be going.

Going to the movies in Bangkok

Going to the movies is an EVENT. 

I was in Bangkok a couple of days after Brad left straightening and extending my visa so that I could stay in Thailand. I decided why not go and entertain myself in the nicer part of Bangkok, known as Siam Square. This is the ritzy rich clean part of Bangkok where you can find shopping, nice hotels, and expensive restaurants. Obviously not some place I was hanging out... 

So I headed over that way via subway and headed to the malls. In the city the malls also contain the movie theaters, usually on the top floor. First of all, Asians do malls WAY better than any malls I've seen in the states (maybe minus Mall of America in Minneapolis). On the 7th floor of this mall I found a full size theater showing all the latest movies- including THOR! So let me walk you through this...

First step; approach the counter and you are greeted with the 'Wai,' the traditional Thai or Southeast asian greeting where they form the prayer like symbol with their hands and slightly bow. You then look at the screen facing you and it shows a map of all the seats in the theatre. There are about 4 different price zones for the same theatre movie. The prices differ on how close to the front or middle you are, and also there are the VIP seats in the back of the theatre. So I didn't know what this theatre looked like, I thought maybe I would be transported like in Star Trek, it seemed so fancy. So I chose a seat and bought a popcorn (American day!) and headed toward the entrance. 

Second step; You are greeted with another Wai by the lady checking your ticket for the entrance. After she verifies you are allowed to enter, you head up the escalator to what is now the 8th floor. The 8th floor includes another concession stand and two main halls for the theatres. 

Third step; You figure out which hall you are in and proceed. It was tough to proceed while I was passing the concession stand because here they have Diet Coke and three different flavors of popcorn!! First, salt and butter. Second; Plain. Third: Caramel Kettle. DANGER! Once you reach your hall and try and push the caramel popcorn out of your mind so that you don't contract diabetes in the next 2 hours, you reach another greeter. This greeter gives you the Wai sign (again!), and finally rips the stub off your ticket! (I think.... I'm Home freeeeeeeeee!!!!) 

Fourth step; I find my theatre entrance, walk in the door, and then walk through the red velvet drape and finally, finally reach the theatre for Thor. I'm all kinds of excited now, ready to sit back and enjoy this movie. I start  looking down the aisles at the lit up signs....A....B....C....D........... I'm in J 4.......and I look up from the aisle and what do I see.... Reclining extra wide cushioned cream leathered seats. .... I think I've reached heaven.

The seats at Bangkok's movie theatre...maybe similar to the entrance of Heaven. 

Yes, oh yes. 

And here are the VIP seats...

Fifth step: As I'm stumbling, mouth agape at the amazing seats in front of me, I reach J 4 and practically fall into my seat (of course I didn't spill the popcorn or Diet coke, that'd be sinful!) But I sit my butt on nice cream leather and laugh at the experience this has already become. I sat my coke in the cup holder and started munching on the popcorn. 

Sixth step; The movie starts and the previews get through, and the 'Turn off your cell phone' message shows, and then an all-to-familiar song comes on. Is it what I think it is?.... Oh YES it is! The Thai national anthem starts playing and a slideshow of the current King of Thailand starts playing. Oh wait...everybody is standing up, I better too! I stand up and watch as pictures and videos of the King's entire lifespan play on the movie theatre screen. They play the entire national anthem and finish with a message something along the lines of, The King is the greatest, Done so much etc... etc... WOW people, I only know Democracy, and we sure as hell don't show Obama's pictures before each movie. How different is this?? hahahah I'm just busting up, this is the most different movie I've ever been to. 

Seventh step; I watch the entire movie of Thor and enjoyed the heck out of it, and my popcorn, and Diet coke. And like any good backpacker does in a foreign country, I movie hopped and then watched Fast & the Furious 5. 

BEST MOVIE EXPERIENCE EVER. 

Chang

Alright alright, I know it has been awhile, but sometimes you just get busy when you are traveling around.

After LAOS, I headed back into Thailand to meet up with Brad. He flew in on April 17th and was here for a week. We definitely enjoyed our week together, although I would of preferred it to be longer (of course) I was happy to see him for a week. You'll be jealous to know that most European countries get about 6 weeks of paid vacation a year, and are much more lenient on leaving work for extended periods of time and still having a job. I know I'm jealous! But, within the week that we were together we spent a couple of days in the big city of Bangkok. Exploring the Grand Palace and lovely architecture, eating yummy food from restaurants and street stalls, walking the entertaining street of Khao San Rd. - "The Backpackers Ghetto", going out and dancing and partying it up, then more eating, frequenting 7-11 of course because they are everywhere, and lots of walking around and seeing the culture and enjoying eachothers company.
But after we'd had enough of the city, we headed east toward Cambodia by bus and ferry to reach the tropical island of Koh Chang. (Chang = Elephant (in Thai)) We had a scary taxi ride in with some new found friends from Britain, and found a nice bungalow in the small village of Lonely Beach. We spent quite a few days relaxing here on the jungle clad island and swimming around in it's aqua marine blue waters and white sand and beautiful sunsets. (See facebook pics) We also did a fair amount of trying the local cuisine like Pad Thai, Thai curries, fruit shakes, ginger chicken, seafood, etc... and going out at night and meeting fun people and hanging out. Two of the adventure highlights were one; going the the treetop adventure park. Here Brad did ziplinning, rope swings, shaky bridges, and a whole assortment of 'George of the Jungle' like activities. He was like a kid in a candy store. Especially on the 400 feet zipline over the jungle canopy! Second of our adventures was riding elephants at the elephant sanctuary. We had an amazing time with our elephant named Rambo. We rode through the jungle and headed to a stream/pond where we got to bath with Rambo and sit ontop of him and have him splash us and throw water all over us. It was a fantastic experience!!! They really are huge amazing creatures, and it really reminds you how different you are from these types of animals. Plus we got to drive Rambo back! Check off the bucket list!
The week that Brad visited was a fantastic part of my vacation and I had a wonderful time with him being out here.

4,000 Islands, Happy New Year

Yesterday I left Laos, and was sad to see it go. I really enjoyed that country, the landscape was beautiful from Northern Laos' limestone mountains and rivers all around, to Southern Laos' coffee plateau and the width of the Mekong River. The Laos people I thought to be very different than the Thai people. The Laos people were very reserved and shy, and quite conservative, but I was invited into many people's homes for drinks and dinner in Laos and they were all very sweet and giving. The food was also different yet delicioso!! Not so much spicy as Thailand, but flavorful all the same. Also, Laos is just much less crowded, there is room to breath, most people live outside the cities, but the landscape still seems uninhabited. All is all, Laos just fit, and I really enjoyed it.

I spent my days heading south after Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi. I first went south to Vang Vieng. This place is a party, and lets just say it fits a certain niche for travelers. Without going into too much, the main attraction there is tubing. You rent a tube for a couple of dollars and float down the nearby river. There are plenty of places to stop along the way. I met 4 girls from Norway and 2 guys from England and we hung out for the day. We stopped along the river to do have a drink or do the adrenaline spots they set up. Among those that did included HUGE swings into the river, ziplines into the river, and enormous slides into the river. I definitely got my adrenaline fix, and had a great day!!

From Vang Vieng, I headed south via Sleeper Bus. Now this 14 hour bus ride was pretty fun itself. This was a double decker bus that had full length beds on both sides of the aisles. The beds were made for Asians though, because they barely fit a 5'10" guy, and also weren't very wide at all. Come to find out my seat/bed was in the very back of the bus on the second level, and my seat was 1 of 5 in the back cabin. So me and four other travelers crammed into this little room lined with red leather over the engine, and made the best of the situation. It was pretty humorous.

I arrived to Pakse, Laos in the south. Over a couple of days me and Korina, a girl from Norway, explored the area. We took the local bus up to Tad Lo one of the days. A beatiful multilevel waterfall up in the Bolaven plateau. The Bolaven plateau is were Laos grows all of its coffee, and their coffee is good and has a unique taste. This waterfall made for a good day trip, going for a dip in the nice emerald pools and relaxing in the sun. Plus we got to see Elephants again, which I always enjoy. They are so COOL!!! Another one of the days we went and ate dinner on the Mekong at one of the floating restaurants. Yes, it is just what it sounds like... you go and eat dinner on a boat on the Mekong. It was really nice and romantic, and I tried Laos laap for the first time which came with fish from the Mekong. Laap is minced meat and vegetable dish which I can compare to Ceviche.

After Pakse, I headed even further south towards Cambodia, to a place called 4,000 islands (Si Phan Don). I had heard good things about this place and decided it was where I wanted to spend my last days in Laos before heading back to Thailand to meet Brad. 4,000 Islands is the name, I'm not sure if there actually are 4,000 of them, but I bet it is pretty close. It gets the name because here the Mekong is at it's widest and it spreads out over the flat land and creates many many islands. Of course only accessible by boat, but that made it all the better for a relaxing peaceful time. Amenities are slim on the island, no ATM's, very slow expensive internet, and patchy electricity. But the small island of Don Det that I stayed on was really really nice. I got myself a bungalow overlooking the river with a hammock and fan for 30,000 Kip (just over $3 USD) and spent my days lounging around, reading, swimming with the kids, going to the 'beach', and eating noodle soup (yummy! best culinary part of Laos, they love their soups!) It was a very relaxing setting, and beautiful to look out of the blue river and bike around the island and see the water buffalo and all the local houses and family. Don Det, and all of Laos and Thailand, was in a festive mood because this time of year is when they celebrate their New Year (aka Water Festival). So during the day and night there is usually someone blasting Laos music, beer and Lao Lao whiskey going down by the liter, kids armed with squirt guns, water balloons, and buckets ready to splash you. You just had to stay in your bathing suit and light clothes all  the time, because any time you walked down the path of the village you were bound to get soaked!! It was a blast, and especially nice because April is HOT! What a fun time.

Thanks LAOS, you were great!

Staying near the river

Laos has a lot of water.
There are rivers everywhere here, including the mighty Mekong river that flows through all of Southeast Asia.

After heading from Luang NamTha in the north, I traveled all day to try and reach Nong Khiaw (pronunciation probably seems absurd, but it's not too bad). Traveling all day can be quite tiring, but when you backpack you get accustomed to doing bus rides for 7 or 8 hours and accept it as normal. Whereas at home, in 7 or 8 hours I could get to Arizona or to Morro Bay,CA and I only do that a couple times a year. But on these buses you fill your time with reading, listening to music, chatting with the person next to you, people watching, landscape watching, worrying about if the bus goes off a cliff, and lots of  'looking inward'-- and that makes the hours fly by. Lots of interesting things tend to happen in transit.

Nong Khiaw is a very small village on the river Om and is surrounded by jungle covered limestone karsts. A absolutely gorgeous scenery. A small village with no more than 2,000 people, it was easy to explore the village and feel oriented in the first day. Oh the worst thing happened though... I had to get a cabana with a hammock on the porch looking out at the limestone karsts, hot showers, mosquito netting, and a quite garden setting around. It was absolutely horrendous, mostly because it cost me 50,000 kip ($5.50 USD)- I know, I was REALLY suffering!!
One of the days when I finally felt like getting out of my hammock, I walked about 2 km outside of town to some caves. These caves were where the people of the area hid out during the Second Indochina war which ended in 1975 (called the Vietnam War in the West and the American War in Vietnam) when the US and other forces were carpet bombing the area daily. Sidenote: Laos and Cambodia are two of the most heavily bombed countries in the world. You will commonly see signs in the area, and it goes without saying, that you need to stay on or near the path! Because of those millions of bombs dropped about 30% did not explode, refered to as UXO's (unexploded ordinances) Also, common decoration are old war relics, rusted bomb covers etc... well they at least make for good potting dishes! But, back to the caves. After a 2 km walk that I didn't mind so much because the scenery was beautiful, I reached the mouth of the cave. There was a sign at the bottom of a staircase leading up the said "Becare  full, stairs are slipperly"...ohhh I will watch my step! These caves had section all throughout that indicated "Nurse section" "Telecom section" "Provincial governor" "School" and so on because in these caves the people made a community in which they lived for long periods of time during the war. There was also Buddhist graffiti on the wall. A young Laos boy met up with me at the mouth of the cave to take me to the 'Bank Cave.' I thought it was humorous following this 24 year old Laos boy named Paul, with his one working shoe along the cave wall for one reason in particular, he was about 4 feet 10 inches... 5 feet at the most, I was taller than him!! Hey I fit in in Asia, everybody here is short, I sometimes even worry of bumping my head. Anyways, this bank cave he took me to was were the entire province of Luang Prabang kept their money and bank people from 1968-1974. Can you imagine going to the bank to hold your probably useless money in a maze of caves? It was pretty surreal. America has taken part in a lot of wars, but we have never been on that short end of the stick. I think we Americans don't realize how lucky we are, but also we don't realize the bad things we've taken part in all over the world.

The rest of my days were spent lounging around Nong Khiaw and reading until I headed up the river to Muang Ngoi ( I know the pronunciation!). On the way up the river by boat, there were herds of water buffalo everywhere and villages scattered along the banks. I thought Nong Khiaw was small, Muang Ngoi is even smaller. This village is not accessible by road, only boat, has a population of about 500, and the electricity is only turned on for certain (limited) hours of the day. I headed this way due to a recommendation from Beth, and she was right, what a great little village! Very relaxing spending your time on the river beach, reading, hanging with other interesting travelers, exploring the caves in these limestone mountains, swimming in the river, eating at the Laos buffet for 15,000 kip (2.00 USD) and whatever else came about. You might be wondering about all these caves, and it is safe to say that I'm kinda tired of going in them all by myself in the dark cool caves after I went in the cave at Muang Ngoi and saw a big black spider just larger than my fist headed my way- I high-tailed it out of there faster than you can say 'Muang Ngoi.' Creepppppyyy!!! But this is cave country in Laos and there are plenty to see, so I'll keep my eyes open for good caves as well as other people to accompany me!

Until next time ladies and gents. Hope all is well!

Same Same but Different

The ever popular phrase in Southeast Asia of 'Same Same, but Different' is all to right. Laos is the same as other southeast Asian countries, but definitely different.

I decided I want to experience some more jungle by heading to northern Laos to the city of Luang Nam Tha, a hot spot for trekking. Although the weather had been cold and rainy north of Luang Prabang, I was looking forward to the change of climate to cool the blood. It is a small town tucked away in the jungle mountains. I decided I would like to really get to know the scenery, so I booked a 3 day 2 night trek through the Laos jungle. I know, totally normal right.
Well I knew it would be a good trek when I met my guide, a nice Laos guy, named Porn. Umm....yea. Atleast this will be a humorous trek! So we headed off on the first day outside of town into the National Protected Area (NPA) - these NPA's only started coming to fruition in the 1990's. It is more evidence that Laos has had a tumultuous history. We headed out from a small rural village within the NPA with a smile after we saw a little boy running around with no pants with a blown up condom on a string as a balloon. Told you it would be a humorous trek!
Our group, Ria (Canada), Porn, another local guide from the village, and myself, crossed the river and trekked the first day for 5 hours. The jungle has all elements of a jungle in your imagination, rivers, big trees, big leaves, birds with ever sound, hills, valleys, slippery mud etc...but the difference between this jungle and any other i've trekked is that there is Bamboo everywhere. Most of the houses and such in the Laos area are made out of bamboo, and this is really durable useful stuff. As seen when we arrived at our 'camp'- an open air bamboo platform near the river with mosquito netting. Perfect. We set up our sleeping bags and then started a fire and dinner. All dinner, lunch, and breakfast  was eaten on banana leaves and with your hands, but DELICIOUS!!! Sticky rice is the staple food in Laos. It is rice in the sense of it, but glutonous so that it sticks together in a big clump, and you pick off a decent portion, clump it into a ball, and then grab food of another dish (i.e tomato and potatoes) with the sticky rice in you hands and indulge- YUMMY! (i'm really loving the cuisine aspect of SE Asia). So we finished off dinner and sat around the fire and chatted, and presumed customary Lao tradition by drinking Lao Lao. This fire whiskey is made from rice and all Laos drink it, so we proceeded to be Lao and drank an entire bottle (Our guide Porn said that is tradition to drink the whole bottle- you can't very well cap it and drink it tomorrow! of course haha)  It was all good fun though (and humorous!).
After a rainy and cold night, we started the next day trek, up and down, up and down, exhausting. We made our stop for lunch after a couple hours trekking in this very small rural village on the river where their primary language is their own dialect, and secondary language being Lao. They were friendly people and the kids loved the little toys Ria and I brought. Not to mention all the pigs, chickens, and naked babies running around your feet. Priceless.
I looked around and couldn't help but notice how little these people in this village seemed to have. Bamboo huts, bottles of Lao Lao, and a couple of farm animals. But these people seemed genuinely happy, and I couldn't help but wonder, is less more?
These people have so much less material wealth, but seem to be content with their lives, would you be happier with more, or less?

We thanked them for the stop and continued along the river for awhile to the next village where we stayed the night. Ria and I bathed in the river, which is done in a sarong like the locals, as to not offend anybody by showing too much skin. Laos people are quite conservative. Afterwards we played with all the children, teaching them Tic Tac Toe in the dirt, Rock Paper Scissors, and showed them the simply flying toys we had brought. They were elated. Later, we headed up to their school, which was a building with one room the size of my garage. They had one teacher and three classes in this one room. It being Sunday, there was nobody there for school, so we proceeded to draw on the chalkboard and practice Laos words and English words...and again play that highly entertaining game of Tic TacToe (oolala). The afternoon spent with the kids was the best part of the trek, well not to mention the happiness of endorphins!
That night after eating the chicken we had just watched them kill, pluck, and boil, we enjoyed more sticky rice, another Lao Lao whiskey bottle and company of a bunch of Lao guys asking us to sing American songs in exchange for their reciting Laos tradition music. Fair trade- although our singing was poor, they couldn't tell the difference! 

The next morning, we set out parallel to the river and continued through the jungle, but eventually came to some really lovely views of the rolling green jungle mountains. We trekked for 4 or 5 hours that day until we arrived to town, sore, hungry, happy, and in the mood for a burger and a beer!!

It was a fantastic trek, and I'm very happy I did it. It was a great way to spend three days and really get a feel for Laos culture.