World Tripping: May 2009

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.

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]

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