Adventures in Luang Prabang

Day 1

• Arrive by bus in the morning. Find out how that went >
• We begin hostel hunting but are exhausted. Find a decent place and settle in for a nap.
• Wandered around the cute, charming downtown area. We notice that tuk-tuk duvets are much less aggressive.
• Headed to a bar called Utopia, right on the riverfront. They had a patio where we could lie down, drink Beerlao and eat.
• I ate laap, a traditional Lao disg. Strong lemongrass flavor, delish!
• We watched the sun set and walked to the night market.
• Got a foot massage in the way home.

Day 2

• We watched the monks give alms in the morning.
• Headed to a yoga class on the Nam Khan River, peaceful.
• Hiked up That Chomsi Stupa on the way back. Beautiful views of the city and river. We stumbled into a cave that had a Buddha statue hidden inside.
• We changed hostels so we didn’t have to deal with a “curfew” on NYE.
• Went to the library to volunteer speaking English with locals. Ended up chatting with a bunch of kids. Tough at first since we didn’t speak each other’s languages.
• Went to the Red Cross – a local sauna hangout. We got massages, sat in the sauna, and drank hot tea. Rough evening, I know. It was quite a cleansing way to finish off the year.
• Celebrated NYE at Utopia. We watched giant paper lanterns float up into the sky and a “burning man” went up in flames at midnight.

Teaching the kids “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes”

Luang Prabang in photos

Lounging at Utopia, right on the river – watching the sunset

Yoga on the deck

Laap, local Lao dish – strong lemongrass flavor, very tasty

Rickety bridge crossing the river

Happy New Year’s Eve!

Riverside gardening

Temple on a hill in the middle of town

Top of the temple

Cool statue

Stairs over to Buddah’s footprint

Marshall and Calvin enjoying the view

Temple built into a cave

We climbed into the cave underneath and found this

Warhead used as decoration – the US heavily bombed Laos during the Vietnam War

View from the top

River that breaks off from the Mekong River

Bicyclists roam the streets

Travel planning – not all of it is glamourous

Sauna and full body massage – perfect detox for the new year

Night market

Christmas decoration reflection

Beerlao!

Lantern along the riverside

The power went out in the whole town – these are just the car lights, everything else dark.

2013 in lights

Neighborhood kids lighting a lantern

Letting the lantern fly up

Up up and away!

Enjoying Beerlao in our comfy pants from Thailand. Perfect way to say goodbye to 2012!

Lighting the “burning man” on fire

Burning man – tipsy travellers

Burning man

We volunteered to teach some English at the Library – cutest kids ever!

Teaching the kids “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes

Mandy teaching some English vocab

On a plane to Hanoi

Meditation challenge – Trip from Thailand to Laos

Meditation is a tool I’ve used to help calm the mind. Oftentimes, I escape to a place like Koh Lipe – beautiful scenery, gentle waves curling into the sand. Whether to contemplate something specific, or to just relax, it’s always been an effective way to relieve stress.

Meditating on a beautiful beach is easy because you’re already in an ideal place. Meditating after a stressful day at work is a little tougher because you’ve gotta transport yourself to that ideal place. Meditating on a rickety overnight bus with no reclining seats that is tearing down a bumpy, winding, unpaved road is an entirely different experience all together.

The beginning of the adventure turned out alright. A comfortable mini-bus picked us up from our hostel on time and took us to the Thai/Lao border. We were stamped out of Thailand and shuffled on to a small boat to cross the Mekong River. We reveled in the few moments that we were stamped out of everywhere and stamped in to nowhere.

Once we hit the shore we were promptly stamped in to Laos! We hopped on a tuk-tuk that took us to the bus station. This is where our second comfortable bus with reclining seats would take us to Luang Prabang – a 13 hour journey, 6pm-7am.

This is an example of the bus the travel agent told us we’d be on. Fancy, huh?:

We get to the bus station and there is only one bus there. It’s a small, older-looking bus with no reclining seats that was packed with people. It had three seats on one side, one on the other and then an additional un-cushioned seat folded out into the aisle. At that point, I was thankful I actually got a cushioned seat. The reality set in quickly though – we’re about to spend the next 13 hours on this thing.

This is the bus we got:

By 2am, my nostrils are full of dust. The bus is not totally sealed from the outside, so a thin layer of dirt is all over me. The road is so bumpy I’m bucked out of my seat every so often – not a slight bump, an inches out of my seat bump. The road is winding up and down the mountainside, the full moon casting an ominous glow over the landscape. We pull over a few times for the driver to check on the busted front tire. There’s really nothing left to do at this point but to grit my teeth and wait until the journey ends.

I decided it could be quite possibly the most challenging meditation experience of my life. How could I let this opportunity go? (Keep in mind how deliriously tired I was at the time and this game might make more sense.) I closed my eyes and went to Koh Lipe. I timed my breathing with the tempo of the waves. I felt my feet sink into the cool sand. I felt the slight breeze on my cheeks. And I disappeared.

Five hours later, we arrived in Luang Prabang. Although it was quite the challenging journey, we made it safe and sound. Plus, I was able to transport myself out of my body in a way I’ve never done before. I’ll take it.