Land of a Million Elephants

Our welcome into Laos- my kind of place!

Though the bus situation was the worst we've have yet, coming to Laos after having been in Vietnam for three weeks was a breath of fresh air.  Vietnam is fascinating in culture, beautiful in scenery and has some of the cheapest yet cleanest accommodation we've had on our trip so far; however, it is also definitely the most exhausting place we have traveled. It took us a while to realize that in Laos every person you talked to wasn't actually trying to rip you off, but just genuinely trying to help. The first meal we had was thrilling because it wasn't Pho and it was delicious (the food, especially in Northern Vietnam, left us a bit underwhelmed)! Our first impressions of Lao were nothing less than fantastic!

We made our way to Luang Prabang on an alternate route to what most tourists do - the 24-hour bus ride sounded like our worst nightmare! So we bussed across the border to Muang Khua, and then took a 7-hour long boat trip down the river to Nong Khiaw, a beautiful little town cozied up along the river and looking up at the mountains that surround it. We had a great night with the Lao people in Muang Khua, playing petanque (french word for our beloved Bocce!) and taking turns drinking small glasses of Beer Lao, handed out by the locals. We partied also with Pierre and Lucie, a french-canadian couple from Quebec (obviously) who we continued to hang with in Luang Prabang. In Nong Khiaw we stayed in another place with an incredible view along the river, for $8 a night! Crazy. We spent a couple of nights here to give us the chance to explore the area, just long enough for Chris to one-up me when it comes to bicycle crashes. You'd think we were both 8 again, falling off our bikes! Well, his was pretty intense as he was caning it down a hill after a steep climb and just as he was reaching the flat again he went to pedal and the chain snapped out of place.  This jolted him out of his seat and resulted in his feet coming off the pedals and his nutting himself on the bar -ouch! At this point he tried to gain control but was in serious pain and came crashing and skidding onto the pavement. Brutal! Luckily this local woman came running over- well, actually it was more of a Lao run, meaning a marginally quicker walk- and pulled some leaves off of a nearby tree, shoved them in her mouth and then spat out a chewed up green mush that she smacked onto Chris' largest wound. The other villagers looked on and another came with a more pharmacy-style treatment. This would never have happened in Vietnam! Anyway, the woman got up and kept going on her way after we thanked her profusely and now here we are, with another story to tell! The Lao people have been awesome like that!

Photographic evidence of the event!

Nice view - of the mountains and rice paddies I mean ;)

Our balcony looking out over the river.

  The rest of our time in Lao was a bit rushed as we were headed to the Gibbon Experience for a set date.  At this point we got tired of long winding bus rides and moving around, so Chris and I decided to stay in Luang Prabang until we headed west to the Thai border and the Gibbons. What a chilled out city to hang around in! We spent pretty much every night wandering aimlessly around the night market and days doing little trips here and there or waiting out a rainstorm while reading in a cafe. It was so nice to not be on the move for a while! All of the Lao towns and cities we've been to have been on the river and there is something to be said about having a slow-flowing river, water drifting constantly but lazily by, that seems to be almost infectious in the dispositions of the people that live alongside it. We have loved and embraced this chilled out, go with the flow kind of attitude.

There are monks all over the place in Luang Prabang. In the morning they pass around the city at 5:30am for alms, when local people and tourists will give offerings of food to them.

Chose the pic for two reasons - 1, a nice view of Luang Prabang outskirts and 2, to show that yes, even in rainy season, we continue to get ridiculously sweaty!

Chris catching up on some sleep with his favorite Buddha!

One of the popular attractions in Laos for good reason- the beautiful Kuang Si waterfall!

Hanging at Utopia with our new travel buds - Nico, Ketty, Pierre and Lucie.  Everything closes by 11:30 latest in Lao, so the night life is pretty chilled out (hence the cards!)

The night market in Luang Prabang - extremely frustrating for tall people because of all the tents that are not quite high enough to walk through without ducking.  Worthwhile for the cheap finds though!

The highlight of Luang Prabang was hands down the Elephant Village, a sanctuary for female elephants rescued from the brutally hard job of working in logging camps in the Lao country. Lao used to be called the "Land of a Million Elephants", but numbers have decreased significantly since then. Now its "Land of a Million Elephant Souvenirs"! Ha ha, anyone who has been to the Night Market in Luang Prabang will get what I mean. Anyways, many of the elephants at the Elephant Village had sustained injuries or lost vision due to work in the logging camps, so a German expat created this program to not only rescue the elephants, but to provide work to nearby villages and awareness to the people of the animal cruelty that exists in the area. We spent a day with these impressive, beautiful animals, getting to ride on their necks, feed and bathe them.  The elephants seemed happy and loyal to their Mahouts (elephant trainer/rider), a testament to the program. The trunk of an elephant when searching for food was the coolest! I knew it would feel and sound like a vaccuum hose which was awesome enough. It was amazing how you could see this trunk waving around in the air, like a hand, smelling for its food! Then it would find the delicious banana I was holding and it has a muscle like a finger that is strong enough to grasp the banana and throw it into the mouth.  It was fascinating to see up close and personal.

Chris getting cheeky with the elephants!

We spent three of our days in Laos on boats for 7+ hours at a time, floating down the river carved out of the mountains and passing by tiny villages and not-so tiny water buffaloes. We indulged in delicious Lao foods such as Lap, a minced meat of your choice mixed with the perfect combination of spice and herbs and served with sticky rice. We loved absolutely everything about Lao- wait, actually I need to be fair. You know a country must be awesome if you can overlook the fact that you were robbed twice there! Lao is another poor country, and we are (to them) wealthy Westerners.  We had money taken from our hotel room twice (don't ask how this happened twice- we were embracing the laid-back mentality of Lao perhaps?).  Moral of the story- use the safe, and carry all your money with you! It's the one big downer we had during our travels here. It felt like we weren't in the country for very long and both Chris and I felt a bit disconnected, not because we didn't like everything we saw in the country but maybe because Vietnam left us with such strong impressions about the culture, the people and the history. It's like going to a party where you meet two people: a gentle, quiet person who is probably really nice, and an outspoken, opinionated guy who demands a bit more of your attention.  The quieter one is hard to get the chance to know better when they're standing side-by-side. Still, we'd love to come back and get lost in calm, chilled out Laos anytime!

On the boat to Houay Xai, where we would do the Gibbon Experience!! And the beginning of our Yanno addiction...

One of the many small villages we passed along the muddy Mekong.

Our last night in Laos! Sidenote: Chris' t-shirt is a universal pleaser, no language required!

 We've already done the Gibbon Experience and it is really hard to write about the rest of Laos when those 3 days were the highlight of our entire Southeast Asia experience so far.  Stay tuned for a run-down of exactly how awesome it was!

Missing the comforts of home, but we still have so much to look forward to ahead of us!

Love to all,

Lauren and Chris xo