End of November

Last of November and NaNoWriMo is over. I finished in time, 50 000 words in 30 days. I still have to finish the draft, and then there is a lot of editing. So maybe, maybe I'll be done somewhat done in January. 

As I have been talking about earlier, Luang Prabang have a lot of Wats, or Temples where the monks live. Four o'clock every afternoon the monks gather by the wat's drum and perform a ceremony by playing the drums and cymbals in a rhythm I really can't explain. The drums you find at the buddhist wats are called "Ho-ko" or "Dharma Drum". They play only for a short time but every time I hear the ritual I feel exhilarated with spiritual energy. I guess it's because I'm a real fan of buddhism. What I have recently noticed is that they play the drums at 4 in the morning as well. Not as laud, and maybe not all wats, but when I went to bed last Saturday I could faintly hear the rhythm of the drum outside somewhere. 

Saturday

Yesterday evening was spent eating dinner at the restaurant called The House before we moved on to the bar Utopia. Me and Niclas had some beers, he played volley ball and I started talking with a group of Germans. A fun night, and I am a little tired today.

Spa Garden and Tamarind Cooking School

This week I have had to activities of notice. Tuesday I spent on Spa Garden and had a 2,5 hour spa treatment. Body Scrub, sauna, oil massage. Everything for about 40 dollars, or 300 kr. Totally worth it.
The other activity I just came back form, Tamarind Cooking School. 8.45 this morning nine of us gathered at the restaurant Tamarind, a place that specialize in Lao cuisine. We spent the first hour visiting the Phousy Market, where we tried Buffalo tongue and heart. Really delicious actually. Then the Tu-Tuk driver drove us out to Tamarind's pavilion bout 20 minutes outside of Luang Prabang where we were taught the secret to Lao food. These are:
Basil
Coriander
Dill
Tamarind
Chili

Basil, coriander, chili and dill we used in almost all our four main dishes. We made a chili paste to dip our sticky rice in, fish boiled in banana leaf, chicken fried in lemon grass and a traditional Lao stew. Everything really tasty, even though the stew was maybe a little boring. To wrap everything up we made the sticky rise desert, which you prepare in purple sticky rice and coconut milk and top it with fresh fruits. I am so full my stomach might explode. I can't even write a decent blog post.

Filippa's Guide to Luang Prabang: Backpacker Edition - Day 2 and 3

Day 2
When in Luang Prabang there is another thing that must be experienced except for the waterfalls, namely the elephants. Half an hour outside town is the Elephant Village located. One can sign up for many different activities, most of the one day experiences start at 9 am and ends between 3-4 pm. An excellent choice for a day excursion, and lunch and transportation is included in the price. Then, enjoy the afternoon drinking coffee, visit temples (or wats as they are called), and visit the night market on Main Street which start at five in the evening. Then, eat dinner at main street, maybe Coconut Garden or go back to the street food market if you're in the mood. Enjoy a beer at Utopia or Lao Lao Garden or if you're more into wine, visit one of the many wine bars. Go to bed early, tomorrow you'll will rise with the sun.

Day 3
Around six in the morning the monks leave the temple to collect alms from the villages. The monks walk in a long line dressed in the saffron robes and collect food from the villages who sitting by the street. This is a religious act, which centers about giving and not receiving. Avoid main street as its crammed with tourist and instead walk down a side alley where you'll be alone with the villagers and the monks. After the almsgiving, enjoy a long breakfast at the cafés in town, you have all the time in the world. Take a seat at Scandinavian Bakery's veranda and see how Luang Prabang slowly wake up and becomes busier by the second.
Your third day can be spent on more day trips. Through Tiger-Trail Adventure you can book several adventure packages. Kayak up the Mekong River to enjoy beautiful scenery, visit Pak Ou Cave, or Buddha Cave, and villages by the river. Go trekking in the mountain to visit the Hill Tribes. Or if you're into extremes there's mountain biking as well. If you rather take it slowly, stroll down the streets or take a walk around the peninsula, eat lunch at Art House Café, visit Wat Xieng Thong and just soak in the beauty of Luang Prabang,
For dinner, enjoy some Laap, the traditional meal of Laos, from any restaurant on main street. Wrap it up  with a crêpe which they sell from the street stall, complete with nutella, chocolate syrup or banana.

Filippa's three day guide to Luang Prabang: Backpacker Edition - Day 1

Earlier I have written a little guide to the cafés in Luang Prabang I have tried so far. Today I wanted to take it a bit further, by giving some advice on how to spend only three days in Luang Prabang without missing to much, but also without stressing. As Elizabeth Gilbert wrote in her novel Eat, Pray, Love every city have their own word. Rome might have sex and Stockholm's word might be conform, but Luang Prabang word is relax.


As a backpacker you probably arrive in Luang Prabang by bus in the evening. The first thing you do is to ask the tuk-tuk to drop you off close to JoMa Bakery. Just by the bakery is a little side street with a lot of budget Guesthouses, offering both dorms and private rooms. Since I haven't stayed at any of them, I don't knwo which to recommend, but I assume all of them are good enough. So, you check in, dump you bag and go out to experience Luang Prabang. After a long bus ride you will be in the mood for some food and  luckily the best street food places are just around the corner from your Guesthouse. On main street, at the end of the Night Market (or the beginning if you come from JoMa) is another little side street. Here are tables full with foods and a plate of the buffet is only 10 000 Kip, jut above a dollar. You can also buy roasted fish or chicken on stick for a small price as well. You may then take a turn on the Night Market, but are probably tired after the bus ride and might head home to sleep.

Day 1
Since most cheap guesthouses don't offer breakfast, you will have to find a bakery somewhere in town. JoMa is one, Ancient Old Café and Guesthouse just by the Night Market/Food stalls is another. A third is Scandinavian Bakery. When in Luang Prabang you must visit one of the waterfalls, I prefer the Kuang Si. Either rent a scooter or go by tuk-tuk, the latter are the cheaper alternative as you can plit the cost with other travelers. Before you go, get yourself a sandwich and some water to take with you, the waterfalls are the perfect picnic place but they don't sell excellent food. Leave Luang Prabang around 9-10 in the morning, the drive to the waterfall is almost an hour long and if you arrive before lunchtime you will have it almost for yourselves. Enjoy the view of the big fall and then a dip into the very refreshing pools and go back to Luang Prabang when you're satisfied, your tuk-tuk driver will be waiting for you outside.
Back in Luang Prabang, enjoy an afternoon coffee at any of the riverside cafés, maybe Art House café by the Nam Khan. For dinner, if you're not in a mood for more street food there are plenty of restaurants on Main Street that are suited for the backpacker budget, like The Pizza Luang Prabang or basically all restaurants where you can get Lao food. On the other side of Mount Phousi is Utopia, a restaurant and bar popular among backpackers, and is another option for dinner, if not, a fun place to hang out and have a beer after your meal.
Luang Prabang is not big in the party scene, and most things closes before midnight. If you want to be out for a little longer there's Dao Fa, one of the few night clubs or the bowling alley, both a little bit outside of town.


Tomorrow: Filippa's three day guide to Luang Prabang: Backpacker Edition - Day 2 and 3

Mahout

A mahout is the Elephant's keeper or trainer, and every elephant have their own personal mahout.

The pick-up van drives by the hotel just after 8.30 and I hop on, and are joined by C from Australia, the couple H and R, also from Australia, and F from England. The drive to the Elephant Village is 30 minutes and we leave the city of Luang Prabang and drives up towards the mountains and the river Nam Khan. The five of us have booked the "2 day mahout experience" in which we are to ride the elephants and sleep one night at the Elephant Lodge. The first thing we do when we arrive is check the place out and a a cup of tea or coffee, whatever you prefer. The Elephant Village is a beautiful place with a little feeding station, a pool, a couple of bungalows, a restaurant and an elephant hospital. And a breathtaking scenery. We sit around for a bit, introducing ourselves to our new group. After a while, we are to practice to sit up on the elephant, which is not easy when you're 165 cm tall. I manage to climb up and go a lap around the camp, sitting on the elephant's neck. When F climbs up we are all impressed how gracious she is, while we all have good laugh when R (shorter than me) tries to sit up on the elephant's neck. After the little elephant sneak peek, we check in at the elephant lodge, a house a couple of minutes up the river with very nice rooms and an amazing view from the terrace.

Back at the camp we are to do our first real tour on the elephant, and we sit in chairs strapped to their backs. The elephant take us around the camp, out into the river and then through the jungle and a little village. In the river, me and F's mahout climbs off to take some pictures and our elephants decides to walk around the little river island on her own. They are exceptionally well trained however, and she don't walk far from her mahout but mainly strolls around on her own. After we ride, we wait just a little bit before we are to take the elephants to where they sleep, out in the jungle. Again we sit up, me even less graceful than the first time. We ride though the jungle, sitting on their necks and just go with it. I don't know how much the mahout behind me controls the elephant, but I think she also knows the way back. I think the name of my elephant is Mae Uak, but I am not sure. The last hours of the afternoon is spent at Tad Sae Waterfall, not as beautiful as Kuang Si, but still, the fall is simply amazing. It's so idyllic it almost feels manmade and fake.

We then have dinner and return to our lodge under a sky full of stars.

Next morning the alarm clock goes off at 6.30. am. 7.00 the group is once again gathered and this time we are to collect the elephants from the jungle to led them back to the camp. This ride is a little scarier, as most of the way is downhill. It feels like your are going to fall down in front of the elephant and that she will step on you, but we get down safely. The mahout is also ready to catch you if you fall. When we get down to the river its bathing time and the best moment of the experience, possibly the best moment of my trip so far. The elephants are dirty after their sleep and really need a wash. me and my co-mahout arm ourselves with brushes and buckets and Mae Uak walks into the river to have her morning bath. I cannot possibly explain how wonderful and incredibly fun it was, but let me just say that when I jumped off Mae Uak I was just as soaked as she was.

Hopefully I will be able to return to and do the mahout experience one more time before I go back to Sweden.

Role Models

When homesick, read a book written in your language, set in your country and possible in your hometown. If they novel have been made into a film, watch the film. A couple of days ago I started to re-read Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. His books was a huge breakthrough and success, not only in Sweden but internationally as well. I have read them before, but many years ago and since I am not the same person as I was years ago, my experience from reading the novels would be another.

There are some part of his writing that bothers me, the diction is not varied and the language cannot be described as excellent. At the same time the plot gets me on the hook and I read on, barely without stopping. Because I can.

However, his female protagonist, Lisbeth Salander is a well written character. She is the opposite of the Mary-Sue. Yes, we all knew Salander is a socially challenged and has way of thinking that's not fitted to the society. And a tendency to use violence when she feels threatened. Nevertheless, she has a moral code that I actually admire and has inspired my own opinion. In that way she is some kind of the role model. Her ethics mixed together with a chunk of Hermione Granger is probably my own personal role model, and something that I from now on will try to adopt.

Tomorrow I will go the the Elephant Village for a two day mahout experience. Will report back on Wednesday how it was.

7 weeks

Today was 7 weeks since I left Stockholm and set out for Laos. One might think that I covered Luang Prabang and has nothing left to do now, which is only partly true. I compare myself with other travelers and I conclude that we have completely different tempos. It is not like ones who visit Luang Prabang are stressful, but we are still on different levels. They have very often 3-4 days to cover Luang Prabang and do everything they want to do, which means they often stuff their days with some kind of activities like visit the waterfalls, going elephant riding or go trekking among the hill tribes. Therefor they probably wake up early, eat breakfast, do their thing, get back and eat dinner. But most of the times they have a plan what to do. When you, like me, live somewhere one can´t stuff the days full. Or, you just don't, because you know you have so much time to do things you want to do, and end up doing a lot of noting most days of the week. I try to spend some of my "doing nothing" days writing on my NaNo, but so far I have failed miserably. It might not be a bad thing however, we sometimes need a period when we can do just that, nothing. The problem is that when you are by yourself it is hard to find the motivation to get up and actually do something. These days, I get out of bed around 11-12, mostly because I have no real reason to get up. Because I lack the motivation. That is way I have been doing a lot of things when Peter the Dane and Hildur from Iceland were in Luang Prabang but almost nothing while Im by my own. Also, if I had the tempo as the travelers have, I would have covered all of Luang Prabang before the first week was over. Now I have still some exciting things to do and see. I would also have been completely broke. And exhausted. Sorry for the rambling.

Elder Scrolls

All I want for christmas is a silly little video game. But its bigger on the inside! I still haven't done any real shopping in Luang Prabang yet. I fear that when I start, I might not be able to control myself and I'll be everything you can find at the nightmarket. This includes silk scarves, commercial T-shirts and snakes in glass bottles. Instead I spend all my money on food and if I don't stop I'll come home 15 kilos heavier.

Vacation Land

Most of us in western society are more than familiar with the term "Vacation". We have the summer vacation, when you go abroad or spend weeks at the summer house somewhere in the archipelago, or the winter vacation when the entire family with friend go either up north to the Swedish mountains or south down to the alps. What all vacations have in common however is that when we go, we enter some kind of a Vacation Land state and we behave in a fashion we would never do at home. Vacation often go hand in hand with traveling, and the change is especially clear when we are away from the security of home. The most prominent example is how you speak to strangers in different way. At home, we tend to stick to our own private group of friends and not very often we expand that group. On vacation however, you start talking with someone random during a bur ride and you end up spending the following days with each other. You also tend to forget your own dress code while you're away. Good bye white button downs, black suits, tight jeans, high heals or whatever you prefer, and hello tacky BeerLao T-shirts and In the Tubing-tanks. Hello fluffy harem 2-dollars pants looking as if you just stepped out of a Hippies Conference. Hello flip-flops and trekking-sandals. And, I am starting to do it as well. Last week I bought a pair of shorts from the Night Market which looked like Aladdin's yellow pants. The Pre-Prince Aladdin. But mine are reddish brown instead. I am also seriously considering buying a white BeerLao T-shirt.

Vikings Unite

After Peter the Dane left Luang Prabang I have been by myself a couple of days. Yesterday however, a girl from Hildur contacted me through Couchsurfing and asked if I wanted to hang out. During the day I had a Lao Massage and in the evening I had a dinner with Hildur who us from Iceland. It turned out in we had the same taste in literature, both being big nerds and huge fans of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Mr Darc.. Ehm I mean Pride and Prejudice. We then had a beer at the new popular hangout place in Luang Prabang called Utopia, a very relaxed bar who's customers are mainly backpackers. We also spent Tuesday together. By bike we went to the Phousy Market, a big market outside the center. This is were many of the Laotians go to do their shopping. You find anything from non-refrigerated meat to veggies to shoes to alive fish in large buckets. As we walked around in the meat area we tried to guess that actually were for sale. We found several piles of pig feet, bags with blood, plates with what we believed was liver and buckets of intestines. Yum. After biking around for a while and looking in bookstores we had a lunch at a Korean-BBQ inspired little place by the Nam Khan River, where we saw the cutest and smallest puppies I've seen since I got to Luang Prabang. They couldn't have been more than a couple of days old. Right by the street, by themselves. I seriously considered adopting them. Sadly they disappeared while we weren't looking, and so did the box they were next to. Very mysterious indeed. And heartbreaking at the same time.

Possible Drop-down

When my family and I were to move to a New York suburb in 2008 my mom and her husband they took course in Intercultural Training. They spoke about the different stages you go though when you move into a new culture. First is the Honeymoon-stage in which everything is perfect and beautiful. Then, after 1-2 months you start to go into a drop down, which can lead to tiredness and sometimes even depression. After having spent more than a month in Laos, I have realized that I am entering my drop-down and it takes its shape of an huge ball of homesickness. Even though I'm living in a charmingly beautiful little town and I just got back from an amazing adventure on the road, I miss Home, Stockholm, Sweden. I miss my friends, and miss my family and I miss a decent internet connection. Being the only non-lao nineteen-year-old in a town is quite lonely. Even though all the guys from the hotel are very nice, I don't really hang out with them. Especially since they're working during the days and I am not. Most of the Laotian girls have an almost non-existant English or are very shy, so its hard to connect with them. As the café is still not finished I have a lot of free time which is quite hard to spend when you don't have anyone to spend it with. Luckily I can always do some writing on my NaNo. But when nothing really happens during your day you don't get really inspired. To get out of this rot I have decided do something fun next week, I just have to figure out what. Possibly Elephant-riding. Or cruising on the mekong. Or kayaking. Or trekking the the mountains. The choices are really so many, one might wonder why I complain I got nothing to do.

Kuang Si

Kuang Si Falls is one out of two waterfall outside Luang Prabang, and among the most popular attraction among tourists. Since neither my new friend Peter nor I had been there we decided that the waterfall would be our destination for the day. The Kuang Si waterfall is about 35 km away which might not seem as much in the western world but by Lao road it is much longer. We rent a scooter and bring some sandwiches for lunch and start our journey. The first part of the trip the road is paved but after a couple of kilometers the road consist mostly of hard dirt. The road is beautiful however. We are surrounded by green forests and hills and fields. Sometimes we pass through a little village were the locals are sitting in the shade and smile at us when we pass by. After almost an hour we arrive to the waterfall where we park our scooter and enter the area. First we pass an exhibit with Lao bears. We agree that even if they're adorably cute we feel bad for them as they don't have very much space. Finally we get to the waterfall. Kuang Si is one big fall at the top which then go into several small pools where one can take a swim. We walk our way up to the mighty major fall and then visit several of the pools and their blue, clear, cold water. We have a perfect time, arriving an hour before the rush hour start and have the falls for ourselves for while, only sharing it with some few others. After 2-3 hours we decide that we're done for the day and start to head back. After been driving for only 5-10 minutes the gas runs out. Luckily we just passed one of those small villages and we walk back, asking if any one sells gas. Every village has a little stash with bottles of gas which you can buy for just couple of dollars. We fill her up (because our scooter is definitely a she) and return back to Luang Prabang. One of the best moments of our trip was when we turned off the engine and just rolled down a hill, just absorbing a stunning setting without the noise from the scooter ruining it.

Hanoi Part 3: The Bus Ride

I get picked up just after 5 pm by one of Hanoi's infamous motorcycle taxis. He drives me to another Hotel where a bunch of other people are waiting for the pick up. There he leaves me and I start a conversation with a woman who says she was dumped here as well, which probably means that a larger vehicle is coming here to pick us up. This is very understandable as I cannot see a bus or minivan drive around in Hanoi's Old Quarter picking up people from their hotel without it taking a couple of hours. We wait and after much longer time than we would have wanted a bus finally stops in front us and we are allowed to enter. I sit down next to a boy my age and we soon realize we are both heading for the same destination, namely Luang Prabang. The van drives out to the Bus Station and when we get off we see a Vietnamese man waving his hands saying "Laos! Luang Prabang, Vientiane!" and we follow him through the bus station and he gives us our tickets. He then points us in the right direction. We find our bus, but now we starting to feel that something isn't as it supposed to be. My new travel partner Peter says that this is not the kind of bus he traveled with on his way to Hanoi. We are also not allowed to enter the bus, even though we see that a there is a lot of passengers on it already. Another odd thing we realize is that all other passengers are Vietnamese, not a single tourist except us. After about 20 minutes we are finally allowed to enter the bus, and as soon we enter the door closes behind us and the bus starts to move. We see now that there is no seats for us, but one of the workers are building seats in the aisle. We tell them that we cannot possibly sit one those seats for 24 hours and he then moves on two other passengers and gives us their seats. We feel little bad about it, but are glad we have somewhere to sit. Lastly, we realize that these are no normal locals going on a bus ride, but a group of old war veterans. One of them stands in the aisle speaking while everyone else are listening carefully and they then applaud him before he return to his seat. We assume that they're sharing old war stories. Sadly, no one speaks a single word of English and we spend the first hour of our bus ride listening to probably amazing stories told in Vietnamese. Then it goes pretty smoothly for a while. I manage to sleep for several hours and don't wake up until we arrive at the border. Also this goes without any problems and when we continue to drive I manage fall asleep again. By noon we arrive to Phonsavanh, the city where you find the Plain of Jars. We believe this is just a lunch stop, but starts again to worry when we realize the old Vietnamese soldiers take their bags with them when they leave the bus. However, the driver says somethings that sounds like "Lunch Stop" and we go to grab some food, always keeping an eye on the bus. We then ask the driver if he will continue to Luang Prabang and he positively nods. The other who works at the bus starts to laugh and say "only two" and we figure out that yes, the bus will continue but we will be the only passengers. Suddenly very delighted with our situation we claim the best seats in the bus and the last ten hours are surprisingly pleasant.

Hanoi Part 2: Couchsurfing

I spent one night at a guesthouse in Hanoi's Old Quarter and I then again packed my bags. Through Couchsurfing I have gotten into contact with a girl who lives a 10 minutes drive from my guesthouse. I am to stay at her place for 3 nights in Hanoi before I catch the bus back to Luang Prabang. 10 am I stand waiting outside a French bakery and when Kelly get there she recognizes me easily, since a 19 years old blonde girl with a large backpack and lost look on her face pretty much stands out from the rest of the surrounding. We have som coffee before we return to her house where I leave my things, we then drive around town a little and grab some lunch before she is off to work and I cover all the tourist attraction in Hanoi. Sadly Uncle Ho's Mausoleum is closed for repair and I could only see the outside. However, I checked off the Ho Chi Min Museum, the Mausoleum, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature off the to do-list. In the evening I met up with Kelly and her work mates for dinner at Hanoi Social Club, an expat haven I would think and had an excellent dinner and a Dr Who conversation who actually have seen the old ones but totally approve of the new. We both agreed that David Tenant is the greatest thing that ever happened to the show. The second day was filled with rain from the beginning to end. I walked around in the french quarters and looked in some bookstores, grabbed a hot chocolate at Highlander Coffee and had sushi in the neighborhood I stayed. Over all a good day. Day three was great. I spent the entire day rereading Eat, Pray Love, and at night me and Kelly set out to celebrate Halloween. First a local bar where we met a lot of people and I had a beer that was not BeerLao. From there we moved on to a house party that was filled to the edge of expats. I even met a Swedish guy there. From the houseparty we went to the only after-midnight open club in Hanoi, a pretty sketchy place with a Eastern Europe feeling over it. Over all a pretty awesome night.

Hanoi Part 1

Hanoi: - The is no system in the traffic at all - If you cross the street, walk in a pretty slowly steady pace. The scooters will just drive around you, it is not until you stop or run accidents happen - I could not possibly live here - I miss Luang Prabang Well, to go back in time a bit, I'll tell you about this joke of a coincidence that happened today. The Englishman I met in Vang Vieng went to Vientiane one day earlier than me, but we decide to have dinner the night I arrive and I meet him and his friends outside their guesthouse and we eat dinner and have an over all good time. We discover that me and the Englishman are going to catch the same flight to Hanoi the next day and we loosely decide to meet up and go together. Sadly, we fail to meet up the following morning but when I am on my way to meet up with my cab I run into him by accident when he his leaving a café. Its a small world. The trip to Hanoi goes very smoothly. The flight goes well. Our bags arrive as they should. The pick-up driver from my hotel are waiting for us when we get out. My room is prepared when I get to the hotel and me and Ian (the Englishman) enjoy some traditional Vietnamese beef noodles for dinner. Then, overwhelmed by the massiveness of Hanoi there is nothing we can do but to go to bed. We conclude that we would not have wanted to have gone through the trouble of finding a cab and then find a guesthouse, and that we re very happy that I already had taken care of it before I left home.