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Greetings from Laos!
LC and I took a short flight from Hanoi, Vietnam to Luang Prabang in Laos. Laos is much less developed than Vietnam but also much more relaxed and calming. We found that we didn't have to dive from traffic just to cross the street, and spent many mornings walking down the streets of Luang Prabang with no where to go and just taking in the sights. On either side of the small town run two rivers and at the center is a small mountain topped by a monestary. Laos is dryer than Vietnam, being inland, but just as warm. Our first day was spent wandering the town visiting the king's palace and the many temples and booking tours for the following days. Luang Prabang is the place where novice monks are raised and trained in budism and the average age of the monks in the town appears to be around 12 years old. The food is a mix of southeast asia cuisines, with noodles and curries, and french pastries, like baguettes and croissants. Our first tour was at a working rice and organic vegetable farm. The "rice experience" was by far the most interesting and entertaining place on our trip so far. The tour takes you through each of the 14 steps to rice cultivation, harvesting and processing. LC and I got to drive a water buffalo to clear the land and then we got to plant a small rice paddy. It was a very muddy ordeal. After, we used a home-made furnace to shape and sharpen our sickles for the harvest. We walked to an older field and harvested the rice. Later, we removed the rice from the chaff(?) and once removed, we ground down the rice kernals in a huge, foot-powered mortar. We further ground down the rice into flour to be used for cooking. The whole experience was awesome. The next day was spent on the Mekong river via long boat. We visited a large cave used for buddist ceremonies, a village producing rice whiskey, and then took a trip out to a asian bear sanctuary and a huge waterfall that we later swam in. In addition to these tours, we spent time at the riverside cafes lounging during the day and running around the night market in the evening. We ate dinner at street side venders most evenings. LC loved the nutella crepes and the real trick to getting the best street food is to get there early right after the food has been cooked. We loved it!
After 5 days, we took a tuk-tuk out to the bus station for an overbooked and overcrowded night bus to the border of Laos. After waiting at the border for an hour with some other travellers, we took a long boat across the river into Thailand. A minibus drove us and a group of young girls from Calgary another four hours into Chiang Mai. We have been in Chiang Mai for a few days now and it was been incredible. More to come very soon!
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