Meg and I are currently in Ko Chang, Thailand. Its an island near the Cambodian border. We had origianlly planned on flying to Bangkok and taking a hard slog into Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. But after considering the time required, the dusty and bumpy road, and the costs involved, Meg and I decided to leave Cambodia for our next Asia tour. That list now includes, Southern Laos,  China, India, and Cambodia.

Instead we decided to start our Island hoping a week earlier than planned. Our friend Rudi had given us a card for a bungalow on Ko Chang. He was friends with owners and said it was great place to spend some time. We couldnt agree more. Its chill, relaxing, beauiful, and ever night they haev a beach front barbeque feature the catch of the day, and they mean it literally. On the ferry over to the island this was the welcome the ocean gave us. (mind you we had not seen the ocean since we where flying over it from the US).

The next day we spent exploring the island and doing some swiming. We returned to our bungalow, showered (in cold water) and went to the restraunt for the barbeque and the sunset.

Today we spent kayaking around the archepelagio, then we returned earlier to our bugalow. The tide begun to go out, and Meg and I spent the afternoon/evening in waist deep water (shallow waters that extends a kilometer out ) watching the sunset, as minnows leaped by the thousands around us.

Tomorrow we are going to explore the inner island. The island, the largest of a huge archipelagio, is actually several mountains that rise out of the ocean. Insland there is supposedly several beautiful waterfalls that we have been told are not to be missed. We hope everyone is doing well on the other side of the Earth. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and we are missing all of you. Wish you were here.

I’ve always said, if there was only one place that I was able to return to in Vietnam, Sapa would be it. This is why:

Sapa is set in a Northern Vietnamese mountain range almost to the Chinese border.The tiered rice paddy fields cut into the mountainside,the bamboo forests and the ever present shrouds of mist leave you in constant awe.

We took an overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai and then went the last 35km to Sapa by minibus. We arrived in Sapa early in the morning amidst the chaos of the weekly Sunday market. It wasn’t quite the serene place that I had been describing to JB.

After navigating our way through that, we set off to the place that we would spend the next couple of days. We splurged for one night and stayed at the Topas Ecolodge, an environmentally conscious lodge on the top of a mountain, 20km outside of the town of Sapa. Each bungalow was powered by solar panels, the water was supplied by a nearby mountain spring and all of the materials and labor were local.

 

Not only that, but their restaurant was supplied by their own organic farm that was located on the grounds.  

The next day we awoke to mist rolling over the mountains that surrounded our bungalow.

After spending the previous day just soaking up the beauty, I convinced JB to hop back onto a mountain bike and ride the 20km back into town. It proved to be yet another one of our epic rides. About a half hour in, it started to sprinkle and then about 15 minutes later, it just plain poured. Yet, somehow, that didn’t really matter given our surroundings.

By the time we got to town, our shoes squelched and our clothes created puddles below us. When we went to a restaurant for lunch, we were “asked” if we might like to sit outside to eat.

We made the very cold ride back to our lodge just in time to have a hot shower and get the minibus to the train station for our overnight ride back to Hanoi. JB, just as I had last time I visited Sapa, vowed to return.

After spending the last couple of weeks in remote countryside, we were thrust into this:

I didn’t mention renting a motorbike once.

Needless to say, Hanoi was a little bit of an adjustment for the both of us, but Meg was excited to be back on somewhat familiar territory. As some of you have commented on, we picked an interesting week to be in the city. Hanoi was hosting APEC and so there was much hype around so many world leaders being in town at once. No Dubya sightings to speak of.

Meg played tour guide for the first couple of days, taking me to all of her favorite spots around the city. Our hotel was in the Old Quarter, a section of town that has markets that have been selling the same things for 500 years and so the streets are named accordingly.

Many side streets and alleys hold things that speak to the ancient charm of the city.

 

From one of our hotels, we could see over the rooftops of Hanoi.

 

At night the streets would glow with activity.

The food in hanoi is amazing, and we certainly enjoyed it. From Vietnamese Pho noodles on the side of the street to funky expat sanctuaries to French restraunts with balconies overlooking the bustling streets.

Hanoi is at crossroads between it communist past and its economic future.  Meg sees the city as having changed since she was here last, and no doubt it will be different when we return in a few years. 

Meg on the bridge to the temple in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake, the heart of the city.

The bus from Nong Kiaow to Xam Neua was packed. Not just with people, but with people transporting god knows what from one end of the country to the other. We had to climb over crates and burlap sacks just to get to our seats. I spent most of the 13hr journey leaning against a sack of oranges. This turned out to be luxurious compared to girl who had a sack of watermelons for a seat and to JB who could barely breathe due to odour that was wafting from the guy beside him. Luckily, the person next to me moved and JB was able to sit next to me so we could be uncomfortable together. Needless to say, not much sleep was to be had and we arrived in Xam Neua, a little Lao town about 3 hours from the Vietnam border, a little on the dishevelled side. We spent the rest of that day trying to wash off the bus ride and gearing up for our next leg of travel at 6am the next morning.

Up until this point, we had a good idea of how and where we were going; this leg was a little bit different. We were in one of the most remote areas of Laos, crossing the border at a point that had only recently been opened to foreign travellers. As a result, there was little information to be had in the guidebooks on how to make the journey to Hanoi. So we woke the next morning a little nervous as to how we were going to get to Hanoi once we’d crossed the border into Vietnam. We took a three hour ride in a converted pick up to the border through some of the most beautiful countryside either of us had ever seen. Laos had been one jaw dropping experience after another and our last morning was quintessential Laos.

Once at the border, we crossed with relative ease into Vietnam. On the other side, fortune smiled upon us. Just as we’d past through customs (a bamboo shack on the side of a river), a minibus from Hanoi pulled up with a group of French tourists that were heading into Laos. We were able to finagle a ride on the bus for it’s return trip to Hanoi, saving ourselves a lot of time, money and headache. We arrived eight hours later in Hanoi with our last 20 dollars in our pocket. Phew! (Did we mention that Laos only has one ATM in the entire country???)

We’ve covered a lot of ground since we last posted. After floating down a river in innertubes for two days, we switched gears and hit the road - hard.

From Vang Vieng, we took a 7 hour bus ride back to Luang Prabang where we stayed overnight. The next morning, we got up early and took a very bumpy ride in the back of pick up truck to the gorgeous town of Nong Kiaow. We probably would have hit the road the very next morning if the place wasn’t so damn beautiful.

Instead, we arranged for late check out and we spent that night drinking Beer Lao’s as the sun went down and befriended a Dutch couple, Linda and John.

We spent the next day exploring caves that were used by the Pathet Lao as a hiding place during the time the US was secretly bombing them back to the Stone Age. That evening, we packed up our bags and crossed the bridge to a restaurant where we sat playing cards awaiting the night bus.

We left Nong Kiaow by public bus (not as simple as it sounds). We were given a window between 7pm and midnight for its arrival. There was no real bus stop; you just had to hope that you could flag it down as it flew through the town. The bus ended up arriving at around 11pm. The ensuing bus ride was “unforgettable” and one of our most trying experiences to date. 

(This was the view from our riverside bungalow.)

We arrived in Vang Vieng, ready to move on from Vientiane. We booked a nice guesthouse near the river. The town has a strange air about it, there are many young westerners and many open air lounge restaurants with double tv’s blaring recent dvds. Luckily we are away from the noise. On two island in the middle of the river are bar/lounge places with open bungalows to sit and relax. The main activity is being driven up river a few kilometers and then tubing slowly down the river for a couple hours

 

 stopping occasionally at the thatched hut bars that have popped up along the route. Each offers beer lao, mixers, food, and occasionally a zipline or giant swing  that propels you above and into the river. 

 

This one was our favorite spots

It was alot fun just swinging out and splashing into the water. we actually caught some swings on video for yall to see. We will share when we get a chance to upload it.

 In the evenings the sun puts on a spectacular show as it sets behind giant limestone cliffs just across the river.

 

We enjoyed this leisure activity for the past two days,a little indulgent but it was a nice break from long hours of traveling and we are now ready to hit the road again. Tommorrow we head North past luang prabang, to Nong Kiaow. We will post again the next time we have internet, in a couple of days.

the Stache is back

We have done numerous posts in chronilogical order, by location. They cover the time since we where last able to properly post. Please scroll down to the post titled “Mae Salong Redux” to start where we last left off.

We took an 8 hour vip bus from Luang Prabang to Vientiane. We came here to see the city, get our visas for vietnam from the vietnamese embassy, and use the one international ATM in all of Laos. We spent yesterday bicycling around the city.

It was interesting, with the huge stupas, propagandic one sided museums, and the psuedo Arc de Triumph shown above; but the whole city is a little dusty and faded. I think Meg and I are ready to move on after two days here. Now that we are restocked with cash, have made use of the fast internet connections, we will pick up our visas in about an hour and head to the bus station. From here we go to Vang Vieng, a sleepy little mountain town about three hours North of Vientiane. There we are staying in a nice wood bungalow that overlooks a river and the mountains. Our plan for tomorrow is the popular activity for the Vang Vieng: Renting a giant tractor inner tube and floating down a nearby river for three hours, occasionaly stopping at the make shift beer stands on the side of the river for a cool Beer Lao and a snack. Thanks to everyone who has been checking in on us we really do appreciate it. We should have internet access for atleast the next 3 or 4 days, then we may be disconnected for 3 days as we cross the mountains of Laos on our way into Vietnam. Once we arrive in Hanoi, internet will again be plentiful and fast.

After a two day journey, we arrived in Luang Prabang just as the sun was starting to set. We climbed off the boat, loaded on our packs and made finding a guesthouse our first priority. Unfortunately, that proved to be a harder task than we’d anticipated. Every decent guesthouse we went to was full and so our first night in Luang Prabang was spent in a shoebox.

The water flowed from the limestone rocks of the waterfall to pool after pool that formed like huge steps below it. The water was a beatiful shade of blue and it was in these pools that you could swim.

The following day, we decided to rent bikes and ride to another waterfall that was about 20km out of town.

On the way, we saw a sign for another waterfall so we decided to stop off for a look. It was quaint compared to the one the day before but beautiful all the same.

We continued on from there to the next waterfall. When we arrived we had to cross a river by little boats to get toTad Sae waterfall. Although not as tall as Kwang Si, Tad Sae was a sprawling limestone formation set amongst the trees and with turquoise cascades everywhere you looked. The limestone was not slippery so you could go exploring throughout and then take a dip in the deeper parts.

One night, we crossed the Mekong and climbed to an old, disused temple on the other side of the river for a view of Luang Prabang at sunset.

This is us before the sunset with our friend Ruedy:

On our last morning in the city before our 9 hour bus ride to Vientiane, we got up and climbed Mount Phousi, which is really more like a hill smack bang in the midddle of the town that has a beautiful temple on the very top. We were there for sunrise and as you can see, the view was breathtaking.

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After our experience in Huey Xai, we were ready to start our boat trip and see what else Laos had to offer. We weren’t disappointed. The slow boat trip was one of those experiences where when you to try to describe it, words just plain fail. Even the pictures can’t really capture it, but here are a few for you all to try to recreate the experience in your mind.