Sawatdikha! (Thai for hello)

I can't believe I haven't really updated this site for such a long time. It is nearly the end of February and the last blog entry was in Hoi An, Vietnam. Well, a lot has happened since then so I shall try to remember most of it and update you now but be warned it is going to be a very long one!I am now back in Thailand after finishing my Intrepid trip over the past 40 days and I can tell you, I am in urgent need of a few days off. Travelling just is so demanding and exhausting!!! I know you won't believe me but it really is. Getting up early each morning to go and see or do something, constantly being on the move, packing and unpacking your rucksack all the time, I can tell you, it really wears you out! Anyway, before I start at the end, let me tell you what happened since Hoi An.

Vietnam
After celebrating Lunar New Year in Hoi An, we moved onwards and up north to Hue, another World Heritage site. Hoi An was still fairly warm and sunny but as soon as we went over the pass the weather changed for the worse. It was called and damp at least if not raining. We arrived in the hotel in Hue in the late afternoon and checked in. But we nearly all wanted to change rooms because the rooms were damp but what do you do if there is no heating in the building and no doors to the corridors from the outside? All rooms had the same problem so we just had to put up with it. Unfortunately, all clothes left out overnight were damp the next morning, so not really a nice start to the day. The weather didn't really help to cheer us up (it was constantly drizzling or raining) and we headed out on a motorbike tour of the surrounding area without proper wet gear. Ah well, it still was one of the best day tours I have been on. We went to a local market (no tourist around), had very local coffee (ridiculously strong black coffee with half a cup of sweetened condensed milk, hmmmm), visited a conical hat making place, followed by an incense stick making place (you can see my attempt on the photos), had lunch at a local nunnery and then headed back towards the hotel after stopping off at a pagoda. It was great fun even though it was absolutely freezing without the proper gear but we enjoyed it all the more. It really was a good laugh.

The next morning, Peter and I went to explore the Citadel. It was really amazing, the amount of detail on the gates and everything. The only really off-putting thing was a modern tennis court in the middle of it all. The sign said that this was the restored royal tennis court but still, why did they have to use modern materials to restore something over 200 years old???? Anyway, after a very amusing lunch next to a drooling Swiss guy who could not make himself understood in either German or English or French (and I tried, honest) we caught the overnight train to Hanoi. The train was on time (yes, it really was very efficient…) and left Hue at around 4pm. Nigel, Chris, Peter and I shared one apartment with four relatively comfortable beds. Unfortunately, the air-conditioning did not work and although it was very cold in Hue, it was boiling on the train. Sods law. Anyway, we started playing Pictionary and enjoying our drinks (beer and wine of course). By 9pm, I was very merry and quite happy to fall asleep, which I did within 20 seconds of lying down (yes, of course, I cleaned my teeth prior to falling asleep), and slept fairly well until Phuong knocked on the door at 4.15am to wake us up. I decided to ignore his attempt as the train wasn't scheduled to arrive in Hanoi for another hour (!) but he insisted that we were there and the train was arriving early! Never thought I would complain about that!!!!

Anyway, we were lucky as there were a few rooms available at our hotel, so Nigel, Chris, Peter and I shared a tiny double room for a few more hours sleep. Well, poor Peter had the short straw and had to sleep on the floor (with a thin mattress) whereas Nigel, Chris and I shared a very standard sized double bed. If any of us wanted to turn, we had to do it at the same time...

It was really strange in Hanoi, everybody kept saying that Hanoi is absolutely mental and the traffic is just unbelievable. But when we arrived, it was anything but that! Most shops were still shut, same as many restaurants, all due the New Year's celebration still taking place and the associated public bank holidays (5 days in total in a row, which we had something like that in England!). Anyway, we were only staying here for one night before heading off to Halong Bay the next day. Halong Bay was absolutely stunning, even though we didn't have the best weather. The limestone outcrops are amazing, and I am not at all surprised that Vietnam is trying to declare this area as one of the natural world wonders!

We stayed the night at Cat Ba Island, a tiny village with nothing to do, especially not on public holidays when the weather is cold and miserable (I blame China for this one really). But the really nice thing about the hotel was that it had air-conditioning and you could use this as heater!!!!! Fabulous!!!! For the first time in days, I was actually warm during the night again! Dinner was worse than average for Nigel and Peter who had a curry but my pizza was quite nice although you would have not recognized it as pizza, I have to admit. It had more tomato sauce on it than anything else and the cheese was beneath the tomato sauce. Ah well, I enjoyed the strange concoction all the same and was even happier when I didn't have any food poisoning the next day!

In the morning, we went kayaking. The weather held up for most of the time and we actually didn't get too wet from the top. Well, there is obviously another way to get wet as we were about to discover. Peter and I shared a kayak and when we tried to leave MonkeyIsland where we stopped to enjoy some scenic views, I got into the kayak first at the front and Peter tried to push us back into the sea. Well, the emphasis initially being on tried, as we sort of got stuck and all the waves kept braking on top of the kayak and all the water was running into my seat!!! My trousers were absolutely soaked by the time Peter managed to push us into the water but Peter didn't really stay any drier as he was the heavier of the two of us and all water that had initially collated at my end, run to his end and he had wet pants as well. Well, at least I hope it was the water…

It was all good fun, even though we all got wet (more or less) and after a warm shower at the hotel and a quick lunch at the local (different place to the night before, definitely) we headed back to Hanoi on the speed boat. Hanoi was completely changed (thank God) as it was really boring before then. It now was lively and busy although it was still cold without any sunshine. Most shops and restaurants were open and we could shop until we dropped, or more like it: until we couldn't close our rucksacks anymore... We spent the next couple of days exploring every corner of Hanoi on foot. It was ok but I very much preferred Ho Chi Minh city, not quite sure why but I think because Hanoi now felt too crowded with its tiny streets in the old quarter. Anyway, I enjoyed it but at the same time I was glad that we were now heading for Laos. I was ready for a change. But before entering Laos, we had to take the train to Vinh, a long 7 hours journey and it was 11pm before we finally arrived. Everybody was so worn out that we all headed straight to bed to get a few hours sleep before the 6:30am start the next day.

Laos
After a very good breakfast (well, if you could face fried rice, fried noodles or noodle soup for brekkie) we headed off in our mini-bus to the Laos border. The border crossing was very smooth, you could almost say, you hadn't even noticed. Some people in the group had to get a Laos visa, which you can get at the border, but they had to pay an additional 1USD because it was Saturday! So funny, but it seems kind of normal, it is an overtime pay for the guys at the border. Well, you can't really say that they were working as they were playing pool on the computer when we arrived. I went for a wonder after changing my remaining Dong into Kip and couldn't find our bus. So I went looking for it and I must have crossed the border twice without anybody checking my passport (which I didn't even have on me at the time because it was still with guys playing pool). Nobody cared.

We arrived early evening in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. I was too worn out from the journey so I skipped dinner and after a couple of hours reading went to bed for a good night's sleep. On Sunday morning we went for an orientation walk with our group leader and went to see one of the oldest wats in Vientiane, plus the 'vertical runway'. You may wonder what a 'vertical runway' is and you shall be pleased to hear that I know the answer and am going to share it with you. The 'vertical runway' essential looks like the 'Arc de Triomphe' in Paris. It is so called because the US donated cement to Laos to build a new runway. The Laos people decided they didn't want a new runway so built this copy of the Arc de Triomphe instead! Hilarious! In the afternoon, Peter and I took a tuk tuk to Wat Pha That Luang (the GoldenTemple). The setting sun paints the temple in true gold and it was a really amazing sight. And that's me saying that even though I am nearly totally templed out… Vientiane was a really nice city although I was tempted to call it a town if that. On Sundays, there is hardly any traffic about and you can see very few people on the road (apart from tourists obviously). I can honestly say that I have seen more cars in Tring than in Vientiane on a Sunday!

The next morning we set off to Vang Vieng, a very popular town with tourists as there is loads to do there, white water rafting, kayaking, trekking, cycling, climbing, tubing (floating down the river on an inflated tire) etc. As Peter was still unwell (the well known Delhi belly even though we weren't in India), Chris, Nigel and I rented a scooter the next day and explored the surroundings, climbed into some caves and had a very nice Mulberry shake at the Organic farm to see the day off. After dinner, we did what everybody else seems to do all day long and watched a few episodes of Friends (different series are shown at almost every restaurant in Vang Vieng). The day after I went climbing for a day, which was quite exhausting after nearly 4 months of not doing any exercise at all and as could have been predicted, I came away with a few bruises and scratches caused by the sharp limestone formations. It was a really good day and good to be active again.

After Vang Vieng, we headed to Luang Prabang where I had arranged to meet Karine (the French girl I previously met in Sangkhlaburi in northwest Thailand). It was good to get away from the group for a while and Karine and I ended up spending the next 2.5 days together. The first day we watched the sunset at Wat Phousi, which was great before going for dinner at the LaoLaoGarden restaurant, where they had 2 for 1 on cocktails all night. Hmmm, sounds like a good deal to me, especially when knowing that in Asia nobody gets the spirit measure out). By the end of the night we were very happy (Karine even more than me). The next day, we spent exploring Luang Prabang on foot as we couldn't find anywhere to rent a bike for a reasonable price (Karine: 'I want to rent a bike, not buy it'...). We had dinner at the Tamarind restaurant where they have a special Introductory Dinner to Laos' cuisine on every Friday. It was wonderful. We had sticky rice with several dips and seaweed crackers for starters, followed by steamed fish in lettuce wraps filled with herbs, chilli, banana flower and noodles for main and some local fruit with sweet purple sticky rice for pudding. Although I have to admit, I was too full by the end of the night to really enjoy the sweets.

The day after, we went to our cooking class which lasted all day. We cooked two dishes for lunch (chilli chicken and Luang Prabang salad with homemade mayonnaise) and three dishes for early dinner (papaya salad, chicken larp, and chicken and aubergine curry). And everything was yummy, even though we cooked it ourselves! Afterwards, we ended up in the Laos Laos Garden restaurant again, to have our farewell drinks (they still had the 2 for 1 offer…). I very much enjoyed my time with Karine and am glad that she stuck around for a couple of days to wait for me so that we could meet, so thank you, Karine, for a fantastic time!

The next day we were scheduled to leave but we went out to observe the monk's daily morning routine (alms giving) before that, which meant I had to get out of bed at 5:30am (after quite a few drinks and a late night not such an easy task) but it was well worth it. After the alms giving, we headed to the Mekong where we boarded our slow boat, which would take us all the way to the Thai / Laos border (even though it took 2 full days). We stayed in Pak Beng for one night where I had the best Laos food ever (quite surprisingly), when I had Chicken Saar, similar to the chicken larp but instead of the mint, lemon and chilli is used. Beautiful. The last night in Laos was spent at the border town of Houy Xai, a pretty uneventful place but it was warmly welcome by all after spending nearly 10 hours on the boat.

Thailand
The next day we crossed the Mekong and set foot in Thailand. After a few hours on the mini-bus we arrived in Chiang Mai where I still am. Yesterday, I said good-bye to Peter who headed back to Oz and today I waved good-bye to Chris and Nigel, which were quite sad moments as I we spent a lot of time together over the past 40 days and without them, my trip would have been quite unbearable! So thank you, Snoozy Pete, Nigel and Chris, for making my trip and unforgettable one!

I am staying here for a couple more days, just chilling out and relaxing before heading back to Bangkok, to start my new trip which will take me from Bangkok to Singapore. Just before you were thinking lazy cow though, I am actually doing a language course for two hours a day to learn some basic Thai, which isn't very easy when you have 26 different vowels and 5 different tones for each! In the afternoon I am exploring the surrounding area by bike, which also is quite hard work as the bikes here don't have any gears. So I am not being lazy, just taking it nice and steady for a few days. The odd Thai / Oil massage obviously helps a lot too….

And that really is it from me. As per usual, I will try to upload the outstanding photos as soon as I can. Take care, enjoy yourself and as always, keep smiling whatever you do!

Yvonne
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