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...)
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Attaining a clear mind, and a sore bum |
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Peace, guys, peace. |
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One of the villages during the Trek |
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One pig, two pig, 3 pig. . . Eight! |
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One of the Canoe crossings |
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The boys about to start fishing! |
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Cooking a fish in the Bonfire (took me a while to get this perfect fire pic) ;) |
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Looking down on the Mekong |
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Country cows |
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Passing around the fresh fish! |
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Boating down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang |