Review – Page 4 – Here and There

July 25, 2015

Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is an interesting place to visit because unlike most traditional cities in the U.S., you have a pretty lengthy drive on the highway to get from area to area. No quick hop on the metro or nice walk along the river in this city.

So on my past trip to L.A., I extended my visit a bit to stay with some friends in the area of Silver Lake. Most tourists probably wouldn’t come to see Silver Lake usually; its much more of a residential area for the more alternative crowd. However if you do happen upon this area, there is a bit to offer, most of which is on Sunset Blvd.

A couple places for brunch

Millie’s Cafe

Probably my favorite of the two brunch places I went to, Millie’s has a really, really extensive menu. With a lot of outdoor sidewalk seating, this little cafe is a good place to have some good ol’ comfort food while watching the numerous, sunglasses wearing locals stroll on by. I had the healthy green burrito (very Southern Californian of me right?) that was made of egg whites, guacamole and spinach and comes with a side of fresh fruit. It was enormous, and actually quite delicious for the “healthy” option. I’d recommend it, however if you do need the grease and goodness of bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes etc., don’t worry, they have all that too. I’ll probably go back and have that when I’m not on a health kick.

Local

For a quieter alternative down the street, give Local a try. The ambiance is a bit calmer, and their menu is not as extensive. That being said, for a lazy Sunday type place, Local fits the billing. There isn’t really any sidewalk seating, but their covered patio is large.

Drinks

Thirsty Crow

Silver Lake, from what I saw, doesn’t seem to be a “going out” type of area, but there are a few places to grab drinks and have a good time. The Thirsty Crow in particular is quite good. It’s a very divey, dark place with a speakeasy, candlelit vibe. Despite its darkness, the place is actually quite vibrant with some great Motown music playing the night I was there. Outside a chef grills up hamburgers to order while listening to Michael Jackson. And if you like whisky, THIS is your place. The whisky list is extensive and you should be able to find one to your liking.

Things to do

Griffith Observatory

Not far from Silver Lake is the Griffith Observatory (as seen in numerous movies including Rebel Without a Cause and The Terminator). Located at the top of a steep mountain, those of you looking to break a little sweat on your trip should try hiking to the top. You should be in relatively good shape if you want to try the hike, and be sure to bring water, hats, sunscreen, etc. because there is practically no shade on the trail. I’d say the hike was very similar to hiking up Masada. When you get to the top, you can enjoy the exhibits inside the Observatory and there’s a $7 planetarium show that is the perfect recipe for the post-climb collapse.

June 18, 2015June 18, 2015

New Orleans: Quick Hits – Activities

Obviously on a work trip I spent most of the days in a conference room. However, there was still time to explore some of New Orleans and here are a few of the activities that we partook in.

Swamp Tours: Cajun Encounters vs. Airboat Adventures

A swamp tour to see the alligators of the bayou is pretty much a must-do if you’re in New Orleans. There are several different tour groups, and I’m here to compare two of them for you. I would recommend both, but there are differences in the experiences depending on which group you go with. Both options are about 30-45 minute bus rides away from the French Quarter, and for the options that I took the pricing was around $75 on average.

We’ll begin with Airboat Adventures. For the thrill-seeking, roller coaster loving types, Airboat Adventures offers a high-octane zip through the swamp. The unique parts of Airboat Adventures?

Obviously racing through the swamp on a tin barge with a giant propeller fan furiously working behind you.
Our crazy-ass driver actually jumped into the water with the alligators and fed them while swimming amongst the animals.
A baby gator is passed around the boat for some pretty awesome selfies.

One thing to note: if you don’t like loud noise, this may not be for you. They give you solid headphones to wear, but it’s still pretty loud regardless.

Cajun Encounters is a bit more of a mellow trip through the swamp. I would recommend paying the $70 because although there are cheaper options, the $70 gets you a ride on a smaller boat fitting 10 people that can go into the smaller canals and river ways. The unique parts of Cajun Encounters?

You do probably see more alligators on Cajun Encounters than you would on Airboat Adventures.
As I mentioned, going through the small canals of the swamp offers some fantastic photo opportunities.
You do get to see wild boars (see video below). These animals come right up to the boats for food and are absolutely adorable/enormous. We just happened to luckily enough (or unlucky to some of the other passengers) almost witness an alligator attack a baby wild boar. The boat captains intervened and used the boats to shoo away the predatory alligators, but the commotion did get a lot of hearts racing.

You can’t go wrong either way, you just need to decide for yourself what kind of adventure you’d like.

New Orleans School of Cooking

This was one of the highlights of the trip. Our department head graciously booked us all for a hands-on cooking class as a team builder activity and it was a hell of a lot of fun. Beer and wine were included, so the libations made it quite an event. Our chef instructor was young, enthusiastic, and had a contagious passion for cooking southern food. We were split up into four groups, each group being in charge of one of the menu items (you can change the menu depending on your dietary restrictions): Gumbo, Stuffed Mushrooms, Jambalaya, and Bananas Foster. Obviously being such a big group, not everyone got to do everything, but I would suspect if you visit, you’ll be more hands-on in making each part of the menu. I was part of the Gumbo team, and specifically helped out in making the roux for the soup. I had never made gumbo before, let alone roux, so it was a great learning experience. After the cooking, we all sat and feasted on our creations, and although the food wasn’t super-duper restaurant quality, we loved it because we made it.

The Garden District

An easy cab or trolley ride away from the French Quarter, this is the area to go to if you want to see some ridiculously nice mansions. The area between Magazine Street and St. Charles Ave holds some of the most impressive houses in such a small area that I’ve ever seen. Guided tours are available, though just walking around and admiring the architecture was enough for me. Magazine Street offers some cool little boutique shops and restaurants to meander in and out of as well. Also located in the Garden District is the Lafayette Cemetery that’s worth strolling into for half an hour to see the traditional tombs and wall vaults made famous in movies and popular culture. Across from Lafayette Cemetery is the famous Commander’s Palace restaurant, which we didn’t actually eat at, but heard from others in our group that it’s excellent.

New Orleans Ghost Tour

Don’t do this drunk. I’m serious. Not because it’s too scary or anything like that. It’s just that this walking ghost tour doesn’t mix well with inebriated people. Our tour guide Jack was having an awfully hard time keeping people’s attention and he clearly was getting frustrated by it. His stories were good, but they were far too long and complicated for a group that had clearly had a few drinks in them. And you don’t get to go into any of the buildings he was talking about. I’m not saying I wouldn’t recommend it, but do it earlier in the night and/or on the night off from the bars.

Frenchman Art Market

Located in the heart of the Frenchman Street area, this outdoor market is a great place to find some creative, local art for sale. Most of the crafts range from jewelry to furniture, and clothing to paintings and have an unsurprisingly hipster look to them. Nonetheless, it’s a cool place to take a stroll and pick up a souvenir or two.

June 12, 2015

New Orleans: Quick Hits – Food

I’ve just recently returned from a work trip to New Orleans, LA and needless to say it was quite a week. New Orleans is everything you’d expect from the Mardi Gras capital of the world. With the open alcohol beverage laws in the city, New Orleans can easily cause a few rough mornings. Bourbon Street in particular is as wild as its reputation and I’ll say this right off the bat: It’s not for everyone. Bourbon Street on a weekend night is probably as filthy drunk of an area that I’ve ever seen – it’s neither a compliment nor an insult; it’s the truth. Unless you’re in you’re early-twenties with a fondness for frozen drinks that are really sweet and loaded with the shittiest alcohol, I doubt that you’ll want to spend too much time there. But I do recommend you walk down it at least once to experience the chaos (and the smell you’ll quickly want to forget).

Since this was a work trip, most everything was taken care of by the company, so I can’t give you too many specifics on pricing. But I’ll give you my quick thoughts on a several restaurants and activities in the next few posts. We’ll start with food in this post.

Cafe Du Monde

The signature cafe of New Orleans, this eatery is open 24 hours a day and tourists and locals flock there for their coffee and signature beignets. For me personally, I think it’s “eh”. You kind of HAVE to go there because it’s such a historical place. But at the end of the day to me it was just a too doughy fried dough and coffee. It’s not bad, it’s just not worth the hype. It also doesnt’t help that it’s usually muggy and hot in New Orleans, which isn’t exactly the climate conducive to me wanting to eat a hot donut and coffee.

Cafe Amelie

This is a weird review because we didn’t eat there. Why didn’t we eat there? Because it was closed when we arrived. Why did we go when it was closed? Oh, it’s because we had a confirmed reservation. So yeah, we were a little shocked/pissed/amused/confused when we saw the place empty and a sign saying that it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. A useful bit of knowledge that they probably could have told us when we made the reservation AND when we called again to confirm we were good to go. The patio from outside the gates looked nice though.

Three Muses

Probably my favorite of all the places we ate, Three Muses is located on Frenchman Street just east of the French Quarter. I would highly recommend going out there if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Bourbon Street. Frenchman Street is still pretty crazy, but it’s a bit more of an older crowd (late-20s, early-30’s) with more venues that lean toward hipster with live jazz music than fratty dance party. On a weekend night, it’s best to make a reservation at Three Muses (and at any Frenchman Street restaurant in fact) because the place is not very large. Our group of 6 just happened to be lucky enough to show up when another party of 6 who had a reservation was late. The hostess ended up seating us because the other group wasn’t on time (they’ll give you a 15-minute grace period). When we were there, a female jazz singer and her trio of instrumentalists were performing music that sounded like it was out of the Roaring 20s; it was a fun, lively atmosphere. The food comes in small sharing portions so it’s best to get a few. My personal recommendations are the Mac and Cheese, Bulgogi, and Tempura Shrimp. My co-worker also said the lamb sliders that I never got around to tasting were excellent. As far as their cocktails, you should have a cool, refreshing “Earl Grey Gardens” with dinner and a “The Other Redhead” as an after-dinner libation.

Oceana

Works as a good lunch place on Bourbon Street to get a real good shrimp po’ boy or seafood dish. It felt kind of like a chain, though it wasn’t, so don’t expect anything here to blow you away. Keep it as a lunch option and not dinner because it’s solid, not spectacular. The french fries there randomly were really good though.

Domenica Restaurant

Domenica was the restaurant our work group went to for our first dinner and I very much enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say you should put this at the top of your least or even to make it a target to rush to, but if you do end up there I think you’ll enjoy it as well. I had the Tagliatelle made up of slow cooked rabbit & porcini mushroom ragu (much to the chagrin of my co-worker who couldn’t stop picturing me eating a bunny) and it was delicious. The Salumi & Formaggi platter they put together for us was spot on and I sampled the Red Snapper which was a popular choice amongst my co-workers. The surprise favorite dish though was the Roasted Cauliflower w/ seas salt and whipped feta. Definitely get that as an appetizer.

Evangeline

If you had asked me two years ago, I would have said Evangeline was a must-do. But after going there this second time around, I would say not a must-do, but a recommend. I want to say that the restaurant was having a bit of an off day, but that’s still not an excuse. Anyone who ordered beer got beer that was pretty warm (not very welcome in the heat of summer), and our waitress while very nice, seemed a bit stoned. At one point, my co-worker asked simply for yellow mustard and the waitress returned empty handed apologetically saying “We’ve run out”. What restaurant runs out of yellow mustard?? The food was fine though, and the patio is really nice with the Christmas tree lights strung up.

The patio is nice, but if it's really muggy, stick with the A/C inside. — The patio is nice, but if it’s really muggy, stick with the A/C inside.

The Ruby Slipper Cafe

We came here for brunch, and I’ll say off the bat that they did not leave a good first impression. I was running late, so I didn’t see it, but apparently my friends who put our name down on the wait list were treated pretty rudely. That being said, we still stayed and personally, I’m kinda glad we did despite the bitchiness people encountered. I tried their Eggs Cochon, which is their signature dish, and it was awesome. I’m not sure why I was skeptical of a dish that had pulled pork, poached eggs, and hollandaise and cheese over a buttermilk biscuit, but it was really good.

May 15, 2015June 14, 2015

Cambodia Quad Bike Tour and the Floating Village

My last post about our SE Asia trip will conclude with a couple other activities that we did – one which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend as a must-do, and the other as a very much must-do.

We’ll get the Floating Village out of the way first. I was underwhelmed by it. This isn’t to say that the attraction wasn’t interesting. It was just a bit too far out and a bit too expensive to waste time on if you’re on a time budget. The Floating Village is about 30-45 minutes drive from Angkor Wat. From there you pay $20 to hop into a boat and take another 30 minute boat ride down a river to the lake where floating houses reside. Remember, the $20 fee is in American money, so in relation to everything else, it’s really expensive.

It was a nice day, so the boat ride wasn’t too bad. But at the end of the day, all you really saw were a lot of poverty-stricken shacks. In that sense, it’s good to see in that it reminds one of how much the rest of the world actually lives, and how we should be grateful for everything that we have. And seeing this community living literally on the water (floating schools, stores, etc.) was very unique and something that I hadn’t ever seen anywhere else before. But at the end of the day, I’d probably skip it for more time at Angkor Wat or other activities.

What was cool? The Cambodia Quad Bike tour we took. Now this is an activity worth doing. The $35 we spent on taking the ATV tour in my opinion was the highlight of Cambodia. This isn’t a knock on Angkor Wat by any means, but when I travel I do like to get my heart racing a bit and get the adrenaline going; this tour was the fix. If you do sign up for the tour, sign up for the sunset ride.

The ATV tour takes you out to the countryside where you can ride through the rice fields past water buffaloes, beautiful landscapes, and Cambodian farmers at speeds up to I would say 40-50 mph. Our guide, Heng, was great as well, stopping at various points to let us take photos and take photos of us. But the best part of the tour was the sunset. We stopped at a rice field with practically no one else around. In front of us a family of about 50 ducks marched along without a care, and a water buffalo chilled beside us. The sunset itself was incredible, so serene and vibrant with color. Whereas the Angkor Wat sunrise was amazing to see because it was both iconic and awe-inspiring, the sunset we saw in the rice fields was spectacular because of the zen-like calmness it brought. I can’t imagine a better way to have wrapped up what was such a whirlwind trip.

April 30, 2015

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Going back to a more industrialized, urban country was a bit jarring coming from the serenity of Laos. After our exhausting delay, and relatively frightening flight, we landed in Cambodia for the final leg of our trip. Again, when you get to Cambodia, you’ll need to have cash on hand for the $35 visa.

Our hotel was The Golden Temple Hotel, which arranged for a tuk tuk to pick us up and bring us there. The Golden Temple Hotel’s staff welcomed us with tea and a snack when we arrived. The folks there are incredibly helpful and accommodating. The place itself is brand new, and only has 30 rooms so the staff does their best to get to know their individual guests. The rooms are equipped with all the amenities to make a comfortable stay (HD TV, free WiFi, A/C, nice clean and new furniture). The hotel also provides a cell phone for you to use (which is HUGE for those of you without an international plan), a free wine happy hour, a very generous complimentary breakfast every morning with a box breakfast for those who leave early for Angkor Wat, and when you leave they give their departing guests a free T-shirt and scarf as a thank you gift. The deal we got through Expedia also included for each of us a free massage at the hotel spa and a free Khmer dinner cooked and delivered to your room. What did we pay? $80 a night.

So, yeah, that hotel might be the best value I’ve ever gotten at a place I’ve stayed traveling. There’s only two things that they could improve on. One, they need a few more lounge chairs by the pool. And two, while the staff was great (and I really want to make sure that’s clear, they were GREAT), they were a bit overbearing in their attempts to accommodate every need. While I do feel kind of like a dick for saying that a negative is that people were too nice, I do wish they scaled it back just a notch.

The location of the Golden Temple Hotel is also a huge plus. It’s within walking distance of the Siem Reap Night Market as well as Pub Alley. My first impression of these places was this: I hope that Luang Prabang doesn’t turn into it. The Night Market in Siem Reap is the exact opposite of what was in Luang Prabang. It was loud and seedy, with tuk tuk drivers and whores coming up to you constantly. I almost punched a guy in the face because he grabbed by arm and spun me around so that he could get my attention. Despite that, knowing that it is what it is, it is a rather fun place to go out if you’re looking to have drinks and a crowd. Pub Alley is essentially trying to be the Bourbon Street of SE Asia, so there are plenty of different types of bars with large quantities of cheap drinks to be had. Most of the bars have outdoor seating for people watching. Our experience was even cooler because there was a power outage (not uncommon for SE Asia apparently), so half the street had no electricity and people were using candles for lighting giving the street a really cool, rustic, exotic look.

One place in particular that I’d recommend for drinks is Beer Battle, which has a bit of a calmer vibe surrounded by all the madness. I would also recommend walking to the Night Market from there and grabbing dinner at Genevieve’s Restaurant. This restaurant was the closest thing to a Mom & Pop place we went to all trip. We honestly weren’t expecting much, but it ended up being a surprisingly good meal. The owner is an Australian who opened up the place, named after his wife, and sends a portion of his proceeds to charity. The staff he hires are all local Cambodians whom he hopes will one day take over the restaurant and make it their own. He came by our table at one point, and it was had not to feel good about eating there after speaking with the kind, grandfatherly figure. One thing to note – if you ask for spicy, they will give you spicy. My buddy on the trip is Indian, and he had been noticing that there wasn’t any really spicy food so far on the trip, so he specifically asked our waitress to make our beef salad spicy, spicy. I lasted one bite; literally one bite. He on the other hand impressively finished the dish, but at the cost of practically not being able to eat the next day!

Coming up: The signature attraction of Cambodia — Angkor Wat.

April 20, 2015

Morning Alms Ceremony and the Royal Palace

Our last day in Luang Prabang was a short one since we were supposed to fly out for Cambodia in the afternoon (more on that later). So we got ourselves up early in order to catch the morning tak bat alms ceremony in the center of town. This ceremony is performed every morning at sunrise by the monks at the center of town. I don’t know the actual count, but I’d say around 100 monks, dressed in their bright orange robes, ages ranging from young boys to grandpas, walk in a single file line down the street accepting sticky rice from worshipers. This rice is not eaten by the monks, but offered to the Buddha when they return to the wat. It’s a unique experience to see and one worth waking up before sunrise for. If you do go to observe, don’t be a douche; respect the locals worshiping. It’s poor taste to get in the way of the procession to take flash photos, and in my opinion if you’re not going to actually participate you should keep back a bit.

After the tak bat alms ceremony, we walked over to the Royal Palace Museum which is located where the Night Market is held. The Royal Palace cost 30K kip to enter and houses an impressive display of royal thrones, garments, Buddhas, and swords. Outside the palace, you can see the 83 cm-tall gold-alloy Buddha statue, which supposedly is what the city is named after. Sadly, no photos are allowed once you get into the palace, so I’ll just need to describe to you some of the highlights.

The interior architecture is made up of a lavish Japanese glass mosaic that is truly impressive. The bedrooms, throne halls, and reception rooms are all view-able throughout the palace. Be sure to look at the paintings of the story of Prince Wetsantara as you walk down the hallways; its actually a very interesting fable and the story is broken up into a dozen paintings or so. Also, one thing to check out is the reception room with all the gifts from other countries to the king. Most countries gave a precious artifact or something that represented their country (for instance jade bowls, swords, jewelry, things of that nature). Then you get to the US display. What did they give Laos? A shitty model of the lunar module that looked like a 12-year-old put together. Now, that’s what we thought when we first saw it – my buddy and I were laughing in the museum about it. It wasn’t until we looked it up after that we found out that the model itself wasn’t the gift. Unlabeled was an actual piece of moon rock that was offered as a gift. Well done US.

After that, we made our way back to Le Bel Air to check out and headed to the airport. On a trip as ambitious as ours, we would have been really lucky if we didn’t hit any travel snags, and in general we didn’t. But inevitably, if you do do a trip like ours, something will come up and in our case it was a 6-hour delay at the Luang Prabang airport. Annoyingly, our Vietnam Airlines flight was delayed due to mechanical issues coming out of Hanoi so we were stuck in the airport for half the day. If we had known it was as delayed as it was, we would have just stayed in Luang Prabang for the afternoon. But instead we were bored out of our minds in the tiny Luang Prabang airport and missed some valuable sightseeing time in Cambodia. Vietnam Airlines did try to accommodate the passengers by providing food, but the “hamburger” they gave us was…well…pretty gross. We did eventually make it to Siem Riep, Cambodia, although late at night, for the final leg of our journey.

April 12, 2015

Kuang Si Falls

After our outing with the elephants, we made our way to what is on pretty much every Top 5 of Laos list — Kuang Si Falls. Because we had already pre-arranged this at the hotel, our driver picked us up from the Elephant Village and drove us the 30-45 minutes to the falls. If you take the excursion out there on your own, I would highly recommend getting a driver with an actual car as opposed to hiring a Tuk Tuk. The road there is dusty, bumpy, and windy and would be very uncomfortable on the back of the rickshaw.

The entrance fee for the falls is 20K kip. Be sure to bring a bathing suit and towel because even if you don’t think you’ll want to go in the water, you will once you see it. The Kuang Si Falls are a beautiful emerald-jade color with hundreds of butterflies that flutter all around; it truly lives up to the hype. The first watering hole you approach at the falls is by far the biggest and busiest. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is the only watering hole out of the excitement of seeing it first. Keep walking up and you’ll see that there are about 7 or 8 watering holes and they get progressively less and less busy as you keeping walking up the hill (that being said, the first watering hole does have a tree that you can jump off of into the water).

As you make it up the hill, you’ll eventually reach the apex of the falls which is a giant 200 ft. waterfall. At the bottom, you can take some great pictures and there is a trail that will take you to the top. Now when we tried to hike up this, we were both wearing flip flops, making it nearly impossible. So if you want to hike up to the top, be sure to wear shoes. Also, the climb is incredibly steep, like on your hands and knees steep. It is not for anyone who isn’t in peak physical shape. As we were struggling to get to the top, we asked the folks coming down if it was worth the effort. Most, if not all, said “No”. The general consensus was that the view wasn’t really that good at the top and you may as well just take more pictures from the bottom. So it’s up to you whether you think the climb is worth it.

We eventually settled on a water hole 2/3 of the way up from the bottom of the trail and hung out there for a good couple of hours. The water is a little chilly, but you do get used to it after a while and the refreshing coolness and cleanness of the water is a welcome escape from the hot mugginess of Southeast Asia.

April 7, 2015

Elephant Village

One of the key activities we had on our list for things that had to be done during our trip was to get an elephant ride in. Booking this trip was done through our guy Mr. Un at the hotel. We specifically wanted to go to the Elephant Village because this sanctuary is government run and the animals are treated humanely, unlike at other places in SE Asia (and the world for that matter). They offer full, half, and two day tours; we opted for the half day tour (as we were going to see the Kuang Si Falls in the afternoon). I apologize that I don’t have the price because we put together a package for the Elephant Village and the Kuang Si Falls that had a negotiated price. However, it’s Laos and the price for the Elephant Village is most likely going to be pretty good for you no matter what option you want to go with. Getting there requires a bit of a trip, it’s about a 30-minute drive from Luang Prabang.

The elephants are as cool as you think they would be. These creatures slowly roam around the sanctuary, allowing visitors to come up (do this with caution of course) and feed/pet them. The Village only keeps females around as the males can tend to be lazy and/or aggressive (sounds like another species we know, right?). After a short orientation, you begin your elephant ride with a designated mahout (the elephant guide). It’s a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience than a camel or horse because the elephants are so big and slow. The elephants can fit two people on their backs along with the mahout up on their necks. The convoy of elephants walk around the village, through a river (which was the coolest part) and back up around the town. During the ride, each person is given the chance to ride on the front on the neck and the guide will climb off and take pictures. Trust me, it’s a little unnerving at first riding on the animal without a guide, but you quickly get comfortable with being on her.

After the ride, the tour takes you on a traditional Lao long boat to Tad Sae Falls. Tad Sae Falls itself is like the less impressive version of Kuang Si Falls, which we will be going to in the next post, and it was even more so not impressive because there was no water from it being the dry season. But the main highlight of taking this side excursion was not the falls, but to see the baby elephant and to get a chance to bathe with an elephant. The baby elephant is adorable; they keep him in a pen with his mother. You can’t help but think of the little guy as Dumbo. He’s playful, curious, and from what our guide says, very mischievous. We were warned not to get too close because he had a habit of stealing cameras. We were also warned that if we get too close or too touchy, the mother would get really pissed. That being said, it still didn’t stop anyone from giving the little guy’s trunk a pet when he reached out of his cage for us.

The tour also offers an option to bathe with an elephant. Do it. Bring your bathing suit and pay the extra $30. You’ll sit atop the elephant while it goes into the river and plays around. The guide will also give you a bushel of bananas to feed the animal as reward for diving under and cooling everyone off. It was such a fun experience, and not one that I’ll soon be able to do again any time soon I’m sure.

After our elephant bath time, the long boat takes everyone back to the main camp and the Elephant Village provides its guests with lunch. For those that book the full day tour, they stay to learn how to be a mahout — the practices, commands and such. For us, we headed our way to Kuang Si Falls, one of the signature sights of SE Asia. That’s next up on Here and There Travel.

April 6, 2015April 6, 2015

Wat Xieng Thong, Phu Si Hill, and the Night Market

After we decompressed for a little bit at Le Bel Air, we made our way across that freakin’ bridge and headed into town. The walk to the main part of the town is about 15 minutes. Our destination was Wat Xieng Thong, which is one of the key wats in the all of Laos. It’s at the further end of the town, so don’t mistake one of the many wats you’ll pass by for it (we were fooled once and walked into the wrong wat).

Once we did find Wat Xieng Thong, the admission is 20K kip. Unsurprisingly, the wat is a peaceful, zen-like monastery with several shrines featuring a multitude of gold Buddhas. Monks, in the traditional orange attire, mill around and go about their day-to-day tasks. It does feel a little strange as a tourist to essentially be wandering around their residence, but the monks we encountered seemed used to the scenario.

After Wat Xieng Thong, and a quick stop for a croissant at Le Banneton Cafe (Laos is known for their bakeries from their time as a French colony), we walked down along the Mehkong River and headed toward Phu (or Phou) Si Hill. You should try and time this walk a little before sunset, the views along the river at that time are amazing. It’s like something out of a movie set with the mountains, fisherman, and monks along the river’s sandy beach.

We reached Phu Si Hill along with everyone else a few minutes before sunset. This is probably the only time Luang Prabang felt really touristy, but even then it wasn’t so bad because most people kept quiet at the top to enjoy the view. The climb up is rather challenging, but doable, and it costs 20K kip to ascend to the top.

Once you get to the top, it’s inevitably going to be crowded, but people were pretty polite and quietly sidestepped all around to get out of the way of people taking pictures. The sunset is a sight to see and is probably one of the must-do experiences of Luang Prabang.

When you’re done with the sunset, by the time you reach the bottom you’ll literally be right on top of the Night Market. I cannot say enough about how impressed I was by this market and how enjoyable of an experience it was. The market sold the typical touristy souvenirs and such, but the ambiance was like no other market I’ve been to (and I’ve been to quite a few). It was so quiet; you couldn’t hear anything louder than whispers. The vendors were all sitting politely, not in your face or loud, and their goods were all so neatly laid out we almost felt bad picking up the products and disturbing their presentation. For the backpackers, the Night Market offers a 10K kip street buffet dinner (remember $1 = 8K kip) which was packed with hungry young people. This market ended up being where we did the primary amount of shopping for folks back home based solely on the comfort at which we were able to shop.

For dinner I would recommend stopping in at Coconut Garden, located at the end of the Night Market (that is if you don’t do the street buffet). Coconut Garden is a Lonely Planet selection and the guidebook lives up to their usual standards when it comes to food choices. The restaurant offers both meat and vegetarian tasting dishes on top of their usual menu. We orders a veggie tasting menu along with the Laos signature Steamed Mehkong Fish in Banana leaves and a Chicken/Vegetable Fried Rice w/ Fried Egg. After that, we grabbed a beer across the street at a great little bar called Tangor to people watch before heading back to The Le Bel Air for some patio beers to finish up the day.

April 1, 2015April 6, 2015

Luang Prabang, Laos

Our next stop was the country of Laos to a little city called Luang Prabang. If you’re heading there from Bangkok, leave plenty of time to get to the airport and deal with all the flight check in and security (2-3 hours). The flight is only a few hours and remember to bring cash for the arrival visa ($36). You’ll also need a photo for the visa which you can either bring with you or they’ll copy one out of your passport for $1.

You’ll immediately notice the difference between Luang Prabang and Bangkok as you drive away from the airport. Luang Prabang is less busy, less modern, and noticeably more peaceful. The people are also more friendly, and not in the way that they’re trying to sell you something. They have more of a quiet politeness that isn’t overbearing, but accommodating at the same time.

Of the three countries, Laos was hands-down my favorite part. It’s impossible not to feel relaxed in the zen-like ambiance of the town. It’s a backpacker’s paradise, and while there are tourists there, it’s not overrun with them. And those tourists that are there tend to be the hippie, mix in with the culture type. With the 11 PM curfew in the country, there isn’t a huge draw for the spring break party crowd. Note: The curfew doesn’t mean that you can’t be outside past 11 PM. It just means that businesses have to closed by then.

Businesses and people in Laos accept Thai baht, but it is a little bit of pain, so try and use whatever baht you have quickly and head to the ATM. The Laotian money is the kip ($1 = 8,000 kip). It’ll probably take you a little while to get used doing conversions with thousands at first.

Our hotel was The Le Bel Air Resort. This is place is really nice; we arrived to a refreshing cold towel and lemongrass tea. Located a quick 10-15 minute drive from the airport, the Le Bel Air sits on the bank of the Nam Khan River. The resort itself is made up of several bungalows of varying sizes depending on what you want to pay for, but all the options are very affordable. And while the bungalows themselves look rustic, they’re actually quite modern. Each are equipped with A/C, HD TVs, and patios overlooking the river. The hotel offers free shuttles to the center of town as well as free bikes to borrow. The service there is also exceptional. We essentially had our own personal staff member, Mr. Un, who was attentive and helpful.

Getting into town is quick, it’s about a 15 minute walk, but there is one drawback to The Le Bel Air. In order to get to town, you have to cross a very scary, rickety wooden bridge. The center of the bridge is for bikes only, and the pedestrians have to walk on the side. It’s a straight-up Indiana Jones crossing. I’m not afraid of heights, but this bridge is very unnerving (especially at night). The planks aren’t very stable and will move when you step on them. Here’s a little video to show you what the walk is like:

Alternatively, there is a bamboo walking bridge that you can cross, but it costs 500 kip, and is only available during the dry season when the river is low. So as much as I hate to say this, I would recommend staying at a place closer to town if you don’t like heights. Again, I hate to say that because The Le Bel Air is such a nice place and the hotel does offer a free shuttle, but that is a bit of pain because the shuttle isn’t run regularly and it has to take a major detour around the river to get to the center of town. So from a time-saving standpoint just walking to town is a lot quicker and easier, but a lot of people would not be comfortable with that bridge.

My next few posts will cover the sights and sounds of beautiful Luang Prabang, including elephant riding, Kuang Si falls, and rice whiskey tastings.