Our next stop in Thailand was to the city of Chiang Mai (not to be confused with Chiang Rai, just three hours away). Chiang Mai is the largest city in Northern Thailand, and sits amongst the highest mountains in the country at just over 1,000 feet above sea level.  Due to its elevation, Chiang Mai is normally a bit cooler than most of Thailand, but during our four day visit the temperature still hovered well over 100 degrees.

We had planned on mountain biking in Chiang Mai, but had to change plans and enjoy cooler activities. We caught a 3D IMAX movie at the monsterous, five story Central Festival Shopping Center (thank you Renata for watching Captain America with me; I know it’s a total guy flick).  We didn’t realize until the movie started that we had purchased tickets for a Thai dubbed version of the film, but the movie staff was nice enough to let us exchange our tickets and come back the next day for the original English version. This same shopping center has a 4D theatre (didn’t know that existed), which includes motion sensor seats, fog, mist, wind, and even scents (unfortunately this theater was only playing Thai dubbed movies at the time). Central Festival Shopping Center even has its own ice skating rink.

The modern city of Chiang Mai was built around “The Old City,” a 12th century city that was protected by a moat and walls. Mostly just the corner sections of these walls remain today, but it was cool to turn off a street lined with 7-11s and suddenly see a 1,000 year old section of the Old City. On the way back from the theater to our hotel, our back moped tire got a flat and we had to push the bike along the outskirts of the Old City. Although all the mechanics were closed that time of the night, we manged to find a gas station and inflated the tire enough to get back to our hotel.

Chiang Mai also has some incredible food. Thanks to Sky’s happycow.net recommendation, we found some great vegetarian restaurants throughout the city, as well as one of the best hamburgers ever at Burgerholics (the triple decker; defintely a meal for two).

Following two 3 hour non-air conditioned bus rides, a crossing of the Friendship Bridge and the quietest customs-border crossing we’ve seen, as well as a series of short tuk tuk rides, and we arrived in the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai.  This was our fifth border crossing in the last 10 days, so we were looking forward to staying put in Chiang Rai for a few days. The temperature the last two weeks has been hovering between 95 and 105 with lots of humidity, so we were also looking forward to fine tuning two of our current favorite hobbies, shade seeking and air conditioned reclining.

We rented a moped beginning our second day in Chiang Rai. Although there was very little traffic, driving on the left side of the road took some getting used to (good practice in preparation for Bali). In hopes of escaping the heat, we headed out of town, past scenic Singha Park and lots of tea fields, to Khun Kon Waterfall. It was a 45 minute drive and we ended up driving on the right side of the road only twice, so all-in-all a successful drive.

Important tip when renting a motor bike: always check the fuel gauge before heading for the country. For the third consecutive time, we rented a motor bike that was near empty. Fortunately, we found a stand alone, no one around, pay-at-the-pump gas dispenser nearby, that also played some catchy tunes while fueling. Following our gas purchase, we continued our drive toward the waterfall, stopping to buy some mystery meat-on-a-stick from a parking lot street vendor.

The 45 minute hike up to the waterfall from the parking lot was crowded with locals also trying to escape the heat, but it was a beautiful trek through a thick bamboo forest. In the end, we were rewarded with 200 foot Khun Kon Waterfall, and fresh cold water.

We managed to stay on the left side of the road the entire drive back to Chiang Rai, and enjoyed a nice subset as we passed Singha Park and its Golden Lion Statue.

When we checked into our hotel in Luang Namtha, Laos, the young man at the front desk asked where we were from. “U.S.,” we replied. “Hawaii.” He didn’t seem to know where Hawaii was, but when we mentioned we were from the U.S. his face lit up. He asked if we had plans in the evening, and if not, would we would mind coming to his class to teach English? We shrugged and said sure, why not, and finished checking in. Later, Ted went back and asked him later if it was okay with the teacher. We weren’t sure what we had just agreed to, after all. He replied that the teacher had asked the class to bring in native English speakers so they could hear the correct pronunciation. He said we could just come and “talk about our experiences.” Little did we know we would be teaching the entire class.

When we arrived at the school at the mentioned time, no one was there. Little by little students began to trickle in, and about 20 minutes later our friend from the front desk showed up. Still no teacher, so the students asked if we could teach for a bit. So, completely unprepared, we began the class. They had a textbook, but it was poorly laid out, inappropriate for their level of comprehension, outdate, oh- and in Vietnamese! But we made it work. A bit later the teacher showed up, and at first I was relieved, thinking he would take over. But instead he just took a seat and waved us to keep going. “Teach the whole hour,” was his only response. So we did.

At the end of the hour, I felt like I was running out of ideas and the attention of the kids (late teens to early 20’s) was waning. I called for a break. The teacher had walked out of the class a few minutes prior, so we didn’t get to speak with him. The kids, however, were all very appreciative, and gave us directions to the town Wat (temple) that we had wanted to walk to for sunset.

I felt humbled. These kids had a teacher that showed up late, a terrible textbook not even in their language, and yet they pressed on, and spoke remarkably well. And here was I, not even a professor, just some traveler who happened to be a native English speaker; and yet this thing trivial thing to me was something of great value to these kids. And not just these kids, but people everywhere are wanting to learn English. It is becoming the international language. And the more people can communicate with each other, the more we can understand and have compassion for each other. I think I will do this again.

Our last stop in Laos was the town of Luang Namtha, about a 9 hour sleeper bus ride from Luang Prabang.  At 2:30am, we were dropped off 9 miles outside of town on a very quiet road. Only 5 passengers in total (including us) got off at this stop as the rest of the bus was heading to other areas in Northern Laos. Fortunately, after only 10 minutes of waiting on the side of the road, a songthaew driver (a converted passenger pick-up truck) happended to pass by and took us the rest of the way to Luang Namtha, and to a hotel with a 24 hour Front Desk.

After a great night of sleep, we visited the Front Desk the next morning to get some information about Luang Namtha. The very friendly and outgoing employee at the desk, Phonekeo, explained he was attending a business college just the down the road, and was excited about pursuing a career in Finance.  He was also not shy about urging us to teach at his class later that night.

After finishing our time in the classroom, we took a sunset stroll to nearby Wat Samakyxay, a Buddhist temple located at the top of a hill overlooking Luang Namtha. We enjoyed some great views of the town, and got caught in a heavy thunderstorm that really came out of nowhere (we took refuge under an awning outside of the monks’ sleeping quarters). We finished the night with a trip to the Night Market, and a dinner of fried rice and deep fried frog.

Directly across the Mekong River from the city of Luang Prabang (Laos) is Chomphet. We heard Chomphet is Luang Prabang’s quiet and very rustic neighbor, so we walked down to the riverfront to see about catching a boat across the river. We found a group of Laotians waiting near a boat, so we waited with them, and waited somemore. Finally, a curious Laotian approached us and asked what we were waiting for?  When we replied “a boat,” he explained the boat landing was another a few minutes down the river (still have no idea what everyone was waiting for). We thanked him, found the correct boat landing within a few minutes, and paid 10,000 kip a piece ($1.20) for the short ride to Chomphet.

Undeveloped Chomphet is to the north of the Mekong River, and Luang Prabang to rhe south

Boats just like the one we took to/from Chomphet

Once we got to Chomphet, the rumors we had heard were immediately confirmed. Busy paved streets were replaced with brick and dirt roads that were literally wide enough for just one car. There were no hotels or travel agencies, just a very small village and lots of peace and quiet.

After a short 10 minute walk the small village was behind us, and the landscape gave way to lots of trees and one dirt path that lead into the countryside. The temperature was well over 100 degrees, so after another mile, we ducked into an abdanoned thatched hut for some much needed shade. We split a sweet potato and water, and enjoyed some great views of the Mekong and surrounding jungle.

Downtown Chomphet. What happens when two cars meet on this road?

The dirt road into the countryside

The dirt road into the countryside

The view from the thatched hut we “borrowed”

The view from the thatched hut we borrowed

As we continued along the lone dirt path into the countryside, we passed three wats or temples, all of which are home to Laotians monks. All Lao boys betwen the age of 12 and 20 are expected to temporarily become a novice monk for a period of at least three months. Unlike a monk, novice monks only take 10 vows, instead of 200 + (but they still shave their heads, dawn an orange robe, and move away from their familes and into a monastery).  It kind of sounds like the social equivalent of going away to college in the US, as the boys find independence away from home, bond with others their same age, and take the opportunity to explore what they might want to do with their lives.

Following a map on our phones, we branched off to a smaller and more overgrown trail that lead through the Wat Had Siaw. We knew we were on the right path because it began right next to the long rectangular Standing Meditation Corridor building as referenced on the map. We also saw some small yellow concrete cones further up the path that were mentioned on the map (a good sign we were on the right track).

Notice the novice monks wear a yellow sash, while the monks do not

The Walking Meditation Corridor building, located at the beginning of the hillside trail

The start of the hillside trail, and yellow concrete cone markets built by the monks

Most of the monks’ daily routine consist of prayer, meditation, and improving their wat through renovations and art additions. On the hillside overlooking Wat Had Siaw, we came to several religious sculptures that had been crafted by the monks, including stone and gold colored depictions of Buddha, and an inscription that read “Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, and to purify one’s mind – advice from the Buddha.” After spending some quiet time on this unique hillside (not another tourist or Laotian around), we headed back to Luang Prabang for the modern comforts of air conditioning and sushi.

Standing in awe of something is a way of temporarily losing one’s ego. At Kuang Si waterfall today I saw this expression on the faces of others and felt it myself. Living in Maui, I’ve seen some beautiful waterfalls, and Kuang Si was beautiful as well but totally different. The rock formations are much different, and have a rounded look, as if the centuries of pounding water have worn away all the edges. The consistent flow has turned the limestone into perfect pools, and many of them, all a beautiful turquoise blue. And cold!

And then there’s the vibe of this place. After walking the trail that goes up and around the waterfall and constantly hearing the flow of water everywhere, I felt like a zen monk doing a walking meditation. Maybe it was walking barefoot, and really connecting with the land and the energy of the place. Or maybe that’s just the effect that a beautiful place can have on a person.

We had left Luang Prabang after renting a scooter, and made the half hour drive south past rural villages and rice paddies. After entering the park, we walked past the bear rescue center and to the first pool. It was already better than any place we’d seen on our travels.

As we continued hiking, each set of pools was seemed even more beautiful than the last, and the waterfall at the top was truly awe inspiring. From there, we took a hike up and around the falls, with some great views and more pools at the top. It was funny, the pictures looked so perfect it almost looked more like a painting.

And what better way to end the day than a $2 buffet at the night market! 🙂