Another mammoth bus journey, ten hours in a VIP bus heading to the capital through the spectacular mountainous region of southern Laos. With enchanting mountains similar to those in northern Vietnam near the Chinese border we slowly headed south climbing the sweeping roads ageing clinging to the sides of the mountains.
A friend joked that this could be my trail for the tv programme coach trip. Well the bus was full but I only made travel bus friends with those sitting near me; a chatty girl from Jersey, the Aussie couple siting in front who reclined their chairs the moment we got on almost causing dvt in the first two hours of the trip as space was tight, five monks, a few who smoked! And and older Aussie guy travelling around SE Asia. After ten hours with them I would vote myself off!!!!
So now to my first day in town. I have now escaped the afternoon rain in a bar and am having a burger and beer Lao, having been to Buddha park and two major temples so far today. I can see that the dusty streets of Vientiane are now lined with shopping centres and tourist shops and there's of course a travellers district just next to the Mekong river. It's great as it all makes travelling much easier to do. Of course I'm sitting here sipping beer and using their wifi to post this. This is progress!
And I watched some of the wedding highlights this morning whilst having breakfast on the hotel. Although the news was too dominated by it before hand, I must admit it was amazing.
Saturday 30 April 2011
And back to Vientiane
Another mammoth bus journey, ten hours in a VIP bus heading to the capital through the spectacular mountainous region of southern Laos. With enchanting mountains similar to those in northern Vietnam near the Chinese border we slowly headed south climbing the sweeping roads ageing clinging to the sides of the mountains.
A friend joked that this could be my trail for the tv programme coach trip. Well the bus was full but I only made travel bus friends with a chatty girl from Jersey, the Aussie couple siting in front who reclined their chairs the moment we got on almost causing dvt in the first two hours of the trip as space was tight, there were five monks, a few who smoked! And and older Aussie guy travelling around se Asia. After ten hours with them I would vote myself off!!!!
So now to my first day in town. I have now escaped the afternoon rainy in a bar and am having a burger and beer Lao, having been to Buddha park and two major temples so far today. I can see that the dusty streets of vientiane are now lined with shopping centres and tourist shops and there's of course a travellers district just next to the Mekong river. It's great as it all makes it all so easy to do. Of course I'm sitting here sipping beer and using their wifi to post this. This is progress!
And I watched some of the wedding highlights this morning whilst having breakfast on the hotel. Although the news was too dominated by it before hand, I must admit it was amazing.
Another mammoth bus journey, ten hours in a VIP bus heading to the capital through the spectacular mountainous region of southern Laos. With enchanting mountains similar to those in northern Vietnam near the Chinese border we slowly headed south climbing the sweeping roads ageing clinging to the sides of the mountains.
A friend joked that this could be my trail for the tv programme coach trip. Well the bus was full but I only made travel bus friends with a chatty girl from Jersey, the Aussie couple siting in front who reclined their chairs the moment we got on almost causing dvt in the first two hours of the trip as space was tight, there were five monks, a few who smoked! And and older Aussie guy travelling around se Asia. After ten hours with them I would vote myself off!!!!
So now to my first day in town. I have now escaped the afternoon rainy in a bar and am having a burger and beer Lao, having been to Buddha park and two major temples so far today. I can see that the dusty streets of vientiane are now lined with shopping centres and tourist shops and there's of course a travellers district just next to the Mekong river. It's great as it all makes it all so easy to do. Of course I'm sitting here sipping beer and using their wifi to post this. This is progress!
And I watched some of the wedding highlights this morning whilst having breakfast on the hotel. Although the news was too dominated by it before hand, I must admit it was amazing.
Wednesday 27 April 2011
English classes
This morning I headed out to the big brother mouse club. No it's not some strange singing dancing group with Britney Spears lookalikes, but an English club held every morning for two hours where local students can meet with travellers to practice their English. What a fantastic idea! So I chatted away to a lad who was doing a mathematics degree. Two hours flew by for all, as this club had travellers of all ages wanting to give a little back to the community they were staying in. They should have this club everywhere where young students can actively practice speaking English, or just get help with their homework!
Spent the day visiting temples around town and was lucky enough to time an evening visit with prayer time. Sat behind the novice monks who had to have books to follow the chanting.
As you can imagine I am busy snapping away, but my favourite picture of the day is two monks sharing a computer in an Internet cafe!!!
Spent the day visiting temples around town and was lucky enough to time an evening visit with prayer time. Sat behind the novice monks who had to have books to follow the chanting.
As you can imagine I am busy snapping away, but my favourite picture of the day is two monks sharing a computer in an Internet cafe!!!
Tuesday 26 April 2011
Same same but different
After deciding to cook my own Lao style bbq on my first night I sweated by the heat of the charcoal in the hot pot, where I sizzled the meat and heated my soup. I knew I was somewhere quite special.
I'm a millionaire!!!!! no my lottery numbers haven't come up, I just changed £100 to kip with the exchange rate of 12,800. Prices here are still really reasonable, having spent the grand total of £4.50 yesterday (excluding hotel), which included lunch and dinner, two large beers, a large water and a return trip across the bamboo bridge!!! Needless to say, those who know me well, I never made use of my return ticket, as crossing it took me about 20 mins, probably 15 mins longer than everyone else. After heading to nearby temples and the paper making village, I walked the longer way round to the old bridge, where I followed a couple of monks as we headed across on the side of the bridge on planks and a slightly wobbly hand rail. Of course the monks that I followed soon became dots in the distance!
So to differences: long gone are the dusty roads, it's full tarmac through town and beyond. I've booked my 8 hour VIP bus to Vientiane, including lunch and hotel pickup and I've splurged out on a central boutique hotel, that fits into the top end of the lonely planet guide! A local restaurant on the bank of the Mekong has 419 things on the menu and the night Market stretches the length of the main street.
Luang Prabang has moved with the times of course, as tourism has increased this gem of a destination keeps its charm and remains so special. At 6 this morning I was watching the daily morning procession of the monks collecting offerings of rice from the devout across town. This truly is a special thing to see. Later I chartered a boat to take me to a couple of villages up the Mekong and saw villagers make their own whiskey, weave and others collect the local water moss, making a local delicacy.
Progress has brought more prosperity to many more people. From high end boutique hotels to local guest houses, from local food stalls to craft producers, there is always a steady stream of customers. I was reading earlier that the head brewmaster of beer Lao trained in the Czech Republic and wants to ultimately take this lager across the globe, emulating the incredibly successful business model of Corona, once unheard of outside of Mexico. Given its difference of using rice as malt and a 50% company ownership by Carlsberg, keep an eye out on your supermarket shelves!
One question - where does all the rubbish go? A strange thing to ponder on but when I visited a Lisu village near the Burmese border the reality of modern purchases enhancing a basic subsistence living meant that just outside the village of 15 houses, daily fires tried to get rid of the paper and most notably plastics that come with a 21st century way of life. Rubbish was taking over. With the necessity to consume bottled water across Asia and most developing countries I have only seen one set of recycling units which were in the grounds of a Thai temple. I won't lecture on our carbon footprint as my carbon footprint of air travel and hiring a long boat just for me isn't great - but I do use energy saving light bulbs!!!
I'm a millionaire!!!!! no my lottery numbers haven't come up, I just changed £100 to kip with the exchange rate of 12,800. Prices here are still really reasonable, having spent the grand total of £4.50 yesterday (excluding hotel), which included lunch and dinner, two large beers, a large water and a return trip across the bamboo bridge!!! Needless to say, those who know me well, I never made use of my return ticket, as crossing it took me about 20 mins, probably 15 mins longer than everyone else. After heading to nearby temples and the paper making village, I walked the longer way round to the old bridge, where I followed a couple of monks as we headed across on the side of the bridge on planks and a slightly wobbly hand rail. Of course the monks that I followed soon became dots in the distance!
So to differences: long gone are the dusty roads, it's full tarmac through town and beyond. I've booked my 8 hour VIP bus to Vientiane, including lunch and hotel pickup and I've splurged out on a central boutique hotel, that fits into the top end of the lonely planet guide! A local restaurant on the bank of the Mekong has 419 things on the menu and the night Market stretches the length of the main street.
Luang Prabang has moved with the times of course, as tourism has increased this gem of a destination keeps its charm and remains so special. At 6 this morning I was watching the daily morning procession of the monks collecting offerings of rice from the devout across town. This truly is a special thing to see. Later I chartered a boat to take me to a couple of villages up the Mekong and saw villagers make their own whiskey, weave and others collect the local water moss, making a local delicacy.
Progress has brought more prosperity to many more people. From high end boutique hotels to local guest houses, from local food stalls to craft producers, there is always a steady stream of customers. I was reading earlier that the head brewmaster of beer Lao trained in the Czech Republic and wants to ultimately take this lager across the globe, emulating the incredibly successful business model of Corona, once unheard of outside of Mexico. Given its difference of using rice as malt and a 50% company ownership by Carlsberg, keep an eye out on your supermarket shelves!
One question - where does all the rubbish go? A strange thing to ponder on but when I visited a Lisu village near the Burmese border the reality of modern purchases enhancing a basic subsistence living meant that just outside the village of 15 houses, daily fires tried to get rid of the paper and most notably plastics that come with a 21st century way of life. Rubbish was taking over. With the necessity to consume bottled water across Asia and most developing countries I have only seen one set of recycling units which were in the grounds of a Thai temple. I won't lecture on our carbon footprint as my carbon footprint of air travel and hiring a long boat just for me isn't great - but I do use energy saving light bulbs!!!
Sunday 24 April 2011
A city revisited - the past meets the present.
Fourteen years ago I travelled through Laos and really wanted to return, to see how much things have changed, but more importantly gauge how things have remained the same, given Luang Prabang, Lao's second cities UNESCO world Heritage City status.
I remember dusty streets, local restaurants and street markets all feeling more real than commercial and there was a very limited range of places to stay. I was there for a few weeks and had many incredible experiences in such a short space of time. One night I popped to the local store and was invited by a fellow shopper to his sisters wedding. Within half an hour I was dancing with the family and partaking of a beer or two. A real money can't buy experience.
I also spent time wandering around the many temples and was invited to spend some time with the Monks to practice their English, another priceless experience. Later in the week I then was invited to an ordination of one of the monks, a truly special and memorable occasion.
When I then travelled to the capital on a highly memorable but never to be repeated eighteen hour journey in a truck, sitting on wooden planks with an armed guard perched on the roof to ward off bandits, I felt that the journey would never end. But on arriving in Vientiane to coincide with the amazing annual tat luang festival I later bumped into these monks again. Needless to say they recognised me, as I cycled across the city, all I saw was a sea of orange robes and some one excitedly shouting Sarah!!!! They invited me to their private ritual of getting their heads shaved for this special occasion. Incredible.
Will I have any similar experiences when in those years hundreds upon thousands of tourist have visited this amazing city?......... I doubt it as when I was here before this was an exotic and untouched destination, but if I have a fraction of what I experienced before I will still be a truly blessed traveller!!!!'
I remember dusty streets, local restaurants and street markets all feeling more real than commercial and there was a very limited range of places to stay. I was there for a few weeks and had many incredible experiences in such a short space of time. One night I popped to the local store and was invited by a fellow shopper to his sisters wedding. Within half an hour I was dancing with the family and partaking of a beer or two. A real money can't buy experience.
I also spent time wandering around the many temples and was invited to spend some time with the Monks to practice their English, another priceless experience. Later in the week I then was invited to an ordination of one of the monks, a truly special and memorable occasion.
When I then travelled to the capital on a highly memorable but never to be repeated eighteen hour journey in a truck, sitting on wooden planks with an armed guard perched on the roof to ward off bandits, I felt that the journey would never end. But on arriving in Vientiane to coincide with the amazing annual tat luang festival I later bumped into these monks again. Needless to say they recognised me, as I cycled across the city, all I saw was a sea of orange robes and some one excitedly shouting Sarah!!!! They invited me to their private ritual of getting their heads shaved for this special occasion. Incredible.
Will I have any similar experiences when in those years hundreds upon thousands of tourist have visited this amazing city?......... I doubt it as when I was here before this was an exotic and untouched destination, but if I have a fraction of what I experienced before I will still be a truly blessed traveller!!!!'
Saturday 23 April 2011
Long necks
The winding road clinging to the mountain sides opens the journey to Mae Hong Son and has 1,000 curves. I have this on the highest authority, well from Bea's friends' cook. There is nothing I can say to dispute this as at the start of the journey in the small mini van all the locals took a sleeping pill.
So to the long necks, no it's not a Thai branch of fat face but a hill tribe just outside town still practicing the controversial and now tourist fuelled undertaking of women wearing heavy metal coils around their necks. Through years of tourism their stalls are now adorned with long neck carved mobile phone holders and fridge magnets. Is this progress? Even the sleepy picturesque town has a Kentucky fried chicken!
After visiting a Hmong village, a Chinese settlement just next to the Burmese border and a Lisu village I felt like I'd had a whistle stop Bruce Perry style 'tribe' experience. These people have no Thai citizenship and as in most cases villages are populated by the old looking after the very young, whilst the middle generation flock to the large cities in search of employment opportunities. Life is simple, but life is hard and marginalised, with permission needed to work and no access to education and health care. These people are a million miles away from the upwardly mobile city slickers riding the sky train to work in Bangkok.
So to the long necks, no it's not a Thai branch of fat face but a hill tribe just outside town still practicing the controversial and now tourist fuelled undertaking of women wearing heavy metal coils around their necks. Through years of tourism their stalls are now adorned with long neck carved mobile phone holders and fridge magnets. Is this progress? Even the sleepy picturesque town has a Kentucky fried chicken!
After visiting a Hmong village, a Chinese settlement just next to the Burmese border and a Lisu village I felt like I'd had a whistle stop Bruce Perry style 'tribe' experience. These people have no Thai citizenship and as in most cases villages are populated by the old looking after the very young, whilst the middle generation flock to the large cities in search of employment opportunities. Life is simple, but life is hard and marginalised, with permission needed to work and no access to education and health care. These people are a million miles away from the upwardly mobile city slickers riding the sky train to work in Bangkok.
Wednesday 20 April 2011
And relax ....
After a haircut, a rather tense Thai massage, where the poor woman took ages and all her strength to release the tension in my shoulders and a few more evening beers, all the stress of London feels a million miles away. Hilariously met up for a beer last night with a colleague from work, who we only discovered last week just before we left that we would be in Chaing Mai at the same time!
I have now embarked on the Sarah solo adventure part of my trip, as my Bangkok friends flew back yesterday and I have just spent five hours in a mini van today heading north west to the small town of Mae Hong Son, near the Burmese border. It's 35 degrees now in the summer sun, so I keep seeking shady temples to escape the heat. Just heading down to the lake to watch sunset.
I have now embarked on the Sarah solo adventure part of my trip, as my Bangkok friends flew back yesterday and I have just spent five hours in a mini van today heading north west to the small town of Mae Hong Son, near the Burmese border. It's 35 degrees now in the summer sun, so I keep seeking shady temples to escape the heat. Just heading down to the lake to watch sunset.
Monday 18 April 2011
Chiang Mai Revisited
Thank goodness for being able to lie down on my bunk on the train, considering that the previous two nights have been spent on overnight flights. After consuming a strange western breakfast and pondering on why they always have to beautify a sausage into a flower shape, we are ready to disembark.
Ou had booked the most amazing hotel, set around a leafy tropical garden with birds offering hellos and whistles as you walk past. For three days we are the only guests, as Thai new year has just finished and many travellers have left. We lap up the luxury and breakfast daily in our own veranda, raised up in the middle of the garden and not having to share the facilities with anyone.
We Head off to the usual haunts, the ever expanding night market and escape the heat in the vast array of coffee shops that have sprouted up across the city. Now new boutique shops cater for the high end Bangkok visitors and more malls are springing up.
Still many things stay the same; visiting amazing noodle shops by the road side, following the devout up the steep 300 steps to Doi Suthep temple and drinking beer at one of the lovely riverside restaurant and listening to live music ... Chiang Mai has it all.
How I know I'm in Thailand.....
It's suddenly 25 degrees
I've seen a monk
And I'm no longer stuck in Doha airport.
So my adventure begins.After successfully meet Ou at the airport and spending the day in Bangkok my holiday has officially started. Interesting cuisine highlight of the day was eating a deep fried duck bill at a local Market. When we met up with Match in the evening to get the overnight train to Chaing Mai the hottest venue was the 'disco' restaurant car, where of course we spent most of the evening. Catching up and drinking over priced beer with our voices drowned out by the Thai disco versions of classic madonna hits made for a memorable first night.
In Thailand I soon remembered - it's all about the food ....
I've seen a monk
And I'm no longer stuck in Doha airport.
So my adventure begins.After successfully meet Ou at the airport and spending the day in Bangkok my holiday has officially started. Interesting cuisine highlight of the day was eating a deep fried duck bill at a local Market. When we met up with Match in the evening to get the overnight train to Chaing Mai the hottest venue was the 'disco' restaurant car, where of course we spent most of the evening. Catching up and drinking over priced beer with our voices drowned out by the Thai disco versions of classic madonna hits made for a memorable first night.
In Thailand I soon remembered - it's all about the food ....
Saturday 16 April 2011
The terminal
I Have never wanted to see the film the terminal and I now feel that I have stared in it. Spending 13 hours in Doha airport was certainly not the first adventure I anticipated, but at least there was another plane the same day. There's only so many times you can wonder through duty free but with free wifi I could easily send the message of my revised Bangkok arrival time via Facebook. How simple the world has become.
Still had to be on standby on the flight, as it was overbooked by 15, so there was a lot of tense pacing around in the final hour before departure, but at least I was awake!
Still had to be on standby on the flight, as it was overbooked by 15, so there was a lot of tense pacing around in the final hour before departure, but at least I was awake!
Thursday 14 April 2011
An unexpected day in Doha airport ......
And this is a first..... Was so tired when I arrived at Doha I relaxed for a nap and fell asleep. Then like a scene from a movie I woke up with all the chairs around me empty and my flight had gone. No-one woke me up. I now have a 12 hour wait for stand by on an already overbooked flight to bangkok on Friday night!!!!! In all my years of travel I have never missed a flight, so all my joking of scouting around potential football sights here has come back to haunt me. My free food voucher has got me egg and chips and a cup of tea. Wow I can't wait for lunch and dinner :(
Sunday 10 April 2011
It's time to pack.....
And I have dusted down the back pack, spent a fortune at Boots and organised my 2011/12 annual travel insurance. Just four days of work and then a travellers life it will be for me !!!!!
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