Herro,
Weekends...they're a spectacular thing aren't they? Many of you out there doing the whole 9 to 5 thing cherish those blessed 55 hours we often refer to as F Sa Su. It's usually the days when the real neety greety goes down. I'm gonna for-go a recap of the end of last week and fast forward to the good stuff. Halong Bay....here we go. We booked a 2 day 1 night tour of the bay on a junk boat (google image search...theyre pretty rad). Took a bus for about 3 hours to Halong City. About ten minutes in I heard an audible thud over the noise of my ipod and our car slowly pulled to the side of the road. Turns out some major piece of the engine had fallen off (not so smooth) and we had to wait a bit and transfer to another van for the remainder of the ride. We got to the bay and took a leetle boat out to get to our beeg boat. Halong bay is kind of like Pandora (yes I'm making an Avatar reference)... these huge rock islets covered in foilage shoot up out of turquoise waters all around you. Theres a ridiculous number of them, somewhere around 2000. It was named a UNESCO world heritage sight a few years ago and I highly recommend you visit it if you're ever in Nam. We went to "The amazing cave", swam and kayaked to an island inhabited by theses little monkey nuggets. If I were a monkey I'd for sure set up digs in Halong, monkey paradise. The meals we were served were just stunning, tons of fresh seafood and 8 courses. We went to bed early and woke up for the sunrise, which to our dismay was not visible behind the early am haze. The second day we went on to tour the local floating village and layed out on the deck before shoving off. The villages are literally floating, houses in the middle of the water, tied together all in a row. I can't imagine growing up like that can you? They have batteries as a source of power at night which they use for 3 hours to watch the news or light the house. Nothing like I've ever seen... and speaking of never seen....i caught more than a few of the villagers rowing with their feet? Revoluntionary technique I must say. The bus ride back wasn't completely mundane...we did see two pigs being transported on a motor bike (the first was tied down, alive, and draped over the seat on its back and ....the second was well...dead, skinned, and all tied down and out in the open) Laughed at the first,whimpered at the second.
Here's where it goes a little off the wall. We heard about an event they were having at the Daewoo hotel down the street from our roommate.....Oktoberfest....in Hanoi....
Well....of course...we couldn't quite pass it up. Quite a large affair put on by the German Business Association in Vietnam. Our tickets included a traditional beer mug with Oktoberfest Hanoi printed on it (a real original...I think it may have been the best souvenier I've ever recieved) and an all you can eat and drink spread. I didn't really know what to expect in the food department besides sausage but they laid out the works. Outside by the pool they had set up at least a hundred tables and in the middle was a stage where a live Hofbrauhaus band (from Germany) played all night. For the most part the attendees were Vietnamese business people with your occassional Western looking older business men thrown in. Safe to say we were one of the few attendees joining the party sans business tie. WERE HERE FOR THE party? It proved to be a lot of fun though. We met a very nice Ausie who'd lived in Hanoi for several years and chatted politics, economy, and traveling (its really been a hot topic of conversation everywhere we go). We also made friends with the men throwing the soiree, clad in lederhosen and a guy from Chicago. I think we may have been somewhat of a novelty at the place....people were pretty friendly.We ended up going with the guy from Chicago to a place called the Temple Bar. Before I go on.....Chicago was.....a nimrod. The guy was a nightmare as we soon found out in the cab ride. Opinionated, innapropriate, ignorant, a sloppy drunk, and hard to ditch. A real winner.... (He should be sequestered so he's unable to further any commonly held negative american stereotypes)
Temple Bar. Straight out of a movie.... dark, flashing strobe lights, dancing people, Benny Benassi. At random intervals the dj (a man in his 30's with a shaved head, sporting wire rimmed glasses, a blue kimono, and a cigarette which hung ever so slightly from his lips while he bobbed his head and spun the tracks) shot out huge clouds of glitter covering the dance floor and everyone on it. I woke up the next morning with it stuck to my body, in my hair, and on my bed. I must return! Sunday we flipped a 180 and hightailed it to Joma for brunch followed by a much needed spa retreat and a lovely dinner. Were planning an activity for Thursday with our kids....make some masks out of paper plates and pass out candy in an attempt to teach them a bit about Haloween. Any serious costume plans? I really do love seeing what people come up with every year.....please fill me in with the deets since I can't be there myself..... have fun. Ravage the neighborhoods for some confectionairy treats but beware ghosts, ghouls and the old razor in the candy bit.
Boo!
King
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Cafe Cafe.... Olay Olay
On to the next one,
As my dear friend Jay-Z once remarked. Week 2 here in Nam and after quite a few wrong turns, bad directions, and hour long detours I can honestly say to you my dear blog buddies that me and Mel are getting the lay of the land (and that's saying something). These mishaps have quite certainly aided in our staying so svelt. We almost always sweat out the entire 97% of our water supply by the end of them. We've managed to find a few cafes to inhabit over the next few weeks where we can blissfully indulge in a latte or a cappacino or an Americano or a.....im getting worked up. I apologize. But honestly, cafe finding is almost a passion of mine. I search my habitat for a chic cafe like a botanist searches the desert plains for a rare species of cacti (plural). I get so much joy from it, the discovery, and the subsequent enjoyment of a beverage (frio or caldo) and a solid chunk of book reading time, it's criminal. Here are some of the jems we quite enjoy: KOTO cafe by the Temple of Literature (finding that one was a realllll doozy), Papa Joe's cafe (on our sojurn to the West Lake), and last but certainly not least (its really our favorite) JOMA CAFE!!! There was one of these babies in Laos as well and our discovery of the one in Vietnam almost knocked our socks off. Happenstance, I swear. Its heaven. And.....just wait for it.....they serve Pumpkin Pie!!
We just recently had our first weekend and used it to get acquainted with the different distiricts instead of going on a tour outside of the city. Sketched a psuedo-plan out for what we wanted to see. We were taken out to lunch Friday afternoon by our program leaders to a famous spot that serves up all sorts of Vietnamese traditional foods from the North South East and West. It was a glorious lunch, all kinds of delicious tastes and unexpected flavors. Personal favorite was the green mango and seafood salad....spicyyy. We ordered a traditional "soup desert"....ummmm yeahh..... im going to attempt to explain the ingredients, its a little rough. Rice Milk and cream, black jelly worm things, clear jelly worm things, this yellow corn mush, jellied green and red corn kernals, and ice? I uh dont know if I would recommend it but we had to.....When in Nam. The whole lunch for 11 people....mayybee 60 dollars (and we all had drinks) Its dirt cheap out here!
Afterwards me and Mel searched for "The Four Seasons". Its kind of ugly out here....not much luxury and hey....couldn't we just sit in the lobby and soak in some morsels of richness for free? We thought so, but it turns out that its not really the "Four Seasons Hotel and Resort" It was a community pool. Wah Wah Wah. At least we rounded off the day at Illy cafe with a cappacino. Illy is my favorite (Italian) brand of coffee. I had it several times in Firenze and the cafe here is on the 5th story of a building overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter. I put on my ipod and looking out over the city finally felt my first moments of peacefulness. And folks, I think thats really what it takes for me to truly feel comfertable in a new place. Just a spoonful of tranquility makes the alien city go down. Click.
Me and Mel have inacted an in room gym routine every night, just a set of legs arms and abs, no big, but I will divulge (for your entertainment, because I'm sure you'll laugh when you picture it in your thinker) that one set of "legs" the other night was a minute of jumping to Motley Crue's Kick Start My Heart. We know how to have fun.....
Friday night we went out for the first time to Le Pub, our fellow Volunteer's favorite watering hole. I hope to try each Asian beer while out here....I've gotten 3 so far (La Rue, Halida, Hanoi). We taught our group how to play up chickens down chickens and the American tradition of "icing" a pal which was later put into action (they have to learn somehow right?). And I have to hand it to them.....we woke up this morning and opened the door only to find a little bottle of Smirnoff Ice sitting outside our door. Good Morning! We met a large group of Aussies that night and joined forces. They're all here doing residency at a local hospital for 2 months. One of them looked like Pau Gasol's cousin and another a mix of Mark Zuckerberg and Matt Repacz.Very friendly bunch I'm sure we'll run into more than once while we're here. We all left Le Pub and went to the Funky Buddah. If you like nicotine....this is the place for you. Like an opium den....but with nicotine. More C10H14N2 than 02 in the place(my eyes they burnedddd and I walked out with a new fragrance: eau de tabacco) It was a club of locals and a few froeigners....underground sort of, loud house music, and flashing laser lights. We didnt last long though and called it quits after an hour.
Saturday we walked up to Hanoi's largest Lake, West Lake, got coffee, explored some of the nicer hotels in the area and took a toxic cab ride that left us both high from the fumes. The thing about it is....we've yet to have a smooth day out here. Sooner or later something distasteful presents itself to us whether it be a roasted dog, a man throwing up in front of us, toxic fumes in our cab, the plucking of a freshly killed chicken, you get it. We got a lovely manicure for 5 dollars down the street Sunday and saw a movie, M Night Shamlyan's Devil (one of those you know its going to happen but its just a matter of when scary films). And Monday.....we played hooky from volunteering. Woops.We booked a tour for Halong Bay this weekend.....You can't wait? The anticipation is tangible....
Love to my little nuggets,
King
As my dear friend Jay-Z once remarked. Week 2 here in Nam and after quite a few wrong turns, bad directions, and hour long detours I can honestly say to you my dear blog buddies that me and Mel are getting the lay of the land (and that's saying something). These mishaps have quite certainly aided in our staying so svelt. We almost always sweat out the entire 97% of our water supply by the end of them. We've managed to find a few cafes to inhabit over the next few weeks where we can blissfully indulge in a latte or a cappacino or an Americano or a.....im getting worked up. I apologize. But honestly, cafe finding is almost a passion of mine. I search my habitat for a chic cafe like a botanist searches the desert plains for a rare species of cacti (plural). I get so much joy from it, the discovery, and the subsequent enjoyment of a beverage (frio or caldo) and a solid chunk of book reading time, it's criminal. Here are some of the jems we quite enjoy: KOTO cafe by the Temple of Literature (finding that one was a realllll doozy), Papa Joe's cafe (on our sojurn to the West Lake), and last but certainly not least (its really our favorite) JOMA CAFE!!! There was one of these babies in Laos as well and our discovery of the one in Vietnam almost knocked our socks off. Happenstance, I swear. Its heaven. And.....just wait for it.....they serve Pumpkin Pie!!
We just recently had our first weekend and used it to get acquainted with the different distiricts instead of going on a tour outside of the city. Sketched a psuedo-plan out for what we wanted to see. We were taken out to lunch Friday afternoon by our program leaders to a famous spot that serves up all sorts of Vietnamese traditional foods from the North South East and West. It was a glorious lunch, all kinds of delicious tastes and unexpected flavors. Personal favorite was the green mango and seafood salad....spicyyy. We ordered a traditional "soup desert"....ummmm yeahh..... im going to attempt to explain the ingredients, its a little rough. Rice Milk and cream, black jelly worm things, clear jelly worm things, this yellow corn mush, jellied green and red corn kernals, and ice? I uh dont know if I would recommend it but we had to.....When in Nam. The whole lunch for 11 people....mayybee 60 dollars (and we all had drinks) Its dirt cheap out here!
Afterwards me and Mel searched for "The Four Seasons". Its kind of ugly out here....not much luxury and hey....couldn't we just sit in the lobby and soak in some morsels of richness for free? We thought so, but it turns out that its not really the "Four Seasons Hotel and Resort" It was a community pool. Wah Wah Wah. At least we rounded off the day at Illy cafe with a cappacino. Illy is my favorite (Italian) brand of coffee. I had it several times in Firenze and the cafe here is on the 5th story of a building overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter. I put on my ipod and looking out over the city finally felt my first moments of peacefulness. And folks, I think thats really what it takes for me to truly feel comfertable in a new place. Just a spoonful of tranquility makes the alien city go down. Click.
Me and Mel have inacted an in room gym routine every night, just a set of legs arms and abs, no big, but I will divulge (for your entertainment, because I'm sure you'll laugh when you picture it in your thinker) that one set of "legs" the other night was a minute of jumping to Motley Crue's Kick Start My Heart. We know how to have fun.....
Friday night we went out for the first time to Le Pub, our fellow Volunteer's favorite watering hole. I hope to try each Asian beer while out here....I've gotten 3 so far (La Rue, Halida, Hanoi). We taught our group how to play up chickens down chickens and the American tradition of "icing" a pal which was later put into action (they have to learn somehow right?). And I have to hand it to them.....we woke up this morning and opened the door only to find a little bottle of Smirnoff Ice sitting outside our door. Good Morning! We met a large group of Aussies that night and joined forces. They're all here doing residency at a local hospital for 2 months. One of them looked like Pau Gasol's cousin and another a mix of Mark Zuckerberg and Matt Repacz.Very friendly bunch I'm sure we'll run into more than once while we're here. We all left Le Pub and went to the Funky Buddah. If you like nicotine....this is the place for you. Like an opium den....but with nicotine. More C10H14N2 than 02 in the place(my eyes they burnedddd and I walked out with a new fragrance: eau de tabacco) It was a club of locals and a few froeigners....underground sort of, loud house music, and flashing laser lights. We didnt last long though and called it quits after an hour.
Saturday we walked up to Hanoi's largest Lake, West Lake, got coffee, explored some of the nicer hotels in the area and took a toxic cab ride that left us both high from the fumes. The thing about it is....we've yet to have a smooth day out here. Sooner or later something distasteful presents itself to us whether it be a roasted dog, a man throwing up in front of us, toxic fumes in our cab, the plucking of a freshly killed chicken, you get it. We got a lovely manicure for 5 dollars down the street Sunday and saw a movie, M Night Shamlyan's Devil (one of those you know its going to happen but its just a matter of when scary films). And Monday.....we played hooky from volunteering. Woops.We booked a tour for Halong Bay this weekend.....You can't wait? The anticipation is tangible....
Love to my little nuggets,
King
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
They should have warning signs for that....
Xin Chao,
I'm anticipating being quite the linguist by Christmas time. So much to share, where on earth does one begin. Last time I left you babes in toyland I was spending my last night in Laos. Well we shopped the night market, ate a big plate of street food for a buck and went down to a little haunt called the Hive Bar. Really great spot. We grabbed a beer and managed to time our arrival just in time to catch some local Laotian teens "freestylin". Break dancing Laos style although the music was imported. They must be local heros or something at 12 years old its safe to say they'll be rackin up some major babe-age over the next 20+ years. One of them in particular, me and Mel's favorite, this skinny little tyke was Kevin Deggelman (if he was a a breakdancer and Laotian). By the way I don't know if Laotian is actually a word but for all intensive purposes I WILL be using it throughout this post. Well me and Mel couldn't stop laughing, great fun was had. We ran into our Aussie neighbors at the Maison Dalabua and had a lovely chat (shout out Edward and Simon). Also met the owner of the bar's mother. Turns out she bought the place and set up shop for 3000. Quite a entrepranureal opportunity if you ask me.....
The next am we woke from our slumber at the early hour of 530 am to see the monk procession from the nearest temple. We bought a basket of rice and some crackers from a woman on the street and gave a little handful of rice to each monk who walked by. The thing lasted all of two minutes. We spent the rest of the day doing the temple stairmaster. The places are spectacular, ancient gems, although I have a sneaky suspiscion there will be more where that came from.
We arrived in Hanoi that evening for the 1000 year celebration (10/10/10....I guess that means Hanoi was founded in 910). Well kids.....Hanoi and Laos.....like man and woman....Venus and Mars .... The city is a madhouse. Probably 100 times the "city" in New York City anddd we arrived the night of the biggest celebration the city has probably ever seen. A) Honking your horn and flashing your brights are not used in moderation here B) I never dreamed it possible to fit 5 people on a vespa C) Highway patrol would have a heart attack at the lack of law abiding drivers and D) Me and Mel remained mouths open and hands clenched for the entire 45 minute ride to the hotel. I just don't wanna go into it....it stresses me out. We put down our bags and walked to the Lake along with the rest of the city. Flying toy light things, stages with performances eddywhere, lights, glamour action....I'm sorry miss Jackson.Wild.....really wild.
Since then we've settled into the house we're staying at for the month and met the other volunteers. We're an international group (France, Germany, Australia, Dutch, and American). The dig has air conditioned rooms so I'm appeased. The city is unlike anything I've ever lived in and its going to take some real getting used to. Wev'e had to do some deep breathing and are desperatley seeking a yoga class....if you know of any, be a doll and hit me with some info. Accidental run in with the part of town that specializes in dog. I'll spare you the details but we knew when we saw and it was NOT OKAY. They should have a warning for things like that.
We had our first day at the place we'll be volunteering at. It's called the Hope center and its a school for children with disabilities. In the morning me and Mel work seperately with different classes. I'm with the littlest tykes. They're amazing I have to tell you. They were so excited when they saw us, little balls of love and its really gratifying just seeing them smile. I'm getting sappy. I appologize. The second part of the day we work with older kids together, helping them do crafts and write letters and numbers. Tomorrow we're going to try to teach them some English. One goober loves a little Ro-sham-bo, just about died from happiness when we played him. We ended the class with a little duet and dance number of "The Wheels on the Bus" for the class. We're natural performers....they're lucky we didn't charge them for the set.
Tune in next time,
Your admirable Kingship
I'm anticipating being quite the linguist by Christmas time. So much to share, where on earth does one begin. Last time I left you babes in toyland I was spending my last night in Laos. Well we shopped the night market, ate a big plate of street food for a buck and went down to a little haunt called the Hive Bar. Really great spot. We grabbed a beer and managed to time our arrival just in time to catch some local Laotian teens "freestylin". Break dancing Laos style although the music was imported. They must be local heros or something at 12 years old its safe to say they'll be rackin up some major babe-age over the next 20+ years. One of them in particular, me and Mel's favorite, this skinny little tyke was Kevin Deggelman (if he was a a breakdancer and Laotian). By the way I don't know if Laotian is actually a word but for all intensive purposes I WILL be using it throughout this post. Well me and Mel couldn't stop laughing, great fun was had. We ran into our Aussie neighbors at the Maison Dalabua and had a lovely chat (shout out Edward and Simon). Also met the owner of the bar's mother. Turns out she bought the place and set up shop for 3000. Quite a entrepranureal opportunity if you ask me.....
The next am we woke from our slumber at the early hour of 530 am to see the monk procession from the nearest temple. We bought a basket of rice and some crackers from a woman on the street and gave a little handful of rice to each monk who walked by. The thing lasted all of two minutes. We spent the rest of the day doing the temple stairmaster. The places are spectacular, ancient gems, although I have a sneaky suspiscion there will be more where that came from.
We arrived in Hanoi that evening for the 1000 year celebration (10/10/10....I guess that means Hanoi was founded in 910). Well kids.....Hanoi and Laos.....like man and woman....Venus and Mars .... The city is a madhouse. Probably 100 times the "city" in New York City anddd we arrived the night of the biggest celebration the city has probably ever seen. A) Honking your horn and flashing your brights are not used in moderation here B) I never dreamed it possible to fit 5 people on a vespa C) Highway patrol would have a heart attack at the lack of law abiding drivers and D) Me and Mel remained mouths open and hands clenched for the entire 45 minute ride to the hotel. I just don't wanna go into it....it stresses me out. We put down our bags and walked to the Lake along with the rest of the city. Flying toy light things, stages with performances eddywhere, lights, glamour action....I'm sorry miss Jackson.Wild.....really wild.
Since then we've settled into the house we're staying at for the month and met the other volunteers. We're an international group (France, Germany, Australia, Dutch, and American). The dig has air conditioned rooms so I'm appeased. The city is unlike anything I've ever lived in and its going to take some real getting used to. Wev'e had to do some deep breathing and are desperatley seeking a yoga class....if you know of any, be a doll and hit me with some info. Accidental run in with the part of town that specializes in dog. I'll spare you the details but we knew when we saw and it was NOT OKAY. They should have a warning for things like that.
We had our first day at the place we'll be volunteering at. It's called the Hope center and its a school for children with disabilities. In the morning me and Mel work seperately with different classes. I'm with the littlest tykes. They're amazing I have to tell you. They were so excited when they saw us, little balls of love and its really gratifying just seeing them smile. I'm getting sappy. I appologize. The second part of the day we work with older kids together, helping them do crafts and write letters and numbers. Tomorrow we're going to try to teach them some English. One goober loves a little Ro-sham-bo, just about died from happiness when we played him. We ended the class with a little duet and dance number of "The Wheels on the Bus" for the class. We're natural performers....they're lucky we didn't charge them for the set.
Tune in next time,
Your admirable Kingship
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Mahout in Me
Sah ba dee my dear friends,
That's hello in Lao. King here....and I'm 4 days deep in my Asian adventures. The flight...welll. It was long. big surprise. And I'm gonna let you in on a wonderful little secret. Asian airlines really kick western air services' ass. Food, that thing we used to get on long flights, not the most appetizing dishes I must admit, but the stuff we now have to pay some cash monies for is FREE and plentifully supplied on airplane rides long and short here. We stayed one night in Bangkok after a grueling 24 hours of straight travel.Enough of that.
Let me tell you about Laos, my current residence until tomorrow. Wow we've done it up here I have to say. We're in Luang Prabang more specifically, the central region of Lao. Our hotel is fantastic and a real steal (The Maison Dalabua for anyone looking for a great place to stay for a great price). They've served us complementary breakfast every morning and the stuff is muy delicioso. We had This rice noodle soup with chicken our first morning. Its served with a DIY platter bar of lime juice and chili flakes (they love their lime and chili). Naturally the masochist in me loaded that bowl silly with chili. Fire in the hole!
Yesterday was the real meat and potatoes though. We booked a tour to go ride elephants, go swim in a waterfall and then kayak down the Nam Khan river (I know! triple threat). Our tuk tuk (a three legged mini car beast with two benches and an open back), on the way to the elephant camp I swear the thing wouldn't make it up the hill. I could walk faster than it was moving. Scrappy little bugger though. We met our elephant and our Mahout (elephant whisperer) and sat on a bench attached to her back. Our Mahout rode on her neck. He was a skinny little fellow clad in a faded flannel and ripped jeans. I had to stop myself from giving him a fist pump for a smashing outfit choice. Mel doubted I'd be let on our next flight if I tried to pull off the look. There were some steep inclines on our way down to the river where I seriously feared the elephant and all aboard would tumble to our deaths. Dexterous, one foot in front of the other, incredible for such a giant creature. Our Mahout grabbed a green berry from a branch and grinned back signaling for us to try one. Hesitant we were. Even wise yoda would say eat not that berry but the guy was a charmer so we did and hey, I'm still alive. We got down to the water and Mel and me both got a chance to ride on the elephants neck. This WAS NOT EASY and required a significant amount of balancing since there was really nothing to hold onto. For all of you out there that doubt my grace....I was great. A real mahout. Even our mahout confirmed this, he called me mahout number 1. You can ask him yourself (yes I know the likelihood of you reaching him is slim).
We took a boat down the river,a 3 feet wide wooden canoe, I think our brains are still shaking. We got to swim in the waterfall and ate some great fried rice and bananas. Ok here's the deal. American bananas are on steroids or some kind of sups (our bananas were teeny in comparison) but sometimes bigger isn't necessarily better. The flavor....unparalleled. I'm a southeast Asian banana convert. Sorry growers association of America. Our 3 hour kayak ride down the river was exhausting but so cool. We got to see these isolated families scattered along the river farming and catching fish with nets. Its refreshing to see people living so simply. It wasn't all picaresque and sweet though. We hit some rapids along the way and got a bit damp.
Our tour guide recommended a BBQ on a road in this new Entertainment district by all the bars. Lao Lao garden you have my heart!!! Please go there if you are ever in Luang Prabang. You walk up these stairs into the most amazing garden like hillside with hanging lanterns over every table and lights decorating the trees great tunes too. They greeted us with a shot of local rice whiskey (potent). We ordered our first beer Lao and the traditional Lao bbq which is a kind of make your own soup. They bring a pot of coals and a pan to your table and a tn of broth a late of veggies, meat and spices and you cook it right there.
So animals in this place are not the fat happy kind you see at home, but being an animal lover, their rabid appearance doesnt quite shake me (to Melissa's horror). I made friends with a cat who sat next to me during dinner. I didn't know whether to be pleased or horrified every time the thing looked up into my eyes.
Today we took bikes across the Meekong and biked through some pretty great villages. Cute kids, a few of them swindled some kip outta me and convinced me to buy some flowers to offer at the temple there. I couldn't say no. Neither could Mel. So we're 50 cents poorer now. The whole ordeal of carrying our bikes up a flight of 50 stairs really took it out of us so we retreated into the comfort of our air conditioned room and watched the classic Hook. On our way out we saw....A DOUBLE RAINBOW (shout out to Dylan Bowermaster and Eric Rueland).
PS: I thought I wouldn't find pumpkin but it found me. I don't think its through with me. There's a great deal of talk about it in my book and it was in my Lao tofu curry AND its being sold in the open air market which I'm about to go eat at. I think its safe to assume I will fold to its wishes. (Blair......great video miss you) Adios muchachos!
- King Kong
Creative title: by Melissa Mordell
That's hello in Lao. King here....and I'm 4 days deep in my Asian adventures. The flight...welll. It was long. big surprise. And I'm gonna let you in on a wonderful little secret. Asian airlines really kick western air services' ass. Food, that thing we used to get on long flights, not the most appetizing dishes I must admit, but the stuff we now have to pay some cash monies for is FREE and plentifully supplied on airplane rides long and short here. We stayed one night in Bangkok after a grueling 24 hours of straight travel.Enough of that.
Let me tell you about Laos, my current residence until tomorrow. Wow we've done it up here I have to say. We're in Luang Prabang more specifically, the central region of Lao. Our hotel is fantastic and a real steal (The Maison Dalabua for anyone looking for a great place to stay for a great price). They've served us complementary breakfast every morning and the stuff is muy delicioso. We had This rice noodle soup with chicken our first morning. Its served with a DIY platter bar of lime juice and chili flakes (they love their lime and chili). Naturally the masochist in me loaded that bowl silly with chili. Fire in the hole!
Yesterday was the real meat and potatoes though. We booked a tour to go ride elephants, go swim in a waterfall and then kayak down the Nam Khan river (I know! triple threat). Our tuk tuk (a three legged mini car beast with two benches and an open back), on the way to the elephant camp I swear the thing wouldn't make it up the hill. I could walk faster than it was moving. Scrappy little bugger though. We met our elephant and our Mahout (elephant whisperer) and sat on a bench attached to her back. Our Mahout rode on her neck. He was a skinny little fellow clad in a faded flannel and ripped jeans. I had to stop myself from giving him a fist pump for a smashing outfit choice. Mel doubted I'd be let on our next flight if I tried to pull off the look. There were some steep inclines on our way down to the river where I seriously feared the elephant and all aboard would tumble to our deaths. Dexterous, one foot in front of the other, incredible for such a giant creature. Our Mahout grabbed a green berry from a branch and grinned back signaling for us to try one. Hesitant we were. Even wise yoda would say eat not that berry but the guy was a charmer so we did and hey, I'm still alive. We got down to the water and Mel and me both got a chance to ride on the elephants neck. This WAS NOT EASY and required a significant amount of balancing since there was really nothing to hold onto. For all of you out there that doubt my grace....I was great. A real mahout. Even our mahout confirmed this, he called me mahout number 1. You can ask him yourself (yes I know the likelihood of you reaching him is slim).
We took a boat down the river,a 3 feet wide wooden canoe, I think our brains are still shaking. We got to swim in the waterfall and ate some great fried rice and bananas. Ok here's the deal. American bananas are on steroids or some kind of sups (our bananas were teeny in comparison) but sometimes bigger isn't necessarily better. The flavor....unparalleled. I'm a southeast Asian banana convert. Sorry growers association of America. Our 3 hour kayak ride down the river was exhausting but so cool. We got to see these isolated families scattered along the river farming and catching fish with nets. Its refreshing to see people living so simply. It wasn't all picaresque and sweet though. We hit some rapids along the way and got a bit damp.
Our tour guide recommended a BBQ on a road in this new Entertainment district by all the bars. Lao Lao garden you have my heart!!! Please go there if you are ever in Luang Prabang. You walk up these stairs into the most amazing garden like hillside with hanging lanterns over every table and lights decorating the trees great tunes too. They greeted us with a shot of local rice whiskey (potent). We ordered our first beer Lao and the traditional Lao bbq which is a kind of make your own soup. They bring a pot of coals and a pan to your table and a tn of broth a late of veggies, meat and spices and you cook it right there.
So animals in this place are not the fat happy kind you see at home, but being an animal lover, their rabid appearance doesnt quite shake me (to Melissa's horror). I made friends with a cat who sat next to me during dinner. I didn't know whether to be pleased or horrified every time the thing looked up into my eyes.
Today we took bikes across the Meekong and biked through some pretty great villages. Cute kids, a few of them swindled some kip outta me and convinced me to buy some flowers to offer at the temple there. I couldn't say no. Neither could Mel. So we're 50 cents poorer now. The whole ordeal of carrying our bikes up a flight of 50 stairs really took it out of us so we retreated into the comfort of our air conditioned room and watched the classic Hook. On our way out we saw....A DOUBLE RAINBOW (shout out to Dylan Bowermaster and Eric Rueland).
PS: I thought I wouldn't find pumpkin but it found me. I don't think its through with me. There's a great deal of talk about it in my book and it was in my Lao tofu curry AND its being sold in the open air market which I'm about to go eat at. I think its safe to assume I will fold to its wishes. (Blair......great video miss you) Adios muchachos!
- King Kong
Creative title: by Melissa Mordell
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