Sabaidee from Asia

Sawadeeka and Sabaidee...or just “hello” from SE Asia! I’ve had a hard time cutting down the pictures to share with you, so I just decided to post a ton for now – hope you enjoy!

I am so glad that I picked Thailand as my port of entry, as it was nice to start in familiar territory of Bangkok. I only spent a day there but tried to make the most of it…my intention was to procure a visa for Cambodia in one day, but I arrived at the Cambodian embassy – or at least where the Cambodian embassy should have been on my map – to learn that it had moved across town. I was proud of myself that I had navigated the Bangkok skytrain and found the location on my own but wasn’t sure I was quite yet ready for the Bangkok public bus system (have you ever seen how packed those buses are??). So, I delayed my decision on the visa to later in the trip and decided to first obtain my ticket for the overnight train; this task involved venturing into the Bangkok subway, which is SO nice. I think they must have only completed it a couple of years ago, because the stations are immaculate, the ticket system is foreigner-friendly, and the trains are modern and quick. Once I arrived at the central train station, I was pleasantly surprised to find employees of the information desk standing around waiting to help travelers find their way. A kind woman not only looked up the train station time and directed me to the correct window for the ticket, but she also followed up with me afterwards to ensure I found the ticket I needed. I had to stop for a second to ensure I wasn’t required some baht payment to her before I realized how genuinely helpful she was (for free!).

After leaving the train station, I did some good old-fashioned wandering. I decided to walk towards the river from the train station, but stopped at a couple of Buddhist temples and got a bit lost looking for the ferry landings. Despite our western expectations for cities on the water, there isn’t a boardwalk/promenade/esplanade that runs the length of the river Bangkok, so it’s important to strategically locate a specific ferry terminal in order to access the river front views. As soon as I found my way after a couple of “detours” through parking lots and Thai food stalls, I arrived at the ferry terminal and had flashbacks of my visit three years ago – one of those “I know I’ve been here before” moments.

I hopped on board one of the express boats, and for the low, low price of 30 baht (around $1), I rode the ferry all the way to the “end of the line” and back to the Oriental Hotel over the course of a couple of hours. The ferry ride was enjoyable – a good mix of tourists and locals, and the percentage of tourists dramatically decreased the further up the river we went. We cruised past some of the sights I saw from my first visit, iconic Bangkok sites like the National Palace, Wat (Thai for “temple”) Arun, and Wat Pho, and it was a pleasant way to see the city from the water, although admittedly the amount of trash floating in the river was a little disconcerting. I decided to treat myself to a decent lunch before I jumped on board the overnight train and enjoyed sitting on the patio at the Oriental, watching the boats drift by.



Long boats on the river in Bangkok

I made my way back to my cheap, but decent, hotel on the skytrain and then returned to the train station on the subway for my overnight train. I had decided to “splurge” on the first class sleeper car – more for the fact that I knew bags would be safe, and therefore, that I would sleep easy, as opposed to the second class sleeper car where guide books had advised chaining bags to rails. Honestly though, I’ve heard that the Thai trains are great ways to travel, second class cars included. Traveler tip – if you ever decide to do some train travel in Europe or SE Asia, I highly recommend the website http://www.seat61.com/. It’s a great resource for travel in these areas and was developed by a former British train conductor who has traveled all over by rail.

I was glad to see that there were several other westerners (in addition to two Buddhist monks) in the same train car as me, and even happier when it looked like my car companion wasn’t going to turn up. We made it about an hour outside the city before the other passenger hopped on, an attractive Thai girl who was on her way north to see her parents. We chatted as best we could for awhile, per her request to practice English, and then I crashed around 10:00 due to some jet lag. When I woke, I had the car to myself – as the other passenger had disembarked around 4:30 a.m. I enjoyed the view of the northern highlands for the next couple of hours until we arrived in Chiang Mai around 10:00 a.m.

If you’re planning to go to Thailand, I’d highly recommend including Chiang Mai in the itinerary. It’s a kindler, gentler city to its looming metropolis cousin of Bangkok, and I enjoyed my two day stay there – just not long enough (don’t I say that almost everywhere??). My guest house, found through agoda.com (another good website for SE Asia accommodation, as recomended by my friend Martha), was a pleasant surprise…the Three Sis guesthouse, and for the same price as my hostel bunk beds in Australia and NZ, I had a private room with air conditioning, my own bathroom, cable TV, free internet, and breakfast included. The guesthouse was in a great location inside the city walls and provided good access to the local attractions.

I decided to go visit a smaller town east of Chiang Mai, known for its handicrafts, but in hindsight, I wish I had spent my time elsewhere. I think “known for its handicrafts” is code for “tourist trap,” and Bo Sang wasn’t such a great spot to visit. I did, however, enjoy the taxi drive through town and the paper factory I found on a back alley after my visit to the umbrella factory (starting to get the picture of a tourist trap yet?). I liked the paper factory because 1) I bought beautiful handmade paper on which to write letters to Ben, and 2) an employee gave me a tour of the factory and had one of the other women teach me how to make the paper. I think I enjoyed the fact that I was the only westerner around more than anything…

Hand painting umbrellas in Bo Sang

Posing as Umbrella Man at the paper factory

Learning how to make paper

When I arrived back in town, I decided to just walk around to get the feel of the place, which is my favorite way to learn and discover new cities. Despite the humidity, I had a good walk around the town and took a stop in one of the more prominent Buddhist temples in the city. If you haven’t ever been to a Buddhist temple, you really HAVE to go sometime. The temples are extraordinarily beautiful, with intricate detailing on the inside and out. In Thailand (and I assume most places in SE Asia), there’s typically a large gold Buddha somewhere inside the temple and some peaceful monks roaming the premises in their saffron-colored robes.

One of 300+ temples in Chiang Mai

On my way home, I decided to stop for one of the infamous Thai massages, as the going rate was around $3.80 for an hour. I actually opted for a shorter foot massage, for which I believe I paid $2 for half an hour. Not a bad deal.

That evening, my friend Ann (reference to NZ – my Thai roommate in my hostel in Turangi) met me at the guesthouse, and we went to meet some other foreigners she knew at the local Fish and Chip Shop. See if you can follow this…Ann studied in Taiwan, where she became friends with another exchange student who was from India. That guy moved to Japan, where he met a Kiwi named Matt. When Matt decided to go to Chiang Mai, he looked up Ann, and Ann had met Matt a few days prior to show him around town. Turns out Matt met three Aussies during a meal at the Fish and Chip Shop, which is how I ended up there with Ann on Tuesday night. Crazy circle, huh?

I had a great time on Tuesday evening with Ann and the other backpackers, including the other Aussies, a Kiwi, and another American. We ended up at a barbeque place, which should be defined as a large open air restaurant, where each table has two coal pits. Metal cone-shape barbeques are then placed on top of the pits and heated. Various types of raw meat and seafood are available in a buffet along with veggies, and the meat and seafood are put on the top part of the metal BBQ to cook. The veggies are then placed in the gutter around the bottom with some broth to steam. It’s a little work intensive for a meal, but the food was tasty and cheap (around $4 all you can eat), and we were the only foreigners in the place. So glad I contacted Ann before my visit to Chiang Mai.

Ann and Brendan cooking at the BBQ

On Wednesday, I woke up a bit early to head to the Lao Airlines office, where I had to finish paying for my ticket in Laos. I hailed a rickshaw and haggled on a price to the office, paid for my ticket, and found another rickshaw back to my guesthouse, where I enjoyed my free breakfast on arrival. I was soon picked up for my Thai cooking class, where I was to spend the day. I’d heard from several people that cooking classes were a great thing to do while in Thailand and that Chiang Mai offered some of the best options, so I was really looking forward to learning some good Asian cooking skills.

Our class included about 15 people from all over the world – the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, UK, France, and even Hawaii. First, we stopped at the local market for lessons in the various vegetables, rice, tofu, spices, and fruit and were given time to wander around and gawk at the cuts of raw meat, the live fish swimming in small buckets, and amazing variety of produce. We then drove about 20 minutes outside of town to the home of a famous Thai chef who had started the school. His property included a large garden, a classroom, and several cooking stations. For each dish we prepared, we would first watch a live demonstration by one of the instructors, followed immediately by our own attempts with fresh ingredients. In all, we made about 6 different dishes throughout the day, including a coconut milk soup, fish curry, two stir fries, papaya salad, and dessert. I must admit my red fish curry was pretty tasty, but my favorite was the steamed banana cake. All of us left the day satiated and happy.

Learning about veggies at the market

Cooking on the wok at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School

Steamed banana cake in banana leaves

Fish curry and veggie stir-fry

That evening, I ventured over the night market to check out the local wares. I love markets in Asia – so much random stuff for so little money! I had a good time walking through the various stalls that seemed to be focused on one of four products: bootleg CDs/DVDs; fake purses and wallets; lamps; and clothing. I must admit that my bargaining skills need to be revived from my India days, but I made a couple of good purchases and was happy with the evening. Unfortunately, my tuk-tuk driver that evening wasn’t so great with directions, but I ended up back at the guesthouse pleased with a cultural day in northern Thailand.

Night market in Chiang Mai

Friendly - but clueless - tuk-tuk driver

On Friday, I enjoyed a leisurely morning, catching up on my huge backlog of emails and planning my next couple of days. I also stopped in some temples during my final walk through town, although at some point I started to feel like I was on my own Temple Tour 2008. My goal is to now find something interesting and distinct about each temple I visit so that they don’t all start running together. This will actually be a tough task.

Teak temple in Chiang Mai - part of Temple Tour 2008

Thai pup lounging at one of the temples

I was pleased to arrive at the Chiang Mai airport and find that it was extremely modern and new – they even had free wireless in the coffee shop. As I was waiting for my flight, I saw my friends Ann and Brendan (one of the Aussies that Ann had met earlier in the week) in the waiting area. I knew Brendan was headed for the same destination as me from our conversation the other night, but I was so happy to see that Ann had decided to join him as well.

I was on my way to Laos. If you haven’t heard much about Laos, check out this link…it’s an amazing country with a pretty marked past, most of which I had no idea about until I visited. After my ride on the dodgy Lao Airlines prop plane, I arrived at the tiny airport in Luang Prabang, a town in northern Laos that has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The difference between Thailand and Laos was very obvious, but is somewhat difficult to describe – the scenery was a bit more dramatic, with mountains surrounding the area; the people looked a bit different and were even nicer (if that was possible); and the country seemed a bit more third world. For the first time in three months, I hopped in a taxi that drove on the right side of the road, and the plugs in my guesthouse required no adapter for my camera cord. Driving through the town, I had a good feeling that I would really enjoy my stay.

A sigh of relief when stepping off of Laos Airlines in Luang Prabang

When my friends dropped me off at my guesthouse, I left my bag in my room and ventured down to the reception to ask about having a BeerLao. It’s supposedly the best beer in Southeast Asia, and everyone had told me to try one. Unfortunately, the reception was all out of drinks, but the Laotian man named Sach working offered to take me on his motorbike to get one. I had seen the bikes whizzing around town but hadn’t ridden one yet, so I quickly agreed – as long as he promised to take it slow. Turns out that no one in Laos really goes anywhere all that quickly, so I really didn’t need to be worried.

When Sach heard that I had just arrived in the country, he offered to take me for a short drive down my the Mekong River, which borders the peninsula. The Mekong is one of most famous natural landmarks in southeast Asia, as it marks much of the border of Laos with Thailand and Cambodia. Many people swim on it, fish on it, live on it, raft on it, boat on it, and float down it. When Sach asked if I would like to stop and have a beerlao at one of the riverside cafes, I agreed, as I was keen on seeing the river with my own eyes. I enjoyed chatting with him about his life in his village in Laos and his work at the guesthouse, where he claimed that most of the other guests tended to be “old and short.” Pretty entertaining.

We rode back through the main road in town and then hopped off when I saw my friends near my guesthouse. Ann, Brenden, Sach, and I went down to a river-side restaurant for dinner, and over tasty Laotian food, enjoyed watching the wooden long boats float up and down the river as the sun set. The restaurant soon filled with other patrons, but we patiently waited and enjoyed our two hour meal in such a peaceful setting.

Famous Beerlao

Dinner on the Mekong with Ann, Brendan, and Sach

On Saturday, Sach had arranged for his brother-in-law, who owns a long boat docked in the river, to take us to two tourist sites – a cave site up the river, and waterfalls down the river. Because I woke up quite early, though, I took advantage of the cooler weather to go for a walk around town first. I started wandering down the main street and found many shops, tourist cafes, internet cafes, and travel agencies before finding the national museum, a large temple, and a small local market. I then took a turn down a side street and found a HUGE local market, selling all types of clothing and food. It was clear that this was where the Laotians came for all of their food needs, as there were no other foreigners strolling through, and all of the locals were intent on bargaining for the appropriate amount of beef, pig’s leg, or spices that they needed. To keep the flies away from the food, some of the owners had fashioned make-shift fly swatters out of a stick and a plastic bag tied to the end; they would wave these over their stalls (which were really just blankets set up on the ground with the “products” sitting on them) in an effort to combat the fly problem.

From my guesthouse balcony - row of monks collects alms at 6:00 a.m.

After my enlightening stroll, I met Ann and Brendan at a local café where Ann happened to know the owners, an American and his Thai wife, from Chiang Mai. We had a very tasty breakfast and a good cup of coffee to start the day. We then met Sach’s brother, who walked us down to the river and took us on an outstanding boat trip. This man, along with his wife and his son who live in the back of the boat, were with us all day. We floated up the Mekong about 2 hours to the caves, past small villages, men fishing in the river, children playing on the river bank, and even an elephant strolling along the shore. I couldn’t think of a better way to see rural Lao and felt that heart-swelling joy of what travel brings as we drifted along. When we arrived at the caves, there were other long boats waiting with their passengers as well; we hopped off on the make-shift dock and walked up the steps to see the two ancient crevices. The larger cave at the top of the hill had some small Buddha relics inside, but the lower cave was certainly more interesting – there were hundreds of abandoned Buddha relics that had been placed there over the years. Word has it that some of the original statues had been stolen over time, but it was still an impressive sight to see so many figurines in one place.

Boat owner and captain for the day

The little helper - the owner's son. He would run up to the steering wheel whenever his dad sat down in the captain's chair.

One of many boats out on the Mekong

Passing some boats and a local village on the hill

Scenery around the caves

With Ann ot the caves

Hundreds of Buddha relics in the lower cave

Long boats docked and waiting to return to Luang Prabang

The caves, from the water

After the caves, we floated down the river about two hours to a drop-off for the waterfalls. When we arrived at a small beach, we were met by a friend of the boat owner’s who then drove us the last 10 km to the falls. We had to walk up the beach into a tiny village, where the three of us hopped into the cab of a truck. I loved seeing the small village and seeing how the people there lived, as it was extremely rural as well. From there, we drove to the drop-off point for the waterfalls, which was overrun with many food and souvenir stalls. However, once we were inside the falls it was peaceful…and the falls were amazing. After taking in the view and the green colored pools of water at the base, we climbed halfway up the falls to the second pool, where we then decided to go for a swim at the base of the landing. An exhilarating swim in such an amazing setting.

Ann and Brendan cruising on the boat with the wife and son of the captain

Swimming with Ann at the waterfalls (look close for us in the middle pool)

Four little Laotian girls in the village where we caught the truck to the waterfall

We were able to see some of the sunset on our way back home, which distracted me from the fact that the wife of the couple was bailing water out the back with a bucket. We learned later that this is common, but after a small ramming incident with another boat earlier in the day, I was beginning to question the nautical abilities of our captain!

Sunset on the Mekong

We arrived back in Luang Prabang early evening, with enough time for me to book my transportation for the next day to my next destination and check in on Ben (via email) and the erupting situation in Iraq (via online news journals). I’ve really been on pins and needles the past few days with the situation there, so I was happy to check my messages and have two from my husband. All was well, relatively speaking.

For dinner, we met up with Ann’s friends again (Jason and Joy) and headed to one of the best restaurants in Luang Prabang – L’Elephant. Because of the French influence in Laos, Luang Prabang has some amazing French restaurants, and Jason claimed that L’Elephant was the best. I didn’t try any other places, but I could definitely say that it was an outstanding meal. It was a nice treat and an outstanding way to end my best day thus far in Asia.

Night market in Luang Prabang

My guesthouse was located opposite one of the temples in town, and on Sunday, I woke up early to watch the monks receive alms of sticky rice at 6:00 a.m. It was a remarkable site to see the long row of orange-robed monks preceding down the sidewalk, accepting sticky rice from bamboo buckets from locals and tourists alike. It was peaceful and very calming to watch the parade, and at the end, I was interested to see that some of the monks were giving away some of their food to boys who had small plastic bags filled to the brim with other rice donations. I later learned that monks can possibly only eat whatever they receive in the morning, so they are dependent on the rice for sustenance all day – which made it that much more generous that they were giving away some of their food to small boys from the town.

Monks receiving alms at sunrise in Luang Prabang

I then headed up to the temple that sat on top of a hill in town for a look down at the city, but given that many of the local farmers had been burning their fields to prepare for the next harvest, the sky was full of smoke. I could make out a view and the sunrise, but it was a bit difficult. I had one final breakfast at the Three Nagas, a restaurant recommended by Sophie and Cam, and then went back to my guest house to wait on my transport to the next town.

At around 9:15 a.m., a tuk-tuk pulled up in front of the guesthouse to take me to the bus station. When I hopped in, I was met with five friendly faces of other young travelers, who asked about my name, my trip, etc. I haven’t met such a welcoming group yet on my trip and was so glad that I had stumbled into a good group of travelling companions. I’ve basically been with this group for the past three days and have enjoyed their company every step of the way. The group includes two Germans, Frederick and Peer, who are pilots for Lufthansa and who are on a one month holiday; Mieke, a Dutch girl who is taking three months to travel before starting graduate school; and Jenny and Ryan, an AWESOME American couple who just finished school and are taking a one year gap year to travel before starting law school. Once we arrived at the bus station, we also met Joel, a Swedish guy who has been teaching English in Bangkok. Because the five had met on a slow boat trip from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, they had gotten to know each other over the past four days but readily accepted Joel and I into their group.

I enjoyed chatting with Ryan, Frederick, and Perre on the ride to Vang Vieng because the road was extremely curvy – and our driver tended to drive in the middle of the lane, rather on the right side. I needed a distraction from the anxiety and car sickness! The drive lasted about six hours and took us through the middle of rural villages, stopping twice in such villages for a snack and restroom break. We finally arrived in Vang Vieng in the late evening, and I took off in search of my pre-booked guest house, while the rest went to find accommodation. We had intended to meet up around 7 at the post office, but when I walked to them at 7:00, the post office was no longer where it had been on the map. I continued to walk through the small town, knowing that I would ultimately find them, and we did end up finding each other a few minutes later.

We enjoyed a good Laotian dinner that evening, and then went into an internet café. Right as I was sending a message, the power went out in town – which preceded a huge storm. The windows were shaking from the wind, and the rain was torrential. My happy-go-lucky group of travel companions made the best of the situation and pulled out uno cards, so we sat and played a game while waiting for the storm to settle. Once it eventually improved, we parted ways – and I headed home in the dark. There were no lights, with the exception of candles in some small windows and flashlights of fellow tourists. A kind Aussie couple graciously gave up one of their flashlights for me to see my way home, but I have to admit I was a little spooked out by the lack of power. I made it home safely, though.

The next morning, I met the group again with the intention that we would go tubing down the river that day – an activity that was highly recommended by Sophie and Cam and a “rite of passage” for travelers in this area. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t so great, and we were concerned that the storm the night before would damage some of the businesses along the river, so we concluded to visit caves north of the city. We rented bikes and then rode along the road about 15 km north. The bike ride was outstanding – again, a great way to see the countryside and to see how Laotians live in their homes and towns. We arrived at the village next to the caves, ate a noodle lunch next to the river, and then set out in search of the caves on our own across farmland. We didn’t make it far before a guide ran after us, telling us we were going the wrong way; we finally were turned in the right direction and were taken to the first cave, which apparently is about 3 km long. We didn’t end up going all the way in, and I remembered about halfway in that I have an aversion to caves after my trip in South Africa. What was I doing??

Biking with my new friends near Vang Vieng, Laos

Traditional modes of transport in the countryside...

We headed out of the first and walked into the second a short distance before finally making it to the third cave, one that was supposed to be the most enjoyable. It certainly was. A stream made the cave into a small lagoon, and we rented intertubes to take ourselves into the cave. It took about an hour and a half to swim with our tubes in and out of the cave, but it the most fun. A highlight of the day!

We were concerned about getting our bikes back into town on time, so we raced back through the countryside. The mountains had taken on a blue-ish tint, and the sun started to set behind us as we rode back through the Laotian towns. Little children waved and yelled “Sabaidee” (“hello”) on our way back, and we arrived at the bike store right as dark set in. We met shortly thereafter for dinner, and my friend Brendan (from Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang) also joined us, as he had stayed an extra day with Ann and had just gotten into town. We had a family style dinner of amazing Laotian food, passing around plates of laap, Laotian sausage, tofu curries, and fish, and drinking some beerlaos with our meal.

Sunsetting in Lao on our bike ride home

On Tuesday, we finally decided to do the tubing trip we had heard so much about. After a leisurely breakfast, we rented intertubes, had numbers written on our hands, and were taken in a tuk-tuk a few kilometers north on the river. There, we were dropped off to start our tubing adventure, which supposedly would take only about 2 hours if you stayed on the river the entire time. However, the experience has received so much hype because there are small bamboo bars lining the sides of the river, where you can stop, drop off your intertube, have a drink, and even jump off of a rope swing into the water. Our group was keen on checking out some of these establishments, so we stopped at the first and the second bar before making it to the 4th or 5th – where we ended up staying for some time. It was a fun scene, with young travelers swimming, socializing, playing volleyball, etc – just not a very authentic day in Laos! I did try one jump off of the rope swing right before we left, and then all of us headed down the river to finish out the day. I have to admit that my favorite part was the last hour, when we were floating in peaceful scenery down the side of the river. Our group, which had grown with some other friends of Ryan and Jenny’s, formed a bit of a flotilla, as we linked up tubes and hands and floated together down the river. We jumped off the river at a guesthouse right as a storm was brewing, and caught a tuk-tuk back into town. Another great Laotian dinner at the same restaurant last night. Pictures to come...

One of the best parts of the trip has been the people I have met along the way, and my group here in Vang Vieng has been such a great example of the wonderful travelers out here. The group was so welcoming, so friendly, and so much fun – I can’t imagine staying or visiting this backpacker town without this group now. In fact, I’m even traveled on with four of the group yesterday to Vientienne, where I’ll stay until Friday morning. It’s nice to have travel companions, but even nicer to have ones that are so enjoyable to be around and travel with.

We arrived here Thursday afternoon, and I’ve enjoyed the little I’ve seen of the capital city thus far. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the sites tomorrow before I head to Cambodia on Friday morning.

I know everyone is enjoying March Madness back at home – just sad to hear about my Vols loss!