South East Asia vacation: Part 1

After losing my job - I went on vacation! :) It was a whirlwind tour of South East Asia - 3 countries in 3 weeks, baby! Here are some observations to share:

SE Asia trip (April 6 – 26, 2007)
*Read 5 books in 3 weeks
*Got sick in 2 of 3 countries
*Saw the sights, heard the sounds, and experienced the tastes of each countries' history

Laos - with friends Jenn and Liz
*worst – mosquitoes
*best – cheapest shopping

Luang Prabang
*Vietnam Airlines and Laos Airlines – plane wings above windows!? And inside window shades roll UP

*Golden Buddhas

*The local "cinema" was a little guesthouse that allows you to choose movies off the walls and reserve a "bedroom" to watch them in - complete with mats and cushions on the floor and a fan to cool you off!

*Locals all speak Thai!
*Small town feel – shops, restaurants – mostly Westernized…
*Monkey stairs! - the funniest gift i bought (for my brother!) was this foot high wooden staircase that had a picture of a monkey on it, named "Monkey Stairs". I said - is this for a pet monkey?! couldn't stop laughing and the shop owners said "it's a game"! (the top 2 blocks race down against each other!) love it!
*Tour guide guy – the trek was hysterical fun - riding on a hungry, tree climbing elephant
that went through a small village (who i don't think had ever seen foreigners?!)




not to mention that they are lacking in many resources - except for satelitte dishes?!

to a nerve racking kayaking ride - complete with singing, crashing into trees. also being dumped into the rapids with a cute little 21 y/o guide who coincidently, had never kayaked before!?
*not to mention the Death Bridge (sans Indiana Jones!)

*Meeting a random guy in a local bookshop and then on the street and then in Cambodia (2 times!) It was a sort of divine intervention meeting - good talks with a stranger while traveling! *ALWAYS getting jipped by money vendor guys, tour agencies, shops, guesthouses, etc…??
*Songkran – the Buddhist New Year celebration of truly wet and wild fun! This year's water festival fun was in Laos.

somehow i managed to get away virtually water-free, even with children armed and dangerous!

*Bon Jovi – singing ‘Always’ with Jenn late at night and getting in trouble for it by the guesthouse owners!
*Motorcyc drivers with umbrellas.

*Internet cafe's everywhere!?
*Bicycling around town
*Dancing in Laos?! Just not possible for foreigners - the clubs are definately meant for locals!
*Massages - soo nice and soo cheap!
*River water bathing and laundry day among locals - an interesting and very cultural tradition.

*Saving money – a Jenn’s experiment!? We tried to go throught the who day with only $12 between us (not that difficult to do really - but sadly, we couldn't make it as we hoped...and to boot:
*enter in "Brokedown Palace"…long story short - we paid our guesthouse bill and they supposedly undercharged us for what they told us and for what we budgetted. we had no more money left and couldn't access our ATM cards because of the holiday and they couldn't accept credit cards...so we left! after being yelled at and heading to the airport, i was in the bathroom when i heard Jenn's name called to the security office!!?? we both panicked thinking we were going to be hauled away for not paying our bill fully...thankfully, after much praying and bargaining, they just wanted to check her ticket! holy crap. right there we decided to mail the $10 owed to the guesthouse when we had access (with the room key I forgot to return!) ughhh.

*Bus ride (to Vang Vien)– lush rice paddy fields, mountains covered in broccoli-like trees, paper thin houses on the side of road (complete with satellite dishes?!), dust and dirt, kids on bicycles, moonshine Lao Lao alcohol, chickens crossing the road – can they walk and not bob their heads??!

Vang Vien
*Tubing – famously known as one big drink fest…partying and ziplines – a drunken water cruise – not exactly safe!? but for us - a quiet and peaceful nice float down the river.
*Restaurants and internet cafés everywhere – rasta bars, bonfires, and hammocks!
*Van ride from HELL (back to Luang Prabang)…6:30pm - 1:00am…with 3 drunk tubers and maybe a tipsy driver?! Visions of getting abducted by bandits or flying off a nearby cliff – fog so thick we couldn’t see the road…pulling over for drunk girl to vomit…the trunk opening up and dropping our luggage out the back!? where the heck are we?!?

It was a great trip - looking forward to Vietnam!