Thailand - Chiang Mai

After waving goodbye to Laos we hopped on a plane and crossed the border to Chiang Mai. We decided to take the flight option as this would give us a 30 day Thai Visa rather than the 15 days that crossing a land border would have given us, plus it was lovely, quick and comfortable in comparison to those Laos buses.

Our first day in Chiang Mai was spent taking in the numerous and very beautiful temples which are scattered around the city.

We found the 'Saturday walking street' which is a market stretching the length of a very long road. There was nothing of much interest to tempt us, except for a couple of food stalls which Dave made a bee line for.


Day 2 was cooking school day and we were picked up at 9.30am on 2 motorbikes and whisked through the streets of Chiang Mai to reach our cookery school. The first task was to take our baskets to the local market and collect the ingredients needed for the days dishes, all under the watchful eye of 'R' our teacher of course. Probably a good job as half of the things on the market stalls are unidentifiable!

Back at the ranch it was time to get cooking and Dave and I had cunningly chosen completely different dishes to make, so as to maximise our cooking repertoire, clever eh! All very organised and within no time at all we had a Chicken and Cashew nuts and a hot and sour prawn soup to scoff.

During a very enjoyable day we cooked a further 5 dishes each, including Green curry, Chiang Mai noodles, Chicken in coconut milk and we pounded and ground to produce our own red and green curry pastes.

We waddled our way back to our hostel and had to have a lie down to get over having consumed so much food. Recovery was swift and we were soon out and about again and wandering up and down the Sunday walking street, which was actually a number streets and was a shoppers dream. We made a few purchases and then made our way to a bar to settle down to watch the world cup final. One of the bars had been transformed into Dutch headquarters and Dave with his orange t-shirt and Netherlands affinities was soon adopted and I only got away without face paint for a few short moments. Great atmosphere and even when we moved bars to a more mixed venue there was no hint of animosity between the Spaniards and the Dutch; in fact even with our very orange faces a friendly gringo shared his bottle of SangSom (Thai Rum) with us during the match. We eventually rolled into bed at 4.30am and were not looking forward to our 9am start to head further north to Pai.

Laos - Trekking in Nong Khiaw

Having found a room for the night and recovered slightly from our exciting journey up the river we headed out for dinner to Delilah's, a little restaurant on the opposite side of the bridge. We not only bought our dinner but ended up buying a 2 night trip into the surrounding hills to include trekking, kayaking and an overnight stay in a hill village.

We met our guide Dith ( pronounced Deet) early-ish the next morning and after buying books and pens for our soon to be hosts, we set off on our trek through rice paddies and over many a stream.

We were soon immersed in the glorious countryside and could almost forget about how hot and humid it was.

We arrived several hours later at our first village, a settlement in which all 3 types of the indigenous Laos people co-exist, Lao-lum, Hmong and Mon-Khmer. After greeting a group of the village people we were taken to have lunch at the Chief's cousin's house as the Chief himself was out working. We were pleasantly surprised by our tasty lunch and Dith informed us that the trusty Delilah had catered for the occasion. After a kip on the wooden boards of our host's hut we were then subjected to the obligatory 'buy our weaving' session, which we tried to politely decline but got the distinct impression that our refusal to purchase anything didn't go down well. We were glad to leave and felt disappointed that even though we had chosen a 'Fair Trade' company which gives 25% of the price we pay directly to the village people we were still expected to shell out for more pieces of rag.

We continued our trek in the hot afternoon sun and with very little shade and a steady climb into the mountains it proved to be hard work.

Dave's trek was well and truly made when we stumbled across another snake, this time a lively green fellow which we believe to be a Green Pit Viper.

Being a highly venomous creature Dave had to get as close as possible to it and had a quick touch of its tail as it slithered way, bloody nutter!

We had a few stops along the way to admire the scenery, wash under a fresh water stream and of course to take the obligatory group photograph.

At around 5pm we arrived at our village for the night and were shown to our beds by this village's Chief, a basic but comfortable looking hut. After around an hour relaxation Dith arrived to come and show us around the village, Payong. The sun was setting and most people were arriving back from their day's work in the fields. We didn't get too far on our tour around the settlement as we were invited to sit down and drink with a group of the older men from the village who were knocking back the local Lao lao with gusto and were obviously already feeling the affects of their alcohol intake.

We spent a fantastic hour accepting glass after glass of the rice whiskey, being fed snacks and fresh pineapple and finally being hit up for cigarettes. We gave into their pleas for smokes and were shocked when we found that 2 packets only cost us the equivalent of 72p.

We left them puffing away on our very unhealthy gifts and ran back to our hut to avoid the fast approaching rain. We were then treated to some of the Chief's culinary delights, including a delicious egg plant and chilli paste, a bamboo soup and the staple sticky rice. With no electricity supply up in the village we ate by candlelight and when our candles reached the end of their lives we shuffled off to bed for some well-earned zeds.

The next morning we were awakened by the sounds of village life all around us, cockerels crowing, pans clanking, children's neck bells ringing!! The Chief's youngest son seemed to have been adorned with his very own bell and was aptly nicknamed 'Goat boy' by Dave. I think he was prone to going walkabout and this bell helped to identify his whereabouts.

After being treated to a feast for breakfast we set off through the village, waving goodbye to our hosts on our way; although most of them were other wised engaged, particularly these kids.

Our morning trek took us across more paddy fields and then onto more forested areas which turned out to be the perfect hunting ground for those dreaded leeches. Dave, Hannah and I managed to avoid the little suckers but poor Paul made up for that with a total leech count of 5. The humidity had increased significantly and by the time we made our way through the mud to our river destination we were all sweating buckets.

The next leg of our journey began here, as we made our way down the river in a small wooden motor boat and through some areas of rapid water which were deemed to big for us to tackle in our Lao kayaks. When we saw how shallow the sides of these boats were we couldn't help but agree with the last statement and wondered exactly how were were going to stay out of the water. Dith decided that he should share the paddling with the 2 girls and leave the boys to fend for themselves as we made our way down the river. A few rapids later we were, amazingly, still in the kayaks and we paddled our way onto a small island so that we could try our hand at fishing the traditional Lao way. Dave and Paul proved to be naturals and managed to net some real monsters!


Thankfully we didn't have to rely on their haul for our lunch and we ate like kings once more courtesy of the good old Chief. Re-fueled to the brim we powered down the remaining 45 minute stretch of river back to Nong Khiaw. We waved Dith goodbye and patted ourselves on the back for remaining in the Lao kayaks all the way down the river. We checked into a guest house and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon, before heading out for dinner and some sunset drinkies. We toasted a great couple of days, some unforgettable experiences and new friends.

Laos - The Journey to Nong Khiaw

We decided that the journey from Luang Prabang to Nong Kiau warranted it's very own blog entry. Three days before departure we had booked our tickets not entirely sure that we would be on the boat. If the ticket office didn't sell enough seats then the boat would not run. The night before our journey I stopped by the dock to check whether it was running. I was answered with a beaming smile and the words of "yes, one hundred percent!". We took this with a pinch of salt.

Our fears were unfounded and early the next morning we walked down to the riverside to find our boat. While we waited the ticket man gave us a brief lesson in Laos which was quite handy. Our craft pulled up to the dock and we clambered aboard. Not only were we the only passengers but instead of uncomfortable wooden benches we had reclining car seats. After a quick refuel we were on our way up the Mekong.

A few hours later we forked off onto the Nam Ou. The scenery was magnificent and along the way we saw how the locals earn their living from the river by fishing, using it for irrigation or mining for gold. It was the gold mining that gave our trip an unexpected twist.

About two thirds into our journey we encountered some rapids that had been the result of course changes in the river due to mining. We suddenly ran aground and the boat listed dangerously to the port and we were ordered to abandon ship. I grabbed all our valuables just leaving our main rucksacks on board.

Our three strong crew then enlisted the help of the nearby miners to stabilise the boat, refloat it and set if off back up the river. We were now stranded on a gravel island with no means of crossing. The miners helped the female member of the crew across but even they were nearly swept away by the strong current. From the opposite bank the locals were beckoning us across but with passports, computer and camera it would have been impossible. I did begin begin to toy with idea of trying to cross with everything held above my head but with no shoes on I would not have been very steady in the fast flowing river.

Suddenly one of the diggers started up and began rumbling towards us. It was soon apparent that this was our way off the island. It crawled slowly into the river and as soon it was one step away from our bank we were signalled to climb aboard. It then swivelled 180 degrees and we made our way across the rapids. I don't think any of us had ridden in, yet alone on, a digger before. My perch was slightly hair raising as six inches below the grate I was standing on the caterpillar tracks were rushing by with nothing to stop me slipping off and under them!

We made it across safely with no injuries apart from a large rip in Hannah's shorts which kept the locals amused. We had a short wade to find the boat again and gave the driver of the digger our bottle of Lao lao as a token of our thanks.

Back under way and we had another unscheduled stop at a small village. The second male member of the crew and the captain jumped out and were gone for twenty minutes or so. When they returned they had bought three other women with them and there was an air of excitment. We cast off and made our way across the river where the boat was tied up and just the four of us left aboard.

Curiosity got the better of Paul and I so we jumped out to find out what was occurring. We wandered up to the throng of people and soon realised they were panning for gold. The excitement was because they had found some; they had actually found quite a lot. A massive metal box containing black sediment was being dished out in small amounts to women with wooden pans. The women sat crouched in the river sieving it, then returning to the shore and pouring the sifted gold into a bucket. One lady found a nugget about the size of my little finger nail.

Our curiosity satisfied we returned to the boat and once the crew had returned we made our final couple of hours up the river. We docked at Nong Kiau and made our way straight to the nearest bar. While Kate and Hannah went in search of some accommodation, Paul and I knocked back the beer enjoying the sunset!

Laos - Luang Prabang

We left Vang Vieng behind and headed for the more cultured destination of Luang Prabang. Our 7 hour bus journey north revealed some of the most stunning scenery we have seen during our 10 months so far, amazing. We stopped high up in the mountains for lunch and then watched as the crew from the bus changed one of the back tyres. We all willed them to screw those nuts on tight! We arrived in Luang Prabang safe and sound and soon found ourselves some decent accommodation in this beautiful town. We ate some top notch food in a candle-lit garden restaurant and soon came round to the idea of staying here for a few days.

During our first day we walked to the end of the peninsula on which LP stands, finding Wats and orange robed monks at every other step. No wonder this place has been declared a World Heritage site.

We reached the end of the peninsula and walked down to the river where we found this rickety looking bridge, where some entrepreneurial locals had decided to set up a wooden shack and charge people to cross over. There wasn't anything of interest on the other side so we declined the opportunity to cross and just took a photograph instead.

We then set up camp opposite the tuk-tuk drop off point in town as our new found friends Hannah and Paul had sent us a message earlier on in the day to say that they would be arriving earlier than expected into Luang Prabang after some nasty business in Vang Vieng (robbery!) They arrived an hour or so later and we whisked them off to the sanctuary of our air conditioned accommodation and some street market food later in the evening. Unfortunately the winning streak of watching England matches together didn't stretch any further and we watched in despair as our World Cup dreams were smashed.

The next day we all made plans to travel further north together and do some trekking in deepest darkest Laos, with slow boats booked and trekking options investigated in was time to chill out with a beer and then a game of Petanque. As we wandered past a gang of locals playing a lively version of the French game we were invited to challenge them to a match. The price to join was the promise to buy the next Lao beers if we lost, so we decided that our best option was for Dave and Paul to join forces and form a winning team. The boys put up a good fight but these men were obviously highly practiced individuals and their experience soon paid off. 2 big bottles of Lao beer for the locals.
I think their efforts were sabotaged by the shots of Lao Lao (rice whiskey) which accompanied every other throw of the boule. Hannah and I didn't miss out on this generosity either, we were given several glasses of this potent brew and a piece of dried squid to chew on afterwards - ack!

Feeling slightly squiffy from all that Lao Lao we decided to keep the party going and head out for a traditional Lao barbeque. The bucket of charcoal in the middle of the table turns the whole thing into a very hot affair and to be honest this take on the BBQ doesn't compare to the huge chunks of meat we gorged on back in South America and Australia.

The next day we finally gave into the hoardes of tuk-tuk drivers shouting 'tuk-tuk, waterfalls' at every corner of the town and headed out of LP to the Tat Kuang Si falls. We paid our entrance fee to the falls park and then walked to the first attraction in the area, an Asian Black bear sanctuary. It provides home to bears who have been rescued from poachers who want to use them to extract the bile from their stomachs to use in traditional Chinese medicine. The bears have large enclosures and looked very playful and happy, especially when it was time to be fed.

Once we tore ourselves away from the bears we continued up the forest path and reached the very bottom of the falls. We resisted the urge to jump straight in and continued our walk, discovering pools and falls as we ventured further up the path.


We hiked up the steep path to the vertiginous summit of the main waterfall and admired the views over the surrounding countryside before returning to the pools at the bottom and finally plunging into the cool water.

After cooling off from our climbing efforts the lure of the rope swing proved to be too much to resist for Dave and Paul. They proceeded to fling themselves from great heights into the water, seeing who could make the biggest splash upon landing. I'll let your imagination (and maybe this photo) provide the answer to the winner of that competition!

Our last day in Luang Prabang was spent watching life on the river,

enjoying the picturesque streets and

indulging in a little shopping at the night market.

It was time to get active again so we waved goodbye to LP, safe in the knowledge we would be back the following week to catch our flight to Thailand.

Laos - Vang Vieng

Time to get down wit da kids! We arrived into Vang Vieng on a bus with a load of young backpackers. We decided that a guest house a little of town might be advantageous so as to keep a distance from the neon wayfarer wearing party animals.

Our accommodation had a great view of the Mekong however the Mekong we saw was running rather fast and very deep. Three days prior to our arrival there had been a massive storm which had caused the river to swell considerably. I asked the guest house owner if it was safe to take part in the tubing. She said "no"! This was a slight concern, because as travellers to South East Asia will be aware the people of this region very rarely say "no".

We took her advice and the next day we rented bikes to explore the area. I was given a lovely little pink one with a basket on the front. Kate's was red. I was jealous. I wasn't really, I secretly loved my little pink bike but don't tell anyone.

We avoided the town centre full of pretty young things nursing monster hangovers crashed out in front of pirated episodes of Friends and instead headed out into the countryside. Vang Vieng gets a bad rap for being a place of drunken debauchery but once outside the town it is beautiful.

We made our way through perhaps the hottest part of the day to a place called the Blue Lagoon. After an hour of cycling we found it but were sad to see that it wasn't a lagoon and it wasn't blue. Before taking a dip we decided to explore a nearby cave. Once back down the very steep muddy steps we took a plunge in the stream. It was very refreshing and it was great to escape the oppressive heat.

On our route back to town we stopped at a small roadside stall for a drink. The owners were very friendly and gave us a huge plate of freshly picked pineapple for free. We then had a chat about the world cup and helped them fill in their wall chart. He explained that the recent storm had knocked out his satellite television so passers by were his only access to the scores.

The source of much envy

Once back in town and having dropped off the bikes I had a sudden urge to float down the river on an old tractor inner tube stopping at several riverside bars on the way and trying to injure myself on deathslides or a high trapeze. My mind was made up and we swiftly got changed and raced down to the tubing head quarters. We signed our lives away and had numbers written on our hands in indelible ink. Presumably to aid in the identification of the body after drowning. To be fair most accidents occur when there is a copious amount of alcohol consumed along the way. Due to my "expert" budgeting I only had enough kip left for 2 beers after I had paid for the tubes and the deposit. I looked on the brightside; atleast we wouldn't be hungover for the journey to Luang Prabang.

We rocked up at the entry point to the river. The place was heaving with kids getting smashed on buckets of happy whiskey or space mojitos. By chance we met up with a couple who were on our bus for the border crossing into Laos. They looked genuinely pleased to see us but they had been drinking for most of the day. Krystal (I think that is how she spells her name) took photo evidence of us with our tubes and in the water but we have since been unable to locate her on facebook. You will just have to take our word that we did it. I do have proof in the form of the obligatory singlet which nearly every traveller, worth their salt, owns (Sorry Paul).

We returned safely and even got our deposit back. As we handed our tubes in we bumped into a couple with whom we had watched the England match a couple of nights before. We had made rough plans to meet up but it couldn't have worked out any better. By chance they had booked into the same guest house and even had the room next door. After a very busy day we spent a while on our balcony catching up with our journals and the blog - not a bad office! We then joined our new friends (Paul and Hannah) for some beers and several games of tête de merde on their adjacent balcony.

Let's hope our offices when we return home have a view as good as this!

Laos - Vientiane

Having survived our 24hr bus journey with a fairly painless border crossing (accompanied by a 3 foot cuddly bear called Rufus!); we arrived into Vientiane. We checked into a lovely little hotel and had a quick snoop around this charmingly small capital city before collapsing into bed with the intention of catching up on some of the lost sleep from last night.

The next morning, Mission Accomplished! We awoke feeling a lot brighter and decided on a day of sightseeing on foot. The first call was the market to hunt down a new power supply for our little life line, this laptop, as ours now failed to charge the battery at all. Amazing what these places can conjure up, we left with a genuine Acer battery to breathe life into our ailing technology.

Being in South East Asia the walk back from the market threw a few temples and monuments into our path, the most interesting of them being That Dam, a stupa (literally meaning heap) which legend has it houses a 7 headed naga which will protect the Laos people from invading armies. We saw no sign of this serpent god so just took a picture of the pile of bricks instead!

Over the next few days we investigated most of the sights to be found in the centre of Vientiane including the national monument, the golden Pha That Luang. We hired a couple of bikes and cycled out there and just to demonstrate our much mentioned bad timing we arrived during the monument's lunch hour (they get hungry you know with all that posing for photographs!) and so had to make do with admiring it from afar.
We also gate crashed the funeral vigil of one of the elder monks of the city. We were allowed to go inside to pay our respects but I was only allowed into the very front part of the temple (as are all women) while Dave could wander freely if he chose. He declined this opportunity for fear of coming face to face with a dead monk! We walked around the complex of several temples and statues and marvelled at the fact that a country as poor as Laos can afford to build such extravagant things.

One monument which didn't cost anything for the country of Laos to build was the Patuxai Arc, which was built using the concrete which the USA donated in order for the government to build a new runway, brilliant! From afar this 'Victory Monument' looks quite attractive but on closer inspection it becomes clear that it really is just a big lump of concrete.

We were rather lazy in Vientiane and didn't venture outside of the city but we left the capital refreshed and looking forward to seeing what the rest of Laos had to offer us.

Hanoi

We arrived back in Hanoi ready to explore Vietnam's capital city and to see if we could survive its notorious roads.

First on the agenda was a trip to the Laos embassy to sort out yet another visa and then we hopped onto our first cyclo (a tuk-tuk powered by a bicycle) to take us off to see the man himself Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Mihn for those of you less well acquainted!) The poor old cyclist struggled up a couple of inclines to get us to our destination and we finally hopped out leaving him panting and sweating. With our impeccable sense of timing we had failed to realise that the Mausoleum is only open during the morning and we rocked up just after midday - bugger! We did see the one pillar pagoda and Ban Dinh square which make up the complex around the final resting place of Vietnam's favorite uncle.

We continued on foot and were stopped by some Vietnamese tourists for a photo opportunity, we are minor celebrities in these parts it seems. Next stop was with an old guy who flagged us down and insisted we smoke his pipe and drink some of his Vietnamese whiskey.

We are, by now, wary of any one who appears to be offering us something for nothing but we spent a lovely 30 minutes sitting on the pavement with this man and he did nothing but wave us off and insist that he and Dave were actually 'Same Same'.

We then made our way back over to the attractive old quarter of Hanoi where we had arranged to meet up with Jess and Andy and introduce them to the famed Bia Hoi. We grabbed ourselves four chairs and found a prime spot at Bia Hoi junction.

We spent an enjoyable evening watching the world go by Hanoi style and sinking several of our favourite Vietnamese beverage. After around 4 hours of drinking we came to settle the bill and were amazed at the tiny sum of £5 which was demanded! We waved goodbye to our new Australian mates and staggered off back to the hotel.

The next day the highlight was our visit to the Water Puppet theatre which is a traditional art form and has its origins in the flooded rice fields of Northern Vietnam. We enjoyed the short show and applauded the soggy puppeteers when they appeared from their hiding places.

We were surprised by how much we liked Hanoi as we hadn't heard great things about the city and we found ourselves wandering down quaint little lanes lined with fancy boutiques, bakeries and admiring some of the city's cathedrals and parks.

Food vendors huddled down every alley way, filling the air with the smoke from their bbqs; although we steered clear of anything wrapped in banana leaves after an unfortunate encounter with some raw pork when we thought we had ordered the North Vietnamese spring rolls, Nem. We unwrapped our parcels to be faced with what looked like uncooked meat and wondered if our attempts at Vietnamese were really that bad or if the people serving us were testing our foreign stomachs.

Our Vietnamese adventure was over and it was time to make the killer journey to Laos. We tried to find the most comfortable way to make this 24 hour jaunt but it is nigh on impossible to find reliable information as every person you speak to in a tour office has the ulterior motive of selling you a ticket on their bus. We ended up with tickets for a 'sitting' bus opposed to the 'sleeper' bus but with the promise that this would take us all the way to the Laos capital, Vientiane. It did indeed take us all the way along with an aisle full of rice, fridges, bags and numerous extra passengers lying on top of all this produce.

We had to clamber over all the things in the aisle every time we wanted to leave the bus