Nepal Personal Experience

Monday: We have landed in our seventh country: Nepal. As we were driving from the airport, I saw cows lying down in the middle of the streets. In Hindi, cows are sacred animals so you are not allowed to kill them. Instead of beef, the Nepali people have buffalo. We check in at the guesthouse and leave for dinner. At the entrance to the restaurant, they put a red mark on our foreheads that symbolize the third eye. We eat in a big room with many low tables. There are cushions around the table for us to sit on. The dinner is traditional Nepali food. We have potatoes, lentils, rice, and yogurt for dessert. While we were eating, dancers, musicians came, and performed traditional Nepal dance. After dinner, we go back and go to sleep.

Tuesday: I have momos for breakfast. A momo is very similar to a dumpling with vegetables, buffalo, or chicken inside. Momos can be steamed, fried, boiled, or cooked in a soup. My favorite is steamed. After breakfast, we begin our tour of Kathmandu.

First, we visit the Boudhanath Stupa. This stupa is one of the largest stupas in Nepal. It is 2,000 years old, and it was the first stupa to be rebuilt after the earthquake. We are not allowed to enter the stupa because a relic of the Buddha is inside. The stupa has a dome that is 100ft in diameter. Around the stupa there are little crevices holding prayer wheels. As people walk around the stupa, they spin the wheels for good fortune. On the outer rim of the dome, there is a mandala, which symbolizes the home of the Buddha. The dome itself symbolizes the great treasures of the universe. The face of the Buddha is drawn on the dome. The two eyes represent wisdom, and the nose symbolizes Nirvana, which is the full state of enlightenment. Above the face, there is a Harmika, which is a little platform above the dome. The Harmika represents honor and respect. Then, there are thirteen steps to reach the pinnacle of the dome. These steps symbolize the Buddha’s 13 phases to reach enlightenment. After the steps, there is a big lotus flower; it symbolizes compassion and purity. Above the lotus flower, three disks are called the umbrella. The umbrella protects the three jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The last part of the stupa is the pinnacle, which represents the king of the mountains. From the pinnacle to the ground, there are colorful prayer flags to send blessings to the people that walk under them.

   Next, we go to the Samteling Monastery. It is located to the east of the stupa. This monastery is one of the oldest Tibetan monasteries in Nepal. It has a huge prayer wheel at its entrance covered in golden engraving of Tibetan mantras. Inside the monastery, we saw monks getting prepared for their afternoon prayer session and giving offerings to the Buddha statue.

   Next, we went to have lunch. In the Nepali culture, people usually have four meals a day. Early in the morning, they have toast and tea. At around 9:00 AM, they have Dal Bhatt, which is a huge platter with rice in the center surrounded by lentils in a bowl, two types of vegetables in separate bowls, buffalo meat in a bowl, potatoes in a bowl, and yogurt in a bowl to cool down their mouths from the chilies. Obviously, they will not get hungry for a long time, so around noon they will have a plate of momos. Momos are a Nepali type of dumplings. They can be either round or moon-shaped, and they can be steamed, fried, boiled, or made into a soup. Then at night, they will have another Dal Bhatt, which is what we had for lunch with a plate of steamed vegetable momos.

   After lunch, we go to the Monkey Temple. At the entrance of the temple, we saw a newly wedded couple leaving to their new house. We also saw trays full of colorful powder. The Hindi people use this powder to make beautiful designs on their skin for special festivals. As we were walking towards the temple, we see many monkeys climbing the walls and cows grazing in the grass. We also see a group of boys playing football (soccer) near the river. On the opposite side of the river, there are large concrete platforms that are used for cremations. The Hindi people believe cremation is necessary to return the body to mother nature. When the body is burned, it becomes ashes and the ashes are distributed back to the five elements: air, water, fire, and green. When the body is burning, it releases smoke, which goes back to air. The ashes are thrown into the river, and they mix with the water. The body becomes fire when it is being burned. They save some of the ashes to put in a stupa and dedicate it to the person; therefore, the ashes are kept in the earth forever. Finally, the trees breathe in the air that is mixed with smoke. We are not allowed to enter the temple because only Hindus are permitted to enter. We walk around the temple and see little huts were the priests live. Then, we go back to our guesthouse.

Wednesday: During breakfast, I try the traditional Nepali tea. It is called Masala. After breakfast, we have our cooking class. In the class, we learn how to make momos! First, you make the dough and the vegetable, chicken, or buffalo mix. Then, you cut little circles from the dough. Fill the circle with the mix and close it. For vegetable, we made a circle momo and for meat, we made a half-moon momo. Then, we steam the momos. While the momos are cooking, we make the sauce. First, we grind the garlic and the peanuts. Then we blend the tomatoes and chili. Finally, we mix. Once the momos were finished, we served them on plates made of leaves. The momos are delicious! After having triple servings of momos and some Nepali tea, we visit the school that we will be teaching at for the next two weeks. The school is located in a neighborhood named Bouda, which is Buddha in Nepali. The school is called Samata School, and there are 56 schools all over Nepal. In this school, there are 3,000 students. All 56 schools are entirely made of Bamboo, and they charge 100 rupees or 1 dollar a month. There are around 90 students in each classroom, but thankfully, we will only teach 15 at a time! We leave the school and go back to the guesthouse excited to begin our first day of teaching in Samata School.

Thursday, Friday, and Sunday: For Thursday, Friday and unbelievably Sunday we will be teaching 10th grade. In Nepal, Sunday is not a part of the weekend for half of the year, but it is for the other half. Once we arrived at Samata School, we were introduced to the first 15 students that we would be teaching. We taught them how to prepare and act in a job interview. We also taught them how to write and respond to emails. Since I had never had the experience of a job interview, I did not know how to act in one. Therefore, I did research on the internet, and I asked my parents what you should say and how you should act. In the beginning, my parents were the ones explaining about the job interviews, but slowly as I began to understand more I became the one explaining. It was not only beneficial to me, but it was also beneficial to them. Since I am closer in age to them, they were able to relate to me better. Now, I think I will have some experience when I will prepare for a job interview in the future. As we taught them, I was learning at the same time.

At 1:00, the students break for lunch. Their lunch is for 30 minutes; then, they come back, and we continue teaching. After school on Thursday and Sunday, we went back to the guesthouse to do homework, but on Friday, we drove to Bhaktapur. Once we arrive in Bhaktapur, we go to our guesthouse, which is over 500 years old. Then, we walk around the city and stop to get a henna. The Nepali women get hennas on special occasions such as festivals. They usually get hennas on the palm or the front of their hands, ankles, foreheads, arms, or legs. I decided to get mine on the palm and the front of my right hand.

My mom decided to get hers on the back of her right hand, and my brother got one on his left arm. To draw the henna, it takes about 15 minutes, but since I had two drawings it took 30 minutes. After letting the henna dry for 15 minutes, you then put lime juice with sugar to let the henna ink sink in. Then, you wait about one hour for the henna to dry, and then you scrape it off. The henna on the front of my hand lasting about one week, but the one on the palm of my hand still appears faintly only two weeks later. After getting our hennas, we went back to guesthouse, very excited to visit Bhaktapur tomorrow.

Saturday: First, we went to a temple right outside our guesthouse.

On the temple, there are two goats laying down. This temple is built in the 14th century. The whole temple was made of one tree. The temple is the oldest in Bhaktapur, and it is dedicated to Vishnu (creator god), Chiva (protector god), and Burma. The temple is specifically for women. There are candles placed in front of the temple as offerings. Next, we visited a traditional house from Bhaktapur. The house is made of bricks, and the windows are beautifully carved. In Bhaktapur there are three types of windows: a sunflower window, a peacock window, and an eye window. They used teak wood for carvings because it was cheap. All the houses and temples have small doors because it forces you to bow down when you enter, which is a sign of respect. Nowadays, many people live in brick apartments because the earthquake in 2015 destroyed most of the houses and killed 336 people. Four families live on each floor.

Next we went to a Buddhist temple. The temple was very dark because it did not have electricity. In the morning, the monks ring a bell three times signifying that the people are allowed to enter. At the entrance, there is a symbol which looks like the Star of David; it signifies protection. One of my favorite things about Nepal is that the Buddhists and Hindus worshipped their religions in peace right next to each other. For example, in Bhaktapur there was a Hindu temple right next to the Buddhist temple. I found this to be amazing because in today’s world there is so much conflict between religions; countries even fight wars about it!

Next, we went to the tallest temple in Nepal. It was made in the 16th century. There were elephant statues guarding the entrance. This temple survived both earthquakes in 1934 and 2015. We climbed to the top of the temple and had a beautiful view of the mountains and city. From up top, the mountains resembled the shape of a sleeping Buddha statue. We climbed down, and went to make some pottery.

Pottery is the main industry in Bhaktapur. We went to a pottery shop to make some bowls, cups, elephants, and houses. After we made some pottery, we went to have lunch. For lunch, we had a traditional Dhal Bhatt with extra servings of potatoes. After lunch, we went to a singing bowl shop. There we had a healing treatment with the singing bowl vibrations. Then, we went back to the guesthouse to pick up our luggage and go back to Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is a beautiful city, and I wish I could have stayed longer to visit the entire village, but I am excited to begin a new week of teaching.

Week 2: This week, we will be teaching 9th graders in a different campus. Once we arrive, we are greeted by the vice principal of the school. She shows us to our classroom and gathers the students that we will teach. We decided to teach the 9th graders the same subject as the 10th graders: email etiquette and job interview preparation. We also added some role-play to teach them what to say in different scenarios. At 1:00, the students would break for lunch for 30 minutes. Then, we would continue again with the same class. At the end of the classes, we would play hangman or charades. I think it is important for the students to know how to write emails and how to act in a job interview. I think they understood, and I think they will always remember our classes. I will really miss teaching here in Kathmandu. After our last class, we took a car up to the mountains four hours away from Kathmandu.

Saturday: We arrived in the mountain village yesterday afternoon. We are camping on the banks of the river because today we will go white water rafting. We go down to the river and listen to the guide explain about the raft and the river. Then, we get in the raft and begin. We raft for about two hours, and then we go back. White water rafting was very exciting! Once back at the camp, we have dinner and then go to sleep in our tents. The next morning, we drive back to Kathmandu to fly to Bhutan! My family and I had a great time in Nepal; I will never forget it, and I am already dying to go back!

Nepal History

       Around 1,000 BC the Kirati tribe from Central Asia invaded the Kathmandu Valley and founded the first kingdoms. They lived there peacefully for centuries until the year 1200 AD when the Malla tribe from Bengal, took over the valley. They stayed in power for almost 200 years. During this time, trade with Tibet, China, and India flourished, and the foundations of Nepali art were created. 

Nepali Rug

This period was known as the Realm of the Mallas. In 1349, the Mogul Sham tribe invaded the valley, robbed cities, looted monasteries and temples, and burned the farmlands. The Indian traders fled the city and founded small kingdoms scattered over central and west Nepal, and foreigners were prohibited from entering until 1951. As a result, the valley was divided into three city-kingdoms: Bakhtapur, Patan, and Kathmandu.

Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan on the map

These city-kingdoms fought with each other, but not with weapons with art. They competed to be the center of trade with Tibet, India, and China.

       One of the small kingdoms in the center of Nepal was called Gorkha. In 1769, a military general came to power; his name was Prithvi Narayan Shah. He invaded all three city-kingdoms and took over the Kathmandu Valley. Question:

How did he and his soldiers take over the valley so easily?

The soldiers wielded Ghurka knives. 

Ghurka knives were used not only for fighting but also for sacrificing animals at the temple. They were curved, so during sacrifices, they could be able to chop off the head of the animal easier.

Prithvi Narayan Shah is considered the father of Nepal.

Prithvi Narayan Shah=Father of Nepal

        The "Great Kingdom of Nepal" that Prithvi Narayan Shah had created was short lived. On the fateful night of September 14, 1846, an enemy of Prithvi named Jung Bahadur massacred more than 200 people in the government and the royal court. Only Prithvi himself escaped. Jung Bahadur captured him and imprisoned him in his palace and took the title "Maharaja." He also changed his last name to Rana and became known as Maharaja Jung Rana. 

Maharaja Jung Rana

He founded the Rana Dynasty that would rule over Nepal for the next 104 years. Jung Rana visited the U.K and France and fell in love with the European courts. He copied the architecture, costumes, and culture to the royal Rana court.

Royal Rana Court

        Jung Rana and his successors began to expand Nepal's territory. They began to invade English colonies. The English were not happy with this. They knew the Ghurkhas were seeking revenge and they were great fighters, so they made a deal with the Ghurkhas:  they would pay the Gurkhas to fight with them against the Ranas. In 1816, the British forced the Ranas to sign the peace agreement of Sugauli. In the agreement, they settled new frontiers of Nepal, and the British were ever thankful of the Gurkha warriors.

       In 1934, and earthquake of 8.1 on the Richter scale hit Nepal. 12,000 people died, and almost all the building in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan collapsed. 

Destruction in Patan

In 1974, the Nepali Congress was founded which joined the anti-Rana movement. More and more people began to join the anti-Ramovementent. They attempted an enthronement of the current Rana king but to no avail. In 1951, the Shah returned. He was welcomed as a hero, and he became the new leader of the anti-Rana movement. In 1959, the movement succeeded in overthrowing the Ranas, and the first free election took place. The Nepali Congress won, and Girija Prasad Koirala took office. 

Girija Prasad Koirala

In 1994, the Communist Party was formed and Koirala is overthrown. In 1995, the Maoists take over and massacre thousands of people. Then, in 2000 Kairala comes back to power.  The fights with the Maoists are still going on, and on June 1, 2001, King Dipendra and his whole family are massacred. 

Maoist Protests

Then, in the chaos that follows, King Dipendra's son King Gyanendra takes complete control over the government in 2005 claiming the country is in a "state of emergency." 

King Gyanendra

Soon, newly formed political parties begin to protest. Then, on April 24, 2006, the king reinstalls the parliament. When the newly formed parliament meets, they declared the abolition of the monarchy and the country became the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on May 28, 2006.

Parliament House in Kathmandu

The king steps down, and the Maoists and rebel parties sign a peace agreement.

       On April 25, 2015, at 11:56 PM, an earthquake of 7.8 on the Richter scale brings much destruction and many deaths to Nepal. 

Destruction in Kathmandu

The earthquake is followed by many strong after shocks, and on May 12 a second earthquake hit. 12 of the 75 districts of the country were affected, and the Kathmandu Valley and Bhaktapur lost many of its historical and cultural monuments.

Destruction in Bhaktapur

More than 8900 people died, and over 3 milion people were in need of help. The country came together to help its people and preserve its unique culture and fascinating history.

The Nepali People and Culture

Spring Break In Thailand!

This is the beginning of our two weeks of spring break! We are spending the first four days in Chiang Mai. We took a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. As we were driving to our hotel, Chiang Mai reminded me very much of Mandalay. There was a huge brick wall with a moat around it separating the old city from the new city. When we arrive at the hotel, we check in and then get some rest for a fun day tomorrow.

Day 1: Today we will go white water rafting up in the mountains. We had a quick breakfast because we were picked up at 9:30. We were on the bus for two hours and 30 minutes. As we were driving up the mountain, we could see many elephants in the river and on land. Once at the river, we had lunch and had a quick lesson on how to maneuver. Then we got in the rafts.

I went in one raft with my brother and our teacher behind us. He taught us how to stand up while rafting.
He also let us jump in the water and float down the river.

On the last part of the river, we passed many local families having picnics on the riverside while their children played in the water.

When we went past them, they would spray water all over us to make sure we were sufficiently wet. We also saw elephants crossing the river. After two hours of white water rafting, we got back into the bus and drove back to our hotel.

Day 2: Today I am very sick and unfortunately, we will not be able to visit the city today. We stayed at the hotel and worked on homework.

Day 3: Today we walked around the city and visited many temples.

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city, and I loved the beautiful temples.

Day 4: Today we will drive to the golden triangle. We drove six hours to our hotel. Halfway there, we stopped to see the white temple. The temple is painted completely white and is covered in glass.

The sun reflects off the glass, making it very colorful. After the temple, we went back to the bus to continue driving. Once at the hotel, we dropped off our bags in our room and had an elephant education lesson. The elephant is the largest animal on land. Elephants are usually nine feet long and they are very social and smart animals. Elephants are keystone species, which are species that help the habitat. For example, elephant poop has many rich nutrients in it, so little plants start to grow in them. There are only two types of elephants: african and asian. The closest living relative of the elephant on land is the Rock Hyrax and in water it is the Manatee. The trunk of an elephant has 40,000 bundles of muscles. They use their trunks to spray water, grab food and water, communicate, and smell. In the Asian elephant, only the male elephants have tusks; the females do have tusks but small ones that usually break off.  A common misconception is that elephants are very loud walkers, but they are actually very quiet. This is because of a fatty cushion underneath the heel of the elephant; it quiets the step. Elephants are vegetarians, like me! Out of the 6,000 elephants in Thailand, 4,000 elephants are in captivity. The reason we had this elephant education class is because the hotel is located right next to an elephant rescue camp.

At the camp, there are currently 24 elephants, most of which are females. After the elephant education class, we went back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep.

Day 5: Today we will be walking with the elephants. First, we feed the elephants some sugar cane and pumpkin, their favorite snacks. Next, we start to walk. We walk next to the elephants in a circle around the camp. Once we arrive back at the camp, we wash the elephants.

We turn on the hose and spray the elephants’ backs, legs, stomachs, and trunks. After their long walk, they are very thirsty so they continuously ask for water. Then we feed the elephants their favorite snacks, and walk back to the hotel. Once there, we have lunch. After lunch, we receive our elephant-riding clothes, which are a loose jean shirt and pants, and go to meet our elephants.

The elephant that I will ride is called Dunsri. Next, we learn the different ways of mounting and dismounting the elephants. My favorite way of dismounting was to slide down the trunk of Dunsri. When I get on her, I notice that she is covered in spiky hairs that are not visible when you are simply looking at her. Then, we start riding. We ride around the camp and make our way to the river.

This river separates Thailand from Myanmar. To get to the river, we have to climb down really steep steps with Dunsri stopping every few second to eat something. Once down at the river the elephant’s mahout (the person who trains and takes care of the elephant) gets on the elephant behind me. We walk down into the river. The elephant wades into the water until the water level goes up to his stomach and my feet are in the water.

Dunsri sucks in water with her trunk and sprays it back onto me. She does this many times until she is satisfied that I am soaked enough. Then, we get out of the river and make our way back to the camp. There I take a picture with Dunsri, Max, and Jatong (Max’s elephant). While we were taking the picture, Jatong’s trunk came up behind us and lightly poked us; we all jumped! This is an experience that I will never forget.

Week 2: Today we will drive back to Chiang Mai to take a flight to an island called Phuket located in the Andaman Sea. Once there we drive to the port and take a 45 minute boat ride to an island called Yao Noi. On our way to the island we see the limestone rock formations that cover the sea. We will stay in Yao Noi for a week. During that time we go snorkeling to see the limestone formation and the peaceful coves that they create.

We also did Batik painting and Thai boxing. While we were in Yao Noi, we celebrated the Water Festival.

I loved the time we spent in Yao Noi and all the activities we did. I will never forget this wonderful spring break!

Laos Personal Experience

It is March 19, and I have arrived in Laos! I took a car ride to Muang La, a province in the northern part of Laos. We will stay in Muang La for 4 days!

Day 1- Today is our first day in Muang La! For breakfast I have a vegetarian noodle soup and ginger and lemongrass tea. After breakfast, we meet our tour guide; his name is Don. First, we go to the salt mines. This is where the hotel collects its salt.

Next, we went to the rice fields. There, we learned how to plant rice. First, you have to wait for the monsoon season. Next, you make the rows with the water buffalo.

Finally, you plant the rice, which was not easy.

Then, we went to a farmer’s house. There, they showed us how to harvest the rice. First, you pick the rice seeds. Then, you smash the rice grains to take out the shells.

Finally, you shake the rice grains opposite the direction of the wind, so you are only left the the part of the rice we eat.

Now it is time for lunch. For lunch, we had a very very very SPICY papaya salad, rice with vegetables, soup, and fruit. After lunch, we walked through the village and met an adorable group of puppies.

I probably spent ten minutes playing with them. Next we visited a temple.

There we sat and meditated a little. It is already time to go back!

When we arrived back at the hotel, we met a little monkey! The monkey climbed all over us.

He was so cute, or so we thought! At 5:00 PM we left the hotel to participate in the Baci Ceremony. Leaving the hotel, we were stopped by the monkey. Due to how much my brother and I provoked him, he bite my brother’s leg!!!! Not so cute anymore! Since the monkey had been vaccinated twice and my brother was wearing pants, the bite did not go through; it only left a bruise.

We quickly left to the Baci Ceremony, which took place across the street. This ceremony is performed to bring back all the 32 spirits that live in our bodies. This ceremony is performed by the elderly men in the community, but the person who leads the ceremony is a former monk. He recites the prayers to our wandering spirits to come back. Then, they tie cotton string around our hands to keep the spirits in our body.

These cotton bracelets will only stay on our wrists for three more days.

After tieing the cotton, they share food with each other. Then we thanked them and had to leave. That concluded our first day in Muang La. Today, I will sleep peacefully, with no wandering spirits.

Day 2- Today I had the same breakfast as yesterday! It is very good because in the morning Laos is quite cold, so soup and tea really warms me up. After breakfast, we left to meet Don. Today we will take a tour in the mountains to visit the three main ethnic tribes in Laos. The first tribe we visit is the Aka tribe. In the village, we meet many children that wave to us and say “hello!”

We also meet with the Shaman of the village. He tells us about his family and his village. The Shaman is the village leader and healer; anyone who needs advice or help comes to him. Then, we visited the Hmong and Khamu villages.

Most of the people that live in these villages are rice farmers. However, in all the villages we saw a school with a teacher, so all the children could have a basic education. In the Khamu village, the windows and door were all painted with bright colors

and in the Hmong village I bought a necklace that a little girl was making. One thing that made me really sad was all the plastic that was littering these beautiful villages.

I wish that I could do something to help clean up. Next, we had lunch. For lunch I had rice with vegetable, salad, and tangerines. After lunch, we went back to the hotel. That concluded our second day in Muang La.

Day 3- Today we wake up super early to go to the morning market. At the market, we buy the ingredients we need to have our cooking class. The menu is: Mok Paa (steamed fish in banana leaf), Laap Kai (laap of chicken with herbs from the garden), Tam Mak Ung (Lao green papaya salad), Khua kai sai khing (sauteed chicken with ginger), and Khao tom (coconut sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf). After cooking, we have our lunch! It was very good!

At around 7:00 PM, we have a traditional Lao dance performance. That concluded our last day in Muang La.

Tomorrow morning we will leave for Luang Prabang!

Day 4- Today is our first day in Luang Prabang! First we go to the morning market. The morning market is where people from the mountains come to sell their goods, especially rice. There are two types of rice, wet and dry. The dry rice is more expensive because to plant it, you have to burn the area, but it takes less water. The wet rice is cheaper, uses less water, and is grown in July. Some produce that I saw at the market were: eggplants, bamboo, tomatoes, fish, chilli, sarongs, beans, oranges, onions, garlic, butterfly cocoons, seaweed, bananas, many herbs, tadpoles, and crickets.

Towards the end of the market, there was a woman selling birds. We bought three birds and released them. It was beautiful to see them fly away into the sky.

Next, we visited the royal temple and palace. Inside the temple, there is a golden Buddha made in the first century in Sri Lanka. When King Pangun married a Khmer princess, he inherited the golden Buddha which she had received as a present from Sri Lanka. He then gave it to Laos as a present. King Sisauang began building this temple and the royal palace, but in 1969, the communists took over, and the temple was left unfinished. However, the palace was finished. When the communists took over, they told the royal family to visit the countryside to see how the countrymen lived, but it was all a scam. While they were away, the communists took over the royal palace and turned it into a national museum, but the temple was left unfinished until 2013 when Luang Prabang became a Unesco World Heritage city.

Next, we walked to the royal palace. This palace was not the original palace. The original palace was made of wood, but it was destroyed when the French came in and the existing royal palace was built. When the communists took over the palace, everyone in the surrounding city of Luang Prabang left because they all worked for the king and queen and were afraid of what the communists would do to them. Finally, when the communists began to give people their land back, Luang Prabang was no longer a ghost town.

The first room you enter in the royal palace is the reception room. The walls of the reception room are paintings of stories or events in Lao history. The first painting depicts a love story. The next shows the old royal palace that was destroyed by the French. The third one is a scene of the morning market. The next shows the former royal temple. The fifth shows the tradition of the soon to be prince meditating for three months in the royal temple before he became king. Next, it shows the oldest standing temple in Luang Prabang; it is 365 years old. The seventh is the bamboo bridge and the last painting depicts how the Laotian people live. The next room is the throne room. The whole room is painted red and the corners are covered with gold engravings. Over the red walls there are beautiful mosaic pictures of everyday tasks. The throne is also decorated with gold engravings, and there is a red candle next to the throne. The crowns of the kings and queens are on display next to the throne.

The next room is the library. Inside the library there are Buddha scriptures. Next, is the queen’s bedroom. In the bedroom, there are portraits of her five children, the king, and herself. Her bed is made of wood, and opposite the bed is a beautifully engraved wooden table. On the table there is a bowl with a gold rim for the queen to spit out the Betel nut juice. In general, the room is sparsely furnished. The king’s room is also sparsely furnished. On the back of the bed, there are three elephants. Next to the bed, there is a portrait of the king. On the far side of the room, there is a huge wardrobe. The wardrobe is so tall that there is a tool for the king to grab his clothes. The next room is the grandchildren’s playroom. There are musical instruments and traditional dance clothes hanging on the walls. The next room is the dining room. The room is very french. There is a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and chairs to sit on. This is probably not surprising to you, but in Laos, people sit on the floors. The last room is the queen’s reception room. Here the queen talks to all of her guests before they meet the king. There is huge painting of the king. When you move left to right, it seems like his eyes and feet are following you. There are benches with cushions on either side of the painting. There is a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a silk embroidery of a waterfall that looks like a picture.

There is also a picture of a stuppa. If you move to the left side, it looks like the sun is rising, but if you move to the right side, it looks like the sun is setting. The reception room became our farewell room. Outside the palace we asked our guide to take a picture of us and a Chinese man walked up and also took a picture of us!

I guess we have to start getting used to that! Next, we climbed 338 steps to reach the stuppa and to see the beautiful view of the Mekong and the city.

The name of the mountain is Pu Si. Pu means mountain and Si means hermit. Two hermits lived in this mountain. They died in 1804 and the king built this stuppa in their honor. Every morning, the people bring offerings and they hit the gong every three hours.

Next we visited the largest temple in Luang Prabang. It was built in the 16th century. The walls of the temple was decorated using the leftover stone from the royal palace throne room. On the back side of the temple there was a huge mosaic of the tree of life.

Our guide told us what stories the mosaics represented; they were teachings from the Buddha. Inside the temple there was a gong that you would rub your hands and it would make a loud, deep sound.

After that, we went to have lunch at Coconut Garden. Then we walked around the city a little bit. Finally, we went back to the hotel.

Day 5- Today we will spend our day on a boat. First, we visited a clay making village. The villagers make the roof tile for temple and houses, jars to ferment wine with snake designs on the rim, lanterns, cooking pots, and mortar for crushing chilli.

To make these products, first you shape the clay into what object you want. Next, you dry it for two weeks. Then you put it into the kiln. Finally, you take it out! We went back to our boat to visit the seaweed village. To make the seaweed paper first you collect the seaweed from rocks. Then, you make it into a ball and boil it with tamarind in water. Next, you take it out and make the ball flat by hitting it with bamboo. Then you add seeds or tomatoes and you put it to dry on the thath.

Now it is time to have lunch. We stop at a nearby island and have lunch. After lunch, we go to visit the cave. The cave is one big cave with many small caves or crevices inside. All these cracks and crevices are filled with statues of the Buddha.

After visiting the caves, we went back to the hotel.

Day 6- Today is our last day in Luang Prabang! Today we will go to the waterfalls. First, we stop at a small village to see how to make cotton cloths. First, you put the cotton ball through a roller to take out the seed.

Then, you hit it to fluff it up.

Next, you spin it to make a thread.

Then, you dye the thread and sew it to make a cloth.

The plants they use to make the colors

After we finish making cotton clothes, we take a short car ride to the waterfall. At the waterfall, there is a sanctuary for bears in extinction.

We take some time looking and reading about the bears, and then we go to the waterfall. We take a swim in the water. It is cold when you first jump in, but after a few seconds, you feel fine. When we leave the water, we are not cold!

We go and have lunch. After lunch, we go back to the hotel. That concluded our last day in Luang Prabang!

Today we are in Vientiane! We got picked up from the airport by the volunteer organization. It is very late at night, so we go to sleep when we arrive there. The next day we will begin our culture week!

Day 1- First we learn about the Lao Culture. There is a hierarchy for respect. There are different positions to place your hands in when you are greeting people.  

1. Buddha (monks)-hands on your nose bridge
2. Parents-hands on your nose
3. Teachers-hands on your mouth
4. Elders-hands on your chin
5. Friends-hands on your chest

Then we learned about the Lao language.

Hello, hi-Sabaidee

Good morning-Sabaidee ton sao

Good afternoon-Sabaidee ton tieng

Good night-Non lap fun dee

Good luck- sok dee

Goodbye- la kon

How are you doing?- Jao sabaidee bo?

I’m doing well, thank you. And you?- khoiy sabaidee, khop jai. Jao day?

What is your name?- Su khong jao man yang?

My name is sticky rice- Su khong khoiy man khao niew.

Nice to meet you!- Yin dee thee dai hu jak

Nice to meet you too!- yin dee send gun

I- khoiy

You- jao

After language class we had the rest of the day to ourselves.

Day 2- First we went to a temple in the city. In the center of the temple grounds, there was a huge Buddhist tree. The leaves of a Buddhist tree are shaped like the Buddha’s heart, thus the name.

Next to the tree there is a drum tower. The novice monks would hit the drums at 3:30 AM on a Buddhist holiday. Surrounding the temple grounds, there is a short white wall. On the inside of that wall, there are many colorful stuppas holding the ashes of the village elders. The Pagoda itself is still being built, but it already looks very beautiful.

After the temple, we walked around the village and bought the supplies for the flower offerings we are going to make. After we buy the supplies, we go back to the volunteer house to the flower offerings.

Then, we had lunch. After lunch we went to a pagoda. The pagoda had so many bright colors: red, gold, and green. Guarding the entrance to the pagoda, there are two nagas (a water serpent that is the god of the sea) with three heads.

We go into the temple to have a meditation class. First, the monk asks us to close our eyes and clear our minds. He tells us to breathe in and breathe out, counting each breath. After five minutes of meditation, he asks us to act out our conflicts with someone. I choose my mom. We decide to act out a scene where I am doing something wrong and she is trying to tell me how to do it correctly, but I am not listening. The monk then asks us to switch places; I am put in my mom’s position, and she is put into mine. He wants us to understand how the other person is feeling. Then, we sit in a circle, and he teaches us how to listen. There are four types of listening.

1. Listening to yourself-caring only about what you want and what is best for you.

2. Listening to it-you are listening to the other person and understanding what they are saying...but your point of view is better.

3. Listening to you-you are listening to the other person and you are feeling empathy for them. 4. Listening to now-you are at peace with the other person and you are aware of the present, you are not thinking of the past or future.

I think that most people don’t even know that there are different types of listening, so unconsciously they do number one and two. I want to be able to unconsciously do number four.

After having our Buddhist class, we left this pagoda and went to a nun’s temple; there we prayed and placed our flower offerings that we had made during lunch on the altar. Then, we had to go back to the volunteer house to have dinner.

        Day 3- Today is March 29, the most important day in my life; it is my birthday! Today we will visit Vientiane. First, we go to visit Cope, an organization that helps victims of landmines. Outside the building there is a statue of a mother and and her child holding hands.

This statue was made of the the broken remains of bombs. Inside, we watch a documentary about bombies. I put the link to this documentary at the end of my post on Laotian history. After watching the documentary, we had to leave to visit the market. The market was huge. They were selling all sorts of things such as honey, fruits, seaweed, sarongs, vegetable, and of course rice. After the market we went to have lunch. For lunch I had noodle soup with vegetables. After lunch we went to see the victory monument!

This monument was built to celebrate Laos’s independence. From the top of the victory monument there was an amazing view of the city.

Also, from the top we could see Thailand just across the Mekong River, which is the 12th largest river in the world. It runs through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Next, we went to see the golden pagoda. The ceiling of this pagoda was filled with images of the life of the Buddha and his teachings. Since our guide had been a monk for 14 years, he told us some of the stories.

The common theme of all the stories was that a bad person wanted to hurt the Buddha, but somehow the Buddha always escaped and taught the bad person to be good. Then, we went to see the Buddha. There was no one in the room except for us. We sat down in front of the Buddha and meditated.

To meditate you sit in a comfortable position and take deep breaths to calm your mind. Then we left the golden pagoda.

Next, we went to the Scandinavian Bakery to sing Happy Birthday. For the rest of my life, I will always remember this birthday!

After having many pieces of cake, we went to the night market. They closed the whole street to set it up. This street is to the right of the Mekong River, and Thailand is on the other side.

On the street, there are many stalls filled with clothes, food, books, and more. On the other side of the street, there are many bakeries. Then, we had dinner and went back.

Day 4- Today we begin volunteering. The program that we will be doing is childcare. We wake up at 9:00 AM and have a quick breakfast. Then, we get on our bikes and bike for about five minutes to the volunteering place. The place we are volunteering is not an orphanage; it is just a place where parents drop of their children when they go to work. The age range for the children is two to three years old. Since they are so young, it is very hard to teach them; therefore, we only do the alphabet, colors, animals, and body parts. Then, we play with them. They climb on our laps and bounce up and down.

We carry them and play games with them. At around 12:00 we feed them lunch. They come up to us when they feel like eating and open their mouths, asking for food. After giving them lunch, we say bye-bye and ride our bikes back. There we have lunch, and at 1:30 PM we get ready to leave again. This time we ride our bikes to a school. Here it is more organized. There are classrooms, toys, and an assistant teacher, but the kids are more rambunctious.

After they settle down a little, we begin teaching them the colors, animals, alphabet, numbers, and body parts. After teaching, we play with them. The teacher puts out legos, and they all attack the pile wanting to get the most. I help a little girl and boy build a bathtub for a hippo. Then, around 3:30 PM it is time for us to leave. We say bye-bye to kids and cycle back to the volunteer house. There I work on homework until it is time to have dinner. Then, I do some more homework and then go to sleep.

Day 5- Today is our last day in Lao PDR. Today, unfortunately, is only a half-day. We have breakfast and bike to the child care center. Today there are two other volunteers joining us there. We teach them the days of the week, vehicles, and numbers. Then, we review the colors, animals, body parts, and alphabet. Then, we play with them. There is one little girl that reminds me very much of myself because she is a very active child. She is always moving and wriggling out of my lap. I carry her and spin her around! I love to see her smile and laugh.

Then we feed them, and it is time to say bye-bye. It is amazing how strong of a bond we can form with these children without having to use words. We go back to the volunteer house and have dinner. Tomorrow we will go into Vientiane Airport to take a flight to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. As our airplane lifts off from the ground, I say “goodbye Laos! I will come back!’