Braving the Streets of Hanoi

After some days of leisure in Vang Vieng and Vientiane, Laos, I flew to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Two weeks in laid-back Lao PDR made the transition back to Hanoi a little overwhelming. We're staying in the old quarter of Hanoi, filled with narrow streets teeming with motorbikes, bicycles, taxis, and pedestrians darting in and out of the traffic.

From K - Hanoi I

I think survival of the fittest is central to Hanoi's operation. You really have to keep your head on a swivel (to quote most coaches) in order to ensure your toes stay intact.

Like most of SE Asia, Hanoi has no known traffic rules and very few streetlights. You could spend time trying to figure out exactly what is going on (see below), or you could pick a random Vietnamese person and tail them across the street, because they probably know what they are doing.

From K - Hanoi I

Hanoi is bursting with energy, commerce, and pho (noodle soup).

From K - Hanoi I

From K - Hanoi I

From K - Hanoi I

Luckily, the Hoan Kiem lake lies in the middle of the old quarter. It's an excellent place to walk without fear of motos, do some people-watching, or sit and have some Vietnamese iced coffee.

From K - Hanoi I

From K - Hanoi I

The Plain of Jars

Visiting the Plain of Jars in eastern Lao was an amazing experience.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

The history of the area (heavily bombed by the US in the 1960s and 1970s during the Secret War), combined with Lao's natural beauty and the mysterious megalithic Jars, make the Xieng Khouang province an incredible place to visit.

However, our voyage here was well away from the beaten path. It was hard to believe, but we were only a handful of tourists in the area. Our tour group to the jars was only five people, and we only saw a few other tourists the entire day.

There are over 50 sites in the province where large stone jars from the Iron Age (500 BC) lay in fields. To this day, archaeologists and researchers do not know what the jars were used for, or precisely how they were made. Some think that they were used in burial rites. There are jars all over eastern Lao; however, only a few of the sites are safe to visit.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

That's because all of eastern Lao is riddled with unexploded ordnance (UXO). During the 1960s and 1970s, the US carried through over 500,000 bombing missions in Lao in an attempt to disrupt the Ho Chih Minh trail. Operation Lam Son 719 was intended to cut off the People's Army of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from its logistical system running through Lao.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

However, about 30% of the bombs and cluster bombs dropped on Lao did not detonate. Consequently, Lao people living in the area today are faced with constant danger every time they dig in a field or farm new land. The UXO is holding Lao in its place as one of the 20 poorest countries in the world, because people are unable to farm or use the natural resources of the land. Since many people are subsistence farmers, they try to supplement their income by collecting and selling scrap metal collected from bomb craters - a dangerous pursuit. Some NGOs are helping with the removal of UXO, but it is a very slow process. When we were visiting the remains of an old Russian tank, we heard a large explosion as a nearby removal team detonated one of the leftover bombs (on purpose).

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

Despite the sobering history of the area and the fact that the Jars sites were riddled with bomb craters, the scenery was vivid and beautiful.

To get to Site 3, we hiked across some rice paddies.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

The view was incredible:

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

Waterfalls and Lao Street Food

On a 103 degree day in Luang Prabang, Dana and I finally listened to the suggestions of the myriad tuk-tuk drivers who roam around and offer trips to the nearby waterfall.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

However, after learning that the waterfall was 36km away, we decided to go VIP and take a minibus (for some reason, all the tour agencies advertise buses/cars with A/C as "VIP").

Good thing, because the drive was long and bumpy, and it would have been no fun in the back of a rickety tuk-tuk.

Arriving at the waterfall, the weather was already much cooler. It was relaxing to walk around, look at the bear preservation that is in the same park, and spend some time hiking around.
There were some funny signs at the entrance to the park. Apparently some Western travelers have some hygiene issues.

From K - Luang Prabang Mkt and Waterfall

From K - Luang Prabang Mkt and Waterfall

We even finished off the waterfall trip with some rides on the tree swing. So fun!

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

On to the important part: the food!

Lao street food is very similar to Thai food. My favorite spicy papaya salad also makes an appearance is Laos, but here it's made with miniature eggplant and without the crushed peanuts. Still extremely delicious at $1 for a freshly made salad, mixed together in the giant mortar and pestle.

From K - Luang Prabang Mkt and Waterfall

The vegetarian summer rolls are also delicious.

From K - Luang Prabang Mkt and Waterfall

I decided to pass on these.

From K - Luang Prabang Mkt and Waterfall

Dana asked the street food vendor: "What is this?"

The answer they gave: "Insides".

From K - Luang Prabang Mkt and Waterfall

On a more delicious note, these are the best things ever. Bits of banana covered in sticky rice and fried.

From K - Luang Prabang Mkt and Waterfall

Jewel of the Mekong

Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage site that sits on the Mekong River (10th longest river in the world) and the Nam Khan River.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

The architecture and cuisine of Luang Prabang has a strong French influence, due to France's annexation of Laos in the 18th century. There's elegant French Colonial architecture and all the guesthouses have beautiful hardwood floors.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

Consequently, the food is AMAZING, since I can get fresh vegetable spring rolls, spicy green papaya salad, curry, fresh baguettes, and crepes, all in the same place!

Luang Prabang is also known for its spiritual culture. Boys from all over the province come to Luang Prabang to study as monks. Novice monks can be quite chatty and Dana and I spoke with an 18-year old named Keo about his life as a monk. We also got up at 5:30 am to offer alms to the monks on their morning walk.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

Dana and I also explored Luang Prabang by bicycle. Despite being 103 degrees, it was still a fun way to see the city.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

We tested our legs by pedaling up to the Buddhist monastary on top of a large hill, where we enjoyed the view and were blessed by a tiny Buddhist nun. Although Luang Prabang is small in size and population, it is a very romantic city and the Lao people are quite friendly.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

The Slow Boat to Laos

Benefits of traveling during low season:

Saturday night: Why don't we leave and go to Lao tomorrow?
Sunday morning: Speeding through northern Thailand in a minibus, beginning our 3 day journey to Laos.

We drove through Chiang Rai and stopped to see the White Temple - a beautiful contemporary Buddhist temple.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

We stayed for one night in the Thai/Lao border town. Note to guesthouses: it's a little disconcerting when the mosquito nets have numerous holes patched with Band-Aids and duct tape.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

On Monday morning we obtained Lao visas and boarded the slow boat bound for Pak Beng. We floated down the Mekong for 6 hours before arriving in Pak Beng, a town that seems to exist solely for the purpose of feeding and sheltering Westerners taking the slow boat to Luang Prabang.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

On Sunday, after 8 hours of floating through wilderness so beautiful and untouched it seemed almost prehistoric, we arrived in Luang Prabang. The boat ride on the second day was also a lot more laid back since the chain-smoking beer drinkers that congregated at the back of the boat were tired from the night before:

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

Although not the most efficient way to travel from Thailand to Laos, the slow boat ride was worth the trip for the scenery and experience.

From She Flies With Her Own Wings

Learning to cook Thai-Style

Looking for a perfect way to spend a rainy day in Chiang Mai?

Take a cooking class.

From Karen - Chiang Mai

Dana and I signed up for a class at Taste From Heaven, an all-vegetarian restaurant in Chiang Mai that also offers cooking classes. The restaurant donates some of its proceeds to the Elephant Nature Park.

Since we were the first people to sign up for the Saturday class, we were able to choose 9 dishes that we wanted to learn. It turned out that we were the only people in the class, so Dana and I got a private 4-hour Thai cooking lesson! An amazing experience.

1. Fresh Spring Rolls with Garlic Dipping Sauce

From Karen - Chiang Mai

2. Spicy Green Papaya Salad (Som Tham)

From Karen - Chiang Mai

3. Phad Thai

From Karen - Chiang Mai

4. Green Curry Paste

From Karen - Chiang Mai

5. Green Curry served in a fresh coconut

From Karen - Chiang Mai

6. Chili Basil Stir Fry

From Karen - Chiang Mai

7. Kao Soi: A northern Thai specialty. Combination of Panang and Massaman curry base, with fresh egg noodles (shows the influence of Chinese cuisine in northern Thailand).

From Karen - Chiang Mai

8. Tom Kha soup

From Karen - Chiang Mai

9. Sticky rice with Mango

From Karen - Chiang Mai

Quintessentially Thai

Since Chiang Mai is a cultural center of Thailand, we have not had any difficulty finding interesting activities.

1. Traditional: Thai massage

We met a Thai woman at a local cafe who swears by the older Thai massage ladies who work at a nearby temple. Thai massage is all over Chiang Mai, and it's cheap, but the quality varies widely. Going to a temple and getting Thai massage from the massage schools there is the best way to find an authentic, high-quality massage. Dana and I met up with our Thai friend, who took us to the temple for a 2-hour massage in the morning. Amazing.

2. Not-so-traditional: White water rafting on the Ping River

A local adventure outfitter picked us up from our guesthouse, and drove us 80km away to a section of the Ping River with class III and IV rapids. Amazing. It reminded me of rafting on the McKenzie River in Oregon, except on the Ping River we saw elephants, jungle foliage, and local farmers. Absolutely beautiful (and thrilling!)

3. Traditional: Muay Thai

Dana and I ran into a Polish expat at a local cafe who makes a living as a boxer, but he also trains in Muay Thai. He told us about a local gym that has afternoon training sessions that we could attend. For about $7, Dana and I had a 2-hour long Muay Thai lesson with our own instructors. We were surrounded by Thai fighters and other expats training for competition or for fun. Some of the boxers at our gym fight professionally. The gym owner runs another business as well: cockfighting. During our lessons, roosters were constantly crowing. When I took a water break, I saw one of the instructors grab a bird, forcing its mouth open, and pouring food down its throat. Doesn't get much more real than that. The Muay Thai lesson was incredible though - it was really fun and challenging. Afterward we were instructed to do agility drills like jumping over large tires for "five thousand minutes". I'm still not really sure if the agility instructor was joking or if he got his English mixed up, but it sure felt like five thousand minutes.

From Karen - Chiang Mai

Never been so sweaty in my entire life.

4. Not-so-traditional: Quiz night at the local British pub

Near our guesthouse, Dana and I kept seeing signs for a Thursday night quiz competition. We walked in and were able to join a team of 4 other young travelers - a Canadian, an American, a Brit, and a Scot. Although most of the other teams were comprised of 60-something expats, we came in a decent 4th place despite a fair amount of questions referring to things that happened in the 1960s and 70s, well before any of us were born. It was really fun although I think Dana and I kind of scared our other teammates with our random knowledge. Apparently the word "quorum" and the capital of North Korea (Pyongyang) are not common knowlege for people in their early 20s.

From Karen - Chiang Mai

5. Traditional: Being blessed by a Buddhist monk at Doi Suthep

From Karen - Chiang Mai

Definitely a highlight of the trip so far.