our taiwan and laos trip

We returned last night from our big Taiwan/Laos extravaganza. Two new countries for three of us (though John had already been to Laos). Such different nations too. Taiwan felt like Japan-light to us- a love of hotsprings, a plethora of rules (which people adhere to completely), a very high functioning infrastructure, plus all our favorite Japanese treats were available there too- Jeff practically subsisted on seaweed, rice crackers, and those little triangle sushi things.

Here are some pics from that part of the vacation:

Waiting for the subway on the first day

We stayed at the top of the red subway line right where the Danshui river meets the sea. Our first stop on our explore Taipei day was to a town a bit further down that line that has a beautiful hotspring. Sam played in the river where it was a bit cooler
And I sweated at its source (it was already a really hot day, but can you see the steam rising off of the lake?)
Then we went in to see Taipei 101- the 2nd tallest building in the world now- or is it still the first?
Jeff discovered escalators this trip and so I took him on them whenever I could.
We ended that day with a trip to the Shalin night market- it was big and wild but we were exhausted and loaded down with groceries so we didn't stay long. Still cool though

The 2nd day we took the train down to Taroko Gorge- about 2 1/2 hours by high speed train. Sam loved playing with all the automatic door buttons and the bathroom. He made friends with a lady who took some polaroids of him :-)
A view of the ocean coming in...
This gorge is right next to the ocean.... it's 19 km long gorge and the land goes from sea level to Taiwan's tallest in just 60 km. I've never really seen something quite like this- from tropical to not so tropical so fast. We rented scooters and drove all day- it was a lot of fun and maybe my favorite drive I've done on a motorbike.
John and I were both commenting that what made this place so amazing was the scale but it doesn't come across in the pictures very well. Those boulders in the picture above were among the largest I've ever seen and there were tons of them.
This was so deep- maybe 250 ft? and our road was just in the middle of the slope.

One of the most famous trails was closed due to rock slides but the part that was open required helmets.
We switched boys halfway through and I was so glad- Sam was a fun driving partner and Jeff was getting heavy in the ergo :-)
This was the highest we went.
Then we drove up the coast to the Cuinshui Cliffs- they were gorgeous and steep but it was raining so we were getting soaked despite our flimsy raincoats and the view wasn't quite as dramatic as it would have been earlier in the day.
The next day we went up to the waterfront by the river.
We saw this sign- which was so perfect in so many ways- the cute little puppy dog, the stylized script, the cartoon poop which is repeated (smaller) under the squatting dog. and then to top it off
this is what the bottom of the sign said.
Then we were off to Laos to visit our friends, the Lors and their 4 kids (and dog and cat and 3 kittens and 3 guinea pigs and hamsters and scorpion and fish...) It was so wonderful to be there with them and so much fun for our kids to be surrounded by so many people to play with and animals to enjoy. There house is in a really idyllic location too- right on the Mekong, with a playground and a big yard- a kid's paradise.

We last saw them when I was pregnant with Sam so Josiah and Asia are a lot bigger and we'd never met Levi or Keon. Here's Josiah with Jeff
playing in their front yard
a view of Vientiane (which is pronounced Vienchan) from the top of the mall
a view of the inside of the mall
the view of the Mekong River from their front porch
We decided to do a whirlwind day trip up to Vang Vieng which is about three hours away and a major backpackers destination. It was so beautiful- loads of limestone mountains and a great place for swimming. We parked by some cows and Jeff was totally entranced.
Sam loved the inner tube
John jumped from the lower branch and I also jumped from the upper branch, but my favorite was taking the rope from where he's standing and swinging around before dropping in.
Jeff hung out for ages munching on sticky rice and playing with Keon.
Sam, the other older kids, Anna and I went up to see a beautiful cave.
And here's a view of the hills
Levi is a sweet-spirited kiddo
and Asia loved learning all my old camp songs
It was a great visit.

I'll post a few accompanying videos sometime, but my laptop is in the shop so we'll stick with the pics for now...