A Day in Louang Phabang

After three days traveling we decided to have a lazy day, while at the same time soaking in the town. Louang Phabang is of a fairly small size and set at the confluence of the Mekong and the river Nam Khan. The old town is formed of streets full of colonial houses in subtle colours, palm trees lining every street. Everywhere you look monks in saffron robes seem to wander, happily, under their umbrellas.

As Crystel and Carles were leaving soon to go back to Bangkok I moved to smaller accommodation then later on we met to visit the Buddhist School.

Ignasi, the Catalan that is cycling around the world, joined us. I am amazed by the will power he must have. He has cycled on his own through most of New Zeland, Malaysia and part of Thailand, before meeting to come here with another two German guys.

After Crystel and Carles left I had dinner in the buzzing night market with the cycling group.

I am planning to go North to visit some National Park. I heard today that in the last two years the landscape around it has been seriously degraded as a result of Chinese timber extraction. I am hoping that it's not so bad.

Crystel, Carles and myself by the Buddha of the School Temple...

Ignasi and myself, have a look at his blog in my blog list...

I love the next two pics, they really give you a sense of this town....

Slow Boat Down The Mekong

Taking a slow boat down the Mekong from Houayxai in the Northernmost border between Thailand and Laos has been an unforgettable experience, the perfect introduction to what is meant to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

As the sun set behind the mountains and I admired its red reflection on the water, my somber mood from the last few days lifted.

On Sunday we had left Chaing Mai very early in the morning.

We arrived in Chiang Kong on the Thai side of the border mid afternoon on Sunday and I was slightly worried about crossing that late on the day. I had had a bad experience crossing in the afternoon into Cambodia.

However, both Crystel and Carles were keen to get to the other side, and clearly there was not a lot going on in the town.

After getting your passport stamped out of the country you take a long boat for a short journey across the Mekong. Despite my worries getting into Laos was very simple with little paper work given to us on arrival, although at $36 I thought it was steep.

It was easy to find a guest house, and now that I'm not traveling alone, a lot cheaper.

There was a festival in the evening organized by the local temple. The simplicity of their games and prizes gave me an idea of how different this country is from Thailand.

From this town most people take a slow boat down to the old capital, Louang Phabang, or some may go to the North part of the country where there are some of the wildest and greenest landscapes.

I aim to visit the North later on in the trip so I decided to take the slow boat the following morning. At the beginning I was a bit disappointed with the boat, it seemed full of tourists and maybe not the cargo boat I had hoped for. In hindsight I'm glad I at least had a seat. Also cargo and locals joined us later as it stopped in several places throughout the two days.


We stopped over for the night in Pakeb, some God forsaken place set up to provide accomodation to tourists on these boats. It wasn't a particularly nice experience. As soon as we arrived the local kids, and some men not so young, rushed onto the boat, and started taking people's backpacks, hoping you will pay them to take it up the hill. The problem was that it had become dark and all the bags had been left in one part of the boat all together.

In the dark no one could see where their bags were, so people started getting a bit cranky. It didn't help that each time someone located their possessions they had to retrieve it from an 'unwilling non English-speaking Lao'.

After getting a room with my two new travel companions, we joined some other people for dinner and some free rice whiskey, an evil white creamy drink, but really what were we expecting for free?

The whole town shuts at 10.30pm when the electricity is switched off, but as we had an early start we were all happy to hit the sack. I'm afraid though that I decided to go on a little bit of sleepwalking. I woke up slightly frightened in the back garden in my boxer shorts and wondering where the hell I was. It took me several minutes to realize that I was in 'the middle of nowhere' and that I needed to get back to my room.

The journey down the river takes you through some outstanding landscapes. There are lush semi tropical forests, sandy beaches mixed with sharp rock formations and some farmland. 75% of the country is covered by unmanned vegetation half of which is forest, a result of a lightly populated country. As we travelled down for two days we hardly saw any villages at all, getting a sense of how empty this country is, especially noticeable having crossed from Thailand.


My only regret on taking the boat at this time of the year is that the lights and colours are diminished by the smog that covers the region. Farmers are busy slashing and burning and the smoke got thicker as we got nearer our destination.


On the second day a mixture of smog and fog reduced the visibility even further and an eerie feeling embraced us we travelled east towards Louang Phabang. As tributaries join the Mekong gets wider and deeper, though it also seemed to be getting a lot more polluted with bottles floating on the surface all along the way.


I met some very interesting people on the boat, and got a few ideas for my trip. I'm really considering going onto Burma, although it's going to be a hard one to do on my own, and I won't meet many people there. However, everyone says it is a fascinating country, completely untouched by tourism.

There were 3 guys with their bikes, one of them Catalan. He's cycling around the world, and his final leg will take him through Mongolia, China, the old Soviet Republics, Iran and then back to Europe... now that is a trip!!!!

I am going to spend two or three days in Louang Phabang. The old capital sits in a valley of green mountains and was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1995. It is a beautiful mixture of local architecture and French colonial style.

Boats docked by the Mekong...

Trekking in Chaing Mai

clam fishing

I am fairly exhausted after three days up in the hills, but although I have had a good time and I have met some nice people, a level of disappointment lingers. I guess I had read so much about trekking in Chaing Mai that my expectations were never going to be met.

I was picked up early in the morning, first of the group, that co-incidentally was mostly from Catalonia. We drove South, away from the main tourist treks, but before getting to our destination we stopped at a market to buy our last provisions. And it was there that I, finally, found my hat. After 6 weeks looking for the perfect hat, I now have it. As with all these treks we stopped at a temple, I guess it's always a way to fill up one of the days. I had exactly the same experience last October when I was in North East Thailand.

Not sure about the boots and shorts look...

sunset...

The view was great, the Buddha was large, but you can't help feeling that, sadly, when you have seen one you have seen them all. I love religious art, and I have spent hours visiting temples of different religions, but Buddhist temples are fairly 'samey'. Nevertheless the view from the top of the hill was breathtaking, with the paddy fields and villages below us.

I almost lost my pants...again...


We stopped at a waterfall in the middle of a forest to have a dip, it was nice and refreshing as the day was getting really hot. We are at the height of the dry season and at the moment Thailand is busy back burning.


I am not completely sure what my view is on this. Back burning is a traditional way to protect areas from potentially bigger fires. In Australia they decided to stop doing it as Melbourne citizens were complaining about the smoke, but they have now suffered the worse forest fires in living memory. However, at the same time, burning all these leaves is creating a cloud of smog that covers the whole North, increasing substantially the pollution levels.

Somehow I couldn't stop thinking about Bridge Over The River Kwai...


We eventually reached the camp for the first night, very basic large huts for people to sleep in, one for cooking and one for eating, and some seating by the fire.

Tan has had too much Moonshine...

Breakfast being prepared for us...

Tan, our guide cum cook, started to get really 'lairy' and we soon discovered that he had been hitting the local 'moonshine' as soon as we got to the camp.


I was warned by one of the group that drinking it may cause blindness, but then I remembered the priests at school saying the same about something else, so decided to try it.

Somehow one of my lingering memories of this trek will be getting an ipod out and listening to a Spanish Sevillana in the middle of Thailand. The moon set early that evening and the stars completely covered the sky. I have never in my life seen so many, not even in the desert, it was a truly magnificent spectacle, one that made the trip worthwhile for me.

Then an early start for our 8 hours of walking across the hills. It was hard work, and it got harder as the day progressed as the sun inflicted on us got stronger. Sometimes the dry hot wind hit us and you could hear as all sigh simultaneously. Other times we walked under the cover of bamboo arches with just the sound of the river and a gentle buzz from the cigarras to accompany us. The great thing about trekking around this part of Thailand is the amount of waterfalls and rivers, just perfect for a dip and a quick swim. Local children seem to head there straight from school just to jump in the water.


One thing that puzzled me were the dogs. Dogs joined the walk in different parts and walked with us, maybe for two or three hours, sometimes for a whole day. When we got to a settlement they were fed by the locals and then carried on with us. Other dogs would then stay behind, but none of them seemed to have owners or homes, they were true hippie dogs....

Bad first aid...it was only a burst blister!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The camp for the second night was on beautiful flat farmland, and I must say that dinner was excellent. We followed it with some cards and a bit more moonshine, though we all decided our guide turns into Gollum when he drinks it....I freaked out a bit when he said 'You strong man, we Thai small, but small and sweet'.

Our last day could have been tourist hell and for some, it seems, it was.

We started the day rafting but the river was too low, as we are too far into the dry season. We then did a bit of bamboo rafting and finally an elephant ride. But I wish I hadn't finished on that.


I couldn't help but feel saddened by the image of the magnificent animals chained. It is true that they looked well fed and kept, but I felt that I was supporting a practice I didn't agree with. My elephant driver let me get off my chair and sit on the elephant's neck and I loved the fact that the elephant took revenge on me and Carles, from time to time spitting on us!!!

On this type of organized trip so much relies on the dynamics that build between the members of the group. I really got to like the two British lads, but then again who could not like Simon's easy laugh, and also Crystelle, from France, and Carles one of the guys from Catalonia. However, some of the other people just seemed to take pleasure in complaining.

Just writing this, I've realized that it was a great experience, though maybe I am just too easy to please. There was no white water rafting as there was no white water, but I had a laugh so I am not going to complain.

I am off to Laos soon, so excited...

Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Earlier today I met up with Beth, as she had kindly agreed to take a day off so we could hang out.

A light breeze had slightly weakened the grip the smog had over the town and the air didn't feel as dense.

We agreed to go up to the Queen's Botanic Gardens, as this was the only out of town tourist attraction that interested us both and on her day off Beth fancied getting out of the smog. Neither of us wanted to visit the tiger or monkey centers. They're not rescue centres but tourist attractions where the animals are drugged so gullible tourists can touch them.

The Botanic Gardens were up in the nearby hills, in a lightly forested area, and they're really a mixture of slightly manicured gardens and indigenous vegetation with a small waterfall thrown in for good measure.

We decided to have a small lunch in their visitor centre and I was pleasently surprised. The spicy chicken and noodle soup was the only dish on the menu, but very nice it was indeed. It's fairly common in Thailand that some places specialize in one dish only.

After that early lunch we decided to take a walk to the top of the hill. However, as we were heading up, enjoying the views, we realised that although the map that we had been given was pretty, it was anything but useful.

We had no idea where we were nor how far away the top was, though it was clear that the place was bigger than we had thought. It wasn't our Liz's back garden in her house by the Mall. This Queen had a lot larger a place. And under the sweltering heat I also realised that it wasn't the right time to be out and about exercising. Mad dogs and Englishmen indeed.

However, and after passing some Australian bottle trees, we finally got to our destination and were treated to a great view over the valley...

There is also an interesting green house complex worth visiting with beautiful orchids, funny looking cactii and flowers and lotuses of impossibly bright colours.

Banana Tree with flower and small bananas...

Cactus? Or candy floss?


If you have time to spare and you're not into the usual tourist traps, or shooting, which is a tourist attraction here, or bungy jumping, this is an enjoyable thing to do.

On our way back we stopped at a local vegetable market that was just closing to get some produce for a small bbq we are having later on. I'm so looking forward to it.


There are so many different varieties of odd looking aubergines in this country, and some wonderfully intense colours...

In the meantime I am packing for my three day trek up into the mountains visiting hill tribes. I've researched this, looking for an organized group that won't treat the people as exhibition pieces in a hall, and I'm hoping I've chosen the right one.

And A Happiness That Money Can't Buy

People tell you that travelling through poor countries gives you a new outlook on life. It puts your own troubles and unhappiness in perspective and almost takes away your right to be unhappy.

I thoroughly disagree. Travelling through India and seeing Poverty, with a capital P, has furthered some of the questions I have about about my future, my career, as I witnessed a thirst for life that i have somehow lacked.

However, last night, while I was listening to "Falling Down" from the Twin Peaks soundtrack, the sun was setting behind the smog, blurring with the hills that surround Chang Mai, and I realized that it's true what they say, sometimes it's good to be down, you can't fall.

And I felt happy.

Just happy to be here.

Can't Buy Me Love?

Yesterday I met up with Beth and Aidan.

I had met them when I was on holiday last year diving in the South Islands. They both work here in Chiang Mai as teachers. It was great to meet up, I had been feeling a bit lonely. Tomorrow Beth is taking the day off and we'll do something around the town which I'm looking forward to.

Later on I walked around the Sunday Market. It is a fairly large place, covering several streets, packed with people, and stalls that provide for both tourists and locals.

There are a lot of people busking. Some for themselves, like the many blind musicians, and some for charity.

I loved these people, busking for a charity helping the eldery. The lady sitting down was so regal...

There were several blind bands, this one was actually pretty good, they're just getting ready...

It's difficult not to be cynical when you see Thai girls with Western men, and I was taken aback by the amount that I saw yesterday. I guess it is somewhere to walk around, hold hands, the normal things a couple that have just met do but Chaing Mai is developing a very large sex trade.

As I said it's difficult not to be cynical about it, but some people do fall in love, Beth and Aidan have friends that have married Thai girls, but in most cases it's just prostitution, without the name.

Mostly the men are on their own, or maybe there are two. Mostly they are ugly, or fat and mostly older than the girls, who like most Thai girls are petite and pretty. However, I have seen some really handsome guys, and here in Chaing Mai the age of the guys is much lower that down South. However, the score is the same...they pay for everything the girls need for the two or three weeks they are here.

I have decided I am the only gay in the village....

I have rented a bicycle to get me around, or to get me killed, although I have the feeling that after cycling in India this is nothing.

Sunset and sunrises have a different hue and intensity, through the smog the colours are so different...

Bangkok To Chang Mai

Last night I had one of my favourite meals so far.

I got to the station far too early (it's one of the problems of taking buses here, having to build in too much buffer time). Looking for something to eat I avoided all the places just to the side of the station, especially those where they're pushing you to sit down. Instead I walked just behind the main street. It was an odd time, too late for lunch but too early for dinner. I sat at a little place with it's kitchen outside, the dirty dishes on large bowls waiting to be washed, and a few tables inside.


The only other customers were three girls from the station who helped the owner with my order. It was a deliciously simple sweet basil and squid dish. The lady that did the cooking was a bit upset that I wouldn't have it spicy, but I'm a wimp at that. The food was so good I ordered another one to take away with me for a late supper.

After being on Indian trains and in their stations this journey, Bangkok to Chang Mai, felt almost clinical, as if I was in a hospital. The seats are so tidy, the beds are wide...it's all a bit boring. I am amazed how much I'm actually missing India.

One thing I certainly missed on the train are the hawkers, the constant stream of people selling chai, coffee, samosas and a million other things that I ate but didn't know the name of, or for that matter, what were they made with.

Waking up in the morning, the train was on a gentle upwards slope. The vegetation is a mixture of forest and bamboo with the odd paddy field. Sadly the scars of recent fires are too present. I read yesterday that a cloud of smog is covering Chang Mai, caused by a spurt of forest fires and all the nearby industry. Nevertheless it was crawling back to life and the blackened soil was dotted with bamboo shoots.

Chang Mai is a lot more manageable a city than Bangkok and its historic centre is surrounded by a moat. The whole area is meant to be walkable, but I think later on I'll rent a push bike. The town is flat, with some great temples, and some good food, but there are also lots of stuff for travellers, treks, bars, etc..

I visited Wat Prah Sign, which is considered the main temple in town. This time I asked the Buddha for something for myself. One thing that really threw me out was the fact that they're trying to be so realistic, putting glasses on some of the statues...

I am off to meet a couple I met down in Krabi last October, it'll be nice to meet up with people I know. I should also start looking for treks. I'm thinking about doing one for three days and two nights.

I am also considering doing a meditation course, but am concerned that they're quite strict....some of them don't allow you to eat past midday.

I think I may crack and lose it if I get too hungry.