Hey everyone! I get to write the blog this week cuz I am in sunny Laos with Gabe and Haley! Here’s the deal…I’m Jo Anne, better known as Gabe’s aunt Jo. I emailed these guys a couple of months ago with this brilliant idea…Did they want a visitor in July? To make a long story short, they said yes and here I am. Cool beans, huh?
Must admit…didn’t do too much to get ready for the trip. First called Bob and Linda and told them that I’d be glad to bring a care package. Let’s see…they did a great job of sending magazines, balsa airplanes, couple pair of shorts for Haley, the camera, a crossword puzzle and heaven only knows what else. The airplanes were a big hit, especially cuz I’m staying in the guest house across the courtyard from their guest house so we tried them out right off the bat. Needless to say they were a hit – with both locals and tourists.
straight as an arrow
Not only were the balsa airplanes a hit, but so were the homemade chocolate cookies that I brought! Yummy! Yummy!
haley multitasking with her cookie and laos book.
One of the best parts about visiting them is that I get to write their blog! Oh boy! I tend to be way too wordy so if this isn’t interesting or way too long, fear not. I’ll only be here for a couple of weeks and then it’s back to Gabe and Haley. So with that in mind…here goes!
First off…if anyone out there knows where Luang Prabang is, you are way ahead of where I was a week ago. It’s one of the cutest little towns in Northern Laos. If you trying to figure out where to go on your next vacation, this could be it! Here’s what we did today – Just doesn’t get any better!
Gabe and I strolled down the main drag at dawn and watched the monks come by. Every morning there’s a procession as they walk single file through the streets. Locals give them handfuls of sticky rice which the monks put in their little alms collection bowls. There were hundreds of monks of every age. (The cutest were the little guys who didn’t seem to be more than 7 years old!) There were also locals who were in need, and the monks shared their food with them.
orange is popular in luang prabang.
After the monks got their breakfast, Gabe, Haley and I went out for breakfast which was considerably more than sticky rice! We went down to the Mekong River which seemed to have risen more than 10 feet since yesterday. Huge trees were being carried down the river, along with with tons of debris. The logs and debris came crashing into the banks of the river, no more than 20 feet from where we were. We watched as boats which were tied up at the river’s edge were ripped free from their moorings and started to head downriver. We heard later in the day that two homes upriver were destroyed. It was reported that both people and cattle were washed away. Really sad.
you may be able to see the people harvesting the good wood drifting down the mekong.
After breakfast we took a tuk-tuk to “Living Land”, the only organic farm in Luang Prabang. It was totally awesome! They’ve got the traditional rice paddies and milling operation but they’ve also go great veggies – eggplant, zucchini, lots of different lettuces, morning glory (the kind that is edible), artichokes, sage, tarragon, rosemary – well, you get the picture. It’s a real new organization but it is already selling to some local restaurants. In fact, we had an awesome dinner tonight and told the restaurant manager about the farm. She promised to go there on Sunday and check it out which is really encouraging cuz that restaurant also has a cooking school! (Just in case you want to know more about the farm, you can check out their website or look on Trip Advisor. www.livinglandlao.com )
Aunt Jo in her element on an organic farm near Luang Prabang.
From the farm we went to this incredibly cool waterfall. Great swimming pools and awesome hiking! Getting to it was in itself an adventure. I forgot to mention that Gabe had an unexpected trip to the local hospital for an ingrown toenail of all things. $6.25 later (the cost of the hospital visit + a local anesthetic + treatment by the “big” doctor), Gabe was good to go. The only catch was that he had to keep his toe dry for the next 48 hours. Certainly made it interesting for Gabe who had to hop through the water to get to the top of the waterfall!
it’s rare you get to look over the top of a waterfall like this one…and very difficult on one foot.
In the spirit of best, worst and weirdest, these were the best stairs of the trip gabe says.
But even more awesome than the waterfall was the bear rescue/sanctuary that shares just a small part of the park with the waterfall. Please, please, please…everyone please visit FreetheBears.org ! Bears here in Southeast Asia are kept in captivity for their gallbladder bile which is used in traditional medicine. Free the Bears is an nonprofit from Australia that has people on the ground in SE Asia who are doing everything from trying to buy bears’ freedom to finding/destroying snares used to trap bears (a couple of weeks ago they found 90+ traps in just one week in a small area of Laos!), to preserving habitat for bears. All the bears that we saw at the sanctuary today won’t be able to be released into their natural habitat but others have been able to make the transition. I can’t tell you how moving it was to watch the bears in their new environment – especially knowing what horrible lives they led before being rescued.
chillin
Enough about bears, waterfalls, rising rivers and monks! It’s almost 11pm and it’s time to turn in. Tomorrow we are going by bus or boat (depending on whether the river or road is passable) and headed to northern Laos. Regardless of how we get there, it should be an adventure!!! So, that’s it from me in Luang Prabang. Haley and Gabe say hi! More to come soon!
team jo at the bottom of the monster waterfall near luang prabang.
other notes from Haley and Gabe:
Haley could live in Luang Prabang. The first such place on our trip so far.
That being said, Luang Prabang has not been our healthiest stop on this journey. There was Gabe’s cold. And then Haley’s ‘”food poisoning” from the last blog update turned out to be Dengue Fever. And then Gabe’s toe. And now Haley has Gabe’s cold.
The Dengue and toe situations were both pretty gnarly at the time and deserve some detail. Maybe next time.
Jo wrote this post a few days ago (see post date), but we were away from internet for a little while.
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