How are we in Cambodia?

Just gonna keep things going here - racking up the internet cafe bill but I gotta catch up. Bussing down on a maybe-sketchy half local minivan (only because we slept in and missed the 8am regular bus...) got us to Don Det, 4000 Islands, still in Laos!! We arrived on the roadless-carless-tuktukless island at around 5pm... apparently bad timing because EVERYWHERE was full. People vacation during Chinese New Year, who knew?? Walking around for about an hour and a half with our giant backpacks, failing to find somewhere to stay, led us to the end of the guesthouses and the beginning of farms... not good. We paused for a minute to get out the trusty lonely planet when someone working at the Veggie Patch (an organic farm we had stopped in front of) came over and asked if we needed help. NICEST people. He lent me his bike to jet around to see if we could find anything... after a while, with good news, I returned back to collect my bags and Sarah to begin the 45-minute walk (in the dark) to our place. NOPE! I came back with news of a place but no need! While I was gone, the Veggie Patch's neighbour, John from Australia who was starting a guesthouse-teepee business, had offered for us to stay on his property, in his tent, for basically free. Um YES. walking 30 seconds instead of 45 minutes with giant bags? AND get a delicious dinner? YUP. So, we camped for 2 nights on Don Det! Hello farm animals. But this is why we had no power / internet access. There IS internet on the Island but its the WORST. Our one day there we rented bikes and scooted around Don Det and Don Khon, the neighbouring island, checking out waterfalls and dolphins... ok we didn't see any but we tried!!! Anyways - cheap + great camping in Laos!! Short stay though - very chill and relaxed - lonely planet says 'near flatline of calm' on the islands - I can see why!! Really it helped break up our journey to Siem Reap, where we are now!! Yesterday we left the Island at 8am and bussed about 1 hour to the Cambodian border... Sarah and I avoided the hassles and 'helpers' and just did our Visas oursleves.. ended up paying a little less than those who got someone to do it for them, but had the peace of mind of having our passports in our own hands. The border crossing went way better than we though - we were expecting the worst. So that was good! Done - in the country - relax for the 12 hour bus ride!!! Delayed at every stop, however, we arrived in Siem Reap at about midnight... with no place booked. We followed 2 British brothers we met on the bus to their hostel to see if there were rooms... no dice. The nicest tuk-tuk driver drove us around until about 1 in the morning until we found somewhere - for $17!!! NO. But we had to. First thing this morning we checked out and got a way better priced place, closer to town!! Housekeeping day. Tonight at 430 we are headed to ANGKOR WAT for sunset!! Free, apparently! and to buy our 3 day passes so secretly not free. DEFINITELY will update you after a look around here - hope all is well!!!

It's been a while...

But ONLY BECAUSE we haven't had access to (decent) internet for the last few days! But we'll get to that... Last I left you we were in Pakse sitting out a rainstorm in the internet cafe... well not much happened that day! Basically a giant nap after our night bus during a rainy afternoon, then a delicious Indian dinner. Oh but WAIT. We also booked a tour for 2 days in Pakse that involved ziplining, hiking, climbing, and staying in treehouses!! Amazing! On a whim, we booked it for the day following our arrival, figuring it would be much more exciting than the town! We started our journey at 8 in the morning, leaving Pakse for the Bolaven Plateau with 6 other people in our tour. The first day, we hiked (nice and easy) for a few hours, stopping for lunch at a waterfall! We had a Lao lunch of sticky rice formed into balls and dipped in various dishes... pretty tasty! After lunch we traveled the rest of the way to the treehouses over 8 ziplines! After 1 or 2 ziplines down, it began to DOWNpour. Fashioning a makeshift bag cover out of my giant emergency poncho I managed to keep my things mostly dry - myself, not so much. I'd say my raincoat is more water resistant than waterproof. Regardless of the rain, ziplining was awesome! We arrived at our treetop camp around 4pm - time to change into semi-dry clothes, hang everything else on a drying line, and snatch a spot by the fire. Strategically placed shoes and clothes were the decorations for the night. Dinner, served at the main platform, was fresh veggie rolls (amazing), chicken, steamed rice and veggies. Devoured. Everyone tucked in pretty early to their zipline-only accessible treehouses (outfitted with running water?) in preparation for the next day! Keeping warm, we slept in ALL our clothes, raincoats included. Slept GREAT in the outdoors! Next day we hopped over to the main building for some delicious breakfast in front of the waterfall in the SUN!! Yay! Our morning activity was a little but of a walk down into the canyon from where we were staying for a couple ziplines, then a visit to a waterfall. However, after everyone experienced the 450m long (endless!) zipline, we all opted to do it again; you can swim in a waterfall ANY day!! Morning was sweet. A quick trek back up to the main house (sweating) brought us to lunchtime after a quick rinse in the (closeby) waterfall! So good! Wanted to permanently keep my face in it.. After fuelling up we had an afternoon of serious vertical ahead of us... trekking up (like 60 degrees - using your hands) for about an hour (by then we were convinced it was raining again but NOPE that is sweat dripping off my nose), we reached the u-bolt climbing wall that would get us up to the top of the waterfall!! Some serious vertical here too - coolest views! Just don't look straight down!! Short pit stop at the top of the waterfall and we had some more hiking to do - a little more hands and feet hiking, then some more chill normal walking back to the village where we were picked up. A ride back to Pakse left us seriously stoked for a shower (and need to do laundry again asap) - we were not that adventurous and hit up the delicious Indian food place again, sharing dinner and stories with an Irish couple we met on the trip!! So, our view of Pakse was very limited but activities around it were AWESOME! We didn't stick around for more - gotta get moving! Next stop - 4000 Islands!

Moving South means getting WARMER

I now that's just what you guys at home want to hear - but I don't mean nice warm, I mean permanently SWEATING warm. Leaving Luang Prabang, we took a 6 hour bus ride south to the town of Vang Vieng; the two could NOT be more different! Vang Vieng is a tourist TIME. Saw way more tourists than locals for sure - so different from Luang Prabang! Only stayed a few nights there, we stayed at the Fairmont Vang Vieng - not actually but pretty much. Amazing sleeps. And so much room for activities. Cartwheels. Anyways, the first night we just hung out and saw the town, booked a tour for the next day, and got organized for later in the trip. In the morning we woke up nice and early, grabbed a sandwich from the road stand (because the restaurant people were moving at serious Laos pace and we had places to BE) and headed out for our half day of caving! Very cool. We saw 4 caves; Elephant Cave (named after an elephant shaped stalagmite), cave #2 (I forget and also it was in Lao), Snail Cave (you know why) and last but not least the water cave! The Elephant Cave was essentially a temple built into a cave - one such that you had to remove your shoes before entering. Cave #2 and Snail Cave were giant - Snail Cave, 4KM LONG, we barely scratched the surface. We walked in, armed with headlamps, for about 600m, (ENDLESS) then had to turn around to save time for the water cave. So spooky when you know it is giant but can't really see.... Chamber of Secrets style. Our last cave was the water cave, which we explored in inner tubes, pulling ourselves along ropes attachedto the cave walls! Quite creepy (I thought) because of mystery creatures that definitely saw us... but we didn't see them. Just after noon, our caving experience over, we headed back to town on the lovely Laos roads - paved intermittently and sprinkled with serious potholes - no eating snacks / reading while bussing! After a quiet lunch of noodle soup and reader's digest asia (we are old) we checked out the famed 'tubing' of Vang Vieng (you are an outsider in town if not decked out in 'in the tubing' gear) however because it was already 330 and we didn't feel like paying to rent a tube, we just got a ride up the river and discovered why the town was so empty - because EVERYONE is on the river. Back in town, we had a dinner of pad thai (which I never order) which was delicious - so full I couldn't move. We met up with Sara Haberlin (!!) and her friend Laura at dinner and discovered we will be seeing them along the way, as they are seemingly on the same schedule as us but one day behind! With intent to bus all the way to Hue in Vietnam, we got up nice and early the next day to book a ticket for the painful 25 hour bus ride - only to discover that Vietnam has the same new year as China and is JUST beginning the intensive celebration - which means we can't land border cross into Vietnam until the 31 of Jan. Which doesn't work. So, going with the flow, we booked a bus down south in Laos and arrived in Pakse this morning! Just going with it. Good thing we don't book things much ahead or we'd be hoopied.... Gonna maybe check out some waterfalls and a serious coffee plantation close to here tomorrow (Bolaven Plateau) and then head even further South to 4000 Islands, right on the Cambodian border! Plans are working out - so far so good with the decision to come to Pakse (just waited out a serious rainstorm in this internet cafe - perfect timing) More photos soon when I am organized and bring my camera cord :)

Photos: Luang Prabang Kayaking!

MAY as well capitalize on the fast internet when you've got it right.... here's some pictures from today's kayak trip - awesome :)

Sarah at the top of the main Wat in LP - listening to the monks do their thing

View of Luang Prabang!

Kayaking! See elephants in the distance...

40 person racing boat in the Hmong village

Waterfalls! Chilly but GREAT

Laos so far!

Hello night #3 in Luang Prabang! So great here - so many activities! We pre-ordered our Vietnam visas and got them back today - our entry date to Vietnam is not until Jan 22 so we decided to stay one more night here! Longest we've stayed anywhere so far at a whopping 4 nights. Our first day (after we slept like BABIES on arrival from the slow boat), we rented some bikes, found a map, and hit up some temples and monuments. First, we visited two monuments dedication to 2 different kings / presidents - monuments are located in the middle of the city and are PRISTINE compared to surrounding areas. Afterward we moved onto two of the main (suggested sites) Wat Phone Phao (excuse my spelling guesses) aaand Wat I-Don't-Know that is at the edge of the old town on a GIANT hill - it is essentially a network of shrines and biddhas built into the rock, with an actual Wat at the top. You can see the whole town from there! We just happened to be at the top when the monks began their daily 4pm drumming/ritual. We could hear drums and percussion going on all around the city from the top of the hill - soo cool!! Speaking of monks, we are going to get up at 530am tomorrow to watch the monks as they collect their daily alms - offerings, I guess you could call them, from the people of Luang Prabang. Then probably back to bed! Haha :) Today we did a different kind of sightseeing - more of the NATURAL wonders. We did an all-day kayak tour down the Nam Khan river that runs past Luang Prabang! We began our journey downstream at about 930 this morning, and after stopping at a traditional Hmong / Khmer / Lao village, the Tadse waterfall, and somebody's memorial (the Frenchman who discovered Angkor Wat - Henri Mouhot...at least I think his name is Henri), we pulled in to our landing spot at around 4pm! So many water activites lately. The kayaking was great - some so calm it seemed we were on a lake, and a few rapids that soaked the boat! Cloudless skies to boot. Tomorrow the possibilites are endless.... might check out the Royal Palace, national museum, smoe more sights, or do a half day tour! We shall see! To

River cruising - slow boat to Laos on the Mekong!

Caves right close to Luang Prabang - we are in Lord of the Rings

Delicious food always. Pho Wednesday every day

Second level of Wat Phone Phao!

Giant Buddha - Wat I-Don't-Know aahah. This is the Tuesday Buddha

The Rest of Chiang Mai / Pai!

Sorry once again for the delay.. finally found a good internet cafe!! Here are some photos from the rest of our Chiang Mai trek and from Pai!

Lunch on our trek - Pad Thai in a banana leaf!

Waterfall we hiked to

Sarah chilling on our little patio in Pai, complete with a few hammocks

View of the valley around Pai from the Chinese Village viewpoint

Rented motorbikes! Woohoo! Biggest challenge was driving on the left side of the road

Overdue Photos! SOME of Chiang Mai

Tour of the market before cooking class - different rice!

Sarah making curry! (Delicious) We all took turns at the mortar and pestel (sp?) teamwork!

Delicious food. Khao Soi Curry and Tom Yum soup!

Sarah and I an the elephant.

Our guy afterward having a snack. My apologies for the lack of photos.. we chose the world's slowest internet cafe.... I will upload more as this is only a taste of Chiang Mai! Perhaps more tonight. Check Sarah's too!