The Vancirez

Myanmar land of smiles

2009-06-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yangon the former capital of Myanmar welcomed us with the local new year, the same that we hated in Thailand we loved here. Even though both celebrations are based on getting everyone drenched, here the difference was that the locals did it as a tradition and as a way to bring luck and put a bit down the intense heat of April.

After leaving our stuff at the White house hotel we did a first tour of the city. 10 meters further we were already soaked as at every door there was someone, young or old, with a big bucket of water ready to be poured on every passerby. The ambiance of the city was a whole party, western music was playing all around, while trucks filled with youngsters drove over the flooded streets.

We had a seat at a small plastic table in front of the Sule Paya, one of the city's landmarks, to have the first contact with the Burmese food and it was a very good one, a small green soup with some fried ingredients and a very fresh taste. This was the opportunity to enjoy the people passing and of course smiling at us. This would be a constant for the rest of our stay in Myanmar. Smiles from ear to ear.

Getting drenched resulted in a lot of coughing and some fever for Angela's part. Jonny's supposed malaria had probably strengthened him to Wolverine's mutant healing power and he only got some sniffles. The next morning the delicious and abundant breakfast at the roof top from our guest house made Angela feel a bit better. To avoid the water festival and to recuperate from the fever we spend the next day in the hotel, talking with other travellers and hoarding tips, while drinking mango juice and sweating a lot.

After dark and when the pouring of water had stopped (only allowed until 6pm) we went out for dinner at the lively China Town, were we had delicious noodle soup for only 300 kyat, less than 30 euro cents. With a full belly we wandered around the virtually deserted streets, looked at amazing colonial architecture and we sat at a tea house, had a coffee mix and a tea with condensed milk yummmm.

Tea houses or tea shops are usually an open air cafe where you can get some small snacks, soft drinks, instant coffee mix and black tea. On every table there is also a thermos of hot Chinese tea which is free and we drank litres of it during our stay in Myanmar. This is a real nice part of the Burmese culture. We are sure that if our Burmese was better we could have heard the latest gossip, who's wife got pregnant, what the government said they were going to do but actually didn't do and why are these foreigners staring at us all the time?

As the banks in Myanmar have the worst exchange rate, tourists have to exchange money at the black market. A very friendly Indian approached us offering a good rate to exchange our dollars into kyat. The friendliness of the guy, good rate and his very good English gave us confidence to follow him until the Mahanbadoola guesthouse. Yangon has the best exchange rate so we took out our 450 dollars, he took out his calculator, because each denomination had a different rate and he explained it to us while multiplying and adding up.

At that stage everything seemed ok, we were very cautious on counting every single note. Before we finished counting another tourist told us from outside to be careful but the transaction was already at an end, after a hand shake and a smile from the Indians we left, both of us with an awkward feeling.

Long story short; if an Indian shakes your hand, rest assured you've been scammed! What they don't expect however is for tourists to go back and demand the right amount and that's exactly what Jonny did. We got back $ 40 of the $ 50 and we didn't see the $ 10 as a loss but more as a valuable lesson learned: if something seems too good to be through it probably will be. $1 = 1.000kyat note so that means a ton of notes and you can see what it does to people...

We went to visit the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda, the most important and impressive temple complex in Myanmar. Amongst the hundreds of beautiful Burmese people we walked through the golden shrines, and we were able to see the magnificent mix of Buddhism with the Nat, the 37 mystical creatures that are an important part of the Burmese religion.

The next morning it was time to head up north to Inle lake located 800 kilometres away. We were lucky because our trip ONLY took 18hours! It sounds worse than it actually was. Angela ,as usual, slept most of the time whilst Jonny took strength out of the french guy that was sitting next to the nauseous woman with the young crying baby proving yet another universal rule: No matter how bad your situation, someone else will be having it harder.

Our last stop was for breakfast at 4am. Was very nice actually to see the self employed / kleine zelfstandige trying to make a living at this spot. We got down and took a taxi for the remaining 11km with the driver destroying Angela's self confidence by claiming that she was fat and should sit in the front. Angela had so far lost 5 kg (now 7) and felt very good about herself. To put this into context: In Myanmar saying someone looks fat is actually a compliment as it means wealthy enough to eat excessively. I took the front seat of this 30 year old taxi of which nothing seemed to work anymore. The guy steered the car like you see in old Hollywood movies when the actor would just turn the steering wheel to create the illusion the car was moving.

We stayed at Aquarius Inn. The ambiance, the fellow travellers we met there, the warm and caring staff and amazing surroundings made this the nicest guest house we would stay at in the whole 4 months. After a delicious pancake breakfast we took a deserved nap in our romantic bamboo walled room. Inle lake is heaven on earth! The rest of the day we spent wandering through town and visiting the local market where they fixed my broken sandale.

Next morning we enjoyed a delicious potato pie breakfast and each took out a book from the owner's excellent book collection. “Burmese days” and “the pianotuner” would be our company for the next 3 days. We chose a spot in the nice garden and read the day away only disturbed by the occasional stretching, songs of birds, bells of the pagodas chiming and the everfriendly maids offering us tea, peanuts and “would mister and miss like banana with honey?”

Remarkable about Myanmar is the lack off the type of tourist we dislike and we considerate it a blessing. The people we will meet here come to Myanmar to experience the country, its culture and its people. What travelling should be about no?

The next day we went on a boat trip on Inle lake. It stretches out over 11km about 7 metres deep, surrounded by mountains and inhabited by the Intha people. The people have lived on stilt houses for centuries and continue to do so. We stopped at the huge market, visited silk weavers, blacksmiths, cigarmakers where we had lots and lots of tea and even though it sounds like a tourist trap it is not! As it was low season and tourists were few (because of some sort ridiculous idea there was an economic crisis) you could get some real bargains. A “silver” bracelet that at first cost $ 20 was eventually sold for 3!

We asked to have local food for lunch so they brought us to a floating restaurant filled with the people of the villages where we also found the most surprisingly cleanest squat toilet we had seen on our trip.

The best part of the day is actually just going through canals, enjoy the spectacular sceneries, seeing daily life on the lake, waving and shouting MINGALABAAA to the sweet people of Myanmar.

Late afternoon we got back at the guesthouse were we barely had set a foot in and were offered strawberries with sugar. They didn't have to force us this delicacy and we enjoyed it as we continued reading our books. Going out to diner they ran after us with an umbrella as there would be “many rain later” If Thai people make you feel like kings, Burmese make you feel as if you were Buddha. At times it feels uncomfortable but is really the Burmese way. You can't help feeling affection for the people. As foretold by the maid the rain came. Not only that but lighting and hurricane winds to accompany it!

Next and last day we explored the surroundings, welcomed by monks who took out all their alms and offering them to us. Tip: don't drink too much tea cause you'll be offered gallons of it and would be rude to refuse. We saw planting of rice that can only be described as backbreaking. If we work for a couple of hours in the garden we almost need surgery to recover but here these women were going on for hours, field after field weeks on end chattering away and even putting on a show for us tourists.

Next stop burning hot Mandalay!

Vietnam fever

2009-05-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

All aboard the nightbus to Ninh Binh. There is no need, in Vietnam at least, to take the nighttrain as the nightbus is faster, just as comfortable but only half the price of a trainticket.

We stopped round midnight in the middle of nowhere to go to the toilet and also to witness all the vendors screaming and gesticulating to get your attention. Quite surreal when you have just woken up.

We were dropped off at the side of a road at 4.30 in rainy and dark Ninh Binh but thank God for early life in SE Asia as there was a coffee place right cross the street where we sat down waiting for the sun to rise enjoying a hot cup of Joe. The dark clouds got a bit less dark signalling daytime so we put on our ponchos and turned out we were only 10 minutes from the Ngoc Anh Hotel which hadn't opened yet. We took some chairs that were nearby and sat ourselves down to enjoy the free WIFI. Some time later the staff woke up apologising that they hadn't noticed us before, brought us to our cosy, meaning tiny, room where we slept till 11.

Ninh Binh is again not an attractive city and is skipped by many travellers that prefer going straight to Hue or Hanoi. It is more a big rest place for the highway that runs straight to the center. A bit like Antwerp will be if the Lange Wapper will be built...

The surroundings however are stunning! We hopped on a local bus and after an hour driving on a muddy road through waving green rice paddies we arrived at That Diem, a Catholic church that looks like a pagoda. The church is located in a little but bustling town and hardly any scooters but all the more bicycles. Waiting at the roadside for the bus we were quite the attraction. A motorbike driver tried very hard to convince us that the last bus was already gone and that he was the only option back to town. Patience was rewarded and the last bus for the day showed up. You can't blame the motodriver for trying.

During the night the rain fell plentiful and by morning had turned into drizzle. We rented bikes for the day, the ponchos came out again and we took to the highway.

Loads of trucks speeding by, signalling their approach 500 metres in advance using their horn and when passing they seem to make an extra effort in cranking up the volume and frequency of beeping. Not exactly relaxing drive but we took a side road that would lead us to the first attraction of the day: a boat ride to the Tam Coc caves. A mystical place surrounded by green rice paddies and limestone mountains. The grey clouds and drizzle just added more to the atmosphere as you can see if you click here. During the ride the boat lady will ask if you want to buy some nice fabric. Just say no as we saw many people who had said yes and had to fight through tonnes of the stuff. Except for the occasional ambush from vendors it's a very peaceful setting. Had some noodle soup and back on the road to Mua Grotti. A pagoda on top of a hill that can be reached by climbing the 500 steps but the view makes it more than worthwhile.

Met a couple of Spaniards that were going through Asia by bicycle and who accompanied us to the ancient capital of Hoa Lu where there was kind of a fair going on with lots of betting and scams! Following some dirt tracks and highways that were being built we arrived back into town just before sunset haven driven 50 km. After a rewarding shower we treated ourselves to fried gambas and fried bananas.

Had our last breakfast where the ever friendly owner gave us both a nice gift and receiving a hug from the cleaning lady. We met up with Bruno, a french guy that lives and works in Brugge for 4 years already and who would accompany us to Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi.

A smooth bus ride of 3 hours later we arrived to the city, checked into the hotel and went for a delicious lunch of bun bo soup. Time to explore the city and even though it's smaller than HCMC it seems more busy and stressing. In the extremely busy old quarter all items and services are grouped together. You find engine parts in street X, rattan baskets in street Y, cloth in street Z and so on. It's incredibly noisy because all the scooters beep constantly. We think that one of the skills you need to get your license is being able to beep at least 50 times per minute. All the impressions and noise left us exhausted and we headed back for a nap. Met up with Bruno for a hotpot dinner and a nice coffee and chat.

After a delicious breakfast in Baguette et Chocolate we visited the excellent ethnological museum where you can see the various customs, clothes and real size houses of the many minority groups in Vietnam. Another treat awaited us namely yogurt with honey in a store that was made famous by Catherine Deneuve whilst she was filming “Indochine” We went back many times after that first time as it is just heavenly. Also very close to the train station where we had a look at timetables and fares to go to one of the next locations. Hanoi trains are mafia practices. Never any tickets because “everything full” but if you go to a travel agent plenty of tickets there for double the price! Also booked our boat trip to Halong Bay where we met “the kids” Scottish Kirsty and Swiss Andreas who we travelled with for a week.

An impressive site is the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where the former leader of Vietnam lays embalmed for everyone to see. It's not a stroll however. Strict rules have to be followed: proper clothing, no photos, no smiling, no hands in pockets and always keep moving. We heard some tourists say that it was silly and ridiculous and those are the ones we try to avoid. The place is like a pilgrimage site and you can't help but also have a high reverence of this mummified body that embodies the hardship and fighting spirit of the Vietnamese people.

Walked around the city some more and to be honest we got more and more stressed by it. Neither of us liked the city. It's just too noisy and we just wanted to find a quiet spot which we eventually stumbled across round the cathedral. Hallelujah! Still noisy less which made this area our safe haven where we enjoyed many “frozen lemons” at Laplace.

Next day we couldn't wait to get out of the city to yet another UNESCO site namely Halong Bay famous for the roundabout 8.000 limestone formations that sprout out of the crystal clear water of the China sea. Checked into our cabin of the 6 cabin boat and we set off for a 2 day “cruise”. Whilst the mountains passed by, we enjoyed a nice seafood lunch after which we arrived at a huge cave that was made up out of 3 chambers with wonderful stalagmites and stalactites that, left to the imagination, looked like crocodiles, elephants, angels, dragons...

Now it was kayaktime and after shouting instructions to Angela on how to paddle (stress from Hanoi was still present) we rowed through a cave to end up being completely surrounded by mountains and peace and quiet. A dip in the water and a hot shower later, dinner was served after which we moved to the upper deck where the clouds denied us a view of the stars but it was nonetheless pretty to see the lights of the other boats and the dark ominous looking shadows of the mountains.

It must have been the smell and the gentle rocking of the sea that made us have a great night sleep. Breakfast awaited us and it was back to the deck to enjoy the view of Lan Tha Bay where not many boats go so we had the place to ourselves for half an hour before heading back to the pier passing by truly an amazing landscape... but then in the sea. Our drive back to Hanoi was less than pleasant as the driver thought he was on the race track, accelerating and braking all the time. By the time we got back to Hanoi we were well shaken and stressed again. We headed directly for the safer neighbourhood of the cathedral till it was time to head to the station to catch the night train to Sapa.

No durian on board this time and 9 hours later we arrived in the cooler hill station of Lao Cai only 3km from the Chinese border and a spectacular hour drive away from Sapa. We arrived there surrounded by clouds resulting in not being able to see more than 20 metres in front of you. Hard if you're looking for your hotel. Found a basic place to sleep for 1 night after which we changed to the nicer Queen hotel where we had a spectacular view of the highest mountain of Vietnam, the more than 3.000 metres high Fansipan. Not only the view is amazing but also the behaviour of the clouds appearing, engulfing, dissolving this only in a matter of minutes.

Sapa is the base station for treks to minority villages around. Many Hmong also swarm you the moment you arrive to town all wanting to be your friend and take you to their home in the village and speaking the best English we heard so far in the months we've been travelling. You can climb Fansipan which was the initial plan for Jonny but he wasn't feeling all that good so no flag waving for him at the top.

Actually Jonny's condition didn't get better but worse. Fever started and went as high as 40.5, shaking, yellow eyes (jaundice), intestinal pain all symptoms of malaria so it was time to start taking the treatement dose of Malarone being 4 pills at once with milk and food and this for 3 days. Jonny felt better the next day and it was off to hospital for a malaria test which turned out negative but could have been a false negative because of the first dose of Malarone. Contacted the insurance who had a doctor on stand-by who advised us to get to Hanoi where they have excellent care. Booked a ticket for that same night for a full train (mafia) and headed back to Lao Cai where Angela had something that was supposed to be fried rice. 4 hours later she would damn the restaurant whilst she was talking to the big white telephone (=WC)

In Hanoi straight to the fancy French hospital where they diagnosed it as being a viral infection. In Myanmar we told this story to 2 doctors of MSF working in Malaria zones and they were almost certain it had been malaria. In any case I was doing a lot better so we went and visited the war museum. The one in HCMC was the better of the two but the Hanoi one had the most war objects on display: planes, bombs, tanks,... it's great to see them on display but it must be a horrific experience seeing them in action. Let's hope that one day all such things are only to be found in a museum.

The last night in Hanoi we went to a coffeehouse on the 5th floor with a nice view of the traffic below.

Except for Hanoi Vietnam treated us nicely with excellent transportation, a wide variety of interesting and awe-inspiring places to visit and culinary discoveries.

A flight later we arrived to our beloved Bangkok where protests had broken out that saw images of buses on fire broadcast around the world. Might as well happened on the other side of the world as most people in Bangkok went on with their daily lives that was now all about Songkhran or Water festival. Avoid Bangkok during this time as you'll be soaked to the bone constantly which might sound like fun for a while but not for 3 days in a row, especially not when drunken tourists are the ones doing the soaking thinking this is all “like, you know, soooo coooool maaaan”

We managed to remain dry on our visit to the house of Jim Thompson, an architect that took 6 traditional Thai houses and made it into one. An absolute must see when in Bangkok. Only a short stop in Bangkok as it was time to fly to the last of the five countries: Myanmar!

Durian Express

2009-05-03T02:18:00.000-07:00

You can spend a lot of time planning your itinerary, but on a trip like this plans are bound to change as was the case for Dalat. Not on our list but we had read about a group of guides calling themselves the “Easy Riders”. They can show you the surroundings of this hillbased town or even drive you all over Vietnam if you want. This is done on their nice vintage motorbikes. The moment we got off the bus they had already spotted us, guided us to the hotel we wanted to stay and said they were going to wait for us downstairs. Might seem a bit pushy but we wanted to take a tour with them anyway so we didn't mind. Checked in at the hotel where we were given a room with two double beds and nice wooden floors and this all for only 8usd. Went down and arranged our tour with the ER for the following day.

When we arrived at this city,located in the middle of the coffee growing region, we saw something that we hadn't seen since we left Belgium: sweaters and jackets! What to us was a cool breeze probably felt like a siberian chill to the Vietnamese living here. In all honesty at night we put on sweaters and long pants aswell and Jonny's Cambodian Krama came in very handy here and has since then never left his side.

At night we had a nice stroll around the city and we saw an outdoor warm drink stand with some tasty looking pastries. We sat ourselves down on tiny plastic chairs ordered 2 coffees with milk and watched life go by. This is the best way to get the feel of a city and what this city lacks in architecture, being a concrete monster straight out of the USSR, it makes up for in atmosphere. Instead of milk we got a big dollop of sweetened condensed milk, that congregated at the bottom making for an ebony/ivory division and when stirred gave a strong yet rich and creamy hot coffee that reached all the way to your toes casting away the evening chill. The accompaning pastries were just the icing on the cake and we fell in love with this city.

Not only with the city but also with eachother. We had been travelling for 2 months now and were always busy plotting the next step, looking for places to stay and to visit, soaking up impressions and just giving ourselves enough time to process them, but not fully grasping the totality of it all. Here in Dalat it all seemed to fall into place. We felt very fortunate and extremly happy and it hit us that we were experiencing this wonderful journey together as a married couple, something that seemed hardly feasable many years ago when the only connection we had was the one through the internet with an ocean in between us.

Enough smoochie smoochie!

The next day was motorbiketime VROEM VROEM! We each took place on the back of our motorbikes and our virtualy perfect english speaking guides kickstarted their engines and we set off, for one of already many highlights of our trip.

It's an amazing feeling sitting on the back of a proper motorcycle (not like the scooters from Mui Ne) looking at the magnificent scenery passing by. Wasn't just a ride but also a tour of local sights.

The ornate Linh Phuoc Pagoda, where you could witness the art of tessalation (breaking... well...breakables and then remaking them ie Barcelona at Gaudi's Park Guell); the crazy house where the daughter of the second Vietnamese president got carte blanche building a hotel, made up out of weird structures linked with eachother through cavelike stairs;

the ricewine factory where we got a sample (hickup) and where the huge pigs were always drunk, as they got the fermented leftover rice to eat; a silkfactory where you could see the process from silkworm to scarf; delicious and abundant lunch, that our drivers picked out for us. Was also perfect timing as the rain fell in biblical proportions, turning the roads temporary into rivers. Then time to hop back on the motorbike to see the elephant waterfalls where Angela feared (yet again) that Jonny was going just a bit too far trying to get a nice picture and needlesly risking his life by doing so. Time for the hour long ride back home feeling at peace looking at clouds breaking lose from the treetops and being stretched out by the winds that roll off the hills.

We said goodbye to our guides and thanked them for a lovely day, wishing them more tourists, as the so called economic crisis causes a downfall of tourism of 30% or more in all the countries we visited, which means less income for the many people depending on tourism.

As the romantic mood lingered on, we sat down in a nice cosy restaurant with an attentive owner where we had an exquisite fish caramel pot and a rice and vegetable dish topped with roasted cashew nuts. After softly singing along to the instrumental pianothemes and improvised short dance, we left a happy owner and a smiling audience, that probably was wondering how much Dalat wine we had enjoyed (only one white for Angela, one red for Jonny) Time for coffee and a pastrie and dare I say that we would look great in a commercial promoting this black gold...

We left the cool of Dalat for the heat of the beach of Nha Thrang, where we got traintickets for the nighttrain to Hoi An that same night. Nha Thrang is a coastal city that reminds you of the ones in Spain with big hotels close to the beach. We left our backpacks at the station and went for a nap in the park next to the beach. Aaah the life of a hobo! Found a nice coffeehouse next to the station, where we passed time enjoying the free WIFI yet again till it was time to take our spot on the train. We were in the hard sleeper which sound less comfortable than it actually is.
There is a fruit in SE Asia that is called Durian which is actually prohibited in certain places, the reason being the smell. We were ever so lucky that someone in our cabin had brought a tiny amount of it with him and after nine hours marinating even the clothes in our backpack smelled like it.

Hoi An is a stop over for many tourists as it is the place where you can get clothes made for relatively cheap prices. Angela got sized up for a shirt and Jonny got very tired of the abundance of choice and decided not to get anything.

Our hotel came with pool, which was welcome at 39 degrees every single day and this only for 12usd. Of all the staff there was only one friendly guy Tuk. Jonny always smiles at people but that seemed to make the owner even more cranky, so Jonny went out of his way to smile at her at every possible occasion.

Vietnamese food is excellent and was enriched here with specialties of the region. We came across a Belgian couple, that we met at the Sherathon in HCMC and they advised us to eat at one of the street stalls for even better and cheaper food and they were absolutly right.

Except for having clothes made Hoi An is also on the Unesco World Heritage list for its nice architecture, which was influenced by Western and Chinese culture, as it was an international trading port in the 17th century. Almost all the houses are converted into a clothes shop or a restaurant, so you tend to look more at fabrics and menus than at the structures which is pity.

You can buy a ticket with which you can visit 5 of many sights of the town, of which the 200 year old Tan Ky house and the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall are the ones worth visiting the moat.

Said goodbye to Hoi An with an extra smile for the hotel owner and it was off to yet another Heritage town namely Hue, famous for its citadel and mausoleums of previous emperors.

When we arrived into a town Jonny always gets out the map and follows the trail the bus is making. We drove past the area with all the accommodation to drive out of town, where the bus stopped at a hotel claiming this was the final stop. All the tourists got off and it struck Jonny that all the Vietnamese stayed on the bus. He asked one of them and they said this is what the buses always do but eventually drive back to town. He explained this to the others and all the tourists got back on board which made the hotel owner and busdriver (bye bye commission) less than happy and sure enough they drove back into town where everyone needed to be.

After checking in at the Phong Nha Hotel, it was off to the citadel with its imperial enclosure and forbidden purple city which was the private living quarters for the emperor, his concubines and the eunuchs. Before we got there however Angela was mobbed by a group of middleaged vietnamese that wanted to have their picture taken with this exotic colombian princess. Many full memorycards later we got in to the imperial city.

The tourgroups don't venture too far so if you walk away from the central building you are virtually alone and rewarded with nicely decorated ceremony halls and a tomb here and there.

After our two hour stroll it was time to treat ourselves to some pain au chocolat from the french bakery, which employs street kids to give them a better future.

Hue is only a 4 hour bus ride away from Hoi An and even then does it have excellent additions to the Vietnam cuisine which is best enjoyed at Lac Tien's restaurant which is run by a deaf mute owner, who is all smiles and gratitude when you empty your plate and come back the second day for more!

The city also has a nice boardwalk where at night you can enjoy the changing lights that illuminate the motorcycle bridge and we did just that.
Next and last day we hopped on the bicycles and had a fun day visiting the Thien Mu seven storied pagoda. It was made famous by the monk Thich Qaung Duc, who publicly burned himself to death to protest against the cruel regime of president Diem, who was helped in power by the USA and, as on many other occasions in which the US intervened, they would proclaim: “He's a son of a bitch but at least he's our son of a bitch!”

The mausoleums are grand and represent the megalomaniac characters of the emperors who, we must say, had a great eye not only for aesthetic beauty, but also for location. The mausoleum of Tu Duc has nice water parts and Forrest incorporated in its outlaying, whereas the mausoleum of Khai Dinh is set on the side of a hill overlooking the surrounding rice paddies.

Even though we had already checked out of the hotel they offered us to use the shower and who were we to decline such an invitation being covered in sweat and dust? We have stayed in many hotels so far and they were all more than ok offering virtually the same standard. The difference however is in the people that run it and can make a stay memorable or just another place where you slept and showered.

After looking into the prices of transport too Ninh Binh (our next location that wasn't on the initial itinerary) we decided to take the sleeper night bus this time. To find out about this means of transportation and the conclusion of our Vietnam trip tune into our next post.

Urban madness and sandy games

2009-04-25T20:52:00.001-07:00

This post is sent from Myanmar where internet is restricted. That's why it looks a bit different than usual.

During our journey we came into contact with other travelers that went to Vietnam already and in most cases the story had a negative connotation: the hassle, the traffic, the noise, the not set prices, etc... and some even suggested to skip Vietnam which even the German couple from Laos ended up doing... and it was their loss. We are so glad we didn't let others' experiences influence our itinerary.

Whenever you come in contact with horror stories you have two options: either you believe them and change your plans or you listen to them carefully, keeping in mind that everyone has a different way of seeing and experiencing places and you decide to experience it yourself and that's what we did.

A 12 usd package was our entry ticket to Vietnam on board of a spacious and comfortable bus we did the route from Phnom Pehn to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

The border crossing was very different from the Lao-Cambodia one. In this case we crossed by bus, just getting off to pass our luggage through X rays scan, our visas checked and yet another entry stamp appeared in our passports.

The closer we got to HCMC the more motorcycles that appeared on the road and the more beeping sounds we heard, the avenues looked like a river of colorful helmets that mengled with some cars and buses. From the more than six million people living here around four million own a motorbike. That explains the picturesque scene of the local traffic.

We were welcomed by heavy rain, that stopped soon enough to let us find the Thai Nhi Mini (get it?) hotel, were we had to climb up 5 floors to get a nice and affordable room, with free WIFI and an excellent location.

After our first walk in HCMC we were fascinated by looking at the crazy traffic. As Angela once said, her hearth contracted like a raisin skipping not one but several beats every time we had to walk in between the monsoon of two wheelers. For a taste click here.

The next morning we kept on training our street crossing skills and went walking around trying to find an affordable camera, while discovering the city under 39 degrees, but for us this temperature is now normal so nothing to complain about. We found the newer model of our previous Canon and it was cheaper than in Belgium so yet another item on the list of unexpected expenses.

To celebrate our new addition to the family (we call it Hochi) we went to Fanny's ice cream. We are sure that there must be one place in the world where you can find the best ice cream in the world NAY the universe! Well ladies and gentleman, look no further; Fanny is ice cream paradise. The rum raisin one was not a scoop with some rum essence and a lost raisin in it au contraire mon ami, it was like they put a whole stake of dried grapes in and we are sure that we could have set fire to the ice cream as you could feel the rum going down to your stomach. If you have tasted cinnamon ice cream before and thought it was nice then you would feel cheated after you tasted the one from Fanny. You could imagine the magnificent prize winning cow that provided the milk for the rich creaminess and you were teleported to fields full of cinnamon orchards. Feel like an ice cream yet?

Sightseeing is very rewarding here, the french influence is evident in the architecture of many buildings, like the Mayor's house, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Opera, the Ho Chi Minh Museum amongst many others.

This last one was a very nice place to visit, not because of the artifacts inside but because of the nice wooden floors, spacious rooms that were accentuated by the sunshine coming in through the original white wooden shutters. No wonder it's a popular place with couples to have their wedding pictures taken.

On the way to the Reunification Palace we passed the fortress of the US embassy, were we saw a small group of Vietnamese women protesting of which Jonny wanted to take a picture, only to have a soldier coming up to him waving his hands in disapproval. Our walking tour went further to the Cathedral and the magnificent post office, the luxurious Diamond Shopping Centre, and the botanical garden, including a very poor zoo.

Once again we needed to pamper ourselves after a long walking day so Fanny welcomed us again, this time to taste the mint and chocolate and the nougat flavors. Imagine yourself being Marco Polo going to the Orient and discovering tastes that have never touched any Westerners' pallet... Well, you get the idea.

Concerning our stomach Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) was the tasty welcome to the exquisite Vietnamese cuisine that just got better every day.

We also visited the famous Jade Pagoda, a Chinese temple, very dark but popular place, you can see it by the huge amount of smoke from the incense sticks burning there. It is one of the oldest pagodas and is considered one of the most spectacular in the city, but it did not seem so spectacular for us. Nonetheless we got a nice pictures.

To close our visit to HCMC we went to the War Museum containing evidence of the horrors committed by the US during the Indochine war. It is a very well organized exhibition with many documents, striking/shocking pictures and testimonials of Vietnamese and American people. Visiting this place only awakens the feelings of anger, frustration, impotence,sadness, ... Once again like in any war innocent people are the ones that pay the highest price.

The most striking part was the one related to the still growing numbers of victims of Agent Orange. This defoliant not only destroyed all the Forrest, but was also highly toxic for every living thing (dioxin being the major component). How can someone think of such a method to be used against an 'enemy'. The effects of it were so devastating that even today people carry it in their genes of which you sadly see examples of in the streets.

This said we could not leave the capturing Saigon with feelings of war. We had to move on and decided to end our visit with a flashpacker practice spending over half our day budget at the bar on 23rd floor of the Sherathon hotel. We had 2 for 1 happy hour cocktails, looking at the sun setting and as darkness set in enjoying the show of lights being turned on over this vast Metropolis.

Next day it was time to head for the beach. If you like the high buildings and inflated prices of Oostende/Benidorm/El Laguito Cartagena go to Nah Thrang. If you like peace and quiet go to Mui Ne where it's not allowed to build higher than 2 levels. Also a favorite spot for wind and kitesurfers of which you see many wetsuits and kites drying on the lines of the hotel.

We found the nice Hong Di bungalows with beautiful sand garden area shaded by palmtrees that double as hammock supports, only 20 metres from the sea. Falling asleep to the "wooshing" of the waves and the wind blowing through the palm trees, we were certainly able to do what we planned here, namely rest after more than two months of traveling. Life is wonderful!

However you shouldn't come to Mui Ne only for the peace, quiet and relaxed atmosphere but also for the red and white sand dunes. After a nice night of rest we went to the small fisherman town to get some transport to the white dunes. At our arrival a group of 15 motorcyclists got around us to offer transportation.

We used many methods to convince them: writing in the sand, pointing, discussing petrol prices (nothing in Vietnam), etc.... and in the end we got half the price of what they offered and a pat on the back from the oldest guy saying "good deal".

It didn't take long for Jonny's motorbike to get a flat tyre so he moved to Angela's one. We ended up doing 15 kilometres with 3 adults on one scooter plus one kid. Might seem a lot but is a common site round these parts. Next to the sea we arrived to the magnificent white dunes. It was around 9 am and the sun was already merciless. The only sound you heard here was the hot wind rearranging the dunes. Walking on the dunes takes a lot of effort as the sand is very hard on the side the winds blows and very soft on the side where the sand, that is carried by the wind, is dropped but it's loads of fun to jump into it and sink knee high. After more than an hour of ravotten/patanear (of which you can see proof if you click here) it was time to enjoy the ride back into town again. This time each had a motorbike.

We had a well deserved splash in the South China sea, some posting on our blog (courtesy of the WIFI of the next door hotel) and some swinging and napping in the hammocks. The sun was setting which made us take the shuttle to the red dunes. The angle of the sun makes for nice colours and shadowplay on these dunes. Some kids walked along with us offering us rides on their sheets of plastic which we kindly declined. Again some ravotten/patanear and watching the last rays of sun on the dunes.

The day before we had placed an order at the restaurant we ate at and now we were ready to devour our first lobster and crab ever and my o my did we enjoy it.

Time to move on after these days of relative rest.

Be sure to check out our next post covering easyriding, coffee slurping, durian train rides and much much more.

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9 days in the land of Khmer

2009-04-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

WARNING : Next post might be very contrary to the horror stories you hear about Cambodia and might even convince you to go...

Last breakfast in Laos and then small boat ride and minivan ride, later we arrived at the Laos – Cambodian border. Got off from the bus and walked into no man's land, to be greeted by officials waving the visa-on-arrival documents.

After filling in the form, we paid the $20 visafee and as it was weekend we also had to pay $2 overtime fee to the poor officials that had to work on their “free” day. You can either complain about it, raise your voice, bang on the table, even threaten the man's offspring but in the end if you want the visa, you better pay the fee.

Our bus was full so we were put in a car where it was a comfy ride to Stung Treng, where we had a lunchbreak. I walked to the market five minutes away to exchange $ for the Cambodian Riel and bought some watermelon, which Angela happily dug into only to dispose off a couple of hours later when we arrived at Kratie, our first overnight stop in Cambodia. Angela stayed in the room to dispose the watermelon some more whilst I went into town. Kratie is the spot to also go and visit the same dolphins we saw in Laos, so many offers to go and see them again which I politely declined.

You hear many tourist complain about all the hassle from sellers to buy their goods or offering you rides. Just acknowledge their existence with a nod and a “no thank you” preferably in their language. You'll be doing this many times a day but it's up to you to let it get to you or not. The first is an assured irritation which will lead to not liking the people or their country, the latter an assured peaceful walking down the streets.

Next day off to Phnom Penh, where we checked in at the OKAY guesthouse were we got the mushroom room. Not because of the painting but because of the fungus decoration. Next night we moved into a well ventilated clean room.

Phnom Pehn is a so called danger zone where it's dangerous to go out at night, have to keep your guard 24/7 and need 360 vision to cross the street. Not sure if everyone was talking about this Phnom Pehn cause we saw nothing to justify this. Traffic however is hectic. Just cross with a steady pace and the traffic will swerve around. A sea of cars, motorbikes and cyclos that opens like the sea for Mozes. Never stop however cause this will be erratic behavior and a certain method to get run over. This is how you cross streets in all major cities, Saigon being the most fun and spectacular city to do this.

We immediately took a liking to PP and also knew what others didn't like about it. PP is a city of contrasts, which you love or you hate. It has a nice riverside promenade, with their version of the blauwe steen at the Schelde with many cheap or expensive eats, easy transportation, nice buildings to visit and nice people to add a nice touch.

However it's a very dirty city as people just throw away any garbage on the street, but next morning it is all clean again. Cambodia is ridden with NGO's all working their own field and bringing in a lot of money for the country. With them also come many well paid expats and thus fancy boutiques, big cars, high shiny skyscrapers. On the other hand, you see tonnes of beggars, young and old, families living on the streets and this not just in a back alley but right there on every street. While you are having a $ 4 gourmet meal (what an average Cambodian could live of for 4 days) about 5 beggars will come up to your table asking to buy something from them or just give money. The waiters just leave them be and allow them into their restaurants.

This is were the fun starts for us. People really don't like to be disturbed on their holidays by beggars or scenes of poverty. Some tourists get angry, some get sad. But generally, all ignore this frail, begging, malnourished hand that asks for help. We always say hello and tell them we are not going to give anything. This might sound harsh but if you give money to kids they will first of all never be able to keep it and second will learn that begging is rewarding and so remain beggars and dependant on charity all their lives. We gave occasionally but never to children. Always to victims of mines or of diseases like polio and then never more than 2.000 riel = $ 0,5.

The difference between the rich and the poor is baffling and we'll find it nowhere else in any country we'll visit.

What people see when they see poverty is in fact a mirror and they don't like the reflection : there you are flying all the way across the world, your nice clothes, digital camera, hundreds of $, staying in a nice room and there the poor are with hardly any option to ever get out of it. If you think they are annoying, just know that you can always go back to your country but they will stay begging there forever...

PP is not only about people watching but also sightseeing.

We went to a restaurant where former street children were trained to be waiters. Excellent food with perfect presentation and there we met an english couple that were on their way to Laos so we exchanged our Rough Guides for theirs and there was great rejoice.

After dinner we went to the river promenade to have an Angkor beer next to the locals, where we saw a thunderstorm getting closer and closer with the lightning getting more intense. Very nice spectacle indeed.

Woke up at 4 thinking about poverty, couldn't fall back asleep again so decided to get up and go for a walk. I expected a quiet sleepy city but nothing could be further from the truth. People setting up their marketstalls, tuk tuk drivers arriving at the hotels so they would be the first in line to pick up passengers,

tonnes of people at the park getting their morning exercise playing badminton, soccer, volleybal... People sweeping the street to get it clean. Not with a truck equiped for that, but just with an oldfashioned broom and a lot of sweat. Next time you wonder why they are all taking an afternoon nap is because they were up since 4 while you were still in dreamland.

After a nice bagel with cream cheese we headed for the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, where we found a tremendous collection of Buddha images from all over SE Asia with a very remarkable marble one from Burma and a golden one encrusted with lots of huge diamonds.

Here we also had to arrange our Burmese visa so we went to the embassy, left our passports there and it was time to move onto Siem Reap and the amazing temple complex of Angkor!

A 6 hour bus ride later and almost deafened by the constant beeping of the driver we arrived at Siem Reap and checked into the Red Lodge GH.

The chique in PP pales in comparison to SR. Here the gap is even bigger thanks to the tourism industry, where expensive hotels and resorts are everywhere, mixed with the poor locals. Went for a walk around town and found a nice park with beautiful tall trees. Dusk was setting in and we could see that the trees where inhabited by giant bats that started flying to get their meals. There in my hair, there in my hair!

Next morning was time to visit the temples. Got ourselves a tuk tuk driver Non who would drive us around for the following two days.

We decided to leave Angkor Wat for the last and work our way upto the older temples first. Angkor is not just one famous temple but a whole bunch of them built by kings, who always wanted to make a nicer one than that of the previous king. You really see the sandstone carvings get more elaborate and the temples getting bigger.

Angkor is big business and you see hordes of tourists, so get in early if you want peace and quiet.

At every temple you'll also get the company of kids wanting to sell you postcards or steering you to their families' stand for water or soft drink. “buy postcard mister? Only $1. Maybe later OK? You remember me and buy my water OK? Why don't you buy? You don't like my postcards?”

Almost all the temples we visited are worth a visit cause they all have one or more features that seperates them from other temples. Don't try to see them all, just pick out a few and really absorb them instead of trying to visit as many as possible, without really seeing them. Ta keo, the famous Ta Prohm surrounded by jungle, where they filmed some scenes from the Tomb Raider movie, Pre Rup with its brick towers, Ta Som and Neak Pean..

You also see the power and time nature has...

Walking a lot and the heat take their toll and after a day of visiting temples is nice to have a cold shower and go to the $1 street stalls for some delicious noodle dish and refreshing lemon juice and treat yourself to some cake that is 50% off because the shop is about to close.

Another day, another temple. First a 38 km drive to Bantaey Samre which is off the main tourist trail and was completely deserted. It was without a doubt the most stunning temple we saw. When I took my last picture there our camera also died. Cambodia has luxury items but they are very expensive so we bought a disposable camera for the rest of Cambodia and decided to buy a new one when we arrived to Vietnam where they produce the stuff, so no more photos for the rest of this blog.

Off to Bantaey Srei for wonderful sandstone carvings. On the way back we visited the landmine museum funded by Aki Ra a former Khmer Rouge soldier who specialized in land mines and now with his knowledge is trying to have a mine free country, which will also help him to stop his nightmares.

Back in SR we look for a hotel with a pool and go for a swim to wash away the yellow dust, mixed with sweat and sunscreen.

Driving to and from the complex of temples, we passed by Khanta Bopha hospital, were we saw posters of a Swiss doctor “Beatocello”. On tuesday and thursday evenings you could see a movie at the hospital about his project and on saturday he always plays the cello for the audience showing up in big numbers.

He's quite the controversial figure, as he at one time sued the WHO and UNICEF for their passive genocide of children as he calls it. We really liked what he said. Stepping into the hospital you think you've stepped into a very fancy western hospital that makes you think what this kind of hospital is doing in this kind of country? He explains why. He believes that you can't help the people enough in a third world hospital. What's the use of a band aid when the kids need surgery? All kids in the 4 hospitals nationwide receive all treatment for free!!! A cough or a landmine victim, all get treated free of charge. The average consultation brings with it a cost of $170. Biggest cost is medicine and only 35% is cost for personnel and administration whereas with UNICEF can reach as high as 85%. The 4 hospitals are privately funded and need $ 20 million dollar a year. To the young he asks blood, the old he asks money, from us he got both.

Last day in SR and we take the bikes to cycle the 10km to Angkor Wat but first we go and see Angkor Thom with the spooky and mysterious Bayon, displaying hunderds of identical massive smiling faces, that seem to look back at you. Phnom Bakeng which is worth the steep climb just for the view. I fall victim to a flat tyre which is easily and skillfully repaired, so we can visit Angkor Wat.

The vasteness of the temple is enormous. The closer you get the smaller you feel. Because some people not knowing how to use stairs thereby breaking their legs and even losing their lives it is no longer allowed to climb the stairs, for a surely amazing view of the surroundings.

This all said Angkor Wat isn't the nicest or most intruiging but it's surely an impressive piece of architecture.

Back to PP to visit the Killing Fields and the prison of Tuol Sleng.

During the Khmer Rouge reign of terror from 1975 to 1979 reportedly in between 1 and 2 million people died either through torture, killing, malnutrition,... We met a Canadian who married a Cambodian who survived the camps and she told us that the movie “the killing fields” gives a good idea but in reality it was much worse.

We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Killing fields for $8 and what we saw there can only be described as suffering. You see a tall glass obelisk, of which in the bottom you can see a pile of clothes of the people that were brought here to be exterminated. The rest of the obelisk is filled with the almost 9.000 skulls they found in the mass graves surrounding the site, of which many are still to be uncovered. When walking around the site you see different pits : one where they found only old people, one where they found many children, close to a tree where they could throw them against first... You also see that in the ground are still pieces of fabric of the clothes the people were wearing. You can only be silent and think about how the world let this happen and even supported the Khmer Rouge, but then you realize that it still keeps happening now and that we still don't do anything about it.

How lucky we are with our Western way of life.

On the way back our driver changed the rules and decided to charge us $ 8 to and 8 back, which lead to a big discussion, after us threatening him to pay only half and taking another tuk tuk, he took us back to the city and still claimed more money. Too bad for him, we had plenty of time, so I just sat down on the curb having a sip of water while he was losing time and possible fares. After 5 minutes, he was happy with the original 8 we agreed upon.

Now it was off to Tuol Sleng where we visited the s-21 school, which was a school that was converted by the Khmer Rouge into a torture center, or re-education center as they used to call it.You can see many portraits taken of victims, as well as the beds and pictures of the last burned victims found, the small prisons where they were kept and the torture techniques used by the Pol Pot regime. The whole exhibition leaves you speechless and at a loss for words.

We picked up our passports and next day it was off to Saigon in crazy Vietnam.

Cambodia was the victim of our trip as we only have 4 months to visit 5 countries but our 9 day visit was a highlight in our trip, because of the violent history of the country, beautiful Angkor and the contrasts between rich and poor all made this a very interesting country.

Halleluyahahahaha

2009-04-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

Have you ever imagined your self walking in a sauna, with your clothes on and carrying a big backpack? Well that was the first impression we had from Vientiane... the oven capital of Laos.

After walking and sweating around looking for a guest house, we found a good place, even though it was a bit above our normal budget, we were more than happy to drop our bags off and have a refreshing shower, but the joy was bigger when we discovered that our room had air co as a standard feature. A fan is usually enough for us, but when we went out and realized that the temperature at 5 pm was 37 degrees we felt blessed, Halleluyah praise the Lord!!!

The next day we rented city bikes, great and cheap way to move around in a city like this, were the traffic is smooth, the avenues are spacious and not crowded and the distances between different monuments are too big to be covered by foot.

Our first stop was the Patuxai monument, a grey concrete giant, built with cement donated by USA that was going to be used to build an airport. It is also known as the local Arc de Triomphe, but that can be an insult to the real one, because in the distance this monument looks nice, but the closer you get to it, and the more you walk into it the less appealing it becomes but anyway we got a couple of nice pictures.

The uglyness fades away as we reach our next monument: Pha That Luang, the "Great Sacred Stupa" national symbol of Laos, representing the country independence and sovereignty. It's shiny and spectacular shape, together with it's beautiful surroundings makes us wander around for long time, while melting under the midday heat.

And here we sing Halleluya once again when a garden hose appears pumping fresh water to the colourful flowers making Angela lose control.

Time for lunch meaning some fresh bagels at the extraordinary scandinavian bakery were we stayed for one hour recovering from the heat, but the worse was yet to come, on the way out we passed a billboard displaying the time and temperature, and we almost wet our pants when we read that it was 2 pm and we were at 49 degrees LIEVE GOD!

But no matter the intense heat we did the homework and visited Wat Si Saket the oldest and nicest temple in the capital, built in the 15 century and rebuilt many times after many wars. This beautiful and peaceful place is famous not only because of its antiquity but because it houses thousands of Buddha images in all shapes and sizes, as well as a cloister, a library, and is still used as a monastery.

The next day we negotiated what we thought was a fair price with a tuk tuk driver and visited Xien Khuan Buddha park located 25 kilometers outside Vientiane. This peaceful garden (we arrived before the crowds did) displays over 200 Hindu and Buddhist concrete sculptures. The most remarkable of them was the huge reclining Buddha surrounded by colorful dragonflies, and the strange concrete pumpkin in which we were able to climb up trough narrow stairs, for a nice overview of the park.

Before finishing the trip in the capital we visited the COPE project were we were confronted with the sad story that most of the world has not heard enough about: The Secret War that the United States waged against the North Vietnamese and communism in the region and under which the Lao border with Vietnam (the Ho Chi Minh trail) was bombed for many years.

Because of these bombardments many parts of the country were devastated, many people were misplaced and thousands were killed. Laos has the questionable honour of being the most heavily bombarded country in history. Of course not all the bombs that were dropped exploded, and the Laotian soil ended up infested with millions of UXO (Unexploded ordenance), responsible for many more deaths and mutilations even now when the war has ended more than 30 years ago. This is also one of the key factors for the slow development and poverty in the country. At the current pace of clearing all areas Laos will only be bomb free in about 100 years...

This visit and the experience of seeing this reality only reinforced our perception of the Lao People, for whom we only feel admiration and respect. We find unbelieveable how welcoming and forgiving they are, no matter their painful past and their difficult present they stole our hearts with thousands of genuine smiles, in a country were there are no filthy rich and terribly poor, a place where everyone is the same.

And like that we were more eager to see more of this magnificent country, the south appeared in our itinerary and on a comfortable nigthbus we travelled for 8 hours to Savannakhet, were we arrived at 4 in the morning. Of course being so early it was not possible to knock on the guesthouse door, so we had to wait in the street until daylight, but during this time we saw the first colors of the day appear in the sky, while some monks were collecting alms and a group of young kids were running excitedly to an early soccer game.

After a well deserved nap and a greasy omelette we wandered around the third largest city of Laos, but there was not much if anything to see. We stumbled upon Wat Sainyaphum, were we sat under the trees for a little rest. Meanwhile a group of locals were having their saturday English lesson, were we were invited to participate by the teacher. It was a very nice experience to teach them how to improve and practice their English, while answering some personal questions, and showing with the Point it book where we came from or how things looked like back home. We took the opportunity to express our nice feelings towards their country and even apologized in the name of the tourist that do not respect their customs.

Next morning, next destination: Pakse, and more than 200 kilometers to conquer on board of a local bus, in which our bags were stacked on the roof next to motorcycles and household goods. Greedly enough we chose the chairs in the middle of the bus because they seemed to have a lot of leg space for Jonny, even when having huge bags of garlic cloves under our seats. In fact all the seats had bags of garlic under them so the bus and its passengers would be vampire proof for at least a week.

The more we drove the less space we had and the more people that were put on the bus. The space in front of us, between us and next to us, as well as every empty centimeter were filled with plastic chairs in which locals sat very uncomfortable sometimes sharing one but without complaining. Just when you thought no one could fit anymore five people got on the bus, one of which was carrying two chickens.

At one of the multiple stops many street vendors filled the few remaining spaces and offered the travelers all sorts of products: fired (not fried)chicken, boiled eggs, fried crickets, steamed corn, sticky rice, among others.

But even the warmth and the long 5 hours journey, and how horrible this bus ride might sound, we must confess that we really enjoyed it and like the locals we took it easy. Here we also meet a young Laotian that spoke very good English and who saved us from taking an unnecessary tuk tuk when we arrived in the city.

After a short walk downtown we found a good hotel, and met Aisha, a young Korean girl, that became a fun companion during this part of the trip. Pakse welcomed us with some rain, that felt like a refreshing pause to the intense heat we have been experiencing.

We tried to hire a motorbike to visit the nice surroundinngs but our lack of experience gave us an unsafe feeling, so we decided not to rent one and establish our own travel agency.... the goal was to visit Wat Pho Champasak, the only Khmer ruins located outside Cambodia. But without a motorbike the only option to reach the place was by a tour company, or by tuk tuk. The first option was quiet expensive, and the second was good only if we could find 4 more people to go with us.

With Aisha as our secretary and Jonny as the Manager and Publicist we started our visits to the bars and guesthouses in Pakse in search for more victims. We also negotiated prices with Tuk Tuk drivers and ended up having a cheaper deal, but we were only four people. The morning of our trip we talked with a French guy, who ended up joining us with a Swiss lady, and just before we left a German couple that we tried to persuade the day before also showed up... Halleluyah an international group and a great deal for everyone.

The way to the temple complex was lots of fun, nice scenery, warm breeze and a fun group of people. Together we crossed the Mekong by ferry.

The scenery was stunning, the climbing up the hill was rewarding, and nice under the shy shadow of many Frangipani threes.

On top of the hill we were able to appreciate the ruins and the nice details carved in the stones, as well as the great view over the Champasak valley.

To close our visit to Pakse we sat down next to the Mekong and were able to enjoy our very first nice sunset.... filled with energy and nice experiences we went back to the hotel and packed for our last Lao destination: Si Pan Don or the four thousand islands.

This archipelago of small islands is the top destination in Laos, a rewarding trip, for its natural beauty and for being home to the rare and shy Irrawadi dolphins.

From the many islands we chosed Don Khon, were the lack of constant electricity (only available from 6 till 11 pm) keeps the masses away and contributes to the quietness. Pan's guesthouse is our home in paradise, and for only 13 USD we got just what we needed: a spotless river view bungalow with a comfortable bed decorated with a mosquito net which gave it a romantic touch and a lovely hammock veranda, surrounded by palm threes and playful children.

A walk over the dirt pathways brought us to a group of water buffalos chilling out in a puddle whilst their backs were being cleaned by herons. The next day we rented bikes and after being completely shaken by the everything but smooth paths we reached the stunning river beach. There we walked over huge boulders and melted under the midday sun.

Later on we reached the most amazing place, the magnificent and gigantic Tat Somphamit waterfalls... no words can describe this place, it was simply unbelievable. We tough they were going to be a small place to swim, but there we were like little ants next to an elephant, contemplating the magnificence and the power of mother nature.

Later that day we rented a boat, together with a Dutch couple, to test our luck and see if we would be able to spot some dolphins in the distance which we did. We were able to see their backs come out of water and hear them breathing and meanwhile nature also gave us the chance to enjoy our beer Lao whilst seeing the sun going down over the rocks, while a group of birds was decorating the sky for us. Magnificent!

At the other side of the river we found Don Det, a bigger island with a different atmosphere, many backpackers, internet cafes and more movement, but there we found a pearl, the bakkery of an Australian guy serving delicious cakes and lemon juice, with a view over the river, refreshing, rewarding and a perfect way to regain all the calories lost during the walk in the sun

Our last night in Laos (snif) we visited a local festival, were we saw the Laotian way of parting, and a group of kids enjoying a man powered merry go round. Before packing we made a short walk in the darkness to the bridge that connects the islands and we sat there looking at the many stars, while taking our last picture in beautiful Lao.

There we think of our time here, and of the nice people we have come in contact with, Paul the Canadian guy married with a Cambodian woman, the Australian couple that inspired us to come here and to visit Vietnam, our friendly Korean friend and the German ex couple Lut and Mathias with whom we had the trip to Champasak, and the Dutch couple that shared the dolphins sunset experience.

But the locals are also wort to mention, the landlady in Luang Namtha, our trekking guides, the Akha people, and the ones we talked to during the long bus rides, all great people that helped us a lot with our understanding of the Lao culture and our pronunciation on the few words in Lao, for all of them a big Khawp jai.

It is now time to say good bye to the land of Frangipani trees, limestone mountains, emerald green waters, buffalos and wild pigs, farewell to the kingdom of resourceful and forgiving people, good bye to tasty fruits shakes, delicious beer lao and sticky rice.

With nostalgia and gratefulness we can say that Laos fulfilled and even exceeded all our expectations, from the countries in our itinerary this was the one we heard most adjectives about and they were not wrong. It is an absolutely magical place.

On the boat that will bring us to land and to the Cambodian border we can't help to wonder in fear how Laos will look in 10 years time from now. Hopefully development will still let the Laotians be the amazing people they are today.

Do's but especially don'ts

2009-03-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

The Nam Ou river was getting the first reflections of the sun over its waters, the fog was dissappearing while letting our senses prepare for one of the nicest experiences of our trip, a slow boat journey back to the Mekong and to our next stop Luang Prabang.

During the seven hours of the trip we were constantly astonished by the spectacular scenery. Through the emerald green waters and the huge limestone mountains, we were able to see local kids completly naked playing in the water while waving and smiling to us, fisherman working hard, women doing their laundry or just showering, homemade watermills for electricity, ...

The water buffalos and cows enriched the view together with the amazing contrast of the different shades of green from the surrounding mountains and vegetation. It was an extraordinary experience, not only because of the view but because of the circumstances.

The water level was not always high enough, so on two ocassions we had to step off the boat, the first time we had to take a tuk tuk to bring us further down river were the level was normal, and later on we also had to walk for some meters until the level was navigable again. Needless to say that the two stops were also good for our bums because sitting on a wooden chair for so long made our hams fall asleep.

At the end of the afternoon we reached the Mekong and arrived to Luang Prabang, we took our backpacks and climbed the steep stairs up the pier, said goodbye to the kiwi family and started our walk into town, while looking for a descent and cheap guesthouse.

This Unesco World Heritage city is very different from the Laos we have seen so far, houses with french facades fill the main street, while a nice bohemian athmosphere surrounds it, here backpackers and upper scale tourist come together to enjoy the temples, the night market, the food stalls or the cozy restaurants, where inflated prices is the language everyone talks.

Luang Prabang is located between two rivers and it's size allows us to discover it by foot. In short walking distance it is possible to see the many temples, the Royal Palace and to visit the famous Phu Si, located on a hill and surrounded by magnolia trees. From here it is possible to have a nice view from the city and when the clouds allow it, it is possible to enjoy a nice sunset, but sadly enough that was not our case.

The heat is so overwelming that at lunch time we have to stop because it is impossible to walk around under the intense sun, so either we go back to our guesthouse to have a little siesta or recover from the sweating by having an ice cream while standing rigth in front of a fan for more than an hour.

At nigth the main street is closed to traffic to give space to the hundreds of stands from the local vendors, selling all the same kind of scarfs, t-shirts, souvenirs, jewlery and clothes. Also the food stalls appear, and from them the most interesting was the yummy and cheap vegetarian buffet with local vegetables and rice.

We finished our day with a cold and refreshing Beer Lao, and then back to our room for a nice nigth sleep even on the hard rock bed.... zzzzzz but the peace didn't last long, the late arrival of four backpackers that were not only stinky but also very noisy, made our nigth become very tiring. Anyway we learned our lesson and the next nigth, before going to sleep, we used our ear plugs and were able to keep their noise in the distance.

In the morning it is always a pleasure to shop for food, thanks to the French rule, the breakfast in Lao always include warm and crunchy baguettes, filled with Vache qui rit (cream cheese), veggies or omelette, and thanks to the abundancy of tropical fruits the delicious shakes are the perfect combination for a flavourful and cheap meal.

But being a famous tourist attraction also has its downside: it inflates the prices amazingly and simple things like taking a boat to the other side of the river can be a frustrating experience. After negotiating with a fisherman we were able to cross the Mekong for 5.000 kip to visit a circuit of temples, from which we liked Wat Tham Xieng Maen the most, it was a deep and narrow cave in which many destroyed Buddha statues have found a last place to rest. The way back was again a struggle to get a boat, they wanted us to pay 30.000 kip this time, so we waited until a boat for local people was leaving letting us pay the normal price and not the falang one.

The giving of alms (monks collecting food early in the morning) has become such a tourist attraction, that even our noisy neigbours got up early for it. The tourist observance of this practice means that many travellers just see it as a spectacle, so they take close ups of the monks, get in their way, make noise and so on, so this whole experience ends up being an insult to this tradition that the Laotians value a lot.

The next day we were offered to be brougth to the Tat Kuang Si waterfalls, for half the prize, so we took the offer and left 32 kms south of the city. After a nice ride we arrived to this amazing place, where we discovered the most beautiful spot so far. Here we were able to see and enjoy the multi level turqoise blue and refreshingly cold waters. There are no words to describe the beauty of this place, so just enjoy one of the many pictures we took.

To finish our trip here we took a motorbike with a carriage next to it.... cool way of transportation. On it we arrived at the bus station and waited for the bus to Vang Vieng. During our long trip, 8 hours for 220 kilometers we are able to see again the real Lao.

There is no such thing as numbered seats in Laos but as the couple that said they had our seats insisted on them we moved a couple of rows backs. Then a whale of a young lady that found it appropiate to scream at the guy stacking the luggage and demanding him to take everything out and restack properly came to the row where we were sitting also demanding her seat.

Little did she know that we were on edge and that her remarks resulted in an avalanche of arguments from us that made her crawl under the rock she just wobbled out off and she quietly sat on an available seat at the back.
It's going to be a loooong ride we thought and we were right.

It took us 8 hours to ride the 220 km to Vang Vieng. It was an even longer ride for the local woman close to us that vomitted nearly all the way. Locals are not that use to go up and down a winding road.
The route 13 we were following had in the past been a dangerous road so one of the buspersonnel carried a loaded AK-47 which to us seemed more dangerous as this would imply a firefight but we planned to use the woman from earlier as a shield as we both would be protected by her figure. As you can tell we have no sympathy to people who show no respect for the beautiful peoples of Laos.

After being in heavenly Laos for some time has given us a better understanding of the Lao culture, it is wort to mention that they are forgiving, extremly friendly, laid back, and very supersticious people and even though they are Buddhist they are also animist and believe in spirits and ghost, this is the reason why they have small houses for the spirits and offer food and drinks to their ancestors as a sign of respect and rememberance.

Laotians are also a very conservative, where the appearance is very important and where locals always dress neatly, women cover their shoulders and legs, men never go shirtless, and the concept of beauty is not related to a cleavage or a small outfit. Actually the more covered the prettiest, and the whiter a person looks the nicest and distinguished they are.

This however is in big contrast to what we were about to encounter in Vang Vieng. Once a sleepy town, today the party paradise for drunken or stoned westerners, just another student street like in any other country where people run around without shirts, without caring or respecting the local culture, behaving in a way that they even wouldn't at home and abuse the language of Shakespeare who would die on the spot if he would hear their foul mouths. We thought that there was a grammatical limit for using the word "fucking" in a sentence but actually it can be used infinetly it seems.

If you want to see what NOT TO DO (click here) in Laos DO come to Vang Vieng and learn from the mistakes of others, and please do not repeat them, it just contributes to the bad image the Laotians have of us the travellers. As usual a couple of idiots ruines it for everyone.

It is a shame that such a beautiful place, located between limestones and cristal blue waters be converted by hunderds of irresponsible travellers into a party town and we fear that other places in Laos will fall into this trap.
The streets are filled with western food restaurants and video bars showing old episodes of Friends, or Family guy, which was amusing, but that absorb you from the beautiful surroundings (not the girls running arround in their bikinis but the nature). You can almost here the people fade away into oblivion as they stare as mindless drunk zombies at the screens.

But you will ask yourself why did we stop there if we knew it was like that? Well we wanted to break the long journey from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, we wanted to see the caves and the blue lagoon but also it was our destiny to sleep for two nigths in the most confortable bed...... so white, so puffy, so soft, that just sleeping there was a reason enough for being thankful.

After a nice and well deserved nigth sleep and a powerful breakfast we walked for 2 hours under the strong sun and over the dusty dirt road, where every tree that gave shade became our water stop.
After two hours we reached our destination: the Tham Phu Kham caves, and what was more amazing, the blue lagoon. After a refreshing plunge in the cold and clean water, we climbed the rocks and arrived at the cave, where a reclining Buddha welcomed the visitors. The more we walked into the cave the darker and the narrower it became, so much that at a certain point it was neccesary to bend over to continue, so Angela decided to wait outside while Jonny used his adventurous spirit to discover it and I was left alone as like Celine Dion will sing AAAAAALL BYYYYYY MYYYYYY SEEEEEEEELF!

Eventually Jonny came back from the center of the earth and we were not really looking forward to 2 hours walking back but as always there is a lifeline and that came in the form of a big pick up that was just about to leave. We asked if we could hop in the back and just 20 minutes later we were back in town. Free and fast, ALRIGHT!

On the next episode of the Vancirez' travels :
Cycling in the furnace of Vientiane, demining a garden, teaching some english to young punks, haggling to the death to visit a temple and petting a fluffy bunny rabbit.

"Off" the beaten track

2009-03-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the only landlocked country from South East Asia, the most bombarded one by the US (we'll talk more about this on our next blog) and the one with the most relaxed lifestyle from Asia.

The normal backpaper route is after you cross the murky Mekong in the north of Thailand, you take the boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang but as you could tell from the video in our previous blog we are not that normal so we decided to discover the north and build our route to the south, our first stop: Luang Nam Tha.

It's amazing that by just crossing a river and a border that the people and the pace of life completly change. On board of a local bus, our 5 hours ride went by smoothly, but slow, very slow, multiple toilet stops were to blame, because whenever a passenger was in need a scream to the driver was enough to stop immediately. It is also worth to mention that because of the not so good state of the roads, some trips take a lot longer specially in this mountainous part of the country.

Around lunch time we arrive at Luang Nam Tha, a small town (one road with some side roads) that is good start for trekking trips and hilltribe visits. After walking around under the strong afternoon sun we were able to find a very nice, clean and cheap place, the Bounthavong Guesthouse, were we tried to communicate with the owner using our first words in Lao, but our horrible intonation and falang pronounciation made our goal impossible to achieve.

At night we visited the small night market were we ate delicious and spicy local specialties, together with a cold Beer Lao and had the pleasure to have a good chocolate pancake to put a bit of sweetness to our exhausting traveling day.

On our second day we rented mountain bikes to discover the surroundings of the place. We biked around dirt roads, and trough rice fields, we visited the That Phum Pluk, a stupa located on the top of a hill, that had been bombarded by the Americans on three different occasions. On the way back Jonny raced his bike with a group of school girls and had the prize of many smiles for winning the informal contest.

The nigth arrived and with it the temperature dropped remarkably, it is very strange how drastic the change from day to night is but for us this was a blessing, we just had to wear long pants and a fleece, and when going to bed we were happy because it was always a good temperature to have a good night sleep, even on a very hard mattress that would be the rule rather than the exception. Imagine concrete covered with a blanket.

We wanted to do a trekking and a visit to a hill tribe, and after reading some brochures and hearing the absurd prices of other companies we decided to book a two day trek with Into the wild a smaller trekking operator offering a good price package.

The journey started very early, we met our guide and also our trekking companions, Douglas, Marisa, and Ashia a family from New Zealand. Before starting our trekking experience we visited the morning market, were we saw all types of fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and fish being sold, and also had a taste of the local version of smoutebollekes (fried donut) filed with delicious peanuts.

After a short and cold drive on the back of a songthaew, we arrived at the starting point of our trek around the Nam Ha national protected area. We walked through green paths filled with bamboo trees and nice vegetation, we heard the birds singing and even some monkeys in the distance. Every once in a while our guide showed us different plants and talked about it's medicinal properties.

Around 12 we stopped for lunch, a delicious Lao style pic nic, were banana leaves were used as a placemats and dishes. A tasty menu composed by sticky rice, green beans, spicy meat and salad were the fuel we needed for the rest of the journey. Needless to say that making balls with the rice and eating with our hands just added more pleasure to the lunch break.

The trek continued and not so long after our break we were able to see in the distance the village, our sleeping place for the night. Around 4pm we arrived to the Akha village where 467 people live. Our arrival made all the kids come out of their houses and greet us with a smile and the sweet 'Sabaidiii abuma' (hello, how are you) coming out of their mouths.

From the top of the hill, were our shelter was located, we walked through the village, but the sweat and the dust were making us crave for a shower, and what better way to do it than the local way. Nowadays the village has a pipeline that brings water, but before they had to go to the river to have water for showering and cooking.

So we went to the communal shower and enjoyed a cold and refreshing experience. For the locals this was also great, many of them were looking and laughing at our clumsy way of doing it. Of course nudity is forbidden so the guys had to shower in their underwear and the girls had to wear a sarong to cover their bodies. The funniest part was seeing the laughter of an old lady while she was looking how Jonny was drying Angela's back after the public shower.

As the sun went down our dinner was served and once again the sticky rice, tasty meat and vegetables appeared. Candles were turned on, and there we were in the middle of the Lao mountains, having a candle light dinner and enjoying the stories of our guide and the chief of the tribe. As no social gathering is complete in this country without the presence of the mighty Lao Lao, the strong but delicious rice whiskey appeared on our table and delighted the guys palate, specially Jonny who was very enthusiastic about it.

Before bed time some Akha girls came to our shelter to give us a traditional massage but also the rest of the tribe youngsters came along and had fun looking at the girls squeezing the falang. After the massage the youngsters stayed around, while a illuminated transistor was playing the Lao hit of the moment. The lack of communication skills made us use the Point it dictionary (thanks Tina and Anton for the tip) which ended up being a great way to socialize and show maps from were we came from, and different images. Jonny's leatherman and our headlights were also a success and objects of amusement that night.

At 4.30 the next morning every single rooster from the village decided to simultaneously crow , and our last day in the tribe started, we saw the kids coming to school, saw them singing the national anthem, and also their teacher checking for their nails to be clean.

After breakfast (again with Lao Lao), and a small walk in the village it was time to leave the Akha village, once again the children came out to greet us and give us beautiful smiles. We really liked this experience because it gave us the opportunity to visit a tribe, while doing low impact tourism, meaning that our visit was intended to show us the life in a hill tribe village and support their local projects without imposing development.

Back to the city also meant back on the road. So early the next day, and together with our Kiwi family we left to Nong Khiaw. A tiny town located on th shores of the Nam Ou river, that had the most amazing sights we've seen so far.

The magical sigth of huge limestone mountains, surrounded by cristal clear waters, that our eyes couldn't believe, made us feel very lucky for being here. A basic bungalow just in front of the river (but behind some bamboo trees) was our home for two nights.

Here we woke up early and saw the fog eating the mountains, we walked around, close to the amazingly green rice paddies and smiling Laotians. Some kilometers outside the town we visited some caves, that during the war were used by the locals as shelters, hospitals and banks.

In Laos the lack of coastal areas is compensated by its beautiful rivers, the sandy banks can work as beaches and as playgrounds in the warm afternoons. So after a walk around the town and the lack of possibilities to rent a kayak we went to the white sand to catch some sun, while hearing the laughter of many kids playing in the water.

The sun set and we both had a craving for potatoes and the coincidence was once again to coincidental and we found an indian restaurant that not only had delicious potatoedishes but also creamy Mango Lassi and where Angela finished (in tears) the book that Alton gave her: A thousand splendid suns.

To change a bit the routine of traveling, we went to Le Cinema, a small house with many rooms, where people could choose from their movie collection and have their private movie, the chosen one was the Whale Rider about a young New Zealand girl coming of age.

Once again it was time to leave and to cross our fingers hoping there would be enough people to take the slow boat to our next destination, the famous Luang Prabang, but according to the guides, the boats did not leave every day but sure enough today it did.

We treated ourselves to a very nice breakfast, served at a cozy cafe run by European travelers, where we had a crunchy bagel with cream cheese, it was heavenly and a very good way to say goodbye to this magical place and continue our journey to Luang Prabang, former capital of Laos with old french colonial houses.

Ain't no mountain high enough...

2009-03-03T04:12:00.000-08:00

A friend of ours told us that when a guidebook says there's nothing to see in a certain town usually there are many things to discover, and he was damn right. According to the lonely planet Chiang Rai is a gateway more than a touristic attraction so our plan was to just stay one night but plans change especially doing a trip like this.

After visiting a not so clean guest house we decided to walk some more and look for something a bit better and our intuition was not wrong because we found a hidden gem the Baan Bua Guest house, a lovely and dangerous place to stay. Lovely because of the clean and spacious room, the beautiful garden, the extremely friendly owner and Kees an experienced Dutch guest and dangerous because you want to stay there forever!

A discovering nigthwalk in the city brougth us to Cabagges and Condoms, a restaurant serving excellent food, the name of the place is related to it's purpose: make condoms available for everyone as easy as they can get cabbages. After a tasty dinner we went to see the clock tower, at the center of Chiang Rai, an impresive golden tower where every nigth a show of ligths and music stops the traffic arround it for 7 minutes.

Our Dutch guru recommended us to visit the unkown (by the lonely planet) White Temple, so we rented a basic bike to get there. The 15 kilometers distance were a unique biking experience, because we were doing it on the highway, something impossible to do in Belgium, and we even drove against traffic without having someone beeping or giving us the bad look. For some footage please click here

The Wat Phra Kaew was a big surprise to us, not only because of its colour but also because of it's amazing beauty and modern feel, built by the same architect that designed the clock tower. The white structure was decorated with tiny mirrors that sparkled whenever the sun light reflected on it. Around it immaculate ponds with white fishes swimming in it were the welcoming greeting for the few visitors.

The closer we got to the structure, the more we were able to appreciate the strange and in some cases creepy details, like some hands carrying skulls, the images of two naked dwarfs at the beginning of the bridge and a very strange and contrasting inside.

Like most of the temples, the main wall had a beautiful painting representing Buddha, and a fake wax monk. Everything seemed normal until we turned round and gazed at he the back wall. Just above the door there was a mural, that had a representation of hell. As modern as was the temple's design were the contents of the wall painting which had many figures representing our present, the twin towers on fire, the fight for fuel, GSMs, the matrix, star wars and so on, but what was most striking was that the central monster had in his eyes the reflection of Bush and Bin Laden.... weird!

After visiting heaven and hell we decided to keep on biking to our not so far (we thought) destination, the Khun Kon waterfall, located only (!!!) 19 kilometers away from were we were. Of course we thought that the way would be as easy as the first 15 kilometers, were we drove on a very easy way surrounded by rice fields and flat surfaces. But no no no as with many things the closer you get to your goal the harder it gets and this ride was no exception. Our way got tougher and tougher but indeed waterfalls are on mountains so for obvious reasons our way became steeper and steeper. The lack of gears on our city bikes, together with the heat turned our smooth bike ride into an alpine leg of the Tour de France.

Just one kilometer before arriving we had to get off the bikes and start walking, and the moment we reached the entrance Angela just laid on the grass completely exhausted, but the waterfall was still 1.5 kilometer away.... aaaaaahhhhhhhhh we had to keep on walking. What we saw there washed away the tiredness.

The view spectacular, a very powerful waterfall 70 meters height, with a very strong wind and an army of hungry mosquitos. After a nice rest it was time to get back and as everything that goes up has to come down and so we also did on our little bikes..... what took us 3 hours to get to became 1 hour and 40 minutes thanks to the steep downhill, needless to say that it was lots of fun, and perfect timing because we got back just before sunset.

According to our calculations the total kilometers of that day were 70, not bad considering we're supposed to be on holiday huh? We needed a well deserved treat after all the effort: a nice and relaxing foot massage of one hour, and a chocolate rotti, heavenly!

It was time to move on and we took a small bus that brought us to the even smaller town of Chiang Khong, were we stayed at what at first looked like a normal place the Baanrimtaling guesthouse but once we entered saw that it had a stunning view over the Mekong (the 12th biggest river in the world), so there we were having a cold Chang beer and enjoying the view of the river and the first sights of Laos.

The room we had included a huge balcony (no we did not paid a fortune), and because of that we were able to sleep with the doors open, and like that we saw the first lights of the day and the foggy morning.

After a huge and delicious Thai breakfast we left for the border, got a stamp on our passport and took a small boat. By crossing the Mekong we were leaving behind the refreshing 7 eleven shops, the posters with images of King Bumibol, and the Thai Baht.

On this side of the shore the greeting sawadee changed to sabaidee, the kip notes appeared in our wallet and the shy but extremely friendly Laotians were waiting for us... but for stories about this truly amazing country you will have to wait for our next post

Sabaai dee

Temples, elephants and.... fried worms

2009-02-26T07:19:00.000-08:00

A new month started and also another chapter in our story... time to leave and explore the north of Thailand. On a sunday evening we said goodbye to Bangkok from a second class train, while 700 kilometers were in between us and Chiang Mai, the northern capital of the country.

Our minds made us believe that a cheaper second class seater instead of a second class sleeper would be comfortable enough for our 12 hours journey. The strategic position of our seats (right behind the driver, and over a noisy railtrack) kept us awake for more than half of the trip, while we had to share the space with friendly cockroaches that were on their way to visit some northern relatives.

Despite the long and not so comfortable trip, Chiang Mai welcomed us with sunny but cooler weather 29C, a nice scenery, tasty curries and the possibility to experience the city's most important Flower Festival.

Two kilometers away from the train station and many offers from tuk tuk drivers later we found a hidden gem: the Taphae Garden Guesthouse. A lovely, comfortable and clean place, that also offered free internet....YUPIIIII. Needless to say that it also felt good to have a well deserved nap in such a nice bed with in a more forgiving temperature.

Chiang Mai won our affection very early, with it's magnificent old city, defined by some medieval style walls and moats, built 700 years ago to protect the city against the Burmese. Nancy Chandler and her map helped us again to discover the charm of the city's night bazar with its great foot massages, for magnificent views of temples, of course we only say few because Chaing Mai has more than 300 of them and excellent tips for great restaurants.

There were two events that we would like to highligth:

During our visit Angela was able to follow a short retreat with an overnight stay at Wat sun dok and learn a bit more about Theravada Buddhism and Thai culture while experiencing some basic meditation techniques. During a whole day she had to keep silent, dress in white clothes, chant with the monks and try to keep the distracting monkey in her tougths a bit more controlled

The next day we went to visit the Elephant Nature Park, the best spent 5.000 baht (around 100 euros). At this idyllic place we had the nicest experience of the trip so far and it was so special that it deserves a blog of its own that will be posted soon.

On the way to the center -located 45 kilometers outside the city- we were able to learn more about elephants and their environment, and about Lek and her work to save them. We heard their scary stories, and how they were saved by the independantly funded organization from a painfull life of begging in the streets, entertaining tourists with paintings and trekkings.

At our arrival we got some safety instructions from our perfectly english speaking guide, and the moment that we were all waiting for arrived: meeting the friendly grey giants. There they were, waiting almost in line, with their trunks on a wooden platform greeting the tourist and waiting patiently to receive their morning snack made of pineaples, bananas, sweet corn and cucumbers

Being able to feed, caress and be so close to them was unbelievable, seeing them moving their huge ears, and tiny tales while their trunks were almost stealing the food from the baskets was great. But the fun didn't end there, part of the day was bathing them in the river close by, we had to wait for the Mahoeds (keepers) to bring them to the water, and once they were there we could just get in the water, use a bucket and a brush to give them a refreshing moment... we both felt like little kids, got in the water and had lots of fun and took more than 600 pictures to not forget about it.

We also saw their enormous power and family bonds when the baby elephant got spooked and his mom and aunties stormed to the rescue and formed a protective circle around her, trumpeting to frighten away the potential danger and touching her with their trunks to reassure and calm her. It was amazing to see this in action and it helped cause the baby later gave all of us a big kiss MMMMWAH.

We could go on an on about this day but for now we will just end with some facts about our giant heroes:

Did you know...

that their paws are so soft that you can even place an egg underneath them and it wouldn't break.

that in 1900 there were 100.000 Asian elephants in Thailand, in 1990 only 25.000 remained and now the figure only counts 5.000 half of which are wild
that an elephant pregnancy lasts 22 months?

that most of the elephant that take part in the tourist attractions like trekking, painting, playing football or music are severely mistreated by their trainers

that White elephants are considered sacred and are exclusively owned by the Thai Royalty
that in the reincarnation belief, elephants are the closest animals to the human beings, and that Buddha reincarnated many times as a White elephant, before he achieved enlightenment?

Moving on with our time in Chiang Mai we really enjoyed having noodle soup with fish for breakfast at the Waroro market, while the locals were trying to explain us the correct way of using chopsticks, we also tried some typical sweets that were packed in banana leave. Of course it was hard to figure out what they tasted like or what were they made from (we think rice) but they tasted good.

As the flower festival was taking place, we went to see an impresssive exhibition of different flowers including orchids, bromelias, roses and bonsais, we are sure that Polo and Stan would go crazy taking pictures and enjoying all of them.

The festival also included a parade, a beauty contest and a huge offer of food stalls and all sorts of delicious food.

Our curiosity went beyond Angela's promisses and in one of the stalls we decided to try some of the local delicacies: fried worms... yum yum eventhough it felt weird to eat tiny insects we felt that they tasted like french fries.

The city also had a beautiful park, with a nice pond, many children playing and lots of locals just taking it easy on their afternoon break, we sat there, even had a nap and enjoyed the calmness of nature, and the huge ammounts of flying rats also known as pigeons.

We could not leave from the rose of the north without visiting Doi Suthep, one of the most sacred temples of the north, located on a hill outside the city, and to which you ascend by dragon shaped stairs. Being on the hill we also visited the blossoming Phuping Palace, the winter residence of the Thai royalty, made out of nice constructions surrounded by unbelievable gardens, singing birds, a giant bamboo and a dancing water fountain that seemed to be surreal, of course we all think they only exist in fairytales.

On the way back from there we took a songthaew (pick up with benches) were we met two Thai teachers, who were very curious about our countries and how much were the falang prizes for transportation (of course very inflated compared to the local ones). They also helped us with our thai vocabulary and even served as healing souls by offering us some tiger balm to cure the mao mao (dizzyness) from Angela. Our falang names sounded like jokes to them, and made them laugh a lot by trying to repeat them.

Instead of going to Pai as everyone one else was doing, we decided to get closer to the border with Laos and headed to Chiang Rai. You will hear more of this charming place on our next blog.

Sawaa Dee!

City of angels and tuk tuk

2009-02-09T03:24:00.001-08:00

After a smooth but warm bus ride from Ko Chang, we were in the amazing and busy capital of Thailand, our personal guide Nancy Chandler and her awesome detailed map helped us to discover the city and reduced our chances of being cheated by insistent tuk tuk drivers or visiting only what is mentioned on the guidebooks.

Known by the locals as Krung Thep, Bangkok is the city of skyscrapers, car congestions, scooters, 6 million people and the home of the beloved King Buhmibol Aduladej or Rama IX, who has been on the trone since 1946.

After an eternal traffic jam on board of a local bus we arrived to the Bangalumpu area, a very popular place for guesthouses and cheap hotels. We found a good place the Roof Garden Guesthouse and payed almost half of what we ended up paying in our first hotel in Ko Chang.

Once again we were at the right time and place, because the day of our arrival (february 26^th) the Chinese community was celebrating their new year, and we joined them in the middle of China Town. Surprisingly enough we were the only westerners there, no idea why, but we had the chance to see a part of Chinese traditions while being here.

This huge metropolis is a very organized and clean place, no matter the pollution and the traffic, it is a green city with trees in every street offering much needed shadow. It also has multiple solutions for transportation (boats, skytrain, metro, buses, tuk tuks, taxis...)

Our favorite one were the boats, there are two types: the long tailed ones that go in the small city channels, or the bigger ones that go on the river Mae Nam Chao Phraya.

The experience on the long tailed boats going through the channels is great. Most of the locals use it as transportation between certain areas of the city. Some guys dressed in blue and wearing a helmet are in charge of collecting the money for the trip (around 0,20 euro) and are also responsible for putting the roof a bit down when the boat will goes under a lower bridge. Using an ingenious way, people on board can keep dry by pulling some strings that bring up a plastic cover located on both sides of the boat.

It seemed to us that not so many foreigners walk the streets of Bangkok, but for us it has been a great way to discover, and see the busiest and craziest intersection from Bangkok, and of course a good way to learn how to cross the streets in between the motorcycles, tuk tuks and millions of cars, without getting run over :)

Anyway, taking the boats, the skytrain or walking we have seen the most impressive constructions, with shiny temples that are the home of different images of Buddha, illustrating a different moments in His life.

The most remarkable of them is the huge reclining Buddha located in Wat Pho, also we have seen Buddhas in different sizes and materials like gold or green jade.

We were also invited to visit the Grand Palace (after paying 350 baht :), former home of the King and his court, as well as Wat Phra Keow (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) which is one of Thailand's most sacred sites.

The next day we visited The Vimanmek Mansion, the world's largest teakwood building, also a former house for the royal family, that now is a museum.

It is a beautiful and well preserved house, surrounded by great gardens, and decorated in a very nice way, so nicely done that it even has a huge wooden mirror imported from Belgium as part of their furniture.

After a busy day we headed to a calmer place. Like an oasis in the middle of the dessert, the people from Bangkok have the Lumphini Park, named like that after the city were Buddha was born. It is a green lung for the city and its inhabitants, where people can join free aerobics, thai chi or run some laps around the small lake and a surprisingly high number of people do so including many elderly.

To finish our visit to the capital, we decided to have the experience of visiting China Town during the day... There we were, in between a sea of Chinese we walked or better said went with the current around the different shops, were ANYTHING could be bougth for incredible prices. After a not so long wait outside a Chinese restaurant, the priority of entrance was given to us, and there without knowing what were we ordering we had a lovely lunch, surrounded by Chinese families having their sunday lunch.

Bangkok is a city of contrast, of senses, where in every corner there is something different being cooked: noodles, fried rice, waffles, sushi, fried fish or squid, sausages... just to mention some. Here there are 7 11 shops on every corner, which tend to be very convenient when the heat of the day makes us have the urge to feel a bit 'freshy' with their AirCo. But this city also has sad things like baby elephants standing in the middle of traffic, begging on the streets to get some bananas and many bahts for their owners.

It is great to go around and receive smiles the only reason for this being that you walk to wars each other, it is amazing to see lots of Kathoeys (a.k.a lady boys) looking prettier than some of the thai girls, saying no to very persistent tuk tuk drivers, but it all makes part of the fun of being here.
It is great and surprising to know that you are not allowed to smoke in recreational areas, including parks also meaning the zoo.

The Thais have many questions for the Falang (a.k.a foreigner) and they all start with the common 'Where you come from?', 'First time in Thailand?', 'How long you staying here?' etc. Also it is very common to hear from a nicely dressed gentleman that the temple or the place we intend to visit is closed for the day but they know of another nice place.... of course being a trick to bring tourist around, charging them more or bringing them to a special shop to buy gems, silk or souvenirs.

Shopping is a big thing here and there are huge shopping centers full of clothes and accessories. We are sure that many of our female friends (specially the Colombian ones) will go nuts with the huge offer and the cheap prices. But as shopping is not a gender thing, there is also an immense IT shopping center, (specially for Alton) were we could not resist the tempation and helped the local economy by buying a mini PC, specially to be able to write all our stories to you, our beloved readers (no no no is not an excuse ;)

Contrary to our first destination, here things are half the price or sometimes cheaper, here we were able to taste the local food, by eating from the street vendors and paying 3 times less that in a restaurant. We are happy to say that the time in Bangkok has been good for our daily budget but specially for our bellies, they have had the most pleasure by eating Pad thai, sushi from the streets, omelet with rice for breakfast, or drinking an orangy like Thai tea with condensed milk, while tasting some spicy pork and meat with rice, lots of rice.

Remarkable things on our week in Bangkok:

Being checked by a couple of policemen in search of drugs or illegal items, while Angela was reafirming that we did not smoke anything, “no cigarettes or anything else” she said.

Jonny getting overwhelmed by the amount of young tourists on the chaothic, noisy and crowded Khao San road (Meir / San Victorino on saturday x 10 and this every day), were everyone was just getting on is nerves.

Knowing when Thais are talking about us when we hear the word 'Falang'.

Seeing a stunning sunset from the left bank from the river, while drinking a nice cocktail while looking directly at Wat Arun: the Temple of Dawn (Sorry Tio German we must admit that sometimes we are Flashpackers).

Meeting Sarah and Xavier, a couple from around Ghent that are involved with cirQ vzw, that gave us great ideas and suggestions for our trip to Burma, and with whom we spent a very nice night chatting about everything. Was echt een tof koppel en ook een goede oefening voor mijn Nederlands ;)

For the people of Antwerp; here they already have a Lange Wapper but at least this one goes over a river.

Well, that is all for now. We are in the North of Thailand chilling and getting ready for our next destination Laos.

Sawadee....

Island of elephants

2009-01-28T07:31:00.000-08:00

'Ladies and gentleman, because of poor visibility conditions at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bankgok, we will have to direct our flight to Phuket', what an irony, the number one on the list of places not to visit in Asia and there we were...

Even tough we had to wait for almost 4 hours, the commodity of Etihad's plane (Boeing 777) , the excellent service from the crew and the upgrade we got from Connections, made our visit to Thailand’s largest island, a 'shorth' and pleasant, even the wait we can really say Ethiad rocks(also because of turbulence for half the journey)!!!!

Before midday we arrived to the modern and well organized airport in Bangkok, of course being a Colombian implied an extra procedure to be able to enter the golden land. A free shuttle took us to the bus terminal were we were just on time to catch our bus to Trat, the transferring spot before reaching our first destination, the island of Ko Chang.

The bus ride, of about 5 hours, was smooth and colorful, not only for the wats (temples) on the side of the road, spirit houses (located outside houses and businesses), palm and banana trees, but also the abundant thai and yellow buddist flags.

At our arrival in Trat the perfect timing was also on our side, and before sunset we were able to catch a taxi and a ferry to Ko Chang, the island of elephants. After a half an hour we were there, on our first destination in Beautiful Thailand.

A pickup car that serves as a Taxi took us to White Sand Beach, were we were supossed to find the hotel for our stay. The one we had in mind was packed, and the only room left too expensive, so we took another option, but on the second nigth we moved to apple's bungalows, a clean and comfortable place located some meters away from the beach.

The first two days were very relaxed ones, and with not so hot weather (26C). As we were still tired from the long journey and the hours difference (-6 GMT), we just hung around, at the beach and enjoying from being finally here, so far from home, and so close to paradise (ahum actually we are already in paradise).

Even tough Ko Chang has more restaurants serving western food than local one, we have been able to explore some Thai specialties like noodles, pad thai, fried rice, spicy papaya salad, red snapper on garlic sauce, tempura onion rings, banana pancakes (for breakfast) and heavenly banana roti. Fruits are all around and taste the way fruits should taste like, thats why instead of a coca cola or even wine we stick to fruit juices or a cold Chang beer.

The landscape is colorful, with mountains covered in tick green jungle, blue and turquoise waters, white sand beaches, and orange sunsets. Even though it looks a bit like Colombia, it has the charm of being the land of smiling friendly people. On the four days we have been here we have been able to visit the Klong Plu waterfall, and to go island hopping around Ko Chang.

The island hoping was part of a boat tour, that also had the purpose of letting us practice some snorkeling and see the amazing underwater world. Fishes of all colors, sizes and shapes swam next to us, and gave us an amazing experience. Jonny wanted to wrestle with sharks but they were just too afraid of his huge thorax so didn't dare come near.

There have been some remarkable moments on our first days: drinking a beer at the beach, while laying on comfortable cushions, hearing the waves and seeing the orange colored sun disappear on the horizon; promising each other everlasting love (well, you know) at the lighthouse in Bang Bao Bay; holding hands while snorkeling; feeding elephants (Jonny didn't feel like wrestling them)and many others that we will keep to our selves.

On the funny side we can say that every time that Angela orders food, it comes a lot later or has been forgotten by the waiters; meanwhile Jonny has lost the count on how many times he has bumped his head against doors, mangrove trees and more, as he might say midgets all around :), also the frustration from Angela's while trying to 'flush' a Thai toilet in the local way.

Not knowing the language can be a barrier to have contact with locals, but so far we are trying to learn some thai and for now we can say hello, thanks and delicious. We'll try to improve this with time.

Now we have spent a couple of days in hotter Bangkok (32C) and we really enjoy this amazing town. Keep you posted...

Now or never...

2009-01-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

A collective dismissal can be a catastrophe, but for Jonny and Me it is the opportunity to do what we enjoy the most: TRAVELLING.

Without a doubt we can really say that 2008 was an amazing year for us, a year to be grateful and to remember. Many plans were made, many dreams were in sight but a change of direction made things change but only for the better.

Jonny´s contract at the University of Leuven ended the 24th of december, and mine at WWL the 31st. We "bougth" two houses -and for a reason that we now understand and even celebrate- they were not for us. The plans for becoming parents also changed, so in our case: no job, no debt and no kids only leads to adventure.

Some migth think that we are a bit crazy (may be we are), but our approach to life and the way we decided to prioritize on what´s important for us helped us to take the decision of travelling to an exotic destination before becoming completly adults :) Our first tougths were in Africa and Oceania, but then Asia caugth our full attention.

After many conversations with close friends, and experienced world travellers, we decided to do a trip of four months and discover a new continent, another culture, different spices and another way of living life.

This is how we are finalizing all the arrangements for our great adventure, that will start the 21st of January at the International Airport of Brussels on board of a Ethiad Airways plane.

As the Lonely Planet recommends, we will be travelling with a ligth load phisically and mentally; our backpacks will only have the basics and will leave lots of space for keeping all the experiences and learnings we´ll have during this 4 months.

Our itinerary is not completly pre defined, but we plan to visit Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. The South East Asia on a Shoestring (lonely planet guide) will be one of our sources of information, the rest of the info will come from locals and fellow backpackers.

The first stop will be the airport of Abu Dhabi, were we will be in transit before arriving in Bangkok. Our first approach to the Asian Culture will happen in Ko Chang, the second biggest Island of Thailand, home of the National Marine Park, a natural resource containing 75% of untouched rainforest.

After Ko Chang we plan to head up north, and go with the flow and the information we can get fom our multiple sources: people, internet and some books.

Voila, that´s a little introduction, enjoy our stories as much as we will enjoy our trip!