Laos PDR: Please Don't Rush

NOTE: Photos loaded on August 8th, 2007

Sorry for the lack of updating these past couple of weeks, but I haven't really thought about the interweb at all lately. Perhaps its the subdued feeling that you get after stepping foot across the border.

The trip from Chiang Mai was a bit sketchy because we were pulled over about 3 times by the Royal Thai Army and Police to get our passports and ID's checked. Although I haven't confirmed it - it probably coincides with the bombings in south Thailand as of two weeks ago. The rest was a bit slow and hot, and my only complaint is why Canadian citizens have to pay the most for entry into Laos out of any other nationality. 42 USD for a visa, plus random charges after you cross the border.

Anyhow, we crossed into Laos via the friendship bridge in Nong Khai - just south of Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

Vientiane: City of Slow

For all you southeast asia history buff's out there - this is probably a good place for you to stop. As a stark comparison, I would relate Vientiane to Laos, as Ottawa is to Canada. Unluckily for me, I'm not really much of a history buff, so what Ottawa is for me, is like a banana peel to a monkey. Long story short, I found Vientiane to be quite a bore. We did see a couple interesting landmarks, such as the Patuxai arch - an arch made during the reconstruction of Laos after the war... money from the US which was supposed to be used to build a runway for an airport.

The arch, as with most other historical sites in the city, were falling apart due to weathering and lack of upkeep. They do, however, look very pretty from about 500 metres away. :P

If you're coming to Vientiane looking for a party... keep moving. You won't find anything here, especially with the heightened police presence on every main street corner. Or, perhaps I'm being a bit harsh... I'll let those who are coming to Laos to make their own judgment.



Vang Vieng: Beach town vibes without the beach...

There are always places in every country that take you by suprise. For Thailand, it was Chiang Mai and Krabi, and for Laos, it would have to be Vang Vieng. We took the local bus from Vientiane for 25,000 kip (about $2.50) for 4 hours to get there. The bus was less than unspectacular... picture a bus from 1970 that's rusting and falling apart, seats kindof covered in a fine layer of permanent dirt, and luggage strapped onto the roof of the bus. There you have it... a local Lao bus. To boot, the roads were barely 2 lanes wide, and practically serpentine the entire way. They handed out complimentary puke bags... that was a nice touch.

Needless to say, we all made it alive and well in Vang Vieng. The quality of the guest houses were pretty outstanding, and the town is literally placed in the most picturesque place you could imagine... right beside a river with a backdrop of lush vegetation on limestone peaks in the background. I'll put pictures up once I find a better internet cafe... the pictures won't really do it any justice.

In the end, we stayed a lot longer than expected. We even stayed at two posh hotels with full services for a steal, and ate like kings the entire time. Its hard to escape such a relaxed town with so much to do around it. We did some caving (kindof disappointing), kayaking, and tubing. Along the river are jumping/drinking points where you can buy some cheap Beer Lao and swing like Tarzan into the river.



Fast forward to today...

Luang Prabang: Little Asian France

Being once controlled/influenced by the French during the colonial ages (correct me if I'm wrong), there's a huge amount of French everything here. Most places are tri-lingual (Lao, English and French, and almost all the buildings have some kind of French twist to them. It even comes right down to the food... baguettes with almost every meal.

This place was deemed a world heritage site by the United Nations in 1995, and its pretty easy to see why. For such a little country, it sure does have quite a bit of heritage and history behind it. We took a spin down to the national museum, which was once King *insert name here*'s Palace, and then walked up some stairs to a temple where you could view the entire city. Again, pictures would require less words... I'll get on that as soon as I can.



That brings us to now... we're headed to Hanoi, Vietnam by plane on the 30th, and then going with the flow.

It's past the halfway point! There's so much more that we have to see... keep posted!

Chiang Mai: I'll be back...

The title explains it all... there's just too much to do up here to squeeze comfortably into a week of traveling.

I ended up renting a scooter again, despite the chaotic traffic in this city. It truly is the best way to see as much as possible without the hassle of flagging and bartering with a taxi driver. I managed to see the Wat (temple), and some waterfalls northwest of Chiang Mai. The ride up is a motorcyclists dream - serpentine curves for about 30 kilometers up and down the side of a mountain. It felt pretty good on the scooter, but my speed was limited by the nominal lean angle and tackiness of the tires... okay fine... its not a sport bike, and I really wish it was.

I'll likely be renting scooters for all my remaining stops as long as it seems safe to do so (i.e. Bangkok would be suicidal). The added flexibility and freedom you get is well worth the 4-6 dollars (CDN) per day. I would highly recommend other potential travelers to do the same if you end up coming out to asia (provided that you are comfortable doing so).

Our next stop is going to be Vientiane, Laos. We're going to take an over night bus to a town south of the "friendship bridge" called Udhon Thani, and then take another short ride to the border to a town called Nong Khai (spelling is probably all wrong). Hopefully this bus driver isn't as insane as the last one... I'm hoping to catch some sleep this time.

If I don't post for a few days, its probably because I can't find internet in Laos. Keep commenting!

UPDATE: Photo album added Aug. 8th, 2007

Chiang Mai: Surprise of the North

Since the Gibbon experience is now no longer part of our travel itinerary - we had to rearrange our schedule a bit before heading onwards. This gave us a bit more time to experience Chiang Mai for a bit longer, and boy, it turns out that Chiang Mai has a lot more to offer than we had ever imagined. Had we known that this city was so full of things to see/do, we would have planned a longer stay from the start.

We managed to go on a two day trek in the jungles north of Chiang Mai, go to the zoo, and take a cooking course since my last post. There are even downhill mountain biking trips, and other activities such as watching a Muy Thai boxing match.

Trekking in Chiang Mai

We booked our trek through the guest house that we're staying in for 1500 baht per person. This price includes a two day trek with guides, the ride there, the ride back, food, bamboo rafting, elephant riding, sleeping overnight in a hill-tribe village, and a venture to some hot springs and waterfalls (not in that order). Our trek was with 6 other people - four ladies from Ireland, and two guys from Slovenia.

Our guide, Nooka, was from the hill tribe that we stayed at, and was very knowledgeable about the history and surrounding environment. His english was pretty good, and he was able to answer most of our questions about anything we saw. I learned a lot, but of course, at the expense of exploiting the hill tribes, and some shady treatment of elephants. Exploitation aside, the trek was worth every baht I spent. :) I'll let the pictures do more of the talking... let me know if you have any more questions about anything.



Chiang Mai Zoo

The Chiang Mai Zoo is a very well developed center with a large variety of animals, including a pair of Pandas. Their aquarium is a bit lacking, and their bird sanctuary covers a large portion of the Zoo, but it was still very enlightening. Other mentionable animals included a rhinoceros, hippos, giraffes, tigers, lions, and gibbons apes.

The entry fee to the zoo was 100 baht, and the price to see the Pandas was an additional 100 baht (the air-conditioned facility that they were enclosed in is well worth the 100 baht that we spent on that very warm day). Again, less words, more pictures!



Thai Cooking Class

This was probably the most enjoyable thing that I've done so far on the entire trip. We had a group of 11 people - 8 of which were from Canada (including ourselves), and a very capable and knowledgeable instructor. We are given the opportunity to cook 6 dishes from a vast menu: curries, soups, noodles, desserts - you name it, and you can make it!

We started off the day by making a trip to a local Thai market to buy all the ingredients we needed for all of our dishes. We learned how coconut cream and milk is made (grind down a mature coconut, and pass it through a juicer thing with the addition of water... first pass is the cream, second pass is the milk), what the different local ingredients are used for, and how to buy stuff (although I don't think I'll ever be able to grasp the concept... where's my Superstore?).

I wish that someone invented taste-screens, where a user can taste the picture via touching the screen with the tounge. All of our dishes were delicious (some more than others), and surprisingly quick and easy to make. The favorite dish that I made was Massaman chicken curry... I'll have to make it for y'all when I get back home. Drooling, a la photographs:



Since we're on somewhat of a schedule, we'll be leaving Chiang Mai soon. I'll definitely be coming back to try more of the food, perhaps trying other treks, boxing, shopping, you name it... there's just so much to see here! I highly recommend this city to anyone who is coming to Thailand in the future!

Bonjour from Chiang Mai

We've made our way up from Krabi, through Bangkok, to Chiang Mai, and we're currently staying at a place called "Royal Guest House". Its quite a bit cheaper than any other place we've been so far for a really good price (300 Baht for 3 people... about $3.50 per person).

The overnight bus ride from Krabi to Bangkok was insane. We took the overnight "VIP" bus (I'll post photos later) - a double decker, Greyhound-style bus which was driven by a madman. He had the tendency to speed excessively, and weave through traffic like driving a sports car. The bucking motion that the bus created when driving over bumps made sleeping an issue... for a 12 hour bus ride? Not good. Unsurprisingly, the bus made it well over an hour early to Bangkok.

We made short 1 day stopover in Bangkok to catch our breaths before heading north to Chiang Mai. Since we were sick of riding buses, we opted for the overnight train. Our last experience going south wasn't bad, and the fact that you are able to sleep on a bed was a big bonus. However, this north-bound trip was a bit less pleasant than the southern counterpart, as I found the train much too hot to sleep in, and one of our beds was filled with bugs. Oh well... for 20 dollars CDN, you can't really complain about it.

So here we are in Chiang Mai. We were greeted by a nice little old thai lady at the Train station who convinced us to stay at her hostel (the Royal). Our prior experiences with these bus/train station booking groups is that most of them charge a bit more than they should, because a small portion of the sale goes to them as commission. This lady was a bit different, as she was the owner of the hostel, and she provided a relatively cheap ride from the station (20 baht) to check it out.

Her friendliness is very genuine, and she is turning out to be a bigger help than I could have ever imagined. We've booked a jungle tour through her, and she even provides a service to get a Vietnamese tourist visa for you. Not to mention, her son who also works at this hostel, speaks very good english, and gave us the in's and out's of Chiang Mai (free of charge). Since we had arrived on a Sunday, there was a weekly Sunday night market in Old Chiang Mai. I cannot emphasize the size of this night market. There must have been at least 2 km's of vendors. Halfway through, my head started hurting from looking at all the products for sale. This market is definitely worth at least 2 trips to see... oh, and the food is amazing AND cheap. For night market experience - this is the place to be!

Culturally, you can see some minor but subtle differences between the vendors and people in Bangkok. The people here are VERY friendly and honest. The city life is busy, yet still very relaxed in a sense. Less shouting, and less Taxi/Tuk Tuk drivers who are trying to push their services onto you at an obscene price. Clothing, food, and drink is also slightly cheaper here, and I haven't had enough food here to find out any differences between the food of the south.

To note: there has been a major change in our travel plans in Laos. The Gibbons Experience in the Bokeo reserve has kind of screwed us over, as they've out-booked themselves for when we wanted to go. What does that mean? No more sleeping in tree houses and zip-lining anymore. The soonest they can book us is outside our tentative itinerary, so I guess we'll have to save it for another year.

Anyhow, before this gets too long, I'll end it here. Tomorrow, we're going on an Eco-trek north of Chiang Mai, where we'll stay overnight with a hill tribe and hike through the jungle. Neat-o! Sadly, it does seem like that the tourism industry is exploiting these tribes, but I'll get into that another day...

Krabi: Footprint of Buddha & Tiger Caves

Aside from the fiasco that happened regarding renting the scooter (see previous post), what I did today was worth more than the hassle. It was brought to my attention by Willy Ockey, a fellow co-worker who is familiar with the Krabi area - that there was a magnificent "Footprint of Buddha" just outside of Krabi town.

The best way to get there is via scooter on route 4 (the road towards the airport). Once you get out of the city, you make a quick left before the mountainous landscape disappears. A quick jaunt to the the base of this mountain, and you'll find an enormous Buddhist temple (with lots of MONKEYS!) situated around some old tiger caves (sorry, no tigers here).

I'm testing out the Picassa slideshow for this post. Hopefully the pictures turn out (see bottom of this post).

Anyhow, Willy failed to mention that the climb up to the top of the mountain was a VERY steep 1300 step climb. By the time I reached the top, the liter-or-so of water that I had consumed at the beginning of the trek ended up on my face and shirt through my sweat pores. It wasn't a pretty sight... however, the view at the top was SPECTACULAR.

After realizing how unfit I was, we cooled down at the top for a while and made our way back down to the base of the mountain. A quick waltz around to the other side of the temple led to the Tiger Caves, as well as the "Big Tree" (which has since fallen down due to natural causes).

After revelling the experience, we headed back to Krabi town center... that's when the police thing happened. Darn it! And we were so close to the guest house we were staying at, too! Ah well... we returned the scooter and then headed to the Krabi night market, where we ate random stuff off of carts and street vendors. Mmmmmmm... a full meal for under 3 dollars CDN (included a bowl of noodles, pastries, and a whole pineapple).



PS. The scooter I rented this time was a Honda "Click"... Again, with an automatic CVT transmission. It was 125cc's and much smoother-riding and better handling than that Yamaha Nouvo that I was putting around in Koh Phangan.

Krabi: Scootering? Beware!

For those who have the urge to travel to Krabi and rent a scooter... please mind the traffic regulations.

Long story short, I got pulled over by the Krabi local police for not wearing a helmet when riding on the rented scooter. The scooter rental place failed to mention that it was a law to wear one here... darn it.

So what was the fine? 300 Baht... not a big deal in the end for me, because that really only works out to 10 dollars CDN. The experience, however, is much scarier in hindsight, because for all I know, I could have been pulled into the police station and forced to pay up big bucks for this. Luckily, it was a rather painless process in the end.

The officer seemed a bit surprised when I put "student" on the occupation line (for sake of simplicity). Maybe he felt a bit sorry for making me cough up 10 bucks? Who knows...

Its another thing to add to my list of experiences on this trip... not to mention a ticket issued by the Krabi police written in Thai that I can hang on my wall. :)

Krabi: Photos

So some of you might be thinking if the beaches in the pictures you find on the internet are actually real photos of Thailand's beaches. I figured that most pictures were somewhat doctored - hues of blues tweaked to enhance the color of the water and sand...

Well, I was proven wrong. The beaches are actually that nice! See the photos below... they're all from a beach in Krabi called Rai Ley beach. It can only be accessed by Long Tail boat via Ao Nang, which is a 30 minute truck-cab ride from Krabi town center.

Sunset whilst on the long boat

This is what happens when I get bored, and the sand is super sculpt-able

The left side of Rai Ley beach

A walkway in Ao Nang

Its warmer than it looks

Not feeling Krabi at all...

I've been extremely fortunate so far this trip with regards to weather... it has been absolutely splendid and hot (but not too hot). It would be hard to believe that it's monsoon/rainy season around here. The only times that it rained was a couple times in Koh Pha-Ngan, and when it did - it was mostly at night, which is fantastic because it cools things down a degree or two when you're trying to sleep.

I'm currently in a city called Krabi, Thailand... we've made our way west to the opposite side of the country where finding a beach is like digging for... dirt. I forgot to bring my USB cable, so unfortunately I can't upload how awesome it is around here. For those who are looking to go for a pampered and resort-like Mexico alternative - this is the place to be. There are hotels/guest houses at pretty much any price point with varying degrees of "western" comfort. Eldon, I'm sure you'd love it here...

The culture is very cool and collected here. Most people's notion of friendliness is genuine around these parts - something that I had a hard time getting a grasp of when I first started the trip. I've become accustomed to the time zone here, and I'm starting to get a little bit more energy as the days pass. Along with it, comes the appetite... I ate a lot in Canada, and I'm starting to eat more here. Thankfully, the food is abundant, and extremely cheap. You can satisfy your hunger with foods from all corners of the globe, with the main dish being (of course) Thai food. You'd be surprised at how much western food is available on Thai menu's. Burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, fries, etc... you name it - they probably have it.

Let me give you an idea of the prices around here. The exchange rate is approximately 31 baht for every Canadian dollar:

- "American" breakfast (just as a reference):
Two eggs, sausage, beans, two slices of toast, bacon, orange juice, and coffee
Price: ~150+ baht (about 5 CDN)

- Thai food:
Fried rice with vegetables and meat (whatever you want)
Price: ~50-100 baht (about 2-3 CDN)

Pad Thai (noodles and stuff)
Price: ~50-100 baht

Curries - huge variety (of course), and many price ranges...
Price: ~80-250 baht

The list goes on... the food is great! No traveler's diarrhea yet (knock on wood), and there's plenty more dishes that I have yet to try to please my palate. I'm actually getting kindof hungry right now... better go and get that fixed. :)