Chaos in Laos

Sitting in the hotel manager's office...no internet in the hotel rooms...have to make it short and can't upload many pics today.

We drove 300 miles on twisty high mountain roads through Laos, from Vientiane to Luang Prabang.

Many villages along the road in the mountains. People living in the most basic conditions we have seen so far. No running water, naked children on the side of the road, very basic farming or craft work like basket weaving. It was a hard day...not the best atmosphere in the car...but the scenery of the Laotian mountains was great. 

Luang Prabang is interesting. A lot of backpackers and European people here. As we drove in, we saw some cute French looking cafes that we will surely visit tomorrow. The Mekong river flows right next to our hotel. It is a beautiful, history-laden and very wide river that we will explore tomorrow. The sun is setting over it as a big orange ball as I am writing this. 

"65% of the world's population gets its drinking water from the Himalayans."

Smoky Mountains

Hello!

So sorry I didn't write anything yesterday, but nothing worth reporting happened. We stayed at a pretty shabby hotel in a pretty shabby town and were very happy to leave early in the morning. When we got downstairs to the car lot, some very nice fellow drivers had decorated our Toyota with ribbons and a poster for my birthday. I thought that was very sweet. Thank you Simon.
We drove a lot over the last few days. Around 500-600 km per day, a lot of it on twisty mountain roads. These remote roads would have afforded us some spectacular views of the mountains and today of the mighty Mekong river that flows down here all the way from Tibet. But the problem is that everyone is busy burning brush and clearing forests with fire that that entire northern part of Thailand is covered in a blanket of smoke. You can't see at thing--even the tropical sun could not overcome the dense dirt in the air. The government is trying to stop this, but with no success. The amount of pollution that is produced here must be of global concern.
This could have been an amazing view of the river snaking its way through the mountains of northern Thailand, but the smoke was so dense, we had a hard time breathing.

We arrived in Vientiane, Laos, around 2.30 pm. It's a pretty nice little town, on the edge of the Mekong river. We'll spend one night here and tomorrow drive on to Luang Prabang, still in Laos. 

Interesting trivia:

"Balls of light are observable from time to time rising from the Mekong's water surface in the stretch of the river near Vientiane. These are sometimes referred to as Naga Fireballs. The locals attribute the phenomenon to Phaya Naga, the Mekong Dragons."

Rally-itis

From conversations with fellow drivers on this trip who have done many of these long rallys I have learned that we all go through a sequence of mental stages on these journeys. in the beginning, the excitement and mystery of things to come dominates and everyone is busy, organizing and learning the ropes. The first few weeks, we are all focused on getting from location to location without getting lost or breaking our gear. Towards the middle of the event, people start suffering from rally-itis. You're a bit tired from driving, you miss things at home, the quirks of your car- and roommate start getting to you and you still have a few thousand miles to travel. Closer to the end of the journey, you realize that this adventure is going to be over soon and it's clear again that this is a non-reoccurring opportunity to experience places most people can't get to. A bit of sadness in the face of the end of traveling sneaks in. The most intense period of trips like these, I've been told, sets in when we are all back home and our brains relive our experiences in the comfort and safety of our familiar environments. I wonder what this will be like and if it is all true. For now, we have a lot more traveling to do and the next few days will take us through Laos and then Vietnam, probably the most basic countries on our trip. Away from highways and cosmopolitan accommodations.

Very zen...candles sitting on golden vessels floating in reflection pools. 
Even here, at the end of the world, you can't escape the globalization of American "culture": McDonalds and Starbucks in Chiang Mai. But I must admit that that grande latte was pretty good.
Of all the hotels we've been at, I think the Chedi here is my favorite. I'd like to return here one day if I can.
A picture from our probably last buddhist temple visit. There are seven buddhas, one for each day of the week. You pour oil into the lantern corresponding with the buddha of the day of the week you were born. That is supposed to bring lots of luck. There are so many rituals in buddhism that are intended to extend life, bring happiness, guarantee love and create wealth that we participated in that I should be set for life :-)

Day off in Chiang Mai

A novice monk and me...in Buddhism, you can be a monk for a day or your lifetime. Monks in training wear orange robes, teaching monks wear brown robes. 
The temple in Chiang Mai...lots of bells here. 
Gold leafing is a sign of religious sacrifice in Buddhism. I was able to buy 100 gold leaves today...I'm looking forward to using them in my work when I get home.
We visited a Chinese pharmacy in Chiang Mai. They had an amazing variety of herbs and spices there and blend them according to ancient recipes for all sorts of ailments. The herbs then marinate a large bottle of whiskey for at least three months until the liquid becomes potent. Maybe this ritual is just an excuse for people to drink a lot of booze.

Pachyderms and Zen Hotels

This is one sweet place! We are now at the Chedi Hotel in Chang Mai, after we spent last night at a dump in the middle of nowhere. It is beautiful here--well deserved after a few days of hard driving covering hundreds of miles. We will be here for three nights. 
One the way here we stopped at a place called the Thai Elephant Conservation Center. It is a very well maintained facility complete with elephant hospital that keeps a large number of animals under great conditions. They put a special show on for us today. 
Elephants have very prickly hairs on their skin.
Since it is so hot outside here the elephants get to go in the water 3 times a day. They love it in there. 
Ok...I promise this is the last temple picture. We have seen so many buddhist and hindu temples, I think we had enough for a lifetime. This was actually a very beautiful ancient temple site called Phimai. It was a huge maze of statues and temple buildings on a big lawn. Very pretty. 

Off roading from Angkor to Korat in Thailand

Our last night at Angkor ended with an amazing dinner outside at the 1000 year old temple of Kravan. It was an unforgettable experience to dine in these ancient ruins. 

Now I know why we shipped a 4x4 over here from Florida. We could not have done today's drive without it. 100 miles of very rough dirt roads. You think the road is getting better and you speed up...and here comes a huge hole. Our car did great...nothing broken, just really dirty.

It's a different world here. Our cars driving by the homes along the dirt roads caused quite a stir. These kids working in the mud probably have probably never seen anything like that...25 4x4's driving by in one day. 

Stuff is still transported by cow and carriage in this part of the world. Here is our fellow driver Sir Terence English and his partner in front of us in their Land Cruiser.

Angkor Temples

The stupa towers of Angkor Wat. These huge sandstone towers are also the national symbol of Cambodia on the country's flag.
Lots of elephants in Cambodia, in tourist places, but also wild in the forests. 

The over 200 large face sculptures in the temple of Bayon make you feel like you are watched anywhere inside this big temple. 

The temple of Ta Prohm in the Angkor complex was my favorite. It has not been restored and the forest had 400 years to overgrow the site resulting in incredible views. Somehow the massive plant growth makes the age of the buildings more tangible and impressive.

You can drive through a lot of the temple areas, they are so large!