A second day in the city

  An unserem zweiten Tag in Luang Prabang sind wir ins TAEC Museum gegangen, wo wir Einiges ueber die vier wichtigsten Staemme in Laos gelernt haben...

...hier haben wir eine Mausefalle von einem der Staemme.

Spaeter am Tag haben wir Kokusnusswasser und den Sonnenuntergang genossen :-)

 

Luang Prabang by foot

  We spent the day wandering the streets of Luang Prabang and (finally) basking in some sunshine. The fusion of French and Laotian cultures made for sensory overload in the best way possible.

After visiting the Royal Palace Museum, we climbed up Phu Si and had great views of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers.

Our evening was spent at the Handicraft Night Market after some BeerLao and street food.

Our adventurous arrival in Luang Prabang

  After 9 hours on the slow boat and an unpleasant encounter with being dropped off on a bank of mud, we were ready for Luang Prabang.

Today was definitely an "adventure" and with that, we'll leave you with a pretty picture of the Mekong :-)

Bonus Edition: Geckos

  Laos is teeming with wildlife that continues to catch us by surprise. Last night, while enjoying the evening with new friends, we came across a Tokay (Tookae) gecko.

These geckos are the second largest in the world, growing up to 51 cm in length. 

We were fascinated and terrified to find him hanging out in some clean laundry, most likely in search of an evening bug snack.

Auf dem Mekong Fluss

  Heute haben wir ein sogenanntes "Slow-Boat" (langsames Boot) genommen uns sind von Huay Xai nach Pak Beng getuckert...morgen gehts weiter nach Luang Prabang :-)

Ein schoener Blick auf den schokoladig milchigen Mekong Fluss.

Out of the jungle and back to...

... civilization making a smooth transition from a treehouse to a wooden bungalow.

The Gibbon Experience

  Over the past three days we hiked through the Bokeo Nature Reserve as part of The Gibbon Experience. We set out from Huay Xi with 2 guides and 8 people from 7 different countries... It was incredible and would take an evening of photos to begin to do justice to. 

Briefly:

Here we are trekking into the jungle.

A view into 1 of the 2 treehouses that we stayed in (~50 m off of the forest floor).

Andi preparing for a zip line tour- 1 of many.

A rough idea of how high we were (see Andi in the distance) as we flew past some gorgeous scenery. 

We didn't see any gibbons, but we did hear them on the second morning. Instead, we encountered gigantic spiders, praying mantis, a poisonous viper, and this guy...

Auf unserem Weg nach Laos

Heute haben wir den Mekong Fluss ueberquert um ueber die Grenze vom Thailand nach Laos zu kommen...

...mit Erfolg ;-)

Und morgen gehts ab in das Bokeo Nature Reserve fuer die Gibbon tour...drei Tage lang im Jungel und Ziplining. Wir sehen uns wieder am Sonntag...hihihi

Chiang Mai Scooter Adventure

We decided to spend our second full day in Chiang Mai by scooter. It went something like this, "Hey, Andi, ever driven a scooter before?!?" "No, but I will try." 100km later, around the Samoeng Loop and we were seasoned "motobike" riders ready to tackle rush hour traffic!

Our bike!

At the top of the loop.

One of our many stops to hike to waterfalls!!

Another banana smoothie, please

  We wandered Chiang Mai today (an estimated 20km of walking) and had a lot of fun at the markets. Here, the banana stands ;-) fueled our smoothie cravings.

"Mmmmm, Thailand banana smoothies, delicious!"

We also had our first encounter with durian- and kind of enjoyed trying it, we think, maybe.

After some tasty meals, massages, bargaining at the night market, and many more temples, we know the city in and out.

Bier Bonus Blog

  Auf unserer Reise haben wir einige Biere gesehen und getestet :-)

Hier wiederum mussten wir leider absagen...tut uns leid "Paderborner"!

Andi's Favorit bisher: Tiger Bier

Sara's Favorite bisher: Leo Bier

Monday, travel day

We headed to Chiang Mai today via bus (cubed). It was fun seeing the countryside    change, along with the toilets ... 

Still eating bugs (Sukhothai Take II)

  We have gotten very comfortable biking around Sukhothai and are absolutely charmed by its busy streets, markets, and residents. Thank you, Sally Warner, for the tip to visit here!! 

Today we set out to explore the western ruins of the "old city." These temples are a bit more remote, requiring a longer bike ride... The pay-off was totally worth it as we biked past rice fields and small neighborhoods. 

Oh, and of course, for dinner, more bugs (they taste like popcorn).

Die antike Stadt Sukhothai

  Heute haben wir uns Fahrraeder ausgeliehen und die Ruinen von Sukhothai erkundschaftet...

...dort haben wir eine Menge Buddhas gesehen und die Sonne genossen :-)

"Bugs, finally!" (Sukhothai Take I)

  After AM massages (lovely) and a smooth flight (complete with banana leaf-wrapped sweet mango rice) we found ourselves in the middle of rice patty fields in Sukhothai. One Buddha's festival later and Andi could proudly say that he had not only tried bugs, but made a complete meal out of them. 

  Sukhothai airport from the adorable tram

  Bug dinner (this was 1/3 of the bag)

Silk, traffic, and reptiles!!

We spent the morning catching up with our "hosts" and then ventured into the city with Nancy to see:

The Jim Thompson silk house- an American entrepreneur who brought the silk trade to the US...

Crazy motorbikes in downtown Bangkok...

And water monitors in Lumphini Park.

Bangkok is nuts, now off to the countryside! :-)

Rest in peace Panasonic Lumix

You were a wonderful camera, and we are super bummed that you decided to die on the first day of our 6 week vacation. We only hope that your brother camera, the iPhone5 can hold its own during the next 41 days.

Regnerisches Abenteuer in Bangkok

Der erste Budda den wir gesehen haben...(46m x 15m)

Andi's Version von einem Haustier :-)

Buddahs from Wat Po- the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok 

Our first street food: Pad Thai for 1$. Very tasty!!

A Thai kitty meets Sara... Splendid :-)

We have arrived in Bangkok!!

A smooth flight from Frankfurt was followed by a warm welcome in Bangkok at Nancy and Zach's...

First dinner in Thailand: HongKong noodles, green curry, crab fried rice and egg on rice.

It's so wonderful to start our trip with friends!

PS- Thai soda water is delicious.