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Published: July 28th 2006
Well guys, sorry about the long time between blogs, again!!! At the end of our last entry we were about to embarke on the loop of Thakek. Well, what an um, experience!!! Dave and Luke "easyrider" Vaugn had a ball. I found it, challenging to say the least, (understatement of the century). Although we only had a couple of bike crashes, my worst being fish tailing on the slippery clay road and getting winded, breaking the front mud guard off my bike and getting covered in mud, (all this happened in front of me in slow motion, but the worse part part was that there was a a fully loaded truck head straight for her, and she's sprawled all out in the middle of the road, unable to move). It could of been alot worse, but that was just about the jist of my time on the loop. The scenery was to die for!!! And to date have not encountered anything since. We spent the first night in a cool family guest house, that was basic but after the day we had, 7hrs on motorbikes, through mud, steep mountains and semi trailers barraling around every corner it was like a five
The three stooges
in need of a hot showerstar resort!!! (amen to that)
The second night was spent on the floor of an out door restraunt run by an old expat from england, who made our stay more comfortable simply for the fact of an english person with advice and some much needed beer!! The only showers we had so far were the "use a bucket of water" shower!!! On the last day we were supposed to make it to Konglor cave, the largest cave in the world, no joke, 7km through the middle of a mountain, and the whole reason we started on this mission in the first place. However, running out of petrol in the middle of nowhere, empty river beds that were ankle deep in clay mud and lack of food and water ment a day of sweat, tears, more mud and an eventual turn around a head back to the "main" road ment we never got to our intended destination. However during the time luke and i awaited daves return with petrol we heard a strange sound pass us by, kind of whooshing sounds, and when we eventually got back to "civilization" we found out the sound was actually a heard of elephants
passing us by!! Kinda of a shame after the fact though!!!
On the way back to the city of Thakek, it was by now dark, we still had about 70kms to go, driving at about 40km/hr as the lights were crap and the bugs were hitting us so hard!!! This is where I had the most memorable emotional breakdown of the whole trip!!!! I was crying so hard i had to pull over!!! I was crying so hard i even had the the whole body heaves!!!! Dave managed to talk me down,(it was really hard work!!!) gave me a big hug and we pushed on.
We finnally arrived back at 9.30pm, tired, dirty, stinky and with the numbess bums, 13hrs on a bike, we found will do that. However all three of us are still keen to buy ourselves a motor bike, even after, and also because of that little trip. The freedom and feeling the air rushing past is like nothing else!!!
After a day of rest and a hot shower we headed to the capital, Vientiene, where we had to say goodbye to lukey, and i have to say i shed a few tears and
we were both really sad to see him go, it was a sudden goodbye and he had become one of the "family". We really did miss you that day you left lukey and we are so glad we have kept in touch, we love ya kiddo!!
We then headed to Vang Vieng where they had all these cool restraunts that just played "friends" and "the family guy" which was so fun, they had raised floors and heaps of cushions with coffee tables. (I couldn't stand the fact that all these restaurants were playing friends, you'd walk down the street and all u could hear was an echo of joey's stupid jokes and phoebes mindless oneliners. it was worse than being stuck in an elevator with george bush). We stayed in this beautiful garden bungalow on the river. Here we also did a kayaking trip and saw some pretty cool caves.
Then onto Luang Prabung, which is a really quaint and serene city on the mekong. This is where we saw the most incredible waterfalls ever imagined. It was like being in the garden of eden. It really is amazing what nature can create. No man on earth could
Cave river
Vang Vieng of brought what we saw to light. This is also where i met Phet. A indochinese tiger. This experience is absolutly in my top five list of this trip. I got to feed her and i left the enclosure shaking. Amazing.
Our next stop was Luang Nam Tha. This was just a stop over visit on our way to "the gibbon experience". The bus trip there was insane!!! Anyone ever done bush bashing on a proper, full rattly bus? We were even sideways a couple of times, fishtailing in a bus!!!! (we were lucky enough to be seated in the isle on these bum numbing plastic seats)
So, we eventually made it to this little village on the side of the road, which is where we were to stay the night before being picked up the next day and it was so cute!! little bamboo huts next to a little river, very cool!!
The next day we headed out to a little village by 4x4 and once there had to trek another 1 1/2 hrs up into the jungle. We got to the base camp, where a baby sunbear and mackack monkey also resided and were given our
harnesses. We were then taken up to the first zip line and sent to the first treehouse. This was like a big kids dream!!! Very swiss family robinson. We had to travel to a treehouse 40m from the ground in the middle of primary loas jungle to get fresh running water we could drink from the tap!!! This place was pure magic. There were three other tree houses and another 10 zip lines that went all over this section of the forest. The longest being 400m long a 1000m off the ground!! (this zip was awesome, if you can get a good enough run up, you can get up to a speed of 60km/hr, wind blowing in your face, trees flying benath your feet, words can't describe the feeling. the only way is to get your arse over there and experience it for yourselves) It was truly a highlight of the whole trip!! These three days were amazing, beautiful sunsets and being woken to the sounds of the jungle. Just Magic!!!! (this treehouse was the first place in over 3 months that we were able to drink tap water, and it was some of the best water i've ever tasted.
Our first sight of the pools
The waterfalls near Luang Prabaung not to mention the hot, hot showers looking over this amzing pristine forest)
Sadly, we left our treehouse paradise and the next leg of the trip was to begin, china, here we come!!!! The border crossing went without a hitch and we caught an overningt sleeper bus, with bunks in it, to the first city of Kunming. We got in at about 5.30 in the morning and had to find a place to stay. And talk about a shock to the system after coming from slow calm laos to a city like sydney on a bad hair day!!!! (another understatement of the century) We found ourselves a taxi and headed for what we thought was a small hostel. We got dropped outside a 5 star hotel and when i went in to ask, it was the right place, about 6 years ago!!! so lugged our packs, found a hotel and crashed for a few hours. It was a beautiful city, but i was a little disheartend and melancholic from leaving SE asia!!
Then we headed for Chengdu. This city was just cool to wonder around and also where we got to see the pandas! We assumed we would
more of the pools
The waterfalls near Luang Prabaung see a couple and they would be so far away and hidden by plants but there were alot of pandas and we got so so close!!! They were just hanging out, eating and playing with each other, apparently they are very social creatures!!! That was a blast of a day!! very cool to get to see them so close and they are so human like, much more like monkeys than bears!! We didnt stay long in chengdu as we had to get moving so we could start getting our russian visa and train tickets organised, but this is also where we met a wonderful woman called robin. A woman of the world, born in the states and made a living as a potter, she was one of those people we have met along the way that will always have a place in hearts!!! We loved our time with her and she gave us some wisdom that will stay with always! (her stories of her "psychedelic" days were pretty funny aswell)
Next was the city of X'ian. Wow, except for the polution which is just everywhere!! The city is surrounded by an ancient wall and this is also the home
more of the pools
The waterfalls near Luang Prabaung of the Terracotta Warriors. We decided we didnt want to do a tour and caught the local buses. Had a strange little detour, but we got there none the less and it was truly amazing. Very different from what I expected but the feeling of looking at this excavation of such an ancient hidden secret that was never supposed to be found gave me goose bumps the whole time. Another of the ancient wonders ticked off the list!!!
We then treated ourselves and flew into shanghi. Oh my goodness, we thought the polution was bad before!!! This really is one crazy city. The chinese are crazy people and we had a crazy time there!!! Not really china, more a try hard euro city gone wrong!! We did visit a really pretty garden that the emperors used to use for holiday but inundated with tourists!! (we cant bitch to much though, we were two of them!!!)
With still no luck on the russian visa or train ticket front we headed for beijing. Now this was a cool city, but once again i cant even begin to describe how bad the pollution is!!! We saw Tienanamen square, the forbidden city,
the cool back streets and we climbed the Great Wall of China, which absolultly lives up to its name (another ancient wonder of the list). And most of the time we didnt even see another person!! (We also now have our own special tower on the great wall, hehe). We also met a really cool auzzie couple who we hung out with for a while which saw a night of the boys having to carry me home, man the beijings can party!!! This city has much more of a chinese feel. The history here is so easily felt and seen. But once again, and frustratingly still no luck with the russian embassies or train tickets. Over all china was pretty cool but we were pretty happy to see the ass end of it!!!! (all the pollution and over population was by now starting to do some serious damage to my health. every morning i'd wake up with a coughing fit, almost bringing up a lung every time)
We managed to get the last two tickets on the train to mongolia to make it in time for the naadam festival. This is a national festival held each year and this
was the 800th anniversary. If anyone can be bothered google this, it is a really cool festival and considering we had missed every other festival of all the countries we have been by sometimes days, it was such a buzz to be able to make it to this one!!
On the first day we arrrived in ulanbaatar, the capital, we headed straight for the nadaam stadium to see the wrestling. What a sight to behold, and blue clear skies!!! Breathing the fresh air was a good as feeling high, especially after the horrible air of china, (words cannot describe how bloody good that air was, it was almost like magic, within a few hours my irritable cough had just disappeared). There were so many people in national dress and the old men and ladies had so much charachter it just oozed out of them!! We saw a yak being ridden, ate some really good food, (the food was sensational, but i think as a result of eating it i've got worms now. lucky me. it's a bizzare feeling to have something growing inside, even if its a parasite, and for those who are interested, i've called him ricardo, and
am currently trying all type of methods to kill ricardo. i'll keep everyone posted on any further developments. i'm totally stoked to be sharing with you all my bowel problems. if there is anyone out there who wants more info please don't hesitate to ask!!!!) and just wondering around watching these people was awsome!!!
The next day we got up early to head out of town to see the final horse race. We had hooked up with a lovely kiwi and a scotswoman, and so the four of us headed off, finally found a taxi, who ripped us off, got lost and kept having to stop to ask for directions, this is his home town and the biggest festival in the country for budda sake!!! Anyway we managed to get there before the race and the when we finally stepped out of the taxi and over a hill, what a sight!!! Horses, horses and more horses!!! These people are on them like bicycles. Almost like they literally grow form them. I am so overjoyed at having the privilage of seeing this spectacle.
The race itself was nuts. About 400 horses in the race, the jockeys all 10 years
Me and Phet
near waterfalls in Luang Prabuang old at the most and all bareback. You watch them disapear into the distance to the point that only the glimmer of the cars show you they are still there, then the race is on and it takes them about 10 mins just to see the horses coming!!! By the end of the race they are at a slow canter and still flogging them, then we headed off to see the winner and got caught in a mad rush of horses and people.
(this is where i saw my life flash in front of my eyes. once the winner crosses the line, he is whisked off by officials, in fact the top ten are taken away. however, it is said that to obtain sweat from the winning horses and riders is extremely good luck, and there was a mad rush to try and obtain this magical fluid. it was during this rush that i was stuck in the middle of a stampede. hosres flying around everywhere. i saw a big, stocky mongolian man being barrelled over by a horse and his glasses went flying to the left. i was getting shoved from the left, from the right, from behind,
all i saw was horses arses, legs flying around everywhere. it really was bloody scarry. it felt like i was never going to get out of there but the funny thing was that it probably only lasted 20-30 seconds. and then just like that everyone just disappeared, except for my racing heart rate).
It is something only a person can experience, to try to explain would not do it justice. So this will have to be another one you take my word on. Mongolia is a spectacular place. We got to see the gobi on the train out here and the space with no trees and sand and wind is just breathtaking!! And guess what?! Finally got success with not only our russian visas and we also finally have tickets on the trans siberian, delux class direct to moscow, which is 5 days 4 nights on a train, but we get to see the whole of russia and we get our own cabin to ourselves the whole trip!! (And you can all guess what that means!). We also have our plane tickets from st petersberg to warsaw, so only 2 weeks now before we get to poland to stay
The trip up
the road on the bus to the treehouse with daves family and it also means no more unpacking and packing and eating out constantly for a while!! YAY!!!! (and alot of vodka, which we both dislike, but have been slowly drinking some every night to get ourselves aquainted with the stuff. the top quality stuff goes for less than $10 a bottle)
(this is where i'm going to tell ya all about our adventure north to khuvsgal lake. the kiwi, otherwise known as the lianne "the yak lady" and ourselves boarded a russian equivalent to a combi but 4x4, (i so want one) which we hired for ourselves, and our driver tukso spent 2 days behind the wheel getting us there. the scenery was spectacular. vast, rolling hills, with not a tree in sight for several hours. the road itself was very rough and the mongolian highway is a very special kind of artery linking local people great distances away. check out the picture to see what i mean.
the first night was spent camping in the middle of nowhere, right beside a meandering creek, with some local ger camps in the distant. wildlife we spotted included horses, yaks, goats, eagles and vultures, and weird geese/stalk
Magical walk
our walk to the treehouse looking like creatures. we cooked our food on the fire, well i did actually, the girls were drinking wine and vodka but what was the most amazing thing about the whole place was that the sun didn't set until after 2300, and it only got dark at midnight.
the next morning we packed and headed onwards. pretty much the same thing, long, rough bumpy roads, heading to which felt like nowhere, awesome really!!!! we finally arrived in khatgal which was a little ghost town at the mouth of the lake. we stayed in a ger that night, very toasty. After a few vodkas, and one of the most interesting showers we've ever had, we all hit the sack like a tonne of brinks. we woke the following morning to thunderous rain, not the kind of start you'd really want, but nonetheless we push on towards the lake.
eventually we haggled the price down for a lift out to the lake, and we arrived there just after midday, still pissing down with rain. the lake was stunning, crytal clear, freezing water, surrounded by never ending mountains, thick lush pine forests, and so many cute animals. the afternoon was spent
Our living room
In the tree house wandering around getting lost, avoiding the copious amount of land mines left behind by all the animals.
the following day i was made to wear some ever so sexy stockings, as we were going to spend the day riding around on horses. i must admit, i can see why all you ladies out there wear them, pretty damn comfy, on the chaffing side of things of course. the horses were pretty lame so nothing more exciting happened other than a trot, however ali did manage to get up to a cantor at one point. we started off walking along the lake when we came to a teepee, surrounded by some cool looking reindeers. these guys were magical, in a christmas kind of way, and some of them had the biggest antlers that i have ever seen, in fact they were the only antlers that i have ever seen. we pushed further on until we reached our guides ger camp. once inside warm yaks milk was presented to us along with bread and yaks butter and cheese. very tasty i must say. however the freshly cut up goats carcass, with a bowl full of entrails was a little upsetting for
The morning view
in our tree house the ladies, and i wasn't to keen on tasting the stuff myself, so we all quickly vacated, said our thank yous, and continued up the mountain. onced we reached the top the vistas was amazing, pity i couldn't say the same about my arse, which by now was getting pretty tender.
after 7 hours in the saddle, with extremely sore butts, knees and ankles we somehow managed to get back to camp, and it was decided that we all take a dip in the lake, don't know whose stupid idea that was. needless to say, the freezing temperature of the lake was extremely beneficial for aching, beaten up bodies.(i decided the plunge pool thing was going to work, as i have also managed to injure my achilles tendon, and did it three times!!). the rest of the afternoon was spent doing sweet FA.
the next day was the start of our epic journey back to UB. we only managed get some 3 hours down the road, which doesn't sound that much, but it was an all round effort from everyone just to get to the nearest town. it was from this town, Moron, that our true journey really
A little friend
from the timy village before the treehouse began. at precisely 0900 the three us were sitting inside one of the furgons (russian 4x4 combie) ready to hit the roads. little did we know but for the next 6 hours we just sat in that car, slowly gathering dust whilst the driver went around town collecting locals for the journey back. the only positive to come out of it was that we got a free tour of the back streets of moron, yeehaa. we did eventually depart this dreary town at 1530, fully loaded mongolian style. these cars have 11 seats, but by some magical feet we squeezed 18 people in, luggage and all. the next 15 hours were hell, especially at 0130 in the morning when we picked a family of three, then things really got cozy, so cozy that my right butt cheek fell asleep. not much sleep happened on this leg of the journey, so when we arrived at erdenet at 0600 we were totally and utterly shattered. boy did we need a bed for a few hours. fat chance of that happening, as there was a festival going on in town, hence every hotel, hostel, guesthouse, outhouse, etc was full. shit, what now. we
decided that train tickets were in order and a kip at the train station. after alot of to and frowing we manged to get a lift to the station, unrolled our sleeping mats and took turns to sleep. its a wierd sensation to wake up and have several dozen set of mongolian eyes looking at you wandering what the hell we were doing. however after six months of travelling through south east asia you get used to being stared at so it was all cool. we boarded the train just after 1900 and we literally all passed out, only to be woken suddenly and told to get of the train as we had arrived back in ulaan baatar. finally. the epic journey ended, well almost, as were walking back to the hostel i was harassed by some totally smashed locals that wanted to know what was in my bag. just the icing on the cake that i needed.
at the time it was shit. no, it was worse than shit. if you can compare going to hell and back then you may get an idea of what we went through. however, having said that, looking back at it i
wouldn't have done it any other way. it was such a surreal experience travelling like the mongols do. we were lucky, we only have the opportunity to do it once, but these guys do this kind of travelling everyday, and i'm extremely certain that i'll never doing anything like it again. i say that now but i'll bet ya next week i'll doing something similiar all over again!!!!!)
Anyways, We hope ya all well and keeping out of trouble (actually I dont, i hope you are all getting into lots of trouble!) but are happy and safe, hope to hear from some of you!
Love always Ali & Dave
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Luke
non-member comment
..........
Sick! not really surprised tho havin met you guys!