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Published: January 28th 2007
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Nirvana
Reclining Buddha finds Enlightenment Hello there,
The first half of our South East Asia leg has been spent exploring the wonders of Northern Thailand and Laos.
It all began in Bangkok on the 2nd of January, where rather predictably we headed to the extremely popular travellers' centre of the Khao San Road, in the heart of old Bangkok city. It was all hustle and bustle, just as we had imagined, with tuk-tuk drivers trying to take you to places you really did not want to go, street vendors selling everything from wooden frogs to baggie "traveller trousers", pirate DVDs and photocopied Lonely Planets, and an unfortunately large number of sweaty old European men with Thai girls young enough to be their daughters hanging off their arms!
We enjoyed a top night out at the Muay Thai kicking boxing with ringside seats and took a boat trip through the enchanting canals of the old town; Bangkok was once known as the Venice of the East! We also got the opportunity to visit several of the country's most honoured and holy sites - the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, a stunning Buddhist temple where we saw a rather enormous reclining Buddha - it was
Bloody Nose
At the Muay Thai, warming up before the real fighting begins! whilst reclining that Buddha apparently found nirvana.
Next, we headed north to the wonderful moated city of Chiang Mai, where we attended a Thai cookery course. As the day unfolded and we prepared such delectable dishes as Chicken Red Curry and Chicken with Cashew Nuts, we enthused about all the dinner parties we would be having on our return to Blighty, brashly showing off all of our newly acquired culinary skills. Unfortunately, our last dish of the day, the ever popular Pad Thai, didn't turn out quite as planned for Mark. Cooked by his own fair hand, at about 3 am in the morning, Mark's Pad Thai took on a life of its own, gushing forth from every available orifice! We shall spare you the details, but suffice it to say that with food poisoning apparently part of the menu, that dinner party may not prove such a popular event after all, unless you insist on Sue cooking!
Whilst in Chiang Mai we also took a 3 day trek in the jungle, spending two rather chilly nights in local hill tribe villages. It was a really fulfilling experience, and also how we got to see the rather unusual
Long Neck
The most famous hill tribe looking Karen "Long Neck", so called for, well, their long necks!
But what of elephant riding we hear you cry?!? This was something we chose not to do after visiting a fantastic jungle sanctuary for rescued elephants. After seeing elephants doing natural elephant things, like rolling around in the mud and batheing in the river (which was something we were allowed to join in with) and learning about the terribly cruel methods used to break an elephant, in order that it may be employed in the tourist trade, we were convinced to make our own little boycott. But don't worry, we haven't gone all "environmental" - no signs of dreadlocks or henna tatoos. Not yet anyway!
But we are afraid to report that the dreaded traveller trousers have made it into our wardrobe - shame on us! The photo below shows us getting ready not for a martial arts class but rather a spot of meditation at an extremley chilled Buddhist Meditation Retreat! We didn't manage to find nirvana, but the traveller trousers did prove rather comfortable!
After Chiang Mai, we headed further north to the "Golden Triangle" (the border between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar/Burma), where we
Let's Meditate!
Can you spot us in this picture? You probaby can't appreciate the trousers from this picture, but that's probably a good thing!! crossed into Laos and took a slow boat for 2 days down the mighty Mekong River to the charming and Unesco World Heritage listed city of Luang Prabang. The boat ride provided us with some treasured snapshots of riverside life: kids splashing around doing backflips for our entertainment, men throwing fishing nets from tiny wooden boats and women panning for moss which strangely is something of a Laos delicacy!
Before flying out of Vientiane (the capital), we spent a few days in a little spot called Vang Vieng where we again took a jungle treking tour. This time we were surrounded by beautiful limestone mountains and got to have lunch in a little known (free from other tourists) beauty spot we will never forget known as Secret Eden. We had to climb up, over and down a mountain to get there but it was well worth the effort. The following day we kayaked down the Mekong where others were tubing - the really big thing in Vang Vieng - stopping off at one of the many riverside bars for a refreshing Beer Lao along the way. Our guide, whose western name was Porn Star, was a little on the
Mud Fight
Baby elephants having fun crazy side but his friendly and warm demeanour was typical of the people we have met here. Laos must be one of the poorest countries we have visited yet the people are possibly the friendliest. Porn Star proved his welcoming nature but inviting us to his village's harvest festival party. We really did not know what to expect but eagerly accepted the invitation. He was so kind as to invite us into his little bamboo home, provide us with a great spread of Laos food (which is really tasty by the way) and ply us with his home brew rice whisky known as Lao Lao - and this was all at 10.30 am! It was quite a party.
Well, that's all from us for now. Tomorrow we fly to Phnom Penh so in our next blog we'll tell you all about our travels in Cambodia and our subsequent destination, the beautiful islands of Southern Thailand.
Peace and Love!
Sue and Mark xx
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Mother
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Pushing the boat out
Well, you excelled this time - and Mark, of course you got food poisoning, I'm surprised you didn't get it again when you dined with Porn Star! All looks so exotic - wish I could see just a small part in real life, but this sharing is nearly as good.