Tokyo Drifting

For the rest of our stay in Japan, we were at the Super Hotel! It was very no-frills, and the check-in is on the second floor – so when we walked in the door and were greeted by buttons and an elevator, for a shining moment we thought it was going to be a robot hotel! But then a woman came to check us in, womp. It was still an interesting experience – we got to choose the type of pillow we prefer and we all received a set of pajamas (a giant, button-up night shirt – same for male and female). The women (no men!) get to pick out five things from a case of beauty products per night (so Sarah and I got ten!). I mostly got some face masks, since I already had shampoo, soap, etc. It was a funny, random thing.

We walked around the Asakusa, an older neighborhood where we were staying. There was a giant shrine right behind our hotel, with the biggest paper lantern I’ve perhaps ever seen. It was still a holiday weekend, so there were a ton of people there. In fact, there were so many people paying their respects and worshiping that there was a visible, thick cloud of incense smoke. There was also a strange fortune telling station, where you shook a metal box and a small metal stick came out of a slot. There was a paper key that correlated with the stick that told your fortune, I guess? I didn’t get too close, but you could hear the metal sticks shaking throughout the whole shrine.

tried this dessert – accidentally broke the local’s rule :/

We also had some tsukemen ramen at Rokurinsha, Tokyo Ramen Street, Tokyo Station. Please see the “Noodles” episode of Mind of a Chef (available on Netflix or here). There’s just a whole section of a train station devoted to small ramen places, and this one had the biggest line. We were pulled out of line, sent to a machine to order and pay, and then sent back in line to wait for a seat. This type of ramen consists of the noodles seperate from the broth, and you dip it in and eat it yourself. I’m still not sure why that is a thing as opposed to a completed dish, but it was prettttty tastyyyyy.

We had special udon noodles across town for lunch one day, where the guy was making them in the front window. Very good, and we finally got some tempura that wasn’t soggy because it was already in broth (apparently the preferred way to eat tempura everywhere else we went).

Our last day, we walked around the Harajuku neighborhood again, as we heard Sunday afternoon is the prime time for spotting the dressed up crews. We didn’t see any, but we did see their clothing shops with elaborate costumes, and other shops with wacky items and products – I was v. tempted by a pair of rainbow platform sneakers. It was true Tokyo wackiness everywhere, so it was a good way to spend our last few hours.

this lil egg was everywhere, just doing egg things

Ryokan Adventure!

We got on the bullet train for about an hour ride north of Tokyo, hopped on a shuttle in a tiny town for an hour ride – and our van died going up the mountain! It was pretty high, with snow still on the mountain tops and about 55-60 degrees when we got there. Another shuttle came to rescue us.

We got there, they took our shoes (!), gave us some horrible slippers and served us some sort of savory hot tea. Then we got to pick out our yukata (a cotton robe with a sash – they had different sizes in a lot of different patterns. The guys tried to choose girl ones at first. The staff, and Sarah and I, were pretty amused by that!), and were escorted up to our rooms. Not much furniture – just a large, low coffee table and four cushions with backs. The floors were tatami, rice straw mats but surprisingly cushy.

7 am – too excited to take pics when we got there

7 am – a great time to get the onsen to yourself!

We changed and went exploring! There was an inside bath for male and female, as well as three huge outside mixed baths and one female-only, on either side of a roaring river with several falls. There were four bears and some bunnies, as well as several different lodging buildings. There were little paths to stepping stones, water falls, little altars, statues and gazebos everywhere. To go outside, you had to trade your inside slippers for one-size-for each sex, wooden, outdoor only flip flops. The women’s were way too small for me, and the men’s were way too big.

The women had to wear a brown sack-like bathing dress, and the men had to use a hand towel to cover up – and that was it. Entire families, old people and babies were all just sitting around, enjoying the warm waters of the onsen (hot springs).

We had to be in our room by 6:30 for dinner. They came in, took away our big table and brought us each our own TV tray. (Joke!) The was a smaller version of the coffee table with quite a spread on it.

The lady who brought in our food told us how to cook and eat what, but there was so much stuff there we could only retain part of it!

Some of my favorites: A tiny, tiny glass of iced sweet, juice-like sochu (she told us was an appetizer) sashimi (we think river trout and salmon?), baby octopi, mushrooms, a potato shaped like a mushroom (so it would look good, she told us!) and a tiny fish we grilled over our own little charcoal fire pot and noodles with some ham, veg and a little broth that we added an egg to and cooked over a little flame.

My least favorites: A glob of fermented soy bean paste, pieces of seaweed jelly, a big ol squishy square of soba noodle, a giant pickle wrapped in a giant pickled radish, and a rice/potato pudding that had the same slimy texture as my least favorite thing in the entire world <link>.

We also had egg custard soup, vegetable tempura (green plants!), salt, soy sauce and other things for dipping, and cuttlefish.

Twenty minutes later, we were pretty full but she bought us all a bowl of rice and BEAR MISO SOUP. (There are signs to put visitors at ease; we do not eat the bears that are kept on the property. Although apparently they used to bath with visitors in the past.) The bear just tasted like meat in a soup, nothing special.

After dinner, we went back into the onsen while they set up our beds. Futons on the ground were laid out with pillows filled with we think rice husks. It was surprisingly comfortable and John is going to try and find a pillow like that for his bed!

The next morning we woke up early and had a dip, then went to breakfast. We ordered three western breakfasts and one Japanese one the night before. They were basically the same but the western breakfast had toast, a croissant, coffee and minestrone (yup), and the Japanese breakfast had miso soup, rice, some other strange items we couldn’t identify and a strange leaf-packet of beans with a packet of mustard. They both had salads, a raw egg, bacon, fish and cauliflower that needed to be cooked on individual griddle things. After breakfast, we packed up, got our shoes back (!), and headed back to Tokyo.

Tokyo First Impressions & Toilet Tales

Well it took 30 hours of travel, our first vending machine stop, and some friends at the konbini (the convenient store – they pulled out a phone book of maps (?) and got us on the right path) to get to the apartment.

drinking some good ol Pocari Sweat, an ion replinishing, gatorade-type drink (but less sweet, hey i was tired and kind of thought it was water)

Sarah and Matt were already asleep and we were exhausted, trying to be quiet and keep it dark – so I thought I was dreaming when I discovered the toilet.

No soap or anything, so what is that sink for?! Still haven’t figured it out. But that first night I stood in there for what felt like forever, trying to figure out how to turn it off.

Our sleep was all wonky, so we woke up at six am and hit our local 7-11 for some fried chicken and green juice for breakfast. (It’s a thing here!)

We walked around for a bit, went to exchange a little cash at tourist information and WE MET A ROBOT. It’s name was Happy.

Shortly after that, I got trapped in a bidet. Yeah, you heard me. I’m in a public restroom, checking out all the buttons when I find the sprayer. I’m already giggling when I realized I can’t find the off button and start to panic. I can’t stand up because the water will spray everywhere. Sarah is outside the stall, asking me what’s wrong but I can’t really hear her over the sound of the bidet and my laughter. So she starts laughing, then I laugh harder and snort, then a Japanese lady starts laughing and I can’t even see the buttons anymore and the whole thing was ridiculous. I escaped, relatively dry.

We walked around Shinjuku, which had huge buildings and loud billboards everywhere, some with …. interesting translations.

Then we walked around the outside of the Imperial Grounds, the old palace and gardens surrounded by a moat, right in the middle of the city. Quite the contrast!

Time for another pit stop. We were near the Palace Tokyo Hotel so I share my top secret tip for using hotel lobby amenities: act like you’re supposed to be there and nobody will question you. We played it cool as we located what turned out to be the fanciest toilets ever! So many buttons and I used them all – a seat warmer, bidet varieties and options, a blow dryer! Being a fancy hotel for tourists, the off button was clearly marked on this toilet. :)

Lunchtime: We went looking for a yakatori (grilled things on sticks!) restaurant nearby in a multi-level food court, but couldn’t find it. What we did find was a tiny shop with about five or six stools filled with suited men leaned over steaming bowls slurping in front of a guy dishing out ramen – we gave up the yakatori search pretty easily after seeing that. Delicious! I got the classic, John got the spicy and some dumplings. All very good. The place only sat 16 people (6 tables – we had to split up the crew just to fit) plus the counter. The table was pre-set with a pitcher of some sort of tea – we’re still not sure what flavor it was but it was great. We were asked noodle firmness preference – she recommended al dente, and it was the right choice for sure. The egg yolk was bright orange, the broth creamy but not overly fatty, the strange condiments plentiful and men in suits sporting lobster-eating kind of bibs.

Full after lunch, we tried to find the “scramble,” this crazy pedestrian intersection in the Shibuya area. We ended up walking around a commercial area, just soaking it all in. We happened upon a network of these small alley-like streets with tiny little restaurant, tucked in less than a block away from giant buildings and shopping centers.

After wandering for a while, we tried to find a place to grab a drink, fire up the wifi and regroup. Where we ended up served us a round of drinks and an amuse bouche of cold potato salad with chopsticks in a smoky, low ceilinged place. Wasn’t quite the place we had in mind, but it was strange and weird and very Tokyo-esque.

Oh yeah, and we spotted Godzilla.

After that, we went to the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1 to check out the view. Sadly, it was too foggy to see any of the mountains but very awe inspiring to see the scope of the city.

Mt. Fuji is in the back right corner somewhere!

Since we got up so early, we went back to our apartment to rest at about 5 pm – and all slept right through dinner!

Travel Log

Our last ATX meal? Salt Lick breakfast tacos, of course.

Excited but sleepy, we got on the plane only to be told the plane’s battery wouldn’t hold a charge. It might be a quick fix or they might have to fly parts in. (Which seems inefficient? But maybe that’s just me.) The grumbling out loud to herself lady next to me was very upset about it, but also sleepy – so she kept trying to sleep then would sit up to shout at nobody and then curl back up again.

We got off the plane and everybody got in line to have their connecting flights rescheduled. I gave the ol’ 1-800 number a try because no time to wait! We ended up with a rerouted flight, a seven hour delay, some food vouchers AND six extra inches of leg room on our new flight to Chicago (as opposed to SF). That extra room might not sound like much but it was delightful!

Our plane to Tokyo was a huge, nine seat per row bus that was basically empty. Our dinner was lots of little containers:

Prawn and vegetable tempura over rice
Smoked salmon, mustardy potato salad, lettuce, a lemon slice, an olive, and radish slaw all in one dish
Edamame and a half slice of ham in together in another
Soba noodles served cold, with a (too?) fishy sauce packet to pour over
Packet of horseradish and tiny envelope of seaweed flakes
Topped off with Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream for dessert and green tea, of course!

It was a strange meal, but our other version was Hungarian goulash. On the way to Japan, a hearty Eastern European stew was not exactly on my mind (er, stomach).

Unexploded Ordnances in Laos

Visiting the Laos Unexploded Ordnances Center in Luang Prabang is a sobering experience. Per capita, Laos is still the most heavily bombed nation in the world. Even now, one person almost every day is injured or killed by unexploded ordnances in Laos – sometimes by a bomb that has been there for fifty years.

During the Vietnam War, both sides agreed that Laos would be off limits. That changed when the Viet Cong and Northern Vietnamese decided to run their supply trail, the Ho Chi Minh trail, through Laos to get supplies and men from Hanoi to the south. The trail was bombed in order to keep these supplies from reaching their destination. Laos got caught in the crossfire when the North decided to involve the country regardless of any promises it made otherwise.

At the center, they had an actual collection of bombs and bombies (submunitions from cluster bombs). Of the more than 270 million bombies dropped in Laos from 1964 to 1973, 30% failed to detonate. There were examples of the educational tools they use to teach children and adults regarding protocol and awareness. There was also a walk through of what it takes to either detonate or disarm and remove the munitions.

There were also several sad stories of personal loss. As you can imagine, each story is devastating – and those were only the few that were told in this small space. A farmer reached his hand down in his own rice paddy, where he had been farming for years, and knocked a bombie around that he didn’t know was there. The ensuing explosion blew off his arm. His wife discussed the hardship now placed on her and their children in order to replace the amount of labor and income he provided for the family – some of their children had to leave school to work the fields. He teared up as he talked about the emotional toll it takes on a man when he can’t provide for his family, and how he can’t even do household chores properly.

One story that really stuck with me was that of a young boy, visiting a village from the city. This urban child had not grown up with UXO awareness and training. He was out playing with some of the village boys, when he ran across a shiny ball kind of thing. He picked it up to show his new pals, who recognized the UXO immediately and started screaming “get rid of it, don’t touch it, drop it!” as they all took off running. Confused, he threw the bombie on the ground and was killed in the resulting explosion.

Later that night, I asked my pal Chai if he had ever seen a bomb. He told me that there are still three bombs in the village where he grew up. “Why don’t the detonator guys care of them – isn’t that their job?” I asked. “It’s too rural,” he replied, “it’s a five hour hike through the mountains to get there.”

“What do you do about it, how do you live?” I asked. “Nobody goes near them – that’s all we can do,” he said.

Then he grimly asked, “you know who most of those bombs are from, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” We looked at each other, and then changed the subject.

Four weeks later, my heart is still breaking over these stories and that conversation. What must it be to live in fear for your self, your family and friends every day? And for the cause of this fear to be something not only beyond your control but for many of those affected, it is something from a generation or two before you. A leftover from a different time.

All facts and figures can be found here.

Khàwp Ja̖i Lãi Lãi, Tamarind!

Khàwp jai lãi lãi means thank you very much in Laos (sounds to me like hop jie la lie – but then again, I got some laughs so that might not be right!).

Tamarind is a delicious brown lumpy thing that tastes waayyy better then it looks. Also, the name of my new favorite restaurant in Laos. (Sorry, JOMA!)

Our guest house was only a block down the road from the restaurant so on our first night in town we strolled in to have dinner, and were turned away because they were full. (Must be good!) We made a reservation, and noticed a posting saying the next vacancies for the cooking class was the night class two nights away. So we signed up for the cooking class right then, too. We ate the next night, and then the class was the night after.

We began our quality time with Tamarind at dinner with a set Laos specialty menu. Lao people love them some sticky rice. They eat it with everything. The most common utensil they use is their hands, which was a nice break for my on-again, off-again chopstick skills.

The set menu started off with several kinds of jeow, which are dipping sauces for the sticky rice. There were also some sausages, water buffalo jerky and other relishes, along with these river seaweed-stuff chips that I was really digging.

Next was vegetable and bamboo soup. It was alright. I didn’t really like texture of water-logged bamboo.

We had herbal fish steamed in a banana leaf.

it's like a present! — it’s like a present!

Stir fried young pumpkin with kaffir lime and ginger and lemongrass stuffed with chicken. It looked crazy complicated. It came with this great peanut sauce that I couldn’t get enough of!

pumpkin, chicken and a goodie bag of fish!

Purple sticky rice in coconut milk with tamarind sauce and some Lao “cat poop” (terrible nickname) candy – palm sugar and rice flour I think – for dessert!

The next afternoon, we showed up at the restaurant for class. We had a glass of super-bomb lemongrass/lime aid (a lime lemongrass twist!), then hopped into a songthaew to be transported to the cooking school. It was about ten minutes’ ride to the school grounds, where the employees also live. It was besides a bubbling stream, next to a pond filled with water lilies. There were cooking stations set up under an awning in the fresh air, with a nice breeze and the sounds of the stream filling the air. There was also a garden where they grow their own fresh herbs, and stations set up with traditional flower-pot grills (hey, I just call em like I see em).

It turned out that we learned to cook the exact menu from the previous night, including the standard sticky rice and my favorite, the sweet purple sticky rice. I could eat that every day, so no complaints here!

We also got to chose which jeow we made – I went with an eggplant based one and Ma went with the tomato one. There are different eggplants here than in America, and I like these much better. We grilled the vegetables before mortar-and-pestling them, so it was nice and smokey. We also gift wrapped those fish in banana leaves and steamed ’em.

The lemongrass stuffed with chicken was much easier than it looked. Mom’s gluten intolerance was the only food allergy, although one lady couldn’t (or wouldn’t) eat pork, and one simply refused to eat any chicken (two of my favorite things!). They simply switched ingredients around for the ladies, and even let me stuff my lemongrass with pork since we had chicken the night before.

After all the cooking, we feasted! Besides Mom and me, there was an Australian lady planning on making the lemongrass chicken for her family’s Christmas dinner, a girl traveling solo from Singapore and a couple of older Dutch women who rolled their own cigarettes and smoked with reckless abandon (as you do). The water lillies opened up while we were eating, which I had never seen actually happen before. Magical.

I’ve really enjoyed both the cooking classes we’ve taken, but they were both two different experiences. It was nice to have other people to chat with this time, and our instructor, Chai, and I are big pals now. At dinner, we all talked about our travels and future plans, and in fact ended up on the same airplane later to Hanoi with the Australian lady and her husband.

i made these! (that’s a sticky rice basket on the right – keeps it from drying out)

We totally went back to Tamarind for lunch the next day to try something different – don’t judge! We had pork wrapped in lemongrass skewers, my favorite jeow – jeow bong, which is a sweet and spicy chili paste. Mom had a pumpkin & coconut milk soup, served with a giant rice cracker. We also got some little candies for dessert, and some cold dessert soup – coconut milk with jellies and tapioca in it.

Before Laos, I had decided that I didn’t particularly care for the taste of lemongrass, but after the past few days I have come to like it. Maybe it’s the combinations I’ve tried here that I hadn’t had previously. I was also really into that lime lemongrass twist!

Ock Pop Tok Is A Fun Thing to Say

Ock Pop Top means east meets west, which is actually a good title for this entire trip I think. It is also the name of a social enterprise that seeks to empower women through their traditional skills, as well as promote Laos textile design.

We made our way to one of their store fronts in Luang Prabang, and after a bit of nosing around we took advantage of the free tuk tuk ride offered to those who wish to visit the Living Crafts Centre.

Besides the two storefronts in town, there is a restaurant, weaving and dyeing classes, a few villas available for rental all out in a shaded area on the bank of Mekong River. There are artisans and weavers working away on sight, a free guided tour and a gift shop.

We took a look at the silk worms and their cocoons, the dyeing process and the artisanal weavers doing their thing. The weavers come from villages to learn new weaving techniques and practice. The male role in all this is to help build looms, but an interesting thing is that they also weave bamboo and women don’t. In fact, the tour guide told me if a man can’t weave bamboo, he’s not even worth a second glance!

looks....complicated — looks….complicated

There was also a family taking a class on dyeing, which was kind of a funny activity for two boys (the teenage girl and mom looked right at home, though!).

It was so interesting to see ladies using the loom – I still don’t get how that works! Especially ikat, where they dye the pattern on the silk before they weave it. That doesn’t even make sense to me.

It was a nice quiet break from tourists and traffic for a while. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area you aren’t familiar with the silk weaving process.

ikat thread on a spool - looks a mess! — ikat thread on a spool – looks a mess!

Since then, we have been to a couple of silk farms and other similar places, but this one was my favorite – maybe because it was really my first time seeing everything in action.

Laos Pals

After breakfast this morning, we hopped on bicycles and went for a cruise in Luang Prabang. We ended up at the library, where kids and teens can show up to practice English with tourist volunteers every afternoon. We were just kind of checking it out before lunch where a young guy struck up a conversation with us on the front steps to practice his English. Then the volunteer coordinator walked by and asked if we’d like to go have lunch.

being meta (we’re explaining what a candid photograph is)

We all hopped into the back of a songthaew and were driven to a random noodle shop. We got out an sat down with a guy already eating, a young artist turned librarian, and a young Malaysian woman who had been volunteering at the library the past few days. Without ordering, we were served bowls of noodle soup – many small shops only have one menu option. We ate and chatted, then paid and got back in the songthaew for a return trip to the library (and our bikes!).

We got back and decided to hang out and help out for a while. Our friend from before was practicing French (!), so we were sat in front of this 18 year old boy. We thought it’d be the same easy kind of chatting as before, but it was a little different – the kid had only been learning English for the past three months. We tried to chat, but mostly he asked us to write down words and he looked them up. Still, he was fun and tried hard. Then I was asked to chat with a fourteen year old boy who had just shown up. His dad was a soldier, and he wants to be a policeman. He asked me about words like barracks, military and, randomly, dowry. Methinks he has his eye on someone!

We were about to leave when two more teenage boys sat down. We chatted with the them for a few minutes more, and they were so funny – just being boys. We showed them a video of me eating a scorpion, and they were suitably impressed slash grossed out. There were several other little groups like ours, many with young monks. There was also a group of 4-6 year olds having a quick lesson. Besides the little kids, there weren’t too many girls practicing their English. This place also sponsored a book boat, sort of like a floating library. It’s hard to get rural children and schools books, so donations go to buying books.

We had some time to kill the next day, so we went back. This time, I talked to a soft spoken boy who was staying in school for the summer to study and practice English, even though all his friends had gone home for the break. Mom chatted with a group of girls and a young monk, who was incredibly smart. I was glad to see some young women there! Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a couple of monks facebooking – which made me chuckle.

he couldn't lean into the girls' pic (no touching!), so he got his own picture — he couldn’t lean into the girls’ pic (no touching!), so he got his own picture

As we were leaving, the volunteer coordinator asked me if I know the word polyglot. Being the arrogant English-degree-holder I am, I assured him that was not an English word. He didn’t buy it, but he moved on to the word molting, which I pronounced for him but then told him I was pretty sure it was exclusively used for feathers. Then Mom showed up and told us yes, polyglot was a word, but she wasn’t sure what it meant. We googled it, and told the guy we would use multi-lingual to describe somebody instead. Then he asked Mom to say and spell both words several times while he recorded her. Later, we found out that Australians use the word molting quite a bit, and a Dutch woman assured us that polyglot is taught to those for whom English is a second language. I guess there aren’t too many polyglots in America.

It was fun, interesting to chat with these boys, and great to meet some people who were so passionate about teaching and reading. Many of the kids are from rural towns who have come to Luang Prabang for school. The volunteer coordinator told us that most are hoping for jobs with American companies in Laos or the tourism industry.

A Two Day Trip Down the Mekong in a Slowboat

It rained all night, hard and heavy. We went to bed early, and then got up early to by boat tickets. It was still raining, but we figured they must travel in the rain all the time so no sweat!

We were a couple hours early, so we stowed our bags on the boat and walked around, buying a snack here and there, trying to use up our Thai Baht and outfit ourselves for an eight hour trip. We got some fruit from a lady a little ways from the pier, but never got around to washing it. We got a snickers, some crackers and waters. We still had some time – and baht – to kill, so we stopped at this little restaurant where mom had coffee and I had a delicious banana pancake. So, so good.

We finally boarded the boat, and took off. It set up like a bus, and it was full up but not crowded.

behind us, before everybody boarded — in back, before everybody boarded

So we cruised down the Mekong for six or seven hours in a slow boat. It was rainy in the morning, but there were tarps to pull down on the side if the rain started blowing in. But it cleared off and got nice – not too hot, beautiful green mountains rising up from the water. The river is a bit muddy, (okay it’s actually chocolate milk muddy) but the clouds rolled by and there was a breeze the whole time.

We stopped for the evening in Pakbeng, and it was mayhem! There were hawkers trying to herd everybody to their hotels and restaurants. We got in the back of a pickup with some little old Chinese ladies and Lao teenage boys, but when we got to the hotel we had chosen, it was crappy. “Oh, we have one with air con,” they tried to keep us there and lead us to another room (I smell commission somewhere!). It looked alright, but did the air conditioning work? Well they had to go get the remote. While they were gone, Mom sat on the mattress. Something wasn’t right so she peeled back the sheet – it was a couple mismatched mattresses and pillows stuffed together under a king sized fitted sheet. It was a mess. They were yelling we have a nicer room! as we walked out. We went across the street, and a little old lady showed us around and we signed on the spot. It was way nicer, quiet and clean. We were glad to have made the switch.

always choose the old lady hotels (disregard the smell of tuberose soap.)

We walked around this tiny town (even smaller than the previous night) and finally settle at a Laos/Hallal/Indian food restaurant. A small boy sat us, and a small girl brought us menus – no adults in sight. “Is this a Lord of the Flies type situation?” I wondered just before an adult showed up to take our order. The kids were so cute, though! They brought us our food and drinks, and the little girl even hung out while I tried to pull up the Lao word for “dessert” on the Internet – which was really slow, so she finally had to go wait on somebody else. I never did get any dessert.

The next morning we got up and dropped our bags on a different boat than yesterday, and then went for breakfast & supplies.

(How did we know which boat to get on? Why, some Australians just standing around told us. We later saw them get on a different boat.)

in front on the new boat (back is same bus seats)

We went back to the restaurant from the night before so Mom could get a pineapple shake, and the owner chatted with us while it was being made. All these children working for him are either orphans or from very poor, very large families so he helps them out by giving them a job. He is from India – we forgot to ask him what brought him to Laos.

We bought some more snacks, and got ready to hit the road (river?). First we had to wait for extra seats to be lowered in through with the roof to placate some people who would have had to sit on the floor otherwise.

At about noon, we stopped and two guys with strings of fish hopped on from another boat. It was random and amusing.

It was sunnier today, and hotter. Some people seemed a little … testy, but mostly ever one is still upbeat (or at least acting like it!).

We got to the “pier,” and more madness ensued! The pier was actually two 2x4s precariously perched on the boat and a rut in the mud. We had to get off the boat and then stand on a the side of a hill, waiting for our bags. Then we had to haul them up a steep concrete stair way to the top of the mountain.

We paid a fare, hopped on a songthaew with a group of French hipster bros and got dropped off in the center of Luang Prabang. We asked around for free wifi, and were directed to Joma Bakery Cafe, which quickly charmed us with their air-conditioning, free water and great drinks. The pastries didn’t look to bad, either. We settled in at our lodgings, and then bopped around the night market on the way to our riverside hotel.

at joma – we found ourselves back here a few more times during the rest of our stay in Luang Prabang!

Michael Jackson, The Predator & A Border Crossing

The last thing we did in Chiang Rai was visit the White Temple. We asked guest house lady to call us a taxi, but she asked one of her employees to do it instead! Which was fine with us.

The White Temple was … interesting. It is not that old, in fact it is still being built, and has some interesting details. Michael Jackson, Keanu Reeves, Spider-Man, Batman and the Predator all appear next to Buddha on the murals inside the temple. The bathroom is a golden palace. There is a moat of disembodied hands reaching up that you have to cross over going up to the temple.

Next we hopped a bus to Chiang Khan, which was a little more rustic than the last bus we were on. It dropped us off in an alley and roared off. We asked twice before we finally hailed a bicycle tuk-tuk to take us to Thai immigration office, where we got exit stamps on our passports.

Then we boarded a ferry, crossed the river in about five minutes, and arrived in Houayxay, Laos. After immigration, we walked up a hill, hung a right and found a place to stay. We walked around the town (which appeared to be one street), and ate supper next to our hotel. It started raining pretty hard, and it sounded kind of scary in our room in the middle of the night. It turns out that we were just surrounded by some tin roofs, making the rain extra noisome. Besides, I bet they are pretty experienced at boating in the rain around here!

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