Malaysia

After spending nearly two weeks in Thailand and consuming as much coconut as possible, I finally had to say goodbye to the girls and break away to head south. In Krabi, I spent a night bumming around the night market until it started raining, then settled in for a night in my guesthouse. The next day my only task was to get to Hat Yai, a town about four hours from Krabi, so that I could catch my 4 PM train from Hat Yai to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. And I blew it.

I had been waiting for something to go wrong for about two months now, and it finally happened. I had been too dependent on the Internet, and when it said that buses leave every hour from Krabi to Hat Yai I figured a 10 am bus would be sufficient to get me there by 2, then I could park myself at the train station until my 4 pm train. Sounds good, right? That's what I thought too.

I showed up a little after nine, learned that there was a 9:30 bus, but that it was full, and the next one wasn't until 11. Yikes. I told the lady at the station about my train and she suggested I take a minibus that would leave at 11, which would be a little faster and could take me straight to the station - I would have plenty of time. The price was just a little higher than the bus so I said okay, time was more important anyways. But at 11:05, when the minibus still wasn't there, I realized my mistake - I was too spoiled from Korea's efficiency that I forgot about the Asia time golden rule: expect things to be late and slow. I was screwed. Plan Bs started frantically running across my mind, as the minivan finally showed up and departed at 11:30.

To the driver's credit, he drove pretty fast, though I suspect it was to impress the girl he seemed to be flirting with in the front seat. I tried to tell him I had a train at 4 and he pretended to understand me, but that was  clearly not the case as he turned left towards the bus station instead of right to the train station (thank goodness the signs were in English). 

I burst into the train station at 4:05, holding onto one last hope that the train would have arrived late from Bangkok, but no luck. It was gone. I asked up front but there were no more southbound trains that day, and my ticket was bought via Malaysian railways so they couldn't change it there in Thailand. He suggested catching a bus to the border town in Malaysia, 30 km away, where the train would be stopped to take a break for an hour and I could catch it there, but by the time I got to the bus station I wouldn't have had enough time to get through immigration. Breakdown time.

Breakdown was also due to the fact that I was running on about two hours of sleep and I had so been looking forward to my nice comfortable train ride. But, I had to get myself to Malaysia either that night or the next morning. I ended up walking by a travel agency and decided to chance asking about buses to KL. Turned out he had one leaving in a half hour, though I'd be arriving in KL at about 4 am - I knew I couldn't catch a bus to Malacca, my destination, that early. But, a quick Google search said that the bus station I'd end up at was central, so I could easily get to the light rail, and it was a nice new facility - I figured I'd be safe there for a couple of hours until the lines started running. 

So with that, I took the risk and paid up, then blew my remaining Thai money on junk food because I felt sorry for myself. Things perked up when I boarded the bus and discovered I had my own private aisle seat - even if I didn't sleep, at least I wouldn't be creeped out by my seat mates (don't worry, I'll spare you the stories.) And then, approximately three hours after I arrived at the train station in desperation, I was off to Malaysia.

I awoke bright (it was actually dark out) and early at 4 am, and instead of getting dropped off at the nice new bus terminal I had been expecting to chill out at...it was the roadside next to the terminal, and the terminal wasn't open. Rude awakening. Enter the 24 hour KFC across the street, with wifi as an added bonus. I parked myself in the back, near some solo women who were doing the same thing - at 6 am there was an exodus of people leaving to go catch the public transportation that had started running, myself included. 

After going the wrong way approximately four times between KFC and the bus terminal I had to get to on the light rail, I finally made it to the correct bus station ad bought myself a four dollar ticket to Malacca, only a two hour journey away. Then it was coffee time. 

The bus ride to Malacca was really pretty, with endless fields of coconut palms and bright green hills. Apologies for the picture out of the bus window. Once I arrived there, my last task was to get myself to the hostel - one more local bus ride took me right to the heart of the old city - Dutch Square. 

I liked Malacca immediately. It was clean, adorable, historical, and a UNESCO World Heritage city at that. You can imagine my delight, especially when I looked at a map and discovered ten museums within a mile radius (including the Museum of Numismatics and the Museum of Stamps...thrilling). I was excited. I checked into my excellently located hostel, got an orientation from the slightly oddball owner who either had a perpetual winking problem or just felt a wink should be added to every sentence, and took off to explore.

The day was super hot but brilliantly sunny, and as I walked around to take pictures before the museums I stopped to read all the historical marker signs along the way. So here's some history. The sleepy little settlement of Malacca (Melaka in Malaysian) was founded in 1403 by a Indonesian dude, and within the next century it grew to become one of the richest, most famous port cities in the world. Situated between mainland Malaysia and across the way from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the famed Malacca Straits also happened to provide an excellent haven for seafaring traders who had to wait out the change of the monsoon winds. By luck and chance, the traders who got stuck in Malacca ended up liking it so much and were treated so well by its people that they stayed a while, and it became a primary stop along the trade routes. At first it was just Javanese, Chinese, Indian, Arab, and a handful of other Asian traders, but soon the Portuguese caught wind of the famous Malacca...and then they got greedy.

The Portuguese originally showed up in Goa, India, to get their hands on spices and goods for trade, but in the early 1500s they showed up in Malacca, and decided they wanted it for themselves. Begin over five hundred years of foreign occupation. Once the Portuguese conquered Malacca in 1511, they forced hundreds of slaves to build an imposing fort, the remains of which are still around here and there (pictured). The Dutch soon got wind of Malacca's prosperity and decided they wanted a piece of the action, too. So, they took over in 1640 and clearly decided to make the town as cute as possible. They did so with raging success, but their dominance only lasted a couple hundred years until the British, who were busy colonizing upper Malaya and working their way down, ended up taking it around the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

Dutch Square

The British capitalized on their rubber tree empire in northern Malaysia while hanging out in Malacca and Singapore until the Japanese bombed and invaded both territories in 1942. After the Allies won it back, power went back to the Brits until 1948, when the Federation of Malaya was proclaimed, followed by complete independence in 1957. History lesson courtesy of my notes from three of the aforementioned museums. 

The Straits of Malacca

And today Malacca is ruled by...tourists. But it was a nice change to be alongside Malaysian tourists, not just other white and Asian people. I wandered, took pictures, poked in the shops, and hung out with a Dutch girl from my hostel, and then it was time to say goodbye. I also had the pressure of my Fulbright application to finish up that evening in KL, so I needed to scope out options in case my hostel didn't have a solid internet connection. Silly thing to worry about, isn't it?

Unfortunately, I arrived back in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of a rainstorm, which continued on into the next morning and caused me to miss out of seeing pretty much anything beyond the bus station, that lovely 24 hour KFC with the really friendly worker girl, and my hostel. But the good news is, I can always come back. I did manage to sneak out at night in between the rains and Fulbright and try Malaysian satay, see a bit of Chinatown, and see the tops of the LK tower and the Petronas Towers. And I finished Fulbright, at about three in the morning. AND I made my plane the next day, despite three changes in public transportation. So life was good, despite a rushed Malaysia experience.

Actually, within about two hours into Kuala Lumpur I decided that Malaysia is the country I want to come back to for further travel the most. The islands on both the west and the east coast are supposed to be really beautiful, and through a series of misfortunes I just seemed to keep missing parts of it I had been looking forward to, especially in the north. So, this trip was a nice little introduction en route to Bali, and now I know what to do when I come back, along with whatever unexpected surprises will come my way. 

Last glimpse of Kuala Lumpur

I'm on the island of Bali now, folks, so I hope you enjoy your weekend! Take care!

Koh Phi Phi

Koh Phi Phi is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. I still think the beach on Boracay Island, Philippines, is the winning beach, but Phi Phi (pronounced fee fee) takes the cake for island beauty. Its karst topography resembles Halong Bay in Vietnam, but when sticking out of the middle of crystal clear, aqua blue waters instead of green…it wins again. The water, the palm trees, the hills, the bay, the beach – KPP has it all. I actually hadn’t been planning to visit any of the islands in Thailand on this trip, but when the girls, who were flying out of Phuket a few days after Bangkok, decided they wanted to return to Phi Phi, I made a split decision to tag along with them, even though I only had two days to do it before catching my train to Malaysia. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

So, we took our final overnight bus journey from Bangkok to Phuket, during which I watched 'The Beach', with Leonardo DiCaprio, on my computer. I hadn’t seen it before, but I knew it had been filmed on the island Koh Phi Phi Ley, which is only a km or so from Koh Phi Phi Don, where we were headed. Ley is actually a national park, so no one is allowed to stay there other than campers, but it’s popular to take boat trips over to Maya Bay, where The Beach was filmed. The girls said it was a pretty overrun touristy boat trip, however, so when someone pointed out the TINY little white strip that you could see as we passed KPP Ley on the ferry and said that was Maya Bay, I decided that was good enough for me. But I’m getting ahead - the movie definitely got me excited for the island, and I had no idea how beautiful it would actually be in person.

In the morning we crossed the tiny little land bridge connecting the island of Phuket to Thailand, and then it was just a short journey south to the ferry terminal. We bought our tickets and boarded the two hour ferry to the island. We took advantage of the ride to sunbathe and meet other travelers. It was a perfect, sunny day out and the water was a deep, intense blue, which only heightened as we got closer to the island. We turned the corner around the rocks and…there it was.

The little town was adorable – dive shops, souvenier stalls, guesthouses, and restaurants. We stayed in a dorm room hostel for about ten dollars, a place the girls already knew about. Did you notice the almost triple jump in price from the place Sara and I stayed in Koh Chang? The price of tourism to pay. After dumping our stuff we – what else? - hit the beach.

I won’t torture you back in MN and WI right now with more description – just know we had a fantastic beach day, which led into a fun night out, both bar hopping and on the beach, where fire dancers and all night DJs lit up the night all the way into the early morning.

The next day I had to go. That sucks, I know, but I still had most of the day to enjoy the beach and hanging out with the girls. I had debated staying one more night but it would sacrifice one day of Malaysia, which had already been shortened as it was, and I knew it was time to move on. I said goodbye to the girls, who turned into wonderful travel buddies and friends since the day we met in Vietnam. We’re now discussing the possibility of doing South America together – I already have my ticket, so it’s just a matter of them deciding to come along.

With that, I left them in probably the best place you could ever say goodbye, picked up my stuff, and set off for the ferry pier. I was on my own again, and now I had a little over five weeks left of my trip. I spent the ferry, which I took to Krabie, not Phuket, just sitting, listening to music, and watching the sunset over the water, thinking about all I had done and seen. It was still just a little too far away to start thinking about home, but still too sad to think about Korea because I missed it so much. I had plenty of recent memories to start thinking about instead. However, I was now over halfway through my dream trip – I only hoped I was appreciating it enough as it passed by like lightning speed.

Goodbye Thailand!

Bonus Blog: Biking to Burma

Bonus Blog: Biking to Burma.

Or 'Motorbike to Myanmar,' if you prefer to be politically correct. Either way, I went there. On a motorbike. By myself. Sounds a bit crazy, I know, but I'm going to prefer to call it 'adventurous' instead.

Remember in China when I had that thought of 'this is all too easy?' Well, though I had certainly faced many difficulties in the previous six weeks, I still felt as though I needed to challenge myself in some way on this trip, especially as I sat in tourist cafes, sipping on coffees and people watching. While that was lovely, of course, I wanted to push my limits. So, in Cambodia, after hitching a ride on the back of a motorbike, I thought a motorbike trip would be feasible, fun, and a very independent step for me to take as a traveler.

My opportunity presented itself when I reached Chiang Mai. (Forgot to post this before Bangkok - it happened first) I had three days to myself, and knew once the girls came I would be with them nonstop, so as I was researching the possibilities of a trip up to the border to see the Golden Triangle, I decided to avoid the hassle with stringing little bus trips together and just go for it.

Then I read about a popular visa run that many foreigners do to Myanmar to renew their Thai visa- apparently it was possible to go into the border town across from Thailand for two weeks while the authorities keep your passport, or you could just stay a couple of hours and do some shopping, then go back to Thailand.

One of the main reasons I had wanted to go to the Golden Triangle - notorious as the historical opium smuggling outpost, where the Mekong River merges to create a three way border between Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar - was to see Myanmar, so when I saw the possibility to actually go into the country, I thought why not?

Chiang Rai clock tower

So, I did my research, packed a day trip bag, left my backpack at the hostel that I was paying three dollars a night for anyways, and set off for my adventure. To save myself about five hours on the bike I took a bus to Chiang Rai, where I found a room and rented a bike for 24 hours, about 12 dollars. My practice session around little Chiang Rai that evening was a good orientation - my drivers training took about 5 minutes, and way more exciting than drivers ed back home. It took me about four times around the block of only making left turns (they drive on opposite sides of the street, surprisingly not that weird to adjust to) before I braved a right turn across traffic. Success. I was ready. After a nice little stroll through the night market and a pad Thai dinner with some girls from the guesthouse, I headed to bed, excited but nervous for what lay before me the next day.

Next day. 6 am. Go time. After some 7-11 coffee to get me going, I packed my bag in the little seat trunk, took a deep breath, and got started. My plan was to stay as far on the left as possible, go as slow as I needed to and let people pass me, and I knew I could always turn around if I had to.

But, once I got myself on the highway and stationed in the left shoulder lane, and slowly increased to about 50 km an hour...I absolutely loved it. I could pull over whenever I wanted, go wherever I wanted, and do it all my way. Freedom! The roads were perfect - not too busy but enough people around for help if something happened. And it wasn't even weird that I was cruising on the wrong side of the road.

My hour and a half passed by quickly, and before I knew it I was in the border town of Mae Sai. The highway literally ends at the border, so after locking the bike, all I had to do was pay 500 baht ($16) and surrender my passport while the authorities gave me a temporary identity card. And with that, I walked my way into Burma.

I wasn't alone - the crossing is a pretty hopping place for Thai and Burmese merchants selling goods or, like the coffee shop girl I chatted to, Thais who cross to work in Burma in the morning, then go back in the evening. I was surrounded by shops, tents, and people, with cars and motorbikes zipping around me.

I spent about three hours just walking around, taking a few pictures, and just observing. To me, Burma was a bit of a cleaner version of India, minus the cows and Hindu temples plus some Buddhist monks. It was also less affluent as Thailand, evident as soon as the border was crossed. Sidenote: most of the monks wore crimson robes, to contrast the orange of Thailand and Laos. There were more motorbikes on the streets than cars, and lots of moms taking there kids to school. I was definitely the only white person around, so even though I'd been stared at all over Asia, I figured this staring would be more for curiosity's sake than anything. I took it upon myself to be a good ambassador and proceeded to give friendly smiles to most stares, because who wants to look mean when they could look happy?

I did receive quite a few stares, but also many friendly smiles and 'good mornings!' in return. But it wasn't until I took a pit stop in a nice little store to buy a notebook and check out the imports that I realized what some of the staring was coming from. I caught the salesgirl motioning frantically to another worker with her hand way above her head when I remembered something. I'm super tall compared to 98 percent of the Asian population, something she had no shame in mimicking to her co-worker. Funny how I forget that sometimes.

Some further observations of Burma included seeing advertisements for local Myanmar beer, (nope, didn't try any - it was 8 am) seeing men wearing the traditional white shirt and a longyi (like a sarong skirt), which I remembered reading about in a book, and the amount of English signs until I remembered it was a former British colony - duh. As I wandered the markets near the border I realized they were mostly Thai products. I chatted with the coffee shop girl and bought a couple things, but soon had to move on - my adventure wasn't over yet.

Next up was the Golden Triangle, another 45 minute drive from Mae Sai. I followed the signs (it was incredibly easy to get around due to the well marked signs in Thai and English) and drove through beautiful lush green fields and rolling hills. The sun was shining, I was on a motorbike, and life was good. I got a little nervous as I got closer to the river, as the roads started getting hilly - wasn't sure how much it could take, as well as how much of it I could take - so just as I reached the top of the biggest hill and considered taking a different route...I was rewarded with a beautiful view of the Mekong and a sign saying Welcome to the Golden Triangle. It was fascinating to be there, and to actually see its existence. I had had a crash course in opium history from a museum I had visited the day before in Chiang Rai, but I knew that I would definitely need to learn more.

In Thailand, with Laos across the river.

After the Triangle I headed back to Chiang Rai via a different route, creating a little triangle of my own. The rest of the drive was just as scenic, with an added bonus of driving along the Mekong border with Laos for a stretch. I made it back around 3 pm, returned the bike, then hiked over to the bus station to get a ticket back to Chiang Mai - the girls were due to arrive the next morning. The next day was also the halfway point of my trip - as I sat on the bus I tried to think back to all I had done, seen, and learned since I'd left Korea. I ended up falling asleep before I could think of it all, but I knew for certain that my experiences had definitely helped me grow not only as a person, but as a world citizen and a traveler  With this in mind, as I looked ahead and began the second half of my journey south that day, from Burma to Bangkok, from the islands of Thailand to Malaysia, and then from Bali to Australia, I could only hope that the second half would be just as amazing as the first had been.

Adventure success. Until next time, Burma.

Note: my trip probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't read the excellent travel blog. I sent them an email thanking them for the inspiration and details regarding how to get there. Just goes to show a little research goes a long way. I hope in the future I can help fellow travelers as much as I've been helped by people like these two!

One Night in Bangkok

One Night in Bangkok.

Everything is bright in Bangkok. Whether the shiny mosaics on the temple and palace walls, the cheap trinkets and souvenirs on the tourist haven of Khao San Road, or the endless neon signs that come out at night - Bangkok is meant to be seen, no matter what you do there.

We arrived in Bangkok after yet another thrilling overnight bus trip, and had approximately 36 hours in the city until we had to go catch the next one to Phuket. I'd say we made the most of it.

Cecelia and Jen had already been in Bangkok for a couple of days, so I let them lead the way and show me how to get into the city from the bus station. We arrived on Khao San Road, the Itaewon of Thailand (the main touristy Korean shopping street that caters to Western tourists more than anything else.) Also doubles as Party Central for backpackers and foreigners. We stayed in a a cheap dorm room right off of KSR for about six dollars a night. As soon as we dumped our bags we formulated our plan. I wanted to see the National Museum and the Royal Palace, Jen wanted to see the Royal Palace and Chinatown, and Cecelia, who had already done the Palace, wanted to go shopping in Chinatown. Solution? Jen and I would go to the Royal Palace and meet Ceci in the afternoon, and I would do the National Museum the next day while the girls shopped.

So, we all walked towards the river together, where Ceci could catch a boat ferry (cheaper than a taxi!) to Chinatown and Jen and I could walk to the Palace. Turns out KSR is quite close to the heart of old Bangkok, which was actually only founded as a major capital city in 1785, just a little after the formation of the United States of America. However, Thai culture had been around for centuries before Bangkok – the location was all that had changed.

So, everything is old Bangkok was centered around the river – Chinatown, the Palace, the major temple complexes, and the merchant streets. I learned all of this at the museum the next day, so I’ll save the history for a bit later. Jen and I enjoyed the Royal Palace, which, as in all Asian countries, actually means ‘complex of pretty buildings, none of which are large or significant enough to constitute as a palace.’ But, it was where the king and his family had hung out, so I guess it constituted as royal. It was definitely impressive – huge, tall, glittering buildings embellished with glass mosaics, gold leaf, and semiprecious stones. We enjoyed walking around, admiring, and taking pictures among all the tourists doing the same thing.

However, it was super hot out, and neither of us had slept very well on the overnight bus – we knew we had a night out ahead of us, so we decided to save Chinatown for the next day, skipped out on the other temple we were supposed to see, and headed back to Khao San Road. We had lunch and then relocated to a coffee shop, where we could chill, do research for our next destination, catch up on e-mails, and relax. Once again, I was reminded of the importance of taking chill days – it’s hard to do while traveling, because it’s easy to feel guilty for not sightseeing in a new place, but extremely necessary.

So, refreshed and ready to go, we all regrouped at the hostel in the evening, showered and got ready, then took a taxi across town to the Banyan Hotel, a much-too-fancy place for our grubby selves (good thing we cleaned up well) with the intention to have a rooftop drink at Vertigo, an open-air restaurant on the 59^th floor, for panoramic views of the city.

Due to traffic we missed the actual sunset, but we were able to see the city light up as dusk fell. Our drinks were ridiculously expensive, but fun to splurge on as we enjoyed the perfect weather in the perfect setting for our night. From there, it was back to Khao San Road, where we met up with a friend of mine from Korea, living there now, and we all had a ton of fun eating, drinking, and hanging out with other travelers we met along the way. That's all you need to know about that night. 

The next day we were a bit slow moving, and I went through some frustrations trying to get a train/flight booked for the next leg of my trip. I had to remind myself to be patient, and that I was lucky to be able to be booking flights from my computer in my hostel at all – things I worry I take for granted too much sometimes. After two hours of Internet reloading and a Skype call I was all set, and had about five hours to explore Bangkok on my own while the girls went shopping in Chinatown.

So, I walked myself back past the palace complex and visited Wat Pho, a beautiful temple grounds that Jen recommended I see. I have no idea of the significance of these funny looking things poking out of the ground, but I know they were really pretty and all over the place! Wat Pho’s major claim to fame is the Reclining Buddha, a massive gold structure about 46 meters long. It was just as I finished snapping my pics that the rain started, so I had to exit quickly to get to the Museum before it down-poured  The nice thing about traveling in the rainy season is that you kind of expect the afternoon rains, so if you plan accordingly you can do all your indoor stuff while it rains, and do all the picture/outdoor stuff in the morning while it’s sunny. Worked for me, at least.

Cheap Pad Thai - a must in Bangkok.

The National Museum was really impressive – held in the former Royal Palace, so it was huge, and held so many artifacts I didn’t even have time to see all the rooms. I spent most of my time in the history wing, reading about the development of Thailand and its people, taking notes along the way (yes, I’m one of those people). Basically the Thai people, who most likely migrated from southern China, have inhabited the area since the early millenium, and rose to become one of the most powerful empires in the land. Its most powerful era was the Ayutthaya period, which rose to dominate the neighboring Khmer (Cambodian) empire around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and fought incessantly with the Burmese to their left. Thailand is the one country in Southeast Asia to never have been colonized, a fact they are fiercely proud of, and should be. When the French started their formation of Indochina, they left Thailand alone as a buffer state from Britain, who was encroaching upon Indochina from the West through India and Burma. To avoid fighting the British, and vice versa, they decided to leave Thailand as neutral grounds, though Thailand had to make nice with both countries to avoid getting taken over.

Today, Thailand is doing pretty well for itself – the Chakri dynasty, founded in 1782 along with the foundation of Bangkok – is on its ninth King Rama. If you don’t know what King Rama IX looks like, go to Thailand and walk around just about any major city or even inside any formal building and you should see him, dressed in his royal splendor, alongside his wife in a picture on the wall. No joke. They love their king, and it is borderline criminal punishment worthy to speak badly about the king in public.

So, after attempting to leave the Museum, being dumped on by the rain (it was just waiting for me to leave safe shelter), and running back to chill in the café for a half hour, I was done with Bangkok, for the time being. As always, I’m glad I came and saw a little bit of it, as it is better than nothing at all. 

Last stop in Thailand: Koh Phi Phi! 

Thailand Round 2

As I crossed the border from Laos and entered Thailand once again, I had a sense of happiness and familiarity. There were nicely paved roads, lined with power lines, with the usual marts and stores in the towns. Paved streets. 7-11s. I was back.

Of all the Southeast Asian countries I've been in, I think Thailand is the easiest transition country - its strange enough to make you realize you're in Asia, but familiar enough to help you ease into traveling. It's also the most prosperous of the four countries, and is the only one to not have been colonized by a Western power nor turned Communist. I'd say it's hard to find someone who has spent time in Thailand and not want to smile when they think of it, whether it's because of the food, the people, the islands, the coconuts, or the scenery. In short, Thailand has a lot to offer.

But, it has a lot to offer in different ways. The North, with its strong Therevada Buddhist influence, mountains, and hill tribes, is known to have a very peaceful and calm way of life. Contrast this with the chaos of Bangkok, or the island lifestyle (which ranges from party to hippie to untouched to touristy) and you’ve got yourself a very diverse, but equally cool all around country.

As a result, I'll have to be more prolific with my postings, as each part of Thailand I went to was a different kind of experience. So, let's start with the North.

I headed straight to Chiang Mai from Laos, with the intention to stay there for about a week a use it as a base for some day trips and excursions. The girls, who were a couple days behind me in Laos, were planning to meet there, so I was on my own to explore a bit first.

Chiang Mai, the former Lanna (Northern Thai culture) kingdom's capital, has retained a lot of its old time royal status, manifested by its old city walls (see left) and moat, its impressive golden temples, and its beautiful monasteries. However, it's also turned into one of the most sought after tourist destinations in the north, so its former royal presence is juxtaposed with a multitude of guesthouses, cafes, restaurants, and shops. Which, of course, makes for a pretty happy tourist, for the most part.

I was wiped out as I arrived in Chiang Mai, plus the weather was rainy, so I decided to call a mental health day and check out the many coffee shops while I caught up on some things. Used bookstores - check. Night market - check. Cheap Thai food and coffee on every street - check. Fruit smoothie stands at every corner - check. 7-11s on every corner – check. Chiang Mai treated me very well. The girls met up with me a couple of days later, and after showing them around a bit and catching up, we planned out our days and realized we'd have to rush some things - and would have to leave the next day for a two day trip four hours north to Pai.

In Pai our main intention was to scout out our excursion options. Thailand is full of 'experiences' such as trekking, waterfall trips, white water rafting, zip lining, you name it. The girls had been looking forward to elephant trekking since they had arrived in Asia, and were so enthusiastic about it that I, who would have never imagined this, actually paid up to ride and swim with elephants the next day. You only live once, right?

And now I can include elephant riding on my list of firsts. I must admit, I don't think of myself as typically daunted by animals, but I felt something that may have borderlined slight terror as I climbed up the side of my elephant, pulling on its EAR to help me up and swing my leg over. Getting on an elephant is not as easy as it looks, my friends. And once I was up - it still wasn't easy. We chose to ride without a seat, so basically bareback, and as we took off for our two hour 'trek' I found myself perched directly on its neck, with the ears flapping back on my legs here and there (which means it's happy, I learned) Comfortable? Not really. But was I complaining? Nope.

So it was pretty cool to be riding an elephant (I kind of thought it was like riding a really big, but slow and wrinklier, horse). My favorite part was when we got to take them down to the river and play with them in the water. By play, I mean get sprayed at, splashed at, and thrown off into the water. It was a blast.

Unfortunately, we had to leave Pai the very next day, so we didn't get to explore much more. I think tourism has exploded there in the past few years, and though it was a lovely little town, we were definitely expecting less tourism - the story for quite a few 'hidden gems' in Thailand, it seems.

On our last day in Chiang Mai we were able to spend almost a full day exploring, taking pictures, and getting ready for our next stop: Bangkok.

Laos

"The new Raven flew to war over terrain unlike anything he had ever seen before. Mountains erupted out of a sea of green jungle, some shaped like cones with sharp jagged edges, others thin as knife blades...No one could fail to recognize that this was a place of very great beauty."

This quote, taken from Christopher Robbin's book "The Ravens," about the 'secret' CIA air war in Laos in the 1960s, is the best description of Laos I have found. Verdant green and hauntingly beautiful, it is marked with modern poverty yet riches from the past. The contrast between the rich and poor is stunning. But most striking about the country are its citizens: the people there are warm, kind, and peaceful, continuing in their Buddhist traditions despite the ravages of war only a few decades before. After crossing the border from Vietnam at 7 am, my first impression of Laos was: this.

The views only got better as my overnight bus journey progressed from the border to Luang Prabang, about another 12 hours. I was content with just laying on my seat (didn't really have a choice, due to the fact that it was a sleeper bus and my seat was horizontal) and watching out the window. I tried to snap pictures out of the window but it was just too difficult to capture the beauty from a bus seat. When I say the contrast between the rich and the poor is striking, that was based on my observations of little roadside villages like these, with kids playing in the dirt, walking down the side of the road with buses zipping by, and hanging clothes out to dry in front of the houses. I thought some of the conditions were similar to what I had observed in Nepal, though not as bad. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I would reach my destination.

I arrived in Luang Prabang, the former royal capital of Laos and situated right on the Mekong, in the evening and acquainted myself with the night market as I walked down the main street to find a guesthouse. The night market was lovely, laid out along the main street, lined with shops and cafes and restaurants. Quite the contrast from the roadside villages. At the market I did a little wandering, concluded that I wanted to buy everything, then settled for a mango-pineapple smoothie. So began my three days in Luang Prabang. 

Luang Prabang was a wonderful place to chill out for a couple of days - I had been busy every day with the girls, so I felt like I deserved a bit I a break. I went for morning runs along the Mekong, tried out lots of cute little cafes and coffee shops, wandered the market, and took lots of pictures - everything was so pretty! Luang Prabang has dozens of temples, home to the many orange clad, shaved head Buddhist monks that can probably compete with tourists for dominating the town. A bit about the monks: They are of all ages, and they live at the monasteries, rising around 4 am for prayer before their first meal of the day. At sunrise they leave the temples and walk around collecting alms, or food donations from the townspeople. I loved this part of Buddhist culture- the monks aren't supposed to own anything, not even food, so their survival depends on the community. The monks stand in front of the people, who are on their knees and bowing their heads in prayer after giving them food. Unfortunately, I've heard that tourists have become extremely disrespectful while observing this daily offering at sunrise when they take pictures and even buy food to try to give the monks. Monks and Lao (along with Thailand and Myanmar) culture go hand in hand, and they simply blend into the community (figuratively, because they actually really stand out in their bright orange robes) so much so that one of my favorite games, monk spotting, got a little boring after a while because they were all over the place.

Aside from monk spotting, one of my favorite parts was a trip to the National Museum, which was actually just the former royal palace converted into a museum. What interested me most was that the throne room (we couldn't take pictures but it looked similar to this temple wall) was covered floor to ceiling with glass and mirror mosaic pieces, all depicting scenes from everyday life. The Laotian life seemed to be centered around nature and Buddhism, and I thought it was a testament to the culture that in the throne room the king could always be reminded of his people and hopefully work to preserve such a peaceful existence.

So that was neat. Another of my favorite things I did in Laos was spend two hours of one of my evenings at a place called Big Brother Mouse. No relation to Orwell, but everything to do with literature, Big Brother Mouse is a non-profit that helps spread literacy to children and remote villages in Laos. By translating, illustrating, and publishing popular stories into easily readable books, both in Lao and English, the organization is able to introduce literacy to Lao children, some of who have never learned to read nor seen a book in the written Lao language. So what was I doing there? Aside from making a few purchases and a donation, I actually showed up to be a volunteer English tutor. By setting aside two two hour sessions a day, anyone who wants to come can either volunteer their services in English, or come to practice their English. It was very informal but really fun, I ended up chatting with a high schooler who was boarding in the town to go to school, and biked about an hour home every weekend to see his family.

To me, one of the best parts of it was that through the pretext of practicing English, I was able to grill him. His name was Sai, and I asked him all about on Lao life. I asked him tons of questions about his school life (more similar to America than Korea, but still way more studying than the States) and everyday routines, as well as answered some questions about America. Towards the end of the eveing another high school student joined us, and as he tried to ask me for tips on English pick-up lines, I was reminded once again that kids are the same all over the world. It was a great cultural/language exchange, and I would have done it again if I were staying a bit longer. 

But, as always, I had to move on, and this time I had a very important and pressing deadline: to meet my friend Krista in Vientiane, the 'capital' of Lao PDR, though it seems as much a capital city as Henning, Minnesota does. It seemed to have about the same amount of traffic, too. 

Though you wouldn’t have guessed it, Vientiane was hopping about forty years earlier, partially due to the American CIA presence as they conducted a full blown air war in Laos. Starting with training the French, then passing off to the Americans once the French ducked out, there was a full sized army of Hmong (one of the hill tribes of Laos) that were being trained by Western military to fight against the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh (Northern Vietnamese forces) were using the Ho Chi Minh Trail to bring goods and equipment from the North to their Southern compatriots, the Viet Cong. Though the Vietnamese were flat out banned from using Laos for transport, they lied and denied it through their teeth, leaving the Hmong no choice but to try to fight and push them back. In addition, the Hmong were fighting against the Pathet Lao, the Laotion Communists, who were receiving help from the Viet Minh. So what were the Americans doing there? Since we were banned from stationing ground troops and fighting on the land, we did precisely the opposite: we fought in the air, assisting the Hmong troops and pilots with additional bombing and combat. But absolutely no one was supposed to know. 

If you’d like to learn more, the book I referenced before, The Ravens, was a fascinating read about the small, elite group of fighters who flew 12 hour combat days side by side with Hmong fighter pilots, helping them defend their own land. The pilots, known as Ravens, who usually started off flying in Vietnam, then volunteered to fly in a place they knew absolutely nothing about, felt that even though they were flying clandestinely, “there was something simple and straightforward in Laos to fight for: the Ravens were there to help the Meo [Hmong] resist a traditional enemy who had invaded their country and threatened their survival.” The more I learned about Laos and its history, the more real it became as I actually spent time there.

My reunion with Krista was wonderful, and I was so thrilled that she flew all the way to Vientiane for the long holiday weekend she had off in Korea. She briefly met Jen and Ceci, who had been there for two days already and were once again hopping ahead of me, and would meet me in Thailand. We had a great time exploring the town together, with plenty of emphasis on testing out all the yummy bakeries and cafes. Because Laos is a former French colony, it still retains much of the influence, including...baked goods and coffee. Doesn't that just put a smile on your face? Fresh baguettes, cheese, pastries… We even discovered a place that sold freshly baked pumpkin pie, something I've been lacking in my life for nearly three years now.

So, as far as sightseeing goes, we started our first full day with a lovely riverside walk, followed by a visit to what we called the Arc de Triomph, where we climbed up inside to get great views of the city. We admired all the pretty temples and pretty French architecture while walking around, and quickly became acquainted with the streets and shops, as there is only a small network of streets most people stay on.

We also visited the National Museum (subpar, but we still learned some stuff and made it fun) and tried out the local beer and Laotian barbecue before visiting the night market- it was a busy day, but it didn't feel busy because the atmosphere is so chill in Vientiane. No crowds, no motorbike traffic jams, and no incessant beeping - all you have to worry about while walking around are the stray animals hanging around.

The next day we rented bikes and did some excursions out to this cute little restaurant for breakfast, with fresh fruit and pancakes for breakfast, then biked out to one of the larger temple complexes a few km outside of the main area. The girl we met at our hostel also told us about this traditional Lao sauna and massage place, which sounded so enticing (she liked it so much she came back with us) that we ventured out there as well, a good 30 minute ride from our hostel, but so totally worth it. With fresh scents like eucalyptus floating around, we first hung out in a fire fueled steam room (seriously – the fire was underneath the wooden structure) and got nice and sweaty, before being hosed (not showered – hosed) off, all before massage time. The massage lasted about an hour and I swear it was the best one I’ve had in my life. Lao wins. After another delicious dinner and an industrial visit to the night market, our time together was nearly over! We purposely rose at sunrise to both maximize our time together before Krista flew out, and to see the monks. It was a sad goodbye, but we’ll likely see each other within the next year.

Since Krista was gone, I decided it was my time to go as well – where would I find a new place to eat, anyway? I packed up my bags, considerably lighter since Krista so valiantly offered to mail stuff home for me from Korea, and boarded yet another overnight border crossing bus, this time headed back to Thailand. And with that, my Lao adventure was over. I would definitely say that Lao was the gentlest, most relaxed, and most untouched place I had encountered so far. 

If you’d like to learn more about the volunteer organization Big Brother Mouse, here is their website. I encourage you to check it out at www.bigbrothermouse.com

Next up, Thailand!