Grandmother and Grandfather rock, Lamai Beach, Koh Samui

Tee hee hee hee ...

From Thailand Phot...

From Thailand Phot...

Our Koh Phan Ngan Beach Hut

Arriving at our beach hut on Koh Phan Ngan we were in for a pleasant surprise. Just look at this ... it's right on the beach!!!

From Thailand Phot...

As the full moon party approaches the the guest house is getting busier and busier, although the area still seems quiet - There's loads of bars around with nobody in them near our guesthouse. The only busy place seems to be Hat Rin (where the full moon party will be on).

The Beach

Traffic here on Koh Samui seemed a lot more manageable here than other places we'd seen, so we felt comfortable renting a scooter for the day. Only 200Baht (4Eur). It was quite nice to tour the island at your own pace. We passed a mini golf course and decided to drive up the dirt track to it. The place was empty except for the owner, so we headed in for the laugh. Half way through we went to the bar on the course for a not so well deserved break :-). The owner there was a really nice German guy. He had "The Beach" on DVD and he'd never seen it before. I saw it first when it came to the cinema (9 years ago?) but not since - perfect time and place to watch it since it's based around Samui, Phan Ngan and Ang Thong (where I'd only been the day before). It was great watching it with the owner - he'd been here six years and he was able to tell us all the locations and was getting nostalgic about how it had all changed. Interestingly, he was able to confirm that hippy communities do in fact exist on some of the islands, just like in the film ... cool!

Buy a Brick

We stopped at the "Big Buddha" on Koh Samui (Not so big by the way). The people here are trying to build a new temple and were looking for donations. They had a really cool idea, which was to allow visitors to buy a brick for the new temple - 20Baht (40c). You get to buy the brick, sign it and some day it will be part of the new temple when it gets built. I like it :-)

From Thailand Phot...

From Thailand Phot...

Ang Thong

We visited Ang Thong National Marine park on a day trip from Koh Samui. The park is a collection of islands off the coast of Thailand that border on the supernatural! One of the stops featured the "Emerald Lake" that was the setting for the film "The Beach". Spectacular! It's a saltwater lake hidden inside in the middle of the island with an underground cave route to the sea. The photos really don't do it justice.

From Thailand Phot...

We also did snorkling beside one of the islands. It was the first time I'd ever done snorkling, but it was a lot of fun. Some of the underwater views you'd get are class! Lots and lots of strange fish here.

From Thailand Aqua...

From Thailand Aqua...

From Thailand Aqua...

We also did a little bit of sea kayaking where we kayaked between a couple of small islands.

From Thailand Aqua...

The whole place just seemed out of this world - you can see why some people just don't want to leave.

From Thailand Phot...

Moving South 26-3-2007

Next we went down south to hit some of the islands. Koh Samui, Koh Phan Ngan, then back to the mainland at Krabi. We really wanted to see Ang Thong marine park (where "the beach" was set) and catch a full moon party at Hat Rin. We'd spend about a week and a half around here before heading on to Malaysia.

Ayuthaya

We took a day trip out of Bangkok to visit the old capital of Ayutthaya. They moved the capital to Bangkok a little over 200 years ago after the Burmese sacked the place. It's quite interesting and some of the old temples there, would have been in use until they abandoned the place, are beautiful. When you look closely you'll see that a lot of the temple walls still look scorched after the Burmese burned the city.

From Thailand Photo...

A lot of the Buddha statues here would once have been covered in gold, but when the city was sacked they burned the statues to melt the gold off and take it away.

From Thailand Photo...

Also notice how all the smaller Buddha statues are beheaded - Talk about a symbolic stab in the heart to your enemy!

From Thailand Photo...

My favourite temple here was a temple they had built in the Khmer style after the Thai beat them - hence it looks very like Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

From Thailand Photo...

After the city was sacked somebody picked up one of the severed Buddha heads and laid it against a tree, where it stayed. As the tree grew, its roots curled around the head making it look like the head is part of the tree ...

From Thailand Photo...

The Nicest Toilet in the Thailand

On our way back from our trip to Ayutthaya our guide stopped us at a Buddhist temple, which, he said, "has the nicest toilet in the world." Hilarious :-) I frequented it "just to say I did it." Not quite the nicest toilet in the world, but certainly the nicest in Thailand so far :-).

From Thailand Phot...

From Thailand Phot...

My New Suit

The two of us got our final fitting done in the tailor back in Bangkok. Really cool - never had something fit so exactly. Nici got a dress and it looked really nice. We'll see how they last now. Full suit, silk tie and three shirts, all tailor made, for just over 200eur ... and this wasn't even the cheapest place around, prices go rock bottom around Kho San road (although the quality there might be questionable). I might even get them to make me a leather jacket when I get back, if I like the quality of the suit ... as far as I know it's only about 250eur for a leather jacket. If I ever need more shirts I can just call him up now since they have my measurements. Deadly :-)

Making the Most of Tuk-Tuk "Scams"

The weekend is "coupon day" for most of the Tuk Tuk drivers in Bangkok. This means that if they can convince tourists to make a stop on their journey to a jewelery shop, a tailor or a souvenier shop and have them look around for 15mins (or even better buy something), the shop will buy the Tuk Tuk driver his petrol. The upside of this is that the driver will usually drop his prices very low just to get you to take a journey (since the petrol is worth quite a bit to him). We had a lot of time on our hands in Bangkok, so we played along with these schemes for the day getting driven everywhere for no more than 50c a pop ... and all we had to do is look around a few jewelery shops on the way. We never bought anything of course ... Good deal we thought :-)

Chatuchak Weekend Market

The last stop on the skytrain going north drops us at Chatuchak market - the worlds largest open air market. Everything is for sale - it's amazing! Souvenier heaven if you're a tourist, but also much much more. You can buy anything from rare birds to antique backscratchers. We didn't even get to explore a 10th of the place, but I've taken note for part of a future shopping trip ;-)

Jim Thompson

This was an interesting one. While getting off the sky train we noticed a sign for Jim Thompson's house (who?), so we said we'd take a peak. Turns out this man was an American entrepreneur living in Bangkok back in the '60's who single handedly revived the silk industry in the country. His house was five old Thai houses that he had transported to this site and reassembled here. While on holidays in Cameron, in Malaysia he went for a walk one day and never returned - his disappearance a complete mystery.

Worth a stop if you're passing by, but don't go out of your way for this.

Back to Bangkok 23-3-2007

So on from Saigon and back to Bangkok for a few days. Everything seems so different to when we were here a month a ago. I think as we headed north to Chang Mai, then Laos, then Cambodia etc., things gradually got rawer and less western. Happening over a month we didn't event notice. Coming back here suddenly from Saigon is a real change though. Everything seems far more western, comfortable and calmer ... traffic is definitely a lot more civil than Saigon :-). We'll stay here a couple of days, visit Ayutthaya for a day trip, do our last fitting at the tailor, visit a few sights, then get the train south to explore the islands for a couple of weeks.

And the rains came ...

During the rainy season here there's a deluge once a day for an hour or two. And it did just that, like clockwork, for the past two days, except for one thing ... It's not the rainy season - this weather is two months early (cue errie music). And I here Ireland is getting it's winter now, in Spring and reports from New York are of unusually heavy snowfall ... What's going on?

From Vietnam Photos

The Mekong Delta

70% of the countries rice is produced here in the Mekong Delta. We took a 4 hour boat trip around some of the islands here and was the closest scenery yet to a Vietnam war movie. Really beautiful. I think it was Unicorn Island, Phoenix Island and Bentee province, but not sure. We took a short trip in a canal boat down a canal (traditional hats and all) and it felt just like Apocalypse Now (see Jim, I followed your orders).

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

Firing an AK47

At the Cu Chi tunnels they had a firing range and a choice of guns - Wohoo!!! $1.30 per bullet, so I went halves with this australian girl for 5 bullets. Amazing - I never expected it to be so loud! And the power off the thing is amazing, it jumps right back into your shoulder. Missed the target, but great craic. We chose the AK47, but we could have easily chosen others like the M1 or Carbine. This is one of these "must do's" :-).

From Vietnam Photos

The Cu Chi Tunnels

In Ben Dinh, not far from Saigon are the Cu Chi tunnels. The Viet Cong, during the American war dug themselves out of harms was from the American B52s - the result was a huge network or tunnels by the Saigon river. This was a great day out and very interesting. The whole place is set up quite well for tourists complete with a sample tunnel to go through, sample food that the tunnel inhabitants used to eat (tapiochas), a firing range and some other displays. Great fun well - worth the visit.

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

The Viet Cong even had backward sandals to confuse people running after them.

The Cao Dai Holy See

We visited the Cao Dai Cathedral in Tay Ninh. A very unusual religion, it's a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism, Confusianism, Christianity and Islam. As well as choosing their prophets and saints from traditional religous sources many famous authors are also saints - Saint Victor Hugo, for example. The cathedral itself is really beautiful - all religions should decorate like this, just take a look at some of the pictures below ...

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

A reoccuring symbol in the religion is the "all seeing eye," a bit like the lord of the rings. Pretty errie looking ...

From Vietnam Photos

Internet Access in Asia

Internet access in SE Asia seems to be absolutely everywhere, way more than home, and practicaly giving it away (about 40c an hour). When I went to the beach in Sihanoukville I even saw internet access on the beach :-) !!!! (see below)

From Cambodia Photos

The People You'd Meet

A lot of tourists do more or less the same circuit through south east Asia - us included. You'll find youself meeting the same people over and over again. It feels really bizarre at first - what are the chances? When we were in Kanchanaburi, back in Thailand, we met an English couple who we ended up with in the same guesthouse a week later in Chang Mai. Loads of people from the slow boat we kept bumping into in various towns throughout Laos. And even a month later in Vietnam, we met two different groups of Aussies who we had met in Laos!

Saigon

Saigon is a lively city. We used this as a base for the week in Vietnam. As I mentioned earlier the traffic here is nuts. A lot of the 4 million motorbikes here are a Chinese made model that only cost $400 new and $200 second hand ... how bad?

Having read "The Quiet American" I was eager to catch some of the sights mentioned in the book. You'll find a lot of these in District one, the old French quarter. The Continental Hotel, Rue Catinat (now Dong Khoi), Notre Dame Cathedral and the post office.

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

And here's the American Consulate. Remember, where they had to be airlifted from the roof at the end of the war ...

From Vietnam Photos

St. Patrick's Day in Saigon

Of course we had to do something for St. Patrick's day, no matter where we were. We found a little Irish bar in Saigon called "O'Briens Factory". The place was jam packed full of Irish people! Amazing! Felt like home the second we walked in the door. Irish music playing, shamrocks everywhere, looked just like a bar from home. They even sold Guinness!

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

The War Remnants Museum

This was an interesting place. Formerly called the "War Crimes Museum" the place has, understandably, a very anti american slant. There's a very fun display of tanks and guns in the courtyard.

From Vietnam Photos

Bargaining

If you're going to buy anything in south east Asia, get ready to bargain. It's something you'll get to really like although as a tourist you can only expect so much of a reduction - we still get a little ripped off. That said I'm managing to get about 1/2 or 1/3 of the original offer price now. At the very least you feel good about your purchase, safely fooled into thinking you got a good deal :-).

Onward to Vietnam 17-3-2007

From Phnom Penh we made our way to Vietnam, crossing the border at Moc Bai. A fairly painless border crossing this time compared to entering Laos as we had bought our visas in advance back up in Chang Mai. We were headed for Saigon where we'd spend a week - to see the city itself and to use it as a base for tours beyond the city. Our plan then is to fly from Saigon back to Bangkok, saving us the horrible bus journey between Siem Reap and Thailand (or so we're told). The rumor is that some airline is paying the Cambodian government to not repair the road there, so that people keep buying flights to the city.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to start making our way north through Vietnam as we were beginning to run out of time. But how bad? You need something to come back for right?

Toul Sleng

Before heading to Vietnam we took a short stop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. A charmless town, but still a lot better than Vientiane, which I still maintain is the most boring capital EVER.

One of the important things to see here is the Toul Sleng genocide museum. This was the most notorious prision during the Khmer Rouge reign during the late 1970's. Under Pol Pot's rull more than 20% of the population of Cambodia were murdered. Pretty horrific stuff and the museum is worth seeing even if it is a little hard to take.

Of 20,000 people who went through the place only 7 survived. One was a painter who painted a lot of the scenes from the prison since.

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

Delhi Belly

I'll spare you all the details, but it did happen :-) Had to spend an extra day in Sihanoukville recovering.

The Snake House

On our last night in Sihanoukville we went to a restaurant called the "Snake House" on the recommendation of our moto driver. It was really strange. I didn't like it. A glorious display of undue cruelty to animals. Huge snakes were on display around your table in tiny, tiny glass cages. You could constantly hear the croaking of parrots from their tiny cages. And these are big birds, being kept in a space the size of a monitor.

The place seemed to be owned by Russians. Good family men lets say ;-). Parked outside were their Hummers. The biggest cars I'd ever seen. Monstrous 7L cars.

From Cambodia Photos

Sihanoukville

It was very, very hot in Angkor and we were wrecked from walking around, so we said we'd head to the beach to sea what it was like. Sihanoukville is Cambodias only sea side resort and was our first time on the coast since we'd gone away. Six white sand beaches - very beautiful. We had met another Irish girl (Anita) in the bus station and tagged along with her to find accomodation at Serendipity beach. By the time we got there it was dark but we headed down to the beach anyway. It was really cool, the beach was lined with bars and restaurants and we had dinner that evening on the sand, less than a meter from the waves.

From Cambodia Photos

During the day this beach is thronged with people trying to sell you stuff and it gets a little annoying after a while, so during the day we took a quick motorbike ride to Otres beach, which was deserted and we lay there for the day ... How bad?

From Cambodia Photos

Motos

Here's Nici on the back of a Moto. Very scary in Saigon traffic - she's only smiling for the photo ;-)

From Vietnam Photos

The Temples of Angkor

From Siem Reap we made our way to the Temples of Angkor each day. This was definitely one of the best things I'd seen so far, they're amazing and nothing prepares you for the scale of some of them. The temples are spread over 300 square kilometers and some are over 1000 years old. This was the Manhattan of south east asia back in its prime.

We hired a driver for the two days to bring us around. 13USD for a day - not bad. We were in a tuk tuk for the first day, but we went a lot further the next day so it was myself, Nici and the driver all on the back of a motor bike for the second day! That was fun ;-).

I won't bore you with the details of every temple we saw, but here's some of the highlights below ...


The Angkor Wat

This is the postcard temple and you might have even seen it before. The thing is huge (63 meters tall!) and the approach is so long - first it's surrounded by a gigantic moat, followed by a massive outer wall, with the temple itself deep in the center.

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

Angkor Thom

Lying north of the Angkor Wat is a much larger, walled collection of temples called Angkor Thom. Very impressive. The centerpiece temple, Bayon, is covered with very errie carved faces looking in all directions. This is repeated at the entrance gate. Imagine how intimidating this would have been if you were a visitor coming here a thousand years ago.

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

Banteay Srei

This temple was a lot further away but worth the visit. Made from a red sandstone, the temple has very nice and very detailed carvings everywhere. It's strange how things change - Rob visited here six years ago and the temple was virtually untouristed. Today this was very much part of the beaten track and pack to the brim the day we visited.

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

Kbal Spean

Further still past Banteay Srei was Kbal Spean. This isn't a temple, but a series of carvings made directly into the river bed. Quite nice. The river was one of the water sources for Angkor. The idea was that as the water flowed over the carvings it would get blessed, before flowing into the city ... I like it.

From Cambodia Photos

Ta Prohm

This temple is worth a mention as it looks like something from Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. Just look at how the Jungle has taken over the temple.

From Cambodia Photos

From Cambodia Photos

Siem Reap

From the airport we checked into a guesthouse in Siem Reap. This is the closest town to the temples of Angkor and we used it as a base for the next few days. The town is a smelly, dirty, hectic town with little charm whatsoever. The town had swelled in size due to the tourist interest in Angkor and prices had swelled to match it seemed. This was the most expensive place so far. Meals here, for example, were making their way back to western prices.

From Cambodia Photos

We quickly noticed that Cambodia's own currency is rarely used. Everything was quoted in dollars. This also had the effect of pushing up prices. Services that may have cost less than a Dollar before were round neatly up to a Dollar.

Onwards to Cambodia 9-3-2007

Flying from Vientiane we landed at Siem Reap airport in Cambodia. We'd spend almost a week in this country. One of the main attractions here are the ancient temples of Angkor. After visiting them we would head on to Sihanoukville - Cambodias only real seaside resort, boasting six white sand beaches. Then, after a short stop in Phnom Penh we would travel onward to Vietnam.

Very noticeable here is the poverty. Cambodia still, very much feels scarred and in recovery from its recent past. Land mine victims in every town, lots of begging, orphans and very, very persistant street vendors. A little bit of a shock coming from the other countries we'd been in.

Driving in Indo-China

Especially once we got to Cambodia and Vietnam, the preferred form of transport changed from the "Tuk tuk" to the "Moto" - which involves sitting on the back of a motor bike, pretty much. It really gives you a feel for the traffic madness here without a safety net. In Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia everyone drives on the right most of the time, and the foot paths are for pedestrians ... most of the time. Traffic lights are mainly for decoration and serve no actual purpose. At a crossroads or roundabout it is really scary - hundreds of motorbikes criss crossing each other trying to force their way through in every direction. The trick for a pedestrian crossing the road is not to stop - it only confuses drives when you show this fear and hesitation and can cause more trouble. Fortunately we had had plenty of practice at this from using pedestrian crossings in UL.

Driving intercity is just as Bizzare. The meaning of the car horn here is completely different to home. At home it's really a means of hurling abuse at other drivers. Here it is purely for warning, for example:
"I'm driving on the wrong side of the road, watch out!"
"I'm overtaking on a bend, be careful of me."
"I'm coming the wrong way down a one way street, please take note."
"I'm driving on the footpath now, just in case you're wondering."

At first it all seems mad but after a while you get used to it and after a little longer you begin to understand it a little. One of the major differences from home you begin to realise is that everyone is driving a little slower compared to home. The mopeds are a lot easier to manoevour than cars and can stop much quicker. Also, the vast majority of the population are Buddhists - "Today could be my day to die an there's nothing I can do about it" - so why not drive mad? Being careful couldn't possibly make a difference, could it?

Originally I would have said, "Importantly the whole thing seems to work." But apparently I doesn't. There's 8 million people in Saigon and 4 million motorbikes. Our guide here told us that 20 people die per day on the streets here!

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

I'm glad I found this our after rather than before I took motos all around the city!

The Quiet American

My brother gave me a copy of "The Quiet American" to read when I was going away. I read it over the two days on the slow boat. Really good book. Based in Vietnam during the 1950's, the book gives you a great feel for SE Asia back then. Well worth reading this short (spy?) thiller.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-American-Graham-Greene/dp/0099478390/ref=pd_ka_1/026-9491557-3046843?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173845575&sr=8-1

Vientiane - Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Our next stop was Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We were going to fly from here to Cambodia, so we said we may as well stay a day to see what it was like.

A really, really boring town. It was about the size of Limerick with none of the charm (;-)). We couldn't wait to get out of this place. We would eventually fly from the international airport there to Siem Reap. The airport was tiny - only 2 gates. Amazing for a capital. Anyway, don't bother with Vientiane.

Mountains and Caves

About a 20min walk out of Vang Vieng is the huge Red Cliff. We strolled out here one morning to do a bit of climbing and caving. I didn't climb the Red Cliff but I climbed the smaller one in front of it. Views from it were amazing. Half way up I remembered I didn't like heights - which wasn't fun ;-)

From Laos Photos

From Laos Photos

Then we headed down to one of the caves for a while, guided by the park ranger. Got to touch the stalagtites and stalagmites in the cave, which was cool - they wouldn't let you do that at home!

From Laos Photos

Vang Vieng

What a cool little town. We arrived here not knowing what to expect and then loved it wanting to stay longer. The river through the town has lots of little bamboo bridges over it and loads of bars and restaurants with hammocks and ly down couches. The big thing to do in this town is "Tubing" where you sit into a rubber tube and float down the river, visiting the bars and restaurants along the way. We were even too lazy for this and just swayed in hammocks for the afternoons we were here.

From Laos Photos

From Laos Photos

From Laos Photos

Again this place felt very French in some ways - Loads of baguettes and cafes everywhere.

"Route 13"

I was looking forward to travelling on a big straight road again after the two days on the Mekong. According to the map "Route 13" sliced the country in two, and was the main route through the country. How disappointed we were. We spent 5 hours driving the equivilant distance from Limerick to Portlaoise on the narrowest, windiest road ever, though huge mountains. The views were pretty spectacular but we were quite dizzy afterwards - but it was worth the reward of getting to Vang Vieng.

From Laos Photos

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang was the end of the line for the slow boat. For the first time in Laos the French influence in the country was becoming noticeable. Kids would play bowles at the side of the street, baguettes with laughing cow cheese were on sale everywhere, dual signage was in French and Lao and cafès lined parts of the main street. Making it stranger was that all this was mixed up in a very asian town.

From Laos Photos

I really liked Luang Prabang. The night market here was fantastic, lots of temples and the people were really nice. "Sabadee :-)" (Hello) everybody would say to eachother - much more so than Thailand - felt a little like home in that repect.

From Laos Photos

In the center of town was a temple up high on a hill that we climbed. Sure, the temple was nice, but even more interesting was that there was an old Russian anti-aircraft gun on the top of the hill - a hangback from the days of communism.

From Laos Photos

Songthews

Filling the remainder of the gaps in the transport systems in SE Asia are the Songthews. We've been getting a lot of these for the past few weeks. Pretty much just the back of a truck with two benches facing each other. It got me thinking - Songthews, Tuk Tuks, motorbike taxis - there's no way any of this would be allowed at home.

From Laos Photos

Pak Bang

Pak Bang is a tiny town by the Mekong where we stopped for the night. The towns only economy is the boat stopping and it's really strange to come across a place like this, packed with hotels and guesthouses in the middle of the jungle.

From Laos Photos

We got off the boat and looked for our guesthouse. Hundreds of touts were trying to pawn off guesthouses on the bank of the river ... and other things - "Weed, opium?" we were asked more than once. Incidentally, we heard a funny story the next morning - I had heard that this town was a bit of a cartel, since tourists have no choice but to pay the prices they're told for everything. I got talking to this guy the next morning who had bought weed the night before. He said, within minutes of sparking up the police had barged into his room threatening to arrest him if he didn't buy them off ... coincidence?

The town also had no electricity after 10 at night and not again until 6am. Things were definitely starting to look different in Laos. Not just the creature comforts, but the tourists were different too - everyone looked a lot more backpackery.

In the morning before we left we got a daylight view of where we were. Some stunning scenery from the bank of the river before we got back on the boat.

From Laos Photos

From Laos Photos

The Slow Boat and Handbrake Turns on the Mekhong

The slow boat from huai Xai to Luang Prabang would take 2 days with one overnight stop in Pak Beng for the night. It was pretty cool, with some lovely views. The Mekong itelf is quite a large river, even in the dry season, which we were in the middle of. In many places its banks are lined with huge cliff faces and rock. The water level was quite low because of the dry season and we had to experience whitewater in many parts. This was a pretty scary experience, considering we were in a 50ft long metal boat. The driver would pull crazy handbrake turns in the middle of the river to skid around large rockfaces ... slowing down didn't seem to be an option, although I could kind of see his point - I didn't fancy navigating this at night.

From Laos Photos

From Laos Photos

The boat held about 150 people and only sold Beer Lao at the back on one of the day. I was also the only phrase that the girl selling it understood - Some of the English guys starting saying "It's beer Lao O'Clock" to everyone after efforts to get the time of day from her.

From Laos Photos

From Laos Photos

The wooden benches on the boat were very uncomfortable. We were smart enough to have bought cushions before going on though. A long time to be sitting on a bench like this though! 7 and 9 hours on each day! Really nice trip and I'd recommend to everyone to do it once (aside from the fact that there is really no other means to get to Luang Prabang from this direction).

From Laos Photos

I was a Millionaire and all I've got to show for it is this lousy t-shirt

1 Euro gets you a whopping 12,000 kip. I wasted little time becoming a millionaire. It also felt powerful carrying a stack of notes 1 1/2 inches thick. I reckon something must have gone very wrong for Laos inflation-wise in the past 10 years. The Lonely Planet I was using was from 1997. All the prices quoted in the book are roughly 1/40 of what they are now.

Welcome to Laos

When we stepped off the boat I joked, "Wow it feels so different," little did I know that it actually would be. We stayed overnight in Huai Xai, across the river from Chang Khong in Thailand, on the first night. The town was definitely the smalled town I'd been in yet and immediately felt quite different to anywhere I'd stayed in Thailand so far. The place was very laid back and moved at a far slower pace ... wait 20 minutes for them to make a banana milkshake when you're the only customer, for example - but why not? It just makes everything seem better and even more relaxed. At the same time, a lot of the buildings, even in this tiny town, felt very practical, basic, almost how you'd imagine communist buildings in a Russian spy movie.

From Laos Photos

We were reliably informed by our tour operator that you do pronounce the 's' in Laos and that a person from Laos is called a Lao. The currency is the Kip and don't expect electricity everywhere you go. Welcome to Laos - I'm looking forward to this already.

Border Crossing Shennanigans

We drove for five hours to get to the border crossing at Chang Khong. Here we would cross the river to its counterpart in Laos, Huai Xai.

For everything you might here about getting ripped off or hussled by devious street traders or taxi drivers in this country, the reality is fairly banal. The opposite, however, is true of the border crossings business at these places.

We paid the visa fee, which costs more for someone from Ireland than someone from the US or UK. Is an Irish man more difficult to process than our English brethren? Perhaps they had hired an additional armed guard, hidden in the bushes, to keep me under control while they stamped my visa.

Then we had to pay the overtime wages for the crossing guards at both sides. And there was a lot of travelers crossing with me that day all contributing the required 10 Baht. Their wages must be colossal - right up there with Irish power plant workers and prison officers. Not to mind the fact that it was only 4 p.m. and they were already on overtime. I don't know about you but I think socialism has worked out well for the people of Laos.


Thinking we were out of the woods, some days later we had to pay a further $10 "exit fee" so I could be allowed to leave Laos. I won't even get started on what I think about this ...

On to Laos and Moving South again - 1-3-2007

After six days in Chang Mai and the surrounding area we decided to move on again. This time to the border and crossed over into Laos. After an overnight stop in the border town, Huai Xai, we took the 2 day slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, stopping once overnight in Pak Beng. We then spent two days in each of Luang Prabang, Viang Vien and Vientiane before finally flying to Cambodia. Phew!

Mountain Biking in the Jungle

Because we're mad we decided to spend the morning mountain biking on dirt tracks in the Jungle. Our guide was super fit and we weren't. There was just three of us - myself, Nici and a third guy called Stewart who, oddly enough, was from Dublin,... really sound.

From Thailand Photos

Very tough work in the Thai sun. The track was in a patch of jungle beside a big reservoir just outside Chang Mai and ... wait for it! ... Rocky III was filmed here! Wow, I really can die happy now, can't I, now that I have graced the ground once consecrated by sly himself. ... (hmmm)

From Thailand Photos

Our guide used to be a big fat accountant (his own words), until two years ago he packed it in and started doing this job. He has to cycle every day and now and lost the belly.

From Thailand Photos

Ascending Doi Inthanon

At the heart of Doi Inthanon National Park is its centerpiece - Doi Inthanon Mountain, Thailand's highest peak, standing at 2565 meters. It's no Everest, but it is pretty high and lies at the tail end of the Himalayas. The mountains incline is not so steep so it is possible to drive all the way to the top.

From Thailand Photos

The air force have a secret base at the top that you're not allowed take pictures of, but don't worry I have committed the scene to memory for those who are interested ;-).

Among other things at the top is the burial site of one of Thailand's kings and a telephone box in case you absolutely just cannot wait to tell people where you are.

From Thailand Photos

It gets pretty cold up here too - i had to wear my fleece at the top! Incidentally this is the only part of Thailand where it's cool enough for Rhododendron's to grow.

From Thailand Photos

... oh and the view is okay too. I actually really liked it up here, despite what some of the guide books might tell you.

The Royal Chedis

Higher still on our ascent of Doi Inthanon are the Royal Chedis. These impressive temples were built for the King and Queen of Thailand's respective birthdays by the Thai air force. They're now about 20 years old each and look very, very impressive at 2100 meters above sea level. The views here are amazing making the temples look even better. They're the most modernly designed temples I'd seen so far. Well worth a visit. You have to be careful not to run around the place too much here. So high above sea level it's easy to get light headed.

From Thailand Photos

From Thailand Photos

From Thailand Photos

More Waterfalls

Went to see two more waterfalls today in the Doi Inthanon National park - Vachiratharn and Sirithan. Very nice but they pale compared to Erawan waterfall that we saw near Nam Tok. Still though ... you wouldn't get it at home :-).

From Thailand Photos

From Thailand Photos

The Royal Project

While eliminating opium production from Thailand the country had to think of providing alternate income for the opium farmers who had now lost their livelyhood - Enter the "Royal Project" - massive organic farming. Here is one such in Doi Inthanon National park ... mildly interesting.

From Thailand Photos

Whitewater Rafting

Nici, unfortunately had a stomach bug today ... but I went Whitewater rafting, wohoo! Never thought it would be so much fun. Because it's the dry season the water level was quite low, so we were bouncing and diving and curling in and around all sorts of rocks. Great craic! Our skipper said that during the wet season when the flow is much stronger someone falls out and a raft turns over at least once a day. There was four of us in our raft - myself, the skipper and two people from Liverpool - and we did have a few hairy moments. That's my "single whitewater rafting" on my travel insurance used up :-). Supposedy this is some of the best whitewater in Thailand - this stretch of the Mae Tang river (which becomes the Mae Ping river by the time it reaches Chang Mai.).

Unfortunately, I've no photos, forgot my camera :-(

The Youngest Temple in Thailand

Thailand's youngest temple is definitely worth a look. We stopped here, just outside Chang Rai (not to be confused with Chang Mai) on the way back from our touring along the border. Eight years in the making and not finished yet, this temple was designed by Thailand's national artist, Mr. Chalermchai Kositpipat, which he gave as a gift to his home town of Chang Rai. The temple is beautiful and like no other I've seen so far since I got here. It's like some kind of "snow queen's palace" as Nici said. You can find more pictures in the web album.

From Thailand Photos

From Thailand Photos

From Thailand Photos

The Golden Triangle

The north of Thailand used to be a big big opium region along with the corresponding regions of its neighbouring countries Myanmar and Laos. This large opium producing region became known as the "Golden Triange". For the purpose of tourists this vast region is compressed down to the tiny point on the Mekhong where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet at the tiny town of Sop Ruak. I felt like I was just there to say I was there. Apart from a very impressive Buddhist statue there's nothing much else interesting at the town. After a quick 15 minute trip on a speedboat to the neighbouring countries, a photograph under the Golden Triangle sign and buying a hat, we were on our way again. Bit of a laugh, but it wouldn't want to be the only thing you're doing that day.

From Thailand Photos

From Thailand Photos

Mai Sai

We took a short stop at Mai Sai - the most northern town in Thailand and a border crossing between Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). Our main interest here was to see the monkeys in the cave here. They're so cool. We brought peanuts up. They'll come right down from the cave, come up to you, take the peanuts from your hand and then run away again.

From Thailand Photos

I'd never gibbon it much thought before but they're very like people - my monkey have four little fingers and a thumb - how cool is that?

Up into the cave is a very nice buddhist shrine where the monkeys hang out.

From Thailand Photos

The Long Neck Kareni

Chang Mai is a great jumping off point to see the north of the country. We headed north to the border with Burma one day and made several stops. One of our stops was to visit the long neck Kareni hill tribe. These people are refugees from Burma and have now settled in the north of Thailand. Unfortunately, they have awful trouble securing citizenship, which means they cannot own land. Therefore their only real source of income now is visiting tourists. The tribe is famous because from an early age many of the women in the tribe begin putting brass rings around their neck, producing the effect of an elongated neck (although it is in fact the collar bones that have moved down, not the neck getting longer).

I didn't really enjoy the visit to be honest. They almost put themselves on display in the village especially for the tourists. You don't learn anything about the tribe, you don't really get to talk to the people there and it all appears to be just one big tourist trap. I felt quite uncomfortable walking through the village and definitely didn't take any pictures. I was more tempted to take pictures of the tourists taking pictutes.

I did hear of people going to visit other tribes where they stayed the night with the tribe with a full day visit - which I imagine is much better.

We would later visit another Kareni (not long neck this time) tribe elsewhere on a different day for an equally short period of time. This time however the village wasn't putting themselves on show. The whole thing felt far more comfortable. Much easier to chat to people. I would still prefer not to have visited any of the hill tribe villages at all - only for the fact that they were part of a longer day trip to other things we probably wouldn't - at the end of the day you're just another one of a million tourists who would turn up at that village that year.

Thai Food

The Thai food here is great, although they do eat a lot of eggs which I'm starting to get sick of having for breakfast now.

I went on a one day Thai cookery course while in Chang Mai. Supposedly it's one of the best parts of the country to learn to cook.

From Thailand Photos

Well worth it. Cooked seven really tasty dishes throughout the day. I'd never cooked with ingredients like coconut milk or coconut cream before. Did a really a really cool trick where you set the wok on fire to sear the onions. Did a little bit of fruit carving too as well as making dessert using sticky rice. They give you a recipe book to take away too ... that's one thing I think I'll use when I get home. ... Did I say Thai food is really, really tasty already? :-)

In the morning we all took a trip around a Thai market and learned about all the different Thai ingredients and last but not least we made curry past from scratch at the end of the day - Tah Dah!

From Thailand Photos

Patriotism and the King

I get the impression that the Thais are a very patriotic nation. While we were in the train station waiting for the train to Chang Mai they played the national anthem over the intercom. Immediately everyone in the station stopped and stood to attention until it finished. Very unusual to watch.

Similarly the King of Thailand appears to be a national icon and is taken very seriously. Pictures of him are everywhere in very regal positions. When the coup happened here late last year the king came out and said that everything was okay, so everyone calmed down. He's about 80 now and lives down south somewhere and his wife lives in Bangkok in the grand palace (I'm told) ... they don't talk about that.

The Overnight Train to Chang Mai

We had two comfy seats facing eachother on the train to Chang Mai. When nighttime comes the seat magically transform into bunkbeds. Pretty cool! I got a great nights sleep. Costs about 800B, which is for nothing considering that you get accodation and transport. It does take a long time thought - 17 hours in total that day to do the trip.

From Thailand Photos

The terrain changes noticeably as you travel north, changing to a hilly, burnt and dry looking landscape, covered in forest. It's the dry season right now. Once the wet season arrive this burnt look would disappear and be replaced by a very green looking tropic jungle ... so I'm told.

From Thailand Photos

Hua Lum Pong Station, Bangkok

We went to Hua Lum Pong railway station in Bangkok to get the overnight train to Chang Mai. More obvious than ever here was the sharp divide between the "rich" visiting westerners and the much poorer Thais. When you enter two large upstairs balconies line the station and are filled with cafes bars and restaurants. Below is the waiting area of the station ... You'll find no Thai people upstairs.

Onwards to Chang Mai - 22-2-2007

After our short stop in Bangkok we moved on again, this time north to Chang Mai. This is Thailands second city, although it is still 40 times smaller than Bangkok. We spent six nights here and had a great time. Lovely city, lovely people. The night markets were great and there's loads of things to do - hiking, whitewater rafting, mountain biking in the jungle, tallest mountain in Thailand, Golden Triangle and the Mekhong River ... blah blah blah. And you can be sure we tried to do it all :-)

The Grand Palace

While we had an afternoon to spare before heading up to Chang Mai, we said we'd catch the grand palace in Bangkok. Supposedly the star attraction in the city. I had seen nicer places so far, but it was pretty nice - the size is the main thing about it, covering a 60 acre area. We were tired, and at this stage it was just another temple :-) My favourite part was the Wat (temple) inside the grounds of the grand palace. It even had mini Ankor Wat replica inside. Apparently, after the old capital had been sacked by the Burmese a couple of hundred years ago, the Thai capital moved to Bangkok with the grand palace being commissioned to mark the capital.