The clouds rolled in to northern Laos this morning after a beautifully warm day yesterday. Although it's more or less turned the central part of the city into a tourist mecca, Luang Prabang and the hills of northern Laos are stunning, as karst mountains just out of the forest and the mekong river delta.
I spent yesterday with a sort of UN collective that I met on the bus and at my guesthouse in Chiang Khong, the small Thai border town that I crossed to come into Laos. It was a 3 day trip to get out here from Chiang Mai, but it was worth the intake in scenery as we rolled through nothern Thailand, made it to the border, then hopped on the "Slow Boat to Laos" up the, I think, Nam Tha River that ultimately hooks up with the mighty, slow-moving (and famous) river connecting Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, the Mekong. It's slow moving at this time of year, anyway. The slow boat is more or less two full days on the river, watching the jungled forests pass by. It was a good few days to relax, read a tonne (on book number four of the trip so far) and take a break from being continuously social. I know it's hard for most of you to believe, but I actually like my quiet time!
Yesterday we got a group of about 14 people and got in kayaks and spent the day paddling down one of the connecting rivers to the Mekong, went to a sort of temple inside a cave in one of the big granite cliffs on the banks of the river which was filled with thousands of Buddha statues, ate lunch at the site, then took the kayaks to a small village for a local rice wine and whisky tasting. As in a few places, you could pick yourself up a bottle of locally made whisky that has a delightful taste of snake or scorpion, as the bottles all have one inside. I decided that I'd stick to more tame spirits.
I guess I should backtrack a bit...
Singapore was pretty amazing after KL. Time by the pool, wandering through Little India and Chinatown, and hanging out at Altitude Bar, the highest Alfresco bar in the world, 63 stories about the Singapore skyline. Not a bad life down there! And what does "alfresco" mean, you ask? It just means "open air"... a.k.a. a patio/outdoor restaurant. The view from the top was pretty amazing and we had a blast, dancing until about 3am. Dax and I also took in the Thaipusam Festival, which is an Indian celebration where devotees make pilgramages across a city or to a specific temple, all the while showing their devotion by piercing metal rods or hooks through various parts of the body and carrying heavy weights with these hooks and rods. Hooks through the back often carry individual limes (we're talking 50 or 60... not 2 or 3). Others pull carts with the bigger hooks in their backs, while still others carry jars on their heads full of oil or milk and cannot take a rest. The most intense, though, are the men with rods piercing through each cheek, then having another rod pierce through both lips and their tongues, thereby preventing them from talking. They do this in conjunction with what seems like hundreds of rods going into their backs/abdomens as they carry something almost akin to a halo cage, so much of the weight is carried by the piercings. Sooo crazy. Some even manage to dance and spin and twirl. It's amazing what lengths people still go to in order to show their faith.
I also got to visit JH's school, where I hung with her kids, met her colleagues, etc. What an amazing school! These kids worked hard, were totally into what they were studying and were definitely involved in all their learning. And they were in grade six, doing activities that I couldn't get my grade 11s to do in Kelowna ( and I SURE can't get my boys in Dalian to do).
After Singapore, we made it back to KL for one more night, hung out with CG and her friend J (they were enroute to the Philippines) and then Dax and I were off to Chiang Mai, still one of my favourite places in the world. We met up with C&D, some fellow teachers from Dalian, and hung out for a few days before they trucked off to Pai. We then adopted a few new friends for the week, from Texas, Scotland, England and Slovenia. Pretty awesome. We went rock climbing, took a Thai cooking course, went to a yoga class being taught by my good friend KG, ate about 6 meals a day and had a really good time. Dax then took off for Bangkok, I met up with AG (yet another MLer) and her mom for one brief dinner, then I was on the bus and two days of boating to Laos. And so here I am.
For now, though, since the internet is as slow as molasses and I've been typing for what seems like decades, I'm gonna dash. The next stop is Vang Vieng with MT, a new friend from England, so we can meet up with the Dutchies that we met this week. Then JH and some of her Singapore crew are going to meet me Friday, and I should be in Vientiane on Sunday. Can't wait!
Until again, my friends... send me an email to let me know how everyone is! Much Asia love...
T
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