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Published: February 22nd 2011
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Northern Thailand and into Laos
Mae Hong Son and Soppong- I sure have been a busy monkey over the past week! We made our way to some smaller towns in Thailand before heading to Laos. We stopped in Mae Hong Son for a little bit just to relax for a few days, but I had a really fun time in Soppong especially! When we got off the bus, Nate and Jessie had to get on the back of a motorcycle to get us to where we wanted to stay at. That was a full load! The poor guy had a big backpack, Nate and a smaller backpack, AND a monkey on his bike. I’ve never been on a scooter like that before, so I was a little bit nervous at first. We got to a place that had a bunch of different huts you could stay in, but the beds sure were hard! The mattress was only an inch thick, and the bed was made of hard wood. Nate had to do laundry again one day, so he hung up the rope again to dry some clothes. When he went to pull back the curtains, I heard a loud “AAAHH!”
There was a lizard a foot long that jumped out and scared him half to death! I sure wish I had a picture of that. The next day, we went for a hike to try and find a small village of people. Nate was leading most of the way because there were a lot of spider webs in the forest, but at one point, Jessie got in front of Nate. All of the Sudden, she screamed and jumped back like she just saw a ghost! She had just walked into a huge spider web and got it stuck all over her face! She definitely doesn’t like those very much! After Soppong, we made our way to Pai…
Pai and Chiang Ria- Our room in Pai the first night was one of the worst places we’ve stayed in yet. When we closed the door, we noticed a dead cockroach on the ground and then another one under the bed. Jessie was already really grossed out, but then she found 3 MORE dead cockroaches in the bathroom on the floor! Oh my gosh! Nate and Jessie definitely weren’t showering in that one! We found a much better place the next day,
and we decided to rent a scooter for only 6 dollars to ride around the town and to some exploring. I really like sitting in the hot springs we went to. It was just like sitting in a hot tub! Some of the springs were boiling hot though. There were even some of the local people boiling eggs in the hot water! We thought that was really funny. We weren’t the only people there though. There were actually a bunch of kids playing in the bigger hot springs. They were laughing and screaming the whole time we were there. I think you kids would have really like it there. When we were done in Pai, we made our way by bus to Chiang Rai before making our way over to Laos. We only stayed there for one night, so we don’t have many pictures from that day. The coolest thing we did there was visit a museum that taught us about some of the hill tribes. You should be really grateful you live in the USA, because most of the kids that live in this part of the world start working with their parents at a really young age. Plus,
the kids in the tribes here don’t have any toys like you do. They don’t even have batteries! Instead, they play with coconuts, sticks, and bugs to have fun.
Crossing into Laos, Pak Bang, and Luang Prabang- It was time to head into Laos, so we took a bus to a town called Chiang Khong where we had to take a so called “ferry” across the river. Do you remember the ferries in Hong Kong? Trust me, it was NOTHING like those! It was more like a handmade canoe with a motor on it. Nate had to sit perfectly still just so he didn’t tip over the boat! I crossed my fingers and toes, and shut my eyes until Jessie said to open them because we were there. Whew! We made it! We were officially in Laos, and we stayed in a town called Huay Xai. We went and got our tickets for the boat we would be taking down the river and went to bed early since we had to get up so early. The next 2 days we spent on what’s called a “slow boat” to get down the Mekong River. Even though it was a long
ride, we really enjoyed the scenery. There are a LOT of little villages along the river, and they’re filled with local kids laughing and playing in the river. Jessie’s new favorite thing to do is wave to all of the kids who get all excited while jumping up and down and waiving back. After the first day, we stayed in a really little town called Pak Bang, which is about half way down the river to Luang Prabang. Even though we had a nice place to stay, there are parts of the town that don’t have electricity after 10:00 at night. A lot of the people that live there don’t even have a TV. What would you do without being able to watch any cartoons or playing any video games at all? The second day was a really long ride on the boat to get to Luang Prabang. One day we went to a wat that overlooks the whole city, and it was an amazing view at sunset! The only bad thing was the hike up the mountain. We had to go up concrete stairs all the way to the top! We rented another scooter when we were here and
went to see some really neat waterfalls. Wait till you see how blue the water was! Since it was so hot outside, the extra cold water actually felt really good. One of the trees had a big rope tied to that you could swing on. Nate climbed up the big tree and swung as high as he could before he let go and splashed into the cold water! Of course I had to try it for myself, but I jumped right off the branch instead of using the rope. I did a flip in the air and yelled Geronimo!!!! After a fun day swimming, we took the scooter back to town and relaxed most of the rest of the night. After all, a monkey needs his beauty sleep sometimes. Haha! Tomorrow, we’re leaving Luang Prabang and heading to Nong Khiaw. We might not have internet for a few days, so I’ll be in touch as soon as possible.
Your pal,
Wylie
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No we are not there yet
Katie, Phil, Ruby and Poppy Grant
I love this idea for the kids. My 5 year old absolutley loves reading this blog and she checks every day to see if it has been updated.