Annie and Blue travel on the Mekong River

Sabidee! (“Hello” in the Lao language) The Mekong River is the 12^th longest river in the world. We went on an eight day boat trip on the Mekong River. The river is the boundary between Laos and Thailand. We loved our boat, the Mekong Explorer, because it was built of mahogany and teak in the traditional style. We liked sitting on the top deck or in our cabin watching life along river.  Actually, the river is rather quiet in the area where we motored. It was the dry season so the water level was low exposing the banks where the soil is good for growing vegetables.

During the dry season there are many sandbars in the river. One night we tied up to a sandbar. The crew prepared a bonfire and a wonderful BBQ of meat, chicken, prawns, fish and shish kabobs. Afterwards the crew sang some Laotian songs. It was a wonderful evening.

Each day we took a shore trip sometimes on the Thailand side and

sometimes on the Laos side of the river.  On our trip to Phu Brabaht Historical Park we saw amazing rock formations. The rocks probably provided shelter for people two to three thousand years ago. The local people have created stories or legends about the rocks. We liked the legend that said a beautiful princess lived in the rock that looked like an upside down shoe.

Another day we visited the Buddhist Sculpture Park where the statues were built about 35 years ago by a Buddhist monk and his followers. One was incredible.  It was a 65-foot high seven-headed Naga snake protecting Buddha. There are many Naga snake statues in this part of the world. Nagas, like dragons, are not real.  A favorite trip was a ride in a small boat on a lake covered in red lotus flowers.  It was so quiet and beautiful – like a dream.

Our favorite day started with a long-tail boat ride up the Khading

River to the Lao village of Ban BagBang. A long-tail boat is very common in this part of the world.  It is called a long-tail because there is a long pole from the engine to the propeller. It is better for traveling on rivers where the water levels might be very low.  The village is home to

about 80 families. The village had traditional wooden houses and also brightly painted concrete houses that are replacing the old-style houses. There was a new school for grades 1 to 5 provided by the Korean government.  It was Sunday so there were no classes but we met several students and one of the teachers. After grade 5 the students go to school in a larger village where they stay with relatives.  All education including college is free. We were surprised to see so many satellite dishes and everyone seemed to have a cell phone. Technology is changing the world.

In the afternoon our onboard Laotian cooks taught us how to

prepare a traditional Lao dishes – Laap (a spicy chopped chicken salad). Laap is served on special occasions.  In the Lao language “laap” means luck or good fortune. It is special because it contains meat which is very expensive for Lao people. Laap is served cold making it perfect for celebrations that can last for several days. One such celebration occurs when a baby is born. Friends come to the house of the new parents, eat laap, and play a betting card game which can go on for several days. The money won from playing cards goes toward the baby’s future. Sounds like fun!

Annie and Blue in Thailand

Sawadee! Hello from Thailand.  People like it when visitors want to learn more about their culture.  At the InterContinental Hotel in Hua Hin, Thailand, the hotel makes it easy. Hua Hin is about three hours south of the capital city of Bangkok. The drive was interesting. Have you ever wondered where salt comes from?  On the way we saw where farmers harvest salt so we asked our driver to stop. The fields are divided into large squares.  Using a small wind-driven pump like a little windmill the salt water is pumped up from the ground into the squares.  During the dry season from November to March the sun evaporates the water leaving the salt which they sweep up to be taken away where it is cleaned and packaged for sale. 

At the InterContinental Hotel they offer several cultural activities. One morning we got up early, at dawn and walked down to the beach where the hotel had prepared woven bamboo baskets that contained food.  After a few minutes a Buddhist monk walked by. We called to him and gave him the basket of food.  He gave us a blessing and continued on his morning walk. It is very common for Thai people to give food and money to the Buddhist monks especially when they are on their morning walk. It is called “making merit” which is basically doing good deeds in an attempt to become a better person. It also reminds us not to be selfish and to share. Buddhist monks live a very simple life. They are only allowed to receive and eat between dawn and noon.

The InterContinental also offers Thai cooking classes.  We love Thai food because it has a lot of fresh fish, shellfish, fruits and vegetables so we decided that we would like to take a cooking class. But first we had to buy the ingredients. In the morning we went to the market with Chef Worawut. It wasn’t like any other market we had been to.  It was huge, crowded and had all sorts of things we had never seen before along with things we recognized. We saw fresh fish, dried fish, along with fruits and vegetables. We saw peppers in many colors and sizes. We were surprised to learn that the smaller the pepper the hotter the taste.  Thai food can be very hot if they add just a little of the tiny red peppers. We saw so many interesting things. They also sell ready-to-eat food and clothing, actually a little bit of everything.  The floor is usually wet because the fish are laid out on ice and the people who sell veggies are sprayed to keep them fresh and clean looking. Most of the Thai people shop every day because they want the ingredients to be fresh and because most people in Thailand have very small refrigerators. 

When we returned to the hotel we went to the restaurant where we learned to make Green Mango Prawn and Lemon Grass Salad, followed by a main course of Prawns with Tamarind Sauce.  Prawns are like huge shrimp. We love lemon grass flavor. It is common in Thai food.  Tamarinds are a fruit that looks like brown pea pods. Inside the fruit also looks like peas. When it is ripe it is sweet and makes great sauces and jams. For dessert we made Taro in Coconut Milk and Palm Sugar. Taro is a root. We told Chef Worawut we didn’t think we could buy taro in our area.  He said we could use potato instead. We think a cooking class is a good way to learn about other cultures.

Sawadee! Hello, from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

We visited Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. It is the second largest city in Thailand. At one time there were over 100,000 elephants in Thailand. Mainly they work in the timber business moving and piling logs. In 1989 the worst flooding in Thai history caused the death of thousands of people. The flood was a result of cutting down the trees. When they cut down the trees it left the ground bare and during the rainy season the soil washed away. To save forests that had not been cut down the Thai government outlawed timbering. This left thousands of domesticated working elephants and their mahouts with no means of supporting themselves. A mahout is the person who drives and takes care of the elephant. Today most of the elephants work in the tourist industry. Elephant camps provide a place where people pay to learn about the elephants, watch them perform and take a ride on one. There are many elephant camps in the Chiang Mai area.

We went to an elephant camp to learn more about elephants. An adult elephant weighs between three and five tons, this is much more than an average car, and stands almost eight feet tall. With their six-foot trunk they can move 1500 pounds and with the little tip on the end of their trunk they can pick up a dime. They live about 70 years. Each day they eat about 300 pounds of foliage and drink about 20 gallons of water.

The elephant training camp we went to was in the forest. First we had to walk across a bamboo bridge over the small river. It was very strong but wiggled a lot so it was a bit scary. We bought some bananas to feed the elephants. We were told, “Feed them a small bunch at a time. They get bored easily if you try to feed them one banana at a time.” The mahouts then took them into the river for their morning bath. The elephants and their mahouts showed us how they used to work in the woods. After the trees were cut down the elephants would drag the huge logs to a place where they would then pile them up. The mahout sits on the elephant’s neck with his feet behind the huge ears. He uses his feet to steer the elephant. He also has a stick and sometimes uses voice commands but basically all he needs to do is nudge the elephant with his feet. At the end of the demonstration one elephant painted a picture. It was very impressive. We were told that only two of their 30 elephants can paint but they all paint the same picture.

The best part was the last part of our visit – an elephant ride. We sat on a chair on the elephant’s back called a howdah. At first the ride was a bit scary because we bounced all around and we were afraid we would fall out even though the howdah had seat belts. But once we relaxed it was great fun. We went along a trail then up a small creek to a local village where they were selling handicrafts and then back down the trail, and finally up the river. The elephants are slow but very surefooted even when the trail was muddy. One followed the other but once in a while one would stop and grab some leaves with its trunk for a quick snack. We really enjoyed our visit to the elephant camp. They are amazing animals.

Thailand: River Boat Cruise

Sawadee is how people in Thailand say "Hello."

Thailand has many interesting things to see. In Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, the Chao Phraya River, the country’s main river, flows through the city. It is a busy and fascinating working river with small colorful tugboats pulling three to five heavily loaded barges, water taxis crisscrossing the river, and many other boats.

We drove about one hour from Bangkok to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya and boarded a rice boat on the Chao Phraya River. Boats are no longer used to transport rice down the river so some boats were converted into restaurants and houseboats. Our boat could accommodate 12 passengers; however, we were lucky because there were two other guests along with our two guides, a cook, and the boat’s pilot.

We traveled the river for two days and one night stopping to visit small villages along the way. Many people still grow rice but during the time when they are not busy in the fields some families started small businesses to make extra money. Everyone in the family works together. We saw them making bricks, drums, charcoal, and growing mushrooms. Mainly they make things that can be used by people in their community.

Most of the people in Thailand belong to the Buddhist religion. Our houseboat usually tied up by a Buddhist temple, which is the center of the community. Buddhist monks live a very simple life without any personal belongings so the people of the community give them what they need including food. One morning we got up before the sun and with food our cook had prepared waited for the monks to walk by so we could give them the food. The monks in Thailand wear saffron colored robes, sandals, and shave their heads. We had a bowl with rice and the cook had put a soup-like mixture that contained chicken and vegetables in small plastic bags. In a show of respect for the monks we took off our shoes, bowed our head, then divided the food between the four monks. After the food was distributed the monks thanked us by chanting a blessing and went on their way. Buddhists believe that if you do good then good will come back to you. If you do bad then bad will come back to you.

One day we visited an orphanage with 1400 children. It was dinner time so one group at a time chanted a prayer of thanks and then got in line for their dinner of rice and a mixture of vegetables. We saw many boy scouts helping to distribute the food.

We also visited a school. The children we so excited to see us. They all wanted to have their picture taken with us. Before we entered the classroom we took off our shoes. Thai people do not usually wear their shoes inside their homes, temples, or schools. Surprisingly the students knew how to say many words in English including how to count. We wonder how many people in America know Thai words.

When our houseboat was traveling down the river toward Bangkok we relaxed, waved to people on the shore, and watched the activity along the river. People were fishing, watering their crops, and just relaxing by the river. The barges were especially interesting because families live on little houses on the barges. They were cooking meals, doing laundry, and other daily chores. It was an amazing trip. We were sorry when it ended.