“I just love traveling, Mamá!” Marcus taking in the excitement as we connect flights in Bangkok to start our adventure. By Marta Kaltreider.
It is hard to believe that exactly one year ago we were on our way to India… Today in the early morning, I sit in front of a peaceful lily pad blooming with bright pink flowers, greeting me for the day ahead. We are in Luang Prabang, Laos. Now that the whirlwind of the last few weeks has passed, I feel grateful for this tranquil time gathering my thoughts.
We started in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where we were reunited with our dear friends from New York, the Crevier Family. Siem Reap sits on a massive plain surrounded by rice fields and scattered populated clusters. It is a laid-back but lively town quickly adjusting to the tourism industry. As Chris pointed out, 20 years ago, Siem Reap had a population of 10,000. Today, more than 175,000 people live there! Lots of open-air restaurants, day and night markets, food carts, massage shops and moderate tuk-tuk traffic fill up the streets gently and gracefully.
Just a short tuk-tuk ride from Siem Reap, we embark on a journey back in time as we find ourselves marveling at the plentiful temples of the Angkor complex. Built with more stone than all the Egyptian pyramids put together and expanding over an area larger than modern-day Paris, Angkor is a compendium of over 200 magnificent temples. Each temple is an architectural wonder, each corner a stylistic twist, each stone a page of history, each carving a story told… Layers of moss delicately dress the ancient sandstone blocks, impossibly twisted roots find their way through cracks and crevices tightly hugging the walls together from the erosion of time and ever-changing sun rays dome the temples with enchantment.
Meandering through Angkor, I can’t help but wonder all that these dilapidated, yet most magnificent, walls have witnessed through centuries of tumultuous history: transitional religious periods of Hinduism, Atheism and Buddhism, barbaric Cham invasions, Khmer Rouge persecutions, civil war, genocide… Cambodian people have endured a long past of enormous hardship but, despite their traumatic history, their kind smiles and warm hearts seem to have prevailed.
Here I am now, in Luang Prabang, Laos. Our Cambodian “vagabonding” behind us. This time I sit quietly riverside in my little hotel room deck, diving into my loved world of written words…
The town of Luang Prabang in North-Central Laos, is a beautifully balanced mix of rural and urban, present and past, local and foreign, heritage and progress. French-colonial architecture lines up the streets of the old town, a peninsula delimited by the meandering and converging waters of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. Sophisticated storefronts of beautifully curated handwoven textiles and delicate handicrafts excite my creativity with vibrant hues, elaborate patterns, lavish textures and exquisite detailing. Gourmet Lao cuisine eateries awaken, fulfill and delight our tastebuds with bursting flavors of chillies and lemongrass, spiced pork and flambeed fresh fruits, and the intense orange robes of buddhist monks chaperone our wandering ways adding constant serenity to our footsteps… Truly a gift…
A tiny taste of the colors and textures of Laos (above)
But there is a Laos beyond the boundaries of Luang Prabang. Laos, The Kingdom of a Million Elephants, has endured the hardship of a long and mighty cruel history of rebellions, occupations, invasions, a large-scale civil war, starvation, annulment of human rights and massive aerial bombardment that to this day continues to claim over 50 lives per year (from unexploded bombs still hiding in the countryside). So off we go, bursting the bubble of Luang Prabang, on a three hour rickety drive North to Nong Kiaw through lush -albeit dusty, as it is indeed the dry season- mountain chains, rural villages of modest homes -huts-, locals going about their lives dressed in handwoven coverings, plentiful crops and blinding-white, cotton-candy clouds dispersed though the endlessly deep blue sky. In Nong Kiaw our local “boat” awaits to take us upriver to remote Muang Ngoi.
Nestled in the foothills of the jungle by the shore of the Nam Ou River, sits the tiny village of Muang Ngoi. Dirt paths, barefoot children playing outside, fishermen mending their nets and savory smells of satays slowly roasting on street fire pits, all surrounded by breathtaking scenery taken out of an Apocalypse Now movie frame. Welcome to quintessential South-East Asia.
I write these words as we embark on a long journey that will take us back to back to Luang Prabang. Our families packed in a typical rudimentary wooden motorboat. I reflect back…
Behind us Muang Ngoi, Mr. Udd and the fun times we shared together. Days of adventure surrounded by indescribably beautiful, remote and virgin nature. Pristine valleys ruled by herds of water buffalo rolling in the mud framed all around by fluorescent-green velveteen mountains. Magnificent trekking on meandering trails through thick bamboo forests, peaceful creeks, dramatic waterfalls and playful clouds flirting with the hill tops.
Hidden deep in the mountains, away from it all, a few scattered tribal villages watch us walk by intrigued by our baggage and amused by our children. Walking though the Kahmu village, the tribe seems depressed. Not much activity is going on around the family huts where mothers squat on the ground to breastfeed their young, while groupings of barefoot children dressed in rags and elderly villagers watch us -the world- go by.
We spend the night with the Hmong tribe. Unlike the Kahmu, the Hmong villagers greet us warmly and take us in providing shelter and nourishment for our tired, hungry -and lively- bunch! The village is simple and modest but well organized and incredibly industrious. Handwoven baskets strategically placed for litter collection. Ample wild lawns with dozens of children chasing chicks and ducklings amidst laughter and joy. Rudimentary bulky contraptions being mightily pulled, pushed, whacked or spun to juice, grind, mill and knead the locally harvested rice, corn and sugar cane. Flaming fires grilling to perfection the fresh water catch of the day. Newborns napping, rocking back and forth, on tree hammocks under the eagle watch of their young siblings… and before we can introduce ourselves, our own children blend right in joining the fun of Hmong life. As the night falls and despite the never-ending activity around the village, we all collapse under the bright Milky Way.
It is 3:00 am (yikes!) and the Hmong families are up again ready to tackle yet another active and lively day. By the time we slowly crawl out of our hut, eyes partially shut (6:30 am) it is clear that we have already missed out on a whole lot of cooking, milling, kneading, washing, playing, preparing… oh well…
We feel grateful for the opportunity, for the experience and for the adventure. Thank you, Hmong village. It is time to continue on. A long hike back to Muang Ngoi awaits ahead. Off we go, ushered far beyond the limits of the village by a handful of local kids until, eventually, we part ways with a heart felt goodbye.
Our jungle trek over the hills is full of adventure and our adrenaline rises quickly at the sight of a herd of water buffalo “stampeding” through our narrow trail. We laugh hysterically while running through leech-infested stretches, picking the creepy crawlies off of our skin and the kids even scream at the sight of a big snake slithering right past them.
Back in Luang Prabang, it is time to part ways with the Creviers. Albeit a sad goodbye, we feel grateful for the time spent together and we are excited about what lays ahead as our trip takes us back to Cambodia: a second glimpse at the Angkor temples, flooded forests, floating villages, mishaps on the waters of the Mekong River and a truly inspiring, fulfilling and eye-opening experience volunteering at a small, off-the-bitten-track local school (more on this coming on a different post!).
It is back in Siem Reap that we dance the night away to the tunes of live rock’n’roll music to say goodbye to 2016 (what a year it has been!) and greet the new year together. Cheers to a 2017 full of fulfilling challenges for all!
theintrepid5: the Kaltreider adventure 