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Published: November 16th 2010
Katie and I headed North boarding the local bus from Chiang Mai to Pai, we were warned of the windy road up and was told that the journey was pretty testing on the stomach. Stopping at a dodgy pit stop on the way was another Milo and Mento overload!
When arriving we knew we had a rough idea of where we wanted to stay, it was just a case of finding it. We fancied little straw huts and had read about a little place called river lodge that had just that. Pai it's self was so small you could walk round it in less than an hour, it had a 70's fibe, it was quite clear why it was classed as being part of the hippy trail. Mistakingly so, Katie and I asked an English girl if she had heard of River Lodge, she was so confident in her answer we took her directions happily. An hour later with 20 odd kg's on our backs in the mid afternoon heat we decided to stop walking into the wilderness and found a place to rest. We stubbled across a deserted complex, no one to be seen. We heard music in the
River lodge
My little river hutbushes so I went to check it out. There was a hotel next door with a pool. Katie and I were so hot and thirsty at this point anywhere would do. I stayed with the bags while Katie went to ask if they had any vaccancies, again no luck!
We were running out of patience cursing the stupid Farang ( Westerner in Thai) that gave us the wrong directions but even more annoyed that we had asked in the first place, never again! Katie had a chain and lock in her bag so we decided to chain our backpacks to the concrete post and went off in search for a place to stay. God knows what the owners would of thought if they were to come back to find two backpacks chained to their residents! on route we stubbled across a little shop where a lady was selling scarfs, we asked her where we could purchase some water and she directed us to a small tucked away hostel, little huts that were available to rent! We decided to have a look at one of the rooms but we really did have our hearts set on finding River Lodge so
we continued our mission. We paid the guy that had just showed us around his accomadation to drive us back to our bags that were thankfully still there and to then drop us off back where we started in town.
After 4 hours of fanying around I decided to use my new found confidence gained in Ko Lanta and went to hire some motorbikes. Wasnt sure how easy it was going to be riding with my backpack and a daypack but I didnt care, I was not walking so I dicided to do the balancing act. After looking at our maps and driving for about 5 minutes we found the River Lodge, if Katie and I had seen the wise lady with the directions at this point grrrrrr! however as soon as we drove down the cobbled lane off the main road and into the River Lodge everything about getting there was forgotten and it was all so worth it! there they were just what we imagined little huts along the river bank, one for each of us either side with our own balcony and parking space for our motorbikes. It was so quite and peaceful and the owner,
ow I forgotten his name, he was lovely, what a find. After collecting our feeble locks for our huts and signing in Katie and I were dying for a swim so we headed to the local pool.
Great chill out music and remembering the abience to this place, it was a lovely afternoon. We did have a little swim but felt a little uneasy because of the colour of the water and thinking back now it was really really green! haha Katie if you have any pic's of this pool send them to me lol. After a few hours we hopped back on our bikes headed back to our huts for showers and enjoyed a casual ride into town for dinner. We had a lovely walk round town before going back to enjoy the privacy of our own huts for the evening. I remember while reading my book on my floor matteress cocooned in by my mosquito net that I hoped I didnt have to go to the toliet that night, if so just me, my little touch and pure darkness!!
I awoke early enjoying the morning on my balcony rearranging my backpack and wash bag with it's
exploding shampoo! Water buffolo were walking the river and grazing on the bank just below my balcony, so cute with there little bells on! Katie and I had plans for our own day today, I went walking and enduldged in the laid back atmosphere of Pai and treated myself to a facial and pedicure while Katie enjoyed a spot of Yoga at the local pool. I met with her after for a scrummy juice and an hour of enjoyment, sitting around doing nothing.
We decided to take a drive on our bikes as we had heard of a waterfall we wanted to visit and even though Pai was a small valley we knew it was surrounded by pretty scenic hills. After a hot but joyful ride Katie and I realised that it wasnt actually a waterfall you could drive up to, we were faced with a hike, we would of done it if we had more time but we decided to head back as I was off to Thai cookery school that afternoon! I was very excited!
It was only me and two others in the class, the kitchen was placed in a beautiful garden setting ' The
Bike scenery
Great day for a ride Pai Cookery School'. I had a hole afternoon of learning authentic Thai cuisine!
I was taught how to make Red curry, chicken with holy basil leaves, stir fried sweet and sour pork, spicy prawn soup, Tomyam and Kao Niao Ma Muang! ( sweet sticky rice with mango). We visited the local market and was shown the local ingredients, this is where I tried rose apples, sala (looks like a long strewberry), Rambutan, long kong, mangosteen, jack fruit and many other Thai speciality fruits, I also tried fried crickets, interesting?! After the market I didnt have to go back to cookery school for another hour so I biked it back to river lodge and joined Katie, we chilled in our hammocks reading for a bit before I went back to the kitchen!
The rest of the afternoon was just as enjoyable and even though I still felt full after the market nibbles I was keen to taste my Thai cookery skills, amazing if I may say so myself! just enough chilli's to give my curry a good kick.
After cooking and tasting my sticky mango rice I could see why it was one of Katie's fav's so I brought
some home for her wrapped in palm leaves from the market. Perfect for an early rise breakfast as I knew we had an early start in the morning, off to Mae Hon Son further north and another windy and sicky bus ride with the locals!
The road consisted only of twists and turns all the way up and if it wasnt for the amazing scenery and the interesting locals that I was talking to to keep my mind off it I would of been sick. For the first part of the journey I was sitting next to a local man who was travelling north alone. He had dreamed of taking the bus to Mae Hon Son since he had visited 7 years prior, it just took him this long to save, the bus fee was only a few pounds can you believe, again another reality check. I was helping him with his English, he was very interested in hearing about my travels and I had many questions for him about the local culture. In the East I learned that Thai speciality and celebratory meat was black dog. They only chose to eat black dog and no other because they
Water Buffolo
Having a bath next to my hut at River Lodge believe it brings them good health and luck.
The weather changed as we drove further north, dark, wind and rain. From a sweaty smelly bus to a lovely cool soothing breeze, the bus was silent during these hours, taking in all the sights to be had, wow! looking down the mountinous cliff edge was endless beauty, it gives me goose bumps even now.That was before the boy was sick on Katies leg lol! When arriving at the town that seemed even smaller than Pai we found a reasonable room to stay in for the night. We wanted to visit here as I was keen to see a tribal village and where better than in the hills of northern Thailand, this was their territory.
After dumping our bags we wanted to find a place with internet access as Katie was thinking of returning sooner than I was as I was thinking of visiting the Lisu tribe for 5 days for some tribal detox! We found a place by the lake that was in the centre of town, I ordered a beer which is where we saw Dom. We had met Dom during our bus ride up, travelling for 3weeks
alone, he was from Manchester. After a few beers and some pleasent convo I headed back to the room to meet Katie. We met up with Dom a little later for some dinner and a few drinks. We also invited him to visit the Hill tribe with us in the morning.
The drive to the tribe took about an hour, they were in a small place called Myanmur, this really felt like the end of the road. It was very serial walking into their village, something you can not even imagine, it made the 3rd world look wealthy. Their appearance with their long rings round their necks and the detail to there tribal clothing was amazing. The tribal women were keen to dress me up and as soon as they placed the neck brace made out of gold rings round my neck I could not wait to take it off, it was so heavy, not sure how they wear them everyday, what girls do to have a long neck lol.
After a while I was ready to go even though I do not regret visiting I did not feel much happiness there, I could so see the saddness
behind their smiles. Dodging the chickens and hens that were free roaming and were sure to be their coming supper we made our way back to the jeep for the slow drive back to town.
Katie was heading back by bus with me as she could not book a flight back from Mae Hong Son and I had decided to head straight to Pai and not visit the Lisu tribe. Olivia was also meeting me in Pai so I was excited to meet up with her again. Back on the bus back down to Pai, ow how I love Pai! I was so happy to go back to the River lodge and reclaim my little hut by the river! Katie and I met Olivia and a lovely girl called Danni who she had met on the bus for some dinner and a few drinks.
The next day we all had our own things to do so we were planning to meet up later for some dinner before we said goodbye to Danni. The 3 of us were jumping on a bus to head to Laos, saying goodbye to Thailand. I had a lovely relaxing day, found a lovely
delightful cafe that had free internet, my fav Greek food and beer! I sat and caught up with some of my blog with a few breathers inbetween making time to chat with people on surrounding tables. This was when I met Manoj he was a spiritual traveller, had nothing on apart from shorts that looked like an old fashioned cotton nappy, his jesus creapers and his only possession was a flute. He guessed my star sign was Aries and confirmed I was the year of the monky. Monky meaning love and togetherness, Aries meaning freedom. I remember him saying that I need to learn to fly with both of my wings one being love and the other being freedom and only then will I get togetherness. He then started playing the flute, he explained that he was trying to call the rain. After sharing a few coffee with me and more random conversation he told me that their was a secret island that no traveller knew about that he visited in Thailand. He didnt tell me the name but I guessed haha!!! I found an island on the map of Thailand that when I tried to look up there was
nothing on it, I mean nothing. Like it did not exsist. I will visit it now knowing someone else has been, no electricity, no power, nothing but nature sounds like my sort of adventure! ow the randoms you meet haha.
After going back to my hut for a shower and a quick change I chucked my backpack on my back and walked to the pick up point where we were catching the overnight bus to the boarder. After dumping my bag I met Katie and Olivia for food. This was where some guy come up to me leant over the table and asked me if he could have use of my salt. Olivia and I were wetting ourselves, I have never seen a guy flirt like a girl before, it was so obvious and seductive! and he heard me taking the mickey out of him later on when I passed the restaurant, sorry mate lol.
Power cuts were occuring before our bus arrived so looked like we were leaving in the nick of time. I really could of stayed here a little longer as everywhere I travel through, ow how I love the world!
The night bus
was taking us to the border, lah gorn Thailand! Sabaai - dii Laos!
We drove into the night, I was not feeling to hot during this journey so when we stopped for a break I jumped in front with the driver! we arrived in Chang Kong, we stayed in a dodgy room for a few hours shut eye, Olivia do you remember the colourful bed sheets haha! We were called at 7am from the driver to continue our journey to and across the border. We stopped for breakfast where we purchased pilliows for our 2 day slow boat adventure down the Mekong, apparently we were going to need it! We had to get in a little boat to cross over, Thailand behind us, Laos in front, there was immergration to get through always a joy! Tuk Tuk to slow boat down the Mekong! had been reading about this part of my trip for so long and I was so happy to be sharing it with Katie and Olivia, my privelage girls!
We travelled by slow boat from Huay Xai to Pak Beng during our first leg of our two day Mekong experience. It took around 8 hours. An
Pai market
Sticky rice and mango!!!! so good hour into our trip the boat stopped at the bank of a local village where the village boys were trying to sell food and drink, apart from that there was no other life along the Mekong apart from nature it's self. Water buffolo's, working elephants (pulling logs!!), strange aray of birds and just us and the browny waters of the Mekong. Sunny, quiet and tranquial, reading on and off and trying not to focus on the numbing feeling that was my arse! we didnt manage to grab a cushioned seat and ended up sitting on the wooden ones that were more like church benches and after 8 hours it really hurts even with the cushions we bought!
When arriving at Pak Beng it was a steep climb up the bank with our backpacks and a clamber up hill to an available room. It was small but cheap and had a good breakfast area overlooking the Mekong. After showers we walked down to a Indian restaurant we had walked by earlier, we were all very excited of the prospect of a curry it had been so long! We had a lovely table, candle light and the Mekong as our back
drop. I had ordered a Vindoloo and asked the owner to double up on the spices, no curry I have had in Asia has come close to hot enough so I was setting him a challenge. It was great food but again not enough spice! I went to the bathroom while I was there, the toilet was like it was in a giant boiler room in a basement? It was very strange, anyway when I was about to leave I could not get the door open. I felt like I was there for a while, calling and banging on the door for help but no one came. I thought someone would come to my rescue soon enough but no, luckily I got the door open in the end. Olivia said she was wondering where I had got to!!!!
The next day we were determind to get the comfy seats for our second day on the Mekong, we were girls on a mission. Packed and at breakfast, Bannana smoothie for me and pancakes for Olivia, umm interesting pancakes!? Beautiful morning view across the Mekong watching the boatsman prepare for the day ahead. We chucked our belongings onto our backs and
headed this time down hill to the slow boat, and we got our seats, ow yes! If we had to sit on the benches for the second day I think we would of been crippled!
We had arrived at Luang Prabang! the 3 of us chose the guesthouse we wanted to stay in and were confident on how to get there. It was a pretty hard walk as I recall but it always is when first arriving in a new town trying to get your bearings with backpacks and travel fatige, and of course always in the heat. We found our guesthouse but it was full however there was one just over the lane that was just as good. We had a lovely room, better than what we were recently used to. The owners were very friendly offering us fruit and water to take to our room. We took a walk to the night market for some dinner but an early night for us as I was determind to get us all up to join the Monks in the morning.
My alarm woke us at 4.30am, Olivia and Katie were not keen to arise from thier beds but
they managed to roll out of them before sunrise. We walked to the main road half asleep and found a Tuk Tuk driver and asked him to take us to the temple where the Monks were to leave at sunrise. The first temple he took us to seemed deserted and we were sure was the wrong one. We eventually found where we were meant to be and got out and walked. As dawn broke the saffron robed monks emerged from their temple monasteries to collect gifts from their neighbours. Locals sitting on the pavements giving offering as the streams of monks passed, It was a really cool sight. Later on we found out that we were not supposed to be using flash photography and then realising we were not meant to be standing either, woops!
After our successful mission in getting up in time before sunrise to see the monks we walked along the river and sat and ordered an early morning smoothie. They say that Luang Prabang is a slow paced city, this is truly an under statement, you need all the patience in the world here, 45 minutes later we recieved our 3 smoothies, the views and
My Red Thai Curry
Lots and lots of chilli's quiteness of the morning slowly watching the city wake was no means a gruling wait though, ummm. It was time to go and hire our bicycles, they had baskets and everything lol! ow Olivia I am still chuckling at you getting used to those handle bars, you were so funny! Katie and I were in stitches, I watched you weaving ahead near misses with the on coming traffic!.
Cycling around was the best way to see Luang Prabang, visiting the outskirts of town, stopping at the local market for a fresh baguette before visiting the musuem. The baguettes tasted and smelt scrummy here, fresh bread baking in most of the cafes around. Luang Prabang has a huge French influence with French mansions, buildings with the old french shutters. We stayed in the old quarter which was full of history, so photogenic! After a stroll round the museum we asked a local girl to take a picture of us outside with our bikes, she seemed so excited and pleased that we had asked her, we soon realised that she thought we had asked her to join in on the photo with us and as she was just about to get
Cookery school
This is just for starters! in the middle of Olivia and I Katie told her No! and gave her the camera to take the shot! I have never seen a girls face drop with such disappointment but at the same time it was hilerious, you had to of been there really but Katie, Olivia and I were laughing so hard it took us about 10 minutes until we could ride off again. We visited and passed temples some glittering in emerald and gold others not so pretty, it was so much fun riding around on our bikes. We decided to cross the cycle bridge onto the otherside of the river and take a ride on the locals side. It was a bumpy ride across with motorbikes also crossing inbetween us. Once on the otherside we cycled for around 30 minutes, dustry roads with lots of traffic, many bikes, the locals had the knack of cycling with one hand and holding an umbrella protecting them from the sun in the other, at high speeds too. After seeing as much as there was to see we decided to head back over the cycle bridge, we wanted to find a little book shop that we had heard of
to exchange and purchase some books and with every great travellers book shop there is always a chill out zones!
Before crossing the bridge Olivia suggested to go ahead and cross first so she could take a picture of Katie and I coming over. Katie and I waited and as we watched Olivia cycle off onto the bridge we saw her come to a hault! Her water bottle flew out of her basket, as she stopped and leant over to pick it up her bike fell, this is how it went for a few go's, water bottle dropped, bike dropped, water bottle dropped, bike dropped. In the meantime cyclists and motorbikes were building up behind her tooting their horns, all Katie and I could do is laugh in the distance and between laughs and breaths say I hope she's not hurt. She eventually got self control and wobbled to the end of the bridge to saftey. It took Katie and I several minutes to compose ourselves before tackling the bridge ourselves. Katie went first, she always had no problems cycling she got over as easy and as gracefully as expected. Now it was my turn, I enjoyed my cycle
over, straight backed and enjoying the senery, I did well. Well that is what I thought before I got to Katie and Olivia that were laughing their heads off. I may of been going a little slow but I didnt realise the traffic behind me had piled up that much, the photo is classic, me leisurely cycling across the bridge with a tail of motorbikes behind, so funny!! Who has this photo, I want it lol !
After a good old hunt we arrived at the book shop, after a little lookie we kicked off our shoes choose a sunny table outside and ordered some nice jasmine tea, in teapots! how lovely.
After being in the heat for most the day we really wanted a swim. There was not any listings of pools in the area so we thought of asking the man at the guest house once we got back after returning our bicycles. What a great cycle girls, we did well. When we returned to the guesthouse we were excited to hear of a place right next to our guesthouse where we could go for a swim, so we raced upstairs to chuck on some swimwear,
we were sure to wear shorts and singlets being a buddist comunity. We walked to the end of the lane and was confused in the direction we needed to go in. He did mention the path which we found so we followed it. It was a high bank with grass long enough to reach up to our knees, who was the one who mentioned snakes?! We then realised where he had suggested for us to go for a swim, in the bloody Mekong!! OMG! we could not believe it! we really thought we were heading to a lovely clean cool pool, haha! We decided to go down to the waters edge to check it out anyway. Half way down the bank it started to get very slippery so who went flying on their butt? mud caked all over me, Katie and Olivia found it all so amusing. Who was to brave the Mekong first? we saw the locals across the river and they seemed happy enough so we all started to tip toe in. We were consious of water snakes so we were sure to keep our shorts held tight. We did not know what was to come, the current
just took us Olivia flew including her flip flops, I tried to chase the flip flops and then the current took me down taking my flip flops. Katie was running down the bank, dived in and saved my flip flops yay! We gathered ourselves for enough time to know one of Olivia's flip flop was gone forever! After a fit of the giggles we stabbled eachother for a couple of photo's before the current took us again, the frenzy of falling and catching eachother started all over again, this time my camera went under. We managed to finally get ourselves to the bank and decided then that the Mekong was not for us and to leave the locals to itl. I hoped and prayed my camera was gonna dry out! that night Olivia had to walk to the market with no shoes haha!!!
We had a lovely stroll around the market that night, visiting all the night stalls and tried the fish in the food market. The fish was devine, as we left the table boys appeared from the shadows and ceased our scraps, so sad, if I had known they were there I would of left them some.
We visited the Laos Laos garden for some drinks, really pretty setting, lanerns and candle light everywhere, what were those cocktails again? This was such a fun packed laughable day, I am still laughing!
7 hour bus ride to Van Vieng and as we were the last ones in the mini bus we didnt get great seats, I had the pull out chair with no back, ow for 7 hours! We stopped a few times to wee in a hole but that was pretty much it most the way. When we arrived and walked to our guest house of choice we come up trumps, we had picked well again. We had our own balcony lounge area outside our rooms, our rooms were on the top floor so we could see the world go by. Showers and a bag check we headed out for some food, Pizza in fact! We first sat on a lovely table with spacious cushions for seating, that was until we realised we were sitting in an ants nest they were crawling up our arms and legs, we soon moved. It seemed like we were brushing ants of us all throughout dinner, the pizza
Bus ride
Northern Thailand was good though. We headed to the Bucket Bar, Van Vieng was basically a strip of westernised bars and restaurants, not much to do in this part of Laos apart from go tubing and get drunk which was exactly what we were going to do. There was a dodgy rope bridge we had to cross to get to the bucket bar, I was pretty concerned for the walk back after a few drinks and pure darkness just to add to the challenge. We received our free vodka buckets with our flyers we were given and chilled on the floor cushions observing the fire pits and the early piss heads that were looking not so hot on the dance floor. Clubs outside, got to love um. We were joined by a few guys who were friendly enough but did my head after a while, after he tried to drink from my bucket that was it I was ready to vacate, sharing straws with strangers is a no no for me ! freaks me out! I did not realise how drunk we all were until we were walking back, when crossing the bridge pieces of wood were falling into the river below,
I swear we just made it across before it was gonna give way! When walking through town it started to rain so after some mucking around we ran back to our room nearly losing Katie on the way!
Today was gonna be fun, Tubing in caves, Kyaking while bar crawling, drunken swing ropes and water slides!
When arriving at the cave we gathered our rings and head torches and we were set to go, you had to follow a rope through the cave, it was pretty scary to start with. I screamed out loud when something hit my bum, Olivia screamed because I did, I soon realised it was my butt scrapping on the bottom, no comments guys! It got deeper as we entered the cave and darker. My head torch kept turning it's self on and off aswell which didnt help. It felt like we were going on forever, at one point we had to get out as the water stopped and crawl underneath nearly on our knees to another part of the cave where we continued tubing. We must of been in there a good hour and half and when seeing daylight it took a while
for our eyes to adjust. We enjoyed a spot of lunch watching baby chicks play and then headed back to the Tuk Tuk for a drive to the Nam Song river where we were to pick up our Kayaks and head on a 10k paddle. When arriving at the river bank the great race was being filmed, we were all keen to get on telly lol! I decided to take the single Kayak as I was confident canoeing, Olivia and Katie paired up. There were rapids to face during the journey and I was excited to see if I still had my canoeing skills! I did not disappoint, staying back from the group I would pick up speed and shoot down them sideways, great fun! It was Olivia and Katie's second attempt at a rapid, I went before them and waited at the end back peddling to stay and watch them come down, I was so happy I did. They both flipped the kayak and were in, the funnist part was watching them trying to get back in the kayak legs and arms flying everywhere. After composing ourselves we continued on route. It was a beautiful journey however we were
so excited to get to the bars that were coming up. As we started to hear the pumping music we knew we were not far, drinks all round! Our first stop we enjoyed a few bottles of vodka and lemon somethings while watching others fly of the slides and rope swings, they were so high! We were plucking up the courage to try it ourselves and Katie jumped on the slide first, soon followed by Olivia and I. It was suprisingly fast I thought I was gonna fly over the river and land on the other bloody side! it hurts when you hit the water too! them video's are so funny, cannot believe I deleted mine by accident! Katie went for the rope swing, many stairs to climb to reach the platform, many people have split their heads open, broken limbs or reportedly died doing this swing so our nerves were not for nothing. Katie was up first, I swear Olivia and I were videoing her for at least 10 minutes but no go she couldnt bring herself to do it so she came back down. Olivia was next, she didnt hesitate and even though she only swung twice before
dropping she was brill! Now it was my turn, I knew once I was up there I had to go straight away otherwise I would not jump. Standing on that platform was scary, made my knees go like jelly, you had to lean out to grab the bar with you feet balancing on two wooden platforms seeing straight down, yicks! I went for it, it tickled your stomach so badly, I swung 3-4 times and thinking I had to let go, I couldnt I was too scared but I had no choice. When I hit the water I was so worried about hitting the bottom, I went so fair down but with the last bit of air in my lungs I surfaced. How funny is this video! I thought you had stopped filming before I shouted that was like giving myself a giant two way enema, ow god, how classy!
We were really enjoying ourselves at this point so we gathered ourselves and jumped back in our kayaks and headed to the next bar along the river. This was a slower paced bar, bob marley and mojoito buckets! just what the doctor ordered. It was just Olivia, Katie and
I left at this point the rest of the group had left apart from our cool tour guide who was happy to wait for us so he could drop us back later. We were having water fights with him when kayaking, Olivia and Katie tried to get him back for soaking me but were absolutly useless, thanks anyway guys, it was funny to watch. This bar was so chilled, our buckets were taking affect we were getting tipsy, time for another. The barman was trying to give us magic mushroom shakes and joints ummm?! after the second bucket we were getting slightly concerned that we would not make the kayak back as we had at least 3/4k left to paddle and I had no help with mine, ow dear! We enjoyed the atmosphere and senery a little longer. We were sitting at our little table talking about random stuff and I came to realise I was picking ants up and watching them run off the table, so I then thought it a really good idea that we all started a ant race! so we did. Ant racing on mojoito buckets and .?....?.. haha so funny, we were wrecked, well I
was.
When getting back into our boats it took me a good 10 minutes to rebuild my momentum but once I was there the scenery was looking even more beautiful. Paddling past a little village with kids playing in the water, Olivia, Katie and the guide were quite away ahead of me, I saw them pass the village and the kids and all seemed fine. I said hello as I passed , there were about 6 of them, BIG mistake they ambushed me!!! 2 jumped on the front, 2 on the back and one tried stealing my paddle. At first I thought it to be funny but when I realised I was sinking and my boat was filling with water I started to freak out. I called for the others, actually I screamed but they were long gone. I had no choice but to retaliate, they would of stolen my kayak! I waked the one holding my paddle round the head and once my paddle was freed I started to wake the others with it. After a few wacks I did it !! I eventually got them off and paddled for my life ! OMG I nearly got hijacked
Old tribal lady
Such a sweet lady by crazy kids! I paddled as hard as I could until I had Olivia and Katie in my sight again. At this point I was still pretty stoned and started to laugh out loud, now I knew I was ok it all seemed quite funny.
Enjoying the last stretch of our 10k kayak I rowed enjoying a wicked sun set. The last thing to pass me on the river was 2 random boats with monks in them. I thought I was hallucinating at first but whe I saw they were heading straight for me I knew I wasnt, it was too late for me to move so I just stopped paddling I hoped they would move. The 2 boats parted just at the last minute leaving me in the middle of them where they all got thier cameras out and snapped away. Flashes everywhere, cannot believe I got paparazzied by a load of monks in boats, Karma lol!
As we arrived at our final destination we all pulled our boats in and handed in our life jackets and paddles. Olivia and Katie had no idea of my journey back and when explaining it to them they couldnt believe
it, laughing again may I add, cheers guys! that last bar was good yar?!lol.
Once getting back and showering off the Nam Song river we headed out to eat, a local restuarant away from the tourists a little hard in Van Vieng but we did good, a lovely place overlooking the river, and the waitress loved us!
After a good sleep and a nice breakfast we packed up and headed for the bus, Ventiene her we come! The bus ride was not to bad, had a lot worse. When arriving in Ventiene it was the usual search for a place to stay, after some skillfull map reading we landed a room cheap and big enough for the 3 of us, it only had 3 beds in it but had a spare matteress to chuck on the floor, thanks Olivia for opting for the floor, owe you one. We all were feeling a lttle energeitc so we jumped in a tuk tuk and went to work out in the local gym, spent some time in the sauna and had a splash in the outdoor pool and jacuzzi while we were there too. Olivia and I wanted to go to
the temple after for a massage, we heard they were good there, Katie wanted to walk and meet us there. I wasnt sure if she knew how far it was as it took us a good 15 minutes by tuk tuk to get there. We found out that our massage was in one of the local's houses next to the temple and not actually in it, it was all a little strange. I had a male masus which was unusual, he bloody hurt, I was trying not to scream. Olivia was next to me and 30 minutes into the massage I heard her sream, I was wetting my self, looking back now we were both in pain for that hour! Katie never showed so we headed back to the room and she was there. She had walked to the wrong temple! That night we were up for some night life, however I am not sure if we landed here at the wrong time, it all seemed very quite. The tuk tuk driver insisted he knew where to take us, visiting bar after bar and a random club that was full of locals singing karaoke we were coming to the conclusion
that Ventiene was not the place. The Martini bar didnt even serve martini's, last stop before giving up was the palace, a large hotel and on the top floor a club that was pretty expensive to get into. Once in we had to retrieve tokens to then buy our drinks. Even though the bar was outside on the roof the dance floor was in a dingie room with large beer barrals as tables. We had a few here and a bit of a dance. We didnt stay too long, it wasnt great and Olivia was pretty ill. When managing to get a tuk tuk back to our hotel and a little bit of doddy dealings haha, we ended up having a little party with the night guard and his friends. Olivia went to rest and katie soon followed after some local sweets, umm sweet pancakes yummy. I stayed for a little while longer and leaving when I felt I had a little too much of their free beer.
The next day we all headed to the local museum, a must in all cities we visit, interesting stuff. We had decided to dress up and go out for dinner as
it was the last night that Katie was with us as she was flying to see her hubby the following day. We chose a French restaurant, we were all so excited that we were going to experience fine dining, it had been so long. We chose a lovely spot outside, all french decor and soft lighting. The food was lovely, gorgeous steaks not to mention the decanters of red wine! this was such a great meal, lots of laughs. You get many beggers in Asia and by now we were so use to them coming up to our table begging, however we were all ingrossed in conversation I did not notice the leggless and armless begger that had rolled his way up to our table. I turned round and saw Olivia's face drop, she was so embarrassed, she was too busy talking to me to notice that it wasnt a dog and chucked the man some scraps, I know I shouldnt laugh but my god it was hilarious!
The next day we had planned a morning at a scandinavian cafe and a spot of sunbathing at the local out door pool. Katie was gonna meet us at the cafe
after visiting the travel agents to check on flights. Unfortunately she had to scarper sooner than anticipated, we had to say good bye over text, so long Katie Wells it was a blast! hoped to see her in Sydney. After a coffee Olivia and I went and enjoyed a spot of sunbathing and a read of our books. On the walk back we had coke in a bag, it is all about drinking out of bags! We were preparing ourselves for a night on a sleeper bus to Pakse, southern Laos, where we were to visit the four thousand islands.
We had a bus take us to the main bus terminal where we made sure not to board the wrong sleeper. there were loads of them. We found our bus and chucked our bags in the hold. We had to remove our shoes before hopping on, it had a wicked blue glass floor with glittery fishes. We grapped the first 2 beds right at the front of the bus, we were so excited to get such great seats. After unpacking our night bags we fiddled with our personal tv sets, this was an impressive night bus. After about 10
Mekong
Cruzinggg along on our slow boat minutes our little bubble was burst we were in the wrong bloody seats! after apologising for christening the peoples bed sheets not that they understood us we looked at our own tickets and saw they were numbered. We were right at the back of the bus in a row of 6 in fact. We could not believe we were gonna be faced with sharing beds with complete strangers! 2 guys who were in front on the top bed were sharing, a single bed for 2 it was hilarious they were lying on top of each other, we were all laughing it was all so wrong! I jumped off the bus to get some snacks for the journey not that we needed them as they gave us a lunch bag on route. Every person that got on the bus we hoped would not be our bed sharers, thankfully we only had a couple that lied on the otherside and one more person who was next to olivia, I got the window. I was so tierd that night, I remember having to put my ipod on to drown out the repeated tv music videos they were playing. I remember Oliver trying to
wake me for a toilet break but I couldnt move, I cannot believe I slept the hole way. I woke up realising that my bear arse was stuck to the window, I could have caused a serious accident!
When arriving at Pakase bus station it had just turned light, we waited for around an hour before heading to Champasak to grab breakfast. Noodles yum yum, Olivia ordered eggs. Soon after we jumped on the bus, haha Olivia was nearly sick because the man sitting next to her had dreads and they kept brushing on her, he had nits you know. The bus was to take us to a boat that was to take us to Don Khong the smaller of the four thousand islands and the most remote, why do we set ourselves these challanges? There was only the two of us and a couple heading there, the boat was more like a small wooden canoe with a cloth roof for a little shelter, I am suprised the small motor on the back got us there. When arriving it was a 2 minute walk to where we wanted to stay Pon's guest house. It was easy to find, everyone
knew who Pon was. Lovely room. We had several chill out sessions enjoying our breakfast on the decking overlooking the Mekong. Met a lovely couple there that night and had a good chat with them.
We had read about Pon's famous dolphin day trip to Don Khon another one of the islands and were keen to go so we organised it for the next day. While over dinner Olivia and I realised we had not brought enough cash with us and being a remote part of Laos they did not have cash machines or banks. We had to ration our food and could not drink alcohol ow dear! We had a little stroll around walking back along the river, a little local girl, she must of been around 5years would not stop following us, it started to worry me when she had walked so far away from her home as I did not want anyone thinking we were stealing her! So cute though.
After a good night sleep and a scrummy smoothie for breakfast we jumped in the boat down river to visit Don Det & Don Khon. Even though Si Phan Don ( four thousand islands) are
Views over breakfast
Traveling the Mekong called islands they are not sandy beach islands that you may be imagining. More like sandbars cut off by the Mekong to form islands, rocky islets, beautiful all the same. It is the most Southern part of Laos, if you make it this far it is a pretty self rewarding destination.
As we made our way down river we watched children play in the water and women cleaning their clothes, it was so quite and the sun was beaming. We arrived at the bank of Don Khon about an hour later, the boatsman snapped a blade off one of the other boats as pulling in woops! We rushed to find a toilet, paid a lady to use hers, more Kip, how funny we bearly had enough money on us to afford to go to the bloody toliet!.
We had most the morning on this island surprisingly on our own, we assumed we would have a guide, ow well, off we trotted. Don Khon connected to Don Det inland so we decided to walk it. As crossing the old railway bridge there were people on bicycles passing by, would of been quicker, but again no money on us to
hire. We were walking for a good half an hour, it was hot and all we had around us was fields and cows and not much else, the only thing we had to follow was a long dirt track that seemed to go on forever. It was blazing heat and no shade for us to hide in. We had gone to far to turn back but we also did not know how long we had to go either. After a good hour we soon reached Don Det OMG, we were so hot and tierd. We found a place to rest where we checked our map to see if there was any other way back to Don Khon but no such luck, we knew we had to do the walk all over again! and to top it off there was nothing much to Don Det apart from much of the same. When arriving back at Don Khon we had walked 8km, not really achieving much apart from trying to give ourselves heat stroke. We had a few hours left and after ticking Don Det off our list of things to see we decided to head to the waterfall. Again another 1k
In the nice chairs
Day 2 of the Mekong walk there, again not realising the distance. Half way there we had passed a couple that we shared our boat with that morning and they were also walking around endlessly. Olivia and I were quite chuffed that we walked all the way to Don Det as they gave up half way there and turned back, at least we can say we got there even though there. Why do I always take myself to these bloody waterfalls they always end up being a trickling stream of water over a rock and thats exactly what it was. We still went paddling though, we needed to cool down! We found a street stool where we sat and shared a pinapple fanta because we could not afford one each. This day was getting comical. We met a few English man that were cyclng Asia during their retirement, they were lovely to talk too, gave us some encouragment for the 1km walk back. We arrived back just in time to visit the famous railway line, something we were looking for earlier on in the morning but seemed to not find. We again could not believe it when we got there, it was like something out
of the legoland collection, one piece of track and the front train carriage. We were so done with Don Khon and Don Det by this stage, it was time to get back to the boat, the excitment of going dolphin spotting started to kick in and the 12km walk was soon to be a distant memory.
After another pleasant boat ride and the numb bum we arrived to observe the Irrawaddy dolphins, in the first 5 minutes we saw one pop up in the distance, we waited patiently for another sighting, and waited, and waited, and waited. That was it we were heading back to our island Don Khong our famous day tour was over, but before we did our tour guide was to drive us to a waterfall, please not another waterfall. However when we got there I was pleasently surprised, now thats what I call a waterfall. It was also confirmed that it was the biggest waterfall in Asia, we were taken to the rock pools below for a swim, so much fun.
When sitting at dinner that night savering the only meal we could afford all day, we were not really sure what to make
of the four thousand islands. Our tour consisted of a 8km walk to an island that was no different to the one we came from, a 2km hike to a waterfall that had just enough water for a paddle, the search for the jokable railway line and the visit to see a fin of an Irrawaddy dolphin. Topping it off with only being able to afford one meal and a shared pinapple fanta. I would recommend Pom's famous dolphin and island tour anyday! lol.
A boat ride, a couple of bus rides, repeated songs being played from my ipod , a cockroach infested restaurant and swapping to a local bus awoken up Laos stylie, we finally arrived in Seap Reap. At 1am in the morning the bus station was pretty busy, tuk tuk drivers trying to make a living. We had spoken to a guy on the bus that knew of a good place to stay and had arranged for us to be picked up. This was when we met our little driver soon to be hired as our personal guide for the next few days.
The next day we visited the floating villages, amazing to see, people
Laos
Lauang Phabang living on water floating around in there little houses. We visited a floating resturant where they had trapped several large crocodiles, they attack the villagers, many had missing limbs and bite wounds from them , it doesnt stop them having baths in the river though. Many beggers paddled up to our boat, one boy let me hold his snake for a few kip. Visited Wat Thlmer where all the locals were having a party, we were the only white people there, the locals were fascinated by us. This was where I first tried a sugar cane drink very popular in Laos, cools you down and keeps you hydrated in the heat, very sweet but good served in a bag of course. At this Temple I learned more about the 'Khmer Rough', there were hundreds of skulls from the victims sealed in a glass cabinet for all to see.
We went to a pool for a spot of sun bathing for a few hours before going back to our guesthouse to get ready for our trip to Ankor Wat for sunset. night market, fresh spring rolls and bed.
Awoke at 5.30am to visit Ankor Wat for sunrise, spectacular! breakfast
Laos
Giving gifts to the monks after to prepare ourselves for 6 hours of walking around Ankor Wat, visiting all the temples and ruins. It was a great day and we were truly templed out by the end of it. What a cool place! My fav was Ta Prohm, ruins entwind with trees, this was also where Tomb Raider was filmed.
After another painful massage, we packed and had some time to kill before catching the night bus to Phlom Pen. We visited the food market for some dinner and were joined again by 2 boys wanting money for food. Instead we sat them in the chairs next to us and ordered them noodles and lemonades. I have never seen anyone eat so fast, they were starving and so content after sipping on their lemonades. We returned to our guesthouse in time to catch our bus, or so we thought. We had got our times mixed up and the bus had been and gone. Olivia and I were fine with going the next day but the locals we had befriended at the guest house would not hear of it. She called the bus driver on his mobile to say we were coming to catch him
up. Her brother then attached a side cart to his motorbike chucked our bags in and zoomed through the streets of Seap Reap like a nut case. Olivia and I were holding on for our lives, him bibbing at anything that got in his way. The bus had pulled over to let us on, he screatched right up to the doors so when the bus doors opened everyone on board was looking down on us. It was so embarrassing, however instead of the people on the bus being annoyed with us for holding them up they were so hospitable. They all moved seats so Olivia and I could sit together at the front. We gave a good tip to our nutty driver before leaving us, we were on our way to Phlom Pen. An hour into the journey we passed a huge bus accident, 2 buses were in pieces, as we passed we realised it had only just happened. All we could think of was if we had not made our bus late that could of been us. It made the driver slow right down that night.
We arrived in the early hours of the morning, another dark Tuk
Tuk drive through dark diserted streets hoping we were being taken to the right place. You always had your wits about you, map out following street signs and land marks to make sure you were on root. I remember this particular tuk tuk drive, it was really eery. Not knowing where you are most the time, good or bad parts of a place so you have to go with how you feel and I felt pretty unsafe I have to say. Once we arrived at the hostel I breathed easy.
We had a jammed packed day today, we had organised for the tuk tuk driver who dropped us off at our hostel the night before to pick us up that morning to take us around town. Something that Olivia and I were not keen to visit but felt like we should was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Prision, now called a museum. Previously the building and grounds were Tuol Sleng Primary School and High School. Fence and barbed wire was placed circling the area when turned into a torture prison by Pol Pot. Pol Pot forced the city dwellers to leave their homes and live in remote countryside in conditions
close to slavery.The buildings of high school had seen classrooms turned into small cells caging individual prisoners. Building A was converted into a set of rooms, the window were paneled with glass to minimise the sound of prisoners, apparently there were screams heard outside in time of severe torture. Building B,C, & D consisted of small cells and larger cells where many prisoners were crowded together. Outside were 14 buriels where the last to be tortured were put to rest by US officials. A wooden pole in the yard that used to be used for school childrens exercise was turned into a interrogation and torture machine.
When visiting each room of torture there were iron framed beds, shackles and torture tools still present. Blood spilled on walls, floors and ceilings, I think this shocked me the most. After 2 hours in this place you had to leave, it was unbelievably disturbing. We also visited the Killing fields themselves where people were taken to be killed and chucked in a hole in the ground. There were around 15 giant holes in the ground, skulls and peoples clothing are still surfacing when it rain and as you walked around the sight
it was easy to spot bone fragments from the victims. There was a tree that had blood stains all over it where they would smash little baby skulls. A hole city murdered and tortured, over 100,000 people. You saw all there photo's on the walls at the prison. I dont really need to go on about this much more, It was shocking.When returning to our tuk tuk driver, he could see how sad we had become, he had his family killed there also.
Next stop was a much happier place, we were to buy rice and visit the orphanage. When we arrived the lady was so grateful for our donation, she said it would feed them all for a week. There were 72 children at this orphanage. We were shown around there classroom and sleeping quarters before joining in on a skipping rope game. Olivia and I had fun playing with the kids that afternoon, it really cheered us up. If Claire was here she would not of left, the kids were so happy considering there hardships.
After an educational and emotional day we grabbed some food on the food stool, chicken with stale bread umm. We took
Temple visit
Lauang Phabang a walk to the river front, we watched the locals dancing in groups to all different types of music everyone getting invovled as they passed. It was amazing to see them all so happy and to see how far the city has come after learning what happened to them just 25yrs prior. Cambodia was slowly becoming one of my favourite places in Asia so far, the generosity and kindness of the people here has been overwhelming. What a beautiful end to a day, smiles all round. (we got lost on the way home though) Ow Olivia I thought I was bad with directions lol. x
Breakfast by the river, visited by monks, a trip to the local musuem and we were on the bus heading to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Good bye Cambodia hello Vietnam!
This bus journey was testing, immigration was grawling, on and off the bus waiting in queues, being xrayed, medical checks performed and so forth. Not to mention the Chinese at the back of the bus who bought raw fish at the pit stop. Ow the smell and for another 4 hours! After 8 hours we arrived, it was around 9pm and Olivia
and I were really in need of a shower and sleep. We jumped in the first available taxi, the first and only time I have been ripped off on my trip, I do blame pure exhaustion and not stupidity on this occasion so I forgive myself. Checked in, showered, beer and bed.
This city was crazy for it's bikes alone, there was no where to cross and if you waited until there was a gap in the traffic you would be waiting forever. You just had to hold your breath and walk out in front of the traffic and they will weave round you, however this theory doesnt work if you stop and freeze in the middle of what is meant to be a slow glide across, ow Olivia when you got hit by that motorbike I know it was not supposed to be funny, sorry love lol. I still cannot believe we did this but Olivia and I had 2 old men push us round on their rigshaws, this was actually highly embarrassing. I was laughing all the way to the Museum of Vietnamese Traditional Medicine. As Olivia sat in her rigshaw it toppled over and she went
flying on her butt. Her old godger kept getting her stuck on pavements and drains, they also enjoyed playing chicken with the on coming traffic, unforgettable journey the museum was good too lol.
Had a few beers at the famous bar?! then a massage and facial, now this had to be the best massage I have ever had and I have had many during my trip. This was followed by a lovely Vietnamese soup dinner and a very messy night in the Eden bar x10 cocktails triple shots, ow why??? what a hangover, what a great night!
Breakfast on the roof overlooking the city with a huge hangover. Eggs and toast with fresh fruit. We met our bus that was to take us to see the Chu Chi Tunnels. This was really interesting, learning about how the Vietnamese army and villagers lived and fought under grond during the war. Olivia and I went into a tunnel following a guide, we just about got down there and when we did you had to duck walk, I freaked out after the first 30 seconds, I could hear others screaming let me out. It was pitch black, Olivia was wicked, thanks
for saving me babes, I owe you one!
On the way back form the Chu Chi Tunnels the hang over was kicking in so we went back to our room for a sleep. After a hangover dinner which was really good we were due to head to the train station for our 11pm train. This is where we were gonna spend the next 2 nights and 3 days, on the train travelling through Vietnam all the way to Hanoi.
I was a little surprised with the train when finding our carraige, it was basic to say the least, I didnt think I would see anymore basic than the over night trains in Thailand, well the Vietnamese topped it. However Olivia and I made it our home for the next few days. I had not suffered with travel sickness much at all on my trip but Olivia and I were really not handling this train too well. We could not read, write or even sit up, the only place we didnt feel sick was when lying down, so that was our position for the majority of the journey. We literally lied down for 3 hole days listening to our
ipods or sleeping. We had our little friend next door visit occasionally for a biscuit when he was hungry, cute little fat boy x. The food trolley that went by every so often was not for my consumption, I tried it but it was clearly off, I did not want to eat for a while after that. I asked the guard for water and he shouted at us and indicated not in English must I add that there was no water available to purchase on the train. Olivia and I had 2 bottles, small sips now !! We had 4 beds in our cabin, we paid a little more to have the 2 bottom bunks with the table. We only had a local man join us half way through our last night which was not bad, I jumped a little when I woke up in the night to see him swinging between bunks trying to climb to the top, I soon fell back to sleep with the sound of the tracks in my ears those ear plugs are rubbish!
The one thing about this train journey that made it all so worth while was the scenery, it was so
diverse. One minute you were looking at cliffs, then countryside, then beaches, then villages, it was truly beautiful. 2 nights and 3 days of solitude, time for your brain to wonder and your body to rest.
We arrived in Hanoi at 4.30am, Olivia and I were determind that we were not going to get ripped off again, so we scouted for a taxi that we knew was legit or so the Lonely Planet says! We got us to our chosen guesthouse for a reasonable price. The Gecko guesthouse, what a lovely stay we had here. We had a little rest and visted the Musuem of Literature, a cool little book shop, a beautiful cathedral and went to see a wicked Vietnamese puppet show in thier grand theatre on Hoan Kiem Lake (old quarters). This was so much fun, I remember feeling tierd though and after a walk around the mega complex grabbing some local food and a walk around the lake we headed back to our guest house as we were away for 2 days and 1 night the next day, visiting Halong Bay and I could not wait!
A four hour bus ride and one boat later
we where jumping ship onto our Junk boat in Halong Bay. It was beautiful to say the least, our room was lovely looking onto one of the worlds best heritage sites. We sailed along viewing the grottos created by the wind and rain. Meeting the boys and tracey was a real treat, introducing ourselves over dinner and diving of the boat during sunset before our night of craziness, squid fishing off the back of the boat and smuggling wine on board from the local boats that would creap up quitely while we were ankored selling us all sorts, so much cheaper than the boats prices hehe! Was that a hole bottle of red you smashed on deck Tracey?!lol. We were all very drunk that night in those loungers, the moon looked awsome and the stars were the brightest I had ever seen them even after several bottles of wine.
The morning after and going over the night before events over breakfast we travelled upto the limestone cliffs to visit the caves of Halong Bay, again another unforgetable experience. Kayaking that day too, Olivia and I cannot believe we got stuck in that cave! haha why did we think it
was a good idea to enter a dark hole in a cliff in the middle of the ocean again? When returning to Hanoi that day we were both buzzing off an unforgettable trip, and meeting Tracey was wicked!
I could not believe it was my last night with Olivia, I felt like I had known her forever, Olivia had picked out a restuarant she wanted to go to when walking round the city a few days before. We vowed we would go to the Opera house while we were here so we booked a show and were going to follow it with a nice slap up meal. We asked when booking the tickets if there was any special atire that we should consider, she informed us that what we was wearing at the time was fine which was shorts and flip flops. We did not expect it to be like visiting Opera at home anyway being in Vietnam. How nieve were we as our cab pulled up we got out in our flip flops, Olivia was wearing shorts and a singlet I was wearing my Asian jumpsuit. When walking up the steps we soon realised everyone was in tuks
Mekong maddness
Just before we all fell lol and dresses, heels and lipstick everywhere, we were no way gonna be allowed in, we had half an hour before the Opera started. We ran down the stairs jumped back in a cab to the hostel. Neither of us had shoes, the lady behind the counter of our guest house took her shoes off her feet to give to me lol! Olivia purchased a pair of shoes from a stall across the street, the fastest pair of shoes I have seen purchased. We chucked on the best clothes we could find in our backpacks which was not great, slapped on a bit of lippy and back in the cab up the stairs racing to our seats just in time for it all to start. With all the rushing and laughing at ourselves due to the last half hour of caose we had only just come to notice all the chairs on stage. I just remember Olivia saying " Zoe what are all those chairs doing on stage?" at this point we had a man and women come on to introduce The Choir Of Vietnam National Academy of Music. We were in pieces we had not booked to see the Opera
we had bought tickets tp a Philharmonic Orchestra - Beethoven symphony no.9. It was not just an ordinary night for them either so there were all these really important people there, bouquets being offered etc!
After coming to terms with the fact that we were now at a concert and the giggles had subsided I started to enjoy the music, I was blown away! It was absolutely amazing, conductor, violins, trumpets, flutes and we even got some opera singing in too, it was brilliant. 2 hours later and we were at dinner still laughing at ourselves and enjoying the gorgeous food and wine that was on offer. What a great end to such a wicked trip with such a great girl.
We got back to our room, Olivia packed her final belongings before it was that time where she was waking me up to say her goodbyes, she was on that journey home back to the UK. I was half asleep when saying goodbye to her so I had avoided getting emotional, that was until I woke up that morning to a letter left for me, thanks Olivia is was lovely. I spent the next 5 days in
Hanoi enjoying the city and sucking up the atmosphere around Hoan Kiem Lake.
Next stop Hong Kong!
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Brittny
non-member comment
You look absolutely gorgeous !! :) xx