Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang
After the elephants we had a good night of sleep then hit the buses for a seven hour ride to Chiang Khong, a teeny town on the border of Laos and Thailand. We spent the night there in a freezing! hotel room (the sheet was so short that it could cover either our feet or our shoulders, we chose shoulders, but both ended up curled into little balls by morning). Once the sun came up we had a few cups of coffee and some noodles, then got into a little motor boat to cross the river to Laos. There, we realized we never got our Thai exit stamp and had to go back across the river, then back again, where we were given a Lao visa and were told to just, please relax :)
We couldn't really relax, though. Our destination was Luang Prabang, accessible by a looooooong bus ride, an expensive plane ticket or a two day slow boat trip down the Mekong. We did a lot of reading about the slow boat, and chose it as the best option, but we were still nervous. We didn't know what to expect, we'd heard people say they'd had a great time, but then also read about people being stuck in the basement of a boat and rats the size of beagles, so...we were expecting the very worst, and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
The other problem was that we had no money, no Lao money anyway, because the ATM in town wasn't working. Brad ran all around to the different ATMs in town while I stocked up on sandwiches, chips and beer for the long ride.
On a rickshaw
On a boat!
On a deck
On another boat
We couldn't really relax, though. Our destination was Luang Prabang, accessible by a looooooong bus ride, an expensive plane ticket or a two day slow boat trip down the Mekong. We did a lot of reading about the slow boat, and chose it as the best option, but we were still nervous. We didn't know what to expect, we'd heard people say they'd had a great time, but then also read about people being stuck in the basement of a boat and rats the size of beagles, so...we were expecting the very worst, and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
The other problem was that we had no money, no Lao money anyway, because the ATM in town wasn't working. Brad ran all around to the different ATMs in town while I stocked up on sandwiches, chips and beer for the long ride.
Finally, we had everything in order, so we made our way to the ticket office and then the boat, where we were pleasantly surprised. The boat had plenty of space, nice wood tables and benches, two toilets, a snack stand and a lot of friendly people. We sat next to two teachers from San Francisco, and had a fun day talking, watching the college kids get drunk and enjoying the scenery of the mighty Mekong.
The boat stopped in another teeny town for the night, where we huddled around a tiny TV to watch the US win! After that we hit the hay, but since I'd read about the giant rats I awoke to every single sound, "Is that a rat? I think it's a rat!" No rat sightings were ever confirmed.
The next day, the long day, was spent on a not-so-nice boat. Some sadist nailed together crappy old wood to make benches that only allow a person to sit in a stiff upright position, then filled a boat with them. I scoped out the situation and decided the bags of rice stacked in the middle of the boat would be a better seat, then claimed my perch. There I could sit, sleep, read, and sip some of the moldy red wine I'd brought on board. So, all in all, it wasn't a bad time. And like anything, it came to an end, in beautiful Luang Prabang, where Brad and I have been gorging on French food and marveling at the sights: the river, the monks, the buildings, the flowers. Ah, yes. We are on vacation!
On a bus
On a rickshaw
On a boat!
On a deck
On another boat
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Elephants!
What day is it? Brad and I keep asking each other. We even had to check the net to be sure. A lot has happened this week, but for now I'll go all the way back to Monday...
All way back to Monday:
We spent the day at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. The park is a refuge for abused and disused elephants. Until the late 80's elephants were used for logging in Thailand, so after that industry was shut down there were many homeless and damaged elephants. Even though elephants are HUGE! they're really sensitive creatures. Many at the park had been hurt by humans: some blinded, some with broken limbs, others orphaned and rescued.
We had such a great time spending the day with the park's elephants. We got to feed them, bathe them, kiss them, and get right down on the ground with them.
Brad was like one with the elephants. He wasn't afraid at all.
This is the park's naughty boy: Hope. He wears a bell, so they say, "You can always hear trouble coming."
Later, another elephant stole these leaves from her head. Elephants are all about shade. Immediately after we bathed them, they covered themselves in mud for sunscreen.
Baby elephants are so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!
but not that cute up close :)
Elephants are just like Iowans, they love sweet corn.
Elephant kisses aren't that soft. More like suctiony.
I was pretty scared to get so close to the elephants, especially with them guarding a baby. You know how if an ant is bothering you you can just roll it up in between your fingers and flick it away? That's what I thought the elephants would do to me. But they would have had to put forth even less effort, just lift a leg and put it down. Fortunately, they were much more focused on the bananas.
All way back to Monday:
We spent the day at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. The park is a refuge for abused and disused elephants. Until the late 80's elephants were used for logging in Thailand, so after that industry was shut down there were many homeless and damaged elephants. Even though elephants are HUGE! they're really sensitive creatures. Many at the park had been hurt by humans: some blinded, some with broken limbs, others orphaned and rescued.
We had such a great time spending the day with the park's elephants. We got to feed them, bathe them, kiss them, and get right down on the ground with them.
Brad was like one with the elephants. He wasn't afraid at all. 
This is the park's naughty boy: Hope. He wears a bell, so they say, "You can always hear trouble coming."
Later, another elephant stole these leaves from her head. Elephants are all about shade. Immediately after we bathed them, they covered themselves in mud for sunscreen.
Baby elephants are so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!
but not that cute up close :)
Elephants are just like Iowans, they love sweet corn.
Elephant kisses aren't that soft. More like suctiony.
I was pretty scared to get so close to the elephants, especially with them guarding a baby. You know how if an ant is bothering you you can just roll it up in between your fingers and flick it away? That's what I thought the elephants would do to me. But they would have had to put forth even less effort, just lift a leg and put it down. Fortunately, they were much more focused on the bananas.
in Laos
and it only took three days to get here. There's lots to tell, but we are hungry and filthy after the slowboat trip down the MeKong. Will post soon!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Top Chef: Thailand
Brad and I spent the day at cooking school. It was great. Good teacher, nice group of people. Also, we were filmed for a Taiwanese TV show. So I think this could be my big break. We are going to be HUGE in Taiwan :)
School started with a trip to the market. I think I probably annoyed some locals by getting in their way with my camera. But the place was ripe with photo opportunities. It made the Chennai Chicken Center look tame.
The school was at a farm a few miles out of town. The first thing we did on arrival was don aprons and hats for a tour of their enviable garden. They had limes, eggplant, peppers, jackfruits, bananas, and many different kinds of basil.
With our garden ingredients we were all responsible for making our own curry paste to go in the food. That required a good deal of muscle with the mortar and pestle. Brad finished first in the group because he was the strongest.
After that we spent the rest of the day cooking and eating. We each made 5 dishes at our own cooking stations. I chose to make chicken yellow curry, coconut soup, chicken with cashews, spring rolls and mango with sticky rice. Brad made chicken red curry, tom yam soup, papaya salad, pad thai and bananas in coconut milk.
I feel really excited about our new cooking skills. Also glad that Brad proved to be so skilled in the kitchen. He should have stood and looked helpless all day. Now he's going to be in charge of dinner.
School started with a trip to the market. I think I probably annoyed some locals by getting in their way with my camera. But the place was ripe with photo opportunities. It made the Chennai Chicken Center look tame.
The school was at a farm a few miles out of town. The first thing we did on arrival was don aprons and hats for a tour of their enviable garden. They had limes, eggplant, peppers, jackfruits, bananas, and many different kinds of basil.
With our garden ingredients we were all responsible for making our own curry paste to go in the food. That required a good deal of muscle with the mortar and pestle. Brad finished first in the group because he was the strongest.
After that we spent the rest of the day cooking and eating. We each made 5 dishes at our own cooking stations. I chose to make chicken yellow curry, coconut soup, chicken with cashews, spring rolls and mango with sticky rice. Brad made chicken red curry, tom yam soup, papaya salad, pad thai and bananas in coconut milk.
I feel really excited about our new cooking skills. Also glad that Brad proved to be so skilled in the kitchen. He should have stood and looked helpless all day. Now he's going to be in charge of dinner.
fish sauce, mushroom sauce, soy sauce...
all the rice you could ever want
these remind me of Fozzy and his rubber chicken!
poor Wilbur.
offal station
Do you know what there are? Look close.
The happy chefs. Our teacher kept saying, "stir and smile. Stir and smile."
Best part of cooking school? No prep-work. No clean-up. 
yellow curry
the soups
mango and sticky rice
spring rolls!
Brad cooking pad thai
Brad and the staff. I'm going to look at these picutres whenever I'm in a bad mood.
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