August 22, 2007

• dengue fever & other scares

   

  LUANG PRABANG, LAOS | AN INTERNET CAFE NEAR SAYO GUESTHOUSE è

  

  there are certain allowances one must make when traveling like a true backpacker. 

  for example, possibly contracting dengue fever but later realizing it’s a horrible heat rash that has spread across your neck, back, and chest, causing incessant itching and immutable fatigue.  or, brushing off the thin layer of dead mosquitos off your blanket in the $10/night bungalow right by the nam khan river.  or, finding your water supply stopped, thus angrily resorting to 2.5 bottles of spring water for the morning shower after a day of intense swimming and sweating.  or, taking a dizzying 7-hour bus ride with a practically nonexistent air conditioning system through the windiest and most mountainous of roads–a route where just a few years ago hmong rebels actively targeted and robbed or killed several busloads of tourists making the exact same stretch you are.  or, just earlier today, finding a tiny leech attached to your foot at the high crest of the kuang si waterfalls, trying unsuccessfully to pull it off with your hands and instead spraying it with mosquito repellant, watching as crimson blood squirts across your toes, and frantically batting it away into the strong current just before the waters make their 200 foot drop below.  (this last bit happened only to paul, not me.  sadly/thankfully!)

  but it all must be worth something, and worth something it is.

  our time in laos has been perhaps the most memorable, second only to climbing mount kinabalu, if seconding is required.  arriving from hanoi, we spent one night in the country’s sleepy but peaceful capital, vientiane.  here we took a walking tour of the city, visiting a variety of temples and the laotian “arc de triomphe,” and enjoying delicious vietnamese-style lao sandwiches with iced coffees and fresh fruit shakes.

  
  
  

  we then spent two nights in vang vieng, a true backpacker discovery with rows of restaurants loudly playing reruns of friends, the simpsons, and family guy.  here, the attraction is not the town itself but its environs, including beautiful limestone mountains, deep serpentine caves, traditional hmong villages, and–a personal favorite–the gently rolling nam khan river, on which it is a near rite of passage to trek along and tube down.

  two highlights here: first, using both a headlight and tube to explore the “water cave,” which required grabbing onto ropes, floating across a pond, and ducking under sheer rock to traverse the pitch black pathways within.  leaving our tubes once inside, there were times when we were again waist-deep, climbing through mud, and crawling on all fours to reach giant, layered rooms with slender stalactities hanging from the ceiling.

  second, of course, was the tubing experience, which is a 1.5 hour journey from a point upriver back to the town of vang vieng just chilling out in your own personal inflated rubber tire.  there are bars you can stop by on the way, and we intermissioned at “last bar” to partake in a 40 ft. high hanging swing that flew you to the middle of the river so that you could let go and crash into the water.  amazingly, a large 750 ml bottle of the local brew, beerlao, costs a mere 10,000 kip ($1), and there was nothing more perfect to couple the relaxing ride home.

  
  
  

  after vang vieng, we journeyed the nauseating but simply gorgeous route 13 to luang prabang, where we spend our final four nights in laos.  here, it is all about soaking up the local culture.  exploring the innumerable wats, helping local monks practice english, and enjoying the surprisingly flavorful lao cuisine.  full day one was spent on a walking tour through the city, closing with a climb up mount phousi to watch the sunset and catch breathtaking vistas of the surrounding area.  full day two, feeling a bit “travelled out,” was spent at my favorite lao bakery, joma, for some quality time with my pre-matriculation requirements.  and full day three, today, was marked by a trip to the famous kuang si falls, where inopportune rains and an unfortunate encounter with a leech only slightly marred the fun of wading in the river’s natural swimming pools surrounded by the canopies of a noisy and active rainforest.

  also earlier today we sampled traditional lao fare, which involves clumping sticky rice with your fingers and sampling various “dipping sauces” made of eggplant, tomatoes, chilis, and various green vegetables.  also on the table were luang prabang sausage, dried buffalo jerky, and lettuce wraps filled with sweet and sour pastes.  i also thoroughly enjoyed an iced jujube drink, which was a tasteful fusion of plum-flavored juice and sweet coconut milk.

  and even earlier today at daybreak, i walked out just before 6am to watch the daily procession of the monks, clad in bright orange robes, as they make their way single file through town to receive food from the local villagers.  alms, as it is known, is an exchange where townspeople give various edibles (typically sticky rice) to monks and in so doing hope to receive merit.  the monks rely completely on the broader monastic community for their sustenance, and it is usually women who awake well before dawn to prepare the morning meals.  truly an amazing and in many ways humbling sight to see.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  but tomorrow morning, it all ends.  as money goes quickly and we’re forced to eat at the side street vegeterian buffet (just 50 cents for a plate of as many veggies as you can eat!), we prepare for our departure from laos and arrival into cambodia.  coming into luang prabang marked the halfway point of our month-long tour of southeast asia.  it is sad that it is so hastily coming to its end.

  the final three stops of this itinerary: siem reap, cambodia; bali, indonesia; and kuala lumpur / cameron highlands, malaysia.  and i hate to admit it, but after a week of “cute,” “charming,” “basic amenity” guesthouses, i’m really looking forward to those familiar starwood hotels.  le meridien, je t’aime!

  goodbye, laos.  we loved you, leeches and all.

  • 11:35 am
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