Hello from Chiang Mai, Thailand!
Sabai Dee! (hello in Lao)
We have returned to our starting country, after some adventures in Cambodia and Laos.
Due to a delay of our visas, we had to stay in Cambodia for another 3 days, which resulted in the decision to fly to Vientiane, Laos instead of going from South Laos to the North. Very unfortunate, but this is what time permits us. After 3 days of relaxing and lying around (I haven't read so many books in ages!) we left for the airport. The planes from Lao Airlines are small: there are two rows of two by two and I had the feeling the luggage was just stashed somewhere in the front. But who cares, our bags and ourselves arrived safely in a new country open for discovery.
Vientiane is peculiar: it is the capital but does not even come close to looking like one. It is not very big, but the people are friendly and the atmosphere is nice. We visited some temples, went to musea, but it turned out they were all related to military stuff. Would be nice for someone who likes weapons and stuff, but it wasn't our cup of tea.
On the 21st we had a mission: we bought Christmas hats and a cheesy sign saying 'Happy New Year' and the only thing left to do was find a nice spot for a picture and someone who was willing to be our photographer for a couple of minutes. We were able to entertain some people with our silliness (happy to!) and ourselves as well when we were putting our Christmas card together on the internet. Very carefully we proceeded, afraid to mess things up and losing our creation. When we were entering all the addresses, suddenly the screen went black. In astonishment I creamed at the guy in the internet cafe 'NO!' while Iris was sitting there, not being able to say anything. Luckily, everything was still there, otherwise all our efforts (we must have been sitting there for about2 hours already) were in vain.
One of the highlights in Vientiane was the COPE centre, which is an organization that helps people who have lost limbs. This cause is connected the what they call the secret war of Laos, referring to all the cluster bombs that have been dropped by the Americans in Laos between 1965-1975. Not many people are aware that Laos has suffered so much and still is, as the many of the bombs have not yet exploded and are sometimes found by for example children. The organization is well-organized; if you would like more information check http://www.copelaos.org/.
Funny fact about Laos: their currency is called Kip. As a non-Dutch you might wonder why this is funny, but in Dutch it means chicken. So when we ordered something for for example 40.000Kip we imagined a truck full of chickens arriving to pay for our meal.
Next destination was Vang Vieng for one day, known for its tubing, but we went kayaking and caving. We spent the night in a hostel made out bamboo which was cool. The next day we left for out final destination in Laos: Luang Prabang. It is a lovely town, and it is a World Heritage Site for all its beautiful architecture. The vibe is relaxed, we again visited some temples and the National Museum (definately go there if you ever find yourself in Luang Prabang). Furthermore, we took a day trip to a cave full of buddhas and a waterfall. The latter was great! Beautiful light blue water and we took a fresh dive into the water (cold it was, but I find myself being less of a chicken than I used to be). I followed my very first cooking course, which was a great experience. To me it mostly looked like throwing many ingredients together, but it turned out quite well anyways. So now I'm a bit more familiar with Lao cuisine!
Everywhere we go, there is some kind of market, which we of course visit to buy more stuff and presents than we can fit in our bags, but well.
Last Thursday we flew to Chiang Mai, which is a very nice city; I'm sad we are only staying here for 2 days. We took a taxi to our guesthouse: Same Same (something people tend to say here: same same, but different), took a refreshing shower and went exploring. Surprisingly, the temples here are quite different from the ones we have seen so far and they are beautiful. It is a combination of styles - sorry, can't remember which ones at he moment - and they are well-kept and well-visited. In Wat Pha Singh people were hanging money from the ceiling as an offering to buddha and there was a monk there blessing people with a which looked like a bush of sticks which he dipped into water upon which a splattered the water on the people's heads. Interesting.
Yesterday: another highlight in the whole trip: we spent the day at an elephant camp where we learned the basics of how to ride an elephant, rode the elephant, had lunch from banana leaves and the final activity was to bathe the elephants at the waterfall. It was amazing! I honestly love elephants and we were lucky to ride the biggest one :). The bathing was refreshing and later a bit less, as two of the elephants took a pee and a dump in the water. Everyone came out soaking wet, more due to the people of the camp than the elephants, and pictures were taken of everything, which we will get on a CD.
I would like to say Khop Chai (thank you in Lao) for reading and I wish you a very happy 2012. I hope you will celebrate well, maybe a few hours later than we are, since we are 6 hours ahead.
My last blog will be posted when I am home sweet home again!
xx Fleur
Sabai Dee! (hello in Lao)
We have returned to our starting country, after some adventures in Cambodia and Laos.
Due to a delay of our visas, we had to stay in Cambodia for another 3 days, which resulted in the decision to fly to Vientiane, Laos instead of going from South Laos to the North. Very unfortunate, but this is what time permits us. After 3 days of relaxing and lying around (I haven't read so many books in ages!) we left for the airport. The planes from Lao Airlines are small: there are two rows of two by two and I had the feeling the luggage was just stashed somewhere in the front. But who cares, our bags and ourselves arrived safely in a new country open for discovery.
Vientiane is peculiar: it is the capital but does not even come close to looking like one. It is not very big, but the people are friendly and the atmosphere is nice. We visited some temples, went to musea, but it turned out they were all related to military stuff. Would be nice for someone who likes weapons and stuff, but it wasn't our cup of tea.
On the 21st we had a mission: we bought Christmas hats and a cheesy sign saying 'Happy New Year' and the only thing left to do was find a nice spot for a picture and someone who was willing to be our photographer for a couple of minutes. We were able to entertain some people with our silliness (happy to!) and ourselves as well when we were putting our Christmas card together on the internet. Very carefully we proceeded, afraid to mess things up and losing our creation. When we were entering all the addresses, suddenly the screen went black. In astonishment I creamed at the guy in the internet cafe 'NO!' while Iris was sitting there, not being able to say anything. Luckily, everything was still there, otherwise all our efforts (we must have been sitting there for about2 hours already) were in vain.
One of the highlights in Vientiane was the COPE centre, which is an organization that helps people who have lost limbs. This cause is connected the what they call the secret war of Laos, referring to all the cluster bombs that have been dropped by the Americans in Laos between 1965-1975. Not many people are aware that Laos has suffered so much and still is, as the many of the bombs have not yet exploded and are sometimes found by for example children. The organization is well-organized; if you would like more information check http://www.copelaos.org/.
Funny fact about Laos: their currency is called Kip. As a non-Dutch you might wonder why this is funny, but in Dutch it means chicken. So when we ordered something for for example 40.000Kip we imagined a truck full of chickens arriving to pay for our meal.
Next destination was Vang Vieng for one day, known for its tubing, but we went kayaking and caving. We spent the night in a hostel made out bamboo which was cool. The next day we left for out final destination in Laos: Luang Prabang. It is a lovely town, and it is a World Heritage Site for all its beautiful architecture. The vibe is relaxed, we again visited some temples and the National Museum (definately go there if you ever find yourself in Luang Prabang). Furthermore, we took a day trip to a cave full of buddhas and a waterfall. The latter was great! Beautiful light blue water and we took a fresh dive into the water (cold it was, but I find myself being less of a chicken than I used to be). I followed my very first cooking course, which was a great experience. To me it mostly looked like throwing many ingredients together, but it turned out quite well anyways. So now I'm a bit more familiar with Lao cuisine!
Everywhere we go, there is some kind of market, which we of course visit to buy more stuff and presents than we can fit in our bags, but well.
Last Thursday we flew to Chiang Mai, which is a very nice city; I'm sad we are only staying here for 2 days. We took a taxi to our guesthouse: Same Same (something people tend to say here: same same, but different), took a refreshing shower and went exploring. Surprisingly, the temples here are quite different from the ones we have seen so far and they are beautiful. It is a combination of styles - sorry, can't remember which ones at he moment - and they are well-kept and well-visited. In Wat Pha Singh people were hanging money from the ceiling as an offering to buddha and there was a monk there blessing people with a which looked like a bush of sticks which he dipped into water upon which a splattered the water on the people's heads. Interesting.
Yesterday: another highlight in the whole trip: we spent the day at an elephant camp where we learned the basics of how to ride an elephant, rode the elephant, had lunch from banana leaves and the final activity was to bathe the elephants at the waterfall. It was amazing! I honestly love elephants and we were lucky to ride the biggest one :). The bathing was refreshing and later a bit less, as two of the elephants took a pee and a dump in the water. Everyone came out soaking wet, more due to the people of the camp than the elephants, and pictures were taken of everything, which we will get on a CD.
I would like to say Khop Chai (thank you in Lao) for reading and I wish you a very happy 2012. I hope you will celebrate well, maybe a few hours later than we are, since we are 6 hours ahead.
My last blog will be posted when I am home sweet home again!
xx Fleur
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