Friendly Binders - Last Day in Laos

We got into Hanoi, Vietnam last night and had a pretty fun night out on the town. We ended up at underground club with a bunch of twenty-something backpackers, and a guy from Estonia. But before we get into that... probably best to catch up on our last few days in Luang Prabang, which actually is directly related to ending up at the secret club in Hanoi. Seriously.

After getting up early to see the Tuk Bat ritual with the monks at 530 am, we were pretty pooped and just chilling at the hotel, blogging, and eating. While hanging in the lobby, Bri started a conversation with an English gentleman named John who happened to be a professor that teaches travel journalism staying at our hotel. He was travelling with his friend Jeff, who is a professor from Australia that teaches about tourism in developing nations. Interesting, and very friendly guys. John invited us to go with them on a boat up to the Pak Ou caves that afternoon, a 2 hour boat ride up the Mekong. We had no plans, so decided to tag along.

Our boat and our driver, Mr Vanhsy

Mr Vanhsy doin his thing

Weird stuff like this up and down the river

Kids playing in the river, it must be that ones birthday

Getting passed by a faster boat

We stopped at a small village where they sell Lao Lao, rice whiskey. Not sure why they have to put snakes and stuff in it too.

Large assortment of Lao Lao

The Pak Ou Caves are not the most spectacular caves themselves, but what makes them cool is the thousands of Buddha statues placed in every nook and cranny. Some of the 2,500 statues and 4,000 wooden buddhas are hundreds of years old, as the King of Luang Prabang visited every year going back to the 17th century and placed a Buddha in the cave, which all remain there today. There was a second cave, which required a creepy old lady to remove an old padlock and give us a flashlight. Bri and I didnt say it until after we came out, but we both had a thought of  cheap horror movie plot where she locked us in. Luckily, she was just creepy and not evil and we didnt get locked in. We came back and had dinner, for the second night in a row, at our favorite restaurant in Laos - Tamarind - that serves fresh, Laos food at an amazing value, $21 for two people! Probably our favorite two meals of the trip. Turned out to be a great day and made new friends with some very cool and well traveled dudes.



The main cave



Lots of statues and Buddhas

Bri coming in the gates, creepy old lady outside... thought she might lock us in

View of the caves from the river

Despite the rain, pretty good sunset and shot with the guy on the boat

Been up since 330 am, cant stop smiling reading all about the AL WEST CHAMPION A'S!!!

More pics from around Luang Prabang... which means more Monks

Classic river shot, with monks

One last spin out with the bikes, view of the Nam Khan river



Sweaty Binder, with monks



Last stroll around town down a cool side street

Sticky rice balls... holy monkeys they are amazing. Chewy on the outside, warm and gooey in the middle. Made at the night market every night, 6 for 50 cents.

So, what does this have to do with an underground club in Hanoi and a dude from Estonia? This post is already getting long, so youll just have to stay tuned for the next post on Hanoi!

On a side note, HOW BOUT DEM OAKLAND ATHLETICS!! I woke up at 330 am to listen, and had to go outside and sit in the dark by the river to steal internet signal from the hotel across the river. Totally worth it!

Cultural Binders - Luang Prabang, Laos

Originally when we were planning our trip, Laos was nowhere on our radar. I read a few blogs where people said it was one of their favorite small cities in Asia, rich with culture and history (the town is 700 years old). Known for its temples, street markets, traditional monk ceremonies, and beautiful setting... and half way between Chiang Mai, Thailand and Hanoi, Vietnam... We figured why not check it out.

We've enjoyed the past 3 days here, exploring the city on bikes, getting massages, and eating the cheap food. One thing we haven't enjoyed is the shitty internet in Laos. Blogging and watching the A's live has been hard, but we have somehow managed to keep ourselves entertained. The city is on a peninsula, only about 3 blocks wide, bordered by the Mekong (like the Mississippi of Asia) and the sleepy Nam Khan, making it easy to get around on bikes or walk end to end, stopping off for some street noodles, or a croissant and an iced coffee. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, meaning the city is considered of great cultural significance and is protected from major development. It has maintained its Buddhist roots while also inheriting some French Colonial aspects (like bomb ass croissants). Here are a few pics from our first day on bikes and the night market:

Getting our bikes for $2/day. Bri really wanted one with a basket.

Bri biking past some monks... They are everywhere

Our hotel room, 20 feet from the best restaurant in Luang Prabang.

The main street

Spicy Green Papaya Salad

Shiny temple, fully restored. There are 30+ temples around the city.

Lunch by the Mekong

Lots of motorbikes for rent

View from the top of the hill

Croissant a day keeps the... Whatever, we are on vacation

Our bikes in front of our favorite bakery.

The night market, it's about 8 blocks long and packed every night

Side street off the night market, like the food court at the mall

For $1.50 (10,000 Kip), grab a plate and load it up.

I ate way too much

50 kinds of noodles

Our hotel at night, facing the Nam Kahn River (the smaller one on the other side of town)

On our second day we took a trip out to Kuang Si Waterfall, which actually surprised us at its size as we had thought it was just a swimming hole. The water was mint green, an interesting contrast to the muddy waters of the massive Mekong that runs through town. We discovered a semi-treacherous hike to the top, with some "safety" features, like bamboo poles and wet rickety stairs, that would likely not have passed US safety inspections.

The Kuang Si waterfall

Mint green water, not sure why but it looked cool

View from the top, check out those sturdy guard rails

Wet stairs, no railing

Going barefoot was actually safer, flip flops were a liability

Can't see in the water, going in carefully

Refreshing after the long hike

This morning we got up at 5:45 to see the tradition of Tuk Bat, or the Alms giving that happens every single day on the main street. The locals gather to hand out small morsels of food to the monks, in exchange for blessings and good luck. What the monks gather is usually all they eat for the day. This ceremony has become somewhat of a spectacle, with vans of disrespectful tourists snapping photos and generally treating it as a show rather than a religious ritual. While we are tourists, I tried to stay back and get a few shots from afar. It really is amazing as the old traditions have remained. We are currently sitting at breakfast trying (with the struggling internet) to Google "monk culture in Luang Prabang" as we are fascinated by them.

Daily ceremony of Tuk Bat

There are 100's of monks, forming a line that goes for blocks

There are some little monks too

Tomorrow we are off to Hanoi, Vietnam... A massive city which should be a big change from the small town pace here. We've got a street food tour lined up, before heading out on a boat to Ha Long Bay for two nights. I sure hope the boat has Internet to keep up with the A's PLAYOFF run, but I am informed it is unlikely.

*Here is the source of our Internet issues, thanks Lao Telecom!

Hey, I think a few of of those aren't connected

 

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