Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Buddha Park, Vientiane

The first exhibit in Buddha Park
The sights in Vientiane were very limited. Aside from seeing the Presidential Palace, the Stupa, the Historical Museum and the Victory Monument, there was one other spot to see and it was about 25 KM outside of the city.

Inside the mouth are the 3 levels of life: Heaven, life on Earth and Hell.  It was very eery.
Buddha Park.

Which level do you think this is?
Buddha Park was not created all that long ago but it's actually a park, filled to the brim, with old rock Buddha statues, in all shapes and sizes.  In fact, looking at the park and the statues within the walls, it seems like the person who created it decided to choose all the random, off the wall, Buddha statues to display.  There is honestly no rhyme or reason behind which ones were chosen but they all seem to come together to create a very interesting sight to see.

Statues are everywhere



I really enjoyed Buddha Park.  Despite the park having no thought about which statue was where, I really thought all the statues were so neat and unlike any we had seen thus far.

 

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Drinking and Chilling in Vientiane

Monks crossing the sand bar in the Mekong River.  Thailand in the distance

We were lucky that after our first couple days on the Stray Asia bus, we got to jump off for 4 days in Vientiane.

The Presidential Palace
This means we did a whole lot of drinking (BeerLao, of course), eating great food, getting massages and staring at the fabulous Mekong River view.  Seriously, there really wasn't too much to do in Vientiane except for these things.

Eating a super spicy, very yummy, Tom Yam Gai soup
What was really neat, though, was seeing directly across the Mekong River into Thailand.  Looking across the water, the two countries seem so very close together.  In fact, there a few "friendship bridges" that combine the two countries together, for a fee of course.  These bridges were only constructed in the past few years as relations between the countries has always been a bit shaky.  We were told that the relationship between the two is now, finally, not as bad as it had been.

Allan and his ice cream
Vientiane, though, nice, was not a city Allan nor I could see ourselves wanting to visit again.  It's your typical city really: Pollution, noise, traffic, and people.  It was nice to get off the bus for a few days BUT the city itself was like any other.

Sunset over the Mekong River
Rooftop bars are the best
We did, though, have a nice time, as always.

 

Friday, December 20, 2013

The Most Religious and Sacred Site in Laos: The Stupa

The Stupa
Allan and I knew nothing about Buddhism before coming here. Nothing at all.

We knew that Laos was predominantly Buddhist but until coming here and seeing the culture and witnessing the local customs and ceremonies, we didn't quite understand exactly what it all meant.

Statue of the King
At this point, we've seen many glorious temples, stunning Buddha statues and we even took part in the Alms Ceremony, where the young monks receive food (every morning) from the townsfolk (it should be mentioned that the monks live exclusively on the food they receive from the locals and the food collected must last them all day.)  Though Allan and I are not Buddhist, we've really come to appreciate their customs and understand the importance of Buddha.

Of course, nothing prepares you for seeing the Stupa, up close.

Buddha statues lining the footpath
The Stupa itself was originally built in the 3rd century as a Hindu temple.  It has since been rebuilt numerous times with the last time being during the rule of the Khmer, as it fell into disrepair.  Some of the major architectural changes (that are apparent today) were created by the King back in the 16th century.  In fact, it's his statue that stands out front of the Stupa, proud and tall.

The reclining Buddha
The grounds of the Stupa are simply stunning with temples on either side.  Huge buddha statues line the walkways and footpaths giving the whole area a peaceful and serene feeling.

Gorgeous temple doors
It's truly a magical place.  I know I've been saying this a lot but it's true.  It's so different to walk around temples where the monks are walking around beside you, or even sitting on the ground, meditating.  See, though we get to walk through these temples, they are still active and in use.  In fact, a lot of monks have houses on these grounds and carry out their duties despite the grounds and temples being filled with tourists daily.

Allan and I and the reclining Buddha
The Stupa was an amazing site to see, that's for sure.


Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Climb to Xang Cave

The morning after Fat Monkey
First, I would like to say that I had no idea Laos had so many amazing caves and two, thank goodness for the Stray Asia company for planning our group outings around obscure, out of the way sites, like this cool mountainside cave.

Breakfast of champions
We wake up, the morning after Fat Monkey and no one is happy, or feeling well, or wanting to do anything but sit on the bus and drive to Vientiane. However, seeing as how the Stray company DOES NOT care that we are all feeling ill (thanks to you laughing gas and cheap vodka), we are herded to a mountainside cave with a long set of stairs.  Despite the treacherous climb, we're all very happy the company forced us into it...ha.

The orange bridge
It's a long climb
To get to the cave, you walk across a rickety orange bridge to cross the river, past a local market and up another LONG flight of stairs that are etched in the rocky mountainside.

The cave doors
The inside cave grotto
Just beautiful 
Once up top, you are greeted to a gorgeous, fully lit, pathway through a beautiful cave.  As you're twisting and turning through the caverns, a praying area is revealed where you kneel down, shake a container of numbered sticks while thinking of a wish for Buddha at the same time.  Once a numbered stick falls out of the container, you grab a note with that number on it.  The note corresponds to a reading from Buddha himself.  I, of course, tried it and Chit, our local guide, translated the message for me.  I will say that my note was not the best but it was nice to be involved in a ritual that all the locals do from time to time.

Allan's GQ model shoot
Since this trip, both Allan and I have really come to appreciate caves and trekking.  There are so many of them here, and a lot of them weren't discovered until the late 90' and early 00's.  It's crazy to think about all the other caves out there that have yet to be explored.

The swimming hole outside the cave entrance
Christina and Allan - The Spelunkers???  Has a nice ring to it I think....ha

 

The Journey Begins: Stray Asia through Laos

Early morning bus ride.  Waiting for our bus at the coffee shop
I heard of Stray Asia while searching for others who have bused through Laos.

Up popped this HUGE orange website called Stray Asia.  The slogan being "flexible bus network for adventurous travellers".  Well, of course, Allan and I are adventurous so this must be the bus for us.

The bus network is designed that you can hop-on and hop-off wherever you want.  Once you've hopped off, you call the company to arrange a time/date to hop back on the bus and continue your travels through Laos.  After researching the areas in Laos we wanted to go, we knew this company was the right pick for us.

Our first hop-on was in Luang Prabang.  We arrived at the meeting point for 7 am, bags in tow, and met with our first Tour Leader, Josh and our Local Guide, Chit.  They inform us that our bus is parked a ways away and to get to it we have to walk, as the bus is not allowed to park in the city.

The big orange Stray bus
After about 15 or so minutes, we wait at the spot the bus is to come get us and across the field, you can see the big orange bus in the distance.  YAY, our Stray bus is here.

The gorgeous Laos mountainside view
Oh, one other thing I should mention.  The Stray Asia tour is planned perfectly, as each day you're busing, you stop every two hours for snacks and bathroom breaks.  Also, the bus only has about 15 seats so there is never too many people and it's a great way to get to know everyone who's travelling with you.

Our first, of many, bathroom stops
We all board the bus, which is headed to Vang Vieng, or tubing capital of Laos.  Seriously, you rent a big inner tube and float down the river, all the while stopping at bars located on the riverfront to drink cheap beer and socialize with other tubers.

Fabulous view, oh, and me of course
The ride to Vang Vieng was excrutiating.  If the road had been straight it would only have taken about 3 hours.  However, since the road has more curves and drop-offs than I have ever seen before, the journey, which takes you up through the mountain villages, took about 6.5 hours.  It was really long and gravol was absolutely required to make it.

One of the main streets in Vang Vieng
Allan is ready to kayak
Vang Vieng itself is a party town.  Looking around at all the dirt roads and bars, all you can see are tourists and young tourists at that.  Allan and I opted to go kayaking instead of tubing, though we still managed to stop off at the same bars as the tubers along the way.

Our first bar stop
Our guesthouse - We loved the twin beds!
After our kayaking adventure, we went back to our little guesthouse and met up with the rest of our Stray Tour friends.  We all went out for dinner together and were given a free whiskey bucket to drink.  (Umm, by whiskey bucket I mean a 2 liter coke bottle cut in half as they have no buckets.)  We all took turns drinking whiskey from the coke bottle and man, was it strong.  We then proceeded to go to a bar called Fat Monkey.

The iconic whiskey bucket
Balloon time
This bar was awesome.  It was almost devoid of patrons aside from our group and the special of the day was laughing gas.  Seriously, I'm not kidding.  They fill up balloons with laughing gas, you suck it back and enjoy a crazy, slightly buzzzed feeling for about 15 minutes.  OH, and I got the bartender to give me his purple Fat Monkey shirt as a souvenier.  Yes, it was that kind of night.  Needless to say, we all had a great night and were none to happy about the early morning bus ride to Vientiane.

You know it's a good night when....

 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Big Brother Mouse: Teaching English

The office of Big Brother Mouse
On our last day in Luang Prabang, we decided to do something a bit different.

Not that our usual of eating food, drinking local beer and meeting new people is boring, far from it, but we had decided as soon as we got to Laos, that we wanted to help out where we could, especially if the opportunity arose.

And, the opportunity really did come up.

Allan and I had walked past a little business called Big Brother Mouse a few times on our adventures.  After looking into it in more detail, we realized that they are needing English speaking tourists to come in and help the young monks and students with their English, both conversationally and grammatically.

We arrived early, 8:30 am, to a fairly empty building.  Inside were about three young monks.  We had been assured that by 9 am, the place would be completely full with students and tourists alike.  And, by 9, it was absolutely packed.

Allan and the young temple monk
Allan and I spent the majority of our time with two different kids: One was a young temple monk while the other was a young student.  Allan and the young monk really hit it off and spent their time talking about mountain biking (Allan even showed him a few biking videos) and I spent a good two hours with the young student, helping him with his English exercises.

Me and my English student
The company, Big Brother Mouse, was actually created by a Laos monk shortly after he finished school.  See, up until a few years ago, the majority of the Laos people didn't read any extracurricular books.  They didn't read them because they weren't available.  This man started this company to give other children and people in Laos reading materials.  The company creates it's own books, written in Laos, and distributes them to village towns by means of book parties.  Some of the kids that receive these books have never owned a book before, ever.

The cutest little dog who reminded me of our dog, Salsa
In addition to book clubs, they also host English classes.  Hence why we were there.  It was one of the most humbing experiences of my life, and one of the most rewarding.  To be honest, it made me really think about moving to a different country to teach English and live a simpler life.....hmmmmmm.

 
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