On my first day in Muang Ngoi, a quiet picturesque backpacker place (almost a contradiction in terms) I met Ernie, who was keen to go hiking the following day and was looking for someone else to join to halve the price. I had breakfast with Ernie, Brian and Tania before setting off on the trek with them. Brian, a head ranger from Canada, and Tania, a doctor from Perth, decided during breakfast to join us. Of course, there was no chance of be getting injured or needing survival training - that would only happen when there isn't a doctor or ranger [View Full Entry]

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I dropped into Bangkok for Sonkran, which is a nationwide waterfight and, incidentally, Thai New Year and a religious holiday. The sprinkling of water over one's head and wet clay on the cheeks started as a Buddhist blessing hundreds or thousands of years ago and has degenerated into a massive waterfight involving high tech super soakers, fire hydrants, water tankers, tonnes of plaster, and millions of litres of ice cold water. It must have been pretty boring before water pistols and supersoakers were invented. To prevent accidents (you would be crazy to be on a bike going past hordes arm [View Full Entry]

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I dropped into Seoul for a few days to do some banking and catch up with friends. It was almost like I had never left the place, although with my absence I had forgotten the extremes of the place. Ajumas: I gotta say, I had forgotten how bad these animals are. On my flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong I tried to put my seat back and immediately got shoved upright from behind. Yup... three ajumas sitting there with the floral shirts, excess makeup, and dyed tight permed hair. I tried to negotiate a settlement and only put my chair back [View Full Entry]

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The 4000 islands is sort of a delta in the Mekong before it drops down about 50m along a long ledge of rock before becoming a river again. Don Det, where I spent most of my time, has sort of a laid back backpacker beach atmosphere surrounded by the astoundingly clear water of the Mekong. From Vientiane it took about 18 hours to get to the island, so I felt I deserved to lie down in a hammock reading books and drinking beer for the rest of the day. And the next day. And the day after that. On my fourth [View Full Entry]

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The plain of jars is fascinating and interesting historically - both for the 3000 years they've been there and the damage done during the American War. But the bus ride was even better! I visited the plain of Jars with two Slovenian girls (later I was to check out the CIA factbook to find out where the hell Slovenia is) and two Austrians that I met on the most interesting bus I have ever been on. Friday 3rd March, 2006 Woke up, stood up, and collapsed in agony as pain soared through my lower back; I knew immediately that my old [View Full Entry]

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We bought two boats in Muang Ngoi and silenced our many critics by getting to Luang Phrabang alive and with the surviving boat in enough of one piece to still float with one person bailing full time. Friday, 24th February, 2006 I had a bit of a seedy start this morning, having been pressured into drinking vast quantities of Lao Lao, a highly toxic condensate made from rice wine that is best used for lighting fires or as an industrial cleaner. Jonas, the German, was in for buying a boat and got Barry, the Irishman in by asking him, "What are [View Full Entry]

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Valentine’s day! No girlfriend though I finally got my act together, had a stop pill, and headed out to the travel agency. Lecia (a Belgian girl full of fun) met me there and we joined about 8 others for the mini adventure of kayaking down the river. First stop was Tham Nam, a 500m long cave with a small stream flowing through it. We were equipped with headlamps nd tubes and directed to a ripe which disappeared up the river into the cave entrance, a wide gap in the rock rising barely a foot above the surface of the stream. Another [View Full Entry]

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Well, probably not - 8km isn't all that long unless you get lost. Getting there I was a bit late getting up at Tha Khek and only just caught the 9:15 bus to Vieng Tham and, as the last passenger, had a plastic stool in the isle. I changed buses at Vieng Tham and arrived at Na Hin at about 1pm. I jumped in the 2pm Seungtheauw for a very uncomfortable 4 hour ride to Kong Low. It started with about 10 of us in the back an got up to 23 at one stage - along with half a ton [View Full Entry]

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My trip to Vientiane was uneventful. I was picked up at the travel agent in Kao San Road and walked to the bus stop picking up other travelers on the way. The first was Joy, a New Zealander with a fresh tattoo on her ankle - “Joy” in Thai - followed by a couple of Irish lads and others. The bus left after an hour wait and we had a pretty uneventful journey to Vientiane. We also failed to sleep much and spent most of the next day in bed recovering having arrived at 10am. The following day, Joy and I [View Full Entry]

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