An Untapped Wonderland

Laos is amazing!!! Finishing our Mekong River boat ride from northern Thailand down through Pak Beng and finally to Luang Prabang by slow boat really set the mood.  For two days, we saw handfuls of villages with thatched huts, several roaming cows and buffalo, traditional rustic appearing fishermen, and endless rolling mountains.  Meeting Ramsay in Luang Prabang, the four of us adventured into one of these Hmong villages with a population of 300 for a night.  Biking through rocky paths, crossing rivers, and trekking the hilly peaks to arrive at our thatched hut with moderately comfortable mattress really mixed things up.  Not many people had any English and we surely could not converse in Lao, so smiles and gestures it was!  The following day we hiked out of the village about 5 hours to the river where we'd relocate in a beautiful Zen resort high up with the whisping trees.  A boat ride, elephant ride, and kayak trip later we were back in Luang Prabang~the fabled riverside World Heritage status town.  Definitely one of my favorite places honoring its French influenced villas, ample boutiques/cafes, and Lao style night markets.  We had a wonderful dinner consisting of lemongrass chicken, buffalo, Lao style omlettes, and banana desserts with our Thai friend, Winna before continuing onto exploring caves, some more kayaking, and final Wat tours in Vientiane.  The Laos part of our trip has truly been magical making it very difficult to package it up in preparation for Vietnam.  I would recommend it to anyone looking for mystical mountains, beautiful people, and by far the most pristine land in Southeast Asia.

Revisit to Thailand

Back in the good old motherland! We arrived in Chiang Mai with about 10 days to fill including April 13-15 which we would spend celebrating the Thai New Year.  The entire city comes out with water guns, buckets, and complete water pipe systems leaving not a trace of the city dry.  It is ironic because originally the festival was created to evoke rainfall in the area and bless the Buddhas.  Now it has turned into a Spring Break water fight with music, food, and thousands of people out to have a good time.  We stayed with Judy and Richie, two food connoisseurs who did their fair share of taking us around and helping us to celebrate Songkran (new year) appropriately.

Prior to Songkran, we spent a couple days back at Ryan's adobe building house putting the finishing touches on. The roof is finished and the first coat of paint is now complete.  It felt satisfying to be back in Thailand living the markets and language again.

We spent our last couple of days in Chiang Rai visiting a few Hilltribes and hiking in the north.  Holly arrived on the 16th for which we enjoyed a wonderful 3 day bike ride in the mountains and hills of northern Chiang Rai.  Stopping at temples, handwoven shops, and destination Burma borders, we really got a great look at this part of the country by bicycle.  Finally we rode to the Laos border before departing for our 2 day trip (14 hours total) down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, Laos.  The most beautiful rolling mountains, villages, people panning for gold, pink water buffalo, teak trees, and fishermen were the most sought after views on this ride.  Happily in Luang Prabang, the old French colonial style town, we prepare for our journey north tomorrow where we might get the chance to do a homestay!

The Mir, Menjangan Island

The Mir

We had the pleasure of spending a day on the Mir, a 100 year old sail boat that had made its way from Singapore to Bali!  Docked in a Bay near Menjangan Island, this boat held our dearly beloved, Oliver Bierman himself.  We were lucky to find him tucked away with surrounding volcanoes and the most beautiful skies I've ever seen!  We boarded and met the crew which consisted of many people deeply involved with studying and saving the coral reef.  We spent our last couple of days diving on unbelievable coral walls off Manjangan Island which landed us a few more black tip reef shark spottings, the pygmy seahorse(which is the size of half of your pinky finger), a frog fish, and thousands of species of colorful fish.

Evening drink on the Mir

Volcano on Java

Ceremonial Cleansing

Ceremonies are the backbone to Balinese culture.  They are performed everyday and usually are the cause of the one main road that is two lanes wide around the entire island being blocked off.  We took a ride to the East Coast with Ketut and Nyoman and their entire extended family of a couple hundred to perform a ceremony that hadn't been done in 5 years.  The main idea of this ceremony was to cleanse the souls of all of their ancestors.  Everyone is fully dressed in traditional garb and snacking on various dried banana treats and peanuts.  In groups of about 30, people file toward the ocean holding offerings and essentially attempting to cleanse their ancestors souls.  One man carried a live chick and duck on the end of a bamboo stick over his shoulder to dunk in the water in preparation for their later sacrifice.  The second stop was across the street at the water temple where the entire extended family (about 150 people) prayed and offered gifts to the ancestors.  The temple was set right next to a bat cave where a couple thousand bats nestled and shrieked in the background.  We ended at the main village temple where everyone had rice and noodles out of brown paper and did their last cleansing gestures.    

On the Ocean Floor

I slipped into my wet suit which exposed only right above my knees and elbows, zipped up my aqua shoes, spit in my mask to clean it, and walked over the rocks until the water was deep enough to support my air tank.  As I started inhaling and exhaling through my regulator, my own breathing fills my head as I sink slowly underwater.  Did you know scuba was an acronym for self contained underwater breathing apparatus?  I could control my buoyancy by inflating my scuba vest or compressing it for which the weights around my waist would weigh me down underwater.  As a beginner, I could go about 15 meters deep.  But this was surely enough to explore Tulamben's sunken ship- The Liberty, an American shipwreck from WWII.  It was torpedoed by a japanese submarine in 1942 and sat beached until Mount Agung erupted in 1963 forcing it underwater about 30 meters or so.  We had a visibility of about 20 meters.  I never really got cold like expected..I think because of how exciting everything looked underworld! So many neon greens, yellow, red.  So much live coral and life! At one point our guide picked up a huge green starfish and handed it to me!  The coral was all housed by the ship.  We couldn't tell from his face, but a 6foot barracuda was suddenly visible not more than 3 feet away from us as his silver teeth caught the sunlight and thus my eyes!  Mason did not hesitate to go right up next to it but I kept a bit of a distance just in case.  We were also told there were a couple white tip sharks lurking the ship but our guide did not tell us about them because they were beyond the depth we could safely dive at.  There were about 25 hand signals that PADI (our diving certification company) recommends and uses.  The most common one is the A-okay sign, used extensively between yourself and your guide.  A few other sightings included little nemo burrowing in an anemone, a couple thousand silver fish swimming above us in a school,  angelfish, parrotfish, neon blue glow in the dark fish, and sponges! 

Barracuda!!



Can you find the fish?



Rice Sawah!

Chopping the rice husks from the soil

Beating the rice out of the husk

It was hot, it was itchy, and the woman next to me beating the rice was 70 years old plus.  Retirement doesn't really exist in Bali because of the importance of staying involved in the community for as long as possible.  It is not uncommon to see plenty of elderly Balinese people out in the early mornings stomping mud pits with their bare feet and traditional sarongs.  We walked about 1 km past the cows and open field until we reached Putu's rice sawah (field).  The first step was to chop the rice stalks a couple of inches from the ground.  I was far from establishing an efficient method and continuously retrieved one grouping at a time.  We would pile the stalks next to the little handmade sun-cover where step two occurs.  The goal was to beat all of the rice out of the husk by slamming it against the wooden board that was set up on top of a tarp to catch the flying pieces.  Finally, I left with a new-found appreciation for rice!

Yayasan living

Every Balinese house has an architectural and spiritual significance.  This was very apparent when arriving inside theYayasan Widya Guna in Yeh Pulu, Bedulu-as Balinese structures are merely very high stone walls from the outside.  Inside there are multiple different buildings used for different functions-a kitchen, bedrooms, the bathing area, the library room, and many outdoor living platforms as it is about average 85 degrees F here with tropical rains every couple of days.  There are also several trees throughout the compound and a small garden space bordering some of the walls.  The green color is endless and on sunny blue sky days, the clouds are so defined and plump that I want to grab them to sleep on at night!  

We have spent the last 2 weeks living at the Yayasan (a childrens home inland Bali).  Originally this compound was Ketut and Nyomans home which they turned into an educational center and orphanage for children about 6 years ago.  There are only 8 children that actually sleep at the Yayasan, but over a hundred come for English lessons, sports games, cultural dancing and companionship everyday.  Our time is split between hanging out and playing with classroom time.  

The Yayasan is never silent.  Whether it is the chickens roaming free about the compound, the sound of Nyepi drums beating alongside noisy bamboo sticks, or just the children laughing in pure bliss, there is always something to fix your mind on.  Mornings usually consist of breakfast and a little trip into town to visit a temple or witness a ceremony which happens more regularly than any other place Ive visited.  Then around 10 AM, we teach the special ed class until lunchtime alongside 2 other volunteers from Holland.  We do all sorts of activities with the children ages 7-20.  Saying the months of the year, writing, art projects, singing, ABCs, numbers, and chalk are a few of the activities.  They are all at different levels so it sometimes requires us to break off and do individual projects with different students depending on their needs. The range of needs in our classroom consists of autism, cerebral palsy, hyperactive disorder, and down syndrome.  The children are amazing and mostly smiles which just makes it so rewarding to work with such inspirational stories.  One of my favorite times of class is when Putu, the oldest member, freestyles to boost moral.  His confidence and passion for music and performance shines through, always ending his skit with a kiss to the sky or other form of theatrical dismissal.  I might also add that it is difficult trying to teach a second language to these children when you cannot speak their native tongue.  We have been attempting to learn vocab words and phrases that they may understand but this requires always having the Indonesian-English dictionary handy.

Lunch time rolls around and everyone piles into the outdoor living space that is Ketut and Nymans bedroom stoop outside.  Usually it is rice with some veggies and chicken or tempe with eggs and coconut sauce.  Nasi goreng and Mi goreng, fried rice or fried noodles, are some of Balis traditional go-tos which we enjoy on a daily basis.  Frankie their dog is always roaming willing to eat anything we throw to him including just bones od the fish!  

The afternoon class is the lowest level of English that attends here at Yayasan.  We just recently have been given full responsibility of these 6 year olds for the rest of our stay here.  They can do simple conversation English, know some vocabulary, and really enjoy interactive games and activities.  We always end the day with a trip down to the New Yayasan, a 5 minute walk away to rolling rice fields and space to play.