For the last month of the trip my family came around. Natalie and Martine came along to get me back home. ;-) No! We first had nearly 4 weeks of adventures and fun traveling and discovering Thai culture. Here we are on one of those slow boats which bring you nearly everywhere in Laos.
A Temple complex with monks housings in Luang Phabang, Laos
All three below a Boddhi tree
Martine on her way to loose height sickness
This is the view from Luang Phabang to the "other side"
Who would have guessed it?!?! Lao people are great boule players! Some reminders of the french colonies?
Landscapes like in travelbooks
On our way to Muang Ngoi to a small fisher village only accessible by boat in the middle of limestone hills.
What a scenic view every evening. Lucky people who could tay longer.
We went on to Muang Kwa further north for a 7 hour boatride.
Water Buffalos
Virgin forests along the nam ha river surrounded by limestone cliffs
Only very few people live over here and the villages always seem to be in the middle of the forest
Ok! Let's have a funky bus ride to Luang Nam Tha...
...in a cramped bus.
A big noise and the bus had to stop... "Just few little things to repair", says the driver. We had time to do a game of boule and find another way to get the last 10 km to the city.
This is the area of Luang Nam Tha surrounded by a plain of rice fields and a NP inhabited by many different hill tribes.
To discover this beautiful area, we had a fun bike tour through wet paths as it rained every single day.
We had a guided tour to several Hilltribe villages and had a traditional Lao workers lunch.
This is the spiritual gate which connects the dead and the living people of the animist Akha tribe.
That's how simple they live
Jump cut to Chiang Mai where we spent a week during the Songkhran festival. At this place we had a chat with very friendly buddhist monks...
...which were celebrating the New Year around a fully decorated sandy stupa
I'd like to ride this bike!
Let's go on a Thai market...
...where you can find all kinds of sweets...
...and salty stuff like fried caterpillars or other insects...
...still we needed some vegetables for...
..our cooking course!!
With some fresh herbs and roots from the garden.
Let's smash these chillies to a curry
Here the chef making some Chicken with Basil
Mmmmmh!! If you'd like to taste one of these, just ask me and I'll come around and cook it for you
Sacred temple on a hill close to Chiang Mai, where people come to absolve from their sins and get some good luck wishes for the Thai New Year.
Here we are at one temple getting blessed
Still, Songkhran was one of the main cause why we came here. So let's get started
Traditionnally the Buddha gets watered to bring good luck and for a good rainy season
But it got popular to splash anyone with ice cold water as it is pretty hot in April in Thailand
As an example, you take an open-topped tuk-tuk and have a ride through the city.
It doesn't last long until someone sees that you are still completely dry
and that's how we looked like afterwards
Koi fishes in the hotel pond asking for more food
In between that there are heaps of temples in Chiang Mai
and strange creatures around the temples!
...and in the zoo as well. What's this dino?
He is the most popular animal in the zoo
We took the plane from Chiang Mai to Trat in the east of Thailand to get to the island of Ko Chang. The smallest and simplest airport I've seen so far. The terminal "building" is made of Bamboo and Palm leaves...
Here we are on Ko Chang enjoying the heat while locals go collecting crabs and mussels on the shore!
Not far from paradise.
Some hippie shacks left on Whitesand beach, most of the island is build up by big resorts...
A banana flower, it's edible and has an interesting taste
The national symbol: Lotus flower
Here we are on our first elephant safari into the jungle.
Let's wash the elephant...
...or was it: the elephant will wash us?!
Food break
Back to our bamboo huts on the water
We did a boat trip to several islands around Ko Chang. This is Ko Khlam, an island bought by a rich guy who make a resort on it...
Ko Khlam lava stones
All those lamps are used as a lure to catch heaps of fish during the night
We got stuck in the bay and we needed to get towed out by a fishing boat
Some scientists are trying to repopulate the snorkeling area with nemoes.
Sergeant Majors and Rabbit fishes
I think I know this fish
Üüüfff!
Hanging around on a lonely tropical island
There is a small temple full a phalli which are thought to protect and give luck. We have seen a guy wearing a belt with about 30phalli on it... Lucky man!
That was our trip and my Asia tour, we head back to the mainland
Taking the transfer shuttle from the terminal to the plane
Bye bye tropics, see you soon again!
For the last month of the trip my family came around. Natalie and Martine came along to get me back home. ;-) No! We first had nearly 4 weeks of adventures and fun traveling and discovering Thai culture. Here we are on one of those slow boats which bring you nearly everywhere in Laos.
A Temple complex with monks housings in Luang Phabang, Laos
All three below a Boddhi tree
Martine on her way to loose height sickness
This is the view from Luang Phabang to the "other side"
Who would have guessed it?!?! Lao people are great boule players! Some reminders of the french colonies?
Landscapes like in travelbooks
On our way to Muang Ngoi to a small fisher village only accessible by boat in the middle of limestone hills.
What a scenic view every evening. Lucky people who could tay longer.
We went on to Muang Kwa further north for a 7 hour boatride.
Water Buffalos
Virgin forests along the nam ha river surrounded by limestone cliffs
Only very few people live over here and the villages always seem to be in the middle of the forest
Ok! Let's have a funky bus ride to Luang Nam Tha...
...in a cramped bus.
A big noise and the bus had to stop... "Just few little things to repair", says the driver. We had time to do a game of boule and find another way to get the last 10 km to the city.
This is the area of Luang Nam Tha surrounded by a plain of rice fields and a NP inhabited by many different hill tribes.
To discover this beautiful area, we had a fun bike tour through wet paths as it rained every single day.
We had a guided tour to several Hilltribe villages and had a traditional Lao workers lunch.
This is the spiritual gate which connects the dead and the living people of the animist Akha tribe.
That's how simple they live
Jump cut to Chiang Mai where we spent a week during the Songkhran festival. At this place we had a chat with very friendly buddhist monks...
...which were celebrating the New Year around a fully decorated sandy stupa
I'd like to ride this bike!
Let's go on a Thai market...
...where you can find all kinds of sweets...
...and salty stuff like fried caterpillars or other insects...
...still we needed some vegetables for...
..our cooking course!!
With some fresh herbs and roots from the garden.
Let's smash these chillies to a curry
Here the chef making some Chicken with Basil
Mmmmmh!! If you'd like to taste one of these, just ask me and I'll come around and cook it for you
Sacred temple on a hill close to Chiang Mai, where people come to absolve from their sins and get some good luck wishes for the Thai New Year.
Here we are at one temple getting blessed
Still, Songkhran was one of the main cause why we came here. So let's get started
Traditionnally the Buddha gets watered to bring good luck and for a good rainy season
But it got popular to splash anyone with ice cold water as it is pretty hot in April in Thailand
As an example, you take an open-topped tuk-tuk and have a ride through the city.
It doesn't last long until someone sees that you are still completely dry
and that's how we looked like afterwards
Koi fishes in the hotel pond asking for more food
In between that there are heaps of temples in Chiang Mai
and strange creatures around the temples!
...and in the zoo as well. What's this dino?
He is the most popular animal in the zoo
We took the plane from Chiang Mai to Trat in the east of Thailand to get to the island of Ko Chang. The smallest and simplest airport I've seen so far. The terminal "building" is made of Bamboo and Palm leaves...
Here we are on Ko Chang enjoying the heat while locals go collecting crabs and mussels on the shore!
Not far from paradise.
Some hippie shacks left on Whitesand beach, most of the island is build up by big resorts...
A banana flower, it's edible and has an interesting taste
The national symbol: Lotus flower
Here we are on our first elephant safari into the jungle.
Let's wash the elephant...
...or was it: the elephant will wash us?!
Food break
Back to our bamboo huts on the water
We did a boat trip to several islands around Ko Chang. This is Ko Khlam, an island bought by a rich guy who make a resort on it...
Ko Khlam lava stones
All those lamps are used as a lure to catch heaps of fish during the night
We got stuck in the bay and we needed to get towed out by a fishing boat
Some scientists are trying to repopulate the snorkeling area with nemoes.
Sergeant Majors and Rabbit fishes
I think I know this fish
Üüüfff!
Hanging around on a lonely tropical island
There is a small temple full a phalli which are thought to protect and give luck. We have seen a guy wearing a belt with about 30phalli on it... Lucky man!
That was our trip and my Asia tour, we head back to the mainland
Taking the transfer shuttle from the terminal to the plane
Bye bye tropics, see you soon again!
