wanderingstan travel log
Laos
16 March, 2001
Chiang Mai, Thailand
It feels good to be back in this town where I spent so much time on my last wandernings two years ago. Even better, I met my old fried Matt Kelly here, who spent the last 13 months at the South Pole after living at my house in Boulder for a summer. In true Matt & Stan fashion, we spent dinner last night solving the worlds problems, discussing the true nature of Buddhism, and the difference between power and status.
Jason is up in Chiang Rai visiting his friend Andy who is doing real-world work there. We gave him a load of stuff to cart back to the states for us!
Email is cheap here, only 30 Baht per hour (75 cents). Even better, they have scanners here so I've added a few pictures to this page.
20 March, 2001
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Nothing new. Haven't done much of anything but relax, play email tag with Jason and soak in the culture. I bought a Laos visa and will head up to Chiang Rai tomorrow to meet Jason and then we run for the border!
22 March 2001
Chiang Khong, Thailand on the border with Laos
Arrived here from Chiang Rai this afternoon. Tomorrow we catch a "slow boat" down the river into Laos. I don't know what to expect...I'm not sure if email will be available there. Laos is the least developed country in Asia and one of the poorest countries in the world. We're travelling with identical Flemish twins (Nele and Katrien), two Danes (Maja and Kirsten) and a Canadien (Diane). It feels great to be in a small town after spending so much time in the city of Chiang Mai. I can here the crickets this evening and across the river I can see lights on in Laos.
Laos
26? March 2001
Luang Probang, Laos
Waterfall!
Just finished an absolutely amazing day. I and seven other travelers took a tuk-tuk about an hour outside of town to see "The Waterfall". We were not dissappointed! In the middle of the jungle, the thick canopy of trees and vines and chirping insects parted for the river to cascade down a four lavels of waterfalls, each about 10 to 15 meters high. A few minutes of hiking brought us to the uppermost falls where there was a huge pool of the bluest water you've ever seen...and there was no one there.
We whiled away the day jumping into the pool from ever-increasing hights (up to about five meters!), exploring the hidden caves behind the waterfalls, and laying out in the tropical sun. It really could not have been any better. And as a final sign of the days perfection, the rain which had almost soured our plans began to fall the moment we climbed in the tuk-tuk to head home!
This is the sort of day where everything comes together and you just can't imagine anything more beautiful, more breathtaking, more fun, more absolutely perfect! I hope all of you get to experience something like this!
About Laos
Laos is an interesting country. Much more primiative and poor than Thailand, but also more quiet and relaxed. Because it was colonized by the French, the town I am in is dotted with French Colonial Villas -- quite a sight in a city which is a hairs breath away from being overrun by the surrounding jungle! Laos is also the most bombed country in the world, which may explain why my guesthouse has chopped morter shells as ashtrays in the lobby. And as this is a communist country, I am startled from time to time to see soviet flags hanging outside of buildings!
Crazy Americans
Why aren't there more American's travelling? I can count on my hands the number of American's I've met on this trip, and yet it seems that the better part of many European countries is here with me, along with half of Canada! It's amusing to talk to other travellers and ask what they think of the US. They are all impressed with our accomplishments, our economy, etc... They all watch our movies and TV shows (even Jerry Springer). And yet they think it incredibly odd that we tolerate two weeks of vacation a year and that many Americans have never ventured off our continent. And I think they're on to something!
So if any of you are in any situation like I was in, or if for any reason you have some time and a little money (and really, you don't need much out here), let me encourage you to venture out into the world a little bit! It really is amazing and there is always more to discover!
I'll get off my soap box now and walk back to my room where I expect to dream of waterfalls and jungle caves!
30 March 2001
Vang Vieng, Laos
Is there a maximum human tolerance for incredible days? If so I am getting really close to finding it! The last few days in this sleepy mountain town have been fantastic. The scenery is straight out of a movie or an artist's crazy imagination: steep hills burst out of the flat rivier valley at insane angles, all coverered by thick jungle except on the steepest rocky cliffs.
Two days ago Jason and I, our Belgian and Dainish friends, and a cool gang of new friends from Candada went tubing down the river. Halfway down the river, and just when we were feeling a little hot and sleepy, we took our tubes out of the water and headed up a short distance to a cave.
We all got back in our tubes and floated down a narrow canal into the mouth of the cave. It felt a bit like an amusment park ride, but it was all very very real! A Lao guide led the way back into the cave, farther and farther. We had to leave our tubes a short distance in and walked, waded, and swam our way back for nearly a kilometer...and still there was no end! There is nothing like swimming alone with only the light of your AA headlamp through a hole in the rock only inches above the water, and entering a room thirty feet across and 15 feet high. And then you turn out the light and just tread water for a while in the absolute darkness...
The next day was spent lounging in an abandoned bamboo bungalow in the rice fields between the mountains and the river. It rained quite hard and the roof leaked a bit, but I managed to catch up in my journal and take a nap.
Then it was adventure time again. Jason and I and the Canadians (Kyr, Amy, Kaylee, and Jen) rented bikes and headed 6km out of town to a local swimming hole and site of the "Buddha Cave". The cave is absolutely indescribable--but I guess I'll give it a shot. The first chamber is the size of basketball stadium, a reclining Buddha shrine right in the middle, basking in the light of the 30 ft entryway. We climbed further back and soon relied on my headlamp and Kyr's flashlight. The room got even bigger! Imagine a chamber the size of a huge football stadium, lined with a row of rock slabs the size of apartment buildings that fell from the ceiling! Farther and farther back we went, going from chamber to chamber. At times the floor looked like we were walking on the moon, or the wall was wet and ribbed like a set from "Alien", or the cieling appeared as the underbelly of a huge reptile. It was an incredible feeling to be in this vast expanse of nature with absolutely no one else around and only the dim light of our flashlights to make our way with!
When Kyr's flashlight died we decided to head out to the living world again. At the waterhole, the water was incredibly deep, and we took turns jumping from the tree which overhung the water. I even managed to successfully land a backflip off the rope swimg! (After about six bellyflops...)
1 April 2001
Vientiane, Laos
It's a noisy city here so I don't think we'll stay too long. What's amazing is that this is the capital of the country and the largest city, yet there are only 100,000 people here. Tomorrow we'll cross the border into Thailand. Jason's heading for Ko Pha Ngon in the South via Bangkok. I may head north to visit a Thai friend from my last visit here if I can work things out.
Today we said goodbye to some good friends and long-time travel parters. Maja, Kirsten, Nele, and Katrien borded a bus for a 15 hour ride to Pakse this afternoon. They were going to take the 3:00 bus but it had motorbikes stashed in the aisles, bags of rice stacked in the back, and no free seats! I guess they didn't feel like standing that long.
In Bangkok I'll get my film developed and add some more photos to this page. Look for them in a few days!
On to Thailand!