Day 7...or the day we climbed a mountain to watch the sunset

I mentioned before that Lao was hot, but my seventh day of traveling here the heat just ended me.  Jeff and I set out to wander around, look through some temples, and check out the royal palace. We had a great day planned and got...about 1/8th of the

Jeff a little annoyed at having to take off his shoes

way before I was D-O-N-E. We went back to the hotel and I just passed out for two hours in my wonderfully air conditioned room.

We did have a chance to walk through some temples though. Jeff was amused by how differently I operate in transit than in real life. When I travel, I don't mind not having a plan and just wandering down alleyways and seeing what there is to see.

We wandered into a couple of the city's temples that way, which was fun. Except to see the inside of temple, you have to take off your shoes and since we were walking a lot this day, we both wore real shoes, which got to be a pain in the butt!

Royal gardens

After my nap, we went down to the Royal Palace and walked through the museum.  The grounds of the palace were breathtaking.  And inside, the palace was filled with opulence of epic proportions. It's really sad in some of these countries to interact with the destitute people and then witness the riches the leaders had.  Surprisingly, the living quarters for the royal family were much less ostentatious than the receiving room and throne rooms. The Royal Palace is no longer in use as a communist regime took over Lao in 1975.  It is one of the poorest, hungriest, and most corrupt countries in the world, which is a pity because it's a truly beautiful country.

Screw diamonds, self-timers are a girl's best friend...

Seeing as my impromptu nap precluded dinner, we grabbed a snack before embarking on a 336 stair
climb to the top of a mountain.  We cheated a little bit and ate in a really westernized place with real coffee and air conditioning, but sometimes you just gotta treat yourself!

The climb was pretty darn miserable, but we got some great pictures at the top (mostly on Jeff's phone).  It's one of the most popular tourist spots for sunset so we made sure to get up there early and get seats.  Since it's a temple, people are supposed to be respectful, but there were still people up there drinking and

The sunset

smoking and it made me kind of mad. But, the sunset was definitely worth the sweat and pain of the walk.

Heading down, we were amazed at how many Lao people were bounding up the stairs (literally running). After sunset, the mountain turned into a huge social gathering of all the locals, which was really cool to witness.

For dinner, we walked across the river to a really great restaurant. We walked across this rickety bamboo bridge that is replaced every dry season when the river gets low enough. It was super sketchy, but also really cool.  I saw it the first day and wanted to walk on it, but we weren't sure if it was a locals only thing. Luckily, Lonely Planet told us about this restaurant because it was delicious!

The sketchiest bridge ever

After dinner, we headed out ot the backpacker bar. Going here was one of the cooler parts of the trip for me because it helped me explain backpacking to Jeff better.  It's really hard to understand the community of travelers and how we befriend each other for a day of sightseeing or dinner or drinks.  It's really an incredible thing knowing that if you go to a hostel in any part of the world, there's probably going to be another solo traveler looking for some company one of the days you're there.  Since I've been doing this kind of thing since I was 19, this trip didn't seem that strange to me.  But to people who never experienced the traveling community like that, it seems absurd to set out on your own. Being at the backpacker bar gave a teeny glimpse into the number of people doing what I'm doing and the ways we're able to interact.

The worst part about today was knowing tomorrow we had to leave paradise!

BONUS PICTURES!

The first set of stairs

It was a tiny temple area, the real treat is the view and the sunset

Looking down on Luang Prabang

The rickety bamboo bridge from higher up

Our restaurant's really chill vibe

I love this man!

Day 6...or the day we rode elephants

The beautiful scenery around the elephant village

Words rarely escape me, but that could be the case in trying to put into words the indescribable joy that this day brought.  Before my trip, I did a lot of looking into elephant riding places to make sure wherever I went treated their elephants well, fed them enough, and didn't use hooks.  It just so happened one of the best-rated Elephant Villages is outside of Luang Prabang.  Jeff loves animals so he was totally on board.  I don't think it was until he was riding the elephant the awesomeness of the experience really set in.  I'm sure our photos do the experience justice, I can't help but smile when I think about it still!

Jeff riding the elephant

The day started with an early morning pick up from our hotel. Rolled out of bed around 7:30 so we could enjoy breakfast on the river (super gorgeous).  Our guide spoke English pretty well and we chatted a lot about his life and our lives.  Lao is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a GDP of $1200 per person.  It's one of the last remaining communist countries. Walking around and seeing hammer and sickle flags was pretty bizarre.

When we arrived at the Elephant Village, we started with just hanging out with the elephants and watching them eat some sugar cane (I'll get around to a video one day). Then we spent a little time learning some basic commands for the elephants.  The commands were, naturally, in Lao and kind of hard to remember. After we went over the directions a few times, Jeff and I took turns riding one.  Getting up is about as hard as you'd expect. You step with one foot on the elephant's bent leg and kind of haul yourself up with a lot of help from the guide and mahout.  Once you get up on the elephant, the directions kind of disappear and you just laugh and smile.  It was one of the coolest experiences of my life!

My turn was through town!

After we both got a chance to ride bareback, the mahout got on the elephant and we sat in a saddle of sorts. It was REALLY high up.  The elephants move super slow and the day was so sunny.  I thought we might melt cause it was SO HOT.  We crossed a river on top of the elephants and walked around for about an hour.  At two different points, the mahout got off the elephant and let one of us ride bareback while he took pictures.  Between the two of us, he snapped over 100 shots.  IT WAS SO AWESOME.

When we got back to the Elephant Village, we could buy a huge bunch of bananas to feed the elephant as a "thank you."  He'd been so good with not trampling us, it was the least we could do. Feeding the elephant was fun...their snouts actually kind of tickle as they grab the food to put into their mouths. It was also a little scary because you realize how incredibly strong they are!

Not sure if the baby elephant or Jeff has a bigger smile

After this, we took a boat to see a baby elephant.  I swear it's the happiest elephant I've ever seen!  It smiles in the pictures! We bought bananas again and that baby was super smart. She kept trying to steal the basket right out of our hands!  We took turns feeding her and then said goodbye and headed to the waterfalls.

Unfortunately since we're there in dry season, this waterfall was almost totally dried up so we couldn't really swim in it (on the flip side, dry season=very few mosquitoes).  It was really cool to walk through the whole falls though.  We climbed on the rocks and stuck our feet in some of the little pools of water,  It was SUPER refreshing after the hot elephant rides.

I love hiking in weird places!

After this, we had lunch.  It was pretty delicious and included REALLY cold water.  I think Jeff and I were both tempted to douse ourselves in it, but stopped ourselves cause bottled water is expensive in Lao (well for Lao people). After we were done, the tour guide asked if we wanted to try some of their spicy papaya salad.  Jeff was totally down since he loves spicy things. I let him go first cause he knows how much spice I can take.  It was too hot for me, but he loved it.  We're pretty sure the guide was attempting to play a joke on the foreigners with the spicy food, but Jeff's been preparing his whole life for this!

After lunch was the adventure we'd all been waiting for...bathing elephants!  We actually rode the elephants into the river with a mahout and played with them in the water. My elephant couldn't wait for the five minute walk down the river bank so he stopped at their eating place and sprayed a bunch of water all over my mahout and I. Jeff's elephant loved diving. Often I'd turn and look and his elephant would be almost totally submerged.  On the other hand, mine barely even sat down, but LOVED spraying me in the face.  I couldn't stop laughing because it was just so much fun.

The visit to Elephant Village ended with an hour in the pool with a swim up bar. It was such a perfect ending to a hot, sweaty, and exhausting day. We just floated around and looked out into the Lao mountains.  It was super duper perfectly amazing.

Temple #1 of the trip!

When we got back to town, we took showers pretty much immediately. Who knows what dirty stuff

was in the Mekong River. Then Jeff grabbed a quick nap and we headed out for dinner. We took the long way to the river and stumbled across an old temple where Jeff got his first take off your shoes and walk around buildings experience. We walked around it for a little bit and then kept on walking towards dinner.

Sunset from our restaurant

  We ate at a little place on the Mekong River (the other side of town from our hotel).  Jeff ordered a dish that sounded delicious "with spices."  Later that evening when I was looking at Lonely Planet's guide for Lao, we found out it's one of their Top 10 spicy dishes you have to try.  That means it was SUPER SPICY.  He took it like a man and the Lao workers were pretty impressed.  They took pity on him towards the end and brought a glass of ice water because we were sweating from the heat before Jeff started eating.  I think they also laughed at him a little bit. I had a chicken and egg dish wrapped in banana leaves...no spicy food there!



BONUS PICTURES:

"Our" elephant

The whole city looks like this...absolutely breathtaking.

Our boatman and the skyline

On the edge of a waterfall!

Jeff's elephant loved going under water!

This is WAY HARDER THAN IT SOUNDS

Elephant showers haha

Heaven <3

Day 5...or the day I received a massage from a Thai ex-convict before going on my first dinner date in another country

Today, my time in Thailand was coming to an end, but not until the afternoon. Since I wake up early pretty much all the time, I decided to do a spa day!  I asked at the front desk of my hostel for a recommendation and he sent me to a location right around the corner.

When I got there, I found out it was a place that employs former female convicts. Much like in the U.S. recidivism is driven by financial need so a philanthropist started this organization that teaches former prisoners how to give traditional Thai massages and a wide range of other spa services.  Their prices were kind of high though so I only got a massage here.

I still had three hours until I needed to leave for my flight, so I headed down the main street to get a pedicure and manicure. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that with the high humidity and heat, the pedicure would literally melt into my socks a few days later. BUT at least I looked super duper cute when I met up with Jeff!

The descent into Lao

The flight to Lao was uneventful...mostly. It is the smallest plane I've ever been on.  They made people move to the back of the plane because all of our luggage was loaded in the front and they wanted to even out the weight. That made me feel SUPER confident!  When I landed, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement! Between both of our graduations and Jeff's work trip to Korea, it was over a month since we had seen each other. Lo and behold, my ATM card doesn't work in SE Asia and that I could use it in Thailand was a fluke of nature.  That's fun. Luckily, I have back up USD to exchange. I was the first one off the plane and through customs and one of the last to leave the airport!

When I got to the hotel (yah, Jeff spoiled me and I didn't sleep in an 8 person dorm this trip), he was
waiting for me in the lobby!  Lao was HOT and the people's English wasn't very good. I shared a taxi with an Indian woman who recommended a swanky restaurant down the

Inflation is crazy...

street. We were both hot, tired, and hungry so we decided to take her suggestion.  For like $30 we had what would've been a $150 meal easily in the U.S.  It rivaled the quality and presentation of Coach Insignia!
Afterwards, we walked through the night market.  It was pretty low key compared to the markets in Thailand.  I was really surprised how not busy the market was. We got about half way and it started to thunder and lightening. It was SUPER cool to watch them pack everything up in just a few minutes. Everything from scarves and dresses to postcards and trinkets were gone in less than 10 minutes.  It was crazy how organized the whole thing is.  Jeff "helped" me pick out a table runner as my souvenir from the night market. I say helped because his job was just to tell me it was pretty because I had to explain what a table runner is at first.

Jeff chilling at our restaurant 

Two options for beer: Beer Lao or Beer Dark...

Day 4...or the day I rode up a mountain in the back of a pickup truck

Since I went to Mass last night, I had a gloriously lazy morning. I ate a really awesome breakfast with fruit and yogurt and started chatting with a bunch of other travelers. One of the best parts of backpacking is the friends you make!  Two British girls had just rolled into the hostel from Bangkok. We decided to make a trip to the temple on the mountain, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.

This entails a 45 minute ride up the mountain in a red truck taxi.  They're a little less sketchy than tuk tuks, but still pretty out there.  At least it's a lot more enclosed so you feel a little safer, but it's all a ruse.  If this thing got into a wreck there'd be hell to pay.

There's really not much to say about the trip or the temple.  It's just really pretty, so I'll leave some pictures for your enjoyment and peace out!

After the temple and all those stairs, it was time for a solid air conditioner break. I hung out in my room at wrote the blog for Day 3 and just chatted with mom and Jeff some.  Around 6:30 or so, we headed out to the night market. It was massive.  We started walking and there were booths set up endlessly everywhere.  Remember all the temples? THEY were full of vendors. The streets were lined on both sides, sometimes down the middle too.  Anything you can imagine, food, clothes, shoes, neck pillows for flights, iPhone cases, EVERYTHING.  

We ate dinner from some of the street vendors.  I introduced Rebecca and Rachael to mango and sticky rice. It's more of a dessert, but still so delicious! We walked and walked and walked through the market. I bought a few little trinkets along the way.

All in all it was a good, relaxing Sunday in Thailand.  Tomorrow, I head to Laos to meet up with Jeff, which I think might be the best moment of this whole trip!

The view from a lookout halfway up the mountain

The red taxi that took us up the mountain

Had to climb all the steps to get to the temple.  

I find similarities between religions interesting. Here, a Buddhist monk is blessing people with water.

I thought this was a super polite way to say SHUT UP!

Absolutely beautiful!

After the tour, we had time to tour a jade factory. Cool fact, black jade is actually green when you shine a light through it.

Chiang Mai street market...this goes on for blocks down like four different streets!

This little bamboo table is where we got to eat our sticky rice and fresh mango!

Food vendors were out in full force too!

I thought these patterns were very Polish-esque, but I resisted the urge to buy them.

The monks were leading some sort of night time meditation. It was cool to see the temple full!