Max ignores the dinner announcement during the fantastic Korean dinner that Heeyoung’s mom made for the family, paying attention only to the camera.

Another picture from Heeyoung’s family’s house.  A gathering of ominous clouds on a crisp fall day threatened to unleash a torrent of rain.

Caught a full moon during a night walk to Seoknamsa Temple near Heeyoung’s family’s old place in Onyang, South Korea.

Here’s a little video I threw together of our day hike. Check ‘er out:

A photo:

HY and some orange poppies.  Photo taken on a weekend trip down to Portland.

Just before leaving Laos we did a two-day trek in a national park near Luang Nam Tha.  We were short on time otherwise we would’ve done 3 or 4 days.  Regardless, it was a sweet trek.  Really nice virgin rainforest, a good guide, great food, and a night in a very traditional Ahka village.  (I guess I should say that they’ve hung onto their culture despite recently moving to this new village on the edge of the national park.  The Laos government provided them with a few amenities such as small solar panels for most huts.)  Anyways, our time in the village felt like it was straight out of National Geographic.  Bare-chested women toting around dirty little kids, pigs, dogs and goats running around, and traditional customs such as the “sex houses” (see below the picture for more info).  It was good fun just walking around the village seeing their everyday life (such as the guy lazily using a pair of scissors to give crappy haircuts to all the children).  As with most places we traveled to, Heeyoung was asked (through our guide) why she couldn’t speak the local, Akha language.  She has no country anymore!

Another highlight (lowlight?) was the 15-hour (!!!!!!) bus from Mengla to Kunming.  It was a sleeper, but the beds were about a foot-and-a-half wide.  There were 34 beds in the bus, and it was very hot and stuffy.  Luckily, we scored the only seat/bed that had an opening window.  Sweet!

As for the rest of China, spending post-New Years with Heeyoung’s good friend Li was amazing.  We met most of her family and ate until we nearly burst.  Plus, Li had a good connection and treated us to a couple of nice in BY FAR our best accomodation of the entire trip.  Hot water!  TV!  River view!  Free breakfast!  Heater!

Beijing, though freezing, was also good fun.  Plenty to see and do there.  Our favorite was the “hutong” rickshaw tour.  We had a great local as a guide who took us around some of the old, tiny residential streets of Beijing and told us about the history.  Very interesting.  As for the rest of it, we did all the cliche stuff, but it was still good.  The Great Wall was crawling with people (LOTS of Koreans), but as soon as we went about 10 meters beyond the main turning point we nearly had the wall to ourselves.  Lastly, due to our limited Mandarin skills, we ate lots of dumplings (bao zhir) during our stay there.  They were awesome, but Heeyoung has lost her taste for them and refuses to eat any dumpling (mandu) in Korea.  I’ll give her a week…

 We’ll try and get a few more pictures of the last few weeks up soon, as well as keeping it up-to-date with what we’re doing in Korea.  Check back!

Now, the pics!

Lao monks in Luang Prabang makin’ wooden Buddhas

Our sturdy chariot that took us from Luang Prabang to Luang Nam Tha. 9 hour trip, complete with constantly smoking Chinese guys and bathroom breaks in the middle of nowhere. Awesome.

We were on a mission to find the dirtiest children ever. This group won.

Bedazzled by the camera

This was at the Akha village that we stayed in for one night. Part of their culture are these “sex houses” that are built on the hill above the village. The young men of the village each has one (or at least aspires to have one) where they bring the young Akha ladies on any given night for a little *fun*. If a boy gets a girl preggers, then they marry. Easy! We Westerners can learn much from these people…

Dad making brooms while young stoned kid gazes into nowhere

Makin’ baskets

The beautiful Akha village we stayed at. A REALLY interesting culture.

(see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akha for a bit more info)

On the hike back to civilization

Heeyoung with some poor Chinese dude dressed up for the New Year in front of a shopping mall in Kunming.

Cold in Hangzhou! (That’s our SWEET hotel that HY’s friend Li treated us to)

HY and Li at one of the many meals we ate with her and her endless family. Tons of great food!

Us with Li’s fantastic family!

This was one of the “small” fireworks that Li saved for us. It was HUGE.

Again, COLD in Hangzhou! So cold that we had to hide in McDonald’s to warm up. For shame!

Yay Beijing Olympics! (Boo Chinese restrictions on free speech and blogging!)

Stone carving in the Forbidden City.

Heeyoung got into this enormous bronze pot in the Forbidden City. Incredibly embarassing…

Our trusy rickshaw driving hutong tour guide. He showed us around some of the old areas of Beijing.

And later we had dinner with him. Great guy!

The “Echo Wall” at the Temple of Heaven park. It was pretty cool, and included lots of Chinese yelling loudly.

HY in front of the Temple of Heaven.

Temple o’ Heaven

These old Chinese guys were gathered around a dead body on the ground.

(Just kidding, they were playing cards.)

A building.

The GREAT wall.

THE great wall.

The great WALL.

A really, really great wall.

The “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium in Beijing. There was actually an impenetrable fence around it forcing everyone to climb anything they could find to get a pic. However, we were in the right place at the right time and happened across a couple of workers who had moved aside a bit of the wall to go get their lunch. They let us go through and check out the building. Little did we know that once we went back to the other side we wouldn’t get another good view of it!

HY approves!

Later, trying to sneak a peak.

People were literally in the dirt digging under the fence to get a view. VERY tight security. (not really)

HY and Olympic mascots.

Heeyoung pulls down the fence for a look.

Heeyoung and a SUPER CUTE dog we met. CUTE.

Old man and a building.

Getting some exercise!

Obviously there’s lots to catch up on, but we just got back into Korea and I’m pretty tired.  Briefly, we spent Chinese New Year in Kunming, flew up to Hangzhou where we spent the Chinese New Year aftermath with Heeyoung’s good friend Li and her family (LOTS of eating!), before catching the train to Beijing to check out the capital before calling it a trip. 

 We’ll get pictures up soon, though it doesn’t look like too many people are checking the blog recently.  We’ll advertise a bit more…

We just got back from an AMAZING two-day trek through Nam Pha National Park in Northern Laos.  We spent a total of around 11 hours over the two days trekking through beautiful jungle with a homestay at an Akha village last night.  The experience in the village was very unique, to say the least.  As with all the villages we’ve been to the children are always extremely curious and very welcoming.  The rest of the people in the village were very accomodating as well.  Lots to explain, but not enough time right now.  We’ll post soon with pictures and the whole story.

Tomorrow morning we’re catching a bus from Luang Nam Tha (where we are now) that will take us to the Laos border town of Boten and then across the border to Mengla, China.  We’re hoping to then catch a bus to Kunming ASAP, probably an overnighter.  Should be there for Chinese New Years!  Wish us luck!

(There’s another new post just after this one about our motorbike trip in southern Laos.  Don’t miss it!)

Met Grant and Muts in Nong Khai on New Year’s Eve.

I got total 2 FREE ice cream!

Our first 2008 picture!!!!
After counting down in Nong Khai

After driving one hour by motor bike in the early Cold morning. Coop almost got frozen.

Phanom Rung, just before crossing over to Cambodia.  Our first taste of what was to come in Angkor.

Wandering around Phanom Rung

Matching the lions booties…

Very Korean…

Phanom Rung

HY with a real dog at a great cafe we found

Grandmother and granddaughter dogs.  At last, some well fed animals…

Goodbye Thailand…

Hello Cambodia!

Snorkeling at Sihanoukville

Great look Heeyoung!

Our dinner guest at the Snake House in Sihanoukville

The gas station attendant

Eating at a local NGO cafe

Coop trying his hand at selling snacks along the beach

An oddly placed, beachside airplane.  Supposedly to become an internet cafe…  (This one is for you Matt)

North Korea!  Yay!

South Korea, uoo~~

Local transport

Our bus to Kratie (northern Cambodia) broke down for about an hour on a very hot day.  We hung out in a rubber plantation for a bit…

Coop looking like a fool without his pajamas on… (the hottest fashion in Cambodia!)

Coop doing a bit of hard labor, helping carry a guys coconuts up from his boat.  HEAVY!

HY entertains the local kids, neglecting the freshwater dolphins nearby

Amazing picture, I know…

Locals!

THIS was perhaps the highlight of the entire trip thus far.  We met a British couple (Rachael and Chris) on the trip up to Laos and decided that we would join forces for a motorbike trip through a few of the more remote provinces of Laos.  We were not to be disapointed.

Day 1: Started out well, no worries.  We made it to a nice little ‘Eco-Resort’ (that happened to be overrun by Thai tourists just after we arrived) and had a good little lunch there, a welcome respite after an hour and a half or so on the motorbikes.  This was also our first introduction to the area’s waterfalls.  Afterwards, we headed out and soon realized that our back tire had gone a bit flat.  Not a good sign a couple of hours into a 4-day long trip.  Thankfully, we drove about 1 km up the road and found a dude in a wooden shack who was happy to fix it up for us, for $1 nonetheless.  We continued on our way, made it to a guesthouse near Tad Lo (another waterfall haven) and slept well that night (or at least I did.  The others had trouble sleeping through the nearby Laos karaoke going on for a wedding that weekend.)

Day 2: Hit the road early, knowing that about 30 kms of rough road was coming up.  Turned out to be pretty decent road (especially in light of what was to come) and a nice ride alltogether.  The highlight of the day was the stop at a small village on the way to Sekong (where we would be staying) where Heeyoung and Rachael attempted to communicate the need for a toilet.  After a struggling conversation they were led away… to a stream to have a bath.  A failed toilet break, but great fun interacting with the locals.  We had about 30 people surrounding us.

Day 3: We knew this was going to be a long day.  About 30 kms on good roads, and then 71 kms on a dirt road climbing up to the top of the Bolaven Plateau.  This road was amazing.  After about 15 kms we came to our first waterfall and stood on the edge of its 50-meter drop.  2 kms further and we found a lookout for another fall that dwarfed the first, easily 100 meters tall.  We were anxious to get to the bottom for a dip, but warnings about land mines in this area rang in our head and we thought better of it (this plateau was fought over by the US and North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War).  We continued on and slowly made our way up through dusty, potholed roads and through villages set amongst coffee plantations.  Around 1:00 that day we were all severely drained by the sun and wanting to find some water to swim in.  We asked some locals for directions to a swimming hole and attempted to follow them, ending up first at a mosquito- (and malaria-, no doubt) ridden pool.  No go.  We continued on and found a small sign for a waterfall.  About 1km through coffee plantations and we found the perfect break spot.  Two large waterfalls with easy access to the base.  An AMAZING spot.  We spent a good 45 minutes playing in the water and cooling off before realizing that maybe we should get going before the sun went down and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere.  We continued on, and stopped for food and Laos coffee at a village. We asked about accomodation there, but were told that we’d have to clear it with the village chief.  Not wanting to impose, we continued on at a good pace to try and make it to Paksong before nightfall.  The last 10 kms were paved (thank God!), but MASSIVELY potholed (crap…), making for even slower going than the dirt stretch.  It was seriously like the road had been bombed, and I felt like I was in a video game trying to avoid the holes.  Got to our guest house (for some reason they had two pet gibbons in the back yard…) and collapsed that night on the hardest mattress known to mankind.

Day 4:  Though we were just a short trip from home (Pakse, 50 kms on good roads) we managed to stretch this day WAY out.  We planned on a short 4 km sidetrip to a free trade coffee center, but overshot it and ended up at the end of a dirt road with promises of, you guessed it, another waterfall nearby.  We set out though were unsure about whether we should be there or not.  We knew guides were available (recommended?) and we saw mysterious signs warning of a 200,000 kip fine for doing something (it was all in Laos), but we persevered.  After a steep hike through a sketchy jungle ‘path’ we burst out onto a middle tier of a large waterfall.  We were at the edge of the Bolaven Plateau and in the midst of a river that must’ve had 50 cascades to reach the lowlands below.  Best of all, this spot was all ours.  Amazing.  We made it out without incidence (though Chris forgot his shirt and had to go ALL the way back down), scooted to another, much easier to-get-to waterfall spot and had a good feed there.  One hour later we’d made it back to Pakse, turned in our motorbikes and called it a trip.

What a great time…

Note the first fine… Heeyoung and I were fresh out of cows, it’s a good thing we didn’t violate any laws…

The first of MANY waterfalls along our motorbike trip.

A pack of dusty children.

HY tries to communicate with a tribal lady who is holding a MASSIVE water bong. Needless to say, conversation was difficult…

Christ on top of our first waterfall on our LONG dirt road day

This waterfall kicked ass. After about 40 kms down a dirt road and then through some coffee plantations this beast appeared before us. It was approximately 162 degrees so we jumped straight in. Good times.

HY looking tough on our scooter. (Note: She didn’t drive at all, except for about 5 minutes in one guest house parking lot)

The effect of 71 kms on dirt roads. Looks like I’d been beat up (though I kinda had been by the crappy roads)

Our bike gang on top of another waterfall we found. This was took some work to get to. About 15 kms down a dirt road, then down a steep jungle path where we had visions of hidden land mines all around us. All was well though, no worries.

These signs dotted the path down to one waterfall. All we knew was that there was a 200,000 kip (only about $20 really…) fine for doing something, though we weren’t sure what. We guessed for not having a guide, or for having campfires, or for straying from the path, or for wandering into sacred grounds… We were a bit concerned. It turns out that we just weren’t supposed to pick flowers…