Four Thousand Islands, a Temple and a Couple of Hammocks

So after 2 days of travel and a surprisingly good night's sleep we jumped off a bus in Pakse (southernmost biggish town in Laos) only to jump onto to yet another bus heading further south. We arranged to jump off the bus after about an hour to see the one of the premier archaeological sights of this land - Wat Phou Champasak. Why is stuff usually such a bother? Because it is more interesting that way.

We had pre-arranged a price, but on leaving the bus a very irate bus driver demanded more money from us. It may work on other travellers, but a man angrily grabbing my stuff and shaking his fists in front of my face does not generally convince me of his point of view. In fact the opposite. Dave is the same way inclined and hence we just sat there and the whole bus had to wait for something close to an hour before anything could be settled. Laos is a beautiful country, with wonderful people, but such an influx of tourists and their dollars has undoubtedly spoiled parts of it. Maybe it should not, but the fact is it came as quite a shock that people's desire for the dollar would lead so immediately to violence in a devoutly Buddhist land and I believe it would be irresponsible travel to give into to such brutish behaviour. So the long and the short of it is that a number of people had to wait quite a long time before an English guy helped to solve the situation with some cards. A shout from a Scottish muppet on the bus that it is only 60 pence missed the point. It is not about money but principle. If you can stop people acting like this then you should for everyone concerned.





Wat Phou Champasak

Anyway, it was eventually sorted and we caught a boat across the Mekong and a tuk tuk through the countryside to the sacred hill that foster the dilapidated Angkorean era ruins. The pictures give some idea of the former glory of this temple and palace complex. What made it for me were (i) the peace and quite that came with being the first people at the sight, (ii) the lovely prayer women, (iii) the spectacular view of the Mekong flats stretching into the far distance and, of course, (iv) the funny black lizards jumping around our feet. Some of the carving was magnificent though the site needs significant reservation.

Back on the tuk tuk, across the river and eventually hitched onto a pickup truck. Four or so bumpy, rattly hours later we were jumping on another boat through one of the most special regions of South-East Asia. Just north of Cambodia are the so called 'Four Thousand Islands' (almost certainly less) in the middle of the Mekong. Picture numerous verdant islands poking out the fast-flowing deep red waters of the regions major river. A place to lie back, relax, search for river dolphins and stare at waterfalls – a hard life.

We stayed on one of the most southerly islands, Don Det. A bit of a backpacker hangout but if you stay away from the landing post it is suitably laid back. Thanks to the advice of the guy who aided the bus issue earlier – Charlie – we ended up in a seriously sorted situation. There were 4 little huts on stilts on the edge of the Mekong, each one costing only a dollar and including a swinging hammock on the veranda - paradise. Add the arrangement of Charlie in the far right hut, Dave and me with a hut each in the middle and 2 great Dutch girls who we met in the pickup on the far right and we had very little excuse to move from the hammocks.

So three days were certainly not wasted on the veranda, talking, drinking, reading and simply watching the Mekong rush by. The only series of significant action came on our penultimate night when, after I had just watched a small cat fight a very worryingly coloured snake on the path - I tried to help the cat but made a quick exit when my torch conked out at a perfectly inopportune time - we decided to go for a stroll and Samatha and I ended up walking the majority of the island in the pitch black until the first greys of day burst over the river and we jumped onto a boat bound for the waterfall. We were joined by a funny Czech couple (Dave went home not feeling best) and on reaching the destined river-bank, jumped on top of a bus (literally – a painful experience on Lao roads) and rode to the largest waterfall in South-east Asia.

I say a waterfall, it is more like a colossal rapid stretching before you. I was struck by the noise and force of the churning ochre water. Add sleep-deprivation, a wind-rushed bus ride and an eerie first light setting and the occasion starts to take body. Then back on top of the bus with the locals starting their day's work in the padi fields accompanied with surprisingly white buffalo and even more surprised expressions on the faces of locals as some stupid white people surfing on top of a big bus rushed by.


I liked this place so much that I planned to give up some days in northern Cambodia to stay in that incomparable hammock. But….. life has a way of choosing different paths. I woke up the next day to find Dave with a temperature of 41.2 degrees C (approx 105 degrees F), fever, shakes and aches. So there we were in a malaria hot spot, Cambodia beneath, Laos above and not a decent hospital within 6 hours. Definitely the start of a new story….

Northern Laos with Jessie and Vickie

Happy Siblings and the Mekong



The first thing I must put straight is why this blog is still under the title 'Siamese....' when I am writing about Laos (rather than Thailand). The answer to this barely a riddle is not that I wish to insult the Laoitian people or make a historical reference to certain occasions of Siamese dominance over their northern neighbours but that during 18 generally great days in Laos I was too laid back and distracted to stare at computers and by the time I have got round to a bit of blogging I am against all plans not still in Laos...nor in Cambodia... but back in Thailand in a mid-sized town known as Ubon - but more on that later!

LAOS

After a very confused meeting with Jess following a standard night in Bangkok and a flight up to the border it, seemed right to start our time in Laos in a simply delectable restaurant in the village like capital of Vientiane.

There we were, Jessie (my lovely eldest sister - the shortest in the pictures), Vicky (a friend of Jess since she was even tinier then she is now), Dave (Dingo) and myself. A lively occasion of anticipation for what the next two weeks in this new country would hold - NO - 4 completely shattered people barely able to make it through the meal without falling on their plates. Oh well - better start the stories the next day.

After some wanderings around a town that has less life than Petersfield (where my mum lives) which included some nice shopping at a market, getting caught in a rainstorm and failing to see the famous Wat, the start to what was a wonderful couple of weeks was further delayed by a 'discussion' Dave and I had with our hotel. Without going into details of the proprietor's dispicable actions, the girls had to go on ahead of us and I had a chance to use some of those argumentational skills that I am meant to have or at least should have considering I am starting work a month today.........aaaahhhhhh!). During this period I also contracted my first illness for months. Again, c'est la vie - have patience with me starting one last time...

Two British boys jumped on a 'VIP' bus parked by a mighty sway of the Mekong river - a rushing red mass which was to be our companion throughout this startlingly beautiful land. On leaving the very downbeat capital (a real oddity in this part of the world) we were treated with scenery that improved to the point where it rivalled nearly any I have ever seen. A lush country of thick vegetation between lime-caste hills and rushing streams. It was a real delight and, despite a bit of flu, I drew some deep breaths of sweet South-East Asian air and moved back into my normal happy optimistic travelling self. The good vibes did not stop there. A big smile broke out on our faces when on arriving mid torrential downpour at the backpacker haven/hole (depends on who you talk to) of Vang Vieng, Jessie and Vicky were waiting for us and a cup of hot chocolate was waiting on the menu.


References to 'hole' are only applicable to the couple of streets of restaurants dedicating themselves to showing 'Friends' repeats and selling 'special' shakes. Like equivalent places all over the planet, there is very little connection to the host country.

The setting of the place is more than special. The closer we got the more lime-caste hills sprang up until we were in a fantasy-like landscape of dirty red water, deep green vegetation clung to pointy outcrops and enshrouding mist. For those who have been fortunate to visit the area around Guilin in China, the scenary is comparable though perhaps a patch less dramatic here in Laos. A perfect place to put the feet up, watch in wonder at the world around you and well... that's pretty nice isn't it.

We spent a couple of days in VV doing optimal activities to kick my flu - tubing and partaking in beverage.


Tubing - Something so simple, yet recommended to me from travellers far and wide, this essentially involves being dropped into the water a few miles upstream with a tube and your swimmies, lying in said tube and letting the mighty fast-flowing river (logs et al) take you down stream for a couple of hours. The journey is permeated by the flinging out of the occasional rope from a riverside bar and obligatory stop-off (a small panic ensued when Jessie floated past the landing point, fell out of her ring and clung to a piece the wooden jump point as a guy rescued her tyre-tube). For many this is an opportunity for a smoke and drink, but, as always, we were good.

One fun-filled activity we partook in ("we" meaning the boys) was to swing off a high raised platform over the river, pummel into the middle of the stream from some silly height, have just enough time to come to your senses, swim for all you worth to a rope dangling in the river and tug yourself back to relative safety. The trick is to judge your landing so to avoid the aforementioned chunky pieces of timber constantly floating down stream - nice. The most memorable part was simply lying back as the water flowed fast beneath and lashed from above. Time for a little chat and some jaw-dropping scenery viewing.

Beverage - A minor incident involving some salsa dancing with Israelis and the loss of a flip-flop. I swear I intended to stay dry, but it is impossible to watch and do nothing as Americans pretend they can drink and challenge you to a contest. They left in their wabbling place.

Very shortly after arriving back in from said night, I was on a bus (feeling surprisingly good) heading a days journey north to Luang Prabang - the raved about World Heritage Sight that was an old Lao capital. So I drifted to sleep flanked by continually remarkable scenery as the hills became slowly less pointy and larger - picture less fantasy more drama. On waking I realised my error. I had mistaken a lack of hangover with continued intoxication and had to do the standard shutting down trick as we wound are way up, down and around verdant hill to our northerly destination.

LUANG PRABANG


With aims of heading further pole-bound snubbed by little brown crawly things freaking my sister out, we ended up staying a full week in and around this simply delightful place. It is a decidedly low-key town (this is Loas after all) but is remarkably charming and has weeded its way into my 'favourite places' list if any such thing existed.

The heart of the town is a few parallel old streets situated in a thin peninsular formed by the mighty Mekong on one side and the Khan river on the other, the latter eventually wrapping around the northern end of the town as the waterways converge. These streets are filled with an interesting mixture of hundreds of year old Wats and palaces alongside charming French colonial era maisons and restaurants. This allows you to spend your days in long cafe sessions (the French really do/did know a lot about food) punctuated by leisurely walks, river cruises and finised off with a few drinks in the minuscule 'lively' pocket of town just over the hill.

There is nothing like sitting back with a drink and good company as something as magnificent as the Mekong flows to your side. What affected me most was the silence of the monster. So many thousands of cubic tons of water and..... nothing. I have seen no example of man so wondrously combining peace and power. Relaxing in the awesome shadow of nature - I love it. Add the marvellous view from the 'mountain', the knowledge that somewhere in this river are couple of meter long catfish and the occasional trip to the after-hours Vietnam bar and you have a great place to just chill.

KUANG XI





It is a shortish trip away from town to a piece of protected rain forest that contains Kuang Xi waterfall. That we made this trip no less then 3 times gives an illustration of how great it is. Out of the rain forest and down a series of beautiful and spectacular terraces runs, roars and trickles a 30m waterfall. Apart from the opportunity of feeding a healthy looking tiger, the highlight were a number of natural pools which you could jump in and swim around. Crystal blue and just a little bit chilly, they were refreshing in the heat.

The higher you climbed and the more 'Danger' signs you past the better the pools became until just before the top you have a large pool surrounded by smaller ones at the foot of a large drop. Even better, you have it almost to yourself. Picture it. Jumping off the sides and floating to the very precipice of the falls - dropping beneath and beyond, the full extent of the forest clad valley unfolds. Jess and Vicky showed great spirit in climbing up and over falls to find this place, as did the comedy Dutch boys on our final day, but the extra-slippery conditions of the first occasion when Dave and I christened 'extreme flip-flop waterfalling' go down as the most adventurous. A very very special place.

ADVENTURE TRIP





After all this relaxing, Dave and I were just itching to do something active. This combined with Jess and Vicky's wish to do something 'quite' active and we booked up 2 suitable days of interest. On the first day Dave and I would do a hard trek to where the girls spent the day playing with elephants. After a night in a net on a stool, we would then kayak together back to Luang Prabang.

By both accounts the playing with elephants went very well.

The trekking went excellently. We made it emminently clear to the guide that we wished to have a challenge and he extended and changed the itinerary accordingly. In baking heat of over 40 C we trekked up steep steep inclines, through sticky forests, along small streams ducking below the branches - in a fashion that bought numerous Vietnam war movie clips to mind- up and over ridges to views that knock your eyes back into your head and immediately tune you into what is so evasive in Blighty - life, force, nature - whatever you wish to call it. You can catch a glimpse of one particular valley on the photo above but it doesnot do justice. Sweating but resolutely happy, we stopped for an hour or so on a workers shelter close to the top of a rice clung ridge and just took in everything around us. One of those moments that will stay with me for as long as I have a couple of marbles to knock together.

It is worthy of note that a quite colossal tropical storm passed over during the night. Strange, there were Dave and I soaked through but sleeping like babies while the dry girls in the middle barely slept. I woke up just in time to catch the girls returning from cleaning their elephants in the river and after brekkie the kayaking commenced.

I have never to my knowledge done an extreme sport with my sister (this goes against the evidence of a photo with my sister and I at the age of 4 in teddy-bear skis, but as I can not remember it I discount it), so jumping in a kayak down grade 2 rapids on a very fast flowing tributary of the Mekong was bound to be an interesting experience. I can not but help feeling protective of my sister. Partly because of how small she is and more than partly because of the shared blood running through our veins.

Generally it was a beautiful relaxing journey with the males doing more than their fair share of the paddling but loads of fun. One more than interesting incident did occur as we entered a fast set of rapids at the wrong angle, speeding towards trees in the middle of the river (wet-season). Before I knew it I was clinging to a tree branch in a desperate attempt to stop Jess at the front of the boat from smashing into a another tree at rapid velocity. The plan just about worked, but soon after the current tipped us over and we were both dangling off the side of the kayak struggling to keep hold of our paddles. Such little moments of adrenaline usually sort themselves out and this one was no different with us both able to scramble back on board as we rushed out of the rapid and continue down stream. I shall definitely have to do more of it in future.

A wonderful 2 weeks with Jess and Vicky came inevitably to a far too rapid close and before I knew it they were on a plane heading back to Bangkok and Dave and I were on another all nighter down to Vientiane. It is sad how time rushes by fastest when you are it the most, but this can be applied to most of this year for me. It has gone by in a blink of an eye, despite more memories then I can fathom. Back to the girls. It was a delight to spend time with both of them. Vicky was a sweetheart putting up with flu for the majority of the time (which I am afraid may have come from me) and travelling with Jessie was simply something I have to repeat.

No more rambling. Like time, we were on the move. A hectic day of mad sorting in the capital (we finally got to see the Wats) and then another mammoth (well at least baby mammoth - mammet?) journey overnight all the way to the bottom of Laos. And it is there in Pakse that I will take up the tale and I can forewarn that those were some interesting days indeed....

Sea Snakes, Sand and Samsong

Yes, today I am in Ko Phi Phi, one of the most beautiful islands on this planet, diving, soaking up rays and using beer and buckets to mentally prepare me for the inevitably imminent finality of this set of travels in just 3 days. That thought sends shivers down my spine which is slightly satisfying due to its interaction with a mild case of sunburn on my back.

Immanency, finality, flights, home, work, flat-hunting, more work, rain, cold....the prospect of English life I find a bit daunting. Good things and bad things, great things and dull things it will all soon be my home again.

I am just going to have to content myself with the fact I saw three of the most poisonous objects on earth within a few minutes of each other (sea snake, lion fish and freaky starfish) and that a couple more days with the above view awaits...not a hard life but certainly a contemplative one.

Off to Carpe Diem as tales of islands in the Mekong, waterfalls, fevers, hospitals and sharks await another day for their telling!!

How do you sum up India?

As my nearly a third of a year in India came to a close I tried to think of how on earth I could start to sum up the country, if not on paper then at least in my own mind. It would take a diligent lifetime to fully understand most countries but India is a different ball-game.

I have spent longer traveling India then any other country outside of my own, but despite racking my brains the best I can come up with is that it is indescribable. Surely nowhere else can have such diverse and interesting culture at such intensity. Over a billion people are squeezed into a country much smaller than other giants and it is better understood as a continent then a single country. North to south, east to west and everywhere in between the country alters, changes and never fails to grab your attention. From the mind-blowingly crazy collection of beliefs and traditions that is Hinduism with its monkey gods, rat temples and four-armed elephant headed sons of ultimately powerful destructive fathers, to one of the largest Muslim countries in the world, without forgetting the millions of Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and just about everything else - a lifetime of investigation would barely scratch the surface. Just names of religions do not demonstrate the complicated social systems and hierarchies that are intertwined with spiritual aspect and the fusion and diffusion caused by the mixing of so much so intimately.

Ultimately it is a country of riddle and wonder that it has been a privilege to even try to begin to unravel. A classic case of having no idea just how little you knew. Despite undoubted difficulties in just about everything you ever try to do (and I mean everything), and a number of underlying traits of the national psyche that I find it very hard to reconcile, I have left it enchanted. Not only have I discovered so much externally but also internally. Coming face to face with some of the worst poverty in the world, crazy climates and a business culture that seems to actively promote argument has developed me and my thoughts and I am thankful for that. From tigers to the Taj, Bollywood to Bangalore, Holi to Hampi to hippies and of course all the amazing people I have met, it has been an unforgettable and invaluable experience that I wish to repeat in the future.

I would though be lying if I said a Thai beach was not seriously appreciated at the end!