The trip to Hanoi has definitely been my most comfortable trip so far! I booked a ticket online through bookaway.com (which a couple had told me about in Sa Pa, and it’s great for booking bus and train trips in Asia!) and paid $13USD ($17.79AUD) to get a seat on Green Sapa Bus. My bus was leaving from Sa Pa Town at 8am and I was supposed to be there 30 minutes early, so I made an arrangement to take a motorbike taxi with my homestay at 6:45am for 100000 dong ($5.90). One of the brothers took me along the horrible road to Sa Pa after stopping at a little shop on the side of the road, grabbing a big Aquafina water bottle with a greenish liquid, and pouring it in the tank under the seat. He dropped me off at the Green Bus station, I checked in and got my seat number, and then ordered a coffee. While I was drinking my coffee, some of the local workers were sitting at the table next to me and started playing a card game spelling different words in English.
One of them was considerably better than the rest, so I started making suggestions and they told me to join. I figured it would be unfair if a native
English speaker played an English game, but I pulled up a chair anyhow and helped everyone out at the table. It was nice how friendly everyone was, and how easy it was to integrate myself in with them. Someone came in and said that we were going to leave, so we put the game away and I got my stuff to get on the bus. We were required to take off our shoes and put them in a plastic bag, as well as leave any food that we had at the front of the bus. This bus was the nicest bus I’ve ever seen!
Everyone got a bed to sleep in (if they wanted to sleep), and there were two levels (like bunk beds) with two aisles going between the beds. We made two stops along the way – one quicker one for a toilet break, and one longer one for a lunch break. I ordered some pho for 45000 dong ($2.66) and it was the best one that I’ve had so far! I arrived in Hanoi at around 1:45pm and my hostel was only a 10-minute walk away. I stayed at Nexy Hostel in a 14-bed mixed dorm for
$7.34USD ($10.78AUD) per night. It was a really nice hostel, with a bar on the bottom floor, a cafe and pool table/games room on the second level, a TV room on the 6th level, and a rooftop patio on top. Plus they gave free breakfast, which not only included your typical toast and cereal, but also some chicken pho (which not many people other than me seemed to take). I’ve realised that I thought I wasn’t a breakfast person my entire life, but maybe I’m just not a WESTERN breakfast person. I’ve never been a huge fan of breakfast food – hate cereal, not a huge fan of toast, eggs are alright… But give me a big bowl of noodles or soup, and I’m happy! Hanoi is an extremely busy city, however it’s not just a typical busy city, but a city full of LIFE.
I loved it as soon as I arrived, and all I ever wanted to do was sit in a coffee shop and people-watch/traffic-watch. The traffic was absolutely insane and if I want to cross the street, I was told to just walk slowly (and DON’T STOP) because the traffic will be able to figure out where I’ll be at certain times and go around me. I’ve always been overly confident with crossing streets so I didn’t have much of a problem with it, but it really makes me have to put all of my trust in the drivers around me. I walked around the streets for a bit, came back to my hostel, and then went for dinner. I went to Bún Bò Nam Bộ, where I could get bun cha (or a noodle bowl) and a Pepsi for 75000 ($4.43), and it was so good!
It reminded me of the ones at Mi Hong, the Vietnamese restaurant that I worked for in my hometown. The place was so busy, so I basically just had to join people at their table. The person across from me was a local, but then when he left, a lady from Germany came so she gave me some tips on what else to see during my time in Vietnam.
On Friday morning, I decided to do a walking tour. I absolutely loved the walking tours in Europe because it gave me a good amount of information about the country and its history, plus it gave me the opportunity to meet other travellers. However, when I booked this free walking tour with my hostel, I didn’t realise that it would be a private tour (meaning I’d be the only person on it). The tour is “free” – all they ask is that you cover all
of the costs of the guide, but seeing as I was the only person there, the prices added up quite quickly so I may have actually been better off paying for a tour. The tour guide ended up coming a half hour late because the original tour guide had some motorbike issues and was unable to come, so Alex replaced him. All of the guides are university students, so they’re giving up their study time to give the tours. The first place we went to was St. Joseph’s Cathedral, so I just took a picture from the outside.
We then walked to the Hoa Lo Prison Memorial, which was a pretty emotional place. The entrance fee was 30000 dong ($1.82) for me and then 15000 dong for Alex. The prison had been used by the French colonists on Vietnamese political prisoners in the early 1900s. The way that the prisoners were treated was extremely sad, and when I saw the guillotine, there were chills that ran through my entire body.
All of the materials used to make the prison were transported from Europe in the late 1800s. The prison was later used during the Vietnam war for the US prisoners of war, but it was kind of interesting how they portrayed this part of the museum because they had pictures of the prisoners enjoying themselves, such as playing basketball or chess. I’m not sure if that part was sugarcoated, or if the prisoners were actually treated well. After going to the prison, we walked to the train tracks, where many people stop to take pictures.
The train tracks are still in use, but only a few times per day so shops and cafes are set up right next to the tracks. We stopped at a cafe to get some drinks, and I tried a coconut coffee, which is a coffee with coconut ice cream added – it was so good! Our two drinks were 60000 dong ($3.54). After that, we walked to the Citadel, which is where the king used to live. The entrance for the two of us again cost
45000 dong ($2.66). It was around lunch time, so we were hoping it would be quiet, but unfortunately there seemed to be an entire school there on a field trip, and none of the kids seemed interested in the citadel so they were running around and playing games. We tried to keep our distance as much as we could, explored the citadel (which at this season, the entrance was beautifully covered in sunflowers), and then took a Grab back towards the hostel, which cost 35000 dong ($2.07).
We stopped for lunch, where I got a Banh Mi (basically Asian subway). I remembered to ask for no cilantro, but didn’t think to ask about onion, so when they brought me my sandwich, about half of it was filled with onions.
Anyway, I paid for lunch for me and the tour guide, which cost 140000 dong ($8.26) and then at the end, I wasn’t sure if I should tip as well, but I gave 100000 ($5.90), so the entire tour ended up costing quite a bit. I went back to the hostel to relax for a bit and then decided to go for coffee. I went to Đinh Cafe, which is owned by the daughter of a man who invented egg coffee. The cafe is almost hidden away, so I actually walked past it the first time i was trying to find it. However, I walked in, up some stairs, and found an open table
(which in Vietnam, are like kids’ tables – the chairs are tiny so you feel like a giant!). This location was a lot less crowded than the original (which I checked out the next day), and it was actually cheaper (and better in my opinion). I ordered an egg coffee for 20000 dong ($1.18) and it was so good – it tasted like an egg nog latte, with foamy, sweet egg mixture floating on top and an extremely strong coffee in the bottom.
I walked around the streets for awhile and took in all of the sights and smells, and then went back to the hostel to relax.
That evening, I went to Banh Cuon Gia Truyen Thanh Van to try the Banh cuon, which is a steamed rice pancake 
wrapped around minced pork. I ordered a set with a Pepsi for 60000 dong ($3.54), but the service was pretty bad at this place and the food didn’t have much flavour (even though it’s rated quite high). I walked down the night market for a bit and then headed back to the hostel.
On Saturday, I decided to do some exploring on my own. It was a rainy day so I had to balance my walking with escaping indoors every once in awhile. My first stop was Cafe Giang, which is the original egg coffee place. It was a lot more crowded but I came just as some others were leaving, so I got a table and ordered an egg coffee for 25000 dong ($1.48).
I spent some more time walking around and then I wanted to try the best Banh Mi restaurant, so I went to Banh Mi 25 and got a Banh Mi and Fanta for 35000 dong ($2.07). I really liked mine, but a lot of people who I talked to said that they didn’t think the restaurant was that good. I then walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which is the resting place of Ho Chi Minh, and his body has been preserved there. I had to go through security before getting onto the grounds. The guy behind me had cigarettes and they said that he had to leave them there and could come and get them afterwards. The mausoleum was just a building that everyone was getting pictures with (apparently you can go inside and see the body at some parts of the day), so I continued walking into the park area, where there was a Ho Chi Minh museum.
However, it was closed between 12 and 2pm and it was 1, so I came at the wrong time. I wasn’t too keen on waiting outside in the rain, so I decided to walk to the Temple of Literature, which gives the teachings of Confucius. I paid 30000 dong ($1.77) and went through all of the buildings. It was a really beautiful area, although the rain kind of made it difficult to enjoy.
However, I still spent about an hour there and then found a nearby coffee shop to enjoy an iced cocoa, which was delicious! I then slowly walked back towards the hostel, where I relaxed and dried off. Then I went out for dinner, and I was determined to try Banh cuon again. This time, I went to a restaurant called Bánh Cuốn Bà Hanh and the server was so friendly! He was a university student and his English was really good. He let me sit in front of the lady making my food so I could watch it being done, and he said that I could try to roll them, but I was happy with just watching.
These rolls were a lot better, and the friendly service was a nice plus. I paid 60000 dong ($3.54) and then made my way back to the hostel. There, I met Mathijs, a Dutch guy who had JUST arrived from Europe and only had two weeks to spend in Asia. He was planning to go to Sa Pa the next day, but when I said I was planning to go to Cat Ba, he booked a ticket there as well. So I had a travel
partner for the next destination! Which I’ll save for another post (and hopefully I’ll write it faster than I wrote this one!). Love always
I finally arrived in Sa Pa at 2:30pm on Monday afternoon. It was waaaaay more touristy than I thought it would be, and a lot colder – I had to find my rain jacket deep down in the bottom of my suitcase! It definitely reminded me of another mountain city like Banff. I went to the tourist information centre to ask what I could do, and they tried to sell me a 2-day/1 night trekking tour for $40 USD. I’ve learned that no matter where I go, people will try to sell me stuff. And usually for a way more expensive price than I could get on my own. It actually shocks me how many people give into paying without researching how to do it on their own first.
can’t walk around without a guide, but I did for two full days and it was completely fine. My next step was to find out where I could get a SIM card. The tourist centre pointed out a street, where I found a VinaPhone shop and got a 5GB/30-day plan for 150000 dong ($8.85AUD). Even though I
was staying in a homestay outside of Sa Pa, I decided to find a coffee shop and relax for a bit since I still hadn’t had a coffee and was feeling a bit groggy after my 8-hour bus ride. The Vietnamese coffee that I got was one of the best coffees that I’ve had in awhile, but cost a bit more at 40000 dong ($2.36). I then requested a Grab to take me to my homestay. I read that they’ll normally charge 200000 dong
($11.80) and it would take at least a half hour because the roads were so bad, so when my driver messaged me saying 200k, I replied okay. The reviews weren’t lying when they said that the roads were horrible – there were potholes everywhere, and I felt bad that the driver was putting his nice, shiny car through such a tragic experience. I was staying in a village called Ta Van in the Muong Hua valley, at Chopai Homestay. And I got it for a steal, at $4.66 per night, in what was supposed to be a 10-bed dorm but it turned out that I was the only person there, so they put me in my own twin room. The homestay was run by two brothers, both married and with their first kids (each less than a year old), and they had a huge fluffy dog named Sam. I was kind of sad that I was the only person there because it made it more difficult to interact with people, plus it felt more like I was imposing on their home, especially when they were having family dinners. However, everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and it was definitely a different experience. Within five minutes of me being there, I was sitting and waiting to check in, and I turned and there was a lady standing there. “Hello.. shopping?” she asked and pointed to the numerous purses she was carrying. I quickly learned that every lady who’s wearing the same traditional outfit will start every conversation with either, “Hello… shopping?” Or “Hello… where you from?” And then “What’s your name?” And when I continue to refuse to buy things, they’d persist, “Something little?” “Maybe later?” I definitely started losing my patience towards the end of my time there because it happened non-stop. I decided to walk around for a bit before the sun set and by that point, it was a bit hazy. Little did I know that this moment would be one of the clearest moments during my entire time there. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I kept finding myself saying, “Wow!” out loud.
Bún chả (a vermicelli noodle bowl) with a cinnamon tea just to try to warm up.
want to stand under the cold shower to wait for it to happen. I decided that this would be my only shower during my stay. The homestay provided free breakfast (but not free coffee) so I opted for banana pancakes, which were bananas wrapped in crepes with a side of honey. They were so good! I also got my first Vietnamese drip coffee, which is given with condensed milk but not so much that it’s overpowering – however the caffeine was definitely overpowering (in a good way!).
experience everything around me and hear every sound while doing everything at my own pace. So this was likely making me feel more uncomfortable than it would the average person. After about 15 minutes, I turned and said, “It’s okay, I’ll go by myself.” “No, it’s okay. I follow you to waterfall.” “No, I’ll just go alone, it’s okay.” “I go that way too, I follow you to waterfall.” Finally, I just said, “Okay, but I don’t have any money to give you.” “When we get to waterfall, you give me something little. Buy something.” “Sorry, I don’t have anything to give you.” That seemed to get the point across because the lady turned around and went back. However, I still had to do that a few more times during my walk because ladies kept trying to join me. I got to the waterfall, which wasn’t much of a waterfall compared to the beautiful Kuang Si in Laos, and then crossed a bridge and walked back towards the homestay.
dogs, cats, cows, pigs, chickens, and horses. By that point, the fog already started to set in, so I had lunch at Dzay Restaurant (pumpkin soup and spring rolls for 110000 dong/$6.49) and relaxed for the afternoon.
booth, I’d have to pay 75000 dong to get back into the villages. I finally found an open restaurant at 2pm and by that point, I was starving. The restaurant (Good Morning View) had a set menu advertised at the front, so I decided to get that for 130000 ($7.67). My first course was pumpkin soup, which was much better than the one that I had the day before. My next course was the biggest plate of food – with a curry portion, a morning glory portion, and a rice portion. I didn’t even end up eating it all because I still had to eat dessert! The dessert was a banana pancake with honey, which seems to be a staple here.
I didn’t want to walk back the way I came – I wanted to cross the river and walk back on the other side of the river. I walked further into Sa Pa and started heading down a huge hill to go towards the 
river. However, the path that I was supposed to take had a huge crowd in front of it and they were charging 75000 dong to go through because it led to Cat Cat village. Sometimes my stubbornness gets the best of me… I continued walking further down because I refused to pay. I eventually got to another street and turned down it. All of a sudden, I heard, “Miss! Miss!!” I turned around and a man was there, and asked for my ticket. He said if I was going to Cat Cat village, I needed to pay. I tried to explain that I was going to Ta Van, and he replied that I’d have to go back up the steep hill for about one kilometre, and turn right (which was the way I came). By that point, it was about 4pm and I realised that I likely wouldn’t get back to the homestay before dark if I walked back, so I decided to order a Grab to drive me back. However, when I requested one, it said that none of the drivers were available. Guess I had no choice but to walk back up… I had only been walking for less than
two minutes when a taxi driver coming down the hill opened his window and asked, “Taxi?” I asked for Ta Van, he said 200k, and I got in. I had done 12km and climbed 112 floors that day, so I didn’t have to feel guilty about getting a ride back. However, when we got to the ticket booth leaving Sa Pa, the guard came up and asked for my ticket. There was no way I was going to pay 75000 dong on top of the 200k! I explained that I was going to my
homestay and luckily, he let me through. It’s weird because I didn’t experience that at all when I first came to my homestay so I wasn’t expecting it to happen. I relaxed for the rest of the day, and then had one more dinner at the restaurant across the street. I honestly don’t know why I kept going to this restaurant because the food was sub-par (however the service was so friendly, so maybe that’s why). I ordered pho and a hot chocolate, but this pho was half onions, which is very difficult to distinguish from noodles.
and I’d love to see it in the summer months when the rice fields are greener and there is less fog. However, it was still a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the cities! Love always
My trip from Laos to Vietnam was even longer than the slow boat from Thailand to Laos (read about that journey 
The trip to Nong Khiaw was the squishiest ride that I’ve been on so far. I booked my ticket from my hostel in Luang Prabang, and it cost 85000 kip ($13.69AUD). I was told that it would come at 8:30, but it showed up ten minutes early and I joined an older couple in the back of a tuktuk. I thought, “This will be nice! There’s only three of us.” But then, the driver stopped at another place and picked up one more person, and then another place and picked up one more person, and then continued stopping until there were about ten of us packed in. All of our luggage was professionally stacked in the middle, as if the driver had done this a million times.
stopped at the van, where we all had to get out of the tuktuk, grab our things to put in the van, and get in. This was the disadvantage of being one of the first ones picked up – I was one of the last ones off of the tuk tuk, and the last one to enter the van so I was forced to the middle seat in the back, sandwiched between a random guy and the huge stack of luggage, some of which was taking up half of my seat space. My only two options were to 1) squish behind the big bulge coming into my seat, or 2) rest my head on the bag and use it as a pillow. Within the first five minutes of us moving, I suddenly remembered my motion sickness pills. I guess I forgot to take them 30 minutes beforehand, and they COULD end up making me feel drowsy, but I wasn’t going to take any chances this time. I’d rather face drowsiness than one or two days of feeling sick. It wasn’t a hugely swerve-y ride, but it was definitely a bumpy ride!! Many times, I couldn’t help bouncing into the guy right beside me. Luckily, the ride wasn’t too long and we arrived about three hours later, right at noon. Nong Khiaw is a not-so-secret mountain village, and it’s absolutely breathtaking with the surrounding mountains.
night!). I checked in and oddly enough, they didn’t ask for any payment and said I’d pay at check out, which was very trusting of them. I got settled and then decided to go have lunch. I went to a restaurant closeby called Noymany Restaurant, which was known for a nice patio but slow service. I prepared myself and asked for the wifi password, but they didn’t have wifi (as well as many of the other
restaurants in this town). Laos is the only country that I didn’t get a SIM card – not because it was expensive, but because I was only in Laos for a week and figured I wouldn’t need it. However, it made me realise how useful it was to have a SIM card because often when I’m on my bus or waiting for a train, I can research places to stay and things to do in the area that I’m going to. Since I wasn’t able to do that, I found myself wasting time at my accommodation because I’d spend my time researching stuff there instead of going out and doing what I had planned. I had actually planned most of this trip over a year ago, back
when I was stuck doing my farmwork in Australia and had nothing else to do. I read blogs, looked at Pinterest, researched travel itineraries, and planned out my route. And I typed out a 6.5-page document to guide me through my trip. When I first started my trip, I ignored the guide and did what I wanted instead, but then when I looked at the guide later, I realised that all of the things that I ended up doing were on the list anyway. Obviously, no one knows myself like I do, so I’m very thankful that my past self prepared this document for my present self! In the document, all I wrote for Nong Khiaw was to do the 100 Waterfalls Trek. It’s supposed to be one of the best hikes to do, and has even been featured on a television show (which is why Nong Khiaw has now gained so much popularity). However, I didn’t realise that I’d have to pay to take a guide on this hike. And the cheapest amount that I heard of was 180000 kip ($30)! I’ve never paid this much to do a hike, and wasn’t really feeling like paying my entire daily budget to do it. I hummed and hawed for awhile, and eventually decided against taking the hike. It’s probably for the best because that day, I ended up getting sick. Again. At the restaurant, I ordered a green curry soup and an iced coffee for 33000 kip ($5.31).
their foods, which I react to quite badly. I was also suspicious about this when I was reading reviews about another restaurant in the area, and many of the reviews said that the other restaurant didn’t use MSG. So I figured other restaurants MUST be using MSG. Either that, or I reacted to the condensed milk that they put in their coffee, which makes it beyond sweet. Anyway, I did a brief walk around the town but then ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in my room until I started feeling better again, which wasn’t until later in the evening, when I had dinner.
3-week vacation and had just come from Vietnam (so they were doing the opposite route to me), and they were both really down-to-earth, nice guys. It’s always those people who I really get along with (such as Paulina in Chiang Rai) who I never end up exchanging information with, or even get a name in this case. But I enjoyed our three hours of conversation!
Breakfast, which was by far the tastiest meal I had in Laos! The meal came with an omelette (which was amazing and was made with dill, among other things, but why have I never put dill in my omelette before?! It takes it to the next level for sure!), cooked squash, kaipen (crispy riverweed, which is like seaweed but without the fishy taste – it was so good!), and sticky rice with a delicious eggplant dip. It was so much food, but I ended up eating it all because it was so amazing! Not only that, but with the coffee, they gave condensed milk AND actual milk so that I had the choice. All of that for 33000 kip ($5.31)! After breakfast, I headed back to my room to get everything ready for my walk, and then set off to the entry point. I had to pay 20000 kip ($3.22) to enter, and was greeted by a sign that said I had to worry about something OTHER than snakes and other creatures – unexploded bombs that were still in the area, because Nong Khiaw was one of the most bombed areas in Laos in the 60s by the US.
breaks and was so thankful that I brought two water bottles because I was nearly done the first one after I had reached the halfway point. After about 40 minutes, I finally got out of the heat and reached a rainforest-like area, which was considerably cooler (yet still not quite cool enough!). I reached the top after about an hour and ten minutes, and I spent at least an hour up there. When I checked my phone, it said that I had climbed 130 flights of stairs – the most I’ve ever done on this trip! No wonder I was so tired… It was surprisingly busy when I first arrived, with about 10-15 people at the top, but once everyone got their selfies and left, I got to enjoy the whole place by myself. The haze had already started to settle in, so it wasn’t a completely clear view but it was still really nice!
My time in Luang Prabang (pronounced Loo-ong Prah-bong) was quite long – perhaps a bit TOO long with the amount of stuff that there was to do there (I think that three nights would be the perfect amount of time). It was still nice to have a place to relax and not feel guilty about it. Luang Prabang is another UNESCO World Heritage City, and it has a sort of charm to it. However, one of the things that I definitely noticed was the amount of stray cats and dogs that didn’t seem to be cared for. There are stray cats and dogs everywhere, but most of them still seem to be taken care of (especially in Pai – many dogs are almost fat!). Here, many of the dogs (and cats especially) looked so sad, with really rough fur/skin, and they definitely didn’t look healthy. It was difficult to see, especially when they’d come up to your table while eating at a restaurant.
realised that I still had a ten-minute walk to my hostel. This was also the time when all of the vendors started setting up their stalls for the night market, so I had to weave back and forth around tents being set up, and be careful not to step on the mats that they had placed on the cement.
excited about because I had read that the prices in Laos are a lot cheaper than Thailand because Thailand gets a lot of its products FROM Laos. However, I found that most of the things (not only at the night market, but also entrance into temples, transport, accommodation, etc.) were a lot more pricey than they were in Thailand.
outside of the city. The hostel offers three minivans per day, but the van will only stay for 2.5 hours and I didn’t want to be rushed. Luckily at breakfast, I overheard some other people planning to go so I said I would join them in getting a tuktuk. We walked down the road and were able to talk one of the drivers down to 180,000 kip (so 36,000 kip/$5.80 each), and we convinced him to stay for four hours. The scenery on the way there was beautiful! Once we got there, I picked up some food at a street vendor and then made my way inside, and we had to pay 20000 kip ($3.22) each to enter.
bears. These bears are part of the “Free the Bears” project, which saved the bears before they reached the bear bile farms. Bear bile is used in traditional medicine for liver and gallbladder problems, but bears live horrible lives on these farms, confined in small cages, where their bile is constantly extracted either by ‘free drip,’ where a hole is put in their gallbladders or they have a permanent catheter inserted. Obviously, it’s better for them to be in the wild but this protects them from the poachers, and is run by the Government of Laos.
they could go to the cave. I found one of the pools to swim in, set all of my stuff in an area that I could watch, and had to walk along the top of a set of falls in order to get to a quiet pool on the other side. Some people were nonchalantly running across the top of the waterfall, and it was freaking me out! I definitely took it slow and made my way to the other side, where I sat for two hours and people-watched. The
water was so cold so I didn’t actually swim in it – I just sat in it with my feet in the pool. The group said that they would be quick and come back down as soon as they could so I was surprised that at 3:10, they still hadn’t come down since we were supposed to be back at the tuktuk at 3:30. However, I figured that maybe I just missed them when they walked by. I got out, changed, walked back to the tuktuk, and made it there RIGHT at 3:30. However, it was only the driver who was there. I sat in the back and we waited for about 15 minutes before everyone else showed up. They said that they left the cave at 2:30 and were going as fast as they could, so it took them over an hour to get back. By the time we got back to our hostel, it was just before 5pm so I showered and then all of the people from the slowboat arrived. I went for dinner with a girl from Russia, where we split a couple of dishes and paid 27,000 kip ($4.35) each. We then walked around the night market and headed back to the hostel.
and relaxing. Many of the temples ended up charging 20000 kip ($3.22) to enter, which was a bit too pricey for me and because I’ve already been in many temples, I decided to just look at them from a distance. Luang Prabang also has a few bamboo bridges, which are only there during dry season (during wet season, they get washed away and then they have to build new ones), and they charged 10000 kip to cross (which goes towards building the new one). Again, I decided to
just enjoy it from a distance. It’s not that much money, but paying for little things multiple times adds up quick!
community projects and offer free English classes to village children, as well as offer their land to the northern college for students who need to do practical work for agriculture school, so I knew that I’d be supporting a good cause. They picked me up at my hostel at 8am and drove me to the farm, which was only about 15 minutes away. It was absolutely beautiful!
Laos has surprised me with how lush and green it’s been everywhere. There were only five of us in the group – two sisters from the States, and two guys from the UK. We started by being shown how to pick out the good grains of dried rice (to later plant). Our guide added salt in some water, and then took out any of the grains that were floating because it meant that they were empty.
However, before we replanted them, we got to meet Rudolphe, their buffalo, who had to walk through the muddy water to plow through the mud in order to mix it around.
We then went to another field where the rice was fully grown, and had to use a sickle to cut and tie a bundle. Then we’d have to lay the bundles to dry for a few days.
rice was steamed for 15 minutes, flipped, and steamed for another 15 minutes in order to make sticky rice, which is a staple in the Lao culture.
enjoy multiple rice products! Everyone eats with their hands, so we took the sticky rice, squished it in little balls, and dipped it in a Chili paste/buffalo skin mixture (yes, you read that right!) – it was actually so delicious! I ended up being the only one who finished all of my rice. We also tried some rice wine, which was extremely strong!
It really was such a good experience and I’m so glad I did it! I went back to the hostel to relax for a couple of hours but then I was starving so I walked to a French cafe that a couple of the girls recommended to me. Although it was quite expensive, it was still nice to have some French pastries (there were so many French restaurants in Luang Prabang since it was part of the French Colonial Empire years ago – also, the amount of French people who travel Thailand and Laos is insane! I could hear French everywhere I went).
On Friday morning, I was leaving for my next destination at 8:30. However, I decided to wake up to watch the Buddhist Alms Giving Ceremony (tak bat). It has occurred in many of the past cities that I’ve been in, but it starts before the sun rises (around 5:30), so I’ve been too lazy to wake up for it. However, I was told that they come on the street right in front of the hostel at 6am so this time, I didn’t really have an excuse. I tried to set an
alarm a couple of days earlier and just rolled over and went back to bed, so I was determined to get up this time, especially since two other girls in my room decided to go as well. Tak bat is a daily ceremony when the monks go and collect food (alms) from the locals, who usually give sticky rice or fresh fruit to make merit. The monks go down the streets in meditation and collect this food for their one meal per day, and don’t have a kitchen so
the food is already prepared. We decided not to take part in giving food (because we were told that they expect the food to be made with love at home and not just bought from a street vendor) and instead just watch. I’ve also read that this ceremony has become such a big spectacle for tourists, and many of the locals have refused to take part anymore because they feel like the sanctity of the ceremony is ruined. A lot of people take pictures with flash
and then chase after the monks in order to get a good picture. We weren’t on the main street so it was pretty quiet where we were, but I was surprised as to how many flashes I saw in the distance, as well as how many people were following the monks when the ceremony was over. It was interesting seeing how the locals (and some tourists) just took a pinch of rice to give to each monk (there were hundreds of them) – I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be like that.
sea of orange robes coming down the street. After about 20 minutes, we went back into the hostel and I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep so instead, we all just made coffee and visited until about 7:30. I went upstairs to pack up my stuff, came back down for breakfast, and then my bus came early so I rushed off to head to Nong Khiaw. Love always
On the morning of my trip into Laos, I got up at 4:45 (after having less than 5 hours of sleep), packed up my stuff, and went downstairs for breakfast. I only took two pancakes and two bananas, but as soon as I took the first bite of a pancake, I started heating up and felt like I was going to throw up again. I kept forcing myself to eat because I didn’t want to be rude, especially since the hostel owner had gotten up at 5am to prepare everything for me. It was definitely a struggle, and I had to keep taking bites with coffee just so that I could get it down. We left at about 5:50 and the hostel owner drove me to the bus station so that I could catch the first bus to the Laos border at 6am. She gave me a big hug and sent me on my way – she was so sweet! I got on the bus, which only had one empty seat left (it seemed like there was a big group of people travelling together), and paid 100 baht ($4.36) for my trip to the border (just outside the city of Chiang Khong). The process was actually a lot more straightforward than what I was expecting! The price of that bus is actually 65 baht per person, but then they normally drop us off at a tuk tuk station and we would have to pay for a tuk tuk to go the rest of the way to the border. Because there were so many of us in the bus, they just charged us 100 baht each and took us straight to the border, which saved us one step. When we got to the border, we had to use our departure cards to leave Thailand (which they give you with your arrival card when you get INTO Thailand, so it’s important to keep it safe). Lucky for me, most of the people had lost their departure cards and therefore had to fill out new ones, so I was able to go straight to custom control without a lineup. Then I had to pay to take a bus across Friendship Bridge, which would bring me to Laos customs. The ticket only cost 25 baht ($1.09) and then the stand also exchanged Thai baht into Lao kip. However, normally the ticket is 20 baht but because it was before 8:30 (and therefore outside of office hours), I had to pay 5 baht extra.
us to pay for the visa in order to get our passports back. As a Canadian citizen, I had to pay $43 US ($58.86AUD) so I gave $103 and got three 20s back. I then took those 20s to the currency exchange so that I could get more kip, because I realised that I’d use all of the kip I had to buy my boat ticket. I stood in line, finally got to the front, and she said that she wouldn’t take my money because there was a stamp on it. I was so mad because I had already stood in line for awhile, plus I was tired and still feeling sick, and I tried to explain that I had gotten the bills from the visa booth. She told me to go back there and return when I had new 20’s. Livid, I walked back to the visa counter and cut in front of the extremely long line to explain, and the man easily exchanged my bills. I went back to the currency exchange, waited in line once again, and she REALLY examined the bills. She pointed out a crease down the middle of one of the bills and said that she’d only exchange two of the 20s. Whatever. I couldn’t be bothered anymore – I was too sick and too tired to care (Note: the currency exchange in Luang Prabang exchanged this bill easily.. this lady was just being difficult). I got my money and went to the ticket booth to buy my ticket for the slow boat. There are two options to get into Laos – the first is to take a bus and the second is to take a slow boat (which is two 7-8 hour days). I had been trying to book a ticket beforehand so that I’d have proof that I’d be leaving Thailand but when I asked a company about it (Mekong Smile Cruises), they quoted me $700USD because as of March 1st, it was “low season” so if 6 people joined, they’d lower the price down to $130 per person! I said absolutely not, and decided that I’d just play it by ear when I got there. I’m extremely glad I made that decision as well because I was able to do it A LOT cheaper on my own (about $28USD!). I had read that the boat left at either 10:30 or 11, but was surprised to see the sign that said it left at 11:30.
would cost 210,000 kip ($34.57). However, even though the signs said 210,000, they charged me 270,000 kip ($43.47) to include the tuktuk. I knew that this was a legitimate charge because I read that you have to take a tuktuk to the Thailand border, a bus across the bridge to the Laos border, then a tuktuk to the slowboat. I paid and then they gave me a badge to wear around my neck, which I would later exchange for the boat ticket.
only opportunity to buy food and water for the day (luck was on my side!). They also said that we could book accommodation and buy SIM cards if we wanted. It almost seemed like a tour company because they were only selling rooms for one type of accommodation, so I went on my phone and found my own place. Before my trip, I was told not to book anything in advance and instead walk past all of the people when I arrive, tell them I have a reservation, and then just show up to a hotel because they would charge you a lot less. However, I still wasn’t feeling very well and just wanted a piece of mind that I’d have a room with a bed and bathroom when I arrived. I honestly wasn’t even sure if spending 7.5 hours on a boat that day was a smart idea, but I just wanted to get to Luang Prabang because I’d have four nights there and could find a clinic if I needed. I booked a room on Agoda at BKC Villa 2 with my own queen-sized bed, a river view, and my own bathroom for a whopping $17.90, which was cheaper than some of the dorm rooms I stayed at in Taiwan, and almost half the amount of staying in a dorm room in Australia! After booking my room, I found some water and soup crackers for 20,000 kip ($3.22), as well as a sandwich for 15,000 kip ($2.42) in hopes that I’d eventually want to eat it. Just before 10:30, they drove us to the slow boat, where we had to wait to get our tickets, and then could board the boat. They said that day, we only needed to SHOW our tickets to the driver because we’d need to keep the tickets for tomorrow or we wouldn’t be able to get onto that boat.
up, with a set of three seats on both sides. They were actually wooden benches (which looked like pews) with cushions on each spot, and papers with numbers on each cushion. We all had numbers on our tickets, and I was assigned to a middle seat but luckily a couple wanted to sit together, so I traded and got an aisle seat.
bunch of kids crowded around and kept pointing to my bag. I wasn’t sure if they were asking for food, or offering to carry it for me, but I just kept saying no since it was the only water and food I had. I saw a sign for my accommodation held by a boy who wouldn’t have been older than 12, so he walked me to where the guesthouse was, which was only about three minutes up the hill and was likely the first hotel on the road, which was nice! They didn’t even ask for my passport or my name when I got there – they just gave me a key and pointed to my room.
Luang Prabang until about 4pm, so we were in for another long boat ride. I got to the boat at about 10 minutes to 9 and by that time, half of the boat was already full. The full part of the boat had tables, so all that was left in the back of the boat were seats that literally seemed to be taken out of multiple cars (and therefore reclined!), so they were set up two by two down the middle of the boat and along the sides. I grabbed one of the seats along the side right before the huge 10+ group of British people (who spent the entire boatride drinking the day before) came and took all of the remaining seats. Unlike the day before, there wasn’t any room to spread out so I was confined to my one seat and the girl beside me seemed to take not only her own part of the seat but also part of mine (for no reason other than not seeming to realise that there were two separate seats). Anyway, I just put my earphones in to tune everything out, and kept myself busy for the next seven hours.
Again, it went by quite fast and we arrived in Luang Prabang at about 4:30pm. They dropped us off quite far out of the city so we had to grab all of our stuff, go up a whole bunch of stairs to get to the road, and pay 20,000 kip ($3.22) per person to get a tuktuk to the city centre, which was about 10 kilometres away. Luckily, I got on one of the first ones (since the majority of the people who were on the boat seemed to be travelling with tour groups, so they had to get sorted out first) so I arrived in the city centre just after 5pm. However, I’ll save Luang Prabang for another post. Love always
Chiang Rai was when I finally got sick with something… I’m still not exactly sure what it was, but may have been a combination of carsickness, food poisoning, and overheating. Once again, I booked my bus tickets on 12Go, and I had to go back through Chiang Mai in order to get to Chiang Rai. I had read reviews that some people’s first bus ended up arriving late so they missed their second bus. Therefore, I wanted to leave ample time between my two buses so that it wouldn’t end up happening to me. I booked my first bus for 8am, which was scheduled to arrive at noon, and cost 215 baht ($10.05). I booked my second bus for 2:15pm to arrive in Chiang Rai at 5:50pm for 289 baht ($12.61AUD). On Friday morning, I got up at 6:30, got ready, packed up, took a quick look at the sunrise, and started my walk to the bus station so that I could get there 30 minutes in advance.
Anyway, I took the advice of some people and didn’t eat anything beforehand because apparently it makes you more sick on the car ride. Another girl had said that she bought motion sickness tablets halfway through her trip, and they ended up not working and just made her drowsy. I had bought motion sickness tablets, but I didn’t want to risk feeling drowsy all day so I decided not to take them. Maybe it was the wrong choice though… We started the journey back to Chiang Mai and once again, I was in the back seat, leaning all over the place. At one point, my bag of food came loose from under the seat so many people (including myself) just spent the next 20 minutes watching my bag roll from the left side of the vehicle to the right side of the vehicle and back. At the halfway point, I decided to get some coffee but still decided not to get food. I wasn’t feeling too great and was now understanding how people who get carsick feel. We got to Chiang Mai an hour earlier than scheduled (at 11), so I went to check in to my next bus and asked if it would be possible to get on an earlier bus, but the lady said that they were all full. Therefore, I had about three hours to kill. I found a restaurant called Black Coffee Smile, and decided I needed to force myself to eat something. I still wasn’t feeling well, but I hadn’t eaten all day and by that time, it was 11:30. I ordered a cashew chicken with rice and a coke.
each morning to make breakfast for everyone who’d be travelling to Laos. I also really liked the set-up of this hostel because there was a huge shared shower and toilet room (rather than having only 2 or 3 separate bathrooms), and even though the room was 16 beds, each bed got their own pod so you still got lots of privacy. The hostel owner asked if I wanted to go to the night market and said we’d leave at 6:50 (in a half hour). I said sure but as I was preparing my things, I started questioning whether it would be a good idea for me to go. I felt like I’d feel better if I threw up, but I really hate that feeling so I didn’t let it happen. I went to the night market with a girl from Finland and a guy from kind of all over the place. The hostel owner stopped at the clock tower, which does a light show for 7 minutes every night at 7pm.
dollars, and THEN exchange the dollars into Laos Kip when I got to Laos because I’d lose less money that way. This actually surprised me because I assumed I’d lose less money by changing baht into kip directly. Paulina and I walked about 15 minutes to a currency exchange place so I could change all of my money, and then we continued another 20 minutes to the bus station. We found a big sign that said ‘White Temple’ and saw that the bus was supposed to leave in 4 minutes (good timing!). We got on, paid 20 baht (88 cents), and arrived at the White Temple about 20 minutes later. We had to pay 50 baht ($2.18) for entry, and it was extremely crowded when we got there!! Online, there are so many pictures of people alone with no one around, and I have no idea how they would have managed to get a picture like that unless it was Photoshopped. The White Temple is extremely unique because the person who designed it added a bunch of random features, such as heads hanging from trees, or a bunch of hands coming out of the ground.
glad that I was with Paulina because she had read that there were cartoons inside (and I totally wouldn’t have noticed them if I wasn’t with her). As soon as you walk in (almost behind the doors), there are random characters added into the painting such as Spiderman, Harry Potter, Angry Birds, Michael Jackson, Sailor Moon, etc. It was really entertaining trying to find them all! We walked around the grounds for awhile and then decided to go back into the city to get lunch.
time we decided to leave, I think both of us were fine with just finding another cafe to relax in. We found another cafe, and stayed for another two hours there. This was another situation where we clicked so well, and talked about anything and everything – we had so many conversations that I’ve never had on my entire trip (many conversations tend to get quite repetitive). We decided to walk back to the hostel to reorganise so that we could come back for the Saturday night market, which was supposed to be much larger than the regular night market (it went for 2 kilometres!). The hostel owner drove us (me, Paulina, and a guy from the US) to the night market at 7pm. We walked along the length of the market, and then walked back to where the “food court” was. In the middle of the food court was a dance floor, where we were surprised to see so many people all doing the same dance moves. However, most people didn’t
really look like they were enjoying themselves and were doing the moves robotically, so it was more comical to watch. We walked around looking for somewhere to eat, but I wanted to make sure I could get something that I could actually SEE being cooked. The problem with many of these food stalls is that most of the stuff is just sitting there – the sushi, the cooked sausages and skewers, the noodle dishes, and I can’t help but question how long it had been sitting there. Finally, we found a stand that was actually cooking their food, and their dish was oyster omelette. I’ve read great things about oyster omelette, so I decided that it was finally time to give it a try. However, this oyster omelette was definitely made with mussels, and I’m not sure if there were even any oysters in it. Paulina ordered first, and she got the more-cooked selection. Then I ordered and they gave me some of the less-brown selection. We all found a place to sit in
an area where they had a bunch of mats and small coffee tables, so we took off our shoes to go on the mat and then sat around one of the tables. I tried one of the mussels but it was a bit too chewy for my liking (I’m very picky with my seafood and the way that it’s cooked), so I put them all aside. We sat there for quite awhile and enjoyed people-watching all of the dancers in the middle of the food court. Then at 9, Paulina and I decided to walk back to the hostel because I had to get up at 4:45. However, when we were walking back, I suddenly started overheating and I felt like I was going to throw up again. It was bizarre because I had eaten two meals that day and felt fine, and all of a sudden, that familiar feeling was back. Right before we got to the hostel, Paulina asked if I wanted to go into the grocery store to get some food for tomorrow (because I’d be on a 7.5-hour boat ride with no food) and we stepped in. After 30 seconds, I said I couldn’t stay and I needed to go back to the hostel. We went back so I could sit down, and I was feeling like crap for at least a half hour. I was so close to going to the bathroom so that I could throw up. It was nice that Paulina sat and chatted with me to keep my mind off of everything, and we actually ended up talking until nearly midnight. I felt much better by that point, so I got ready for bed and decided I’d deal with the lack of food the next day. Love always
Going to Pai (pronounced Pie, mmmm) was a bit more of a bumpy ride (literally)… I had booked my return ticket online on 12Go because I heard that the buses filled up fast. My bus wasn’t leaving until 11:30am but I decided to leave the hostel at 9:45 in hopes of catching the bus to the bus station at 10am. The hostel owner in Chiang Mai told me to walk to the second bridge, which would take less than 10 minutes. I saw a bus cross the bridge before 10am, which ended up being the one I should have taken, but I didn’t know at the time. There were a set of seats with a Thai sign right in front of the bridge, so I stood there for awhile before questioning whether I was in the right place. I decided to cross the street of the bridge and then further down the street, I saw a sign that said “Bus Stop.” By that point, I realised that I had missed the 10am bus so I found a spot in the shade to wait for the 10:30 bus. At about 10:25, I saw the bus coming down the bridge so I ran to the stop and waved it down. The trip only cost me 20 baht (87 cents AUD) and took less than ten minutes to get to the station. I checked in because I wasn’t able to print out my ticket and therefore had to get one at the counter. All she did was
just take a piece of paper, write my seat, bus number and time, and tell me to give it to the driver. I decided to find a cafe to get a coffee and then stopped at the 7-Eleven to grab some snacks/breakfast for my 3-hour busride. My bus cost me 215 baht ($10.05) each way, which was a bit more than the 200 baht offered around the city. I got on the bus (which was a 14-passenger van) and I was in the very back. After about 45 minutes, we got off of the main highway and started the twistiest turns I’ve ever experienced. I was warned about this on multiple blogs, but I was NOT expecting the driver to continue doing all of the turns at full speed! We’d lean left to right, back and forth, forward and backward until the driver finally stopped in a small town called Ban Mae Lao, where we got a 20-minute break (thank goodness!). I was trying to decide whether missing breakfast was a good or bad idea because once again, I started to feel a bit car sick. We all got back into the car and had one horrible hour to go. I swear I got nervous every time I heard a plastic bag crinkle because I knew that if someone ended up getting sick in the car, I’d probably be right there with them. I also noticed how the three of us in the back were leaning back and forth much more than the rest of the people in the vehicle, so I definitely wasn’t lucky when it
came to my seating assignment. I arrived in Pai at 2:30 and headed towards my hostel, which was about a 15-20 minute walk outside of the city. Once again, I was questioning why I had chosen a hostel so far away from everything. However, once I arrived, I completely understood why. It was a treehouse-type hostel, with a beautiful common area overlooking the river and hills.
No to Plastic Bags” everywhere (yet they still continue serving their street food in plastic), and I even saw a sign for kombucha. And in Pai, you definitely notice a bit more hippie clothes and a bit more dreadlocks. Thailand definitely knows what they’re doing, so I give them props! I headed back to the hostel and met Marlot, who’s from the Netherlands and is new into her trip. We talked for quite awhile and seemed to click right away. She had just road a motorbike to Pai with a Canadian couple who ended up crashing, and it sounded
pretty traumatising! Even though there are many places that I regret not being able to ride a motorbike (Pai included), I’m still glad that I didn’t start “learning” in Southeast Asia as I’m not sure how well it would have worked out. Marlot was going back into the city but I decided to stay back because I had already done a lot of walking. I ended up passing out by 10:30 that night and had one of the best sleeps!
minimum of 1000 baht/$43.63 if you visit). I would be picked up at the market at 1pm, which was about a 30-minute walk from my hostel. I stopped at a restaurant for lunch called Easy Cafe, which was actually run by a British lady whose husband was Thai, so all of her British friends were there having lunch together at one table. Once I saw French Toast on the menu, I was sold! I got that with a fruit salad and yogurt with honey, as well as a smoothie for 140 baht ($6.11) and it was absolutely delicious!
area for people waiting to go to CNF. The lady reminded us that we’d have to pay a minimum of 1000 baht (I guess they’ve had problems with people not knowing this in the past) and then our ride showed up, which was a pick-up truck. Three people went into the actual truck and then six of us were
crowded around the back – I definitely hadn’t sat in the back of a pick-up truck in ages! The trip to the farm was about 30 minutesand then we met up with four other people so our group was 13 people. We were started with an introduction by Wes, who was actually from the United States but had been working in Thailand for the past 2.5 years in reforestation management. He shared how Thailand’s logging industry ended up booming and within 100 years, they lost 70% of their forests. Then in the 80s, the country suffered a large amount of landslides because there weren’t enough trees holding everything into place. Therefore in 1989, the government banned logging and a whole bunch of loggers and elephants were left without jobs. That was when they moved elephants into the tourism industry, where many
were/are mistreated and used for elephant rides (Note: Elephant backs are NOT made to carry the weight of humans, and elephant rides should never be taken, no matter how nice the picture might look on your Instagram!!). The work of the CNF is to fix what was broken, and one of the main things they do is plant trees. Wes is in charge of deciding where new trees should be planted in Thailand, what combination of trees should be planted together, and making sure the different layers of the forest grow properly (starting with the canopy layer) so that it will be able to sustain itself after a few years. The good thing is that the trees they plant won’t be cut down again since it’s illegal, so their work won’t be for nothing. Their goal is to plant 250,000 trees this year and they hope to reach 1 million trees within the next few years. They also have one elephant that they rescued from the tourism industry, and their goal with any elephants (and tortoises) they have (they usually only have one or two elephants at a time because they’re very expensive to buy) is to eventually release them back into the wild. Apparently there are only 6000 elephants left in Thailand, and 4500 are still in captivity, so they are trying to reintroduce them into the wild one at a time. In order to do this, they have to go through a long process of teaching the elephants how to fend for themselves – how to wash themselves, clean out their eyes, find food, practice self-care, etc. We first went to the tortoise area, where they have two types of endangered species. The turtles were pretty hard to find, as they usually find a shady spot to relax in.
with us, we would let her and if she didn’t, we’d leave her alone. Only two people should be around her at one time (and in our case, we only went one at a time). He said that she was quite hormonal, so we wanted to respect what she wanted and she was only allowed to spend a maximum of 90 minutes with people each day. He also had to remind us that elephants don’t express affection the same way that we do so petting, hugging, kissing, etc. was unnecessary. We would all get a chance to feed her, and then we could watch from a distance. We had to walk through a stream/river to get to where she was and within 30 seconds, she was right there!
gin and tonics) and helped herself to the entire basket of passionfruit. It was quite entertaining to watch – she definitely has a personality! You could see her left side bulging out and sometimes, you could even see it move, which was so cool! Wes said that she normally would eat 200kg of food per day but now that she was pregnant, she was eating about 40kg more. They said that it’ll take three years to ween the baby off of the mother’s milk, and then they can reintroduce them back into the wild (so the process was prolonged a bit due to Kamee being pregnant). Kamee also has two mahouts that are with her 24/7, and who help her learn how to live in the wild.
inspired after my day, and it got me seriously considering other careers because I feel like I would really enjoy being a part of a project similar to this anywhere else in the word. It made me realise that I can use my biology degree in other ways! So I might have to look at that in the future… They dropped us off at the market again and I decided to walk to the White Buddha, which can be seen from all around the city since it’s up in the hills and is supposed to have a great view of the sunset. The walk was about 45-50 minutes but after about a half hour, I was starting the incline up the hill (which I’d have to do for the next 15 minutes) and less than two minutes later, a man stopped beside me on his motorbike, asked if I was going to see the sunset, and told me to hop on. Normally, I’d say no and continue on my way but I really wasn’t looking forward to walking uphill for 15 minutes and THEN having to do a whole bunch of stairs, so I hopped on. Less than 2 minutes later, we were there! I took out my sarong and light cardigan to cover up, and started the stairs up to the Buddha. I’m so glad I accepted the ride because even though my phone said that sunset was at 6:30pm, it definitely started shortly after 6pm so I would have ended up missing it. It was really pretty, especially seeing the entire city below us, and I ended up talking to a couple of girls afterwards for awhile.
I then started the walk back into the city and at 7, I met up with Marlot so that we could get dinner on Walking Street. I had noticed a taco stand the day before and decided I needed to try it. We each got taco bowls for 60 baht ($2.62) but the weird thing about them was that our sauce options were sweet chili, mayonnaise, or spicy ketchup. Marlot was going to a festival at 9pm, so we were walking towards the end of Walking Street when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and it was Abbey, the girl who took the night train with me to Chiang Mai! The three of us checked out a few shops together before Marlot had to leave, and then Abbey and I found a restaurant to get smoothies and catch up on the past few days. It’s nice how seeing a familiar face is such a good feeling, even though we had been strangers less than a week ago! Travelling does that to you
though, and I love it! The restaurant ended up closing so we said our goodbyes (and possibly our see you laters – you never know!) and I headed back to my hostel. I had an early morning to catch the 8am bus, so I had to call it an early night. When I got back to the hostel, I went to grab my towel and then noticed that the EXACT towel was two towels down from what I thought was mine. I then spent a bunch of time questioning which one was mine, and even asked everyone who I could find if they had the same towel (no one did). One of the tags said KMart Australia while one just said KMart, so I took the Australia one and hoped I made the right choice! Hopefully I can wash it soon but until then, I’m backpacking so my expectations are never too high 😛 Love always
It actually felt a bit cold when we got off the train in Chiang Mai (pronounced Chung My) at 7:15 Sunday morning. I had looked up a Grab and it said that it would cost 60 baht to get to my hostel. However, as soon as we stepped outside of the station, there were SO many people trying to get us to take a taxi with them (they must prepare for this moment everyday). Abbey had heard about red taxis being cheap and when approached by one, we asked how much it would be and they said 50 baht per person ($2.18AUD). I decided to come along, and she led us to the red taxi (which was a songthaew), which already had about 8 people in it. We squished in with our bags and they dropped me off first. They missed the turn though, so I still ended up having to walk a bit to get to my hostel. I was staying at Mapping Hostel for 99 baht/night ($4.41) in a 6-bed mixed dorm! The price was so low, but it was also located about a 30-minute walk away from the city centre. However, it was extremely quiet and was on the edge of the river, so it had a really relaxing vibe to it. It even had some tents set up next to the river! I obviously wasn’t able to check in because it was before 8am, so I paid 20 baht (89 cents) for a coffee, and found a place to sit next to the river.
other things to do in Chiang Mai. I found a self-guided walking tour, so I wrote Abbey and we made plans to meet at the front gate at 10:30. We decided to first go for an early lunch since I still hadn’t eaten any breakfast. Many places still weren’t open, but we ended up going to a restaurant called Cooking Love, which was rated really high when I looked up “Cheap Eats Near Me” on Google. We decided to try the Khao Soi, which is a northern Thailand specialty. It’s a yellow curry noodle soup that’s topped with dry (crunchy) noodles, and it was absolutely delicious!
The zodiac signs were really popular here, and they often had all of the animals on the temple grounds. All of the temples were spectacularly shiny, and I couldn’t capture it at all in the pictures, so everyone might just have to go and see them for themselves! We started at the Three King’s Monument, which shows the three men who built Chiang Mai in the late 1200’s. We then headed to Wat Hua Kuang, which was beautifully adorned with gold.
We walked to the White Elephant Gate and Wat Kun Kha Ma (Golden Horse Temple). Then headed to Wat Rajamontean (Dragon Temple), which was another really beautiful and shiny temple.
We sat in the shade for awhile because the heat started getting to us, and then we continued on our way to House of Success, a hotel that was built in 1993 but was vacant for 20 years because it had bad feng shui. It was just opened in 2017 so it is a relatively new building in the city.
By the time we finished our tour, it was 4pm, which was when the Sunday Night Market was supposed to begin. We decided to get another cold drink (they’re vital in this kind of heat!) while we waited for everyone to finish setting up for the market. By this time, both of us were starting to lose energy from our lack of sleep on the overnight train (and likely because we had also been up walking around for over four hours) so I got an iced coffee in hopes that it would wake me up. At 5pm, we decided to check out the Sunday Night Market. It only happens in Chiang Mai once a week and the stalls go down the street for over a kilometre, so there’s lots to see! A lot of it is handmade and local, unlike many of the tacky stalls that you see in many other markets. I quickly started
feeling lightheaded so I got steak on a stick for 50 baht ($2.18) and then just enjoyed looking at all of the unique things to buy.
We walked to the nearby market (Sompet Market) to see some of the spices that we would be using. Nune gave us 20 minutes to look around on our own, and then we headed back to the school. Our first dish that we could make was a noodle dish and I decided to go with the classic Pad Thai (because you can’t NOT make Pad Thai while at a cooking school in Thailand!). This was probably the most difficult dish to make because you had to work quickly so that your noodles and eggs wouldn’t get mushy. We started at the cutting boards, where she would tell the Pad Thai people what to cut up, and do the same for the other two dishes. Then we all went to our own wok and stove, where she first did a demonstration, and then told us what to do step by step.
The last two things we had to make were 1) the curry paste, which would then be used to make 2) the curry. I was going to make a Massaman curry until I tried the Khao Soi the day before, so I decided to make Khao Soi instead. To make Khao Soi, we had to make a red curry paste, so we first had to cut all of the ingredients into tiny pieces and then use a mortar and pestle to mash everything up.
one of the couples were French and didn’t speak a lot of English so I ended up having to translate some stuff for them. Words were easily coming out of my brain that I didn’t even know were still in there! It was reassuring because I had so much difficulty remembering French before, but I think it was because I was always under pressure or felt judged. This way took all of the pressure off, so it was a lot easier. We were given a half hour break so I walked around for a bit. Then we only had two dishes left to make: salad and dessert. We started by making dessert and I chose mango sticky rice. Then we made the salad, which for me was papaya salad. Again, we had to use a mortar and pestle to mash up all of the ingredients. We got to eat the two dishes at the end, but I was so full!
However, finding all of the ingredients might be a different story… I got dropped off at the hostel, did my laundry, and relaxed for a couple hours before walking to a different night market. I went to a restaurant called Kat’s Kitchen, which was completely full and already had a line-up out the front. I only had to wait about ten minutes, and luckily was seated because the line kept getting longer and longer. I ordered a Massaman curry with rice, and a melon smoothie for 115 baht ($5.02). The food was a bit of a wait because all dishes were individually made by Kat, but it was definitely worth the wait! The only thing that I didn’t like about this restaurant was the locals knew how busy it was, so people kept coming to the tables trying to sell things, or giving out flyers.
information centre on the way and they told me I could get a taxi from either Sompet Market or from North Gate and it should cost 50 baht. I walked towards Sompet Market (which was likely about a 40-minute walk total) and when I got there, the guy said that I’d have to wait for other people to join because he wouldn’t take just me. He said that I’d probably have better luck at North Gate, and his friend offered to take me there for 50 baht. Nope, I’m good! “But it’s 2 kilometres, you’re going to walk that whole
way?” Yup, I was planning on it! It was actually only 1 kilometre (15 minutes) away but as usual, they were trying to use scare tactics to try to persuade me to buy. After about five minutes, another red taxi pulled over beside me and I asked for Doi Suthep. She replied 500 baht.. What?! Absolutely not! But then she started saying 50 baht and then 40, and I don’t know how I logically thought that she meant she’d charge that to go to Doi Suthep. It’s probably because she kept saying “Doi Suthep – 40
baht.” So I got in and she ended up dropping me off pretty much across the street, where the North Gate was (I could have easily walked there in less than 10 minutes). I took out 40 baht and she said, “No, 50 baht. Doi Suthep – 40 baht” (even though there’s a sign there that clearly says Doi Suthep – 60 baht). By that point, I was just angry so I took out 50 baht, gave it to her, and went to the sign. There were five people already waiting but they wouldn’t leave until we had 10 people. They were charging 60 baht each way, so 120 baht total ($5.24). (By the way, I know I sound like a Scrooge when I keep saying that I had to pay extra, when it’s really only 50 cents more, but that’s the mentality that you get into while you’re here. Anything more than 100 baht seems too expensive!). After about 10-15 minutes, we had nine people so they said that we could go. We got in the back of the songthaew (with everyone sitting on the side benches) and got on our way. This was the first time in my life where I actually started to feel car sick. There were twists and turns the entire way to the temple, and they didn’t slow down so we were leaning back and forth the whole way up. Looking at everyone’s faces, I think everyone was feeling pretty sick. We got there at 3:30 and the lady said “Come back at 5, and you pay when we get back.” I was still in a bad mood from getting ripped off twice and only getting an hour and a half to explore, which wouldn’t give me enough time to try any of the hiking trails. The devil in me was contemplating not showing up at 5 and likely saving money because I’d only have to pay for the way back. However, I just couldn’t do it (good thing I have a conscience) and I decided I’d just go back at 5. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed with Doi Suthep at all. Maybe it was my already bad mood, but I think it was because I had already seen much nicer temples. I had to pay 30 baht ($1.31) to enter, but it was so loaded with tourists, so I didn’t spend much time there.
5pm to hit. Surprisingly, everyone except one person came back at 5pm (which our driver seemed pretty upset about) but then they found two MORE people so we were even more squished in the back this time. I was towards the front so it wasn’t as bad as sitting in the back, but I still couldn’t believe how they did those turns! I started walking back towards the hostel and found a restaurant called Lucky Too, where I ordered a Khao Soi and banana smoothie for 100 baht ($4.36). This one was alright, but I think the one I
made was better. I then spent quite a bit of time checking out the night market and then went back to my hostel to order my bus to Pai for the next day. There were signs that said 200 baht all over town, including in my hostel, but then when I asked the hostel owner, he said that they don’t do trips anymore. I didn’t really understand why but it sounded like the company that they worked with hadn’t been reliable. He said that I could book it on my own – I’d just have to get to the bus station, so he told me what I’d have to do the next morning. And that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday! Love always
My train from Bangkok to Ayutthaya left on Saturday at 12:55pm, and it only cost me 15 baht (65 cents AUD)! I went to the platform and found a seat in an already hot car. The train ride was only an hour and a half long, but it didn’t have any air-conditioning and we were heading to a city where the “feels like” temperature was 39 degrees. Needless to say, I was sweating like a pig and I was actually scared to get off of my seat because I knew it would be wet. I tried to open the window beside me and couldn’t, then two other people tried to help me and they couldn’t either. Now I know why I was able to find an empty seat so easily… I got to Ayutthaya at 2:30 and was planning to spend the day exploring the temples until my train to Chiang Mai at 7:45pm. I started questioning whether I had left too late when I started talking to another girl who said all of the temples closed at 6pm. Honestly though, I don’t think I could have went any longer with the temperature outside! I found a luggage storage at the station, which was open 24 hours and
only cost 10 baht per bag (44 cents). Ayutthaya was the capital of the Kingdom of Siam, was founded in 1350, and the city is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The railway station is quite far from the city centre so I went to the information booth to ask how to get to the temples. The lady said that I could rent a bike, so I asked how long it would take and she said 30 minutes. There was no way I was going to bike 30 minutes in 39-degree weather. I asked how much the tuk-tuks would be and she said at least 200 baht ($8.93). I asked if there was a bus and she said no. She didn’t seem too keen on helping me out so I left. I went on the Grab app and I could get a car for 87 baht ($3.80) and since I didn’t have lunch yet, I asked it to take me to Malakor Cafe & Restaurant. While I was waiting for my Grab driver to come, a songthaew pulled up (a Thai type of bus) so I guess I could have tried one of those if the information booth told me about them. I have a sneaking suspicion that Grab is actually illegal in Ayutthaya because there weren’t many drivers (so I had to wait 10-15 minutes for my ride), and then he sped right by me and parked about 100 metres away. The thing with Grab is it automatically translates for you, so if I write my driver in English, it’ll translate to Thai and if he writes me in Thai, it’ll translate to English. He wrote me and said, “Can you come to me? I’m afraid of 3 wheels,” which I took to mean that he’d get in trouble from the tuk-tuk drivers if they saw me going into his car. Anyway, he dropped me off at the restaurant at about 3:15 so by that point, I was starving. I ordered a shrimp pad Thai with a coke, which cost me 125 baht ($5.45), and it was so good!
The last temple that I wanted to go to (Wat Phra Si Sanphet) was about a 20-30 minute walk away, so I slowly walked through the park, which had a lot of random temples within it. I finally got to the temple at about 5:30 and spent about an hour there watching the sunset and just enjoying the tranquility of it all.
that would be. After about ten minutes, I tried again and thankfully, something came up! However, I still had to wait about 15 minutes for him to arrive. I got him to drop me off at the 7-Eleven across from the station so that I could pick up some snacks and water since I didn’t know what would be available on my 12-hour train ride. I went back to the station, got my bag, and waited for the train to arrive. My train ticket was a bit more expensive and cost me 1266 baht ($52.69), but I guess it was a pretty long trip and got me out of having to pay accommodation for a night. As I was about to get on the train, I met my second Australian of the entire trip: Abbey, from outside of Sydney. She ended up getting the bunk on top of mine. We were in a female berth and everyone else had their curtains closed, so we seemed to be the only ones talking. The set-up of the train was pretty cool though!
A lady came around with a menu and when we tried to order the cheapest thing, she said that they didn’t have anymore. Therefore, we ordered the next cheapest thing, which was a meal with questionable soup, rice, juice, and a muffin for 140 baht ($6.11). The lady set up a little table in the middle of my bed and then Abbey and I had dinner together. After dinner, we talked for awhile and then I got ready for bed. The bed was actually really comfy, however I was constantly rolling back and forth because of the motion of the train. We were to arrive at 7:15, so I set an alarm for 6:45. I’m pretty sure I woke up at least once every hour because of the jerks of the train whenever it would stop and start back up again. At about 6:15am, they made an announcement saying that they needed to flip the beds back into seats, so they asked us all to get out of our beds. I guess I didn’t need an alarm after all! I changed and then went to the bathroom to wash my face and when I came back, my bed was back into two seats.
Prairie Girl Abroad 