Hugh feeding our elephant some sugar cane

For the first part of our trek, we went to an elephant park that uses tourism dollars to try and save elephants from a hard life of logging (which I saw in Cambodia) or being poached. Letting humans ride on your back for an hour and then feed you treats is a much nicer job than dragging/shoving logs around. After our ride, we got to feed our elephant various treats. Ours really seemed to like sugar cane…

Our guide, Bunsai, and Hugh on our way to Houfy village

After the riding, we began our trek to a Khmu village in the hills. It was a relatively easy trek, but considering the heat and having to walk up and down a mountain it was still a bit rough. Our guide, Bunsai, pointed out the new rubber trees that Lao villages are growing to try and make more money, as well as various wild vegetables and grains. It was a really relaxing walk with only birds and buzzing insect sounds to listen to. Along the way, we saw villagers picking wood and forest goods and the sort…

A typical Lao meal: veggies, a main, and sticky rice

When we arrived at the village, we were taken to a special building they use for tourists. Houfy village is extremely poor, but they have lots of rice so they’re not hungry. Eco-tourism helps the village raise funds, and they’re careful not to bring too many tourists in. It was a little weird and felt a bit voyeuristic, but no one was putting on a show for us, and for the large part people completely ignored us (except for the children, but that’s children.)

Villagers building a new hut

While walking around the village, Hugh noted that many of the people (especially women) seemed far more interested in me than they were in him (a white guy). We wondered if it was because they looked at me and saw someone who looked like themselves, but was clearly living a vastly different life. I’m sure a lot of it was just general curiousity. What nationality or ethnicity was I? Why was I with a white guy anyways? Why am I wearing a tacky tourist t-shirt and exposing my arms to the sun?

Children doing hard labor

One of the most interesting things on our trek was seeing the children. We saw plenty of children laughing and playing, and many adorable children who seemed to take so much pleasure in just waving to us and shouting “sabaidee!!” We also saw children hard at work. On our way out of the village, we passed three small children under the age of 10 carrying bundles of wood. They had roped tied around the bundles and then wrapped around their foreheads, so the load was mostly bore on their heads. Our guide joked that the Khmu people had stong heads, but the Lao people had strong backs. He wondered if their necks get shorter from carrying things like that. I wondered if I could have carried the load right then and there (probably not.)

Elephants walking through Tad Sae waterfall

After the village, we trekked to Tad Sae waterfall, passing some smaller villages and elephant tracks along the way. When we reached Tad Sae, it was like entering some magical video game wonderland. The waterfall poured into aqua blue lagoons which poured into more. It was like infinity pool flowing into more infinity pools. The water was freezing, but clear and refreshing. It was definitely an excellent way to treat ourselves after walking for hours.

Best. Waterfall. Evar.

Being in Vietnam too has been interesting. So many people have come to me and said, “I hope you win, I hope Obama wins,” and that sort of thing.

Hugh is also very excited as he will one day become an American citizen and this fills with some hope, perhaps even some pride. I think we can both go back to America and feel comfortable with it.

Also, I think McCain’s concession speech was beautiful. I can only hope his supporters listen to him…

Last night I found myself just really feeling Vietnam-fatigue. This is by far one of the most difficult countries I’ve ever traveled in. While many people are kind and friendly, most people in the tourism industy seem to resent foreigners. I honestly don’t blame them considering the last 50 years of foreigners have brought nothing but war, agent orange, fat people in speedos, and pedophiles. But that’s not every tourist or traveler, and it sucks to have everyone either rolling their eyes at you, or muttering under their breath, staring at you with contempt, or just trying to scam you because everyone else who they’ve met has treated them like a slave or worse.

Anyways, the night bus was an interesting experience. The night buses are actually bunk bed-type seats. Not much room, but probably the best night bus I’d ever been on (Japan should import some of these things!) Nonetheless, it was a rough ride as the roads in Vietnam are pot-hole ridden and the bus driver drove like a maniac. After a toilet stop that horrified the foreigners, the bus soon started to smell of sewage (thanks to the over-usage of the on-bus toilet.)

Yet this morning, despite the smell and the cramping legs, I woke up to a ray of sun hitting my eyes. As I sat up and put on my glasses, I saw something out of a dream or a postcard, something that you never thought actually existed for anyone but National Geographic photographers and here I was sharing the view with a dozen other people from a stinky bus. The sun was bright red and rising right over a flooded rice paddy, violet-tinged clouds dotting the sky like they were placed there by the hand of God. In the middle of a field was a woman with a rice-hat on, bent over with a wooden sicle, doing the work she’s done every day, that her parents probably did, not posing for tourists, just going on with life. I wish I had a camera, but I don’t think the camera could have really captured this perfect shot that I have engraved in my mind.

Then of course, the enchantment was broken when we arrived at our hotel and once again it was another push-and-pull of smiling politely even when people are rude to us, or being bright and sunny (which I am not naturally) even when someone is looking me up and down and assessing how much I’m charging. Just another day in Vietnam, I guess, so much beauty made so ugly by tourism.

The weather finally cooperated (well, except for the 30 minutes it downpoured) and Hugh and I took to the city on bicycle and bus. Hangzhou has this amazing public bicycle system where you can rent bicycles for a negligble amount of money (basically $1 a day) and drop them off at various stations located around West Lake. This is very handy if you, say, are super lazy and get on a bike outside of your hotel and cycle about 500m to the bus station and nearest drop-off point.

There are far too many places for us to see in a week, let alone a day, but from what I’ve seen Hangzhou is pretty much up there with beautiful cities I’ve been to. It’s also one of the cleanest cities I’ve been to. I know I’m not the only person who associates China with cleanliness, but neither litter nor errant leaf stays on the ground for more than 15 minutes here.

There was one point when we were walking along a causeway when I spotted a small pavillion atop a hill in the distance. It brought this sense of wonder and enchantment that I don’t recall really feeling since I first came to Japan when I was 16 and spotted temples hidden deep in the hills from a speeding bullet train…

Well, pictures describe it better anyway…

People crossing a bridge over West Lake

This dude is important, Hugh agrees.

Boats

An old restaurant on Qinghefang Old Town District...