Belfast: Familiar Faces

When I was planning this trip, I realised that my friend James was going to be traveling in the UK around the same time as me. James and I studied history together during undergrad at McMaster and did our first backpacking trip back in #eurotrip2009 (along with our friends Jesse and Alon). James was travelling with his friend Kurt who he teaches with in Alberta and we all had one solid day in Belfast together.

James and I reunited!

The day started out with brunch at Maggie Mays. The boys opted for lunch while I partook in a veggie Fry. When I had asked my friend Kevin who is from Ireland, what I should eat whilst here, he said: "breakfast". And while I think of that as a time rather than a specific meal, I followed his advice and had a big fry up. It was massive and filling and while I did try everything, I definitely did not finish it. It had 2 eggs, a veggie sausage, soda bread, potato bread, pancake, hash browns, mushrooms , tomato, and beans. I'm full just remembering it.

We then took a black cab tour. Everyone whose been to Belfast recommended it to us and we had a fantastic guide who told us the history of the murals and an insider view of the troubles. While not religious, he had a Catholic cultural upbringing and delivered his tour with a slight slant towards that bias. He even had a cousin, Charlie, who was killed and memorialized on one of the murals. One of my favourite nuggets from him was: "When the protestants were building the Titanic. The Catholics were building the iceberg". I tended to agree with him and it did provide some interesting point of view conversations.

Our awesome guide whose clearly "Seen some shite"

We saw a tower block where until 2005, the top two floors were used for British intelligence gathering. It was also an area of high turmoil during 70s as it was the area where the first child was killed during the troubles. We saw the Peace Line -- a wall that separates the protestant and Catholic areas of the city and still closes it's gates at night. It's eerily reminiscent of the Berlin Wall and a strong indication of how things are far from resolved in this conflict.

He took us to the top of the falls to see the political mural there depicting the struggles and sucesses of the Republicans. We saw the painted portrait of hunger striker Bobby Sands. All in All, most of the murals here were celebratory and reflective.

Republican murals

However, the contrasting ones on the loyalist side were strikingly different. They were much more militaristic, with guns pointing at you and tons of union jacks. There was a giant portrait of Stephen McKeag, a member of the UDA who despite his clean cut image on the picture, was more or less a murderer who died of a heroin overdose. The juxapostion is jarring. Having known very little about the troubles and ongoing conflicts/issues, I am keen to educate myself even more.

Example of a Loyalist mural

After the fascinating tour, we walked down to Botanical gardens and Ulster Museum. The gardens were gorgeous and I took quite possibly the best picture of a rose ever. We got caught in a downpour heading to the museum and had a quick tea break to warm up.

Beauty and the Beast would have been jealous.

We unfortunately only had an hour to explore before it closed and I only made it to two exhibits. I read more about the troubles and saw some artifacts, helping to frame my knowledge a bit more. The second one was the coolest (because #tripofthenerds) as it was a giant long tapestry depicting the entire past 6 seasons of Game of Thrones. :D

Spoiler: The Red Wedding

I took a video (will post when I'm home) but it took 6 minutes of film time to walk through it. It captured memorial moments and quotes and was beautifully embroidered. Colour me impressed.

After the Ulster, we walked to the city centre to begin our pub tour. We tried to go into the touristy but well praised, Crown Liquor Saloon, but it was rammed. So we started off next door at Robinson's.  We got a round and caught Kurt up with our former adventures around Europe and memorable history profs we had. We got caught in another shower but it proved to be helpful as a Belfast native told us which bar to go to next.

Luckily as we were leaving, we were able to get into the Crown and had another pint. We met two wonderful old ladies who showed us what kind of linen we needed to buy as a souvenir. We went to Muriels next which is well regarded for their gin drinks. As James is a big gin fan, we indulged him. The atmosphere was fun with Motown music and random underwear hanging from the rafters.

Wait here, I've gone for help.

We ended our evening with some fish and chips and headed back to fall asleep after all that walking and an early rise the next day. It was absolutely fantastic to meet up with James and to meet Kurt. I hope they have a fantastic end of their trip. Next up for me, a day trip to Game of Thrones filming locations and the Giants Causeway!

Belfast: The Ship Of Dreams

I arrived in Belfast with surprisingly better weather than I left in Cardiff. I checked into my new hostel, Belfast International Youth Hostel  which was definitely not as good as my last one. This one would probably be awesome for large groups of friends but as a solo traveller, it was really hard to make friends (the only one I did was a girl in my room on my last night. She was from Hull, Quebec but she had a cold and understandably didn't want to go out). It was very clinical/streamlined and lacked much character --- but the beds were comfy at least.

Welcome to.... 

I decided to check out the Titantic Quarter and visit the museum. I took the rail there but when I got off, no one else did and I began to wonder if I was in the right spot. I wandered along mostly deserted streets beside a lorry rental place until I finally saw some signs confirming I was heading in the right direction. Huzzah! Win one for my internal compass (.... and Google maps).

The titanic museum was HUGE. They allot you entrance at a specific time so until then, I explored the SS Nomadic. The SS Nomadic is the last remaining White Star ship in existence. During the Titanic era, it was a Tender --- which meant it ferried passengers between the harbour and the Titanic because the Titanic was too big to be docked at shore. It was also recommissioned  in both World Wars (as a minesweeper in WWI and to help evacuate Cherbourg in WWII) and eventually went back to being a Tender. They've redone the interior to reflect what it would have looked like for 1st and 2nd class passengers and the subsequent crew.

SS Nomadic in its dock (🎶24601)

Side note: it was also docked in the Hamilton Graving Dock and all I kept thinking of was the "Look Down" scene in Les Mis when they are building the ship. TWO-FOUR-SIX-OH-ONEEEE!

I was then allowed to go onto the Titanic museum but actually it's so much more than just the ship! The first few floors  (yes floors) are dedicated to early industry in Belfast (such as Flax mills and the linen industry) and the shipbuilding process  (including an interactive ride that takes you through a day as a shipbuilder... complete with heat lamps in the coal sections!). The titanic part has recreations of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class cabins; descriptions of guests; boarding procedures; samples of the fabric and carpet used; as well as survivor testimonies and a chilling depiction of the SOS conversations with the other boats around them at the time of the sinking.

Last messages from the Titanic

 There was also a small portion about the Titanic in the media (yes, Celine was singing) and a part about the underwater cameras/seeing the Titanic now. Overall, a very impressive museum that I spent 2 and a half hours in!

Whooooo Are You? Who, Who? Doctor WHO!

Onwards to Cardiff!

After a 3 hour train ride west, I arrived in Cardiff. I stayed at a lovely hostel... good combo of social things but def not a party hostel. I arrived and settled into my hostel room  (superior- aka single beds not bunks- 4 bed mixed with only one roommate! An older brit named Ray who is VERY chatty but very nice too). After I rested up, I headed downstairs to make friends and find a dinner recommendation.

Welcome to Cardiff, Wales!

Well, I fully felt like an awkward fool this first hang out in a hostel. There were two Americans and three hostel workers all chatting and seemed to know each other really well. I just sat there feeling like I didn't belong and didn't know how to jump into the convo. Eventually I did, but then quickly left to have dinner.

I went to a fantastic burger place and wandered around the shopping district, exploring all the cute shops in the unique Victoria style arcades. Ultimately I ended up at Primark (bc where else do I know where to shop at in the UK, hahaha). I bought some souvenirs for my sister and an umbrella for myself (since my last one from there lasted so long, I thought I'd make another investment).

One of the shopping Arcades in the City Centre

I met the American girl while I was grabbing some beer at the off license and we chatted for the rest of the evening until I headed up to shower and sleep. Kind of an unexciting evening but I was exhausted from my London adventures that I welcomed a more mellow night.

Private Tours and Travels in Time and Space (#tripofthenerds)

 I didn't have the greatest first sleep. I think I was nervous about not knowing who I was sharing the space with, but luckily I did not have that trouble the second night. Regardless, I pulled myself out of bed to make it to the walking tour in the morning.

They are supposed to cancel tours if there are less than 2 people that showed up, but the guy (Andrew from Wales) who gave me the tour wanted more practice so he gave me a private one! It was great. We walked around Cardiff Castle, the government buildings, the stadium  and some of the City Centre. My hostel, Safehouse hostel, was pretty well located so none of these were too far.

Random facts I remember: There was a gold painted post box because whenever an olympian won a medal in the London Olympics, they painted them a gold postbox in their hometown. The olympian from Cardiff? He had no idea. ;)

The red bricks along the bottom of the castle walls are actually the old Roman ruins, anything above it was the restoration.

Also, he was cute so I was a little distracted anyways.

After Andrew's tour, I took his suggestion to take the river ferry down to the harbour. Also, I had no idea how many swans there were in Cardiff! I've only ever seen one or two, but there were like 10 on the shore at one point. The boat also gave us some informative facts about places we passed along the way (such as the various yatching areas and tourist friendly places).

Cardiff Bay was BEAUTIFUL. Granted, it was a gorgeous sunny day, but still. I could definitly feel myself getting burnt -- who would have thought that would even have been a concern on this trip! I took some shelter in a cafe that used to be an old church (that Roald Dahl, a Cardiff native, was baptized in!).

Then.... The Doctor Who Experience (aka the whole reason I even came to Cardiff at all). It starts off with a theatrical walk/journey where Peter Capaldi talks you through a mission to collect crystals to power the Tardis and save the day! It was hokey and fantastic. I love interactive things like this. Also, I got kind of freaked out with the weeping angels portion -- if I was a child, I definitely would not have continued on that walk through.

The face of Boe

Next, you go into a museum that has all these monster props/prostheses, artifacts and costumes from the shows many years. I was in my nerd glory and earned Jac's nickname of "Trip o'the nerds"!

Ten's Companion Costumes (Donna, Cpt. Jack, Martha & Rose)

After my whovian adventure, I trekked back to the hostel for a massive curry. There was a new girl that had just arrived that was to be working in the hostel for the next month so the owner (Tom), Andrew, a French guy (his name was hard to pronounce -- eep!), her and myself went out to a traditional Welsh bar to enjoy a few beverages. The evening ended while trying to watch "The Secret World of Walter Mitty" in the common room but we couldn't work out the volume and ended up narrating it ourselves with he subtitles. Rather funny to be honest!

A very traditionally Welsh bar

All in all, my first few days on my own have been pretty successful. Excited to be heading to Belfast and beginning my Ireland trip next!

London Nostalgia Tour

The return to Trafalgar Square 

 Well, it's been 6 years but I finally made it back to London! I was invited to Martin and Louisa's wedding and figured it would be a great time to return to my favourite city. :)

This weekend has been an absolute whirlwind and blast! I've been able to catch up with a ton of mates (albeit not all of them!), see some old haunts, be a tourist and celebrate a wedding --- in just 4 days! As I haven't had a second to catch my breath, the train ride to Cardiff seems to be a perfect time to recap the weekend.

THURSDAY (#lewishamnostalgiatour)
I arrived early in the morning on Thursday after a red eye from Toronto. My flight over was fine, I had a cutie from Scotland as my seatmate who actually lives in Greenwich so he knew all the places I did! We chatted/I forced him to be social and then after a viewing of "How to Be Single" (garbage popcorn flick but perfect for a plane ride), I tried my best to doze for a bit.

Martin and Louisa were so kind to pick me up at Gatwick and after literally falling at their feet, we trekked into the SE. I knew Martin from the Felday days. He was good mates with Allen and used to date my friend Melissa (they are still friends, no awkwardness!). We kept in touch and I was staying with him and his soon to be bride, Louisa, in Catford.

Catford is the neighbourhood just below Lewisham  (where I lived). So after a nap, we started my nostalgia tour. And yes, I got really excited when I saw silly common stores like Aldi, Argos and Poundland. Haha. We went to a bar near Catford station and I had my first pimms! They don't make them proper in Toronto so I was very glad to see the cucumber/mint/strawberry/citrus combo. Then we walked to another and I had a pint of Amstel  (another one of my London regular drinks) and then ended up going to a wonderfully wierd and hip bar at the Broadway Theatre -- complete with crisps in teacups and a Lionel Richie cutout to pose with.

My old stompin' grounds

And then walking up the high street. Seeing all the shops that we used to go to, waving to the hospital, getting angry at the name change of "Kebabalicious" to "Lewisham Best Kebab", and of course, creeping at 45 Felday. It basically looks the same except they cut down the bush outside.

After our tour, we went to my old local: the Fox and Firkin (not to be confused with the chain restaurant back home) and met up with Ankles (Jamie). He's still a fantastic soul with so much energy and enthusaism. I was so glad to have been able to catch up and dance.

FRIDAY (#globeandgoodbyes)
On friday, I was going to get up early and tour Southwark (my favourite area of London) but jetlag messed me up and I ended up only doing a quick photo tour of borough market/tate modern/st.pauls before I met up with Sam (roommate from Mcmaster days) for a viewing of Twelfth Night at the Globe.

The play was hilarious and well staged. They turned it into a musical of sorts and had a drag queen as Feste. I had "acted" in this play in Grade 5 as Olivia so I luckily knew the plot pretty well so even if I got lost in Shakespearian English, I was able to keep on track with the story. We had the £5 standing peasant tickets but we persevered.

All ready for some Shakespeare!

Afterwards, we headed to Sam's place and got ready for her leaving do as she's going to Mumbai for a year this Wednesday! We went to super hip Shoreditch and had drinks at the Old Street Records Bar. Her friends were all lovely and the drinks were expensive but delicious. Plus the live cover band was really fun. I managed to navigate my way back to catford on the tube/train/bus with only one creeper trying to chat me up, but developed some blisters for my effort to walk in heels.

SATURDAY (#weddingbells)
Saturday was the big day! I hopped in a taxi with Martin and Louisa's friends (Llyod and Anne - funny and friendly!) and headed to Islington Town Hall. They got married in the council chambers which was pretty unique. I was able to catch up and party with a bunch of old mates including my flatmate Allen, his wife Sarah, Allen/Martin's friends: Jim, Duncan, Simon and Neil who I played poker with like 6 years ago -- great memory boys! :)

They hired an old school double decker bus to take us from the ceremony to the reception which was pretty epic. The reception was held in Leadenhall Market which was the filming location of Diagon Alley in Harry Potter ! We had a late lunch at the Lambs Tavern and then the party started! They had a fantastic band that played outside the bar so the dance floor was cobblestone streets.

Congratulations!

At the end of the night, the last few party guests went to the basement bar to continue dancing to Louisa's excellent wedding playlist ;) The drummer of the band attempted to pick me up at 1am but I was way too tired to deal with that. Such a shame, but definitely an ego boost. ;)

SUNDAY (#pj4andbeatles)
Falling asleep at 3am resulted in me sleeping in til 130pm! But I hurried out to make it to Abbey Road! It was the only tourist thing I didn't get around to when I lived here so I'm glad I actually did it. I was only there for about 20 mins, had a friendly lady from Mexico take my photo and then headed to Waterloo to meet up with Jen.

Just imagine me x3

Jen was a fellow teacher from Nipissing (PJ4 represent) who moved over the same time as me but still stayed! We went to the Udderbelly Festival near the London eye, had a drink and caught up.

When Jen had to leave, I wandered about Trafalgar Square and ended up having a vegetarian Sunday roast at a pub on the Strand. I'm trying to get used to the solo travelling as I'll be heading to Cardiff and Ireland by myself!

I capped off the night with a return to Catford and introducing Martin and Louisa to the epic film that was "Urban Legend" hahaha. That and a viewing of "Bill and Ted" ended my evening.

MONDAY #singletear
And I'm off! I did a load of laundry (thanks!), went to an adorable cafe for a coffee and toastie and then caught the rail to Paddington to head off to Cardiff! Much love to Martin and Louisa for hosting me this weekend and being so generous!

Man, I don't know if it's a combination of nostalgia or excitement or novelty, but after just one weekend here I want to move back! That's how I ended up here last time: I backpacked with James and was like "hey, it'd be cool to live here" and 6 months later I was. So who knows London, maybe I'll be back sooner than you think! Even if it's just for another proper Pimm's. ;)

Swinging on a Rubber Band (The Gibbons Experience)

If someone had asked me at the beginning of my trip, what I was most excited for, I would have probably said "the gibbons experience". Now at the end of my trip, if people ask me what was the most challenging part of my trip, I'd probably say "the gibbons experience". The first day was amazing and exactly what I was excited about, but the second and third... Yeesh with a capital Y. 

The Gibbons Experience is a tree-top zip lining, mountainous jungle trekking eco adventure in Northern Laos in the Bokeo Nature Reserve. The name is rather misleading as it is incredibly rare to actually see gibbons or really much wildlife at all. However, the name could lend itself to the fact that you swing around on ziplines and sleep in treehouses, high off the jungle floor. We had picked the "waterfall" 2 night option where in addition to the classic treehouse/ziplines, you visit a small waterfall too. 

We started our adventure by piling into the back of a truck tuk-tuk and taking a windy two hour ride to get to the base camp (a small hillside village). We were then split into groups and joining Simon, Karen and I, were a friendly American couple: Rachel and Nick. The five of us met our guides and started the waterfall trek. We hiked about two - three hours when we reached the waterfall and maaaannn, after a month of eating rice and sitting on buses, that trek kicked my butt! A lot of uphill climbs and steep declines to get there. Quads of steel by the end of these three days!

It was at this point when I took out my camera to snap some pics, when I realized that although it was a good idea to charge my batteries the night before, it was not such a smart move to leave it in the charger in my big backpack. As such, I only managed a precious few pictures on my iPod. Doh!

Trekking in the jungle

The waterfall wasn't super impressive and ridiculously cold. Yet it was a welcome relief for our muddy, wet and hot feet. Nick was the first to jump in, while Rachel got her own free fish pedicure as the fish nibbled on her feet. After a bit, our guides came back with harnesses and we suited up for another hike to the ziplines. 

The ziplines were awesome. I love, love, love zip lining and so far have had the privilege of going about three times already in my life (England, Costa Rica, and Whistler). This time however, it was much more freelance. After we got to our treehouse (which we had to zip in and out of), we had free reign to zip around as much as we wanted to. We learned how to suit up, strap on and slow down pretty quickly. Helmets? Nah. Stuck a little far from the end? Pull yourself (or have Simon save you at one point!). It was awesome. The longest zip we went on was 500m over the forest canopy. Pretty damn awesome.

Zipping out of the Treehouse

The treehouse we stayed in was basic but functional. We slept on gym crash-mats, under what basically looked like a childhood blanket fort. The bathroom was a squatter toilet with a sink and a cold shower. There was drinking the water and meals were zipped in from kitchens nearby.

Our Second Treehouse

The first night after we ate dinner (vegetable mixes and rice), the five of us played a long game of "Bugger Your Neighbour" (my classic family cottage card game) before tucking in early. It was so loud trying to sleep with all the tree crickets! The morning came way too soon and we started the next days trek to another treehouse. 

After lunch and a mini-siesta, we went zipping on our own. It was a lot of fun,  until I started to feel really hot and gross. Thinking it was a bit of heat exhaustion, I ducked out a bit early and went back to the treehouse. Then, the disaster started. *Warning: TMI Susan is about to tell you probably more than you wanted to know* 

Non-stop vomiting from about 6pm to 1:30 am with the "exploding double ender" (throwback to first year uni and Giles/505 Bates for that phrase!). It was quite possibly the worst diarrhea I've ever had. Like a faucet. I didn't know that was even possible (how did I have anything left in me?!). Throwing up, gave way to dry heaves, gave way to flecks of blood. So imagine how awful that feels. Now put yourself on a squatter toilet, 100 m above ground. I definitely can take away some balancing/multi-tasking skills from this experience.

All that though, was not as tough as the hike back. There were no evac procedures, so I had to slowly make my way through the jungle back to the village. Thank you so much to everyone for being so patient with me and waiting while I was sick or had to poop in the jungle (I guess that's off the bucket list too?). I felt so bad for being such a drag on everyone. Even though they were an insanely challenging three hours, I made it and gratefully climbed onto the truck.

We decided the small village of Huay Xai was probably not the best place to seek medical attention, so after our bus to Thailand, we checked into a hospital in Chiang Rai. The Overbrook Hospital was clean and they spoke fairly good English. They gave me a crap ton of medicines as well as an IV shot of anti-nausea and anti-cramping meds. I felt so much better. I unfortunately saw nothing really of Chiang Rai except the hospital and my hotel room. 

Drugs, Drugs, Drugs....

The next day, I was feeling a bit better and began the trek to Hong Kong. We said goodbye to Rachel and Nick and took flights from Chiang Rai -- Bangkok -- Hong Kong. I spent the night at James' place before arriving at the airport this afternoon.

It was sad to say goodbye to Simon and Karen as they continue on to their trip to China. Despite the crappy end, I had an amazing trip. I saw ancient wonders, tried new foods, hung out with elephants, bartered at markets, rode crazy buses, relaxed on boats and made a million memories. Thanks Asia, it's been a blast.

Lovin' Laos!

So far, Laos has been my favourite country. Yeah, it may be a bit more expensive and it may be totally influenced by my elephant experience, but I'm loving the mellow, friendly vibes here. I didn't take many pictures as I was pretty pictured out after the elephants, so hopefully my words do it justice....

Luang Prabang is the second biggest city here and it feels more similar to Hoi An than Hanoi. Infrastructure isn't great and it's more like a cottage town than a city. Our hostel had amazing showers and good breakfasts so it made up for my prison like, bare bones dorm room.

We visited the night market more times than Simon wanted but I loved all the handicrafts available. I shouldn't have bought things anywhere else but here! No one harassed you or made you feel bad for saying no. There wasn't as much bartering as in Cambodia, but sometimes they'd go down a bit. I bought cute new slippers to wear back home in freezing Canada amongst a few other souvenirs. 

The food was a refreshing change from everywhere else. They have a strong French influence leftover from the colonial days, so baguettes and croissants were popular. I think I had about four baguettes there in my time ?one with tofu, so good!) Perfect amount as now I'm ready to go back to rice and noodle dishes.

The bar scene was pretty European/tourist influenced but I enjoyed them. We went to one called Icon Klub, which could easily pass for a bohemian styled bar on queen west. I splurged and got an expensive but amazing mojito. They also had the BEST WASHROOM in all of SE Asia. After squatters and no toilet paper, it was pretty epic.

The next night, we went to the famed Utopia, a backpacker oasis.  We ordered dinner, split some Beerlaos and enjoyed people watching. There are cushions and low seated tables with candlelight scattered everywhere under a big straw coned roof. There are Palm trees and lush gardens surrounding outdoor tables. There was some big long tables for rowdy patrons and a volleyball court and foosball table. It's up there on my all time favourite bars list.

Simon lounging in "Utopia"

On our way home, we stumbled upon some local guys playing what we thought was house-league volleyball. But after a second glance, it was something totally different. There were three guys on each side of the net and they would kick (like yoga gymnastics high kicks) a ball back and forth only using their heads or feet. We were fascinated for about 20 minutes. I later found out this sport is called sepak takraw and it's very popular in SE Asia (thanks Wikipedia!). We then kept walking in this area and there was a mini carnival and for 2,000 kip we played the "throw the darts at the balloon" game. Simon was able to get three in a row and won a Pepsi. There were monk milling around, Kids playing and adults lounging with Beerlao and BBQ. Pretty cool local Saturday night.

After our time in Luang Prabang, we packed up early and boarded the slowboat to take us to Huay Xai where we will join the Gibbons Experience for three days. The slowboat takes two days with a night stopover in the one-street town of Pak Beng. It's more advisable to do this than the bus (12 hrs) or fast boat (6 hrs but people have died on it).

It's called a Slowboat for a reason....

We did not prepare well on our first day. Opting to wear shorts and no socks, the cold Laos morning was brutal. Luckily, Karen had extra socks at least! We made a new friend, Claudia from Germany, and sat with her. It was nice because now her and I could share a room and cut down our costs as dorms were not an option in Pak Beng. 

Inside our Boat on Day 2

Cards (rummy and crazy 8s), boat bought noodles, reading, and naps took up the 8 and a half hours to Pak Beng. Our accommodations were decent and dinner at an Indian restaurant was delicious. The next morning we boarded for another 10 hours, albeit a bit more prepared with hoodies and sandwiches. We spent the night in Huay Xai, packing and eating. Next stop, our three day trek into the Namkam national park to do the Gibbons Experience where we trek for 2-3 hrs a day, Zipline in the canopy, sleep in treehouses, and hopefully spot some monkeys.

I've been done seen about everything when I see a Elephant (...fly)

I had already accomplished one goal of my time in SE Asia (visiting the Chu Chi Tunnels) and during my time in Luang Prabang, I was able to accomplish the other: riding and interacting with elephants. Elephants are a big part of the tourism in Laos, and we researched enough beforehand to pick a reputable travel company to use. We booked a day trip that included a trek through a village, a waterfall visit and a kayak trek in addition to an optional (obviously not even close to optional in my mind) elephant ride. 

She Ain`t No Dumbo!

The trek through the village was not too informative but interesting to observe the different tribes and how they built their houses differently depending on what they were. There was one child who was wailing when we got there but stopped quickly when he saw us. Our guide laughed and said it was because they told him "you better stop crying or the foreigners will take you away!". Boogeyman Howse. ;)

The waterfall portion was nice too. There are two major tourist waterfalls near Luang Prabang and we went to Tad Sae. They were many small waterfalls flowing over little limestone rocks. Gorgeous but a little cold for my liking. Simon and Karen had no problem, with Simon even jumping off a rope swing.

Tad Sae Waterfalls

The 3 hour kayaking adventure down the Nam Khan was exhausting but a great way to spend the afternoon. As the odd one out, I was paired with the guide which had its pros/cons. Pros: able to take more breaks as he was a strong paddler and he was able to navigate around the small rapids with ease. Cons: language barriers (he asked me "do you like whisky?" And I heard "do you like to ski?" Resulting in a vastly different conversation) and his not-so subtle efforts to pick me up ("I'm not married either, maybe we go to Utopia tonight and have whisky?"). All in all though, I liked the kayak and it felt great to do something active again.

An afternoon on the river

Karen and I opted for the elephant ride. We sat on a Howdah (chair on the elephants back) and a mahout led us on a short trek through a worn trail in a forest. It was really fun but I wanted a more hands on experience. So going on the advice of "you might only be here once, make it count", I booked a solo trip to an elephant farm the following day.

I was told my pickup time was at 8:30, so I grumbled out of bed nice and early to wait. Then half an hour went by. I talked to my hostel staff and they called the company for me resulting in "wait more". Another hour went by and at this point, I'm super annoyed. If it was cancelled, that sucks but at least I wouldn't waste my morning. I just wanted some clarification and was continually being told just to "wait more". This was beyond "Laos time" by this time. Eventually a truck came and without really know where or what I was headed into, I jumped in and took a ride.

45 minutes later, I arrived at Nam Ou Elephant Camp and a frazzled ex-pat greeted me. There was a mixup and the tour company picked up the wrong person from my hostel. She felt so bad that she said I was going to get my own private tour. I had already brightened up upon seeing the farm (no cages, open space, 12 elephants plus a baby returning from the previous groups walk) and these words were icing on the cake. Good things totally come to those who wait.

Pauline, the British ex-pat, explained that she had been working here for 10 months because of her tor guiding experience and her love of elephants. It is a relatively new farm and so far they have rescued (through buying the elephants) from logging work camps where they are being forced to work long, tough days. They are often mistreated through aggressive handling (leaving cuts and scars over their bodies from the  bullhook). It is supposed to be used for the pressure points on an elephants head to get them to turn. Often in the work camps, they are hit so hard that it breaks the skin to make them go faster. She even showed me one elephant who was walking weird. Wen they got the vet to look at her, they found that her old owners had used the bullhook inside her. Pauline was emotional explaining this to me and I even got a bit teary hearing it.

This baby elephant was nicknamed ``Killer Baby`` because she was totally wild and wouldn't be trained until she was three years old.

Even though it's better to not even have them work at all, there are no protected national parks for the elephants. Nam Ou lets them roam free in the jungle behind the village when they're "off shift" (they give rides to tourists in the morning). I really liked the vibes of this place.

I was shown my personal elephant for the day, a female named Kham Seng. I fed her banana trunks which were amazing to watch her eat. Their teeth are far back so they kind of gum them backwards until they give them a big crunch and water squirts out. She was a bit greedy and afraid I'd give some to the other elephants so sometimes she'd grab like three stocks at a time. 

Just some gals gabbin' over lunch

After feeding her, I climbed on a Howdah and walked her through the village. The mahout rode in front of me and Pauline walked alongside, telling me all about living there in the small village and being the only white person who just speaks a bit of Lao. 

After the ride, I was able to take her for a bath. Her howdah was removed and we walked down to the riverbed where I sat on her neck and we waded into the water. She pause to drink a bit before heading in where she had a sit and I helped splash/pour some water over her. I loved it. It was challenging to stay on without falling so I understand the use howdahs for tourists now. Bareback though, was pretty awesome. I loved being connected to her and they said she enjoys being in the water (not sure if they were just saying that but I'll take it).

Splish Splash, we were taking a bath!

I was so lucky to have this opportunity to visit a farm where they genuinely care for these animals. A lot of tourist sites overwork them and I'm glad I supported this one. I'm even more interested in elephants now and so happy I was able to check something off my bucket list. I am one lucky gal.