South East Asia: Part one

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Our next destination was south east Asia and our first stop was Bangkok, Thailand. You could say we went from one extreme to another as we landed in a concrete jungle where there were no blue skies or trees to be found and 100 degree weather on top of 100% humidity. Our guidebook put it perfectly, it is manic, thrilling, dynamic, exhausting and overpowering. Pretty much anything goes, from the way people drive, prostitution, to the random things they call food. Walking the streets provides nonstop entertainment, from watching old white men act like they are Brad Pitt and picking up young Thai women to dodging cars, taxis, mopeds and tuk tuks as every driving rule in the book is being broken.Our time in Bangkok was spent touring the city temples also known as wats and many of their golden Buddha statues. We also took a gondola tour of the canals of Bangkok. Sounds romantic, right? Far from the gondola tours in Venice. Our tour meandered through the canals passing by the homes where many people in Bangkok live. Sadly, visiting third world countries you see a lot of poverty. However, it was refreshing to see how happy these people were even though they clearly didn't have much at all. They also loved seeing westerners go by and greeted us with big smiles and waves. After two days the excitement of all of the motorbikes and craziness quickly wore off and we were ready to get to a smaller city.
Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, but it was a much more peaceful city. It is a fun and historic city, packed with culture and bustling markets. A must do is to visit the elephants on your trip to Thailand. Sadly there are many companies that run tours where tourists can ride elephants for the day, however there are also several that have sanctuaries that run tours where you can simply play with the elephants. On our way we must've had an angel on our side because minutes before we came around a corner and a burning tree fell down and took out several power lines causing cars to swerve off the road to avoid being crushed. Never a dull moment traveling through Asia. After an hour of waiting we finally made it and we were greeted at the sanctuary by five elephants including two babies. We began our visit by feeding them sugarcane and some of them thanked us with a kiss. After their snacks it was time for their mud bath and a final rinse. To be so close to an animal so big and powerful and watch them act and play like humans was a highlight of our time in Thailand and difficult to put into words. Another popular tourist activity is taking Thai cooking classes. After going to the market as a group and learning about the different ingredients used in Thai food, we prepared our own eggrolls and pad Thai along with some other Thai specialties. Unfortunately after this experience, cooking with fish oil has pretty much ruined the majority of the Asian food for Kevin because the smell makes him want to vomit. In search of edible food we decided to hit the night market, which is the place to go if you are looking for cheap authentic food. Walking around looking at all of the food is an experience in itself as you can see everything from fish heads to dog being fried or grilled up right in front of your eyes alongside the busy sidewalk. With no desire for fried food or anything containing fish oil, we were lucky to come across some yummy kebabs and grilled corn that cost us a total of $3 for dinner. You might not always know what you are eating but one thing is for sure in Asia, it is going to be cheap. A hot date eating our 3 dollar dinner on a small strip of grass in the middle of the chaos was a fun way to end the first part of our Thailand tour. The next day we began a new chapter and country of our trip...Laos. A country both neither one of us had on our list to visit, but we were so close and the unknown intrigued us to find out what this country had to offer. It's a journey in itself just getting there. From Chiang Mai you have two options, either an 18 hour bus ride or a three day journey consisting of one day riding on a bus and two days riding in a boat. After reading mixed reviews on how the slow boat can be a fun party boat or the complete opposite, a cramped and miserable two days of hell, we decided to take our chances and make our journey by way of the slow boat. Our voyage started in a very quiet eight hour van ride to the bordering town of Pak Beng. It took a dinner with a couple of cocktails to get our group all talking and we quickly felt an instant bond. After six straight weeks of just Kevin and Kristine time we were more than excited to have other people to converse and share stories with. We got lucky with our group as we all quickly became very close. Over the next two days we spent 17 hours sitting and waiting to reach our destination and boy was it slow. We kept seeing the same things over and over. A lot of water buffalo and scenery that we couldn't really see because it was so smoky from the slash and burn farming. But what we will remember the most about the slow boat is the journey with all of the random people from all parts of the world and hearing their life stories and how they got to Laos. If you ask us after this year is over what our highlights are, we would certainly say the slow boat was one of them. Neither one of us really knew anything about Laos prior to our trip so it made it even more fun to explore the country with our new group of friends. Our first stop in Luang Prabang ended up being quite a pleasant surprise. It was just named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995. The town is filled with beauty and charm from French-Indochinese architecture and red-roofed temples. Not at all what we had expected from such a poor country. In addition to exploring temples and markets, there is a waterfall that is a must see. Because it was so hot and dry it was hard to believe that there would be a waterfall worth checking out but it was the thing to see in LP. So our crew headed by tuk tuk ten miles outside of town to find the hidden gem. Well not really hidden because it is filled with tourists, but what made it so special is that we had an insider tip on how to get to the top of the falls where it would be just us to enjoy the higher falls. Words cannot describe the beauty of this hidden waterfall. We swam around in the crystal blue waters for about an hour before we headed back down. Outside of the falls they have a bear sanctuary that has signs all over that say FREE THE BEARS. It seemed contradicting since it was a zoo for bears. But we found out that these bears have been rescued from being locked up and tortured and being used for their bile. It was refreshing to see them free from the poachers, happy and climbing trees.We continued to follow the backpacker trail known also as the banana pancake trail. The next stop was Vang Vieng. What was left of our original crew of eight, we were now four and we gained two, a guy from Holland and a girl from California. If you are a major drug addict and into partying then this is the place for you. Up until a couple of years ago this was the biggest party scene in Southeast Asia. There are the infamous tubing trips where you tube and party the whole way down the Nam Song river. Several years ago the government cracked down because there were so many deaths caused by drinking and tubing. There is not much to do in the town as the real attraction lies beyond the town, on the river and in the caves. Vang Vieng's premier attraction still remains tubing. Our "partying all day on a river in 100 degree weather" days are over so we opted for some cave exploring on a tube followed by a kayak trip down the river. We still had it in us to stop at one of the riverside bars to have a few beers. It was crazy to think we were in the middle of nowhere Laos, drinking beers, listening to loud club music surrounded by hippies and guys in their speedos and girls in bikinis playing beer pong. It was as if we had just stepped into the middle of a very random MTV music video. And it was awesome!Day two of VV we rented bikes. Even though they were a piece of crap, boy did it feel good to be on two wheels again riding through the country side breathing only somewhat polluted air. Our destination was a Blue Lagoon. Sounds luxurious, right? Well not entirely. What I am sure was once a beautiful tranquil place to go swim, is now a hotspot for locals and the few random tourists. We were greeted by hundreds of locals and very loud music. Not at all what we had envisioned, but despite the loud music and crowds it was a place to cool off from the extreme heat which definitely hit the spot.Last stop in Laos...Vientiane. Another big city which didn't really have much to offer and we were running out of steam so we decided to use our "honeymoon fund" and splurge on a nice hotel. We had no problem skipping a day of touring and sitting our on butts by the pool all day. Lucky for us we got to experience a holiday in Laos. Our last day, April 13th, was day one of their New Year celebration. Happy New Year! There is a tradition where they celebrate for three days and party nonstop on the streets. Despite the fact that the country is going through a major drought, it is a tradition to throw water on anything that moves. Good thing we chose a taxi to take us to the airport and not a tuk tuk because we would have been soaked. The best way to put it in words is imagine Broad Street during the Mummers parade for three days straight with lots of drunk people with super soakers and hoses. Next stop... VIETNAM!

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