Laos Living

Our plane seemed to skim the tops of the surrounding mountains as we descended on the city of Luang Prabang. It was almost like we could breathe a sigh of relief. We made it! We had escaped Hanoi, the city of constant car horns, endless people, and busy streets.

Luang Prabang, the largest city in the north of Laos, is 19 times smaller than Hanoi! We welcomed the slowed pace and quiet lifestyle. However, the true joy came as a taxi drove us to our hostel, and we did not hear one car horn…not one!! It seems like a trivial noise to be joyous about not hearing, but the sound of car horns was overbearing in Hanoi. We were thankful for Luang Prabang, we just had peace and quiet.

Our first day in Luang Prabang we spent at a school called Big Sister Mouse. We volunteered at this school in the countryside, helping teach the students, having intentional conversations with the teachers, and even doing some learning ourselves.

This school was started as a training center for adults, but quickly turned into a primary school for children. The parents in the surrounding villages were desperate for their students to learn English, but the public school system was failing them. The school serves students ages 3-10, but they currently building a middle school so they can grow with the students. We used the schools limited resources to teach the students positional words (under, on top, inside, beside, etc.) and play games. We also learned Lao sign language from a deaf teaching assistant. My favorite part of this day was speaking with the teachers. Their incredible stories proved that “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is possible. One teacher I spoke with divorced her cheating husband and was forced to leave her children with him because she did not have a way to support them. She worked as a dishwasher to earn enough money to then put herself through cooking school. Then as a chef she worked 12+ hour days and took time to learned English. Once her English was sufficent, she was able to become a teacher. This incredible woman finally had the money and the work schedule to regain custody of her children. Today, her children love learning English and they dream of being a doctor and a businessman one day. Now, The New York Times and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, may think it is impossible to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, but I assure you, AOC, if it can be done in rural Laos, it can be done in The United States.

Another exciting part of our time in Luang Prabang, was the day we spent at Green Jungle Park doing a high ropes course! It was slightly terrifying, but loads of fun! We challenged ourselves with different obstacles high above the ground. Thank goodness for our guides, I definitely would not have made it through without their help.

After the course, we walked through a beautiful garden to soothe my rapid heart rate and tense muscles.  We even got to see two ostriches and pat a very friendly water buffalo.

We spent our last day in Luang Prabang going to Kuang Si Waterfall. This is one of the most popular destinations in the area, so we were sure to get there early! The falls and the natural swimming pools are a beautiful blue-green color. But do not let the pictures fool you, the water was freezing! No seriously, it was the kind of cold that takes your breath away!

We spent the morning hiking around the waterfall, taking in the beauty of the area, and swimming. I had a hard time with the swimming part, besides the frigid water, there were little fish nibbling on my feet the whole time. Let me tell you, I did not find that pleasant at all! On our way out of the falls, we stopped to see some rescued moon bears. These bears typically fall victim to poachers in the area, so when they get rescued, they live happy, healthy, safe lives!

The following day we made our way to Vang Vieng. We took our motion sickness pills to prepare for what we knew would be a difficult, winding road. However, I do not think anything could have prepared us for the trip. Our minibus was loaded down with ten backpackers, plus the driver. We took the “new” route to Vang Vieng. It boasts a smoother rider and is 1 1/2 hours shorter than the “old” route. While the drive was only 100 miles, it took us over five hours because of the condition of the road. The road began twisting and turning and there were signs that warned us of “CHARP CURVE AHEAD”. (One of my favorite parts of Southeast Asia is the mis-translations). Then we were warned with a graveyard of trucks and cars on the side of the road. Some were overturned, but most had been pulled up from the steep dropoffs on the side of the road. Through it all, we survived the very bumpy, not completly paved journey to Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng is a small river town that became a backpacker’s haven in the 2000’s for all the wrong reasons. You could order drugs on a menu just as you would order a beer and drug/alcohol related injuries became a commonplace at the small town hospital. In 2011, over 20 people died while tubing down the river, these deaths were due to drowning or head injuries from diving in the rocky river. By 2012, the government rebranded the town. Vang Vieng is now quiet, relaxed, adventurer’s paradise.

On our first full day, we decided to be as adventurous as possible. We rented bikes, and biked 20-30 minutes to a trailhead for a morning hike! From all accounts we read online, it should take us 30-45 minutes to hike to the first viewpoint and about the same time to walk to the second and third viewpoints along this mountain trail. That did not sound too bad to us!! ….Well we were sorely mistaken! We rented brand new mountain bikes from a nearby hotel. They were assembled that same morning, and not everything was quite right. Screws were loose and we kept having to stop and jury rig our bikes. By the time we reached the trailhead, we were exhausted!! We ended up only making it to the first viewpoint and not continuing one to the second and third viewpoints. We were still rewarded with a wonderful view and a nice place to  stop and rest for awhile!

The next day we tubed down the Nam Song River, one of the most popular activities in Vang Vieng. We started early before all the backpackers got to river. After noon, this is still quite a party scene with riverside bars, loud music, and large groups. (Reid is 20 and I am 22, you may think we would find this fun, but I think we are old people at heart!) Our tubing started around 11 am and it was pleasantly quiet. Our trip was sunny and relaxing and peaceful!

Our journey is Laos ended with a few lazy days, as we have both felt a little under the weather.

We have safely made it to Myanmar and we have 10 days here before continuing on to Bali. This trip has been such a whirlwind, we cannot believe there is only 5 weeks left!

Stay Tuned!

Love,

Sorrell

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalms 37:4