A Journey to Well Known Places

We are in Krabi town now actually. Again. It was a 10 hour bus ride, but we rode in style and hardly noticed the time (the Gamboy helped). After just one night here we made our way to Railey beach. Beautiful. Really. It is not an island, but the only way to get there is by boat and things are priced accordingly. No matter though. We found a nice little unairconditioned bungaloo for only $10 a night and spent 6 days laying around on the beach. At night we would just hang out on our porch and watch the bats and the stars. Lovely. Erica did some rock climbing and I did a little snorkelling, but otherwise it was lazy time for both of us.

We finally pulled ourselves away and made for Ko Lanta. It was not what we were expecting. The beach was rocky and the weather rainy. Boo. Most of our time there was spent reading in a gazebo on the beach, although we did go to a ‘Hello Hight Season’ party at our guest house that was fun. We stayed only two days and came back to Krabi for the excellent food and cheap accomodations. I am not really sure where we are going next. Maybe Ko Pi Pi if the weather clears up (it has rained the last four days) or maybe Trang to check out some less frequented beachs just south of here. Who knows? We will figure it out tonight.

Cheers everyone. We hope you are well.

So, after almost 4 months of travelling together 24 hours a day, Erica and I decided we needed a little ‘away time.’ She can tell you about her experiences a little later. I went to Vien Vang. It was kinda surreal. There are restuarants (several of them) that show nothing but Friends episodes of big screen TVs from the moment they open until they close at night. There was one that showed Family Guy. There is a bar imaginatively called the Jack Johnson bar that plays, you guessed it, Jack Johnson music nonstop all day. All these places serve happy tea and pizza. The seats are more like little beds. People stay for days and weeks. I also went tubing there. That was great fun. There are bars all along the river. They have people with long tow poles standing on the banks ready to pull you in for a beer and a try at their giant swings over the water. It was like tubing the Guadalupe, but shorter and with bars instead of a cooler of beer.

From there I went to Phonsavan. It was a six hour bus ride down winding mountain roads through thatched villages. The bus blared Asian pop music, the passengers puked, and the bus workers climbed in and out of the moving bus through the windows unto the roof. The man in front of me casually rested his hand on the stock of his AK 47 the whole trip. This I did because I wanted to see the jars. Yes, jars. Big, old, stone jars. In a field. They are so old that no one knows what they were used for or why they are there. They just are. All over the place. There are only three sights that have been cleared of old mines and unexploded bombs, but arial photography shows there are over 100 sites in total. Large mysterious jars. That was neat. And the town was blissfully quiet in comparison to Vien Vang.

Then it was off to Vientenne. I found it rather unremarkable. There is one really cool wat that is gold and shimmery. It is on the cover of the Lonely Planet Laos. Otherwise I was not too impressed. I spent two nights there and took a marathon 17 hour bus ride down to the Thai coast to go to Ko Samet.

The beach was a nice break from Laos. I stayed in a cheap little guest house outside of the park. I swam and napped during the day and went out at night. Full of tourists both Thai and western, but very relaxing. After three days there I met Erica in Bangkok and we headed down the Thai peninsula to Krabi for a some more beach time.

We woke relatively early and left our posh hotel room (no really. It was very nice. It had AC, hot water, AND cable) to head for the tour operator to head to Laos. We paid too much for a visa ... [Continue reading this entry]