Lazy Laos

18-30/07/2007 Laos

What they say about Laos is true: it is an extremely laid-back country, the ideal place to relax.

Si Phan Dhong
After Tadlo, we headed South, to Si Phan Dhong, or better known as the Four Thousand Islands. This is where the Mekong gets really large and is sprinkled with loads of small islands. Our intention was to go to the biggest one (Don Khong), but because of a mix-up of names, we were dropped off at Don Khone. At first we got angry, thinking that we had been set up. Until we realized that 1) the mix-up was our own fault and 2) that we had been lucky, because according to other travellers, Don Khone has much more charm than the bigger Don Khong. We spent three days in this paradise of wooden bungalows, hammocks, tropical vegetation & climate, good food, few tourists and… 4 hours of electricity a day (from 18-22h).

During our stay, we rented bikes to drive around the rice fields and to visit Don Det, the more touristy neighbour island, linked to Don Khone by a bridge. None of the streets are asphalted there, so – taking into account the daily rains – it was quite a hobbly and muddy adventure.

We also saw a spectacular waterfall…

… and even spent a few hours sunbathing on the “beach” and bathing in the Mekong!

The only thing that spoiled it a bit for me were the insects. They were EVERYWHERE: in the bathroom, the bed, the floor, on the table, under the table, in our dishes,… and there’s nothing you can do to avoid them. I swear I tried my best to accept the little buggers (all creatures big or small have their function on this planet, Sandra, stay “zen”, this is only an ant creeping up your thy), but the worst thing was that THEY ONLY BITE ME!! (Niks van “gedeelde smart”!) So, in the end I was getting itchy (in both senses) and, in spite of all the beauty and authenticity of the island, I was secretly glad to leave…

Luang Prabang
What followed was a boat trip to Ban Nakasang, minivan to Pakse (where we spent the afternoon taking pictures)...

...then night bus to Vientiane and day bus to Luang Prabang. We met two Spanish guys on the way and ended up together in a marvellous (and very cheap!) guesthouse. I think the prices go up in the high season, but now we only pay 4USD a night for a clean and beautiful room. On top of that, we get free bananas and free tea! The bathrooms are shared, but that’s a minor thing, cause they are neat and there’s always one free.

Until now, we have made an excursion by boat to the Pak Ou temple caves and the whiskey village, where they make the Lao Lao rice whiskey, with scorpions and snakes inside the bottles (yeeeeek!). Below a picture of the "factory"...

we went for a swim in the Kuang Si waterfalls, the ideal setting for a Blue Lagoon-type film,

we have made lazy walks visiting the town and its temples,

Lluis has been organizing his photos and I’ve been reading, we have rented bikes to visit a neighbour village where they weave silk, you know, stuff like that, all veeeeery relaxed.

We have also used this week to recalculate our budget and have decided to skip China, which has become too expensive and to spend two weeks on a beach in Vietnam and/or Cambodia, living as low-cost as possible. Coming back 3 weeks earlier was another possibility, but the cost of changing our flight, is almost as much as a 3-week budget.

We have also taken advantage of the time here to look around for business opportunities. There are loads of nice cotton handicraft here on the markets and we are playing with the idea to import to Spain. Therefore, we need to find out about wholesale prices, shipping costs, and need to find a trustworthy contact person. We’ll see, nothing for sure yet.

Once we have more information on our 'business plan", we will continue to Vietnam... In the meantime, a big kiss from the woman in front and the man behind the camera!

Thailand & Laos

Bangkok is a wonderful city, a strange cocktail of West and East. I think it has all the ingredients of a place I would enjoy living in… (Nee paps, da’s geen serieuze overweging! Trouwens, ik hoop dat ze u nog goed in de watten hebben gelegd op uw verjaardag!)

It is funny to see how clever the Thai people are in adapting to tourism: “Diesel” trousers are fashionable in the West? Well, we offer you an exact copy for 1/4th of the price, and if you bargain, for even less. Dreadlocks and tattoos are what the backpackers want these days? Take your pick on Khao San Road!

One of the many boutiques on Khao San Road

On the other hand, it has a very authentic, traditional Asian flair to it. In the language for example: whereas in India, all the signs are always (also) in English, and the people speak at least a few words, here that is not the case at all. Even in our guesthouse, where they receive many foreigners, I ended up on hands and knees saying “MOO” and imitated milking a cow in order to get a coffee with milk for breakfast! And Bangkok is HUGE!! Since tuck-tucks are quite expensive because of the hellish traffic and 20-minutes long traffic lights, we tried to go everywhere by public transport. Yeah, splendid idea… One afternoon, while LluÌs wanted to go to Chinatown to take pictures, I decided to participate in an aerobics class in the Lumphini Park. Later we would meet up in the restaurant “Eat me”, which was described in the guide as a little more expensive, but one of Bangkok’s best fusion restaurants. So, we left the hotel around 17h. By the time I got to the ferry, I was soaking wet because of a heavy rainfall. Then I got on the subway, and when I finally arrived at the Lumphini Park (after a 10-minutes walk from the metro to the correct exit), it was 19h and already dark. A little disappointed, I headed straight to the restaurant, which turned out to be a superchic place with a 20-pages menu only for drinks and dishes far above the prices mentioned in the guide. To give you an idea, the only affordable dishes were the side dishes! After 1000 apologies and explanations to the waiter, I left this gastronomic temple, silently baptising it as “Eat me and I’ll eat your week’s budget”. I treated myself to a Bacardi Breezer from 7- eleven and waited for LluÌs at a corner street restaurant. We.. euh… had some very nice noodles with meatballs for dinner. LluÌs’ adventure didn’t turn out to be any more successful. He had had to return to the hotel before even having reached Chinatown, in order to avoid a broken nose due to his slippery sandals or a cold because of his wet T-shirt. Then he took a taxi to get to the restaurant where he arrived half an hour late, because the taxi ride had taken him an hour… So much for public transport…

Bangkok just before the heavy rainfall

Of course, we also had to see Patpong 1 and 2. These are the streets where most of the “sex action” takes place and named after the owner of most of the clubs there. This action is now reduced to all kinds of shows, which you can pick from a menu and they are all called “pussy something”. The most famous one is the pussy pingpong show. I hoped to watch my first sex show, yes, at my age, but it didn’t happen, since LluÌs refused to be the spectator of such a denigrating activity for women. Apart from not going in, I received a lecture… How could I, a woman, want to see such a show, etc etc. Yes, I am deeply ashamed… Euh, anyone fancy going to Bagdad CafÈ with me one day? Anyway, in the name of tourism, all these clubs are now a little hidden behind the enormous market in the middle of the street, full of exact copies of whatever big names you can imagine: G-star trousers, Montblanc pens, Louis Vuitton bags, etc. What we did experience, was the famous Thai massage, a kind of pressure point massage. It was nice, but nothing world shocking. At least, you know, we can say: “been there, bought the badge and the T-shirt…”

Our last day in Bangkok, we went for a boat trip (and convinced 3 German girls to share the fare with us... who’s not rich, has to be creative…) along the khlong, which is a series of canals along which we saw beautiful teak houses on stilts, typical Thai style, with plenty of greenery and relaxing gardens. Then we went to pick up our luggage and headed for our VIP bus (=better category than the Indian super-de-luxe buses) which would take us to Nongkhai, last village before the Lao border. Somewhere during the night we both fell fast asleep and we woke up because the driver patted me gently on the shoulder to warn us we had arrived. We found the whole bus was empty and our suitcases on the street. We thanked God we were in Asia and not in Barcelona, where we would have had to continue our journey without our stuff… Still half asleep, we ignored the tuk-tuk drivers offering us their services, and took straight to the closest bar for a strong coffee (they make them terribly strong here, and only use condensated milk). In spite of the sign that said: “The bus will not wait for passengers that do not have a VISA”, we convinced the ticket lady and the driver to let us on the bus (there is only 2 of us, we will be really quick,…). At the border, we did indeed make it, quickly got our VISA, quickly paid the fee, 35USD (for LluÌs) and 30USD (for me, cause I have more charm…) , quickly got through the Thai border check-out, quickly paid the entrance fee to Lao, quickly passed the Lao border check-in, and quickly got back on the bus! And then we quietly sat down to wait for the rest of the passengers… Finally, we arrived to our very nice guesthouse in Vientiane, which is a village-like city, not at all what you would expect from a capital. There is not too much to see, but it was a relaxing change after the crazy traffic in Bangkok and we had some delicious meals in some of the numerous restaurants along the Mekong riverside. We visited the Buddha Park nearby, went to the morning market and spent the last day at the swimming pool of a 4- or 5-star hotel sunbathing and bathing in a posh environment, surrounded by palm trees and uniformed staff.

The Buddha Park...and the omnipresent photographer...

who took some impressive pictures here!The Mekong riverside is excellent for a melon juice in the afternoon...

... or a Lao beer at sunset!
No, this is no brochure, the man on the sunbed is actually Lluis!

And then we were off again, to the South of Lao this time. Nightbus to Pakse, local bus to Tadlo, and tuk-tuk to a guesthouse near one of the waterfalls in this area. We actually did a trekking, almost without realizing. We left in the morning under a clouded sky, in order to go along the river, see the waterfalls and a minority village in the neighbourhood. We ended up walking for almost 5 hours, during which it had rained, dried up, rained again, then we got a bit lost and during the last hour we had the full sun on our heads. Of course, we had forgotten to bring sun cream, and ran out of water as well. When we finally arrived to a restaurant, we had a first-class sunburn, soar feet, were dehydrated and hungry. After some liters of water, some barbecued chicken with chips and a long siesta afterwards, we were for 90% recovered. I hope my skin will recover from the sunburn soon…

Waiting for the nightbus to Pakse...
Oh yes, the motorbike goes on the bus too!One of the beautiful waterfalls in this incredible jungle-like landscape

And this morning we made another "trekking", but a little easier. We rented a motorbike and made a tour around some little villages in the neighbourhood. And tomorrow, we're heading further South...

From Delhi to... Bangkok!!

Yes, we sent e-mails to different agencies in Kathmandu and they all answered the same. The only way the Chinese government allows foreigners to get into Tibet from Nepal, is by booking a guided tour of min 8 days through Tibet with lodging and breakfast included, which would cost us at least 450USD per person. Once in Tibet, you can do what you want, you do not necessarily have to follow the group. First of all, a guided tour does not really interest us, as a "permit" 450USD is a little too expensive. Secondly, we would have to make a 36hours bus trip to Kathmandu. Then, in order to get from Lhasa to China afterwards, we would be obliged to go by plane (another Chinese rule). So, finally we have decided with pain in our hearts (Sarah, I don't know if this is good English) to leave Tibet for another occasion and to fly to Bangkok. We will then travel through Laos to China (Kunming), where the temperatures are now perfect, and then come back to the South, when the monzoons will not be that strong anymore.

So, yes, we are in Bangkok at the moment! Different faces, different language, different currency, different food... A tiny little culture shock... Since we have arrived in the middle of the monzoons, with high temperatures, high humidity and hot showers all late afternoon and part of the evening, we have looked for a guesthouse with Air conditioning. Small room, but bathroom included and clean & tidy.

I don't have any photos yet, but I'll give you more impressions of Thailand later on, with pictures, OK? Talk to you soon...

Leh-Manali-Delhi

Sandra:

We have been without Internet for several days, since due to a fire in the head office, the whole region was without connection...

21st to 28th June
Lluís was really glad to leave Srinagar, because he was sick and tired of the Dal Lake Boulevard, that we had to pass every time we left our hotel to go somewhere. And yes, he is right, it is a nuisance to be considered a wallet-on-legs instead of a human being, and to have loads of persistent Indians trying to get you on their Shikara (boat) or in their shop (come inside, just look, no buy). On the other hand, I was already getting used to repeating over and over again “no thank you” with a big smile, and Srinagar had started to grow on me a little bit. I knew my way around, knew the good restaurants, the friendly hotel guy (who said that he was going to miss us), the bar next door for the morning chai, etc.

Anyway, time to move on, and I was also looking forward to the trip from Srinagar to Leh, that was described in the Lonely Planet as wonderful, and that is what it indeed turned out to be. OK, there was the bumping road, which left us with a soar bum and made me have to change positions the whole time, there was the hyperactive Indian guy in the back, who would never stop talking, there was the vertigo when looking down into the precipice at half a meter distance of the wheels of our 50-year old super-de-luxe tourist bus. But the overwhelming views made richly up for all of these minor inconveniences.We watched the changes from green vegetation with rice fields to a desert-type landscape with high, impressive rock mountains. It is a shame that pictures never reflect the immensity of a landscape, but just look at this one, multiply it by 100 and you’re almost there…

After the first day of the trip, we stopped in Kargil to spend the night. Lluís and I had already decided to go straight to one of the Lonely Planet guesthouses, that was supposed to have hot water showers. However, somehow, the adorable Austrian sisters, Barbara and Michaela, talked us into following them, because a guy had told them that none of the hotels in Kargil had hot water showers. This same guy ended up taking us to his guesthouse, offering us a room for 200RP. Well, a room that turned out to be a dirty dump hole, with a varied collection of insects and a terribly stinking shared bathroom.

But even after seeing the room, we had not learned our lesson - and here I can only offer as an excuse that we were really tired after a whole day in the bus. The guy led us to his restaurant for dinner, promising us a special price for being customers. We ended up paying twice as much as we would for such a dinner anywhere else. Well, I guess that being ripped off once in a while is inevitable when you are travelling around. You can’t always be alert…

The next day, after 4 hours of sleep and 10-11 hours of hobbling along impressive mountains and valleys, we arrived in Leh. There we found a very CCC guesthouse (cosy, clean & cheap), with a darling of a landlady, who welcomed us with a cup of tea and she would put tea at our door every morning.

In Leh, we spent a few nice and relaxing days. We enjoyed the international atmosphere: German pastries for breakfast (Ja, Hannelore, we hebben ontbeten op het terrasje van de Dolphin bakery. Best gezellig en een sympathieke bediening, maar wij hielden meer van de rustige tuin van de Penguin bakery, van dezelfde eigenaars, maar met meer gevarieerde gerechten), Tibetan momos for lunch, fresh fruit juices or lassis in the afternoon and Indian cuisine for dinner.

In the evening, we sometimes met up with the Austrian girls and their Australian friends, Sam & Sarah, to go for a beer in Leh Chen, which is thé bar for foreigners, since they serve the widest variety of alcoholic drinks. We also met Cecile, a 54-year old chatterbox, who looks like a 40-year old fashion model. She lives in Myanmar, a country that we had already dropped because of lack of time, but she convinced us that if any country is worth visiting, than it’s Myanmar. Well, we keep changing our plans along the way, according to the stories & findings of the people we meet…

Our stay in Leh coincided with the Hemis festival (25-26th June), which celebrates the birthday of Padmasambhava, who introduced Buddhism in Tibet. In Leh (in the region of Ladakh), there are many Tibetan refugees, and we saw lots of Tibetan faces, food, jewellery and gompas (Buddhist temples).

Since trekking (the most popular activity around Leh) was too expensive for our budget, and renting an Enfield motorbike too risky since they come without insurance, we decided to organize a 1-day trip to some of the villages in the neighbourhood: Basgo, Likir and Alchi. Once I have found out how to get the photobucket site working properly, I can add a link to a slideshow, but for now I include only a few pictures of our excursion.

28th June to 2nd July
After several days of relax, we were on form for the next bus trip, from Leh to Manali this time. Another 2 days of bumping, especially since we were almost in the back of the bus, but the landscapes were even more impressive than the former trip. This time we had the bad luck to have 6 Israeli guys right behind us, who considered themselves to be alone on the bus and made us listen to the latest Israeli pop-rock, to their chitchatting and their singing. On top of that, Lluis´ Ipod broke down, so we couldn’t even isolate ourselves to enjoy “Falete” or “The Cure” instead. They did have the excellent choice of music with “This monkey’s gone to heaven”, which they played just when we were driving through the clouds:

We spent the night in Sarchu, in a tent, at temperatures of around 5 degrees, but thanks to the thick blankets, we both slept quite well. Dinner & breakfast was very basic and not included in the bus fare (although the man from the agency had told us it was), but it gave us enough energy to cope with another day’s bus trip. We also met a nice French couple on their 4 months honeymoon, Stéphane & Benoit, who happened to be heading for Vashisht as well, a village close to Manali, and we crossed them several times during our stay there.

Our tent-for-two in Sarchu:

Vashisht is a kind of hippie village, very quiet and with the added charm of public baths, fed by “sipring water” (as they pronounce it here). We had a bath twice and the effect was as after a sauna. Wonderful! The rain season has already started in Manali, so we had rain during the night and in the morning, but warm weather in the afternoon, although quite cloudy sometimes. We made two excursions: one to Manali, a small town with little interest, and one to Old Manali, which is an Israeli colony, full of bars, restaurants, shops and guesthouses.

2nd to 4th July
Then we booked a ticket to Delhi on a sleeper bus, which was far more comfortable to sleep than the normal tourist buses. We arrived in Delhi yesterday morning and we were glad to notice that it was a little cooler than when we first arrived here, almost one month ago. There is also quite some rainfall here (exceptional for this time of year, according to the newspapers), but we prefer it a hundred times to the heatwave…

Our original idea was to go to Kathmandu from here and then go to Lhasa. However, a Basque couple we met in Vashisht (the first Spanish people in India!) told us it has become extremely expensive to get a travel permit for Tibet in Nepal, so we have decided to stay in Delhi and lock ourselves up in an Internet café, until we have found out the best way to continue. We’ll keep you informed!!

Lluis:
Després del petit avanç que vaig fer en forma de conte infantil per als mes petits de la familia, ara va pels més grans. En castellà, per que m´entenguin els que no entenen l’anglès i pels cosins de Bélgica que, tret d’en Josep, dominen millor el castellà.

La carretera que lleva a Leh desde Srinagar es una de las experiencias más increibles que puedas tener en la vida: dos días de viaje disfrutando de unos paisajes que son como mínimo “im presionantes”, por decirlo en dos palabras, jejej… Cuatrocientos cincuenta kilometros de carretera serpenteante, la mitad de ella sin asfaltar, colgada de las montañas, con precipicios altísimos, valles profundos y por supuesto, no apta para cardíacos o timoratos. Subimos de los 2400 metros de altura de Srinagar hasta los 3700 de Leh, capital de Ladakh, dentro del estado de Jammu and Kashmeer (J & K). Durante el trayecto pasamos de un paisaje verde y alpino, con glaciares que bajan de los picos más altos a otro rocoso y árido, casi desertico. Siempre subiendo montañas y atravesando valles, siguiendo el curso del rio.

Bueno, llegada a Leh sobre las 4 pm, compartimos taxi y encontramos una fantástica guesthouse, buena, bonita y barata. Pienso, “guay, cada tarde, siestecita güena, güena”. Pués bien, ni una triste siesta en seis días debido a una francesita petarda con amigos aún más petardos que se dedican a hablar a grito pelado. Si no fuera por que a estas alturas, la nieve ya se ha deshecho en Leh, seguramente ya habriamos perecido sepultados por un alud…

Leh, meca de moteros en ruta por la India, amantes de los trekkings y todo tipo de viajeros en busca de descanso diurno y algo de diversion nocturna. Leh es fantástica si tienes dinero suficiente como para hacer grandes excursiones al Valle de Nubra, al Lago Pangong o tantos otros sitios interesantes. Bien, esta claro que no es ésta nuestra situación, asi que nos contentamos con una visita en transporte público a Hemis, donde se celebra un “fiestorro” de tipo folcklorico-religioso muy apañado y colorido. En el templo los monjes bailan y fuera del templo los paganos del lugar se juegan las rupias en un casino al aire libre “made in india”.

Antes de irnos, nos gastamos la enorme cantidad de 1800 rupias en una visita en jeep a tres pueblos de los alrededores con sus respectivos “Gompas” (templos budistas) y sus respectivos monjes. “To mu gonito, zi zeñor!!!”

En resumen, vale la pena por el camino de ida, por el de vuelta (que luego explico), por los Gompas, por los monjes, por las vistas y paisajes, y no tanto por el ambiente que se vive en Leh, demasiados “guiris” y mucha tonteria en el ambiente para mi gusto. Sandra encantada: tiendas donde mirar (y comprar), sitios donde comer (y beber) y, sobretodo, gente con la que hablar, quedar por la noche y seguir hablando, enfin, ella lo disfruta y yo lo sufro, jejeje

Al final, tenemos que volver a Delhi, de paso para Katmandú y como “zemo mu pobre, mu pobre” y no nos podemos permitir ir en avión, iremos por tierra. Dos dias más de viaje hasta Manali (Himachal Pradesh), donde nos quedamos 3 noches y luego 15 horitas más de viaje hasta Delhi.

Los dos días de Leh a Manali, se pasan bien. La carretera es la segunda más alta del mundo, con una altura máxima de 5328 metros en el pico del Taglang La y otro puerto de 5060 metros (Lachlung La). Pasamos noche a medio camino en un campamento y nos dan una tienda pa nosotros solitos. La cena y desayuno nos sale por solo 350 rupias”each” (todo un atraco a mano armada, en fin…). El paisaje IN-CRE-I-BLE, no encontramos ni una sola casa en 300 kilómetros.

Llegada a Manali y lo primero que vemos es que aquí la Marihuana, aparte de ser mala para la salud, también es una mala hierba que crece por todas partes. Hermosas que están las plantitas, altas y fuertes… Estamos tres dias en Manali, centro turístico para Indios y para los que “hacen el indio” (lease: toda la colonia israelí de viaje post-mili). Suerte que nosotros nos alojamos en Vashist, un pueblecito muy mono y tranquilo en la ladera de la montaña donde tomamos un relajante baño termal a 50 grados centigrados todas las tardes.

De regreso a Delhi, en autobus DELUXE y en sleeper (litera) por solo 650 rupees que no está nada mal, pasamos por el Valle de Kullu. Toda una belleza de paisaje tropical con una vegetación exuberante, cascadas por todas partes y, como no, montañas todavía altísimas.

Llegada a Delhi y … sorpresa!! El calor se soporta bien, mucha humedad pero “chachi piruli”, no perdemos medio kilo a cada paso que damos, jejej tenemos hotel con terraza privada y un baño aceptable para los standarts de Main Bazaar, asi que no nos podemos quejar… Seguiremos informando.