Charlie & Rosie's Gap Year

Sichuan Province

cscarlettsmith — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:18:00 GMT

From the 'Countryside' to the cities

We headed out of Litang which was our last stage in what is so to speak the Wild West of China- although it wasn't the end of cowboy hats, the hoicking decreased slightly and we got buses with air conditioning and real roads.

One thing about China that is striking is the lengths that the government will go to avoid bends in any form of transport. We went over 100m flyovers through fields, 15km tunnels on an almost nocturnal level. Where there are mountains there are tunnels. It made for a pleasant change. Mountains are beautiful no doubt but a 5 hour shortcut on 20 hours will always win. Always.

Chengdu

After finally arriving in China's 4th largest city we realised at last how busy China is during tourist months. Refused from every hostel we ended up in a disgustingly nice hotel. It was like going 5* and it cost 16 pounds a night. When one thinks of Chinese cities pollution is one thing that comes to mind. After Communism Chengdu seemed to me no different, if i even say it, more capitalist that the UK. (lets hope that the Chinese govt. aren't reading this one). And after weeks of Tibetan food it was nice to be in a place that didn't involve bread or mutton. Sichuan is notorious for serving up some of the spiciest food in the world. The Chinese say it helps them stay cold because it makes them sweat so much. We made sure of "Boo La" before every meal as "no spice" to them is still enough for an dairy-based English mouth. The hot-pots were amazing and the noodle soup was the best we'd had since Ho Chi Minh. It is not surprising that the Chinese food served in England is nothing whatsoever like anything we have had here. The flavours do go beyond sweet-and-sour, msg and oil. I can tell we are going to be Chinese food snobs when we return home.

We hung around the peaceful clean city for a few days, stocking up on cheap clothes and good hearty food. Although we did nothing much of merit until we returned from Emei Shan the city does deserve a mention. It's a city worth living in (unlike Lanzhou, but that will be come to) the vibe is of a modern China but not of vanity and Cartier watches so much but of a pleasant middle class eager to establish itself in the communist society. It's great.

Emei Shan

Emei Shan is a Buddhist holy which unfortunately means the crowds are relentless. Luckily the weather was awful and the mountain was shrowded in mist. It meant that a 300 yuan journey to the top was pointless, but it did allow us to venture to less seen temples hugging the base of the mountain. In the middle of the forest the idyllic Chinese temple appeared. It was impressive in it's meekness. It was not the main attraction of the mountain. We only found it by chance on a walk, and it's scale and dominance hidden by the trees was something of a novelty. Other popular attractions in China have the habit of turning a bit disneyland- something about world heritage sites, once they become "world heritage" the latter word becomes something of a lie. Rocks aren't heritage if they're hollow. But this place oozed unchanged Chinese Culture. It was a school for young Buddhist monks of both sexes, (women monks in Southeast Asian countries is strictly not allowed), and it couldn't of chosen a more peaceful situation. Our trip to Emei Shan unfortunately due to the weather was cut short. It was a satisfying journey away from Chengdu but we wanted to see the Pandas so we headed back to our luxurious hotel.

The Pandas

are almost worth a visit to Chengdu. Giant Pandas aren't great survivors by nature let alone poachers so the numbers have dwindled to just small areas of Sichuan. They were magnificent though very docile animals.

North

We spent maybe too long in Chengdu doing nothing. But it wasn't unpleasant. In fact we both missed the city after we had left it and headed north on a train bound for Lanzhou.

Lanzhou is possibly the only place i have been so far which i have disdain for. It is in plain words a decrepit, seedy, harsh, unfriendly, and dusty city. But we had to stay a night. This night itself i saw a drunk man throw up before his 'escort' and she naturally followed suit immediately outside a hotel i was enquiring at.

Too tired to write. we had to spend the night in an internet cafe to avoid sleeping on the street. this cavern is killing me.

Photos: Cambodia

cscarlettsmith — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 03:13:00 GMT

Angkor Wat and angry Tuk-Tuks

Photos: Thailand

cscarlettsmith — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:08:00 GMT

Our first 2 weeks of travelling in Thailand (and our 6th week after Laos)

Photos: Chengdu to Dunhuang

cscarlettsmith — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:18:00 GMT

Mountains meet the Gobi

Charlie's 19th, sore feet and long bus rides

cscarlettsmith — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:58:00 GMT

Little did he know, whilst Charlie was writing the last post I was in secrect negotiations with the next door hostel arranging a birthday party for that evening. I went over to check that everything was in order but was told that, disaster, they were unable to get a cake. Fortunately I do speak one Chinese language - money - and I was told it was, now, definatley possible to get a cake for that evening!

As we neared the end of our feast of freshly slaughtered BBQ cow and other local spicy foods, the banging Chinese R'n'B stopped and 'Happy Birthday' in Chinese came over the speakers. Charlie sat in shock as the lights dimmed and the cake came out. It was beautiful - whipped cream carefully shaped into delicate flowers. Unfortunatly it didn't last. Niether of us knew about what the Chinese actually do with their cakes, maybe its why they're all so skinny?? We started handing around slices anglo-style but everyone else looked confused, they soon put us right, and what started with a smear of cream on Charlies cheek turned into the biggest food fight I've ever encountered. It made even the Epsom College dining hall look civilised. A few beers later we walked home with very sticky faces and stained clothes. The beautiful cake lay was everywhere, over us, our new friends, their animals and the floor. And what started as a lousy, rainy day turned into one of the best on our trip.

In the morning we took a taxi early into the Deqin national park and began our 1200m ascent over the mountain to the Ubong villages which are not accessable by road. It was tough going and steep but within 4 hours we were at the summit covered in prayer flags and eating noodle soup and baba, a tibetan bread which is like a mixture of naan and pitta. By 3 o'clock we had arrived down the other side and checked in to the Hikers Home Hostel. Our room had terrific veiws of the valley and glacier. But as night fell we realised we'd come very underprepared with no toothbrushes and not enough warm clothes. The next morning we (somehow) got up super early, and those who have tried (and failed) will agree that it's not easy to get me out of bed at 6. It was wonderful to be walking so early with no one else around and with the constant drizzle and lush green trees, we could have been in the Lake District. The walking was difficult but worth it as we reached the top. Waterfalls from the melting glacier (it's summer here) cascade down into a mass of frozen water and seem to dissapear, re-emerging into a stream that flows down to the Ubong villages. Unfortunatly the view was somewhat obscured by a cloud which had decended as we were walking but it was spectacular all the same. We reached the village at lunchtime and decided (against my better judgment) to climb back over the mountain to civilisation. It was hard, but by 9 we were back at the hostel where we'd spent Charlies birthday. 10 hours of walking isn't easy for two lazy 'gap yah' student who haven't seen a gym since leaving school.

We realised the only way out of Dequin was another long bus ride back to Shangri-La but it had been worth it for those 5 great days.

From Shangri-La we made our way into Sichuan province towards Chengdu. There were long, strenuous bus rides which pushed our patience to its limits as miles and miles of road were being tarmaced and resurfaced. They call the area we travelled through the Wild West, the Tibetan villages are all very similar, small towns where nothing much goes on! However, the surroundings are beautiful and there are fantastic hiking opportunities. The area is known for sky burial, this is a Tibetan burial practise. As most Tibetans are Buddist they believe in reincarnation and once the person is dead the body is just an empty vessel. The body is taken to a holy place (normally on a mountain) where a monk or llama distroys the body useing knives, mallets and other instruments. Vultures and other birds of prey then take the body and feast on it. The bones are mashed up and are left for nature to claim and decompose. Although many travellers we were with went to watch, we both felt a little uncomfortable going. (I wouldn't like it if a group of camera bearing tourists turned up at a family funeral, although allegedly no one minds and the Tibetan spectators are what we would percieve as rude, making phone calls, spitting and talking loudly.) The pretty villages we stayed at grew gradually bigger into towns and cities and eventually - after what seemed like days and days on buses we arrived in Chengdu. Charlie has put his foot down and insisted that next time we have a distance like that to cover, we'll take a plane.

Yunan Province

cscarlettsmith — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:04:00 GMT

Yunan provice was our first introduction to China. We immediately headed north to escape the heat we had still not fully grown used to. Our itinerary took us from sea level to 5000m in 10 days:

Hekou-Kunming-Dali-Lijang-Tiger Leaping Gorge- Shangri la- Deqin.

Hekou,

was a nice border town, noticably different to Vietnam because of the public bins and general cleanliness. We met a really nice Danish couple on the way from Sapa and we shared a hotpot full of various mystery vegetables picked out from a table (most of them turned out to be bamboo) for 21Yuan (2 pounds). We hung out all day and visited the wierdly pornographic/ outrageous cartoon-like sword markets (maybe this is where all the S&M Vietnamese come to stock up) and stocked up on money. We left the couple to go on to Kunming.

Kunming

was the first real place where we realised that speaking our obnoxious 'world-English' wasn't going to work. Convinced by the lonely planet description that the train station was only 1km away we argued relentlessly for cheaper prices with the obviously bewilded taxis. In the end we took a public bus for 2 yuan and it took over 50 minutes. We didn't stay in Kunming, so a description of at as passing through would involve pollution and industry. But at least it was cold. We took from there a train to Dali. We shared a hard-seat with a bunch of Chinese-students and a guy who had taken our seat. The man refused to leave and so we cursed at him in our supposedly 'secret' language. Turns out the whole compartment understood us. The man returned a few times. I'm glad he didn't know what we were saying.

Dali Old Town

was really nice, picture-esque traditional Chinese architecture and really cheap accomodation- (with free laundry! As you can imagine we washed everything conceivable in our backpacks. ) We spent our time walking around the city as the attractions are quite (ridiculously) overpriced. Which was fine enough we needed sleep after our 36 hour slog up here. After Dali we made our way to the 'tranquil' (another Lonely planet description) Lijang.

The Bus ride

up to Lijang was a experience. The scenery was amazing. The crop teraces that were carved into the mountains were phenominal. Another weird event occured near the end- an english movie played on the bus, weird in itself, but it was also one of the most graphic (non-violent) films I have ever seen. It didn't help also that the noise was deafing and therefore unavoidable. The bus that when we first got on had a low hum of conversation was completely silent and was silent leaving the bus.

Lijang

's surroundings were amazing but the city was anything but tranquil. An earthquake destroyed the city and the Chinese government rebuilt it according to the Naxi style of Architecture. What was created was a kind of theme park atmosphere on crack. The streets were full and lasers+loud music pumped out of the bars into the square accompanied by the regular cuisine of Pizza Hut and KFC. We were seriously wondering about our decision to come here. It was like being in a rat maze and your the only one wondering what the hell youare doing there. Luckily we managed to get some help in a guesthouse where the owner lead us over to Mama Naxi (some people have renamed her Mama Nazi- she is very tenacious) Guesthouse- she's a very influencial woman. It was definitely different there and the next day we decided to give Lijang a shot instead of heading up to Tiger Leaping Gorge. It was also that night that we met Julie who we ended up travelling all the way to Shangri la with.

The Black Dragon Pool Park is another attraction that is turning out to be worth an arm and leg to get into. we paid the 20 pounds apprehensively. The park was very nice, the first pool was where people seemed to spending most of there time as it had the best view of the mountain. But 'most people' is always a bit exacerbating so we headed north into the park. The mountain was a bit more obscured so i tried to climb onto a rock to get a better shot. As i was climbing i stumbled upon a group of locals boys about our age drinking and playing cards in a hiding spot hidden by the surrounding rock. Kind of shocked to see me they immediately reached out a handed me a beer. In the end Rosie and I ended up staying with them for the next 3 hours drinking beer they refused to take money for, listening to hotel california and playing cards. It was one of those unexplainable circumstances you often have while you travel. In the end it was nice knowing that although we are halfway around the world kids our age on a sunny day still go to the local park, enjoy cheap non-establishment beer and have a good time. They named us the equivalent (in chinese) of beautiful and monkey. I guess you may be able to guess who was who. (Leg hair is rare out here). Although the park was meant to be cultural, so is Hyde Park, Richond Park and Hampstead Heath. It was nice feeling not like a tourist for once.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

We organised to go to Tiger Leaping Gorge the next day. In our mini-van/bus we met Jo, Roger and Georgia. Along with Julie we spent the next couple of days doing the trek together. We couldn't of picked a nicer group to do it with. Although we were a diverse group in terms of Age we got along like long-time friends. By the end it was sad to leave the group. Pictures will only describe the craggy peaks and gushing rapids. I don't think i am equipped enough in English to do it Justice.

Shangri-la,

aptly named for tourism was like Lijang without the tourism, but also without the scenery. We spent a few days there recovering from the trek and enjoying local Naxi food and occasionally scrambled eggs/heinz baked beans on toast. On the way up we had an interesting naturally blond and pale chinese driver, who marvelled at Julie's guitar playing in the back and plucked at my leg hair. He also kep a machete, for "those who don't pay."

Now

we are in Deqin, further north and about 3500m up. Passes between mountain ranges of 5000m lay along the bus journey here. It is also my birthday, so it probably seems weird of me to be devoting time to this, but a storm just hit so the mountains we saw this morning are obscured and walking in the torrential rain isn't a nice birthday prospect. We hope to make our way to Sechuan soon, maybe trekking, but it seems more likely we'll follow the cliff straddled road back down Shangri la.

China is turning out to be more effort than Southeast Asia. But it is also rewarding in that aspect. We're using our long journeys catch up on reading, even if it is Gordon Ramsey's Autobiography (which is actually really good by the way- it makes you think he is a bit less of a prick), and learning Chinese. Our laziness with just speaking English has definitely got to go.

The Excitement of Writing

cscarlettsmith — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:21:00 GMT

The Excitement of Writing

For more than a month now this blog has suffered a bit of neglect. The reason isn't purely laziness... but maybe a lack of spark? That excitement that you just want to write down everything so you'll never forget it. More as well was the lack of unique (well not unique but you get what I mean) experiences. By the time we had reached Cambodia we only had 6 weeks to get to China. This placed us firmly on the tourist trail for better part of this time. No doubt, there were great times along the way, but the sensation of doing something really special went from a flame to a simmer. Additionally with Vietnam, I felt like everywhere we went we were late to the game, experiencing a catastrophic denouement in Vietnamese backpacking tourism without understanding the story of a country untainted by high rise hotels and littered beaches. Not to say that either Vietnam or Cambodia are awful, they are still very beautiful, yet by the end of Vietnam there was a mood of exhaustion. The relentless hassle for money involving lies, aggression and unnecessary products (selling in masses to perceivably no backpackers with a brain) was shattering. There became a point where ashamedly we could not help being rude to avoid "you buy from me this one" in excess of 20 times.

Is Backpacking Suffering?:

There's a new tourism that's taking over these two countries- Package holidays and 5 star indulgence. Backpacking in some areas is starting to become minor business. Especially in the world heritage sights. Hoi An, Siem Reap and, although in Laos, Luang Prabang all are seeming less quaint than described and a bit more Disneyland Resort. They are too nice. In Siem Reap it seemed as though it's angkor wat and your hotel. We gave blood at the childrens hospital- a charity aiming to provide every cambodian (and foreign!) child under 16 with free healthcare. We were two out of 150 tourists who had done it that year. Times that number by 1000 and thats still probably a fraction of the amount of people seeing ankor wat each year. It's like that kind of tourism, I can only think of now, in Rome or the Vatican where people walk blindly through countless beautiful basilicas to the Sistine Chapel, take a couple of pictures and leave. I don't know if it's my smug attitude towards travelling but the true beauty so far has seemed to be in those other 'basilicas'. Of course this is insanely ironic but sometimes you just get the feeling of "f****** tourists!"

(I'm probably making it sound worse than it is, maybe it's writing this a four in the morning so I might be a bit grumpy.)- There were some amazing things that we did, so this part maybe it was the laziness to write it down.

"You should've been here 10 years ago,"

I hope that in 30 years you can still get a backpack and see some of the most beautiful things in the world for pocket change. But I have a feeling that it's not going to last for very much longer. And there is more money in people who have a lot of money. So who can hardly blame the business owners. I would love to believe in investment to preserve beauty over the investment for more money- but i think that is largely naiive.

But

But I am giving an opinion based on a tour of vietnam that varied somewhat little from the tourist trail. There are definitely places people have told me of that are untouched by the big hand of capitalism. Given more time and i could've been ranting about a completely amazing experience. It just looks like those opportunities are dwindling and harder to get to.

Something New:

The excitement of writing looks like it is coming back. We arrived in China today and just walking over a bridge not only put us forward an hour in time, but into a different world. After only 15 hours I can tell that this place is going to be an adventure. And as Rosie sleeps next to me on this cockroach infested bus bed shared by five I couldn't be happier.

A Long Overdue Post

cscarlettsmith — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:55:00 GMT

A Long Overdue Post

Presently writing this on the sleeper bus, rosie is asleep next to me and has been for five hours or so. I think it was the pig intestines at the bus station that might be keeping me up. But at least it's allowed me some time to catch up on a neglected blog.

love to everyone back home.

Charlie and Rosie

P.S.
No doubt there are large gaps in the chronology of our trip- Rosie is in the middle of writing bits. Currently we are in Vientiane. Having a great time with some people that helped us out in Luang Prabang when we were in a tight spot. We're going to the Australian embassy tomorrow- our passports are ruined and we have to head back to bangkok. It sounds like a hassle, but Rosie and I are in dire need of a panang and banana bread!

Laos New Year

cscarlettsmith — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:50:00 GMT

Laos New Year

Laos new year is the passover from Aries in to Picies or something, but seemingly it was a week long pissup and waterfight. We went out waterproof- well kind of. On the first day we were in luang prabang it was water everywhere, but breakfast or something wrong was happening and we had to return to the room for a while. The next day was a lot better. We ate (cheaply) at a very nice bakery. And joined the beer Lao party in the afternoon, for free beer? Well we don't know if it was free but we didn't pay anyone, and good Lao rap and progressive rock, and cheesy western pop. The music made a collaboration with a hose and a mass of screaming wet pickup trucks passing by. It was mad.

Hatsa- Nong Khua- Nong Kiaw- Luang Prabang

cscarlettsmith — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:48:00 GMT

Hatsa- Nong Khua- Nong Kiaw- Luang Prabang

We took the slowboat the whole distance to luang probing- possible in 28 straight hours by bus, we decided to do it in 19 hours in 3 days by slowboat. Until the last day where we were packed in like sardines with just tourists it was a breathtaking journey of beauty, culture and comfort.

For raw information on how to do it:

Hatsa- Nong Khua

In Hatsa the boats go frequently south, but it does take 6-8 hours to reach Nong Khua so you essentially have to leave in the morning because boats do not run after nightfall. It says in the guide books that the cost of the boat is roughly 1,000,000 Kip. This is true but they do obviously try to charge you for more. The cheapest we could get for a group of three was 110,000 each. A group of three or less is possible as the boat journey is very popular with the locals getting to roadless villages. Also do not worry if the boat is packed at the begining it is very unlikely that anyone on the boat is going to Nong Khua.

Nong Khua- Nong Kiaw:

This part was slightly more tricky as roads are the main transportation for the locals. We were lucky that we found another 4 people to travel with us down the river to put our group up to 7. This of course made the trip slightly more expensive but we did get our own seats and boat for the whole trip. The price was around 150,000 kip each. This was also the best leg of the journey. To organise this all you have to go to the ferry corssing. the boats are all there and the drivers sitting around. Go there around 9 a'clock, earlier can be pointless. Don't be afraid to argue (politely) with them. We sat for about an hour till we got the price we were after. Duration: 6-8 hours

Nong Kiaw to Luang Prabang:

Out of all the trips this was definitely the most touristy. Packed like sardines. The price was fixed to 100,000. We also had to go out and walk for a bit because the river was low and the boat heavy. The journey was nice, I'm sure it would be better if it was your first slow-boat trip in Laos, but the overcrowded boat made it less comfy (the seats are already wood) and more unpleasant. The place to get the boat is obvious from where you arrive. If this is your first stop then the jetty is obvious from the bridge. Duration: 6-9 hours.

The pictures can only describe the karst stone cliffs that come out nowhere and soar to well over 1000m, the kids, the river and panoramic seating.

We bumped into Sim, Rory, Max, Pom and Tom by chance in luang Prabang. They had an additional 4 travellers with them Sylvia, Gemma, Mick and Ben. We changed our itinerary and joined there growing group to total 11 people. We went to the crystal clear waterfalls and out for a relaxed meal. The next day we headed south.

Akha Tribes and Insects

cscarlettsmith — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:47:00 GMT

Akha Tribes and Insects

The akha, pronounced in a very phlegmy way, originated from Burma, still accord to animism and legitimately wear traditional dress. The women are very very shy, and also on a side note very muscly. The merest show of a camera and they were Gump running. We were the first westerners there for a few months.

It took us about 7 or 8 hours trekking to reach the first village. The Laos paths are very ancient and steep. They go straight up and down. There is little to no traversing. The first village we reached on the way was accessible by dirt road. We drank vibrant green Lao Lao the homemade extremely strong rice moonshine- it ranges from 50% upwards. It was still warm from the wok. We then headed abruptly down a trail of about a foot in width. It stayed that way and narrower for the next 3 days. The first day was a tepid 25^C. Rosie and I obviously overestimated our shoes for the journey- Rosie wearing retro adidas flat sole trainers and I in my try-hard old-tymey boat shoes. They were not suitable. It was slapstick at it's finest going downhill. After we crossed the river at bottom and rearranged our shoes, Rosie released a blood curdling scream. The rest of froze and turned panicked expectant of snakes, lizards, bears, spiders... Rosie had her first leech. Rosie still holds to it scarring her foot forever. Surprisingly the Laos jungle was very safe and animal free. The insects thrived but all other forms of life were rare.

As we arrived into the first akha village, the animals seemed very peaceful with our guide in tow. As we left the chief's hut for an explore the animals flipped out! Chickens were screaming, pigs were fighting, horses were mating and stampeding, and the dogs had all amassed to scare us out of town. Scared of the dogs because of rabies we did as we were told. It wasn't until the next day that the dogs were used to us. We learnt "aschuu" which is almost like sneezing, which makes the mongrels all piss off. Most of the time. That night we dined with the chief, ceremoniously drinking a shot of Lao loa every 10 minutes or so. We feasted on buffalo, mushroom sticky rice and soup. We ate until we could no more. And while Rosie and Ryan decided their day was over I introduced the chief's kids to various apps on my iPhone. The best one of course being 'Angry Birds' ironically for a society based on animism. Hours later the Lao Lao sank-in and bed was necessary.

Little Miss Lao Sunshine

cscarlettsmith — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:43:00 GMT

Little Miss Lao Sunshine

Our bus to udomxai was decisively lazy and had the habit of not wanting to start. On stopping, a few Laos men and I, and counterintuitively the bus driver, had to hop out and give the bus enough velocity to start in second or third. What proceeded was our own little version of little miss sunshine. Except in place of attractive groomed actors and the iconic VW minivan, was 5 sweaty Lao and an out of place and rare sodden ghostly Englishman pushing a dirty bus full of chickens and bamboo shoots. Although it was hilarious for Rosie, not noticing that people were indeed jumping back in, it became an unwanted sprint and a round of laughs from the local woman screaming "chàrélie." in response to rosie's cries.

It took about 12 hours to travel 200 kilometres. The road is in the improvement stages but probably for the wrong reasons. The Chinese from the north of Laos are taking timber, coal and opium from the peasants of northern Laos for dirt cheap, it's almost feudal. The journey was fantastic, as we crept higher into the plateaus above the clouds, the sunset shot rays of red through the dust towards the winding bus. The scale of height and distance is indescribable- but a Laos man said to me on the bus "phongsali is no Laos, it is Switzerland." I have never been to Switzerland so I won't be able to confirm his claim- but it was a nice comparison.

Phongsali sits on a plateau 1600m high and curves around in a crescent shape. It has electricity for 4 hours a day. We stayed in a nice Chinese hostel with a communal balcony overlooking the town and a mountain view. At the time of our arrival there was a town funeral just outside our hostel. Foolishly we mistook it for a cafe sat down and ordered a beer. It was hard to show our faces around there for a while- the funeral lasted for 3 days. On our 3rd day, after an excellent Chinese pick-it-yourself meal (Rosie has kept the hilarious menu) we left for a three day trek. It was just three of us and I think the total cost was about £165. The next three days were incredible, and hopefully we will never forget them.

Chiang Mai to Laos

cscarlettsmith — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:55:00 GMT

We left chiang mai on the Monday morning regretfully and sorrowfully leaving becca, with whom we travelled for a week. It's funny how time elongates itself out here. A week with someone is far longer than it sounds- all 1/4200th of my expected lifetime- it really is enough to really get to know someone.

We took the minibus to huay xai after getting some incredible advice from a travel agent from a hostel around the corner from julies, the name of which I can't remember. The bus ride was quite uneventful except for a "spontaneous" stop at a cashew nut factory, which provided a weird amount cashew nuts, it deserves merit for the effort- but honestly does anyone like cashew nuts that much?? The cross over to Laos was also pretty straightforward. Huay xai is a pretty uneventful town, after a climb up to the local stupa and a brief look around town we resided to the fact that there is probably nothing here but food. But the reason I'm writing about this uneventful passthrough town is that we met Ryan that evening and enjoyed a Beer Lao with his company for the first time in what was going to be a week travelling together:

I think one of the most notable features of Ryan has to be his desire for global domination in travelling. We had very similar itinerary plans to head north to phongsali- one of the most remote cities in Laos and 25 hours out of the way of the natural tourist trail. We spent nights in Luang Namtha and udomxai in order to get to our chosen destination. Luang Namtha was nice. At the night market the locals gave us (although Rosie refused) very large shots of whisky and shouted distorted Laos versions of football chants. It was hilarious and I will always like Luang Namtha for maybe just only that. Udomxai was a bit of shithole really. There was a Laos party hall that went to the hours of the morning- Line dancing is really popular in Laos, we really wanted to join in. But for fear of mob violence, a very possible result to our bangin moves, we avoided it.

Not dead

cscarlettsmith — Wed, 6 Apr 2011 21:01:00 GMT

All is fine!- managed to get Internet. Too much to write itll probably have to wait to luang prabang. Taking the final stage of the boat ride. Will upload pictures and information soon... Charlie and Rosie.

Koh Tao

cscarlettsmith — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:58:00 GMT

Charlie kindly allowed me to sleep on him for the whole 8h journey to Koh Tao - a small island in the gulf of thailand - so I luckily missed out on the crazy German man and his thai boyfriend who had to run to the toilet every fifteen minutes for another joint. At about 5am we were dumped at a small port which looked like a shack in a torrential thunder storm - i've never seen anything like it. Hundereds of travellers were all cramped under this tiny covering. We were told it was the wrong port and rumours flew around that we could be there for days so there was a huge rush to a tiny food stall which soon sold out. Fortunately after a few hours the rain got much lighter and we were able to enjoy sunrise over the first thai beach we'd seen. Finally we were bundled onto another bus and were able to catch a boat which was very rocky the sea was uncharacteristicly rough and the port we were meant to go to was closed. Once again we were dumped - this time on the worng island. Ko pang nang is famed for the full moon party which we had planned to go to but gets booked up weeks in advance. We were stuck on an island with no accommodation and were told our best bet was to find a nice spot on the beach. Fortunately we found an alternative ferry to the right island - the only boat that would attempt the journey. We were feeling pretty apprehensive as we'd heard a passenger boat in Vietnam has sunk recently killing a few brits. The boat journey was havoc. Fully grown tatooed muscular men were reduced to tears as our tiny boat was flung over the waves. We were the lucky few not to be sick.

Some germans that we'd met on the bus told us about a cheap diving course they found so we followed them to Phoenix diving school where we enrolled on a four day course. It was so worth doing and we're now fully qualified so we'll definatly dive in Cambodia and Vietnam. We've had an amazing time but its time to go - theres only so much idylic thai island we can take!!

Sending my love to all my family

Waiting for a train to Koh Tao

cscarlettsmith — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:51:00 GMT

Rosie arrived this morning which finally means that we can kick off. With the full moon party scrapped we're heading to Koh Tao to do a diving course for four days- after which we will be fully qualified to dive for the rest of the trip! I introduced Rosie to the Pad Thai, and unfortunately she's been ill all afternoon- and of course,forgot to pack the pepto bismol. So within 4 hours i've already poisened my girlfriend.

At ten tonight we're taking the sleeper train down to Chomphon, public transport is the way to go out here. All the tourist information places offer "VIP" buses which are nice for an hour, until they change you to an unconditioned bread tin on wheels. And, to boot, theft is rife. The locals hide in the bottom of the bus in the dark until all the bags are packed. You get shifted like cattle from bus to bus enhancing confusion. The sneakiness of it is that they do not take cash but credit cards. So for about 2 days you don't realise they are gone. Clever. ...So public transport is the best although the tourist places are extremely unhelpful when it comes to telling where they are and how much they are. The train is about 385 bhatt- a man told me it was going to be 1500B!

Bangkok is fun- but it's time to leave. Hopefully we won't get the bends!

Charlie

An unlikely post

cscarlettsmith — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:57:00 GMT

So its 3 in the morning and now i find that the sony ericsson i brought doesnt work so i'm in an internet cafe trying to gt some battery for my 20 bhatt. I met a really nice german couple who told me where they ha been for the last 4 weeks, which was good because i was about to buy a trip for 800B to Koh Pah-Nang. More or less- the full moon party is booked weeks in advance by prostitute hungry brits (the way they described it!). Although i'm sure its fun it's too late to book.

Instead we are traveling to Ko Phat, if rosie is willing- i hope because i've already booked the tickets!

charlie

Bangkok

cscarlettsmith — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 02:55:00 GMT

Bangkok

Arrived in a thunderstorm so the water levels were up to your waist! after taking the bus from the airport for 150 bhatt, i stood lost and berrated by various tuk tuk drivers- until some nice canadiene (because they were from quebec) people helpled me out- it must be somthing in the blood that makes us akin to each other. In the end i got lost searching for the hostel that i booked into, so i'm in a fairly nice place with a 20% discount from the bus (everything is linked out here with some sort of deal or another). Rosie is into Imperial so she will be out on thursday! Which is good news because i think i lack common sense without her. Bangkok is quite different from england..

After settling i had some pad thai on the street outside with a really nice austrian woman who told me various tales of travelling- she's been on a "gap year" for 15 years. I've figured out now i'm staying in the wrong place, its not really that hot (so the air conditioning was a waste) and that the place that malaria hangs out is our next destination. (hopefully rosie will bring the malaria pills!). It's 28 degrees.

(for rosie)- the bus is straight outside the terminal on the bottom floor- its air conditioned and really nice. And good value so that matters. I'm staying at the Sawasdee Smile Inn. Maybe google maps it before you leave. I'm sure if you get there- if i do move- the other hostel is right next door.

It feels like the begining of something great. Everyone out here is willing to give a hand, and i can not wait for things to finally get into motion. I'm already getting used to it.

....apart from the cockroaches. excuse my french, but FUCK that.

Charlie

go go go

cscarlettsmith — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:05:00 GMT

ten minutes till the airport. everything is ready. Next place is thailand.

Photos: Travels

cscarlettsmith — Thu, 3 Mar 2011 02:01:00 GMT