Wow do the Laos people know how to party!! After three days of being wet celebrating the New Year, we were off to Muang Ngoi Neua, a tiny village along the river.

Again, the minivan ride from hell. They were two hours late picking us up. When we got in the van there wasn’t a happy face in the tourist group. This was only the van that took us to the minivan bus station. We waited another 30 minutes for three more riders (or so they said, we think they were hoping to fill the bus) before our minibus left the station.

Time was tight getting to Nong Kwai to catch the boat to Muang Ngoi Neua. When we arrived a driver offered to take us to the boat station for 5000kip (less than $1), but he was waiting to put all the other people in also, so I decided (not a good decision) for us to walk. It looked close on my map!!

The minidriver (and I am sure the people in the bus) laughed as they passed and saw us hurrying down the road. We finally got there and the boat guys gave us a hard time for being late, but the boat was waiting for us.

Now the real adventure!! When I went to pay I realized in my haste I left my purse on the minibus. My purse had all our passports, credit cards, and most of the money. I begged one of the motor scooter drivers to take me back to the bus station to see if I could find the minibus. Everyone was hysterical laughing at me. Good thing I will never see these people again.

We ended up going all over town to every minibus in the village looking for our driver. We finally found my purse. I think the whole village knew about my purse by the time we found it. It was a real relief.

I paid my new best friend, the motor scooter driver, 20000kip ($2.50). He was very happy. We obviously missed the boat and had to wait for another. We definitely used the time to our advantage and sat and had a well deserved BEER!!

Mung Ngoi Neua is a beautiful village on the river. We spent the evening at a restaurant enjoying many more beers and a nice dinner. We decided to try and trek and kayak tour the next day…

The mountains and forests along the river are spectacular and even more so in this particular section of the river. We took a boat for around 40 minutes and did a two hour trek through the forest and visited a couple villages. The heat is intense so it was not an easy trek but worth the effort.

Now the one thing I was not looking forward to… the kayak. If you don’t know my reputation on a kayak, you are lucky; it means you never had to be on one with me. I only go in circles. I have tried to figure out what I do wrong. To me I look like everyone else, but they go straight. Eric has his bad shoulder, so he was in pain trying to do all the paddling. When I tried to help, I only made it harder because we would start to go in circles.

The other couple from Israel was very patient with us. In fact we ended up hanging around with Ranie and Ronie from Israel the rest of the trip. They are really great people and we had a lot in common. Since we had such a good adventure kayaking, we all decided to go to the waterfall the next day.

Again, nothing is as it seems. We decided that we did not need a guide to find the waterfall, because our book said everything was well marked. Who writes these books!! We got lost at least three times. We found a sign half way through, after being lost for over an hour, that the waterfall was 10 minutes away “upstream”. No one really read the upstream part of the sign. We again took the wrong path and walked up a very steep hill. We had to hold on to branches to get up. Finally, I mentioned that there was no water in the area and I did not hear a waterfall…. We had been walking 60 minutes (remember the sign said another 10 minutes). We decided to go back down and give up.

On our way down Ronnie noticed a path through the stream. We finally came upon some small falls. We all decided that this was the falls and we are sticking to our story. I have made a decision that perhaps I am not meant for Amazing Race, since I cannot read signs and really hate the stress.

We couldn’t even find our way through the small village to find our boat driver, who had been waiting for us. I am sure he realized we were lost, since we were gone over two hours longer than it takes to get to the waterfall. I would love to see a picture of the falls to see if we were even close.

We took a boat for what was supposed to be 4 hours back to Luang Prabang (anything not to get in another minivan). The water is very shallow, since we are in the dry season, so we had to get out and walk and had major problems in the very low areas. The boat ride took 6 hours but the scenery was spectacular.

We are heading back to Luang Prabang to take our flight to Cambodia. Next time you hear from me I will be in Siem Reap.

Namaste.

Laos

This is really going to be a tourist blog, but I can’t resist. Laos has been spectacular. We started in Vientiane, which is a very nice capitol city. Most of the time we spent sightseeing, since we only had a few nights there.

The contrast of Laos with Nepal is amazing. Everything is clean and the people seem to keep themselves clean in Laos, although more people speak English in Nepal than Laos. I am not sure which country has more spectacular landscape; the Himalayans or the Jagged Mountains. The people are just as friendly in Laos as Nepal and the food is very similar. The religious fervor of Nepal is not as noticeable in Laos.

The first day we arrived, we went to a carnival. The carnival had balloon darts, kids car rides, food booths, etc. It reminded me of the festivals we used to have when I was growing up; our church had a festival every year. We ate off the street and really enjoyed the food, including an avocado frozen juice. I am definitely making them when I get home.

We took one day to see a National Forest, which I think was the wrong forest and there wasn’t much to see other than swimming at the falls and beautiful butterflies.

The next day we zip lined down the mountains of the National Forest outside of Vang Vieng. It was spectacular. Ironic, but all the other people that signed up (5 people) were from California. We had seen few Americans and now we have a car full. After zip lining, we took a truck with another group from California… weird… and headed for Vang Vieng.

Van Vieng is a village with jagged mountains and spectacular caves. We spent the day on a Motor Scooter and toured the caves. One cave was over 1km inside and at the end we could swim in the dark; a little scary, but really wonderful water. To get to the end many times you had to crawl on your hands and knees and it was very slippery.

After the caving we headed south to eat and came upon a local party area where they had tables in the river and the restaurants would walk through the water to deliver the food. We sat there for a long time and watched the tourists go by on their inner tubes. Of course, Eric was throwing water at them.

I will say that the place we stayed at in Vang Vieng was our least favorite. The owner Joe, who was suppose to be this expert on caving, was really obnoxious. He talked to us for 15 minutes and for 10 minutes was criticizing the US. A real loser from Australia (although he is from the UK and Irish heritage), who dropped out 11 years ago and married a Lao women, and does nothing. His wife does all the work. He doesn’t even speak the language yet. I think this may be my first trip advisor poor rating.

We had the minivan from hell ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. It was six hours of windy, bumpy road and NO air conditioning. The van over heated once and the driver stopped to buy watermelon, pick up his wife and baby, and have a cigarette. You can imagine how tired we were when we arrived.

Well we woke up fast. It was the first of three days of New Year and Luang Prabang celebrates this holiday with tossing water on everyone. I mean buckets of water. The Tuk Tuk, which is an open truck, took us from the minibus station to our hotel. By the time we arrived, everyone was completely soaked, including our purses and hand baggage. Thank goodness our big luggage was on top of the truck. Since we were soaked already, we went out and partied with the locals and tourists throwing water.

The New Year is a three day celebration with water throwing every day. Today and tomorrow are parades. Although it is really fun, we are trying to miss the colored water and the black tar that they put on you. I am currently sitting in my room and enjoying the AC and taking a break from the commotion of the water tossing.

Namaste

It has been a busy few days. We started in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with the hustle and bustle of city life and headed to the coast and enjoyed the slow pace of Cambodia country. We took one day to visit Boker National Park, which is a pristine National Forest. Through the forest at the top of the hillsides are the remains of a casino and hotel and church from the pre Kymer Rouge era. They were destroyed during the battle between Kymer Rouge and Vietcong. You could see how splendid it must have been. Who would have thought that on top of a peaceful, beautiful forest, they built a casino… Cambodia is reinvesting over 1 Billion dollars to build another casino. It would be like having a casino in the heart of Yosemite.

At the end of the trek and visit to the ruins, we had a sunset cruise. The river is breathtaking. It is such a change from Nepal. Even the clean rivers and lakes were polluted with people washing their clothes and bodies and a lot of trash.

We met a lot of great people on our day long excursion. Most were young people leaving their jobs for a year to do a world tour. They gave us wonderful ideas for our trip to Laos. We all went out for dinner afterwards. I ordered Octopus to try and see what it was like. Let’s just say I will not order it again.

Next day we spent the whole day traveling to Laos. We had a few hours in Phnom Penh, which we used to get some things fixed. Our very expensive (ha ha) watch was not keeping time and sunglasses lost a screw. The people were so nice and fixed everything (or so we think).

We arrived in Laos and it is even cleaner than Cambodia. I guess I was lucky to visit Nepal first, so I would think everything else was slow pace and clean. We are anxious to see the natural beauty of the country; so far we are in Vietiane, which is the capital and very clean (it has a French flare).

Tomorrow we are going trek in a national forest and the next day is zip lining.. yes, I am very brave.

Namaste

The Oceanside Towns in Cambodia

We started out touring Kep. We hired a Tuk Tuk and went around the perimeter of Kep and visited the caves. Two young girls were our guide. Thankfully they had torches (flashlights) so we could see in the caves. The kids are on vacation for the New Year and they were all over us to make money as a tour guide. They were all so cute.

Before we left on the tour we found out that the hotel requires cash and there were NO ATMs in Kep. We were told that one of the guest houses exchangs money. So after the tour we stopped at the guest house. They did not have cash at that time. What to do??? We did not have enough cash to eat and pay the hotel/food bill for two days.

We spent the next hour arguing with the guest house on the fact that we had to leave and go to Kampot early because we had NO money. They said we agreed to two days and had to pay. With what?? We only had enough for the food we ate and the one night hotel room and the transport to Kampot. We didn’t even have enough for lunch (although we did drink a beer while in the argument). We finally got them to agree to paying for one night and all the food; not that they really had a choice. Apparently, this happens a lot because there are no ATMs and Kep and this is extremely unusual.

OK, truth be told, we were very happy to leave Kep. We had seen everything we wanted and we were ready to move on. The lack of money was a great opportunity to leave early. Kep is very small and isolated.

We arrived in Kampot and loved the beach town. It is a small town along the coast and is really beautiful. It reminds me of Italy in some ways. Definitely a wealthier village in Cambodia! We wandered the streets and enjoyed the cooler air of the ocean.

One major observation is the women wear pajamas during the day. They may not think they are pajamas, but in US they are definitely pajamas, including teddy bears on them. Now the question: if they wear pajamas during the day, what do they wear to bed? I really need to know this@#? I have to find a pair for my Mom. What a great Mother’s Day gift!

Tomorrow a hike in the Boker National Forest.

Namaste

A Nondescript Day

Today was a nondescript day. We spent the morning buying the very expensive watches and Ray Ban sunglasses (look expensive but are fakes). We also shopped for anything else we could find. Yes, we spent money but a lot of cheap stuff.

The rest of the day was riding in a bus to Kep on the coast. The countryside farmland is beautiful. You can see that the people of Cambodia have a beautiful life now. Although not wealthy, there is no sign of the poverty I saw in Nepal. The houses are kept neat and people are clean. There seems to be more pride for the land.

We arrived at our hotel, which is right on the ocean. Although we are right on the sand, the room is very expensive at $25. Really outside of my budget.

Cambodia is beautiful, but I really feel like I am in Mexico, rather than Cambodia. I really do not have the feel of the culture so far. Not sure where to find it.

Namaste

Sightseeing in Phnom Penh

Today was a real tourist day, since we had one day for Eric to see Phnom Penh. I had spent yesterday preparing for a full day of seeing everything in Phnom Penh. I hired a Tuk Tuk driver and put together an itinerary. What could go wrong you ask?? Well, It really started off good… but… I thought I remembered the Tuk Tuk driver I hired the day before. He walked right up to us and acted like he was the ONE. He wasn’t.. He took us to the first spot and we walked around the temple. When we went to find him again, he was gone. We waited and waited but could not find him. So we hired another Tuk Tuk driver. The motorcycle was noisy, leaking, and releasing fumes, which made it difficult for us to breath. Thank goodness he was driving down the wrong side of the road and a policeman stopped him. We took this opportunity to get out of the Tuk Tuk. Now we needed to figure out how to get to the killing fields. I tried calling the Tuk Tuk driver I originally hired. When he answered, I thought he was the wrong guy because he had a different name than the one in the morning. Finally I realized that he was actually the right Tuk Tuk driver and he came and got us. Now if you are confused, it is because I am confused. How could I have been so mistaken. The guys don’t even look alike. Another Paula mistake!!! The rest of the day was busy and hot taking in all the sites. We leave tomorrow for the sea and hope it is a little cooler. Namaste

A Tourist Day in Cambodia

Today was my first full day in Cambodia. The heat makes it difficult to do a lot. I walked to a few of the temples in the morning before it got really hot. The markets are similar but different than Nepal. You can see a sugar cane market and some beautiful flowers at the flower stand. Neither were in Nepal.

I cannot resist the kids selling on the streets. They are really cute and can speak English very well. They are mostly selling books and handmade bracelets. If you get a bracelet, don’t think your special; I need to get rid of all the ones I bought.

I was wandering and came across a market filled with beauty parlors. As I walked down the aisle, I saw men and women getting facials and having their hair done. It was amazing. I was almost tempted to get a facial but chickened out, mostly because I didn’t want to sit in the heat.

I am moving hotels tomorrow. This hotel is $40 a night… way too much… I am moving a few doors down for $15 per night. Yes, I am cheap but I can buy more things if I save the $25.

I did find an interesting area of Phnom Penh this evening. It is much more upscale. I actually went there for dinner. It was excellent. The hotels in the area are mostly for the embassies, NGO’s, and ex-patriots in Nepal.

I am really tired, even though I slept over 10 hours last night. It is definitely the heat.

Namaste

Cambodia Day 1

It was hard to leave Kopan Monastery. It is a beautiful, peaceful place and I really was just starting to wind down. I was reading a wonderful book from the Kopan Library, The Perfect Mirror by Adrian Feldmann. He is a western monk and really makes it easy to understand the Buddhist philosophy. I highly recommend reading this book. My plan is to spend some time in a US monastery to learn more about Buddhism and Meditation in July.

It was a long tiring trip to Cambodia. I spent the night trying to sleep on the airport benches in Bangkok…when I finally gave up I spent a couple hours on the computer. I met a woman from Denmark, who was at another monastery in Nepal. We had an opportunity to discuss the Buddhist philosophy. She is a psychologist, who applies the Buddhist practices to her work. It is a great combination.

When I finally arrived, I took a Tut Tut (a motorcycle with a cart on the back much like a golf cart) to my hotel. Now I am staying at a $40 a night hotel, really past my budget. I spent a little time looking for a less expensive one and found some right on the river. I plan to move when Eric arrives.

Cambodia is so different from Nepal. It is much cleaner and modern. The people are nice, but do not seem as happy as the Nepali people. There is more begging, even though it does not seem to be as impoverished as Nepal. It is early to bed to make up for no sleep the night before.

Namaste

A Farewell to Nepal

This has been an amazing experience. I think the most important thing I learned is: what is the true meaning of happiness. The Nepali people are happy and kind people dispite the poverty and political chaos.

I believe their happiness is routed in their spiritual belief and their family.

I know that I will return to Nepal and hopefully will be able to make a difference in a little way. My plan is to organize a group of women that would like to experience Nepal and also visit some of the villages first hand to see what just a little can mean to a woman, a family, and an entire village. I hope you will join me.

Namaste