and this computer’s shift key is not working well. found my couch host, all is well, feeling a little feverish but until i notice any other symptoms will blame it on bkk still being really, really hot and poor hydration patterns resulting from my epic trips and scary toilets lately. chiang kong was really nice, and cheap. bkk is… bkk. but am working on making the most of it.
yours telegraphically and minusclely,
daniel
The slow boat trip up the Mekong from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (theoretically via Pakbeng) is hard to capture in words or images. The brown (yet glistening) river, the magnificent mountains and rock formations (on the shore and mid-river), the dazzling sky above the mystery village where we had to put in for the night, the generosity of the villagers who put us up and the jolt of their Lao coffee in the morning, the hard wooden benches and the columns of sunlight breaking through the green-hued forests and jungles onto white sand beaches with colorful markets, the terraces next to those beaches, the bitter cold mornings and seeing my breath in the tropics, the hot soup, the wads of torn-up kip notes that changed hands… yeah, pretty hard to pin down.
Merry Christmas. Peace on Earth.
(and now cutting away from paper and into the present:)
I made it across to Chiang Kong from Huay Xai this Christmas morning, passing Thai immigration (my last major hurdle of the trip, I hope) easily. I bought first-class bus tickets (because that’s how I roll on the glorious sealed roads of Thailand) for this evening, so I’m taking care of errands here for the day. There’s some sort of race in town; I might try to catch it.
My hour of furious typing is ending, so it’s time to hit the town for a bit under six hours.
Luang Prabang is my favorite part of Lao, my favorite country on this trip. I’ve been exposed to some more scamming recently, but overall it’s still very low pressure. Not quite Vientiane’s food variety, but still plenty of baguettes and laughing cow cheese and all the other French leftovers (I suppose they could have left roads, a working bureaucracy, or other things the British liked to leave instead, but you can’t win them all). The scenery (augmented by some karst formations around Vang Vieng enroute) is much nicer, though it won’t come out so well in pictures—it’s hard to capture the number of different shades of gray from the distant mountains.
Today I saw a flier for drop-in English teaching and spent an hour and a half trying to help a monk distinguish the ‘l’ and ‘r’ sounds—a hard job, but that’s what he wanted to work on. I think we made some progress… he has “pray” vs. “play” vs. “pay” down pretty well, though “word” vs. “world” is not so easy. Consonant clusters like “ld” and “ts” and “sk’d” are understandably troublesome.
Someone with a CELTA was trying to get across tenses, using irregular verbs. I hope she had fun with that one… heh. Kept doing some cringe-worthy things like asking monks what they have for dinner (nothing) or if they like to play [soccer] football (they would love to but they aren’t allowed)… not so cringeworthy except she kept trying to get them to pretend instead of just asking what was for breakfast. So much for the CELTA.
I have been asked to blog more about food, but I really can’t do it justice as I don’t even properly understand it thanks to the dominance of Chinese and Thai knockoffs (and delicious French leftovers) which dominate the English (or French) language menus here. There is a (Western-owned, oddly) place called Tamarind which has a lovely menu insert explaining everything, but I can’t remember it all. More herbs, less soupy stuff, more sticky, less steamed rice. None of the uniquely Lao food I’ve tried has been a fantastic revelation (like my first Thai red curry in Hong Kong) but it’s all pretty good. The one Lao dish I’ve had a couple times is laap, a mortared-and-pestled bunch of meat and herbs and lime that tastes pretty good. And of course, Beerlao (and the Tigerhead drinking water also produced by the Lao brewing company) are good to the point of being unavailable in Thailand for fear that they’d destroy the Singha and Chang markets.
Enough writing about food, it’s time to eat some. See you in a long while… possibly after Christmas, as I doubt the slow boat to Huay Xai / Chiang Kong via Pakbeng (which I expect to board on the morning of the 23rd) will have Internet access).
Add fruit shakes and friendly expats to the list of things to recommend Vientiane. The only problem is that the guesthouse situation is still pretty pricy here in Vientiane, especially since I’m paying the “single tax”—dorm accomodation is unpopular compared to Europe because a) everything’s cheaper already b) people steal stuff more from dorms c) maybe not so many people are crazy enough to travel around here alone.
The temperature is thoroughly reasonable, I can go out midday in December and not fry.
Did the (very small) tourist circuit of Vientiane this morning, going by Patuxai (big concrete arch a l’arc) on the way to Pha That Luang, the national symbol. Closer to the center I also figured out that the fortress with what looks like an Air Traffic Control tower sticking out is the US Embassy, near the attractive but rather boring Black Stupa.
Vientiane is like that, except maybe not always attractive. Definitely boring, though, in the best way. NGOers have to like being based here.
I was invited for a touch (Aussie) football match this evening by a couchsurfer but couldn’t find the field (winding up on a highway about 4km outside of whatever the sign considered to be “Vientiane”). Had a nice chat over lunch earlier though.
After horror stories from every direction about the ordinary buses to/from Luang Prabang I bought a ticket on the “VIP bus” which I hope won’t be like Thailand’s infamous scams. It cost enough that it’d better not be like that. Anyway, tomorrow morning I should be picked up from my guesthouse for the 8-12 hour ride to Luang Prabang… I could keep lounging around here and eating well but I don’t want to run out of time at the end (which is fast approaching).
I enjoyed paying just $4 for my bus ticket out of Cambodia, but did not enjoy the spine-cracking dust-filled journey as much. I’m still digging mud out of my nose every once in a while.
I took a bus from Aranyaprathet to some random city (as yet unidentified) to Nong Khai, where my travel day (which started at 0650) ended at 0330.
And now I’m in Vientiane, the wonderfully sleepy capital (yes…) of Lao. In deference to the Lao people I’m dropping both the silent ‘s’ added by the French and the “PDR” added by their eventual successors, so just “Lao” it is (following the lead of the excellent Beerlao). It’s a heavenly break after Cambodia and even Thailand… the roads are paved, if a little dusty, and the food is varied and excellent. I’m staying in a central area haunted by NGO types so I don’t get stared at or taunted with “touk-touks” (France strikes again with the extra letters) the moment I step outside.
Maybe one day I’ll remember everything I’ve wanted to write about, but today isn’t it. There was some good material on the improvised Thai bus ride, for example (reminder to self).
Cambodia continued: as I expected, I’m about templed out after two days. That must be why the Apsara Authority, in charge of all the Angkor business, sells one and three day passes.
The crowds of tour groups and occasional construction made the experience a little less transcendant than it’s been hyped up to be, but it was still pretty cool. I sprang for a tuk-tuk instead of a moto, giving me a much needed combination of shade and breeze.
I had a very hard time navigating some of the steps… my feet are too big, of course, but I wonder if that’s the only thing. I used to be clumsy(-ier) but for the past few years I have been pretty sure on my feet. Now, less so. Maybe I’m just not as cocky from marching band—an institution which has already left me almost unable to walk in a mall without falling in step with the Musak… maybe it caused false confidence too.
I will be trying to get out of Cambodia tomorrow. It’s really breaking my budget… I think there might be a point on the continuum of development where a country is so undeveloped it costs more to live (maybe I am ignoring the hidden costs of taxation?). Cambodia is more expensive (and, in this part, tricksy, even compared to Bangkok) than Thailand, with most basic necessities costing at least twice as much at foreigner price. Travelling at a slightly above backpacker level in Siem Reap requires more of a European sort of budget. Maybe Eastern European.
I always think of things to mention and never write them down. Too bad.
The Poipet / Aranyaprathet border crossing is not the most convenient for my purposes, but I am more confident in being able to get there and out of there. It will be taking me a couple hours out of my way (overland to Nong Khai for Vientiane) but I’ve pretty much accepted that tomorrow will be lost to travel. The question is how much of the next day will also be lost to travel before I arrive in Vientiane.
OK, I’m in the Kingdom of Cambodia—Siem Reap, that is, the town near the Angkor Wat set of temples. The border crossing itself was ok, but the border divetown of Poipet was absolutely the most miserable town I’ve seen in my life… and I’ve been driven through West Texas. The taxi ride was punishing and we only got one by aquiescing to a scam which dragged on for over a kilometer. I feared for my life (during the taxi ride) at first, but quickly realized that any death from oncoming traffic would be quick, brutal, and beyond my control. I’ve heard it isn’t as bad going back but I still might seek out another crossing for when I’m heading up toward Nong Khai and Vientiane.
It is kind of fun to use the US Dollar as the main currency—you can even pull them out of the two ATMs in town. Because of the taxi ride yesterday, I (and the Aussies I attached myself to for the taxi) decided that sleeping in was the better part of valor today, but this afternoon the temple exploration will start.
That’s all for now. I will probably spend two and a half days on the temples here before heading back out. Access is all over, but I may be too tired to come up with anything… not many places have picture-uploading facilities, though I have not yet taken any anyway.
You might remember that Bangkok wasn’t my favorite part of Thailand. Unsurprisingly, it still isn’t.
My way here was a little more complicated than I’d expected: When I got to Sheung Wan around 10:30, the next bookable ferry was at 11:35. Macau no longer runs a special shuttle from the port to the airport, and I didn’t think I had time for the often-stopping public airport bus, so I split a cab with another guy I saw looking at the “shuttle service suspended” sign. 45 patacas split in half.
AirAsia was, as I’d been told it would be, delayed. Not too bad. Made it to BKK, waited an HOUR in immigration (finally somewhere to compete with the US), found a FamilyMart, had my rogue’s dinner of yogurt and malaria prophylaxis, and caught an airport bus which tried to speed me past my stop.
Big John’s (guesthouse) is irritating. Clean beds, yes, but: locks not provided for lockers (this isn’t that hard to do) and he does (confirming a report I read on a review site) berate his Thai staff mercilessly and racistly. It makes me feel slimy to hear, but I’d already paid. It’s hard to complain, as the accomodation is pretty good for the money this time of year in Bangkok, but… minus 1000 for atmosphere.
Tomorrow I hope to catch a bus from the Morchit terminal to Aranyaprathet, on the border with Cambodia. From there, I’ll either overnight (if it’s late) or try to make my way directly to Siem Reap (near the Angkor Wat temples). It should be interesting either way.
Those of you clamoring for pictures will remain disappointed for now, as I had to shut off all rational thought (including thinking about taking my camera out) in order to make it through Bangkok without going insane today. If commercialism in the United States has taken Christ out of Christmas, then Western commercialism in East Asia [blasphemous rant snipped here].
I stayed mainly in the Siam Square area before escaping to Lumphini park. There is probably a lot of great social commentary hiding in today’s experiences, but it’s too painful to bring back up. The park is nice. Got some mosquito repellent, didn’t get any visa photos. Too bad.
Time’s up, more later (within the next week or so).
…so far. Hostel review later. Actually, writing about anything later. Not such a spectacular arrival, perhaps tomorrow will improve things. Will be looking into buying things and maybe booking a bus to Aranyapathet tomorrow (and trying to stay out of the still-ridiculous heat).
I’m still going. But maybe backwards. It seems like things might be less hectic because of festivals, crowded slow boats, etc. if I go to Siem Reap first and then the other way through Laos (Vientiane, then Luang Prabang, then boat to the Huay Xai border) and then back down through northern Thailand. But hey, I’ve got time.
This has a few advantages:
It looks like I’ll need to leave Lingnan around 9 a.m. tomorrow, assuming about an hour each for transport to ferry, ferry, and transport to airport.
I’ll try to post when I can, but of course getting online when traveling is never certain.
