Angkor Temple Kids, Cambodia

The rest of my Birthday week, we explored more of the ruins, sweltering in the unrelenting heat, somtimes occasionally heading back into town to our guesthouse during the middle of the day to avoid the unmerciful sun. (We drink a lot of rehydration salts just because it is SO hot). To get around, our first day we hired a motorbike trailer-tuk tuk-thing which was very nice. The next couple of days we had electric bicycles instead which was different, though a little bit of a pain as we would have to make sure we had enough battery life to get around. Fortunately, there were a few stations set up around the temples to do that. Later on in the week, friends Joy and Earl came in, and we shared a tuk-tuk, showing them around the ruins. There are so many that it can be quite overwhelming and difficult to know where to start.

One of our favourite things about the temples was to interact with the many kids that hang around trying to sell stuff: mainly postcards, guide books or books about Cambodia's horrendous history. One little girl, Kia, could count her packs of 10 postcards in five different languages - definitely a result of all the interaction the kids have with tourists! One day they asked us for pens and we enjoyed watching how engrossed they were drawing picures and very proudly writing their names beneath. The next minute, we were inundated with their drawings as gifts back to us. One quiet and shy boy, Ahn, had an obvious talent sketching one of the stone gateways from memory - he spent that much time there! To encourage him and to make him realise that he had a gift, we bought his sketch, returning later on in the week with more paper and a set of coloured pencils for him. Maybe, just maybe, we might have changed this boy's life for the better... I hope so, Ahn. * Mush

Our First Few Days in Cambodia

Well, we had no idea what to expect when we arrived in Cambodia. On our way from the airport, we would see the contrast between rich and poor that is so evident here. Beautiful, luxurious 5-Star hotels costing $300 to $800 per night alongside rickety huts over the river whose inhabitants would be lucky to make $200 in a year. On our first walks around town we were approached by myriads of young kids trying to sell us postcards, books, bracelets, etc. They are pretty damn persistant too! It is really hard because they are suffering a kind of poverty that I cannot even dream about. The good thing is that they have a sense of humour, and can be very sarcastic at times. Michelle and I have taken to joking around with the kids, because we do not want to be rude and ignore them (and also because we would have hundreds of cards and bracelets if we didn't!). Many great interactions with the kids, but a few definitely have a grudge on life and have made it evident.
Beggars are everywhere too. Most of them are amputees given the fact that Cambodia had, and still has, an immense number of land mines around the country. The mines were set by the horrible Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese and others, and still plague the countryside. Unlike Laos where the landmines and cluster bombs were designed to kill, here, the unexploded ordnance were designed to maim leaving the victim alive to suffer a horrendous existence. It is so tough seeing these poor people without limbs, but you just cannot help everyone. If you help one, then another one comes over, and so on. We tend to give food to some that we see, as we have no idea where any money would go.

Traffic here is, as usual in Asia, chaos! There is no common sense used on the roads in Cambodia. Always driving against the flow, and pulling out into traffic. They don't even look and expect others to avoid them. Crazy! They also carry absolutely anything on their motorbikes. My favourite is the live pigs strapped upside down to a bamboo plank and mounted across the back seat of the bikes (good, full size pigs). We also saw someone transporting a table upside down and a passenger sitting in it!

I'm sure we will see many bizarre things in this ever evolving country, trying to pull itself out of the hole that was dug by the Khmer Rouge and all the atrocities and fighting that has been all too recent. One good thing though, it has not been taken over by US fast food joints, and there isn't a McDonald's in sight!!! *Stub

Ta Prohm, Angkor National Park,Cambodia

My most favouritist, favourite temple of the day (and of the week) was Ta Prohm. We loved the fact that, in places the trees from the encroaching jungle were either swallowing and destroying it's structure, or better yet, it was holding it all together in others ! Just incredible! All the trees were massive with huge, snake-like root systems that weaved all over the place. It's hard to describe how atmospheric this ruin was. It was breathtaking! The tall towering trees cast wonderful shadows, and dappled the towers and carved stones in great light. * Mush

The Bayon, Angkor National Park, Cambodia

What a way to spend one's Birthday: at one of the most famous archealogical sites in the world! It was an AMAAAZING day! The temples of Angkor Wat Archealogical National Park, without doubt, rival the Egyptian Pyramids or Peru's Machu Picchu! One of my favourite temples was The Bayon pictured here. As you approach the site through a long avenue of tall, tall trees, from afar it looks just like a big mountain of jumbled grey stone. But as you get closer, huge semi-smiling stone faces loom into view. At the top of the 54 towers, there are a total of 216 faces all looking in the four directions of the compass, North, South, East and West. The King apparently wanted to 'keep an eye' on his kingdom and his subjects. And as you walk around the terraces there's an eerie feeling of being watched! Not by one face, but probably at least seven or eight, either staring down from above or up close at eye level. This was a very cool temple that we came back to visit again and again over the week, and each time we would find something different, or the light at different times of day certainly created a different atmosphere. It was incredible. * Mush

Angkor What?? Siem Reap, Cambodia

I'm sure some of you may be asking that question, but simply, Angkor Wat is the largest temple ruins in the world - The Mother of all Temples! But not just one temple, a huge selection of ruins, temples, palaces, monuments, etc all around the same area. The whole area was built starting in the 800's and continued on until the 1400's.
So, we had flown to Siem Reap so that we wouldn't spend Michelle's birthday on the second day of a very long bus journey. Instead, we started her birthday with this - sunrise at Angkor Wat. To say that this place is impressive would be a major understatement!! This picture is of the main Angkor Wat.
The temple itself has many towers, and climbing up to the upper levels is a dangerous task as the stairs are worn and exceptionally steep (60 degrees or so). The carvings and bas-reliefs on the pillars and walls are stunning and still mostly in very good shape!
The water in the foreground is a manmade pond and the whole temple is surrounded by a huge moat that is about 3km long by 3km wide. I can't believe the effort it would take to even dig out these moats, let alone carry huge stones around to build the temple, and then carve out intricate pictures all over the pillars and walls. WOW! I guess the only downfall is the popularity of the place. It is attracting plenty of tourists these days, but even so, we were able to find areas that we could have to ourselves. All in all, a great start to Michelle's birthday. *Stub

Si Phan Don (The 4000 Islands), Laos

After a three-hour, extremely dusty bus ride (the bus had open sides, no windows) , followed by a narrow boat crossing, we arrived at what are known as the islands... the Four Thousand Islands - in the Mekong River in the south of Laos. These were to be our last few days in Laos and we wanted to make the most of them, but relax. Well after meeting up with Earl, Joy and Sarah (who had arrived earlier) on Don Det, we relaxed over some Beer Lao (it really is very tasty beer!). Anyway, the following few days we chilled out, rented bicycles and explored our island and the one it was connected to by bridge, Don Khon. We saw amazing waterfalls even though it is the dry season! We took a boat down the river almost to the border with Cambodia to see freshwater Irrawaddy (yes, a rather strange name!) dolphins. Very cool, and we saw lots of them although they were quite far away. These dolphins are becoming endangered as they were shot by the Khmer Rouge in neighbouring Cambodia, as well as the Vietnamese shooting them for sport after they 'rescued' Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge.

Another evening we took a sunset river cruise and had our own sand island to view it from. It was a beautiful river ride too, as we watched the fisherman fling out their nets and dive in after them to collect the catch. Finally, on our last day we rented out kayaks and pottered around the river and its 4000 islands... even a teeny lump of sand and a tuft of grass apparently counts as an island!! We 'discovered' island #2923! It was a very pretty place and we enjoyed exploring it and just chilling out. We spent a very pleasant last four days in Laos and we were sorry to leave such a lovely country and such warm, friendly people! * Mush

Wat Phu. Pakse, Laos

Wat Phu (pronounced 'Wat Poo') is an ancient Cambodian or Khmer temple in the vicinity of Pakse, Laos, and with Earl and Joy and Sarah we rented a tuk-tuk to get us there. The ferry ride across the river was interesting... the car ferry was composed of three boat hulls stuck together with a platform stretched over them where the vehicles sit - double click for a pic of it - it was very bizarre!

Wat Phu itself was amazing and was to give us a taster as to what Angkor Wat - the famous temple in Cambodia - was going to be like. It was originally built in the 6th century and then further additions came in the 10th-11th. The different levels were built on the mountain terraces. The central stone walkway lead through stone debris and ruins up the hill. The wonderful fragrance from the flowers from the frangipani trees flanking the beautiful stone staircase accompanied us as we climbed up each wonky step. At the top there was a small temple that had a fantastic view overlooking the valley and the whole site. We found several huge rock carvings off to one side too, in which human sacrifices were performed. Urgh! The King had his own perch from where he would watch the whole proceedings! Charming!* Mush

Cute Local Girl from the Bolaven Plateau, Laos

Down South in Laos, we based ourselves in a town called Pakse. After surpisingly meeting up with Sarah again, we bargained with a tuk-tuk to take us out for the full day tour around the Bolaven Plateau. This area is reknowned in Laos for it's coffee plantations, introduced by the French -and they were all over. But, as we found out, it also has it's share of beautiful waterfalls.
Tad Fan was stunning, with 2 streams falling 120m inside a circular shaped chasm with steep cliffs. We could only view from above, as it would take more than a day to hike in to the base of the falls from an access point. So we settled for hiking down a small, dusty trail.
Tad Yuang was also picturesque, but this one we were able to get to the base, and swim in the pool. Earl and I swam against the current and managed to plant ourselves under the falls, but it was painful, and we didn't last there too long!!
We visited some local villages too. Of course, when a Western face arrives, the whole village comes to a stand still, and they all come out to stare. There are some fantastic faces, beautiful smiles, and as always, curious kids that love seeing their photo on a digital camera. The first village we visited is known for still having buffalo (water) sacrifices. I guess they have a festival every year and the ritual takes place then!! The second village was strange because the houses all had coffins built and stored underneath - just waiting for the family members to die!!! This village was where we encountered this stunner. Her and a few other kids were running around the town naked, playing. She was so cute that Sarah wanted to put her in her bag and take her home. Did I mention that we love the Laos people?? It's encounters like these that make traveling such a treat! *Stub

Reflections of Tham Xiengliab, Thakhek, Laos

After our brush with death on the bus, we did arrive in Thakhek a few hours later than scheduled but alive. We spent much time figuring out what to do here as there really isn't much of a tourist infrastructure. Our first day there, we took a smoky, crooked tuk tuk to the Giant Wall of Laos. Supposedly man-made, but to me it looked like a natural rock formation jutting out of the land about 30ft. They had built an interesting little church there though.
The next day was caves, caves and more caves. The same wonky tuk-tuk saw us coming and blew blue smoke all the way over to us. We arranged a $20 pay off for him to take all 4 of us out for the day. First stop was Tham Nong Pa Fa (Buddha Cave). This cave was only discovered in 2004 and was full of Buddha relics, including some solid gold statues. For some reason the Buddhist monks like to hide out in caves and worship Buddha. Our treat was taking a boat along the underground river beneath the cave. Some pretty cool cave scenes.
Next stop, Tham Pa Inh - if you haven't guessed it yet, Tham means cave in Laos. A big cavern with prayer flags across, but interesting as there was some water in the distance. After exploring, Earl and Martin stripped down to their underwear and went for a dip across the turquoise waters. Some great colours in the cave walls, and a natural bridge above with 2 huge skylights. We explored outside after, to find the holes to look in. A third cave awaited us, Tham Xiengliab. We got escorted by a bunch of local kids to the cave, where they all quickly hurried up one formation to pose for us, with their hand under their chin (which means 'handsome'). They enjoyed showing us around the huge caverns, and right out the other end. Some great reflections in the water. I kept thinking they wanted cash for the 'tour' but in the end, they did not seem to want anything. They even picked flowers for Michelle and Joy!
A dusty tuk tuk ride home along the red dirt road with limestone landscape, dropped us off at our hotel with a view over the Mekong for sunset - not too bad. And of course, a few games of Euchre (a Canadian card game favourite) with some BeerLao. *Stub

The Day We Lived - Local Buses in Laos

We thought we would tell you a little about the buses in Laos. We have had good experiences and we have had really bad experiences. This beauty was a 7 hour ride we took from Luang Prabang to Phonsavan. As always, the first stop about 1 minute in to the journey is at the gas station - why they don't fill up before, we will never know. We would stop in all the local villages and we seemed to be the highlight of their day as all would come out to stare. Here the guys are loading planks of wood on the roof and tossing up big bags of rice. We have also seen motorbikes on the roof and inside, huge sacks of some produce and even cement bags. We had front seats on this one, but there was a large padded table area, where the 3 worker boys would lay - it looked like a massage table. I was also a little leary when one passenger got on with his machine gun - especially when he kept staring at me out of the corner of his eye! Weird, but we found out later that he was an armed guard as there are sometimes problems with bandits along that route!
Our next bus journey was pretty much downhill all the way and I don't think the driver used his brakes as we would slide from side to side along the windy road. All this while the music blared with some twangy Asian songs all the way. Because of all the crazy corners, the locals were puking all the time into plastic bags - I use my headphones and Michelle her earplugs so we don't have to hear the wretching!
They stop constantly to let on the local vendors and BBQ chickens on sticks, semi developed egg on sticks, baguettes, corn on cob, sticky rice in bamboo, and jack fruit in chili sauce come poking in the windows to buy.
Now to our worst journey. This bus seemed good at first until another bus passed us. He started racing the other bus into town so that he could stop first and get the fares! Absolutely ridiculous as he swerved dangerously around vehicles, over bridges and almost hit a small boy on the side of the road. Our screams to slow down didn't do anything, so we just decided to get off!! A good move on our part, but I don't know why everyone else just laughed it off! I have never gotten off a bus halfway before, but I thought my life was worth more than the $2!!! *Stub

PatuXay Gate in Vientiane, Laos

Well, I can't really say that there is tons to do in Vientiane, but we managed to stay busy for couple of days while we waited for our Cambodian visa to process. One of our stops was at the 'Arc de Triomphe - esque' PatuXay. A decent viewpoint from the top, but not a lot to see.
We managed to fit in a herbal sauna and Laos massage at a temple in town, along with a visit to the spectacular gold stupa of Wat That Luang, which glowed fabulously at sunset.
Another day, and more wats. Vat Sisaket with it's more than 7000 Buddha images. Ho Prakeo, which was originally built by the royals to house the Emerald Buddha (which is now in the Palace in Bangkok), so it is now a small museum of Buddha relics. We tried to sneak in to the Presidential Palace for a photo, but the guard didn't like that too much.
We took a good motorbike ride to an island which was much more like the 'real' Laos, with locals in little huts. We stopped for beers on the river, before finding a beautiful sunset bar, where we watched all the kids wading across the Mekong to a sand island where they were playing football/soccer. We finished off hanging out with Chris, Claude and another friend James at the homestead. A good time in the capital. *Stub

Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane is the capital of Laos and we stayed there with another friend we had met in China. Chris is English, but lives here in Laos, mainly because he loves the people so much. He has got the art of doing nothing down to perfection! We, however, had lots to see so we hired a bike and tootled around looking at the various sites. We hooked up with Earl and Joy too since they hadn't gone to Vietnam and were now doing the same route as us. One afternoon we spent at Buddha Park where tonnes of stone Buddha statues in various positions - lying down, sitting down, standing up, with lots of arms, heads, snakes etc etc. Bit scary really. There were also some vicious looking stone figures that looked ready to gobble you up. This was almost true... we climbed into the mouth of one into the dark depths of a big odd ball shaped thing. We climbed up roughly carved steps to the top for great views over the whole mish-mash of statues. We also cruised past the BeerLao factory, but unfortunately it was closed on Sunday's. * Mush

Two Hitch Hikers Near Vang Vieng, Laos

Following our relaxing kayak day, we rented cheesy one speed bikes again and set out in search of caves that litter the surroundings. Little did we know that if we stopped to take a photo, kids would run up and jump on our bikes. Here Michelle struggles along the bumpy road with these two cuties - it was hard work! Through farmers fields, rivers and over fences and we found the cave we were looking for. Beneath the cave was an underground river of crystal clear water. I donned my headlamp and swam into the pitch black cave with a Canadian couple for support. You could swim about 100m into the darkness, and when we turned out the lights it was really strange. To make things worse, the Canadian guy felt something swim between his legs, so that's all I needed to take off like a shot out of the cave. Really strange feeling but a cool experience. We rode back into town, watching the kids play in the ditches beside the road. For some reason, they decided to do construction in the town, but they are working on every single street - it looks like a war zone!!
Across some rickety bridge, found us on the island and a relaxing sit on bamboo platforms overlooking the river, and watching the sunset behind the hills again. Oh yeah......and BeerLao too!! *Stub

Kayaking in Vang Vieng, Laos

Another scenic, but speedy bus journey down the hillside landed us in Vang Vieng. This place is on the backpackers trail for being a place to relax and chill on the river. Tons of people float in tubes down the river, stopping at various bamboo contraptions to buy their BeerLao, and continue to float. Since the river was pretty low, we found out that this could take hours and hours in the hot sun. So, after meeting up with some friends yet again, we now had a good group to organize a trip.
Seven of us signed up for a kayaking/caving trip (as it would be faster than tubing). Michelle and Earl (the organizers) were a little drunk, so we were not sure what to expect for the next day. Our day started with a stop at a cave, where we strapped on a scary looking battery with headlamp, hopped on an innertube, and pulled ourselves into the cave. A pretty neat experience in the dark. We also "beached" at the far end, and explored the cave a little on foot.
Next, after minimal instruction, we were on the water in our kayaks passing locals fishing, farming and hanging around. The locals had some great set-ups for the tubers/kayakers to stop and party at. Huge bamboo chill out areas, with massive bamboo swings and ziplines. Julia, Earl and I took a turn at the Big Swing - probably about a 30 ft platform to start, which means almost 30 ft drop into the water at the other end! Some guys were doing flips off the far side. Many BeerLaos later, we manouevred some rapids, and arrived in Vang Vieng as the sun was setting over the beautiful limestone mountains surrounding us. A very cool day and all for only $8 each. Loving Laos!*Stub

Bomb Crater, Phonsavan, Laos

Today we learnt a lot about Laos. During the Vietnam War more bombs and mines were dropped by the Americans on Laos than that dropped on Germany in the whole of the Second World War. In what was known as the 'Secret War' because it was ordered against the Geneva Convention and un-beknownst to the US public, Laos became a major target. In addition, bombs that had been destined for Vietnam but were never dropped for whatever reason, were then dropped on Laos: US airplanes were not allowed to land back at base in neutral Thailand with armed 'ordnance' (as bombs are called) on board. In Laos two provinces were hard hit -and about 90% of the land there was covered by ordnance. About 60% of these are still unexploded bombs and mines. Deaths still occur and clearing the area is a long process. MAG - Mines Advisory Group is an English group that send out experts into the field - the mine field, literally!, to detect and defuse bombs and mines. They also recruit and encourage the Lao people to learn how to detect and defuse bombs too. Out and about, we saw lots of bomb craters, and we had to be very careful where we walked, following the guide or coloured markers on the ground. We saw live, unexploded bombs lying around too - which is kind of scary. To clear these takes money and time and as a result cluster bombs are just left out in the open. They have a huge program in schools to teach kids not to touch or play with 'bombies' at the locals call them but still... Later that day, we visited some Hmong Tribal villages, and they have some creative uses for the many bomb casings found in the countryside. Building supports, herb gardens, fences, fire pits to name a few. Lunch at a beautiful waterfall, before sneaking to the local poppy field where they harvest the milk to make opium. They actually put a slice in the seed pod in which the milk flows out, then re-slice again beside it making a nice pattern on the pod. I had no idea, but now know what to be cautious of! * Mush

Stubby in a Jar, Plain of Jars, Laos

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Next, it was off to what is known as the 'Plain of Jars' - huge bizarre jars that were unearthed by the French 80-odd years ago. Although our six hour bus journey was hot and sticky, it was through very picturesque countryside, and was very interesting as we stopped every so often to pick up villagers with huge bags of rice, or to ship huge long planks of timber that were loaded on the roof! We, of course, as foreignors, created a big stir at the villages that we stopped at as everyone would come out to look at us! The following day we actually visited the Jars. We visited 3 sites of Jars, one of the sites actually had about 300 Jars on it and the others had plenty too. No one really knows that much about them - what they were for or how old they are, but they think they were used for burial purposes - burying people's remains either inside the jars or beneath them. Experts speculate that they originate from an ancient nomadic people - these large jars have been found in Indonesia and Malaysia too. To get to one of the sites we had to walk about 30 minutes through farmers' rice paddies on teeny, raised paths that separated them. It was fun. As you can see from the photos it was quite a wet day, and our shoes became absolutely caked in bright red, clay-like mud! That bit was pretty disgusting, but we really enjoyed seeing the Jars scattered across the Laos landscape... It was pretty cool. * Mush

Kuang Si Falls, Luang Prabang, Laos

So we finally made it out to the waterfalls that we had wanted to get to with Earl and Joy. And they were stunning! We started at the bottom - a series of small, but wide waterfalls with large pools that you could swim in - or jump in, like Martin did! We then made our way up to the top and the upper falls were huge- very high and very impressive! The colour of the water was amazing - a cloudy aquamarine colour- almost like glacier water, but there aren't any glaciers around here! So we don't know why it was that colour!

The rest of our time we wandered around town, including exploring the Palace, and climbing the 400 steps up the hill to a gold monument or 'stupa' for great views over town. Luang Prabang used to be the old capital and has a very nice feeling about it. There's a definite French influence here: Laos used to be a French colony in the late 19th century when they were 'rescued' from the Thais. So there's lots of baguettes, french bakeries and somewhat delapidated old french-colonial style buildings. My favourite feature was the night market where all the vendors set up shop on grass mats and try and sell you the same stuff - pillow cases, handmade umbrellas, silk scarves, embroidered bags etc etc. We got to recognise a few of the locals. The Lao people are really lovely, and it's nice to see kids so happy and 'smiley'. * Mush

Touring Luang Prabang on One Speeds, Laos

A great way to get around the town is on bicycles. We rented some fancy, one speed bikes with shopping baskets and high handle bars, for $1US and started our own tour. First stop, the Phoussy market which had a very local flavour. Our stomachs churned a little when we saw the flies around the meat section, so we retreated to the fantastic colours of the fruit and veg section.
Further along our ride, we encountered many people. One highlight was watching kids playing a game in the street where they had to whip a flip flop around 30 feet towards a bundle of elastic bands. Kids can come up with anything as a game, and they were quite good at it.
We stopped at many temples (Wats) as usual, but one of importance was where the ashes of the penultimate king lie. He died in 1959 and was succeeded by his son, but the new king was exiled in 1975, along with the royal family and apparently they all died of natural causes as they were never seen again! Colourful Wat Xieng Thong was a highlight with its purple chapels covered in mosaic. Also, a fantastic gold building that turned out to be only a garage for the fancy chariot that carried the urn of the penultimate king to the burial site.
Across an old railway bridge, where the motorcycle and bike traffic went single file in each direction, is where I snapped this shot. It was great contrast from the monks' orange robes against the bright green of the moss in the river.
The day finished with an impromptu viewing of some takraw games which were quite enjoyable. The local kids were flying around kicking the wicker ball at some impressive speeds.
After we dropped off the bikes, we visited the old palace and watched a version of Laos ballet. The costumes were fantastic and quite colourful, but I found the actual play itself a little slow, although the kids doing the dance of the monkeys at the end was fun to watch! And what day would be complete without a trip to the night market for some cheap purchases! *Stub

A Day Out with Earl and Joy, Laos

Joy and Earl are some friends that we'd met in Northern China. As planned, they met us as we arrived in Luang Prabang on the slow boat. Of course, Joy had 5 BeerLao waiting for us at the bar. They had waited to meet up with us, since we hadn't seen them in a few months. This was really very nice of them as they were on a tight schedule, and Earl gets itchy feet and is never one to sit around. Earl and Joy are a retired Canadian couple and they are a lot of fun to be around as they make us laugh all the time.

We spent the following day with them and hired a tuk tuk to take us to some outlying attractions. We went to Pak Ou Temple, which contained hundreds of little Buddha statues in a cave on the Mekong. After another BeerLao (excellent beer if you get to try it) on the water, we were taken to a waterfall in the other direction. On the drive, we were waving out the back of the tuk tuk at all the smiling Laos faces we saw - such happy people! The driver, however, tried to con us and took us to a different waterfall (it was closer) than the one we had requested. Earl was not very happy especially as the one we ended up at only had a trickle of water in it!! I suppose in the rainy season it would be really impressive and pretty with lots of cascades, but it was exceptionally disappointing but comical. We had our laughs and overall it was a nice day. And of course, we didn't pay the guy the full amount either (Earl is a hard bargainer)! * Mush

Second Day on the Mekong River, Laos

The second day on the boat was slighty better. Again they crammed us in. The boat listed to one side, but it didn't seem to worry the driver! It was probably normal. Having commandered a couple of plastic patio chairs we sat at the back of the passenger area this time - way more comfortable than the day before. It was quite sociable back there and we chatted with people we had met the day before at the festival. The time passed and we admired the beauty of the river. The Mekong is 3050 miles long (4880km) originating in Tibet, flowing through south western China making up the border between Laos and Burma and Thailand, flowing through Laos and Cambodia right into the South China Sea. The scenery as we flowed through Laos was beautiful in places - hills and ridges of dense jungle followed by the sad stubble left behind from the occasional logging. It was interesting to watch life on the river as we chugged past - the bamboo villages up on stilts, kids playing and swimming in the river, people fishing, washing clothes or tending their crops on the sand dunes that were the river banks. It seemed very laidback and peaceful. * Mush

Oh, The Sounds of Laos!!

Our stay in Pak Beng was overall an interesting and noisy one! There were a variety of sounds and noises that were just way over the top. By the end we just had to laugh - it was so ridiculous when we thought about it. First was a "Ge Ko" noise from the large geckos in our building. It was followed with the festival and its super loud repetitive songs. Then there was the echoing voice of the host on the microphone: when he laughed it was a loud cackle that went on forever. It was pretty funny. The party went on till 3am and we could still hear it (including the cackle) from our 'hole'. At 2am some kids decided they were going to stand just below our window and clash cymbals and drums for about 7-8 minutes, we think, just for the hell of it. Once they had gone away we thought we could finally settle for some sleep, but at 2:30 someone came and banged on our door shouting something. Realising he had the wrong room he promptly went downstairs and shouted up to his friend who was in the next room. He then came back up and banged on our door again. When we shouted at him he quietly replied "Solly". He must've been a local.

We awoke bright and early (well, not so bright!) bang on 7am to the sounds of a belt sander and drill squealing away. Next it was a revving motorbike just outside our window. And to top it off, the cockerels(roosters), of course, chimed in! Now you can see why we had to laugh! Welcome to Laos! * Mush

Dancing with the Locals, Pak Beng, Laos

After our first day of 8 hours we overnighted in a town called Pak Beng and had the pleasure of staying in our grottiest guesthouse yet... I was just too exhausted and fed up to walk further up the hill to find anything better... It had paint-chipped wooden boards for walls, suspect bedding (thankfully we have our own), a murky pink mosquito net, and a variety of mismatched pieces of torn, dirty lino (linoleum) on the floor. Nice! It was, however, just going to be for one night...and we survived....just!

Later that night we went to a festival that blared out the loudest music and had an impressive echo over the microphone. The lights would dim whenever the guy talked on the mic, so the power was a little suspect. We had a lot of fun dancing with the locals though. They were lovely, friendly people. As you can see Martin's lady thought he did a great job of dancing a traditional Lao circle dance with her (all thumbs up from her).

I ended up needing the loo at one point and was directed towards the 'Ladies' - some bushes next to some local women peeing ... So they kindly stood 'on guard' for me, and then they invited me back to their table offering me fruit to munch on. I was obviously drawing some attention being at their table as many people came over, and even though I couldn't understand the language, I'm pretty sure they came to ask my new friends where they had found me. It seemed they were quite amused to hear where! * Mush

The Slowboat Down The Mekong, Laos

Destination: People's Democratic Republic of Laos. For those of you whose geography is as bad as my sister's, no, we are not discovering a new country! Laos is east of Thailand with Vietnam to the west, China and Burma to the north and Cambodia to the south. A former French colony it gained independence in 1949.

Well, from Pai, it was a super-long tiring day by minibus ride to get to Chiang Khong - the jump off point to Huay Xai in Laos. Unfortunately, Martin was ill with tummy trouble so we decided to delay going across the border. When we did finally cross we had to pay a 2-day fine for over-staying our Thailand visa - no big deal though as it was the equivalent of $10 US. A short 10 minute boat trip across and we were there. After getting our visas checked and passports stamped, we haggled for a songthaew -truck-taxi-thing to get us to a different boat 'dock' - a mud bank - 2 miles up river. Our plan was to take the two-day 'slow boat' south along the Mekong River to Luang Prabang- the old capital of Laos. We had been recommended against taking the fast speed boat which although would take 6 hours instead of 16, was apparently mind numbingly loud. When they passed us on the river - they certainly were!

Our delightful boat was very cramped and really very uncomfortable with literally only 50 poorly-spaced teeny wooden benches, 2 people jammed in per bench, with a small area at the back for sitting/standing. Of course there were way too many people for the boat including locals sitting on huge bags of rice at the back next to the loud engine. About 120-150 people all packed in like sardines... for 2 days, 8 hours a day!! Fun! The first day we tried to squeeze our bums onto the wooden benches with our knees comfortably jammed into the bench in front. We ended up sitting on the guard rail hanging out of the side (there were no windows) to be more comfortable. Inspite of the conditions we still enjoyed watching the world of the Mekong go by. * Mush

Scootering Thai Style, Misty View Huts, Pai

After our 3 day trek we had one more night in Chiang Mai (squeezing in another Mike's burger, of course!) before heading up to Pai. We'd been to Pai before in December, but wanted to spend some time with Faye, Lorna, and Sarah in this cool laid-back town. Not much to do apart from explore the countryside by motorbike, chugging through the villages, feeding elephants, up to waterfalls, and bathing in the hotsprings. After a couple of days Faye and Lorna headed off back to Bangkok to continue their travels while Martin and I debated whether to go and visit another town, or just stay on in Pai. Well, we call it the 'Pai effect'...we ended up staying... it's just too chilled-out and relaxing to leave!! Our bamboo hut where we're staying is very basic, but has a nice view down into town and the river and it's great to sit around, chill-out, write postcards, have a thai massage, or make macrame jewelry (Sarah taught me on the train up). The food at our place is great and we are getting our fair share of what's called 'Western food' here: the onion soup and chicken baguettes are excellent! We were also here for Chinese New Year and we went up to the local Chinese village to watch them dance and do their ritual-thing. The tribesmen played funny long gourd-like pipes which the locals danced to - they apparently weren't bored of dancing the same dance over and over again! Sadly, we will have to leave Thailand by Thursday 2nd Feb, as our visas run out. It's exciting, though, as we will be taking on a new country - Laos. Bring it on! *Mush

Bamboo Rafting, Thailand

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On our last day we went white-water bamboo rafting for a couple of hours which was fun apart from the two obnoxious Canadian redneck lads in our group. There were five of us plus the guide on the long bamboo raft each punting with our own pole. The Canadians acted up and wouldn't listen to our guide and as a result we crashed into a rock in whitewater and fell down slamming our knees into the bamboo. As you can picture, I was not happy and I gave them a piece of my mind, quickly followed by Sarah. They soon got the idea, though, when one of them took a good tumble into the water shocking him into paying attention! Ha! After that they behaved, and the 2 hours of rafting turned out to be fun. Sarah made me laugh with her poling technique - or lack of it! Overall, the whole trek was a really excellent trip. *Mush

Wash Time! Thailand

Our second day consisted of only two hours of more leisurely walking through the forest followed by lunch and a long elephant trek of about an hour and a half. I love the elephants, and I felt very privileged helping a Mahout (the elephant owner) wash one of his elephants in the river. What an experience to be on the body of such a strong and magnificent creature! It was clear that the elephant was absolutely loving the rush of the cool river around him as he immersed himself - thankfully not completely, as I was on top! (He didn't seem to mind the weight!). Getting down off the elephant after its wash was a bit of a stuggle and the others decided to stand and laugh at me and take photos and video coverage, rather than help me! Thanks guys! The elephant ride itself was brilliant. We traversed the river many, many times to get to the next village. We were lucky enough to have an adorable baby elephant along with us following her parents; she would occasionally take her own route trying to spend as little time in the water as possible - it was quite deep for her at times and the water would come up and over her eyes. How cute! Our elephant, called Ma Boossa, and Sarah's, were stubborn and lazy and we ended up being overtaken by the rest of the troup bringing up the rear ..but we didn't mind.. it meant we had longer on the elephant - which was fine by us!! *Mush

Trekking in the Jungle, Northern Thailand

It was great to finally meet cousin Faye and we wanted to spend some time showing her and Lorna a bit of Thailand so we all did a trek together. It was excellent. The first trek that Martin and I had done back in early December was very good, but this one was much better. On our first day we started walking through a National Park which felt like we were trekking deep in the jungle. Like our first one, it was really steep with great views of the surrounding jungle from the ridges that we climbed. The villages we stayed in were smaller and less developed this time and seemed more authentic somehow. We explored the villages and observed the locals from afar or closer when they didn't mind. Martin even had a game of takraw - a game like volleyball but using a rattan ball and head and feet only to get the ball over the high net. * Mush

Back in Chiang Mai, Thailand

We left Koh Lanta on the 16th-ish of January and we funnelled up through Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the north. We took the sleeper train with two friends: Tony was flying back to England from Bangkok, and Sarah was heading north with us. We were going to meet Faye a supposed cousin of Martin's, - his Dad's step-sister's niece ...or in other words Martin's step-aunt's niece ...or his step-grandmother's grandaughter ....Hmm! Yes, well, we came to the quick conclusion that they were not related, but still family!! So we had a quick few days in Chiang Mai where we managed to get to the big temple, Doi Suthep, on the hill. We were delayed temporarily while we waited for about 10 Thai men to change our flat tyre on our motorbike at an army check point. On our return back into town we were stopped by police only to find out that the Queen and her entourage were going to be passing. So we waited in the freezing cold (the sun had gone down by this point) for about an hour wearing our helmets to keep us warm (double click the photos for the pic). We must have looked very classy to the Queen - a bunch of foreignors waving to her with their bike helmets on! When we finally got back we squeezed in some shop-shop-shopping at the night market, all before heading on a trek with cousin Faye, her friend Lorna and our friend Sarah. *Mush

Taxi, Koh Lanta-style, Thailand

So back it was to Koh Lanta with Kevin and Kristen, to see other friends from China, Paul and Tracy, who we had recommended the island to. We caught the ferry over from Phi Phi and we hired a motorbike taxi to get us down the island. It was quite comical - all four of us jammed into its' little sidecar with 4 huge packpacks and other miscellaneous bags! It was fun though, and we got some amused looks for the 5 miles all the way to 'Sanctuary'!

So, you guessed it... it was more beach time and chilling out and catching up with friends. More scootering... more prawns... more Moonshine bar cocktails and of course, more 'dancing like nobody's watching' at Earth bar... Great times and great memories. * Mush

Our Hut, Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

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It was off to Koh Phi Phi to meet Kevin - another friend we made in China, and his girlfriend Kristen. The island was much busier this time compared to September where we stayed at the same little beach, this time in the exact same hut Martin had had four years ago! It didn't look very different apparently, but the inside was much more pleasant and cosy.

We had a relaxing three days on Phi Phi although the snorkel trip to Maya Bay -the famous beach from the film "The Beach" -was not the greatest on the planet. There had been millions of trips on offer and the four of us deliberated long and hard, and eventually decided on THE boat. Next morning, the sight that beheld us as it chugged and spluttered up to the dock was certainly not the pristine boat depicted in the photos!! Infact, it was quite dubious whether this vessel was even sea-worthy!!! Hmm! Anyway, it appreared to be, and we made it around the islands. Snorkelling amongst the many loud speed boats and resulting choppy water was not fun. On the other hand, in the double kayak, we covered good ground (or rather, ...water) quickly and it was a great way to get around the bays. After the hard work of being in the water we were starving, and as on previous tours, we eagerly awaited the usual yummy delicious whatever-thai curry for lunch... Alas, it was not to be... we were issued with soggy sandwiches and Kristen had the worst one - her veggie baguette amounting to 3 teeny slices of tomato with a handful of raw onions!! With that, we were all agreed: it was going to be Pizza as soon as we got back on land! Thankfully, Cosmic Pizza did not let us down - the blue cheese on them was FANTASTIC! (...have we told you we miss cheese?) * Mush