Lazy Laos and revisiting Thailand

Hello there!

Greetings from Chiang Mai in Thailand, in what will be our final update before heading Down Under on 12 November!

Since leaving China, the past few weeks have been spent in Laos where we began with a good mix of relaxation and a bit of trekking in and around Luang Nam Tha in the north of the country. This sleepy little town is the gateway to an amazing national park with paddyfield after paddyfield and fast running crystal clear streams. Its also the home of the Akha hill tribe, and we had the good fortune to spend a night in one of their villages and experience their hospitality.
After walking around 7K the first day over mountainous and at times pretty tough ground, it was so nice to meander around the village as the sun set, and meet the dozens of gorgeous kids (who couldn't get enough of everyone's fancy digital cameras and camcorders!). To round the day off we ate a home cooked Laos-style meal and sampled some of the local tipple, Lao Lao, made from rice (of course) and not unlike tequila! It seemed the less you liked the stuff, the quicker yet another glass arrived in your hand and without wanting to offend our hosts, was swiftly downed in one go! What we ate: sticky rice, laap (spicy pork and green bean salad), various curries all full of chillies, more sticky rice, banana flower soup, fresh fruit, all of which were prepared by our team of local guides and served on banana leaves cut a few minutes before each meal, and eaten with chopsticks made from the bamboo trees which surrounded us. Food miles isn't really a concept heard off here in Laos.

Although we did feel like we were somehow intruding on the everyday life of the Akha people, our guide, Sai, assured us that they enjoyed seeing us foreigners as well as the revenue they receive from hosting us, and as long as the village kids are happy, then the village elders are too. And were those kids pleased to see us!! Some were shy at first, but curiosity soon got the better of them as they watched our every banal move - from washing our hands in the nearby stream to watching themselves on our camcorders and cameras. Plus it was hilarious to hear some of them who had gathered around Marty recite their ABC's and 123's in the strongest Norn Iron accents heard this side of Newcastle!!

(Susie being entertained by local Akha children)

The next day we took off again and walked another 7K or so (it doesn't sound like much, but it was tough!!!) through gorgeous green fields and lovely cool, shady forests. I think we can safely say we earned our beers that night back in Luang Nam Tha! And if you're ever in that neck of the woods, Green Discovery Laos which ran our 2-day trek comes highly recommended ( http://www.greendiscoverylaos.com/).

Next stop in Laos was Luang Prabang. Although full of tourists and fellow travellers, Luang Prabang somehow manages to remain very chilled out and the locals couldn't do enough to make us feel welcome. On our first night, the owner of our guest house invited us to celebrate the end of the rainy season with her and her friends, and proceeded to fill us with plates of tasty BBQ'ed food and glasses of chilled Beer Lao. Off to a good start then!

(Marty and his own kind of celebrations in Luang Prabang )

Luang Prabang has more than a few reminders of its French colonial past (those Frenchies sure got around!) - real coffee and fresh baguettes are all over - but is a true Laotian town oozing relaxation and charm. Days were spent visiting the former Royal Palace (the Royal family was 'removed' when the Communists took over, sent to be 're-educated' and was never heard off again), which was a bit eerie and somehow sad, and cycling around the quiet streets which really came alive at night when the street vendors took up their positions at sundown.

A bit pressed for time, we said our farewells to Laung Prabang (although we could have easily stayed another few days), passed through Vang Vieng, which is famous for 'tubing' ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq5LlHuxQJM), but didn't manage any due to wet and gloomy weather - so much for the festival giving thanks for the end of the rainy season!! And so we arrived in the capital, Vientiane, and found yet another Laotian town where we could easily have stayed for longer.

(Sunset in Vientiane)

But as our flight to Sydney is looming, we squeezed Vientiane into 2 days before crossing the border back into Thailand. No sun drenched islands this time but Chiang Mai in the north instead. Much smaller and nowhere near as mad as Bangkok, we're enjoying doing as little as possible in Chiang Mai, although we did get ourselves out of bed early yesterday morning and take part in a 1-day Thai cooking class.

This was a great introduction to delicious Thai grub, as we learnt from our teacher Perm how to whip up tasty delights such as the ol' favourite green curry, Penang curry, pad thai, coconut cream chicken soup, tom yam, spring rolls and green papaya salad. Oh, how could I forget the sweet sticky rice with fresh mango?? Apart from Susie nearly singeing every hair on her head at one point (see the photos for an action replay), the day was a great success, so expect to be fed some of these specialities once we're back!!

So that's everything we've been up to of late. Heading to Bangkok on Friday night where we'll hopefully meet our friend from Brussels, Ivy, who has been let loose on the city for a few weeks!! God help it!!

Next time we're blogging, it'll be with our latest news from Oz, so til then bye for now!! xxooxx