alive and well

Uhm, can't write a lot now cuz the connection out here is terribly slow and we have to go, but I wanted to let everyone know that I am well. It's HOT. Much has happened in the last week since I wrote. I will write the full meal deal after settling in Phnom Penh this Sunday.


*muah*

TOP 10 LIST of shit to do before I die...

I can certainly cross one more off!! Yesturday I, Jacqueline Yvonne Boisvert, climbed a MOUNTAIN!! I - the girl who's petrified of heights -climbed her first mountain and it was in friggen Laos, S.E. Asia! Crazy! Carly is a certified instructor back home and she had been itching to go climbing, especially in this country that is known for it's awesome climbing possibilities, and so we rented some gear for like 25USD total for the day, rented a moto for 5USD, drove out a couple kms to a eerily deserted resort, parked the moto, called for the boat man across the San Song River to come get us and bring us to the other side... which, so you know, should cost about 3000 kip return but since we didn't negotiate a price by the time we got to the other side, we payed 5000 kip. A little tip from me to you should you ever go to Vang Vieng, in Laos, and you should TOTALLY go! Anyhoot, the mountain wasn't far from the river and so Carly taught me in about 15 mins how to belay and she climbed to the top of the one side to set the lead rope. I was a fast learner, I guess you have to be if someone's life is in your heands... I went up after a few mins of mind over matter business, not to mention I didn't want to look like a wuss for NOT going up. So i sucked it up and went up twice, neither time to the time... second time about 2/3 of the way up. Not too shabby for someone like me! The second mountain was right behind us (picture a canyon of sorts where a river once ran between them, both mountains face to face). Carly went up again to set the lead. This one was more difficult cuz it had a part where you feel like you're upside down cuz it jets out a bit... But this one I climbed to the very top!!! It was such an incredible feeling... I felt so proud of myself! So cool. I think I could get into it! Uh oh! I can hear my family worrying already! haha So ya. We did a bit of scrambling afterwards (trying toclimb upside down, an area right near the ground) but I am so out of shape that I didn't last long. Not to mention our hands were all cut up. But ya. What a great experience!!

After climbing, we drove out to an organic farm and had some super tasty organic beer by the river, watching the locals bath and the tubers tube! heehee Next time I'm in Laos, I'm gonna stay out there at the farm and volunteer by teaching english and maybe even working the fields. Awesome place.

Today we took a local "bus" to Vientiane. It wasn't a bus at all. It was a truck with it's cab covered with bench seats which we experienced for the 3.5 hours it took to get to our destination. Yes indeed. Quite uncomfortable, locals and us crammed in there, some people standing up and holding on to the back on the outside of the cab... When we arrived here, we weren't dropped off where we figured we should have been and so had to the play the "I'm not taking my bags off this ride until I get a straight answer as to how I'm gonna get from here to where I want to go" game... and it worked! Sort of. haha Carly suggested the driver pay the tuk tuk dude our way to our destination... he ended up paying 3000 of the 4000 kip required for that journey. Ah well. You live and learn. It's a language thing. Had we known the language we would have understood what was going on. It's also a lack of knowledge of the way things work around here... "same same, but different" as the saying goes around here. And I have never been touched so much by strangers! My hair, my skin, my piercings... it's weird, but not intrusive. And Carly is constantly mistaken for a dude, poor girl! haha This trip is only gonna get more interesting, I can feel it!

Until next time!!!

xoxoxox

more caves and more sun!!

This is pretty much my amazing view dudes... from my balcony in Vang Vieng, Laos. Beautiful, isn't it? What a laid-back town! Totally tourist oriented and dependent, a lot of drunk partiers, but very low key which is exactly my style...

Yesturday we met up with a couple fellow canadians and another woman living in Barcelona, for a trek to see a few of the legendary caves. The first one was called the elephant cave because there is a carving in the limestone of an elephant (go figure). The Buddhist monks from long ago carved that out... poeple have walked through this cave for 3 days without ever reaching the end of it. We only went in about 100m but we could have gone so much deeper, we were all very curious. We had lunch made by a few local villagers, we sat and chatted for a bit before leaving to check out 2 more caves... one of which we could only view by inner tube! That was so cool! I can't wait to have these photos uploaded! From this cave, we walked to a nearby village but on our way saw some things you would never see in North America. Women, men, and children bathing in the stream - water used for everything including washing fruit & vegetables and cooking. These people live in houses built by hand, on stilts, with hay rooves and wicker walls... no running water... no electricity... children from the age of 5 fishing and working in the fields, mothers working the fields with new borns and infants strapped to their fronts and backs... This life is simple. Even in the large town of Vang Vieng, this is so.

We were driven to the Song River, a confluent of the dirty Mekong River, where we borded our kayakes! That was pretty neat, something I'd never done before, and I was pretty damn good at it too! heehee There were folks on innertubes floating down as well, stopping here and there at the riverside bars... what a life! We had dinner with the Barcelona lady, played pool on shitty snicker table - I won - and passed out from the 2 for 1 Lao Lao Slings.

Today... today was a laid back day for sure. I laid out in the scorching hot sun and got some sweet color! Yay! My tan is returning! heehee There are these covered hut things set up that are 1/2 on the river's edge and 1/2 on the rocks where you can order beer and snacks, lay out in the sun, and just chill right out. I laid on a bamboo lounging chair in the river... Carly played guitar in the hut. Beautiful day.

And tomorrow we're going CLIMBING! My first climbing experience will be in Laos, that's awesome! I'll be sure to write about that! Don't worry about me though... Carly's a certified instructor back home so even though I've never even been up a wall, I'll be just fine. ;-) A la prochaine!

time for the Laos goodness...

Hello again! So the saga continues but it's much more enjoyable I promise! Here's a map so y'all can situate yourselves...

OK so the next morning we were determined to charter us a boat to make the second leg of the journey more condusive to relaxation. It didn't work cuz the crazy boat lady kept sticking her nose into our bargaining business saying that she makes this much money and that he could also make that much money. We weren't trying to rip him off, offering him a very decent price for the 15 or so people we would have to pitch in... she was basing her amount on the 100 or so people on her boat. But, the dude didn't budge from 10,000 baht (a ridiculous price, 40 baht = 1 USD) and so we were forced to take the terrible slow boat to hell again... or so we thought. Abbey came down to the port and said she was talking to an american family of 4 who had a whole long boat to themselves and that they were willing to bring 5 or 6 of us on with them. So, after she got on the crazy boat, she came righty back off and declared she was taking the family up on their deal. Abbey, Perdy, Jetta, Neils, Elkin, Carly & I all got the wonderfully relaxing journey down the Mekong river we were hoping for! It was awesome! The family was so gracious and nice... We saw working elephants on the way down, gorgeous jungle scenary, stopped in on a village and played hacky sack with the children, I rocked out on the ledge of the boat to some groovin Ani tunes, it was hot and just so nice...

We arrived at Luang Prhabang at around 4pm or so, 10mins before the boatload of people, so we mad dashed it to find a hostel, the Phousie Guesthouse. Carly and I went for some tasty indian food (VERY spicy) then to straight to bed cuz I literally could not move after that meal. haha And so cheap in Laos!! It's great! Yesturday we met up with our boat crew for some delicious omlettes and to say our good-byes to Jetta, Neils, and little Elkin... so sad, always, to say good-bye to great people I meet along the way. I almost cried. :-( Last night we drank a beer, walked around the main hustle and bustle streets of the night market, past some way-too-busy bars and passed out around 12:30 or so. Made it to midnight, dudes! Yes indeedy!

But TODAY was probably the best day of my life for sure... what a way to bring in the new year! We hired a taxi (an old truck with a couple covered benches in the box) for 15USD for the day and he took us to the Kuang Si waterfalls. The amount of money this dude made today is like 5 really nice dinners back home when you convert that into Kip and what 150,000 Kip will get you here is quite a lot. It was early morning on New Year's Day and so not busy at all. They are amazing, by the way! I'll include a picture here when we get them uploaded, but picture: sky blue waters cascading down a jungle mountain and you might get an idea of what it was actually like... Awesome. We went for a swim in one of the pools and it felt like I had been reborn or something cuz I was just so invigurated and rejuvinated... FULL ON!

Something I NEVER thought I'd experience:

I saw a SIBERIAN TIGER today. Her name is Phet and she was rescued from poachers 5 years ago along with 2 brothers who didn't make it. She is the most beautiful creature, ferociously adorable. We were there for her feeding, saw her prowl up to the hording where she was fed buffalo bones. Can you believe it?? I even got to touch her! Her coat is like velvit... Wow. What an experience.

All in all, Laos is great and today was the most unique New Years I've ever had, let alone the most unique DAY period! Hope your's was full of awesomeness as well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!