Glamping in Hanoi

Things are pretty busy here with the end of the assessment term at Maple Bear, and I will be taking on a new class of 17 kids in two weeks!

Backstage at our Summe Concert

Last weekend, following the successful Summer Concert we made the spontaneous decision to go camping last Saturday! The skies opened as we arrived which cooled things down.

The campsite totally exceeded our expectations! It could only be described as glamorous camping, or 'glamping'.. our rented tent was pitched for us on our own raised platform, it had a connected dining room area and an en suite toilet and shower cubicle. Our bedding was a futon with a blanket.. it was the most comfortable night's sleep ever! Even more comfortable since we were able to take a shower too!

 Enjoying being in nature!

 BBQ Sausage sandwiches for dinner

 布団！ Such a comfortable futon!

 I caught a fish on my first cast.. much to Toshi's annoyance! 

ファーストキャストで！！

Cooking breakfast

Lovely Laos!

Making the most of another long weekend Toshi and I decided to fly next door to Laos!

Day 1
After the short 4km taxi ride into the city from the airport we decided to have lunch at a Lao restaurant. We wren't prepared for the incredibly spicy dishes!!!! Apparently Lao food takes after Thai food more than tame Vietnamese cuisine!

As if the food wasn't hot enough, the outside temperature was about 36'C with no wind whatsoever (Laos is a landlocked country, which probably doesn't help). We rented a motorbike cheaply and off we went!

We rode about 120km north-east taking us to the Phou Khao Khouay National Park. The off-road was pretty bumpy and we fell off the bike at one point without too much damage, and were relieved when we made it to Tad Leuk, the location of our campsite. We rented a tent and sleeping bags for the highly reasonable $4 and set up camp.

The site had no electricity and the three staff who lived there bathed in the Leuk river and cooked by campfire.. so we did the same!!

As we cooked our garlic, bananas and tin of tuna (yes,  it was a bit of a random meal of things we'd managed to buy along the way and Toshi's fishing hadn't been successful) we were treated to a clear starry sky, fireflies and an incredible silent lightning storm, something I'd never seen before except on Africa savannah documentaries on tv.

In addition to the light shows were the bugs. Despite the smoke from our fire, our expensive 99% DEET bug spray (you can't get better than that!) and smoke candles, there was just no escape. The entire ground was covered in flying ants and maggoty things, along with the relentless mosquitos. We'd take malaria medication but it was still a concern.

After ensuring we had no unwelcome guests in our tent we settled down for the night.. until the silent lightning storm came crashing overhead bringing wind and buckets of rain. The campsite staff were clearly used to these sudden rainforest-type downpours and quickly relocated our tent under a veranda where we slept in the company of their dogs. So sweet!

Day 2 
We set off early next morning. I'd wanted to do some jungle exploring but the insects were just too many and the forest was too damp from the night's downpours so we decided to return to Vientiane. 

After getting stopped by police for running a red light and not having a license, after apologising profusely we were let off! We checked into our hotel early and decided to explore the city. 

  

Vientiane is a very small capital city with only 200,000 people and can easily be traversed by foot. The heat was just incredible though and we ended up taking refuge in a supermarket for an hour to cool off!

Our afternoon was rather dampened by being chased by a very scary un-leashed Alsatian and toshi's credit card being eaten by an ATM and decided to get a couple's massage to relax.

Lots of yummy Lao food later and we went to the Night Market and had some drinks watching an acoustic live band.

Day 3   
Without so much of a hangover we got up early to go to the bus station to go to Buddha Park, and managed instead to negotiate a very reasonable price for a chauffered car (with all-important air conditioning) with a local. So we travelled in comfort to Buddha Park, some 35km west of the city.

Can you see me!?

 

We found that Buddha Park is not particularly a religious site and so Toshi was disappointed. It is a collection of artworks by some guy who wanted to merge Hinduism and Buddhism. Personally I had a lot of fun posing for silly photos and pretending to be an Indiana Jones-type temple explorer!

Desperate to get out of the heat again and in need of a shower as we were soaked in sweat and dirt from our 'exploring' we decided to go to a spa, where we enjoyed a milk bath, before heading off to the airport in a Tuk Tuk!