Laos - Kicked out at Christmas....
Trip Start
Nov 16, 2008
1
22
32
Trip End
Feb 07, 2009
Luang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Arriving in Laos on Christmas Eve was kinda weird as there didn't seem to be many Christmas decorations up and the day was full of hot sunshine. I think we can count on both hands the number of days sun we have had since we left, so although no Christmas feel we were grateful for the sun greeting us in Laos.
Checked into our cool hotel and then wandered the streets of Luang Prabang to soak in the vibe and atmosphere and find out where would be cool to spend Christmas.
Although the atomsphere here is very laid back there seems to be a sense of purpose from the tourists fast pacing through the high street going from one travel agency to the next
Arrival at Laos...
. We decided to see what all the fuss was about and check out what was on offer. After walking into one of these agencies you soon realise that there is more to Laos and Luang Prabang that meets the eye. 2 local stunning waterfalls to visit, cooking courses, elephant training (which we ruled out as it sounded very cruel to the elephants), trekking, kayaking, mountain biking, home stays with local villages, plus loads of other stuff by visting other areas of Laos, we were spoilt for choice.We didn't quite manage to book something for Christmas day but on Boxing day we booked a 2 day trek/kayak/mountain biking (well... we couldn't choose between them so decided on all three!) where we trek for the best part of a day with a stop for lunch outside a forest, then a home stay with a local village, followed by day 2 where we walked back down the mountain, white-water kayaking followed by mountain biking all the way back to Luang Prabang. Sounds simple eh?
That just left us Christmas day to kick back eats lots of yummy food and maybe take in some of the local sites....
As it turned out we ended up getting evicted from our hotel as they had double booked (their booking was longer than ours and we did cancel a day with them to do a trek) just before we were about to visit the local Tat Kuang Si waterfalls
Luang Prabang High Street
. Not wanting to be rushed on Xmas day we told the hotel we would move our stuff later and set off for the waterfalls which were well worth the visit and absolutely stunning (see pictures). Can only imagine what they are like during the monsoon season. Watched some sleeping bears which were all cramped into a little area no bigger than half a football pitch. Apparently they are part of some rescue scheme but looked like they were there for the tourists to us.... Then we spent a bit of time by the falls... something so peacefull about all that loud gushing sound of water crashing down!!
Back to the city (more of a small town really) to have our Christmas meal which was Thai food for Mish and Pizza for Mike....in fact 2 pizzas for Mike ("I was sooooo hungry...."). We do miss those Turkey dinners.... "Mish promised to cook me one when we got back....slurp!!"
The other thing which is cool about Luang Prabang is the night market they run every evening between 5pm and 10pm. After dinner we toured this cute market where you can buy anything from local handicrafts, silk hand made scarfs, cheap T-shirts, wooden latterns, jewellery plus loads of other stuff that you could easily blow your budget on
Wat wat wat....??
. So Mish shopped and Mike watched (again!).Once checked into our other hotel we then packed and made ready for the 2 day trekking we booked and looking forward to finally doing some exercise.
No amount of packing could have prepared us for the next days in terms of what we were about to do and see.....
We trekked with another couple (Hello to Rich and Belinda... they're from NZ) and our local guide (hi Sitha!) which kind of made the trek seem less touristy as we really didn't want to bump into loads of other tourists. At the start of the trek we weren't aware that we had to cross some little streams.... luckily we had brought our flips flops but opted for the 'lets balance on rocks act' and jumped from one big stone to the next. 1st stream crossed successively, 2nd stream and we had our first casualty with Rich losing his footing.... on went the flip flops. 3rd stream and Mish was in placing her foot into water....(cheap $15 dollar trainers from Vietnam aren't that waterproof as it turns out). On went Mish's flip flops and she was set for the rest of the hike.... By the 5th stream Mike was in... but luckily the Nike's held out but the flip flops were on no sooner than you could hear him say "bloody streams"
Spot of gardening....
. After the last stream we stopped for lunch where we found 2 of the locals kicking back and smoking some sort of bong which they looked very happy about! Quite common around these parts apparently.
Next came the rain.... great.... we're trekking through the jungle with no waterproofs except jackets on our way to a place with no hot water and no electricity... things are going to get a little dirty and smelly....!!
Eventually after 5 hours of trekking and passing through another village we arrive at our destination. The whole area was caked in mud, there were more farm animals than people and everyone looked liked they were getting ready for some big party. Lucky for us the party was actually the Hmong Village's New Year celebrations so we were very lucky to be invited to witness this. We dropped our stuff in the wooden house we were going to stay in. The village Chief's house as it turned out. I use the term house loosely here as it was more of a Shed/Barn... Still, it was the biggest one in the village and at least we had a shelter for the night.
The next couple of hours were kind of weird and funny at the same time
Sunset....
. The chief asked us (well pointed as no one could speak our lingo) to follow his son, who just happend to be carrying a long barrelled rifle, to witness something. Our guide said it was a ceremony where the villagers were to get rid of this years' spirits and put behind them the year of 2008 which will then allow them to welcome the new spirits who can bless them and give them a good crop and health for 2009. But, all we saw was his rifle and a big grin on his face......hmmmm.IF YOU ARE:
a) A VEGGIE
b) AN ANIMAL LOVER
c) OF NERVOUS DISPOSITION
THEN IT IS ADVISED YOU STOP HERE!!!!
Well, we all followed him whilst our guide started to cook us our evening meal. The ceremony we witnessed was a little clap happy but at the same time a bit dark. This gist of it was this maple tree with garlands coming out of it which the villagers then proceeded to dance around and under the garlands over and over again...
Nam Khan River...
. The son as it turned out had friends.... who also had long barrelled rifles.... So usually in this situation something gets sacrificed... does it not? Luckily we then spotted this Shaman guy who had a chicken in his hand...phew!! Holding the chickens tied up legs and moving him around in big circles in front of the tree he then chanted (praying probably) some words over and over again and then after everyone had finished dancing he then smashed this poor chickens neck around this tree and then threw the chicken into the air..... Judging by all the flapping and squawking it seems like the Shamon hadn't quite done the job and there was now a tied up chicken with a broken neck doing some breakdancing....!! Then the boys all picked up their rifles and then shot their live ammunition at the tree.... the chicken was still break-dancing! Next the villagers picked up this maple tree and moved on down further into the village to do the other side.... chicken doing more of a waltz now and was about to buy it.We headed back to the house where the Chief was doing some chanting as we walked in. Not aimed at us but he apparently was welcoming the new spirits into his house so that he could make some sacrifices for them. Wonder what they will sacrifise now.... another chicken, maybe one of those juicy fat pigs outside, or duck, or turkey (Mike hoping). Nope.... just another chicken....wait, 2 chic...no 3 chicke...no HOW MANY??....
Night Market....sucks Misha in every night...
. In total they sacrifised 10 chickens and one Rooster. Necks cut and blood drained right in front of us....nice!! They do not even waste a single part. They dragged out the intestines and squeezed every last dropped of poo that the chickens may have been brewing up and then wrapped it around other parts like the stomach, liver etc!! Into the big pot it all went along with all of the drained blood they had saved up. As it turned out the Chief (pictured) and his wife are parents to 14 kids!!! 10 chickens suddenly made sense. So what is the Rooster for? Well, that be for the spirits as after they cooked Ronnie the rooster.... they hung him up on the wall of their house (the inside of the house) as an offering to the spirits!!Luckily we had all had some vegatables and beef prepared and cooked for us by our guide prior to all this sacrificing going on but after the smell of the stock and cooked chickens we thought we might be in for a little.... Every kid seemed to have 1 whole chicken and a big hunk of rice on their plates but what did we get offered?????? Well..... after a few shots of Lao Lao (local rice whiskey) we then saw a big plate coming our way...but....it all it had was the legs (not the legs you are thinking), heads, bottoms and all the bits that were wrapped up in chicken intestines!!! YummmmerrrrrRRYYYUUUCKKK!!!! The legs were actually the feet with the ankles....claws still attached and the other bits really didn't quite do it for us!
Sleeping bear at
! Unbeknown to us it was actually the best parts of the chicken to the villagers and we were being honoured as their guests but it didn't stop us from pulling faces and looking a little bit disturbed! You know when you try and pull a polite but declining face but it just doesn't quite come out like that.... well there we four of them in the room!!Luckily the Chief didn't take offence and he soon then devoured the left overs (it was more like the whole plate as we had just played with it, in fact, Belinda and Mish were using the claws (and giggling like school kids) as a scratching implement for their faces... nice.... remember that next time you are greeting them!!).
After a hard nights sleep (hard floor no mattresses out here in the jungle) we then awoke to more chanting and two different radios blasting out the local tunes along with a choir of Roosters waking everyone up for first dawn!
One thing we were told when we arrived was to watch out for the pigs when we go to the toilet but we couldn't quite work out why!! Also there are no toilets here so everyone just has to walk into the jungle and find a tree or bush! Well a certain person who shall remain nameless (Mish!!) just had to go for a number 2 and well..
Kuang Si...
. when you gotta go... you gotta go!! Of she trotted to find a suitable place and then all of a sudden along came a big grey hunk of a pig.... wonder if you can guess what happens next!! Yep.... you guessed it.... Mish finished (not before trying to shooo it away mid-flow) and moved on back to the house...and in steps the pig for breakfast!!!! Now we understand with no toilets there isn't any evidence of sewage... Pigs will eat anything apparently!!What made the incident even funnier was the fact that before we were leaving to trek down the mountain, the Chief told the guide that they were going to be sacrifising a big fat pig for their New Year's dinner!! One can only imagine the taste.......
After a 2 hour trek back down the mountain we soon met up with a tuk tuk driver who had managed to squeeze 3 kayaks on top of his vehicle for us to then kayak down the river. Good fun as it turned out with only one casualty falling in the drink (Belinda...hee hee sorry had to mention it). Last part was the mountain biking which left us with sore bottoms but all in all we managed to cycle about 30km.... not bad.
With one more day left of our time in Laos we visited some of the local shops and the night market which turned out to be very useful as we purchased our ski jackets at one of the shops
Kuang Si waterfalls
. Vietnam is known for producing loads of knock off goods and Laos is no different except the price is a little cheaper and the quality is ten times better. We spent only a fraction of the budget we had allocated for jackets!Laos has left us with many enriching and enlightening experiences (especially for Mish and her beloved pig adventure) and many good and funny memories. Laos had it all for us.... laid back people, warm climate, cheap shopping, great food, excellent guided and un-touristy activities, local culture and big fat smiles on faces everywhere (including our own).... we may have got evicted from our hotel on Christmas day but that was actually another little adventure in itself.
If you travel Asia and think about leaving out Laos then don't!! It would be on our itinerary every time!!
