6th - 15th August 2008: Bangkok to Luang Prabang
Bangkok was OK. I think the pictures and captions a few entries below tell the story so I won't go into detail about it. The funniest thing was that, when we left to head North to Chiang Mai, Oskar (the funny Spaniard), was missing. We'd received a cryptic phone call saying that he was 2 hours out of Bangkok and that he'd 'meet up with us in Chiang Mai in a couple of days...it's a bizarre story'. So on we went to Chiang Mai. Turns out that he'd been approached, drunk, in the early hours in the street in Bangkok and asked to be in a movie to which he agreed. He'd been carted off, dressed up and, after a heavy night boozing with no sleep, had to do multiple takes of marching in a Portuguese army costume in the blazing sun. Hilarious! The funniest thing was that he was asked to shout 'Fire!' in Portuguese but he can't speak Portuguese so he said it in Spanish...with a Portuguese accent. So watch out for some Thai war movie named after a Thai King with a crazy Spaniard shouting 'Fuevo!' with a Portuguese accent. You couldn't make this stuff up.
Chiang Mai was the perfect place for my planned and much-needed detox. This was done in fine style with a 3-hour skin scrub, all-over body massage and luxurious facial. I also found a great yoga studio with two 2-hour classes given by a Dutch guy called Yens. His main take on it was to merge Eastern philosophy with Western demand to produce a hybrid style which I really enjoyed. This will be my goal when I start to teach.
One of the classes was followed by a lecture on Nidra Yoga which is a type of meditation dealing with sleep and dreams with conscious awareness. The goal is to move between the four states of consciousness between wakefulness and the deepest type of sleep (Cataleptic) with lucidity. Very interesting. I took notes.
Chiang Rai was fairly uneventful save for a lovely day pottering around the town followed by a cycle along the river and a
drunken night in the Teepee Bar with Ra, the crazy (but lovely) Thai owner.
Chiang Rai was followed by 2 days cruising up the Mekong in a slowboat with an overnight stop in between. That's where the photos posted on the 19th August are from (see below). Day one of the slowboat journey was hugely entertaining with two Iranian guys and their interesting instruments - a digereedoo and a giant tambourine with bells. Sela, from Israel, accompanied them with either his guitar or mouth organ. Day two was just as much fun with the same troupe joined by the English contingent of Chris on the trumpet and Ben on the keyboard. Much beer was consumed and many, many photos were taken by an enthralled me.
16th August - Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang, Laos, is a charming (aren't they all!) town with a largely French colonial influence. Much of it was destroyed and rebuilt in the last century so it's freshly colonial and in very good repair. Detox done and rejunevation complete, I headed out for the obligatory Night Out. Once again, I met half a dozen wonderful people, namely Craig and Sam from England, Jess and Fi from Ireland and Nicko from New Columbia (a French Polynesian island off the Australian coast near Brisbane) among others. We also bumped into Sophie (Newcastle) who'd I'd met earlier on the boat. Craig and I managed to lose the others between the vegetarian street-side restaurant selling cheap Beerlao and the 'Lao Lao Bar' so we cracked open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and put the world to rights before heading off to the bowling alley. This is not some funky-named bar but an actual tenpin bowling alley being the only place to sell alchohol after 11:30pm. Luang Prabang has strict curfew laws to preseve its culture (rightly so) and closes down just before midnight. Here we met up with 'the Irish lads' and had the craic.
17th August 2008: Luang Prabang
After about 2 hours' sleep between 5am and 7am I was rudely and unecessarily awakened by a deafening drilling coming from the construction site across the road. On a Bloody Sunday! I couldn't stand it, even with my earplugs in, so Oskar and I (we were sharing a room) headed out. I'm actually quite glad about the rude awakening as I ended up having a full and enjoyable cultural day which I probably otherwise wouldn't have had. I visited the Palace which is now a museum and, not being a 'museumy' sort of person, was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. There was a 'Floating Monks' photographic exhibition on there which was enchanting. Followed by coffee with Craig where Chris and Alice joined us.
I then spent an increasingly painful 2 hours at the Internet cafe minimising my millions of photos from the longboat trip to post and email to various friends before there was a powercut. Damn! Time Out. A late lunch and an hours' snooze before an hour of yoga in preparation for another nocturnal adventure. The evening started off haltingly with dinner at the wrong restaurant (it was cleverly named similarly to the one in the Lonely Planet) which was a long-winded affair but the food, when it arrived, was tasty. I had an early night that night which was just as well as the next day was action packed and the fun went on well into a (very) late night!
18th August, Kuang Si Waterfall, Luang Prabang (photos to follow)
Had a great day at the Kuang Si waterfall about 40 minutes drive from Luang Prabang. My expectations were low and the delivery would've been beyond my expectations even if they were high. The photos here tell the story better than my dialogue could so I'll leave it to them. Sadly however, I've lost my camera cable (that's another story) so I'll have to wait until I've procured a replacement before I can show you how much fun was had.
In the evening Oskar and I headed out along the river where we had a couple of tots of the infamous 'snake' wine. This is a local brew bottled with a collection of snakes. Lethal stuff I tell ya and not for the faint-hearted. We then had a few bevvies at the vegetarian roadside cafe before heading down to the 'Lao Lao Bar'. En-route we swept up Paul (Dutch) and Lucinda (American) from the boat trip, Fi and Jess (Irish) and Nicko (French Polynesian). By the way, you don't need to remember all these names, they're really just for my recollection in the future.
The 'Lao Lao Bar' turned out to be a delightfully welcoming garden strung with fairy lights and serving a decent bottle of wine which Nicko and I shared. Needless to say, the inevitable 11:30pm rolled round and we all got chucked out and headed, you guessed it, to the bowling alley. Crikey, this really IS an epic! Well, a fun night was had by all and I probably did more drinking and socialising than bowling but then those are my priorities!
19th - 21st August 2008: Vang Viang - Tubing (photos to follow)
We were scheduled to travel for 6 hours by bus to arrive at Vang Viang 10:30pm. Well, after a 2-hour delay (which I actually enjoyed by watching a video called Evans Almighty with a beer and a tasty papaya salad) we headed off. At 1:30am the road became impassable by a coach stuck in the mudslide ahead of us. Luckily my seat was quite comfy and I'd gotten some sleep. So, after a 12-hour journey, we arrived in Vang Viang around 7am where I caught a few hours sleep and by 1:30pm was on the river, tubing. 'Tubing' is a euphemism for floating a hundred yards down the river before being roped into a thumping bar on a wooden platform with either a swing, zipline (flying fox) or high-dive platform over the river. Beer, sunshine, water, showing-off apparatus. And an audience. I was in HEAVEN!
The next bar down had mud-wrestling which was actually a volleyball 'court'...argh! I wish I had the means to upload some photos...it was terrific. And terrifically muddy! I'll let the photos do the talking when available. Basically, hoardes of merry, gorgeous men (and a few women) throwing themselves around in the knee-deep mud, diving for the ball (and sometimes on each other). Fantastic! Naturally I had to show off (again!) and managed to get myself a cut under my foot which subsequently got infected and I'm currently nursing back to health. The day ended relatively early as I was so smashed by the end of the tubing (I think I unwittingly smoked an opium joint thinking it was just grass) that I couldn't work out if my watch meant 7:30pm or 7:30am (it was 7:30pm). Thinking back, I shouldn't have been that disoriented as I was carefully regulating my alcohol intake and had a bottle of water for every beer throughout the day. I've subsequently read warnings in the guidebook about opium cigarettes and that they get handed out to unsuspecting travellers. Luckily, I had enough wits about me (I have this 6th sense of knowing when I'm not quite safe, regardless of how drunk/stoned I might be) to get myself straight back to the hotel and into bed where I stayed for 12 hours.
I emerged the next morning, aching, bruised behind the knees (from hanging by them) and with rope burns on my feet (by swinging from them). 'No', I told myself. I am NOT tubing today.
By 11am I was back on the river. 'Well', I thought 'I'll just take it easy on the beers and not swing.'
By midday I had cracked open my first beer and had had my first swing. It was onwards and upwards from then on. Hooray! And ANOTHER fantastic day having fun, taking pictures, chatting, flirting, showing off and drinking. This time the night lasted a bit longer (I avoided any forms of joints and drinks other than beer) and ended in Jaidee's Bar where I lost my bag containing my camera (gutted - but more about that later), priceless notebook of email addresses and notes, Oakley's and a few other bits 'n pieces. I had a great time though and it all got very messy (but in a good way!) towards the end.
I woke up around 8:30am the next morning panicking about where I'd left my bag. More so because we were scheduled to catch the bus to Vientianne at 10am. Shit! I hastily packed my backpack and asked Jane to make sure it got to Vientianne without me. I was going to stay and track down my bag as I had a hunch I'd left it at Jaidee's. No one at Jaidee's could understand me so, with a heavy heart, I plonked myself down at a restaurant and ordered a commiserating fry-up.
22nd August : Vang Viang - Motorbikes and caves
Well, I wasn't bereft for long as Ollie (English guy I'd befriended the day before) appeared and announced that he'd hired a moped for the day. So we went for a ride. Then we bumped into Andre (South African from Durban) who said he was thinking of kayaking to Vientianne the next day. Well, Vientianne was exactly where I needed to be the next day and kayaking sounded a helluva lot more fun than the bus. While we were scouting the kayak shops, Zander (from New York) appeared and agreed to join us on the following day's kayaking trip. This was promptly booked, solving my problem of how to catch up with my tour group, and leaving the rest of the day for some fun. Yes, MORE fun! Ollie was going to abandon his moped and cycle with another group to some caves and lagoon. Zander was going to hire a moped and drive to said caves leaving me the choice of either joining Ollie with the cycling group or borrowing Ollie's moped and going with Zander. I chose the latter. And I'm bloody glad I did.
Zander and I got on really well and had a great time heading for the hills at speed. We passed the cycling group along the way looking sweaty and tired. The lagoon was gorgeous, nestled at the foot of a hill in the dappled shade of an overhanging tree. We dived in (well, I gracelessly bumped in on my ass while Zander dived elegantly in) and it was heavenly after the hot drive. Before long, the cycling group arrived and joined us. Zander and Jim (the boxer) did some yoga before we headed for the cave. The cave (like the watefalls) turned out to be MUCH better than expected. We all got to a point in the cave where the group stalled but I could see that it went back further, into the dark, and I wanted to go on. Zander did too so we borrowed a torch and the two of us continued into the depths. Right at the back of the cave (which really was hugely cavernous), down a short, steep wall, was a small, dark pool. 'Are you going in or giving light?' asked Zander. 'I'll give light while you go in and await your verdict.' I replied.
We're talking about a steep pool at the back of a deep cave in the pitch black. There may be creatures. I was cautious. I held the torch. And Zander, much to his credit, had the balls to brave it and go in.
Then he disappeard under the dark water without a ripple or a bubble. My heart started to pound and my panic started to rise. I wriggled closer to the edge and peered harder. Then he came up. Phew! I decided to go in and (I'm embarrassed to report) was a bit of a girl about the whole thing. Just a bit. But Zander was the perfect gentleman and coaxed me in gently while I clung to his arm like...well, like a girl. Which lets face it, I am. So that was a life-affirming experience and got my circulation going!
After clambering out of the damp cave in our flip-flops, we climbed back down to the others where we had a swim, a bite to eat and a laugh before heading off on our bikes to get back before dark. Zander and I took a detour where I stopped the bike and had 'a moment'. I was overwhelmed by the beauty around us, the essence (Zander's words) of the great day warm within me, and a sense of enormous wellbeing (Oasis' words). Don't tell anyone but I may have cried. Just a little. 'THIS is my LIFE', I breathed. 'I am SO lucky'.
That night we all met for a very tasty Indian dinner and more great conversation before heading off for a massage. I, being a bit sunburned and needing to find my lost bag, skipped the massage and headed back to Jaidees to enquire about my bag. Dan, the Irish barman was there. After greeting him I asked about my bag. 'Aye, was it a red bag?' He asked. My heart gave a little leap (I'd been intermittently mourning my lost photos and notes all day) while he reached behind him and produced - TA DA - my bag! 'F*ck! I am so lucky', I thought for the umpteenth time that day. Well, all the excitement had finally caught up with me so I headed to my guesthouse (I'd organised the same one that Zander was staying in, earlier that day) just as a phenomenal electrical storm was breaking. The guesthouse had a gorgeous elevated deck over the river with a view to the hills across the valley (I promise you I am not making this up!) where I parked myself to watch the storm. It was exhilarating. The lightning was spectacular and the thunder was earth-shattering. So much so that I couldn't contain my excitement alone, I had to wake Remko (Dutch guy) to come and share the show. After it was over, I climbed, tired and happy, into bed.
23rd August : Kayaking to Vientianne
The next morning I awoke restlessly at 6:30am and headed out onto the deck with my silk liner and a pillow. Just as I nestled down, a heavy shower started and the rain on the tin roof (such a cliche, I know!) lulled me back to sleep. At about 9am there was a bit of a panic as Ollie, who'd lent me the moped the day before, appeared and, well, panicked, about the location of the moped as the moped shop had his passport and was threatening him with a $600 fee if he couldn't return the bike. I calmed him down (I think), grabbed my things and took him to where I'd left the moped. It was gone.
After an outwardly-calm but inwardly-concerned misunderstood exchange with a couple of local passers-by, I dashed under the stairwell of the nearest guesthouse and there, whew! was the moped. Ollie nearly cried with relief. He ran me over to the kayaking place in time to grab a bite to eat before departing on the kayaking trip to Vientianne.
The kayaking was awesome (I'm running out of expletives!) and the rapids were fierce. Despite partnering with the guide, we flipped on the first one and it was pretty hairy. The second rapid saw us lose a kayak and two people requiring a bit of a rescue operation with us (being with the guide) paddling back upstream to the rescue. We had a well-earned and very tasty barbeque lunch followed by a playful afternoon in rapid-less water, swimming and mucking about. The day ended with us riding on to Vientienne hanging out (literally) of the back of a large tuk-tuk with a beer. Bloody marvellous!
Just as we were milling about at the drop-off point in Vientianne, wondering on the whereabouts of various guesthouse, up walks Jacko and Jane (Jacko (the EOE truck driver) had rejoined the group) who pointed across the road to the guesthouse where the group were staying. Reeesult! Lucky Lynda Strikes Again! And it's beer o'clock. We agreed to meet that evening for dinner but only Alex and Lee (Scottish) turned up. We had a great evening nonetheless with good food followed by cold beers where we bumped into some of the Irish guys from the tubing. I got to bed for a few hours before the early departure to the bus for Vietnam.
24th - 26th August (Whew! Nearly up to date. And it's only taken...er...FIVE hours!)
So we spent the next two days on various buses, overnighting at a nondescript place called Savanakhat in Laos before crossing the border (never fun) into Vietnam yesterday. I've been feeling slightly under par as the infection from my foot cut took hold and the effects of the general sleep-deprivation and post-excitement slump set in. Hence taking time out today to go no further than 200 yards from the guesthouse and catch up on my blogging.
Well, as the Loony Tunes Buggs Bunny will tell ya...'That's all Folks!'
1 comment:
Is it the snake wine about what you are speaking about ?
http://www.asiansnakewine.com/
thanks.
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