luang prabang, laos

Laos is beautiful. The drive in was just full of lush greenery and the people have been so nice. The countryside is absolutely stunning with the high mountains and low clouds. The people are polite and they don't pressure you into anything. Bargaining with them is much different than dealing with the Viets, Cambodians, and Thais.

Luang Prabang is very serene. It rained cats and dogs all day today but we walked around anyway. There was not a single honk of a tuk tuk nor car horn although we walked through the main street. We found a cheap hotel ($3 US) a night, right across the street from $100 a night accommodation for the rich whom probably refuse to eat anything but the nice French restaurants.

This is dead center on the river...and we got another visa on the other side! Thailand to Laos!

There is a lot of French influence, Scandinavian influence, and then Laotian mixed into Lao food. We found the night market and the night food market. It's similar to the street food in Vietnam, filled with all kinds of AMAZING food. Grilled fish on a stick, fresh from the river, beef noodle soup, and all other kinds of lao food. We tried everything and had the best meal, only costing us $3 total!!

grilled fish on a stick

I'm very fond of Lao food and love the street vendors. I can't resist the crepes!!!!! They make them exactly like in Paris, and it makes me so happy to hold a hot, perfectly made crepe with nutella and bananas inside, or lemon sugar, or condensed milk with bananas!!!! They call them pancakes here...for 10,000 kip, I can have about 5 of them a day.

We are off to Vang Vieng next for the tubing. I've never heard of tubing before, but during our travels through Siem Reap and Thailand, other backpackers rave about Laos and Vang Vieng's tubing scene. Tomorrow, we will head out to the river to test this out!!

chiang mai, thailand

Chiang Mai is gorgeous! It is so different than Bangkok and Phuket. The mountain drive was all green and lush, and you can tell the wildlife is just rampant here. We booked a tour the minute we got into Chiang Mai and did so many things!! We white water rafted, rode elephants, zip lined, and had lunch with a really fun group!

riding barebacked


this is how far out in the jungle we were! can you find us?!

This elephant was just too cute. She was just letting off riders, and I was petting her. We wanted a group pic with her, but her ears were flapping like crazy, and it smacked me in the back of my head. I'm mid laugh here, and i just love the candidness of this image.

We went zip lining as part of the package. This is probably the most fun activity during the day. We zipped through 19 platforms in the jungle and the last platform zip lined over the river with all the elephants bathing!

our really fun tour group for the day!

getting ready to zip!

Tien's first run...she is scared out of her mind

a walk across the bridge

a sheer drop!!!!

a waterfall is always refreshing

a mini waterfall i slid off of

a gorgeous temple we passed by on the tour

our usual drinks of choice

street food is ridiculously good. this is egg noodles with wontons

phuket, thailand

Phuket is stunning. The beaches are pristine, and since we are here in low season, we basically had any beach we wanted to ourselves. We stayed in Karon at this gorgeous hotel only minutes from the beach. The street bazaar is filled with street food, street vendors, and even some American restaurants. Luckily, our hotel was a stone's throw away from one of the most amazing food carts that served spicy braised beef soup with egg/rice noodles. The turnover rate and amount of locals picking up to go orders was insane.

Phuket is very different than Bangkok. It's more relaxed here than in Bangkok, and the tourists are just from a different crowd. The resorts are very secluded, and exceptionally luxurious, so we did not have the pleasure of enjoying it....but we were not deprived from any fun! The beaches are free, the street food is better than restaurants, and we got our own private tour guide from a very wonderful local named Ski. He drove us all over the city to see all the different beaches, to Karon Kata vista point, and then showed us where the locals go for bar-b-que and seafood.

Karon Kata Viewpoint

Buddha Temple @ Phuket





you have to rub this for good luck, but it's very hard to get sound from it!!
i barely got a sound, but watched some very skilled kids make the most incredible sound from this gong


touring the grounds still under construction


the smaller golden buddha

All the proceeds from postcards, marble tile with etchings, and other random things go back into the construction for the buddha. We made our mark on the etchings as well. Tien did one for herself and Shawn. Kat and I did one for our big bar trip. We write what we want etched into the marble, and they will put that peace at the bottom section of the buddha when it is time.

a day at the beach, doing absolutely nothing but reading, sleeping, and eating

the best larb i've ever had