Ca Ca Ca Cambodia Part 1

Today is day 6 in Cambodia. So far its been great. We arrived in the city of Kratie last Thursday. The reason we went to Kratie was to see the dolphins in the Mekong River. There are 5 freshwater dolphin species in the world and one of them happens to populate the Mekong. We must have seen 6 or 7 different dolphins 40 times I bet. They just came up to breath and go back under.

On Saturday we left in the morning to come to Siem Reap where I happen to be now. Once again I was on another terrible bus. The bus from Kratie to some town along the way wasn't bad. We had our own seat. But we stopped for lunch and the driver said we had to wait here for another bus that would pick us up in 15 minutes. Well it turned out to be almost 45. This bus was full so I was stuck in the very back and we had to back track an hour the other way to get to the highway that goes to Siem Reap. From that point it was another 3 hours. It was like I was in one of those blow up, bounce rooms that are at fairs sometimes. It was constant back and forth and side to side. To make matters worse I was right in front of a hot air vent for the engine. The good thing was I could extend my legs out and I had 5 air con vents. We arrived in Siem Reap around 5 and got a tuk-tuk to a guesthouse that we wanted to stay at. The driver inquired about being our driver to the temples the following day. We agreed and decided on getting up at 5 AM the next morning to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

The guesthouse is nice. Our beds are in a dorm. Its not even really a dorm. Its a building with no doors with 8 rooms inside also with no dorms. There are curtains that act as doors. Each bed has a mosquito net above them which is excellent. The next morning almost everyone was woken up around 3:30 AM by a couple of drunk Aussie girls hooting and hollering. A number of people started yelling at them including me. It took them about an hour before they were quiet. Ive experienced some loud people at hostels but they take the cake. I was awake the whole time.

The driver arrived shortly after 5 AM. The drive to Angkor Wat is about 15 minutes or so. I guess watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat is a popular thing to do. There were lots of people there. Unfortunately it was cloudy so it wasn't really a sunrise. It just gradually got lighter. Angkor Wat is massive. A lot of it is being restored. After that our driver took us to Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom is an ancient walled city with a 100 meter moat surrounding it. Inside there are some monuments. The whole day we spent looking at various temples. The coolest one I think was Ta Phrom. They have left some of the trees that are growing over it and through it alone. These trees are massive. A scene from the movie Tomb Raider was filmed there. The names of the temples have slipped my mind. I don't remember all the times because there are just so many.

The yesterday we didn't get up so early. We went back to Angkor Wat complex but went on the east side to see some temples we didnt see the day before. The coolest thing about yesterday was going 30 KM outside the complex to see Kbal Spean. There you hike into the jungle 1500 meters to see a bunch of carvings in the rock in a stream. They had to have damned the stream to be able to carve into the rock bed. They quality is amazing. Tomorrow I'm off to Phom Penh, the capital. I don't really want to go there but it does have a really good museum and the Pol Pot killing fields. As depressing as its going to be it is one of those must things to see. After a couple of days I'm heading to Sihanoukville on the ocean. Its been so hot the last 2 weeks that I need some beach and water really bad. After that its back to Bangkok for two days and then back home. Its weird to think I will be freezing my butt off instead of sweating it off in 11 days. Enjoy the pictures. Cheers.

J




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Lovin' Lao Part 2

The last time I reported from the front lines of SE Asia I was leaving for Vietiane, Laos. The bus ride was the best I had had and still have had. I had the most leg room ever. It was awesome. I got to Vietiane about noon and it was so hot. It was the hottest weather I had experienced thus far. It had to be at least 94 degrees. I knew that I just needed to leave. I didn't really want to go to Vietiane but everything goes through there. So I got a tuk-tuk and said a needed a bus to Savannakhet. There were two bus stations in town depending if you were going north or south. He said the bus station was 18 KM away. I said fine take me their. On the way I asked if he knew when the bus left. He thought 8 PM. I knew right then that there would be no way I could stay in the bus station for 7 hours. So I said just take me to a guest house. I wanted to go there because I knew I could get a bus ticket and they would let me keep my bad there while I explored the city. I was right. I walked around the city for a few hours. I saw some temples and a tower called That Dam.

"Known as the ‘Black Stupa', many locals believe this mythological structure was once inhabited by a seven-headed dragon (now dormant) that stood to protect the city from the threat of the Siamese. Another tale that does the rounds says that the gold that once graced the surface was taken when the Siamese army ransacked Vientiane back in 1828."

I was so hot and tired. I went back to the guesthouse around 4 and just hung out there the rest of the day. It took so much energy not to fall asleep because I knew that I would sleep on the bus. I left Vietanne around 8 and got to Savannakhet at 4 AM. There was an Aussie couple, a Canadian guy, and a Hungarian girl all on the same bus. None of us had reservations anywhere so we got a tuk-tuk to take us around trying to find guesthouses that were either open or would wake up when they banged on the gate. It only took three tries. Thankfully they had room for all of us. The next day the girl and I tried to find a place for breakfast. This proved to be difficult because it was the first true day of Tet, the Chinese New Year, and Savannakhet has a large portion of Chinese and Vietnamese people. After some time we found a French cafe open. It was funny because it was only filled with Westerners and when we left more were coming in. When we finished eating we rented bikes from a local guesthouse. She went to a temple outside of town that was 13 KM. I wasn't about to ride that far on a shitty bike and in 90 degree temps. I rode around town and looked at a few temples and went to the Dinosaur Museum. It was lame. I should have just gotten a bus to the next big town, Pakse.

The next morning we did just that, all five of us. We got a local bus. It was a spectacle to see the bus continue to pick up locals even though it was full. It resorted to them sitting on benches and some even standing up. They didn't seem to be bothered by it though. The bus to Pakse took eight hours. We found a guesthouse and all stayed there but Laura. She went on to Champask because she had to be back to Hanoi to work on Monday. Pakse was a nice town. That night we went out to eat at a very good Indian place. After that we wanted to hit up a bar. We asked the guesthouse reception for a suggestion. We got in a tuk-tuk and he took us there. It was an all Loa beer garden. We got lots of looks since they don't normally have Westerners come in. It was too late for a tuk-tuk so we had to walk back after we were finished. It was about a 8 KM walk. We found it quicker than I expected. Only the way we were asked by a group of young adults drinking outside a house to come over for some drinks. We obliged. Two of the guys were very gay. One of the guys was hitting on one of my friends. The other one was talking to me and kept having me say things to his friend. Each one got a laugh so I assume they were sexual in nature. After a bit we decided to continue on to the guesthouse because we were all going on a tour of the Bolaven Plateau. Id say this was a highlight of the trip. We saw three waterfalls. Each one was different in its own way. The first one was Tad Fane. There was a trail down to see a little bit closer than the view point. When I think of waterfalls this is what I normally picture. Next we went to the Tad Yuang waterfall. This was numero uno for waterfalls that I have seen. The highlight was jumping into the pool at the bottom and swimming. The water was very cold. It was almost SE Alaskan cold. The combination of the temperature and the water crashing on me took my breathe away. It was well worth it. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. Here is a video of it.





Next we went to a local village. I like going to see the villages but its always weird because its almost like a human zoo. I can only stand a few minutes before wanting to leave and I never take pictures. Finally we went to the last waterfall, Tad Lo. This one was different but equally as good. We had lunch at the base in plain view of it. After lunch we swam across and were able to walk around on the ledges. The current was really fast so you had to be quick on swimming over. That night we just hung out and had dinner because the bus to the 4000 Islands left at 7 AM.


The 4000 Islands are islands, some big and some little, located at the southern end of Laos within the Mekong River. There a some big ones inhabited while most are just specks of land. We stayed at the biggest and most modern island, Don Khong. After we arrived and found a place we got bikes to ride around the island. We had intentions of finding this cave but we never found it and just kept on riding. We got to the tip of the island and decided turn around. I think we biked for 15 KM. The town was nice though. There were only a couple of cars and not many scooters. There had to be less than 30 tourists there. It was really peaceful. After the bike ride it was really hard not to want to jump into the adjacent Mekong. The following day Brett and I decided to leave for Kratie, Cambodia. Stuart and Michelle decided to go to another island, Don Det. We arrived at the border in 45 minutes. There were a number of people who were told that there was an ATM at the border. I'm sorry but relying on ATMs while traveling is a cardinal sin in my book. Not having money for your VISA at the border is like not having your passport. I loaned a bunch of money to an Irish couple since they were going to Kratie as well. So Ive been in Cambodia now for 6 days. It seems like ages ago since I was in Laos. I miss it. The people always say "Sa Baa Dee", which is hello in Lao. Below are pictures from the last part of Lao. Cheers.



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Lovin' Lao Part 1

Sa ba dee. (hello in Laotian) I have been in Laos now for 5 days. My first impression of the country was how amazing chill and relaxed it is. I had just come from Vietnam. More specifically Hanoi which is full of noises and distractions everywhere you turn. Here I was in Phonsavan and I could walk down the street and not here any honks by any car or bike. It was like a whole another world. I didn't think a place like that existed in SE Asia. We got to Phonsavan about midday. We had lunch and then 3 of the guys I was with rented scooters and road out to the Plain of Jars. Here is a link that better explains what they are. Basically they are big jars that scientists think were used for foundry during the 1200s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_of_Jars

We left the next morning for Luang Prabrang. The bus ride took about 5 hours up and down and around and back and forth in the mountains. The driver had to be going at least 50-60 mph at times. It wasn't that bad and the views were amazing. Luang Prabrang is a great city. I spent 2 days and 2 nights there. Our guesthouse was right next to the Nam Khan river and only 2 blocks away from the Mekong. The first night we went out on the town. I ended up staying up so I could watch the Colts lose the Superbowl. I still cant believe that. We walked around a lot and just enjoyed the town for its peace and quiet.

We left for Vang Vieng on Tuesday morning. It was another 5 hours over the same roads south to Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is a party town. Its famous for is called "In The Tubing". Basically you rent a tube, some people don't, and go 3 KM north of town and tube down the Nam Song River back to Vang Vieng. All along there are bars playing loud techno and pop songs. Each bar has either a swing or zip line that you take to the river below. So really its just an excuse to great really drunk and float down the river. We did that Wednesday. Yesterday I started a 2 day trek. This was one of the things I had planned on doing when I came to Laos. First we climbed a mountain that took about 2 hours to go up and down. We ended up at a waterfall that flowed into a cave where we ate lunch. Next it was up into a valley where we walked past an old village. Some local farmers still use it when they grow rice. Next it was up another mountain. This one didn't take as long and wasn't as high. The end up that trail ended up at a cave where we walked into with flashlights because it was so long. The last part of the leg took us along a river and through a Hmong Village. That was a highlight to see local villagers. I took a video of a cock fight that local kids were participating in. When we got to our guesthouse we had to cross a river. The boat had countless holes so the villager had to paddle real fast. It was amazing because I watched all the villagers use this boat throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening and they all had to bail water out while crossing. A couple of times one or two had to jump out before it sank. I dint know why they just didn't fix it. This morning we got up and started the kayak portion. It was nice to just be able to float down the Nam Song River. The first stop was up and over a ridge to a cave. We got to walk all the way through it to the other side. During the rainy season you cant because it fills with water. The next stop was at a Mulberry farm. The farm uses the leaves for tea and makes various Mulberry dishes. It was really good tea. The final leg took us to another cave. This was what I wanted to do for awhile now. There was a stream flowing through it. We hiked through it and through the water. Our guide caught a bat with his hat as it clung to the ceiling. I had never see that before. It got to a point where we had to crouch down so we wouldn't hit our heads. At the end we had to squeeze through a tiny hole, barely big enough for us to fit through to get out. Awesome! We then had lunch and paddled the rest of the way down the river to Vang Vieng. I'm so glad I did the trek. Its one of those things I will always remember. Tomorrow I am leaving for Vientiane, Laos. I'm going to just try to get a bus out right away to Savannakhet, Laos which is about 7-8 hours south. If not I will leave the next day. I don't know how long I will be in Savannakhet. I'm going to try to be to Cambodia by the 18th no later than the 19th. Here are pictures so far of Laos and a couple of videos. Cheers.

J



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No More Vietnam

I finally made it to Phonsavan, Laos, this morning. What a trip. I bunch of us left Thursday night from Hanoi to Vinh, Vietnam at 7 PM. It was an overnight bus. I had already been on two but this was the worst and most oldest. We sat in the back and had to literally buckle ourselves in because when we hit bumps we were flying up into the air. So not only could we not stretch out all the way because the buses here don't cater to Westerners, we had to worry about not falling out and hitting our head on the floor while we were half asleep. But we made it to Vinh about 2:30 AM with only a few bruises and Ritz crackers crumbs all over my bag because they fell off the shelf and my legs squashed them. The bus dropped us off outside the Viet Laos hotel which had a sign saying ticketing office to Laos. Perfect! The lady wanted 350,000 Dong for a ticket. The guide book said 235,000 was standard. So we decided to walk around to see if anything else was open and hopefully find the bus station. Nothing was open and we did find the bus station but we found out later that it was a storage area and not for departing passengers. After awhile we decided to get tickets from the hotel for 310,000 a person. The bus was supposed to leave at 5:30 AM. We got a taxi to the bus station. Good thing because it was a different one. If we had decided to walk we would have been screwed. When we got there we found the bus but it was before 5 so we waited. About 5:30 the bus attendant awoke from his slumber inside the bus and informed us that he wouldn't be leaving until 9:15 in the evening! One of the guys I am with tried berating him but he didn't speak English. We happen to find a guard that could speak English and he came over and talked to the guy. First the guard said it wasn't a ticket. So we asked him about getting the police to come with us back to the hotel to get our money back. He said that we would have to get the Vinh PD not them because they only take care of situations in the bus station. About that time the receptionist from the hotel showed up. She talked to the bus driver and worked it out. She offered to let us come back to the hotel and stay for free until the bus left at 7 PM. It was after 6 AM by the time we got back. We slept until 1 PM. I was only working on about 6 hours of sleep in the last 48 because it was a friends birthday in the hostel Thursday night and I only slept a few hours on the bus to Vinh.

We managed to find some cheap food when we woke up and waited back at the hotel for the night receptionist to show up that evening. She was going to make sure we got on the bus. While we were waiting I saw a scene that I will never forget. I was standing in the door way and a rat ran in behind me into the next room. I jumped forward because it startled me. I looked into the other room and it was suffering from what looked like to be a seizure. That lasted about 5 minutes and then it got up and ran under the stairs. I'm not sure if it died or lived. The bus picked us up at 7 PM. We thought we might be the only ones because it was just one other guy and the four of us. But we traveled to Vinh University and picked up about 50 students going back to Laos. I knew at the point it was going to be a long night. We made about three other pick ups before heading out of town. There was a half a dozen or so people standing or sitting in the aisle. I couldn't believe it. Luckily for them, and Mohan, Espen, and I, we stopped to transfer the extras to an empty bus. Now we got our own seats. That made the trip a heck of a lot better. Unfortunately we listened to crappy Vietnamese music for a good three hours before they turned it off. We arrived at the border at 4 AM. It was closed. A lot of the kids got out and went outside. That was good because now I could stretch out across to the other seat. I got three hours more of sleep. The border was a breeze. The Vietnamese agents searched our bag but it was fine. The Laotian agents didn't hassle us either. Laos is a beautiful country so far and I cant wait to explore it more.

Vietnam is an up and coming country. Overall the people are really nice. The little kids are some of the cutest I have ever seen. They always seem to have a smile on their face. Every city I stopped in there was some kind of construction happening. It was anything from simple 3 story brick homes being built, to new sidewalks and water drainage pipes, to massive resorts. Being from a construction bloodline that is one of the things I enjoy about traveling. I love to see other cultures and peoples build things using their own methods mixed in with a little Western style. In the States we have laws where you have to wear this and wear that. I would say 95 percent or more of the workers wore sandals. A lot of the workers digging were women. I remember in Hoi An near my hotel where they were putting in a new storm sewer. Instead of using a jack hammer or even a 10 lb sledge hammer to brake away concrete, the workers were crouched down using a little 3 lb hammer breaking it away. It had to have taken ages to get rid of it all. But they do it. That is just the way things get done. It will be interesting to see how much the country has progressed if I ever return. Maybe some day I will. Gooooodddbbbyyyeee Vietnammmm! (Robin Williams voice)

Vrrrrmmm Vietnam Vrrrmm Part 3

Last time I wrote it was the day before I left for Hanoi. I was supposed to leave from Da Nang to Hanoi last Thursday afternoon. My flight ended up being delayed for 5 hours. I guess the plane had hit a bird on its way to Da Nang. The airline company is so small that they had to fly a mechanic from Vietnam Airlines from Saigon up to Da Nang to sign off on it. I was supposed to have a pick up from my hostel at the airport so I didn't bother writing down my hostel address or phone number. Luckily there was some other tourists going into Hanoi so I stopped at one of their places and got on the internet real quick to get the address and phone number. When I finally arrived at the hostel it was about midnight. The next day I walked around Hanoi. I went to the "Hanoi Hilton". It is a prison built by the French in the 1800s. Its famous because it housed downed American fighter pilots shot down over Hanoi during the Vietnam War. This is where John McCain was held at. It was interesting. A lot of propaganda of course. After that I went to the Revolution Museum. It was one of the most boring museums I have ever been to. It was cool to see the artifacts but it just kept going and going. That night a bunch of people I met at the hostel went to the snake village. It wasn't a village just restaurant that only served snake. It was crazy. When you get there they pull out a cobra from a cage that had at least 100 or more snakes in it. The guy swings the snake around to disorient it and puts it in a sack. We got two. Then he weighed the bag to make sure it was the right weight. It took a few times because it weighed too much. After the correct weight he took the snake out of the sack and swung it again. Then he stepped on the head and held the tail up in the air. Then he cut its throat and held it up in the air to show us the snake was still alive because it was moving around. Next he cut the head off. The head was still moving on the table. Then he poured the blood into a bottle of rice wine which was more like moonshine the wine. Finally he cut out the heart and put it on a platter before taking us to our table. When we got to our table two Brits decided to eat the hearts since we had two of them. They swallowed the heart and then took a shot of the blood/wine mix. The hearts were still beating on the plate before they ate them. The night was filled with various snake dishes and shots of the blood/wine mix. We also had shots of bile/wine mix too. Both of the shots were really strong. The first dish was fried snake. It still had the skin on it. I just pulled the flesh off the skin. It was really tough. The taste wasn't bad though. There were various other dishes. There were two different spring rolls that had the bones in it. Those tasted good. Then this meatball type thing that also had the bones. Those were the best. There were also two kinds of soup that tasted like chicken. It was a crazy experience. You couldn't taste the blood in the shots. The rice wine was really strong. Here are two videos from there.










The next day I left for Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island. The bus ride was about 4 hours. The boat was really cool. We left Ha Long City to a inlet where there were lots of other boats. We got out on the skiff to go to Suprise Cave. It was a sweet cave. Its hard to top the cave I saw in Slovenia though. I don't think I will ever see one as beautiful. Next we went kayaking. It was more like canoeing because there wasn't a rudder. We went over to one of the island where we happen to see a jellyfish on the beach. It was bigger than a basketball. It was by far the biggest I had ever seen. Tat night we stayed on the boat anchored in the cove. Ha Long Bay reminds me a lot of SE Alaska. The difference being you can't really walk around on the islands because its basically rocks coming out of the water. The next morning the boat took us to Cat Ba Island. Only 6 of us got off. The first stop on Cat Ba was Cat Ba National Park. We trekked up to the top of this peak. It took about 45 minutes or so. It wasn't really a trail though. It was climbing over rocks and trees. When I got to the top there was a tower that had to be 100 ft in the air I guess. The view was amazing. Words cant really describe it. The real challenge was getting back down. I couldn't believe people were doing it in flip flops. Here is a video from the top of the tower.





After the park we went to the hotel. In the afternoon we took a boat to Monkey Island. The name didn't suit the island. We got there and there were two monkeys waiting for us. Then they left. Only two monkeys! I guess the island has about 20. Yesterday we left to come back to Hanoi. I don't know what I got but I vomited 6 times out the bus window on the way back. It wasn't food poisoning because no one else had it. I think maybe it was the water when I showered. I'm pretty sure I had a fever last night too. I managed to find some medicine last night and went to bed at 9. This morning I feel better but still not 100%. My body is trying to fight it off because I'm sweating buckets. I was going to go to Sapa tonight but with Tet its hard to find a ticket and I didn't want to go if I'm still sick. So I'm going to stay in Hanoi until Thursday or Friday and then leave for Laos with a couple of guys I met here at the hostel. Here are pictures from the snake village, Ha Long Bay, and Cat Ba Island. Until next time. Cheers.

J




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