Sweet and Sour Cambodia

Welcome to Cambodia.  We've been here almost a week.  It is the most devastating and uplifting place we have been.  The people are wonderful, their situation has been horrible (wars, killing fields, unstable political systems, minimal economic opportunity, you name it).  Land mine amputees, their spirits seemingly unbreakable, roam the streets selling books, playing music, anything to get tourist dollars.  Most are smiling.  Children relentlessly offer trinkets (bracelets, postcards, etc.) all through Siem Riep and Angkor Wat for unreasonably low prices, just so their families can get by.  They all have the same script, as if there is a souvenir hawking training school, and they can be incredibly annoying.  But at the same time, it is possible to cut through the saleman to find the kid who just wants to play soccer.  He wants a Coca-Cola, but appreciates a pineapple juice.

We've been hardened by the tricks.  On our first night a young boy carrying a baby with a bottle came to us asking for milk.  We couldn't say no, they looked destitute.  After buying the expensive formula, we didn't feel quite right.  In fact, our gut was right, they return the milk as soon as the tourist leaves to get money.  We've had two natural reactions: a bad one, for being duped; and a compassionate one, those kids should not be in the position to need to run these schemes.  They say not to support begging kids, as it feeds the cycle of poverty, and we are now believers.  Instead, there are some great organizations who are working to educate these kids, and give them opportunities beyond begging (which we have heard can be quite profitable).

One we've found is the Cambodian Orphan Fund, where you can sponsor orphans to go to school and give them an opportunity to safefly get off the street into a warm and caring environment.  The other is the Cambodian Land Mine Museum, whose founder has removed thousands of land mines from the country, with between 3 and 6 million more to go.  His organization facilitates land mine removal, has set up countless schools for amputees and disadvantaged youth. Without organizations like these, we can expect to continue to see children and amputees roaming the streets peddling trinkets.  Amazingly, we can also expect to see warm Cambodian smiles, as the resiliency of these people is truly unbreakable.

P.S.  Ankgor Wat is stunning and overwhelming.

I Pity The Wat Phou

After leaving Vang Vieng (goodbye sweet water trapeze), we spent a night in the capital city of Vientiane (so so so hot). We checked out the Laos version of the Arc de Triumphe, which had a sign on it that literally said, "from a closer distance, it (the Arc) appears even less impressive, like a monster of concrete." Ooh, that's harsh. We didn't think it was that bad but the top floor of the structure looked like a ghetto for sure. After visiting a wat and seeking air-conditioned refuge in a wine store that was playing Thai pop music videos, we felt we'd had enough of Vientiane. We booked ourselves a sleeper bus for the 10 hour journey from Vientiane to Pakse.

We were shown photos of the bus were were going to be on: seats that recline all the way back to make beds, with little pillows and blankets. We had heard some "rumors" that the bus you think you are booking isn't necessarily what you are going to get when you arrive at the bus station but at this point in our travels, we are prepared for the unexpected. At least I thought we were. We imagined what the worse situations would be: seats that did not recline, loud/drunk neighbors, no leg room. At best, we'd have a nice comfy sleeper berth to stretched out in, with a curtain we could draw around us for privacy. However, I never anticipated the situation that became our reality. After waiting too long for the tuk-tuk to pick us up at our guesthouse (we started to think it wasn't coming), then packing 15 people into the tuk-tuk, then dropping the driver's daughter off at the medical clinic, we made it to the bus station. We got our tickets and moved excitedly to our "VIP" bus. (Sidenote: in Thailand and Laos, they use the term VIP very liberally.)

As we made our way to our seats, we looked to the back of the bus and slowly, tragically realized that we were to be spending the next 10 hours sharing a bed in the back of the bus with 2 perfect strangers. Aaah ha! Laos travel company, you stumped us! We thought we had imagined every possible scenario, but alas, you got us again! Yes, our seats (actually our beds) were part of a 4-person bed at the back of the bus.  As I began to unravel, Tyson talked me down. There was nothing we could do but crawl up there, laugh and get ready for a slumber party with our new friends. People in the sleeping berths around us were turning around and taking photos of us like we were animals in a zoo.

From Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vientiane, and Pakse

I have to say that after the initial shock of the 4-person bed, it wasn't bad at all. We actually wound up having more leg room than the smaller sleeping berths and we both slept like babies. Oh yeah, one other surprise: the bus didn't have a bathroom. That's ok, we just won't drink anything for 10 hours. No problem!

One last thing about the sleeper bus. We stopped at a bus station at 1:00 am (so we could use a bathroom) and there, our bus broke down for two hours. No big deal. The bus driver and his other bus driving friends fixed the bus and we were on our way. All this and we would say that the sleeper bus was one of our most pleasant travel experiences. Seriously.

After spending day and night in Pakse (which was hot and not very pretty), we headed to the Bolaven Plateau and the village of Tadlo for some waterfalls and nature.  We love Tadlo!  We found a perfect little bungalow next to Tadhang waterfall and spent the next few days wandering through the surrounding villages and swimming in the waterfalls.  It was so nice for us to be out of the concrete, traffic and heat of Vientiane and Pakse.  Tadlo had some travelers, but it felt much less touristy than most of the places we have been and we welcomed the quiet and relaxed pace.

From Pakse, Tadlo, 4,000 Islands; Laos

Instead of heading back to Pakse the way we had come, we decided to try to continue east around the Bolaven Plateau to see a few more waterfalls and the coffee plantations that grow the amazing Lao coffee we've been drinking for the past month.  Our Lonely Planet did not have any information about taking the public bus in this direction but we had spoken with several people who owned guesthouses in Tadlo and they told us exactly what we would need to do.  We felt so adventurous!  Look at us, going off the beaten path!

We got a ride to the bus stop at 8:00 am where the bus would supposedly pick us up at 8:30 am, take us to the next bus stop, where we would then transfer to another bus that would take us to the village of Paksong.  There were locals waiting with us at the bus stop and they were going in the same direction we were, so we assumed everything was on track.  And then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  For 3 hours.  And the bus never came.  And we are in southern Laos and it's a million degrees out and we are defeated because our plan to get away from the guidance of the holy Lonely Planet was foiled.  So we pulled the plug.  We walked across the street, took a public bus back to Pakse, and then headed down to the town of Champasak.  Tyson is still upset that we missed those two waterfalls....

Champasak is a one road town that used to be the capital of a Laos kingdom.  There is not a ton to do there but relax, eat, rent bikes and ride to Wat Phou.  Wat Phou is Angkor Wat of Laos.  It was actually built before Angkor Wat between the 9th and 12th centuries and includes a large promenade lined with lingas (phalluses), two large pools of water, a north and south palace, and the main temple.  Aside from being very old and very beautiful, this wat is interesting because it was originally created as a Hindu temple so there is a lot of imagery of Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu along with the more recent depictions of Buddhism.

From Pakse, Tadlo, 4,000 Islands; Laos

I'd like to say that the highlight of our day in Champasak was visiting Wat Phou, but it wasn't.  The highlight of the day, and one of our favorite experiences of the trip so far, was the detour we took off the main road as we rode our bikes to Wat Phou.  On the right side of the main road, we noticed a pipeline pumping water from the Mekong into a large concrete structure.  Tyson, being the curious guy that he is, went up to get a closer look and discovered a dirt road that ran perpendicular to the road we were on.   We started riding along the dirt road and realized that the water being pumped from the river was being directed into an aqueduct that was irrigating a series of rice fields.  Expanses of bright green rice crops stretched alongside the dirt road as we continued riding.  The sky was clear and small lush mountains climbed gently and gracefully in the distance.  We rode through several villages where the locals were just going about their daily lives but always had time to shout "sabaidee" or hello to the crazy Westerners on their bikes.  Just when I started worrying that the dirt road was a dead-end and that we were going to have to backtrack to the main road to find Wat Phou, we found ourselves 2 minutes away from the wat!  We had taken a chance on a curiosity and had been rewarded greatly. 

From Pakse, Tadlo, 4,000 Islands; Laos

We have been in Si Phan Don, or the 4,000 Islands, for the past 6 days.  We have loved it here and will try to write more about that later.  Tomorrow, we leave for Cambodia and we can't believe that the trip is already half over.

More photos here.

Our Laos Top Ten List

From Pakse, Tadlo, 4,000 Islands; Laos

If we could change anything about Laos, it would be us.  We'd be able to speak the language.  Daily, we've had questions we haven't been able to get clear answers to (thankfully, 'toilet' is pretty universal).  Speaking Laos would give us the ability to share more of our lives beyond the ever interesting and inviting, "sabaidee (hello)" and "kap jai (thank you)".  That being said, not speaking the language, and being a carrier of English, has led to some great moments.  In this spirit, we put together a top 10 list of sorts, our top 10 awkward or funny or noteworthy moments in Laos.  Some are funny, some aren't, but we have really enjoyed this country.

10.  Laos people lucky enough to learn English have a hunger to practice with native speakers.  You can count on three questions:  How old are you?  Are you married?  And, where are you from?  Braver conversants dip into deeper waters.  Like the time Jenn went to the bathroom while we were waiting at the public bus station and two Laos men swooped in and sat on either side of me, curious about what I was reading, and wanting to read with me.  This lead to a two hour Laos-English and English-Laos practice session with Shing, a 20-something Lao man with marginal English and a great smile.  One could say a handsome smile.  At least that is where the conversation went, him telling me that I was handsome (after complementing Jenn's beauty) and that he was not, and me telling him that he was indeed a handsome man.  In Laos, this type of conversation felt almost normal.

9.  A Can of Spite (No Malice Please).  In Luang Prabang, we stopped to have an afternoon refreshment with some friends we made in Thailand (we've bumped into them 3 or 4 times now, which has been a kick).  Jenn ordered a Sprite, but the waiter didn't understand.  She pointed to the menu and said "Sprite" again.  When the waiter saw the menu, he knew what she was after, the ever-elusive can of "Spite" written on the menu (from which he had learned the term).  He corrected her, and she enjoyed her drink.  

8.  Our guesthouse in Vang Vieng had some of the best food we've had.  The cook was amazing.  One of the dishes was "vegetables and chicken ass".  We're not quite sure what was lost in translation.  I ordered it.  Actually, I had Jenn order it for me.  But she just asked for chicken.  We'll never know if we got the ass.

7.  Labored conversation leads to a variety of questions.  One Lao man, at the travel shop in Champasak, a small one-road town, asked us why our skin was white.  We didn't have a good answer.  'Why' is a good question: judging from our skin's sun-kissed redness, it can be considered a sub-optimal design.

6.  Everywhere we've gone, people have giggled at us.  Maybe its our Western-ness, or our goofy smiles.  We will likely never know.  But we will always remember the friendly "Sabaidees" that accompany just about every giggle (and every interaction).

5. While on Don Khon, on of the 4,000 Islands in Southern Laos, we went to see the endangered, freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River (Jenn was glowing, it was awesome...we saw a possibly the entire population that is left).  Before going out, we passed an hour or so waiting a local family restaurant/house so that we could be on the river at the best time.  In this hour, we realized that one of our bikes had a flat tire, which equaled a long walk home, at least partly in the dark.  We left our bikes at the restaurant at the urging of the matriarch (no locks necessary on the entire island) and came back to find two of the brothers finishing repairs on the tire.  They just did it to help out, not expecting any money...just one human helping out another.  Their faces lit up when we gave them a tip, as bright as ours lit up when we realized what they hand done.  Best of all, from what we've gathered, this type of experience is not unique to us.

4.  Keeping the high five alive. One of our best (and most painful days) was spent biking to the major waterfall outside of Luang Prabang.  Most people end up taking a tuk-tuk, but we decided to ride the 35 or so kilometers on painfully adjusted mountain bikes.  It gave us both fantastic views of the area and incredibly sore crotches.  On the way, school children (out for lunch) insisted on giving us ride-by high fives.  It was like we were in a road race with fans lined up and/or cycling to cheer us on.  This was quintessential Laos.

3.  Its okay, we have stools.  We have learned to never expect anything.  Not once have we had a predictable travel experience.  One of our favorite guest house hosts (with a tremendous laugh and jovial spirit) had booked a bus for us to travel from Champasak to Don Khong (in the 4,000 Islands).  He was there when we boarded our VIP bus to find that no seats were available.  His answer...."it's okay, no problem, we have chair".  Jenn and I weren't exactly smitten with the response, as this put us on foot tall wooden stools in the aisles (next to the driver).  Turns out, our guy was right, it was just fine...it actually even gave us a better view.

2.  While in Vang Vieng, Jenn and I managed to sink our kayak in the river.  After 40 minutes of skillful navigation, with Jenn and the front and the captain in the back, our boat started to feel wobbly.  Jenn thought I was screwing off, which I was at the beginning, but I relayed that something felt off.  "Use your core!" was her response (evidently I had forgotten how to balance in the past five minutes).  She turned around to find me sitting in water, we got the giggles, capsized and found out that the ever important plug at the rear of the boat was missing.  Our Laos guides loved it.  We had taken on a half boat full of water.  I'm still working on my core.

1.  We've seen some interesting travel safety in both Laos and Thailand...whole families on motorcycles, dresser drawers with the driver using one hand to hold them down.  But this one takes the cake:  motorcycle, one woman driving, the other sitting side-saddle holding on to nothing but her 3-year old son and the IV drip inserted into his arm.  Not a twinge of worry on any of their faces.

So there you have it, a more or less top ten list from our month in Laos.  There are so many more.  Tomorrow, we are off to Cambodia.  Thank you Laos for a fantastic visit.

We owe some details on what we were up to at the end of January in northern Thailand and our slow boat trip down the Mekong. So here we go:

In an earlier post, I might have mentioned that on our second day in Bangkok, we were taken around town in a tuk-tuk to some wats, a tailor, and a travel agency office. At the travel agency, we were told that it was a "special holiday" and that all tours booked in Thailand that day would be discounted 30%. We were very suspicious but allowed ourselves to get sucked in and wound up booking a 3 day-2 night trek in the hills of Chiang Mai that included rafting on a bamboo platform, elephant riding, hiking to waterfalls, and a stay with a Karen hill tribe (they're not all women). Additionally, we booked accommodations for 3 nights while in the city (in a hotel that looked really nice from the brochure) and a cooking class when we returned from our trek. We had read that these trips could be really touristy and had reservations about booking a hotel when we weren't able to see it in person, but we felt like we were getting a good deal and agreed that if we had a terrible time, we'd never do anything like that again.

We flew from Phuket to Chiang Mai and were picked up in the airport by a man holding a sign that said, "Jenn Feinberg." That felt pretty good. No scrambling to find a cab. No battling with tuk-tuk drivers about fares and which guesthouse to go to. Just us in the air conditioned cab of a sawngthaew, headed to our pre-booked hotel. Because Tyson had gotten sick in Phuket and was still recovering, we rescheduled our plans to do the cooking class first and the trekking afterwards. Our hotel, the Winner Inn, definitely did not live up to it's name. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't worth what we had paid for it and it had the most uncomfortable bed of the trip (that is, until the bed we slept in in Vientiane).

We loved our cooking class. We went to a local Thai market and selected all the ingredients we needed for the day. Then we went back to our cooking teacher's house where we cooked on separate stoves in an outdoor pavillion with 3 other travelers. It was a day of laughing and eating eating eating. And you should see Tyson in an apron: ooh la la. We learned how to make our own chili paste, spring rolls, pad thai, tom yum soup, stir-fry, and we were sent home with a huge cookbook of Thai cuisine. Absolutely delicious.

Cooking Class!

The next day, we headed out for our trek. It was probably the least favorite thing we have done so far, so I don't really feel inspired to write that much about it. It wasn't awful, it was just exactly what we were hoping it wouldn't be. It was touristy. We were in a big group. The elephants were treated poorly and some were displaying neurotic behavior, like you see in polar bears or tigers in the zoo. (I cried when we saw the elephants; Tyson and I were miserable during the whole ride and swore we'd never ride another elephant again). The Karen village where we stayed had satellite dishes and tv antennae. The place we stayed in the village was a large, open-air bungalow with bamboo for beds and bedding and mosquito nets were provided. Tyson said his sleeping bag smelled like 1,000 dirty hippies had sweat and rubbed their armpits on it. Two young guys from Scotland that were in our group got wasted and were yelling/singing/knocking things over until 4am. It was frustrating, infuriating, and laughably ridiculous at the same time.

Taken as we got into "bed" on our trek

The next day was better. The group got smaller and the hike we did was beautiful. We spent most of the trek talking with one of our guides, Bulle Bulle, and learning about his life and his family. We swam in a waterfall and slept in another open-air platform bungalow. The Scots passed out early and we were able to listen to the sound of the water running along the rocks. And just when we thought everything was going to be ok, sickness struck. I started throwing up at about 4:30am (in a squat toilet in a shed in the middle of the woods) and had the most miserable day of my life as we hiked out of the hills and slowly made our way back to the hotel (after the rest of the group ate lunch and went on the bamboo raft). When we finally got back to Chiang Mai, I was so thankful for our air conditioned hotel!

We learned alot from this experience. We learned that you really should research your treks/tours before booking them. We learned that it's really hard to have an authentic cultural experience when everyone else in the travel scene is trying to have that same experience. We learned that even thought the trip as a whole was slightly disappointing, there were pieces that were special and genuine. We loved talking with our guides. The time spent with them made the trek worthwhile. And, Scottish boys excluded, met some really great fellow travelers.

We are learning to appreciate those moments because often, they are often the only glimpse of authencity we can get.

This Is How Awesome Happens....

If you've been to Yosemite, picture the valley and the surrounding granite walls. If you've sat looking up at the Grand Tetons, picture those. Now add a gorgeous flowing river, and heat enough to beckon you repeatedly into it. Get yourself in an old tire tube and float downriver, with the sunshine and water creating a perfect temperature. Sounds like a perfect day. It is. And in Vang Vieng, it gets better.

We were slightly skeptical going in. People said the tubing there is crazy, over the top....but worth seeing. It was all of those things. We went twice. It's like the crazy island in Pirates of the Caribbean, where anything goes. Swinging trapezes. Zip Lines. Platforms to jump off. Huge slingshot slides. Mud Volleyball. Music. Dancing. Before you do any of this, you're required to buy a drink. The drink of choice? Buckets. Sand pale style buckets with ice and anything else you want inside. With this liquid courage, people get after it. We luckily didn't see anyone get hurt, but we there were close calls (none involving us).

Our tubing lasted two minutes...until a rope fell across my lap, and a smiling Lao man pulled us over to a riverside bar. We were greeted with shots of whisky lao lao (which tastes terrible), shared a mojito bucket (which tastes great), got coupons written on our bodies to grant us free drinks at the nights festivities, were headbanded, wristbanded and welcomed whole-heartedly into the tube culture. The human flinging contraptions we gazed at with trepidation just five minutes before suddenly became our friends.

We absolutely fell in love with one of the huge trapezes. It's like being a kid, on the biggest swing you can imagine, only bigger. This time, you hold onto a water ski handle and get to let go at the apex of the swing with only healthy amounts of fear, falling less than gracefully to the water. We tried our hand at mud volleyball, slung ourselves off slides, and floated halfway down the river (it is slow going...only the most stubborn, or least alert, seem to make it). Jenn's brilliance garnered us a motorized boat ride home, some delicious Indian food with a great couple we shared the day with, and in what was probably best for everyone, and early night in bed.

Vang Vieng has legends. Take the guy from Canada who came last year for a planned 3 days and never left. He's allegedly tubed everyday since and can no longer hold a normal conversation. Most of the bar managers appeared to be in the same boat (except they are too easy to talk to).

From what we could tell, days of the week make absolutely no difference but the time of day does. The riverside music comes on at 9am, and the tubing bars get crazy close to 2. As tubers work their way down the river, upstream bars fade and downstream bars come alive in a logical sequence. The tube bar music is done by sundown.

Before, during and after the river chaos, backpackers veg out to endless re-runs of "Friends" and "Family Guy" in bars that specialize in one show or the others. People cheerfully bring their tubes in before 6pm (when it is still warm outside), and drunkenly after 7pm (when its not). On the "other side" of the river, Bob Marley plays every day at 5pm. Free buckets are given out before 9, and the music rocks until 3am. The place is completely insane.

A younger friend we made on the trip, from New York, put it best when he said: "this place is beautiful, but nobody notices". We noticed, and boy was it awesome. And, no surprise, that friend is still there.

Here are some new photos. Enjoy (we sure have)!

Unique Housing...great places to hang your hat

As we've traveled thus far, we've stayed in some great places, (and some not so great). So far, here are the winners.

#1 Favorite place to sleep: Gibbon Experience, Treehouse Number Seven (Laos). Jenn described it in our previous post; here is a video that will give an idea of our "commute" home. Words do not give it justice how awesome this was.

Now, coming in at Number 2, Khao Sok National Park Floating Bungalows (Thailand) (thanks for the tip Sean). It was hot and the bathrooms were pretty disgusting, but waking up and jumping into a delicious fresh water lake?...Priceless. We got to see gibbons, hornbills, cobras, swim through a cave, go to a crazy lookout point, and ate phenomenal home cooking, floating bungalow style.

We will catch up with you later! In the meantime, we are loving Luang Prabang and hope everyone is doing well!