Sapa, Vietnam

I loved my two day trekking trip through Sapa. The mountains are full of terraced rice fields and local hilltribe Hmong people, who are so nice and make beautiful handicrafts.







I fell in a rice paddy and it ate my shoe.







Marijuana field - they grow hemp for clothing

Halong Bay - North Vietnam

A relaxing overnight cruise through Halong Bay in North Vietnam.

Vietnam Traffic (Hanoi, Vietnam)

The motorcycle rules the busy roads in Vietnam and traffic lights seem to be the exception rather than the rule. I haven't seen a stop sign yet! It seems that you just inch and inch forward until there is room for you (or you make room) to cross the intersection.

Scooter Riding in Vang Vieng, Laos

In beautiful rural Vang Vieng, I rented a scooter and drove out to the 'blue lagoon', which had cold beautiful blue fresh water for swimming outside of a cave. The scenary was gorgeous and made for a nice ride.




The blue lagoon

The Beer of Laos - Beerlao

Only $1 for this huge bottle - good stuff! They have a dark version too, which is nice.

Lao Cooking School (Luang Prabang, Laos)

I did a cooking class in Luang Prabang, which was wonderful. I learned how to make chicken stuffed lemongrass, lao soup, fish steamed in banana leaves, spicy lao tomato dip, and coconut sticky rice.

The cooking school.

A traditional Lao stove with hot coals in a clay pot

Steaming sticky rice in a bamboo basket over a pot of boiling water on top of the clay stove

Chicken stuffed fried lemongrass with a peanut dipping sauce (yum)

Luang Prabang Market, Laos

I've been to quite a few local markets by now, but the one I visited with my Lao cooking class in Luang Prabang was much more 'authentic' than the others. Please be warned this post isn't for the weak stomached. However, don't think that I am making fun of the use of all parts of the animal - I actually think it is quite admirable. I don't like waste.

Pork feet to the left, skinned pork jowls to the right and up top are cubes of congealed pigs blood

Plate of organs

Chicken feet

Small Frogs

Pork faces (skin only)

They're lookin' at you! More pork jowls.

These fruits are delicious - top are lychees, left are mangosteens, on the right are rambutans (like a lychee on the inside).

On the top are red bags of blood and on the bottom of the pile are green bags of bile

Guinea pigs (not pets).

Dried fish strung together with bamboo and banana leaves on the left

The two barrels in the top of the image are fermented fish sauce. Our instructor told us the more flies, the better the fish sauce, as it improves with age. I tried some and decided they must snicker at our clear bottled liquid fish sauce in the 'world foods' section of the grocery store, because theirs is intense..... really really intense.

Fertilized chicken eggs. The number written on the eggs represents the stage in development of the embryo inside the egg. One represents the youngest and three is about to hatch...... see the illustration.

This is a mixed pile of dried up animals - some rats, small birds, large birds and another unidentifable creatures. They looked a bit like old road kill. They are used to flavor soups and eaten bones and all.

Last, but not least, this one goes out to all my cardiology lab friends.... bottled pigs fat.

Alms Procession - Luang Prabang, Laos

Every morning in Luang Prabang, hundreds of buddhist monks descend from the temples at 6:00am in a procession to collect food (alms) for the day. Local villagers provide the monks with sticky rice, bananas, and ocassionally other treats. The monks eat two meals a day, and do not eat after noon. Luang Prabang has ~1200 monks and most seem to range in age from six and up.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang is one my favorite places I have visited! It is an adorable small town with and old asia feel, full of beautiful restuarants, hotels, bars, temples, monks and a fantastic night market. I only intended to stay for a few nights, but ended up staying for six!


Local Lao sausage drying in the sun

The Mekong River - Laos

After one entire day on a bus to get to the Thailand-Lao border, I had to ride an uncomfortable boat for two full days along the Mekong river in Laos to get to the nearest city - Luang Prabang. The Mekong is an important source of life and income throughout China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It also happens to be home to the giant catfish.


The boat

Who wants to go noodling?

**from the internet, somehwere