Sunday, September 26, 2010
Lombok
I spent 5 days in Kuta motorbiking around, eating chicken satay and nasi campur. it was very quiet there, which was a bit lonely, but it did mean i had pristine beaches to myself. the whole south coast is amazing. motorbiking in either direction from Kuta will take you to some of the nicest beaches i have seen on this trip. after 5 days of feeling like i had lombok to myself, i got bored and somehow ended up back on Gili Trawangan. i arrived yesterday and i plan to leave for Meno tomorrow. There, or Gili Air is where I will spend the remainder of my trip. I can't believe it's almost over... On the 2nd I'll be back in Kuta, Bali, on the 3rd I have an early morning flight to Singapore, and on the 4th at around noon I will be in Vancouver!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Bali and Lombok
We flew then taxi'd into Kuta, the tourist hub of Bali. It is a busy little town with tons of big clubs and a packed beach. Dave tried out the surf for a couple days while I lounged around with an injured toe that I had repeatedly scraped and stubbed for the previous 2 weeks until it became swollen and infected and extremely painful. We ate some really good pizza on more than one occasion (in fact, I think we had at least one pizza a day...)
4 days in Kuta was enough for us, then we rented scoots and scooted through some crazy traffic to Ubud. We stayed there for two nights at an upscale room with a good view of a rice field/duck pond. We ate some really good Nasi Campur (one of the main local dishes in Indonesia. rice, chicken, veggies). for just over two dollars we ate a big meal of this, with peanut sauce and tofu and crackers and veggies all presented beautifully! We doubled up and ordered a second round it was so good. We also perused the cool markets of Ubud where there are tons of items on many different levels (walk through wood carvings then head up some stairs to the masks then hop down a step to the spices and herbs and continue past all of the sarongs and fabrics all the while getting harassed by the sellers). The next day we left Ubud and headed back to Kuta, which took us much less time on the way back since we found the Bali equivalent of a highway.
We realized there were no rooms in Kuta (seriously, every single accommodation was full) so we bussed up to Padangbai on the east coast of Bali. The next day we caught various forms of transport to the Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan first). We spent a few days at this cool island. Snorkelling was really fun. You walk up the island then drift back down with the current. We also walked around the whole island in the dark (about 2 hours) while avoiding horse drawn carts ripping down the sandy roads. One night we indulged in a tuna steak (cooked perfectly) with all you can eat salad buffet. I satisfied one of my cravings with several rounds of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce.
The next day we caught a boat to Gili Air and spent two days chilling out in our beachfront resort. We both finished our books and decided it was time to do some exercise: Mt. Rinjani
We left Air and caught transport to Senaru, one of the bases for Rinjani treks. We read that you can do the trek independently and we intended to do this. When we got to Senaru, however, we found out that this is not possible. We had a few arguments with a few people over our false information (stupid lonely planet...) before agreeing to do a 3 day trek with guide and porters. I am really glad we did this because it would have been much more difficult on our own. The porters carried huge loads using bamboo poles with two baskets on either side (they rested the pole on their shoulders) We ate awesome meals of banana pancakes for breafast, copious amounts of tea at all times of the day, rice or noodle soup, chicken and veggies for lunch and dinner. The first day we hiked 5 hours up to near the crater rim (~2600m). It quickly got cold as the clouds rolled in and the sun went down. One miserable sleep then we woke up at 5 am to hike up to the rim for sunrise. The view was pretty cool but clouds kept rolling through the crater and obscuring the view. We hiked down 600m to the lake and a bunch of people went swimming! The landscape reminded Dave and I of Canada as there were lots of pine trees. We walked around one side of the lake and headed to the hot springs! We walked along the springs which were too hot at the source to a waterfall where the water cascaded into a pool. It was amazing sitting under the hotwaterfall! I wish I could post pictures but uploading is extremely slow here. After we got our hot water on we climbed up 700m to the camp below the summit. The going was rough especially as I had an upset stomach. The climbing seemed to last forever and reminded me of lord of the rings. The fog was so thick that you could only see a short way in front and behind, so it created the feeling of a never-ending climb in some sort of purgatory. We finally made it to camp and were greeted by a bunch of macaques(they occupy all camps on the mountain). We went to bed at 6 pm and woke up at 230 am for the summit attempt. We left at 3 am and made our way up 1000m to the peak in the dark. It was tough going up as you would take two steps up and one step back due to the loose volcanic sand. After 2 and a half hours battling muscle pain, darkness and freezing winds we made it to the top! Dave, Alain and I were the first ones to the top! We had the peak to ourselves for 5 minutes as we watched the sun come up. The views from the peak were amazing. To the east the sun was rising and casting light over the green foothills to the north. Looking to the south made you feel on top of the world as it was completely cloud covered. To the west was the crater where you could see the lake and the mini volcano in the center of the crater. An amazing shadow was cast on the clouds to the west that looked like a volcano! You could also make out the Gili Islands in the distance. We stayed up for as long as we could (~20 minutes) and then headed down. As the sun got higher it got a lot warmer and we took our time sliding down the mountain to camp, enjoying the amazing view. Breakfast at camp then we headed down through pine trees, grasslands and rainforest. We took a minivan back to Senaru (we ended up in another village) and then to Sengigi where we are now.
One more day here then Dave heads to Nepal and I head south to Kuta, Lombok.
4 days in Kuta was enough for us, then we rented scoots and scooted through some crazy traffic to Ubud. We stayed there for two nights at an upscale room with a good view of a rice field/duck pond. We ate some really good Nasi Campur (one of the main local dishes in Indonesia. rice, chicken, veggies). for just over two dollars we ate a big meal of this, with peanut sauce and tofu and crackers and veggies all presented beautifully! We doubled up and ordered a second round it was so good. We also perused the cool markets of Ubud where there are tons of items on many different levels (walk through wood carvings then head up some stairs to the masks then hop down a step to the spices and herbs and continue past all of the sarongs and fabrics all the while getting harassed by the sellers). The next day we left Ubud and headed back to Kuta, which took us much less time on the way back since we found the Bali equivalent of a highway.
We realized there were no rooms in Kuta (seriously, every single accommodation was full) so we bussed up to Padangbai on the east coast of Bali. The next day we caught various forms of transport to the Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan first). We spent a few days at this cool island. Snorkelling was really fun. You walk up the island then drift back down with the current. We also walked around the whole island in the dark (about 2 hours) while avoiding horse drawn carts ripping down the sandy roads. One night we indulged in a tuna steak (cooked perfectly) with all you can eat salad buffet. I satisfied one of my cravings with several rounds of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce.
The next day we caught a boat to Gili Air and spent two days chilling out in our beachfront resort. We both finished our books and decided it was time to do some exercise: Mt. Rinjani
We left Air and caught transport to Senaru, one of the bases for Rinjani treks. We read that you can do the trek independently and we intended to do this. When we got to Senaru, however, we found out that this is not possible. We had a few arguments with a few people over our false information (stupid lonely planet...) before agreeing to do a 3 day trek with guide and porters. I am really glad we did this because it would have been much more difficult on our own. The porters carried huge loads using bamboo poles with two baskets on either side (they rested the pole on their shoulders) We ate awesome meals of banana pancakes for breafast, copious amounts of tea at all times of the day, rice or noodle soup, chicken and veggies for lunch and dinner. The first day we hiked 5 hours up to near the crater rim (~2600m). It quickly got cold as the clouds rolled in and the sun went down. One miserable sleep then we woke up at 5 am to hike up to the rim for sunrise. The view was pretty cool but clouds kept rolling through the crater and obscuring the view. We hiked down 600m to the lake and a bunch of people went swimming! The landscape reminded Dave and I of Canada as there were lots of pine trees. We walked around one side of the lake and headed to the hot springs! We walked along the springs which were too hot at the source to a waterfall where the water cascaded into a pool. It was amazing sitting under the hotwaterfall! I wish I could post pictures but uploading is extremely slow here. After we got our hot water on we climbed up 700m to the camp below the summit. The going was rough especially as I had an upset stomach. The climbing seemed to last forever and reminded me of lord of the rings. The fog was so thick that you could only see a short way in front and behind, so it created the feeling of a never-ending climb in some sort of purgatory. We finally made it to camp and were greeted by a bunch of macaques(they occupy all camps on the mountain). We went to bed at 6 pm and woke up at 230 am for the summit attempt. We left at 3 am and made our way up 1000m to the peak in the dark. It was tough going up as you would take two steps up and one step back due to the loose volcanic sand. After 2 and a half hours battling muscle pain, darkness and freezing winds we made it to the top! Dave, Alain and I were the first ones to the top! We had the peak to ourselves for 5 minutes as we watched the sun come up. The views from the peak were amazing. To the east the sun was rising and casting light over the green foothills to the north. Looking to the south made you feel on top of the world as it was completely cloud covered. To the west was the crater where you could see the lake and the mini volcano in the center of the crater. An amazing shadow was cast on the clouds to the west that looked like a volcano! You could also make out the Gili Islands in the distance. We stayed up for as long as we could (~20 minutes) and then headed down. As the sun got higher it got a lot warmer and we took our time sliding down the mountain to camp, enjoying the amazing view. Breakfast at camp then we headed down through pine trees, grasslands and rainforest. We took a minivan back to Senaru (we ended up in another village) and then to Sengigi where we are now.
One more day here then Dave heads to Nepal and I head south to Kuta, Lombok.
Singapore
Stopover in Singapore was interesting. Hands down the cleanest city I have ever been to. Singapore also has some pretty interesting architecture. We started our day out by napping (since we didn't get much sleep on the train over) and then went to see an awesome movie (Inception). We walked around town, ate some food and got rejected more than once at the casino (for having flip flops, then not bringing our passport). Next day Dave and I left Paul for another 2 in Singapore and flew to Bali!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Malaysia: Georgetown, Cameron Highlands, Perhentian Islands, Kuala Lumpur
A long bus ride from Krabi brought us to Georgetown, a smallish city on the island of Penang. We spent a couple days here wandering the streets, walking through little india and drinking extremely pricey beers in Chinatown. Malaysia has the most expensive alcohol that we have found so far (three times more expensive than Thailand).
Our next stop in Malaysia was the refreshing cool Cameron Highlands. We welcomed the cool, fresh air and we were actually cold for the first time on the trip (other than on an overly A/C'd bus). We did a tour of strawberry farms (we had the best strawberry shakes we have ever had), insect zoos (I held three giant scorpions on my arm at once!), honey farms, rose gardens and tea plantations.
Across the country to the east coast is the Perhentian Islands. We stayed on the small island at an isolated beach only accessible by boat (and a footpath to the other side of the island). Huge Monitor Lizards roamed in front of our room and chilled below our deck. The beach was a minute from our room and the water was crystal clear. We did another snorkelling tour and saw sharks, giant sea turtles and a school of fish that must have numbered in the thousands. At the center of the school you could look in any direction and only see fish. It was fun diving down through the school and watching the fish react as if they were one entity. A full day of snorkelling tired us out and we spent the rest of the day drinking M&M peanut shakes and eating food.
We are now in KL (Kuala Lumpur) and spent the entire day yesterday walking around the city. We paid to go up a 421m tall telecommunications tower that has an observation deck with an amazing view of the city. Included in the tower visit was a mini-zoo experience. We saw raccoons, pizotes, monkeys and held a huge snake, a cockatoo and a parrot at the same time. We then walked over to the Petronas Towers (the famous twin towers of KL) and checked out the mall at the base. Tonight we are catching a train to Singapore. We will arrive tomorrow morning, on the 5th. Dave and I fly to Bali on the 6th and Paul flies back to Vancouver on the 8th! I am suuuuuuper stoked for Bali and Lombok! I will spend a full month there before I fly back to Vancouver. Dave is thinking that he will leave for Nepal mid-September!
Our next stop in Malaysia was the refreshing cool Cameron Highlands. We welcomed the cool, fresh air and we were actually cold for the first time on the trip (other than on an overly A/C'd bus). We did a tour of strawberry farms (we had the best strawberry shakes we have ever had), insect zoos (I held three giant scorpions on my arm at once!), honey farms, rose gardens and tea plantations.
Across the country to the east coast is the Perhentian Islands. We stayed on the small island at an isolated beach only accessible by boat (and a footpath to the other side of the island). Huge Monitor Lizards roamed in front of our room and chilled below our deck. The beach was a minute from our room and the water was crystal clear. We did another snorkelling tour and saw sharks, giant sea turtles and a school of fish that must have numbered in the thousands. At the center of the school you could look in any direction and only see fish. It was fun diving down through the school and watching the fish react as if they were one entity. A full day of snorkelling tired us out and we spent the rest of the day drinking M&M peanut shakes and eating food.
We are now in KL (Kuala Lumpur) and spent the entire day yesterday walking around the city. We paid to go up a 421m tall telecommunications tower that has an observation deck with an amazing view of the city. Included in the tower visit was a mini-zoo experience. We saw raccoons, pizotes, monkeys and held a huge snake, a cockatoo and a parrot at the same time. We then walked over to the Petronas Towers (the famous twin towers of KL) and checked out the mall at the base. Tonight we are catching a train to Singapore. We will arrive tomorrow morning, on the 5th. Dave and I fly to Bali on the 6th and Paul flies back to Vancouver on the 8th! I am suuuuuuper stoked for Bali and Lombok! I will spend a full month there before I fly back to Vancouver. Dave is thinking that he will leave for Nepal mid-September!
Southern Thailand: Khao Sok, Phuket, Phi Phi, Krabi
Partying on Ko Phangan was amazing but it was time to recover and move on. We made it to the mainland then caught a minibus to Khao Sok National Park. We arrived late at night and an owner of a hotel insisted we stay with him. We got a good price (one of the cheapest places in southern Thailand) for two rooms up in a tree. The 'hotel' was surrounded by jungle and the sketchily built rooms had a constant swaying motion to them. The next morning I woke up and found a giant green bug clinging onto my toilet. It looked dangerous at first but it was actually quite friendly and we became good friends. We spent the day walking several kilometers through the park on a marked road. There were supposed to be a bunch of waterfalls, but they turned out to be nothing more than rapids...
The next day we made our way down to Phuket with the intention of surfing. We arrived at Kata beach and found that the whole place was extremely developed, overpriced and meant for old single guys looking for Thai girls. We searched around for a good hour for 'Lucky Guesthouse' which was in our guidebook and a lot of people knew about. We followed people's directions but we ended up walking in circles. We did find it but decided to stay at another place that was a lot nicer for slightly more money. We got an A/C'd room with high ceilings, Wifi and lots of floorspace for a decent price. We made it down to the beach and found that the waves weren't very good for surfing, but they were better than nothing. We swam out, bodysurfed and tumbled around in the waves. We came back later that night and went swimming again. We could see a dark island in the distance and used it to determine if a big wave was coming (if it ducked out of site, we knew there was one incoming). We were conscious of the riptides and didn't have any problems staying in chest deep water.
Our next destination was Ko Phi Phi, a cool little island off the west coast of Thailand. We got off the boat and were guided through narrow, disorganized streets to our guesthouse. We got a nice patio with a good view of a man made lake. We spent most of our time here wandering the streets checking out souvenir stalls, eating crepes (sugar and lime is my favourite), buying beer from 7-11 and partying on the beach. The scene was good and we had tons of fun wandering through the beachfront bars. One day we joined a snorkelling tour that took us to the smaller Phi Phi island (there is two, we stayed on the bigger one). The smaller one is much nicer and was the main shooting location for the movie 'The Beach'. Huge limestone cliffs line the shores of the island and gorgeous, secluded white sand beaches occupy hidden coves. We got dumped at one side of the island and swam over to a staircase, made our way over some rocks, ran through the jungle and popped out at an amazing beach (The Beach). It was raining and slightly cold so we ran into the water where it was much warmer. After some time we made our way back to the drop off point and snorkelled with aggressive fish and bright coral. We stopped off at a few more places on the way back and saw a wide range of creatures including Lion Fish and a weird squid-like/cow thing that grazed the ocean floor.
We left for Krabi, our last destination in Thailand and realized that there is nothing to do in Krabi. We day tripped to Ao Nang, a touristy beach town nearby where we should have been staying and then left for Malaysia!
The next day we made our way down to Phuket with the intention of surfing. We arrived at Kata beach and found that the whole place was extremely developed, overpriced and meant for old single guys looking for Thai girls. We searched around for a good hour for 'Lucky Guesthouse' which was in our guidebook and a lot of people knew about. We followed people's directions but we ended up walking in circles. We did find it but decided to stay at another place that was a lot nicer for slightly more money. We got an A/C'd room with high ceilings, Wifi and lots of floorspace for a decent price. We made it down to the beach and found that the waves weren't very good for surfing, but they were better than nothing. We swam out, bodysurfed and tumbled around in the waves. We came back later that night and went swimming again. We could see a dark island in the distance and used it to determine if a big wave was coming (if it ducked out of site, we knew there was one incoming). We were conscious of the riptides and didn't have any problems staying in chest deep water.
Our next destination was Ko Phi Phi, a cool little island off the west coast of Thailand. We got off the boat and were guided through narrow, disorganized streets to our guesthouse. We got a nice patio with a good view of a man made lake. We spent most of our time here wandering the streets checking out souvenir stalls, eating crepes (sugar and lime is my favourite), buying beer from 7-11 and partying on the beach. The scene was good and we had tons of fun wandering through the beachfront bars. One day we joined a snorkelling tour that took us to the smaller Phi Phi island (there is two, we stayed on the bigger one). The smaller one is much nicer and was the main shooting location for the movie 'The Beach'. Huge limestone cliffs line the shores of the island and gorgeous, secluded white sand beaches occupy hidden coves. We got dumped at one side of the island and swam over to a staircase, made our way over some rocks, ran through the jungle and popped out at an amazing beach (The Beach). It was raining and slightly cold so we ran into the water where it was much warmer. After some time we made our way back to the drop off point and snorkelled with aggressive fish and bright coral. We stopped off at a few more places on the way back and saw a wide range of creatures including Lion Fish and a weird squid-like/cow thing that grazed the ocean floor.
We left for Krabi, our last destination in Thailand and realized that there is nothing to do in Krabi. We day tripped to Ao Nang, a touristy beach town nearby where we should have been staying and then left for Malaysia!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Koh Tao, Koh Phangan
So my 'sun stroke' turned out to be 'Dengue Fever' and I was down and out for a solid 5 days. Thus, I have nothing to say about Ko Tao, other than it sucked for me. Before I realized it was Dengue I loaded up on fever reducers and joined Dave and Paul on a snorkelling trip. It was pretty cool: lots of fish, coral and Paul and I saw a shark! Paul and Dave also took a diving lesson, which they said was pretty saweet.
After a few days on Koh Tao we headed one island south to Koh Phangan. As we got off the boat, we were convinced to stay at this one nice looking bungalow, but it turned out to be out of the way of everything and surrounded by hooker bars. We had a hard time walking out of the resort because we would get harassed by Thai women. One day later we checked out the Black Moon party, which was fun, but it was my first day feeling better so I took it pretty easy.
After the party we headed up to the north of the island via tuk tuk, then caught a boat to a remote paradise, Bottle Beach. It was nice to get away from all the tourists and 7-11s. We spent 3 days there just hanging out on the beach, at the restaurant and on our bungalow's porch. We were just off the beach and our bungalow was surrounded by cool rocks, palm trees and red ant trains.
We reluctantly left Bottle Beach and made our way to Haad Rin, the party beach where the full moon party is held. We are staying at Coral Bungalows, a 15 minute walk from the main beach. We met 4 French Canadian girls and we have been partying with them for the last couple nights. Two nights ago we went to the main beach and had a crazy night. Paul innocently took a dip in a pool and got punched in the back of the head by an angry Thai dude. I told Paul to apologize and we quickly got out of there. We watched locals twirling sticks of fire (it's the thing to do here) and then made our way back to our place. The following night (last night) was a "world famous pool party" at our bungalows. We all had a great time partying it up, chicken fighting in the pool, trying to dance in the pool, and other pool related activities including swimming.
Tonight is the half moon party in the jungle! I'm acited
After a few days on Koh Tao we headed one island south to Koh Phangan. As we got off the boat, we were convinced to stay at this one nice looking bungalow, but it turned out to be out of the way of everything and surrounded by hooker bars. We had a hard time walking out of the resort because we would get harassed by Thai women. One day later we checked out the Black Moon party, which was fun, but it was my first day feeling better so I took it pretty easy.
After the party we headed up to the north of the island via tuk tuk, then caught a boat to a remote paradise, Bottle Beach. It was nice to get away from all the tourists and 7-11s. We spent 3 days there just hanging out on the beach, at the restaurant and on our bungalow's porch. We were just off the beach and our bungalow was surrounded by cool rocks, palm trees and red ant trains.
We reluctantly left Bottle Beach and made our way to Haad Rin, the party beach where the full moon party is held. We are staying at Coral Bungalows, a 15 minute walk from the main beach. We met 4 French Canadian girls and we have been partying with them for the last couple nights. Two nights ago we went to the main beach and had a crazy night. Paul innocently took a dip in a pool and got punched in the back of the head by an angry Thai dude. I told Paul to apologize and we quickly got out of there. We watched locals twirling sticks of fire (it's the thing to do here) and then made our way back to our place. The following night (last night) was a "world famous pool party" at our bungalows. We all had a great time partying it up, chicken fighting in the pool, trying to dance in the pool, and other pool related activities including swimming.
Tonight is the half moon party in the jungle! I'm acited
Friday, August 6, 2010
Bangkok
Just kidding, Paul arrived on time. We taxi'd back to Khao San Rd and found some accommodation. Dave wasn't feeling well so Paul and I left for some afternoon beers and shopping. We sampled a few different types of Thai beer (Singha, Chang, Leo) then bought t-shirts. Paul picked up a Singha shirt while I got a Chang shirt and Beerlao (which I forgot to buy in Laos). The whole day was spent wandering Khao San and Rambuttri streets. At night we met up with Dave and went for sushi!
The next day Dave went to the hospital to pick up some medication while Paul and I checked out the Royal Palace and the Reclining Buddha. We ran into Neil, one of our friends from North Van, and spent most of the day with him. We booked a bus to Koh Tao and took it at 8pm. The cold bus took us to Champohn for 4am, then we caught a 7am boat to Koh Tao. We arrived yesterday and wandered the beach. Unfortunately I succumbed to the sun and came down with some heat stroke. I was feverish last night and this morning. Dave and Paul took a 'discover scuba' dive this afternoon while I sat this one out.
The next day Dave went to the hospital to pick up some medication while Paul and I checked out the Royal Palace and the Reclining Buddha. We ran into Neil, one of our friends from North Van, and spent most of the day with him. We booked a bus to Koh Tao and took it at 8pm. The cold bus took us to Champohn for 4am, then we caught a 7am boat to Koh Tao. We arrived yesterday and wandered the beach. Unfortunately I succumbed to the sun and came down with some heat stroke. I was feverish last night and this morning. Dave and Paul took a 'discover scuba' dive this afternoon while I sat this one out.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Pai
Pai was as awesome as Dave had described. The food was amazing and there was tons of variations of eats. Street stalls offered chicken, pad thai, crepes while restaurants provided western and local food. Our place was right next to "Mama Falafel" and we ate some falafels and hummus on more than one occasion. We rented motorbikes for just over 2 bucks a day and toured the country side, visiting waterfalls and trekking up rivers. After 3 days Dave came out of hiding and we finally met up (he had been in Chiang Mai watching a fight, then he came down with a nasty flu type thingy). Alan left for Bangkok where he had a flight to France to catch and Dave and I continued the life of Pai. Another three days of eating, motorbiking, swimming and hiking and we caught a bus to Chiang Mai, then an overnight train to Bangkok where we were supposed to meet Paul...
to be continued...
to be continued...
Luang Namtha
After our day of rest, sweet and sour chicken and sticky rice with soy sauce/chillis, we started our trek. The day began with a shopping spree to obtain food for the trek, pots for cooking, and mosquito nets. We met up with two funny French guys, Alan from Canada, an Irish girl and a Bermudan girl. We minivan'd our way to a bunch of local villages and peeped the local culture. Kids played between bamboo houses and a few of them had pet birds. The locals were just as interested looking at us as we were at them. They also had a grove of rubber trees and were harvesting rubber to ship to China.
After the village tours we started our trek into the jungle. We walked up and down for an hour then stopped for lunch. Vegetables, sticky rice, bamboo shoots and sweet chili and tofu sauce. We continued on after lunch across hills overlooking rice fields, through tall grasses and bamboo forests. After a couple hours we began descending a steep slope to a river. Luckily it wasn't raining so the mud wasn't too slippery. We crossed the river and climbed a couple minutes up to our jungle camp. We spent the rest of the day hanging out on benches and combating mosquitos. We played drinking games with Lao Lao and I began to start losing. This was bad news because the games got progressively harder with more and more Lao Lao, so it was a vicious cycle. The guides kept on saying "Alek more lao lao!!"
The following day was a long 7 hour trek in the rain. The guides were very helpful and gave us hands wherever it was slippery. Every time one of them offered me their hand they would say "lao lao, Alek!". The jungle was amazingly dense and lush. We all got completely soaked and the mud turned into a slip n slide. The guides had fashioned us all walking sticks the day before, and they were completely necessary to stabilize oneself and stop from slipping down the hill. The trek involved climbing up steep slopes and slipping down for the whole 7 hours. I am not sure which was more difficult, up or down. All in all, it was an awesome experience. I wish I could have taken photos of the giant banana trees with huge fronds and the bamboo forests, but it was too wet to risk pulling out my camera. We made it back, soaked, to the road and tuk tuk'd back to civilization.
The following day, the Frenchies, Alan and I headed into Thailand while Elizabeth went down to Vientiane. We made it to Chiang Rai, spent the night there, then another night in Chiang Mai, then Alan and I headed up to Pai. We basically just made a run for Pai, which is apparently a really cool town and was where Dave had been kickboxing for the last 4 weeks.
After the village tours we started our trek into the jungle. We walked up and down for an hour then stopped for lunch. Vegetables, sticky rice, bamboo shoots and sweet chili and tofu sauce. We continued on after lunch across hills overlooking rice fields, through tall grasses and bamboo forests. After a couple hours we began descending a steep slope to a river. Luckily it wasn't raining so the mud wasn't too slippery. We crossed the river and climbed a couple minutes up to our jungle camp. We spent the rest of the day hanging out on benches and combating mosquitos. We played drinking games with Lao Lao and I began to start losing. This was bad news because the games got progressively harder with more and more Lao Lao, so it was a vicious cycle. The guides kept on saying "Alek more lao lao!!"
The following day was a long 7 hour trek in the rain. The guides were very helpful and gave us hands wherever it was slippery. Every time one of them offered me their hand they would say "lao lao, Alek!". The jungle was amazingly dense and lush. We all got completely soaked and the mud turned into a slip n slide. The guides had fashioned us all walking sticks the day before, and they were completely necessary to stabilize oneself and stop from slipping down the hill. The trek involved climbing up steep slopes and slipping down for the whole 7 hours. I am not sure which was more difficult, up or down. All in all, it was an awesome experience. I wish I could have taken photos of the giant banana trees with huge fronds and the bamboo forests, but it was too wet to risk pulling out my camera. We made it back, soaked, to the road and tuk tuk'd back to civilization.
The following day, the Frenchies, Alan and I headed into Thailand while Elizabeth went down to Vientiane. We made it to Chiang Rai, spent the night there, then another night in Chiang Mai, then Alan and I headed up to Pai. We basically just made a run for Pai, which is apparently a really cool town and was where Dave had been kickboxing for the last 4 weeks.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Nong Kiau and Muang Ngoi
One bumpy minibus ride later and I arrived in Nong Kiau. I walked across the bridge to the tourist side of town and gazed up at the towering mountains all around. I chose the first set of cabanas on my left and got my own little bungalow with a wicked view of the river and mountains. Sitting on minibuses all day is hard work, so I spent the rest of the day lounging in the hammock and napping, resetting my stupid fan that only remained on for a maximum of one hour due to a mandatory timer. I got up around sunset and walked along the bridge, taking awesome photos of the yellow light being cast on the town and mountains. You can see my place in the picture with the golden glow on the cabanas (it is the last one from the end of huts being bathed in light and heat).
The next morning I slept in as late as I could (9) and made my way to breakfast. There I met two awesome American girls, Elizabeth from Iowa and Christina from Arizona. They invited me on a fishing and tubing adventure that they had just decided to do. After food we walked down to the river and took turns getting ferried up the river to a small beach (the skinny boat was too small for us 3 and 2 locals to go at once). At the beach, the guys tried to teach us how to fish with a weighted circular net. You need to pick it up systematically and grab the proper area of the net with the correct hand so that when you throw it, it spins and forms a circular area. The weights around the net pull the sides down quickly and fish become trapped. We only managed to catch a few tiny fish using this technique, so we got in the boat and they taught us how the big boys fish. A long wall-like net is cast in an area and a bamboo pole is used to slap the water and scare fish into the net. The first time yielded a few larger (but still small) fish and the second time resulted in about 15 fish a few inches in length. We pushed the boat back to the beach using the pole and a fire was started. While we waited we took turns taking shots of lao lao (rice whisky) that had been soaked with limes and herbs for 2 weeks. It was the best lao lao i had tasted and we all got slightly buzzed off it. The fish were cooked and set down on leaves, as well as eggs, sticky rice and some sauces and spices. We tossed the crunchy fish into our mouths whole or in 2 or 3 bites, dipped our sticky rice into spicy chili paste and salted up the eggs.
After the food had digested we got in our tubes and slowly made our way back down the nam au river to nong kiau. The boat ride up was only 15 minutes but it took us 2 hours to tube back down the gentle river. We kept meaning to shower but we never got around to it and spent the night drinking beerlao and playing cards at the Indian restaurant. The next few days were spent similarly, drinking beerlao, playing cards and eating at the Indian restaurant. We gave the Indian owner so much business but for some reason he hated us. He rolled his eyes everytime we ordered beerlao and grumpily took our food orders. This didn't hold us back though. The food was so good and we kept coming back. One day I ate way too much (two full meals in a few hours as well as several beerlao) and exploded when I got back to my room. One of the days we were active enough to rent bikes and check out the cave just out of town. We tried to go on a rock climbing tour but the guide wasn't available for another week. So most of our time in nong kiau was spent chilling and being lazy... It was nice.
We headed an hour up the river to muang ngoi and spent two nights there. We planned to go trekking but the day after we got there it poured rain all day. We were invited into a home just after a late breakfast and shared Lao Lao with a family and their friends, as well as with frank and Claudia, a german and a French who we met that day. The locals kept saying that it was raining and the only thing to do was drink Lao Lao. We happily agreed at first, then reluctantly agreed after a few hours of this. The girls managed to escape and nap, but frank and I stayed there the whole day getting plastered. After some time one of the guys busted out buffalo skin, and we all tried chewing on that. I didn't like it but everyone else did. We stumbled back to our rooms and napped until dinner. The town only has electricity from 7 to 1030, and we ended up having dinner by candlelight.
The next day we headed back to nong kiau for a day of Indian food, cards and beer. A few people (Elizabeth and Christina included) got soaked on the boat ride back to nong kiau. The boat was overfilled with heavy white people and water kept splashing up over the sides.
The day after that (yesterday from the time of writing this) Christina left on her way to Bangkok while Elizabeth and I headed north to luang namtha. Our minibus got stuck on a slippery dirt road and dozens of locals pushed our minibus up the slope for a small fee. 8 hours later and we had made it to luang namtha with only 2 plums in our stomachs since breakfast.
Today we lounged in our room and around town, and tomorrow we are going on a 2 day jungle trek with 7 other people!
After that I am going to head into Thailand and make my way to chiang mai or chiang rai while Elizabeth will head to Vientiane to get her Thai visa sorted out.
The next morning I slept in as late as I could (9) and made my way to breakfast. There I met two awesome American girls, Elizabeth from Iowa and Christina from Arizona. They invited me on a fishing and tubing adventure that they had just decided to do. After food we walked down to the river and took turns getting ferried up the river to a small beach (the skinny boat was too small for us 3 and 2 locals to go at once). At the beach, the guys tried to teach us how to fish with a weighted circular net. You need to pick it up systematically and grab the proper area of the net with the correct hand so that when you throw it, it spins and forms a circular area. The weights around the net pull the sides down quickly and fish become trapped. We only managed to catch a few tiny fish using this technique, so we got in the boat and they taught us how the big boys fish. A long wall-like net is cast in an area and a bamboo pole is used to slap the water and scare fish into the net. The first time yielded a few larger (but still small) fish and the second time resulted in about 15 fish a few inches in length. We pushed the boat back to the beach using the pole and a fire was started. While we waited we took turns taking shots of lao lao (rice whisky) that had been soaked with limes and herbs for 2 weeks. It was the best lao lao i had tasted and we all got slightly buzzed off it. The fish were cooked and set down on leaves, as well as eggs, sticky rice and some sauces and spices. We tossed the crunchy fish into our mouths whole or in 2 or 3 bites, dipped our sticky rice into spicy chili paste and salted up the eggs.
After the food had digested we got in our tubes and slowly made our way back down the nam au river to nong kiau. The boat ride up was only 15 minutes but it took us 2 hours to tube back down the gentle river. We kept meaning to shower but we never got around to it and spent the night drinking beerlao and playing cards at the Indian restaurant. The next few days were spent similarly, drinking beerlao, playing cards and eating at the Indian restaurant. We gave the Indian owner so much business but for some reason he hated us. He rolled his eyes everytime we ordered beerlao and grumpily took our food orders. This didn't hold us back though. The food was so good and we kept coming back. One day I ate way too much (two full meals in a few hours as well as several beerlao) and exploded when I got back to my room. One of the days we were active enough to rent bikes and check out the cave just out of town. We tried to go on a rock climbing tour but the guide wasn't available for another week. So most of our time in nong kiau was spent chilling and being lazy... It was nice.
We headed an hour up the river to muang ngoi and spent two nights there. We planned to go trekking but the day after we got there it poured rain all day. We were invited into a home just after a late breakfast and shared Lao Lao with a family and their friends, as well as with frank and Claudia, a german and a French who we met that day. The locals kept saying that it was raining and the only thing to do was drink Lao Lao. We happily agreed at first, then reluctantly agreed after a few hours of this. The girls managed to escape and nap, but frank and I stayed there the whole day getting plastered. After some time one of the guys busted out buffalo skin, and we all tried chewing on that. I didn't like it but everyone else did. We stumbled back to our rooms and napped until dinner. The town only has electricity from 7 to 1030, and we ended up having dinner by candlelight.
The next day we headed back to nong kiau for a day of Indian food, cards and beer. A few people (Elizabeth and Christina included) got soaked on the boat ride back to nong kiau. The boat was overfilled with heavy white people and water kept splashing up over the sides.
The day after that (yesterday from the time of writing this) Christina left on her way to Bangkok while Elizabeth and I headed north to luang namtha. Our minibus got stuck on a slippery dirt road and dozens of locals pushed our minibus up the slope for a small fee. 8 hours later and we had made it to luang namtha with only 2 plums in our stomachs since breakfast.
Today we lounged in our room and around town, and tomorrow we are going on a 2 day jungle trek with 7 other people!
After that I am going to head into Thailand and make my way to chiang mai or chiang rai while Elizabeth will head to Vientiane to get her Thai visa sorted out.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
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