Laos: "Same same, but different"

Hello all! I have not had internet regularly for quite awhile, so my apologies for the delayed postings:) I'm going to write quickly because internet is painfully slow in Luang Prabang (and i assume laos in general) and I'm off to meet friends for street food at the night market. I love night markets.

Last week Alex and I finished our touring of Northern Thailand and crossed the Mekong into Laos last Thursday. We booked a slow boat for Friday and then set off to explore the border town of Huay...? I forget. There was literally nothing there. So we sat at a riverside restaurant, drank some Beer Lao (much better than Chang), talked to other travelers and took in a glorious sunset. That night while I was reading, the power suddenly went out and a HUGE thunder and lightening storm followed. Our guesthouse had aluminum roofing next door and the rain sounded incredible. Definitely movie-style rain that you never actually think exists...it does:) We were staying next to a temple, so each big flash of light illuminated this temple on a hill. It was incredible. Our guesthouse delivered a little candle that nearly was blown out by the warm wind from the storm.

The next morning we got up bright and early and made our way to the slow boat. It seats about 120 people and is the only way to get from the north of Laos to Luang Prabang. The benches were squeezed quite close together=minimal leg room, but we had makeshift seat cushions to weather the 7 hour wooden-seat journey. We met a BIG group of friendly travellers on the boat. It stopped in Pak Bang the first night and everyone raced off the boat to find accomodations. Somewhat overwhelming. Alex and I and our unofficial travel buddy, Jannicke, joined new German and British friends and we all shared a hostel. Got to have another AMAZING thunder storm. This time we were lucky enough to get completely soaked:) it only took about 2 minutes of being without shelter. I love the rain and getting wet. Pak Bang runs on a generator so everything had to be done by 11pm. Amazing that in rural living, when power is lost, not too much changes...Day 2 on the boat was less comfortable, no cushions and a smaller boat with even narrower rows. We played lots of cards, had some light water fights...met more friends.
Now I'm in Luang Prabang. So nice after the slow boat journey.
Life thoughts:
1. I have seen SO many water buffalos along the Mekong. I enjoy them. Not as much as elephants and turtles, but close.
2. Today we saw Pak Ou, which is a huge cave about 2 hours by slow boat north of here. It is a "graveyard for buddha images." It was pretty cool.
3. Yesterday our new travel group rented mountain bikes and went to a HUGE waterfall about 32km from Luang Prabang. It was QUITE a ride=be in shape if you do it:). After Huang si (the waterfall) which was beautiful and very large, with pools for swimming etc., we got a tuk-tuk to take us back. Lonely planet told us it would be "undulating," this was true except for about 4 km of downhill/uphill...so we were lazy. I was soooo endorphined last night. Look forward to the days of regular exercise again. probably one of the only negatives to travel.
4. Other very negative aspect of travel: still have large rash on my legs. No more malaria pills for lauren!! The rash could be from so many things, but I'm blaming Malarone for now. I also have had CRAZY dreams on it. so i'm done. Please will the mosquitoes away.
5. Have tasted "lao lao" Laotian whiskey. it's not for me. 55% alcohol is tooooo much!
6. I love Luang Prabang. It's like a college campus because we keep seeing people from our bus.
7. The waterfall yesterday also had tons of bears (an Asiatic bear reserve of sorts). where is the logic here?
8. My American and British travel friends rented a motorbike yesterday instead of cycling with the rest of us...let's just say lauren's judgment not to ride motorbikes, still correct. I'm 2-2 with saying no. Thankfully they are both alright, but pretty scraped up:(--good since Laos has no hospitals...
9. The environment here reminds exactly of Mexico, but with more French influence than Spanish...They have so many of the same types of foods and styles of cooking..it's amazing. I do love the fresh fruit on the road and smoothies that are always available and really cheap.
10. I had my first meat on a stick. there are photos. it was amazing.

Well, I clearly am having ADD right now. Had a Lao massage that was HILARIOUS a few hours ago. It was very relaxing, but I think I'm more sore now than before the massage. It was everything I hoped and dreamed for a massage in Asia. When it was over I laughed for a good, solid 2 minutes. In short 3 of us went together, all got massages in one room, had to be somewhat naked...they did not warn, just demanded mid-massage. I was not my German friend's wife. oops? AWKWARD. Tomorrow we're heading south...the itinerary is a mess,but I hope to be in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Friday to meet up with a good friend from college. hm...we shall see:) Wish everyone could join my adventure:)
Love,
Lauren

"No hiking, no happy! No up, no fun!"

Hi everyone!! I have so much to share and so little time/capacity to sit still long enough to write! I'll try to keep it brief. First off, I love Chiang Mai. I understand why it's a tourist haven. The city itself is dirty and quaint. You can't walk one block without a food vendor=heaven for me:) or a 7-11. Seriously, there are 100 times the amount of 7-11s in Thailand AND they're always open. It's convenient, yet sad for the small businesses (from my hippie perspective). Anyway, we have enjoyed the night bizarre many times for cheap food and bargaining. I am starting to get sick of having to barter and bargain for everything. From a tuk-tuk ride to bottle of water at the market, it is somewhat exhausting to always feel like you're getting ripped off.
Sorry, vent. Pretty much my only negative Thailand remarks, other than terrible pollution...mmm the fresh scent of diesel to wake you up in the morning and the inability to see mountains that are only 50km away:)
Ok, so highlights of my life as of now...ready...set....GO!
1. 3 day, 2 night trek through the jungle south of Chiang Mai city (still in Ch Mai province). We were led by 3 guides from the Karin tribe (not sure of spelling). They led us, cooked for us, entertained us etc. The first day started with lunch then ELEPHANT RIDING!!! i LOVE elephants. Thailand is the country for me. Alex and I had the biggest elephant. it was so fun. Oh man. I felt like a little kid at Disneyland, only I don't actually like Disneyland, but you understand. I took lots of photos and videos, brace yourself:) I wish I had a trunk to help me shovel food and ears to flap...After elephants, we did a light hike to a wonderful waterfall. Bathing commenced. We were the only 2 Americans, then there 2 dutch girls, one british girl, 4 french, 2 Irish (mom and daughter! so amazing), and 2 Russian. It was a funny, broken-English
That night we ate a delicious meal of green curry, pumpkin something and mixed veggies. We played cards, drank beer, had a fire, star-gazed and bonded. Sigh. I LOVE nature.
Day 2 started with a tougher 3 hour morning and then the option of hard or easy afternoon hikes. Alex and I were the only two that wanted a hard hike...ask and you shall receive. Holy geez. It was truly one of the most amazing hikes of my life. River crossings, walking through rice paddies, taking off socks and shoes to walk--well, wade through bogs, TONS of very steep uphill and downhill...all at a running pace to beat the sunset. I have many new scars to share. Things Thais don't think about and that I love about not America, liability:) Hard, hard hike. The whole group would not have made it. At all. LOVE thailand. That night got crazy with our guides...have pictures of sooty face games too.
2. Both nights we used mosquito nets.
3. I saw the largest spiders and other bugs of my life. I have some random rash. coincidence? hm.
4.The last day we hiked then took bamboo rafts down a river. Don't worry, they let us shower in a waterfall WITH our personal care products. Ohhhh Asia:)
5. I practiced English with a Buddhist monk for 2 hours on Wednesday. He waved me down at a temple. It was a weird experience. Please ask me about it if you want to know more as a blog seems like an inappropriate place to reflect about it. Suffice to say, he's had an American sponsor since he was 7 that has put him through school and provided food. He's 23 now. Pretty remarkable. I also sensed he was hitting on me the whole time. awkward.
6. I went to the zoo. It was a little sad and tons of school kids kept staring at me and giggling. Oh giant white girl with curly hair and blue eyes. BUH!
7. I saw GIANT leaves in the jungle. I've never seen anything so large.
8. There are dogs everywhere here. Again, it makes me so happy. They accompanied us on the hike. and there were puppies EVERWHERE. man, i love dogs.
9. Alex rented a motorbike and tried to convince me. I declined. He fell and self-injured. He's ok. I feel very validated in my decision:)
10.I now love papaya. If you know me, you know I've HATED it for years, which is weird for me and food.
11. Just finished an all day cooking class. best decision ever. I never need to eat again. SUCH GOOD FOOD! Brace yourself, I will cook for you when I return. whahahah! Hope you like spicy:)
12. I hope you're all wonderful. I'm sleep-deprived, tan, with a weird arm and leg rash, scaped up, overwhelmingly full, sweaty and the happiest I have been in ages. Wish everyone could join me on the journey! Email early and often:)
Off to Chiang Rai and Laos for the next couple of days....
Love,
Lauren

Ayutthaya-->Sukothai-->Chiang Mai

Sa wha dee ka! I am in love with this country. Alex and I took a very regional train out of Bangkok on Saturday morning. Wooden seats and we just kept stopping and accruing people. I was hoping that getting out of Bangkok would mean getting out of the pollution...Little did I know, this was not the case. The woman sitting opposite me kept dumping trash out the window. To put it lightly, this is the social norm. Everything is served on styrofoam and given to you in plastic bags. I've been refusing the plastic bags and people seem alarmed. So strange. Anyway, getting out of the city was nice. The train had vendors, I bought thai iced tea:) The windows were open the whole time and Alex noticed ash blowing in every once in a while. Good thing I don't smoke in real life, because the air here is putting years of smoke into my lungs...:(

We stopped in Ayutthaya which was the first capital in Thailand. There is a famous UNESCO Heritage ruin Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya. It was really neat to see. We rented bikes and honestly, probably one of the scariest bike rides of my life. In traffic, on the left side, because that's where they drive here, no helmets (they don't have them...even most motorbikers don't wear them...). Anyway, we survived. It gave us LOTS of adrenaline at least:) The town itself was pretty slow and our hostel had a HUGE dog and toasted smiley faces onto our toast:) see flickr. After that we took a really nice VIP-Super bus to Sukothai. It was just like South America, in that we got a little man servant who gave us food and checked tickets. We made a 20 minute stop after a few hours to use a restroom etc and then it was "SURPRISE FOOD!!" If you turned in your ticket stub, they gave you a plate of rice and thai dish of your choosing. SO amazing. When in Thailand, spend the extra 100 baht=$3 on random food stops, cokes on the bus, and a box of identifiable bad food...Sukothai was a much more happening town than Ayutthaya. We stayed in a very nice guesthouse across from a Buddhist monastery. Evidently, this is the monastery where monks go to "vacation." It was beautiful. We fed fish with the monks in their lake completely full of fish, unlike anything I've ever seen--Alex and I were "married," logically, because traveling in mixed gender groups in Asia unmarried is not ok. It's kind of hilarious to be pretend married. HA! We rented bikes again and while cheaper, they were TERRIBLE bikes. Thus, we decided to go for a 50km bike ride...poor decision in 38 C heat...on bad bikes. However, we saw TONS of ruins and wats (temples). The Sukothai historical park was neat because it part of it is maintained and part isn't (also UNESCO). You can see what time does to history. This park probably had the best stuff I've seen so far from the 14th century. Make sure you go!

What else? We just arrived in Chiang Mai. Took about a 5 hour bus to get here. Frolicked around all afternoon. Chiang Mai has MUCH worse air pollution than Bangkok. Chiang Mai is really nice so far though. Full of tourists, which is disgustingly refreshing after having been the only white people for 5 days. There have been a lot of street dogs lately, in Sukothai there were some in very sad states, but on the whole it's been glorious to have animals in my life again.
Ok, so much more to say, but out of time! Leaving for the jungle for 3 days on Thursday! Cannot wait! Alex convinced me to start malaria pills a few days ago. So far, so good. Also, his blog is MUCH more detailed, so I'd recommend it!
Love,
Lauren

Barcelona to Bangkok!!

Sah wat dee from Bangkok!!!
I arrived from Barcelona on Wednesday. It is so strange to lose an entire day flying...If you ever have the opportunity, please fly Thai Airways! Definitely one of the best flying experiences of my life. I got beef curry with rice and veggies for dinner and it was spicy AND delicious. I got hot towels 3 times, had red wine, beer, juice coffee, a middle of night sandwich AND a really excellent breakfast. We flew over Pakistan and India--I just saw HUGE mountains and clouds; so gorgeous...so unreal to be flying half way around the world in just 12 hours. I sat next to a Spanish opthamologist who kept telling me to enjoy my youth and travel (aprovecha la juventud--say it aloud, WAY better in spanish). I love her?
Random thoughts:
1. Why is Spanish farmland not in squares and circles like the US? Flying over it on my way back to Barcelona, I truly enjoyed how patchwork and fluid the lines were, but it seems curves would be harder to groom/harvest etc.
2. Highlights of my last weekend in Barcelona:
- Weather!!!! It was warm-ish while the SUN, yes I said SUN, was up during the daylight hours. I'd give it at least 21 C.
- Staying with an old synchro friend, Ellen, who I'd lost touch with for 4 nights. She's been in Spain 6 years and is marrying a Spaniard in Sept!!! yay!! It was so generous for her to host me!!! She lived right in the Centro and it was great catching up with her over coffee and Maria biscuits.
- Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. Finally. I went in and was lightly underwhelmed. The towers were amazing, but really it smelled like saw dust and was an active constructive site inside. I expected more church. It was also expensive to enter and once in, if you wanted to climb the tower, you had to pay more:( boo. Otherwise, it was highly impressive and a symbol of the culmination of my Spanish degree/education:)
-Spanish red wine. There are no words.
- Watching drugs getting exchanged publicly. This isn't really a "high", per se, however. Hm, please reflect.
-Renting bikes!!!! Took a self tour of Parc Montjuic. Saw the 1992 Olympic stadium and fields, drank coffee in the sun, got very lost/almost got onto the B-10 freeway, literally..., saw a very different cemetary that was very eerie and zen at the same time--all stacked graves. I'll post pictures soon, and ultimately got to "the best restaurant in BCN" only to find it closed on Sundays:(
-Got to have one last glory dinner with Emily Sousa. yay!!!
-Cooking dinner with Mayu on my last night. Homemade paella with noodles instead of rice and my mom's spaghetti sauce. It was great. Made me feel home:)

now...ASIA!!!!
I met up with Travel Buddy, Alex Rajan (if you feel like hearing his perspective on our journey www.AlexinAsia09.blogspot.com) on Tuesday! I am so thankful for his company, granted I think he's already sick of listening to me talk:) The first day I was fairly destroyed by lack of sleep/ Bcn-Mad-bangkok....I got to the hostel, showered and took an "hour" nap. poor form Rettberg. 3 hours later...I woke up and felt human. I went to a HUGE mall, per my brother's suggestion (by Skytrain at that!) and ate DELICIOUS thai food. I felt that the Asian diet would cause me to lose weight...hm. Reasons why this is false:
1. food is REALLY affordable here. My first day I ate brown rice with green chicken curry (almost too spicy for me=heaven) and chicken with chilis and basil=60 baht. This is under $2. In Europe a cafe=espresso was more....
2. I LOVE Thai food, passionately.
3. Beer is also very cheap here. So far I've sampled 3 national beers. Chang wins. I'll keep you posted.
4. I just tasted my first street food. DELICIOUS and only 25 baht for a HUGE plate. uh oh.
(alex is reading as I type--CREEPY, he claims "it was not a HUGE plate." please note, he may have an eating disorder, he claims to never be hungry. who is this boy? why does he travel if not to eat?)
Ok, so yesterday Alex and I took river taxis and tuk-tuks. I will soon post photos. I have tasted a LOT of diesel. mmm!!! I might be lying about the mmm.
What else? went to a night bizaar last night and accidentally spent money. Alex bought some SWEET fidora-ish hats and I got a shirt that is the softest cotten ever. Today we attempted a 7am-6pm bike tour and failed miserably at public transport and ultimately did a big walking tour of Chinatown and found some Monk bowl village. Then we went to the reclining buddha=AWESOME and the Royal Palace. pictures to come.
Ok, tomorrow we start our 2 week trek up north. I cannot wait!!! I think I may want to move to Bangkok more than Spain...anyone want to come with me? Hope you're all safe!
Love,
Lauren

Sevilla--><--Granada

This portion of my trip has been great. Staying in hostels as a lone traveller is quite amazing. You meet zillions of other lone travellers and thus new friends. It has only been 5 days and I already have emails and expectations of eventual visits to Australia and Germany. My week in Sevilla and Granada has allowed me to meditate. I´ve done a lot of walking and really just had good reflection time in the cold, rain and cold rain...I like that each day is full of possibilities and I only have to focus on basic needs. The new sights like the Alhambra or various churches etc stimulate my mind, while my body just performs the basic function of walking. When I get hungry, I eat. When I tire, I sit or nap. It really is luxury--this lifestyle of being able to satisfy my basic needs at my convenience.
Hostel living is inherently social. I love the alone time during the day to charge myself for evenings and mornings with new strangers. Last night I had an amazing time with people from all over the world. The Granada tapas bars are amazing because if you order a drink you get free tapas. This is how all bars should be. It is wonderful to hear about what brings people from everywhere to Granada to pass time together on a rainy Wednesday night. People in Andalusia are very friendly. My first night in Sevilla, I got lost getting to the hostel around midnight with all my stuff and some old woman grabbed me by the arm and in heavily accented something was saying "Oasis" and leading me there. Also, people just offer directions which is not the case in Barcelona...I have also seen more Americans than anywhere else, mainly because it´s spring break I think. The Alhambra in Granada is worth seeing. It shows the clear blend of Muslim and Christian worlds in the past. I guess blend is a nice way of wording it. The Islam influence is still very strongly felt in the city and I had GREAT food:) The whole town is just amazing. I could stay in Granada for a long time...
Otherwise my amusement from today came in my bus ride from Granada to Sevilla. It was relatively uneventful. I slept, watched the hills of olive trees and ruins roll by...then we got into the outskirts of Sevilla and the bus driver yelled to the bus for directions. Immediately everyone was answering at once and debating which way would be best with traffic and whatnot. I love stuff like that. He´d been driving the route for 9 years and just wasn´t sure. I love how this part of Spain reminds me so heavily of Latin America. It´s the only reason stuff like this gets to happen. Back to Barcelona tomorrow...not looking forward to the hustle and bustle again, but excited for potential sunshine! Hope this blog finds you well!!! Salud!

BCN-->Sevilla/Jesús!

Hoooola! I write to you all today from a midday internet cafe that is serving as a chair which I can occupy in warmth, without eating anything, while remaining productive. If that makes sense... All travelers must understand this novelty. Anyway, I have so much to share! I hope that no one finds the title of this entry blasphamous (I have no spellcheck, welcome to my true idiocy), however, Sevilla is truly one of the most religious, or at least full of religious-stuff, cities I have ever visited. Every plaza is named after a saint, virgen, holiday or priest. Ridiculous aside: a big group of Mormon missionaries just came in and are using internet next to me:) Case en point. I have also seen more nuns in habits that I have ever seen in my life.

So beyond that. Today I walked the city over and then some and more yesterday in the rain. Now I present to you, experiences in list form:

1. I still have absolutely no internal compass. If anything, it is getting worse, even when I consult the map corner by corner, which is the safest way for me to be. Sorry to be redundant, but yes, I am redundant when I walk too:)
2. Saw the HUGE cathedral here this morning. It was impressive. Very cathedral-like. However, it has the biggest altar of gold I have ever seen and of silver too. I feel like I have come to the motherland for Latin American churches, because I have. Everything here reminds me a of much more grandiose version of churches I´ve seen in Mexico or Peru etc.
3. I am staying in hostels this week! So fun! Good trial run for Asia. I befriended my German study abroad roommates for tapas last night and we joined others in the hostel. The most Americans I have seen since I left. Ironically the 4 other Americans that came and ate tapas and saw flamenco with us all went to Harvard. Logically. Cue: One of these things...doesn´t belong.
4. The streets and sidewalks here are extremely narrow. Do not worry, photos to come soon can prove this. Even compared to other medieval cities.
5. It has been rainy and somewhat miserable in Sevilla. My book says the avg temp here is 26 C. I feel as though Mother Nature is laughing...
6. New favorite tapas: Espinacas with garbanzos and skewers of morrocan style chicken w/veggies.
7. Southern Spain really likes mosaics. Good thing I do too.
8. Walking from the bus to my hostel yesterday I passed TWO, not one, TWO old men singing outloud. YES!
9. I keep spontaneously smiling. I think this indicates happiness:)
10. I am FINALLY on the upswing of illness. I forgot how much it takes out of you being sick. Even climbing stairs like took it out of me and made my leg muscles throb. Now I´m back! With a nice cough to remind everyone of this...
11. Went to the Picasso Museum on Sunday, with my MPH friend, Emily, who is living in BCN. My favorite part (other than that it was free because it was the first Sunday of the month and having shared it with Emily) were the doves he painted in the Canary islands way back. Very cool museum store too, WAYYYY overpriced however.
12. The Spanish here is REAL!!! No more catalan and it is spoken quickly. I am happy and feel like can I attempt to speak better here:)
13. I have SO many thoughts that I´d love to share, but should really go walk around.

Please remember, to get a postcard, just email me your address:)
Que les vayan bien!!! Cuidense muuucho!

Updates: I just forgot soooo many things! Sevilla has orange and mandarin trees EVERYWHERE. Lining the streets, the plazas, etc. Can we eat them? Is this a way to help the homeless population? Also, there is a presence of homelessness in Sevilla, greater than that of Barcelona. People sit right outside of churches, with their head bowed and hand out. It´s really ironic (not the right word) but people flock to areas of religious people that perhaps will be more open to helping those less fortunate than they do in the big city of Barcelona. I also saw a man shove his wife to the ground after an argument while I was in Barcelona. It really rattled me. I was with my friend Dave Reed and he stood up to help defend the woman because it appeared like he was going to hit her further, but he was just trying to help her up. The man´s hat had fallen off in the scuffle and when he stood up it said "obama 08." Oh abusive Spaniard, why that hat? I felt really helpless due to cultural and language barriers. No one stepped in to do anything. It was sunny and noontime in a big plaza. Some old man sitting next to me came up because they saw I was upset and said, don´t worry, this happens every day with these two. Mayu tried to tell me that Spanish people are just WAY more passionate. hm...I´m still not satisfied with that answer. Ok...sorry trying to show that I am really seeing things:)