The Jungle Trek Day 2

(Day 30)

Tommy woke us up early this morning telling us that we needed to go search for the famous Gibbon. Gibbons are considered to be lesser apes (differing in size, sexual behavior, and certain anatomical details from great apes), but are extremely intelligent. They are endangered animals and are the fastest, most agile of all tree-dwelling, non-flying mammals. In other words, they are extremely difficult and rare to find in the natural jungle. This did not stop us.

We walked for roughly an hour before we spotted one. It was a beautiful yellow Gibbon, female according to Tommy. It was a spectacular sight to see her leaping from branch to branch at great distances (they can leap from branch to branch for distances of up to 50ft!). I've never been more impressed by an animal than I was by the Gibbon. I envied the Gibbon's ability to live up so high in the trees and to have so much versatility of movement. We also saw a black one (the male). One interesting thing about Gibbons is that they are monogamous. They spend their lives with only one mate. They love each other greatly, just like humans. How beautiful!

We went back to camp and had breakfast, packed up, and left on our trek to go deeper into the jungle. This time, we had an indigenous boy named Maun guide us (with Tommy who was guiding and translating, of course).

As we made our way deeper into the jungle, the vines, trees, thorns and thistles, and insects became more and more hostile and feral. It wasn't easy trekking.

We stopped and had lunch along the way, and found a nice swimming hole. We all jumped in, it was refreshing. There was a vine which provided for some rope-swinging. We all took turns swinging from the tree and launching ourselves into the water. Sam, who is known for his less than logical antics, decided to climb higher and higher on the rope to provide for a higher and higher drop into the water. This provided for one of the most entertaining moments of our jungle trip. As Sam was swinging from the tree, the vine broke off while he was in mid-air. He yelped as he fell, seemingly in slow motion, to the blackness of the water. Luckily, he came away unscathed, but we (including Sam) were all laughing our heads off.

After tofu and rice for lunch, we continued on our journey. The trees became more and more massive. The trunks of some of these trees were large enough for a group of twelve people to hold hands around it and still not touch. They were huge! Some of them had to be 12 feet in diameter.

At one point, Tommy cut a vine from a tree with Maun's machete. To our surprise, water came out of the end and we all took turns drinking fresh water from a vine. It was delicious! It even had an infusion of jungle wood. ha!

Our camp for the night was located a midst these giant jungle trees. It was a really impressive setting. I felt like we were completely immersed in the untamed woods. We set up our hammocks as soon as we got there (so we didn't have to worry about it later). I laid down on the hammock thinking I would just rest for a few minutes, but I ended up falling asleep for a good solid hour. When I woke up, I felt better to see that the other guys (except for Blake and Tommy) had napped too. Not too much after I woke up, the other guys did to. We were sitting in our hammocks talking and such when Maun lept out of his hammock and looked up into the branches. We immediately knew he was looking at something. The branches above us began shaking and we started seeing monkeys leaping over head. These ones weren't Gibbons, they were long-tailed monkeys, black in color. I had front row seats to the spectacle from my hammock. It was awesome!

As the sun began to set, Tommy and Maun began to make dinner. We got out our headlamps and began noticing some sparkling in the woods from our lights. These were the sparkling spiders (we coined the term). The eyes of these massive spiders sparkle when a light is shining at them (similar to the eyes of a dog or a cat). At night, in the Cambodian jungles of the Ratanakiri providence, thousands of spiders come out and cover the leaves and trees. When one shines a light out onto the jungle, thousands of sparkles can be seen, as if thousands of diamonds were strewn about the jungle floor. Some of these spiders are gigantic! Some were the size of the palm of my hand. I felt like a participant in the imaginative novels of Tolkien himself. The sparkling spider. Crazy!

After dinner, we went out on a night trek. We wandered around in the dark where the cobras, tigers, spiders, and other creatures dwell. It definitely took us out of our comfort zones, but it added to the sense of adventure which permeated the entire trip. We didn't see any creatures (besides a few birds), but we heard a whole lot.

Tommy and I had a good conversation. He told me his real name which is Kosal. He was, however, adamant that we called him Tommy because that is his business name. He told me about his life. His father was a victim (although he survived) during the Khmer rouge where 1.7 million people were starved and worked to death by its own government. His father spoke English and French, and therefore, was a threat to the Khmer regime (all educated people in Cambodia were killed during this time period). Luckily, his father survived this terrible time period, but barely. Tommy learned English from his father which has been an invaluable skill for him. I asked Tommy what Cambodians thought of all of us backpackers and westerners who come to his country. He said most Cambodians like the westerners, but a few wished we wouldn't come. Others wondered why we did come. Tommy has had so many experiences with cobras and Cambodian wildlife. It was fascinating to be able to connect with him on a personal level. I really enjoyed the conversation, and I think he did too.

I froze to death during the night while trying to sleep in my hammock, but never have I felt more happy to do so.

The Jungle Trek Day 1

(Day 29)

Our jungle trek began at about 8:20 am. We arrived at the Parrot Tours company, stored the stuff we weren't going to be using in their storage unit, and met our guide, Tommy. There were five other scooter drivers awaiting us as well.

Comically, each driver chose which of us would ride with them. I think they were all trying to avoid having to take Blake (due to his large, muscular stature). The guy who chose Sam later told him that he "knew" that Sam was going to be with him. I've found that these people are very superstitious. Tommy, our guide, chose me to ride with him.

The motorcycle ride to the village home-stay was frightening, to say the least. Not only were these small Cambodian drivers carrying us as their passengers, they were also carrying all of the food and water and gear we would be using throughout the trek, as well as the 70L backpacks we had on our backs. Imagine all of that on a tiny little motorized scooter driving down loose gravel and dirt roads! To see Blake on the back of one of these scooters with his enormous backpack sticking out was comical. The drive was about 2 1/2 hours long and was as adventurous as it gets. At certain parts of the drive, the dirt was so loose on the road that our drivers had to frantically kick their feet down in order to keep us from spinning out. Those guys, although they are of small stature, are unbelievably strong.

Finally, we arrived to the jungle. The plan was to trek from the edge of the jungle for about 1 1/2 hours to the small Khmer Kawat tribal village. We were forced to cross over a river via a sketchy log bridge. Dalton practically ran across. Arrio psyched himself out and ended up crawling across. Sam kept repeating to himself the phrase: "Mind over body" as he crossed. Blake slowly made his way over. I pretended I was a kung fu fighter from the Matrix and made it over fine.

The jungle was shaded, but was still hot and humid. Tommy told us about the cobras, giant spiders, giant birds, and monkeys that inhabit the area. The thought of a cobra striking at my angle kept me cautious as I made my way through.

When we arrived at the village there was a tiny indigenous woman to greet us. She was the smallest old lady I've ever seen. She had to of been shorter than 4 1/2 feet tall. She was pounding rice in a pot that was made out of a tree stump. 20 minutes later, we were eating that very same rice for lunch.

There was a small hut made of bamboo and leaves. Chickens and puppies were running around freely. There was corn, eggplant, potatoes, tobacco, and rice growing all over the place. It was a really beautiful setting.

After lunch, we met up with another indigenous tribal member who took us into the heart of the jungle. There was no path at this point. We went out looking for animals. We saw a massive bird called the Giant Ibis, which is the national bird of Cambodia. They are only found in northern Cambodia (although there have been a few sightings in extreme southern Laos and Western Vietnam). These things are massive! When flapping their wings it is akin to what I imagine a pterodactyl sounding like. We also spotted some eerie looking spiders and other curious insects.

Our indigenous guide taught us how to make a Gibbon (monkey-like creature that are incredibly intelligent) call with leaves. Essentially, you take two leaves and put your pointer fingers between the two leaves on each end. Then you suck your breath in. It really works! We didn't spot any Gibbons at this point, but later on in the jungle trek, we did.

Once we got back to the village camp, we decided to go bathe in a nearby creek. We used bio-degradable soap and bathed with the thousands of tadpoles that crowded the waters. For the 14th time on this trip, I felt like Indiana Jones.

After bathing, we headed back to the village. We were appalled when we saw that the entire place was swarming with cock roaches. The ground, our things, and especially the hut, were all covered with a crawling black mass of cock roaches. It was unnerving. Tommy and the indigenous people acted like they didn't even notice anything. In order to psychologically calm ourselves down, we told ourselves that these were clean jungle cock roaches and were different than the disgusting city ones. We dealt with it.

We set up our hammocks (courtesy of the U.S. army, which thankfully included built-in mosquito nets) under a tarp, and, after dinner, retired for the night.

I slept soundly and peacefully in that jungle a midst the eclectic sounds of nature.

The long road of sickness and recovery

(Days 26, 27, 28)

We spent the next three days doing nothing but finishing out being sick, recovering, and watching movies on Starz movie channel. It was a terribly beautiful time period. Terrible because I hate being sick, and beautiful because I had been craving movies.

I watched A Few Good Men, the Fugitive, Wolverine, Snow White and the Huntsman (dumb), and a few others.

Dalton and I had some great conversation about love, life, school, future plans, fears, etc.

In short, there was some good that came out of this time period. It took me a while to get back to eating again. The coconut shakes across the lake saved my life.

Travel day to Ban Lung Cambodia, down with the sickness

(Day 25)

I woke up at about 5:00 am to the sound of some strange animal eating inside the bungalow that Dalton and I were sharing. The smacking, crunching, and falling of food made me feel extremely uneasy. We already knew that there was some animal living with us somewhere inside the bungalow, but we weren't sure where or what it was; notwithstanding, it hadn't bothered me, until now when I could hear it chomping and chewing. I think it was the mere fact that I didn't know what kind of animal it was that bothered me. To this day (which is a week or so later), it remains a mystery.

We met the guys at the  ferry point and began our journey to our next country: Cambodia.

Getting across the border wasn't real bad, but Cambodia definitely had a less professional feel than did Thailand or Laos. There were shacks instead of official-looking government buildings. United States Dollars instead of official currency.

Cambodia is much hotter than the other places we've been to so far (except Bangkok, of course). Red dirt permeates every nook and cranny here. It, as Arrio so aptly put it, feels like what I've imagined Africa looking like. But, what makes Cambodia beautiful, in my opinion, is the people.

At the border, we had some official (or so he appeared to be) come up to us and tell us that we needed to get our temperatures and vitals checked so we had a health certification in order to enter the country. He had us fill out a questionnaire, pointed a laser at our necks (which supposedly calculated our temperatures), and charged us $1 each. It was a complete scam, and we were a bunch of suckers who fell for it. In retrospect, I'm not sure who we could have been so naive.

From the border we traveled in a tightly packed mini-bus (a van) to Stung Treng, and then we immediately switched to another mini-bus and headed for Ban Lung which is a base city for travelers who want to do some jungle-trekking in North Eastern Cambodia. On our way to Ban Lung, Arrio and Sam had a great religious discussion with two Muslim women from Switzerland and Egypt. I desperately wanted to participate in the conversation, but because I was sitting awkwardly in the next bench seat up, crammed between a bunch of people, I could not. I could, however, listen, which is what I did. These two Islamic women seemed ferociously interested in Mormonism. I think they were surprised to see some of the common perspectives our religions share. I felt religious envy to hear some of their beliefs and practices and admired their dedication and convictions. I love religion.

We found a beautiful guesthouse right next to a lake once we arrived in Ban Lung. It was $4 a night per person, but is by far one of the nicest ones we've stayed in so far.

We went out to the market, ate some fresh fruit and sugar cane, and then found a restaurant to eat at. Dalton, Sam, and I got hamburgers. They weren't bad.

And then we got hit. I started feeling incredibly sick and soon thereafter, I began puking my guts out. It was terrible. Dalton and Blake got hit also. For a while, Dalton and I were playing musical chairs with the toilet. I'd get out and he'd take my place, and then vice-versa. We were tag teaming that sucker. It felt like an episode of Game of Thrones. It was terrible! There is nothing worse than vomiting due to food poisoning. I'm sure the sounds resonated throughout the hallways of our guesthouse. I was so grateful that we were in a nice place with private bathrooms during this terrible time. I thought back at all of the other guesthouses that we stayed at with the shared bathrooms and the nasty floors. I think we picked a good spot to get sick.

The next three days were full of sickness and recovery.

Last day in Don Det, Mekong water falls, bungalow on river beach, swimming, Indian food, Movie night

(Day 24)

Our last day in Don Det was a memorable one. We rented bicycles and made our way to Don Khon, the sister island that lies just south of Don Det. The five of us probably looked ridiculous riding around in our basket bicycles, but at this point we don't care. Plus, every other Falang (Westerner) on the island does the same thing.

We rode to some waterfalls that were quite impressive. The whole Mekong river joins in to create some beautiful cascades. A roaring rush of water hurtles down with great power.

We walked to a nearby restaurant that was on the river beach. We found a nice shaded bungalow, ordered some mango shakes and french fries, and then relaxed for an hour or so.

On our way back to Don Det, Blake bought some sugar cane juice from a local vendor. Dalton, upon seeing Blake's joyful face, jealously decided he wanted one too. Dalton was nice enough to give me a taste. I will not lie, it was delicious. Fresh sugar cane juice is something everyone needs to try once in their life.

Arrio led the way back to Don Det at the highest speeds our bikes could handle. His determination was driven by his desire to jump into the river.

Jumping into the river on a hot day is what life is all about. We rented some more tubes and floated back to the tree swing. We practiced diving off of trees and continued working on our tans. We met up with a guy named Pete who we met back at Kong Lo cave; a New Zealander.

We ate dinner at Jasmine's and then had stopped by a little restaurant to watch a movie.

Law school, floating to rope swing, swimming, UN girl who gave us advice on Cambodia

(Day 23)

Well, I got accepted to the University of Oregon law school with a $30,000 a year scholarship (the full-tuition is $36,000, so not bad). This gave me a boost of confidence, but I'm still hoping to bet into BYU law. I woke up this morning to an e-mail from the University of Nebraska asking me to upload a transcript for CBC. I'm a little bit stressed as to how I'm going to accomplish this while I'm here in Laos.

Back to the here and now. We rented some inter tubes and floated down the turquoise Mekong river. We stopped at a rope swing along the way and had some major fun getting tossed into the river like rag dolls. We did some wrestling on logs, and had a great time. It was refreshing.

We ate lunch on the river, did some chores (returned our bicycles, inter tubes, and did our laundry), and then we met a woman from Scotland who lives in Cambodia working for the UN. We picked her brain about Cambodia because that's where we're headed next, the day after tomorrow. 

From Pakse to hell and from hell to Don Det, a bicycle ride through Don Det, Chilean people, and Indian food, again.

(Day 22)

After a complimentary hotel breakfast (which was about as good as we paid for it), we went to the bus station to take a ride to Don Det. We thought we would get on a bus, similar to the buses we had been riding. Nope. We were stuffed into a big tuk tuk like sardines stuffed into a can. I started to feel empathy for a Vienna sausage. We spent over 3 hours in this situation. It was almost inhumane. hah! The good news is, we met some awesome Italian ladies who told us about some of their traveling experiences. They were super informative and gave us some great ideas for if we ever wanted to travel through Italy.

After what seemed like an eternity (actually, it wasn't that bad), we finally made it to Si Phan Don, or the 4,000 islands. We took a ferry to the beautiful Don Det island. We found a bungalow right on the river, on the sunset side of the island.

After settling in, we rented some bikes and explored the island. Arrio got hit by a Tuk Tuk driver, but managed to get about with only a few scratches (thank goodness!). The island is beautiful and laid back, without a doubt.

We met a young Chilean girl who was traveling with her pololo. It was so great to talk with her in Spanish. I love the Chilean people and long for the day that I can return to that beautiful country. All of the guys (including me) fell in love with this Chilean girl, but, of course, we knew it would never come to pass, and if it did, we would all destroy each other before any one of us ended up with her. I've thought about writing a fictional novel about this idea. Nobody steal my idea!

For dinner, you wouldn't believe what we had. Indian food, again. And, guess what I got!? Chicken Tikka Masala, again.

I fell asleep under my mosquito net while Dalton was talking to me. I hope he forgives me for that.

Bus ride to Pakse with no food or direction, the Tuk Tuk scam, no vacancy, Indian food.

(Day 21)

The bus ride to Pakse was ridiculously long. It took us roughly 12 hours. It was hot and crowded. We didn't manage to get any breakfast or lunch, so we were starving. It's all part of the experience!

We finally stopped at a place where they were selling bread and crackers. I got some coconut crackers and a baguette, and, of course, a coca-cola.

They dropped us off in the middle of nowhere to scam us. Essentially, they have a deal made out with the Tuk Tuk organization (the mafia, I believe) that they will drop us off far enough from town that we will have to pay for a tuk tuk drive to get there. We couldn't avoid the scam.

When we finally made it to town, we searched and searched for a place to stay with no luck. Everywhere was full. It was late in the night (about 8 pm), so it didn't really surprise me. We found a Canadian guy from Quebec (he speaks mostly French, and decent English) who shacked up with us at a local hotel. The hotel was much more expensive than we usually pay (we paid about 100,000 kip per person), but we didn't really have a choice.

We ate Indian food for dinner, again. I got the chicken tikka masala, again. I didn't regret it. Like, at all.

Kong Lo cave, cliff jumping, natural cock-fighting, village exploration, and the screaming pig.

(Day 20)

Our first adventure (following breakfast, of course. We eat like hobbits.) was to Kong Lo cave which is located less than 1 km from our guesthouse.

We paid about 100,000 kip to have a guide take us through the cave on a long boat. We had to hire two boats. Dalton and Sam traveled in one, Blake, Arrio, and I in the other. Our guide was, as Blake so aptly put, the Laotian version of Clint Eastwood. He had a rough looking face and smoked tobacco rolled up in a green leaf. He had a slight limp in his walk due to a deformed foot. The guy was pure awesome!

The cave was even awesomer! I felt like we had gone inside the mouth of an enormous dragon. The plethora of stalagmites and stalactites were the teeth, and the cold, humid breeze was the breath. A river went all the way through the whole cave. It was spectacular, to say the least. It was about a 2 1/2 hour journey round-trip.

At the end of the cave exploration, some of the locals pointed out a place where we could jump of cliffs into the water. We immediately and swiftly made our way over. It was only about a 15 foot cliff, but it was so refreshing. The aqua-blue water was cool and soothing to my sun-burned skin. The fall was high enough to be exhilarating, and the sun hot enough to compel me to jump numerous times. It was a grand time.

While jumping and swimming, I remember stopping and thinking for a moment about this whole SE Asia experience so far. It is all so worth it! This experience has molded me and expanded my mind in positive and wholesome ways. I feel like my soul has grown and has a greater capacity for truth and compassion. I'm so happy I made the decision to do this, especially now in my life. This is something I truly needed.

Afterward, I went back to the guesthouse and showered. After my shower, Blake, Sam, Dalton, and I waited on the front porch as Arrio went back to the cliff to grab the pants he had forgotten. (This is not an uncommon thing for us to do on a daily basis as Arrio would forget his brain if his body didn't require it to function). As we were waiting, we watched some of the roosters that the guesthouse proprietors were raising. We got a real kick out of watching these guys strut their feathers around for the ladies. They would fight each other and crow at each other. Each rooster has a unique crow, although it requires astute observation to notice the difference. As most human beings usually do, we began taking sides as to which rooster we thought had the better crow, and which would win in a fight. I chose the one with the most ridiculous crow I've ever heard. This guy had to contort his neck in weird positions to let out his unbearably hilarious crow. It sounded like an alarm clock that needed new batteries. I don't know why I'm writing about this. Let's move on, shall we?

We found lunch at this extremely Ma and Pa sort of place, Laos style. It was one of the most delicious meals I've had yet! It was sweet green curry with chicken and some Double-Black Soy milk. It felt good to know that what we were eating was as authentic as it gets, considering we were sitting in the family kitchen, basically.

After lunch, we explored the beautiful village. Such small homes, such humble people. As we walked through the village, I felt like we were intruding. It was such an intimate experience with the Laos people. I fell in love with them again. A young boy came up to us and showed off his sling-shot skills. He truly was good!

As I ate, yet again, one of the most delicious meals I've had yet (in my life, yet alone on this trip!), I made up my mind that Kong Lo village has been my favorite place yet. We truly were in the thick of things. We had yet another conversation about movies, and retired to bed.

Blake and I woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like a human being screaming in agony from being tortured. We realized, after careful listening, that it was a pig. I'm not sure what was going on that made the pig scream out in such terrible pain, but it was the stuff of nightmares.

Bus to Kong Lo, Kong Lo village.

(Day 19)

The bus ride to Kong Lo village was long. We left at 10:00 am and arrived around 6:00 pm. We all listened to various podcasts during the trip. The Nerdist has become a favorite podcast. It contains lots of swearing, but there are some great interviews of some very interesting famous celebrities. It was actually a very enjoyable ride.

Kong Lo village has been my favorite place so far. It is tiny, and there hardly any other backpackers. The people were ultra nice, and the food was all made right in the family kitchens. Our guesthouses were some of the least expensive we've had yet, but also some of the nicest. I absolutely adore this place.

More on Kong Lo village for tomorrow's post.

Wait-Vientiane? nap, Indian food.

(Day 18)

We woke up on the sleeping bus thinking we were in Vang Vieng. We got off the bus and pulled out our maps. Unable to locate ourselves on the map, we got a tuk tuk ride into "city center". After several minutes of walking, we "located" ourselves using a river and an island in the river. According to the map, all we needed to do was head North for a fraction of a kilometer and we would find some guesthouse that looked appealing.

After several miles of walking, we made a terrible discovery. We were not at all in Vang Vieng. We were in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Wonderful! To our credit, we took the news very well. We even laughed about the whole thing. We felt like a group of idiots, no doubt, but we coined our motto: "It's all part of the experience."

We found a guesthouse and made the immediate decision to head south the next day to Kong Lo village.

We had some wonderful Indian food for dinner. I got the chicken tikka masala which has become my favorite Indian dish along with some butter and garlic Naan.

Scandanavian Breakfast, Utopia, and the sleeping bus

(Day 17)

Today we decided to take it easy. We woke up late, ate a long breakfast at "The Scandanavian Cafe", and had a long, intense conversation about the philosophy of film. This is one of our favorite topics (Dalton would not agree), and, therefore, we took a good hour and half for breakfast. I think that we are all having the craving to watch a movie. We're not used to going more than 24 hours without getting some sort of visual stimulation because we're Americans.

Our departing time from Luang Prabang was 7:00 pm. We were to take a Tuk Tuk to the bus station, and board a "sleeping bus" to go from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. Thus, we had some time to kill. We spent most of it at a local hang out spot called "Utopia". It is a beautiful venue that overlooks Nam Khan river and is decorated with luscious gardens and soft seats. I finished the book "The Quiet American" and relaxed.

The sleeping bus was certainly adventurous. There was not enough room to stretch out on, and since there was five of us, Arrio had to sleep with some random Italian guy. He didn't seem to mind. I slept with Sam, Blake with Dalton.

It was one of those nights where you never really fall asleep, but are never really fully awake. One of those nights where you wake up almost more tired than you were when you went to bed.

The whole experience was comical. What happened next was priceless.

Pak Ou Cave, Lao market place, flat tire, near death

(Day 16)

Today we decided to go to Pak Ou cave which is full of miniature Buddha figures/relics. We, of course, took scooters to get out to the location. It took us about 2 hours to drive there. It was very enjoyable, as usual.

We arrived at a little village, parked our scooters, and bought entrance fees and long boat passes to get to the other side of the Mekong river.

The cave was beautiful, but a bit anti-climatic. I think we were all expecting a colossal-sized cave with larsacs and everything (Star Wars geek reference), but perhaps our expectations were somewhat unrealistic. It was beautiful to see the innumerable Buddha relics. It felt like a semi-spiritual place.

We met some Brazilian girls while we were there. The guys were smitten, especially the ones who speak Portuguese.

On our way back from the cave, we had to go down a seemingly endless, rocky, and dirt-ridden road. Arrio and Sam got a little too excited and left us all in the dust, literally. I, trying to keep up with them, was keeping a decent speed as well. We didn't look behind us. Blake and Dalton ended up getting a flat tire on their scooter, and with the help of an old man and a truck, they were taken to a mechanic. Mechanics in Laos (as opposed to the U.S.) are very honest and cheap. I believe Dalton and Blake paid $2.50 to get their flat tire fixed. How glorious!

After the flat tire ordeal, we stopped at a local market place. There were literally no tourists. We found some great homemade food and some delicious deep fried sweet potatoes.

I also almost died on the way back to town. Dalton and Blake were in front of me, and as they were passing this slow-moving dump truck, I decided to follow. Little did I know, there was a white Toyota Tundra driving in the opposite direction. I was barely able to swerve over back into my lane in time. I felt like Tom Cruise in a Mission Impossible movie.

We had some delicious chicken, bacon, avocado sandwiches on a baguette for dinner, and sleep came swiftly over me.

Laos noodle soup, Scooters, Kuang Si falls, and the beautiful people of Laos

(Day 15)

We got off to a late start. We didn't get out the door until about 10:00 pm.

Breakfast was delicious. We got some Laos noodle soup from a place where there were no tourists. I loved it! It was very similar to Vietnamese Pho (in fact, it might be the same thing).

We rented 3 scooters for the day. Scooters are much more expensive in Luang Prabang than they have been anywhere else we've been, so we decided to share. Blake rode with Arrio, Sam rode with Dalton, and I rode with an imaginary Emma Watson (kidding, of course).

Our first destination was to the beautiful Kuang Si waterfalls which were roughly 45 minutes away from town. The ride there was peaceful and serene. It felt like we were back in Pai, but with an even more authentic vibe. We passed through small villages and saw little kids playing at schools. We saw people selling vegetables and fruits in little stands and watching us as we passed. The people in Laos seem much more unaccustomed to seeing Westerners than the Thai people. Some of the people laugh and point at us and imitate our strange-sounding language. It is adorable to watch.

The Kuang Si waterfalls are one of the most beautiful geological features I've ever seen. The color of the water is more turquoise than my mind can even conceive of. Arrio and Sam decided to change into their swimsuits and jump into the water as soon as they saw it. They couldn't resist the urge.

Blake, Dalton, and I decided to explore the falls first. We hiked all the way to the top. Most of the pools are available for swimming, but there is one pool of water which is considered sacred to the Laotian people, and therefore, they restrict people from swimming there.

The water was cold, but unbelievably refreshing. We climbed up some trees and jumped off into the water. We swam to the falls and let the flow of the water hit our heads and run down our bodies. I'm telling you know, if you ever get the chance to come here, make sure you visit these waterfalls. You will be amazed.

After spending several hours at the falls, we rode our bikes deeper into some of the villages. We found some villages out in the middle of nowhere. The children behaved as if they had never seen white people before (which may be the case). They gathered in the front of their houses and watched us as we stopped, got off our bikes, and looked around. We got some good pictures of an older lady holding a baby on her hip. Arrio tried to get closer to some of the children, but they scurried away from him, perhaps frightened by his appearance. It was a beautiful experience.

As we drove further down the road (it was a dirt road with a lot of ditches and small streams flowing over it), we waved at all of the people yelling out: "Sabadee!" which means "hello" in Lao. This was a sacred experience for me. One that I will never forget.

The people of Laos are so beautiful, and so poor. Middle-class citizens of this country live off of $100 USD a month. I am humbled that they are so happy and cheerful when they have so little. What a great example of how to live life.

I fell asleep happy and grateful for the lessons I learned today.

Slow boat, Luang Prabang, Chittana guesthouse, Bamboo footbridge, Pizza in Laos, Night market

(Day 14)

The day began back out on the slow boat. I will be honest, the slow boat was beautiful, but after 14 hours, I was more than ready to get the heck off that thing. Although, Dalton, Blake, and I had a great opportunity to try and learn some Lao from a young boy named Wansai (or something similar). He spoke absolutely no English, so the lessons were a bit convoluted, but it was entertaining.

When we arrived on shore near Luang Prabang, we immediately knew it was a tourist trap. They dropped us off far enough away from the city, that we would have to take a Tuk Tuk to get into town. Right on shore, they were charging 20,000 kip per person for a 10 km ride into town. We didn't want to fall into the trap, not because it was too expensive (really it's only like $2.50 USD); rather, we were doing it for justice's sake. We walked a half mile down the road and found a tuk tuk driver that would take us for half the price.

Luang Prabang feels like a European city, but with an Asian infusion. It was amazingly gorgeous. We found a beautiful little guesthouse right near a river called the Chitanna guesthouse. The gentleman that owns the place was wonderfully kind to us. We stayed for about 48,000 kip per person per night.

There's a bamboo footbridge right next to the Chitanna guesthouse that we crossed over to get to the other side of the river. We found a little pizza restaurant owned by a Canadian. It was decent pizza for a decent price. It's necessary to satisfy the American cravings, every once in a while.

Of course, the portions weren't big enough to fill 5 strapping lads, so we went to the night market to buy some street food. Some of us got shish kabobs, others got crepes with Nutella, and others got fruit shakes, and some of us got all of the above (I won't name names).

I finally bought some Thai pants at the end of the night.

Cheers!

Chiang Kong, Laos border, Slow boat, Pak Beng, Indian food, 7 degrees to Kevin Bacon

(Day 13)

We woke up way too early (about 5 am) in order to catch the 6 am bus to Chiang Kong which is a Thai city right on the border of Laos. Today is the day we were to cross the border into our next country, the beautiful Laos.

Getting across the border was much easier than expected. We paid 350,000 Laotian kip for a visa (it is 8,100 kip to the $USD).

We had a decision to make at this point. Our choices were to either head north to Luang Nam Tha and do some jungle trekking, or to head straight to Luang Prabang via a slow boat. After some debate and some differences of opinion, we made a democratic decision to head to Luang Prabang on a slow boat.

We took a Tuk Tuk to the pier which gave us some time to have some sight-seeing of Laos. It was definitely different than Thailand. Everything seemed much slower and much more simple. People seemed poorer, yet smiled more often. My initial impression of Laos was definitely a positive one.

We got to the pier and bought slow boat tickets for 220,000 kip.

The boats went down the mocha latte-colored Mekong river. It was definitely beautiful, but it was much much colder than we had expected it to be in South East Asia. None of us brought warm enough clothes, so after 7 hours, we felt like Loyd and Harry in Dumb and Dumber after having driven for hours on a ridiculously small scooter to get to Aspen (I hope most of you know what I'm talking about).

The slow boat stopped overnight in the tiny (tiny doesn't really describe how small this village is) village of Pak Beng. We stayed in a quaint guesthouse and had Indian food for dinner by candlelight (a bit too romantic for five guys). The food was exquisite.

We retired to the guesthouse around 9:00 pm. Sam, Blake, and I had a friendly game of 7 degrees to Kevin Bacon before sleeping.

The quote "You can't handle the truth!" kept going through my mind as I shut my eyes to sleep.

Dramamine bus ride, Chiang Rai, Lahp kai,

(Day 12)

Today was simply a day of travel. I took Dramamine for the van ride back to Chiang Mai (to the surprise of some of you, I can learn from my mistakes). I slept on and off for the whole ride.

As soon as we got to Chiang Mai, we bought bus tickets to go to Chiang Rai for 180 baht per person. We had less than 30 minutes before the bus was to leave, so we ran to 711 and bought some toasties. Toasties are one of the SEA backpackers' secrets. They are little ham and cheese (and a variety of other concoctions) sandwiches which you buy for pretty much nothing and which are toasted right then and there. I bought two, along with some Oreos and water.

It took us three hours to get to Chiang Rai. It didn't take us too long to find a guesthouse for cheap. After dropping our bags off, we went to a restaurant which is recommended in Lonely Planet, Lung Eed. We got a traditional northern Thai dish called Lahp gai. It is chicken fried with different herbs and topped with fried chicken skin and onions. It was delicious!

On our way back to the guesthouse, we stopped at the night market. Arrio bought himself some Thai pants, and we relaxed while listening to some beautiful local Thai musicians. The lead singer was a young women who also played a violin-like instrument called (I believe) a Saw Duang.

Sleep came swiftly.

Morning meditation, Thai breakfast, Motorized scooters, waterfalls, villages, elephants, waterfall slides, losing a key, reunion with Thara

(Day 11)

I awoke this morning with the Sabbath day in mind. I went out to the front deck and sat on the bench, studied the scriptures, and meditated. It was a beautiful sunny day in Pai.

Breakfast was amazing. I got what was called "Thai breakfast". I'm not sure exactly what was in it, but it was rice and chicken broth. It was seriously one of the best tasting breakfasts I've had in my life. Fresh fruit was also part of the breakfast.

We rented some motorized scooters and drove to various waterfalls and hot springs around Pai. We met some Israelis at one of the waterfalls. Driving the scooters is one of the best ways to see the land. We passed through some beautiful villages with rice fields and we even saw elephants. We drove all around Pai.

At one of the waterfalls, we slid down the rocks next to the waterfall. It was a natural water slide.

Arrio lost his key to his scooter (which made us all panic), but luckily Blake found them in one of the creeks. Again, good fortune has accompanied us everywhere on this trip.

As we got back home at the end of the night, we found Thara again! She ended up having dinner with us, and then we all got massages. It was the best massage I've ever gotten. The fellow who worked on me was definitely a well-trained expert.

(Sorry for the extremely terse post, I have a lot to write and very little time to write it in).

Cheers!

Nauseating bus-ride, Pai, Bungalows, and Burger Queen

(Day 10)

We left Julie's at 11 am. I felt a bit of sadness to do so. Julie's, so far, has been my favorite guesthouse. I enjoyed the social atmosphere, the laid back vibe, and the extraordinarily friendly service.

About ten people were crammed into a tiny little truck and then transported to the bus station. In the truck, we met an Irishman who had been living in India for quite a while. I told him how much I would love to visit India. He gave me some tips.

The "bus", wasn't really a bus at all. It was a ten passenger van. The drive was beautiful for most of the way. We stopped at one point for a bathroom break. Blake bought these dried bananas that were glazed in honey. After letting me try one, I immediately bought a bag also. Those things were like heroin; I couldn't stop after the first try. Towards the end of the 4-hour ride, however, the driver was cruising around windy corners. After about an hour of feeling like I was riding the Goliath from Six Flags, I started to feel a little queasy (all of us were). I was happy when we finally made it to Pai.

Pai is a beautiful place with a laid back, hippyish vibe. So far, this has been my favorite corner of Thailand. We found some beautiful bungalows right next to the local river. They were a little bit more expensive than we usually tolerate (about 340 baht or $12 per night). It was a little secluded place right next to the river. Hammocks, colorful flowers, and gorgeous landscaping were available to us.

After dropping our bags off, we went to get food. It was Sam's turn to choose a place to eat. He chose Burger Queen, which sounded good to me. I had been craving a burger. These ones did not disappoint.

We spent the rest of the night exploring the town.

Rainy Chiang Mai, Ramen noodles, and Canadian people

(Day 9)

Today was a stay-inside-because-it-is-extremely-rainy-out type of days. Basically, I went from Julie's to the next door internet cafe to update my blog, and then I went back to take a nap.

The rain up here in Northern Thailand is surprisingly chilly. I was freezing! But I found it beautiful nonetheless.

After my nap, we decided to go get a massage, and then try out a Japanese Ramen restaurant that was listed in Lonely Planet. The massage wasn't too far from Julie's, but the restaurant was on the other side of town. To our bitter dismay, the massage parlor had closed shop at 5pm. Being the stoics that we are, we didn't let such a misfortune affect our inner peace. With the rain pouring down upon us, we began walking towards the restaurant. It didn't take long before we changed our minds about walking and flagged down a taxi.

The Ramen noodle restaurant was extraordinary. The restaurant's name, Ninja Ramen, made me feel really cool just to be inside. I, along with most of the other guys, ordered Ramen noodles with a pork bone broth. We ordered the medium size, which came out in a bowl that appeared to be the size of a fish tank. It was absolutely amazing! One of the best dinners I have had in my life. We had great conversation over dinner. We also had a lovely young waitress who was embarrassed by her lack of English skills. I wish she could have felt my embarrassment for my lack of Thai skills so she didn't feel so bad. When this particular waitress asked for our orders earlier, Arrio asked her a question about what was in the Ramen, and she quickly ran (with a blushing grin on her face) to get help from the chef.

After a great meal, Dalton and I ended up meeting some really great people. Nadine and Keaton. Both are from Vancouver, Canada and have been traveling in SE Asia for a couple of months already. The were both extremely kind. Nadine tried to show us a great place to get crepes covered in Nutella (one of our favorite desserts in Thailand), but the shop was closed for the night. We walked to the night bazaar and found a substitute.

Dalton, Nadine, Keaton, and I stayed up playing Jenga and talking. I retired to bed around midnight.

Mopeds, Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, rain, and the Netherlands

(Day 8) 

We began what was to be one of the most adventurous days of the trip by renting little motor-scooters for 150 baht/day. We each got our own. Mine had a Hello Kitty floor mat which made me extra special. Jealous anybody?

Driving these little things in Chiang Mai traffic was insane! Our first destination was to the gas station. Trying to find it was like trying to find the Holy Grail. It was an arduous task, to say the least. Sam acted us our navigator and with the help of his keen intellect, we found it. It cost about 80 baht for gas ($2.33). 

Our next destination was Wat Prathat Doi Suthep temple. It was about a half our drive out of the city up a hill and into the jungle. Driving up that hill, I felt like Indiana Jones. Jungle all around, waterfalls, 700 year old Buddhist relics. It was literally sublime. 

The five of us were racing our way upward towards the temple. Don't worry moms! We kept each other in check. The only problem was when Blake's bike somehow died and he was forced to suddenly stop. I was right behind him and had to slam on my brakes also. I almost flew into the ditch. The Lord was watching out over us. We each said several prayers throughout the day while driving the scooters. 

On top of the hill there was a small market. People were selling corn, waffles, traditional Thai food, fresh fruits and juices, jewelry and ornaments. I tried some of the corn which they cooked right on a grill. It was golden (taste and color).  

The temple was also golden, literally. Wat Prathat Doi Suthep (try saying that 5 times fast) was built in the late 1300s. According to legend, a Buddhist monk at the time gave the king of Thailand a mandate to build a golden Buddhist relic. The obedient king sent a giant white elephant up the mountains near Chiang Mai with a massive golden relic on its back. After traveling for a great distance, the white elephant was so exhausted that it fell down and died. Where it died, is where they placed the relic which later became a temple. That is the origin of Wat Prathat Doi Suthep. It was a beautiful temple, that's for sure. The staircase which leads up to the temple is 306 steps long and was/is used by the monks for meditation. 

We met a group of travelers while up there. An Englishman, an Australian, and a Brazilian. The Englishman was really nice and gave us a lot of advice about traveling through Cambodia. Our discussion led into religion. We told him we were LDS and he became very interested to learn about our beliefs. He seemed to be a very spiritual person. Arrio and I taught him the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was very reverent towards our beliefs, and I admired him for that. I hope that I am the same way towards people with different beliefs than myself. 

While up at the temple, it began raining very hard. The rain was warm, but we bought some ponchos from a local vendor for 50 baht. We were a bit nervous to drive the scooters down a steep mountainous hill in the pouring rain, but after some discussion, we decided to descend carefully and slowly. It really wasn't bad at all to get down. The traffic of Chiang Mai is far more dangerous than the weather ever could be for American motor-scooterists. 

The motor-scooter drivers here in Chiang Mai are extremely good at what they do. They form a vein through the city which allows them to get through places that cars could never go. Red lights are irrelevant, stop signs don't exist. Everybody is very defensive, and, therefore, there are fewer traffic accidents. Nobody expects others to obey any traffic norm, which gives them a sense of awareness that doesn't exist in the U.S. We became little red blood cells in that vein. 

However, we were still in a foreign land. Sam, Arrio, and I got separated from Dalton and Blake who ended up getting separated from each other. Luckily, everybody made it back to Julie's, eventually. 

At the end of the day, Blake and I sat next to a young women from the Netherlands named Thara. She is definitely one of the nicest travelers I have met yet. We discussed everything from the differences in culture to our future plans. She has already been traveling in SE Asia for 2 months (she spent a whole month in Myanmar) of the total 5 months she will be going. And I thought 2-3 months was a long time!

We went out for another adventurous (to say the least) motor-scooter ride through the city, and then retired to bed. 

Chiang Mai, Julie's Guesthouse, Blind man massage, Cafe terra cotta, coconut juice, Canadian women, Suriyan, Muay Thai match

(Day 7)

Today was incredibly jam packed with amazing experiences in Chiang Mai. We arrived by train at about 10:00 am, making the train ride last about 14 hours or so.

Chiang Mai seemed so much more laid back than Bangkok, and it definitely is. People are friendlier, the scam attempts are fewer, and the traffic isn't nearly as horrendous (although it is still daunting).

We began our experience in Chiang Mai how we have spent the beginning of most of our experiences thus far: lost. We had a map of Chiang Mai, but it was difficult to locate ourselves on it. We thought we would be able to walk from the train station to our guesthouse, but we were further away than we thought.

We ended up getting flagged down by a truck taxi who knew exactly where Julie's guesthouse was. We paid him 150 baht for the lift (overpriced, but we didn't care at this point).

Julie's guesthouse is a really neat place. It has a very social and laid back vibe. The staff are mostly Thai people, but they seem so used to travelers that it's easy to mistake the two. Everything is put on a tab, so we just pay at the end of our stay (including food, water, snacks, etc.)

After we settled into our rooms, and after eating lunch at Julie's, we decided to go get a massage. There are several massage parlors which are suggested in Lonely Planet, but one seemed most interesting to us. The Thai Massage Conservation Club hires only blind men and women as masseuses. It allows such people, who might otherwise be on the streets, to have a source of income and a place in society. They're incredibly good at what they do partially because their blindness gives them a heightened sense of touch. The guy who gave me a massage did an amazing job and rubbing out all of the knots and kinks. I'm not going to lie, there were some points during the massage that I found extremely painful, not because he wasn't doing a good job, but because he was doing a good job. I left the massage parlor feeling like my muscles were ten times as soft as they were when I went in.

After the massage, we wandered around looking for a place to eat. We visited a few temples and then found a small little cafe in an isolated alley way. The cafe was full of a bunch of terra cotta clay statues. Trees were growing from the ground of the inside of the cafe out through the roof. What a beautiful cafe, I thought to myself. There were only two selections for food: Green curry with chicken, or red curry with pork. I got the latter, and I am glad I did. It was one of the best meals I've had in Thailand. The Thai women who owned the cafe seemed so appreciative of our business. I had the impression that her cafe wasn't very profitable. She gave us a bunch of butter cookies as a token of her appreciation. Her kindness melted me.

On the way back to our guesthouse, I bought some coconut juice. In Thailand, there are vendors all over the place who sell whole coconuts to people for the juice. Upon purchasing one, the vendor cuts around the very top of the coconut and then inserts a straw. Fresh coconut juice is remarkable. And, it's a natural laxative ;)

At this point, the time was 5:00 pm. We had planned on going to the night bazaar (night market), but it didn't start until 7:00 pm. We went back to Julie's to hang out until then.

While back at the guesthouse, we got some food, and decided to go to a local Muay Thai fight after visiting the market. We also met some young Canadian women named Janna and Valerie. They seemed very nice. They accompanied us to the night market.

The night market was very touristic. Touristic (generally inauthentic) souvenirs of all sorts lined the booths of the streets. The vibrant colors and pleasant smells were the best part of the whole thing. We found this fantastic little booth which sold crepes with bananas and a choice of topping (peanut butter, honey, nutella, etc.). I got the nutella and was not at all disappointed. As I was waiting for my food, a man approached me. He looked foreign, and I was quite surprised to hear him as me a question in flawless, American-accented English. I was even more surprised to learn that he had never stepped foot in America. He was born in Thailand, but moved to Sweden about 8 years prior. He was back in his hometown of Chiang Mai with his Swedish girlfriend. He learned his perfect American English from watching movies and listening to music. His name was Suriyan.

Suriyan gave me a whole new perspective on how some people perceive the United States of America. I could tell that he was extraordinarily fascinated with our culture and people. He knew about our flaws (obesity, ignorance of the outside world, the tendency to always intrude into the business of every country in the world), but he loved our positive attributes (especially the arts). We had an hour long conversation with Suriyan about American movies and music. He is planning to come visit the U.S. in a couple of years after he saves up some money.

We ended the night by going to a Muay Thai fight. It cost us about 400 baht ($11 or so) to get in. At first, we were all very skeptical as to whether or not the fight was real. There were so many tourists there which was why we weren't sure. After 8 fights, and after talking to some Europeans who participated in the fighting, we came to the conclusion that the fights were, in fact, real. It was pretty intense. I found it quite fascinating to watch this form of fighting that is so much a part of Thai culture. Thais love Muay Thai. Many of them live and breath it. If you don't know what Muay Thai is, research it.

I slept like a lamb that night.  

Meditation retreat and a train ride to Chiang Mai

(Day 6)

After the usual wake up and breakfast eating, we decided to go to a meditation retreat while we were waiting for our train to go up to Chiang Mai. It took us a while to find where it was located at, but with the help of the friendly Thai people, we made it to our destination. I've discovered that the best way to get around is to ask human beings, not machines.

The meditation retreat was incredibly intense. It was 3 hours long! That's the longest I've ever meditated before. Our instructor was a Theravada monk named Phra (which means monk) Wathana. He was about 45 years old, and he was extremely friendly. I learned much from him; he seemed very wise. We interchanged between sitting meditation and walking meditation. Every once in a while, Phra Wathana would expound on some principles. He mentioned several times that happiness and peace come not from external conditions, but from internal ones. "Happiness," he said, "comes from inside" as he pointed to his heart.

After the meditation retreat, we made our way to the train station. Initially, we hired a taxi to take us there, but there was a major traffic jam, so the driver said we should probably get off. He told us it was going to be free, but we gave him 20 baht because he drove us almost half of the way there. We walked the rest of the way.

The train was really fun. Sam, Dalton, Blake, and Arrio all stayed in one booth (there is only 4 beds per booth) while I stayed in the next one over. There was a young girl of about 14 and her father in my booth with me. The girl's name was Sylvia. She and her father live in Australia, but she is half Chinese (by way of her father) and half Thai (by way of her mother). Thus, the family speaks 4 languages (Thai, English, Cantonese, and Mandarin). I had a really good conversation with them both about their travels and about my own.

I slept well considering the train was jerking back and forth all night long.

Day of relaxation and wandering and room 620

(Day 5)

Upon waking this morning, I immediately went down to pay for another day in the same room. Everything went well for me. Unfortunately, the other two rooms the other guys were in were sold out for the day. Luckily, I was able to get a refund and we found a place right across the street where we could all be in the same room again. The guesthouse was called New Siam. The room we were given was on the sixth floor which was located up in the loft. It was extremely hot up there, but it was a really awesome room.

I was able to get my clothes washed (40 baht per kilo of clothing) and it felt exquisite to just sit and relax. We have been on the go for the past 6 days and this was a much needed day of relaxation.

After we couldn't stand being cooped up in the room anymore, we went walking around some of the parts of Bangkok we hadn't explored yet. We found a really neat location which featured sculptures of giant monks. Each monk was extraordinarily detailed with hair, painting, wetness of the eyes, etc. It was incredible! There was one monk that looked like a Thai version of my dad. I'll have to post it up and see if anyone thinks so. hah!

We bought some soda from a street vendor. The soda is mostly distributed in bottles here, but they recycle them (they do the same thing in Chile). Thus, when you buy a bottle of soda off the street, you either have to drink it right then and there in order to give it back, or they give it to you in a bag. So we decided to go with the bag option. Soda in a bag is fun. I think it would be perfect for the soda-aholics of America (which is almost 100% of the population) who can't go more than a few minutes without taking a hit of soda. A bag would allow us to inject it intravenously.

After getting back to the room, we just listened to music, relaxed, and took naps. At this point, everything was starting to feel like a vacation.

For dinner we went to the Shoshana which serves Thai and Israeli food. I got schwarma (or something similarly spelled). It was very akin to gyros. I loved it.

We retired to bed in peace and plenty. Tomorrow we travel to Chiang Mai.

Church in Bangkok, Lumphini park, Bangkok orchestra, and Wild OrchidVilla

(Day 4)

We decided to get a different guesthouse for tonight, so we went to the Wild Orchid Villa to see if they had any vacant rooms. They had two rooms with a double bed and A/C, and a single economy room (without A/C) for the five of us. I offered to sleep by myself in the single room without A/C, Arrio and Sam took one room, and Blake and Dalton took the other. As soon as we checked in and dropped off our backpacks, we scurried to catch a taxi to church.

Church was scheduled to start at 9am (for the international ward) and 1pm (Thai ward). We wanted to go to the international ward so we could not only understand what was happening, but also because we wanted to meet some people from all over the world.

We found a taxi that would take the five of us on meter. This particular driver was awesome! I felt like I was in a Fast & Furious movie with Paul Walker (RIP) as the driver. He was flying in and out of lanes. He passed a guy in the same lane that the guy was driving. The funny thing is that he was sniffing some sort of herbal medicine. Arrio asked him what it was for. The guy didn't speak any english so he let Arrio see the bottle. It said it was for vertigo. hah! We were a bit scared for our lives, but we thought the guy was a boss.

We made it to church a little late, but just in time to take the sacrament. Church was amazing! I've never been somewhere with such a diverse group of people. There were Indians, Thais, Pakistanis, Englishman, Sotts, Germans, Americans, Phillipinos, Vietnamese, etc. We were all together worshiping Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I felt how much God loves ALL of His children. He wants what's best for them. How beautiful was that experience!

A Pakistani man came up to us and invited us all over to his house to eat Pakistani food for the next Sunday. He seemed to be the happiest man on earth. He had a smile on that could melt the heart of even the most calloused of people. His English was less than broken, but Blake and I had a marvelous conversation with him in a language that cannot be spoken. I was seriously considering just postponing our trip up to Chiang Mai just so we could experience dinner with this man and his family, but I thought it best not to. It was hard for me to tell him we were unable.

After church we went to get some food at a restaurant which was suggested to us by some members. I can't remember the name of it, but it was pretty fantastic. I tried my first dish of sweet sticky rice with mango. Oh my holiness! It was like the ideal of beauty manifested itself into a physical form and resided in my mouth for a time. I made it a goal to eat as much of that stuff as possible while in Southeast Asia.

After our meal, we rode the underground subway over to Bangkok's central park, Lumphini park. Within one minute of walking into the park we spotted fish, then turtles, and then a monitor lizard that was about six feet long. We all exploded with excitement to see it, and, in the paradon of touristic fashion, we took our cameras out and began gathering evidence.

A security guard of sorts started walking towards us. We thought that he was coming to tell us to stay away from the lizard. He did just the opposite. He encouraged us to get closer. This man went right up next to the lizard and grabbed its tail. The lizard began thrashing back and forth. I definitely recorded it happening. We all got really close to it and took some awesome pictures. Arrio even got a hold of the tail himself.

After exploring the park, lifting weights with some locals in the outdoor gym, and resting for the better part of an hour, we head to 711 to get some water for the orchestra performance that was to happen in the park. On our way, we purchased some coconut ice cream from a local vendor. The ice cream was put on top of some white bread which I have never seen before, but enjoyed.

The orchestra performance was very impressive and soothing to the soul. Bach, Mozart, and others were played as the sun was setting. Blake and I rented mats from a guy for 40 baht. It was a relaxing evening which contrasted greatly to what happened next.

At this point, we still had not ridden a tuk tuk (pronounced duk duk), so we decided now was the time to do it. It took some negotiating to get one to take all five of us all the way from the park to Soi Rambuttri, but we finally got the job done. A tuk tuk is a tiny motorized back which carries a sort of wagon around its engine in which the passengers ride. These things are everywhere in Bangkok. We paid 150 baht between the five of us (30 a person, $1 USD). It was scary, yet exhilarating, especially at night time with all of the colorful city lights.

We ate some Thai food at a little restaurant off of Soi Rambuttri, and then retired to bed.

Tomorrow will be a resting day. I need one.

the local bus, MBK mall, and Chatuchak market

(Day 3)

We decided to go see what the big mall in Bangkok was all about, and also to check out the famous Chatuchak market. The mall was a mall, but the Chatuchak market was something else entirely.

Our mode of transportation to the mall was the local bus. Riding this thing reminded me so much of South America. We hopped on, paid 6 baht, and went swerving around town on our way to our destination. The bus would stop and open the door for a split second for the people to have a small chance to make in on board on time, and then it would take off without a moment's hesitation. The guy driving looked like he was about 14 years old and he was peeling and eating an orange, keeping one or two fingers of one hand on the steering wheel. It was perfect!

Really, I wasn't too impressed with the mall, although it was interesting to see how many copies of things they have. Watches, speakers, cameras, books, etc. It appears the copyright laws here are either non-existent, or they're completely outdated.

We hopped on board a train to get to Chatuchak market. We ran into a Swedish couple who were heading the same way. I'm grateful for them because we didn't realize we were going to have to switch trains to get there. They kindly informed us when we were to get off. They were really nice people. I can't remember the woman's name, but the man's was William. He was about as tall as Blake, but was balding and had a well-trimmed, but thick beard on his face. They gave us a few pointers about places to go and places to avoid in Thailand.

The market was exceptional! It is by far the biggest market I have ever been to. According to the on-line website, there are over 8,000 vendor stalls! People were selling literally everything imaginable, and more. Everything was extremely cheap and seemed very authentic. Soaps, art, food, jewelry, clothing, candies, furniture, and much much more. It was located alongside an extremely massive, seemingly vacated building/structure of a grey color which contrasted greatly with the vibrant colors, alluring smells, and energetic life that swirled on around us at the market. I found the place so fascinating. We walked and walked and walked and walked but never finished seeing everything. We walked roughly 6.5 slow miles stopping and entering hundreds of stalls and hallways, but still there was more to see. Exhausted, we decided to head back home.

We found a taxi to take all five of us back to Soi Rambuttri using the meter. Again, split between five people, it's extremely inexpensive to travel from place to place. I think we paid like 20 baht per person to get back home ($0.66 USD).

We made our first mistake for dinner. We went to a place which advertised itself as "pizza and jazz". It sounded enticing and because we were craving some cheese (typical Americans), we decided to dine there. It was overpriced (about $5 a person; I know, I shouldn't be complaining), and it was not very tasty. I think I'm going to stick to Thai food from now on because so far, I have loved every bite of it.

As I laid my head down to sleep, I thought to myself: "Mistakes are part of travel. And part of life. How beautiful."

River Taxi, Wat Arun, Wat Pho, Chinatown, Bus ticket to Chiang Mai

(Day 2)

The first full day in Bangkok Thailand was a full one. The only real plan we had was to visit the beautiful Wat Arun temple, but we ended up doing much much more than just that.

Breakfast was the first thing on the list. We left our little guesthouse and started wandering down to find someplace to eat. We walked west toward the Chao Phraya river which is where we needed to take a river taxi to get to Wat Arun. We found a small little secluded area and got breakfast. I got an omelet with rice, the other guys got garlic chicken with rice, and something else. We all tried each other's food. Mine was tasty, but I really enjoyed the garlic chicken and rice.

The river taxi was quite the adventure. There was a whole herd of people hanging out at the docks when we got there. As soon as the taxi got to the stop, the whole crowd began frantically trying to make their way on board. The river taxi was already jam packed with people, and the workers on board recognized that there were going to be too many people. They fought to curtail the rest of the crowd from getting on. With strenuous and admirable effort, they succeeded. We didn't make it on the first river taxi which actually ended up being in our favor. We ended up talking with some young French women who gave us some advice about going up to Chiang Mai and Pai. Our luck has been exceptional on this trip thus far (knock on wood).

The river taxi was akin to a packing a down sleeping bag into a stuff sack (couldn't think of anything better to say): too many people and too little space. This was, however, part of the adventure, and I couldn't help but laugh and smile. It reminded me of being on a crowded micro in Chile.

After a lot of confusion as to where we needed to get off, we followed the advice of some English ladies and got off at the Tha Thien stop, and then we took a ferry across the river to where Wat Arun was located.

There are no words beautiful enough to describe Wat Arun. From a distance, it looked like a massive black volcano, but even more fascinating. As we got closer, we could see people climbing up the extraordinarily steep staircase to get to the top.

We paid 50 baht to get in. I had an amazing time climbing up the staircase to the top of Wat Arun. The view from the top was spectacular. The whole experience was exactly what I was looking for. If anyone reading this blog ever goes to Thailand, you must go see Wat Arun. It is breathtaking.

Here is a wikipedia description of Wat Arun:

"Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok Yai district of Bangkok on the Thonburi west bank of the Chao Phraya river. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks and the first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence."

After visiting Wat Arun and meditating in a nearby temple, we took the ferry back across the river to go see Wat Pho, which is another Theravadan Buddhist temple. This one has a massive buddha statue that is 15 meters tall and 43 meters long. It was quite impressive.

Chinatown was our next adventure. If you've ever seen the movie Inception, Chinatown is similar to that movie. It's a foreign country within a foreign country. We were totally and utterly lost in translation. Not only that, but we were also literally lost. We ended up finding a 711 and finally bought a map of Bangkok so we could get around. Utilizing the handy-dandy compass (which my brother-in-law Bryan kindly lent to me as a sort of amulet) combined with the map, we finally figure out our location and made our way to the train station to purchase tickets to Chiang Mai. We had heard the the train to Chiang Mai sells out quick so we wanted to make sure we got that done. The tickets were expensive (relatively), about 800 baht per person ($25 USD). We leave on Tuesday to head north towards Chiang Mai.

I fell asleep around 9:00 pm with a feeling of excitement for all the things I saw and experienced, and a feeling of hope that the days to follow would be life-changing.

First hours in Bangkok

(Day 1)

A lot of amazing things have happened in the past few days which have been extremely serendipitous. I feel God watching over us.

The first amazing thing that happened to us is because we decided to have a conversation with a stranger. So far on this trip, I have learned the power of conversation. People can be so good and kind. The stranger in this particular conversation was a Taiwanese woman who, sadly, I don't even know the name of. She was a stewardess on our flight from Seattle to Taipei. Arrio, Sam, and I sat in the three seats right next to the emergency exits of the plane, and this woman sat right across from us during take off and landing. Arrio, who is a professional conversation-initiator, asked her a few questions about herself. A casual conversation proceeded, and naturally she asked us where we were going and what we were going to be doing. When we told her about our 17-hour layover in Taipei, she immediately informed us that there was an earlier flight leaving 14 hours earlier, and that we should try to get on it. So, after spending roughly 3 hours at the Taipei airport, we headed to Bangkok.

When we landed in Bangkok, an American named Gary helped us find the ATMs and also told us an easy way to get out to Khao San road. This man was very kind. Again, it all started from a simple conversation.

After a long, crowded train ride, we finally made it to downtown Bangkok. But, we still weren't sure where we were in relation to Khao San road. As soon as we got off the train, a middle-aged Thai man came up to us and tried to get us to ride a Tuk Tuk to the train station so we could buy tickets to Chiang Mai early. I knew that it was a scam. In Thailand, if you ever hear someone saying that they will take you to anywhere in Bangkok on a tuk tuk for 10 baht, it is usually a scam. They take you to overpriced suit tailors and gem sellers and you lose an entire afternoon.

Instead of taking his advice, we flagged a taxi down. He seemed hesitant to carry five passengers in his car which had room for only 4 passengers, but he caved in. He drove us about 7km away to Khao San road for roughly 100 baht (around $9). Split between the five of us, it was nothing.

Now, I thought drivers in Chile were crazy, I'm here to tell you that compared to drivers in Bangkok, Chilean drivers look like drivers-ed instructors. We were weaving in and out of cars, dodging people left and right, and trying to avoid colliding with the seemingly numberless motorcyclists who have no regard for any sort of traffic norm. It was an entertaining experience, to say the least.

After about 20 minutes driving in heavy traffic, we made it to Khao San road. Within 10 minutes, we found a place to a couple roads down (th thani). It was a small guesthouse room with 4 beds for 1000 baht (about $6.25/person per night). I felt relieved to know we had a place to sleep and store our backpacks.

Khao San road is a backpackers paradise. Food is everywhere, and everything is relatively inexpensive. Vendors are very confrontational and persistent. A young woman came up to us with black scorpions on a skewer. None of us bought one, not because we weren't daring enough to try it out; rather, the price was too high. She was trying to sell one scorpion to us for 100 baht (a bit more than $3). We are on a shoestring budget, and three dollars is too high.

We sat down and ate our first meal. Arrio, Dalton, and Sam got pad thai, and we all got banana smoothies (except for Sam, who got a coca-cola because he's an American).

After the meal, we explored a little. Somehow, Dalton and Sam got separated from the rest of us (which is actually ridiculously easy to do in this crowded city). Arrio, Blake, and I had another serendipitous event happen to us.

We were walking around and we barely hear a sort of chanting coming from across the street. We walked over to figure out where the sound was emanating from and found a Buddhist temple hidden behind some walls. We took our shoes off, and entered. What we found was absolutely beautiful. There were 20 or so monks chanting and meditating in front of a large shrine of Buddha. People from the streets were entering into the room and kneeling down, and meditating as well. We went in and meditated with them. It was a wonderful experience and it felt peaceful. In contrast to the materialism and worldliness of Khao San road, this place seemed set apart for bigger and better things.

As anyone who knows me would know, I love religion, and, although my beliefs differ from some of the Theravadan Buddhists', I love theirs also. They are trying to seek holiness and goodness, and I respect them so much for their endeavors to make this world a better place.

After an attempted palm-reading scam by some Sikhs, and after eating Green Curry, we retired for the night. I was beyond exhausted and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. My sleep was deep. Very deep.