Typing from Thailand

We blew through Angkor. Its an absolute shutterbugs paradise, over 400 square kilometers of 500-1200 year old massive temple complexes (sorry, no pics on my phone to share). And siem reap seemed like a nice place to hang out for a bit also, but I think we were both a bit worn out from traveling and could hear the Thai beaches calling. So we settled for a sunrise at Angkor Wat, and a sub-six hour tour of the little circuit (including Ta Prom, where Indiana jones and tomb raider were filmed), then carried on our way.

- I had a terrible gut ache our second night in siem reap, and when my water broke the next morning, I enjoyed the worst traveller tummy I've ever had. At least 14 trips to the washroom in the next 16 hours, and would have been a whole lot more except we were often stuck in transit or border crossings. Highlight was the disgusting outhouse once through the thai border control, complete with half an inch of muddy water and no where to put your bags. Using a squater in a 40 degree sauna while sick and holding a 30+ pound backpack on your lap should be an Olympic sport. Except I would have been disqualified for accuracy. Mmmmm gross. Thank goodness for modern medicine though, the prescription strength stuff I'd never had to use before saved my life.

- we could have flown, but Christine wanted to save a few bucks and I was still game for an adventure, so we went overland to Thailand - a journey wrought with nightmarish scams according to casual google searches. We opted for private taxis to avoid the bus scams (and met a few sorry victims at the border crossing as proof they exist), took 2 hours to get our passports stamped, but thanks to our high speed taxi on the other side we arrived in Bangkok in time to get the last sleeper tickets on the overnight train to Surat Thani. I love train travel btw. Slept like a champ (after taking said pills).

- from there we caught a 3 hour bus to krabi. It's a pleasant little marina town but really just a launch place to other destinations like ko phi phi and ko lanta. We came through determined to hit railay beach. Christine is no planner, but I have to hand it to her, she found a real gem here. The boat ride out had scenery that surpassed even halong bay. Everytime I look back at the shore, I'm shocked at the beauty before me all over again. We decided to splurge and get a resort on the beach for 1 night and make two full days of napping, reading, and swimming out of it. Wonderfully relaxing.

- you know a place is hot when you set the ac to 27 and it feels cold. It's been above 40 with the humidex since we got to Thailand and all but the locals have a permanent sheen. Surprisingly, I haven't really been bothered by it. We eased into the heat well - Taipei was about 15 degrees and every spot we've hit went up about 5 since then. Plus I've gotten used to to being sweaty, sticky and dirty. Feels kinda nice. The sun is a different story though. It's not so much rays as straight up laser-beams, and even christine had to join me in the shade.

- tomorrow we'll go to ao nang for a couple nights and are planning to try a day trip/snorkel boat to ko phi phi. Then it's back to krabi where we'll catch a flight back to Bangkok, just in time to sleep before our flight home. A few days ago I was ready to header, but now that makes me very sad. Feel like I could sit on the beaches here for a lifetime.

- also, the food in Thailand is spectacular. I had the best pad Thai in my life yesterday. Ro-tee? Yum. Spring rolls and curry noodles for breakfast? I think so! Now just gotta find some grilled crickets.

- I do feel like I've "done" SE Asia now. But if you think about it this trip has been the equivalent of hitting London, Paris, Venice, Rome, and maybe a few slow trains through small towns in the Alps. Sure you've "seen" Europe, but there's a lot more to take in. I wouldn't be at all upset to find myself back exploring here again some day.

- Quote of the day: traveling is not about seeing the sights, it's about the deep and permanent change in ideas about living.

See you all back in the snow soon!

Leaving Laos (Vegas?)

We arose from the Lao jungle yesterday, battered and bruised, but quite enamored with the experience. On to Cambodia today, but first, some random thoughts and highlights from southern Lao:

- after settling our bills in Luang Prabang and hiring a tuk tuk driver to the airport, we arrived in Pakse remarkably short on cash, to find its the only airport we've hit with no ATM. 86,000 kip was all we had according to my quick tally, about $11. Bought 2 bottles of water for 8,000 kip, then went to get a cab, where the posted rate was 80,000. Missed, by that much.

- walked around pakse all day. Nothing here, but a giant snake in the bathroom. Which of course I didn't notice until I had unzipped and relaxed. When that thing freaked out so hard it started slapping against my feet, I got my sailor mouth on and hopped up on the toilet so fast and nimbly I surprised even myself. Frick me. I'll take our bears and cougars any day over that thanks.

- met our guide and tour group Tuesday morning for the drive to the jungle. As always, the group was a great mix of people - one of the best I've enjoyed to be honest. If you've never done a tour group, or never gone somewhere because you didn't want to go alone, I can't stress enough to just sign up for a group and go - its always fantastic people and experiences.

- after 1 hour on paved highways and 30 minutes of intense African massage roads, we arrived in a dirty but quaint farm village and suited up with harnesses straight away. Hiked about two hours, descending quickly in thick forest, before hitting our first zip line. From there I think we did 8 more, some of which went past or over waterfalls and the views were amazing. En route we stopped for a traditional Lao lunch... Several heaps of food spread out over banana leaves on the ground, with piles of sticky rice to scoop it with. So 10 complete strangers, dirty and sweaty, broke bread together with bare hands. The food was surprisingly delicious and a great way to get to know out new companions.

- finally arrived at camp to find it was situated at the bottom of a large, multitiered waterfall that provided our backdrop for meals and sleeping. Beautiful.

- there's something about gently rocking to sleep in a softly swaying treehouse, and gradually waking up with a sunrise and chirping birds, that makes you think this is how we were meant to live.

- day 2 consisted of another hour of hiking to a 450 meter zipline, with a 320 meter one back, and another 10 minute hike back up to repeat the circuit. First time I just enjoyed the ride and the views. Second time I tried recording it to share back home (which I'm sure won't really capture it). Third time I did it upside down cause, well, why not. We also stopped by another waterfall to eat more Lao food, swim, and just chillax for a couple hours before hiking back to camp for the evening.

- by the way, when I say hike, I mean, grueling, body contorting, P90X-in-a-sauna type workouts. It's closer to a scramble than a hike with constant hands on maneuvers that's definitely not for the faint of heart. I took a couple good spills, Christine slipped a disk, and while we both loved it and are so glad we did it, neither of us would do it again for all the tea in china. Well, maybe for that. It is a lot of tea.

- Day 3 was a 5.5k hike out that included 2K of steep up hill, and a 35 meter wall climb with cables and iron rods drilled into the rock. I was looking forward to that part, but it ended up being significantly more difficult and less enjoyable than I expected. Several people said it was the hardest thing they'd ever done, and carrying my 30 pound backpack didn't help. I was literally the sweatiest, whitest mess the guides had ever seen.

Back in pakse now, and as cool (literally) as showering in waterfalls was, even the Luke warm shower and semi soft bed felt great. Restored to humanity, we are now off to one of the greatest sites humanity has ever built: Angkor Wat.

Lovely Luang Prabang

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

That pretty much sums up Luang Prabang. After 24 hours of flying and then zipping through Vietnam, it felt like we'd been in transit for an entire week. I was ready to retire from traveling but this sleepy and beautiful little town has cured what ailed me.

It's a visual treat for the eyes, nestled at the confluence of the Mekong and Khan Rivers, surrounded with lush, green mountain scenery, and peppered with temples, monks, French colonial buildings and bakeries. Our guesthouse is on the khan riverfront and I've regularly found myself shaking my head in disbelief at the scenery. The people are so laid back - even street vendors take a polite no for an answer - and the throngs of other tourists just slowly meander along the quaint streets. The language is musical... Khap jai lalai (thank you), sabaidee (hello). Even the weather progresses sleepily here, you could literally set you're clock by it. Cool and overcast in the morning, the sun cracks through the mist at precisely 10:33 every morning. It's hot by 11:30 and stays that way until 4:00 when it begins it's gradual transition to a brisk but pleasant, star filled night time. It's actually an Unesco world heritage protected site, including a curfew in the historical area of 11:30, that helps maintain the charm.

We've had a super relaxing 3 days here including:

- day 1: we slept in, climbed mount phousi for a great 360 degree view, then stopped at a spa for a 75 minute treatment of dr. Fish (read my Japan blog or google for details) and a Lao massage (all for less than $20 for both of us). We stumbled on a great riverside Lao BBQ then finished off with a trip to the bar area that had live jazz music and a lack of curfew.

- day 2: slept in, ate breakfast, then second breakfast, then picked up scooters for an amazing 32k ride to Kuang Si falls, where we swam in the milky blue pools. The drive was breathtaking (even if my hog was pink), and the falls stunned me despite how many pictures I'd seen before hand. Unfortunately all my pictures are on my camera so I can't post them, but go do a quick google image search for a taste of it and rest assured they don't capture half it's beauty.

- day 3: slept in (seeing the pattern?), ate breakfast, and second breakfast, rode an elephant, then Christine went for a siesta while I headed to another spa... When in Rome right? We wanted a really quiet day, and we found it.


Alas our time here is comprete (the English here could use some work), so tomorrow we sleep in (of course), then fly to Pakse where we'll embark on our tree top experience. Likely to be offline for a few days, send help if I don't post again in about 5 days.


Ps. Christine is keeping up with me on the eating, but not the rainbowing. We're starting to wonder where it's all going.

Happy with Halong

I'm on a boat. Again. This time in Halong Bay. It's as beautiful as advertised, but first let me rewind and pick up where we last left off...

- scootering with proper shoes and pants feels 86% more safer , which is good because 60km/h feels 212% faster than 40 did. We never did hit the highway though. I was getting the hang of scootering, outside a few near misses (okay a lot), but it was actually the cold and rain that prevented us from doing it. So we settled for a hike to Lotus Cave on Monkey Mountain that's right in Kaohsiung. Not just a clever name, we spotted many a monkey.

- next day was new years eve, but also a bit chilly so we stayed indoors and got ourselves some hot pot. Stupidly, I faaaa-rrried the top of my mouth with some molten taro. We're talking instant blistering and still losing skin a couple days later. Delicious though. Even the blood cake wasn't too bad. We also hit the "gold class" theater for a movie, then brought in the new year 15 hours early whilst partying on a boat. Nothing too crazy, but I think I did high-5 everyone on board and wrestled the steering wheel from the captain for a bit. Good times.

- up at the crack of dawn the next morning to catch the high speed train back to Taipei just in time to fly to Hanoi. It was a rough, rough day. Enough said.

- Hanoi was very cool. So different than Taiwan, it served up visual delights for the eye everywhere we looked. Tall, skinny buildings with red brick roofs, half grey, half painted in bright colors. Lush green rice paddies filled with asian-sombrero-wearing workers and livestock gave way to narrow city streets, with throngs of people and traffic moving about the shops and homes. I was immediately lamenting thay we'd only have 1 evening there, but a couple hours walking in the traffic was all I ended up needing. I've crossed some crazy streets in my day but never with such a multitude of scooters. Eventually figured out the trick is to not make eye contact. Once the driver knows you know he's coming, avoiding impact is your responsibility. Don't let him see the whites of your eyes, and that job is squarely on his shoulders, which he'll do perfectly well so long as you maintain a steady pace and make no sudden movements.

- we walked around the old quarter hunting for Pho for a couple hours, but couldn't find anything appealing. Then we passed an old lady sitting on the sidewalk with a huge steaming pot of... something... and piles of random food stuffs around her. Strewn along either side of her were tiny plastic tables and even tinier plastic stools, some with locals eagerly devouring bowls of the somethings. "Christine, I think I just found what I want for supper". She was hesitant, but I made eye contact with the lady who barked the apparently only English word she knows - "sit" - and it was on. Rice noodles, tomatoes, onions, chilies, and what I think was tofu skins and pork but could have been anything really... Not sure if it was the food or the experience that made it so good, but it was fantastic and filling. And only $1.50 each. Which was probably still double what the locals pay.

- got picked up bright and early this morning for our overnight cruise in Halong Bay. I won't even bother trying to describe it, and I'm sure the pictures I'll post will massacre its beauty even worse, especially since it's overcast and I can only post pics from my phone. Much better ones to come when I'm back home. In the meantime, plan to come see it for yourself.

- We had a great group on board, enjoyed an amazing kayaking trip around a couple of the 1969 islands together, watching the crew squid fishing, eating some great food, and, as I type, trying to figure out this Asian version of parcheesi. Which strangely, my iPhone knew how to autocorrect. Well played Apple. Well played.



Back to Hanoi airport tomorrow, which if we don't hit any traffic on the 4 hour drive we should be able to just, and I mean JUST, catch our flight to Luang Prabang. That's where the thermostat will start getting cranked, but we are looking forward to slowing our pace and settling in somewhere for a few days. Can't wait!

Cam Ung for reading.