So this is me almost up to date on my postings. Now I'm all alone with the rest of the group having gone their separate ways - HI GUYS! - I'm starting this with only 2 hours to go before my 15 hour ( in SEA travel time read 18 minimum) long hour trip back to Bangkok from where I fly to Hanoi. And yes those of you who have a map, I'm aware this is like leaving Berlin for Madrid to go to Moscow, but its cheaper this way (mostly because you'd have to carry me unconscious into a 24 hour bus journey, which is what it would be from here to northern Vietnam. The Bangkok trip is by sleeper train, which here means a reasonably comfy bed so its nowhere near as harrowing.
So what are my thoughts on the capital of Laos? Well other than the slight grievance I have for the country making a second spirited attempt to break one of my big toes (the first was in the waterfall at Luang Prabang) I've liked the city. Its much more laid back than the other cities I've visited in Asia so far. The evenings are a little quiet, other than the disco in the bizarre setting of a five star hotel, which basically functions as a place for tourists to pick up local women, but all in all its a very nice city.
We did the tourist trail visiting the oldest and most important temples in the city(Wat Si Saket and Pha That Luang) - now it may just be me believing the hype, but I've now sat before Buddha in the holiest sites in Thailand and Laos and these places have felt more tranquil than the others.
We also visited Patuxai, a monument modeled on the Arc De Triomphe in Paris (but slightly taller Laos 1 - 0 France) which gave great views of the city. I was puzzled to find a market in full swing half way up the tower, but horses for courses eh?
The food in Laos has been interesting, as there is much more of a western influence here. Was nice to get some bread and cheese again but I'll be glad to get back to the more traditional Asian foods and leave the tourist food behind again (for a while). The noddles to seem to make me lose weight though. Might have to up to five meals a day again.....
Monday, 26 October 2009
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Tubing (and Vang Vieng)
So I moved on from the curfew in Luang Prabang, that had led to at least one resourceful entry after 11.30pm to a more lively town where government suggestions / laws / rules of nature seemed to go out the window.
After our long and winding bus journey we got showered and headed out for dinner. We then headed to Q BAR. Those of you who have passed through Vang Vieng will of course know that this is a classy establishment where the bourgeoisie go for cocktails of an evening. I walked to the bar and was astounded to find that the barman was from Balloch. Not because of the scarcity of Scots that I've encountered on my trip so far, but because I didn't realise that people actually came from Balloch, its always seemed more a place you go to. For the day. And leave before it gets dark. Anyway after a brief chinwag, I was recommended a "bucket" of vodka and coke. The word bucket should have been the first warning bell. The second should have come at the price. Buckets were 10 000 kip each. The current exchange rate is 13650 kip = one pound. From this you can judge the quality of the vodka. At this point I noticed the pool table in the corner and wandered over to get involved. The next few hours held the most international pool games I've ever played. I like to think that me and Nong (my Laotian doubles partner) held our own against the best England, Wales, Finland, The USA, Cambodia, France, Canada and Germany had to offer. Along the way I was given another bucket. It shouldn't be possible to be drunk on one pound fifty.
On the first full day in town, we decided that we should celebrate my amazing clear head by going tubing. For those of you not so lucky to have an iron constitution then this is definitely a kill or cure option. Basically it involves floating down the river in an old tractor tire inner tube (hence tubing). I say basically as there are several pubs at the side who lasso you as you pass and then attempt to force feed you your weight in alcohol before pushing you off tall platforms attached to a piece of rope. The first "ride" which I went on whilst still bone dry (incidentally not a good idea) involved a 15/20 metre high trapeze that swung down to about 3 metres above the water and then back into the air again. Having watched local 4 year olds doing flips as they let go I decided I had to climb up. The first rush I got was climbing up the rickety ladder to the platform. I lent on the side to recover and now I know what people mean by vertigo. I decided the best way to cure this was to throw myself off the platform. The rush in the 5 seconds I was in the air was unbelievable. So was the temperature of the water. I also discovered (for those of you wondering) that freezer bags are conclusively not waterproof, but luckily Laotian money is.
So after this I settled into a day of floating, refreshments - non alcoholic after the injuries I'd seen people sporting the day before - and adrenaline inducing swings, I reached the last bar at about five o'clock. Now the one piece of advice I was given was get off the water before dark. As sunset is about 5.50 I decided to fore go the last slide and head off for the finish line. This seemed a good plan. However dusk came and went and I was still not in sight of the finish. Then the sky cracked with ball lightning. As I was sitting there shivering in my ring, my partner in crime (the Irish stowaway from the slow boat) stopped to pick up a hitchhiker from the riverside. Now the weight of two people was enough that I sped (!) off down the river and lost sight of him completely. In the next ten minutes I'd convinced myself he has been murdered and left to float down the river by his mysterious passenger - who would no doubt steal the money I had entrusted to his dry bag.
I eventually caught up with an English girl and we got to chatting, and before I knew it we were at the lights of town. Not that I could see any point to get out of the river. Luckily I was then dragged out of the river by a four year old local girl. Unluckily (for her) as I mentioned before I didn't have any money to give her the tip she wanted (and deserved). But at least I was back on dry land.
After our long and winding bus journey we got showered and headed out for dinner. We then headed to Q BAR. Those of you who have passed through Vang Vieng will of course know that this is a classy establishment where the bourgeoisie go for cocktails of an evening. I walked to the bar and was astounded to find that the barman was from Balloch. Not because of the scarcity of Scots that I've encountered on my trip so far, but because I didn't realise that people actually came from Balloch, its always seemed more a place you go to. For the day. And leave before it gets dark. Anyway after a brief chinwag, I was recommended a "bucket" of vodka and coke. The word bucket should have been the first warning bell. The second should have come at the price. Buckets were 10 000 kip each. The current exchange rate is 13650 kip = one pound. From this you can judge the quality of the vodka. At this point I noticed the pool table in the corner and wandered over to get involved. The next few hours held the most international pool games I've ever played. I like to think that me and Nong (my Laotian doubles partner) held our own against the best England, Wales, Finland, The USA, Cambodia, France, Canada and Germany had to offer. Along the way I was given another bucket. It shouldn't be possible to be drunk on one pound fifty.
On the first full day in town, we decided that we should celebrate my amazing clear head by going tubing. For those of you not so lucky to have an iron constitution then this is definitely a kill or cure option. Basically it involves floating down the river in an old tractor tire inner tube (hence tubing). I say basically as there are several pubs at the side who lasso you as you pass and then attempt to force feed you your weight in alcohol before pushing you off tall platforms attached to a piece of rope. The first "ride" which I went on whilst still bone dry (incidentally not a good idea) involved a 15/20 metre high trapeze that swung down to about 3 metres above the water and then back into the air again. Having watched local 4 year olds doing flips as they let go I decided I had to climb up. The first rush I got was climbing up the rickety ladder to the platform. I lent on the side to recover and now I know what people mean by vertigo. I decided the best way to cure this was to throw myself off the platform. The rush in the 5 seconds I was in the air was unbelievable. So was the temperature of the water. I also discovered (for those of you wondering) that freezer bags are conclusively not waterproof, but luckily Laotian money is.
So after this I settled into a day of floating, refreshments - non alcoholic after the injuries I'd seen people sporting the day before - and adrenaline inducing swings, I reached the last bar at about five o'clock. Now the one piece of advice I was given was get off the water before dark. As sunset is about 5.50 I decided to fore go the last slide and head off for the finish line. This seemed a good plan. However dusk came and went and I was still not in sight of the finish. Then the sky cracked with ball lightning. As I was sitting there shivering in my ring, my partner in crime (the Irish stowaway from the slow boat) stopped to pick up a hitchhiker from the riverside. Now the weight of two people was enough that I sped (!) off down the river and lost sight of him completely. In the next ten minutes I'd convinced myself he has been murdered and left to float down the river by his mysterious passenger - who would no doubt steal the money I had entrusted to his dry bag.
I eventually caught up with an English girl and we got to chatting, and before I knew it we were at the lights of town. Not that I could see any point to get out of the river. Luckily I was then dragged out of the river by a four year old local girl. Unluckily (for her) as I mentioned before I didn't have any money to give her the tip she wanted (and deserved). But at least I was back on dry land.
Slow Boat Day 2
What a difference a day makes.....
We turned up at 9 am for the boat ride's second stage ( only 8 hours ) to discover that the three boats of yesterday, filled with comfortable seats that we had spun round so as to be able to talk to one another were gone, to be replaced by one of the same boats, filled with hard wooden seats in a shape that would make a chiropracter's dreams come true.
Presumably they had done this to save petrol by only running one boat and because we were this far along, and having already paid for our tickets, there was nothing for us to do but go along with it. So with my mocking comments of the people who had brought cushions with them the previous day ringing in my ears I contorted my body into the seat. My fellow passengers, who has been bouncing around the boat the day before seemed a little more subdued, due to the combined forces of alcohol, opium and late night attack of bedbugs from which I had been blissfully immune.
I think I'm alone in the fact that I enjoyed the entire second day of the trip. I thought the scenary was amazing, and that the occasional stops by the small riverside villages were a great look at the way life is for some people, living without fresh water, electricity or any other modern conveniences, miles from their nearest neighbours. Would be great to swap lives with them for a week, then to trade back quickly and leg it down to McDonalds....
Anyway after this travelling we arrived in picturesque Luand Prabang (too late at night to see if it was picturesgue but I have been assured that it is)
We turned up at 9 am for the boat ride's second stage ( only 8 hours ) to discover that the three boats of yesterday, filled with comfortable seats that we had spun round so as to be able to talk to one another were gone, to be replaced by one of the same boats, filled with hard wooden seats in a shape that would make a chiropracter's dreams come true.
Presumably they had done this to save petrol by only running one boat and because we were this far along, and having already paid for our tickets, there was nothing for us to do but go along with it. So with my mocking comments of the people who had brought cushions with them the previous day ringing in my ears I contorted my body into the seat. My fellow passengers, who has been bouncing around the boat the day before seemed a little more subdued, due to the combined forces of alcohol, opium and late night attack of bedbugs from which I had been blissfully immune.
I think I'm alone in the fact that I enjoyed the entire second day of the trip. I thought the scenary was amazing, and that the occasional stops by the small riverside villages were a great look at the way life is for some people, living without fresh water, electricity or any other modern conveniences, miles from their nearest neighbours. Would be great to swap lives with them for a week, then to trade back quickly and leg it down to McDonalds....
Anyway after this travelling we arrived in picturesque Luand Prabang (too late at night to see if it was picturesgue but I have been assured that it is)
Pak Beng
So we arrived in Pak Beng, (unknown to me the drug selling capital of Laos (possibly to be edged out by Vang Vieng later in the trip - but more on that later)) to be greeted by the usual scrum of about 15-20 guest house owners, and at least the same again of people crying "weed, marijuana, opium".
Turned out from a brief conversation one of these guys also had a discount, which when he discovered there were nine of us (our group had increased AGAIN) we were offered a 75% discount. This was nice but it did mean that I was paying (for a double room with a fan and a mosquito net) two thirds of what I'd paid for a packet of crisps on the boat earlier in the day. After a dinner of stir fried buffalo we all sat down for a post meal chill out. And it was about here that I began to wonder if perhaps some of the opium had made its way into my meal. The first piece of strange behaviour happened when the girls panicked at the appearance of - to give them some credit - a very large cricket. One of the children of the guesthouse dealt rather emphatically with this problem by swallowing the aforementioned cricket whole. The second strange incident was after almost everyone else had gone to bed. One of the locals came over, chewing on what appeared to be a tree branch, sat down next to me, gave me a nod and kept going. My curiosity overtook my confusion and I asked him what it was he was eating. At this point he pulled out his machete (as you do) and I wondered if "whats that" actually meant - 'you're mother is a whore" in Lao but to my relief he used the machete to cut the end off the branch and peel back the bark before handing it to me to try. He prompted me with the words 'sweet, sweet" and showed me that you chewed on the branch and spat out the pulp. Turns out he was chewing on a sugar cane. It was pretty nice but not that fulfilling, so I decided - in an attempt to avoid any more surreal episodes - to retire to bed to read for a while. A great plan til they turned the generator off five minutes later while I was sitting on toilet....
Turned out from a brief conversation one of these guys also had a discount, which when he discovered there were nine of us (our group had increased AGAIN) we were offered a 75% discount. This was nice but it did mean that I was paying (for a double room with a fan and a mosquito net) two thirds of what I'd paid for a packet of crisps on the boat earlier in the day. After a dinner of stir fried buffalo we all sat down for a post meal chill out. And it was about here that I began to wonder if perhaps some of the opium had made its way into my meal. The first piece of strange behaviour happened when the girls panicked at the appearance of - to give them some credit - a very large cricket. One of the children of the guesthouse dealt rather emphatically with this problem by swallowing the aforementioned cricket whole. The second strange incident was after almost everyone else had gone to bed. One of the locals came over, chewing on what appeared to be a tree branch, sat down next to me, gave me a nod and kept going. My curiosity overtook my confusion and I asked him what it was he was eating. At this point he pulled out his machete (as you do) and I wondered if "whats that" actually meant - 'you're mother is a whore" in Lao but to my relief he used the machete to cut the end off the branch and peel back the bark before handing it to me to try. He prompted me with the words 'sweet, sweet" and showed me that you chewed on the branch and spat out the pulp. Turns out he was chewing on a sugar cane. It was pretty nice but not that fulfilling, so I decided - in an attempt to avoid any more surreal episodes - to retire to bed to read for a while. A great plan til they turned the generator off five minutes later while I was sitting on toilet....
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Luang Luang time ago....
So what are my views on a town regarded as so significant that UNESCO have made the entire city a World Heritage Site...
Well I have to say the first thing that I noticed was the change of pace. Laos seems much more laid back than Thailand and everything is taken at a slower pace. The city contained a lot of temples - as you would expect in a Buddhist country, but they seemed different to the Thai temples in a way I'm not quite sure.
I also had a first in south east Asia here - I found a market I could wander round, browse extensively and not be harassed. The result of which was spending more money here than I have anywhere else. Goddamn (or should that be Buddha-damn) reverse psychology....
A short way outside the town was a waterfall , which takes over hands down as the second best waterfall I've ever seen. At the bottom were several pools which you could swim in with a rope swing and lots of jumping off points. This seemed fun, but caused injuries to several people - a warning for what was to come later.....
One problem with the laid back nature of the country is that the long and winding roads to Vang Vieng suffer (or are preserved by) a 30km/h speed limit, making it much slower to get from point A to point B. 8 hours to cover 200km is slow by anyone's standards. Especially when a marathon runner would have been able to keep up with the bus. But the fact that we were often passed by geriatrics on bikes did let me see some of the most breath-taking views I've ever encountered (some photos, taken from leaning out of the minibus window, will follow)
Well I have to say the first thing that I noticed was the change of pace. Laos seems much more laid back than Thailand and everything is taken at a slower pace. The city contained a lot of temples - as you would expect in a Buddhist country, but they seemed different to the Thai temples in a way I'm not quite sure.
I also had a first in south east Asia here - I found a market I could wander round, browse extensively and not be harassed. The result of which was spending more money here than I have anywhere else. Goddamn (or should that be Buddha-damn) reverse psychology....
A short way outside the town was a waterfall , which takes over hands down as the second best waterfall I've ever seen. At the bottom were several pools which you could swim in with a rope swing and lots of jumping off points. This seemed fun, but caused injuries to several people - a warning for what was to come later.....
One problem with the laid back nature of the country is that the long and winding roads to Vang Vieng suffer (or are preserved by) a 30km/h speed limit, making it much slower to get from point A to point B. 8 hours to cover 200km is slow by anyone's standards. Especially when a marathon runner would have been able to keep up with the bus. But the fact that we were often passed by geriatrics on bikes did let me see some of the most breath-taking views I've ever encountered (some photos, taken from leaning out of the minibus window, will follow)
King of Khong and the Slow Boat day 1.
So this was the latest in a series of misjudgements of how much time it takes to get from point A to point B. The journey from Chaing Mai to Chaing Khong was not as I first thought a 4 hour trip but was in fact almost double that. Which was ok with the Ipod and people to chat to, but got a bit hairy when our non air conditioned local bus began to fill with the aroma of vomit from the very ill Thai child down the front.
We eventually made it to Chaing Khong at about 8 in the evening to be greeted by the strangest man I've met on this trip. He had a fishing rod over one shoulder came running over to us, let out an eerie high pitched laugh showing his four teeth before jogging off down the road.
We eventually managed to find a guest house (or ghost house as the sign read) and then a restaurant (which was nice, except from the fact they forgot to feed one of the group).
The next day we did the journey which was easy enough (short pick up journey to the border and then a long tail boat into Laos where we breezed through customs and tuk-tuked our way to the slow boat pier.
The first day on the Slow Boat was a great laugh- met an Irish guy who had stowed away on the boat - a decision which I think takes a lot of balls in a country where they will hang you for less. played a lot of cards, drank some drink, laughed at the people passing in the speed boat with terror in their eyes, and just generally enjoying the scenery.
The locals were up the back gambling- now that they were out of Thailand it seemed to be the done thing, and after over a month without poker I was itching to join in. However the language barrier got in the way....
We eventually made it to Chaing Khong at about 8 in the evening to be greeted by the strangest man I've met on this trip. He had a fishing rod over one shoulder came running over to us, let out an eerie high pitched laugh showing his four teeth before jogging off down the road.
We eventually managed to find a guest house (or ghost house as the sign read) and then a restaurant (which was nice, except from the fact they forgot to feed one of the group).
The next day we did the journey which was easy enough (short pick up journey to the border and then a long tail boat into Laos where we breezed through customs and tuk-tuked our way to the slow boat pier.
The first day on the Slow Boat was a great laugh- met an Irish guy who had stowed away on the boat - a decision which I think takes a lot of balls in a country where they will hang you for less. played a lot of cards, drank some drink, laughed at the people passing in the speed boat with terror in their eyes, and just generally enjoying the scenery.
The locals were up the back gambling- now that they were out of Thailand it seemed to be the done thing, and after over a month without poker I was itching to join in. However the language barrier got in the way....
Mai Mai Mai....
So its been a long time since I updated this, so I'm going to attempt to bring you up to speed at pace. This blog covers the Chiang Mai leg of the journey.
So we got into Chain Mai and found a hostel (for those of you who know the city we were near the Tha Pae Gate of the old town. Had a quiet day the first day and just wandered about to recover from THE journey.
Day two we decided to go on a 3 stage trek. Stage one we rode elephants (see facebook for pictures) which was great fun, although very bouncy (and my elephant was the only one without a safety bar on the riding box so when he decided that he was off for a walk basically down a cliff it got a little hairy. Stage two took us to a waterfall by way of a couple villages to show us the rural way of life. Tried the local habit of chewing a mixture of beetlenut and tobacco - not something I recommend you try at home kids. Stage 3 was bamboo rafting which was great (although I managed to wipe myself off the raft by a severe misjudgement of speed and tree)
Day 3 we went and watched some Muay Thai- its really interesting to watch the ceremony that attaches to each fight and the matches were really good, but I felt the pain of the poor soul who got a full on knee in the balls.
Day 4 we went to the Tiger Kingdom. Strange to see such dangerous animals so close up.
I decided to move on without doing a cooking course - will pick one up in Bangkok in one of the transit stops.
So we got into Chain Mai and found a hostel (for those of you who know the city we were near the Tha Pae Gate of the old town. Had a quiet day the first day and just wandered about to recover from THE journey.
Day two we decided to go on a 3 stage trek. Stage one we rode elephants (see facebook for pictures) which was great fun, although very bouncy (and my elephant was the only one without a safety bar on the riding box so when he decided that he was off for a walk basically down a cliff it got a little hairy. Stage two took us to a waterfall by way of a couple villages to show us the rural way of life. Tried the local habit of chewing a mixture of beetlenut and tobacco - not something I recommend you try at home kids. Stage 3 was bamboo rafting which was great (although I managed to wipe myself off the raft by a severe misjudgement of speed and tree)
Day 3 we went and watched some Muay Thai- its really interesting to watch the ceremony that attaches to each fight and the matches were really good, but I felt the pain of the poor soul who got a full on knee in the balls.
Day 4 we went to the Tiger Kingdom. Strange to see such dangerous animals so close up.
I decided to move on without doing a cooking course - will pick one up in Bangkok in one of the transit stops.
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