Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Good Morning Vietnam!
Snake Heart Shot
Snake Meal
Halong Bay
Eating with Mr. Thai and fraants
Bu Ma Thot Lake
Mr. Thai
Buddhist Temple
Coffee Plantations in Dalat
Silk Factory
Our super ponchos
Ah Vietnam- home to one of the most famous wars connecting the east and the west, and quite literally a place that we knew nothing about! It was the biggest country on our trip so far, or as Hersh likes to say- "UGE." we allocated a little more than two weeks to explore this vast landscape starting from the Mekong delta in the south up along the eastern side towards Hanoi in the north. If the trecherous drive/ride to and across the border was any insight into this country, we were in for a serious awakening! Two large backpacks on crappy bikes along a rocky, unpaved road? Not so good.We finally make it to our destination (Mytho) and over our stay around the delta do the usual exploration of our new surroundings. Never in my life have I EVER been stared at that much for having a beard. I felt like an American in Bombay during the 1980's! Saving grace? We were actually complimented on this facial growth by a local...once.We moved on to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh city and visited museums, markets, gorged ourselves on Pho and even bought some Weasel Coffee; beans that have been passed through the digestive tract of a civet (not a weasel actually), cleaned and ground up into, apparently, the best and strongest cup o' joe. I decided to take a deep breath of the new purchase before it was packed up - quite aromatic! I was actually expecting a hint of poop, but to Hersh's dismay, t'was poopless.We eventually elevated ourselves to the hill station of Dalat, hoping for a break from the heat and humidity of the Delta and Ho Chi Minh city. Hersh and I both agreed that the 10 hour bus ride up to Dalat was eerily reminiscent of our Kodaikanal days. I, of course, dressed quite aptly knowing it would be cold, wearing Thai pants, slippers and a sleeveless Red Bull ganji. Quite toasty. Dalat was gorgeous, and although Hersh wasn't too happy, accompanied me to the flower park to see the Orchid farm. Most of these flowers are grown here and either the flower itself or the bulbs are sold around the rest of the country. We rented a bike and made our way to the park with brand-new $0.30 ponchos for the rain, styled with an array of little blue polka dots. Perhaps pink would have been more fun? Driving back in HEAVY rain, however, was NOT fun. The cold weather, plastic-bag thin ponchos and lack of warm clothing was a bad combination. Not to mention being regularly engulfed by puddle splashes from passing cars. We both got drenched to the bone and I had a bad feeling I was going to get sick...
Our subsequent exploration of Dalat and it's surroundings involved roaming the countryside on "Easy Rider" bikes. Apparently it was an organization set up by a few locals about 10 years ago who would drive tourists around on their single-engine bikes, giving historical, industrial and cultural lessons about Vietnam for a fee. There were Many different trails to choose from, ranging from one-day countryside tours to 10 day expeditions of the country; driving all the way up to Hanoi city! We were both excited yet apprehensive at the same time, and decided to try a one-day outing first. As wonderful as South-East Asia is, scams are quite rampant and we did not want to be forced to spend a significant amount of money and time with a couple of hustlers.Our apparent fears were put to rest as the expedition was superb! It was comfortable and the drivers spoke the best English we had heard in a long time. Breaking down the language barriers truly prevented any miscommunication and actually allowed for great conversation. The drive alone was gorgeous in itslef! Very picturesque...or as some desis like to say, "picture-skew." We were taken around to a few very unique Buddhist temples, a waterfall, silk factory, rice wine house, flower farm and one of many coffee plantations in the region. We also ate (in my opinion) the BEST local food in the entire country-but about that, later. I know, this doesn't sound THAT interesting, but beleive you me, actually seeing this side of Dalat was quite wonderful. I liked it so much that I decided to go on a three-day trip with Mr. Thai! Unfortunately, Hersh was the one that got sick and decided to stay back. We were later reunited in Hoi An. Mr. Thai - he was proficient in English, short, a chain-smoker, loved rice wine as well as women. In the 10 years that he has been riding, we were the FIRST Indians ever to Easy Ride! This was quite an honour to say the least. We travelled by road from Dalat-Bo Ma Thot-Nha Trang. The drive was serene, and I was able to see the country in a whole new light, ranging from the remnant Agent Orange damage, a tribal village, a brief visit to a National Park, and landmarks that created a visual addition to my very basic knowledge of "Nam." Did I retain most of that info? No. But again, it was the experience itself that I enjoyed. The food- ah, the food. It was so local and so delicious that even Anthony Bourdain would be jealous of what my tastebuds had witnessed! Fried pork, BBQ pork, fish soup, morning glory (that's a vegetable), stir fried beef, calamari...the list goes on! All accompanied with a large bowl of rice...and alcohol. The pictures speak for themseleves-Delicious! The more enjoyable aspect was how several dishes were ordered and shared. Perfect way to sample. Mr. Thai and I had some great drunken conversation and soon parted ways in Nha Trang.
Hersh and I were eventually reunited and moved on towards the north. On entering Hanoi were introduced to a special trip that is made by many tourists, and one we could not skip- a three day boat trip to an area called Halong Bay. The main attractions were the several tiny island outcrops that shot out of the water - something like giant menhirs scattered across the sea. It was a tad expensive by any standard, but we were warned that pinching pennies would result in a "get what you paid for" experience. The trip was assumably fantastic, as we drank semi-heavily, fished for squid, canoed around the area and even dove off the top of our boat into the open ocean - oh yeah, and we saw the outcrops as well. We did meet some very cool Canadian/French Canadian people there and on our return decided to get a very interesting meal together - snake.Some brief research and a short cab ride away brought us to a place called Le Mat or "Snake Village." Apprehension soon set in as we were negotiating price and picking the little sucker who would end up on our bellies. I soon made it clear that I would not endorse a Cobra- a common grass or rat snake would make me feel less awful about what we were going to do. This snake-eating us a complete performancetp say the least. The snake is first knocked out and the heart and gall bladder removed. The heart is put onto a shot glass of blood and rice wine, followed by the bile. The heart? Still beating. Unfortunately our snake was not knocked out, and before I could even protest, the deed was done. I was quite upset. Since noone wanted to shoot the organ, I obliged. Pointless, and one experience I would never suggest to anyone. It was made worse when we realistd that the food we were served was pre-made, and not with the snake that was picked. Leaving that horrendous place was my main priority at that point. It would be a little different if these snakes were farmed like they should be, but this had turned into something touristy; snakes are removed straight from the forest. Eventually this can prove to be hazardous and quite cruel -I realized I had gone against my better judgement. Again, I will not support this kind if experience to anyone.
Besides that one bad part, Vietnam as a whole was lovely. At this point Hersh and I were quite anxious to leave and move on to Europe. We are currently halfway on our journey and can comfortably say - "South-East Asia, done."
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Angkor What?
Nudiflora Trees growing from the "Tomb Raider" Temple
Bayon Temple
Mass Graves at the Killing Fields
Recovered skulls in a shrine at the entrance of the Killing Fields
Some of the younger S-21 victims
One of the actual rooms and bed where victim was burned (see pic on the wall)
The "Bat Cave"
Cambodia was eye opening to say the least. It is a place that makes you cry and smile at the same time- feeling for those victims of the Khmer Rouge and yet marvelling at the beauty that are the temple ruins.
We made it to Siem Reap, Cambodia via plane, our first flight since the beginning of our trip. Since getting our visas at the border via bus was known to be very dicey, flying was the only way to ensure we would get our paperwork hassle-free.
We make it in one piece and get a couple of licensced guys to drive us to our guesthouse. Referring to our Bible, aka the lonely planet, we make our way to a few guesthouses by bike. Things appeared a little pricier than usual, and soon decided to rely on our drivers for reccommendations. We couldn't be happier! The guesthouse was amazing and dirt cheap. The guy working there, Alan, was extemely friendly and we even had access to free Internet! Lonley planet is going to hear from me for not including this one. Since Siem Reap is mainly famous for the many temples, we decided to use our existing drivers to take us around to all these areas; it was their suggestion. We bought 3-day passes to visit the scattered temple locations. You can buy 1-day, 3-day and 1-week passes. At the time we thought 3 days seemed a good midway point to visit what we wanted to without spending too much time in this town. We were soon to be harshly corrected. The next morning we headed to the famous Angkor Wat at 5 am, hoping to see a great sunrise and in addition, get some nice photos. Unfortunately the sky was overcast! It was quite pleasant nonetheless. This temple is quite extraordinary, and fairly massive, although Hersh would disagree. After all, this IS one of the wonders of the world! The next three days were really very tiring, as we rode on the motorbikes for a long time, going about 25km out of the city to visit the old structures and then back in. But of the several temples we did see, I found two of them to be my favourites - Bayon and Ta Phrom. Bayon is famous for the 216 enormous faces that have been carved on the towers, four to each tower. Ta Phrom has more of a Western fame to it hailing as the place where scenes from Tomb Raider and (maybe) Indiana Jones were filmed. It was a beautiful temple with a true ancient world/jungle book (King Louis' pad) feel to it; not to mention the gargantuan Tetrameles Nudiflora (Thitpok) trees that were growing everywhere, almost systematically tearing the temple apart! This, however, added to it's charm. Unfortunately there were a few Korean tour groups that, well, to be stereotypical yet honest, couldn't stop their boiesterous yapping and constant taking of group pictures! That annoyed the both of us and really destroyed the tranquility of this place.
By the third day, however, Hersh and I both began to feel like the ancient ruins. "You wanting go few more temples?" our drivers asked- "No, no, we go guesthouse now!" we said. The similarity between the many temples became quite monotonous, and we felt we had seen enough. The many hours on the back of a small bike didn't help either.
Poverty is an issue, and you end up constantly being swarmed by hoardes of orphans forcing you to buy things from them, from postcards to books, most goods priced at a dollar. If you don't buy, they say they will wait for you to exit and when you do, they accuse you of promising them you would buy something on your return! This strategy was employed at EVERY place in Cambodia. What started out as compassion and understanding eventually turned to dismissal. I may sound harsh but I assure you the annoyance was internalized - I definitely did NOT yell or sound rude to the kids. Perhaps me being from India adds a bit of oblivity to the begging situation. A sad state of affairs but I beleive there are quite a few social programs in place to help them.
Our next move, quite impromptu actually, was to immerse ourselves in learning the most we possibly could about the evil that was Pol Pot's regime, the Khmer Rouge, and the massacering of 2 million Cambodians from 1973 to 1975.
We travelled the rest of Cambodia visiting these historical sites. The Killing Caves in Battambang, was our first stop where people, (women and children) who were deemed to not be "true" Cambodians were massaccered by being clubbed and thrown down a jagged cave. To this day the monks are still finding remains and the body count keeps growing. Even our guide/driver got a tad emotional at the site. On a more lighter note, we were able to see a [swarm] of bats leaving their cave in the hundreds in the hunt for their next meal. Apparently it takes about 2 hours for ALL the bats to leave! An amazing sight and a welcome change from the Killing Caves.
We later visited the S-21 in Phnom Penh, a school that was turned into a "detention center"during Pol Pot's rule - well, more like a prison where innocent people were tortured and killed. Men and women alike were beaten, shackled, poked, impaled, starved and in some cases burnt to death. Out of the victims of this atrocity, only 7 have survived to this day. The pics at the end of the blog will suffice as explanation for now. Although very depressing it was necessary to understand this important piece of history and relate this to the current situation of Cambodia's progression as a country.
The last visit were the Killing Fields, about 45 minutes out of the city. This was a big site of mass graves of people who were murdered at the school turned prison -there were occasionally 30 to a grave.
On a more social note we did meet our old buddies Steve and Anne again, and made two more friends, Rachel and Kiki from Amsterdam! We have been meeting many people from Holland on our trip sp far and are quite excited to reunite when we reach that part pf the world! All in all, Cambodia was fantastic, and although we did more things like hitting the beach quite often, eating weird foods and even going to a local club, the most interesting and significant aspect of this country lies in it's recent history - something worth sharing (although only in brief) with all of you. Cheers.
We made it to Siem Reap, Cambodia via plane, our first flight since the beginning of our trip. Since getting our visas at the border via bus was known to be very dicey, flying was the only way to ensure we would get our paperwork hassle-free.
We make it in one piece and get a couple of licensced guys to drive us to our guesthouse. Referring to our Bible, aka the lonely planet, we make our way to a few guesthouses by bike. Things appeared a little pricier than usual, and soon decided to rely on our drivers for reccommendations. We couldn't be happier! The guesthouse was amazing and dirt cheap. The guy working there, Alan, was extemely friendly and we even had access to free Internet! Lonley planet is going to hear from me for not including this one. Since Siem Reap is mainly famous for the many temples, we decided to use our existing drivers to take us around to all these areas; it was their suggestion. We bought 3-day passes to visit the scattered temple locations. You can buy 1-day, 3-day and 1-week passes. At the time we thought 3 days seemed a good midway point to visit what we wanted to without spending too much time in this town. We were soon to be harshly corrected. The next morning we headed to the famous Angkor Wat at 5 am, hoping to see a great sunrise and in addition, get some nice photos. Unfortunately the sky was overcast! It was quite pleasant nonetheless. This temple is quite extraordinary, and fairly massive, although Hersh would disagree. After all, this IS one of the wonders of the world! The next three days were really very tiring, as we rode on the motorbikes for a long time, going about 25km out of the city to visit the old structures and then back in. But of the several temples we did see, I found two of them to be my favourites - Bayon and Ta Phrom. Bayon is famous for the 216 enormous faces that have been carved on the towers, four to each tower. Ta Phrom has more of a Western fame to it hailing as the place where scenes from Tomb Raider and (maybe) Indiana Jones were filmed. It was a beautiful temple with a true ancient world/jungle book (King Louis' pad) feel to it; not to mention the gargantuan Tetrameles Nudiflora (Thitpok) trees that were growing everywhere, almost systematically tearing the temple apart! This, however, added to it's charm. Unfortunately there were a few Korean tour groups that, well, to be stereotypical yet honest, couldn't stop their boiesterous yapping and constant taking of group pictures! That annoyed the both of us and really destroyed the tranquility of this place.
By the third day, however, Hersh and I both began to feel like the ancient ruins. "You wanting go few more temples?" our drivers asked- "No, no, we go guesthouse now!" we said. The similarity between the many temples became quite monotonous, and we felt we had seen enough. The many hours on the back of a small bike didn't help either.
Poverty is an issue, and you end up constantly being swarmed by hoardes of orphans forcing you to buy things from them, from postcards to books, most goods priced at a dollar. If you don't buy, they say they will wait for you to exit and when you do, they accuse you of promising them you would buy something on your return! This strategy was employed at EVERY place in Cambodia. What started out as compassion and understanding eventually turned to dismissal. I may sound harsh but I assure you the annoyance was internalized - I definitely did NOT yell or sound rude to the kids. Perhaps me being from India adds a bit of oblivity to the begging situation. A sad state of affairs but I beleive there are quite a few social programs in place to help them.
Our next move, quite impromptu actually, was to immerse ourselves in learning the most we possibly could about the evil that was Pol Pot's regime, the Khmer Rouge, and the massacering of 2 million Cambodians from 1973 to 1975.
We travelled the rest of Cambodia visiting these historical sites. The Killing Caves in Battambang, was our first stop where people, (women and children) who were deemed to not be "true" Cambodians were massaccered by being clubbed and thrown down a jagged cave. To this day the monks are still finding remains and the body count keeps growing. Even our guide/driver got a tad emotional at the site. On a more lighter note, we were able to see a [swarm] of bats leaving their cave in the hundreds in the hunt for their next meal. Apparently it takes about 2 hours for ALL the bats to leave! An amazing sight and a welcome change from the Killing Caves.
We later visited the S-21 in Phnom Penh, a school that was turned into a "detention center"during Pol Pot's rule - well, more like a prison where innocent people were tortured and killed. Men and women alike were beaten, shackled, poked, impaled, starved and in some cases burnt to death. Out of the victims of this atrocity, only 7 have survived to this day. The pics at the end of the blog will suffice as explanation for now. Although very depressing it was necessary to understand this important piece of history and relate this to the current situation of Cambodia's progression as a country.
The last visit were the Killing Fields, about 45 minutes out of the city. This was a big site of mass graves of people who were murdered at the school turned prison -there were occasionally 30 to a grave.
On a more social note we did meet our old buddies Steve and Anne again, and made two more friends, Rachel and Kiki from Amsterdam! We have been meeting many people from Holland on our trip sp far and are quite excited to reunite when we reach that part pf the world! All in all, Cambodia was fantastic, and although we did more things like hitting the beach quite often, eating weird foods and even going to a local club, the most interesting and significant aspect of this country lies in it's recent history - something worth sharing (although only in brief) with all of you. Cheers.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Oh I Love you Beer Lao!
Laos was superb! Due to French colonization, the place was littered with little stalls selling baguettes, and the architecture still had serious French influence.
We had decided to travel from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Luang Prabang, Laos, via road and boat. It took us about 6 hours by car and then a total of 18 hours by the aptly named, Slow Boat. An overnight stay was required during the transfer from car to boat. The 2:30 am stop over at this, well, "hotel" was quite honestly designed for a few hours of rest only. The room smelled damp, peppered with spider webs, mattresses were literally made of plywood and bath towels were our blankets - fun! The next morning we are woken up at 5 am and after a quick "breakfast" make our way to the border, Huay Xai. After getting our visas on arrival we proceed to get stuffed in the back of a tuk-tuk and make our way to the boat. The idea was to ride down the great Mae Kong river which is famous for it's giant catfish that occasionally weigh about 200 kilos and stretch out to some 12 odd feet! Unfortunately we didn't see any. We were introduced to some Cobra whiskey, given some cultural ground rules and start our overcrowded journey to Luang Prabang. We soon make good conversation, and subsequently friends, with some of the other travelers. After a brief discussion we all decided on a remedy to help pass the 10 hour journey - alcohol! Our soon to be good friends Dan and Sef (from Corpus Christi, Texas) bust out the local rice wine called Lao-Lao and we, including some brave others, finish the entire bottle. We get to another stop for a night before we head out the next morning for another 10 hrs. Here we are greeted by the guesthouse with promises of amazing hashish - however, out of safety we do not oblige. Hersh, Dan, Sef and I bond, along with new friends Anne, Steve and Jelle. The next day we headed out for part two of this trip and decided to use the same remedy as the day before. Along the way we stopped to find a few women selling fish, bbqed monitor lizard, along with a large live monitor and some sort of giant rodent/groundhog. These are eaten as commonly as we eat chicken. Was sad to see the live lizard and rodent hanging on for dear life! But at the same time, did realize that this was the way of the Lao people.
We finally make it to Luang Prabang and get a nice room for cheap! I mean, why not spend an extra dollar a night for hot water and an a/c? Sometimes we like to indulge. Dan and Sef get a room next to ours, as the rest of the boat people scatter. We continue our drinking and all meet up at the famous Hive Bar. This was a bit of a party for us, and after it shut (11:00 pm) we soon walked to THE bowling alley (only place to drinkthat late) while being propositioned to buy weed, whores and other drugs - what, no ladyboys? During the rest of our stay we visited some temples and rested at one of my new favorite places - l'etranger. This place was a French-owned tea lounge and book store that was built for comfort and relaxation! The walls were lined with national geographic mags and down-tempo lounge music played in the background. I read and drank the best cup of Ginger tea ever. Ah, what a perfect way to spend an afternoon.
Another very memorable moment would be the 35 km bicycle ride to a natural waterfall called Kuang Si. With chicken baguettes in our bellies, Anna, Steve, Helle, Hersh and I rented cycles and made the unknowingly steep ride to the waterfall. I suppose popping an Immodium and drinking the night before didn't help my cause either. I remember hersh and i walking our bikes for a few km, (purely bc of the heat) promising each other we would get a tuk-tuk on the way back! The Lonley Planet book said it was "gently undulating"- they lied. After a few rest stops we hit a nice long downhill stretch along the mountain. This was, however, short lived. Steve unfortunately popped a tire and I broke a chain - both in succession! I took a tuk-tuk for the last 5 km, while the others trucked on. The waterfall was amazing - a milky yet stunning blue due to the algae, and also, unbeknownst to us, freezing cold! There was a long rope attached to a tree about 20 ft in the air, primarily for pulling Tarzan moves - so I slapped on my animal skin thong and swung away! (photos on Hersh's cam, will update soon). It was a great refresher after an exhausting ride on the mountain.
We soon went more cultural and made it to the Plain Of Jars in Phonsavan. This was the city that was bombed the MOST by the US. approx 55 thousand tonnes of it if I'm not mistaken. Bombs were dropped during the Vietnam war, not to mention land mines and other explosives. It is such a problem that there are many remnant live explosives that are being uncovered even today. There were so much varied remnant ammunition that people now use them as decorations and as fencing; some also sell them as scrap metal! Anyway, besides visiting these plains of Easter-island type phenomenon, the real rush was, once again, the cuisine. We spoke to our guide and he took us to eat the local cuisine...are you ready?DOG. Curried dog, bbqed dog and dog sausage, accompanied with a smelly fish sauce, rice, some lettuce and a unripened green plantain. Move over locusts, this is as exotic as it gets. Sadly? I actually enjoyed it. In the midst of the meal we suddenly here a small bark- out comes a dog who is then, quite eerily, fed some of the of cooked food! This restaurant only cooks dog. Yes, quite sad to eat mans best friend, but at the end of the day it's all just meat... right?
We soon moved on to our next destination called Vang Vieng. This was purely a tourist destination with cafes that sell opium and mushroom shakes, and play Friends and Family Guy episodes all day - yup, ALL day. Apparently Chandler made it to Laos.
Tubing was the ultimate highlight of this place for me; and actually what the town is famous for. The vibe reminded me alot of Spring Break season ! We rented the tubes and floated down the river, being reeled in by the owners and their makeshift anchors, telling us their bar was the best and constantly providing shots of free whiskey. I even had wasp, centipede and snake whiskey. In each bar they would have huge trapeze swings approximately
50 to 60 ft on the air. The fun part? Swinging and letting go at the highest possible point -what a rush! The first swing was the hardest... but being an adrenaline junkie I couldn't get enough. We jumped, dived and somersaulted our way down the river with bruises to prove it the next day.
Considering we had only partied and not done much cultural adventuring here, we decided to visit one of the many limestone caves in this town. The caves were very interesting, but realized it took us more time to reach the place than the time in the caves! On our way back, our guide who was a local farmer and barely spoke any English, suddenly shoots off towards bank of the river we were crossing. He is soon joined by by some of his buddies and they start beating the brush with machetes and huge bamboo sticks. I had hunch that they had found a snake, and I was right. This ended up being an 8 ft long king cobra! Our guide even jumped in the water after it and managed to kill it, unfazed by this venemous creature rearing his hood at him. Being a reptile enthusiast it was a little upsetting to see such a gorgeous creature being killed. But, they assured me that it was done to prote t the village and would actually provide food for the next few days - There was some comfort in those words.
All in all Laos was a fantastic mix of alcoholic western fun and the opportunity to see glimpses of the local culture. Now in Cambodia, we hope such experiences continue to occur! More posts to come in the next few weeks. Enjoy the pics.
We had decided to travel from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Luang Prabang, Laos, via road and boat. It took us about 6 hours by car and then a total of 18 hours by the aptly named, Slow Boat. An overnight stay was required during the transfer from car to boat. The 2:30 am stop over at this, well, "hotel" was quite honestly designed for a few hours of rest only. The room smelled damp, peppered with spider webs, mattresses were literally made of plywood and bath towels were our blankets - fun! The next morning we are woken up at 5 am and after a quick "breakfast" make our way to the border, Huay Xai. After getting our visas on arrival we proceed to get stuffed in the back of a tuk-tuk and make our way to the boat. The idea was to ride down the great Mae Kong river which is famous for it's giant catfish that occasionally weigh about 200 kilos and stretch out to some 12 odd feet! Unfortunately we didn't see any. We were introduced to some Cobra whiskey, given some cultural ground rules and start our overcrowded journey to Luang Prabang. We soon make good conversation, and subsequently friends, with some of the other travelers. After a brief discussion we all decided on a remedy to help pass the 10 hour journey - alcohol! Our soon to be good friends Dan and Sef (from Corpus Christi, Texas) bust out the local rice wine called Lao-Lao and we, including some brave others, finish the entire bottle. We get to another stop for a night before we head out the next morning for another 10 hrs. Here we are greeted by the guesthouse with promises of amazing hashish - however, out of safety we do not oblige. Hersh, Dan, Sef and I bond, along with new friends Anne, Steve and Jelle. The next day we headed out for part two of this trip and decided to use the same remedy as the day before. Along the way we stopped to find a few women selling fish, bbqed monitor lizard, along with a large live monitor and some sort of giant rodent/groundhog. These are eaten as commonly as we eat chicken. Was sad to see the live lizard and rodent hanging on for dear life! But at the same time, did realize that this was the way of the Lao people.
We finally make it to Luang Prabang and get a nice room for cheap! I mean, why not spend an extra dollar a night for hot water and an a/c? Sometimes we like to indulge. Dan and Sef get a room next to ours, as the rest of the boat people scatter. We continue our drinking and all meet up at the famous Hive Bar. This was a bit of a party for us, and after it shut (11:00 pm) we soon walked to THE bowling alley (only place to drinkthat late) while being propositioned to buy weed, whores and other drugs - what, no ladyboys? During the rest of our stay we visited some temples and rested at one of my new favorite places - l'etranger. This place was a French-owned tea lounge and book store that was built for comfort and relaxation! The walls were lined with national geographic mags and down-tempo lounge music played in the background. I read and drank the best cup of Ginger tea ever. Ah, what a perfect way to spend an afternoon.
Another very memorable moment would be the 35 km bicycle ride to a natural waterfall called Kuang Si. With chicken baguettes in our bellies, Anna, Steve, Helle, Hersh and I rented cycles and made the unknowingly steep ride to the waterfall. I suppose popping an Immodium and drinking the night before didn't help my cause either. I remember hersh and i walking our bikes for a few km, (purely bc of the heat) promising each other we would get a tuk-tuk on the way back! The Lonley Planet book said it was "gently undulating"- they lied. After a few rest stops we hit a nice long downhill stretch along the mountain. This was, however, short lived. Steve unfortunately popped a tire and I broke a chain - both in succession! I took a tuk-tuk for the last 5 km, while the others trucked on. The waterfall was amazing - a milky yet stunning blue due to the algae, and also, unbeknownst to us, freezing cold! There was a long rope attached to a tree about 20 ft in the air, primarily for pulling Tarzan moves - so I slapped on my animal skin thong and swung away! (photos on Hersh's cam, will update soon). It was a great refresher after an exhausting ride on the mountain.
We soon went more cultural and made it to the Plain Of Jars in Phonsavan. This was the city that was bombed the MOST by the US. approx 55 thousand tonnes of it if I'm not mistaken. Bombs were dropped during the Vietnam war, not to mention land mines and other explosives. It is such a problem that there are many remnant live explosives that are being uncovered even today. There were so much varied remnant ammunition that people now use them as decorations and as fencing; some also sell them as scrap metal! Anyway, besides visiting these plains of Easter-island type phenomenon, the real rush was, once again, the cuisine. We spoke to our guide and he took us to eat the local cuisine...are you ready?DOG. Curried dog, bbqed dog and dog sausage, accompanied with a smelly fish sauce, rice, some lettuce and a unripened green plantain. Move over locusts, this is as exotic as it gets. Sadly? I actually enjoyed it. In the midst of the meal we suddenly here a small bark- out comes a dog who is then, quite eerily, fed some of the of cooked food! This restaurant only cooks dog. Yes, quite sad to eat mans best friend, but at the end of the day it's all just meat... right?
We soon moved on to our next destination called Vang Vieng. This was purely a tourist destination with cafes that sell opium and mushroom shakes, and play Friends and Family Guy episodes all day - yup, ALL day. Apparently Chandler made it to Laos.
Tubing was the ultimate highlight of this place for me; and actually what the town is famous for. The vibe reminded me alot of Spring Break season ! We rented the tubes and floated down the river, being reeled in by the owners and their makeshift anchors, telling us their bar was the best and constantly providing shots of free whiskey. I even had wasp, centipede and snake whiskey. In each bar they would have huge trapeze swings approximately
50 to 60 ft on the air. The fun part? Swinging and letting go at the highest possible point -what a rush! The first swing was the hardest... but being an adrenaline junkie I couldn't get enough. We jumped, dived and somersaulted our way down the river with bruises to prove it the next day.
Considering we had only partied and not done much cultural adventuring here, we decided to visit one of the many limestone caves in this town. The caves were very interesting, but realized it took us more time to reach the place than the time in the caves! On our way back, our guide who was a local farmer and barely spoke any English, suddenly shoots off towards bank of the river we were crossing. He is soon joined by by some of his buddies and they start beating the brush with machetes and huge bamboo sticks. I had hunch that they had found a snake, and I was right. This ended up being an 8 ft long king cobra! Our guide even jumped in the water after it and managed to kill it, unfazed by this venemous creature rearing his hood at him. Being a reptile enthusiast it was a little upsetting to see such a gorgeous creature being killed. But, they assured me that it was done to prote t the village and would actually provide food for the next few days - There was some comfort in those words.
All in all Laos was a fantastic mix of alcoholic western fun and the opportunity to see glimpses of the local culture. Now in Cambodia, we hope such experiences continue to occur! More posts to come in the next few weeks. Enjoy the pics.
View of Slow Boat from the back
L'etranger Tea and Book Store
Dog Curry, Dog BBQ in Phonsavan
Our cave guide who JUST caught and killed the King Cobra
Flopping off the water slide in Vang Vieng
Swinging off the trapeze line in Vang Vieng
Hersh inspecting the Cobra whiskey
Plain of Jars in Phonsavan
[These are high-def pics so you can click on them and enlarge them for a better look]
Friday, May 1, 2009
Thailand - so far.
Hi All,
This message is way past due but better late than never! the trip has been fantastic so far. Roughing it out is truly the way to travel. You begin to appreciate the many luxuries in your life that you normally take for granted. Of course, I cannot go into extensive detail of the trip so far - there is far too much to write! However, I will share some particularly memorable moments that Hersh and I have experienced till now.
We arrived in Bangkok and were quite pumped, to say the least. After moving into the hostel we immersed ourselves in the local culture the quickest way we could - through the "indigenous" cuisine. A local restaurant with make shift tables on the street and pavement provided us with many substantial noodle-soups and fried pork. Food hygiene was apparently not a factor we were taking into consideration - and don't think we will. The next day was a fantastic excursion that comprised of jumping on the local #115 bus, as well as hailing a tuk-tukl to visit some temples and touristy spots for dirt cheap provided we would succumb ourselves to visiting a "government house." This was, quite simply, a gem scam that is prevalent in Bangok and FAR from governmental. i knew it was coming considering I have visited before, but hey, having your own tuk-tuk for BHT 20 (less than $1 USD) per day is unbeatable. During our time there we we also visited a market and popular red light area called "Nana Plaza," where we played two games of "ping-pong" with the go-go dancers (the details of which I would rather not go into) and ended that particular night eating deep-fried locusts. Like I said, what better way to experience the culture than to gorge on the local cuisine?
After a few days we headed out to Koh Phangan Island, off the southeaster coast, via bus and boat. This place for me was truly a dream come true. The water was calm and a stunning blue. We stayed at a cheap resort in a small fishing village called Chaloklam. The food there was exquisite, and we ate till we had our own deep-sea ecosystems in our bellies. The tide there was surprisingly low at this time of year, which made for somewhat easy snorkeling. With this in mind we made our way to another beach called Haad Mae Haad where we snorkeled to our eyes content. The marine life there is stunning! It is hard for me to imagine why people would try and destroy these wonders of the ocean. At this point I have officially regained my natural brown colour (and then some) from the whiteness that had consumed me in New York. Later, during our time on the island, we decided to make an un-guided hike to another beach about 3 miles from where we were staying. Apparently the only way to get there was by long-bottomed boat or by car. Since the road was virtually non-existent, the car would have to make its way all the way south of the island and then back up north to the beach! Too long and too boring, so trekking it was. We soon realised this "trek" was no joke! It was literally in the thick of the jungle! We also had another friend who met up us at the island and for him, this was his FIRST trek - big mistake. We hiked for three hours over treacherous terrain, often up 70 degree inclines and steep declines. We soon realised that the only real way to find the route to the beach was to follow overturned bottles small tree branches that were sporadically placed, if at all! The rains the night before didn't help our cause either. The water had washed some markers away! The beach was aptly named "Bottle Beach." Now, some of us were getting worried, and yes, Hersh decided to wear slippers on this hike. Eventually we reached the humongous rocks at the bottom of the island, right at ocean level. Oh, our friend? his body had given up on him. Even someone else carrying his bag for him didn't relieve the strenuous outing. Hersh stayed on the rocks with him while I jumped my way to the beach (luckily I was wearing shoes), and got a fisherman to bring his boat, and subsequently, our buddy, to safety. What a trip. The next few days in KP were mainly filled with beach-going, chatting with locals and other travellers, and snorkeling. Still in the beach mood, we made our way to another smaller island called Ko Tao. Snorkeling, again, was the name of the game considering I actually bought flippers and a mask. The best parts? Well, one of them was getting a little drunk and attending an awesome party, the other was getting wasted and somehow finding my way back to the guest house (forcing locals to take me on their bikes...heh) and last, but not least, seeing a 5 foot reef shark in the open ocean, literally no more than 10 feet from me. Sorry folks, no underwater camera for this one! We also enjoyed some amazing fired dancing shows on the beaches (much like Goa, only better) and even saw kids no more than 7 or 8 years old tossing flaming rods in the air!
After KT we bussed and boated it to Kanchanaburi, a little north of Bangkok. This town had seen it's share of the World War and Japanese inhumanity, but now has commericalised that past and boasts the bridge on the river Kwai; or Death Bridge. After visiting that area we made our way to the main attraction - the Tiger Temple! Like most of the tourists there we spent some brief pictorial moments with the big boys (200 kg male Tiger), but had 45 incredible minutes playing with and bottle feeding the 6-month old cubs! it's truly unbelievable how much power these creatures actually have. It was one of, if not THE best, 45 minutes of my life. Now I am seriously considering the volunteer program at the temple. We also saw tons of peacocks with full plumage, strutting their stuff every chance they got, and some deer that roamed the park looking for food from tourists.
We are currently in Chiang Mai and have done some temple browsing. We also met 8 other backpackers from around the world - Israel, England, Canada and Sweden - at this very chilled out bar called THC. Great name, no drugs. We have mostly been hanging out with them and have done a little bit of partying with our new friends. We did, however, make to do the "Flight of the Gibbon" trip, which included zip lining in the thick of the forest about 60 feet in the air. That was a lot of fun - perhaps a lot more for Hersh and I considering we were a tad bit tipsy at 7:00 am that morning. Irrespective, the people there were great and very friendly, which is important when you are going out on an excursion such as this. We also managed to eat some more local food with some of our new pals, and squeezed in elephant riding and bamboo rafting. One memorable experience was meeting a Japanese artist who is Albino and paraplegic, lives with two dogs, and speaks NO Thai or English! He gets around by painting and speaking Japanese! He was so happy that we went to see his exhibition in his home that he gave Hersh and I got a painting each as gifts. Very heartfelt and generous! We are planning to head out to Laos this evening and can't wait to see what this new country has in store for us! Although I am having a very unique experience I must say that I do miss you guys...well, a few of you at least ;) As I said before, it is quite refreshing to see how you can truly enjoy yourself without having to spend exorbitant amounts of money. Hope you enjoy the pics, I don't think we will have access to the Internet for the next week or so. So until then, take care! -Josh
Zip Lining in Chiang Mai
Sunset on the river Kwai
Peacock at Tiger Temple
Japanese Artist - Mr. Aizo
Fire Dancing in Koh Tao
Feeding Tiger Cub in Tiger Temple
Only clearing during trek to Bottle Beach
Nana Plaza Bar
This message is way past due but better late than never! the trip has been fantastic so far. Roughing it out is truly the way to travel. You begin to appreciate the many luxuries in your life that you normally take for granted. Of course, I cannot go into extensive detail of the trip so far - there is far too much to write! However, I will share some particularly memorable moments that Hersh and I have experienced till now.
We arrived in Bangkok and were quite pumped, to say the least. After moving into the hostel we immersed ourselves in the local culture the quickest way we could - through the "indigenous" cuisine. A local restaurant with make shift tables on the street and pavement provided us with many substantial noodle-soups and fried pork. Food hygiene was apparently not a factor we were taking into consideration - and don't think we will. The next day was a fantastic excursion that comprised of jumping on the local #115 bus, as well as hailing a tuk-tukl to visit some temples and touristy spots for dirt cheap provided we would succumb ourselves to visiting a "government house." This was, quite simply, a gem scam that is prevalent in Bangok and FAR from governmental. i knew it was coming considering I have visited before, but hey, having your own tuk-tuk for BHT 20 (less than $1 USD) per day is unbeatable. During our time there we we also visited a market and popular red light area called "Nana Plaza," where we played two games of "ping-pong" with the go-go dancers (the details of which I would rather not go into) and ended that particular night eating deep-fried locusts. Like I said, what better way to experience the culture than to gorge on the local cuisine?
After a few days we headed out to Koh Phangan Island, off the southeaster coast, via bus and boat. This place for me was truly a dream come true. The water was calm and a stunning blue. We stayed at a cheap resort in a small fishing village called Chaloklam. The food there was exquisite, and we ate till we had our own deep-sea ecosystems in our bellies. The tide there was surprisingly low at this time of year, which made for somewhat easy snorkeling. With this in mind we made our way to another beach called Haad Mae Haad where we snorkeled to our eyes content. The marine life there is stunning! It is hard for me to imagine why people would try and destroy these wonders of the ocean. At this point I have officially regained my natural brown colour (and then some) from the whiteness that had consumed me in New York. Later, during our time on the island, we decided to make an un-guided hike to another beach about 3 miles from where we were staying. Apparently the only way to get there was by long-bottomed boat or by car. Since the road was virtually non-existent, the car would have to make its way all the way south of the island and then back up north to the beach! Too long and too boring, so trekking it was. We soon realised this "trek" was no joke! It was literally in the thick of the jungle! We also had another friend who met up us at the island and for him, this was his FIRST trek - big mistake. We hiked for three hours over treacherous terrain, often up 70 degree inclines and steep declines. We soon realised that the only real way to find the route to the beach was to follow overturned bottles small tree branches that were sporadically placed, if at all! The rains the night before didn't help our cause either. The water had washed some markers away! The beach was aptly named "Bottle Beach." Now, some of us were getting worried, and yes, Hersh decided to wear slippers on this hike. Eventually we reached the humongous rocks at the bottom of the island, right at ocean level. Oh, our friend? his body had given up on him. Even someone else carrying his bag for him didn't relieve the strenuous outing. Hersh stayed on the rocks with him while I jumped my way to the beach (luckily I was wearing shoes), and got a fisherman to bring his boat, and subsequently, our buddy, to safety. What a trip. The next few days in KP were mainly filled with beach-going, chatting with locals and other travellers, and snorkeling. Still in the beach mood, we made our way to another smaller island called Ko Tao. Snorkeling, again, was the name of the game considering I actually bought flippers and a mask. The best parts? Well, one of them was getting a little drunk and attending an awesome party, the other was getting wasted and somehow finding my way back to the guest house (forcing locals to take me on their bikes...heh) and last, but not least, seeing a 5 foot reef shark in the open ocean, literally no more than 10 feet from me. Sorry folks, no underwater camera for this one! We also enjoyed some amazing fired dancing shows on the beaches (much like Goa, only better) and even saw kids no more than 7 or 8 years old tossing flaming rods in the air!
After KT we bussed and boated it to Kanchanaburi, a little north of Bangkok. This town had seen it's share of the World War and Japanese inhumanity, but now has commericalised that past and boasts the bridge on the river Kwai; or Death Bridge. After visiting that area we made our way to the main attraction - the Tiger Temple! Like most of the tourists there we spent some brief pictorial moments with the big boys (200 kg male Tiger), but had 45 incredible minutes playing with and bottle feeding the 6-month old cubs! it's truly unbelievable how much power these creatures actually have. It was one of, if not THE best, 45 minutes of my life. Now I am seriously considering the volunteer program at the temple. We also saw tons of peacocks with full plumage, strutting their stuff every chance they got, and some deer that roamed the park looking for food from tourists.
We are currently in Chiang Mai and have done some temple browsing. We also met 8 other backpackers from around the world - Israel, England, Canada and Sweden - at this very chilled out bar called THC. Great name, no drugs. We have mostly been hanging out with them and have done a little bit of partying with our new friends. We did, however, make to do the "Flight of the Gibbon" trip, which included zip lining in the thick of the forest about 60 feet in the air. That was a lot of fun - perhaps a lot more for Hersh and I considering we were a tad bit tipsy at 7:00 am that morning. Irrespective, the people there were great and very friendly, which is important when you are going out on an excursion such as this. We also managed to eat some more local food with some of our new pals, and squeezed in elephant riding and bamboo rafting. One memorable experience was meeting a Japanese artist who is Albino and paraplegic, lives with two dogs, and speaks NO Thai or English! He gets around by painting and speaking Japanese! He was so happy that we went to see his exhibition in his home that he gave Hersh and I got a painting each as gifts. Very heartfelt and generous! We are planning to head out to Laos this evening and can't wait to see what this new country has in store for us! Although I am having a very unique experience I must say that I do miss you guys...well, a few of you at least ;) As I said before, it is quite refreshing to see how you can truly enjoy yourself without having to spend exorbitant amounts of money. Hope you enjoy the pics, I don't think we will have access to the Internet for the next week or so. So until then, take care! -Josh
Zip Lining in Chiang Mai
Sunset on the river Kwai
Peacock at Tiger Temple
Japanese Artist - Mr. Aizo
Fire Dancing in Koh Tao
Feeding Tiger Cub in Tiger Temple
Only clearing during trek to Bottle Beach
Nana Plaza Bar
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