Into Laos and down the Mekong

It's hard to leave Thailand... after 4 weeks spent here, we wish we could spend another 4! But Lao is calling us. The border crossing as always is quite an experience on its own and this one is about crossing the Mekong river on a tiny boat, with dozens of Lao people getting supplies from Thailand.

The river Mekong and in front of us: Lao!

The first thing to do in a new country (just after getting the visas ;-)) is to try local food!! This one consists of boiling your own fresh vegies in a boiling broth, yummy!!

There are not many remains of the French colonial time, and apart from the obvious croissants and baguettes, Petanque turned here into a national favourite sport. Locals seem to take this sport very seriously.

All the cruising boats getting ready for the next morning departure

After getting our boat tickets for the next day,

we enjoy a drink looking melancolically accross the river at
the sunset over Thailand...

Early morning the next day from our hotel window

Around 7am, the Buddhist monks go around
the streets to receive food from locals (their only way to get food)

Waiting for the boat to leave under the morning sun after a fresh night (14°C)

The boat quickly fills up with 120 tourists, so there's not much space left.

Fortunately, we have the first seats and have a bit more leg room.

The cruise is perfect to observe the untouched nature
as well as the life of small rural communities

The cruise to Luang Prabang takes 2 full days so we stop to spend the first night in the cute river side village of Pak Beng.

Evening just before reaching our destination Pak Beng for the first day

The next morning is quite fresh and foggy, which adds to the atmosphere.

Breakfast on the river side.

Boarding on the second day of the cruise.

For the second day, the 120 tourists are split into 2 boats, so today we have much more space and even get a table. The sun comes out after about 1 hour ride.

Arrival with the sunset in Luang Prabang.

David

Retrospective on Thailand

Here's our tops and flops for Thailand:

TOPS:
- The Island of Ko Lipe
- Street food in front of a huge mall in Chiang Mai
- Jungle hut in Chiang Rai
- Thai cooking class with super grandma in Chiang Rai
- Going inwards in the silent retreat
- Green Curryyyyy
- Cruising Ko Lanta on a scooter
- Cycling the laid back streets of Chiang
- Clean streets, clean fruits, clean food, everything clean ;-)
- Getting drunk on freshly cut coconut juice


FLOPS:
- Bed bugs in Chiang Mai
- Travel agencies charging 3 times the normal bus fare
- Beaches of Phuket, unfortunately too expensive and too crowded

Caro and David

Chiang Rai - Jungle Hut and cooking class

Chiang Rai is the Nothern most town in Thailand, before reaching the famous Golden Triangle. The small town is very laid back, much more than Chiang Mai, and the nature is pretty pristine, with soft mountains covered with jungle and bamboo forests. For the first couple of days here, we decide to go to a jungle hut in the mountain, run by a local hill tribe. On the way, we have a nice insight into village life, like these people taking their pig to the butcher with the motorbike.




With spaces just above the tree line and great views over the valley, the place is perfect just for relaxing while enjoying the nature.


We get one of the nicest huts, with a balcony facing the sunrise and perfect for early morning yoga....



There's plenty of nice walks just near the hut, including some waterfalls or tea plantations.

We took a late afternoon walk through the tea plantation

On our second day here, we took a walk to the next hill tribe village through the bamboo forest.

View over the next hill tribe villages, as we came out of the bamboo forest

Arrival in the Village

Local basket making

Back and Chiang Rai and for our last day in Thailand, we finally decided to take a half day thai cooking class. We did not really know what to expect but it turned out to be one of the best experience in Thailand. The cooking teacher was the sweetest grandma and spoke super good english.

We started the class by going together to the market to get the ingredients we needed for the food. She taught us how to say "how much is this", something like "ai ang ai", and was explaining us all the different foods we were seeing.

Caro and our cooking teacher in the market

Here's the place where you buy the curry pastes.
Mainly red curries, but the one the lady is getting
is the green curry, which is one we chose for the things to cook.

Here the different meet, and in the foreground, it's coagulated blood, yummy!!

Here's one of the fruit we tried with her, and which
immediately became our favourite fruit!!

Here is a coconut milk press, indispensable ingredient for
many Thai food, including the famous green curry.

in the market, she would even explain us a lot of the local customs.

Our teacher was giving us very precise indications before we had to it.

All the ingredients prepared before we start to cook them!

So here's the result: 1. Green Curry, 2. Stir fried Veg, 3. Pad Thai (Stir fried noodles with tamarin sauce). The Green Curry turned out to the be one we ever had!! One of the ingredient that gives its typical taste is the Chinese Basil.

Goodbye pictures after this great experience!

David