Crazy days and nights in Vang Vieng

Days 53 - 57 (22/05/08 - 26/05/08): Vang Vieng, Laos

I am going to write up all these days at once, because they have all been pretty similar. I have now spent 5 days in Vang Vieng, 3 days tubing and 2 days recovering. The first day we obviously all went tubing as it was our first day, on the second day Lucy had arrived, and so obviously the polite thing to do was accompany her, even if our bodies weren't as keen. Then there was a much needed day of recovery in which I did nothing except go on the internet and read my book in hammock. Lou's friends then arrived from England, and so obviously we had to go again. It was like walking willingly to an execution, knowing the trauma and carnage you are going to be putting your body through, and yet doing it with a smile on your face.

So what is this 'tubing' thing then? Well let me explain a typical day tubing in Vang Vieng. You'll wake up mid-morning, and go out for breakfast. This for me is most likely going to be a filled baguette (as Laos is an old French colony, they bake good bread, unlike Thai bread, which is horrible. There are numerous street carts that will make a custom baguette sandwich for you, it is exactly the same as Subway, only with slightly less choices and its only 10 000 kip, or $1.50NZ). At about midday we will congregate around our guesthouse, dressed in nothing but togs and some money in a waterproof bag. At this point Garth and I will start dealing out a whiskey shot to everyone. We then ritually play 'Eye of the Tiger' to get ourselves in the right mood for tubing. We go down the street and sign in at the tubing place, pay our 40 000 kip, and climb into a tuk-tuk, on whose roof a number of large truck inner tires are strapped. A five minute dive up the road, and you are ready to go....

Grabbing a tube you jump into the river, and proceed to float for a whole 30 meters before stopping at the first bar. Well, its more of a bamboo platform built onto the side of the river that is selling booze, giving out free shots of local whiskey, playing pumping music and packed with people. All of which is fun, until you look up and see the biggest rope swing you can possible imagine. A very high platform is built off the side of a tree, and from an even higher pole is a steel cable with a swing handle (You can just see the platform in the upper left of the group photo). A local Lao guy pulls the recovery cord and you hold onto the handle, realise just how high up you are, and jump anyway. Generally you swing once, wait till the highest point of the swing and then let go, about 5 or 6 meters up in the air. At this point you come crashing down into the (very deep) water, hoping that you land upright, and not on your back or stomach. Occasionally that does happen and a collective 'ooohhh' will issue from the crowd. Or a big wave of applause for someone who tries something particularly gutsy, such as a flip. The whole thing is exhilarating, and while it is very scary, once you have done your first one for the day, the rest are easy.

The rest of the afternoon is then spent this way, drifting down the river in a tube, stopping at pubs and going on giant rope swings. The first pub still has the biggest one, but some of the smaller swings (which are still incredibly big, just not as big as the first one) at other pubs allow you to go two at a time, which is great fun. There are also some ziplines, although after going on the Gibbon Experience, the ziplines were pretty tame in comparison. I prefer just to climb up the zipline tower and jump straight off it.

Ultimately the idea is to make it back to Vang Vieng, although because all the pubs are in the first half, it takes about an hour to float from the last pub back. And most times it gets dark while you are still at a pub and we just catch a boat back. I did manage to make it back all the way the second time I went tubing. Back in Vang Vieng, those people who are still able to will go down to the riverfront bars and continue to party the night away around the bonfires. Now while this may all sound a bit cheesy, it is in fact an incredibly incredibly fun time. Everyone is very social, with everyone talking to everyone, dancing around bonfires, having mudfights and jumping into the river together to float down to the next pub. I personally think the swings are my favourite, and sometimes just spend the whole time at a stop doing continuous laps of the swing. As some of you might know, I am not particularly keen on heights, but with the Gibbon Experience and climbing to the tops of all these platforms and the big swings, I am getting a lot better.

Unfortunately, tubing really takes it out of you. Without stating the obvious, your liver is working overtime from a whole afternoon of drinking. Your arms and chest muscles will really hurt from all the paddling and hanging onto the rope swings. Your shins and feet will be bashed, bruised and cut from constantly climbing out of the river over the rocks (I wear my sandals for this reason). You get surnburnt (most sunblock is stripped off from the high speed impacts with the water), and whichever part of your body hits the water first will most likely be sore, generally thighs and arse for me. Although people who back or belly flop can bruise their whole body. One girl's entire stomach was purple the next day after belly-flopping. And yet it is great fun, and you are rearing to go the next time.

Some people bring dry-bags with other possessions in, normally cameras, and so I've managed to grab a few photos of tubing from others, including some great ones Johnny took of me on the big swing, it really looks like I am flying, and will give you some idea of the height of the swings. (My camera is too big and expensive to risk or be practical). So there you have it, a day of tubing down the NamSong river in Vang Vieng Laos. I have now done it three times, and doubtless will do it a few more times before I move on again.

To Vang Vieng in a bouncy minibus

Day 52 (21/05/08): Vang Vieng, Laos

We had organised a minibus ride to the next destination of Vang Vieng, party capital of Laos. There were six of us Gibboners booked for the minivan, myself, Garth, Charlie & Lou, and Gemma & Johnny. Joe and Justin were going down the same day in a different minivan with their friends. Lucy would be following us the day after. Initially there was some confusion, as the minibus driver (who spoke no english) wouldn't go and pick up Lou and Charlie from their guesthouse, and we had one shared ticket for all six of us. And then he made Gemma go in another minivan, even though there was space in ours. In the end it turned out that he was only taking us to the minibus station, not to Vang Vieng itself. We all re-grouped at the station, and then climbed aboard our proper minibus for the 5 hour ride. If there is one word to describe the journey, it would be 'bumpy'. I was on the back seat as the minibus wound its way around and up and down the steep Laos mountainsides, bouncing all the way. I was trying reading my book for some parts of it, but it proved too hard to hold the page steady enough to read. The scenery was absolutely fantastic though. Laos, especially its mountainous north, is a truly beautiful place.

We made a few short stops for food, but in the mid afternoon we rolled into the Vang Vieng minibus station, and shared a tuk-tuk down to the riverside, where the 6 of us all checked into the same guesthouse. We are all planning to stay here for a little while, and so haggled for a better price, and I got my own room. There is a very nice little bamboo gazebo with a few hammocks in it that overlooks the river, and it has quickly become a favourite spot to relax or have a few quiet afternoon beers. Both Lou & Charlie and Gemma & Johnny had been to Vang Vieng before, only leaving to go on the Gibbon Experience. In fact Gemma & Johnny weren't supposed to be coming back, except that it is such a fun place and with people they knew going to it, they couldn't resist to come back for a few short days.

It was blisteringly hot (what a surprise!), and so we headed down to one of the riverfront bars and had a quick swim in the river. Although you tend to 'float' more than 'swim'. The current is very fast and the river shallow, so you just jump in and float down a couple hundred meters, then walk back. The scenery is, as always, amazing. Across the river are some truly huge sheer mountains, whose faces are so steep in parts that no vegetation can grow. We all sat back, gazed at the scenery, enjoyed a cold beer and listened to the two couples who had been here before talk about tubing down the river, the activity Vang Vieng is famous for. I have heard a lot of stories about tubing down the river, and everyone says that it is an absolute blast of fun. Garth and I were very much looking forward to it, after hearing the stories of the giant rope swings, ziplines and riverside pubs. Bring it on!

The evening was spent at the same bar, now geared up for its nightly patrons with several large bonfires and pumping music. It was very much a deja-vu night, as I ran into several other people I had met previously, including some people from the Perhentian Islands almost 6 weeks before!

Amazing waterfalls

Day 51 (20/05/08): Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang is a very pretty town, full of history and culture, and more temples than you can shake a big Buddhist stick at. One of the things the town is famous for is the Kuang Si waterfalls, and so after a breakfast with Garth, Gemma & Johnny, the four of us grabbed a tuk-tuk for the hour journey out the waterfalls. Its only 29km to the waterfall, but it is very steep, and as such the underpowered tuk-tuks take an hour to get there.

Before getting to the waterfalls, you walk through a short forest path, in which you go past the Bear Conservation project. Here are a number of Asiatic black bears that have been rescued from poachers. The bears were all playing in their enclosures, and climbing trees, and were pretty cool to see. There is also a rescued tiger, however it wasn't out for viewing that day. Walking a bit further we came to the waterfalls themselves. The waterfalls are incredibly beautiful. It is actually a series of small waterfalls that cascade over multiple levels down the side the hill into beautiful aquamarine pools. We followed them up, marvelling as each pool seemed more beautiful and picturesque than the previous one. After a short while we got to the main fall, which was pretty high and very pretty. Here we met Lucy and Lou & Charlie, three other Gibboners who had taken the bus instead of the slow boat.

You are allowed to swim in the pools at the bottom of the hill, and so after working up some sweat walking to the top of the waterfall, we were all eager for a swim. There is a small waterfall here, about 3m high which you can jump off, as well as a tree of similar height overhanging the pool. We all had a great time jumping off the waterfall and tree into the beautiful water. At one stage a large contingent of young orange clad monks appeared and walked to the top of the waterfall. Some started rolling up their robes, and we were all hoping they would jump, but alas a senior monk came along and disavowed them of the idea.

The tuk-tuk ride back was considerably quicker, an advantage of going downhill. Later in the evening I met Lou and Charlie, and we climbed over 200 steps up the large hill in the middle of Luang Prabang to watch the sunset. Unfortunately the clouds were in the way, but it was still a fantastic view watching over the town as all the lights came on for the night, and as is typical for Laos, there were fantastic mountains and cliffs in the background. Luang Prabang has a large number of Buddhist temples, which at night are lit up by spotlights, and so standing on top of a giant hill in the center of the town, you could see all the illuminated Buddhist Stupas dotted around the place.

Lou and Charlie hadn't made it to the bowling alley the previous night, and were quite keen to go, and so for the second night in a row I found myself at the bowling alley after dinner. Garth joined us, and the four of us had a couple good games. I was really bad in the first game, coming dead last and scoring a paltry 35. But then I got my eye in, and easily won the second game with a score of 115. Overall another fun night with the 'Gibbon Crew'.

Two days on a slow boat

Days 49-50 (18/05/08 - 19/05/08): Huay Xai to Pakbeng to Luang Prabang

There were six of us 'Gibboners' catching the slow boat to Luang Prabang; myself, Joe and Justin from my treehouse, Gemma and Johnny (an English couple) and Garth, the Canadian. We got to the boat really early in order to grab good seats, and we quickly camped ourselves out near the front of the boat, each with our own seat. The boat is just a long wooden boat with open sides and a roof, with rows of wooden benches down it. The boat ride was actually quite good fun, the seats were simple wooden benches, but on some advice we had each bought a small cushion. We spent the time reading, listening to music, chatting, playing cards or a great little game called 'Pass the Pigs'. In the afternoon we even cracked open a few beers and relaxed as we watched the Laos countryside drift by. The boat goes down the famous Mekong river, and as such it was my first time on the river that I would be spending a lot of time on in the future, as I follow it down through Laos, Cambodia and then into Vietnam. It was also the first time in my trip that I was heading South. I have spent the last six weeks travelling North from Singapore, through Malaysia right into the North of Thailand, and now I am heading south again, and will be for the next few weeks.

The boat stops at a small town called Pakbeng, whose sole purpose is to house the tourists coming down on the boat. As such there is a large crowd of guesthouse touts waiting to ambush you as you come off the boat. We all checked in to a relatively cheap guesthouse, had an average curry for dinner, and spent the evening drinking a few beers and playing Pass the Pigs. Until 10:30pm, when the generators for the town stop and it loses all electricity.

We arrived at the boat early the next day again, and so ensured that we had good seats at the front of the boat (the back of the boat is very noisy from the big engine). The second day was very similiar to the first, with the exception that it rained a fair bit, so canvas covers were pulled over the side of the boat to stop the rain coming in. Once again we entertained ourselves with games and cards, and had a few beers.

We arrived in Luang Prabang, where Joe and Justin were meeting a bunch of friends. They were waiting at the jetty for us, and we followed them to their guesthouse and all booked in together. I continued to share a room with Garth, like we had been doing for the past few days. Luang Prabang is quite famous, the entire town is a Unesco World Heritage site, and it is home to a large number of temples and a lot of monks. In fact if you walk outside a temple just before dark, you will see a large number of orange clad monks leaving. It is even weirder to pass by an internet cafe and see all the young monks checking their email and texting on their cellphones. Nevertheless, the town, like most of Laos, is very conservative and most restaurants and bars will shut at the curfew of 11pm. There are only two places in town that stay open after this, the disco and the bowling alley. And so on our first night in Luang Prabang, we all found ourselves going to the bowling alley after our dinner. The bowling alley was apparently the place to be, and very shortly the entire place was packed, almost entirely with backpackers, a lot of whom I recognised from the boat trip. I didn't actually end up bowling, I just drank some beers and chatted to other people.

At the end of the night, a large group of us were all going back to the same guesthouse, and so we all got on the same tuk-tuk, all 17 of us (bear in mind this was a 'truck' style tuk-tuk, with two benches in the back of a small converted van). Nevertheless, there were 9 in the back, 3 on the roof, 3 standing on the duckboard at the back, and 2 in the front. It was a lot of fun, and since the tuk-tuk only had a 1400cc engine, we were going so slow that it was pretty safe.

Gibbon Experience 3

Day 48 (17/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park & Huay Xai, Laos

We all woke early with the morning sun, and Max our guide zipped in, ready to take us 'Gibbon Hunting' again. The girls didn't want to come, so it was just us guys. We were ready in our harnesses, and under Max's instruction, sitting very quietly in our treehouse, waiting. And then we heard it, the distant sound of a single gibbon singing in the morning. With that we all sprang into action. Ignoring the standard rules of one person at a time, Max threw us all down the zipline as fast as we could each clip on. Down on the jungle floor we followed the sound, which had now grown in cacophany as several gibbons joined in. We turned off the main path, and climbed and slid our way down a steep hill, towards the source of the amazing howling, whooping and shrieking of the gibbons. Whenever they paused in their singing, we would freeze and not make any noise. When the singing resumed we would continue down, trying to make as little noise as possible. We probably got to within 50m of the gibbons, whne they decided to move on. I managed to see just a few fleeting glimpses of gibbon silhouette against the morning light, and then they were gone. However, it was worth it just for the singing. The gibbons are incredibly loud when they sing, and have a big vocal range. All the more impressive was how the group of them all sang together, one gibbon would start off with some low notes, before all the others would slowly join in, building to a brilliant crescendo of gibbon voices. It is incredibly eery, hiding in the fog of the early morning jungle, listening to this other-worldy song.

We clambered back up the hill, pulling ourselves up on the trees and vines, not worrying about making noise now. Being as 'zip-addicted'as we were, we went for a few more quick zips. There was a heavy mist this morning, and it was a great fun zipping through the mist above the treetops. Although as we found out, the first person down the zipline gets completely soaked, as all the condensed water on the zipline sprays into you. At about 9am all others came over for breakfast, and the 13 of us enjoyed our last meal together in the treehouse. It was then with much sadness that we all packed our bags and had the last zip out of our treehouse. A short walk back to the base camp to drop off our harnesses, and an easy hour walk back to the main village. After all the walking over the past few days, this last walk was easy for everyone. There was only one four wheel drive to take us back, and so instead of all cramming in, Garth (the Canadian in the group), and I jumped on the roof and enjoyed the ride back getting a great view and dodging all the low lying branches.

Back at the main road, and we had lunch at a small shop, before the first of us 'Gibboners' (as we had taken to calling ourselves) had to part ways. There were three going North, while the rest of us were going back to Huay Xai. At least we could all fit in the jeep now, and we spent most of the trip already reminiscing about how much fun we had just had, and how it was one of the most amazing experiences we had ever done. Back in Huay Xai, and most of us checked into the same guesthouse. We all went out and had dinner together, and then had a good party on the upstairs balcony of our guesthouse.

Gibbon Experience 2

Day 47 (16/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park, Laos

I woke up at a very early hour to the sound of Owen zipping out of our treehouse. Our guide would be coming around at 6am to take us on a walk to try and find gibbons, but in the meantime we still had half an hour, and so the rest of us guys threw on our harnesses and did the quick loop to Treehouse 2 and back again. It was brilliant zipping in the early hours of the morning, the air was crisp and dew covered all the ziplines. We got back just in time for our guide, Max, who then took us on a walk in the jungle. The best time to spot gibbons is in the early hours of the morning, when they sing. Gibbons literally do sing duets, the males and females each having different parts. Because the jungle is so dense, and the gibbons are so high up, it is impossible to spot them during the day, so the only way is to listen for their singing in the early morning. Alas, even though we walked very quietly through an area that Max said there are normally gibbons, we didn't spot or even hear any. It may have been because of all the noise we made in the night, oh well.

Another few zips on our own, then back to our treehouse for breakfast, consisting of steamed rice and vegetables. Being our full day in the jungle, we now had the choice of two treks we could do. One would take us down some ziplines to Treehouse 5, the newest and biggest treehouse overlooking a great valley, and then an 1.5 hour walk back. The other option was to walk for several hours to the waterfall, go on the really big ziplines there, and then walk back for several hours, overall a long day. The people in the other two treehouses decided on the easy walk, but we were all quite keen to go down to the waterfall, so shortly after breakfast, we stocked up on water (the tap water in the tree house was safe to drink), and we set off. The walk was actually quite easy, it was downhill for most of the way, and the Laos scenery is fantastic. Along the way Max also pointed out some of the more interesting plants and insects, and we even ate the stalk of one of the edible plants. It tasted like bland celery.

The Gibbon Experience has two different areas of operation, the 'classic' and the 'waterfall'. We were doing the classic, and staying in that area. But now we were getting the best of both, by walking all the way to the waterfall area. Personally I think the 'classic' area is a nicer place to stay, and the ziplines are more accesible, allowing for a lot of zipping. Howerver the ziplines at the waterfall area are huge. And when I say huge, I really mean huge! They were all at least 300m long, with the longest one touching 400m. The highest one went from one big hill/mountain, all the way over the valley and the river, to the hill on the other side. It is supposedly 1000 feet high, or just over 300m. You literally felt like you were flying. We did about 7 different zips in this area, they follow a big long circuit that takes about an hour to do, including all the walking between ziplines.

We came to the waterfall itself, and all the guys jumped in for a swim in the large swimming pond. There was a bamboo raft there that had seen better days, but it didn't stop us from all trying to sit on it and keep it upright. 'Bamboo submarine' is probably a better term for it, and much hilarity ensued as the raft lost all stability with 5 guys on it. Lunch was more sticky rice and vegetables, at one of the little village camps where the food is cooked for the 'waterfall' area. We then had the walk back, the first hour or so was flat, and then we got to the big hill that had taken us 40 minutes to walk down. We all split up at this point, everyone going their own pace. Joe and I soon were at the front, and decided it would be a lot easier if we just power walked and ran our way up the hill. This way we did the whole thing in less than half an hour. Joe and I got back to our treehouse, and had enough time to have a shower and a few hot chocolates before the others started arriving. Treehouse 2 and 3 came over as well, and the whole group sat and chatted while our Treehouse had our dinner. The others had to leave before dark, and having no whiskey for the night, we spent a quiet night chatting and listening to the jungle sounds.

Gibbon Experience

Day 46 (15/05/08): Gibbon Experience, Bokeo Park, Laos

The previous night ended up being quite a good one. Walking out of my guesthouse, and the first person I walked into was Sian, who I had spent ten hours with on a third class train, and later met in Koh Phangan and Khaosan road. Yet another example of traveling being a very small world. She was with an English and Dutch guy, and so we went out for a great meal and finished the night having a few drinks on the roof of their guesthouse.

It was then an early start for me. I had to be at the Gibbon Experience early in the morning, and so after checking out, and having a banana pancake for breakfast, myself and twelve other travelers gathered in the small office. We were shown a safety instruction video, and then we all piled into two four wheel drives for the 2 hour journey to Bokeo Park. We all got to know each other very quickly and everyone in the group got on really well. We would be spending the next three days living in close proximity in tree huts, so that was a very good thing. We turned off the main road, drove through a river, and then had a very windy and bumpy trip down a muddy track. In the wet season, this can be too much for a vehicle, and instead you have to do a 5 hour trek. We were lucky, it had been dry and the vehicle managed fine, although the occupants got quite shaken up. At the local village we got out and had a 40 min trek into the jungle to the Gibbon Experience base camp. Here we were given our harnesses and split into three groups, one for each tree hut. There were 13 of us in total, I was in Treehouse 1 with 5 others, Treehouse 2 was the honeymoon suite with just one couple, and Treehouse 3 had the remaining 5.

For those readers who don't know, the Gibbon Experience is part of the Bokeo Conservation Project. Basically, for 2 nights and 3 days, you live in a treehouse and explore the jungle by zipping down giant ziplines. This was you are above the canopy level, and are treated to fantastic views.

Our first zip was quite a short one directly into our treehouse. One by one, we each clipped our harnesses onto the zipline, and tentatively threw ourselves off the launching platform to whizz through the trees and land in our treehouse, which was at least 60m above the ground. The treehouse was very nice. A small communal area with a sink, running water and a gas stove and kettle, a food box filled with snacks and fruit, an upstairs area with a double bed, and then a lower area with two more double beds and a small bathroom with shower. The bathroom itself had a slotted wooden floor, and the shower water just fell down to the ground, as did any other 'things' one would normally dispose of in a bathroom.

Our guide then took us around a few more ziplines, and after that we were allowed to go by ourselves. We immediately set off and spent the whole afternoon zipping around the forest. The main loop we did took us to treehouse 2, using 7 ziplines and taking about 20 mins. The ziplines are all obviously one way, and so a little bit of walking is needed to gain the necessary height to come back down another zipline in the opposite direction. These ziplines were very long and high, the longer 4 all being about 300m long, and getting close to 100m high, as they zipped from one ridge across the valley to another ridge. I will try and use words to describe it, but ultimately it is something that words will never do justice to. Imagine literally flying above a huge tropical rainforest, getting a birds eye view of the giant trees and dense bush, while in the distance is a stunning landscape of the Laos mountains covered in low cloud and further jungle. Above the high pitched whine of the zipline, you can hear the endless multitudes of insects and birds in the jungle below you. The wind rushes past you as you gather speed fly over the jungle, before the incline increases and you slowly come to a stop on the far side. Still buzzing with adrenalin, you quickly disconnect your harness and safety rope from the zipline, and very quickly walk up the hill to zip back across the same valley. It is unlike anything else I have ever done in my life, and it is something I will always remember.

After traveling the same ziplines a few times, we we knew them well enough and started taking videos and photos, which while they are fantastic, once again do not do any justice at all to the actual real event. A very early dinner was brought out to our treehouse by the guides, and we tucked into our meal of rice and vegetables, which is what we would be eating for the remained of our time here. It was still very early, and so we jumped back on the ziplines to visit Treehouse 2, where we stayed and chatted and had tea. All in a tree house 60m above the ground. Very surreal. Down we zipped and trekked down the hill to Treehouse 3, who were a bit secluded in their own little valley, and chatted to them for a while.

It was now getting close to sunset, and so we walked back up the hill, and did our final few zips for the day in the twilight. On one of the zips we could look over to the mountains, and see the sun setting in the distance. A magic moment. We made it back to our treehouse just before dark, which was very lucky as their are strict rules about not zipping at night (it is quite dangerous as you can't see where the zipline ends). The six of us from our Treehouse spent the night chatting, and drinking the bottle of whiskey that a very smart cunning person (such as myself) had brought in. We all got on very well and had a great night. Our Treehouse comprised of myself, two English guys (Joe and Justin), two French girls (Anna and Laurie), and another Kiwi (Owen). Owen and I actually found out that we both did Engineering at Canterbury Uni at the same time, and know a lot of the same people. In fact we probably passed each other in the hallways a hundred times. Another case of the world being very small.

While the French girls in the upstairs bed, and the two English guys worried about all the bugs, spiders and beetles in the forest, myself and Owen, being two Kiwis used to camping and living outdoors, didn't worry a bit, and we all retired to bed after a thoroughly amazing day and a great night.

Going to Laos

Day 45 (14/05/08): Chiang Khong, Thailand - Houay Xai, Laos

Just a brieft post here. I am currently in Chiang Khong in Thailand, doing some last bits of organisation before I cross the Mekong river this afternoon into Laos, the fourth country of my trip. Laos has no ATMs and so I need to cash some travellers cheques into US dollars, which are accepted all over Laos. There isn't much at all in Houay Xai, so I am spending most of my time on the Thai side. I've heard there is only one computer connected to the internet there available for public use. I will spend the night in Houay Xai, and then in the morning start my Gibbon Experience adventure for three days. After that I will take the two day slow boat down to Luang Prabang, which is quite a developed tourist destination. So don't expect any updates from me for a little while!

Long day in a minibus

Day 44 (13/05/08): Chiang Khong, Thailand

I had a very early start to the day, I have been having a lot of those recently. My minibus left at 8:30 in the morning and as I walked down the streets of Pai at this time, there was no one else to be seen. The minibus left about ten minutes late, and it was a very windy three hour trip back to Chiang Mai. Luckily, having driven most of the New Zealand, I am pretty used to windy mountain roads and spent most of my time reading my book, while some of the other passengers looked very green. I had a half hour layover in Chiang Mai before my next minibus left. In quite a coincidence, the travel agent I was dropped off at, was next door to the guest house I had stayed in, so I knew the area pretty well. I spent the time quickly sending off an important email to confirm my booking at the Gibbon Experience, and then getting some lunch.

The minibus to Chiang Mai was pretty packed, and we had bags down the aisles. I was last to be picked up, and sat next to a young english guy who had just started his travels. We chatted for a little while, and then settled down for the 5-6 hour trip to Chiang Mai. Once again I spent most of the time reading my book, occaisonally looking out the window to see all the barren rice paddies or small villages. The minibus stopped a couple of times, and so it was nice to get out and stretch legs and buy some snacks. The minibus also had a tendency to bounce a lot whenever it went over a bump, something that was quite annoying but sent a bunch of Austrians into fits of giggles whenever it happened.

At about 6pm we pulled into the small border town of Chiang Khong, with the country of Laos just across the Mekong river. Most people on the minibus had bought a package that included their night's accomodation at a guest house. I instead walked down the road, and at the suggestion of another couple on the bus, found a very nice little guest house overlooking the river. I had my own little bamboo hut again, although this one was a bit more modern with more solid walls and a lino floor. Once again the bed was just a mattress on the floor with a mosquito net. The bed was suprisingly comfortable though.

With not much of the evening left, and tired from a whole day of travel, I relaxed on the deck and looked over the Mekong river to Laos. It was the first time I had seen the Mekong, a river which I will be following for the next few weeks through Laos, Cambodia and finally Vietnam. For dinner I joined an Irish guy who was sitting by himself. He is working in Laos at a bear conservation project, and has to pop back to Thailand every month to get another visa. He works closely with the Gibbon Experience people, and so I will probably see him there. We went an explored the 'Tee Pee Bar' after dinner. Literally a wooden and thatch teepee hut on the side of the road. We had a few beers there, and then were joined by a large group of Irish guys. We shared a few beers, as I struggled to understand a whole bunch of Irish talking in heavy accents. I left before them, only to get a lot of ribbing about Kiwis from the collected Irish, but after such a long day I was ready for sleep.

Trekking to Caves

Day 43 (12/05/08): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

Once again I awoke to the sounds of roosters, pigs, buffalo and the various other barnyard animals. Breakfast was rice soup with onions and lots of garlic. It takes a special kind of determination to eat such strong garlic that early in the morning, but I knew I would need my energy for the day. The trekking for the morning was pretty easy. We followed the river again, and then managed to convince Ray to take us up the hill path. Evidently, it hadn't been used in some time as the path was pretty overgrown and Ray had his machete out clearing the way. At one point we had to make a big detour; we were walking along a thin path around the side of a hill, and a large tree had fallen over, taking with it a very large clump of bamboo. The resulting blockade was very thick and high, and so we climbed down the hill into a dry rice paddy to get around. (Being the end of the dry season, the rice paddies are all dry and barren, although other crops have been planted in some).

Back to the river, sandals on, and we trudged through some brilliant boggy mud. The thicky oozy smelly mud that is very smooth. It didn't really matter, as we were walking through the river so much our feet were never muddy for long. I did spot a few leeches on the path, but none of them got us. At one point we came across a village, and right in the middle of it, by the river, was a huge concrete bridge being built. Apparently a few years ago a big flood came down the river and wiped out the bridge, so they were building the replacement. It was just very weird walking through the jungle, with no signs of habitation, and then turning a corner and finding a huge construction project with tonnes of concrete.

We only walked for about two and a half hours, with only one stop halfway. At about lunchtime we one again emerged from the wild straight into a reasonably large tourist area at the site of a large cave complex, Tham Lot. Here we had a simple lunch at one of the eateries, part of our trek package. Also included was a guided tour of the cave. We followed an old Thai lady, who carried a large gas lantern, and she led us into the cave itself. The place is huge beyond imagination. At the entrance to the cave are thousands upon thousands of swallows, who were flying about. Apparently if you go there in the evening, you can watch the 50 000 birds leave the cave. It would have been a great site, but alas, we would not be there for it. Our little Thai guide spoke very little english, but had memorised the english names for the various things within the cave. We walked around inside the cave for close to an hour. The main chamber was so big, that the light from the gas lantern didn't reach to the far walls. It was quite eery walking along in total dark with nothing to see except the ground and your feet.

Running through the main cavern is a river, and we walked across a rickety bamboo bridge in the darkness, and then climbed various wooden stairs that had been built into the cave. I have been in quite a few caves before, but these ones were by far the most amazing. Apart from the very large stalactites and stalagmites, which were impressive enough on their own, there was also an abundance of other rock formations, some of which I didn't understand the geology of. There was a large rock formation that glittered with what looked like diamonds, little 'cups' that looked like small rimmed craters, a giant rock formation that very literally looked like it was covered in popcorn, giant hanging sheets of rock that looked like folded curtains, small ridges that ran along the ground, giant pillars and large sinkholes. There is also a small caveman painting of a deer, which they think is a few thousand years old. Overall, the caves were very very impressive.

We got back to the small village of Sappong by motorbike taxi. The trip was quite scenic, winding through the jungle and farmland, although that wasn't the most memorial part of the motorbike ride. Climbing up a steep hill quite slowly, a large SUV came straight down the middle of the road, forcing my driver to swerve into the grassy verge, and ever so lightly touch into the bamboo fence. It wasn't really an accident, as we were going so slow, but it didn't make my driver very happy. Ray stopped behind us, and we pulled the scooter out to continue the journey, although my driver went a lot slower! From Sappong back to Pai on the local bus, and I checked back into my same guesthouse, and got the same bamboo hut I had before! Unfortunately this time the electricity didn't work for some reason, but no big deal. The small remainder of the afternoon was spent doing laundry, updating this blog, and investigating transport to Laos. I only have a few days left on my visa, so need to get out of Thailand quickly. I booked a 9 hour minibus ride that will take me to Chiang Khong on the border, leaving early in the morning. In the evening I met the other person from my trek for dinner and a few beers, although we both had a reasonably early night after the last three days of activity.

Trekking in the Rain

Day 42 (11/08/05): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

If there was one theme to this trek, it was food. We awoke to a huge breakfast put out for us, once again it was enough to serve four or five people. We started walking, and trekked up quite a few large hills, giving us amazing views from the top. One of the things I most enjoy about the landscape here are the enormous cliffs. Jutting straight out of the landscape are giant sheer cliffs, with any surface that is perfectly vertical covered in dense vegetation. They look magnificent, although they were offset against the gray skies that silhouetted them...

Shortly after we started walking, the rain came down. We had just reached the top a large hill, and there was a small bamboo shelter in there, under which we took cover as the first drops started falling. We were shortly greeted by a couple of local woman with a bunch of young kids in tow. They were all splashing around in the rain and the puddles and having a great time. A huge beetle flew past (it was literally the size of a small bird), which they all chased after and one of them managed to catch. All the other kids then chased him, trying to get the beetle for themselves. He turned the tables by chasing and scaring the smaller kids with the big beetle. And all this was taking part in the heavy tropical rain.

As the rain started thinning out we headed off again, with raincoats and hats on. Although the insulation from wearing a raincoat meant I was soon dripping wet on the inside with sweat, as well as the outside with rain, which seemed rather pointless. The raincoat was soon taken off. We reached the river, which we would be following for the rest of the day, and so we changed into our sandals, and spent the next hour or so, criss-crossing our way over the river. The water was nice and cool, and I think it was the first time my feet were clean in a long time. Unfortunately, being this close to the river, and with the rain, meant that my special little friend the leech was out again. Luckily they weren't many of them, nowhere near as many as Malaysia. Although I was in sandals, with no shoes between me and the leeches! I only got three of them on me, and I got them off quickly enough before any blood was flowing.

We stopped for lunch at an old elephant camp. There were just a few burnt out bamboo huts left, but it was still a very picturesque place to eat. Once again there was no shortage of food, we had rice with chicken and vegetables. To keep with the jungle theme, we ate out of bamboo 'bowls', sections of bamboo that had been cut in half. It was very cool. Ray was looking for some dry bamboo to make a fire for tea, as everything was wet from the rain. But neither of us were too bothered, and so we didn't bother making another bamboo jungle teapot.

Another hour and a bit of walking, and we arrived at a Karen village, where we would be spending the night. This village was quite large, with over 300 families, and large fields of potato and corn (and rice in the wet season). Once again, we were staying with a family, although we stayed in a much more modern constructed wooden building. The family had solar panel, battery rack and inverter, so in the main part of their house, they even had a tv! I had a wonderfully refreshing bucket shower with some very cold water. Then while Clare had a nap, I helped Ray cook our food for the night. The Karen people use a small concrete brazier, in which they light a fire. A pot or wok can then sit on top of this brazier, and a gap in the concrete allows them to control the fire and hence the heat. In the kitchen hut were two of these braziers, and while I didn't prepare any of the food, I helped stir fry several of the dishes in the wok over the fire.

Dinner was quite early, and enough to feed an army. Once again we did our best, but there was plenty left afterwards. We then went on a tour of the village, visiting several different families. Ray's father was the schoolteacher here many years ago, and as such Ray knows a lot of the people in the village. The first person we visited was the oldest man in the village, at 100 years and 3 months! He was quite a little man, his legs about as thick as my arms. He had a huge smile, which showed that he was missing his front teeth. Most amazingly, his thighs and forearms were completely covered in traditional tattoos. He joked a lot, and using Ray as our interpreter, we found out about how he came to the village and about his family. It was very well done on Ray's part, considering that these people speak the Karen language, which is completely different to Thai. Ray told us that he can speak Thai, Lahu language, Karen Language, Burmese, Lisu Language and some English! Very impressive.

Later on in the village we met the old man's wife, who was 93, and just as friendly. We then visited a few of Ray's friends, each of whom was drinking the local whiskey. This 'whiskey' wasn't too bad, actually coming in labeled bottles and made by a local distillery. It tasted more of cheap vodka then anything else, but at 28% was rather smooth and easy to drink. I was passed many cups of it, and not wanting to be rude, finished them all. One large family we visited had just killed a wild pig, and had a large number of people over to celebrate. The meat was shared between everyone, and we arrived just as they started cooking it. We even tried a few pieces. One of the things they were making was a 'pork tartar' of sorts. The raw meat was chopped very finely and then a number of spices were added to it. It tasted pretty good. I also tried the pork soup, which was quite good and spicy as well. Some of the children had those giant bugs we had seen earlier, and Ray dropped one into the fire for a few seconds before eating it. He offered it to us, but we both kindly refused. One last stop at our neighbour's hut to drink some more whiskey, before we all collapsed into bed to sleep off the whiskey and the day's exertions.

Pai Trekking

Day 41 (10/05/08): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

It was a very early start for a Saturday morning. There were only two of us going on the trek, myself and a lady named Clare from England, who had just spent the last few months doing community work in Borneo, Malaysia. Instead of taking the normal truck to the start of the trekking route, we took the local bus with our guide, Ray, to the small town of Sappong. Here Ray bought some food and supplies from the market. We then jumped onto three motorbike taxis to take us to the start of the walking trail.

The trekking itself was very nice. Unlike my trek from Chiang Mai, all three of us were very fit, and so managed to keep up a good pace, with only a few short water breaks. It was deathly hot though, and very shortly my whole shirt was dripping wet with sweat, and due to the humidity it never evaporates off you, leaving you constantly wet. It is in the middle of the hottest part of the year here, which is the reason it is low season, and no one else is out trekking. Although we did meet a small work group of men who were building a bamboo hut. It was pretty amazing to watch them work, they make everything out of bamboo, and about the only tool they use are machetes.

At lunchtime we stopped and Ray produced some bags of fried rice, biscuits and snacks which we tucked into with great gusto. There were even some orange type fruits, very similar to a mandarin, but with a green skin and pips. Ray then showed us how to make tea in the jungle. Using his machete he chopped down a section of bamboo, and then chipped a hole in the end, with a long pouring spout. The ridges along a piece of bamboo are actually internal walls, and so we had a waterproof cylinder with a hole in the top. This was filled with river water, and then placed on a small fire made of bamboo. Even though the outside of this bamboo kettle blackened, it never caught alight, and after half an hour or so, the water inside was boiling away. Using some leaves as oven gloves, it was removed from the fire, and some Jasmine tea added to it. Small tumblers were carved out of bamboo as well, and just like that we were drinking tea jungle style!

Another short walk after lunch, through more amazing countryside brought us to a small village of about 30 families. The people were of the Lahu Hill-tribe, with their own language (Lahu) and customs different from the Thai culture. We were staying with a family, and very similar to my Chiang Mai trek from a few days ago, we were staying in a large bamboo hut, with several beds arranged on the floor. Even though we had just finished lunch a few hours before, snacks and drinks were brought out, and I tried some of the local moonshine whiskey, which I was only able to finish after mixing it with some coke.

Shortly after arriving and sitting down in our bamboo house for the night, the skies opened up and a great torrential rain came down. The dirt walkways of the village quickly turned to mud and even all the pigs, chickens and dogs went looking for cover. We thought we had timed things pretty well! An hour or so later it stopped raining, and we went for a short explore of the village, a process which resulted in our sandals being completely covered in mud. The kind of thick sticky red mud that clings to everything and congeals in huge globs around your feet and shoes.

Dinner followed shortly, and once again there was no lack of food. Clare and I did our best to eat as much of it as possible, but there was easily enough food for five people. Like always, it was fantastic, and included a few dishes made in the Lahu style. After dinner a small group of local school girls put on a little show for us. They were dressed in traditional costume, and sang a few songs for us, accompanied by some dancing. Afterwards we had to teach them a few songs ourselves, and so stuck to the classic nursery rhymes, of which they already knew the chorus to 'Old Macdonald'. We spent the rest of the quiet evening relaxing in our hut and chatting to our guide, before collapsing into bed. I fell asleep listening to the pigs, chickens and dogs, with the occasional cow and water buffalo throwing their voice into the melody. I woke up to the sound of the roosters, then fell back asleep to them, to be woken by them again, to fall back asleep again. I guess that is the nature of roosters.

Doing nothing in Pai

Day 40 (09/05/08): Pai, Thailand

Pai is quite famous for a town where you do nothing, they sell t-shirts on the street saying things like "doing nothing in Pai". It is a very relaxed sleepy town, and that is what I did all day. I managed to catch up on all my missed sleep, and woke up at the relaxed time of 11:30am, after spending nearly 14 hours asleep! Despite the heat and humidity outside, my little bamboo hut was relatively cool, with my little fan keeping a nice constant stream of cool air over me.

There are a number of pretty sights in the Pai area, several waterfalls, some cave systems and a hot water spring. The recommended way to get to these is to rent a scooter and head there yourself. I am very dubious about renting a scooter, I have seen way too many tourists walking around in bandages after having scooter accidents. And heard too many stories of travellers blowing their travel budgets after having to cover the cost of a wrecked scooter. Renting a bicycle is my prefered option, however I didn't really feel like cycling up and down all the local hills in the heat. You sweat enough just sitting in one place, let alone trying to grind your way up the steep hills on a rent-a-bike.

Instead I just spent what was left of the day walking around the town, investigating the different tour and trek companies. I would really like to do another 3 day trek in this area, even though I just did one in Chiang Mai. There are a lot of companies offering three day treks, in which you visit a number of different hill tribes and even do some jungle survival stuff. However, as it is just in the start of the low season, almost none of the companies had treks starting tomorrow. Typically you need at least 4 people for them to run a trek, and so because I am travelling by myself, I was a bit stuck. The best place I found looked really interesting. Not only do they take you on a three day trek, but you also get taught a number of jungle skills, such as cooking, hunting and some bamboo crafts. Unfortunately they needed a minimum group of four. I came back later in the afternoon, although no one else had booked. Continuing to look around, I did find one place that was willing to run the trek with just me, the guide said it would be me, him and his aunt. His english wasn't that good, and the trek route didn't look particularly good either, and so I decided against it. Eventually I found a decent looking trek company that is running a trek for tomorrow, they already had one other person signed up. I decided I might as well sign up with them, and so paid over my money. The treks here are a lot more expensive than the treks from Chiang Mai. I'm paying almost twice as much as I did for the trek from Chiang Mai, although it will be quite a different sort of trek, with a much bigger emphasis on visiting the local tribes and learning their customs. Apparently giving gifts is a nice thing to do, and so I went and got some pens and candles, which are the recommended gifts for the hill tribes.

It is now the early Friday evening in Pai, and the sleepy little town is holding up to its reputation. Shortly after this I will go and get some food, and then try and find if anything ever happens here, although I do have a bright and early start tomorrow to begin my trekking.

Pai

Day 39 (08/05/08): Pai, Thailand

My alarm went off only a few hours after getting into bed. Very sleepily I woke up and packed my bags to get ready for my trip to Pai, further north of Chiang Mai, towards the Burmese border. Unfortunately the mini-bus was filled up, and so I had to wait until 2pm. I idled away the time looking through second hand bookstores, finding a new book to read. I even traded in the other novels I was carrying, which has eased the load nicely.

The three hour minibus ride to Pai is rather windy, cutting up through the forested hills on a narrow windy road. In many ways it reminded me a lot of New Zealand. While the scenery was stunning, I ended up sleeping for most of the journey, partly because I was so tired, and partly to cut out the annoying elderly american who was talking in that loud brash way that only americans can.

Pai itself is a very small little village in the hills of Northern Thailand. In the past few years it has become a bit of a backpacker and hippy gathering spot. The town itself is very small, you can walk around it in about 30mins or so. Upon getting off the minibus, the first people I walked into were some Brits who I had met on the Perhentian Islands, and later Koh Phangan. Just another example of the small travelling world. I chose not to stay in the town itself, but instead walked a few minutes down the road to the river. Going across the river is a very rickety bamboo bridge, and along the far bank is a big collection of bamboo huts. The bridge really is quite rickety, a few long thick bamboo poles, covered in a bamboo matting, that in some places is more holes than mat. It can be a bit nervous when you are walking across it in the dark of the night.

I managed to find my best deal for accomodation yet. For a mere 80 baht ($3.30NZ) a night, I get my own bamboo hut on the river, with large bed (well futon on the floor), fan and attached bathroom with hot running water! (its one of those small electrical units that heats the water as it is run). Not only is it the cheapest place I have ever stayed at, it is also one of the nicest! It is the first time I have had a place with a hot shower since Singapore. The entire hut, including walls, floor and ceiling is all made of bamboo, even in the bathroom the mirror frame and vanity is made of bamboo. I think the place is absolutely grand and a very atmospheric place to stay in.

It was early evening by now, and I ate some food before spending a few of the evening hours wandering around. I found a flier advertising what was happening in town, and that night there was supposed to be a jazz and reggae festival in a local park. I had to ask several locals where the park was, before I managed to find it. However it turned out to be a school fundraising thing, with a large stage full of Thai schoolkids doing some song and dance routines in Thai. Surrounding the area where a few carnival type stalls, with a bouncy castle and some other activities for schoolkids. There was nothing really appealing, so after only a few minutes I was out of there, and walked back to the town.

Pai is a very quiet place, and there didn't seem to be much going on. Admittedly it aws still quite early in the night, however I was deathly tired and decided to head back to my little bamboo hut for a good night's sleep. My plan for tomorrow was to investigate the town a bit more, and then find a good trekking company to go on another trek with. I only have a week left in Thailand before my visitor's visa runs out, so I'll spend a few days doing a trek here, and then head off to Laos to do the Gibbon Experience on the 15th, which I have just booked for. I was in bed by 9pm, and slept solidly for the next 14 hours!

Trekking Photos

I have finally managed to find an internet cafe where the USB works, so here is a small collection of photos from my three day trek into the Thailand hills.