its gorgeous here. fantastic scenery. it's like guilin, except with way way above 7 degrees C temperature. and lots more rain. but every bit as beautiful. Staying in a nice place a bit away from the main tourist guesthouse strips. It has a nice garden and the most butterflies i've ever seen in laos, which is to say a bloody lot, cos butterflies are everywhere here. The owner's an interesting brit who has been here 5 yrs(?) and loves his plants and flowers and butterflies.
travelling w edlyn and her cousin is rather different from the kind of travelling i'd been doing... it's not just that i'm living in better (and more expensive, though it often works out to be cheaper when shared among 3 ppl) conditions.. it's everything i guess... and being with a group of people means i don't have as much contact w the locals or even with other travellers as i would like or have had, and i seem to smile less and get irritated more.... guess it just takes some getting used to... not sure what it'll be like when we meet jason.. we'll see...
Vang vieng is also very touristy... i guess its inevitable now that we'll on the standard 2 week tourist trail of vientiane - vang vieng - luang prabang, and it can\t be hapled cos i had to fit in jason edlyn etc's schedule,but i really wish i had more time to wander around the less populated parts of the country and entertain more locals who are not used to tourists rather than those who already know how to speak english and flirt w female tourists and ask for their money...
still, i cannot get over how beautiful this place is.. would like to wander around on my own a bit more.. but i guess i'm a bit well... trapped? actually feeling a bit stressed at times.. so much for finding peace and having time to think...
should be staying one more day tomorrow to see the rest of the caves we had to miss the day before when it started raining , then back to vientiane on thurs. will be meeting JS and friend on sat morning... went kayaking today. beautiful. glorious. heavenly. to be alive in such surroundings. sigh... i sit anywhere here in the countrysdie, in the rain, alone, and stone for hours...
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Saturday, May 28, 2005
in vientiane? veng chan?
cut and pasted from an email i just wrote when blogger refused to let me in earlier:
in ventiane now! for some reason blogger keeps posting an error when itry to access the blog, so its just email first.. a bit confused aboutthe time now, cos i thought its 3.24pm, but the computer clock saysits 4.24.. so am i about to miss the 4-5.30pm free saturday meditation thingy i was hoping to attend at one of the wats? when should i gopick edlyn n her cousin up? argh.. i thought i could have a walk ard the city after arriving at 6.30am today (and seeing the monks go on their morning rounds) but was so tired from the 10.5h bus journey here and the room i got was so nice i just cleaned up and had a long long nap...
staying on thanon sihom, some place called chamlysofshfn something something guesthouse.. its usd9 for 3 beds in a fan room w bath, but they didn't have a room w 3 beds avaliable, so i took one w two bedsfor the same price but they threw in aircon n tv, so its not too bad..its the best place i've stayed in so far: actually has a shower area in the attached toilet, hot water, a sink w pipes underneath so your dirty water doesn't fall at your feet, a window that stretches the whole wall, bedsheets that are not just clean and not dusty but have no holes or cig burns in them, firm mattresses, a wardrobe, cable tv, hangers, mirrors, doesn't look like there are any rats or even lizards... its too good to be true. my first thought was that this is a hotel!.. so, edith, i'm not going to make your sister suffer =P though i still can if you want me to...
vientiane is a rather sleepy capital city.. a bit weird to hear the guesthouse staff and tuk tuk/jumbo drivers actually speak english, and hear the price quoted in usd instead of kip, and to see a guest checking out paying in usd... rooms are more ex here, but w more people sharing, shouldn't be that bad =) not sure if i will like the city after all the wonderful country living, but i guess i shouldn't be too quick to judge =) better go check out that temple now...
in ventiane now! for some reason blogger keeps posting an error when itry to access the blog, so its just email first.. a bit confused aboutthe time now, cos i thought its 3.24pm, but the computer clock saysits 4.24.. so am i about to miss the 4-5.30pm free saturday meditation thingy i was hoping to attend at one of the wats? when should i gopick edlyn n her cousin up? argh.. i thought i could have a walk ard the city after arriving at 6.30am today (and seeing the monks go on their morning rounds) but was so tired from the 10.5h bus journey here and the room i got was so nice i just cleaned up and had a long long nap...
staying on thanon sihom, some place called chamlysofshfn something something guesthouse.. its usd9 for 3 beds in a fan room w bath, but they didn't have a room w 3 beds avaliable, so i took one w two bedsfor the same price but they threw in aircon n tv, so its not too bad..its the best place i've stayed in so far: actually has a shower area in the attached toilet, hot water, a sink w pipes underneath so your dirty water doesn't fall at your feet, a window that stretches the whole wall, bedsheets that are not just clean and not dusty but have no holes or cig burns in them, firm mattresses, a wardrobe, cable tv, hangers, mirrors, doesn't look like there are any rats or even lizards... its too good to be true. my first thought was that this is a hotel!.. so, edith, i'm not going to make your sister suffer =P though i still can if you want me to...
vientiane is a rather sleepy capital city.. a bit weird to hear the guesthouse staff and tuk tuk/jumbo drivers actually speak english, and hear the price quoted in usd instead of kip, and to see a guest checking out paying in usd... rooms are more ex here, but w more people sharing, shouldn't be that bad =) not sure if i will like the city after all the wonderful country living, but i guess i shouldn't be too quick to judge =) better go check out that temple now...
Friday, May 27, 2005
city girl
sigh... back in the city of pakse. Taking an overnight bus to Vientiane at 8pm tonight, so i've got half the day to while away here.. no help for it: didn't want to take the risk of missing the bus here from TatLo so had to leave there in the late morning...
on the bus to tatlo. got to the relevant bus station at abt 930 to catch the 10am bus. Of course this being typical SEasian rubber time, the bus only took off at 1140am... in the meantime, everyone on the bus was apparently quite bored, so guess who became their source of entertainment? All of them crowded around my seat, talked to me, kept asking me qustions i don't understand, and when i took out my lonely planet to try to point to lao words so as to have a slighly more meaningful conversation, yet another 2-way language course started. =) then my guidebook got passed around the bus as they flipped thorugh it and looked at all the pictures and made me say where each and every picture and map was from. There was this woman who looked kind of drunk (why do i attract drunk laos?) who keep talking to me in a very high shrill voice, then she started poking and grabbing my breasts and every once in a while her own i went argh! and tried to cover my chest but she always got past my defences.. damn strange.. and when it was time for me to get off she keep pulling my arm and pointing ahead and saying something. i think she wanted me to go to her house or village, but its a bit weird cos she'd been molesting me not 2h ago, not to mention her husband didn't look too happy at whatever she was offering me so i had to decline...
TatLo is another nice place. countryside. villages. tribes. waterfalls. treks. I was walking happily along some forest path when i heard a noise to my right. I turned to look and it was an elephant not 5m away from me. backside to me though. and not a very pretty one either. Land of a million elephants indeed... It's quite a 'resort' place though. some more expensive chalets and lodges in the prime locations over the falls (ok, my standards are pretty low, so expensive is anything more than 10USD/night. my v nice room w double bed was 2USD). Think they attempted to build more at some point but there are just quite a few abandoned half completed houses around... otherwise, typical nice lao riverside village life. Meet a few nice western tourists (!) who i drank and talked with every night. i stayed at a nice place with my hut just over the river, facing the west, so yes, nice sunsets again. though i've been waking up earlier every morning no matter what time i go to bed or how much beer i drank the night before. Today i woke up at abt 5am (with first light). and just had to get out of bed by 530am.. at this rate, i may be able to catch some nice sunrises soon...
the problem with getting too nua3 is that i'm feeling too lazy to even type =P just want to sit and stare at some nice waterfall or river, preferably with a bottle of beerlao in hand... jason, edlyn, please pardon me if i'm only active for half the day then spend the afternoon and evenings just chilling out somewhere....
on the bus to tatlo. got to the relevant bus station at abt 930 to catch the 10am bus. Of course this being typical SEasian rubber time, the bus only took off at 1140am... in the meantime, everyone on the bus was apparently quite bored, so guess who became their source of entertainment? All of them crowded around my seat, talked to me, kept asking me qustions i don't understand, and when i took out my lonely planet to try to point to lao words so as to have a slighly more meaningful conversation, yet another 2-way language course started. =) then my guidebook got passed around the bus as they flipped thorugh it and looked at all the pictures and made me say where each and every picture and map was from. There was this woman who looked kind of drunk (why do i attract drunk laos?) who keep talking to me in a very high shrill voice, then she started poking and grabbing my breasts and every once in a while her own i went argh! and tried to cover my chest but she always got past my defences.. damn strange.. and when it was time for me to get off she keep pulling my arm and pointing ahead and saying something. i think she wanted me to go to her house or village, but its a bit weird cos she'd been molesting me not 2h ago, not to mention her husband didn't look too happy at whatever she was offering me so i had to decline...
TatLo is another nice place. countryside. villages. tribes. waterfalls. treks. I was walking happily along some forest path when i heard a noise to my right. I turned to look and it was an elephant not 5m away from me. backside to me though. and not a very pretty one either. Land of a million elephants indeed... It's quite a 'resort' place though. some more expensive chalets and lodges in the prime locations over the falls (ok, my standards are pretty low, so expensive is anything more than 10USD/night. my v nice room w double bed was 2USD). Think they attempted to build more at some point but there are just quite a few abandoned half completed houses around... otherwise, typical nice lao riverside village life. Meet a few nice western tourists (!) who i drank and talked with every night. i stayed at a nice place with my hut just over the river, facing the west, so yes, nice sunsets again. though i've been waking up earlier every morning no matter what time i go to bed or how much beer i drank the night before. Today i woke up at abt 5am (with first light). and just had to get out of bed by 530am.. at this rate, i may be able to catch some nice sunrises soon...
the problem with getting too nua3 is that i'm feeling too lazy to even type =P just want to sit and stare at some nice waterfall or river, preferably with a bottle of beerlao in hand... jason, edlyn, please pardon me if i'm only active for half the day then spend the afternoon and evenings just chilling out somewhere....
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
khao jii pate
That's just jian1 tou2 mian4 bao1 with pate and some leaves from the roadside.. I normally don't like pate but this is actually ok... It's my breakfast, which I am eating as I type.. Going to catch the bus in an hour or so to Tat Lo, where hopefully its nice and quiet enough to spend 2 nights before heading back here fri morning and taking the direct overnight VIP bus to Vientiane.
Forgot to add to the what was eaten: I just love seeing the kids having such good innocent clean fun: climbing trees, playing in the river, catching fish, swimming, playing who can throw the slipper furthest, tying the leftover bamboo strips around their heads and limbs and swaggering around pretending to be 'some gang' =P to hear the sounds of their laughter just makes me so happy, and they seem to be having so much more fun than our kids stuck in front of the TV or computer the whole day...
The women here are also less modest than I thought. In the village they just walk around in spaghetti straps or even just the bra and of course the always present sarong, and lots of them wear sleeveless stuff everywhere. The men just wear a towel around the waist or undies or a loincloth. They usu change to something nicer and more decent when visiting or going to another village. At first, on all the public transport, everyone's pretty covered up, usually with a windbreaker or jacket or long shirt, but now I realise, after having my blue pants turn brown, not to mention my white tee, that it's just to protect them from the dust of the road, and from sunburn... I also realised that the women don't wear undies.. cos when we stop for toilet breaks by the side of the road they just squat right in the open, do their stuff and get back up on the bus without having to adjust anything.. =0
I am feeling much better today. Spent most of yesterday under the blankets and my sarong and windbreaker trying to sweat whatever it was that was making me sick out... Seems to have worked.. Had 'foe' (rice noodles soup) with very nice peppery beef balls last night. All the portions they give are damn big... I can never finish a meal...
I have not found the peace I am looking for ("if you find peace not within yourself, you will never find it without"), but it's still good to be here.. I will continue looking....
Forgot to add to the what was eaten: I just love seeing the kids having such good innocent clean fun: climbing trees, playing in the river, catching fish, swimming, playing who can throw the slipper furthest, tying the leftover bamboo strips around their heads and limbs and swaggering around pretending to be 'some gang' =P to hear the sounds of their laughter just makes me so happy, and they seem to be having so much more fun than our kids stuck in front of the TV or computer the whole day...
The women here are also less modest than I thought. In the village they just walk around in spaghetti straps or even just the bra and of course the always present sarong, and lots of them wear sleeveless stuff everywhere. The men just wear a towel around the waist or undies or a loincloth. They usu change to something nicer and more decent when visiting or going to another village. At first, on all the public transport, everyone's pretty covered up, usually with a windbreaker or jacket or long shirt, but now I realise, after having my blue pants turn brown, not to mention my white tee, that it's just to protect them from the dust of the road, and from sunburn... I also realised that the women don't wear undies.. cos when we stop for toilet breaks by the side of the road they just squat right in the open, do their stuff and get back up on the bus without having to adjust anything.. =0
I am feeling much better today. Spent most of yesterday under the blankets and my sarong and windbreaker trying to sweat whatever it was that was making me sick out... Seems to have worked.. Had 'foe' (rice noodles soup) with very nice peppery beef balls last night. All the portions they give are damn big... I can never finish a meal...
I have not found the peace I am looking for ("if you find peace not within yourself, you will never find it without"), but it's still good to be here.. I will continue looking....
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
what was eaten...
ok, i will try to remember some of what i lost last night.. since internet is relatively cheap here and there's nothing much to see in Pakse and i sent most of my clothes to the laundry in another 'hotel' so they'll only be ready this evening and its the middle of the day and too hot to be walking around...
ok, the night at the village house... they have tv but no reception, but the women and kids were watching some thai or lao karaoke vcd, then i watched the first half og Ong Bak (no english subtitles) with them. The kids kept staring at me when they thought i wasn'y looking. The slightly older girls would giggle and turn away then peep back when i smile or make faces at them but the younger kids just stare at me with theor big unblinking eyes... and the even younger ones are not so shy and just laugh and climb all over me. The women were inspecting my toes, and while bathing with them, were quite fascinated by how white the normally swimsuit covered part of me is...
There's a nice doggie who guards my door at night and keeps me company in the morning and at night. Afternoon its too hot on my balcony cos i am on the 'sunset strip'. of course, lovely sunsets.
the day before yesterday, my last day on the island, i finally managed to get away from the village to do some sightseeing on the neighbouring island. on a bicycle. on many LONG. HOT. ROCKY. paths. But the views at the end of all of them were worth. The Li Phin waterfalls (and lots of thai package tourists), the dolphin pool, where i didn't see any, but still it was perfect, and cambodia looked so damm close...
yesterday i went to Tat Fan waterfall in the Bolavan Plateau as a side trip before heading to town. Actually the angmohs are really helping me make my decisions. I always can't decide, but when i see a group of angmohs going where i had intended to go, i would head for my second choice instead =P the attitude i get and th hospitality i receive is really different when i keep away from them... anyway, Tat Fan. impressive. very tall, falls into a gorge/canyon. I tried to trek down to the foot but the path was very very slippery and had almost no handholds and many times were right at the edge of a steep drop and was quite overgrown... so i gave up before reaching the bottom...
Last night i was a little sick.. couldn't sleepin my cell of a room (the cheapest private and non-angmoh infested in town) with no window smelling of the indian restuarant downstairs. Puked out a little something, had a massive headache, and couldn't get myself out of bed till abt 11.30am, when i figured i need to see some sun and get lunch and maybe change more money (the banks close at 3.30pm). Stopped at the roadside stall for lunch. rather randomly. Turned out to be some laksa like thing, except with pig's blood.. the woman was very nice to me, and turned out knew a bit of chinese, knows someone from hongkong apparently. I speak and understand enough lao to apparently confuse them and make them keep trying to speak to me in lao even though i keep telling them i can't... btw, the yes is actually 'er' as in er4.like hungry in mandarin.and no:'bor' is not really 'boh' like boh tea but more like 'baw' or 'bor2' a in no in teochew or hokkien.
Other than the last horrible night though, the experience here has been good. esp as long as i stay in the countryside. It almost seems as though i was meant to be here now. The weather always works out in my flavour, and i almost never have to wait for my transport to start moving (unlike most of the angmohs =)
Wish you guys were here. I was lonely for the first time last night. And the pictures and descriptions sinply cannot do the beauty of the sights and people i have seen and met justice. Will probably go to another waterfall in the bolavans: Tat Lo tml, if i feel up to it.. if not, may just go to city after city: Tha Theak and Vientiane ahead of schedule... will give Tham Lot something something a miss cos it's really hard (and expensive) to get there...
ok, the night at the village house... they have tv but no reception, but the women and kids were watching some thai or lao karaoke vcd, then i watched the first half og Ong Bak (no english subtitles) with them. The kids kept staring at me when they thought i wasn'y looking. The slightly older girls would giggle and turn away then peep back when i smile or make faces at them but the younger kids just stare at me with theor big unblinking eyes... and the even younger ones are not so shy and just laugh and climb all over me. The women were inspecting my toes, and while bathing with them, were quite fascinated by how white the normally swimsuit covered part of me is...
There's a nice doggie who guards my door at night and keeps me company in the morning and at night. Afternoon its too hot on my balcony cos i am on the 'sunset strip'. of course, lovely sunsets.
the day before yesterday, my last day on the island, i finally managed to get away from the village to do some sightseeing on the neighbouring island. on a bicycle. on many LONG. HOT. ROCKY. paths. But the views at the end of all of them were worth. The Li Phin waterfalls (and lots of thai package tourists), the dolphin pool, where i didn't see any, but still it was perfect, and cambodia looked so damm close...
yesterday i went to Tat Fan waterfall in the Bolavan Plateau as a side trip before heading to town. Actually the angmohs are really helping me make my decisions. I always can't decide, but when i see a group of angmohs going where i had intended to go, i would head for my second choice instead =P the attitude i get and th hospitality i receive is really different when i keep away from them... anyway, Tat Fan. impressive. very tall, falls into a gorge/canyon. I tried to trek down to the foot but the path was very very slippery and had almost no handholds and many times were right at the edge of a steep drop and was quite overgrown... so i gave up before reaching the bottom...
Last night i was a little sick.. couldn't sleepin my cell of a room (the cheapest private and non-angmoh infested in town) with no window smelling of the indian restuarant downstairs. Puked out a little something, had a massive headache, and couldn't get myself out of bed till abt 11.30am, when i figured i need to see some sun and get lunch and maybe change more money (the banks close at 3.30pm). Stopped at the roadside stall for lunch. rather randomly. Turned out to be some laksa like thing, except with pig's blood.. the woman was very nice to me, and turned out knew a bit of chinese, knows someone from hongkong apparently. I speak and understand enough lao to apparently confuse them and make them keep trying to speak to me in lao even though i keep telling them i can't... btw, the yes is actually 'er' as in er4.like hungry in mandarin.and no:'bor' is not really 'boh' like boh tea but more like 'baw' or 'bor2' a in no in teochew or hokkien.
Other than the last horrible night though, the experience here has been good. esp as long as i stay in the countryside. It almost seems as though i was meant to be here now. The weather always works out in my flavour, and i almost never have to wait for my transport to start moving (unlike most of the angmohs =)
Wish you guys were here. I was lonely for the first time last night. And the pictures and descriptions sinply cannot do the beauty of the sights and people i have seen and met justice. Will probably go to another waterfall in the bolavans: Tat Lo tml, if i feel up to it.. if not, may just go to city after city: Tha Theak and Vientiane ahead of schedule... will give Tham Lot something something a miss cos it's really hard (and expensive) to get there...
Monday, May 23, 2005
ARGH! previous post 2-thirds eaten!
sob sob.. it has so much more of my island experience and what i did yesterday and today and what i think about some things.. and more importantly, how i wish i could share this experience with you guys... sigh...
ok, in the 'city' of Pakse now.. cheaper internet. anyway, i got a whole lot of white strings around both my wrists now! before i left my previous place the guy and his immediate family (minus the kids) said some prayers for me (mentioning my name and where i come from and where i'm going..) and each tied a string around my wrists... don't think its the same as ravin's, but i was still very touched =)) They've been wonderfully nice to me. The room rate was higher than all the other US$1 places the other tourists stay at, but this was more like a homestay and it turns out that all the meals and water and food I had with them are included, as well as the bost trip back to mainland, which makes it really really pretty darn cheap. Of course I gave them more than i should, the experience was priceless.
They never left me alone: there's always someone with me, talking to me, trying to teach me lao, make me teach them english, make me eat, watch me eat or just sitting and enjoying the view with me.. they sit around a lot.. guess cos it's not planting season (they're farmers) and the fish traps only need to be set up then collected once each day. The water i drink i presume is boiled mekong water (yes, the same water i piss in, bathe in, brush teeth in, wash my hands with, do my laundry in..), the food is basically rice and fish for every meal. Their bbq fish is perfect, the fermented fish takes some getting used to, I refused to touch the raw fish though. Everything is seasoned with rice. And they keep giving me food. Lots and lots of food: pudding, potatoes sweetened with sugar and rice, coffee, fish, leaves.. I loved their salad and laap.. ate a lot of different leaves. Not the chinese vegetables kind. really leaves. Sigh. My tummy is coming back =(
The guy keeps telling me every once in a while to "follow me!", and before i know it, i'll be on the boat to see something, visit some neighbours, eating with the family, bathing or swimming with them, or, one night, with the whole village in this bigger house w electricity and a tv and a vcd player where the old men were sitting and drinking (lao whisky is quite nice)
Saturday, May 21, 2005
er! boh! er! boh!
Actually that's just yes! no! yes! no! in lao. v expensive internet here: 30min=3nights room. argh! but nice islands, very pretty, some spectacular waterfalls, no electricity, no TV, no bathroom, lovely sunset, wonderful people. I found a few place just startibng far away from all the rest of the places. i feel like a novelty tin the village. Everyone's come by to have a look at me and make me go through their lao-english book w them one by one. very sick of that book now. i eat w the family, bathe w them in the river and all. not sure if the meals are included in the higher than normal room price (us1.5 vs us1). argh.. too much to say, no time.. leaving in 2 days. its just so relaxed... will report again when i find a a more reasonable rate in another place....
Thursday, May 19, 2005
An interesting journey and a heavenly morning
Yay! I found an internet connection! it's in someone's house, the kid keeps disturbing me (and the poor mother got to keep carrying her away) and the grandmother is sewing with the old sewing machine we used to have at home =) 300kip/min.
This morning: wat phou. I was hoping to catch the sunrise, but when i woke up at 6am, it was raining hard, and it didn't look like it was going to stop. But my luck held, and by 7.30 it stopped, though the sky was still dark. Rented a bike after breakfast, went to change money, cycled the 10km to the wat, passing kids catching something in the fields, a big group of men and boys fishing where a stream met the mekong, lots of cows, dogs, ducks, chickens, goats, even a turkey.. Nice cos it wasn't hot. Not very nice for taking photos at the wat (in ruins, but exquisite, and very nice views and atmostphere), though there were a few moments of sunshine when i walked into the main shrine at the top with my joss sticks and offering, and the gold of the Buddha's robes were shining. It was perfect... then an angmoh approache and the sun went away... then when i went to the holy spring behind it started drizzling but stopped the moment i left the cave/ledge. Hmm.
Staying at a place with a nice location by the river. splurged on a double room with attached bath cos a) i'd been on the road for more than 24h! b)in the super duper cramped songthraew from Phibun to Champasak, my bottle of meji coffee milk (bought in BKK) opened and i didn't realise it till I felt it soak thru my bag and my pants... so the bath with showerhead, tap, basin, western toilet w working flush for 30,000kip (US$3) sounded like a good deal... plus the hammocks at the veranda by the river just looked so good...
the journey here... long story...... the phibun-champasak part comes down to something like: took a long time, cramped, drunks on board who took a shine to me and who were smoking non-stop, cute kids, river crossing, owner of guesthouse's brother on board, hence got off at the most populated guesthouse (though that's not saying a lot) w lots of angmohs. Cos there were 2 brits on the same vehicle as i (and who had been on that same vehicle at the bus staion for 3h already waiting for it to fill up and move). railway overnight from BKK to Ubon was good, but JS, I wld reccommend that you take the lower deck. I had the upper cos safer for me i guess, but its too bright, too near the aircon vents, and too low and no view.... At the border I meet and eventually shared taxi with 2 finnish and an american. US citizens really get it hard ard here i guess... they were staying in Pakse or Bolavan for the night, so I got my own tuk tuk to the other bus station to go to Phibun....
so many more things to say and note, but the keyboard is seriously irritating....
what i love about this place though: the laid-back attitude. I thought some of the smaller thai villages were relaxed, but the laos take it to a whole new level...
tomorrow: down south to Si Phan Don: the 4 thousand mekong islands... will try to catch the morning slow boat, which takes anywhere from 5-9h to get there from here..
This morning: wat phou. I was hoping to catch the sunrise, but when i woke up at 6am, it was raining hard, and it didn't look like it was going to stop. But my luck held, and by 7.30 it stopped, though the sky was still dark. Rented a bike after breakfast, went to change money, cycled the 10km to the wat, passing kids catching something in the fields, a big group of men and boys fishing where a stream met the mekong, lots of cows, dogs, ducks, chickens, goats, even a turkey.. Nice cos it wasn't hot. Not very nice for taking photos at the wat (in ruins, but exquisite, and very nice views and atmostphere), though there were a few moments of sunshine when i walked into the main shrine at the top with my joss sticks and offering, and the gold of the Buddha's robes were shining. It was perfect... then an angmoh approache and the sun went away... then when i went to the holy spring behind it started drizzling but stopped the moment i left the cave/ledge. Hmm.
Staying at a place with a nice location by the river. splurged on a double room with attached bath cos a) i'd been on the road for more than 24h! b)in the super duper cramped songthraew from Phibun to Champasak, my bottle of meji coffee milk (bought in BKK) opened and i didn't realise it till I felt it soak thru my bag and my pants... so the bath with showerhead, tap, basin, western toilet w working flush for 30,000kip (US$3) sounded like a good deal... plus the hammocks at the veranda by the river just looked so good...
the journey here... long story...... the phibun-champasak part comes down to something like: took a long time, cramped, drunks on board who took a shine to me and who were smoking non-stop, cute kids, river crossing, owner of guesthouse's brother on board, hence got off at the most populated guesthouse (though that's not saying a lot) w lots of angmohs. Cos there were 2 brits on the same vehicle as i (and who had been on that same vehicle at the bus staion for 3h already waiting for it to fill up and move). railway overnight from BKK to Ubon was good, but JS, I wld reccommend that you take the lower deck. I had the upper cos safer for me i guess, but its too bright, too near the aircon vents, and too low and no view.... At the border I meet and eventually shared taxi with 2 finnish and an american. US citizens really get it hard ard here i guess... they were staying in Pakse or Bolavan for the night, so I got my own tuk tuk to the other bus station to go to Phibun....
so many more things to say and note, but the keyboard is seriously irritating....
what i love about this place though: the laid-back attitude. I thought some of the smaller thai villages were relaxed, but the laos take it to a whole new level...
tomorrow: down south to Si Phan Don: the 4 thousand mekong islands... will try to catch the morning slow boat, which takes anywhere from 5-9h to get there from here..
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
ON THE LOOSE AGAIN!
ahaha! in bangkok typing this. silom. I thought if i come to a more upmarket area and stay in the expensive shopping center i won't be tempted to shop, but the high class shops and salespeople intimidated me so much i went back to the streets where i belong more =P so many things to see/buy/eat.. I have to keep telling myself to save money and that my bag is heavy enough. Man, the stupid keyboard is damn hard to get used to again. this time because everythings so clear: there are 2 thai letters for on every alphabet key in addition to the normal ones... thank god for spellcheck.
I have spent the last couple of weeks before this trip in such a frenzy, trying to tie things up for the trip, meet friends, finish assignments and jobs, spend time with family, that even the hustle and bustle of bangkok at peak hour seems like a break. Like I can finally take a breath (even if it's noxious bangkok-city-center-peak-hour-traffic air). Not to mention locals here have always embraced me, and are super nice and friendly. It would be rare back home for people waiting at the train station or bus stop or just walking alongside you in the same direction to just turn to you and strike up a conversation (though their attempts to engage me are always stopped in their tracks because I have forgotten what little thai i picked up the last time round), with no other motive than to make a friend and have some company for the wait or the journey.
Not much time to spend online: i still need to get dinner, head back to Hualalompong, get my train ticket to ubon, etc. Yeah, i should have gotten it when i arrived in the city at 5.30pm (cos had to wait for train at airport for 1.5h), but the queues at the counters were crazy. Touched down at 2.25 BKK time. A bit late cos bad weather in s'pore, terrible turbulance. Reminded me of taking the roller coasters and amusment park thrill rides in Korea. Perfect landing though: I couldn't tell which was the moment we touched down. Only realised we were on the ground when the brakes started. Tigerair has nice clean new planes. Only they keep trying to sell you things. And maybe it's a singapore thing: the aircon was freezing!
as i was saying: not much time. At the same time, lots of time. To think, to look, to feel, to live.
I have spent the last couple of weeks before this trip in such a frenzy, trying to tie things up for the trip, meet friends, finish assignments and jobs, spend time with family, that even the hustle and bustle of bangkok at peak hour seems like a break. Like I can finally take a breath (even if it's noxious bangkok-city-center-peak-hour-traffic air). Not to mention locals here have always embraced me, and are super nice and friendly. It would be rare back home for people waiting at the train station or bus stop or just walking alongside you in the same direction to just turn to you and strike up a conversation (though their attempts to engage me are always stopped in their tracks because I have forgotten what little thai i picked up the last time round), with no other motive than to make a friend and have some company for the wait or the journey.
Not much time to spend online: i still need to get dinner, head back to Hualalompong, get my train ticket to ubon, etc. Yeah, i should have gotten it when i arrived in the city at 5.30pm (cos had to wait for train at airport for 1.5h), but the queues at the counters were crazy. Touched down at 2.25 BKK time. A bit late cos bad weather in s'pore, terrible turbulance. Reminded me of taking the roller coasters and amusment park thrill rides in Korea. Perfect landing though: I couldn't tell which was the moment we touched down. Only realised we were on the ground when the brakes started. Tigerair has nice clean new planes. Only they keep trying to sell you things. And maybe it's a singapore thing: the aircon was freezing!
as i was saying: not much time. At the same time, lots of time. To think, to look, to feel, to live.
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