We decided to head to Laos via boat so traveled from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, which is a town right at the border of Laos on the Thailand side. Most boats are ran by the government and a cheap way for backpackers to get to Luang Prabang. We opted for a more touristic and comfortable experience since it's a 2 days journey and had a "luxury" boat. It was honestly the best 2 days we've ever spent. We stopped at villages and caves on the way and got to experience the life along the river. We were served traditional food and refreshments that were delicious, got to read, nap and made new friends (average age: 75). Luang Prabang took our breath away - the most beautiful city in south east Asia! It is very European and is adorned by old French colonial houses. We stayed in the old town, which is full of life: night market, $5 all you can eat buffets, baguettes sandwich stands, restaurants, wine bars and of course temples. We explored the city, watched the sunset from the peak overlooking Luang Prabang and it's surroundings, hiked to a waterfall and swam in it's pristine blue water.
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We continued our island tour with Koh Lanka, which was a lot less chaotic than the other islands and our favorite. I drove a scooter by myself for the first time and survived. We had a few massages and hoped over to Phuket to catch a flight to Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is a lot more traditional and has a very pretty old town with a bunch of temples. We walked a lot and ate a lot of spring rolls and pad thai. We spent a day feeding and bathing the elephants which was incredible and another day hiked in the forest. A couple falls later, we are all alive and have to say bye to Charlene (so sad!). Our little munchkin, Charlene, decided to come join us while on her winter break. We got to Bangkok right on time for New Years Eve, which we celebrated on Khaosan Road - total mayhem! Since then we've explored Bangkok, Ko Samui, Ko Tao, Krabi and just got to Koh Lanta. We've seen temples, floating markets, night markets, a lot of fire shows, while also going snorkeling, being a part of a pub crawl and laughing our way through it. More to come!
We spent an incredible week in Toulouse with family and friends. We were a little hesitant at first to go all the way back to France for only a few days, but it was great to not be alone on Christmas. We had amazing food and wine, quality family time and even did some exploring!
Sorry for the hiatus, we've been having way too much fun in Sri Lanka for the past 3 weeks! Our friend Justin joined us after his vacation to Bali got canceled due to the volcano.
This country has been so full of surprises. We thought it would be similar to India due to its proximity, but not at all! This place is so clean, people are nice, the roads are great, and I love their coconut curry. We first headed to the beach for a full week of surf and yoga. Then, the highlight of the trip for me: we went to Udawalawe National Park to see some wild elephants. They were so close to us!!!!! We headed up into the mountains and hiked Ella rock, walked on the railroads since the trains were on strike and moved on to Kandy the cultural capital. We parted with Justin back in Colombo (he had to go home) and we decided to go back to the beach but in a different city this time. Hikkaduwa is a small beach village in the middle of the jungle. We are sleeping in a little bungalow full of animals' noises - Scotty is so scared at night - and an outdoor shower. I could stay here forever, but we are heading to France in a few days for Christmas. We made it to our last destination in India by train (of course) for our friend's wedding extravaganza. I don't even know where to start... but WOW what an experience! An Indian wedding lasts about a week from the ring ceremony to the big wedding reception with events every day. We watched (and helped) the groom get rubbed down in a turmeric powder everyday. Went to the tailor/stores and got fitted for outfits. Met with the choreographer to learn our dance for the ladies sangeet. And took part in all of the different events. The ladies sangeet: this is the first big event of the wedding. The groom's family gathers in a humongous "garden" that has been decorated and set up with a stage, DJ, lights, buffet, flowers, etc. and all his close relatives have to perform a dance - yes we had to also! There is a buffet to feed the 400 people in attendance. Nikasi: this is the actual wedding ceremony. It starts in the afternoon by getting the groom ready - we all had to shampoo his hair (gross!)... There is then a small ceremony at the house before we get him set up on the horse. Then this is where it gets crazy - the parade commences. We first head to the temple walking down the street with a band surrounding the groom on his horse and dancing in the street. Then, we take cars/buses to where the big parade starts. This consists of an elephant leading the troops followed by 2 camels, 2 horses, a car trailing a generator, rolling lights that make an illuminated path for everyone to dance/walk and finally the horse carriage with the groom. We walked and danced parading down the street (freeway?) for maybe 4 hours and didn't get to the venue until almost 11PM. Once there, the bride's family greets the groom's guests by handing out money (for good luck) and we can finally enjoy some delicious food. The bride finally makes her entrance at midnight and the couple heads into a clam to then pop out into the sky with blowing flower petals over their heads (I'm not kidding). The actual wedding ceremony can finally begin - the couple will walk 7 times around a fire before they are pronounced husband and wife. This goes on until 3/4AM. This event had about 800 people. Reception and dinner: the final event of the week long extravaganza! It was very similar to a regular wedding reception with obviously a big touch of India. The venue was beyond gorgeous with flowers and candles everywhere, a waterfall, a big stage with a swan mural and enough food for over 1,500 people (no typo here). The bride and groom made their entrance in an illuminated cinderella carriage and sat on the stage the entire night while their guests would go up to give them presents and take photos with them. Of course there was a lot of dancing and eating! We are so grateful to Jatin and his entire family for hosting us this entire week and making us feel at home. This was an unforgettable experience that we will forever cherish.
This completes our time in India and we are off to Sri Lanka tomorrow for 3 weeks! Udaipur - city of lakes. We reached Udaipur by bus in 5 hours with a little pit stop due to a flat tire. Our hotel was beyond beautiful facing lake Pichola with a great restaurant on the rooftop where we had breakfast every morning. Other than being a destination for honeymooners (so romantic!) the city is so clean and peaceful compared to the rest of India. People were charming and helpful for once. We visited palaces, went on walks, fished with some locals and saw a crazy "folk dance" show, which I now regret not having pictures/videos of.
Scotty became BFF with the hotel owner's dog, Milo, and even went on a scooter ride with him. Our last city in India coming next! Another flight in the books and we made it to a new city. Now this one was completely different from all the others we've visited in India. It was so majestic, people were nice and somewhat calmer if that's even possible?!
We stayed at a heritage hotel - a used to be summer house 10min outside the city for the then Maharaja. Every building here had a cool rooftop. We visited the massive fort overlooking Jodhpur, got lost in the tiny streets of the blue city, saw more temples, walked through the beautiful markets and of course ate some delicious food. We left Goa at 6:30AM by train... yep we decided to take an 11 hour train ride to Mumbai. It actually was not bad at all! We booked first class tickets, which just means you get actual seats, assigned and in an A/C car (although the A/C might not always work). It stops a lot and every time it does you have some different vendors coming onboard to sell you food & drinks (chai tea, waters, bananas, bread, and some indian treats I don't know the name of). Mumbai is a very big city mostly oriented around business. We only spent 2 days here since it was the only way to get to our next destination - Jodhpur.
There are 2 cool neighborhoods: 1. Colaba: very colonial looking with shopping and the iconic Gateway of India 2. Bandra: trendy area by the beach with a big Bollywood influence
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Author27. woman. product manager. expert traveler. yogi. Archives
April 2018
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