Good Morning Vietnam!

Hello!

April 13-15th was Songkran (Thai New Year) which we celebrated in Bangkok. We had an unreal three days in the city celebrating this amazing tradition. April is the hottest month in Thailand, and is the last dry month before the rainy season comes. Traditionally water was sprinkled on the elderly and monks as a sign of respect for the new year. Over the years Songkran has evolved (although all the traditional ceremonies still are held) into a country-wide water fight.

We bought awesome super soakers ** and joined in on the 1000s of people that flooded the streets to celebrate. Everywhere you went there were live concerts, foam spraying into the streets and people running after you with buckets of water. All ages partake and you run around mercilessly soaking the old man drinking his beer with the same zest as you do the kid on their fathers shoulder.

• * Isn’t it awesome to be a grown-up!! We can just buy super soakers whenever we want instead of saving 3 months allowance like you had to when you were a kid.

We have just got back from a week down south to relax before our vacation is over. Surprisingly traveling can be pretty tiring; you know buying postcards, booking bus tickets, eating pad thai phew life is rough (I know I know white people problems). We went to an incredible island on the Adamen Sea called Koh Chang.

Koh Chang is great place to put your feet up and relax. It has a population of around 200-300 people and has a total of three cars (one of which finally rusted through we were informed). The island has no ATM or internet and only has electricity from 6-10pm. A roof over you’re head, a hammock to lie in and a book to get lost in are the only things you need on Koh Chang. All the while the Adamen tides are lapping against the beautiful white beach. Every night we sit down to a nice dinner and watch the sunset below the horizon and try to get back to our bungalow before the power shuts off. We had a great experience here and we are really sad to be leaving this oasis behind and heading back to the craziness of Bangkok.

We put up one of our photos from our trip up on IVHQ's photo competition for the month of April. There is a monthly prize, and each winner gets entered into the full year competition for another prize. The competition is voting based, and we are currently 9 votes back of first place. You can vote every 7 days and every vote would be appreciated! All you have to do is click on the link then, click the "vote for this photo" button. Put in your email address and confirm the vote. There is no spam emails! Thanks for your help!! Here is the link : http://www.volunteerhq.org/volunteer-photo-competition/46373

See you all soon!

Kayla and Matt

Hello! We are sorry we haven’t been able to send any updates lately. We have been having so much fun and sometimes we’ve had a lack of internet connection, but we thought we would post a few updates right in a row! Enjoy!

We crossed the border successfully early in the morning on the first boat across the narrow river between Laos and Thailand and took a ‘tuk-tuk’ up to the bus station. We had timed things perfectly as a bus was leaving for Chiang Rai in fifteen minutes. We arrived in Chiang Rai in around 3 hours. There isn’t too much to see in Chiang Rai, but we thought we would check it out to break the long days of travelling up. We checked into a hostel and headed out for a walk. Our first venture was to Orn’s Bookshop to trade in some of our books. The owners name was Peter and he was a very eccentric and excitable and loved to discuss books. He gave us some advice about shopping for books in Thailand and we went on our way. Afterwards we headed up to the night bazaar and walked right through the finish line of the Tour of Thailand, the Thai equivalent of the Tour de France. The night bazaar was very different from the night markets we saw in Vietnam and Laos. They had a huge food court, which had 45 restaurants and tons of bright yellow tables.
We decided to move onto Chiang Mai very quickly as we had lots of activities planned. Our first day in Chiang Mai, we walked around town to book some events for the next few days and ate some curry at a street vendor. We have found that the best food in Southeast Asia is always at a street vendor, plus it fits right into our budget. The next day we headed to some of the famous Wats and also walked through Chinatown.

One of the most exciting things we did in Chiang Mai was visit Elephant Nature Park! Thailand is famous, or rather infamous, for its elephants and it one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country. We really wanted to see elephants but were quite apprehensive because of the abusive situations the animals are often put in. We were so glad to hear about the Elephant Nature Park, run by a women who has rescued 35 elephants from the tourist and logging industries. On the way to the park we watched a heartbreaking documentary about the rituals that elephants go through to become “work animals”. The animal is abused for days, sometimes weeks when it is just a few years old in order to detach it from its mother and make it obey the commands of the owner. This ritual, and other abuse, has decreased the Asian elephant population by 95%.

The two highlights of the day were feeding and washing the elephants. Elephants eat 10% of the body weight, usually around 400 lb of food per day! We got to feed a few elephants including the baby boy but the one that captured our hearts was Jan Peng. This old beauty was born in 1945 and worked as a logging elephant until the ban of logging in Thailand. From the early 1990's until 2010 she has worked as a trekking elephant. Despite so many years of hard work, Mae Jan Peng somehow still had time to produce six calves. Of her six offspring, one died because of birth complications, a daughter named Moh Tee Lee. Mae Jan Peng has three grandchildren and even has two great-grandchildren. There was a few times when Mae Jan Peng had been injured while working and she ended up in the hospital on two different occasions. Each time she came out of the hospital she moved to a trekking camp farther away from Elephant Nature Park.

Bathing the elephants consisted of us jumping in the river with them and dumping buckets of water on them. You could tell the elephants enjoyed the cool water, and we got to watch some of them play around with each other. After that we headed to the mud so that the elephants could apply their natural sunscreen! We had such an amazing day and it is definitely an experience we will not forget. If you want to check out the organization and read about the rest of the elephants that were saved check out www.elephantnaturepark.org

The next day we headed outside of the city to an organic farm cooking course. We loved our cooking course so much in Vietnam we decided to try out our skills and learn some Thai dishes! We started with a market tour and then tried our hand at 6 different Thai dishes including curry paste, chicken curry, Thai soup, stir-fry, pad thai and dessert. It was a great day but the highlight was our over top, eccentric cooking instructor who did not stop laughing the entire class and referred to EVERY ingredient in EVERY dish as a powerful fertility agent. We had an awesome day and were stuffed to the brim heading back to the city.

We booked a night train and are headed off to Bangkok for Songkran!
Matt & Kayla

Sabidee from Luang Prabang!
We arrived off a long 250km, 9-hour journey from Vang Vieng. The road was windy and we got to see many different villages, while the bus climbed different mountains on the way. We arrived in Luang Prabang and took a tuk-tuk to the downtown to find a hostel for the night.
After a good night sleep we headed toward the city centre for some smoothies and baguette sandwiches. When you want to each cheap, this is a good option that fill you up: fruit smooth and chicken sandwich only sets you back around $1.50. We decided to familiarize ourselves with the city and headed out for a morning walk. First we headed to the morning market to see a large variety of animal parts, grains and vegetables. This is a lot like the other markets we have seen so far, but every once in a while you see a new fruit, new vegetable or a piece of meat you never thought existed. This time it was goose heads that interested me. After buying a few and eating them for lunch...just kidding. Next we climbed Phu Si, the huge hill in the center of town, to take in the scenery and a few famous landmarks, including That Chomsi, Buddha’s oversized footprint, and Wat Siphoutthabat Thippharam. Along our walking tour we enjoyed the waterfront of both the Nam Khan and Mekong Delta Waterfront. Our last stop was Wat Xieng Thong, which is the most famous monastery in Luang Prabang. It is centred around a sim that was built around 1560 and was just one of two temples spard in 1887 when the Black Flag army attacked the city. Luang Prabang has copious amounts of charm and culture, and is a wonderful city to spend a few days in.

The following day, we were sitting on a curb on a street called Sisavangvong, when we ran into a fellow traveler we met in Vang Vieng and two Canadians from Montreal. All day they were trying to get a tuk-tuk to Kuang Si Waterfalls, but needed a few extra people to fill up the tuk-tuk. We jumped at the oppourtunity, grabbed our swimsuits and headed off. Tat Kuang Si is also home to a bear enclosure. The bears here have been confiscated from poachers and are kept in the park to keep them safe from recapture. The waterfall itself is a multi-tiered waterfall with the most beautiful opal-blue pools, most of which you are able to swim in. After a 30 minute round trip to the top and back, we stopped at a busy pool for a quick dip. The serene atmosphere awed us all and it was nice to have the company of the fellow travelers.

We decided to head back into the city, and after quick showers at our individual guesthouse, met at the night market for dinner. In a small alleyway close to the end of the night market, there is the best value meal in town. For just over a dollar, you are given a plate, and you can fill your plate with as much food as possible. There is fish on a stick, chicken on a stick, more meat on a stick, salads, noodles, rice, more meat, tofu, vegetables, and fruit; about 25 options in total. We stack our plates as high a possible and barley had anytime to talk, as we each took level after level off our food towers. After dinner we all headed for a drink, and spent the night sharing stories.

Kayla and I decided that one of the most important things we wanted to see while in Luang Prabang was the monk’s procession. We have learnt a lot about Buddhism during our 3 months in South East Asia and wanted to bare witness to one of the most sacred traditions. The monk procession is a quiet ceremony where monks dressed in their robes walk though the streets while townsfolk place balls of rice in their begging bowls. This is a ritual where monks demonstrate their vows to humility and poverty and gives Buddhists the opportunity to show their admiration through respectful giving. Kayla and I booked a room at a hostel on the street on which the procession took place. We decided to do this because we read that their processions are becoming extinct due to the acts of tourist, and wanted to watch respectfully from our window. “Tourist Terrorism”, as we have dubbed it, was definitely proved the morning of the procession, as we were heartbroken to see paparazzi tourists following the monks and crowding the ritual to get that perfect shot. This is the second time in Laos that waves of guilt flooded over us as we witnessed foreigners debaucher the traditional Laos culture. We are by no means perfect tourists but we have learnt a lot about responsible and respectful travel.

What NOT to do (aka. "Tourist Terrorism")

Taken Respectfully from the Balcony of a Guesthouse

We booked a boat from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai with a stop over in Pak Beng. The journey took two days, 10 hours each and was an awesome way to experience the Mekong River. We relaxed on a 50 foot slow boat and took in the magnificent sights of Laos. Highlights included watching children swimming and adults pan for gold, stopping at small villages to let local passengers off at their homes, and our reading novels. When we arrived in Huay Xai we decided to once again change our plans and we are now off to Thailand! We cross the border by boat at dawn, wish us luck!

Love from Matt & Kayla
“If the road is beautiful tell me not where it leads”

We have made it to Laos and are back on the road again! We are very excited to start traveling again and see the different sights Laos has to offer.

When we decided to come to Laos, we really didn't know anything about it and we were only using it as a stepping stone to get into Thailand. We thought 7-8 days max, that will give us enough time to get through Laos. What we didn't expect, was to fall in love with the style of living, landscapes and the friendly people. Laos PDR is nestled between Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and China and has a population of 6.5 million. The capitol and largest city, Vientiane, is situated on the Mekong River. The majority of the population is Lao, with a large indigenous populations as well. Lao is a very relax country, there is never any rush or need to worry. We were told that Lao PDR has two means. Firstly Lao: People's Democratic Republic, and secondly Lao: Please Don't Rush.

We landed in Vientiane after what we would call a "rough" flight, but all in all, we can't complain because we arrived in one piece. Once getting into the city center we found a guesthouse and settled in for a relaxing day of catching up on sleep and after restful naps we decided to head out and grab some lunch at a local restaurant. Fruit smoothies are in abundance here and were a perfect welcome drink into Laos. Our first day is Laos, we decided to walk around the city. We visited Wat Si Saket which contains approximately 6,400 Buddhas and is Vientianes oldest surviving temple and Haw Pha Kaeo which once was a royal temple to house a famed Emerald Buddha and now is a national museum for religious art. We also made stops at the local market, quite a few more Wats and finally watched the sunset over the dry Mekong river as the night market set-up. It was really interesting to see how the city shut down during the hottest hours of the day. Between noon and 4pm, the streets are empty, the stores are quiet and everyone has settle down for an afternoon nap, but as the sun became to go down and the temperature cooled off, the town became a little more lively.

The next day we woke up early to beat the heat, and rented a motor bike to head out to Xieng Khuan or Buddha Park. This park was filled with large concrete statues, and a 'pumpkin' looking temple that contained three levels. The three levels each represented hell, earth and heaven. On the way back, we returned along the most treacherous road we have been on since we started traveling and struggled our way to Pha That Luang, the unofficial monument of Laos. This is a symbol of Buddhist religion and Laos sovereignty and is thought to be home of a piece of Buddhas breast bone. This was all completed before our 1:30 bus ride to Vang Vieng.

We arrived in Vang Vieng around 6:30pm and headed across the Mekong to a very laid back and serene bungalow. Vang Vieng is best known for its wild parties and river tubing and it was the first time on our trip that we felt guilty for being tourist. The whole town is geared towards travelers, and everyone in town is sporting "I survived Vang Vieng" t-shirts and worshipping their drinking bracelets. After driving 5 hours through rural Laos and seeing the extreme poverty, we found it unsettling. Usually 3-4 people die tubing each year and we often found ourselves thinking what the locals impressions were of travelers. However, we did experience Vang Vieng tubing on a more low key level. We settle on our tubes and floated down all 3.5 kilometers of the river, between limestones karsts and rural villages, only to be interrupted once by a couple of Lao children playing in the stream and who hitch a ride on out tubes as we floated along.

Our bungalow had a little balcony on the front and we were able to end each day watching the sunset drop behind the beautiful Lao backdrop. We decided to alter our trip because we have enjoyed Laos so much, we are going to head further North to Luang Namtha to do some trekking. We have now booked a bus ticket to Luang Prabang. We are looking forward to seeing Northern Laos and explore the many small streets of the cities.

We'll be updating soon!
Love Kayla and Matt

Hello!
Our last week in Hanoi is coming to an end! In theme with the suggested title (Thanks Emma) I thought I would share one more culinary treat that we experienced in Hanoi: "Chicken Street". The six of us ventured of to a small district in Hanoi close to our offices. Arriving after work it was already getting dark. We were told that the place at the end of the street was the best so we ventured down the dark alley. We sat down at a squat table and were greeted by a young Vietnamese girl. Our options of the night were shown to us on skewers. Did we want to chow down on chicken wings, thighs, or maybe feet? We ordered a variety of chicken along with roasted sweet potato and their famous honey toast. The toast is small rice flour baguettes that are skewered and smushed flat, coated in a honey syrup and put over open fire. Teenaged boys cooked our meal on a blazing open fire right behind us and we feasted on chicken and beer for what seemed like hours. Are you done with your chicken? Well then by all means please throw the bones under the table. Ahh Vietnam how we will miss your street side food, violating every health code known to man.

This past weekend 11 of us had planned to go to Halong Bay on a party cruise. We had saved this event for the last weekend before our departure to Laos and were beyond excited. Unfortunately when we arrived in Halong Bay city the police had closed the port due to fog - not letting any boats out of the harbour. We spent most of St. Pattys day on a bus, but we made the best of it and celebrated the occasion at some strangely decorated Vietnamese bars later that night. Its hard to believe that after 3 months we will be leaving Vietnam without seeing its biggest attraction. But in contrast we have been so lucky to experience much more than the backpacker trail in this country, and I find myself excited saying "when we come back to Vietnam we will go to Halong Bay".

Our time in Hanoi has been a valuable learning experience. The city itself is always hustling and has many aberrant characteristics about it. The city harmonies include, the yelling of “motorbike” and “hello”, the sounds of honking horns, karaoke blasting from bars, and the monotonic blabber of bicycled vendors. Personally, things that were absolutely insane and abnormal, have slowly become commonplace. For example, when we arrived in Saigon, crossing the street consisted of sweating, praying, and hoping that each motorbike doesn’t smash into you. Now I find myself sauntering across the road, my hands in my pocket, without a care in the world. Reason being, even the Vietnamese motorbike drivers, with a pig carcass on their lap, a cell phone in hand, and only one hand on the handlebars, somehow manage to navigate there way around you. The place that was once an incredible mass of culture shock has now become home.

Top Things We have Learned in Vietnam
1. Snake meat tastes better then it looks; snake blood does not.
2. Food safety is an option, not a regulation.
3. You can fit a lot more on a motorbike then you think.
4. The honking of a horn is not synonymous with the middle finger
5. Always put you’re kickstand up on a motorbike, or you’ll end up paying off an old lady for three-dozen eggs
6. You can eat just about anything
7. It doesn’t matter how much dong you have in you’re pants, you can always have a swell time

The itinerary is set for our final month of travel! We have decided to spend the money and fly to Vientaine, Laos (instead of taking a 35 hour bus ride!!). Heading north in Laos through Vang Veng and Luang Prabang. We are hoping to take a slow boat up the Mekong river, crossing into Thailand. In Thailand we will probably stop in Chang Rai, Chang Mai, and Sukhothai before getting to Bangkok. The goal is to make it to Bangkok by April 12th so we can experience Songkran (thai new year)!! After that we are of to the beaches for much needed rest and relaxation. Choosing an island seems incredibly overwhelming but I think will we will be going to an island on the east coast to avoid the rain.

We have had an incredible three months in this crazy country & are so glad you got to share it with us!
Until next time,
Matt & Kayla