We were given one week off in the middle of the 9 week program in order to have a rest and travel but we were required to do informal research on an area of interest for our final 10 page report due at the end of the second month. Some ‘break!’ I decided to write about food since I knew I would enjoy the research, but I wanted to visit some place I had never been. I contacted my friend Rezia who was the Indonesian language Fulbright TA at ASU last year. She and her family live in Surabaya and invited me for a visit, after which I planned to relax and take a cooking lesson in Bali. I’d never spent more than a few hours in Surabaya, as it’s a common transit point between Central and Eastern Indonesia. This was a good opportunity to get to know the town with the help of insiders. I took an overnight shuttle to her house (a harrowing experience: crazy driver, narrow roads, big trucks…) and after a brief nap and a delicious breakfast of Lontong Balap* (see photos) we set out to explore her favorite warungs (food stalls).

The take away: In general, Javanese food is thought of as sweet (lots of palm sugar is used to counteract the spice of chilies or the sour flavor of tamarind, vinegar or blimbing wulu (a type of sour star fruit). terasi (fermented shrimp paste) and peanuts are used in sauces in a high percentage of dishes. One might get fried meat, tofu or tempe and steamed vegetables but they are often covered in terasi-scented peanut sauce. Coconut milk is also frequently used and this gives dishes a rich, sweet flavor. Central Java (where I was based) is the home of this cuisine, and people who live outside of the area are always quick to comment on the sweetness of the food there.

In Surabaya I found lots of seafood in restaurants and in the markets as the city is built around a giant arching port. Palm sugar is used but in smaller quanitities; chilies are used in higher quantities so the result is spicier food. Instead of terasi, a similar ingredient named petis is used (or sometimes both). I am still trying to ascertain the difference between the two. Originally I thought that petis contained palm sugar or kecap manis (a soy sauce sweetened with palm sugar that is commonly used in Indonesian cooking) because it looks like thick melted sauce or gel. After sampling some raw petis, I know this is not the case. With terasi, the shrimp is fermented and ground before being further dried and sold in blocks. It is usually roasted before being added to dishes. It may or may not have salt added to it. Petis may or may not be cooked before use.

Both have an incredibly strong smell and taste, but like fish sauce, when it is added to food it brings out a certain depth of flavor and its strong smell and taste tend to blend into the background. Also similar to fish sauce found elsewhere in Southeast Asia, petis can be made from crab just as fish sauce can be made from squid. There are different grades of petis (A, B, & C), and I found that cooks in Surabaya were very particular about the brands that they use. Many cooks in the roadside warungs combine the various grades because to use only their favorite brand of grade A would be very expensive. Other seasonings are added and ground peanuts often complete the sauce but Surabaya also has a sambal (spicy dipping sauce) petis that is served as a dipping sauce or spicy side with soups and dishes such as Lontong Balap.

Other differences are simply regional preference, meaning for example that while you can find the Indonesian dish Rujak just about anywhere in Indonesia, the contents and sauce ingredients will vary. In Central Java rujak is generally green (sour/unripe) fruits served with a very sweet yet spicy peanut sauce made to order to your spice preference. In Surabaya Rujak Cingur is very popular. Along with green mango and pineapple, the dish also contains steamed vegetables such as bean sprouts and water spinach and fried tofu and tempe along with chewy blocks of cingur or cow lip and cheek. Besides being less sweet and more spicy, the peanut sauce in Surabaya also often contains a type of grated green banana called pisang batu. So it’s quite fun to see how the same dish is served in different areas of Indonesia. The best rujak I have had so far was on the beach in Ambon. The sauce was more sour and spicy than sweet, and the fruits available there are different from in Java. The setting no doubt adds to the flavor.

For the rest of the weekend we pretty much ate our way through Surabaya. It was great. We had es puter, the delicious coconut ice cream sold on the street, the local version of rice porridge, bubur Madura (which gave me a toothache just to see it), and I tried ikan bandeng or milk fish along with tempe penyet and tahu telur. We visited the Sampoerna cigarette factory and museum, the museum of health, Rezia’s family took us to delicious Indian food and her mom made us a delicious parting lunch with a version of tempe mendowan which I have made since. It was a great to see Rezia, meet her family and try so many local specialties.

*a term that means ‘to race’ but after writing about ‘my delicious breakfast of lontong balap’ in my paper, I was told that in Central Java the term also refers to male genitals. Wonderful. My teacher had a great laugh over this.

Still no camera but there are finally some photos up from friends. I didn’t write last week because I would have had to complain at length about my salah makan incident which I can now, with distance, laugh about and briefly describe here:

Most of us went to Solo after the second week of the program. It's about an hour ++ away. There was a big batik expo there which was really fun. Some of the gals and I got a very cheap hotel and ate in the street. Without thinking I ate the raw veggies that often accompany my safety food (nasi goreng) – but I don’t think that was it actually. Later that day after being told the whole shabang wouldn’t start until the next day, we actually found some cultural performances in an area (I think) named Gladeg. It is hard to miss because of the giant ‘welcome’ statue of a man waving a pistol (Indonesia has LOTS of interesting sculpture, my favorite of which is the Pizza Man in Jakarta). So by the pistol packing army guy we found lots of batik, lots of dancing and lots of traditional music. It was perfect, even more than I had hoped for. We hung there for much of the afternoon and had some great food at the Pasar Malam food stalls that open on the weekends.

In the expo center there was a whole section of oleh-oleh* for sale from different towns in Central Java. While trying to find my ibu something tasty to sample I came across a woman who convinced me to try a traditional market snack made from fermented wijen or sesame seeds. It tasted foul and the face I made convinced someone else to try it, after which I spit the rest out. He was also out sick for several days afterwards, so I think this is the source of my condition that followed, which can best be described by recalling an area of Semarang named Krapyak. Damn my sense of adventure. That tainted my week a bit, but Solo was a good time for most of us. The exception being a friend who got locked in a bathroom for almost an hour. Broken door. We had to come across town to rescue him because no one heard him banging on the door. Yikes.

They continue to work us hard in the program and we have had some interesting outings. We visited a pesantren just a few miles from Salatiga. It was in a lovely setting and the students were fun to talk with. We women were not allowed to enter the mosque for the special Friday sholat prayers but we watched a bit from the outside and talked to some of our Muslim friends who explained the pre-prayer cleansing ritual and the process of the prayers. The kyai was really nice and spoke about his interest in keeping an open dialog with people of other religions but he was a bit difficult to understand. Luckily there was another man who made some notes for us on white board. The most interesting thing to me was that the pesantren offers several work opportunities (at a supermarket, a motorcylce repair shop, etc.) where students get on the job training while they study there. Most students spend most of the day studying at an Islamic college in town called STAIN, and then they return to the pesantren where they study Islam and if they also want on the job training they can do that too. 

The weekend after Solo we took a group trip to Yogyakarta. The first day we went straight to a desa (small village) home stay which included a great dinner in an amazing old pendopo or traditional Javanese building with dancing and singing etc. We then split up into small groups and met our home stay families. Four of us gals crashed shoulder-to-shoulder on mats in a simple house after much-awaited baths.

The ibu was awesome and made us a lovely breakfast of rice, fried tempe and chicken. Some others were up at 5:30 a.m. for a tour of the village and 'footsal'. After my young friends texted their boyfriends all night I thought it wise to sleep in until 6:15, after which we headed to the sawah where we took turns turning up the mud and planting rice. It took a bit for me to warm up to the idea of tramping around in a muddy rice padi as I am not fond of snakes and creepy crawlies, but once I jumped in I didn’t want to get out. The soil is really fine and the mud felt good between my toes. The people who run the village were great and we had a really good time.

After that we headed to the city where we were set free so I treated myself to a lovely salad and a giant hunk of European style bread at a bakery owned by some friends. We all met up again on Jalan Malioboro which was predictably chaotic. I picked up some of Indonesia’s finest chocolate (Chocolate Monggo which sports the Javanese word for ‘please go ahead’) for an in-class discussion I had to lead on the company. It was a popular topic!

We then visited Prambanan, a huge, amazingly beautiful Hindu temple complex just NE of the city, and even had dinner and watched the ballet with the temple lit up in the background. I highly recommend it. As it was the 4th of July, we swilled beer and tortured our Australian, Swedish and Indonesian friends with our vague patriotism (thank you Obama). I had some American flags and little 4th of July themed pins (which said things like "I heart USA" and "USA rocks" - with a photo of a guitar. Super gooffy. We put flags on all of the tables to some protest. These were most popular with our Indonesian friends and least popular with the Australians but they put up with us. There was also a very grumpy table of French folks next to us who were not amused one little bit. Our friends humored us, which is definitely what friends are for. Humor.

The next day an old Javanese woman came to the house back in Salatiga to give me a nice massage. It's a bit different from Swedish massage - there is pinching and rolling and long strokes with a hot, muscle-penetrating oil (cloves maybe). It was lovely. All week I have felt more relaxed and for 25,000 Rupiah ($2.50) I wish I could get one every day. Ibu Essy has not been as busy lately as her café is closed. I feel badly that I am out most of the day and after dinner I hide in my room to do homework. I am not the best company, but we have good chats over meals. This morning she made me bubur Menado, which is rice porridge with veggies, salted fish and a delicious tomato sambal. I have requested it again after I come back from break.

I am a tad disappointed that I have caved and opted to go to Bali with a few COTIM friends, but I at least get to spend a few days in Surabaya with my Indonesian teacher from this past year first. I will see Rezia and her family Saturday and Sunday and then head over to relax in Bali for the rest of the week. I am currently looking for a cooking lesson in Kuta or Ubud and will visit markets and hopefully talk to some Balinese cooks about chili use and Balinese food.

*the sometimes mysterious ‘local specialties’ you must buy when leaving home or visiting some place new so that whoever you go to see or return to can sample the flavors of the area from which you came!

                I have been here two weeks now and the adjustment has been a little more difficult than I imagined. In two years there are a lot of things that I forgot about or forgot how to do and a lot of vocabulary slipped my mind. The first week I was flooded with information—cultural knowledge, vocabulary, and some frustrations came back; it was overwhelming at times. Indonesia is a land of extremes: there is a minority with serious ‘means’ and a majority with very little; islands are extremely dry on one side and very wet on the other; they have good resources or none at all; food can be really spicy or sickeningly sweet (compare a meal in Central Java to Sumatran Padang food); the earth is calm or there’s a tsunami that kills hundreds of thousands of people or a minor earthquake that kills 6000. My new mantra: "ini-lah Indonesia," that's just how it is. 

It ain’t always easy living here. That said, I’m a bule (read: whitey), so my life is pretty damn good. I am constantly the center of attention (uncomfortable but at times flattering), and most things are a lot cheaper here than in the States. I have good moments and bad moments, and usually when I think all is copacetic, that’s when the shit hits the fan and I lose it. I was in tears on the phone to Wez yesterday over a broken camera and feeling a bit homesick. He’s also been my sort of ‘window’ to Indonesia, knowing the language, culture and history and he’s not here to talk about stuff with. I miss him constantly. But now that I have finally figured out how to contact my husband easily (attempting to Skype has been a serious and prolonged exercise in futility), once again all is santai. Mantap, even. Now I just have to figure out how to get enough sleep.

I am in the most populous Muslim country in the world on the most densely populated island in the world and the mosque call wakes me up at about 4:15am every morning, though my alarm is set for 6:30. I like hearing the call to prayer, don’t get me wrong. There is something truly attractive about it (I almost used the word ‘sexy’ but couldn’t figure out how to explain that one – but I think ‘exotic’ is a bit more appropriate). Other than alla-hoo-ak-bar (grossly misspelled, but you get it) I have no idea what it means but I really like the idea of this message echoing across the landscape, reminding people below that it’s not all about them, and it’s about time they got down on their knees and gave thanks that they have knees to kneel on. I just wish it was like, one call and not a cacophony rising up from all areas of the valley below. I also wish that it didn’t start so early, and I desperately wish that they would not let small children do the call to prayer as one nearby mosque does. It grates on my nerves. I like the soulful, even, determined voices that don’t crack. It’s a tape for cripes sake. It seems like a coupla takes would be necessary anyways. Wish, wish, wish.

My home life is nothing less than awesome. I love my Ibu. She is hilarious and cute, and she is very patient with me. As I mentioned in the last entry, Ibu Essy works very hard running a café at STIBA, the language institute associated with UKSW. Right now the school is on vacation so she is not super busy, but she does catering and she is very active in her church. She is always heading off to an ibadah (prayer meeting) or visiting sick members or families of people who’ve recently passed away. I have had non-stop fish, which is funny because Wez and I very rarely ate fish when we were in Salatiga before. I think it’s because we weren’t sure where it was coming from, but it’s delicious. Sometimes we eat salt water fish, sometimes fresh water fish, almost always fried. Tonight there was ground coriander seed on it which was delicious. She likes to bring home or cook things for me to try. Today she brought me a young coconut. The other day she made an Ambonese cake flavored with nutmeg, cloves and rich palm sugar. She asked me what I wanted to eat other than fish and I started naming foods that we had often asked our pembantu to cook, but Ibu Essy didn’t know some of them—a reminder that she is not Javanese. Again, this is a good thing, but better to let her figure out what to put on the table.

What else? The program is good, well-done, with excellent teachers, but er…intensive as advertised. I have been knocking myself out trying to follow the rules, catch up on words lost and learn new ones. Now that I’ve asked to be in the high level I have to work a little harder. The other people in the level have a better vocabulary base but I think I may(?) get more of what’s said and be slightly more confident in speaking. That said, my writing stinks, so I am trying to review grammar, etc. etc. etc…meanwhile I have been staying up too late trying to get homework done. Because of lack of sleep issues, I am in the process of a serious re-evaluation meaning I am going to start worrying less about getting everything done.

We have a new member so I think we are now 13, and the COTIM group has now been joined by the PIBBI group which consists of a ton of Australians and one Swede. It is a relief in that they are less formal, but they are younger so the groups still tend to hang out by themselves. I am really enjoying the people in our group. There are a few people in my neighborhood who I quite like including the new gal and a former Fulbright ETA named Megan, who is my partner in crime (we have not committed any yet but the intent is there). I am the only woman in my class (we are a minority, and so are spread thin) but the guys range in personality there is a nice balance. We got a new member today so there are now 5 of us and so far it’s been a good learning environment. Some of our activities are done as a group—outings, demos and speakers and we are all studying the exact same material but the approach is varied.

Other than the broken camera, I’ve been able to navigate on my own and have learned a new trick. The ojek is a motorcycle ‘taxi’ usually available in the afternoon, but as with many things here, you have to bargain and know about how much things cost. Since I live at the top of a hill and it takes about 20 minutes for me to get to school, it also takes the same amount of time and a fair bit more effort to get home. There aren’t a lot of street lamps, so ojeks provide me with a new freedom that I didn’t need before since we had a motorcycle. I can now stay out a little later or get somewhere farther on one mode of transport so I am feeling a bit more independent. That said, the carpet rolls up in this town by 9pm, so it’s not like I am out partying it up ‘til 2am. Most of us did have a few beers the other night, which lubricated a much needed vent-session, but I was still home by 7pm (thank you tukang ojek!).

 I suppose that is more than enough for now. I don’t think I mentioned that the trip to Jakarta was good. The night bus was actually pretty darn comfy, the wedding was great (but hot), and I caught up with our friend Aubrey who was in the first PIBBI session with us. We had an interesting lecture on the Samin, a rogue group of Javanese who haven’t paid taxes since the Dutch put the squeeze on them years ago, we have a field trip to some food factories tomorrow and a bunch of us are going to Solo for the batik expo this weekend. I will report back on the news from Salatiga! Hopefully, eventually, with photos…

I wrote this a few days ago - apologies, as it's a bit dry. We have been kept incredibly busy this week so I haven't had time to post photos or do much of anything else other than homework, but things are good. I am really happy to be back in Indonesia and with friends in Salatiga. My Indonesian has improved markedly in just the first week - lotsa vocab has flooded back and I'm remembering my Indonesian manners. I am currently waiting to see whether or not I am allowed to move up a level in Indonesian and today I am off to Jakarta. Hopefully I'll get to post photos Monday afternoon. -Meg

After a few days visiting friends in Bandung, I have arrived in Salatiga and have had a few days to settle in. It is fantastic to be back and see old friends. I arrived on Sunday (6/14) and was brought by my new “LTC friends” to my home stay, which is fantastic. I stay with a lovely woman named Ibu (Mrs.) Essy. She is 60, has two children who live and work elsewhere (one of whom I actually met before), and she works at the café in the foreign language school (STIBA) which is affiliated with UKSW. Her husband taught at UKSW but passed away a few years ago, so it’s just us on top of a quiet hilltop in a big house that overlooks a lush green part of Salatiga. Ibu Essy is from West Timor, which is in Eastern Indonesia, so she is a tad more direct than your average Javanese person, which I appreciate very much. We filled out a form about ourselves and our preferences before arriving and I think the LTC (Language Training Center – formerly Pusat Bahasa) folks chose a good fit. We already get along quite well, and though I was a little worried about privacy in a home stay situation, it’s not an issue. Ibu Essy’s cooking is delicious and she seems open to cooking with me which I am excited about. My sole complaint is that she loves the TV which is always on. This is fairly standard (sangat Indonesian), but as I am not a big TV watcher I find it distracting and will have to find a good spot to do homework.

                We started the program at 8am the next day (I am fast becoming an early riser between this and the 4am mosque call) and it looks like we’re going to have quite a lot of work and not a lot of free time. We have a ton of classes and assignments every week. Other than this intro week, we’ll be working most days from 8am to 2pm; Wednesdays until 6pm. Lots of homework, reports due every Monday and a 10 page paper & performance of the culture class I choose is due at the end of the program. We have a few group excursions on which I think we’ll be joined by the PIBBI program participants. This is the program I did before, and about 18 people mostly from Australia will join us next week but they will have their own classes. All in, there will be about 32 students at the newly built LTC facility which is a vast improvement from the Pusat Bahasa facilities where we studied before. Meanwhile for some reason they are building yet another facility for next year. I know most of our teachers from living here before, and they are quite good. The two Indonesian professors from the States who are running COTIM with the UKSW folks seem nice but I am not sure if they are teaching too or if they are just coordinating things.

There are 12 of us from about 10 different universities. There are a lot of cool people, most of whom have been to Indonesia before, but I have a sort of home court advantage here in Salatiga. Since many of them have spent a lot of time in other parts of Indonesia, I’m hoping we can trade info & help each other out. The LTC friends include a few past students of mine from when I taught English here before. It’s great to see them again and make new friends as well. There are several people I am eager to see who aren’t connected with the English or language departments but I don’t think I’ll be able to start visiting people until next week after I get back from Jakarta.

Today (day 2) I was tested (on camera for some reason) and tomorrow we learn what level class we will be assigned to. We’ll have a few days to try it out before having the option to change at levels again at the end of the week. We were taken around town and to a delicious lunch via mini bus, pedicab and horse and buggy (angkota, becak and andong or dokar respectively). Today we also had demos from all of the culture classes. We can only choose one and it’s killing me. I can’t decide. I feel like I have to take cooking (and I want to because I will learn new things), however batik and gamelan are also pretty tempting! The gamelan demo was really fun – there is an amazing teacher who I have written about in this blog before. He’s a tiny little Javanese man with a huge personality and a large stick with which he smacks the board where the music is written. It’s frightening in a good way. If the kids who did the demo with us are going to participate in the class I might have to join it as many of them are young and amazing. There was a Javanese dance demo with one song and a wayang kulit demo by an 11 year old who already knows how to perform the whole 9 hour bit in high Javanese. We also had a really amazing pencat silat (Indonesian martial art) demo which is tempting because I could use the exercise. The kids were amazing as well. It was a really fun if not long afternoon.

Bandung was great. I visited with our friends Charlie & family and Tony and met his new wife and kids (who are all awesome). They bent over backwards to make me feel comfortable and help me transition to the new time zone and life back in Indonesia. I think the most challenging thing at first was getting accustomed to the driving again. I forgot how long it takes to go anywhere and how insane traffic is. It is practically lawless. Roads are always full of people in or on every type of vehicle all at once (including at times people on horseback). At every stoplight sad baby-carrying, maimed or serenading beggers, sellers of all things useless (including at times porn), and the occasional random animal crowd in and around the vehicles impatiently waiting to go nowhere fast. It is dizzying how oncoming traffic will cross into the opposite lane with no warning or space, forcing those driving the opposite direction to adjust—and they do. To this day I have seen one small accident in Indonesia where a car bumped into a scooter with a family of 4 on it. No one was hurt and I still cannot get over that fact.

We ate awesome Sundanese food, including a visit to a restaurant that cooks traditional food over a wood fire. I tried a ton of things I’d never seen before (and still cannot identify). Sundanese food is heavy on the vegetables and light on the meat which is great for vegetarian-oriented folks such as myself. Nasi liwet is a new favorite – it’s flavored subtly with chili, red shallots, a rhizome similar but different than ginger, and coconut milk. Yenny & Tony took me to Kopi Aroma – a famous coffee roaster where beans are roasted in ancient equipment over a wood fire (see photos). They were also thoughtful enough to find time for me to get a nice long (and inexpensive) massage which instantly made life better in so many ways. I also picked up a few things I knew I wouldn’t be able to find in Salatiga, such as some movies and a few things from the pharmacy.

So now it’s just more settling in to the pattern of the language program and life back in Salatiga. I have had to remember that I can’t do as much in a day here as I would normally in the U.S. Things just take longer, life (and the internet) moves more slowly, some things just aren’t available (such as Skype at the local internet café!), the town shuts down at 9pm though minivans stop running at 7pm. I have to slow down and focus…though I have this nagging backlog of things I need to accomplish. This weekend I will go to Jakarta for an old friend’s wedding, so there is always next week, next week to get things done.

I have about 30 hours before I leave and I'm struggling to get everything done. There is never enough time! Wez threw a lovely going away shindig for me last night. He made delicious pizza and I made some guacamole using the jalepenos and tomatoes from our container garden. I am sad to go before everything ripens! And I wish I had more time relaxing with Wez and the kitties before my departure.

I am really looking forward to Indonesia. En route to Salatiga, I will visit Bandung, West Java, to see our friends Tony and his new family and Charlie and Susan and their kids. It's a bit of extra travel but it will be a great way to adjust to the time before starting language school and catch up with our friends. I arrive Thursday 6/11 in Bandung and will fly to Semarang (the closest airport to Salatiga) on Sunday 6/14. We start classes Monday 6/15. The first weekend after I arrive our friend Kwanni is getting married, so I will head back to Jakarta to be there for that event.

Until Java...

After Ayuthaya I had a night in Bangkok, then went to Kanchanaburi, then a last long day before heading back to the U.S. I stayed in the Sukumvit area with Rebecca, last year's Sage Scholar. She recently graduated from ASU, is there studying Thai, and will soon be starting her masters program in Southeast Asian studies at U. Michigan, Ann Arbor.

We were lucky that Pop, an a friend from ASU is now back in Bangkok. Rebecca took Thai with him this last year. He is great fun and has really nice friends. He picked us up one night so that we could see Fon (another friend and my TA this past Spring), who was getting ready to go back to ASU to start school. We met at a club and watched a cover band. Once there, they treated us to a huge feast of Thai specialties (though we'd just eaten a delicious dinner at Cabbages and Condoms. Dish after dish arrived in a spectacular display of Thai hospitality (or maybe they were just hungry too). Of course we tried them all. One of the highlights was a steamed omelette made in a soup boat. 

After returning from Kanchanaburi, Rebecca and I checked out a roof top bar and then opted for a visit to raucus Khao San Road. At night it becomes a walking street full of vendors and fly-by-night beer stalls. I would compare it to walking in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the sense that people tend to be hammered or in the process of getting there and the entire focus of the neighborhood seems to revolve around this goal. I am so glad I haven't stayed there - though it is the bargain bin of the city. The Brits I'd met in Ayuthaya had said they'd spent 5 days in Bangkok and that it was way too much. I asked them what they'd seen and the answer was 'Khao San bars'. I can't imagine traveling half-way across the world just to get wasted for 5 days straight, but to each his own. It made me wonder how many travelers take this route, eating Pad Thai and Happy Pizzas washed down with beer between destinations.

That said, Rebecca and I joined the party. We bought a beer and some fried bugs and walked down the street to people watch and see the whole spectacle that is Khao San. The bugs weren't bad, and I finally made it past the legs. Rebecca is a brave one. She went first and popped it right in her mouth. We both agreed that the beer helps. She also ordered up some belut (half formed duck eggs) on her recent trip to the Philippines! I have no plans for that one, but we each ate several bugs, then spent the rest of our time trying to convince others to help us finish the bag (several takers, mostly Thai). In a shocking turn of events we found a taxi driver who would actually use his meter to take us back home.

On the last day I had to run around and shop for a few things. I wore myself out and was mostly unsuccessful. I can't believe how many malls there are in central Bangkok (I explored them all, which is not my idea of a good time unless they have good food courts). Earlier though, Rebecca and I had a fun, touristy outing to Dusit Palace Park, where we toured the Vimanmek Teak Mansion, which is huge and amazing, and was used in the early 1900's as a home for the royal family. We weren't able to take any photos of it unfortunately but I highly recommend it if you can get there. The park is also a nice break from the city.

We took the khlong water taxi back to Siam Square and had our first shabu shabu experience (it was actually an all you can eat combination shabu shabu/sushi spot, which was kind of exciting). The only time on my entire trip that I found myself unbearably burning up from spicy chili was when I stupidly dipped my soup spoon into the shabu shabu pot and didn't realize that I was slurping up a spoonful of the chili oil floating on top of the broth instead of the broth itself. Tears. Pain.

Later that night (post shopping and post Thai massage - ahhh...), we met up with Pop and his friend again and they took us out to have some great Bangkok street food. We actually had not one, but two delicious dinners in a row: noodle soup kuay tiow, and some sauteed noodles as well as some yummy fried fish skin snacks. Now that I'm home I wish I'd brought some back.

This time Bangkok was easier to negotiate and I look forward to returning so that I can see more sights and good friends again. It is a good place to get started or finish a trip since anything you could possibly need can be found there. I lament the disappearance of the vendors on the bottom floors of the government's craft center (which is now located in a fancy hotel). Next time I will make it to the Chatuchak weekend market outside the city - maybe they've all moved out there? I will be back to hit up the 5th floor food vendors and other stalls in the Mahboonkrong Center (MBK) and shop at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar (especially now that our friend Poth has a space there selling his tees), and look forward to more Bangkok street food...though I dread the negotiations for tuk-tuks and taxis that will get me around late at night or to those spots out of the range of the subway and sky train. Next time: Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha and get a massage...I can't wait and have already started planning a trip to show Wez Laos and more of Thailand.

Okay, so there's Chonburi, Chanthaburi and there's Kanchanaburi...and there's a buch of other names with chana and buri all in the same area on the Thai map for that matter. It's a long story, and I had a lot of help getting there, but after getting on a bus for Chanthaburi I realized something was wrong. The price of the ticket was too high and the length of the trip was too long...phone call. I wasn't even at the right bus station! An hour and a half later and I was on the right bus (or at least a bus for the right destination - I took the local bus instead of the express)...Thank goodness relatives are forgiving. I went to see my husband's brother's wife's mother's cousin - and I think it's actually cousin by marriage - but family's family! And I was treated like royalty.

Doctors Varin and Sunan own a farm 100KM outside of Kanchanaburi on the road that leads to Three Pagoda's Pass on the Thai-Burma border. After my late arrival we stopped at the bridge over the river Kwai (you know the movie), a cemetery commemorating those that died constructing the Thai-Burma railway under the Japanese during WWII, the lovely Saiyoknoi Waterfall, a roadside spot famous for pedaling spicy and sour Thai pork sausage, as well as the lovely Sai Yok Waterfall and suspension bridge in the national park of the same name. We had a great dinner which included the local treats we had picked up along the way, and finally arrived at the farm after dark.

The farm is a collection of orchards - predominantly mangosteen but there are also pomelos, avocados, corn and other delicious things. I arrived at the very end of the mangosteen harvest and count myself lucky because not only did I get to have fresh mangosteen, but I also had some delicious mangosteen preserves on my morning toast. There were dogs and siamese cats with kittens and all sorts of things to see on the property. Just outside the house there is  a stream with a waterfall, which runs to the same river that runs through Sai Yok Park. The river provides the border for the property. There are even some cabins, camp sites, and a floating pavilion that they rent out in tourist season.

The next day I was out of bed by 6a.m. (everyone else had been up for at least half an hour already). We had breakfast, played with the kitties, toured the property and picked some fruit before setting off for the nearby Hindad Hot Springs. The hot springs are located right next to a cool river so you can dip back and forth - cool and then hot. There are nice pools with slightly different temperatures and a pavilion where you could have a Thai massage afterwards. It was all very relaxing. Afterwards we drove a bit to a clay dam where hydroelectric power is generated for Bangkok. The view was quite nice. The mountains that provide the thick natural border between Thailand and Burma are visible all along the road the dam. For lunch we visited friends who took us out to a nearby restaurant for lots of delicious fish dishes.

Laden with tons of fresh fruit, sausages and mangosteen preserves, I caught a ride back to the bus station in Kanchanaburi with a friend of the family. I was back in Bangkok before eight to meet up with Rebecca, the Sage Scholar from last year.

After crossing back to Hat Xai Khun on the mainland from Don Khong I waited an hour for a shuttle back to Pakse (to connect me to a bus to cross the border into Thailand). Two phone calls later and it still hadn't shown up. I paced up the road to relieve a little stress and met a really nice Lao couple who own a store. They made me a much needed cup of coffee and we chatted a bit using English, French and Lao. There are photos of them in the Don Khong folder. After a nice visit I went to the end of the road and the shuttle finally came, offloading about 6 people who ran to buy beer or smoke cigarettes. The driver had forgotten to stop for me and they had to turn the bus around though they'd driven half an hour past my stop. I was relieved that they came back but was worried about making my bus as my Lao visa was close to being expired. It turned out that an American I'd met at the dolphin watching post in Cambodia was on the same shuttle so we had a raucus Franco-American debate with this great French couple, and that took my mind off the fact that I might miss my bus.

To make a long story short, I barely made that bus, but my day was miserable after that. Extortionist border guards, a dishonest tour company and a jerky bus driver later and I was dumped at the northern bus station in Bangkok at 4:30 a.m. (it was supposed to arrive at 6:30 - seriously, how do you cut two hours off of a trip?!). I had planned to jump on another bus to Ayuthaya (which is north of Bangkok by an hour and a half) but they weren't running yet so I had some coffee and life got better. The coffee I had in Laos and Thailand was consistently really good! It might have been the fact that my odd coffee mug had a picture of a Native American in a feathered headdress on it and it read "Mr. Coffee."

One of the reasons I chose Ayuthaya (besides being interested in SEA history) was that a fellow traveler I'd met in Laos talked about a woman who had offered to teach him to cook Thai food at his guest house there and I wanted another Thai cooking lesson. I couldn't get through to the guest house on the number he gave me, so got a room at another place (a really great, comfortable, not-too-expensive room, which was just what I needed to recover from my long night of travel). Later I rented a bicycle and sought her out - and she was nothing like I expected.

Somsii is an incredibly sweet, beer-loving woman who speaks very little English yet manages to take excellen care of the guests where she works. The owner explained that Somsii would take me to the market the next day, and if I bought ingredients she would teach me to cook some dishes, and then she (the owner) split for Chiang Mai. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around cool temple ruins, stopping only to eat the lunch I'd picked up at the market earlier in a park. I'd watched the man roast shallots and different types of chilies and then pound them to bits with a mortar and pestle, adding fish, fish sauce (fermented and bottled), a beetle and msg. The steamed veggies I dipped in it were crisp and delicious as was the roasted catfish. Sticky rice and a coke completed the meal. 

I could not believe how much there was to see in Ayuthaya. It's not that big but it is packed with ruins and temples, monuments and museums, elephants and their trainers, and lots of rivers and khlongs. A bike is a great way to see the town, though I got a bit lost a few times.

The next day I pedaled back to Maradok Thai Guesthouse and Somsii took me and two very confused young Brits to the market to buy our lunch ingredients. They didn't know what they were getting into and were a bit freaked out by the market and were worried about food safety. I assured them the freshly fried snacks and fruit we'd bought (rambutan and longan - both lychee relatives with removable skins) were safe and that the rest of our food would be cooked. I'm not sure where they thought the food they'd eaten to date had come from, but I hope now that they are a bit more adventurous on their trip. I did tell them that if they didn't try durian before they went home that they were total wimps, and then I followed Somsii to the kitchen.

We made some clear tofu soup and then some lunch orders came in. Somsii broke out the beer but we managed to make a green curry before things completely broke down. I abstained so that I could make it to a few more sights before everything closed, but promised to return when my sightseeing was done. After that I hit the Ayuthaya Historical Study Centre which is small but has good exhibits on Ayuthaya's role in Thai trade and Thai life. Later I went to the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum which has the elaborate gold offerings found inside the main stupa at Wat Ratchaburana. The day before I'd descended down the narrow stairs to where the offerings had been laid to view the murals painted on the walls inside. The two sights together were a real treat.

I spent the rest of the day visiting more wats, feeding the elephants at the kraal in town and visiting a few markets - one featuring regional snacks Thais can take back to their relatives after visiting Ayuthaya and another featuring an entire avenue filled with night time food vendors. It was so hard to decide, but after a recommendation from some friendly Thai tourists, I finally settled on Hoy Thot, a mussel and wheat flour omelette served over bean sprouts, with mango, coconut cream and sticky rice for dessert. I've decided the latter tastes best topped with toasted sesame seeds (as it was served to me in Chiang Mai). I made it back to Maradok Thai for one beer but was excused when a giant thunderstorm came through.

The next day I would return to Bangkok by train after stopping for some roti, a local treat Thais take home as a souvenier for the friends and family they left behind. I knew that I would see Pop and Fon (from ASU) as well as our pal Poth, so I stocked up. You get a bag of brightly colored sugar strands that look like dyed neon hair extensions which sort of tastes like cotton candy. You wrap some of these strands in a thin unsweetened pancake, and it makes a delicious and colorful snack.

I had just enjoyed a great day on a tour of Wat Phu and the 4000 Islands area with a Cambodian-American family, so I didn't think that things could get much better than that. I took a boat across the channel from the mainland to the Don Khong, the largest of the 4000 Islands to meet Lolak, the nephew of a friend of Art (from Vientiane). Art's friends live in Honolulu, Hawaii where they run a Lao/Thai restaurant, and they still own some property in Laos. It was at their house that I stayed, and their relatives took excellent care of me and we had a great time, language barrier and all.

Art had explained that I was interested in Lao food and cooking, so I was treated to amazing food and was able to help cook. The first night we made Tom Yum Paa - hot and sour fish soup. I cooked with an ingredient I cannot find the name for - it's a very hard green citrus fruit full of sour seeds which are used to flavor the soup (and we later used them to flavor a fish jaew (spicy sauce). A niece (Dam) stayed with me at the house and a nephew (Lolak) and his wife came by often and we'd talk using my limited Lao phrase book and a few phone calls from English speaking relatives in Vientiane and of course, Hawaii. I am still kicking myself for not having a better phrase book or dictionary (or command of the Lao language!), but we did fine (with help) and they were all fantastically forgiving.

A grandmother would come by often and make jokes with me (ironically she made the most sense). I had brought apples for everyone and served them with some chocolate, almonds and dried apricots after a meal, but she couldn't eat them - no teeth! So I made her apple sauce the next day which without MSG was probably bland as all getout to her, but I threw in some ginger and lime leaves to perk it up and she smiled at me so that was good. Dam made mok paa (steamed fish in banana leaves) for me the next day and we had that for a few meals, later with an omelette.

There was also a fun trip to the local market (see photos). Different place, different ingredients. That was evidenced when we later made laap paa - with again, slightly different seasonings. I might describe some of the dishes I had in the south as simpler (ingredients-wise), but extremely flavorful. Everyone seems to have their own recipe, though the dishes that I had were offered all over (though understandably less fish away from the Mekong). In laap some people use dried chili powder, some use fresh chopped chilies for example. No galangal. Dam also reduced the lime juice with which the fish was cured on the coal stove and added a little broth before serving it, which was great. We had a delicious fish jaew, which was made with pad dek (fermented fish sauce) and the fish from the pad dek - it had so much flavor! It was spicy, fishy (in a good way), salty and sour from sliced lime leaves and more citrus seeds. We used it to dip bits of sticky rice, almost like blotting it, and the rice soaks up the flavor like a sponge.

Dam also took me for a motorcycle ride (I seriously had the royal treatment) around most of the island. We stopped at a few Buddhist temples and rolled past endless wet rice paddies before the rain turned us around. We made it to the northern tip of the island, which is the 'top' or beginning of the 4000 Islands, where a new hotel complex is being built. The owners are recently returned Lao. I spoke to the wife who originally fled to the U.S. and later moved to France. Her children are probably a bit shocked by the slow pace of life on Don Khong.

It was difficult to leave the last day. I was so grateful for the experience but it was hard to express without speaking Lao. I think they know that I appreciated their efforts but will send a note to Hawaii so that they can hear it in translation. I am also most grateful to Art and Tip for setting the experience up.

 

The overnight bus to Pakse was not so bad. Plus: you don't have to pay for a room that night, and hopefully you can sleep through the travel. Minus: you get in pretty early in the morning and may have to wait for someone to check out before you get a room; you also share a bunk with a stranger of the same sex. I was psyched when I left the city because it was just me and I stretched my legs out diagonally and passed right out. Somewhere outside Vientiane the girl who was my bunkmate was picked up and she elbowed me over. Things were a little cramped afterwards, as the bunks are short, but it's not a bad way to travel, save money and time, and actually get some rest.

Got a room, showered and crashed for a bit, then promptly got lost on the streets of Pakse (I left my map at the hotel). It's not that big of a city, but some streets cross each other at odd angles and I was exhausted by the time I found the spot I wanted to hit for breakfast. Pakse is very close to the Bolavan Plateau which is coffee country, so I knew that I was assured a good wake up drink (I had two). While lost, I met a fantastic, really friendly Vietnamese man who insisted we speak French. My (high school) French is terrible, but I understood him and could answer but had a hard time asking him questions of my own, which was a bummer since he was so nice. The remnants of colonialism are always odd to experience. He knew a lot of miscellaneous facts such as how many kilometers wide the United States is. He also showed me a dollar bill and said 'George Washington'. He really made my day. There is a photo of him up in the first Southern Laos/Pakse album.

I tried to find someone who would rent me a motorbike for half a day so that I could get out of town to see Wat Phu but was unsuccessful. Something about Pakse was just - well, it was just too hot and there wasn't much to do or see. I was really excited about getting out of town and couldn't so I was a little frustrated. I had Indian food for the first time in months and took another nap. I finally managed to make plans late in the day and somehow, everything all came together so that I could join a pretty amazing tour, see all of the things I wanted to see and more, get dropped off afterwards to do a home stay, and get picked up to head to Bangkok a few days later, still on schedule and all for one price. I decided it was meant to be and packed a little bag for my trip.

As it turned out, the trip was not a normal tour that the agency offered. It had been put together at the request of a Cambodian-American woman, her kids, and her niece (who is from Siem Reap). They were a ton of fun and we had a really great day together. Our first stop was Wat Phu, a pre-Angkor/Angkor period temple south of Pakse and across the Mekong. Some of it dates from the 5th century B.C. The temple is beautiful and not nearly as extensive as its Angkor cousins, but similarly combines both Hindu and Buddhist imagery. It was built at the foot of a linga-shaped mountain top and  there is a lovely view of the Mekong and beyond as you climb up the hill. The museum houses some really fantastic statues and carvings, but we did not get to spend much time in it.

From there we headed back across the Mekong via car ferry and over 100 kilometers south to catch a small boat to Don Khon Island. We ate lunch (delicious catfish laap which the kitchen ladies let me watch them make - a slightly different recipe from up north) at Pan's Place, then took motorcycle taxis to the other side of the island to see the wide and raging Li Phi ('spirit trap') Falls. The falls extend between three points where 3 islands converge, so they are quite impressive.

From there we took a longer ride on the motorcycle taxis through narrow leafy paths to the southern tip of the island where we caught another boat to...Cambodia! There is a viewing point there where you can watch for rare Irawaddy dolphins. No red tape, no passports necessary, as the spot is not very accessible unless you have a boat. We just sat and watched and were rewarded (several times) with views the dorsal fin of one dolphin at a time coming out of the water and then the dolphin's back curling back in. I joined some folks who'd traveled by boat from Cambodia in having an Angkor (Cambodian) Beer to celebrate. I should also mention that my fellow traveller from Siem Reap was very excited to be briefly back in her country where she could speak her own language, as Khmer is much different from the Lao language (much more different than say, Thai and Lao).

Our final stop was Khon Phapheng Falls, which after getting back to the mainland, we traveled to by car. It is the largest waterfall (by volume) in Southeast Asia and it is located on the border with Cambodia. While there, it started to rain and we were rewarded with a rainbow. The entire day was a lot of fun because I had great company. Thuy, the woman who had organized everything, even told her amazing story of what happened to her and her family during the revolution in Cambodia when Pol Pot took over (it's an amazing story, ask me and I will tell you about her). I was surprised to find out that her two boys had never heard the story before. I guess some things are just not talked about, though she was very open and didn't hesitate when I asked. Her older boy said he had just been afraid to ask. The whole family was a lot of fun and we all tried some great snacks along the way including lotus flower seeds, crickets (okay, I just chewed off the legs), and a very tasty local fish noodle soup that I really wish I had gotten the name of.

We parted ways at the boat landing for Don Khong, the biggest of the 4000 Islands, where I would spend two nights with a Lao family that had volunteered to take me in.

After Phonsavan I arrived back in Vientiane to great news. Art and Tip, who have been helping me out here, had managed to arrange a meeting with the government run center for herbal medecine. We met with a woman in the pharmaecology division and Art helped translate. Mostly we talked about Lao food, chilies and the work that they do at the center. It's pretty cool that they have a clinic and dispense herbal medecine on the spot.

Later, we checked out a few bookstores in an attempt to track down Vandara's cookbook "Food and Travel" in English, but it appears to be solidly sold out. We also stopped by Mak Phet, a restaurant named chili pepper! It's a hospitality training program run by an NGO called Friends International that works with the Lao government to help street kids and at-risk youth. The next day I sat down with Gustav (who set up the hospitality program here and in Cambodia) and a woman named Atzimba who runs the local program. I shared the information I'd gathered from cooking classes and trips to bookshops with them, and they explained the many facets of the local and Cambodian programs.

The visible ones include the restaurant, a small store above it that sells things made by at risk families who receive training from the NGO, as well as a bike/motorcycle repair shop. They have an outreach team that identifies at street kids and youth who are at risk. They work with the families who sign a contract to keep their kids in school in exchange for training and the other benefits received from the program. The hospitality arm includes training in every aspect of the restaurant business and often includes English, Lao and often math lessons among other things. They do not target any particular ethnic group, just whoever is in need. The great thing is that each person is worked with individually so they may 'graduate' at different times depending upon when they are actually ready. I was really impressed with the program and encourage anyone looking to donate to please support it, using above link. They have a demand for their graduates and do similar outreach in Cambodia, Aceh Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries.

I managed to find a friend to take the one cooking lesson option available here in Vientiane, but when we arrived at Thongbay Guest House, the choice of what to cook was very limited. We could choose 3 of only 5 options but had to have consensus within the group which had become three (and me not eating chicken threw a wrench into that as the others weren't thrilled about tofu). No recipes were included. We decided we would be better served by another trip to the river to watch the gals cook laap and the other things that we ordered. It would have been fine if I had not already had such a great experience in Luang Prabang! I also contacted the other woman I'd found here who used to teach cooking, but she had been unable to secure a kitchen to use. I did find out that there is in fact a cooking school in Vientiane, but it is geared towards Lao. They teach Thai, Lao and international cooking and a few people thought that it would not be in session while I was there.

I rented a scooter and took myself out of town to the Buddha park by the border crossing. I prefer the one across the water in Nong Khai, but it was a good outing. It was great to get out of the city to explore a little bit. I stopped and ate at a roadside/Mekongside stall which was quite popular and it suddenly dumped rain. I gave up and bought a few beers for the other friendly customers who had a good head start of beer Lao drinking. Though our conversation was limited to 'Beer Lao, aloy!' (good), they were great and the rad part was that most of them were women (you don't see women drinking, let alone drink with them in Indonesia so it was a pleasant change for me).

I have been hanging out with a great gal from the U.S. named Nicole who volunteers at the university library. She offered me a place to stay for a few days, so the last day or two I've been able to stay a little ways out from the center of the city, which has been nice. I would love to be able to stay here longer to get a better sense of Lao life! I joined Nicole and her Lao/Australian friend Ariya at the first ever Lao Music Awards last night. He translated for us a bit. The whole thing was pretty amazing. There were performances and awards and some sort of dedication to a revolutionary leader and we got our photo taken with the folk singer who won the lifetime achievement award. The greatest part was that the general public could purchase a ticket and see their favorite pop and folk stars for a fairly reasonable price. We were up in the balcony with the tons of screaming teens when they handed out the 2008 Lao hip hop award to L-O-G, and I can tell you he's very popular because the screaming was especially deafening.

I'm a little sad today because it's my 6th wedding anniversary and I'm half a world away from Wez. Tonight I take a bus to Pakse where I'll stay for a few days and see the ruins. I may be able to visit one of the 4000 islands as Art has come up with a possible home stay option on Don Khong.

Luang Prabang was so small that once you meet a few people you keep running into them. Of the group from the Tamarind Cooking School, 5 of us continued to meet up ramdomly for dinner or beers (or both) and after discovering that I had the same plans as a Swiss teacher named Lukas, who also wanted to go to Phonsavan, we took the same bus. On the way we met some great teacher gals stationed in Hongkong, a random Canadian gal and two guys from Norway and Chile. Phonsavan being even smaller than Luang Prabang, we shared dinner, met up at the jars and shared a bus trip with some of them the next night. The local bus that took us there, loud music excepting, wasn't too bad compared to the overnight bus that brought us back to Vientiane, but I'll get to that.

Phonsavan isn't exactly soul-less, but it doesn't have the old charm of Luang Prabang, nor the slightly busy city-feel of Vientiane. You get the feeling that not a lot is happening there, and from the night life (which focuses around drinking at the pool hall), I might even say that people seem a bit bored. Lukas thought the town had a bit of a 'wild west' feeling to it, and I agree. It is all new, low, two-story buildings which spread out from each other along long dusty roads. There is no exact 'center', and it doens't seem to be a planned town. It's just strips of clumps of businesses all set away from the few government buildings that looked abandoned when we passed them in the late afternoon. Near the guest house (at which we all ended up) there was a scooter rental place, a few restaurants and an internet place which occupied us all for what was left of the day. We found  cheap vegetarian food and some of us rented scooters to explore the Plain of Jars the next day. We were assured that as long as it didn't rain, the scooters would get us to the Jars sites - most of which are located down long dusty (and it turns out, very muddy) roads several kilometers from Phonsavan.

The Jars were fantastic. There are hundreds them, each individually carved out from big rocks, and located in clusters across a wide area. They used to have something in them (probably human remains) and were covered by lids, but they have been looted over the last 2000 years. There are only three sites which can be visited safely (because there is still a lot of 'UXO', or unexploded ordinance in the area from the U.S. secret bombing campaign during the late 60's to early 70's. There were those here who were for this, and those against it and ultimately the Communist Pathet Lao won power in 1975, in a revolution which many say was well-received. Laos had long been pushed around by it's neighbors as well as Western powers (including of course, the French who took Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the 1800's).

And so, the U.S. defoliated the area with Agent Orange and bombed the hell out of it in an attempt to flush out North Vietnamese using the Ho Chi Minh Trail through mountainous Eastern Laos and Cambodia to reach Southern Vietnam. It is quite frustrating to see the barren, crater-pocked landscape and hear the stories of the disturbed food supply, and of people who continue to be killed or lose limbs due to the huge amount of as-yet-unexploded ordinance in the area. We saw a Lao UXO clearing team coming back from working (how is that for a stressful job?) and I sit here wondering why my government is not helping more in this area. If you're ever here, a trip to the National Museum in Vientiane (formerly the Revolution Museum) is a must. There are some great photos and lots of plucky, and entertaining photo titles which include words like 'U.S. Imperialists and their puppets.'

Lukas and rode a motercycle to two jars sites and tried to find a third, but got diverted to a lovely waterfall by some well-meaning villagers. The jars sites are in lovely settings - high grassy hills with few trees far out of the town. Everywhere we stopped, people were incredibly friendly and helpful and it was great to be out in the now peaceful countryside. We met a lot of buffalos, who can be rather shy. Our Spanish and Norwegian friend tipped us off to a night bus to Vientiane, so we got tickets to that and still managed to have a good day kicking about.

The night bus - I will call it the barf bus, was a shitty experience. There are tourist 'VIP' busses and local busses here and the difference is supposed to involve a guaranteed assigned seat and AC, as well as no chickens and things or people cluttering the aisle. Generally the VIP is 98% tourists, but this bus was it was 2% tourists, and many locals with a proclivity for motion sickness who probably enjoy the insanely loud Lao and Thai pop blasted for a good percentage of the journey. I should have figured it was going to be an adventure when, along with our bottle of water and blanket, we were given barf bags (plastic shopping bags). Some people took several.  And once full we picked up more people who had to sit the entire night on the floor or on plastic stools placed between the regular seats in the aisles. Man, I hope they got a discount. The woman next to me alternately slept on me or elbowed me each time she barfed (which was all night and I am not exaggerating one bit here). So, sleeping was not an option until mercifully Lukas changed seats with me at the one stop we made during the 10 hour trip. I was very glad to reach the capitol. In sum, I do not recommend the night VIP bus from Phonsavan, though I highly recommend the Plain of Jars.

I had two days in a row of cooking school and a bit of sightseeing. The first cooking school I did was called Tamnak Lao, which is run out the Three Elephants Restaurant. It is very popular and accessible. We started with a quick market tour at Thalat Pho Si, which was cool because it's a nice big market, but frustrating because our guide was very soft spoken and now amount of pleading worked to get him to speak up. We did five recipes, working together and everything was demonstrated first. A few 'extra' dishes were demonstrated, after which you could choose which of the two to cook. There was also an explanation of jaew - a chili paste, but we did not get to make this. 

The class was good, but not a ton of fun. I was disappointed that I could not work with fish (I was told I would have to pay a lot more in order to do this, so worked with tofu instead). Also, demonstrated dishes were all made with meat, so while others were able to try them before they decided what to make I was not because I do not eat pork or chicken. We did get a lovely recipe booklet with cultural info and 'cheats' or tips to make the recipes at home. The class is run by two Lao, but I asked the Australian owner of the school a few questions afterwards, and she said that the recipes were chosen from the restaurant's menu because they were fast, easy, and could be made at home.

The second day I attended the school run by Lao restaurant Tamarind's owners, Joy and his Australian wife. Joy runs the class and this was by far the best class yet. The market tour was great. It was long, we had a little time to poke around ourselves, and it included clear and thorough explanations of ingredients used as well as other interesting things we found lurking around the market. Joy purchased a few snacks for us to try and asked us questions on how and with what we wanted to prepare our meals (i.e., whether we wanted to cook our laap or not, and use more authentic ingredients such as pad dek (fermented fish sauce), and buffalo bile, or whether we'd prefer to substitute other things we could find at home). Yes - we tried 'cat droppings' a tasty rice and sugar snack found in the markets, and yes I tried a buffalo skin snack which you roast in the fire - much like pork skin crackling but tougher), as well as buffalo laap complete with buffalo bile...when else would I ever get the chance?

We cooked 5 dishes - mostly individually but one together, and all had a hand in the sticky rice. We even roasted some on the coals of the traditional Lao stoves that we used and ate it with the delicious jaew that we made. The setting is also lovely - you cook in a small pavillion on the river just outside of town. It was truly a great day and I really learned a lot about Lao food and cooking.

We had a great group at the Tamarind school, and we all had drinks that night. After that I ran into various people from the day wherever I went, and 5 of us had dinner together a few times after that. The rest of my time in Luang Prabang was spent sightseeing. I climbed to the top of Phu Si (the big hill in the middle of the peninsula) and made it to Pak Ou Caves, home of the broken Buddhas (a nice boat trip up the river), and saw several temples including another very dark and slippery cave where I almost lost my footing several times, nearly landing on an extortionist monk. That wouldn't have been good.

I had a fantastic time in Luang Prabang and look forward to going back again some day soon. Now I'm in Phonsavan in the east of Northern Laos. The mosquitoes here are plentiful. I hope I make it unbitten to see the Plain of Jars tomorrow!

Luang Prabang is a very charming city. I've been here for a short while - just long enough to take an amazing first Lao cooking lesson (and perhaps what will be the most authentic), with Laos' famous cook Vandara. She is an amazing lady, written about in Natacha du Pont de Bie's 'Ant Egg Soup' and she also has her own cookbook. She runs a guesthouse in Luang Prabang and owns one out of town as well. She is well known for promoting Laos food and crafts and creating craft industries for villagers.

I was very excited to be able to cook with her as I had read a lot about her. Her cooking class is very informal - no recipes are handed out so I had to scribble notes as I went. We cooked authentic Lao holiday food - laap made with a special variety of huge catfish and sauteed these amazingly delicious yellow trumpet mushrooms from the forest that are in season this month. She said that finding this variety of large catfish is hard these days, so that determined our dinner. We also made a great clear pineapple fish soup as well. We chopped at a low bamboo table traditionally used for Lao meals, leaning on clean palm leaves and cooked on the floor of her open kitchen using a traditional Lao ceramic stove (fed by little bits of charcoal). It was really fun.

When we were done we spread everything out on the dinner table and ate with her husband. The dishes were accompanied by sticky and regular rice as well as a huge plate of veggies and herbs to munch on. Some were very bitter - including the tree tongue that we charred in the coals and skinned. Bitter in a good way...She said 'We Lao eat everything!' and I think she's right. I have never seen such variety in markets as I have in Laos. They definitely take advantage of what's in the forest and still eat most parts of animals. We are very far away from our food processing and it's a bit depressing. I've been thinking about that a lot while here.

After this fun night I was invited to a Buddhist ceremony at a Wat the next morning. It was the dedication of a small outbuilding to be used for meditation and the family was very proud. They were friends of Vandara's grandmother and had invited her to attend. I dressed up and she loaned me a prayer scarf and we set off up a hill out of town a little bit. It was very serene there. I saw my first Buddhist nuns - there were about 8 of them, most with heads shaved, along with young novices and the older monks who led the ceremony.

I think it was a baci ceremony, but there were no strings tied around wrists. It took place inside the little room with the older monks and the immediate donors. They had elaborate center pieces and all held a string. After a LOT of chanting the monks were served bowls of traditional foods divvied up by some ladies on these platters, and finally we were served as well. There were 8 dishes in all and they were all superb. Vandara had invited me so that I would have an opportunity to try some authentic Lao food as she admitted it was hard to find these days. Finally, a very stooped old woman (I believe the meditation room was dedicated in her name as she was the center of attention) threw out some candy in our direction and her daughter-in-law passed out little food gifts to everyone.

That afternoon I took off for a lovely waterfall named Tat Kuang Si, about 30 km south of town. I was offered a chance to stay at a homestay-like guest house also owned by Vandara that included good Lao dinners and a tranquil setting. The trade off was that the family didn't speak any English and it was a bit damp and lonely, even with their adorable 5 year old boy Nik constantly wanting attention. I spent a lot of time on the watefall pavilion by their house watching the comings and goings (and washings) of the villagers. A few houses are cement and more modern; most are made of wood planks, are of two levels with more going on on the second floor than the first. There are lots of ducks, turkeys, chickens, dogs and cats running around. 

I did get a bit of reading and writing done but was not presented with an opportunity for a lunch out in the rice fields as originally promised. I had two great days of relaxation and two visits to the watefall, which is quite beautiful. I climbed up one side and down the other, crossing at the top, which was great fun. I swam both days (which was good relief for the itchy bedbug bites on my back) and hiked around the park. There are some very cute Asian bears (rescued from poachers) in the park which lay around on their backs and dug around in their big pen. 

And now I'm back in the city at a different guest house, ready for two days in a row of cooking schools.

Woo. Now scream it: "WOOOO!!!!"

That's what I've been hearing for the last 24 hours: screams and yelps of wasted backpackers amidst loud music and Friends episodes. This place is beautiful, but sad. It's got amazing scenery and a fast flowing, swollen, mud-brown river that is perfect for tubing, kayaking etc. And whilst you do this, you're surrounded by gorgeous limestone mountains cloaked in green with little bits of mist that cling to the tops. It is truly stunning.

I took a bus up from Vientiane - 4 hours with a very loud (but fun) group in the back. Had decided to splurge for a nice room right on the river as I wasn't feeling the best and it was a good decision. I am staying at Ban Sabai - an eco-friendly spot run by a famous eco-friendly tour company here called Green Discovery. They are pretty darn good (though still suffer from the general malaise that is intrinsic to Laos), and ran the day-long kayak/cave tour that I did today which was a blast. I have spent a lot of time just sitting by the river staring at the mountains though because it never gets old. Luckily it is slightly quieter by my hotel which is off the main drag.

We started our day at about ten after a short drive. They took us about 18km up the river which is running pretty fast and full right now. It's the rainy season so the tour is different at other times of year. We plunged in after a brief lesson and all shot down the river. It was only a short while before we arrived at the first cave. It was not much of a cave but had a nice big Buddha (and some smaller ones as well as a reclining one) and a giant Buddha's footprint. I was told this was a reminder that Buddha was here and left something behind. It was close to the river and dry, so not much of a caving experience, but a nice stop.

From there we hit rapids - lots of rapids. I got completely soaked and stayed that way for the entire day (which I didn't expect). But it was great fun. I was with a guide and we watched other boats tip over and turn backwards and get caught on trees, but my guide was good, and steered us through everything. When we hit a calm patch one of the other guides came and dumped us out of the boat. Hmpf! It was actually really nice to flop around and float in the fast current, and easy enough to get back in the boat. The river is fairly wide, and the guides knew it well, so I felt very safe and had a blast in the rapids.

Lunch was cooked for us over a grill. I hung out with five adorable kids who were hauling huge jugs of water back home while it was cooked. They thought it was funny when I said goodbye and danced around for 5 minutes yelling "Bye Bye," "buh-buh-BYE!," giggling, and waving madly while I walked away. Lunch was bland fried rice in banana leaves and freshly grilled kabobs - oh, and a nice baguette. No chili. Barely any salt. Totally bland! I went and asked for some mak phet (chili) so the guides said I should sit down with them and have some Lao food (and chilies). I didn't have to be told twice. They were eating what looked like a delicious sour fish soup and they had fermented crab paste to dip the chilies in (stinky but very good! salty and spicy!), as well as a sauce of crushed chilies. The soup was flavored (sour) with tamarind leaves (I thought they looked familiar but have never had the leaves before. The trees are everywhere here) and there was also some lemongrass. It was great!

From there we hit more rapids - the biggest, which were waiting for us just by our lunch stop. 3 of the 5 boats tipped. One twice. We had a lengthy 6km paddle and then hit yet another cave. This one was an adventure. We had to swim into it against a fast flowing river coming out, which was great. Then once in, we tromped around through big caverns and then they told us villagers had slept there during attacks from China (I think they are referring to the ones in the 1800's just before the French came). So it's called 'Sleeping Cave'. Anyways, tough walk for a little sleep! and it's a pretty damp place to sleep. The cavern loops around until you come out to another part of the river, but we had to backtrack as it was too high to get to from there. We had a longer swim out with the current and then it was back to the boats.

For the last bit we hit the tubing area. People rent tubes from town and are driven to a drop point (where there happens to be a bamboo bar over the water, with a giant swing that goes out over the water, plus ping pong or volleyball or whateve else). Add Beer Lao and Lao Lao (Lao hard booze), and possibly some less legal things - and repeat. These are very rough, frail looking structures and there are tons of them lining both sides of the river. The swings vary in design from trolleys to trapezes, and some look as though they are about to tip over. Some of them were crawling with people, some were empty. When you get bored or tired of the scene at one you move on to the next. We passed most, but a few boats pulled over at one of the last ones, deciding it was necessary to experience the jump. It looked fun but my guide didn't want to stop at that one, so we went on to the next (which looked safer to me anyways) and I had a go on the swing. It's probably a 20 foot drop after you trapeze out and it was a blast. Once was enough, but I could see doing it all day after a beer or two.

By then I was actually cold for the first time on the trip. An entire day soaking wet will do that. After we got back to town I ran to my comfy room and warm shower and blew my hair dry (I wanted something to be dry and it had started to rain). I met a gal from the tour out on the deck of the restaurant and we had a coffee to warm up while watching the sun dip behind one of the limestone hills. Later we decided we had to try mulberry leaf tempura (mulberry trees are where silk worms like to hang out and there is an organic farm here which grows them, sells silk, makes mulberry tea, wine, and tempura as well as serving the leaves up in curries. They are delicious (as is the tea, as is the wine). Laos has great organic food, funky raw silk and incredibly friendly, fun people who are very proud of it. It was a great day.

Tomorrow: North to Luang Prabang

I have been here nearly a week and was trying to hold off judging it. I have grown to like Vientiane but finding a guest house that's worth the money is a bit difficult here. The food is great. I have sampled just about every type of fare (french, pastries, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese) but felt it was difficult to find good Lao food. Now  I just go to the river waterfront stalls and watch the ladies make my food. It's fun and the reward is a great view while relaxing with a delicious crisp Beer Lao.

The search for cooking schools here has been a flop. The one sure bet, listed in my guide book shut me down as a single. I suppose I could have offered to pay more but a friend (thank you Michael) felt he didn't have the best experience there, so I let it go. Last night I got another great lead, trecked halfway across town in the pouring rain today to check it out and unfortunately the woman doesn't have a kitchen available to do classes at the moment. I nearly got on my knees and begged her to find one, but instead just said I'd be back at the end of the month, to please email me if she comes up with anything and that it would mean a lot to me.

I have had great help from a local couple named Art and Tip, who offered several suggestions and took me on a market tour explaining what different ingredients were and translating my questions. I saw (and smelled) the fermented Lao fish sauce, pad dek, for the first time. It really does smell like stinky cheese. I'd found a market on my own the day before but it did not have a very big selection of vegetables and fish, so this was a much better trip, especially since it started with a great Vietnamese breakfast and ended with a giant tart & icy glass of hibiscus tea!

I have searched every book store in town for food-related books and have been following up with one that promised an English translated cookbook. It's been four days and they haven't produced it, so I am beginning to think it may not really exist. A women's business organization (at least the receptionist and a tour booker) suggested I check out the technical college for classes but I was given two names and different locations. Others thought it would not be in session and not offer anything for foreigners. I did find a copy of Ant Egg Soup here, which I'm half way through. It's a great foody tourist book about Laos and was sold out from Amazon before I left, so I'm very excited to have it.

I've met some great people and have recieved a lot of help, though i don't feel as though I have accomplished a lot. I have gotten into the rhythm of things a bit. This means smiling and not reacting when something crazy or stupid happens or you hear something you don't want to hear; saying 'thank you' and smiling when you mean no and not worrying about getting from here to there too fast because things seem to run on their own time...which is quite slow). I was doing well with this until tonight when I ran into afoul of the tuk-tuk driver cartel here that hikes prices up to insane amounts at night. I nearly told a guy where to go when he wanted to charge me $7US to go on a 3km round trip.

I think it's time to move on to more where the cooking schools are: Luang Prabang. I have a stop in Van Vieng planned on the way, and leave tomorrow by bus.

I have been trying to catch up with putting up photos and writing that I've put off writing for a bit and now so much time has passed that I feel like I've missed writing about a lot of things. I will try to fill in some blanks...

Nong Khai, Thailand is a lovely, sleepy border town. After several days with Brooke and William I was on my own once again and had a great time (well, 24 hours) there. The guest house was so helpful and had two great restaurants. They were laid back to the point that you are supposed to keep track of all of your own expenses in a little book. The first night I was just mesmerized by the river. I had a coffee (on the river) to pick me up from the flight and travel, took a walk (on the river), ate dinner (fish from the Mekong and sticky greens called 'morning glory' - I keep accidentally writing Megkong - on a barge on the river) - interrupted by a self-important blowhard of a guy I met on the plane. Took another long walk after dinner (yes, on the river) punctuated by tons of huge, elegant looking brown moths everywhere. Later I sat enjoying a big Singha (you know where), wishing I'd taken up the earlier offer of the Thai teens I met to drink with them. I couldn't imagine not spending another night at this place.

The next day I discovered why morning glory has its name (you'll have to email me directly for an explanation), and had a lovely 'special thin lemon pancake' staring at the water and Laos on the other side. The surface looks like glass colored mud - no waves. If the sun is out the water sometimes reflects a clear blue. You can't tell it's moving unless you stare hard to find some bit of floating debris that's moving with the current. There isn't a lot of traffic on the river. I expected big barges carrying goods and tons of fishing boats but I've only seen long, delicate, slightly curved fishing boats so low to the water they look as though they'd capsize at the slightest wave. They are powered by small motors sometimes at the end of a long pole that can be raised out of the water. You can often hear them long before you see them, and they seem to cross fairly freely between Laos and Thailand.

When I woke up it was extremely damp and my legs were covered with itchy red bumps - trophies from my riverside experience. I still have them and have been adding to my collection. The shower was outside so I think that helped. I rented a bike and pedaled along the river, then cut inland to reach the amazingly odd Sala Kaew Ku sculpture park, which is a mix of Buddhist and Hindu deities mixed with a lot of 'I don't know what'. You will just have to look at the photos to see for yourself. It started to pour just after I left and of course I'd forgotten my poncho. I waited out the worst (that is me trying to be Southeat Asian), then made it back in time to rinse off again. Feeling accomplished, I decided to make a run for the border...

Brooke and William joined me for an amazing day at the Thai Farm Cooking School which is north of Chiang Mai by about 15 minutes. It included a market tour with a good explanation of Thai ingredients and we had a few minutes to wander, then we were taken to the farm and toured thier garden with a similar explanation of ingredients. We were joined by 3 Dutch and a Canadian gal who I may see again in Laos.

The setting and garden were lovely and though it was hot and humid, the open air cooking pavillions were quite nice and caught a cross-breeze. We each had our own cooking station and each could choose from three dishes per course. The day included five courses plus you have to pound your own chili paste and learn to make regular jasmine and sticky rice. It was a great deal (it cost about $30 for the day which included everything) and we had lunch, dinner, dessert and I even had lunch the next day as the place we stayed had a fridge.

I still have to get photos up. I think the best part was actually cooking ourselves (as opposed to just wathing). We tailored our dishes to our own individual tastes (adjusting salt by using more or less fish sauce and salt and adjusting spice by using more or less chili). I was introduced to a few ingredients I'd never cooked with - these tiny round bitter eggplants and we added Thai eggplant in the chili paste. We cooked a curry, a soup, a dessert, and noodles. It was a total blast and I'm not sure other schools will live up to this one.

We did two a few other things which were also great. The Sunday night market is incredible. The tribal museum north of town was also really neat. After going there we were wandering around a wat and Brooke and William suggested we go to "Monk Chat" - where you just sit and talk to monks (and they practice their English and you can ask about Buddhism) about whatever. Though I think you're supposed to focus on Buddhism, our monk (who was from Laos) only wanted to hear about U.S. culture.

I've now left Chiang Mai and am staying a night or two on the border in Nang Khai (which is awesome). I've had my first glimpse of the Mekong River (which is totally awesome - much like the Mississippi) and I kind of don't want to leave right away. There are a few things in town I would like to do tomorrow before heading to Vientiane...I am so torn!

Leaving Bangkok:

I arrived in Bangkok at 1a.m. and was in bed in a guest house off of Siam Square shopping district by 3 a.m. I awoke at 5:30 a.m. because the ice 'factory' (one guy and a contraption that looks like a wood chipper which grinds ice) downstairs was so loud. Needless to say, it was a little tough to get through the day! It's hot and oppressively humid here and it clouds up in the afternoons, but getting around is so easy (when not in traffic), the Thai are so friendly and the food is so good that I cannot complain. I managed to get my errands done with very little effort, including getting a 30-day visa from the Lao embassy after a small rush fee and an hour wait. No lines, no bullshit. It put our visa experiences in Indonesia to shame. Does communism breed efficiency? I expected the complete opposite. The people working at the embassy were also incredibly nice. I think I will really enjoy Laos! 

I hung out with our friend Poth last night (he is a Thai friend we know through Wez's skateboarding connections). We went to the night market where he has a store with his own tee designs that he prints himself. It was good to catch up with him - we last saw him here two years ago. I actually managed to get a good nights sleep and get some things done today. The highlight was lunch with writer and photographer Austin Bush, who has years of experience traveling around SE Asia. I asked him questions about chili use in the region and we had really delicious Thai food like I've never had before.

Now I'm off to meet Brooke (she is a grad student at ASU who studies Buddhism) and her sister who are up in Chiang Mai....more later!