Jenny and Martin's Excellent Adventure

2009-02-04T04:40:00.000-08:00

Some have asked us why we leave our wonderful city, our lovely home and thriving business to strap on old, grubby backpacks and old, grubby clothes and go stomping off to countries that require a bit of fortitute and a completely open mind. How can we eat bugs? How can we sleep on beds that are like marble slabs, and that may or may not have coverings that may or may not be clean? How can we get where we want to go without local language or knowledge of customs, when humour must be maintained when sweaty, tired and frustrated?

The essence of life and living - survival - is tangible in places like this. Cooling one's arm at night by blowing on it, quenching one's thirst with a roadside coconut that has had its top lopped off with a machete and a makeshift bamboo straw inserted, feeling uncommonly used muscles with deep squats in local toilets and climbing trails up jungle mountains and wrapping legs around elephants to prevent falling off.

During three months we swam in waterfalls and lagoons and rivers and swimming pools and seas. We rode elephants and motorbikes and longtail boats and trains and tuk-tuks and planes. We cooked with villagers and chefs. We climbed mountains and ancient ruins. We ate roadside bad and beachside superb (and vice versa). We discussed economics with backpackers, politics with dropouts, cultures with nationals, and philosophy with illiterates, receiving insights, if not wisdom, from all.

We heard exquisite birdsong and horrendous karaoke, saw fluttering dragonflies and apsara dancers, touched velvety foliage and prickly flowers.

A bit of this wonder of the world is lost at home. Perfumes to stimulate our senses are here produced by nature rather than by companies, the colours of food here are authentic without chemical assistance, foods are easy to cook without being processed, and stress is released with conversation and time. Life is purposeful here: Lao villagers wake up every morning and do what they have always done for generations. Despite so many of the finer things in life we have at home, a lot of time is spend trying to recreate life as it is here.

The appreciation of time may be the biggest benefit of travel. It takes time to wash clothes in a river, time to mend a fishing net needed to catch tomorrow's dinner, time to travel to the next village in a rickety bus in order to sell at market, time to grow rice and care for pigs. Time is needed to (try to) communicate in a foreign tongue, to find out how to get from a to b and then to go there by whatever means are available, to find a place to sleep and food to eat. Time is a grounding force, often forgotten by us in our daily lives of commuting in cars and rapid transit, eating food prepared by others, and shopping in malls.

We thought we'd be travelling to three third world countries and a developing one - we were so wrong! But then so were all the guide books no matter how recently published. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are all emerging markets now - a huge change in just a few years - and we expect there will be more changes to come thick and fast, particularly in Vietnam and Cambodia where the populace is that much bigger, the recent history that much more something to work away from, and the work ethic that much greater. Vietnamese rice farmers can get three crops of rice out of their land in a year - in Laos it's just the one. Oddly enough, the country that seems to be dealing with the most bumps right now is the more westernized Thailand. Maybe having developed so much earlier means it's moving into the arena of "developed world" and so has to prove itself worthy of that moniker by sorting out holdover corruptions and rights issues and political issues- the sorts of things that are buried under the surface of basic food and shelter issues that the other three, emerging, countries must deal with first.

Like a serpent shedding its skin while maintaining its essence underneath in a newer, shinier form, we dumped all our filthy, patched clothes and shoes before boarding the plane home. Our memories have been expanded as have our viewpoints. We were lucky - unscathed. Our only casualties included one earring (lost when taking a snorkel mask off) and a watch (corroded by years of sweat and humidity). We are grateful not to have fallen ill (although an ear infection prevented prime swimming and snorkelling).

Travel answers questions and poses new ones. Some are bigger than others. The big questions are more obvious perhaps, but the small ones are no less compelling. Why, for example, is everyone in southeast Asia inordinately fond of spot welding? We saw it everywhere, almost daily. On the street, in shops, over our heads, near water, near children, near fuel. We had to step over it, around it and through it - spot welding was like the answer to every's one's spare five minutes.

We feel a little bit closer to humanity from this trip, as we do after all others. Appreciative of the generosity of those who can ill afford to be generous to strangers. Of the genuine interest shown in where we are from, what our lives are like and if we are happy in their country - are we so engaging to travellers in our own country? People are people everywhere - with the same needs and wants, the same family and financial stresses, the same wonder and pride placed in avenues that may be misguided to an outsider - are we any different?

Thanks to everyone who read the blog, posted comments and sent emails. You, our family and friends, are the reasons why we enjoy coming back home again nearly as much as travelling.

thoughts on Thailand

2009-02-04T04:09:00.000-08:00

Before writing a summary of the trip (which takes a while being back at home to settle the mental dust), Thailand needs to be reckoned with.

It was the right country with which to finish; much further developed for tourism - almost cyncial in fact - with beautiful beaches and easy transport options. There are vestiges everywhere of being a more well-to-do country. Decorative street lights (or street lights at all for that matter), School children in clean, brightly coloured uniforms on class trips to cultural spots, Community bike rentals (something we don't even have yet!) ,

and an appreciation of the traditional even in modern convenience, such as space allocated for monks on the metro and Bangkok river boats.

The Thais are extremely proud of their country, despite recognizing considerable problems (border clashes with Cambodia over disputed temple territory, clashes with militant Muslim factions in the south, political instability, the usual Asian financial corruption issues, human and animal rights issues, etc.). We were always being asked - how long have you been in our country? how many times have you been to our country? will you come back next year? what do you think of Thailand?

Another thing Thais love is their King. Queen too, but mostly King. Usually, when one sees large billboards of a leader posted over every street in every village and town, or photos of same in every building and business no matter how small, one imagines it to be a dictatorial country with a megalomaniac leader. No so here. The King has no real political influence (other than a personal influence over the populace) but he is revered by every single citizen in such a way as tears are brought to the eyes when people talk about him. It's quite remarkable. Everyone stops for the national anthem, which is played on loudspeakers at various times throughout the day in every town.

Of course the thing we will remember most about Thailand is the food! But there is also the variety of landscapes, and the gentle friendliness of the people. Everyone does the wai to strangers, and it's a lovely gesture. The wai is the Thai greeting, indicated by pressing your palms together near your chest and bowing. It plays a very important part in showing respect and is central to Thai etiquette. Even Ronald McDonald does it!

We loved the brightly coloured buses and were both amused and sobered by signage:

Thailand also brought about the return of the birds. That may sound weird, but we saw very little evidence of birds in the other three countries (except for the bountiful array of chickens and roosters). We put it down to the fact that most living things there need to be lunch. But in Thailand, we saw sea eagles in the south, wrens in the north, the pristine and delicate white storks that we haven't seen since Vietnam in central fields, and a sort of flashy and striking magpie everywhere.

The flowers and mutli-coloured foliage was gorgeous, and it was a treat to see plants being grown for pure beauty again, not only for sustenance. The Thais also seem to be rather fond of topiary, as many boulevards and parks and hotel grounds are full of animal and bird caricatures made of green shrubs, or of flowering vines trained over a wire form. Most remarkable were huge bourgainvilia elephants (behind Jenny) and a flock of flying birds - the most head scratching were all the reindeer - why reindeer we wondered and why so many of them? (one of them here under King)

Being the larger and more advanced country in the region, Thailand comes off to the other Southeast Asia countries as a bit of an economic bully. Resources from it and neighbouring countries, as diverse as nuts and gems, are gathered in a sort of cartel Thailand manages on the world stage. There is no doubt some envy here - Thailand managed to avoid colonialisation, but not without cost, as it had to give up lands to other countries to avoid being swallowed up itself. But it meant that westernization came earlier and with that came a bit of geographic arrogance. It's the same the world over - the largest (geographically if not economically) country in any given region is the one that inevitably calls the shots in many aspects, for both the benefit and detriment of its neighbours.

Back Home Safe and Sound

2009-02-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

We made it back home leaving Bangkok on Jan 29 at 7pm and arriving in Vancouver on Jan 29 at 8pm yet somehow the flight felt like 18 hours and not 1 hour.

We were met by Jim and Bea who spirited us back to Touchwood with a bag of breakfast goodies. The house was fine in our absence thanks to having been looked after by Adrienne, Eric and Tracy.

The first few days back are all about getting equilibrium back and opening all the post. Jetlag has us in its grip as we are sleeping deeply for 4-6 hour stretches and then wide awake at 4am.

To balance out the memories of 30 deg sunny beaches we are going snowshoeing this friday and to maintain the sense that we are still on holiday even though we are at home. Canada is just another country on our neverending round the world tour.

Bangkok - final stop

2009-01-28T22:37:00.000-08:00

"One Night in Bangkok and the World's Your Oyster..."

as the song says and we definitely feel as polished as pearls. Amazing what staying in a clean hotel with all sorts of amenties does.

To get here we had a choice - travel by taxi (expensive) or by minibus with other travellers (cramped and chaotic) or by local bus (cheap). We went for the local bus, which was on time (the train was another option, always cheap, but also always late). So instead of $60US (taxi) we paid $4, and got here in good time to see what all the fuss was about.

Yeah traffic is snarly, but not impossible (we still have muscle memory from living and driving in London, by which everything else is compared). Yeah, it's a big, noisy, smelly, dirty city, but it works (on its own terms) and we like it.

We went to Chatachak market - a wild array of stalls that goes on for several miles, where we got the last of our shopping done - and the best bit about everywhere in Thailand - there are massage stalls! We got our tired feet and shoulders worked on for 45 minutes for 200Baht (about $6US). Why doesn't Granville Island have something like that?

We saw the big malls, but weren't really in the mood, although we wereready for a bit of bling shopping! Chinese New Year meant madness but lots of fun too - as shoppers went crazy for the sales and special events and big lavish meals were on offere everywhere. Bangkok's Chinatown could be the world's biggest, and is certainly one of the most intriguing with smoky dark lanes leading to food stalls and shops filled with all sorts of brightly coloured, glittery drek, lanterns and banners and bits of spent fireworks everywhere. Down by the river, you could imagine a not too distant history of opium dens and gangs.

Wat Pho with its enormous reclining buddha and the Grand Palace with its Emerald buddha are suitably impressive, and just walking the streets by the amulet market, and notorious Khaosan road (whuich was really rather tame and fun - a representative of countless backpackers' haunts we have encountered to now). On the other side of the scale was Jim Thompson's House. Perhaps it was his training in architecture, but the guy sure had taste - it was a beautiful collection of several old Thai houses brought to this site by the khlong (canal) and tranformed into one sprawling house. He is most famous for reinvigorating the Thai silk industry pretty well singlehandedly, and for his mysterious disappearance in Malaysia in 1967.

But we will most fondly remember Bangkok for the time we had in the hotel, 5 nights being a huge length of time. We'd start the day with a swim in the gorgeous pool surrounded by flowers snd trees and birsong - 10 floors up - or a run around the local park in order to take full advantage of a marvelous breakfast buffet which became our one meal of the day. We'd be back from wherever at about 4 or 5 to take another dip in the pool, or visit the fitness room, and veg out in front of the news eating fruit and drinking from the hordes of bottled water that were replaced throughout the day. Complimentary cocktails began at 6, and we would choose not only the cocktail du jour but also the outfit we'd parade and the forum in which to imbibe, as there were four locations: the pool deck, the lobby bar, the library and the nightclub.

Martin at the library

Jenny in the nightclub

At 8 or so, we'd go into the business centre to check on email, update the blog, or check on how the world is doing without us (terribly it would appear - time for us to rejoin it I suppose!). Then reading or a movie before bed.

There is a certain rhythm in this sort of travel that is different than the rhythm of our other travel, and it's been a very pleasant and welcome change.

We learned there is a term for people like us - flashpackers. Flashpackers are those who backpack becuase they choose to, but who are able to move up at will or opportunity. We like to think we put the 'flash' in the word 'flashpacker', but suspect we are pretty much of a type and are ok with that.

Heading out to the airport soon, and our 18 hours of air travel to go. The blog is not finished - we'll contemplate the trip and add a codicil from home - that source of perspective on the outside world, just as travelling in the outside world provides perspective on home.

So, to end with another favourite song (of Jennifer's - Martin professes never to have heard of it because it's "before his time", but Jennifer suspects he just hasn't been listening): "The two of us wearing raincoats, standing so low, in the sun...on our way back home,

We're on our way home,

We're going home..."

Regularity Report: Bangkok Bonanza

2009-01-26T05:29:00.000-08:00

The days are winding down before we hit home and we have said goodbye to backpacker grot and hello to fancypants hotels. The best things about the fancypants hotels: the breakfast buffet.

Here's a sample of what I managed to imbibe this morning which managed to integrate, Japan, China, Pacific NW, England and Newfoundland:

Course #1: Mango and yoghourt (started slow to ease in to the big guns)
Course #2: Japanese Grilled Fish aka Salmon
Course #3: Smoked salmon, cream cheese and wheat croissant
Course #4: Grilled to order steak, fried potatoes, lettuce for garnish
Course #5: bacon, baked beans and fried bologna
Course #6: Shrimp dim sum, grilled halibut, marinated mushrooms and tomatoes
Course #7: Fruit and cheese

YUM - the plan is to eat a huge meal in the morning that sets us up for the day and gets us to cocktail hour which start flowing at 6pm.

Given all this you would expect us to have put on 100lbs but no we have both lost at least 10 lbs. I now have ribcage again and everything is riding very low due to lack of belly fat (yay scummy backpacking, walking everywhere and eating only when hungry not to mention the fantastic asian healthy diet that eliminates dairy and downplays the meat and fat. Desserts and puddings are fairly non existent too.)

Almost the last regularity report of the trip. Still potty about the potty. Already planning what to have for breakfast tomorrow

Bridge On the River Kwai

2009-01-25T05:45:00.000-08:00

Three hours west of Bangkok, close to the border with Myanmar, is the Thailand-Burma railway built by the Japanese during their occupation of Thailand during the 1940s. Built to eliminate the need for resources to travel by ship from Burma to Thailand, the railway is better known as the Death Railway due to the vast numbers of Thai, British, Australian, Dutch and US prisoners of war who died building it.

The famous David Lean film (The Bridge on the River Kwai) depicts the horrors of building one of the bridges. Although it was bombed during the war, the bridge was rebuilt soon after and now is a major tourist attraction near the town of Kanchanaburi.

We spent a couple of days visiting the bridge - travelling for 2 hours along the only remaining part of the railway along with several hundred Thai school children. A good local museum filled in all the blanks and the war cemetary proved a fitting tribute to the thousands that died.

One night we ate on a floating restaurant and watched with both amusement and horror as other restaurants went by towed rather quickly by small boats. The restaurants are like small houses and the speed with which they whipped by us and turned corners was staggering.

Beach Time #3 - Hua Hin

2009-01-25T05:41:00.001-08:00

Resort - Sofitel Centara Hua Hin

Included - Breakfast, three pools, petanque, classes, gardens, large bathroom, balcony, bottled water

A boat, a minibus and an overnight train (a sleeper - very "Some Like it Hot") were all required to return northwards to the original Thai beach resort town of Hua Hin. We really splashed out here to stay in the 1920s Railway resort (now owned by Sofitel), which is a series of long two storeyed buildings of rooms that face onto lovely gardens and pools. We walked onto the ground with our backpacks at 6:30am, but were lucky that there is an worldwide economic crisis as there was a room ready for us, so we could have showers, a cup of coffee on our balcony and tour the grounds all before a massive buffet breakfast was served.

We swam, lounged, read, ate breakfast that consisted of all things from dim sum to french toast, congee to meusli, and omelet to sushi, then had high tea (which looked wonderful but which really wasn't all that satisfying, - I have to say I'm a damned fine baker), walked the beach, took a yoga class and a thai massage class, and danced the night away in the resident nightclub where we were the main core of audience. Needless to say the band (a really tight group from the Phillipines who would perform practically everything) thought we were great and took our photos and dedicated songs to us - we felt like VIPs.

Beach time #2 - Koh Lipe

2009-01-24T05:49:00.001-08:00

Resort - Bundhaya

Bungalow, breakfast buffet included, complimentary bottled water

Koh Lipe, part of the Tarutao National Marine park and as far south as you can get without becoming Malaysia, is one of the most beautiful islands on the planet. It's small - one can walk it in a day via sandy paths that criss cross between beaches and headlands. It's also discovered - there are lots of resorts on all levels, as well as bars and restaurants and shops. Our place was medium on the price and amentity scale, and down at the end, but it was large with little alpine-styled chalet bungalows lined on "streets" cheek by jowl, and it catered to grouops, so it's wasn't all that quiet. Again no mosquito net - glad we brought our own, even though ity's a challenge to figure out how to set it up - this time we attqached it to the curtain rail - which was fine when the curtains were closed.

The sand on Koh lipe is powder fine and white - it's like walking on bread-flour - and the water is toothgel green. We were on the largest beach, where most of the action took place - great at night when we could pick and choose where to eat - great in the morning too as we went for a pre-breakfast jog and could pace the length of the beach - about 1km each direction.

After our run we'd eat a leisurely breakfast and watch all the action of boats going out and boats coming in. Speedboats, which act as ferries, stay out in the bay as the beach is so shallow. You must walk out into the water to put yourself and your luggage into a long-tailed boat which then takes you out to the ferry, so there's lots too-ing and fro-ing for the half hour or so before each trip. There are also day trips - the place is a snorkelling, diving and fishing centre.

Then we'd prepare for our day on the beach and would set off across the island, stopping for a latte or espresso (the resort had lousy coffee) on the way. We'd pick a beach and set up on mats and hammocks, set to read and swim and lounge until the setting sun called us home - washing the salt off and putting on proper clothes. The food is a little spicier in the south and we'd need a mango lassi or Chang beer to cool our throats. We'd watch the stars come out and commune with a few of the hundreds of soulful cats and dogs that haunt the island and that hover around tables hoping for handouts but having to settle for a little bit of loving from us instead (petting only the un-mangey ones).

Every night we'd pass the same small boy who'd be on the beach practicing his fire dancing - twirling a long baton lit at both ends. He was pretty good, able to twirl behind his back and under his legs, but his only audience was two or three similarly aged friends and the odd dog - and us. He deserved more.

Beach time #1 - Koh Lanta

2009-01-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

Resort - AndaLanta

Garden villa, breakfast included, complimentary bottled water, small swimming pool, spa, DVDs, library, beach loungers.

A grown-up resort. Quiet. Our bungalow was a lovely large room (but no mosquito nets - we had to rig up our own) and a proper bathroom, with a flush toilet, and a separete area for the shower. Our porch looked through two other villas to the sea. It was at the end of a quiet beach at the south end of the island, with three other resorts (more "rustic" than ours) with their own restauranta and bars, as well as another bar at the far end. We ate in all over the course of our 4 nights there, watching the sunset from a slightly different angle due to each location on the beach. Soft, beige sand full of tiny, translucent crabs that scittered into their holes as our feet fell. A few rocks at low tide. Warm, clear water. Tiny fish that swarmed our ankles and arms as we waded and swam.

We spent 2 full days lounging on the beach, reading, swimming and having massages in an open hut before dinner.

The 3rd full day we spent on our AGM. We normally do our annual planning meeting on January 1, but while on holiday it's more location- and attitude-sensitive than date-sensitive and this was the right place to sit down and plot the year ahead. We knew this year would entail some changes in our work focus, and we are quite excited about some of the ideas we have.

At the drop-out hippy bar we shared a bucket of blue cocktail, and at our upscale place we had langoustine thermadore. Our favourite place was the one next door, where we sat at tables on the sand lit with candles in old plastic water bottles and ate tom yam soup and pad thai and prawns the size of cats.

Beaches

2009-01-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

Beach No 1: Koh Lanta

White sand: check
Warm sea: check
Swimming pool: check
Quiet bungalow within spitting distance of beach: check
Breakfast included: check
Internet access: check
Decent library: check
Hippydippy bar down the beach: check
Cocktails in a bucket: check
Prawns on the BBQ: check
Major issue of the day: where to read

Beach No 2: Koh Lipe
White sand: check 3 beaches to choose from
Warm sea: check
Swimming pool: none too undeveloped
Quiet bungalow within spitting distance of beach: not quite as much more basic resort style place
Breakfast included: check
Internet access: none , island too remote
Decent library: none, too hippy dippy
Hippydippy bar down the beach: check check check
Cocktails in a bucket: check
Prawns on the BBQ: check
Major issue of the day: 10 minute walk to favourite beach of the trip

Beach No 3: Hua Hin
White sand: check but as this is a mainland resort town and the beach is busy we focus on the fantasttic Sofitel resort refurbished from the 1920s
Warm sea: check
Swimming pool: 3 to choose from
Quiet room within spitting distance of beach: yep
Breakfast included: check mmm 2 kinds of sausage, spare rubs, baked beans and dim sum
Internet access: ridiculously expensive as resort is tres fancy
Decent library: yes
Hippydippy bar down the beach: check but didnt bother to visit as we were in colonial splendour
Cocktails in a bucket: nope
Prawns on the BBQ: nope
Major issue of the day: eating too much at breakfast

flotsam and jetsam

2009-01-24T04:51:00.001-08:00

Incidentally, can anyone out there enlighten me as to the difference between flotsam and jetsam? Is one on an incoming tide and the other on an outgoing tide? Does one float on the sea's surface and the other just below? Is one composed of natural elements and the other manmade? It's a question I've yet to resolve and any illumination is welcome.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. At home, when meeting someone at, say, a cocktail party, the first question is usually "what is your name?" followed by "what do you do?" and then pethaps "did you dress in the dark?", whereas when meeting someone whilst travelling the first question is invariably "where are you from?" (to be polite becuase it's usually pretty obvious where they are from - more on that later) and then "where have you been/are you going?" and "how long have you been travelling?" A long, in depth conversation can be enjoyed without ever finding out the person's name or occupation or marital status - what seems to be of primary importance is whatt someone's is doing at this exact time.

But then I guess that's travel in general. Day-to-day issues are paramount - where to sleep, where to eat, how to get where you want to go - with big, visionary issues such as why are we here and how is this culture similar and/or different to that one and how some truths are universal being slightly below the surface, while all the other issues that seem to be of such importance at home in reality are unnecessary and unimportant and irrelevant once away from that home. World news, when one comes upon it, is often as if from another planet. Politicians and economists and leaders almost look like ants seem from some great height, scurrying around on some activity that seems of great importance to them, but not at all to the eye looking upon them.

We know we will be back in the thick of our old lives before long, but this removal of concern, this change of perspective is actually quite refreshing and not to be dismissed as irresponsible.

For someone who hates making generalities of people based on stereotypes, it is shocking to me how easy it is to guess someone's nationality purely by how they act or what they say, even regardless of their accent. At a beach resort and seeing a large blond family or group of boisterous couples drinking and having a good time? They must be Swedes. A beautiful couple with a smooth-talking male and a distracted female? French. An older couple badly dressed but witty? Brits. A group of young lads drunk and loud? also Brits. Maybe Australians. A group of gals drunk and loud? Australians. A group of gals drunk and quiet? Brits. A really friendly couple that look unusually young? Dutch. Hearing a North American accent - if someone lights up a cigarette they are probably American rather than Canadian. Canadians all have Mountain Equipment Co-op gear. If someone asks you a question about yourself or your own trip - they are definitely Canadian. If they talk exclusively about their own city they must be American . There are never very many Americans travelling actually - the few there are travel in well-heeled family packs or because they work nearby. Swedes travel in packs as do Chinese. Germans used to, but the ones we've seen here travel in couples. Same with Spanish, French, Dutch, Danish, Swiss, Austrian, Malaysian, Singaporian, Brits. Except young Brits who travel in small packs (3 seems the preferred number). Austrailians travel in small packs too. Norwegians travel alone. Of courst this is rubbish - not reality at all - just an observation based on a tiny proportion of subjectively met travellers in 30-odd years of travel.

But things are slightly different based on where you see them. One of the most prominent things about all travellers to this part of the world is the tattoo. It seems everyone has at least one prominent tattoo, and most have many, or a full torso-full of them. It doesn't seem to matter if they are male or female nor where they are from (although practically all the males that sport them seem to be hairless - by choice I'm guessing) and all seem to be in the 20-40 age range, but every single nationally is well represented. I like that you can't guess where someone is from by how they look, but only by their mannerisms (or their voice, but that's too easy).

Reading on the Beach

2009-01-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

Through the various book exchanges at the guesthouses throughout the trip we have amassed a sparkling collection of books to read on the beach.....

Sue Townsend: Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (honking, snorting, giggling and laughter from me)

Enid Blyton: Five go off to Camp (much more readable than I was fearing)

Agatha Christie: the Mystery of the Blue Train (J in middle of this right now)

Dick Francis: horsey mystery but name escapes me right now

Josephine Tey: something horrific featuring Miss Pym that Jenny said was unreadable

Ellis Peters: a mystery involving murder at the opera that was better than Josephine Tey

Regularity Report

2009-01-09T23:43:00.000-08:00

Still regular though did have a thai red curry that my body rejected as unfit for human consumption by digesting it in under an hour.

Highlight meals from the last couple of weeks have been:
-Bananas in coconut milk made in thai cooking class
-Deep fried liver wrapped in bacon on the riverboat in Chiang Mai (had these all to myself)
-Deep fried belly pork from the new year market in Chiang Mai (is there no transfat that is not good deep fried?)

-Deep fried prawns everywhere - the Thais have a really light touch with the batter- honest - even Jennifer says so!
-Fantastic carp (from Vietnam!) served on the Laos boat, one of the best fish we've tasted ever
-A serious daily addiction to Thai green, red and yellow chicken curry (love coconut milk)

-Mango shakes/watermelon shakes
-The turkey carved with machete in Laos for xmas (must try this at the next Butler/Robson Xmas dinner)
-Laos/Cambodian barbecue - communal broth and table top cooking over coals - untra cheap, delish and fun to do (thanks to Alex and Kathrin for the best place for this in Luang Prabang)

Keep regular everybody (as regular as elephants putting us all to shame) and enjoy your time on the potty

Touchwood in the snow

2009-01-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

To see pix of how Touchwood is fairing under 2 feet of snow, go to Adrienne and Eric's blog at
http://www.adriennejenkins.blogspot.com/

Krabi - Southern Thailand

2009-01-09T22:31:00.001-08:00

The final 3 weeks of the trip focus on beaches, islands, wildlife and Bangkok.

We decide to fly to Krabi from Chiang Mai to save time, and to avoid doubling up on Bangkok . Although Phuket is vacation central in the south we picked Krabi as it is less Blackpool-like and our priority is to figure out what islands and beaches to go to and how best to get there. Krabi itself is near the cave where huge ancient skulls were found, changing the view that human life arrived here later in time, a fact Krabians are proud of - witness their traffic lights!
Our travels south went well helped by us traveling on Royal Thai Airlines who recognize my Aeroplan Elite status and send us into the business lounge so we can feast at the buffet which we do until stuffed. Backpackers love their free food! All the internet weather reports focus on the thunderstorms and rain in the south so we expect to land in Krabi in bad weather. Cloudless blue skies greet us and we've now been here 3 days without any rain so are happy that the weather information was so wrong.

A priority for me is to visit the island where "The Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed. On day one we got on a tour to James Bond island (originally named Koh Phing Kan) which involves a 2 hour minibus ride from Krabi and then an hour longboat ride in the Andaman Sea. The Andaman sea is filled with bizarre shaped karst limestone islands, some small, some huge, similar to those in Halong Bay in Vietnam except that these are accompanied (along the coast at least) with miles of mangrove swamps. James Bond Island is fun and crowded with tourist tack and doesn't disappoint. The rest of the day included caves, cocktails, and reclining buddhas and monkeys - jsut a like a regular Thursday.

The next day we head off on a speed boat to the beach where "The Beach" was filmed. Yes, our tour of film locations continues. Crowded but fun. We also snorkel amongst schools of neon blue and yellow sergeant major fish and hit 3 more islands for more snorkeling, beach lounging, lunch and monkey viewing. Life's tough.

Today we're having a useful things days, researching the next stage and updating the blog. We have decided to head to Koh Lanta tomorrow to complete our beach hammock time. From there we will head further south to the island of Koh Lipe in the Turatao National Marine Park which is on the border with Malaysia. After that we'll wend our way north for our final chunk of time in Bangkok.

We heard a marathon described as a 30 km race with a 10km race added on the end, and we've decided that this trip will be a 2 1/2 month backpacking trip with a 2 week holiday on the end. Tomorrow is the full moon (thailand is known for its full moon island parties) so thus begins our holiday!

Northern Thailand

2009-01-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

After a raucous New Year's eve in the one-horse (one water-buffalo?) border town of Chiang Khong that included the ever popular floating bonfires - bags held upside down by several hands until a large flame inside them causes the entire thing to rise in the air, later sending showers of fireworks down (screeching heads, motorbikes, coconut matting, it's all fair game) as the wind takes the flaming bag higher (hopefully) and farther away until the entire thing either sends a house up in flames or it merges with the stars - we got a bus to the northern town of Chiang Mai. It's Thailand's 2nd largest town, but considerably smaller than Bangkok and has everything at hand.

First thing we did was happen along our two German friends eating breakfast (at 4:30pm) as they'd also enjoyed a raucous News Year's Eve. Ever notice how sometimes you try to organize somthing or meet up with people and it never happens? You realize that you just missed each otehr or were one day apart. And then there are other people you are destined to happen across despite different schedules and modes of transport. Such a couple are Fritz and Hildegarde (as they are to us - we prefer pseudonoms as they sound more mysterious)

who are travelling for a year and will end in Vancouver of all places so we hope and expect to meet at least one more time. Incidentally they are doing their own blog - so if you want to get their side of the story, go to: www.kalexis.de

Chiang Mai has a ton of lovely wats - but as we've seen our fair share of wats we chose just one to explore - the 14th century Wat Phra Singh (Temple of the Lion Buddha), and ended up being there on a big celebration of the New Year along with a throng of others, mostly locals. Monks blessed individuals with water shaken from branches and strings tied around writs, who presented offerings with money hangings, candles and small banana leaf boats of food with flags. Novices walked with a lavishly decorated float. Outdoor stalls served food, sold handicrafts and did foot massages in big chairs on the grass.

We booked a two day trek, which started most inauspiciously with a requisite vist to an orchid farm and another to a snake farm (complete with well-rehearsed show) then we finally walking along the river. Maybe it was just as well we didn't know what we were in for, because it ended up being about 1000 meters straight up - the narrowest steepest path. There was a litle waterfall part way where we could strip off and cool down, and the top half revealed fantastic views over the valley, but we were mightily pleased to get to our village - Ban Huay Kup Kup on the top the mountain.
our hut for the night:
our bathroom:

our bedroom (room for 12 but only half full tonight)The inhabitants were Lahu people, originally from Myanmar - mountain people just beginning to learn how to live in one spot and grow things other than opium. I decided this would be the last place appropriate to hand out our pens and balloons to children and was swarmed as soon as I openend my bag. Literally swarmed. They grabbed at my clothes and tried to rip everything out of my hands, but I had the benefit of height and was able to hold the things about their heads and hand them down to indivuals one by one until I knew everyone had something. Then I ceased to exist and they all went back to their ball and rope games.

We 'helped' the cooking (they only let us hold the flashlight over the cooking pots and occasionally stir something) then ate at a long bench table, sitting on long bamboo poles.

After we sat by a fire, listened to our guide play the guitar and sing American oldies (his favourite song is "every rose has its thorn" so much that he had it tattooed on his arm, except that he was roaring drunk and found out the next morning that it had been incorrectly spelled "every rose has it's thone" - we saw the proof) and watch the stars wheel in their orbits, reflected by twinkling lights in settlements far below.What goes up must come down and we had a steep, slippery trek down the next day. Halfway another waterfall presented itself - remarkable how these waterfalls seem to appear at the halfway point - then finished at the elephant camp (can never have enough time with elephants) before getting back down river by inflatable rafting (it was a hoot - actual white water this time) and bamboo rafting.

Another memorable day was an all day cookery class. We were picked up by tuk-tuk, then taken to a market to buy ingredients before arriving at the farm, where we each had our own flame and pot and could choose what 5 dishes we wanted to cook, including red, green or yellow curry paste, red, green or yellow curry with chicken, tom yam soup or coconut soup, pad thai or spring rolls, bananas in coconut milk or sticky rice and mango, chicken with cashews or chicken with basil. We we were two, martin did one set and I did the other so we could share and compare. Fresh and simple, as spicy as we wanted it, it really was about the best Thai food we'd ever had.

Our last evening (still stiff from our trek) we took a boat ride on the ping river, shared with a large bottle each of water and Chang Beer. We drifted past the night market, which was a lot smaller and more repetitive than we had expected, lonely bars and nightclubs, and restaurants with only one or two tables filled - there really do seem to be so many fewer travellers, or maybe it's because it was after new years.

Elephants We'll Never Forget

2009-01-02T02:23:00.000-08:00

Mahouts are elephant keepers and trainers. Having signed up for a 2 day training course on how to be a Mahout at a sanctuary for retired elephants we wondered whether we would spent 2 days shovelling elephant poop in the cold in a camp in the forest about 30 minutes outside of Luang Prabang via minibus and boat.

Things started well when the weather turned sunny and much warmer as we approached the camp with 6 others (4 canadians, a german and a dutch). We were shown to our cabins which were quite ritzy despite having no heat, hot water or inside shower and toilet.On the bed were our Mahout uniforms, denim blue shirts and trousers which made us all look like prisoners on chain gang duty as we walked up the road to our elephants.
There were six elephants, all retired from active duty and living out their lives being patiently manhandled by idiot tourists. For some reason we were assigned to the biggest (45 years old, 12 feet high and at least 5 tons) and were shown how to ride in the seat with a real mahout sitting on the neck.

Then we got to ride on the elephants neck which was actually quite comfortable apart from when we were both on the neck and the one behind got to sit on the elephants shoulders which gave a fairly deep massage to the inner thighs.Then we learnt our commands: Pi (go forward), cua (right), si (left), hao (stop), map (sit down) , Look (get up), bon (spray yourself (and me into the bargain) with water) and jap-ow (take the food).Once the initial shiock was over that we were in charge of the elephant, we throughly enjoyed riding them through the forest. They know the forest well so getting them to listen to us was the hardest part along with staying on when deep ravines were to be crossed.

Our elephant was so much taller than the others that when they went under the branches we went above so we had to be alert to avoid getting a branch in the eye or knocked off.

Although the elephants look huge and solid, they are quite bony and their muscles are very fluid so that when they walk you are not so much sitting on a solid object but trying to remain fixed to a rippling force 12 feet off the ground.

They eat constantly and this was a big difficulty getting them to not stop and eat leaves. Apparently they only sleep 3 hours a night as they need at least 21 hours for eating (250 kilos of food a day). They also had magnificent poos which were like loaves of bread emerging from the bakers oven. The correspondent from the regularity report was very impressed.

Once we had learnt our commands, ridden them and fed them, we got to bathe them. This involves riding the elephant into the river and then yelling "bon bon" which is the command for the elephant to spray water and wash itself. Our elephant was the only one to give a good spray soaking us both much to the delight of the watchers from the shore, who delighted in yelling "bon-bon" every two minutes.
All in all, a great time because of the elephants. They are wise, careful, seemingly thoughtful, spritual and prehistoric to our modern eyes. A really good memory.

A Laotian Christmas

2009-01-02T01:54:00.000-08:00

We thought Christmas would not be high on the priority list in Laos, a buddhist country, but we were wrong. When there are tourist dollars to be had, and a party to enjoy, Indochina goes all out. Last summer when were planning the trip, the only accommodation we had booked in advance was in Luang Prabang over Christmas (as we had thought we'd be in the area about that time, and knew it was a popular place, and as all the guest houses and hotels bookable over the internet were full or nearly full and we were worried about getting stuck). The only place that was left was a "resort" out of town where to secure the room we also had to cough up cash for the mandatory meal on Christmas Eve.

Fast forward six months and we are heading to the Villa Santi Resort. Half a dozen bungalows and 8 attractive colonial 2 storey blocks set in paddy fields with a network of rivers and ponds and a view of the mountains and a small meandering river. Comments on the internet related to how tired and in need of new ownership it was but what we saw was clean, had been recently painted and the gardens were well maintained. The only negative was that it rained and got very cold for laos (less than 10 degs) and some new bungalows and a new block of rooms were being built so the sound of sawing wood permeated to serenity during the day. Christmas Day is not such a holiday as to prevent construction starting at 7am.

As we checked in we also saw the preparations for the mandatory meal - they were doing christmas to the full. Tables were set up outside for 150 people. There was a stage, cabanas covering the buffet tables, lights everywhere and a big entrance covered in flowers, bunting and more lights. Dinner started at seven and as it was turning cold (the poor Lao were freezing in the 10 degs weather) we put on our least grubby clothes and additional layers stuffed in the daypack.

To keep warm about 20 open bucket braziers were placed around the tables. These chucked out a lot of warmth but with no fireguards they were more a hazard from spitting hot coals to potentially being tripped over. Time keeping in Laos is fairly fluid so we were all sitting in the cold for about 45 minutes (as was all the food) waiting for something to happen before we could hit the buffet. Finally we were welcomed and the party began.

The food was a mix of western and Laotian. Notable dishes were deep fried bamboo shoots, pumpkin soup, stuffed pork curry and even a turkey which had been barbecued and was "carved" by being attacked with a machete so that small chunks of meat and bone were lopped onto the plate. Once dinner was winding down, the games and entertainment began. We had successive traditional Laos dancers (good) and dances to Loas pop songs by guests (less good) to kareoke (truly bad) . Laos dancing is a bit like old time dancing where you sway with your partners while performing fluid movements with your hands (similar to hawaiian dance) while never having both palms facing the same way.

Games involved musical chairs, blindfolded banana eating and beer drinking. The guests were from all over the world, the star of the night being an elderly lady from eastern europe the MC called Madame Elizabeth and who, once she found out that scarves were being given away as prizes to the winners of the games, could not be stopped. The only problem is that the rules were not explained before the games and she was not familiar with any of them but this did not hold her back. She won several scarves, a bottle of wine and t shirts all presented by "our beloved manager, Mr Santi" who was often so beloved that he couldn't be found to come to the stage.

All in all a memorable night and we had a dinner that we weren't expecting. Being in a real hotel with a basic standard of service is so foreign to the backpacker experience that we soaked up being somewhere adult. We used the pool (thankfully we had one day of dry and warmth - horrors if we weren't able to use the pool!),

the spa (where Jennifer Louise spent a considerable part of Chrismas Day), the various cabanas dotted around the place and at times wondered if we were the only ones there as it was only at the party did we see many people.

We also lucked out at the breakfast buffet which covered fantastic Lao brekky items such as rice noodles with pork and yummy western fayre as such as fruit salad, bacon, ham, frankfurters, croissants, swiss roll and omelettes. Yum.

a tale of two boats

2009-01-02T01:50:00.000-08:00

Not all boats and boat trips are equal in Laos.

We spent a bit of time travelling in the north of Laos, mostly because of one particular boat trip, up the Nam Ou river to the town/village of Nyong Kiaw. Trying to buy a ticket was a lesson in patience and humour as all tour agents (of which there seem to be hundreds) in Luang Prabang advertise this trip, but no one seemed to actually sell you a ticket. Or confirm it would go (if there are not at least 8 people it won't go. If the river is too low it won't go). No one was able to say if the boat had indeed gone that very day, nor know who to contact to find out. The office at the boat dock was devoid of human activity (apparently it is only occupied in the early morning when boats go - if they go of course). We decided the best thing to do is assume it goes, and then just show up nice and early.

We did. It did! We got a ticket and were shown to our longtail boat.

We each (10 seats in all) sat on a kindergarten-style wooden chair fixed on one side to the boat, with a narrow space between. Narrow in the front and back too; it was impossible to stretch legs out even partially. One had to stoop slightly, as the roof was too low to allow sitting upright. The ride was to last 7 1.2 hours and there was no toilet (just what a girl wants at a certain of the month!). And the engine was so loud, placed as it was immediatly behind us, one could only converse with one's immediate neighbour by shouting.But it was a wonderful trip. Two hours up (the entire trip was upstream fighting a remarkably strong current), we left the Mekong River to join the Nam Ou, at the base of a sheer cliff.

From there we snaked along, around huge sand bars and semi-submerged boulders and bare-branched shrubs, dodging fishing lines and nets and boats, as the landscape became more and more spectacular. The farther north you go in Laos, the higher the mountains, the closer the landscape and the more lush the jungle, and this was just the start!
Our pilot was very skilled, and I could see what they meant about the boat not always being able to go - there were so many obstacles and the currents were quite wild at times, enough to satisfy an intermediate kayaker.

At the half-way point we stopped at a beach, the most wonderfully sandy beach, where we could stretch out and 'go' in the woods behind. It was warm and quiet without the engine, and we all wanted to stya right where we were for a lot longer than the 15 minutes allotted.Towards the end of the trip, which coincided with the setting of the sun, we could see water buffalo and cows along the shore in the water cooling off, naked children washing and splashing loudly, even an elephant walking methodically down tot he water. There were small cultivated vegetable gardens growing in the sand banks, with thatched huts dotted about.

Our own hut that night was what you might call 'rustic' - coconut mats on stilts, so the entire hut swayed and shuddered at each footfall. There was a squat toilet in a cubby hole next door, and only the usual florescent light in the middle of the room, but the bed was big and comfortable (all Laos beds are really hard - good for us) and there was a mosquito net and a balcony overlooking the river with mist and smoke curling around the mountains as the light changed and the nighttime noises began (ducks, frogs, insects). Quite the ethereal start to a trip up north.

Our second boat trip was along the Mekong River as it winds along from Luang Prabang northwest, so that it is possible to ride it all the way to the Thai border at Chiang Khong. It takes two days, with an overnight stop in the village of Pakbeng. We've read a lot about this trip and the many negatives other people have experienced either on the boat or in the village (very cramped uncomfortable boat, having to bring enough food for two days, a village with little accomodation and a lot of it bad, problems with being ravaged by villagers who grab bags and rush up to the top of the stairs only to insist on a large cash payment, an impossible thing to avoid given a long, slim flight of steep, slippery stairs to navigate, not being able to buy the second day's boat trip until the evening before or morning of , when tickets may or may not be available, etc.), and we were gearing ourselves for the disomfort.

The day before going we found an agent who sold tickets, and realized there was another sort of option available. This boat was larger and more comfortable. You paid for the entire trip at the beginning and did not have to buy the two days separate;ly. Accomodation was included at a very nice place, in private bungalows. Food was provided on the boat and in the hotel. All transfers at the border crossing were included.

Well this sounds very civilized but how much does it cost? How much?!?!? Oh well, never mind.

But wait. It is the last minute - most everyone else has booked this as part of a tour, but there are seats left, and they are available for half price. We did a quick calculation and found that with all the costs of the other boat, this one was extremely good value. A bit more, but so much easier and better. And they took credit cards!

So we turned up at 6:30am the next morning to find coffee and crossants waiting, and two guides (one speaking very good English, the other very good French). We were able to move around on the boat and talk to people (a very differnt group of travellers - generally older, a few couples but mostly family grups, almost all of whom were on a two or three week trip over the Christmas period) and there was water and coffee available during the day.We powered up the Mekong, watching the mist move away from the mountains as we shed clothing from our full on winter gear (it's cold when you are going at a clip) to full on summer. We passed villages and caves, new forests (to belatedly try to overcome Laos' severe deforestation) of teak and rose wood and banana, and bankside gardens of peanuts and tobacco and sweet potato.

At Pakbeng, we bypassed the throng of bag snatchers (we had been requested to pack only a small overnight back and leave our large bags in a locked hold on board) and moved right into our Luang Sang bungalows (full bathrooms, hot water, soft lighting!). We sat on the deck with a sweet lemongrass drink and watched the Mekong wind westwards between the darkening hills and reflect the dying sun's light as hammered metal - gold, silver, pewter, lead. The sliver of moon alllowed other stars to be seen - for the first time on the trip, florescent light did not crowd them out.
Up before dawn, but the next day was as serene. As we neared Thailand the landscape changed dramatically. The hills opened out to a wide plain, and the air was warmer. The first thing one sees on the Thailand side is a resort, with a bunch of cars and SUVs parked in front of the lawn (a lawn!!!) and flowers growing in profusion. Oh my.

That night we righted the balance by staying in a 'simple' guesthouse ($6) that lay right opposite one stage and bedside another set up for the border town's New Year's Eve celebration. The town was full - we were lucky to get a room, and we took part in the general mayhem of a Thai town ready to party.

Luang Prabang

2008-12-27T00:31:00.000-08:00

Is there anyone except the most anti-social traveller who doesn't fall in love with Luang Prabang? Old french colonial buildings with shutters and dark wooden balconies,

temples with embossed gold shutters, gold stencils on black or scarlet walls, fanciful roof details and cut glass mosaics of charming scenes,

wats large and small, relevant to both ancient practices and modern life

gold cloaked monks up to collect alms at dawn and then eager to practice English with those willing

food choices that run the gamut between spicy Laos lapp to spaghetti bolognaise to croissants and lattes to schnitzel au gratin, a night market that fills the main street for tourists and a day market that clears the nasal passages for locals, boat trips and trekking trips and elephant trips, hills and waterfalls and caves, and more guesthouses than you can shake a stick at, all located at the confluence of two rivers and the base of several hills.

We drifted around trying to get information (just because there's a sign up that indicates they sell tickets down't mean they actually sell tickets or know where and when the boat/bus goes or even if it goes - we learned that you just do your own thing and hope it works out) and cash (one bank closed often and two ATMs that break down often) and tried not to get frustrated. The Lao people are lovely, sweet, friendly, happy people to engage in conversation and blank, uninformed, disorganized, incommunicative people to engage in business.

As in Siem Reap there are travellers of every description here, as there are hotels and guesthouses of every level. We met a delightful couple (well we actally met them on a long walk we took in Vangvieng) and had a thoroughly enjoyable meal (Laos style BBQ and a lot of Lao beer) at a locals sorts of place at a rickety table overlooking one of the rivers, and we also had an equally lovely meal at a French restaurant that took credit cards and featured local music and dance to reward ourselves for surviving a frustrating 'chores' day.

The Presidential palace was a beautifully liveable place with the most stunning throne room (aforementioned cut glass mosaics on walls) and a complete absence of information about the last king who 'disappeared'. Gifts from countries were displayed, but where they were from was the most revealing (Russia, Japan, China, USA, India). Surprised to see a gleaming white Edsel with the Lao emblem on its doors (along with two white Lincoln Continentals from the 50s and early 60s) parked in the garage (the Edsel had been the king's favourite - photos not allowed). Of course we had to go through it in bare feet, as we must go through everywhere, but it's the most sensual experience walking along wide boarded wooden corridors with outside windows open to let breezes in , or on cool tile and marble stairs and temple floors, or on wooven mats in front of altars piled high with offerings of marigolds, fruit and incense sticks.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T00:10:00.000-08:00

We'd like to wish everyone out there a very happy Christmas and a remarkable New Year.

(poinsettas in the wild - now that's the kind of holiday decoration we like to see!)

Half-way point

2008-12-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

It's a week before Christmas and we're at our halfway point of the trip - 6 whole weeks have passed.

What to do to mark the date? How about a long walk in the countryside, crossing temporary bamboo bridges, passing farms with chickens and cows and pigs all milling about together, waving to children who all wave and say sabaidee" back to us? The dust is kicked up frequently with moto drivers, tuk-tuks and a weird vehicle that has the engine of a tractor, the back of a pick up and the longest steering mechansim between the two. After an hour or two we find a huge cave with a lagoon at the bottom full of cool water and hundreds of fish.

After a swim with a few others, we head back, stopping at a roadside cafe for a cold drink and some fried rice. We meet another couple of travellers (East Germany) and share a beer with them overlooking the river as the sun starts its descent. We need a little snack before heading home and find the perfect thing in a banana and chocolate pancake cooked by the side of the road and then carried on our way. The mountains slowly fade into night and the air cools to about 20 degrees. For others it's time to party; for us, to snuggle among good books in our bungalow with its view across the river to prepare for a long bus journey tomorrow.

Vang Vieng, Laos

2008-12-19T03:44:00.000-08:00

Vang Vieng is a small town in central Laos famous for tubing on the river. We didn't actually know what tubing down the river meant. We do now and it involves nearly naked 20 year olds and buckets of vodka. Not what we were expecting in sleepy, sensitive, overlooked Laos.

We arrive in town, get a bungalow by the river in the shadow of the weirdly shaped karst limestone mountains and go into town to investigate whether we go tubing. We find out that it is floating down the gentle river on a large inner tube and there are bars along the river where you can stop for a drink. All well and good. We sign up for a day of this including caving, not that we know what caving is yet.

We take a tuk-tuk about 20km out of town with a dozen others, the usual united nations of backpackers. We get into a stream at the base of one of the limestone mountains, sit in our inner tubes (one each) and use a rope to drag ourselves under the mountains through a series of tunnels and caves for an hour. Some of us are wearing head torches so we can see in the pitch black darkness. The water is not deep and in some places we are ducking to not hit our heads on the dripping stalactites. This is actually fun and not claustophrobic. We giggle our way through paddling like frogs in places where there is no rope. If this was anywhere else there would be hours of safety precautions but here we leap in and everyone makes it back outside again. After lunch we hit the tubes on the river. We get in and our told to stop at the first bar but we are not told how to stop. This is where the fun starts.

The first bar is only 20m down the river, the music is pulsating and people are paryting like its 1999. We stop by having water bottles thrown at us on the end of ropes. We catch the rope and are hauled in. The bar is a large precarious bamboo platform serving 1 dollar buckets of vodka. There are about 50 people (average age 20-25), all happily smashed, dancing and diving into the water. If you are 3 girls you get a bucket of vodka free. We feel as if we have landed in a reality show akin to Temptation Island. What is ironic is that one of our party is a European director for "Beauty and the Geek". Lots of material here for a new show. We decide that it's sink or swim and so join in the dancing and shrieking at the people throwing themselves into the river off of "flying foxes" (pulleys on ropes) and unstable looking diving towers. After about an hour we are back in the river (feeling quite merry but surreal at this point) heading to the next bar which is the same meal deal but with a waterslide. This goes on all afternoon and we get back frozen but happy in the late afternoon as once the sun starts to go down it gets chilly in the water.

It was so not Laos as it was like being transported to a first year student party with everyone in bikinis. Bizarre but it is what Vang Vieng is known for.

When in Rome.

memories of Vientiane

2008-12-19T03:41:00.000-08:00

A capital city of dusty, sleepy but rather stately streets, like spokes from a wheel. Few old sites, given that the place was sacked by the Thais and everything destroyed but for one 19th century wat, filled with Buddha statues large and small (filling hundreds of niches)

And a wonderful golden stupa of great size - it has been painted gold to show what it would have looked like with its original gold leafThere's a new tower that is at the centre of all roads - it looks moorish to me - and has become the new icon of the city - you can climb to the top for a cool breeze and a decent view until the pollution swallows up the distance.

Due to recent changes in Thailand visas (granting only 15 days at the border instead of 30) there was a 3 hour queue at the Thai embassy to apply for 30 day visa, which required another queue the next day to pick up. With their current political difficulties and with international financial woes, I don't think it was the wisest plan just before their big tourist season. A motely crew there to be sure - few like us, mostly lifer ex-hippies, wearing strange homemade vests over tatooed chests and under oddly shaped beards, just hanging out in Thailand and crossing the border to reapply for visas whenever theirs runs out. I didn't know people like that still existed. The most amazing thing was seeing how some of them cheated, by inchng up the line and insinuating themselves at the front. For what - 15 minutes less time in line? Is their life really so full as to value scamming 15 mintues from others who had patiently waited? Just to go back to Thailand to hang out until the next time they need to renew their visa? A few up us were highly amused watching them - sure made our wait go by quicker and we made a few friends at the same time, sharing travel stories, histories and viewpoints.

In the mornings eating breakfast on our guesthouse verandah, surrounded by trees and flowering plants and birdsong. Helps mitigate the increased cost of accomodation in this city.

Watching a red sun sink into grey pollution a good 30 minutes before it hit the horizon. Then the soft weird glow of reflected light in gloom, softing changing the view over the mekong river from our vista of a bamboo cafe platform on stilts, with cushions and drinks, getting mellow and philosophical. Watching local kids and a few travellers playing badminton in the streets - the kids having a good time, the travellers getting competitive.

A lot of old decrepit white guys with younger Asian women - quite a cliche!

Delicious french food (but no french spoken alas) as well as fantastic bakeries (chocolate croissants for long bus rides - mmm). Our first Lao food - spicy laap (minced meat with mint, green onions, green beans, lime and lots of green chilies) served with sticky rice.

The plane to Vientiane

2008-12-15T04:51:00.000-08:00

Travel is all about making choices. We had originally planned (well, to be honest I had originally planned, Martin just closed his eyes and hoped for the best) to exit Cambodia via the rarely travelled northeast across the Laos border by the 4000 islands and then up through the south of Laos. Long arduous bus rides through landmined territory. Excellent.

Unfortunately, it appeared that although you could get from Laos into Cambodia, the other way round might not be so easy, as we heard that border may or may not be open and visas may or may not be available. Not the thing to find out after several days on a bumpy bus.

The other land option was to cross into Thailand and head up to Nong Kai, which sounded lovely, but with recent changes to Thailand's visa regulations, may prove problematic when we returned into Thailand next month (thanks for the tip Michelle, sorry we couldn't use it this time!). That left flying. We hadn't really planned or wanted to flying internally, but it was the best plan, and allowed us more time in Laos' north.

Now if I was to tell you that we flew from Cambodia to Laos on Laos airlines in a prop job, what would you think?

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Siem's Reap's airport is gorgeous, spanking new and airy. The flight left early, we stopped in Pakse, Laos, where we did the immigration thing a (query: why do Canadians have to pay more than any other country for a Laos visa - what did we do wrong?), then back in for the second part of the flight (complete with a healthy, tasty snack) to arrive in Vientiane right on time. Okay there was one very bumpy landing and lots of turbulance throughout, but if you like fairground rides (and we do), it was a treat! All in all, quite anticlimatic really.

Regularity Report: the controlled explosion

2008-12-15T04:42:00.000-08:00

It was all going so well. What felled me was not a local delicacy but feasting on western food. The town near Angkor Wat was full of visitors from all over the world so there was a lot of western fast food to choose from. Its my own fault and my poor system revolted for 24 hours from all the fat and dairy. Now fully recovered but am sending the system into overdrive as theres a lot of indian food in Laos

Inputs :

Carbs: rice, noodles, toast, pizza, spaghetti, hamburger buns
Meat: bacon, sausage, beef, chicken, burgers
Fish: shrimp, white fish, crab
Fruit: mango, soursop, orange, banana, pineapple, watermelon
Veg: lettuce, tomato, salady bits, peppers, bean sprouts, onions
Dairy: mozzarella, parmesan
Drink: beer, water, fruit juice, fruit shakes, coke, fanta, soup, fresh coconut

Outputs:

Frequency: ****************************
Density: **
Gaseosity: **
Wipeability: **

Toilet Review:
More Cambodian Boats: *
Seam Reap Villa Hotel: ****
Battambang Hotel: ***
Foreign Correspondents Club: ***

Not that I did this but this is how you eat fried tarantula (courtesy of lonely planet)

1. Snap legs off like a crab
2. try to get meat out of legs like crab
3. rip body apart and eat. (Lonely planet are not sure if the "meat" in the body is excrement or eggs).

Camb-Ode-Ia

2008-12-15T04:31:00.000-08:00

Temples of Angkor,
and chicken curry,
Dopey mosquitos,
and gekkos that scurry,
Deep fried tarantulas,
Angkor beer and sting,
These are a few of Cambodia's things....

Boat to Battambang,
By floating villages,
Fields of landmines,
Khmer Rouge pillages,
SUV's in Phnom Penh,
Treasures of kings,
These are a few of Cambodia's things....

Hello arachnid,
Insides porridge,
When my resolve crumbles,
I simply remember Cambodia's things..
and then I feel the rumble.

Tuk-tuk drivers,
Weaving and tooting,
Roosters and chickens,
Crowing and hooting,
Dignified monkeys,
Like human beings,
These are a few of Cambodia's things....

The Mekong River,
and Beef Lok Lak,
Foreign Correspondents Club,
An eight legged snack,
A plate of fish amok,
with a sauce that zings,
These are a few of Cambodia's things....

Genocide museum,
Landmine victim,
When I start to stumble,
I simply remember Cambodia's things..
and then I feel so humble.

Cambodia ephemera

2008-12-15T04:20:00.000-08:00

Accomodation Checklist:

Pnohm Penh: Okay Guesthouse $15
Siem Reap: Hello Paradise Guesthouse $15
Battambang: Royal Hotel: $15
Siem Reap: Villa Siem Reap: $20 (but what a huge difference $5 made!)

Notable Food:

FCC in Pnohm Penh: Cambodian appetizers with Angkor beer, beef lok lak, made with oyster sauce and the famous (or should be) kampot peppercorns, and fish amok

Siem Reap: Cambodian BBQ - quite the production!

General observations:
Cambodia and Vietnam have a great deal of similarities in that they both have recent pasts to overcome in terms of what most people think when they think of either country, they are socialist (rather than communist) enjoying relatively stable political and social situations right now. They are also both in a state of incredible transition, with tourism being a dominant economic force that is changing both societies. All the guide books are way out of date and those written today will be woefully erroneous within a year or two - changes are happening so rapidly. Less third world and more emerging market. There is lots of money around by the looks of all the high-end motor bikes and SUVs, but it has the feel of "Sopranos"-style money, as it's inserted among great poverty. Lots of building construction. Huge new hotels, many sensitively designed, airconditioned shopping malls that are terrribly designed, cosmopolitan restaurants, some lovely crafts shops selling upmarket things for upmarket prices, all alongside cheap guesthouses and noodle houses, with shacks and food stalls and beggers nestling where they still can.

The Cambodians are the sweetest, gentlest people - it is so hard to understand how the atrocities of the 70-80s could have happened.

We heard a wonderful story from a traveller who was staying in a town for a week and hired a driver with whom he got very close. During that time, the traveller asked about the driver's childhood, and was told he didn't know his birthday as it was during the Pol Pot regime, sometime in 1979 he thought. The traveller took it upon himself to go to an internet cafe with the driver and call the driver's mother to ask what she remembered. "A Wednesday, five days after the full moon". They googled all of 1979 and 1978 too, but could not find a date that matched. Then they remembered taht the khmer calendar is different so looked at the beginning of 1980 and there it was. Can you imagine not knowing your birthdate and then having a stranger find it for you? What a gift!

The Boat to Battambang

2008-12-12T03:41:00.000-08:00

We took a sideways trip to the south-central town of Battambang because the boat ride to get there is regarded as the most scenic in the country. It crosses the top of Lake Tonle Sap, Cambodia's largest lake and teeming with fish - it was roiling with them!
After about an hour the boat enters a swampy river, past floating fishing villages. Bare shacks are made of sticks, laundry strung in lines between two submerged trees and required a boat to hang or collect the clothes. Cunning fish enclosures and nets have been devidsed for a community 100% dependent on the river.Long, shallow boats allow locals to travel along the single, narrow lane of water open, manoeuvering between the trees and shrubs that grow out of the water. Branches grasped along the open sides of our boat, whipping against the supports that divided the seating area (hard bench seats along both sides) and the roof (and open space when the luggage was dumped and where those braving the hot sun lay, huddled in the middle to avoid being swept off by branches. Every once in a while we came upon another boat, so passing became an issue of great discussion. During high water, a faster boat plows through and causes mayhem, submerging local boats, snagging fishing lines and churning up the lake/river bed. The water is not so high, so we were on a slower boat that occasionally showed courtesy by slowing down (before submerging local boats, snagging fishing lines and churning up the lake/river bed). There were a few stops to pick up locals, and in each case the landing was haphazard and awkward. At one point, both speed and distance were misjudged and our boat hit the dock, bounced off, ran completely over a small boat (swamping it) and, after the engine was cut, slowly drifted towards a net fishing enclosure beside one home, stopping within inches and thus not quite destroying the family's food supply and possible livelihood. While the two boatmen looked in consternation, two 7 year old boys came to the rescue by rowing the passengers to the boat. Most entertaining.

Slender, pure white storks, gangly cormorants, and crane like birds in a variety of black, grey and white were outdone by a kingfisher in glittering teal with yellow flashes and grey wings. The floating forest contained mauve morning glories and other vines that formed a sort of carpet between and below the twiggy shrubs and trees. The poverty of the floating houses was stark, and gradually lessened as the swampy part of the river became more solid, with houses built on stilts and then on solid ground. At that point one saw the odd cow or pig, but this is still a people reliant on fish, evidenced by the multitude of fishing lines held aloft by bobbing plastic water bottles, which our boat regularly ran over. And always children, yelling and waving with vigour, some showing off with a full body wiggle or a somersault dive.To be fair, although the driver (I'm sorry - I can't bring myself to call him a pilot!) was positioned in the bow, his view was obscured by another 12 feet of boat rising in a curve upward. In particularly shallow or tricky waters, his accomplice stood on the bow and gestured with his hand to provide direction, which was followed, more or less.

The trip was scheduled to take 5 hours. It took 7, but we'd heard that in low water it can take as long as 12, so we got off lightly. We took bets on the timing and I won, guessing within 5 minutes (Martin was an hour more pessimistic). Thankfully we had stocked up with bread and nuts and bananas and dried ginger, as well as water of course, but we didn't drink too much as the loo on board was barely a single * on Martin's toilet scale., and teh boat was full to the brim with backpacks and local passenger's more eclectic booty that it was difficult to move.We spent today wandering around the provincial, dusty town of Battambang, visiting wats, playing with the children of restaurant workers who just hang around bored otherwise and getting hydrated in preparation for the return boat journey back to Siem Reap (now we know which side to sit on to avoid the blazing midday sun). A lovely peaceful interlude.

Cambodia 101

2008-12-10T04:08:00.000-08:00

For those unfamiliar with Cambodia, here is a primer:

This is a taxi:

This is a bus:This is a gas station:
This is how to use a flusher toilet (and how not to use it):This is a restored temple:This is an unrestored temple:This is a house:

This is a staircase:This is shopping:This is cooking lunch:This is happy hour:These are elephants:And this is - well I'm not sure what exactly but it looks urgent:

Days 31-35 Siem Reap and Angkor

2008-12-10T03:43:00.000-08:00

Angkor is the site of an astonishingly advanced lost Khmer civilization from the 9th-13th centuries.

The site was discovered by archeologists in the late 19th century, became a cause celebre in the 1920s and then was lost again during the Khmer Rouge years of the 1970s/80s.

Now it is firmly back on the map as one of the leading contenders for the new 7 wonders of the world.

The site of the lost city covers about a 1000 sq.km in Northern Cambodia. It is made up of many stone temples scattered over the area with the most famous being Angkor Wat which is the largest and one of the most intact. Wat means temple and Angkor Wat is one huge temple in the jungle. Apparently this is the largest religious structure in the world.

The closest thing would be Macchu Picchu or a medieval walled town. There are lakes and parkland within its walls. The central temple is palatial, made of limestone and sandstone with multiple beehive spires. The whole thing represents the universe. Bas relief pictures around the whole thing show religious imagery (mainly indian folklore) with lots of topless dancing girls. Ooh la la.

To get the best of the experience our strategy (we had to have a strategy - you know us too well) was to visit over multiple days working our way up from the smaller temples scattered in the periphery to the major temples on the last day. We also planned days off in between so we didn't get too templed out.

All the temples have very distinct characteristics (some on mini-mountains, some in the middle of lakes, some with towers, some small, some large, some square, some long and thin, some restored, some totally ruined and left to rot with trees growing over them).

We expected the environment to be very jungly but its more like a wood or forest with some exotic plants, monkeys and elephants. Although the birds sounds exotic, they are small, black and white and unremarkable looking. By late afternoon the cicadas started up, a unforgettable sound, like loud slightly discordant jangling bells ringing the same high pitched not constantly, filling the air. The trees have been cleared from many of the sites but some have been left as they were "found". One pop-culture reference is that this was used as a set for Tomb Raider and the local town has many references to Angelina Jolie who stayed there while filming and adopted a baby from the local orphanage.

As the Angkor sites are so scattered we decided the best course of action was to hire a driver and tuk-tuk (a small carriage pulled by motorbike). This sounds very modern day EM Forster but its the best way unless you want to go by tour-bus or ride a bike in the sun. We also roughed it by buying chocolate croissants in the local bakery the night before so we could get an early start in the cooler weather.

Its probably best to let the pictures tell the story.

Days 28-30 Phnom Penh

2008-12-10T03:24:00.000-08:00

There were a few things that surprised us in PP. Both Ps are pronounced, we never felt unsafe, and the place was pretty buzzy with flashy cars and motorbikes (where the money comes from might well be dodgy but there is money). Lots of colour and energy, restaurants setting out tables for special family events.
The Royal Palace was stunning - many buildings have been or will soon be completely restored. It's really a compound of buildings dotted among gardens and stupas with the prize being the silver palace with its floor made entire of polished silver and its jade buddhas is is sometimes perhaps unfairly called the emerald buddha knockoff as it's a smaller version of the one in Bangkok. The painted murals were lovely, and all sorts of little shrines and reclining buddhas looked happy and relaxed.The painted murals were lovely, and all sorts of little shrines and reclining buddhas looked happy and relaxed, smelling the flowers.

We walked to Phnom Wat, the small hill and temple which was the original city source, wherere we saw monkeys gamboling in the grass, totally unconcerned by old white people taking pictures
and the beautifully designed National Museum to give us a better idea of what we'll be facing at Angkor Wat.

The genocide museum was one of those places that most people would ratehr it not exist, but it did, it does, and it must be seen. Originally a school, it's where Pol Pot imprisoned and tortured hundreds, who then ended up getting trucked to the killing fields.

Every person held there was photographed face on, and it's chilling to walk past row and row of faces looking directly at us, some defiant, some fatigued, some frightened - young, old, children - what a waste of all those people who were educated. He only saved those few artists who could render his image in stone, and the pile of busts sitting off in a corner next to a row of prisoner leg irons is ironic in the extreme.After that we needed to be with people, so headed to the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) where journalists hung out when they were allowed to. It enjoys an upper balcony overlooking the river and celebrates the event every evening with 'happy hour'- but then every place seems to celebrate happy hour with 2 for 1 cocktails or 50 cent beers. We tried our first local food here, thinking it would be the best introduction to what we could then feel confident about ordering later. We were right - it was fantastic! Leaving the restaurant, Martin almost walked straight into the side of a passing elephant lumbering along with the traffic. That was about the time of day 'monk school' must have let out, as there were gaggles (what is the collective noun for monks anyway?) of saffron robed young men with satchels.

Ode to North Van

2008-12-09T05:01:00.000-08:00

Oh North Van,
you think you are really it,
with your Mount Seymour Parkway,
and North Shore News,
but you are not as it
as the At Issue panel,
especially Chantal

Belated Ode to Vietnam

2008-12-09T04:54:00.000-08:00

Vietnam, Vietnam,
Ancient monuments of cham,
From Hanoi to Hoi An,
Is the threat of durian

Buy from me, buy from me,
A box of "la vache qui rit",
From Sapa to Ho Chi Minh,
Motos belching gasoline

In the Mekong Del-ta,
You are gonna swel-ter,
Though you'll always find some shel-ter,
in
Vietnam, Vietnam....

Cross the street, cross the street,
You will get knocked off your feet,
From Lao Cai to Cu Chi,
Traffic as crazy as can be

A million dong, million dong,
is going for a song,
from Chau Doc to Halong,
Calculating dollars takes too long

In the stinky night bus,
are you on the right bus?
keep your bags in sight bus,
in
Vietnam, Vietnam......

Regularity Report: The Reptile Edition

2008-12-08T00:13:00.000-08:00

Yet again, you know it was only time before the reptiles got me. Snake is quite yummy, a bit like gnarly pork (Jenny says chicken) but the meat looks like snake as you can see the imprint of the snakeskin on the meat.

Inputs :

Carbs: toast, baquette, rice, noodles, taro
Meat: snake, beef, pork, chicken, bacon, sausage
Fish: shrimp, prawns, crab
Fruit: mango, custard apple, orange, banana, coconut, jackfruit, pineapple, watermelon, papaya
Veg: beansprouts, carrots, cucumber, tomato, onion, bok choi
Dairy: cheese (sort of)
Drink: beer, water, orange juice, fruit shakes, coke, fanta, soup

Outputs: pretty good though the feasting on western food (pizza, burger, fry up breakfast) in Siem Reap and gallons of coconut milk may be starting to take its toll.

Frequency: ****************************
Density: *************
Gaseosity: ******
Wipeability: ***********

Toilet Review:
Multiple Cambodian Boats: *
Phnom Penh Hotel: **
Horrid Spider Cafe: negative ************************************
Cambodian Genocide Museum: **
Cambodian History Museum: **
Siem Reap Hotel: **
Angkor Toilets: ***

Thanks for all the comments, emails and interest. You all put the poo in Kampuchea.

Hillsborough's Going to India

2008-12-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

Our almost-goddaughter Hillsborough is heading to India. Here are our thoughts from the road on maybe-not-obvious stuff to squeeze into the pack

1. A 2 metre length of bright cotton material. This can act as a skirt, sarong, bedsheet, shawl, headscarf, blanket, towel and all purpose ground cover. Mine is 20 years old from Fiji and covered in geckos and Jenny's is similarly aged and covered in hibiscus flowers.

2. A bell and elastic band. Hang on your door handle if you have a door handle to alert you to visitors or hang on backpack when sleeping on trains/in stations etc to alert you if the pack starts moving.

3. Padlocks and length of plastic covered thick wire. Lock your bags when away from them, lock them to furniture, train seats, nightbus beds etc.......

4. Hand Sanitizer - 1 bottle per month

5. Roll of duct tape. So far ours has been used to mend bags, backpacks

6. Earplugs - Always tons of noise in the developing world

7. Eye mask - Always tons of light in the developing world.

8. Gold Bond foot powder

9. email yourself all necessary numbers, passwords and codes and your favourite website list

10. setup a blog before you go to keep in touch and let people know you are still alive

Tarantula Town: Your Nightmares Come to Life

2008-12-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

The worst experience of the trip (and possibly my life) so far was our unintended visit to the town of the Tarantulas in Cambodia, Skuon.

In our research we had read about the inclusion of spiders in the diet. Yes, a common Cambodian snack is a deep-fried Tarantula. We were forewarned and came across these delights in the markets, thankfully after frying they were actually faintly (term used loosely) endearing as during frying their legs stick out together at the front and the back making them look quite pathetic. We felt quite proud to have walked past a market stall heaving with these delicacies. For followers of the regularity report, I did not even consider it for a millisecond. Apparently they are crunchy.

Feeling smug, we thought we could deal with the worst Cambodia could throw at us. How wrong we were. Don't read any more if spiders make the hair rise on the back of your neck. Don't worry, we couldn't bring ourselves to take photos.

We were on the bus travelling north from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap where the Angkor Temples are. As is usual on these 5 hour bus rides, there's a stop for lunch and a visit to the toilet. We stopped at the worst place in the world and didn't know it, Skuon.

The bus stopped at a normal looking cafe. We all leapt off heading for the loo, followed by the usual horde of about a hundred women and children selling fruit and other snacks. "Buy from me - ok maybe later but only from me" All quite normal. I waited for Jenny outside the squatter. Children selling fruit came up to me. I talked to them in halting Cambodian and English. And then I froze. Each child was (I am having a minor freak just writing this) was wearing a live dinner plate sized tarantula on their clothes or offering one towards me in their hands. I was horrified and I think the spiders were scared too as they were totally still and looked like toys until my brain processed that they were not.

I outwardly groaned and walked very quickly away with a horrible sinking feeling and waited for Jenny to emerge. Her being just as senselessly afraid of spiders as I am, I tried to tell her what I had seen and that we had better get back on the bus when she saw the same thing, groaned and said "We're in Skuon!" Our version of absolute hell. Not only was every child wearing/holding one but they chased after us relentlessly as we were foreigners who were not eating in the restaurant and had not yet purchased any of their wares.

At this point we are panicking inwardly and trying to look unconcerned outwardly. We try to get back on the bus but it is locked and so try to hide behind the buses. Not a good plan as the kids know to swarm the buses when they arrive and leave and the buses were leaving denying us cover.

We then headed across the dirt road opposite the cafe. At this point we are totally cornered as the prospect of the other horror of Cambodia looms, landmines. You are not meant to leave the roads or path as live landmines are everywhere. We waited for the bus doors to open, willing them to do so. Then one girl spots us cowering in the dirt and moves to come over. Jenny scares her off, apologizing under her breath for appearing rude, and we move up the road still in view of the bus.

The bus doors open. All the foreigners start getting on going through the crowd of children and leggy friends. Some even take pictures. We have to run the gamut. The prospect of getting left behind is worse than getting through the crowd so we dive in and make it onboard.

The bus leaves. We survive but I cant sleep that night as the vision of these monsters is at the forefront of my brain every time I close my eyes.

Dios mio.

For those who are not afraid of spiders I appeal to your sense of whatever it is you are afraid of - that gut churning, totally irrational, blinding fear that takes over at the sight of snakes, small spaces, heights, ex-wives or -husbands, butter that isn't Anchor, whatever - despite the knowledge that whatever it is won't kill you but you'd do almost anything to avoid.

Vietnam checklist

2008-12-07T22:39:00.000-08:00

Accomodation

Throughout Vietnam we stayed pretty well always in a double room with our own bathroom and hot water, as well as air conditioning. Clean but spartan. A sheet and a fuzzy blanket (often decorated with teddy bears or leopard print). Sometimes a chair and almost always a tea set of pot and tiny cups, but there was never any tea or even hot water so we determined they were decorative. Only two mosquito nets (we brought our own, but rarely needed it as a quick spray or coil burn was enough to get rid of the few mozzies that hovered). Apart from Hanoi we stayed in locally run guesthouses and mini-hotels. Along the way we took a few tours (Halong Bay, Sapa, Mekong River delata) and stayed in guesthouses set up by the tour company.

list of self-chosen accomodation (with inclusions)
Hanoi: Hanoi Backpackers Hostel - $30 (breakfast, internet)
Hue: Impressions - $15
Hoi An: Huy Hoang - $30 (breakfast)
Nha Trang: -$15
Dalat: Nice Dream - $15 (breakfast, internet)
Ho Chi Minh City: Linh Linh - $15

Food

Yes we are the sort of people who take photos of our food (but only if it's especially interesting or photogenic)

BreakfastHue and Hoi An share top honours for original and delicious food
Jennifer gets over her eating heads issue
Saigon covered street marketCan Tho beer steamed prawns and snake curry (we also had snake spring rolls, but decided against the roasted frog and field mouse - even Martin has limits it seems - snake rather predicably tasted like chicken)
Mekong River delta fruit
Happy eating Vietnam style

Happy 50th Anniversary Mum and Dad

2008-12-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

Thinking of you today getting together with the family. Have a great party
love M and J

Days 25-27 Mekong River Delta (but first a note) FOUND HALF DECENT INTERNET - SOME PHOTOS ADDED

2008-12-04T04:15:00.000-08:00

Please note that we are now in Cambodia and internet facilities are poor - we can receive emails but not reply and can add to blog but not upload photos - when we can we will.

Thanks for all the concern re:Thailand situation. We are not worried, knowing more here (on the ground) as it were. Rest assured we will take whatever action is required!

We had wanted to take a boat all the way up from My Tho to Pnohm Penh but that is not possible - however it is possible to take a tour of the delta and cross the border by boat, then continuing most of the way, also by small boat. First stop was Cai Bai, where we boated through the floating market, which is a collection of boats of varying sizes all containing goods (coconuts, dragon fruit, ducks, oranges, garlic, taro, baskets, etc) that are sold to those on smaller boats, who will then sell them on. It's a sort of wholesale market. Mingling in between are small boats cooking pho noodle soup or small bits of meat on a brazier that serve as portable lunch to whoever wants it.

The boats are fantastic pieces of wood lashed together in various states of decay. Most have a long propeller joined to a motocycle engine that makes them manouverable in the shallow muddy (and filthy) river. A sort of sea spinach grows along the banks (I get the feeling it's a poor man's vegetable because it is cultivated in front of sad little shacks) and chunks of it float freely on the rather swift currents.Leaving the market we trolled through narrow channels of river - it felt like being on the "African Queen" - passed houses that stuck in the silt on stilts.
A narrow cement path ran behind these huts, with other houses built behind on the solid ground.
Some houses were cement boxes, some were brick, but most were wood and thatch, all with a step down to access the river for washing. People slept in hammocks strung up in open porches (and on the boats too) with laundry hanging over the side (or off the stern). they were cheek by jowl in the market area, but there were bushes and trees between in the smaller channels.

We stopped at an orchard where we were given fruit and tea - mango, banana, pineapple, jackfruit and papaya - coconut candy and popped rice with sugar cane juice forming a sort of "rice crispie square".

We slept one night in Can Tho (where Martin found a restaurant serving snake - he's very resourceful) and another night in Chau Doc, near the border.

Normally, the differences over borders are not great, but here they were very distinct. Subtle, but distinct. The Vietnamese cultivate every piece of land, on the Cambodia side there are lots of big trees and green space. A wide array of tree roots grew out from the base, so it looked as if these large trees were about to delicately walk across the river themselves. Vietnamese houses here are on rickety stilts in the river, or boxes just back, the Cambodian houses are on thick beefy stilts on dry land (so below them is for animals? cooking? to be determined) and the roof sports finials some of which are fantastically ornate. Water buffalo are rare in Vietnam, and cows rarer but we saw lots and lots of white cows on the Cambodian side - almost every house had a few). The Cambodian people show their Indian heritage (as opposed to the Vietnamese originating from Chinese migration) being darker skinned, with thicker curlier hair. We passed by at sun down, and saw children and women washing themselves in the river, cocks being set against each other in loud cackling fights, and animals being herded back to home.

The engine of our narrow (and highly uncomfortable) boat brought children out in droves, all waving and calling to the foreigners. One felt honour bound to wave to every single one of them.

Days 22-24 Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City

2008-12-04T03:39:00.000-08:00

Floating Bars and Lonely Cars

After touring the War Crimes Museum and the Reunification Palace (a fab 60s building complete with a helicopter on the roof (for the quick departure) and a Mercedes stuck all by itself in a hallway in the basement next to the loos),

we decided to spend Sunday touring the rooftop hotel bars favoured by journalists during the 60s and 70s - the Caravelle, the Rex and the Panorama 33. You could actually see the Reunification Palace, site of two tanks famously breaking through the gates to mark the fall of Saigon, from the Caravelle. We drank odd combinations of fruit juices, and alcohol, all very beautifully presented and luridly coloured.

Regularity Report: Oh Chi Minh!

2008-11-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

Inputs (some western stuff creeping in as Saigon is tres cosmopolitan and expect to be back on the rice noodle express in Cambodia and Laos):

Carbs: Toast, Bread, Rice, Noodles, Canelloni, Burritos
Meat: beef, pork, chicken, bacon
Fish: shrimp, prawns, crab
Fruit: mango, custard apple,
Veg: beansprouts, carrots, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, sweetcorn, vietnamese mint, basil and cilantro Dairy: mango shakes, real cream cheese
Drink: beer, water, orange juice, coke, soup

Outputs: only good news to report. Bowels still working like a automatic baseball pitching machine that needs no oiling. Think it must be the lack of dairy and fat.

Frequency: ****************************
Density: ********************************
Gaseosity: *******************
Wipeability: ********************

Toilet Review:
Multiple Saigon Restaurants: **/***
Rex Hotel Saigon: *****
Caravelle Hotel Saigon: *****
Saigon Trade Centre: ***
Saigon War Crimes Museum: **
Saigon Reunification Palace: **

A special shout out to the regularity report 2- and 4-legged North Vancouver correspondents. You are the Adrienne Arsenault of latrines.

More reports were expected from the Dunbar (including Southlands) correspondents (2- and 4-legged). Maybe you have been constipated for 4 weeks and have nothing to submit.

Ode to Deep Fried Chicken Wings

2008-11-30T03:55:00.001-08:00

Oh Chicken Wings
Feasting on your crunchy batter
Fat locked in its own little safe
Bones discarded
like VTV discarded Simi

Ode to Pho

2008-11-30T03:47:00.000-08:00

Oh Pho,
Noodles so fresh
unlike smell of drains
broth good for colds
mint, basil
hot n steamy
like Cheryl Ladd album
but no
country twang

Toad on the Road: Vietnamese Pop Music

2008-11-30T03:31:00.000-08:00

Here is the Vietnam Top 5 based on what we have heard on the radio on buses and in restaurants.

5. Celine Dion (any track, they are all fantastic when blasted at full volume in a location you cannot escape from like a a 7 hour bus ride)
4. Vietnamese Pop featuring the lyric: Vietnam, Vietnam and Bam, Bam, Bam
3. Vietnamese Pop featuring the lyric: Louie Louie
2. Barbra Streisand: Woman in Love
1. Carpenters: Yesterday Once More

Barbra was ahead until we heard Yesterday Once More yet again whilst supping mojitos on the roof bar of the Rex Hotel, Saigon - a classic Graham Greene of a place that was only enhanced by the ghost of Karen Carpenter.

A special shout out should also go to Gloria Estefan. There we were with our native guide Chi, hiking across rice paddies in northern vietnam when out of nowhere blasts Gloria singing something slow and sad. Old GloGlo was Chi's celphone ringtone.

Tracks I have not yet heard but would like to:

Kim Wilde: Cambodia www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI2K8d-52rE

Vietnam ephemera (Jennifer)

2008-11-30T03:10:00.000-08:00

I have been reading The Girl in the Picture by Denise Chong, the story of Kim Phuc, who was the subject of a famous photo from the American war (she's running down the street naked, her arms out, clothes burned off by napalm). As it happened not far from Saigon, it's particularly poignant reading at this point in the narrative.
There's a copy of the photo in the War Crimes Museum. Quite the gut wrenching museum. A lot of attention is paid there to the photographers of that war, especially to those who died in it. It really was their war, the first where their craft played a pivotal part to the West's knowledge and opinion of it and to war in general. Ironic that "we" are still waging wars that get it wrong - that get on the wrong side through some ideological fear.

Fear really is the worst attribute a government or a people can have. Fear plays on ignorance and all sorts of horrible things result. It was the knee-jerk fear of communism that put the US in Vietnam, when Ho Chi Minh was mostly about uniting his divided country.

I am amazed at the lack of bitterness we see in the people here. They are open and friendly and welcoming to all visitors no matter their nationality. Even after a generation would there be many other countries so forgiving? The Vietnamese very much look to the future, and see the past mostly as an opportunity for making money and moving forward. They are extremely proud of their country and any praise is warmly received, as is any knowledge outsiders might have of their history no matter how rudimentary.

It is a country in transition. Demographically young, entrepreneurially inclined and hard working. The business opportunities afforded by tourism have lead to some pretty aggressive behaviour. Hawkers are quite demanding, although not abusive. You can't stop on a street, look at a map or sit in a cafe without several offers for moto rides, cyclo rides, taxi rides, private tours, watches, books, maps, gum, zippo lighters, postcards, shoe shining (even while wearing flip flops!) - it's never ending and can be quite annoying, but a smile, clear shake of the head and a few words in Vietnamese dissolves any unpleasantness. And really who can blame them? We really are rich, able to travel and stay in hotels and eat in cafes.

Tourism is a way out of poverty. And there are countless buses, tour companies and private operators. We've found it much easier than we expected to get where we want to go, although not necessarily with any flexibility. Ford's mantra ("you can have any colour of car you like as long as it's black") fits here - all sorts of tours, but they are all the same. You can't make any sort of adjustment. That will no doubt change before long.

Life is mostly about work and family. There's not much recreation, although we have seen impromptu badminton and soccer games in the parks in Saigon and Nha Trang. Gambling is popular, and everywhere you see groups of men playing cards or a local version of checkers in the streets for hours at a time. Lottery tickets sell well, and I imagine casinos abound if you look hard enough.

Women don't play so much, although we've seen young women in tailor's shops playing cards to while away the time. The women do seem to be the economic engine of the family. It's a status symbol to have a husband with enough free time to read, pursue scholarly pursuits, converse with other men, and gamble. Hard for a westerner to watch these women work so hard, before dawn to long after dusk, in order to allow their husbands time to laze away the day!

Other status symbols cropping up are new houses. You still see the old thatched and wood slatted shacks, but also new concrete boxes with false fronts. Height is more valued that girth (architecturally speaking) so a house that is one room wide but four storeys high is prized higher than a wide, low house. A new house, with a western toilet, an open top floor (with a huge statue of either Buddha, Bodisatva, or the Virgin Mary depending on religious inclination) and painted plaster decorations (usually doves or flowers) on the front facade means stability for the family - the most highly prized attribute money can buy. The most lavish houses we saw were in the countryside near Dalat. It made me oddly satisfied to see that the richest people in Vietnam we've seen are farmers! (Couldn't take any pictureas of them though - the bus ride was too bumpy!)

Prized possessions among the youth are cell phones and motos. These have multiplied so rapidly in recent years that resultant behaviour is wild. Poor courtesy regrading cell phone use is just as rampant at home, because we've discovered cell phones at about the same time and have yet to bring in controls. Having a motor vehicle however is new to the Vietnamese and they drive with complete lack of awareness of anyone else. Along both sides of the road, up sidewalks, parking whenever and wherever, horns blaring, blocking up the roads and passages. No one ever looks around to see who is behind or beside or in front - it's a complete free for all - just start it up and go. No wonder there are so many accidents (we've seen 8 alone). It's like children on morotcycles - millions of them!

There are signs of concern for the environment (rivers are quite polluted - Saigon is reckoned to be the 5th most polluted city in the world) and of endangered species (normally prized as a lavish course at dinner) and care for those that are underpriviledged or disabled. We succumbed to a Western style breakfast (bacon and eggs, coffee, mango joice) in a cafe that employs, trains, houses and cares for physically disabled youth, and which teaches them English and sends them off to elderly homes to meet with those who have no one, or who can not be supported by their families. There are several restaurants and cafes that promote this kind of action, mostly set up with outside initiatives (Australian predominantly it appears), so with tourism being such a big money earner it is hoped that there will be positive noises sent about these other issues - sooner rather than later.

Education is prized, and there are large schools in every tiny village. And if you look up just right, you can see children playing on computers in a house that has dirt floors and no plumbing. It's likely to be a computer game, though, but at least that's something!

Regularity Report - Special Bug Edition

2008-11-27T04:41:00.000-08:00

Finally the diet has expanded to include bugs and insects. You knew this had to happen.

Inputs:
Carbs: Bread, rice, noodles
Meat: crickets (deep fired in batter - insect tempura), silk worms (crunchy dust with hint of old popcorn), bacon, chicken, frankfurter pieces
Fish: shrimp
Fruit: mango, banana, lychee, strawberry jam
Veg: mushroom, carrots, greens, onion, green pepper
Dairy: mango shakes, egg swirl in soup
Drink: 70% rice wine, strange hooch from tree root (also lethal - see photo), water, broth, coffee

Outputs (waxing poetic):
Frequency: **************
Density: *************
Gaseosity: ***********
Wipeability: *************

Toilet Review
Dalat Hotel: ***
Nha Trang Hotel: ***

Nha Trang Sailing Club: *******************
Multiple stops on night bus: *

Ode to Spring Roll

Oh Spring Roll,
I like you stuffed
Meat, veg, shrimp... doesn't matter
If you were a TV star
You would be Simi Sara

Days 20-21 - Dalat

2008-11-27T03:49:00.001-08:00

Dalat is known as the city of honeymooners, with couples mooning around flower gardens and images of swans abound.

All well and good but having been married awhile what we really like about Dalat is the coffee! Alexandre Yersin, the French rennaissance man (doctor, medical research pioneer, explorer, botanist, biologist, entomologist, photographer, astronomer) introduced coffee to Vietnam. After so many wars and other intrusions, about 14 years ago, coffee plantations took off in this 'mountainous' area (and we use that term loosely speaking as Canadians familiar with real mountains). There are three main types of coffee cultivated here: Aribica, Moca and Robusta. There is also "weasel coffee" where the beans are eaten and excreted by a weasel-like animal, but the cultivation for that is slightly different! (think 'regularity report'!)

Coffee trees take two years to produce their first harvest, and continue for about 25 years, when they are cut down and another planted. The only sort of pest problem is the possibility that a cicada makes its home in the soil, where it eats the roots, but again, the tree is just cut down and another one planted. Without predators, the crop is extremely easy to grow.

Beans are harvested by hand when they are mostly red, but green ones come off at the same time. These are then spread out to dry in the sun for three weeks, after which they have turned black. A roasting machine can handle 50kilos in 4 minutes, then, after another drying session, they are roasted again and ready for market.

Five hectares of land will produce 20 tons of coffee, making it extremely profitable. Being an industry only 14 years old and a mere two years traded on the world exchange, Vietnamese coffee is relatively unknown on the world stage. But we can attest to its taste and strength - it's fantastic.

The Vietnamese drink a lot of it, usually either black with lots of sugar or with sweetened condensed milk. There are a ton of local coffee houses, full of people sipping the small glasses of coffee that has filtered from small aluminum cups, so it's not piping hot, but it is strong and round in flavour. And it delivers quite a kick. They laugh when you describe decaf.

Dalat is also know for its teas (our favourite was artichoke tea, caramel in colour and slightly sweet while at the same time delicate) , fruits (and resulting jams, juices and dried fruits), Dalat wine (which no one seems to know how or where it is made, but which is quite decent I assure you), flowers (familiar roses, gerberas, chrysanthemums, carnations and others), vegetables (mostly European varieties introduced by the French who came to live here in the early decades of the 20th century to escape the heat, as again suggested by the illustrious Alexandre Yersin), and silk.

Silk is made here as everywhere - the coccoons are destrung onto machines, which are then spun onto spools, dried and then worked into patterns determined by looms fitted with old-style computer cards, then died and dried. The left over stuff is dried above a furnace (heated with old coffee husks - nothing wasted!) then later made into canvas. The worms at the centre of the coccoons are a by-product. They sell in the market for people to fry and snack on. (Our cooking class teacher in Hoi An bought some for her grandmother - there's a photo in the Hoi An part 2 diary entry)

Another snack also high in protein is the cricket. Crickets can't jump far, so they cannot escape the shallow plastic buckets they are grown in, while being fed a diet of corn powder and water. A few of the adult crickets are put in a bin with a small round cement container of soil where they lay their thousands of eggs after mating. These eggs grow one month before hatching and the cycle continues. Again, a lucrative and easy crop, as the whole process - from egg to adult - only takes 2 1/2 months and 1 kilo of insects can realise $20 in the market. What to do with them? Why deep fry them and eat them of course!

And what meal of insects is not complete without 70% proof rice wine, fermented in buckets, put through a homemade still withthe resulting liquid condensed into a pot in the ground, but beautifully bottled for mass consumption - only $3 a bottle.

Day 19 Nha Trang

2008-11-25T02:58:00.000-08:00

Our plan was to travel to the highland hill station of Dalat, which meant a 12 hour overnight sleeping bus to Nha Trang, changing to a sitting bus for 6 further hours to Dalat. However..... there was a road accident that backed up traffic for 3 hours, and we had not one but two flat tires so ended up limping into Nha Trang 5 hours late, and missed our connection. So nothing for it but to spend the night in Nha Trang.

Nha Trang is a beach resort town, party central, big and brash, like a budding Waikiki, with cement towers going up weekly. Being typhoon season as well, we weren't too upset about passing on it, but in the end we had a bit of a gift. The sun actually shone (well ok there was one downpour, but it didn't last long) and so we spent the afternoon walking the beach, then the evening getting caught up on email. Nice when a problem turns into such a postive experience!

On the road musings: Vietnamese TV

2008-11-25T02:04:00.000-08:00

Every hotel room comes with a TV, usually satellite with a bizarre mix of channels. The vietnamese channels are a mix of game shows, pop idol shows, videos and news. We have also had access at various times to BBC World, BBC World Asia, MSNBC, CNN, CNN World (much better than CNN), entertainment channels from France, Italy, Germany, China, US and Australia.

Nothing says travel broadens the mind like vegging in front of Friends and mediocre US films on HBO including such gems as The Holiday (an xmas film), Mission Impossible 3 and a horrid appallingly bad film called Number 23 with Jim Carrey trying to act tortured.

Days15-18 Hoi An pt 2

2008-11-25T01:52:00.000-08:00

Our time in Hoi An did not solely focus on being in a neverending episode of Vietnam's Next Top Model.

We also spent a morning taking a cooking class and learned how to make Cao Lao (noodles, croutons, pork, prawn crackers, beansprouts), spiced baked eggplant, stir fry chicken and veg., and decorative edible flowers out of tomatoes and cucumber. The chef and hostess of the restaurant that held the class (a private class as it happened - there were only us two) are newlyweds and making a go of it, working with an Australian organization to set up training and work opportunities for disadvantaged youth, who wait at the tables and who are all very sweet and efficient, filling your beer after each sip.

All turned out well, and the results were our lunch. The class was preceded by a trip to the market to scout ingredients. Much at the market was familiar but with Vietnamese variations, such as betel nuts and leaves, fresh noodles, various less well known fish, insect larvae (to be raosted and eaten as a snack!) The main issue with the market (which was as busy as Granville Island on a Saturday morning) was all the motorbikes roaring through with baskets of chickens, flats of eggs and baskets of veg all under blankets of tarps laced at about head height for us - lesson learned: stoop if it has recently rained or you will get wet when your head tips the tarps that are full of water over!

The end of a typhoon lashed the town with torrential rain. It had been worse before we arrived and the river had burst its banks and was a half a block into the town. Our faded grandeur hotel was right by the river so we picked a room on the second floor just in case (right hand balcony), and we could keep an eye on the river level from the corridor

Whether it was dashing about from seamstress to seamstress or browsing through the ancient mouldy buildings of this "venice of vietnam" we were always getting caught in downpours. Our umbrellas from the Bay and waterproofs from the 3 Vets came in handy. Our shoes pong as nothing dries here.

Everyone in Vietnam owns a voluminous plastic poncho that immediately comes out at the sign of a downpour. You take a second look when a bike or moto goes by with two or three sets of legs hanging down below.

Hoi An is a jewel of a town, all its old buildings preserved and no new building allowed in the centre. The narrow roads are lined with ochre coloured walls, peeling shutters, moss on the tiled rooves and decorative patterns of mould (inside too I have to say).

Regularity Report Vol 4

2008-11-24T01:07:00.000-08:00

Amazingly the vietnamese diet and the bowels are in complete agreement with each other and getting along famously.

Inputs (looking kinda boring):

Carbs: Bread, rice, noodles, spring rolls, fantastic prawn crackers, soft rice crepes
Meat: beef, pork, chicken - did get some bacon!
Fish: shrimp, squid, prawns, crab, unknown vietnamese white fish
Fruit: mango, banana, pineapple, does coconut in a curry count?
Veg: eggplant, chilis, the usual stir fry mixed, lots of vietnamese mint, basil and cilantro (is this veg?)
Dairy: mango lassis, mango shakes, vache qui rit cheese triangles
Drink: beer, water, orange juice, coke, soups

Outputs

Achieved the most fantastic nirvana - regularity without the need for loo roll which is not always present.

Frequency: *****
Density: *****
Gaseosity: *****
Wipeability: ******

Toilet Review
Hoi An Hotel: ***
Multiple Hoi An restaurants and shops: **
Overnight bus: *
Hue Hotel: ***
Multiple Hue restaurants and shops: *
Hue Imperial Palace: **

Days 15-18 Hoi An - part 1 +addition

2008-11-24T00:37:00.000-08:00

Knowing we were coming to Hoi An, which is famous for its tailors, I had a big decision to make. Do I get a frock of the sort favoured by the Vietnamese party set?

Or perhaps a traditional Ao Dai, elegant yet sexy? Hmmm, lovely but hard to imagine being able to wear with my lifestyle.

In the end, I chose to have my dress copied in silk, and succumbed to the lure of silk tops and trousers. Martin, who had dissed the whole idea, got religion (so to speak), and started to imagine silk shirts made to measure, then ties and pocket squares in brocade, then, oh my goodness, you mean a suit of wool/cashmere blend is only $70? 'Well, I will need a new one when I get back and I hate shopping so why not get it here and now?' Then Jennifer Louise decided that having a suit might be a good idea, as there will be some sort of work required upon return home, and one that might warrant a vaguely professional appearance.

There are endless small tailoring outfits, each aggressively targeting travellers as they pass. Fabrics are much the same in each, as are general designs, although if you want something - anything - you can get it. It's mostly silks (Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai), suiting materials and cottons suitable for shirts, buyt there are a few rather garish cottons and polyesters too.

When you've decided upon the shop that feels right, you choose or draw your style of choice, choose (or bring in, or go online and point it out) you fabric of choice and discuss any other elements you'd like, then your measurements are taken and you are sent away, after being told to come back about 10 the next morning. You do, and your outfit is complete! Should any adjustments be needed you come back at about 7pm and there it is.

Shoes too - you can have anything made or copied - perhaps a Manolo knockoff with your own name stitched along the side? Or perhaps a pair of these babies - combat boots in Chinese silk brocade!

Of course we trust and hope we will see our purchases again, as we have consigned them to the Vietnamese postal service, not really wanting to carry around wool suits for the next few months.

Additon - If you are silly enough to order a high-waisted, slim fitting pencil skirt, it may need so many adjustments that you get a moto ride with the proprietess to the seamstresses' house to get it sorted out, then a moto trip back to eat lunch and wait for it to appear all complete - now that's service!

Days 14-15 Hue

2008-11-23T00:13:00.000-08:00

The overnight bus was surprisingly cosy, like being in a pod floating along the highway - or rather lurching, veering and honking as that is road travel Vietnamese style. We passed through the DMZ (demilitarized zone) which was full of odd little graveyards, big formal graveyards and monuments next to graveyards. Arrived in Hue (pronounced "hway") to our first rain of the trip. Set out to wander through the citadel, past its wide moat full of water lilies and golden fish, and the Imperial Palace, which is slowly being restored after bombing during the American War (as it's called here) and decay and neglect after. What's been restored is quite wonderful, with colourful tiles, bells and mosaics, and the ruins waiting for their turn are covered in vines and mould, with the drip drip of rain ever present. Hue gets a ton of rain, which makes the decay rather romantic.

There were virtually no others around, and one could imagine what it might have been like not too many decades ago.

We were in the right place at the right time to see a performance of traditional music and dance in costume (including a dragon dance that included the full mating cycle of two amourous reptiles complete with birth of a baby dragon), such as that enjoyed by the imperial family whose photos looked seriously down on us everywhere. We were ushered to the front row of the rather magnificant restored theatre, and ceremoniously given Imperial tea and biscuits, which comprised a sort of thick chewy bean curd surrounding a delicate rice cookie all wrapped beautifully in banana leaves. Exquisite and completely foreign to our palate.

We thought it was raining quite heavily during the day, but during the night it absolutely poured. It rattled on the roof in spasms all night and into the morning, whcne it cleared to a drizzle. Due to the pervading mist we decided against taking a ride on a dragon boat along the Perfume River (a misnomer if ever there was one!) and walked instead to the Tien Mu Pagopda, which our book says was 3km from the centre of town. Now we are pretty fair walkers, maybe 8 km an hour, and we walked a good hour and a half without finding the thing, as the weather just deteriorated to more hilarious proportions. In the end we silently cursed said Pagoda and trekked back in squishy feet. We'll just pretend it looked like any one of the Imperial palace gates:

days 12-13 - Hanoi

2008-11-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

At Hanoi's excellent Museum of Ethnology we were struck by the similarites between some of the 54 different ethnic groups in Vietnam to other native groups around the Pacific.

One hill tribe constructs houses similar to those seen in parts of the South Pacific, except these people build at height because they have elephants.

Another house design is likethose we found in Western Samoa, where each bulding acts as a separate room (a cooking house, an eating house, a sleeping house, etc.)

And there are artificats that remind us of BC's native groups, such as the woven baskets and clothing of the Coast Salish (here bamboo, there cedar) and the Kwakiutl. Even totem poles!

The museum outlines the four key elements: water, earth, air and rice - rice substituting for fire. It got us thinking - what would the four elements be for other nations? For Canada for instance - rain, snow, syrup and beer perhaps? Or for England: chips, beer, rain and lard?

We had to negotiate a taxi out, but decided on a rather unique hybrid cyclo/moto back. Maybe the fact that our disabled driver had on his helmet the images both of Che Guevara and Michael Schumacher inspired us. Being part of the trafiic is more exhilerating than just trying to walk across it.

On our last days in Hanoi we also saw the infamous Hoa Lo Prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton), now a museum, where political prisoners were kept by the French (brutally) and American prisoners were kept by the North Vietnamese (humanely), as well as Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and the flag tower. Excellent street food (our systems have proved worthy of such indugent risk), coffe in a lovely lakeside cafe, where a large tree branch fell with a whump about 10 feet away from where we were sitting. Would that count as our requisite South Asia near death experience? Hope so, cause that means it's now in the past.

Days 8-11 - Sapa and area

2008-11-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

Overnight train was a lovely old wooden affair, and we jogged along up to Lao Cai, arriving in mist and warm low cloud despite the elevation. A bus took us even higher to the mountain town of Sapa (elevation about 3,000 meters) where we were able to shower and eat before being met by our guide Chi, a member of the Black H'Mong people (there are 5 types of H'mong and many other groups in this area, all with distinctive clothing, village architecture and cultural customs. We were told to expect a trek of 5-8 kilometres, but 16 kilometres of up steep muddy trails and down sheer rocky tracks put us in a different mind set. Weather hot and sunny and air sharp and clear after Hanoi's humidity. Two other women joined us, Lam with her baby Nu and a young girl named Sasa. On the way they pointed out the plants they use to dye fabric (their textiles are all hand dyed and embroidered very elaborately, each design designating the family, the village and the people respectively), and those used for food, medicine and construction, as well as the animals of survival: water buffalo, goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, dogs, cats, roosters and many gorgeous butterflies - one almost black but with dark purple outlining its wings.

We refreshed ourselves by sucking on hunks of sugar cane before we eventually stopped for lunch in the village of Lao Chai. We were directed to a large hut on stilts over a fast moving river (there's water everywhere in Northern Vietnam - it is always in our ears rushing and gurgling and dripping along. How frustrating it must be for those who live with drought, like the Aussie travellers), along with many other travellers all directed by their respective local guides. Thankfully we are only the two of us and our three muses, as some groups are rather large. Chi brought us bread, cheese (don't get excited - it was la vache qui rit, the only dairy found in Vietnam I think), tomatoes, cucumbers (all peeled thankfully), and a plate of bacon which got envious looks from the French group beside us who got hard boiled eggs and oranges. It seems that whichever agency you book with sets the food, and maybe the guide has something to do with it too, as Martin remarked on every pig we saw along the way as potential dinner.

The second part of the day took us to the next village, Tavan, where we were set down at a house that was to be our home for the night. The beds are rock hard, covered with incredibly colourful and extremely heavy furry blankets and topped with a voluminous mosquito net. We were told to expect cold temperatures in the mountains over night, and it did certainly cool down to 5 or 6 degrees, bearable for us but absolute hell for the other two couples staying at the same place coming from balmy Australia and France. We played cards - the Vietnamese love to play games in general and cards in particular - drank big bottles of Tiger beer and wandered through the village, which seems to be typical for the area. Huts and a few larger and newer houses scattered along the tracks that wind along the mountainside, sharing space with rice fields, animal sheds and small cultivated gardens. And always at least one large school building that has entracne gates and shiny flags along its roof.

One side of the house is for sleeping, the middle room is for eating and relaxing together and for praying (many have little altars immediately opposite the main door so that the daylight hits the altar in the morning when the door is opened), and the other side is for cooking and washing up, with a fire in one corner and a square of cememt with a tap in the other. There is one table, several short stools and some plastic chairs for us foreigners, and the beds of course.

I think most travellers are expected to rest, buy the metalwork bracelets and embroidered bags from local ladies or drink beer or coffee in the makeshift cafe, but we wanted to hang out with the family, so we played cards, learning one game and teaching two others, to the amusement of one of the other guides, So, who was Miss Personality Plus. She and Martin hit it off and they teased each other mercilessly. So was not adverse to a bit of sly cheating at cards and Martin took delight in calling her on it which produced squeals of laughter and a quick barb back.

After awhile, three of us were invited to make spring rolls, (not sure why it was just us - was it because we were more fun or because it was thought we needed entertaining?). Squares of extremely fragile rice paper are rubbed with an onion, then a dollop of chopped cabbage, carrot, spring onion, mushroom, garlic and noodles is placed on one end, then the whole thing is carefully rolled up and fried. We watched the rest of our dinner being prepared and then sat down to an amazing array of fantastic food.

Then out came the rice wne. Every third world country seems to have its own homemade hooch and this lived up to the tradition. We all went walking under the moonlight from one house to another to "visit" (i.e., drink more hooch and play more card games). Other travellers seem to be left to their own devices but our gang of 6 was shuffled back and forth to neighbouring house parties.

Didn't sleep all that well as beds are right next to animal quarters, which housed one gorgeous rooster who thought dawn was imminent all night long. The room was made of woven bamboo walls, a cement floor, and a corrogated metal roof with lots to gaps throughout so it was a bit chilly. Ok, the hooch and beer didn't help either.

But the dawn dawned warm and sunny, and banana pancakes were placed in front of us, accompanied with honey, lime and sugar. Back on the road we trekked another 12 or so kilometres to two other viallages (Red Zoa people). After lunch we were put on motos (thankfully not the one loaded with live chickens) and driven back to Sapa. Despite a helmet that didn't fit, driving through mud, rocks, and a waterfall, passing trucks and vans with inches to spare, and having a driver distracted by a bug bite throughout the journey, it was so much fun!

Taken by our guides privately to the Green Bamboo nightclub that hosts ethnic night on Satrudays. Local people are not generally welcome (or else just not found) in most cafes and restaurants, but this place on this night produced local talent performing traditional music on traditional instruments (including a wailing song played on a leaf!) and dances, interrupted by bad Western pop music, black light, a glitter ball and the most uncomfortable wooden stools. We bought Chi and So mango juice to thank them for our trip, then retired for a proper sleep.Took a ride to Bac Ha village, which hosts a Sunday market that is a draw for local people (particularly the Flower H'mong whose outfits are particularly colourful). The ride was not the easiest as we followed old roads with suitcase sized potholes, and roads being (re?)constructed. At one point we had to stop and wait for trucks to remove a large amount of mud and stone that had fallen over the road in the night - we were on a particularly tight hairpin almost at the summit of a mountain so the view was spectacular if the prospect of being swept away by mud and rocks wasn't.

Loved the colour of the market, where horses and water buffalo, tobacco, clothing, housewares, meat fruit and vegetables were all bought and traded along with all sorts of the usual market paraphenalia found in markets the world over.

The ride back was much eaiser and we hung out in Lao Cai until out night train was ready. It's right on the Chinese border with a bridge division. We were told we could get a visa in an hour but then couldn't get back over the bridge. Our train was the other one, the not nearly as nice one, but we were so exhausted we actually slept (or at least rested) better than previously. Arrived back in Hanoi at 4:30 am, warm and humid, so walked it to the hostel where blearly staff were sweeping the floor and surreptiously watching Tom and Jerry cartoons that were being shown in the bar area. Another benefit of hostels - no curfew and no closing hours.

The Regularity Report Vol 3

2008-11-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

The theme of this report is "settling down"

Inputs:

Carbs: Bread, toast, rice, noodle soup, spring rolls
Meat: chicken stir fry, pork stir fry
Fish: Unknown vietnamese flatfish, squid, prawns
Fruit: pear marmalade, bananas, watermelon, persimmon
Veg: stir fried mixed veg, spinachy stuff, fried eggplant (for breakfast)
Dairy: butter
Drink: tea, water, coffee, peach juice, sugar cane juice, rice wine, coke, fanta

Frequency: ****
Density: ***
Gaseosity: ***
Wipeability: ***

The Marty Martini Toilet Review

Points gained for: sit down, flush, hygiene, space, ventilation, window, reading materials, privacy, low people/loo ratio

Points lost for: squat, hole in floor, filth, no space, no ventilation, no windows, no reading materials, no privacy, high people/loo ratio

Hollywood Bathroom: *****
Vancouver Airport: ****
Vietnam Airlines: **
Cathay Pacific Airlines: **
Hanoi Backpackers: ***
Halong Bay Junk: ***
Lao Chai Village: ***
Sapa Hotel: ****
Sleeper Train Hanoi-Lao Cai: *

Day 6-7 - Halong Bay

2008-11-16T16:50:00.000-08:00

We rented a classic junk to take us to see Halong Bay's amazing karst limestone islands that rise up from the water like teeth, then moor overnight among the islands under what was (within a day or so) a full moon. Sounds very adventurous and romantic......

...until you realize that we shared our boat with about 12 other travellers and our boat was one of 40-50!

Our group was typical (i.e., comprising those travelling for different reasons, different lengths of time and to different locations) that represented Spain, England, Germany, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand (as well as the great White North of course)

We spent the day touring the islands in fantastic warm sunshine, swimming at sunset, walking through grottos, then sleeping in our cabin on the lee side of the moon and located over the engine (not, alas, a Cooper Bessemer) which joined a chorus of about 50 other engines that emitted fumes all night long. Most UNESCO sites are perhaps a little more environmentally aware, but then this whole tourism thing is still fairly new to the country and the Vietnamese have embraced the short tour thing, with all sort of entrepreneurial touches (some more welcome than others - hawkers are particularly persistent although I was tempted with a small flashlight that produced the image of a buxom Vietnamese girl in a swimsuit on whatever you shone the light on!).

We were bemused to see that there were many litter bins throughout the largest caverns, inexplicably in the shape of penguins.

The next day we kayaked around the island, getting a closer look at the soaring carion birds, the masses of black and gold and blue buttelrfiles, and little altars placed here and there where the limstone has eroded away, but not enough to form a cave, as well as woven fishing coracles and huts on floats.

Very relaxing

Then sober reality hit on our way back to Hanoi when we witnessed two road accidents, both involving moto drivers. Yet another reminder to take each day.....

Regularity Report Vol 2

2008-11-11T03:59:00.000-08:00

Inputs: toast+marmalade, yoghourt, smoked salmon, baked beans, wieners, bacon, samosas, steamed pork and beef balls (all the previous was at one meal), coconut buns, more sausage buns, popcorn shrimp, veggie broth, bbq chicken, bbq pork, vietnam airlines beef n noodles, bread, pear jam, bananas, spring rolls, pumpkin soup, crab n corn soup, sweet n sour pork, rice, melon, pineapple, very old squished halloween chocolate (wunderbar and crispy crunch)

Qualititative Ratings out of *****

Frequency: ***** (maintaining the better than once a day average)

Density: started out **** (keep expecting this to get worse but no).

Gaseous Quotient: **** (ditto above)

Wipeability Quotient: **** seawhelks never kicked in (oh joy says Jennifer) - neither did my baked bean, dim sum and weiner breakfast from hong kong - whats with that?

day 5 - hanoi

2008-11-11T03:34:00.000-08:00

Ventured out into Hanoi streets on self-directed walking tour. This gives you an idea of what pedestrians face
Or better yet, have a gander at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC4BN9kInXg

You can tell our separate passions - while walking Jennifer said "ooh a bookstore!" and Martin said "ooh, barbequed chicken!" Checked out the water puppets, markets that specialized in bamboo ladders, lacquered tins, drums, games, silk, shoes, flags, tape, metal work, and of course food and flowers. The street corners are littered with people squatting on tiny plastic stools drinking beer or coffee from small glasses. Toy dogs (alert) and kittens (asleep) and roosters (atwitter) dot the little space there is between parked motos. Landmark day - Jenny's first squatter!

Tomorrow we are off to Halong Bay and then up trekking near Sapa, so will be in touch on our return.

day 4 Hong Kong to Hanoi

2008-11-11T00:31:00.000-08:00

Another uneventful flight - ho hum (hurrah). Hong Kong airport is a long weaving arch of glass and metal in the shape of a dragon (as seen from the air). Thankfully, our gate was one of the dragon's wings rather than the tail, so a slightly shorter walk. Arrived at sunset in Hanoi, light enough to see the results of one of the worst flooding in decades, fields of water and rivers overflowed their banks. Thankfully, Hanoi was dry, amazing that all that water was gone.

Hairaising ride from airport following a 1930s Indochine era Citroen and 5 million motos (motorbikes) all honking and weaving like an untrained set of geese in desperate migration. Checked into backpackers hostel - it's all that we remember: guys getting hammered on $1 vodka shots, girls giggling with a cold beer in one hand and a ciggie in the other - party central. Now this is living!

Found it!

2008-11-11T00:29:00.001-08:00

coming up in the world

2008-11-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

This bit is for our parents (and other concerned persons):

This is where we stayed the last time we were in Hong Kong:

And this is where we stayed this ti-----whoops, no it isn't! Sorry, we're doing well, but not that well! Maybe next time. (We did get tea there though)

This is really where we stayed (complete with a bowl of (decorative not dinner) turtles by the front door), so don't fret - we're doing very well

Regularity Report 1 Vol 1

2008-11-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Inputs: 1 airport pesto chicken wrap, old halloween chocolate bars, 2 airline meals (chicken and beef), fruit, cookies, dim sum, prawn balls, spring rolls, rice, prawns, crab, shrimp, beef curry, duck, bbq pork, bbq chicken, lamb chops, roast beef, horseradish sauce, mint jelly, tiramisu, white chocolate cake, sausage in a bun

Outputs: Ratings out of *****

Frequency: ***** (5 satisfying visits)

Density: started out ** now **** (think the Obama election night orgy of leftovers with Adrienne where fish cakes, cola, bugles (horrid canadian funnel shaped corn chips), twizzlers (horrid canadian cherry flavoured red liquorice ), reeses pieces (horrid US ultra sweet peanut butter and chocolate bonbons) were consumed had an effect).

'Wipe Just Once' Quotient: started out ** now ****

Overall satisfaction: **** no major colonic explosions but Jenny's waiting for my seawhelks to kick in

Day 3 Macau

2008-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Macau is a crazy mix of Vegas, Hong Kong and Portugal.

Grafted on to a bustle old school chinese city is a vegas style strip with a lot of vegas style hotels (Wynn, MGM, Sands, Venetian...) only much BIGGER. They were so huge I got vertigo just by looking up (and up).

To embrace all that was on offer we started with the buffet and slots in the Sands hotel (fantastic buffet - duck, pork, beef, lamb, chicken, prawns, crab and sea whelks). We then walked that off by hitting Macau old town and visiting a mass of churches that were more reminiscent of South America than Asia.

An hours hydrofoil ride back to hong kong got us home for our best nights sleep in several months.

Day 2

2008-11-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, Ok, so our trip is all about food. There's no point in pretending.

After our morning hotel room "tea ceremony", sitting on our window seat and looking out at the peek-a-boo harbour view that glimmered between vertical lines of glass and cement and eating fruit with our malaria pill, we set off in search of lunch.

The best dim sum in Hong Kong is in Maxim's Palace, a sumptuous red and gold chamber housing trolleys, set upstairs in the City Hall, overlooking the land reclaiming project and the harbour beyond. Not cheap, but oh my goodness good.

Dinner too was of great importance. I recently connected with an old high school girfriend, courtesy Google, who is a lawyer here. She invited us to dine at the China Club: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Club and ordered local food - vegetable broth, battered eggy prawns, roast chicken, pea shoots - all of which got cold rather quickly as catching up took over our attention. The place is owned by David Tang, who owns the fab fashion shop Shanghai Tang: http://www.shanghaitang.com/shanghaitang/ and he's done it up in all its Art Deco glory, library chairs with creamy white antimacassars, polished wood veneer doors and chrome lamps. David Tang's rather alternative artwork is everywhere, as are other pieces he feels adds the right wackiness - paintings, china, objets d'art.

Being on the top floors of the old Bank of China Building, the views are spectacular, and nightcaps can be had on a narrow balcony lit by the new Bank of China Building. Had but not enjoyed by those who have an aversion to heights (sorry Martin). I wanted to steal a menu, or a piece of the china with its retro red and gold star design, or a etched glass Russian style tea cup, but played good. Muriel's the one who has to answer to the membership committee!

Muriel and me

Ceramic fish bowl with body parts - hmmm

Day 1 (Nov 5/6) flying to Hong Kong

2008-11-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

The best kind of flight - uneventful! we left late and arrived at 11pm HK time.

Took the train and then a cab to the Lan Kwai Fong hotel http://www.lankwaifonghotel.com.hk/

For Hong Kong we are living it up as we did the whole backpacker dormitory/chungking mansion firetrap experience when we were here 20 years ago.

So for this weekend only it is air conditioning, privacy, own bathroom, fruit basket, fresh sheets, HK harbour views all the way.

Off to Airport

2008-11-05T09:31:00.000-08:00

We're just about set. Off to vancouver airport in an hour or so. Spent yesterday doing final chores, lunching with housesitters (Adrienne, Tracy and Pete), watching the US election (yay Obama) and eating up leftovers. Thanks for all the good wishes.

Packing Up and Goodbyes

2008-11-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

99% of the packing is done and we've managed to squeeze everything into the backpacks with a bit of room to spare. From the packing list you can see its mostly medical stuff, toiletries and useful things and not much clothing (sartorial splendour out the window).

Our focus today is cleaning up for housesitter Adrienne arriving tonight and making sure all will be fine with home and business while we are away.

We also start taking malaria pills tonight. fun fun fun

2008-11-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Please note that in the interests of propriety, Canada-Asia relations and sheer human decency I will ensure that underwear and socks are added to Martin's packing list as well as to the pack.

The Regularity Report

2008-10-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

For all of you fixated on my planned "street vendor" eating habits and subsequent digestive system health, there'll be a regular "Regularity Report" updating the inputs and outputs. Will anything beat my "braided intestine" experience in S.America? You have been forewarned.

For those of you who spotted that there seems to be no underwear on my packing list. I refer you to the above.

Keeping in touch

2008-10-26T16:00:00.001-07:00

When we are on the road we crave to know what is going on back home so let us know what's going on in your lives. Please add comments to the blog and/or email us at mbutler@thebutlers-associates.com or jbutler@thebutlers-associates.com

2008-10-26T15:57:00.001-07:00

While we are away we thought we'd keep in touch with everyone via this blog. When we can get to an internet cafe we'll provide updates of where we are, the fun stuff that is happening and whether we are regular.

We do not leave until November 5 but before then we want to get used to the whole blog thing so we'll be adding tidbits regarding the preparation

what we're packing

2008-10-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

Clothing:
Jenny: 1 skirt, 1 trousers, 1 dress, thermal leggings, 2 short-sleeved tops, 2 long-sleeved tops, silk cardigan, light wool sweater, pashmina, socks, knickers, bras, nightshirt
Martin: 2 shorts, 1 trousers, 1 rain pants, 2 tee-shirts, 2 short sleeved shirts, 1 long-sleeved shirt, 1 tie, night wear, Underwear And Socks!
Both: toques, gloves, trainers, sand shoes, flip flops, swimsuits, sarongs, silk robes, neckerchiefs, rain ponchos, sunhats

Toiletries:
Shampoo
Soap (also used as detergent), spot remover stick
Pegless cloths line
Universal plug (thank you Michelle)
Toothbrushes, floss, paste, retainer
Deodorant
Razor, blades, shaving oil
Q tips
Visine
Kleenex, wipes, towel tablets, sanitary hand gel
Lip balm, moisturiser
1 Eye/Lip makeup pencil, tampons, pads

Medical Kit:
Thermometer
Doxycin (Malaria tablets)
Antibiotic (Azithromycin)
Antiseptic (Bactine)
Gravol (non-drowsy - with ginger)
Gold bond foot power, moleskin, anti-blister stick
Vitamins, 4 Power Gels
Tums, Pepto Bismol
Ibupropen (anti-inflammatory)
Paracetamol (pain killer)
Antihistamine (Benadryl)
Antibacterial (Polysporin)
Hydocortisone cream, anti-bite stick
Bandages, gauze, wound closure strips, latex gloves
Cold remedy, throat lozenges, decongestant
Dental kit
Tiger balm
Ventalin puffer, ear drops

Other:
Mosquito net, 30% deet spray, mosquito coils, matches
Sunscreen (spf 30)
Tweezers, scissors, swiss army knives
sewing kit, safety pins
Nailclippers, emery board, mirror
Duct tape
Microfibre towels
Umbrellas
Water purifying drops, water bottle, collapsible cup
Ear plugs
Sunglasses, cleaning cloth
Alarm clock, watches, mini flashlight
Camera, spare batteries and memory cards
Binoculars
Inflatable pillow, seating pads, hostel sheets
Ziplock bags, bin liners
mini shopping bag (thank you Silvia)
Whistle, 2 bells (thank you Loy)
Theraband (thank you Janet)
Decks of cards, novel, notebook
Guide books, maps, notes
Business cards
Photos of family
Passports, visa photos, insurance
Photocopies of passport, tickets, credit cards and ATM card, prescriptions
Cash, money belts
Pins, pens and balloons (to give to children along the way)

and what we're packing it in....
Backpacks lined with chicken wire and duct tape (anti-slash design by jenny)
Cables and locks
Day packs