Luang Prabang

A common site in Luang Prabang

To change gears a bit, Kaelin and I spent a few days in the relaxed city of Luang Prabang in Laos, where monks and tourists were present in almost equal measure. The interesting thing was that we saw more monks texting than tourists. Talk about shattering pre-conceived notions!

Luang Prabang is a UNESCO world heritage site thanks to its combination of traditional Indochinese and French colonial architecture. The remarkably preserved architecture is also accompanied by some stunning Buddhist temples.

Trees that are said to house the guardian spirits of Luang Prabang

Beautiful detail on a temple

A temple kitty

Kaelin, admiring the architecture

Sunset over a temple

Situated on the banks of the Mekong and Kahn rivers, Luang Prabang has an interesting vibe that is a distinct mix of Asian and French cultures. There are French cafes and restaurants that line the riverside, while two blocks away there is a vibrant night market where you can haggle for local goods and eat traditional Lao cuisine for a dollar a plate.

Fresh fruits for sale at the day market

Lanterns for sale at the night market

Silks at almost every stall

Paper umbrellas are also a traditional Lao craft

Paintings and lanterns for sale

More lanterns. What can I say? They make for pretty pictures.

Massive quantities of food at an unreasonably low price.

Laos is known for its textiles and silver, both of which were in ample evidence at the market. I restrained myself and only bought a silver bangle, but was awfully tempted by the magnificent silk scarves on display.

Gorgeous bangles, of which Kaelin and I both now own one!

We were fortunate enough to stay at a guest house that overlooked the Nam Khan, providing us with picturesque views to accompany our breakfast.

Our breakfast table

River view

We made friends at our guest house

A lao-Lao drink with coconut milk and blue Curaçao

On our last night there we decided to head out to the local hot spot: the bowling alley. For some reason, and no one seems to know why, the bowling alley is a popular after hours club that is the only place in town allowed to stay open past the curfew of 11:30pm. The bowling alley is located outside of the main part of town, and being the budget travelers that we are, we opted to walk to it, as opposed to paying $6 for a tuk-tuk. This was, unfortunately, an unwise decision. We found ourselves walking down an unlit highway, with no shoulder, in the dark, with a large ditch on the other side of us, without a map. Needless to say, our expedition did not end well. Not only were we covered in highway dirt, but we also failed to find the bowling alley. Thankfully it was early enough that the other clubs and pubs had not closed down yet, so we made our way to a place with the slogan "Drink like a fish for the price of water". Drinks made with the local rice whiskey, lao-Lao, were $2.50 a piece, but were also two for one. At that price we opted for two drinks each without realising that lao-Lao is 50% alcohol and that each drink was made with a very generous shot. Our guest house was nearby to the bar, which was fortunate since we were stumbling just a bit as we walked back.

The second lao-Lao drink that was likely one too many

If nothing else it was certainly a memorable way to end our time in Laos! After Laos we made our way to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, which will be the subject of our next post.

What could be better than bike riding around ruins in Sukhothai...?

... well other than the Thai food of course!

After our adventures in cooking and with elephants, we decided to explore the old city of Sukhothai, a city five hours south of Chiang Mai and home to ancient ruins. These ruins were once the capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom during the 13th and 14th centuries, and are now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Armed with our cameras, we rented bikes for the day (and at just under a dollar, it was a steal!) and cycled around the ruins.

What surprised us was that there were 193 ruins within such a small area (the old city covers only 2km by 1.6km). Fortunately, this made traveling around the grounds simple and it was easy to see absolutely everything.

It was nice to be reminded how much fun it is to ride a bike! Riding around, feeling the wind in my hair and just enjoying the gorgeous (although hot!) day was incredible.

Me, looking happy and riding my bike

Erica, taking a break from the admiring the scenery to pose for a picture

Our guesthouse for this leg of the trip was quite different from where we stayed in Chiang Mai. We slept in a traditional wooden Thai chalet that was essentially open to the elements. It was neat in this regard as we got to sleep under a mosquito net. We met some friendly creatures (namely a frog and gecko), but we also met some not so friendly creatures (cockroaches!). One night, I had made sure that the mosquito netting was securely fastened and was almost drifting off to sleep when I spotted a creature scurrying across our bed in the corner of my eye. Needless to say, I screamed bloody murder and scared the hell out of Erica who was calmly reading next to me. Not my finest hour, but a memory that will be hard to forget!

The dubious road we wandered down in search of our guesthouse in Sukhothai

At the end of our stay, our host kindly offered to take us to the bus station. Being backpackers, and not having loads of money to spend on luxuries like cabs, we accepted. We walked outside, both with carry on bags and purses, to realize that our mode of transport was, well...  a motorbike.

The engine revved and our host gestured for us to climb on board as if this was something that happened all the time. Being the two polite Canadians girls that we are, we decided to make this work. After some initial struggles with our baggage and placement of limbs, we climbed on board. One of the strangest yet exhilarating rides of this trip (and a definite ab workout!)

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that we weren't affected by the earthquake in Myanmar. We were in Laos at the time, but didn't feel anything. Our thoughts are, however, with those affected by the earthquake.

Thailand Part II: Elephants

On to part two of our Thailand adventure!

Tom, our guide

On our second day in Chiang Mai Kaelin and I went to an elephant sanctuary where we took part in an elephant mahout training course. Baan Chang Elephant Park is a private sanctuary that primarily rescues begging elephants and elephants from logging camps and tries to provide them with a better life. They work with the recognition that while they provide the elephants with the best care possible, it is still not an ideal environment for the elephants. The owner's dream would be to release the elephants back into the wild, but there is currently nowhere for the elephants to go that is protected. As such, he continues to put the money that he makes back into the park, buying more land for the elephants and building structures to protect them from the heat and the rain. It was nice to go to a place where it was obvious that everyone there really loved and cared for the animals and wanted nothing but the best for them.

Om nom nom

Anyhow, we started our day by getting a longer version of the above information and then moved on to feeding the elephants. As a group, we were provided with four giant baskets full of sugar cane and fed them by the handful to the elephants. 

"Can I have some more please?"

After we ran out of sugar cane we were given a lesson on how to get on and off the elephants and then what commands to give them to get them to turn, go and stop. We sort of got the impression that what we were saying had no real impact on the elephants, since they seemed to know the drill and looked like they were just paying attention to their mahouts anyhow. It was still fun to pretend like the elephants were listening to us though.

After our lesson we had lunch, which was in a pavilion that overlooked where the elephants were getting their second bath of the day. I doubt I will ever have a lunch like that again.

"And here is your shoe."

After lunch we went on our bareback elephant ride:

Elephants are big and far away from the ground

We were seriously worried that the mahout was going to get stepped on while taking these pictures

Once we got back we got to help give our elephants a bath. The water was absolutely filthy, but it was so much fun to be washing an elephant that I didn't really care. They also had shower facilities for us to use afterwards, which helped a lot.

So that was our day with the elephants. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and something that I will never forget.