This post comes with a warning: It is an extremely long post. If you have the time, get a cup of coffee, tea or soda before you begin. Enjoy!
Day One – Travel day to Chiang Mai, Thailand
Our adventure began with a flight through Bangkok for the first leg of our flight to Chiang Mai. Our flight to Bangkok left Shanghai an hour late…the theme when flying in China. Therefore, we missed the connection in Bangkok to Chiang Mai, but no worries as we caught the next flight. We “enjoyed” our last Western meal of a Burger King hamburger at the airport. When we travel, we prefer to experience the local cuisine.
We finally made it to our hotel around 5pm, we dropped our bags and we walked to the night market. We found a nice Indian Thai place for dinner. The cost was 600baht/$18 for our food and drinks. It was a very cheap meal for the starving family that proceeded to eat too much. After dinner, we wandered the market without buying a thing. However, on the way home we saw this women selling these silly hats. I stopped because the hats are perfect for hat day at Concordia. We got two for 150baht/$5.
Day Two – Chiang Mai, Old Walled City
We started our day around 10am after enjoying a leisurely breakfast. We walked to the old walled city near the hotel. ChiangMai is an ancient walled city, so we chose the hotel based on the location. There is not too much of the wall left, just strategic points like “gates” and corners. The ancient moat still marks the boundaries and remains a great spot to feed the fish.
In the 1200’s, many Wats (temples) were build within the walled city. We stopped at the various temples we found as we walked along the streets. All the temples are in honor of Buddha with many different statues in each temple.
During our wanderings through the old city, we were walking by a fresh juice shop – a perfect place for a smoothie pit stop. The juice stop had wooden games on the tables which we enjoyed with our refreshments.
We were not in a hurry so we enjoyed exploring the streets and made a few more temple stops. We knew along the entire trip we would see many beautiful temples – we had to be careful not to get “temple-itis” – also known as overexposure to and overload of temples. As we walked by one shop, it had hand knit dolls & clothes. We told the girls they could get a doll and an outfit “after lunch”. We walked a little further, but decided to go back…we were here and who knows where we will end up after lunch. The girls ran back to the shop. An hour later, the girls each had a doll, two outfits, a backpack and headbands for their dolls. The dolls cost 270baht/$8 each. That price included the doll and one outfit.
Since the doll shop was small, Jim sat outside to find us a place to eat from the Luxe guide while we fashioned shopped for the dolls. Jim found a local Thai place to eat and he said it was a few blocks. As usually with Jim and city blocks, it was not a few blocks. Every time we find ourselves in this “block issueâ€, I just comment…”it seems to be the same four blocks to the train station like in Lyon, France!!” On a 1997 trip in France with Terri and Andy, the boys had walked to the train station to get tickets while Terri and I shopped. They reported it was four blocks…no worries on time so Terri and I shopped longer. The train station was over 12 blocks away. We were running with our entire luggage set and a case of wine (from the farm family). We arrived just in time to board the TVG to Paris.
As this few blocks turned into about eight blocks, I had to give Elle a piggyback ride since she was slowing down. We ate good, local Thai food for cheap – 400b/$12. After lunch, we opted for a tuktuk back to the hotel for 50b/$1.50 as no one was really interested in walking back in the heat. Our girls are very conditioned to walking when we arrive in a new city. We always tell them that walking is the best way to explore and find all the fun shops. Now, they really believe us – we would have never found the knit dolls had we been in a tuktuk.
After dropping the new dolls at the room we headed towards the night market again to actually buy something. Along the way we found an interesting artist’s shop. He had many paintings, more paintings than he could ever sell…he just loved to paint! Along with his artwork were stacks and stacks of bracelets from the Karen Tribe. Elle found one she liked and wanted it since it fit her wrist. He said 100b/$3. Elle pulled her coins from her pockets – 30b/$1 – a little short! He said she could have it for 30b. Elle gave him her coins, but then immediately wanted her money back instead of the bracelet. She had three 10-piece baht coins with a gold center she didn’t want to give up. He gave Elle her money back and said she could keep the bracelet – Elle has great negotiating skills! I did come back to purchase two of his paintings on canvas and an old bell for Jim’s bell collection. I didn’t think of getting a photo of the artist as he was a character – not only did he love to paint, he loved country music.
With our wandering, we found a very cute place along the river for an early dinner that had a nice garden. The girls had the freedom to run around the garden and down to the river since we could see them. Dinner cost @700b/$21…notice the theme of good, cheap food in Asia!
After dinner, we made it to the night market. Everyone was a bit tired so we did a quick walk around. We did buy some wooden games (the ones we played with at the smoothie shop). As we were walking out to head home for the night, we spotted artists doing charcoal sketches from photos. We decide to have the girls “done”. They took a photo of our girls despite the fact they had a day of grime on them. On the walk home, we stopped at the same silly hat lady and Elle spotted a different one she wanted. Two more hats for 160b/$5 and the whole family had one. Now, we just need somewhere to wear the hats – no doubt something will come up!!
Day Three – Flight of the Gibbon
Our adventure today is The Flight of the Gibbon zip-lining. We had booked an 8am pick-up time to drive to the rain forest of Thailand. They moved us back to 10am due to over booking. No worries as we had a leisure morning breakfast. As we picked up the other guest, I noticed the cheap laundry in the backpackers’ area. Laundry was 30b/$1 for 1kg…score! The hotel was 50b/$1.50 a t-shirt and 25b/$.75 for a pair of socks. Jim is a true backpacker and can go days with very little. I agreed to his backpacking style, but I said I get to do the “I told you so dance†when we have to pay high fees for laundry at the hotel. Well, Jim was doing the “Trust me danceâ€!! We had pack only five sets of clothes per person for the 15 days on the road! It cost us 90b/$2.70 to do our laundry before leaving Chiang Mai.
We had about an hour drive to the zip-line adventure, The Flight of the Gibbon. The gibbon is a monkey found in Thailand and Laos. Since the girls have been going to bed after 10pm and waking before 7am, they slept the whole drive.
Upon arrival, we geared up and headed towards the first platform. Part of “gearing-up†includes putting on the safety hamlet. Anytime I put on a helmet, I think of my friend, Mary Major and lice. Mary had lice in America when her girls were 2 & 5. Sara had picked up lice in a ski helmet. Every since that lice nightmare, Mary avoids public helmets!!
Emersyn was so exited and wanted to go first. Elle was a little unsure, but she went by herself. The gear, the guide and the course were very safe. You were “tied-in†at all times by the carabiner clips. We were about 1, 000 meters up in the trees of the rain forest.
The course included 10 zip lines, 2 bridges & 3 absailing lines. On two of the lines, Elle’s body weight was too light to go on her own, as the line was over 200 meters long. The guide was concern she might get stuck in the middle. It took about 2 hours to go through the course with six people.
After finishing the course, we were given lunch as part of the package. The cost of our adventure was 2, 300b/$70 each. Then we walked to the top of the waterfall.
We got back to our hotel @ 5:00. We did a quick stop in the room becuase the girls wanted to get back to the doll store for more outfits. Another 45 minutes later, the girls had more outfits to share. I was fine with the extra cost as the hand-knit dolls and clothing were very unique. The women at the shop told us her family makes all the clothes and the dolls. After the doll shopping time, it was time to walk to dinner. Again, after walking for about ten blocks with me carrying Elle on my back, we realized we were not close to the place Jim was looking for – the street names and addresses are quite confusing and Jim took us the wrong way! We grabbed a tuktuk to the river. We ate at a big, more tourist restaurant along the river. A tuktuk home as everyone was done walking for the day.
Day Four – Chiang Mai countryside
We hired a car, our taxi driver from the airport, for the day. Our first stop of the day was the zoo. It cost 220b/$6.60 for adults and 120b/$3.60 for the kids. The zoo winds up a hillside, so we loaded into the zoo bus to head up the hill. We got off at the first stop to feed bananas to the elephants. The girls were afraid to feed the elephant. Then, we fed the giraffes. This was really fun, as I have never seen a giraffe eat this close to me. At the San Francisco Zoo, the giraffes always seem to be at the far end eating the leaves off the tree. We purchased these long green beans for 15b/$1.50. Giraffes have very long purple tongues. The giraffe would wrap its tongue around the bean and pull – Jim commented their tongues are very strong.
We continued our way up the hill to the pandas. After the pandas, it was a big hill up to the kolas. After the kolas, we wanted to get back on the bus. The problem is no one is getting off the buses and there is no room. The number of people standing to get on the buses keeps getting longer. When a bus with a small amount of space pulled up, we pushed ourselves into a couple spots with girls on our laps. We have lived in China long enough to know there are no queue rules…the fastest one gets the spot. After our next stop at the gibbon monkeys, we made it back to the entrance for our two-hour tour of the Chiang Mai Zoo.
The next stop of the day was the temple on the hill, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep – one of the most famous Wats in Thailand. We took the cable car up to the top and walked around the outside grounds. There were a variety of performances around the temple. After a Thai girl, around 8 years old, finished her dance, she came over to the girls. They began to play rock, paper, scissors…a universal game where language is not a barrier. The girls had fun playing for about 15 minutes. One of the great experiences of traveling with young children is the interaction with the local people. Everywhere we travel, people come up to the girls. Of course, a few people had to touch Emersyn’s skin as they are amazed anyone could be that white (so are we).
We enjoy a few more performances around the grounds of the temple. Most of the performers were collecting money for local schools. We visit the inside of the temple with many Buddha statues.
Time to head back down the cable car. We need lunch, as everyone was hungry – it was after 2pm when we sat down to eat. Our driver took us to a local Thai restaurant that was owned by his friend. As Thai food is always good, it is easy to enjoy the local cuisine.
Jim’s friend, Chris that owns the Mountain Retreat and the Village Guest House in Yangshuo, lives in Chiang Mai. Chris and his wife, Nam, picked us up at our hotel at 5pm. They took us to dinner at the Mandarin Oriental. This is a 5-star hotel right in the City. However, once you walk into the property, you are in the rice patties and cover of many trees. The place is done with all the details in every aspect with the wood and the carvings. Nam knows the owner of the Mandarin. She was telling us that all the trees were brought into the property. Unfortunately, we did not take any photos, as we were too busy enjoying our time with Chris and Nam. When we arrived, we started with drinks while the girls had fun running though the rice patties. Dinner included Thai dancing entertainment, which the girls enjoyed.
Day Five – Travel to Chiang Khong, the boarder town
Chris had arranged a van for the day for our drive to Chiang Khong for 4, 500b/$136. It was an extra large van so we all had room to spread out. We left Chiang Mai round 9am with our our first stop of the day was a bakery Chris recommended around 11:30am, a perfect time for apple pie & brownie snack. The bakery was along the river with a beautiful view. After our pie & brownie, we walked around the grounds of the bakery.
Our next stop was to see the white temple, Wat Rong Khun, just outside of the city of Chiang Rai. Because the temple was so different, I had to do a little Internet search to explain the interesting detail of this temple. Here is the short version. An artist named Mr. Kositpipat designed the famous white temple, Wat Ron Khun. The main temple is a distinctive white color and decorated with fragments of reflective glass. It is different from any other temple we have seen in Thailand.
The temple is imitation of heaven on earth. There are many symbols incorporated into the temple. The four animals representing the four elements of earth; elephant representing land, naga (snake with seven heads) representing water, swan representing wind and lion representing fire. The Naga’s fangs symbolize evil and the swan symbolizes virtue.
To reach the White Temple you have to cross a bridge over a pit of hell. Down below there are sculptures of people reaching out for help, trying to escape from hell.
Of course, Elle pointed out there was only one hand with finger nail polish. Living aboard seems to keep the children more “sheltered†and neither girl got the meaning of the jester.
There were these two interesting statues warning against drinking and smoking.
Our next stop was a place to see the hill tribe people. It was an interesting set-up becuase you pay 300b/$10 per adult to enter. The children were free. There were five different hill tribe people selling items they had made. We purchased a few items to support the people.
Leaving it to Elle to find the swing for the children of the various tribes.
The most interesting people are the Karen Long Neck people. They place gold rings around their necks to stretch them. The children begin wearing small ones.
I am not sure I totally enjoyed the experience as the people were on “display†for us as we paid to “see†them. I much preferred the Yunnan Naxi people who were just going about their daily lives.
By now, it was 2:30pm and we were hungry. Our driver spoke little English, but took us to a roadside dinner. No English on the menu and no English spoken by the owner. There was one young lady that spoke enough English to help us order some food – she was studying to be Thai Air stewardess. It was good and cheap, of course, costing all of 320b/$10.
We drove on to Chiang Khong, the river boarder town to Laos. We arrive after 5:30pm after a day of diving and sightseeing – checking into our backpacker special for the night. The rooms were basic at the very least. We had one room with a bathroom and shower. Emmy and I took that one, as we both are bathroom users in the night. Jim and Elle took the other room. We all used the one bathroom and not the shared bathrooms. This backpacker’s special cost us $20 a room for the night which included dinner and breakfast.
The girls loved the three baby kittens at the hotel. They played with them all night. The one advantage to staying at the backpacker’s special is the interesting people you meet. We enjoyed dinner and conversation with various packers.
Day Six – Luangsay Boat Cruise on the Mekong River
Today’s adventure was to begin our 2-day travel down the Mekong River on the Luangsay Cruise. The Luangsay Cruise was not the cheap way to travel down river. The booking included all meals and sleep accommodations. We had looked at the other option of the public boat which is a fraction of the cost. Jim and I were open to the idea so we did some internet blog search when booking the trip. I found many descriptions of the public boat…hard seats, packers drinking and playing cards, etc. I finally found a photo posted in a blog. The photo made the decision to pay the extra fee for the Luangsay Cruise. If our girls were older, it would be different.
We had a quick breakfast, as we needed to leave at 8am for the border crossing into Laos. The hotel provided our transportation for us – an old pick up truck. We were going on the same cruise with the three Spaniards, a husband and his wife and a friend. The wife was pregnant with their first child. The girls and the lady rode in the cab of the truck. The rest of us climbed in the back of the truck with the luggage and of course it was raining. We got to the border and it was a mess. With the rain, the area was a muddy mess and people everywhere trying to clear Thai immigration. We were late so the seven of us stayed together. We were traveling light, but with the extra bags for the orphanage, it was hard to get around. We finally got through the queue to meet the man checking us in for the cruise. We took a small boat to the other side to process our Lao visas. At around 10am, we finally boarded our boat. It is a nice boat with chairs and tables. We sat with the three from Spain and a nice couple from England.
Our first stop was at a local village of the minority group. The people live very simply lives. Their homes are a one room grass hut. When you see how other people live that have so little, it makes you appreciate all that has been given to you. We are so blessed. On these travels, it is good for us to be reminded how blessed we are as over time we take it for granted. We always have clean water, food and shelter. I appreciate that my children have this opportunity to see and experience the world.
We came upon a women doing her chore of shelling the rice. Elle, Jim and Emmy all took a turn to helped with the rice. Jim comment the stick was heavy as Elle nor Emmy could lift it alone. The women working the rice was a very small, thin women.
There were many children at this village with not much to play with. The boys had a small car made from recycled items. We went back to the boat to see if we could get to our luggage packed underneath the boat hull. Jim found the bag full of sports equipment from Decathlon to give to the orphanage in Laos. He pumped up two soccer balls to give to the children. They seemed surprised the balls were for them.
The girls spent the day on the river playing checkers, UNO, reading on the boat. Towards the end of the day, they began playing with two boys from New Zealand that live in Bangkok. It was nice to have the girls playing with the boys as it gave me time to enjoy my Sisterchick book Tara gave me. This one was “Sisterchicks on the Looseâ€.
We arrived at our over night stop around 5pm. The place was very nice with all wood “cottages†along the river. We checked into our two rooms while the girls went to play in the sand with the boys. There was pre-dinner entertainment of Thai dancing. The moon this night was a crescent moon. It was a great opportunity for the girls to see the crescent moon so different – turned on it’s back.
Day Seven – Luangsay Boat Cruise into Luang Prabang, Laos
Breakfast was served at 7am for onboard at 8am. The girls played in the sand with the boys after finishing their breakfast. Early morning on the boat was cool in temperature so they gave out these cape-blankets. All the kids had fun running around the boat in the capes.
The girls had fun playing card games most of the boat trip this day. They played uno and games the boys had brought on the trip. After lunch, half the boat got off for another night stay on the river. The New Zealand boys departed from the boat. No worries, as the girls began playing with another set of boys, ages 10 & 13.
I finished my Sisterchick book from Tara. I am loving these books about friendship and being over 40. My favorite in this book was accepting aging including being “flabby chicksâ€. The Sisterchicks were visiting Finland. It referenced how American’s are so worried about their appearances/body, which is so true. Ten years from now we will look back and will be amazed how great we really looked when we thought we look so old!! Eleri is already telling me I looked better 10 years ago. We have a photo on the fridge of me and Emmy. Emmy is about eighteen months. Elle tells me I look pretty in this photo and why don’t I look like this anymore. Oh, just wait another 10 years when she is in high school!
We enjoyed watching the river life as we floated down the river. Village people still mine for gold in the water.
The view as we came into Luang Prabang was beautiful. We stopped at Pok Ou cave. It was a cave full of Buddha’s. I would not want to travel from town to visit, as it was small and unexciting.
Our next stop was Luang Prabang, Laos. We arrived at the hotel, Lotus Villa Guest House, around 5pm. The Lotus Villa is a very quaint place to stay. We had a family room with plenty of space – with separate bathtub, which thrilled Elle as she could have her bath. A lovely courtyard to enjoy breakfast and an afternoon drink, if we had the time.
We dropped our bags and headed into town. We ate at a place the kids could have a hamburger. They didn’t like them and preferred the local food Jim and I had ordered. We saw the British couple we shared the boat trip with at dinner. The food was fine, nothing special about the food. We walked through the night market and searched for the donuts Jennifer told us to get, but they were finished for the night.
Day Eight – Elephant ride adventure
We began the morning at 6:30 with the bell for the Monks. A bell is rung and the locals pass rice to the Monks daily procession. Jim went down to take photos. The girls were still sleeping so I watched from the balcony. They both woke up to join me. It is cool and crisp in the mornings in Luang Prabang.
We had breakfast in the courtyard, which included eggs, fresh baguette, fresh juice and fresh fruit.
The adventure of the day was an elephant ride. The cost was $86 for the family. Jim and I were $33 each, Emmy was $15 and Elle was $5. The van picked us at 8:30am. We booked the adventure through The Elephant Village tour because they have a rescue program to help the animals, not exploit them. Our elephant had a chain around the ankle from its logging days when the elephant was chained. It can not be removed as there is no space to wedge it off. We all rode one elephant. Emmy rode on the neck with the mahout, the trainer. Elle sat in the middle of the seat between Jim and I. It was an hour long elephant ride through the countryside and through the river. Going through the river was interesting and fun. The river was deep, up over the belly of the elephant. The elephant walked slow and sure foot. I would have thought he would sink in the mud, but he did not.
After our ride, we fed our elephant bananas, but Elle wanted nothing to do with it.
Next, we took a boat to the Tat Sae Waterfalls. We had fun walking around and through the falls as the water level were low for the summer.
Back to the Elephant Village camp to get lunch before going back to town. We got back around 2:30 then walked into town for crepes and an afternoon drink. We window-shopped as we walked through town. We had dinner at the Tamarind Café. We had stopped by last night, but it was full – we laughed, as there was no one in the restaurant. As in Laos, dinner is to be enjoyed and they only book one seating per night. We had a 6pm reservation. The restaurant is small, but very quaint with all local food, which was excellent. The girls loved the pumpkin soup. It was very reasonable as we ate and drank for about 242kip/$30. We walked back to the night market for those donuts – we all had a sugar donut. Jennifer was right, they were good. I said we were window-shopping. Elle said, “There were no windows, only tents so we must be tent-shoppingâ€. She was right.
The market had very nice bedcovers. The girls could use new ones at $20 each. But Emmy burst that bubble as she felt it only to report it wasn’t very soft. Day two in Luang Prabang and nothing purchased!! We walked to a foot rub place near our hotel. Elle had her first foot rub and loved it. The rub was $4 each. Emmy had one foot rub at the Dragonfly with Jim one Sunday in Shanghai, but Elle didn’t want to join them.
Day Nine – Luang Prabang
A day in town was today’s adventure. Luang Prabang has one main street through town filled with shopping and restaurants with an old French villas feel. In many places, the racks of rice patties and spices were drying in the sun.
Jim and the girls decided to go to the Nam Khan River while I shopped.
I looked, but I had not bought anything by our lunch meet time at noon. We went to the pizza place, as Jennifer had said her kids enjoyed it. The girls didn’t like it. We order meat sauce pizza but it had onions and carrots along with the beef.
After lunch, Jim and the girls rented bikes. The bikes had a padded seat on the back for Elle. They rode to the countryside while I shopped kid-free (always a pleasure when shopping with young children).
LP is had beautiful woven silk cloths. They range in cost from cheaper to VERY expensive based on the weave. The more expensive woven cloths are to be hung on the wall. I would love to get one, but we don’t have the wall space. We have even less wall space in California. Therefore, I purchased a couple woven clothes for a table runner. At a very expensive store with beautiful wood items, I found a wood vase in the bargain basement. I could not justify the prices they were asking for the woodwork items. After Jim and the girls had their afternoon crepe and smoothie, I took the girls shopping so Jim could ride further in the countryside.
We meet Jim at 5pm. He took the girls for a foot rub before dinner so I could shop as I still had very little in my bag. I do love taking home something special from each place we visit. I took the shopping and camera bags back to the hotel to meet the family at dinner at 6:30. We ate at 3 Nagas – it has a quaint outside sitting area for dinner and was a nice place to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner. They had a special set meal of steak. Emmy was in for the steak, as she is our good Nebraska beefeater. We also ordered Lao food to share – a mix of spring rolls, curry, water buffalo and chicken. The food was excellent – it was all so good and we ate too much!
Day Ten-Christmas Morning
Christmas morning was different, as it didn’t seem like Christmas. This was our first adventure trip over the Holidays. In the past, we have always gone back to California to spend Christmas with our families in our home. There were no girls running downstairs to see what Santa left in the night, no cookies left for Santa. In short, none of the usual Christmas traditions.
We had arranged to do something really different this year – to give rather than receive. After our breakfast in the courtyard, we met Andrew at 10am to go to a local orphanage. Andrew has “adopted†this orphanage as a way to help the local community. Andrew is from Australia and owner of the Lotus Villa Guest House. We arrived at the orphanage with a group of young, American teachers working in Korea. They had raised $2, 000 for the children.
Andrew gave us a tour where we saw the sleeping rooms with a mattress on the floor for each child. All of their belongs fit in a plastic bag at the foot of their sleep area or above on a shelf, if one is availabe.
Andrew’s goals at the orphanage are currently shelter, food and hygiene. He tiled the bathrooms because the kids had constant diarrhea. Now, the tiles can be cleaned daily. For washing, they have a large water basin where children scoop the cold water out to wash. The orphanage is given $19/month/child from the government. They need to purchase their own water and this cost takes away from their food money.
Currently there are 560 children ranging from 6 to 16 at the orphanage. There are teachers at the orphanage, but no caretakers. The children must wash their own clothes by hand. On the weekends, all 560 children are left unsupervised. Andrew said it is very peaceful and quiet – the children play or read. I found this very interesting as our children don’t even play on the playground at school for 20 minutes unsupervised. They must get their own food for these two-days, as the cooks do not come. They have gardens for lettuce that the children maintain.
On Monday – Friday, the children eat lettuce soup two times daily. The kitchen has four wood fired stoves for cooking the soup.
Andrew brings fresh baguettes every morning for each child. Prior to his bread for the children, they had no breakfast. His next goal is to get them one egg a day. As the children get no protein, they are small in size. In the dinning hall, murals painted by the children adorn the walls.
We brought with us from Shanghai two bags of goods for the children. One bag was filled with clothes and toys. The girls went though their toys and decided what they no longer needed. We had a full bag of Barbies, stuffed animals, jewelry, etc. I am not sure how they will use these toys with so many children. I cleaned out my closet to give away those clothes sitting in the back that will never fit. However, based on the culture, I don’t think the girls will be wearing my pants & shorts. The girls wear the traditional wrap around Lao skirt. I am sure the boys will be wearing my pants, as they won’t complain about having another set of clothes. We gave them all Elle’s uniforms from last year now that she has a new one. The little blue dress will be perfect for the girls and the long sleeve blue polo would be perfect for the boys. I didn’t bring many of Elle’s clothes as I thought her clothes would be too small. Andrew said no problem as the 6 year olds are smaller than Elle. The other bag was filled with new sports equipment from Decathlon where I purchased all the soccer balls totaling about 14 (we gave 2 away on the river). We brought 12 single jump ropes, 8 double jump-in ropes and 12 badminton sets. We included extra birdies for the badminton and pumps for the balls. We left our donations for the school director to sort.
When a group of boys had a break, we gave them four balls and two jump ropes. The smiles on their faces were priceless. I had several boys put their hands together with the head bow saying “Sabadeeâ€. Emmy and Elle played soccer with the boys. The boys were actually very good soccer players playing in only flip-flops. These boys don’t have a ball to play soccer, yet they were very skilled at controlling the ball. One group of boys were having fun with the jump ropes – taking turns.
We went back to the hotel to get changed for a trip to the Kwangsi Waterfalls. We were going to grab a quick early lunch at the Tamarind Café but our truck-tuk driver said his sister has a restaurant at the falls. Ok, no one is really hungry. It took about an hour to get to the fall. Along the way we stopped to see the Hmong people celebrating New Years.
The first stop at the Falls was the restaurant…think local street food with pesky flies everywhere. We ate the BBQ chicken, as that seemed the safest bet, but it was tough and bland. We had fried rice and sodas with our meal. All this “delicious” meal cost us 222kip/$28. And to think, I could have had a good meal at my favorite place in town. It was now after 2pm so we headed to the falls. We walked up to the swim area where Elle was all for going in. Jim and the girls stripped to their suits. I decided SOMEONE needs to hold our gear. The trio put their toes in, but not going in very fast as the water is cold. Jim decided the best way in was the tree swing.
Then, Emmy jumped in to swim to the falls with Jim. Elle really water to go to the falls area, also. So Jim put her on his back. Jim said she was drowning him as she was trying to climb on to his head to get out of the cold water.
After the brief swim, (they can say they did it) we walked up the main falls. We left the falls around 3:30 and went into town for the afternoon crepe. I went for a quick last minute shop – I really need to learn to buy on the first day!
We all met back up at the night market at 5pm for the last walk through the tents. Then it was off to dinner at Arisai, serving Italian cuisine. The food, the service and the place were ok – we would have preferred Lao food, but we enjoyed family time together.
Day Eleven –
Travel day to Cambodia
It was our last day in Luang Prabang. The next stop on our adventure is Cambodia. It has been a very enjoyable visit. After getting up at 6:30am with the bell to watch the Monks for the last time, we enjoyed another relaxing breakfast in the courtyard. Then, we were off to the airport. We were checked in and were through immigration in 15 minutes – we could have sat in the courtyard longer! On top of that, our plane was late an additional two hours. No worries as we are good airport sitters due to China airways. As we were sitting in the airport, I noticed about six kids all on itouches. Elle was on her itouch, but Emmy was busy reading a book. She had finished the one and only book she brought with her in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai had many used bookstores everywhere. Emmy had picked up an used book for the next few airport sitting duties!
We arrived in Siem Reap around 4:30pm. After checking into the hotel, the girls went for a quick swim. We took a mo-tuk to dinner. We were beginning to joke and name all the various transport vehicle. You have the tuktuk in Thailand. In Laos, we had the truck-tuk. The truck-tuk was a pick-up truck with a tuktuk seating in the back. The mo-tuk is a motorbike with a tuktuk seating in the back.
We went to dinner at Viva, the Mexican place Jennifer recommended. After full bellies and four buckets of margaritas. The “buckets” were not large. However, we could have been good at three, but Viva had a special on the buckets. Buy two buckets and get a free t-shirt. We had to walk away with two shirts!! Then off to Birdy’s for a $5 foot massage next to the hotel. Elle was asleep before they finished.
Day Twelve – Temple Hunting, Part One
We hired a car and guide for the day from the hotel. The car was $30 and the guide was $25 for the day. There were no half-day options. We had planned only “temple hunting†in the mornings with pool time in the afternoons, but decided to get the best use of an air condition car and driver by going all day!! The first stop was the wall city of Angkor Thom, which houses many different temples inside the large walled city. Many of the heads of the entry gate into Angkor Thom are missing. The heads were part of a lucrative international trade of East Asian antiquities. The heads on the right represented good, which are smiling. The heads on the left represented evil, which were frowning. Mostly the heads are gone on the right side for this reason.
Our first stop was the Terrace of the Elephants. The wall is 3350m (1, 150ft) long. The Khmer rulers used the wall as a dais from where to review their armies.
We walked around the various small temples inside of Angkor Thom. Many of the stone pieces are laid out on the ground like puzzle pieces for the restoration of putting the temples back together.
It was a hot day, over 38c/100f, with the sun beating down on us. I had the girls put on their hats and their thin, long sleeve shirts to get protection from the sun. We walked to the Bayon Temple, built from 1180-1200. The Bayon stands at the symbolic center of heaven and earth with five entrance gates placed around the complex. The smiling faces of the Bodhisattva Avalokitsevara, the Buddha of compassion. There are around 11, 000 carvings depict Hindu legends and Khmer life at the time. The temple is an impressive work of art. We enjoyed seeing the various faces up close.
By the time we finished with this temple, the girls were “pooping outâ€. We need to refuel with food. Along the way to the next temple, our driver picked a local, tourist restaurant. It was fine, nothing fancy. It cost us $32 for lunch. It seemed expensive after last night’s Mexican dinner with (too many) drinks for $42, but it was the tourist price!!
With everyone refueled, we set out for the next temple on our “temple huntâ€. It was the Ta Phrom Temple. This temple is famous for the enormous lecherous banyan roots growing over the temple. It is the temple used for the outside set of the movie, Lara Craft, Tomb Raiders. The temple was built as a Buddhist temple in the late twelfth century. We walked around the temple. It was cooler as the trees provided shade from the sun.
Last temple of the day was the Angkor Wat Temple. It is a three-story structure rising 55m (181ft) from the ground built around 1113 built by the King. It was dedicated to the God, Vishnu. I don’t know much about this God, but the name came up often while we were at the Museum on the last day. Angkor Wat is the temple most associated with Cambodia.
The girls were having fun jumping on the stones set out for restoration. At one point, they were ready to go back to the hotel to the pool. There were four large pools at the temple. The girls jumped in the “pool†and pretending to be swimming.
We worked our way back to the entrance stopping at the lake to get a photo of the domes at sunset. Jim wasn’t too happy with all the renovation netting in his photo.
After a day that started at 10am, it was 5:30 when we left the temple – the girls were brilliant “temple huntersâ€. We promised our temple hunters a quick swim so Jim took the girls for a swim before dinner. By the time we finished showers, it was already 7:30pm. We grabbed a mo-tuk to the same Mexican place where we enjoyed another good meal. The girls order a chicken quesadilla. What they don’t eat, we gave to the children selling postcards in the streets. It is easy finger food to give away.
Emmy really wanted to do the “fish thing”. These little fish eat the dead skin off your feet. It was $3 for 20 minutes. We bargain the $3 for ten minutes for two people. Emmy and Jim went first!! Emmy loved it. After 5 minutes, I took Jim’s spot. It really tickles as the fish nibble at the dead skin. Ok, the fish loved my feet – I had more dead skin then I would have guessed. Emmy made me take me feet out as all the fish left her young, tender feet for mine!!
Last stop of the night was Birdy’s for a foot rub. It was already late, but everyone wanted to go. Our feet needed a little pampering after all the temple hunting we did today. Elle was a sleep in 10 minutes.
Day Thirteen – Temple hunting, Part Two
We hired a car to go to a temple about two hours out of town. The car was $30 and the extra distance was another $30. The car fees are a bit high. We got sandwiches made in town at the Purple Pumpkin as we thought it might be hard to find food at this temple – we were right. Also, Jim had an upset tummy (food poisoning) from something he ate yesterday.
On the drive to the temple, we all slept. The girls and I are sharing a small double bed. Elle always seems have all the room – she may be small enough but she is all over the bed. I seem to have the least room each night!!
The Beng Mealea temple is in ruins. Since it is more remote, there are not as many tourists at this temple. We did not hire a guide for the day as we planned to only see the one temple.
A local “joined†us walking around and began to give us a tour. He was Elle’s new buddy as we climbed around and through the ruins. He was always there to help her through the hard parts. I had to laugh as we fell behind, he would be giving Elle her own private tour.
This temple was fun as it was not restored and we got to climb all around the ruins. After an almost two hours, we headed back to the car for food. Emmy was dragging as her tummy was a bit upset, also. We ate our sandwiches on one of the Nagas at the entrance. Good thing we had our sandwiches as there was nowhere to eat!!
Next we drove to a small temple on the way back into town. The girls were sleeping; therefore, they stayed in the car with the driver. It was a small temple so Jim and I walked to the top and back in less than 20 minutes.
Time to go back to the pool for an afternoon swim. We had promised the girls we would be home sooner to enjoy the pool. The girls and I enjoyed a two hour swim at the pool. Jim stayed in the room, as his tummy was still upset.
As we had more time tonight, we went to the old market for a quick shop. We left with just a couple stuffed animals to hold a mobile phone for the girls. We went back to Viva as everyone enjoys the food. Jim didn’t eat and he threw up in the trashcan across the street. We have a packed medical kit we take with us on all our holidays. Jim took a couple pills this afternoon to clear up the touch of food poison he acquired. We were back to the hotel by 6:30. No foot massages tonight. We had a quiet night watching tv.
Day Fourteen – Temple Hunting, Part Three
Jim left the room at 5:30am to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. The girls voted no for an early morning run to the temples. I enjoyed the sleep-in, as I jumped into Jim’s single bed the minute he left. I got voted to the dreaded middle of the bed for last night’s sleep. When Emmy woke up, her tummy was very upset. The only thing both Jim and Emmy ate the same was the ginger chicken at the roadside café near the temples on day one.
Jim had his mo-tuk driver waiting for us after returning from Angkor Wat. We had a quick breakfast. We walked around a temple, but Emmy was dragging more today. We did a quick look.
Jim wanted to go to one last temple at the top of a hill to see the view overlooking all of Angkor Wat. Emmy made it up the long hill, but declined to climb the last 20 stone steps to the top of the temple. Jim gave Emmy a piggyback ride down the hill. We went back to town with a stop at the Purple Pumpkin for sandwiches take back to the room. Elle and Jim went poolside for lunch and a swim. Emmy and I hung in the room watching tv.
Jim left to go back to temples for sunset photos at 3:30. We all showered while Jim temple hunted for the perfect photo. Jim had the same mo-tuk driver all day. Jim had paid him $10 for the first run out to the temples and $15 for the second run with the girls. He gave him another $15 for the afternoon run. It was a very good day for him as they mo-tuk drivers charge $25 for one run to the temples, which could be all day. The extra is the cost of gas to run back and forth. He was a nice man with a four-year-old daughter.
We decided we should try something different tonight for dinner. We went to Le Café across the street from the Mexican restaurant, Viva. It was ok. Emersyn had tomato soup, as her tummy wasn’t ready to eat. Elle order the spaghetti, but ate the Cambodia food Jim and I ordered. We went to the blue pumpkin for ice cream. Then the fish massage – Emmy’s favorite. Elle tried it, but she would only stick in her toes. I joined Emmy but she was not happy about it as the fish attack my tired old feet.
Emmy did not want to go for a foot rub, but Elle did – she just loves the foot rub. I took Emmy back to the hotel and Jim took Elle for a foot rub. Jim said she stayed awake tonight. Of course, all the ladies love to give Elle a foot rub!
Day Fifteen – Last Day of our Adventure
We woke to a slow morning. Our flight was at 8pm so we had a long breakfast and then back to the room to pack. We checked out at 11:30am then on to Viva for an early lunch. We split the meals, as the portions were huge. Ems still didn’t eat lunch. Jim and I drank two buckets of margaritas for lunch to get our 4th free shirt. Again, we gave our leftovers to the children selling – they told us they go to school in the morning and the late afternoon. The middle of the afternoon is for working. The kids were very nice and spoke English quite well. They gave their food to another boy as one of the girls had comment he was hungry – it was nice to see them look after each other.
After lunch, we walked around looking for a shop from the Luxe guide but we could not find it. It was hot so we decided it was time to go to the Angkor Wat museum. It was well done with good displays and air conditioning. Emmy enjoyed reading all the displays and Elle was a bit bored since she doesn’t read. There were movies shown throughout the various areas to give you history on the various temples.
We left the museum around 4:30 to go back to the market for one last shop. We did not purchased much in Cambodia. After Laos, the silks didn’t seem as nice. We had dinner at a local cuisine restaurant which was very good. Emersyn had Khmer lemon chicken soup – very tasty. Elle just eats anything and everything we order. It helps they are not picky eaters for all the traveling we do.
We went back to the hotel to change to into pants and long sleeve shirts. While it may be 32c/90f+ in Siem Reap, it was 0c/30f in Shanghai. After a quick one hour flight to Bangkok, we had a three-hour airport sit waiting for the last flight to Shanghai leaving at 1:10am. Our goal was to keep the girls up until we board the plane so that they sleep the whole way home. The good news is we are flying on a Star Alliance partner so Jim’s airline status gets us into the business class lounge. Such a difference!! Another family fun adventure exploring Asia and seeing other cultures.
Whew, The End! Now, I can begin to pack for the next adventure at Chinese New Year to South Africa. That will be another long post.