Lao Food and Rock Climbing

Over the weekend we were off again so decided to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather here and take a Lao cooking class as well as go rock climbing for a day.

Amazing colors 

The Lao cooking class is run through one of the best restaurants in Luang Prabang called Tamarind. After a short 20 minute tuktuk ride to the cooking school we were ready to learn to make a few Lao dishes.  The setting of the cooking class was beautiful!  The fresh herbs came from the garden growing right on property and the backdrop was the mountains.  There were 9 other people in our class.  The first thing we made was Jeow which is a dipping sauce for your food.  Anna made one with tomato and I made one with eggplant.  The ingredients are cooked over an open wood flame and it was hot trying to roast the vegetables!  Most food here is spicy and the spice level comes in terms of the numbers of red vs green chilies.  Both of them were quite tasty to try.  We then learned to make Mok which meat or vegetables steamed in banana leaves.  I did Mekong fish and Anna did cloud ear mushrooms.  While those were steaming in a bamboo steamer we then made chicken stuffed in lemongrass.  The lemongrass is a long herb that we cut to make a little basket.  We then stuffed the baskets and cooked them in hot oil.  Last but no least was dessert of purple rice in coconut milk topped with tamarind sauce and fruit.  We actually made the coconut milk ourselves which was much easier then I expected.  After making all this food, we sat down to dinner to enjoy our hard work. Both of us left with a belly full of tasty food!  We liked it so much, we bought some of the ingredients to bring home.  They also sent us home with a recipe book so we can attempt to recreate at home.  If you want to try the food, let me know.  I am always happy to have a dinner party.

Laura climbing

On Sunday we met up with a group from the hospital for a day long rock climbing adventure at Gecko Wall.  It was about a 20 minute boat ride south of the city then a crazy trek up to the wall.  Neither Anna nor I have done a lot of outdoor climbing so looking at the wall was a little daunting.  In our group, about 4 of them were quite experienced climbers and set the routes for us to top rope climb.  It was some pretty tough climbing but the views at the top were amazing!  During the day we sustained a few bumps and bruises but had a lot of fun.  We then enjoyed a nice cruise up the river while the sun was setting over the mountains.  It was quite the day but am I sore today!

We only have 2 weeks left in our trip and it has been quite the adventure here.  We can't wait to share our stories and the 2000+ pictures and videos. We hope everyone is safe and healthy!

Anna working at a very difficult route

Sunset on the way home

With some of the other drs working at the hospital

We even manage a little fun

Rock Climbing group

Food glorious food

Coming to Laos I had a few concerns; were the toilets just holes in the ground or westerns style, how much could I sweat before I melted and what would I eat.  I had heard somewhere that fish soup was about all there was and that made me very nervous.  I am happy to report that I have not even seen fish soup and the toilets are western style.  I am still not sure how much I can sweat but its a lot.

Most important is the food.  It has far exceeded my expectations.  I am tired or rice but luckily there are other options.  We are staying near the river street which is filled with fancy restaurants by Lao standards.  If we got 2 blocks, we have a bakery, pizza place, French restaurant and traditional Lao food.

For lunch at the hospital, most of the staff goes to the "cafeteria" which is really a mom and pop style restaurant.  While they speak very little english, pointing has lead to a variety of tasty treats for a little more then the cost of ramen.  In the shop there is also a variety of treats and drinks to round out your meal.  I have become quite fond of the vegetables and pork/chicken in broth.  The pho is also a winner.

Lao is know for its fish, Mekong seeweed, papaya salad and Mok.  I have attempted the papaya salad and Mok which were both a surprise.  I expected a papaya salad to be sweet with big chunks of papaya.  To my surprise it was unripe green papayas and was spicy!  Mok is a traditional dish with meat, lemongrass and egg steamed in a large banana leaf.  This was surprisingly good.  

Chicken Mok

On the main drag through town you can find just about anything you want.  There are many ex-pat restaurants around town as well including a speak-easy bar with great gin, a new tex-mex restaurant that had Chipolte style burritos and an India place we have yet to try.  Two days a week there is a place called Secret Pizza that is down a random dark road but was a nice taste of home. The best ice cream in town is called U Like (gotta love the name) and 2 scoops are 8000Kip or $1.

For now we are off to learn how to make our own Lao food at the Tamarind Cooking Class.

Lao Food pyramid

Elephants, Waterfalls and Buddha oh my

Some of the mud we got stuck in

Driving along the Mekong

Riding the Elephants

We have finally had a break in the heat here and the rain has started.  The daytime highs are finally below 100 and we can walk outside without melting.  We had the weekend off so we took full advantage of our time off.  On Sunday we went to go see the elephant sanctuary and it provided quite an adventure.  Overnight we had received some impressive rain and the dirt roads made for some difficulty getting to the sanctuary.  The van we were in got stuck more then once in the mud to the point we had to have another truck pull out out of the mud.  On one side of the road was a steep drop off straight into the Mekong River so we opted to get out of the van and walk.  However, this was not without adventure either.  We stepped out into the mud and I lost a shoe into the mud and Anna was covered in mud from walking in flip-flops.  We made it out and have a funny GoPro video to go with the event.

Boat ride to Pak Ou Cave

We finally made it to the sanctuary where we had our own private tour.  We each had an elephant to ride with a Mahout to lead it.  We rode along the riverbank for about an hour with some spectacular scenery in the background.  It was an amazing experience!  After riding the elephants we took them down to the river to have some fun.  The elephants would drop into the water and roll over to try and buck us off.  It was a lot of fun and we ended taking quite a few swims.  The elephants were amazing animals and so gentle.

Having fun

After lunch on the riverbanks we took a boat across the Mekong river and went to Pak Ou cave.  Its a cave on the river with hundreds of Buddha statues inside.  There were two different caves at the top of the stairs.  It was beautiful looking out at the cave at the Mekong river.  After walking up several flights of stairs, we got back on the boat to head to Tad Sae Waterfall.

Feeding the elephant

Because its the end of dry season the waterfall was not no impressive but the hiking around the waterfall was amazing.  Our tour guide took us to the top of the waterfall and to the caves near the waterfall.  It was an adventure to say the least.  Both Anna and I took a little tumble hiking but no one was injured.  After a long day day of adventure we made it back with only a few bruises and a lot of great memories.  We have a ton of pictures and are slowly making out way through them.  Here are a few from the days adventure.

Pak Ou Cave

Mekong River

Looking out from Pak Ou Cave

Overlook at Pak Ou

Adventures around town

Anna enjoying her favorite chair at the guesthouse

Sorry its been a few days since I last posted.  We have been working hard at the hospital and had some really sad cases.

Waterguns as flower pots

A random squatting guy

Its been hot as can be here.  Glad the record heat wave arrived around the same time we did. Temps have been above 100 during the day time and the hospital ward is not air conditioned.  Needless to say we are drinking crazy amounts of water to try and stay hydrated. With the crazy heat there has been some awesome storms Luckily for us today was much cooler then the last few days.  

Crossing the Russian bridge

Russian bridge

Over the last few days I found a bunch of fun spots for ex-pats to go to.  I went to a trivia night with several of the other ex-pats in town at a speakeasy club.  And last night we had a going away karaoke night which was a blast.  Many of the Lao staff went to say goodbye to our pharmacist.  It was a late night and I actually got locked out of our guesthouse.  Luckily I was able to climb the fence before the storm started and even get my bike over the gate as well.  I am sure if anyone saw me I looked like a crazy person but there was no way I was biking to the hospital to sleep.  Glad to know I can still climb a fence, its been a long time!

Nam Khan looking upriver

Utopia bar

Today we had a day off and decided we should explore the town.  During our almost 10 mile walk, we visited several temples, crossed the Russian bridge across the Nam Khan, and watched sunset on top of Mt Phousy.  From the top of Mt Phousy you can see a 360 view of Luang Prabang and it was quite a way to watch the sunset.  At the top there were several monks and we found one who wanted to practice his english.  We were able to learn more about the many temples in the area.

The Russian bridge was also an experience.  The motorbikes go in the middle and the people walk along the outside.  About 1/3 of the way across I chickened out and went back but Anna made it across both ways.  It was a wooden bridge and seemed a little sketchy but it is a very frequently used bridge.  

We made it to the top of Mt Phousy

We also went to a bar called Utopia.  Its a throwback to about 50 years ago with a bunch of people sitting around on traditional Lao floor mats, drinking beer, smoking and just having a good time.  We are not hip enough to hang out here so we had a drink, took some pictures and went on out way.  

It was quite a day and we are almost 2 weeks into our adventures overseas. Both of us are still in good health and enjoying the experience so far despite some rough days at the hospital.  We have an early morning tomorrow so we can drive to the elephant sanctuary and learn all about them up close and personal.  

Amazing sunset 

Another Day off

We had another day off today and again we tried to take full advantage of it.  Anna got up early this morning to watch the monks walk to the Wat and give alms.  I chose to sleep in today which was awesome.

We took a tuktuk down to Ock Pop Tok which is a living craft center in Luang that has local and traditional textiles and weavings.  We took a class on dyeing silk.  Silk textiles are a large part of the economy here in Luang Prabang.  There were many local women weaving textiles that will be sold to help support the women and their families.  We learned all about natural dyes and were able to color a scarf and 2 skeins of silk.  They use all natural products for dyeing and we actually got to prepare the dyes.  Anna had to pick indigo plants and muddle them to make blue.  I had to chop Annatto tree to make orange.  It was a lot of fun to work side by side with the women who work at the center.  For the scarfs we were able to make a design before dyeing them.  This involved folding and tying the fabric before coloring the scarfs.

After the factory, we decided to go across the bamboo bridge.  This is a bridge across the Nam Khan river that you can only cross during the dry season.  We are just days away from the rainy season so we wanted to do this before rainy season started and it is underwater with strong currents.  It was not nearly as scary as I expected it to be.  Across the river is where many of the local people live.

We also had a change to walk along the Nam Khan river road and found a grocery store!   We were so happy to be able to buy some groceries and a bowl so we can make oatmeal in the morning.  Anna was able to get a nice cold coke and I found unflavored carbonated water!!!