myrainasia

For those who were worried I managed to get out of Vientiane and arrived safely in Tha Khaek.  Even though I still owe an update on Vientiane, I had to write about the bus trip before I forget.

First of all, I learned that my absolute bottom line maximum for a hot sweaty bus trip is now 6 hours.  The time it took to get from Vientiane to Tha Khaek on the public bus.

Arrived at the Vientiane bus station at around 10:30 this morning.  The Vientiane bus station is nowhere near the actual downtown of Vientiane.  Grabbed a tuk tuk and arrived about 30 minutes later.  However, this tuk tuk driver actually had a schedule for fares- first I’ve seen- so it was one of my cheaper rides (cheap being a relative term since nothing costs more than about $5 max).

The driver landed me right by the bus going to Tha Khaek but I went to the window because I thought I needed to buy a ticket- I didn’t. Then I went back to the bus where people were milling about and the guy who appeared to be in charge told me to wait.  By the time I decided to stop waiting it turned out that the only seats left were the small plastic stools that would line the center of the bus.  Not interested in sitting on a plastic stool for 6 hours.  Tried to figure out if there would be another bus (the schedule said every hour until noon) and the best answer I could get was “maybe”.

By this time the stool aisle was full and the bus was now going into standing room only.  This is approximately where the “maybe” turned into “no more buses to Tha Khaek”.  I refused to panic or to pull one of my NY hissy fits. (If no one understands what you are screaming you look more like a madwoman than otherwise.)  Instead I went over to the table where they seemed to be selling the tickets that I had been told one didn’t need and started pointing at the other buses and asking where they were going.  One was heading to Pakse- a ride of about 12 hours on the VIP bus and about 17 hours on the public bus.  However, Tha Khaek is on the way and there is only 1 road so I asked if it stopped in Tha Khaek.  First told it did not.  This answer did not satisfy my highly logical NY lawyer mind.  I perservered.  Turned out that they only sell tickets for this bus for Vientiane to Pakse.  Now it hit me that this was a financial issue.  Time to play wealthy American.  Offered to pay the full price to Pakse (about $10) if they would let me off if Tha Khaek (a $7 ticket).  Done deal. 

It was now 11 am and the bus was close to full.  I went to smoke a cigarette and the driver sent me onto the bus to put something on a seat.  Brilliant move.  I spent the next hour watching all the seats fill up, then out came the plastic seats, and then the standing room started.  Turns out that the bus schedules are very loose and take off time depends on when you think you cannot squeeze on one additional passenger.

We started around 11:30.  And kept picking up passengers- kind of like putting clowns in a little car at the circus.  The bus was an unairconditioned airconditioned bus.  A puff of moderately cool air came from the vents but not enough to do anything so all windows were open.  And most people had their jackets or sweaters on.  And I was the only one who was drowning in my own sweat.  Status quo.

After stopping for gas, and food supplies (loads of vendors at the windows and hopping onto the bus), and more passengers, we actually hit the road.  The driver hit the horn every 3 or 4 seconds and never for just one beep.  We watched Thai television the entire time- either singers or this comedy act. I don’t know if it was videos of 1 popular show, but I am now fully familiar with that cast of characters- no need to really understand Thai.

First stop was about 2 1/2 hours on.  (For those who don’t like toilet stories, skip ahead here.)  The stop was in the middle of nowhere but there were large trees and much foliage on both sides of the road.  Amusement from all of my bus neighbors at my look of puzzlement as to why we were stopping.  Still happy to have an excuse to get off the bus and have a smoke.  Decided I could hold it in.  Then realized when in Rome was a much better plan.  Followed the smart ladies who decided the other side of the road was more private.  Unfortunately, don’t wear the long Lao skirt which makes a much better privacy cover.  Figured it all out nonetheless.

Tried speaking to the woman sitting next to me who didn’t know a word of English and was not overly sharp at charades.  She didn’t get the universal I point to myself and say “Myra” and then point to her and look questioningly.  So we gave that up.  We did share food and friendly looks.  I offered my cookies to all of people near me and my neighbor was the only one sharing.  As the hours wore on, it got to be a joke- I would offer everyone and then make a show of how no one wanted my food.  By the time I got off, everyone took some Certs or gum with a lot of smiles and laughter.

The ride was long and hot and not something I want to do every day.  But I loved doing it.  There is a perverse streak in me that says do exactly the opposite of the other tourists.  It may turn out to be a misery, but it will turn out to be an experience.

Did I mention that I am charmed by the people here? I am.  Still loving this country.

I will try and get back to the story of Vientiane from Savannakhet, the next stop. Hope you can wait. 

So much to tell; so little inclination to actually write.  First off, it’s hot as hell in Laos right now.  My best guess would be mid to high 90s daily.  When I planned this trip I was thinking how nice it would be to skip winter in NY and travel in an “endless summer”.  This was NOT what I had in mind.  I was thinking low to mid 80s.  I take 3 showers a day and still manage to melt through everything.  I won’t consider a room that doesn’t have A/C and I’m at the point where I don’t even want to go into a restaurant if there is no A/C.  But I watch the Lao people around me in their jackets and wonder if this is some genetic thing or just conditioning.  It’s been so hot even the Laos are saying it’s hot.  But they don’t look hot whereas I (and all the other westerners) have sweat visibly poring out of every pore.

The heat has a big impact on travel.  If I do 1 planned tourist sight a day right now I feel very proud of myself and think I have earned the right to run back to my hotel, peel off my dripping clothes and hop in the pool (which feels like a bathtub).   I am also highly conflicted about where to go tomorrow although I’m quite sure I have spent enough time in Vientiane (which is a comfortable and charming city but not exactly chockablock with big tourist sights and small enough to know well in about 2 days- I have been here 4).  I want to go south to Savannahket, but this town is about 10 hours away by public bus (public bus means no A/C and generally significantly overcrowded) and my maximum for public buses is about 3 hours.  I could take the VIP bus (A/C, toilet, fewer stops and no overcrowding) that goes to Pakse.  This is a sleeper bus that leaves at 8:30 pm.  I could jump off in Savannakhet at 1:30 am, but no one can tell me if there are any tuk tuks to meet this bus and the thought of being alone in the bus station at 1:30 am makes this a non-starter.  So I am contemplating taking the public bus to Ta Khaek which  is about half way to Savannakhet and means only 6 hours in a public bus.  Now here’s where it really gets interesting- the Lao New Year- Pii Mi- is a 3 day holiday which starts Monday, which means it’s actually a 5 day holiday if you count the weekend, which means everybody and their brother may be heading home for the holidays, which means my public bus may be beyond overcrowded- if I can actually get on one.  Thus my dilemma.

But I digress because I really meant to talk about Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng is this little town nestled in the most magnificent setting of limestone cliffs on the river.  There is absolutely nothing of interest in the town.  However, some brilliant marketing mind figured out how to utilize the river to best attract the dumbass tourists.  The answer was tubing combined with a lot of drinking (plus whatever other intoxicant you might fancy).  You rent an inner tube and a waterproof pack for your stuff.  You can also rent a life jacket (I saw 1 person wearing one).  Then they pack 10 of you into a tuk tuk and transport you up the river to the starting point wherein you wade over to the river, plop into your tube and take off.  The first bar is about a 5 minute float from the starting point.

I should mention that I was going to pass on tubing.  Then I got friendly with Dan and Lou who I met on the 2 day boat trip to Luang Prabang (half the people I met on that boat trip were also in Vang Vieng).  They went tubing and Lou assured me there was nothing dangerous about it (except for some assinine things people did when trashed beyond recognition and reason).  Since I trusted Dan and Lou and they made it sound like so much fun I hiked over to the tour company where I had signed up for a 1 day tour to the caves (Vang Vieng is also known for the caves in the surrounding hills) and a few villages, and said I would do their tour the day after because I was going tubing.  Then Dan got food poisoning or some other ailment (and lay in bed dying for a day while Lou played nursemaid) and I ended up doing not much of anything the next day.  But Lou and I went out for a great dinner that night. (Dan got crackers.)

The next day I took my tour which was a lot of fun.  Met Anna and John from Australia.  There was one other guy but he was a bit unsocial- spoke only to our guide, Boun.  First we went to the caves.  Let’s just say that no tour company in the US (or any other western country) could take a tour group through caves in this condition.  Nobody could ever get liability insurance for this! (Trust me, I know these things.) Just getting into the caves we climbed up rocks, boulders, ladders places at weird angles consisting of a few boards nailed together with no place to put your hands, with Boun giving instructions like “Put your right hand here and your left foot there” (which would have been okay were I only 3 or 4 inches taller).  Thank God for Anna and the fact that we were a small group.  She helped pull up the rear and the others had no choice but to wait (as opposed to my adventure tour in Australia).  Plus, while Boun never actually offered me a hand when I stood in 1 spot refusing to move, he did in fact give me his hand when I asked.  So I made it. 

The first 2 caves had lots of interesting stalactites and stalagmites and were beautiful.  The third cave, however, was the most fun.  The river runs through it and you have to tube in.  The water was deliciously cold, there were ropes to hoist to get through the beginning part and the whole experience was quite serene.  So now, I was really ready for the tubing experience.

By the next day Dan was ready to rejoin the world of the living (and Lou was ready to do anything besides sitting around and hanging out)  and both were still willing to have me tag along, so off we went. 

To properly understand this experience, I really do recommend you to my photos.  But I will try to explain in words.  We stopped at the first bar (and 4 or 5 others).  As it was only about noon and there were many miles and many bars to go, I started with a diet Coke.  I picked up the pace on the subsequent bars but the bucket of who remembers what made me incapable of getting in or out of the tube without difficulty so that was the end of the alcohol for me.  Of course I was the fuddy duddy.  Everyone else was getting plastered.

In addition to the drinking (and “special menus”) each bar gave out free shots of Lao whisky or some other beverage.  Each bar had food available.  But the main draw is that each bar had some sort of activity- mostly rope swings. (Again, utterly uninsurable.)  You climbed up to this deck and either jumped down or swung out along the rope until the point where you were supposed to let go and jump into the river (at some of the bars this point was crucial since a jump too soon or too late might land you on rocks instead of in the river).  While everyone I saw landed safely, some did not land all that comfortably- you can imagine that a belly flop from that height could be mighty unpleasant and many people had the bruises to prove it.  Nonetheless, it looked like great fun.  Even Lou, who had said she wasn’t going to do this, took a few swings.  I will confirm here what most of you have already suspected- I skipped the rope swings.

There were a few more amusing stories of the day, like how I rubbed a good portion of skin off my arms trying to paddle my tube back to town (I am too short to get any real arm action going on an inflated inner tube and mostly ended up using my hands as paddles), how I was rescued near the end by some 13 year old kid (my guess) who swam and walked me back to town near the end (and then demanded his money), and how I had to cross the rickety little bridge from the point where we reached land (hark back to my fear of bridges).  Actually, I discovered that bridges aren’t that bad at night because I can’t see down below so I’m less scared. But those are the high points.

Next post- Vientiane.  Don’t know where I’ll be posting from, so stay tuned.

OK, that title could use some work, but I seem to be stuck on the alliteration thing.  Besides it works for me.

Still being utterly charmed by Laos.  Every place I’ve seen has been beautiful and the people are, for the most part, quite lovely.  Laos is trying to upgrade its status as a tourist destination and I’m sure it will get there ultimately- but not quite yet.  This has pluses and minuses for the tourists here now.  The upside is that you don’t have people constantly hassling you with things to buy and tours to sign up for and tuk tuks to take you there…. The downside is that the Lao people don’t really understand a service economy.  They have something to sell, you want to buy, well, maybe we can work this out- or not.  No big deal either way.  You want to order food?  Someone will bring you a menu or take your order- eventually.  Toilet paper for the bathroom in your room?  Sometimes present on arrival; otherwise available on request.

So it’s all a lot more low key.  NB- at the risk of not being allowed back in Thailand, also must say that I don’t miss the cult worship of the royal family.  Whether out of true devotion or as a matter of law, pictures of the king of Thailand are on every street corner, in every store, home, etc.  Mourning bunting lined the streets of Bangkok and, to a lesser extent, all of the towns in Thailand, to commemorate the death of the king’s sister in January.  Struck me as interesting at the beginning.  Later felt like overkill.

Turning back to Laos- loved Luang Prabang.  It’s an absolutely charming UNESCO World Heritage Site town.  Easy enough to navigate on foot.  The French colonial heritage evident in much of the architecture is protected by the World Heritage designation. But entrepreneurialism is alive and well and the town is a mix of new and old.  The town is bordered by 2 rivers- the Mekong on one side and the other river (OK I forget) on the other side.  Restaurants and cafes line the Mekong and I accidentally bumped into sunset over the Mekong after exiting one of the temples one afternoon.  Sat down to drink an iced coffee and drink in the local scenery.  Lo and behold the sun began it’s downward descent and I began to drop into a trance- broken only by the need to photograph every new angle and color.  The photographs aren’t bad but I could not capture the burning crimson color of the last 20 minutes.  Lord knows I tried!

My last night in town I made the requisite sunset climb of over 300 steps to the top of the hill located in the middle of town and leading to Wat Phou Si.  The wat’s not that old and not that impressive- but the view stretching over the town and across the river- intense.  Then I dashed down (as opposed to the slow haul up) the steps to get to the performance at the Royal Ballet.  This was traditional Lao dance and really good, at least to my untrained eye.  (Wasn’t sure if it was going to be tourist shtick or real dance and was quite content that it was the latter and not the former.  In comparison- seeing the Russian ballet company on my trip last summer was a total downer- never would have imagined a Russian ballet company being such an embarassment- apparently they assumed the dumb tourists wouldn’t know any better.)  The performance started out with the performers coming into the audience and tying white strings on the wrists of all.  I believe this relates to pre Buddhist animist practices (I think I read something about this in Lonely Planet).  Either that or it’s to keep our hands from falling off.  Still wearing mine because I’m not sure what happens if you cut them off and I don’t want to tempt the spirits.

Had one really amusing dinner in Luang Prabang, marred only by the fact that it would have been more fun with others.  The restaurant served traditional Lao barbecue and I was the only western face there when I walked in.  Similar to the Korean barbecues, the table has a hole cut out in the middle for the placement of a bucket of hot coals.  On top of this is placed what looks like an upside down colander sitting on a large bowl.  Alternatively you could say there’s a hill surrounded by a moat.  They bring out a large plate of raw veggies and uncooked noodles, a plate of your “meat” of choice (beef, pork, chicken, fish or a combo), a bucket of water and various sauces and spices (I recognized only the garlic and chilies).  Prior to my food coming out I was surreptitiously (and later, blatantly) trying to see what the other tables were doing with all this food.  Regrettably, my eyesight was not good enough to actually figure this out.  Luckily one of the waitresses took pity on me and came over to my table to start the ball rolling (or, more specifically, to start the food cooking).   You fill the moat with water and start throwing in noodles, veggies and seasonings.  This gives you your soup. Then you put a piece of pork rind at the very top of the hill and lay the slices of raw meat around the sides of the hill.  When cooked to your satisfaction, these go into the soup.   It was sooooooooo good.  Unfortunately, I think the same amount of food comes out for 1 person as for 4.  I slurped it all down (leaving only a few lettuce leaves) and then rolled and sloshed by way back to my hotel.  I had a similar lunch on my bus trip to Vang Vieng and am pleased to report that my soup was much better.

Took one day trip out of Luang Prabang- a boat ride back up the Mekong to see the caves at Pak Ou in the morning and a minivan to the waterfalls in the afternoon.  The caves were filled with lots of little Buddhas and were interesting, but hardly the most outstanding sight in Laos.  On the way we made a stop at “Whiskey Village”.  This is a village outside of Luang Prabang where they brew the Laotian whiskey.  Don’t drink whiskey under the best of circumstances and was not really interested in tasting the Laotian version at 10 am.  Did enjoy the bottles that contained various creepy crawlers such as cobras, scorpions, geckos, etc.  These would have made interesting souvenirs but the thought crossed my mind of one of these bottles breaking in your suitcase.  Now that would make an interesting conversation with the folks at customs.  The waterfalls were supposedly gorgeous, but as we arrived it started to rain and I lost interest in swimming in the pristine pools.  Sad because almost every afternoon the only thing I can think about is jumping into a pool, but since there is usually no pool around I end up taking a shower.  Finally, a pool, and I wasn’t interested.  Stopped to see the bear rescue sanctuary at the entrance to the park.

Should write about the museum in Luang Prabang.  Was royal house before communism.  The museum was small but lovely.  However I kept questioning the concept of showing  where the king of Lao lived since the advent of communism ended the monarchy and, in all probability, the lives of some monarchs.  Seemed a bit weird.

Had trouble deciding where to go from Luang Prabang.  Had good recommendations for some areas further north but it seemed that heading north would result in having to track back through Luang Prabang to continue south.  And I hate backtracking.  Most people were going to Vang Vieng.  Just to be a little different (the story of my life), I decided I would go to Phonsovan- a town to the southeast of LP, famous for its access to the Plain of Jars (a large area with lots of large and very old jar, the provenance of which is unknown).  I bought a ticket for a VIP bus (toilets, A/C and assured lunch break) from a travel agent in town.  Got to the bus station the next morning.  Took one of the tuk tuks that looks like a motor scooter with a side car.  Went to the ticket window, showed my ticket, and the agent pointed me to a waiting bus.  Whoa- one second here!  This did not look like a VIP bus.  All of the windows were open (not a good sign for working A/C).  No downstairs level for toilet.  So back to the ticket agent.  Me: I have ticket for VIP bus (it actually said this on the ticket).  His response was to push some money through the grate (refund, I assume, for the difference between VIP bus and regular bus).  Me:  But where is the VIP bus?  Agent: No VIP bus today to Phonsovan.  (I guess he thought I wouldn’t notice the different bus.  I guess his next thought was that I was concerned about the money.  Money hell- my major concern was the A/C.  I have a 3 hour limit on pretending I’m a local who doesn’t need A/C.  I was NOT doing 10 hours on a traveling sauna.)  So quick change to the VIP bus to Vang Vieng which was leaving at 9 am and off to Vang Vieng with all of the other tourists.  No regrets whatsoever about Vang Vieng;  just a touch sorry to have missed Phonsovan.

Although I’m still in the process of downloading about 400 photos (after Bangkok I am skittish about letting the photos back up), I am fast loosing my ability to amuse so I will sign off here and report on Vang Vieng soon.  Next stop Vientiane.

Could talk about the bus ride from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai- 3 hours on a hot, sweaty bus that looked like it was held together with chewing gum and seats were fashioned wherever you could find a place (thank god the Thai people are small), and one tourist told me this was a major upgrade from buses in China, and the bus driver was clearly Type A who didn’t like following anybody- but I won’t because I got there in one piece and it was sort of fun in retrospect, and I’m in Laos now and want to get to writing about Laos.  (Just realized that the bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai was air conditioned and quite pleasant and the bus ride I describe above was the ride from Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong.  I’m leaving it this way because I am sure that any attempt I make to fix the error will only screw me up and result in the need to retype the whole thing.)

Should also write about Chiang Rai because it was probably my second favorite city in Thailand (after Mae Hong Son)- stayed in a really nice guesthouse, had a wonderful tour day with Tony and Dominique and our guide Nok (toured in an actual car- a first for me in Thailand)- saw some more hilltribe villages, had a great time at the monkey caves, ate lunch in Mae Sai on the border with Myanmar (after lunch I shopped while Tony and Dominique went into Myanmar to extend their Thai visas), loved the Golden Triangle (intersection of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand) even though the guidebooks say it’s a hokey tourist stop (tell that to all of the Thai tourists who were also there),  tasted fresh strawberry and mulberry wine at a roadside stand (and shared a bottle later with Tony and Dominique over dinner), and all in all, had a terrific time.  Bought 2 new pairs of flip flops at the day market to replace the 1 pair that was stolen in Pai and had fun wandering through the night market my first night in town- not much wandering the next 2 nights when the rain washed out the outdoor dining and entertainment at the night market.  And before leaving Chiang Rai I must add a heartfelt thanks to Tony and Dominique for the Benadryl that saved my life the day of our tour- somewhere between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai the mosquitoes feasted on the backs of my thighs and ass- granted this would be the most appetizing location of my body to a mosquito, but not a socially acceptable place for nonstop scratching.

As predicted by Nok, Chiang Khong has nothing to recommend it- that I could see.  It’s a place you go to solely to book your trip to Laos and spend the night until taking off.  I picked the wrong room in the wrong guesthouse, but it was my fault competely because I took the first place that had a room- I really needed a shower and could not wait another moment.

The piece de resistance of this blog entry has got to be the boat trip to Luang Prabang, Laos.  I hesitate to begin because it would be tragic to not find the right words to give this trip true justice.  (Deep breath here.)

The day started simply enough.  I was sitting in the restaurant of my guest house, drinking coffee and waiting for my guide to pick me up.  He said he would be there between 8 and 8:30 and showed up around 8:35 on his motorbike which could have transported me to the border, but not my suitcase.  So he called for a tuk tuk and we made it to the Thai immigration office without incident.  Since I had not overstayed my 30-day visa, checkout from Thailand went smoothly.  Then Pan found me again and helped me down to the river where we boarded a little ferry that takes you across the river to the Laos side.  (Please note the following- any time I talk about “boarding”a boat- erase any image you might have of a pier or dock- we’re talking climbing from or onto some type of dirt hillside utilizing a small wooden plank that looks like it would hold up to 30 or 40 lbs. max.  Now imagine me trying to do this with a 40 lb. suitcase and wearing clogs- got the picture?)

Pan (my guide) stayed with me through the disembarkation on the Laos side (which was, in itself, amusing because I kept thinking he was finished and shaking his hand and saying thank you, and he kept telling me “not yet”.)  After getting off the ferry someone grabbed my suitcase (you quickly stop worrying where your stuff is going and assume you will find it eventually).   Immediately taken aside by a Lao official who brought me to a shady verandah seating area and began to fill out my Laotian visa.  He then told me to sit and subsequently returned with my visa.  All that was left was to go into the Lao immigration office and pay the $35 fee.  Amazingly, there was method to this madness and this went smoothly.

Visa in hand I was now on the Laos side and time to find my suitcase.  Apparently Pan had already passed me on to my next handler because I found my suitcase, along with the woman who told me where to wait for the next part.  Used the 3 minutes she gave me to buy lunch for the trip.  (Now needed to understand Lao money which I am still working on- with the aid of a self made crib sheet that converts Laotian kip to Thai baht (where my brain is stuck) to US dollars (which I vaguely remember, but at the rate the dollar is doing, might just as well forget).

Then we were herded on to yet another tuk tuk to get to the long boats for the slow trip down the Mekong.  Notwithstanding how we were rushed on, the tourists kept arriving on tuk tuks and we didn’t leave for at least another half hour.  Thanks to the strong young Israelis, my suitcase made it onto the boat with me.

The hard wooden benches left something to be desired for the next 8 hours but the scenery was fantastic and the company was diverse and interesting.

Day 1 ended at Pak Beng, a bustling little town that exists, in large part, to service the tourists taking the boat between Chiang Khong and Luang Prabang.  Service includes rooms for sleeping, food to eat, apparently much weed (of no interest to me whatsoever but someone approached me with an offer to sell every time I left my room) and providing sherpa service from the boats to the town located quite a bit above the river.  (There were multiple sets of steps from the river to the town, but because of the boats already docked, or out of sheer perversity, or simply to provide business to the locals who meet the boats to carry the luggage and/or the tourists,  our boat docked next to a cliff with no path in sight.)  As I stood on the boat, sweating and wondering how I would ever make it to the longed for shower, this local hopped onto the boat and grabbed my suitcase and I simply followed with blind faith.  He continued scooting up the hillside until he realized I was stuck, unmoving, several feet below, at which point he came back down, grabbed my hand and hauled me up to town.  I did not look right or left and simply followed his flip flops to safety.  Best 100 bahts ($3 plus) I ever spent.

My prebooked room was fine.  No A/C (none in Pak Beng anywhere except for the resort located slightly before the town) but fan and no hot water.  The town has electricity for 4 hours a day, from 6 to 10 pm.  (Realized after a while that that meant the fan wasn’t going to be of much use during the night- Duh!)  Room came candle equipped.  Cold water shower felt good after the boat.  Knew it would feel slightly less good in the am.

Found dinner and took a sleeping pill in order to go to bed at 9:30- thought I’d beat the onset of darkness by being asleep.   Also wanted to get up early to get to the boat early to try and get one of the more comfortable back seats- recycled car seats.  Managed to do all, no thanks to my hotel keeper who never gave the 6:30 wake up knock.  Hired a local for the trip back down.  This turned out not to be as necessary, since the boat was actually docked at the bottom of a staircase.  Still, made life easier for me, and a little happier for the guy who carried my suitcase.

Day 2 was much of the same.  Magnificent scenery, really friendly since now we all knew each other, but still boring after 8 hours.

The arrival in Luang Prabang seemed anticlimactic after the arrival in Pak Beng.  Jumped into a tuk tuk with some others, found a guesthouse with A/C and a hot shower, then went for dinner (saw a restaurant across the street with a lot of locals eating and figured it had to be good- it was) and then went to sleep in the blessedly cool room.

Have now blogged way too long and am ready to explore Luang Prabang in the sweltering heat.  From the little I’ve seen so far, I think I’m going to love it here.

Thinking about boycotting my own blog until people start e-mailing, but since my diary seems to have bitten the dust in Sydney, I’m going to need this blog to remember where I was and what I did.

So back to MHS.  After falling in love with the view from the balcony I hit the road to find a tour for the next day.  Didn’t really care where to, the major criterion was getting me back to my room by night (i.e. no trekking).  The tour guide in my guest house had treks (!) to offer but no one day tour- although she was willing to set me up with my own personal guide for the day.  Walked over to the main drag and found a tour office that had people signed up for a half day tour the next day- a boat ride to a “village” of long-necked Karens.  (To digress a moment- I have subsequently learned- by going to the Hilltribe Museum in Chiang Rai- that these villages are hardly villages.  You pay a fee of 250 baht (about $8) to enter.  Our guide Ju (pronounced Choo for those who care) said the money goes to the villagers (I specifically asked this) who are refugees from Myanmar and not Thai citizens.  PDA (Population and Development Association) which runs the Hilltribe Museum (as well as the connected restaurant- Cabbages and Condoms) says the villagers are exploited and the money goes to some bigwhig who keeps the villagers weaving away and wearing the native costumes.  Truth- I’m glad I saw this even though I now feel guilty.)

The boat ride took us by some lovely scenery and the people in the village were very sweet.  I bought some very minimal souvenirs (at least I think it was that village, but I have been in so many hilltribe villages at this point.)  I also think I have already explained the long-necked Karens so I am not going to do so again.  Let’s just say fascinating but weird. 

I really enjoyed the morning with John, Dave and our guide, so I decided to sign up with Ju for another all day tour the next day.  Got back and went to take a shower (I do that about 3 times a day here- the combination of sweat, suntan lotion, insect repellent, and smoke/pollution from the controlled slash and burn that is going on in northern Thailand at the moment is less than appealing) and ended up taking a nap.

Went out for dinner and invited myself over to a table of English speakers.  Turns out they live in Mae Hong San and work with the Burmese refugees (apparently there are some very large refugee camps- not on the tourist trail- which line the border with Myanmar).  So I had a lovely dinner, followed by drinks, with some fascinating, socially committed people.  What a treat for a NY liberal!

The next day’s tour included 2 new Americans- Libby and Barbara who were also staying at my guest house, and John and Dave who decided that another day of Ju’s touring would be a worthwhile endeavor.  Another excellent day- more hill tribes, a sacred cave (see sacred carp photos), 1 or 2 national parks (never quite sure what I’m seeing but most things turn out to be “presents” from the king or queen – whatever that means), a waterfall with no water due to the fact that it’s the dry season, and probably another few stops that escape me at this moment.  Oh yes, we also saw a village that was half Chan and half Kuomintang (silly me, I thought they had all gone to Taiwan) and the stop was mostly so we could buy tea and tea accoutrements (none for me- coffee might have been another story).  A good time was had by all.

Next day was my flight back to Chiang Mai where I would immediately hop on a bus to Chiang Rai.  The flight was not until 3 pm so I had time to see the 2 big temples in Mae Hong Son.  One was at the foot of the mountain and directly in town.  The other was on the TOP of the mountain.  I was definitely the only weirdo to make that climb.  No idea how many steps I hiked up, but Let’s Go says it is 474 meters above town. The views were outstanding; the climb was idiotic.  When I finally reached the top I looked a bit like I had run through a sprinkler- except for the panting breaths and red face.  One of the local vendors called a tuk tuk for me- no way was I walking back down.  We stopped for my luggage and took off for the airport which, as I subsequently discovered, is in walking distance from my guest house.  (One rarely thinks of walking to an airport.)  Furthermore, while there is food EVERYWHERE in Thailand, this had to be the only airport without food.  But I learned my flight was delayed 30 minutes so I checked in and then walked back to town (10 minutes max) and ate some really good fish ball soup at the first local vendor I found.

Said a sad adieu to Mae Hong San and took off for Chiang Rai.  To be continued…… 

First off, it has come to my attention that many of my avid readers are disregarding my photos entirely.  If you don’t start looking at my photos now, I am going to make you look at them when I get home, and since I am taking about 1000 per month, this is not something you want to risk.  Here’s a tip for quick and painless viewing: if you click on the lead for “sets” and then click on a set (e.g. Thailand 9) the entire set comes up as thumbnails on 1 screen.  Takes 30 seconds.  Of course, should you wish to actually see what’s in the photos, click on “details” and you get 10 or 12 on a page.  I recommend this method and, as an added bonus, I have tried to start adding some descriptions.

Next matter of business: people who have not gotten back to me on e-mail.  The list of shame, in no particular order- Mitzie, Eileen, Rick, Mike, Ed, Marissa, Lyle, Peijuan, Chris, Ray, Mathias.  Probably oodles more that I can’t remember at the moment.  Solo travelers need e-mail!

Turning to travel stuff.  First off I must describe my trip from Chiang Mai to Pai.  This was a scheduled minivan with A/C.  Van seats 11.  It was me and the driver, Prasad, who told me to sit in the front seat.  I subsequently discovered that he did that because it is the seat least likely to incur motion sickness and related unpleasantries.  Of course, it is also the seat most likely to incur conversation with the driver which was difficult, because the driver did not speak a whole lot of English.  (More than my Thai though.)

The first conversation went as follows:

Prasad: Do you have a boyfriend? 

Me: My boyfriend is in NY

The second conversation:

Prasad: Americans- (here he mimicked shooting heroin into his arm, sniffing coke and smoking a joint)

Me: No no no! Bad! No do me! (OK, my English slipped a bit, but I think I got the point across.)

It seems that many Americans hit the northern part of Thailand to partake (or experience) of the opium trade. Prasad simply picked the wrong tourist.  While these 2 exchanges left me less than thrilled with being the only passenger for the next 3 hours, the balance of the trip went better.  The road to Pai goes through the mountains with hundreds of hairpin S-curves (V-curves would be more appropriate) as you slowly ascend one mountain and more rapidly (to my chagrin) descend the next.  But the scenery was incredible and I kept trying to take pictures through the window of the minivan.  Every time a really nice view came along I said “Wow” (which I thought was more understandable than “Oh my goodness what a lovely view”) and about midway through the trip Prasad started giving me advance notice of upcoming views by saying “Wow” and pointing ahead.  So we ended up okay.

Pai is this cutesy little town of about 3 streets.  The best description of Pai came from these 2 Israeli guys I met at our rest stop on the road to Pai who were just leaving.  They said it’s like a beach resort without the beach.  On target.  All tourists (or perhaps I should say non-Thais because maybe some people live there) and tourist amenities.  Nothing to do there (I knew that in advance) and no day tours, only treks, because no one was signed up for them (I didn’t expect that).  Besides, most of the day tours took you to the area around Mae Hong Son and I was planning to go there anyhow.

So I sat by the pool and that night did the bar to bar route with all of the over tourists.  The “late night” bar was a no shoes bar (taking off your shoes when you go inside is quite common here) with a million tourists (mostly, but not all, 20s and 30s).  During the evening this French girl stole my lighter (when asked if she had my lighter – which was in her hand- she said “Oh, is this yours?  I have the same one” and I didn’t feel like fighting over a Bic flic) and when I left to go to sleep, my shoes were gone (they cost $1.50 in the market in Chiang Mai) but I really liked them, and I really didn’t like the walk back to my hotel in bare feet (although that too was pretty common in Pai). 

So instead of staying the 2 nights I had planned in Pai, I got up the next morning, packed and hightailed it out of there.  All of the websites talk about Pai-radise; definitely not for me!

The options for going to Mae Hong Son included an unairconditioned bus or an A/C minivan.  Opted for the A/C.  This time the van was just about full but I was the only westerner.  A/C may have been available but everybody had the windows open so no A/C for this trip.  As I liquified in my seat I gazed in amazement at all of my fellow travelers in their jacket.  It seems to me that the Thais put their jackets on every time the temperature drops below 95 degrees.

Aside from melting, this was another beautiful ride- a continuation of the most scenic rollercoaster I have ever been on.  Nobody said a word the entire trip, which was probably good because it allowed me to listen to the minivan moaning its way up and down the hills, and I continued to try and take pictures (as I hung onto the seat in front of me for balance) while the driver was navigating the twists and turns.

At the bus station in MHS (easier to write) I was immediately approached by a woman offering treks and a guest house.  The guest house was where I wanted to be (by the lake) so off we went.  I saw the view from the balcony on the way to look at my room and was so bowled over I paid immediately.

I am going to break here because I have a flight this afternoon and need to get some coffee and breakfast.  Stay tuned for Part II.

 http://www.fliqz.com/FliqzWebPublic/Dynamic/proxy.aspx?IsInPlayer=true&VID=67244&ORIVID=67244&fliqzster=true&from=perma  (follow this link for video)

Today I’m taking an R and R day in Chiang Mai.  I realize there are many of you who believe that every day of mine is R and R and it does seem a bit piggy to say I need a vacation from my vacation.  But there it is.  I was planning to take off today for Pai and then on to Mae Hong San before returning to Chiang Mai to head north to Chiang Rai and then to Chiang Khong, the border with Laos, but over breakfast I decided that today was a day to do nothing tourist related.

The excitement for today was to mail home a package with diary #1, some souvenirs, and some unnecessary clothing, take care of my laundry (I would say do my laundry but laundromats don’t exist here and the cost for 1 kilo (2.2 lbs.) of laundry is 30 baht (about $1) so someone else gets to “do” my laundry), lie by the pool, take a nap, and catch up on diary #2 which is stuck on arrival in Sydney.

Since I am now continuing with this entry about 8 hours after I started it, I can report back that I was successful on all assigned tasks above, save writing in my diary.

I have enjoyed my time in Chiang Mai and tomorrow I head off to Pai.  Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand and it feels even more westernized than Bangkok.  All of the main drags seem to cater to the tourist trade.  I walk by the 972nd tourist office in a 3 block radius and ask myself how they all manage to do business.  But apparently they do.

Chiang Mai is the main hub for trekking.  If you hark back to my Australia tales you will recall the vow never to trek again.  I kept my vow.  But that doesn’t rule out day trips so day trips it was.  Many.

On my first day in Chiang Mai I did my usual routine of marching around the city and getting acclimated.  I saw 2 gorgeous temples and took my usual way too many pictures.  In the second set of temple pictures you can see the sign “Monk Chat”.  The monks hang out and the tourists can ask questions.  Having chatted at length in Bangkok- at the monk’s request to practice his English (Tourist Chat?), I didn’t have a whole lot of questions.  But one chatty monk told me how he was going to the US next year to study for his master’s degree at Philadelphia University (he was shocked that I didn’t know this school) in English literature and live with his American girlfriend.  He explained that he would be leaving the monkhood (sounded to me like he kinda already had), but could come back later if he so desired.  He wanted to know what US parents think about living together.  Told him it depends on the parents.  He also explained that his favorite was Shakespeare and cited Sonnet 1.  Told him I wasn’t all that familiar with Shakespeare’s poetry and asked if he had seen any of Shakespeare’s plays.  He was not clear on the word “play” or “theater” or “stage” or any other remotely synonymous word.  I also drew a puzzled stare on Hamlet and Macbeth.  So either this monk was having a dandy time pulling my leg, or he has got a whole lot of English to learn before getting remotely close to a masters in English lit.  But I wished him luck- he was certainly pleasant and besides, who wants to dis a monk?

That night I hit the night market which is a big thing here in Chiang Mai.  Blocks and blocks of shopping- stalls, street vendors, multilevel shopping centers, street front stores, etc.  I got overwhelmed and flipped out and couldn’t buy a thing.  I even went to the 24 hour Burger King and ate comfort food (to my great shame.)

Chiang Mai also has a Saturday night market and a Sunday night market- all in different locations and all selling the same thing- which is just about anything and everything imaginable!  By the time I hit the Sunday night market I decided it was time to get over this fear of shopping phobia so I bought some souvenirs and felt much better.

But back to the tours.  I took 1 day tour to Doi Inthanon- the highest peak in Thailand.  Couldn’t really tell you were going up to a mountain top, but the air was about 10 degrees cooler than in Chiang Mai so that was a pleasure.  Stopped at a gorgeous temple (oops, don’t remember the name) which was built moderately recently in honor of the king and queen of Thailand.  There are two buildings- called, respectively, the king and the queen.  The king is under renovation but the queen was fabulous.  Also pleasant was the escalator to get to the top.  Finally, the trip included (as, apparently do all trips from Chiang Mai) stops in a couple of hill tribe villages.  By now I should be able to report exactly what tribes are around here and where each comes from, but I think I am suffering from tribal overload.  The most famous tribe is the long-necked Karens (they don’t really have long necks, but they put brass rings around the necks of the girls starting at the age of 5, and they keep adding rings until I think they said age 30.  This ends up pushing down on the collarbone and causing the ribs to slant down, which ends up making the neck look longer.)  I did not see this tribe but saw a different Karen tribe as well as a couple of Hmong villages.  The biggest problem with visiting the tribal villages is the feeling of being a gawking tourist in someone’s life.  Regrettably they seem quite used to it and are perfectly accepting of all the picture taking.

Took a half day tour to see Doi Suthep, the major temple in the Chiang Mai area which supposedly contains relics of the Buddha.  I feel similarly about Buddha relics as I did about relics of Christ- skeptical because I don’t think the body of 1 person can be spread around in that many places.  Nonetheless it was certainly another stunning temple and you could view Chiang Mai from the grounds.  Unfortunately no escalator.  There is a cable car up, but our guide for the day felt that it was a waste to wait for the cable car and so I climbed the 306 steps- (I wasn’t counting; he told us that.)

The last day’s tour was the most fun.  First off, we had a very peppy guide named Mai.  This tour was called Elephant Safari.  The first and most highly touted stop was at the elephant camp.  We had a 40 minute elephant ride (not recommended for those who get seasick), followed by the elephant show.  Among the many things we saw the elephants do, my favorites were the dance performance and watching one of the elephants paint.  The finished painting was not impressionistic, but a plant in a pot.  But the big highlight was the elephant massage.  They asked for 3 volunteers and when only 1 guy responded, I decided that an elephant massage would be a plus.  (I have tried to link to the video of this that one of my tour buddies took, but I am not sure if it works so I am including a photo as well.)  I had to lie on my stomach to do this which made watching the elephant a bit difficult (maybe one is better off not seeing an elephant put his (or her) foot on your back).  The massage consisted of being whacked by the trunk and a couple of foot steps.  It actually felt quite good and I kept wanting to say “Could you work on my neck a little?”

The elephants were followed by a bamboo raft down the river and then directly into the ox carts for our second bumpy swaying ride of the day. The end of this ride led directly to the buffet lunch which was really good and really appreciated after all of the excitement of the morning.  The afternoon included a visit to an orchid and butterfly farm.  Let’s just say it’s a lot easier to photograph orchids.

And that sums up Chiang Mai.  I have a batch of further random thoughts on Thailand that I was planning to share in this post but my neck has developed a severe crick so I am going to share 1 and then head off to find dinner.  It’s not really a random thought, but an amusing experience that I forgot to share in my post about Ayutthaya.  I ate dinner one night in a restaurant that provided entertainment during the meal.  There were 2 Thai dancers who were very sweet, but the highlight was the musical performance.  There were 4 or 5 musicians playing various instruments.  They played Sukiyaki (I think that’s the name of the song in English- you’d know it if you heard it) for the Japanese tourists, but it was the medley for the westerners that was the most amazing and I wrote it down to make sure I didn’t forget.  It started with Battle Hymn of the Republic, followed by Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (that old American favorite), When the Saints Go Marching In, and finishing with a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells.  Gotta love it!

So that’s the update.

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As opposed to most of the other tourists who seem to zip in and out of Bangkok in a day or two, I am still here a week later.  Partly inertia, partly had to take care of some things, partly because undecided on which way to go, and partly because, as a dedicated New Yorker I just like wandering around big cities.  And Bangkok is big!  The maps are very deceptive.  I walk less than an inch and it takes half an hour.  Okay, 25 minutes of that involves standing at street corners trying to figure out if I will make it across alive.

Reception at my hotel find it very amusing when I approach in the morning and say “One more day.”  But I have figured it out now.  Well, a little.  Tomorrow I am doing a morning boat trip to see The Floating Market and Sunday I am booked for a day tour to Ayutthaya, a city about 1 hour north of Bangkok, with instructions to leave me there when the tour van brings everyone else back to Bangkok.  Prices in Bangkok are embarassingly low, especially after Australia and New Zealand.  I think I could do a week tour here for the price of a day tour in Australia.

 The week has had its down side.  As I have independently reported to many of you, my camera “disappeared” 2 days ago.  I can’t say if it was lifted or if I left it in the one place I sat down (which, by the way was a Buddhist temple- someone may be looking at some really bad karma)  after my last known photo and before realizing it was gone, but I retraced my steps and it was definitely gone.  That put me into a funk- one does get attached to one’s camera- especially after 2500 photos- and I needed to properly mourn.  The good news is that I only lost 1 day’s worth of photos (20?25?) because I had uploaded over 250 photos onto flickr the night before.  The upside of being compulsive!

Finished mourning, but then I needed to buy a new camera.  After price shopping a bit I was back in mourning and needed another day to resign myself to the cost.  One thing you cannot get in Thailand  for bargain basement price is a camera.  Bit the bullet and am now back in business but trying to adjust to the differences in the camera (and I was just getting so proud of myself for learning all the cool things my disappeared camera could do.)

To add to the excitement- not to mention keeping you all in the thrall of my blog- I had to deal with a tooth infection.  Amazing how many Thai dentists there are that advertise in English.  Apparently cosmetic dentistry (or dental tourism if you prefer) is a growing business here.  So found a lovely little periodontist in a very nice, clean, upscale looking dental practice and feeling much better.  The main difference between treatment here and at home is having to take off your shoes and put on little slippers before going in for treatment.  Taking off shoes is big here.  Oh yes, much cheaper too.

Still not sure what to eat on the street.  Trying to branch out and only had pad thai once- and that was in the back of a Buddhist temple where I was the only westerner around and I think I was eating with the workers- who were very friendly and seemed to find me amusing.  (Happy to be of help.)  The pad thai came with these itsy bitsy little shrimp (finally, not an oxymoron) which I discovered you pop in your mouth and eat, shell and all.  Also amusing- the Thais eat their food very spicy (very, very) and they know foreigners don’t do well with spicy food, so I end up getting served the blandest Thai food I’ve ever eaten which I then have to spice up significantly.  I guess it’s easier to add spice than subtract it, so I’m not really complaining.

Today I spent the afternoon ferrying up and down the river.  Major mode of transportation here and costs 15 baht (about 50 cents).  All different kinds of boats going up and down (and some just ferrying across)- makes for a beautiful sight.  Definitely don’t want to fall in- the flowing water here is pretty appallingly dirty.

Ended up writing this entry in order to duck inside and out of the rain- along with a million other tourists on Khao San Road with the same idea.  Vendors had their wares covered and the street cleared within about 5 minutes.  Unfortunately it does not appear to have cooled things off much so my next stop is my welcoming air conditioned room where I will try to go to sleep early to be up for my 7 am pickup for the next 2 days (I hate 7 am pickups!)  But I must leave enough time to have the fabulous breakfast that comes with the room.  If I could figure out how to make 1 large meal last the whole day I could eat the equivalent of breakfast, lunch and dinner at the breakfast buffet.  One large buffet table has all of the fun breakfast foods (3 different kinds of eggs, pancakes, french toast, muffins, sausages and different breads), another large buffet table has hot chafing dishes with Thai food (what they eat for breakfast is what we would eat for dinner), and then there is a table with salads and a table with fresh fruits.  Sadly, if I ate a whole day’s worth at one sitting I would undoubtedly toss my cookies and still be hungry by the afternoon.  Too bad.

And that’s the update.  The rain has stopped.  More from northern Thailand.  Keep those stimulating comments coming! 🙂