A Path Less Trodden #CarpeDiem: February 2015

Well, where was I when I left you last? Chiang Mai I believe. Since then I have had an intrinsic exploration at a Buddhist retreat, where I meditated for over 4 hours a day; I received a clear mind and a sore bum from that experience. Really, I never expected I would be the kind to be capable of meditation, as I have a general urge to move and be constantly doing something. However, taking the time to sit, and have directed thought was much needed, and quite helpful. After which, we continued on from Chiang Mai to Laos, which involved a long van ride through gorgeous countryside dotted with rice fields. I only wish the van had stopped at a few points along the way so I could have snapped some pictures of the idyllic countryside. In Laos we took another van to Luang Nam Tha, where we stayed the night, recuperated, and prepared for a 3 day trekking trip the following day.

My trek was provided through Green Discovery, and was led by an interesting man named Thon, who was a Monk for 12 years before becoming a wilderness guide. He has a 5-year-old boy, and when I asked him whether he wishes his son to become a Monk as well, he replied, “I’m not sure” with a chuckle. I suppose he was weighing all the years of sore-bumedness from meditation that his son would have to endure, against the clarity of mind he would receive.

The Trek itself was perhaps one of the most incredible sections of the trip thus far. Hiking through dense Laotian Jungle, eating lunch on Banana leaves, stepping over 8 inch-long centipedes, and then bursting from the jungle into the occasional rice field made for an incredible experience of rural Laos. For the first two nights we stayed in indigenous villages, where we stayed in a relatively large, thatch-roofed hut by the Nam Tha River. Pigs, chickens, dogs, and equally-naked children ran between the huts and along the river bank. In fact, for one of our river crossings, two little boys manned the canoe across the river, giving not the slightest care of the fact that they wore not a stitch of clothing.

The second night of the trip, two of my companions and I were sitting around a campfire with some of the locals, when 3 boys came up carrying harpoons and gesturing for me to follow. Curious, and somewhat surprised, we followed them for a 10-minute walk through the jungle and along the riverbank, where we stopped and they promptly built a bonfire of leaves, sticks, and bamboo. After this, they promptly stripped to their underwear, donned masks, grabbed their flashlights and harpoons, and stepped into the water. You might think that this isn’t such a difficult task, considering it is Laos, and you are all doubtlessly imagining an unbearably hot and humid jungle-atmosphere. This is not the case at night, and the river is quite cold, so I was amazed at the chutzpa these kids had. I would have been shivering and freezing in the first minute… 20 minutes later the boys returned, carrying a small fish in one of their bags. We hurried back to the fire, stoked up the flames, and stuffed the fish into the coals. 5 minutes later we were passing around a fresh caught fish, each of us taking a small piece.

The final day of the trek we spent kayaking down the Nam Tha River. I once again had to figure out how to use a two-person inflatable kayak without simply spinning down the river in circles. That was all I managed to do with my companion, Alex, on one of our kayaking trips in Tena, Ecuador.. However, my Harvard-bound companion, Oliver, and I managed to figure it out after several minutes, and we were soon gliding in a straight line down the river. Trust me, it is far more difficult than it looks.. Ultimate lesson: never underestimate the capabilities of a Babson and Harvard bound team when they put their minds together. ;)

I am currently on a boat gliding down the Mekong River. We have two days travelling down the Mekong River until we reach Luang Prabang, where we will stay 2 days before flying to Vietnam. I am quite excited for Vietnam, because many of the places I will visit will be somewhat familiar territory, and places I once visited with my family. I’m listening, of course, to music. This time, to Elton John, and some of his songs remind me of home and my friends, so I’d like to shout-out to them. The time difference makes it much harder to talk or message at the same time, but I still think of you all the time. Hope all is well! Till next time my friends, family, and readers!

(This post was written a couple days ago, I rented a bike and have been Cafe hopping in Luang Prabang trying to find WiFi fast enough to post this. I just ended up at Joma Bakery and Cafe, but still the WiFi is extremely slow, and it took me 10 minutes to upload this one photo. Unless I find faster WiFi here in Luang Prabang, the pictures will have to wait till I arrive in Hanoi, Vietnam! Also, an incredible coincidence, sitting here in Joma Cafe, Elton John's song "Tiny Dancer" just came on! And I was just writing about listening to this song 3 days ago...)

Attaining a clear mind, and a sore bum

Peace, guys, peace.

One of the villages during the Trek

One pig, two pig, 3 pig. . . Eight!

One of the Canoe crossings

The boys about to start fishing!

Cooking a fish in the Bonfire (took me a while to get this perfect fire pic) ;)

Looking down on the Mekong

Country cows

Passing around the fresh fish!

Boating down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang

I have recently found a new interest in The Beatles, a band I do not get to listen to often enough as a result of their tracks being unavailable on Spotify. However, after a bit of monetary commitment, I have found it quite enjoyable to relax and listen to their songs. In fact, they have become so engrained in my head lately, that I find myself breaking out into “Hey Jude” randomly throughout the day. I have a couple lines down, the rest is simply a well-tuned mumble.. Fortunately another participant in my group has a similar love of spontaneous singing, so we have had more than a few improvised singing sessions.

The past 5 days have been an elephant filled adventure at the Elephant Nature Park. This park is dedicated to bringing in abused and injured elephants from locations in Southeastern Asia, and giving them a safe and open place to live and recover. Volunteers come in troves to help cut reeds for their food, clean their nighttime quarters, shovel tons of dung, and wash the elephants. Of course, there are usually many selfies with the elephants (Elphies) throughout the process. However, this project does not support elephants being used simply to satisfy tourists’ desire to touch and ride these giant mammals. As a result, elephant contact is minimized, and nobody rides the elephants, not even the Mahouts (the elephant handlers).

The ENP was started by a tiny Thai woman, Lek Challert, who has come to have an enormous reputation in the field of elephant conservation. She was the subject a National Geographic documentary back in 1995, which sought to highlight the dire predicament of elephant endangerment and treatment in Asia. The predicament, of course, has only become much worse since then, and if you are interested in preserving elephants, you could not donate to a more capable project than Lek Challert’s ENP. The ENP also cares for 450 abandoned dogs and re-conditions them so they can be adopted if you are in the market for a new canine friend.

On the topic of my activities, I now have a new appreciation of chopped watermelon. After helping unload truck-loads of watermelon, placing them on shelves, washing them, and then finally chopping them, I can not over-state how appreciative I am of the people involved in such activities every day. On other days I helped move rocks for building projects and shoveled mind-boggling amounts of dung into trucks. I also became quite handy with a machete as my group chopped 50 bundles of reeds one day, which serves as food for the elephants.

Anyway, I am currently back in Chiang Mai, where we will remain for the next 3 days. Fortunately, I am here exactly during the dates of the Flower Festival, so I have gotten to see incredible flower structures and been able to watch an outdoor concert. If you are interested in Indian food, I recommend you visit the Rajdarber Indian Restaurant and try their Lamb Rogan Josh, which is absolutely incredible. Also, if you want to save some money, you can get fried chicken and an assortment of other foods on the street for approximately 2 dollars per meal. Anyway, till next time!