Whew! It becomes rather an easy feat to avoid posting a blog entry when you're really busy with the whole travelling and sightseeing thing... But alas! Marc has taken me by the shoulders, steered me into the internet cafe, sat me in a rather comfy chair and demanded I type away! Not literally... but he has, with words. And guilt. People won't know if we're alive! They'll stop checking our blog! Sheesh. When I don't write, we're just off having fun. Or simply exhausted from the travelling. Either or. Or as they would say in Southeast Asia, "Same, same".
Now that the background has been spilled, I am writing from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When thinking about this post on our way into the city, I was going to title it "No Roads in Cambodia". I would have been kidding, of course, but it certainly felt like a statement of fact on our bus ride from Vietnam yesterday. I've never been bounced around so much on a bus in my life. At least the bus was air-conditioned. Having spent the better part of the past week in the cooler, rainier climate of Central Vietnam, our bodies are slowly readjusting to the heat. Now don't go getting any funny ideas - by 'cooler' I mean low to mid-20s, at night, and on the rainy days. Although a local across from me had the A/C vent fully open and I had to pull out my sweatshirt as I was freezing! What are we going to do when we arrive back home?
On the subject of temperature, to give you an idea of temperatures over the past few months, when in an A/C room (not all that often in some of the countries!), if it was set any cooler than 25 degrees, we were cold, and turned it up or off altogether.
We underwent the strangest Visa process to enter Cambodia. We never actually came face-to-face with an official, but were simply handed our passport by the bus staff, visa in place. However, in every hotel we've stayed in, we've had to hand over our passports and usually they are kept at reception for the duration of our stay. What's that they say about never allowing your passport to leave your sight? Yes well... cannot happen in Asia. It's unreal to realize we can be tracked for an entire four months.
Cambodia. Country #6! I didn't know too much about the country when we decided to visit, but while in Vietnam I read an eye-opening, well-written book about the horrors of the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime of the mid-to-late '70s. I've been trying to read a book about every country we're visiting on this trip, but realize I have missed Laos and Vietnam.
Phnom Penh itself was once a rather bustling city but now still appears to be recovering from the '70s. It's no wonder. Apparently half of the country's population was born post-1980... That just shows how many people were brutally killed by the Khmer Rouge. Phnom Penh seems to be one of the hardest hit cities. The Khmer Rouge was this ultra Communist party that took over the country in April 1975 and set about 'purifying' Cambodia and in essence, setting it back about a hundred years. The 'pure Khmers' were the rural farmers - the uneducated, the poor who lived off of the land and did not rely on outside influences or imported goods to survive. The city dwellers were considered evil and were to be killed as they had been exposed to western ideas and culture. Further, anyone who was not fully Cambodian, such as descendants of the Chinese, were also not permitted life as part of the new regime. Essentially, anyone that might have the education or experience to question the new regime had a mark on their head and was as good as dead. I suppose the lucky few managed to escape, including our tuk-tuk driver today, who was 14 when the KR came to power. He fled into the jungle but at some point was held prisoner for three months. He lost his father (a university professor), mother and brother. His sister managed to survive but they did not find one another until years later.
Today we visited S-21, a former high school, now a museum, that was used as a detention centre and interrogation and torture chamber by the Khmer Rouge. It still houses some of the tools used and blood-stained mats remain on some of the metal beds. There are also rows of pictures of the victims, including many young children. Feeling rather disturbed, we moved on to the Killing Fields. Might as well deal with the horrors all in one day, no? Besides, seeing the aftermath is nothing like living the reality. Despite having read a detailed account, I can't begin to imagine myself going through it.
The Killing Fields of Choueng Ek were exactly what the name suggests. This is where the Khmer Rouge brought their victims, including those tortured at S-21, and killed them. They've excavated some of the mass graves and there is a massive memorial displaying thousands of the victims' skulls. As we were walking around, we noticed a bone sticking out of the dirt on the path we were walking. Creepy. There is even a tree from which they suspended a loudspeaker to drown out the screams so neighbouring farmers/residents wouldn't get suspicious. I don't get that, as I thought they'd essentially cleared out the city, but I'm obviously missing many facts of the entire period. All told, approximately 1/4 of the country's population was killed during the Pol Pot regime.
As we were driving around today, Marc commented the city reminds him a bit of India, I suppose due to the dirt-lined streets, and the sand everywhere. It seems some of the ruined monuments and parks are being fixed up, yet much also seems to be completely functional. It's rather stinky here, what with the somewhat open sewage and all. The system is similar to Hanoi but somehow nose-grippingly putrid. There are few streetlights in the area where we are staying, so after dark there is a very eerie, creepy feel as the street and pedestrian traffic reduces significantly. Couple that with the fact we've heard it's a little dangerous in Cambodia and it's cause for a bit of discomfort. Honestly, I don't think we have anything to worry about, but you won't catch me wandering after dark. During the day though, the people are fabulous. All smiles and warm greetings. And incessant offering of tuk-tuk and motorbike rides - this is SE Asia, after all. Thankfully we haven't seen too many orphaned or limbless beggars (landmines, courtesy of the unbelievable Khmer Rouge, are rampant outside of the well-trod areas). It sounds crude and insensitive, but it's very difficult to not be affected by, well, the affected. This is also why we try to eat and purchase from establishments working to assist orphans, street youth, and the disabled (common in both Vietnam and Cambodia, due to relatively recent circumstances).
A side note - we use $US here and it's actually on the pricey side! Go figure... never believe what you hear or read, eh?
Tomorrow morning we head to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor. We were going to make a detour for the beach but have decided to save the relaxation for the islands of Thailand.
Now that you're caught up on the past two days, I'll move back into Vietnam.
My best to all,
Trish
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
I've been to Laos!
Since we really haven't been keeping up with the blog, I haven't been able to post my "country impressions post" while we were in Laos. I'm going to try and go back in the past and remember what I found interresting about being in this beautiful country. And then I'll have to do the same about Vietnam because we're now in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
So here we go.
1- The cars drive on the same side as back home. It was a complete switch once we crossed the border. I was looking the wrong way when crossing the streets and looking for the driver in the wrong seat all over again. Very weird.
2- They have a huge French influence in their cuisine. The street food was switched from Asian foods to French Baguettes and La Vache Qui Rit cheese.
3- Again, everyone seems to own a truck or moped.
4- The young girls are very cute but they don't seem to age very well (as Trish explained in her last post).
5- There's a super good cafe called Joma in both Luang Prabang and Vientiane owned by a Canadian couple that we couldn't get enough of.
6- Traditional Laos food has tons of garlic and coriander.
7- Beerlaos is a very good and very cheap beer!
8- We found Laos to be much more developed than we expected (at least the two cities that we saw - most of the country is rural so that's probably not the case in most of Laos)
9- Renting a $4 motorbike for the day guarantees you a good time!
That's about all I can remember for now!
Marc
So here we go.
1- The cars drive on the same side as back home. It was a complete switch once we crossed the border. I was looking the wrong way when crossing the streets and looking for the driver in the wrong seat all over again. Very weird.
2- They have a huge French influence in their cuisine. The street food was switched from Asian foods to French Baguettes and La Vache Qui Rit cheese.
3- Again, everyone seems to own a truck or moped.
4- The young girls are very cute but they don't seem to age very well (as Trish explained in her last post).
5- There's a super good cafe called Joma in both Luang Prabang and Vientiane owned by a Canadian couple that we couldn't get enough of.
6- Traditional Laos food has tons of garlic and coriander.
7- Beerlaos is a very good and very cheap beer!
8- We found Laos to be much more developed than we expected (at least the two cities that we saw - most of the country is rural so that's probably not the case in most of Laos)
9- Renting a $4 motorbike for the day guarantees you a good time!
That's about all I can remember for now!
Marc
I've been to Vietnam!
Here's Part 2 of my "I'm no longer there, but I want to keep up with my country impressons posts" posts. This time, it's a bit closer. We've only left Vietnam yesterday so the country is a bit fresher in my head. Although we were in the country for almost three weeks so I'm sure I forgot about some of the things in the north.
1- In the whole of the country, the mode of transportation of choice is by 110cc (or smaller) motorcycles. That's pretty much all you see in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. There are literally millions of them in each city. They twist and turn in rows of four or more down the city streets. It's really impressive that we didn't see an accident.
2- We had to deal with the sound of a million horns again. As it was in India, the Vietnamese don't think it enough to turn on their signal lights, they also have to blow their horns. But once isn't enough, they keep on doing it. Even when they're not turning and even if there's no danger. And everyone does it. So you can imagine how annoying it can get.
3- Every hotel we stayed in had at least one computer with free Internet access. So really, we shouldn't have any excuses for not posting any blog entries in Vietnam!
4- Hanoi is very different than Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). In the Old Quarter in Hanoi, where we spent most of our time, the streets are narrower and the shops are all local (no big commercial centres or chain names). The city shuts down early. The opposite is true of Saigon.
5- Pho is great and it tastes pretty much the same as home.
6- We've had some pretty amazing Italian food (crazy good gnocchi, pasta and risotto) in this country, and have had parmesan cheese for the first time since we left home. It's pretty impressive since I'm sure most of the locals don't really like western food.
7- The overnight Vietnamese train from Saigon to Hoi An was the nicest one we've been in for the whole of our trip. The beds were soft, in sets of four and in a compartment with a lockable door. The toilets were clean and had toilet paper and hand soap. Although the journey did end up taking 22.5 hours instead of 15 hours. But you can probably blame that on all the rain they've had and the flooding.
8- Hoi An is the best place to get tailor made clothing for very cheap. You can basically get a whole new wardrobe for under $1000.
9- Amazingly, Hoi An gets flooded every year. This year the water level rose 3 meters higher than its normal level. They're used to that! They had to evacuate tourists to higher grounds. That's the reason why we went to Saigon before heading to Hoi An. When we got there, there was still a bit of water on the lower streets but it was all gone by the time we left. You wonder why they decided to build a town there.
10- Vietnam Post has some pretty expensive rates for their air mail service. We ended up paying way too much to ship all our tailored clothes from Hoi An. It would have been much cheaper to ship by sea but there's a huge time discrepancy between the two services. 1-3 weeks by air, 3-4 months by sea. Sea is way too long since we'll be in Dallas in less than 2 months. They need a Sea-Air service like all the other countries we've been to!
That's it for Vietnam, see you in Cambodia!
1- In the whole of the country, the mode of transportation of choice is by 110cc (or smaller) motorcycles. That's pretty much all you see in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. There are literally millions of them in each city. They twist and turn in rows of four or more down the city streets. It's really impressive that we didn't see an accident.
2- We had to deal with the sound of a million horns again. As it was in India, the Vietnamese don't think it enough to turn on their signal lights, they also have to blow their horns. But once isn't enough, they keep on doing it. Even when they're not turning and even if there's no danger. And everyone does it. So you can imagine how annoying it can get.
3- Every hotel we stayed in had at least one computer with free Internet access. So really, we shouldn't have any excuses for not posting any blog entries in Vietnam!
4- Hanoi is very different than Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). In the Old Quarter in Hanoi, where we spent most of our time, the streets are narrower and the shops are all local (no big commercial centres or chain names). The city shuts down early. The opposite is true of Saigon.
5- Pho is great and it tastes pretty much the same as home.
6- We've had some pretty amazing Italian food (crazy good gnocchi, pasta and risotto) in this country, and have had parmesan cheese for the first time since we left home. It's pretty impressive since I'm sure most of the locals don't really like western food.
7- The overnight Vietnamese train from Saigon to Hoi An was the nicest one we've been in for the whole of our trip. The beds were soft, in sets of four and in a compartment with a lockable door. The toilets were clean and had toilet paper and hand soap. Although the journey did end up taking 22.5 hours instead of 15 hours. But you can probably blame that on all the rain they've had and the flooding.
8- Hoi An is the best place to get tailor made clothing for very cheap. You can basically get a whole new wardrobe for under $1000.
9- Amazingly, Hoi An gets flooded every year. This year the water level rose 3 meters higher than its normal level. They're used to that! They had to evacuate tourists to higher grounds. That's the reason why we went to Saigon before heading to Hoi An. When we got there, there was still a bit of water on the lower streets but it was all gone by the time we left. You wonder why they decided to build a town there.
10- Vietnam Post has some pretty expensive rates for their air mail service. We ended up paying way too much to ship all our tailored clothes from Hoi An. It would have been much cheaper to ship by sea but there's a huge time discrepancy between the two services. 1-3 weeks by air, 3-4 months by sea. Sea is way too long since we'll be in Dallas in less than 2 months. They need a Sea-Air service like all the other countries we've been to!
That's it for Vietnam, see you in Cambodia!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
The Sound of Horns
Good evening, Vietnam! Our arrival in Hanoi, Vietnam was met with... honking horns. Not for us - I'm sure the people here could care less that we'd descended on their city - but simply to... indicate they are a vehicle driving on the road? We thought India was bad, but here, the honking is incessant, often with no apparent reason for it! Hanoi is FULL of mopeds, especially in the Old Quarter, where we're staying - narrow streets with nothing short of 100 mopeds flying past in both directions. How to cross the street??!
I realized on our flight over that I'd neglected to share the tale of our lively day yesterday. But first, how cool is it that the middle seat on the plane was wider than the window and aisle seat? Cooler still, we were served KitKat bars!
Back to yesterday: We decided to rent mopeds (110cc bikes) to visit the Buddha Park 25 km outside Vientiane. The park is full of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures - competing for top spot on the list of strangest places I've ever been... It goes to show how accustomed you can become with what is around you - I had to remind myself we needed helmets! And it's a good thing I did... there's nothing like loosely fitted plastic wrap to protect you from a harsh connection with asphalt! The helmets were like the type my niece would put on her doll; I could probably break it with my own hands. With no other option, we donned these ineffective helmets and hoped for the best. Even better than the quality of the helmets was the fact they kept slipping back on our heads - oh, to have a head larger than a peanut.
Clearly, since I'm writing this, we survived unscathed! The roads in Vientiane are excellent, smooth, lined (thanks to millions kicked in by the Japanese government)... that is, until you hit the Friendship Bridge leading over to Thailand. From that point on, the roads were a combination of destroyed asphalt, dirt and gravel. Safe! By the end of the day, I actually had visible dirt and dust all over my face, and a layer of dust on my sunglasses. Shower, anyone? Fun and convenient, but I was happy to hit the pavement with my own two feet once again. Unfortunately, both the conditions and my inexperienced driver were freaking me out!
Marc certainly had a blast though and later went out 'racing' with Alex. By that point he'd definitely gotten the hang of driving the moped around and arrived back at our hotel with the biggest grin on his face. I'm definitely enchanted by the cool models though and hope, in future, to live somewhere so we can have our own mopeds - with our own top-safety rated helmets!!
We also checked out Patuxai yesterday - Vientiane's own Arc de Triomphe. Much smaller than the real thing, but still attractive and a great view of the city from the top!
The children in Laos are gorgeous, especially the little girls. I can't count the number of times our heads swivelled to gawk at the children - so adorable! The guys commented, half joking, that it must be a disappointment to the men as the women don't seem to age well, but I think there are a few reasons for this, namely, they aren't wearing makeup and using heaps of age-defying facial products, as we Westerners do; it may be a reflection of their difficult lives and the pollution in the cities; and finally, these women whose appearance we're judging - we have no idea of their actual age. Perhaps these are women in their 60s... who knows?
I've little energy left to write any more so Thailand will have to wait for another day. I've been emailing with my mom and sister while writing this and it's been great catching up, but I'm now tired so my blog shall suffer!
Good night all,
Trish
I realized on our flight over that I'd neglected to share the tale of our lively day yesterday. But first, how cool is it that the middle seat on the plane was wider than the window and aisle seat? Cooler still, we were served KitKat bars!
Back to yesterday: We decided to rent mopeds (110cc bikes) to visit the Buddha Park 25 km outside Vientiane. The park is full of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures - competing for top spot on the list of strangest places I've ever been... It goes to show how accustomed you can become with what is around you - I had to remind myself we needed helmets! And it's a good thing I did... there's nothing like loosely fitted plastic wrap to protect you from a harsh connection with asphalt! The helmets were like the type my niece would put on her doll; I could probably break it with my own hands. With no other option, we donned these ineffective helmets and hoped for the best. Even better than the quality of the helmets was the fact they kept slipping back on our heads - oh, to have a head larger than a peanut.
Clearly, since I'm writing this, we survived unscathed! The roads in Vientiane are excellent, smooth, lined (thanks to millions kicked in by the Japanese government)... that is, until you hit the Friendship Bridge leading over to Thailand. From that point on, the roads were a combination of destroyed asphalt, dirt and gravel. Safe! By the end of the day, I actually had visible dirt and dust all over my face, and a layer of dust on my sunglasses. Shower, anyone? Fun and convenient, but I was happy to hit the pavement with my own two feet once again. Unfortunately, both the conditions and my inexperienced driver were freaking me out!
Marc certainly had a blast though and later went out 'racing' with Alex. By that point he'd definitely gotten the hang of driving the moped around and arrived back at our hotel with the biggest grin on his face. I'm definitely enchanted by the cool models though and hope, in future, to live somewhere so we can have our own mopeds - with our own top-safety rated helmets!!
We also checked out Patuxai yesterday - Vientiane's own Arc de Triomphe. Much smaller than the real thing, but still attractive and a great view of the city from the top!
The children in Laos are gorgeous, especially the little girls. I can't count the number of times our heads swivelled to gawk at the children - so adorable! The guys commented, half joking, that it must be a disappointment to the men as the women don't seem to age well, but I think there are a few reasons for this, namely, they aren't wearing makeup and using heaps of age-defying facial products, as we Westerners do; it may be a reflection of their difficult lives and the pollution in the cities; and finally, these women whose appearance we're judging - we have no idea of their actual age. Perhaps these are women in their 60s... who knows?
I've little energy left to write any more so Thailand will have to wait for another day. I've been emailing with my mom and sister while writing this and it's been great catching up, but I'm now tired so my blog shall suffer!
Good night all,
Trish
Haute Cuisine in Laos
I've finally found a spare few minutes to catch everyone up on our travels. Apologizing is futile as I don't imagine anyone's lives are hanging on our updates - plus, a lapse in blogs is sure to happen again!
I sit in an internet cafe in Vientiane, Laos, digesting yet another fabulous meal from Joma, this absolutely fantastic cafe with locations in both Luang Prabang and Vientiane, owned by (who better?) a Canadian couple. Mmm... to be able to eat this well every day!
The Canadian dollar is now worth $1.10 US... Unbelievable. A bit of a bonus for us as we can use $US in Laos and Vietnam! Not that we have any on us... but we get a nice exchange rate when we use our credit cards - which balances out the 3.5% service charge we get hit with each time! Sometimes it can't be avoided though... in Laos the only ATM service available is for cash advances on a credit card!
Despite the lack of advancement in some areas, Laos has been a pleasant surprise and comfortable experience overall. We are enjoying our last few hours in Laos, as we're flying to Hanoi, Vietnam early this evening. Laos cities in brief: clean, friendly and well-developed. There is quite a bit of visible affluence in the cities of Luang Prabang and Vientiane (never mind the spelling or pronounciation as consistency in these areas is unknown in Asia!) - we've actually seen a Lexus and a Nissan Murano... unexpected! The food has been excellent in Laos. I'm not sure we've fallen in love with the traditional food... That's not to say we don't enjoy it but have had so many other options we haven't been forced to try many of the obscure sounding dishes! They do love their spice though, which I keep rediscovering as I realize I've once again forgotten to request 'Not Spicy'... There is a strong French influence here, so we've been treated to cafes, real cheese, and proper bread! Mmm, what heaven to be served warm, buttered baguettes before our meal!!
We didn't make our way into the rural areas of Laos, which is home to the majority of the population, but we did see a great deal of it from our two day boat ride along the Mekong River - not as romantic as it sounds! - and our bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vientiane (the ride that almost made us wish we were back on the boat!). Our two day boat ride was 70 travellers packed on this very old, dirty, BASIC wooden boat, sitting on tiny, narrow, hard wooden benches... It rained much of the way so at times our view was obliterated by the big plastic sheets acting as windows. Thankfully it wasn't an overnight boat and we stayed for the night in a small port town called Pak Beng, in a decent guesthouse that ran out of both electricity and water at around 9 pm... I should mention we selected the two-day 'slow boat' for its relative safety vs. the 'fast boat', which only takes one day but is known to regularly sink!
The morning we were boarding the slow boat we met another couple, Ashley and Alex, like-minded travelling companions with whom we've travelled through Laos and intend to do the same in Vietnam. Alex is Canadian, and Ashley is from Bermuda, but has been studying at Queens for the past few years.
The boat journey ends in Luang Prabang, a quaint town catering to tourists. We really enjoyed ourselves there, biking around and checking out the sights, shopping, and treating ourselves to the famous Southeast Asian massages (Not that kind!! This isn't Bangkok, folks...). In my admittedly limited experience, I have concluded the traditional Laos massage is a far more painful experience than its Thai counterpart. As I lay on my stomach, clenching my pillow as if my life depended on it, and to prevent myself from shouting out in painful agony, I wondered how bruised my body would be the next day. Effective? Therapeutic? Perhaps... but relaxing it was most certainly not! At $4 an hour though, one moves on with little regret.
The bus ride to Vientiane, the capital city, took us through the mountains on some very twisty-turny roads. It was touted as a Special VIP bus... Movies, On-board washroom, lunch... the works! The 'movies' was in fact a Lao karaoke DVD, looping through three songs (five? I really couldn't tell as all videos only used two settings). The washroom was a black-lit box, with a super elevated toilet and the obligatory bucket of water for the standard scoop 'n flush. Remember the twisty roads I mentioned above? Yes, well, I had issues staying in my seat at times, so imagine trying to use the toilet! I cracked my head on the ceiling three times, nearly went headfirst into both the door and the mirror (which was above the sink, behind the elevated toilet... completely inaccessible). With water splashing everywhere, it was a proud feat to make it out of there relatively dry.
That's Laos in short. Speaking of short, we're running out of Lao Kip (their currency) so I should sign off now. Perhaps next time I'll fill you in on my wonderful trekking experience in Thailand... or, it'll have to wait to be shared over drinks upon our return!
- Trish -
I sit in an internet cafe in Vientiane, Laos, digesting yet another fabulous meal from Joma, this absolutely fantastic cafe with locations in both Luang Prabang and Vientiane, owned by (who better?) a Canadian couple. Mmm... to be able to eat this well every day!
The Canadian dollar is now worth $1.10 US... Unbelievable. A bit of a bonus for us as we can use $US in Laos and Vietnam! Not that we have any on us... but we get a nice exchange rate when we use our credit cards - which balances out the 3.5% service charge we get hit with each time! Sometimes it can't be avoided though... in Laos the only ATM service available is for cash advances on a credit card!
Despite the lack of advancement in some areas, Laos has been a pleasant surprise and comfortable experience overall. We are enjoying our last few hours in Laos, as we're flying to Hanoi, Vietnam early this evening. Laos cities in brief: clean, friendly and well-developed. There is quite a bit of visible affluence in the cities of Luang Prabang and Vientiane (never mind the spelling or pronounciation as consistency in these areas is unknown in Asia!) - we've actually seen a Lexus and a Nissan Murano... unexpected! The food has been excellent in Laos. I'm not sure we've fallen in love with the traditional food... That's not to say we don't enjoy it but have had so many other options we haven't been forced to try many of the obscure sounding dishes! They do love their spice though, which I keep rediscovering as I realize I've once again forgotten to request 'Not Spicy'... There is a strong French influence here, so we've been treated to cafes, real cheese, and proper bread! Mmm, what heaven to be served warm, buttered baguettes before our meal!!
We didn't make our way into the rural areas of Laos, which is home to the majority of the population, but we did see a great deal of it from our two day boat ride along the Mekong River - not as romantic as it sounds! - and our bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vientiane (the ride that almost made us wish we were back on the boat!). Our two day boat ride was 70 travellers packed on this very old, dirty, BASIC wooden boat, sitting on tiny, narrow, hard wooden benches... It rained much of the way so at times our view was obliterated by the big plastic sheets acting as windows. Thankfully it wasn't an overnight boat and we stayed for the night in a small port town called Pak Beng, in a decent guesthouse that ran out of both electricity and water at around 9 pm... I should mention we selected the two-day 'slow boat' for its relative safety vs. the 'fast boat', which only takes one day but is known to regularly sink!
The morning we were boarding the slow boat we met another couple, Ashley and Alex, like-minded travelling companions with whom we've travelled through Laos and intend to do the same in Vietnam. Alex is Canadian, and Ashley is from Bermuda, but has been studying at Queens for the past few years.
The boat journey ends in Luang Prabang, a quaint town catering to tourists. We really enjoyed ourselves there, biking around and checking out the sights, shopping, and treating ourselves to the famous Southeast Asian massages (Not that kind!! This isn't Bangkok, folks...). In my admittedly limited experience, I have concluded the traditional Laos massage is a far more painful experience than its Thai counterpart. As I lay on my stomach, clenching my pillow as if my life depended on it, and to prevent myself from shouting out in painful agony, I wondered how bruised my body would be the next day. Effective? Therapeutic? Perhaps... but relaxing it was most certainly not! At $4 an hour though, one moves on with little regret.
The bus ride to Vientiane, the capital city, took us through the mountains on some very twisty-turny roads. It was touted as a Special VIP bus... Movies, On-board washroom, lunch... the works! The 'movies' was in fact a Lao karaoke DVD, looping through three songs (five? I really couldn't tell as all videos only used two settings). The washroom was a black-lit box, with a super elevated toilet and the obligatory bucket of water for the standard scoop 'n flush. Remember the twisty roads I mentioned above? Yes, well, I had issues staying in my seat at times, so imagine trying to use the toilet! I cracked my head on the ceiling three times, nearly went headfirst into both the door and the mirror (which was above the sink, behind the elevated toilet... completely inaccessible). With water splashing everywhere, it was a proud feat to make it out of there relatively dry.
That's Laos in short. Speaking of short, we're running out of Lao Kip (their currency) so I should sign off now. Perhaps next time I'll fill you in on my wonderful trekking experience in Thailand... or, it'll have to wait to be shared over drinks upon our return!
- Trish -
Monday, November 5, 2007
I'm in Thailand! (Part 1, Bangkok and the North)
Hey all,
Sorry for not keeping up the blog. We haven't been able to access the Internet as much as before. Well, maybe we haven't made the time for it. But that's OK since we've been keeping busy! :)
We're actually in Vientiane, Laos, right now, and have been out of Thailand for over a week now, but I have to keep up with my mandatory "New Country Impressions Posts". This will be the first of two parts since we're going back to southern Thailand in December. I should probably post another one about South India as well, since our impressions were a bit different in the South. We really got into the Indian groove and were really enjoying the country near the end.
Thailand is a huge contrast to both China and India. As Trish wrote in her post, we actually got culture shock when we landed in Bangkok because it's so similar to back home.
1- We were surprised to see that cars drive on the Left side of the road. Just like India and Hong Kong.
2- Pretty much all you see on the roads are pickup trucks or mopeds.
3- Tons of people wear yellow shirts. We think it's the official government worker uniform.
4- Taxis have meters here but the drivers will try and get more money from you by quoting you a lot more (double the cost) and not using the meter. So it's always good to force them to turn it on.
5- The roads are clean and smooth and lined with proper street signs, the air is pretty clean, there are no animals in the streets, it smells much better.
6- There's a 7-11 store at the corner of almost every street.
7- It's full of tourists and Westerners, probably because it's so easy to travel around here.
8- It's much more hygienic. Almost all places have Western toilets with toilet paper and soap.
9- As with all the places we've been to, the food is great. Especially Green Curry. Mmmmmm.
10- ATMs are everywhere and accept our TD Bank card. Phew!
That's about all I can remember for now. Thailand has a much better infrastructure for tourists, especially since it's the main source of income for the country. So everything is very well tailored to western tourists. So it makes for a less interesting impressions post. Even so, we've had a blast in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and our 2-day trek up in the hills where we rode Elephants and Bamboo rafted down a white water river. Although you'll see in the next post that Trish didn't really enjoy the trekking as much.
Again, sorry about the long gap in our blog. Trish will follow this one up with her own post tonight or tomorrow.
Sorry for not keeping up the blog. We haven't been able to access the Internet as much as before. Well, maybe we haven't made the time for it. But that's OK since we've been keeping busy! :)
We're actually in Vientiane, Laos, right now, and have been out of Thailand for over a week now, but I have to keep up with my mandatory "New Country Impressions Posts". This will be the first of two parts since we're going back to southern Thailand in December. I should probably post another one about South India as well, since our impressions were a bit different in the South. We really got into the Indian groove and were really enjoying the country near the end.
Thailand is a huge contrast to both China and India. As Trish wrote in her post, we actually got culture shock when we landed in Bangkok because it's so similar to back home.
1- We were surprised to see that cars drive on the Left side of the road. Just like India and Hong Kong.
2- Pretty much all you see on the roads are pickup trucks or mopeds.
3- Tons of people wear yellow shirts. We think it's the official government worker uniform.
4- Taxis have meters here but the drivers will try and get more money from you by quoting you a lot more (double the cost) and not using the meter. So it's always good to force them to turn it on.
5- The roads are clean and smooth and lined with proper street signs, the air is pretty clean, there are no animals in the streets, it smells much better.
6- There's a 7-11 store at the corner of almost every street.
7- It's full of tourists and Westerners, probably because it's so easy to travel around here.
8- It's much more hygienic. Almost all places have Western toilets with toilet paper and soap.
9- As with all the places we've been to, the food is great. Especially Green Curry. Mmmmmm.
10- ATMs are everywhere and accept our TD Bank card. Phew!
That's about all I can remember for now. Thailand has a much better infrastructure for tourists, especially since it's the main source of income for the country. So everything is very well tailored to western tourists. So it makes for a less interesting impressions post. Even so, we've had a blast in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and our 2-day trek up in the hills where we rode Elephants and Bamboo rafted down a white water river. Although you'll see in the next post that Trish didn't really enjoy the trekking as much.
Again, sorry about the long gap in our blog. Trish will follow this one up with her own post tonight or tomorrow.
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