We have been looking forward to Chiang Mai for its temples, elephant sanctuaries, and delicious Thai food for some time now. Leaving Thailand for a few days, and setting for Myanmar, we deeply urged for spice and flavor, as the food was quite bland. After spending over a month in Thailand, we have become rather accustomed to spice and strong authentic flavors. All of the countries we have travelled to thus far have provided Western cuisine restaurants which are surprisingly packed. While in foreign countries, we feel it is a part of the experience to take in and enjoy the local cuisine, and stay far away from the Western hot spots. That said, while in Myanmar we enjoyed the Burmese cuisine, and could not wait for the return of the Thai flavors and spices. With this is mind, we booked a vegetarian hotel because of its amazing reviews on authentic vegetarian Thai cuisine, and free breakfast for five days. Although one of the most expensive thus far on our journey, it was worth every penny. The breakfast provided was absolutely amazing, and we had what we agreed was the best Pad Thai over our entire stay in Thailand, which included mushrooms, something we have never seen.

Chiang Mai came with many overpriced excursions, due to high demand and an overflow of tourists. We participated in another Thai cooking class, bringing home more delicious recipes and skills, and an added technique of fruit carving plate decorations. We also attempted a dish which was advised to stay in Thailand, and not be attempted at home, which had a five foot tall flame. Unlike our last Thai cooking class in Koh Phangan, the portions were reasonable and our leftovers were minimal. The following day we decided to opt out of the tourist excursion to Doi Inthanon National Park, and rented a private Tuk Tuk for the day instead. We figured the freedom to decide our timing at the two beautiful waterfalls, as well as, Twin Pagodas was worth the extra few dollars spent. Although our driver was excited to have us, the Tuk Tuk was not as impressed and did not handle the steep incline of the National Park so well, failing to reach the final vista point. With a cloudy view at the peak of the Twin Pagodas, we informed our driver to turn around and not worry about pushing for the vista point, as the Tuk Tuk’s engine began to blow off heavy smoke. Safe and sound at our vegetarian hotel, we prepared for tomorrows adventures, something we had researched while in LA and looked forward to for countless months.

The Elephant Sanctuary was finally here, eager and excited, we hoped into the back of the pick up truck, along with our fellow backpackers. With a large range of fliers, advertisements, reviews, etc. we decided to trust our Thai cooking class chef and went along with his recommendation. After a long and exhausting three hour bumpy ride to the sanctuary, we arrived at what seemed to be a family house. With only two elephants, we were disappointed with the fact that it was not truly the kind of elephant sanctuary we had researched and hopped for. Our expectations were to arrive on acres of land, with ten to twenty adopted, rescued, happy and free elephants playing and enjoying the green grass, mud baths, and endless bananas. Instead, we arrived at a family owned company, who owned two elephants, which were previously used by the tourist industry for riding, which is why it was considered a sanctuary. Despite the details not reaching our expectations, we enjoyed a day of mud and river baths with the adorable elephants. This made us wonder how many of the thirty pus brochures we read were family owned farms, versus the true sanctuary many tourists are seeking. Has Chiang Mai caught onto the fact that tourists are seeking to sit with these rescued animals and taking advantage of the opportunity to make money, by purchasing a family elephant?

Our time in Chiang Mai had come to an end, and we were off for another day ride to Chiang Khong, the city bordering Laos. On our way to Chiang Khong, we stopped at the famous White Temple, which was quite possibly the strangest temple we have ever seen. With white architecture on the outside, this temple is absolutely breathtaking. However, the decorations inside and in the surrounding gardens were what we laughed about; Star Wars, Harry Potter, Halo, Alien, to name a few. We wondered how these decorations were relevant with the religious aspect of the temple. After the quick stop at the temple, we were off to our final destination of the day. As a package deal, the ride included accommodation. After seeing our room, we wished it had not. As of yet, this is definitely the worst place we have stayed. However, a few of the backpackers who had also purchased the package, were even more unlucky, and woke up covered in bed bug bites. With the poor quality hotel, we laughed at how we would choose to sleep outside any day. And that we did, The Gibbon Experience was next!

The Gibbon Experience definitely stands as a highlight from our trip thus far. I mean, we spent two nights in a treehouse 60 meters up in the middle of the Laos jungle, how could it not. Our mornings were spent with some hot tea and binoculars, searching for Gibbons on the treetops surrounding our treehouse. Followed by some intense trekking throughout the day, and some extremely high zip-lines with incredible 360 views of the jungle. With food provided by the local Laos village women, it was an experience we will never forget. The shower itself is a story on its own. After a full day of trekking, it was everything we could have hopped for and more, the cold refreshing water dripping on us while we watched sunset, as the water dribbled into the forest 60 meters below us. We were also very lucky to be paired with three other couples in treehouse number seven. Our evenings were spent playing cards, sipping local whiskey, and falling asleep to the beautiful sounds of the jungle. Our very first day in the treehouse, we spotted two gibbons tucked away in a tree in the distance. Although not everyone was convinced, the black fur and long dangling arms gave it away. As if our experience could get any better, the morning before departure, as we awaited our breakfast to be zip-lined over by the local village women, an entire family of gibbons were spotted, finally satisfying each and every one of us. We spent an hour watching as the family leaped from treetop to treetop, getting The Gibbon Experience we came for, truly a memory that will be irreplaceable.

After a one hour bumpy ride to the main road, we were proud of our planning skills and the fact that we brought all our belongings to the jungle office, unlike the rest of the gibbon clan. Saving  four hours commuting back to the city and back up the windy roads, we were half way to our next city, Luang Namtha. All we had to do at this point, was spot a bus and flag it down, easy enough. Four hours later, and the denial of one bus, we questioned whether our idea was the wrong one. However, finally an empty bus drove by, and the nice man agreed to give us a ride on his route back home. We were finally in Luang Namtha and headed to a recommended restaurant for a delicious Laos authentic meal, wifi connection, and planning. Once connected, emails had a different plan for us. This is when we received the amazing news that Chris was offered a conditional offer of employment to the Los Angles County Fire Department. The hectic flights home and time apart was all worth it! However, the news was bitter sweet, as mandatory orientation is a short three weeks away, leaving us separated once again. Caught up and alarmed, we failed to plan our excursion for the following day and decided to lead our own excursion on bicycles through the local rice fields.

Our final destination in Laos was Luang Prabang which is known for morning alms giving to the local monks, temples, and a waterfall. The night we arrived we walked from the bus stop to our hotel and were pleasantly surprised how Western and touristy Luang Prabang was. There was a sprawling night market with snake whiskey, painted bags of tea, and an abundance of the typical South East Asian market wares. The street that our hotel was on looked like the main street of a small American city. After checking in we headed to our restaurant we found in Lonely Planet and to our surprise saw one of the couples from our treehouse. It’s interesting how most travelers do just about the same thing on slightly different schedules due to travel advice is books like Lonely Planet. The Lao food at this restaurant definitely deserved the recognition of Lonely Planet, not to mention the beautiful riverside view from our table. The next day we went to Luang Prabang’s main attraction, our favorite waterfall thus far. Before we got to the waterfall, we were treated to some unexpected entertainment, rescued moon bears. They had all been rescued from poachers and now played on swings, hammocks, in ponds, and with each other. We could have watched them for hours, but they went inside for some lunch. The waterfall had three pools of water people could swim in and they were all a breathtaking aqua blue from the limestone residue. Once we got to the top we were struck with the beauty of the main waterfall cascading down into another aqua blue pool. Next we headed to the tiny five flights per day Luang Prabang airport. Without WIFI or air-conditioning this was a no-frills airport. This also came with a fun experience of walking out of the terminal and up a couple steps to our small plane. Overall, our first impressions of Laos have been great. With the incredible beauty the jungle has to offer, the quiet cities, and the nice people, we cannot wait to get back for some spelunking and river kayaking. For now we are immersing ourselves in Hanoi and look forward to what Vietnam has in store for us.