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Pai Paralysis…..

June 26th, 2004

No worries..am doing great ..I have been told am yet another victim of Pai Paralysis which often hits unsuspecting travellers. The symptoms are pretty clear…one does’nt need a med school degree for diagnosis. You sleep peacefully without noticing the little kamakazi mosquitos, you get up refreshed and wanting to raise up and kiss the morning sun, the hammock and you are inseparable like two siamese twins..its hopeless to even imagine that a operation to separate in such case would even be remotely sucessful. What more can I say…its the magical air in Pai which has kept me here for so long. But I think the idea is to get out of here tomorrow before I hit the point of no return.

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Row Row..Row Your Boat

July 2nd, 2004

…gently down the stream etc etc…

Life is not a dream..at least not on the slow boat from Chiang Khong to Luang Prabang (LP) in Laos. My reality was around me and have to say it was not an unpleasant one. It was a very long journey from the hills of Pai to LP…I had to stop over a night in Chiang Mai and then in Chiang Khong but finally I started my journey down the Mekong in a slow boat. One by one the boat filled out and of course there were more of “my kind” than locals on the boat. More americans concentrated in one place than I have ever seen before. Couple more familiar faces from Pai on the boat as well. It seemed the world was represented on the boat..Israel,Sweden, Australia,Denmark, South Africa, USA,UK, India (of course) and couple more that am sure I did’nt know about.

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Lao Lao…

July 6th, 2004

Two beers, two movies and a dream. That’s how I spent yesterday in the lovely town of Luang Prabang. Its growing on me and I can only attribute my first not so great impressions to the long journey that brought me here. Dah! what was I thinking.

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The locals and “my companions” both are charming and what can I say except…I “f******” love it here. My language skills have undergone a dramatic change while in the company of Brigette and Dave from Ireland. I did not know till now that the F word could be used as an adjective, a noun, a pronoun, a prefix, a suffix ..but Dave just has an uncanny way of using the word and you know exactly what he means by the tone, manner and use of this word. Am impressed…never knew that a word could be used as adjective, noun, pronoun, suffix, prefizx and pretty much in every gramatical way possible.

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A country forgotten….

July 16th, 2004

A forgotten country….a country, which seems to be off the radar screen for many. It has a recent sad history, the legacy of the Vietnam War. Did you know that Laos has been the most heavily bombarded country in the world? Yes! From 1963-1974 it was the site of the “secret war” waged by the Americans.
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I saw the evidence of this first hand in the Northeastern part of Laos. Large bowl like craters filled with water or small plants are evidence of the air attacks. Cluster bombs still lie dormant in many of the fields surrounding the “Plain of Jars” in Phonsavan. One would think that this would leave bitterness towards the Americans but ask the local people and they will tell you its futile to mull over the past. I had couple of conversations with some of the local guides and they all say, “American Tourist bring dollars why offend them!” Little do they know that most of the citizens do not even know that Laos was an important equation during the war.

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I don’t want anybody to think that America was the only “bad” guy in the war. The Vietnamese did there share of killing in Laos as well. A country caught in between.

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Traveller’s Do’s and Don’ts

July 17th, 2004

Okay, so what’s with guide books without the most important pages! I bought a Laos guidebook in Chiangmai and was very happy with the deal I got. I should have known when something is too good to be true…something is wrong. The girl assured me that since the book was missing the most important map that was the reason why it was cheap. Also of course it was a pirated copy.

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Tuk Tuk Miss……

July 21st, 2004

Things have not been going too well for me for the last couple of days. First, it was delay in my visa for Cambodia and then I picked up a fight at the local bus station…what can I say my true colours are finally showing. The thing that I want to overcome the most surfaced at the most inoppurtunate moment. Its hard when the thing you dislike about yourself most keeps brimming to the top. Anger and Irritation..my worst enemies. Usually only few people see this side of me are mom and dad who can tell you plenty of tales. The tuk tuk drivers are no help with there constant “Tuk Tuk Miss”, “where you going” ” airport” etc etc.

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Si Phan Don….

August 1st, 2004

4000 islands of the Mekong……..

One of the best decision I made so far was to come to the islands of Don Det and Don Kon. These islands lie in the extreme south of Laos, where the Mekong stretches up t0 14 km in breath. During the dry season the river recedes and exposes the land. Even in the rainy season there are hundreds of them. It’s of course a beautiful place…very different from the mountainous charm of the north. Rich rice fields are surrounded by the mighty Mekong, laced with coconut trees and lazing canoe fishing boats. The pace after the early morning hours (the busiest time in these islands) is that of leisure. I can’t remember anything but once again eating, sleeping and reading.

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Temple Hopping….

August 9th, 2004

Okay..so this section will take me a while to write as I want to put in some of the finer details of the temples. So watch this space for more details.

Siem Reap is a bustling town which has become a symbol of the revival of the Khmer culture. They have a reason to be proud…they have built something as exquisite and magnificent as the Taj Mahal and enduring as the Great Wall (this sentence might sound like a cliché as I have yet to see the Great Wall).

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Son of a w(b)itch….

August 11th, 2004

Battambang, is the second largest city in Cambodia and many of the backpackers make this journey as its pretty awesome scenery along the Mekong. One thing that makes me sad so far is that people here seem to hide some of the finer details of traveling. I was told the journey would tae about 4 hrs…max 5. Sorry it was nearly 9 hours before we reached “home”. My fellow backpackers and I paid $12 for a leaky boat and smoky ride.

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The Silent Fields…..

August 12th, 2004

I have never taken to a city so far but Phnom Penh has proven to be different. I like the vibe of the city, though I have been here only for a few days and am leaving tomorrow. Maybe its the friendly expats that I have met so far.Hummm…dangerous. I’m having some strange thoughts, I feel at home in this country or is it time to move on and continue on.

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