Lazy Laos

Laos was next up to bat for the All Star Southeast Asia Team; we had planned a week here before completing the circle for some beach time in Thailand. We landed in Luang Prabang with the intention of staying a couple of days and soaking up the rich cultural and spiritual mainstay of the town. After haggling a decent rate with the shady guesthouse manager at around 21h00 on a Sunday night (one still has a leg to stand on as it is not exactly high season in these parts and one can always walk down the street for a better deal), we settled in and then headed out to explore the town and get a bite to eat. There we found the streets were still active and we are able to get find a decent restaurant and ask where we might be able to catch the monks on their morning alms route. It seems monks are partial to an early kick off and so I set my alarm for 05h20 and hit the hay. 

Watching the monks making their way in a long line down the street is quite an experience and they don’t seem to mind the many tourists taking hundreds of photos of them as they accept the offerings of the devout. Luang Prabang is a spiritual place and I really enjoyed exploring the town. And just as much as some tourist experiences can cost a huge amount, it was great that two of my best so far have been free: experiencing the monks on their morning route; and taking a couple of drinks and finding a good spot on the rocks to watch the sun set over the Mekong River.

Moving on to Vang Vieng was an entirely different experience - what a party town. The people are incredibly friendly and everybody there seems hell bent on having a massive party. Although it does not share an even remote likeness to that of a certain small town in the Eastern Cape I called home for four years, I couldn’t help feeling like there was something incredibly familiar about the atmosphere there. A thoroughly enjoyable place and I’m glad we rented a couple of bikes and managed to explore the beautiful surrounding area. Tubing down the river and stopping off at the bars along the way lived up to it's reputation for entertainment.

Vientiane wasn't much more than a chance to recuperate from some intense travel and late nights and look forward to Thailand. 

Monks on their morning alms route. 

Youngsters seemed to be in a more brilliant shade; elders less accentuated

It really is a sight to see them cruising the streets

Pha Bang - a temple in the Royal Palace grounds in Luang Prabang

The sky was a strange hue the whole time and there was ash falling, making for a unique sunset

Youngsters bringing up the tail

Setting birds free at Phu Si - a temple high on a hill in Luang Prabang

Exploring a cave in Vang Vieng

The "Blue Lagoon" was at the bottom; the cave was a short hike up a hill nearby

Kara enduring my Tour de Laos / Southeast Asia / everywhere intentions

Another cave exploration yielded a less appealing swimming opportunity

View from our balcony

Tubing in Vang Vieng. Great fun

The rest of Vietnam

The rest of Vietnam

After an incredible introduction to Vietnam staged by the country south of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), I was excited to see what the north had to offer for the remainder of our stay. I was warned about the more hostile approach to tourism and the pugnacious nature of the people in general. I was in for a pleasant surprise once again.

Treating ourselves to a ‘cheapish' flight rather than sitting on a bus for 19 hours (if all goes well which it is wont not to do in these parts whereby 19 hours becomes 26 hours) turned out to be a fantastic choice. Hanoi is an intense and happening place; the streets are bustling and the pavements cluttered with scooters, informal restaurants, children, dogs and tourists. Our initial stay was short, as we intended to make our way to Ha Long Bay for a couple nights’ stay on an eco island. Again we were warned about scams and copy cats, but it seems we managed all right and went with a reputable company based on online reviews and a recommendation from an American I met at my tailor in Hoi An. He said the food and experience overall was great, and our experience reflected this. The weather however did not play its part and short of torrential downpours, it was the major downer of the trip. We made the most of it nonetheless.

Back in Hanoi we decided to try some new accommodation as it seemed our previous hosts were indifferent to our business and presence at all really. We’d travelled with a British couple we’d met back in Nha Trang and agreed to team up for the Ha Long Bay leg and the accommodation in Hanoi in an effort to use our numbers to help with bartering better rates. Turns out this is a very effective means of persuasion and despite the reduced rates on a decent hotel, the people were the nicest I’ve met so far. So eager to please and assist wherever possible. People can really make or break experiences - true of anything really.

On our trip to the eco island where we stayed

We got to paddle between the limestone islands

View from the bow of one of our boats

View of our bungalows on our private eco island for two nights

Drinks at sunset at a beach we hiked to on the other side of the island

Our beach bungalow

We visited a cave that was a hospital and training area during the war 

The exit from the cave

The easier part of our cycle tour

View along the cycle tour route

View from the deck of the beach bungalow

Cong Caphe - I thought of it as Hanoi's version of Wolves back home

For a non-coffee drinker I found myself drinking a lot of coffee

The Ho Chi Minh Museum

Everybody for themselves is the norm

Some contrast to the usual architecture

South Vietnam

No, not as in North versus South Vietnam, but more from a blogging and travel convenience point of view, although this country is still reeling from the effects of war and their version of the story is something to behold. Seeing is believing; experiencing is knowing; and that is part of why we travel.

Before Ricky and Michelle made their way back to Bangkok to pack up a few things and head home, I was encouraged by the envious looks on their faces as they helped us plan the next stage of our journey - Vietnam. They had recently explored this long and narrow country and had some very useful tips and advice for us. Their look of envy was justified by what I can tell so far.

We mapped out a general route and time frames for the 18 or so days we plan to spend here and so far we’ve only adjusted by one day. The main stops being Ho Chi Minh City, Mui Ne, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay. Given the vast expanse of land running North - South and the general means of transport in these parts, I was fairly concerned about the travelling in-between the identified stop offs. Being 6f3 in a country where the average height is around 5f0 (generous I should think but short of the hard facts here), discussing things like ’12 hour overnight buses’ that are not designed for giraffes such as myself, is not really my idea of a holiday; in fact, it’s a little troubling. Luckily South East Asia has stepped up once again and the ends have more than justified the means on every occasion.

Some impressions:

Ho Chi Minh is an electric place and everything can and is done on the street. The War History Museum was hard hitting and the Cu Chi tunnels nearby were fascinating. How the best option can be to tunnel underground and live there blows my mind and to actually see the conditions and crawl through those passageways (widened for larger Westerners as myself) is not something I will soon forget

A Top Gun moment at the museum. 

There were fewer smiles happening inside

Kara making her way through the Cu Chi tunnels

The Mekong Delta is massive, the trip we took had many cool sights and staying with a family there was humbling and thoroughly enjoyable

Cruising up a canal of the Mekong River

There are some incredible sights lining the river

The floating market

What's for sale on board is tied to the top of long sticks of bamboo

Mui Ne was a chance to take it easy and enjoy the beach atmosphere. Cycling to the fishing village and fairy spring nearby was a thoroughly enjoyable day out

Our digs for a couple of days

Local lady making her way up the Fairy Spring

Cycling to the fishing village nearby was totally worth it

Some of the hundreds of fishing boats in Mui Ne

We only dedicated one day to Nha Trang but we made the most of the well renowned night life, the beautiful stretch of beach, the Hon Chong Promontory, the Thap Ba Ponagar and my first mud bath. I’m embarrassed to say my skin was amazingly smooth afterwards - a pleasure really

Chilling out with an iced coffee at Chong Rocks

Po Nagar Cham Towers on the hill overlooking Nha Trang

The ancient and traditional looks and ways of Hoi An are beautiful and I finally own a (very reasonably priced) tailored suit; and you know what they say: a well tailored suit on a man is to women what lingerie is to men.

The streets of Hoi An at night

A wedding couple having pictures taken at a lantern stall

The Japanese Covered Bridge

Tea sketching out my bespoke specs at Lana Tailors

Hue has the Citadel and some incredible tombs near by visited on the back of motorbikes - what would mom have to say about that! Khai Dinh Tomb was most definitely the highlight of the three.

The massive flag at the Citadel

(notice the scale of the man in the bottom right)

Trang Tien Bridge lights up spectacularly at night

The guards at Khai Dinh Tomb

The best means of transport in these cities

Some cards and a beer to finish off the day

A day in Bangkok and then Cambodia

After 3 weeks in Nepal, I was ready for the familiar caucasian faces of Ricky and Michelle who had been teaching English in Bangkok up until the day we arrived. While I am fairly comfortable with the colour of my skin and general appearance, I did become relatively self conscious after either: “but people in South Africa are black”; or “you need to buy a ticket” as streams of locals cruised in past security, yet we were identified as the type that would need to pay in order to see the site. After numerous encounters of this nature, the standard exchange became:

Security guard of sort: “You need ticket”

Me (with a look of surprise as ‘locals’ walk in hassle-free): “Is it because I am white?”

Security guard of sort: “You need ticket… buy over there”

Me (still faking the look of surprise): “I see these other people don’t seem to need tickets”

Security guard of sort: “Ticket over there”

Success of these exchanges: fruitless. While I understand that rife poverty in Nepal necessitates the distinction between ‘tourist’ and ‘local’ in one of their largest income producing industries, I am offended by the manner in which the distinction is made, based purely on looks. A battle with which I am not going to engage on my holiday; so moving on then.

As Ricky and Michelle had been based in Thailand and only had a few precious days for exploring left before heading back to South Africa, they were keen to head swiftly on to Cambodia which they had yet to visit. Kara and I were keen for this agenda as this meant finishing up in Thailand and hopefully some time out on some amazing islands there. And Cambodia did not disappoint.

Due to time constraints we planned two main stop offs in this country with a soon to be discovered wonderful vibe: Siem Riep and Phnom Penh. My expectations of both were unfounded and limited, based on some pictures I’d seen of Angkor on the web and some my brothers had taken. But nothing could quite prepare me for the incredible ancient temples in their various states of ruin and restoration up close. Siem Riep is also an incredible town-base from which to explore the area. Phnom Penh threw some city buzz and astounding history at us which saturated me with a wide range of emotions: distressed; ecstatic; vanquished; vivacious; and more.

The pictures selected err on the experiences associated with the awesome rather than the tragic:

Exploring the incredible pagodas and temples in Bangkok

The electric chaos of the streets in Bangkok

Temples of Angkor were incredible

The caucasians

Temples of Angkor

Ta Prohm is overrun by the trees and flora in general

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Angkor Wat

Jay taking us to the Killing Fields on a tuk tuk

Travelling allows you to meet some great people and Jay is one of them 

Bracelets left in memorial/condolence at the Killing Fields

The temple filled to the roof with the skulls of some of the thousands killed