Been there, Don Det

3/10/12:

Another splendid, lazy day in the middle of the Mekong. I was just telling my better half how much I'm enjoying these islands. Well if you don't count the 'return of the creature' on the first night or last night when we were nearly eaten by massive mutated roaches ... Ok there's also the routine scam artists to forget and the 'toll' we had to pay just go underneath a crappy bridge. But beside all that, this place is pretty nice.

Spent the morning doing some travel planning and hanging out. Of course we were completely saturated in sweat by 11 AM. Oh I forgot to mention that we changed rooms first thing this Am. Luckily the first place we stayed at had a room available for 150,000 kip so we jumped on it. The owner of the roach zoo we stayed at last night wasn't too happy to give us our money back but finally relented after we kept pressing him. His apparent astonishment regarding the mutant roaches leads me to believe it ain't a big deal for them. Actually that shouldn't be surprising since we've seen deep dried roach served in numerous street stalls. Hold on while I vomit.

Ok so we got a room at pan's (first place we stayed at) and hung out for a bit. Around 2:30 we decided to rent bikes again and go check out Don Det which is connected to our island by the bridge we had to pay to go under. After yesterday's issues with the bikes we went to another place that seemed to have better looking ones. 10,000 kip per bike and we were off. We were hesitant about the bridge in case toll-booth-Willy tried to extort us again so we peddled like we owned the island. We passed the toll booth without so much as a 'Sa-ba-dee' (hello in Lao). Success!!!!

Peddling around Don Det it was quickly apparent that it was the 'backpacker' island. I guess you could say Don Khon (our island) is the laid back, more Lao-like island while Don Det has been taken over by the backpacker scene. It wasn't bad, just different. Heaps more people and stores and tour agencies. We had some ice-cream (a luxury not seen on Don Khon) and took a dip in the river at a decent beach / ferry port.

Like I said above, lazy day. Nothing spectacular on our last day in Laos. Did I mention that part? We bought our bus ticket south into Cambodia tomorrow. Shouldn't be any trouble at all. Visa will probably cost us around $22 per person depending on how much 'tax' they charge us. Then we'll be on our way to Kratie for a day'ish before continuing on to Siem Reap.

Most importantly, a couple big birthdays this week:

- Grandpa
- Jane
- Carolyn's mom

Happy birthday!!!! We love and miss you all!!!!

Pics:
1) Mekong beach
2) random monkey we saw today
3) The Blues
4) Mrs Blue on the bridge just before sunset

Dolphins

Three days and hopefully a couple pounds lighter and I'm finally able to keep some food down, thank goodness!

Met two girls yesterday who stayed at the same guesthouse and ended up spending our sightseeing day with them. Rented some bikes and headed out to see some dolphins. There is a very rare breed of freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins that hang out between the Laos/Cambodia boarder. I did a little research and read that they are mostly seen in the earlier morning or late afternoon. South East Asia's largest waterfall (by volume) is also on this island and we heard you could swim near it.

We hopped on the bikes and headed out only to turn around because the breaks on Michael's didn't work, ok round two, nope the chain on our friends bike breaks so we walk it back and get another bike. Ok now we're on our way but we are white so therefore we will pay a "bridge toll" even though we are only going under the bridge! We are not happy and our new friends seem to have all the same complaints we do about Laos and these are some well traveled woman so I don't feel so bad. Just past the toll the chain comes off our friends bike again, by the end of the day she's her own bike mechanic as it happens 9 times. We ride through the midday sun, sweat dripping from our entire bodies passing a herd of poor water buffalo that are in a field. Seriously it's an island don't you have a place near the water you can keep these guys? We arrive at the waterfall and are told we have to pay to park our bikes! Agh what fun, we walk through a makeshift shopping area where everyone is yelling at us the buy a drink and finally arrive at this huge waterfall. It looks move like an amusement park ride than a waterfall,. It's short and wide and the water is rushing down creating huge rapids. We walk a little further and find an area where we can get to the water which is much needed at this point. From there we ride to the end of the island to try and see some dolphins. For the first time in Laos we get a deal instead of getting ripped off! The signs say you can only have 3 people per boat including the driver but since we were 4 they let us go together in a slightly larger boat so we all got to split the cost. We saw about 5 of them and one even breeched pretty close to the boat. After a quick beer we head back and realize we took the long way to get there, oops.

Our friends had spring rolls the night before that they think we should try so we stop on our way back and decided we'll order dinner while we're at it. Good thing we did because it takes over an hour and half the food is wrong. We try to talk to the waitress about the inconstancy between what we ordered and what we got but its not working so we pay and go to another place for a snack.

We switched guest houses today because we only booked the first place for one night and they only had expensive rooms left and since there's no ATMs on the island we have limited cash. I noticed some animal droppings on the floor when we were there in the morning but figured its just the way things are. We didn't return to our room until after 2000 tonight and when I turned on the lights I saw a rather large cockroach scurrying under the gap in the wall and floor, oh great! We got settled and opened the bathroom door to find two bird size cockroaches ! This was going to be a long night. Michael is just as terrified of cockroaches as I am and he's also a bit of a baby about it. After some screaming from both the roaches and me he uses the sprayer to get them in a place where he can kill them. Michael is emotional distraught over the horrific episode and pouts for a while before going to sleep. He's fuming at me for my not killing them myself. We sleep with the lights on and when I got into the bathroom at 0230 there's another large friend. I decide not to wake Michael since he's already in a mood and I kill it myself. Michael wakes up during the killing and suddenly I've been redeemed. No more cold shoulder. It ended up being a long sleepless night. Michael actually had cockroaches nightmares. We're going to see about staying somewhere else tonight.

Michael in the corner pouting/ preparing his next move
Cambodia from the boat to see the dolphins
Most voluminous waterfall

The creature returns

3/8/12:

After an alarm mishap, we managed to make it down to Don khon. By alarm mishap, I mean we were supposed to be at the ticket place for our bus south at 7:30 but didn't wake up until 7:31. The stars must have been aligned in our favor cause we managed to pack up our crap, brush our teeth, check out and run the 500 meters to our appointed place ... All by about 7:39. Impressive I know :)

Anyway, the bus is supposed to leave by 8:00 but the ticket agent (who also has a restaurant) wants us there at 7:30. So we're there 9 minutes late, no worries. Turns out we could have slept another hour cause the bus didn't actually pick us up until 9:30. A 2 hour journey later we arrived in a tiny riverside town. The bus driver has no clue what to do with us and after a couple phone calls he realizes we're supposed to be on a ferry to Don Khon.

Quick tip: always ensure you accentuate the correct syllable to ensure you're taken to the correct destination. We're currently in the 4000 islands of southern Laos. The 3 main islands here are Don Khong, Don Det and Don Khon. Yea you read that right. So I make sure to really hang on the 'n' in Don Khon.

We finally make it to the ferry which is just a crappy old skinny boat and are taken to Don Det first then Don Khon. There must be atleast 10,000 islands all around us. I can't believe the boats remember which way to go. Our island is fairly large but not as inhabited as Don Det. Apparently it wasn't always like this. Not too long ago neither island had 24 hour electricity. Now it isn't a problem and judging from the river, Don Det seems to have much more in the way of buildings than our island. Suits us just fine. The only problem here so far is the heat. Deadly hot. Sweat is pouring off of us in streams.

We hung out around our hotel for a bit and walked around. There's a bridge connecting Don Khon to Don Det but it's a 20,000 kip fee to cross. As we tried to walk under it a local guy stopped us and demanded 20,000 kip. We both laughed at him and asked if he was joking. We went back and forth for a few minutes and finally just walked away. The Lao police have yet to come find us.

There are a couple water falls around here and some super rare Irrawaddy dolphins in the mekong nearby. So we're going to rent bikes tomorrow and explore the island and maybe see some dolphins.

We had dinner tonight with some new friends staying at our hotel. Super nice ladies from the US and Canada. They're much more travelled than we are so we chatted them up for as much info as we could get out of them. Some of their stories make us want to lock our valuables and money in a safe somewhere.

So after dinner we walk back to our room, open the door and turn on the lights. Then we notice Carolyn's sunglasses on the floor along with a cookie package nearby. On close examination we see a hole in the package and some teeth marks. Teeth marks which could only have come from .... The creature. So we've just spent the last 30 minutes searching for how it could have gotten into our room. Nothing. We can't find a hole large enough for a mosquito much less a flesh eating monster.

So we plan to sleep with our headlamps tonight just incase something decides to attack us.

Pics:
1) ferry to Don Khon.
2) ferry to Don Khon.
3) evidence of the creature.
4) crime scene.
5) Carolyn preparing to take the first creature watch.

Lazy

3/8/12:

This is the view from the front porch of our bungalow on Don Khon. You can just make out the Mekong river past my feet.

Bus stop?

3/8/12:

A typical bus ride for us so far (and just about everyone else we've spoke to) involves this:

- get picked up by a mini bus.
- pick up more people until the bus is completely full.
- drive to a 'bus station' and get forced into another similar bus.
- drive to a other tour agency and deflect repeated attempts at getting you to purchase follow on travel any number of other annoying scams.
- stop at friend of drivers restaurant where sammiches suddenly are impregnated with gold and platinum cause the price for a crappy cheese sammich has inexplicably quadrupled in price.
- get dropped off either in a bus station which is atleast 50 km away from where they said they would drop you off or at another tour agency.

Today we were dropped off at a tour agency and told to go find the ferry which was somewhere down the road. After a couple phone calls the bus driver was nice enough to physically point the way to the ferry and walked down there. What a crazy place this is.

The pic is a typical sight of a tour agency with us trying to figure out where on earth we are and how we're going to get to where we need to go. The guy to the immediate left of Carolyn is on the phone trying to figure our what to do with us. He was actually a really nice guy ... Most drivers stop, push you out and drive away laughing.

Something is really missing

You might have read Michael's post about not having an undercarriage cleaner back in Luang Prabang but that is nothing compared to the surprise I got yesterday. We went on the tour and checked into a new room at the guesthouse when we returned because it was cheaper. We were told only cold water but we didn't care about that. I had been feeling crappy all day long and ended up having the worst night of our trip thus far and this is what I had to work with:

$37 cup of coffee

The alarm goes off this morning and we hear something funny, I wipe the sleep from my eyes and think no this can't be but it is...rain! Not just a drizzle either, it hasn't rain for us in over 30 days. I was suddenly looking forward to today's tour. Michael failed to mention that our adventure yesterday was in blazing heat and we each sweat a few gallons of water.

The reason we didn't book a tour in the first place was because they throw in all this extra stuff that we don't want to see. Today's didn't let us down. Drive to a shack see some tea leaves, buy tea from the "Tea Master", drive to next shack see coffee trees, buy coffee, see waterfall which is 85% covered in thick fog, drive to waterfall number 2 which has a bit of a climb down to the base. Since its a tad wet and Michael is the clumsiest guy around he slips, scrapes his hand, gets mud all over his white bathing suit. *Michael takes a fall about once in every city we've been to, most of the time it's just his pride that is hurt but he's actually in pain and there's some blood. Darn why am I never ready with camera when these funny incidents happen. In Chiang Mai all the side walks are sloped and painted red and white so you can't miss them, or can you? Michael fell numerous times there. In Vang Vieng he fell as we were leaving a cafe one morning and it was so funny the locals across the street were laughing hard and loud. Michael takes a dip in the waterfall to clean up and we move on to a village where they supposedly makes their own coffins and then stores them until they pass. We didn't see any coffins or coffins in the making but we saw a ton of pigs, piglets and kids asking for pens. After the village Michael realized that a whole bottle of water leaked in his dry bag. It must have busted open on the fall, our guide book got a good washing! Long drive to waterfall number 3 and lunch, then off to one last village before heading into town.

It was a nice day and we did get to meet some people but I think yesterday was more of an authentic day. Either way we never did get to the coffee tour, must be some secret code we don't know about. Michael got 3 cups today so I think he'll be just fine.

Michael and his coffee plant
Waterfall number 2
Michael bloodshed (his palm is quite swollen and bruised now)

My $20 cup of coffee

3/6/12:

We arrived in pakse around 0700 this AM. The bus ride wasn't the best but certainly not the worst either. I can probably count on one hand how many times this has happened though: I slept like a champ while Carolyn tossed and turned all night.

Anyway, the bus dropped us off about 15 minutes outside of town which meant we had to take a tuk-tuk or song-tew from there. This actually happens at just about every single bus station in these countries. The tuk-tuk mafia has paid the bus companies to deposit their passengers far enough away to require a tuk-tuk. Ahhh the warm embrace of capitalism! While getting into our song-tew we noticed the parking had more trash than normal and a good portion of it wasn't all that bad. In fact we saw some couches and other luxuries you don't generally see in parking lots everyday. Further down we saw the underlying issue: Seems a huge fire had broken out the night before and destroyed a whole row of buildings. Sad sight to see for sure.

In the city we walked to a couple places and settled on a decent hotel called the Thanong Luang. Got an A/C room with hot water for 110000 kip / night. Not too terrible but maybe we can do better tomorrow. Oh I forgot to mention that this place doesn't have wifi :(. In fact non of the hotels we went to had it. Well not for free anyway.

Earlier we (and by we I mean me, Carolyn doesn't even drink coffee) decided the only reason we were coming here (Pakse) is to take a coffee tour. Apparently just about all Lao coffee is grown near here on the Bolevan Plateau. The organized tours seemed a little pricey and long so after some quick research we figured we could do it ourselves. HA!!!

We haggled with a few song-tew's before finding one who said 30,000 kip to the Southern bus terminal (where local buses leave for Paksong which is where the coffee is). As we get in the driver asks us where we're going an after hearing our answer I guess he decides we don't need to go to the southern bus terminal (which is 8 km away). Instead he takes us about 3km down the road and tells us the bus is there and collects the 30,000 kip. Of course we now find ourselves in a giant parking lot full of messy shops and song-tew's full of people. Seriously there are probably 98 vehicles and hundreds of people here. It's a mad house. We walk around and ask a few people but don't get much of a reply. Finally we find a driver and a woman who both laugh and tell us no one is going to Paksong from there. Great. However they are going to the southern bus terminal and for 20000 kip we can tag along. Sold.

We pull into another large parking area with millions of people, thousands of shops and hundreds of song-tew's. After some haggling we find one going to Paksong for 40000 kip. Best part is they have a rooster in the back!!! Woohoo! We're also the only Gringos in the vehicle as everyone else looks to have done some shopping and is heading home along the way to Paksong.

The drive is nothing special except the random watermelon stand where there are atleast several hundred thousand watermelons. Oh and we did see an awful lot of cows as well.

We arrive in Paksong and honestly have no clue where we're going. The song-tew driver lets is off at a market and then we have to figure the rest on our own. Making our way through town it's clear they don't get many gringos here. Lots of staring, women running and mothers screaming for their children to beware of the white devils. Hehehe, it wasn't that bad but there were a lot of stares. Anyway we find the coffee place which as luck would have it is the only place in town with a sign that says 'Coffee.' I'm oozing anticipation at this point. Fresh coffee, wandering through the fields of that special bean, picking a few, smelling the beans, licking the beans. I feel like I'm about to enter Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. I skip into the shop and shriek how excited I am. Then happily ask to take the coffee tour. Dark clouds appear out of no where, Voldemort peaks his head out of the closet and a huge pig snorts and farts nearby. The lady then lays the hammer down: 'no tour. You have to book it in Pakse.' Pakse, the city we just managed to leave. Deflation. Carolyn looks at me, I look at Carolyn. The only thing left to do is have a fabulous cup of coffee. So that's what I did. I had a great cup of coffee. No scratch that. I had a great shot of coffee. The lady clearly thought I was from Greece or Turkey or something cause she brought me a shotglass instead of a cup. Oh well. So we made our way back to Pakse, riding with some locals who were cutting up some mushrooms and a local guy who was so drunk he fell over in the song-tew (which almost made the trip worth it). So after all was said and done, my 3 ounce shot of coffee cost is $20. But we made some memories to last a lifetime :)

Tomorrow we're going to take a real tour and maybe see some actual coffee being made!!!!!

Pics:
1) the $20 coffee.
2) The Blues.

Dare to dream

3/6/12:

We had a few goals in mind for this trip before we came and have come up with a couple others during our time on the Gringo Trail. Recently I realized that I've had a certain goal in mind for a while now. Hmmmm, goal is too soft a word for this. Dream is a much better description. Yes, I've had a dream for a while now just waiting to be realized.

What is this dream you ask? Well I just don't think you can ever get the full experience of riding in a bus in SE Asia until you ride in one that has locals AND chickens. So my wonderful wife found a truck/bus with a Rooster in it!!!!! Woohoo! Another check in the box on my life list :)

Oh and there were a couple random cows roaming around the 'bus station.' Just an added little bonus!

The long way down

3/5/12:

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if someone put beds on a bus? Really? That's a strange thing to think about. But you're actually in luck cause I'm laying in one right now!!!! But first lets talk about how we got to this point.

We spent this morning saying goodbye to our amazing Scottish friends Rebecca and Sanna and having out last 'real' meal for about 24 hours. I have to say i'll miss Vang Vieng. Probably not for the reasons most people do though - drinking for 8 days straight, tubing, watching 96 year old men grind on a dance floor half naked, you know the usual. I think I'll miss the lazy chilled out attitude, the scenery and the 'Friends' bars.

We were picked up at our hotel around 1300 and taken to the bus terminal which is across a dirt airstrip apparently used during the Vietnam war. Our journey is supposed to go something like this: 1330 VIP bus to Vientiane then change buses and take a sleeper bus further south to Pakse, arriving around 0700 tomorrow AM. Well our first bus didn't actually leave until closer to 1500 and as shocking as this may sound, they overbooked so another bus magically appeared. The drive was ok except for the curved roads which made the ol' stomach angry. About 1.5 hours from Vientiane we stopped for a break and then someone said our bus was broken. Some confusion all around a people try to make sense of the situation ... Probably 4 different languages all being tossed around wildly, some very exasperated travelers and one particularly crazy Frech'ish lady all added to the situation. Finally another smaller bus showed up and they filled it up with as many people going further south as possible. Another 1.5 hours later we arrive at a crappy looking bus station and are quickly corralled onto our next bus which of course is a SLEEPER BUS!!!!! The bus is a very large double decker sized vehicle with bunk beds on either side of the center aisle instead of seats. Oh and apparently it's 2 to a bed. Luckily I've already made the acquaintance of my bunk mate :).

The excitement soon wears off as we discover a disgusting backpacker has 'claimed' our bed. It's all very confusing and the bus worker person doesn't seem to want to help much. I think he has a horrific case of gastro cause he's made about 17 trips to te toilet in the last 35 minutes. Anyhow, the filthy turd just say that there are plenty of beds available so we can just go to one of those. He is correct about this however he must not be the seasoned SE Asia travelers we are cause we know without a doubt this bus will not be empty for long. He refuses to be reasoned with so we settle into a bottom bunk rather than argue. The bus leaves only to pull into another bus station where ... Wait for it, wait for it ... Yeppers!!! We pick up about 56 more people including 13 children. Whoopie!!! After a whole lot of complaining and talking and Carolyn coming within 2 seconds of revealing her alter ego (Mrs Long Island), we manage to get the filthy backpacker turd out of his beer/drug/parasite/disease induced coma and into his own bed. But not before he sullied the pillows and sheet with his funk and took the blankets.

So here we are on the top bunk getting ready for some sleepy time. The lights are all off, the A/C is on, 23 Laotians are playing angry birds with the volume set on 'deafening' and the backpacker sleeping in the bunk next to us emanating a stench so foul we initially thought a water buffalo sh*t on the bus.

Sweet dreams from Laos!

Pics:
1) Carolyn in our first bed
2) The Vang Vieng bus station
3) Looking forward in our sleeper bus

We survived Vang Veing

3/3
Well we checked the box, we went tubing and lived to tell about it. The scene is crazy and even though I'd read about it and I've been tubing before this was something completely different. It might have started as a tubing event but these days it's clearly a drinking event. You can rent a tube in town and then take a tuk-tuk to the beginning, they say it takes about 3 hours but I doubt 80% of tubers actually make it to the end. Most people just take a tuk-tuk minus the tube and bar hop. There are places to cross the river on small foot bridges or you can swim although it's not recommended. During wet season it's moving fast and people drown, during dry season it's shallow and people get torn apart from the rocks.

We arrive, get a bracket and a free shot of local Tiger whiskey. It's 1500 which is late for tubing. There are about 100 people dancing with buckets of liquor or beers in hand on a platform over the river, everyone has designs and sayings drawn on their body in permanent marker. The most common theme is something about hating (add explicit language) Matt Bennett. It's immediately apparent that there are some westerns working at this place when they grab a microphone and start screaming something and then gathering buckets of water and throwing them on other party goers. Drunken shoeless dancing ensues and we move on to bar number two which is about a 30 second ride down the river. Repeat the same scenario as above over and over again adding more and more alcohol and possibly drugs and you have tubing in Vang Vieng!

We made it to three bars had about 3 drinks a piece. Michael did the zip line, waterside and an awesome water blob. The water blob was at the last bar, it was almost dark and some local kids were playing on it. They would jump on it and then slide to the end so that when Michael jumped they'd be throw in the air and then land in the water, they loved it. Our friends misplaced a pair of flips flops and a shirt along the way but otherwise we left unscathed. At around 1900 we got a tuk-tuk back to the tubing place after a down right battle with the driver. This happens all the time but we agreed on a price and right before we leave another driver comes over and doubles it, we stood our ground and finally got back. Stopped for dinner, took a quick shower and headed to the after party. Same people, same music, same promoters and a whole lotta dancing and a distinct smell of urine and vomit. Surrounding the dance floor are places to sit on the floor. There was a 71 year old man at the river that night and he was even at the bar! We had a drink and headed to bed around midnight but our friends didn't get home until 0500 and then they went back again the next day. It's seriously groundhogs day, they said they played the same exact music on day two.

We're glad we checked the box but we do wish we had gotten there a little earlier and actually tubed. We finally asked someone why everyone hated Matt Bennett and who he was. He's a journalist who recently wrote an article about tubing here and it outrages the drunks. I read it, everything he said was true and a lot of people he references and in the pictures we saw. Here's the link: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/vang-vieng-backpacker-heaven-or-tourist-hell-994621

I know I'm too old to be here when all I could think of when we foot the river was how many brain cell were lost here and how many people get parasites or STDs? On a good note in our time here with sights of 100's of half naked drunk 20 year olds we didn't see one fight not even any yelling. There's no machismo or jealously, everyone is just here to have a good time.

Rebecca and I
Michael blinded by the flash at the after party
Clearly a novice with only a few bracelets

There be caves out there

3/2/12:

Ever wonder what it's like to explore a giant cave in Laos? Me too!!!!! So Carolyn and I rented mountain bikes and set off to find an adventure in the mountains surrounding vang Vieng.

First off though we found a book store that had a 'better' guide book than our current haggard antique. We traded our current guide book and one of Carolyn's in and got the new one for 60000 kip (about $7.50). The new book covers Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam as well as parts of Thailand and China. Sounds great right? Well the first indication that this guidebook is inadequate should have been the fact that it covers 5 countries but is thinner than our Laos book. Ohwell. Luckily there is no shortage of wifi sites over here. Seriously on that note ... EVERYWHERE has free wifi. So we're in friggin Laos paying $10/night for our room and we get free wifi. But in the US you're lucky if you only have to pay $20 just to use the wifi. Crazy.

At breakfast we tried to nail down some travel plans but decided to wait until our friends (Rebecca and Sanna) got in so we can ask them about Cambodia and Vietnam. We're also thinking about cutting our SE Asia trip a little short and maybe going somewhere else. More on that later.

Ok so the adventure part. Well first let's picture what Vang Vieng (VV) looks like (besides and the couch bars playing Friends). The air is super hazy due to the villagers burning part of the forest in preparation for planting something. Sorta gives everything an LA feel, you know enough pollution and filth in the air to make you grow that 3rd arm you've been wanting. Only VV doesn't have a Hollywood sign, super highway or an In-n-out burger. But behind all that haze are magnificent karst mountains covered in vines and prehistoric looking trees. Occasionally you can see a little bit of the limestone underbelly of the mountain peering out at you. Gives a really cool white contrast to all the lush greenery. These karst mountains look almost like giant rounded lumps surrounding VV. So it's not a mountain view like the rockys or Catskills more like a giant dropped a ton of green gun drops all over a flat plain.

With that picture in mind ... We rented our bikes for 30000 kip each ($3.75) and even got a super crappy map!!!! We had to cross the river so we headed for the bridge which turned out to be a bit of a scam as it was an über-modern wooden bridge (dripping with sarcasm) that cost 12000 kip ($1.50) to cross. At those prices they should have a full scale replica of the Brooklyn bridge here!!!!! Ohwell. We found a dirt road on the other side and
made our way through some hill tribe villages (trekking!!!!!!) and grand scenery. The heat was pretty oppressive though so I had to risk tempting the local ladies and removed my shirt. The dirt road was actually more of an a generally straight path with no trees. It had no trees cause there were so many rocks I thought we were riding in a quarry. Needless to say the ride was treacherous, painful and down right exhausting. Carolyn was a super trooper and even though I know she was hating it she bit her lip and powered on like a boss! We made it to the first cave (Tham Khum) and after a short ride came upon a shirtless man hanging out under an awning. He came over and told us we had to pay 10000 kip / person to enter the cave. WTF. Who is this guy? Well clearly he worked for the Laos national park service and was a certified park ranger. So we paid the money and rode on. The cave was a long ride away and after getting there was clearly not worth it. The entrance opened up a bit by then shrink so that I had to get on all 4's to go through. I was getting a little paranoid about blind scorpions and hairy spiders so we decided to press on to the next cave. Further up the road was tham phu kham cave. Again we had to pay the same toll to enter but this one was actually worth it. In front of the cave is a cool little lagoon with rope swings and such. The water was mighty cold so we pressed on to the cave. He entrance was a strenuous climb up the mountain followed by a short scramble. Luckily I brought my headlamp cause it was daaaaaark in there! Of course there was a Buddha image inside cause what cave is complete without a Buddha right? Anyway the cave was amazing ... Huge open cavern with awesome limestone formations inside. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a dip in the chilly lagoon and then made our way back home. Dropped the bikes off, had our celebratory fruit shake (for surviving the bike ride) and an ice cream cone.

Later we met up with our Scottish friends and hammered out some plans for tomorrow then went to dinner at another Friends bar :). Something must be in the air here cause we can sit on these comfy couch things and loose ourselves in the beer Lao / fruit shakes while watching Friends on the TV.

Tomorrow is tubing day. Floating down the Nam Song with a couple drinkys and grand friends ... Woot woot!

Pics:
1) karst mountains.
2) Carolyn and the climb up to a cave.
3) Carolyn and some new friends.
4) karst mountains.

Vang Vieng

Arrived in Vang Vieng after a nauseating mini bus ride. Found a nice guest house with air-con, hot water and a view (although you can't see much because it's so dusty/hazy here) for $10 a night. Then we roamed the streets to check out the town.

This is a backpacker town, plain and simple. River tubing is the thing to do here, you rent a tube and the river takes you down, you stop at bars, rope swings and slides along the way. But young tourists + super cheap beer/ alcohol + readily accessible hard drugs = death. Two Aussies died already this year and 22 people died on the river last year. The streets here are lined with bars that offer small cushioned areas and reruns of Friends or Family Guy. You can order "happy" or "magic" food, marijuana, mushrooms, opium and other drugs are offered on some menus if the food option isn't for you. If you do any sort of research before you arrive you know this but some times an unsuspecting person orders happy pancakes and has no idea what they got themselves into.

So what are the clean cut Blues doing here? Well we figured no time like the present to start in on the drug habit, when in Rome! Just kidding. Participating in an illicit international drug trafficking scene is actually not on my life list, crazy I know. This town only began being ruined in the last five years. There are other things to do besides die. We plan on doing a tour of some local caves (there are many) and we are going to tube down the river just minus the "local" whiskey and drugs.

There is this wonderful thing out there called the Internet, seriously I don't know how people went without it. I had sent a message to Sanna and Rebecca (the wonderful Scottish girls we met in Koh Phangan who rescued us from old age and got us to the Full Moon Party) to see how their trip was going as they had gone to Cambodia and Vietnam after we left them. Well they are going to be in Vang Vieng for three days so we get to link up with them! Fabulous! We are doing the gringo trail so after a month of traveling we have run into some people. We saw the American jerk we met on day 5 of traveling and we've ran into many people from our boat trip. Had a beer with a Spaniard we meet in LP and an American we met at breakfast in Pak Beng while we watched Friends from a cushioned booth. Good times here in Laos!

Motion sickness

3/1/12:

Are you or someone you know suffering from motion sickness? Is your driver currently driving up a mountain on a teeny dirt road at approximately 89 mph???? Or maybe your driver has the good sense to slow down to a more safe 69 mph while driving over a recent landslide? If this sort of experience causes your face to turn a new shade of green and your stomach to begin the agonizing path towards vomitus then the Laotian people have the remedy for you!!!!!! Friggin bear carcass punch!

No sh*t we stopped at a road side area for a pee and food break on our trip to vang Vieng and noticed a bear paw inside a punch jar. I asked and our 'guide' said it will cure motion sickness. Well just the sight cured my motion sickness but caused a new sickness in its place. Isn't that great!

Luang Pra-peace out!

2/29/12:

Our last day here was spent being a little lazy. The goal of today was to figure out our onward travel for tomorrow, work on our budget and look at some travel options for later down the road. Oh and get a foot massage for the Mrs.

Our hotel came with breakfast so we grubbed it up a then hung around our room and hotel for a bit. We notice a 3.5 legged goat the other day and asked the lady who owns the hotel about it. Apparently she and some friends saw the goat being mistreated and decide to save it. They pooled their money together and bought it but when they went to pick it up the seller hurt the goat. This led to her giving birth prematurely which resulted in her 2 baby goats not making it. But luckily the mama goat is doing well and has all the grass she can eat. Sorta makes me happy to know there are animal lovers everywhere.

Later we went for a walk and found a cafe with free wifi so we looked at some travel options and hung out. A major problem I'm finding with Laos is the lack of information or the lack of update information. For instance bus fares from Luang prabang to Vang Vieng are about 80000 kip on one site but almost 130000 kip on another. Who knows which is correct cause neither are dated. There are also 3 types of bus that travel that route but none of the websites can agree on times. So we ended up price comparing at a few travel agents in town (just like Thailand they're everywhere) and found that 115000 is the cheapest around.

When we arrived in Luang Prabang I mentioned the only thing I really wanted to do is have a meal on the river. Well it hadn't happened yet and after seeing some friends and making dinner plans for later it didn't seem like it was in the cards. No worries though, my fabulous wife took us to a small cafe on the Mekong for a couple drinks and a smashing view!!! Touchdown Carolyn!!!!!!

I think we may have mentioned this before but on journeys like this you meet some really great people from all over the planet. We met 2 wonderful ladies in Koh Phagnan from Scotland, and 2 awesome couples in Chiang Mai (from NYC and BC Canada). Luang Prabang was no different. We met a bunch of people on the boat journey but were lucky enough to hook up with 3 of them a couple times over the last few days. Jim from San Francisco and Sarah and Charles from Bath, England. Had dinner tonight with Sarah and Charles at a place called The pizza and some drinks afterwards. Great times with great people!

On to Vang Vieng tomorrow at 0900. We booked the minibus through our hotel so hopefully it all goes smoothly. We've read that you shouldn't do the trip on a full stomach because of how windy the road is. We shall see.

Pic 1: view from our riverside cafe.
Pic 2: Laos flag on left, communist flag on right outside the Luang prabang hygiene and epidemiology clinic.

Something is missing

2/29/12:

Check out the pic below. Notice anything missing?? No? Well of course you wouldn't you silly westerner. Now think back to a few of our earlier posts. Still nothing??

How quickly we get used to certain 'luxuries' around here. This hotel is really nice except it's missing a critical contraption in the bathroom .... The under-carriage cleaner! FML.

Recovery Day

Apparently I had 3 beer Laos too many last night. I would say it was food poisoning but Michael and I ordered the same meal. I never get sick and this morning I felt fine so who knows what it was from. We got our lazy butts out of bed in time for our free breakfast at the guesthouse and it was well worth it. Eggs, coffee, fruit and a baguette. I am loving the French influence here!

From there we walked into town to exchange some Thai money for Laos money. In true tourist form there exchange places everywhere and most advertise that they can give you cash off of your Visa or MasterCard, thanks but no thanks. The best rate is at the bank but yesterday when we went they were closed for lunch and then closed for the day at 1500, seriously keeping the bankers hours here in Laos.

After that we hopped on a tuk-tuk going to Kuang Si waterfall. After we started the trip we were informed by another passenger that we were only going for two hours because that's all the first couple wanted, we were bummed and the trip was definitely rushed but it's a tourist town, we should have asked before we left. We also got screwed on the price since we thought what he quoted us was for both of us but it was per person. Still worth the trip as it was beautiful and nice to go for swim on a hot humid day. Oh and like any trip it's fun to meet people. This time we got the pleasure of meeting an older German who lives in the French part of Switzerland and lives a harmonious life style. He said they traveled 7 months a year until his daughter was 10 and she told them she wanted to attend school and grow some roots and then she suddenly didn't want to live their lifestyle of yoga, meditation, eating on the floor. All we could think of is how do hippies afford to life in Switzerland?

This afternoon was more get Carolyn thin time and as we climbed up Phou Si mountain to see Buddhas foot print. We wonder why there are never cool things to see at ground level? It had a nice view of the city and was pretty funny to see the crap they try to pass off. The best part was that we were up there at 1600 and that's when Monks do some sort of drumming which we could hear coming from many different Wats. Rounded out the day with a smorgasbord of street food and a beer with our new friend Jim. After last nights ordeal I opted for a fanta. Tomorrow we might try to get up at 6 to attend an alms ceremony where you can watch the locals give food to the Monks but a) we're not morning people and b) we read the Monks don't even want to do it but the government makes them.

A happy happy birthday to our wonderful friend Marisa. I truly don't know what I'd do without you. Thanks for all the advice, emergency doctors visits, shoulder to cry on, being our personal post office and the hundreds of home cooked meals.


Pictures of the day:
Washington Apples in Laos? Jeremy we think you should get a job with red delicious apparently it's a lucrative business
The main attraction at Kuang Si
Michael jumping from the rope swing at on the of Kuang Si pools

Laos is not budget friendly

2/27/12:

Well after a very long boat ride to get here, we tried our best to get to know our new city - Luang Prabang. Last night we found another hotel and booked it online for about $20/ night which is cheap for this town. The place is called the villa suan maak and after some intensive detective work we actually managed to find it as its not on the main drag. This city isn't super complicated but finding a decent map or some directions is like trying to find gas back home for under $3.00. So we managed to get here, checked in and sorted ourselves out. The room is pretty nice so far. We've got a door (always a plus), a bathroom (equally important), a small desk (useful for piling dirty clothes on) and 2 beds. 2 twin beds which don't seem to move at all. Cozy time!!!!!!

We ended up renting 2 bikes from our hotel for a whopping 40000 kip (about $5.00) and went for a ride. We found a couple book stores last night and knew we desperately needed to get a Laos guide book. So we headed back to the bookstores with a couple books of our own to trade.

Quick side note: a lot of guidebooks and websites mentioned that its a good idea to buy or trade for your guidebooks as you get to each new country. This is false information for Laos as this is often a one sided travel route, there are hundreds of Thailand books but only one Laos book. We've been trying since Chiang Rai to get our hands on a Laos book and have been unsuccessful until today. We saw them in Chiang Mai new but wanted to wait until we got to Laos. Oh well. We traded a couple books in and got a filthy, old photocopied 2007 Laos guidebook for around $7.00 (which is way more then we paid for our nice Thailand book in Bangkok). Hopefully progress has been slow here.

Our hotel lady mentioned that we could ride our bikes to a small village where they make paper and silk. So we headed in that direction which took us over a river and into the 'country'. We went over a rickety bridge and around some dirt roads until we found the place. Nothing super exciting except some girls working in a sweat shop making scarves. I say it was a sweat shop cause sweat was pouring off me even before we walked in. It was pretty neat to see but not really a post card moment. We also saw some peeps making saa paper down the road so we went over there to annoy them a little and maybe get some pictures. The designs they make with the paper are amazing! We see them all over the night markets and waking streets but to see them being made was super cool!

Earlier in the day we decided we wanted to kayak the river and maybe see a waterfall. So we went to a couple tour agencies and asked around about pricing. Hahahahaha!!!!! So basically for a 2 hour kayak tour (where you're doing all the work!!!!), you'll be paying $50.00 / person and the waterfall is currently dried up!!!!!! WTF! I nearly fell out of my chair. Seriously I had to look around and make sure I wasn't siting in myrtle beach. We went to another tour agency and were quoted $40.00. It's at this point that we realize 3 nights may be too much. It seems Luang Prabang is a well traveled destination and the prices reflect that. Accommodations and food can be found for cheap. But that's about it.

Carolyn did some investigating and there's a different waterfall not far that you can take a tuk-tuk to. This is where tripadvisor.com comes in handy because we can read peoples reviews from the days prior so we know the information is still accurate. Should be a great time!

We ran into some friends from the boat and had dinner and a few drinks. The local beer is called beerlao and is supposed to be wonderful but I find it rather gross however at $1.50 for a liter I can't really complain. Got home a little while ago since there's a curfew of 12:00 here. The locals shut the city down at about 10:30. Crazy. On the way home I flagged down a tuk-tuk and asked how much .... 50000 kip ($6.20). Another WTF moment. We look at him, sneer and say no thank-you. The guy then follows us for a few meters reducing his price. He finally gets down to 15000 kip as his final offer. This is a good deal but at this point its principle so we keep walking. The part that angers us (and every other traveler we've met) is the scam or deception crap. I mean seriously we're traveling ... On a budget. Just quote us the actual friggin price and just be done with it. It's stuff like tohis (and yes it happens all day everyday) that makes you question everything here and distrust everyone.

Another WTF moment from tonight: at dinner Carolyn and I got the same meal and each had a beer except I had a large and she had a small. When it came time to pay the bill something didn't add up. We asked about it and the girl said our beers were different brands or something like that. During dinner we has both peeled off the label. We tried to argue to no avail. So my large (1 liter) beer was 10000 kip and Carolyn's small (500 ml) beer was also 10000 kip. So we bit our tongues and paid the bill. Carolyn unfolded the labels and they were indeed the same beer. Ohwell. I guess you can chock it all up to the inevitable 'gringo tax.'

Side note: we were able to wrap our heads around Thai currency fairly well and ended up thinking in Baht vice dollars. This has worked against us here as we now have to learn a new currency (Lao Kip) and how to budget for it. To give an idea, $1 = 8000 Kip. They also quote prices in US dollars here so we are working with 3 currencies. *sigh* the issues with traveling.

Pics:
1. Slow boat dock - Luang Prabang.
2. Rickety bridge - Luang Prabang.
3. Sunset over Mekong river.
4. Carolyn on a bike - Luang Prabang.
5. Beerlao.

Laos

2/26
We made it! After 18 hours on the boat (14 of them it was moving) we've arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos. It was long and cramped but not as bad as any of the horrid stories that I'd read. We met a guy from San Fran right before we got on the boat day 1 and ended up having dinner with him when we stopped for the night. He introduced us to a father/daughter from Bath and then we met another American at breakfast so day two we had some people to talk to on the boat.

I think one of my favorite parts about this kind of travel is the kindness you see in fellow travelers. I've seen so many people offer help and when in situations like the ones we've been in people actually take it. There was a French family on this boat trip with two small outgoing children. They talked to all the French people and would run up and down the boat stopping along the way to take pictures of passengers and then show them to them. It was adorable and everyone loved it but when it came time for movement it was hard for the parents to get the bags the kids, the shoes the kids left behind but someone always helped them out. Both times that we disembarked the boat there was a steep climb up to the towns. Unfortunately not everyone is as packing savvy as we are and most have large heavy bags. Today when got off everyone helped. I went back down to retrieve some shoes when the French family realized their little boy took his off and left them in the sand, Michael was carrying his bag and an older gentleman's bag and the French mom was helping someone get up the steps who wasn't doing so well on his own. The kindness went around and around and it was a great thing to see and be part of.

So we arrived, found a nice hotel, had a crappy dinner and planned our lodging for the rest of our time here. Just another travel day. Except it wasn't just another day, it's my 30th birthday and it sucked. New country, knowing practically no one and having your travel partner plan absolutely nothing. Luckily I have a few more birthdays ahead of me and I'll celebrate those properly.


This is the boat day one, day two the seats got smaller