View of Luang Prabang (click to enlarge)
From stinky heat to cool luxury, we have severely altered our travel life since joining up with Anne and Brian! It had been a treat to spend time with them and tonight we head to Hong Kong for our last days together. Thanks to the computer in their room we have been able to upload a few extra pictures with commentary so find a couple minutes to sit down and enjoy a week or so in the life of Chris and Emily. Of course, if you only have a little time just do a quick scroll through to check out the pictures!
Laos Continued:
Luang Prabang was heaven despite the jungle heat. We loved the town (even the touristy part) and parted with a little extra cash to do a day trek and participate in a cooking class. We had a ridiculous amount of fun. We made some friends and enjoyed dinners out with them. We rented bikes, checked out the palace/museum and a Wat (temple) on hill high above the town.
Here is a fine example of the notorious monks with their black umbrellas which are handy in the frequent weather changes from extreme sun to torrential rain:
This is the main street in Luang Prabang. Check out the French influence:
View from the Wat above Luang Prabang:
A Thai monk tourist behind Chris also wanted to capture the spectacular view. There were a whole load of these shutter bug monk at this hill top Wat.
There wasn't much chocolate in town so Chris resorted to eating condensed milk meant for my Laos coffee! That cute smile was turned upside down a couple hours later when the condensed milk made its rounds through the digestive tract. Surprise surprise.
Me on my rented bike outside of the tourist area in Luang Prabang.
Although we aren't as yoga as we once were, we managed to get in one good practice in our guesthouse room on our travel mats:
Here are a bunch of pictures from our trek and kayak day trip:
Me crossing a bamboo bridge:
Rice-a-roni the Laos and Thailand treat! Seriously though, rice fields are everywhere!
Chris trekin':
Chris giving Laos children's books to the village school:
One of the classrooms at the 3 roomed school. The children are greeting us in the village language (there are about 400 people from this village).
Two little girls in the village snacking on a very popular grain that there is no English name for. It comes out of a hard shell is looks like a soft bean while tasting like a peanut. We have no idea.
Two girls who followed me up the trail before and after this picture:
The trail was very muddy. I fell 4 times! Chris' shoes did not survive as the mud managed to separate the sole from the shoe:
My birks made it through although some threads are now hanging off the side:
A waterfall along the way which we got to swim in. Well worth it after hiking in the heat of the day.
The river which we later kayaked down. It poured rain for the first hour of our adventure and then the sun came out for the rapids which were a little scary but fun. Chris said to me "I'm surprised they would let us do this with no experience." We're not in Canada anymore dear. ;)
The next day we went to Tum Tum Bamboo Cooking School!
The next day we went to Tum Tum Bamboo Cooking School!
First we went to the market where they could show us what the supplies would look like. This first item is Chris' favorite - Spicy Wood! And really, it was spicy. We got to taste it later and it tasted like pepper and there was enough heat to give our lips a slight sting.
Some spices in the market:
Banana Flower! These are actually baby bananas you see here:
Some spices in the market:
Banana Flower! These are actually baby bananas you see here:
Our teacher "Linda" showing us the many different types of eggplant, which includes those little green ones that look like peas!
My attempt to make food art which I completely failed:
My attempt to make food art which I completely failed:
This is what it was supposed to look like:
Spring rolls in progress (Chris and my dish):
And finally... we eat! It was soooo good!
From Luang Prabang we took a 24 hour bus ride (where we laid in narrow little beds for the entire trip) straight to Kunming China. We had one day in Kunming before we met Chris' parents and China was a culture shock for us. Between the nose and throat clearing spitting (including in the bus), the cold, the rain and the conversational shouting, Laos seemed like a far away oasis we may have only dreamed. Our first night we woke up to someone whistling and attempting to put a key in our hostel room door. Luckily we had the deadbolt across. The rest of the night we slept with the bathroom light on for fear of a more aggressive burglar coming to rob us of our few yuan and passports. In the end it turns out that these sorts of late night attempts to get into rooms is often a"lady of the night" who has been advised on where the westerners are staying.
Since Anne and Brian's arrival we have not only been living in the lap of luxury but have also had the amazing opportunity to travel with Doug and Debbie who speak Mandarin and Cantonese and are currently living in Beijing. We call Debbie the VP of purchasing as she drives the best bargain in town, while Doug is our tour guide extraordinaire (though we haven't tipped him a cent). Also along for the ride are Raymond (Brian's Business Partner) and Raymond's wife Susan. Raymond's role is to sample all of the local cuisine to ensure it's suitability for the rest of the group...so far his favorite is chicken feet, and Susan is Chris' ally in all his gluten-free dietary pursuits.
This is a picture of some of the assistants showing us a cooking demonstration. The second girl to the left was our waitress at the actual restaurant the night before. We asked her about her long hours and she said she was trying to pay her way through teacher's college and was supporting her sister.
Spring rolls in progress (Chris and my dish):
And finally... we eat! It was soooo good!
China
From Luang Prabang we took a 24 hour bus ride (where we laid in narrow little beds for the entire trip) straight to Kunming China. We had one day in Kunming before we met Chris' parents and China was a culture shock for us. Between the nose and throat clearing spitting (including in the bus), the cold, the rain and the conversational shouting, Laos seemed like a far away oasis we may have only dreamed. Our first night we woke up to someone whistling and attempting to put a key in our hostel room door. Luckily we had the deadbolt across. The rest of the night we slept with the bathroom light on for fear of a more aggressive burglar coming to rob us of our few yuan and passports. In the end it turns out that these sorts of late night attempts to get into rooms is often a"lady of the night" who has been advised on where the westerners are staying.
Since Anne and Brian's arrival we have not only been living in the lap of luxury but have also had the amazing opportunity to travel with Doug and Debbie who speak Mandarin and Cantonese and are currently living in Beijing. We call Debbie the VP of purchasing as she drives the best bargain in town, while Doug is our tour guide extraordinaire (though we haven't tipped him a cent). Also along for the ride are Raymond (Brian's Business Partner) and Raymond's wife Susan. Raymond's role is to sample all of the local cuisine to ensure it's suitability for the rest of the group...so far his favorite is chicken feet, and Susan is Chris' ally in all his gluten-free dietary pursuits.
Kunming before Anne and Brian arrived. The weather made us feel like we were at home and my shoes were wet for 3 days!!!
Anne and Brian arrive! Kunming at night, and look, its not raining anymore!
Anne spinning the Tibetan prayer wheel at the "minority village" where 26 different village lifestyles were depicted. Kinda like Disney Land except without the rides.
Dancers at one the "villages" where we were served tea:
This is the view from a chair lift above Guilin which they called a cable car:
Gonging a gong for good luck (everything is for good luck here!). There are only two possible outcomes in China, you are lucky or unlucky.
The next day we took a river cruise showing off the regions karsts (limestone mountains erroding into sharp cliffs):
Chris on the boat with Chinese flag:
Me shouting, "hello hello!" I didn't sell a thing!
The girls being a little silly on the top deck!
Chris' new shoes he had to buy as soon as he got to town as flip flops weren't cutting it in the cold.
Anne and Brian arrive! Kunming at night, and look, its not raining anymore!
Anne spinning the Tibetan prayer wheel at the "minority village" where 26 different village lifestyles were depicted. Kinda like Disney Land except without the rides.
Dancers at one the "villages" where we were served tea:
After Kunming we took a flight to Guilin. No more buses and trains for us! It seems that despite the recycling receptacles in Guilin over packaging is a must. This is me trying to break into my plastic wrapped restaurant dishes:
This is our laundry individually plastic wrapped:
This is the view from a chair lift above Guilin which they called a cable car:
At the top, this is the crew we are now travelling with! From left to right, Raymond, Susan, Brian, me, Anne, Debbie, Doug and Chris:
Gonging a gong for good luck (everything is for good luck here!). There are only two possible outcomes in China, you are lucky or unlucky.
The next day we took a river cruise showing off the regions karsts (limestone mountains erroding into sharp cliffs):
Our boat wasn't the only one heading up the river!
Chris on the boat with Chinese flag:
Rafters who latch onto the boat shouting up "hello hello" and holding potential souvieners:
Me shouting, "hello hello!" I didn't sell a thing!
Another boat zippin by:
The girls being a little silly on the top deck!
At our final destination we went to a tea shop where we tried jasmin flower tea:
Anne and Brian looking very authentic!
Gotta run to catch our flight! Keep in touch and enjoy!
