No Internet but Amazing Natural Wonders

We began our internet cut off in the town of Na Hin. This was a wonderful place to be.
Such a village feel, No English spoken and no tourism infrastructure.
We were in Na Hin to take a tuktuk to the Konglor cave.
The Konglor Cave is 7.5 km long. Traveling by BOAT on the river that flows through the cave. At times the cave reaches 90 meter wide and 100 meters high. When the guide had his light shining on the walls of the cave it looked like there were just more and more tunnels and holes to get lost in. A few time we got out of the boat to take it over small waterfalls and over little islands all inside one cave. The most incredible cave I have ever been in.

After NaHin we headed to the 4,000 Islands. On the way there we met 3 people we grouped up with to do everything together. It was so much fun hanging out with them.
The 5 of us made it to the 4,000 Islands after a rough night bus. We stayed on the Island of DonDet and biked to DonKhong two days in a row to see the Irrawaddy Dolphins soon to be extinct because China is building a dam. We also biked to the wonderful waterfalls and even went for a swim! After swimming near the cascading water we found a beach at the end of the trail just 200 meters from the first stop. We again had to stop and jump in the water. Well, some guys afraid of the puffer fish and the puffer fish rumors decided against the swim.

We saw the full moon on our day out to visit the dolphins.

WATERFALLS of Don Khong

before going in the water.

the waterfall massage.

After these two Islands Kevin and I split up from our 5 person crew and found our way to a town called Tadlo. Here was a town centered around a waterfall. We spent one day hiking up to the waterfalls and the more we hiked up a hill and around the falls the more falls we found. We swam with insanely brave children who used the falls as water slides. The little girls had to help me past a current because we were terrified of being swept downward. It was a beautiful day and the water was so nice and cold. We watched a local teen jump 20 meters from a rushing waterfall. I was so worried I wasn't going to see his head pop up from the water at the bottom. These are the things only the locals could get away with. We were going to stay in Tadlo for a few days and visit natives, villages and a coffee plantation, but we fled. We heard of two cases where tourists had their camera or bag stolen. These were such close cases where Kevin and I felt it could have been us, so we left town.

From Tadlo we took a tuk tuk to the main road. A bus to the Pakse KrongKai bus station. Walked to the main road to find a songtow instead. Caught a tuktuk 2 blocks away to a minivan stop. Took a minivan to the Laos - Thai border. Another minivan to Ubon and we couldn't find any bus tickets left to get to ChiangMai so we are in Ubon exploring for 24hours.

1 week later. Reunited with the internet.

Luang Prabang for the Falang and I cut my bangs

I probably spelled the word wrong earlier. We are still being called "falangs" which I thought was the Thai word for tourist. But, we are in Laos. Still tourists.

Anyway. After a bumpy, windy, SIX hour minivan ride to Luang Probang we made it. All of us queezy and sick from the driver driving WAY too fast on terribly windy roads...

We spent 1 hour looking for a decent priced guesthouse and we finally found something that fit our budget.

Tonight I cut my hair in the guest house bathroom.
Tomorrow we explore.

Plain of Jars I II and III

We went to Phonesavanh and were able to visit what is known as Plain of Jars site.

We visited 3 out of the 52 sites.

The terrible part of this is the other sites aren't open for visits because the locals in Laos are still working on clearing tons of bombs and "bombies" from the Secret War. The guilty country involved in dumping millions of bombs without telling their country THE UNITED STATES!!

So disappointed. I'm glad we could watch videos, learn more about what was carried out by the U.S. government and donate to the locals through MAG.

All around the Mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasle...

There is an ORGANIC Mulberry Farm in Vang Vieng.

delicious Mulberry shakes.

Vang Vieng LAOS Tubing

The cool kids do it.

The town is set up with one large company that transports you to the top of the river and you take a large tube sit in it and float all the way down.

A great way to spend the day.

Not only was is relaxing at times but the views of the cave structures the limestone mountains and locals all around.

Then we realized we would be charged extra money if we did not return the tube by 6pm so we paddled quickly and exhausted our energy doing so.

A little local boy helped pull us in to shore. Adorable until he demanded not only a tip but an expensive one! we gave him a dollar which is a lot for a little boy who pulled us for about 5 minutes.

A beautiful day spent on the Nam Song river.

Three days short of 7 months and three days in Lao

Today is our third day in Lao. After spending one night in NongKhai. Nongkhai is the border town between Thailand and Laos. In between is the Mekong river and it has a wonderful riverfront area.

Once we crossed the famous "Friendship Bridge" with a tuk tuk that was a mere 50Baht (less than $3) we filled out on the spot visas for Laos. Only to quickly get on the cheapest transport over to the Laos checkpoint on a local bus for a total of 30 baht (about$1). There were 3 or 4 main lines to have your passport and visas checked to get into Laos. I saw a side line filled with locals and we literally flashed our passports and zoomed by. Finally, we approached Laos soil. Our next task was to find transportation to Vientiane. This was the next major city and actually the capital of Laos. I was walking in front of Kevin and approached by a man offering minibus air conditioned immediate transport to Vientiane. This was quoted at 200Baht to 150Baht to 400baht total. This still was an expensive price rangin from $5 to $13. We are on a tight budget and for 22km.

In a matter of minutes there was a crowd of 8 to 11 men shouting out prices and circumstances like "we take you now" "we have air con" "cheap cheap." But we spotted one guy on the side of the whole crowd putting up 4 fingers indicated 80baht for the 2 of us. We were sold on a price of 2.60. It was a shared tuk tuk which is called a songtow in Thailand. This was fine because the driver agreed to take us to our hotel. We were SO satisfied to get from one side of Thailand to the capital of Laos for a mere $6 or $7.

The first day or so here I didn't understand the town. We went to a French Cafe. These are common because of the French influence still seen here today. While we were having lunch there were tons of beggars coming up to the door (not to actually enter the food establishment). They indicated they wanted food. This made us sad, but there was no way to help everyone.

The town is dusty and dry and it was such a quite town that reminded me of a wild west movie with an abandoned city. The only thing is, Vientiane is the capital. So, we went to the Thai embassy to get a 2 month Thai visa and we decided to rent bikes for the following day.

There is NO HOPE haggling with the tuk tuk drivers. Their stratedy in this city and from what I hear the whole country is a laminated print out of major sites and places with a fixed price. These prices are so inflated it is ridiculous. Kevin also read up on the way the tuk tuks are run in the city. Some books say it is very similar to a mafia. They all group up together and will not take anyone unless it is for the price they demand.

At one point when Kevin and I were trying to arrange a fair price and explaining to him that $1 USD for each km should be a fare price, the driver got out his hammock and hung it back up in this tuk tuk to lay down. It's a strict force and if the Laos mafia backs it up we can understand why they don't back down from their prices. This mafia is their workers union in a corrupt way.

Conclusion:

We rented 2 bikes for $4, picked up our passports from the Thai consulate and visited tons of temples in Vientiane. There is so much to see in this small town and it was so nice to sit back, pedal and soak in the dusty environment in a more peaceful way. Locals were constantly smiling. Probably because two white folk found a COMPLETELY cheaper way around the town. But most likely because it was entertaining to watch us maneuver in such a crazy place with random round abouts, one way streets and a mixture of cars, trucks and motorcycles. We were the minority in many ways and regardless the reason it was nice to receive so many smiles from locals.

We are nearing 7 months of travel with our backpacks. Today, I read an article about the possibility of backpacking forever. I would love to. It is non-stop exploring which in South America was sometimes tiring, but in South East Asia we have found some nice ways of balancing relaxation with sight seeing. It's been so much more natural to be on the road everyday and I do wonder if I could do this forever. I just have to pick up Rachum, stick her in my backpack and sneak her into hostels. Not really, Just dreaming.

The FULL Moon

The New Moon Party on Ko Pha Nang Island was just a 20 minute speedboat ride from Ko Samui.

It was nothing but beach fire shows, music and dancing. The main event was a HUGE flaming jump rope that everyone was attempting to jump WITHOUT getting burned. Everyone was covered in neon paint. At one point some girl handed me a bottle of white paint and a paint brush so I turned a handful of locals and tourists into cats. It was great to see how excited they were to be turned into a kitty with white face paint.

We really enjoyed the night lit by the full moon. Eventually, Kevin and I couldn't handle the same songs looping in the one area we chose to hang out. So, after scoping the length of the beach in each direction, we made our way to the dock to get our boat ride back.

Of course, everyone else wanted to go at this time too so we picked up some food and attempted the 3am boat instead.

I met a Thai local on the boat who started telling me about the practices of Buddhism. He concentrated on telling me about the 5 Precepts and which morals rules he has broken.

Soon, the boat stopped and I'm glad I wore flip flops because for the second time we had to step into the ocean knee-deep to get to the beach and into the minibus.

Made it back safe and sound.