My First Backpacking Adventure

Adventures in Nam

harts — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:38:00 GMT

Well Sihanoukville did a number to our team. We had a lost wallet, my camera broke and all 3 of us got horrible sunburns. Mine was soo bad that I had yellow blisters develop on my shoulders that still haven’t completely healed. We stayed there for a couple nights and met some wonderful people from England, Norway, Sweden and Ireland. We ran into a guy (Rob) that Kurt had met in Chiang Mai and we have been traveling together ever since.

Saigon is a beautiful city made even more so by the decorations being put up for Tet. Tet is Chinese New Years, but it is also celebrated in Vietnam and in fact it’s the largest celebration of the year. For some, this is the only time off from work they have all year! From what we’ve been told the whole country shuts down for a day and some businesses are shut for an entire week. We did a couple tours in Saigon, checking out the War Remnants Museum and the Chu Chi tunnels. Both were revealing, but also full of propaganda. Some Viet Cong lived underground in tunnels for up to 6 years. They built full schools and hospitals 5-20 meters underground. We were allowed to walk 120m through a tunnel that had been remodeled for tourism. This included making the tunnels bigger and adding lights…. And I still couldn’t imagine living down there even for a day. After the 120m journey underground I was dripping with sweat and craving fresh air. They told us later that from the area we were, there were tunnels dug all the way to the American base 5 km away. Vietcong would duck-walk the whole 5 km in one night and be back by morning with a mission completed. Seeing the conditions they lived through, and the utter resolve they showed it’s easy to see why the USA ended up pulling out. I don’t think the North Vietnamese would have stopped fighting until the very last soldier was killed. By this point all of us had just about enough of War History, and at Rob’s suggestion we decided to attend a traditional Vietnamese water-puppet show. It turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Saigon even though the entire play was in Vietnamese and we didn’t understand a single thing. I think it was just long over-due for us to see some cultural event that had nothing to do with killing people.

On Russ’ last night in Vietnam, we decided to go out for supper (see pictures from new camera bought in Saigon). We happened upon a restaurant that looked decent and went in. We were welcomed warmly and shown to a table where we were immediately surrounded by a half-dozen people. There were 3 beer girls urging us to drink San Miguel, as well as the manager, assistant-manager and 2 waitresses surrounding us to help us with our order. We realized that we were the only western people in the bar, but all that attention confused us. We later found out that it was the opening night for that particular restaurant and judging by the other clientele, we were the very first western people to eat there. They treated us like Kings. The San Miguel girls would pour beer from the bottle into our glasses after every sip, while the manager and assistant-manager would come by frequently to chat and see if we needed anything. Most of the workers didn’t speak much English, so we either communicated through gestures or had one of the managers translate. We shared 5 dishes and 14 beer and the total came to 375,000 Dong ($20). We couldn’t believe the price after the service we received so although it’s not expected and we hadn’t done it at any other time, we gave them a nice big tip. At one point in the night a local Vietnamese man who had obviously had too much to drink decided he should come over and have a talk with us. He was very nice, although drunk and spoke only minimal English and we chatted through translation for a bit before he left. Those are the kinds of nights that really make you warm up to a city, and we were all in a wonderful mood after that meal.

A couple of days ago, Rob and I decided to move on to Da Lat, while Kurt stayed back in Saigon and tried to organize a job overseas for the next year. Da Lat is a beautiful mountain town that was originally used by the French as a vacation retreat during their occupation of the country. We decided to do a Canyoning tour (see pictures), which includes trekking, abseiling (repelling), swimming in the rapids and Cliff Jumping. We started the day off repelling down an 18m cliff face, then moved on to a 5m cliff jump and some trekking until we got to a “waterslide”. This was basically just a smooth section of rocks in the rapids that you could slide down. We then did a 15m repel and another ‘waterslide’ before hiking to the top of a waterfall for lunch. After lunch we repelled down the 25m waterfall, letting go for a free fall 3m from the bottom. After that we did an 11m cliff jump and then one more repel, this time off a 12m cliff face that dropped away leaving you dangling in the air as a rush of water engulfs you and eventually spits you out into the river. It might have been my favorite day so far, and I am certain that I will do Canyoning again.

Tomorrow Rob and I move on to Nha Trang, which is a costal town in central Vietnam. Here we will meet up with Kurt and possibly a couple of other friends from back home for the festivals of Tet.

Photos: Vietnam

harts — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:34:00 GMT

Saigon, Da Lat

Guns and Cambodia

harts — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 18:44:00 GMT

Kurt and I met up with his Cambodian buddy (Hack) and our friend Russ on our first full day in Cambodia. We hung out the first day catching up with Russ and made plans to meet up with Hack later that evening. We bought a bottle of Whiskey and Hack and his friend picked us up on their motorcycles. They brought us to a local spot which consisted of mats laid out on one side of the road, with street vendors on the other side. He brought along 3 of his buddies from the army, his best friend who works as a tour guide at a temple and his new girlfriend. So we drank and ate on the side of the road communicating through gestures or through translation from Hack or his best friend. Hack is a very friendly guy who has had a tough life. He lost his leg, as well as his brother and sister to a land mine in the rice fields around his home when he was only about 10 years old. His parents spent all the money they had on his hospital bills allowing him to get a prosthetic leg. Kurt met him at the “Open Minds” volunteer center where Kurt was teaching English and Hack was learning. His dream is to set up an NGO in his village where he can teach the young children English. We finished our liter of Jim Beam quickly with the army boys leading the charge and we decided we should go to a Karaoke Bar. So we got on, 3 to a scooter, and headed off to the Karaoke Bar. Drunk driving is ignored it seems in Cambodia, and Russ and I got on with Hack’s best friend who only had one drink. All three of the army boys were already drunk by this point. We got to the place and it looked like a regular whorehouse. Girls were lined up all around with numbered buttons on. We tried to explain to Hack that this was not where we wanted to go, but he reassured us that you didn’t have to pick any of the woman. So reluctantly we went in. You get a private room to sing Karaoke in with your friends and get to order bottles of booze and pay for whatever snacks you eat. They sent in a line of girls for us to choose from, supposedly they will sit with you and sing and who knows what else, but we sent them away and got down to a little singing. The English selection wasn’t very good and soon Russ and I had enough. We decided to head home, while Kurt went out with Hack and a few others to a Disco Bar.

The next day Hack picked us up at 7am and we had a full day at the temples. They are massive. Spread over many kilometers there are all kinds of ruins built by hand over 1000 years ago. The pictures I took don’t do it justice, they are beautiful. From what we read, Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world. It was built to be a “complete microcosm of the Hindu universe”. It must have been 35 degrees out plus humidity and we were completely drained by the end of the day. We went out for pizza and icecream that night which tasted great, but close to midnight it all came back up for me. My stomach felt really bad and I didn’t have the greatest sleep. We were supposed to meet up with Hack again at 7am to go to his village. As bad as I felt, I had been looking forward to going to the village and decided I couldn’t miss it. We were taken into Hack’s house where his parents and some of his brothers and sisters live. The house is raised above the ground and consists of 2x4 floorboards with one large open area. It was separated by sheets to make two bedrooms with the kitchen in the back. There was no furniture, and we all sat on the floor on bamboo straw mats. One of his brothers is a monk and he came to visit as well with two fellow monks. We prayed with the monks briefly, bowing down three times from our knees, facing them. They did some chanting as a prayer before they ate. I guess monks are only allowed to eat meals between about 6am and noon. Other than that they only can have small snacks like crackers. So the custom is to serve the monks first, and everyone else in the room watched them eat. Once they ate their fill, the food was passed on to the men. The women served us and encourage us to eat as much as we wanted while they still hadn’t had anything yet. Finally when we were done we went outside to sit in hammocks while the women ate whatever was left (In this case there was quite a bit) and cleaned up. This was a pretty standard meal of sticky rice, fish soup and a stir-fry beef vegetable. It was decent food, but my stomach was still feeling queezy and I didn’t eat much. I had Hack explain to them why I wasn’t eating much so they weren’t offended. I guess they really enjoy when guests eat a lot, even though they don’t have much, it is respectful and encouraged to eat until you’re full. After a little nap on the hammocks we broke out the Johnny Walker red stripe which we had brought with some coke. A bunch of Hack’s buddies came by and we got to drinking. I only had two glasses and began to feel much worse so I sat out for most of the rest of the festivities, lying in a hammock. There were a fair number of guys and whenever someone went by on the country road they were called over for a drink so the bottle went fast. After this Hack had the bottle filled with traditional rice wine. I didn’t try any but Kurt liked it and Russ thought it was disgusting. The boys went through about 7 bottles of that and then got palm wine. They brought 10 liters of it in plastic bags. Kurt and Russ both agreed that this stuff was gross and their drinking slowed considerably at that point. During this time, Hack was cooking different foods for us to enjoy with the drink. The feast included pig’s stomach with an ant dipping sauce, snake and various styles and sizes of fish. I tried a bit of the pig’s stomach and snake but didn’t feel good enough to do much more than lay on the table or a hammock. Hack dropped us off at his uncle’s house where there was a beautiful view of the sunset over the rice paddies. His uncle wasn’t home, and Hack was going back to his house to continue drinking with the boys, but he assured us we could wait for the sun to set in his uncle’s house. Soon about 8 curious village kids started running in and out of the house to catch glimpses of us. Eventually they worked up the courage to come close enough to poke us and give us high-fives. They all had dirty clothes, hands and especially teeth but they had lots of energy and the innocence only children can have. We played games with them and they taught us how to count to 5 in Khmer. It was a wonderful experience. Eventually a couple old ladies came by to see what all the commotion was about, but they were all smiles when then saw us playing with the kids. After the sun set we said goodbye to everyone and headed back into Siem Reap.

The next day we headed out to Phnom Penh. We met a lot of western people who were living and working in Phnom Penh. They told us that it is the NGO capital of the world, and that there were many opportunities to get a job for a non-profit company or teaching English. For our first full day we decided to shoot some guns and then visit the Genocide museum and killing fields. I know, it was an odd combination, but we wisely chose to start the day instead of end it with the gun range. They give you a ‘menu’ of weapons you can shoot along with prices and the amount of bullets you get. Russ had done a similar thing in Vegas and surprisingly he said the prices were similar too. It was very expensive. We decided to all take turns with a K-57 handgun, AK-47 and Max 60, which is a 50 caliber machine gun set on a tripod. It was a rush to feel the power behind those weapons, especially the Max 60, and luckily it was easy to put thoughts of war and genocide out of our mind and enjoy the thrill. Our $160 went very quickly and soon we were on our way to the killing fields. There were hundreds of killing fields around the country where the Khmer Rouge sent educated people and former government employees to be murdered. It was a brutal communist regime that attempted to ‘cleanse’ the people of all culture and education and transform the entire country into a homogenous mass of rice farmers. The government only lasted three years before it was defeated by the Vietnamese army, immediately following the Vietnam War. In that time the Khmer Rouge managed to kill off half of their countries population, about 2 million people. The genocide was massive and to save bullets, the way they killed people was horrific. They dumped the people unceremoniously into mass graves. Many have been uncovered as you walk around the field, but many more are still buried. Looking at the ground you can see bones and tattered clothing seemingly growing from the earth. The forces of erosion continue to uncover more and more bodies. The genocide museum is located in a former high-school that was converted to a prison during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. People were brought there to be tortured and many were killed. It is eerie walking through the buildings knowing so many people suffered so much in those rooms. After that sobering experience we were pretty drained and had an easy night that ended with a wonderful foot massage.

Yesterday we arrived in the costal town of Sihanoukville which has a wonderful vibe to it. We had a very fun night last night and look forward to relaxing here a bit before heading into Vietnam. Unfortunately I have had some major problems with the photos. Trying to back them up I have managed to infect my ipod with a virus and had to reformat my camera. I can't access any of the photos I took in the last 5 days at all, and I'm worried they might be gone. I really hope I will be able to get at them once I get back home, and if not I'll have to rely on Kurt's photo's to remember that part of the trip. I think from now on I will be just buying new memory cards and not play around with trying to transfer the photos. The computer down here can't handle the transfer very well. I'll post what's on my camera now which is only the gun range and killing fields. There's some great pictures of the village I wish I could post, but that will just have to wait till I get back and can share pics with Kurt.

No Brakes in Cambodia

harts — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:44:00 GMT

Kurt got feeling better the day after I got to Don Det, and decided to come down. I guess he took a songthaw, which is more local transport and shared the journey with many local people and animals. While I waited for him to come I rented a bicycle and went around the Island and across the old French railway bridge to another small Island, Don Khon, where there is a nice view of a large set of rapids. There is also fresh water dolphins in the area even further south and boat trips can be arranges but I heard they were expensive and only offered brief glimpses of the dolphins if anything at all. Don Det was a great place for lazing around and that's exactly what we did. One day I rented a tube and just floated in the river. I saw some people jump off the branch of a large tree into the river the day before and thought I'd give it a try. It was right across from our guesthouse so Kurt videoed it with his camera. It was maybe a 15 ft drop into the deep river, but the hardest part was the climb. Immediately after exiting the water I noticed a large spider web blocking my path, worse, there was a large spider on it. I don't know much about spiders but this one looked scary to me. I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out, and decided to take the wide path out of the water to the tree. My first step onto the tree I noticed a hive of large red ants brewing about right where I want to put my foot. After thinking over the prospects for a minute I thought there was no turning back right now with Kurt ready to video my jump so I found a good hand-hold and swung my foot wide around the ants. After shimmying up to the jumping point I realized I still had my sunglasses on my head. Too late to turn back, I held them in my hand and jumped. They came out of my hand on impact but I quickly caught them and no damage was done. The rest of our time on Don Det was spent relaxing. Met up with a Scottish and English guy whom we had met on the slow boat, talked a bit more with the Israeli's (there's a pic of me with a birthday hat on, holding a sign written in hebrew that is a birthday wish to one of the girl's sisters), and read in the riverside hammocks.

The day of departure for Cambodia came and we woke up early to meet at the beach at 8am. I took my malaria pill on an empty stomach, which I had done before, but this time it didn’t agree and I threw-up before breakfast came. I could only chew down a bit of dry baguette and I began to worry about the 13 hour bus ride ahead. Luckily the nausea subsided within an hour and we were on our way. It was 20 USD for the whole trip from 4000 islands to Siem Reap. As advertised we were supposed to be taking a double-decker bus the whole way from the border to Siem Reap. In SE Asia you just have to go with the flow. Everything is late and rarely as advertised. A single-decker bus arrived to take us and we soon found out that they had overbooked the bus. Luckily Kurt and I got a spot, but some people were forced to take mini-vans. The Cambodian border was a lot less wild then I had heard. We had to pay a dollar to leave Laos, then a dollar to get past the influenza station (they took some people’s temperature and if it was too high you would supposedly be quarantined, although Kurt and I agreed that with a decent bribe they would probably let you through. $23 dollars for the Cambodian visa and another dollar for the entry stamp and we were officially in Cambodia!

After another 8 hours on that bus, we stopped in a city and were told we had to transfer buses… The trip we paid for said we didn’t have to transfer, but if we wanted to get to Siem Reap we had to go with the flow and put our trust in people who we didn’t always understand. So we packed into mini-buses, 3 rows of bench seating all packed, I had my big backpack at my feet. Kurt and I were in the front with the driver who spoke decent English and we had a good conversation about the unique driving techniques of Cambodia. The sun sets at about 6 here and that’s the same time we left that city for Siem Reap, at that point scheduled for arrival at 10pm. The big vehicles here drive more or less in the center of the road, trying to leave the shoulders for motorcycles, bicycles, cattle and horse-drawn wagons, and home made vehicles which are basically big rotto-tillers with a wagon attached. The horn was used mostly when approaching vehicles from behind; warning them to get to the shoulder (because we weren’t slowing down), head-lights and signal lights were used to notify oncoming vehicles that we weren’t a motorcycle and needed are larger portion of the road. The horn was also used for scattering animals, although we did hit one cow… Our driver seemed slightly embarrassed but the cow was OK. With about 3 hours left to our destination, the battery, check engine, and brake lights illuminated on our van. Our driver seemed to think it was overheating and pulled over to the side of the road to pour a bunch of water over the entire engine. We let it cool down a bit and jumped back in and kept driving another hour or so, all the lights were still lit, and Kurt overheard the driver say something about the brakes… We stopped for supper and the driver proceeded to take apart a bunch of things under the hood with the help of some locals. We got a bite to eat and tried to chat with the local kids using our guidebook which had some phrases in it. They loved it and really enjoyed correcting our pronunciation. It took about an hour to put whatever back together under the hood and then the damn van wouldn’t start. Tried to boost it with the other mini-van but it still wouldn’t work. We eventually got it boosted by a big double-decker bus, luckily all check engine lights were off. The driver tested the brakes once we got going and they seemed alright. No air-conditioning the rest of the way though as he was still concerned about the van overheating. We finally arrive in Cambodia at midnight and quickly found a place to crash. We met up with Kurt’s Cambodian friend today, and he promises to be our guide for the Angkor Temples tomorrow as well as a visit to his village the next day. Our buddy Russ just arrived too, with an infected foot but a good tan from the southern beaches. We’re looking forward to some local experiences and some goods drinks. I’ll post about Siem Reap after we get a feel for the place and see the temples and village.

Ps Thanks for all the comments!!

Running from the Rain

harts — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:09:00 GMT

The rain chased us from Vang Vien. Kurt told me it was a shame I didn’t get to tube down the river and get drunk from the river side bars as is the custom, but the rain ruined things. So Kurt and I decided to keep moving south and maybe we would get some sun and a much needed break from the road. We booked the ‘sleeper bus’ from Vientienne to Paxe, with regular buses making up the difference between Vang Vien and Vientienne, as well as Paxe to Don Det. The sleeper was cozy, We got a pic of it and it was basically a 5 by 3 foot cushion on which we both had to sleep. Our shoulders overlapped if we both lay on our backs at the same time. Regardless it was more comfortable than a traditional bus for the 13 hour bus ride to Paxe. I managed a decent sleep, but Kurt felt nauseous the whole way and didn’t end up sleeping at all. By the time we got to Paxe all he wanted to do was find a bed. It’s only another 2 and a half hours to Don Det, so I tried to convince him to come but he was feeling way to shitty and was set on staying in Paxe. I felt bad leaving him and offered to delay our onward ticket to the next day, but he was set on staying in one spot to ride out his sickness. Seeing as the ticket was already payed for and I hadn’t had a chance to chill in one spot for an extended period of time, I decided to push on. So another 2.5 hours on the bus then a little ferry across the Mekong river and I made it to Don Det Island in southern Laos. I started talking to an American guy from Colorado on the boat and we set off to look for guesthouses together. He was an alright guy, but not someone I want to be spending a lot of time with here so we parted ways as we chose different guesthouses. I found a spot with a charismatic ‘mama’ who’s teeth are stained black from chewing tobacco presumably. It’s a very small Island, and you can walk around the whole thing in maybe an hour. I met three Israelis who offered me to smoke with them. Very friendly and chill folks just on the tail end of a 7 month trip through many places including India. They were doing Hebrew crosswords and listening to some tunes so I sat and smoked with them for a bit. Then I decided to go find a restaurant to view the beautiful sunset over the Mekong River. Found a decent place and ordered the beef, sticky rice and a beer Lao. The beef was the chewiest piece of meat I’ve ever had. I’m not sure if it was a bad cut or not beef at all but I choked down whatever pieces would fit down my throat and decided to stick to noodle dishes from now on. The beef couldn’t spoil the view though as 3 straight days of rain ended in a beautiful cloudy sunset. Don’t know if it was the chewy beef or the smoke, but I felt content, maybe just one thing(person) missing. You can definitely see the poverty here. Even in Vang Vien, most businesses are family run. Literally that is what the whole family does all day. If there is demand for business they don’t close. Kurt and I got a much needed foot massage the other day and I swear we were disturbing the family from their supper. I felt bad but they truly wanted us to come in and give them business. It is quite obvious that tourism is supporting this whole area. It seems like your vocation here is either tourism, or farming and fishing. Not only does tourism bring in more money, I think it’s the easier work too. None the less I still feel bad when to get to my riverside hut, I have to walk through the family kitchen/livingroom/bedroom to get there. They always are happy for the business and love to joke. You hear the girls call single guys handsome all the time. The first time it happened I let my ego inflate a bit, but Kurt reassured me that they call any single white man handsome. A white husband would mean passage to a better country, a more comfortable life and money to help out their family back home. You see old white men take advantage of this fact all the time and to me it’s creepy. I’m not sure how they can convince themselves that a young, pretty Asian girl who doesn’t speak their language at all is legitimately interested in them. But this is a different world from back home, that is for sure.

Rivers and Waterfalls

harts — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:38:00 GMT

I left Chiang Mai a couple of days ago now. But the last time I posted was four days ago so I'll start from where I left off. The last night we were in Chiang Mai we went out for supper with the locals Kurt met. They came by our guest house to pick us up on their scooters. The girl asked me if I wanted to drive, but I politely declined. They took us to a very nice restaurant that is up the mountain side overlooking the city, with a lake and waterfall beside it. Those scooters could barely get us up the hillside and at one really steep point we both started going backwards. These scooters must have only been 40cc or something. So me and Kurt actually got off and walked the last 100m because the bikes couldn't make it. The place was mostly full of large groups of families and it seemed like they would come on special occasions. I saw only two other foreigners there. We asked the girls to order us a bunch or food and it was mostly very good. One dish was a whole fish on it's side with the one side of it's stomach open and some vegetables and spices added in (see picture). You just had to pick the meat off the fish. It was a little much for me but it tasted OK, I think it was steamed. The girls loved it and even ate the eye and some of the cheek. The whole meal (4 dishes plus rice and 2 beer) came to only $34 total, and that included a live band. After that we went to the Monkey club for a bit, but I was starting to lose my voice and get a sore throat and we didn't end up partying too hard. The next day I went by myself to Doi Suthep (Kurt already saw it), which is a beautiful Wat(temple) high on the hillside overlooking Chiang Mai. It's very beautiful, but similar to other temples I saw in Bangkok and it's too bad but you notice yourself not appreciating it as much because you've seen something similar before. After that I went and picked up some malaria pills, dioxycicline I think they're called. Really cheap in Thailand, 2 Baht per pill, so I bought 80 for about 5 dollars. Some guys I met from England bought 100 pills for 200 pounds in England. I've heard they can give you bad side effects, but I haven't found that yet, which reminds me I forgot to take my pill today... That night we took a 6 hour night bus to the border city of Chiang Kong. It was a cramped mini bus packed with people and we arrived at one in the morning and were led to a very basic guest house. The shared bathrooms had an outdoor sink that just drained at your feet. The walls were paper thin and you could hear the person in the next room shuffling in bed and when someone walked by outside, you could feel the 2x4 floorboards sagging. I had a good sleep though.

In the morning we got a ride to the border which is essentially the river, you get your exit stamp and get ferried over the river to Laos. We got a visa on arrival and they cost different amounts depending on which country you’re from. For some reason Canada is the most expensive at $42 dollars. I don’t know what we ever did to Laos to deserve that treatment. Over the border Kurt and I had to get a Lao beer which is a great source of national pride and really quite good. And for about 2 dollars you get a 650ml bottle, so you can’t go wrong. After waiting around for awhile we finally boarded our slow boat for the 2 day journey. Played card games and listened to music and drank for the 6 hour journey which was quite fun. It’s pretty much impossible not to meet people when you’re all stuck on a boat for that long. And the couple sitting across from us were from, wait for it……. Saskatchewan! Small world. Pulled up to Pak Beng at dusk and found a nice hostel/hotel for cheap. A whole bunch of us went out for dinner and drinks and had a good night. They gave us some free Lao Whiskey shots which is made from rice and taste horrible. But it’s flammable so you know it’s good. The next morning they made baguette sandwiches for the boat trip which are really good and seem to be a staple here in Laos, although I’ve never seen a local eating one. Another note on Laos, here the ‘s’ on the end doesn’t seem to exist, it is written and pronounced Lao. So another 6-8 boat ride the next day, this time I get a seat instead of the floor, although they’re just benches. Luckily I bought a pillow for $1. So boating down the Mekong river is beautiful and definitely a once in a lifetime experience. But just like with the temples, you get spoiled after watching it for 8 hours and don’t appreciate it as much as you should. The mountainous river banks are spotted with tiny villages and thatch roofed huts. We saw water buffalo grazing, being looked after by 6 year old children and amazing mountains and cliffs everywhere. It is the dry season and in some places you can see the high water line which is a meter or two higher. We arrived in Luang Prabang at sunset (see pic) and found a nice cheap guesthouse. It seems that in general guesthouses and quite cheap. It’s common to spend the same on your guesthouse as on your meal and drinks for the night. We went out to a bar with a bunch of people from England, Scotland, and Australia. The bar was really nice, outdoor/indoor and very stylish. For some reason all bars close in Laos at 11:30. The only place that stays open is the bowling alley, so off we went. We ended up bowling America vs the world with some guys Texas and California. Our team had England, Canada and a guy who’s Korean, but it seem like he has lived everywhere. We bowled for rounds of beer and our team won 2 of 3.

Today Kurt and I took a trip to a nearby waterfall which was amazing. There was steep trails that allowed you to hike to the top of the waterfall for a view. On the way down Kurt and I did some exploring in the jungle and managed to make our way down to one of the cascading pools of the waterfall. We were the only ones there and it was incredible, the water was soo powerful and the views were amazing. It was a bit of a tricky hike across the rocks to get there, and I’m sure we weren’t supposed to be there, but the beauty of Laos is that there was no one around to tell us we couldn’t leave the trail, so we did. We both thought that if we had a couple extra days in this city, we would definitely go back and spend a day exploring the jungles. There was a sign at the top for some caves that were 3km away, but we didn’t have the time to check those out. Luang Prabang is very relaxed and everyone is generous with the smiles. It’s too bad to be leaving but we’re on a bit of a tight schedule because we have to be in Siem Reap in 7 days to meet up with Kurt’s buddy down there. So were taking the bus tomorrow morning to Vang Vien. I will try to upload some photo’s but this connection is slow. Say hi to the snow for me!

Photos: The Mekong and Laos

harts — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:10:00 GMT

Photos: Chiang Mai

harts — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:01:00 GMT

Chiang Mai

harts — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:18:00 GMT

The train ride was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. It turned out that the seats reclined and were soft contrary to what the man who I bought the train ticket said. So that was a bonus, and seeing as I was exhausted from minimal sleep the 3 night before, I actually had my best sleep of the trip so far on that train. The only thing that interrupted it was the train stopping every hour in a different city to pick up new passengers. So I arrived in Chiang Mai at 8am and picked up a taxi to the hostel where I met up with Kurt. We decided to rent a scooter so he could show me around the city. You can rent them everywhere here for really cheap, about 6 bucks for 24 hours. I don't trust my motor bike skills (because I have none) so Kurt drove with me on the back in the crazy traffic. We got lost multiple times trying to find this restaurant by the river to have lunch in, and after getting a map and asking for directions a couple times we finally made it, at least an hour after we set out. Had a good lunch and then decided to go for a massage. Kurt heard that they have a rehabilitation center for Thai women that get sent to jail where they work instead of just sit in the prison all day. They do various things like run a restaurant and give massages. So we went and got the traditional Thai massage which was good. At times it seemed more like yoga, or the chiropractor as they cracked your knuckles and toes and spine, and literally arched your back in the air with their knees, but it felt very good, and I realized after that it was my first professional massage ever. At night Kurt took me and a Scottish guy out to a local Thai bar where we were to meet up with some local girls Kurt met. They are all going to an English business school and like the chance to practice talking in English. This bar was very nice, Kinda like an Earl's but way bigger and with multiple bands performing in different areas. At these bars you buy a bottle of alcohol and then they provide coke, water and ice for you. All the Thai's love whiskey, and we got a bottle of Johnny Walker's red label for the night. Had a fun night and finished it off with some street food before coming back to crash at the hostel. Kurt actually knows a bit of Thai, and were gonna go for a lesson today at noon. Everyone seems to appreciate it a lot when he tries to talk with them in Thai, and he can carry on a short conversation which is pretty impressive. We will probably spend another night or two here and then move on to Laos. It looks like you can book a bus to the border and then take a boat for two days to reach the city of Luang Prabang. I tried out the scooter this morning in the side streets and thought I was doing Ok, So I took it out on the main road and made one right turn (you drive on the opposite side here) and immediately gave up and parked the thing. As much as I would love to learn how to drive a motorcycle, I'm positive I would kill myself If I tried to learn how on these streets, especially while sporting a mild hangover. So better judgment prevailed and I think I'll be sticking to the side streets for now. La Gon (that's goodbye in Thai according to Kurt.

Balmy in Bangkok

harts — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:39:00 GMT

Soo I just wrote a big message and I tried to post it and I lost it completely. So that sucks a big one, I will probably keep this one shorter. This city is amazing. The people are friendly, everything is cheap and relatively clean and the weather is wonderful. After spending one night at an airport hotel I took a taxi to the hostel where I stayed last night. It's called Soi 1 guesthouse and it is a wonderful place. It's very easy to meet people there and almost everyone I met was travelling solo. I went out for lunch with guys from Vermont and Memphis and girls from Montreal, England and California. After that most of us took the Skytrain and then the express boat down to the temples. Checked out the giant reclining Buddah. It is huge and very impressive. It was a long and tiring day and after that I headed back to the guesthouse. Went out for a night on the town with 3 guys from England and a guy from the States. We definetly gave Bangkok a good run and i'm feeling it today... Kinda got lost on the way home from the bar but ended up getting a taxi after the guy from seven-eleven couldn't understand my qusestions for directions. This morning I took the subway/skytrain system down to the train station where I booked my ticket for tonight. The good train was all full so I had to book on a different train and there weren't any sleepers left. So I have a 12 hour train ride on a hard seat that doesn't recline. As one guy said I will earn some travel stamps for this ride. I'll be taking the train solo because Kurt's buddy that's joining us on this journey has a nasty infection in his knee and he's gonna try and stick in one place to let it heal up. So I'm gonna head back to my hostel now, grab a bite to eat and chill out, my head hurts pretty good from last night so it will feel good to rest. I posted my pictures from yesterday on facebook. I'll try to post them here to but it seems much harder. I absolutely love it here but definetly understand what Kurt says that a coulpe days in the same place is enough.

Photos: Bangkok

harts — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:59:00 GMT

Chilly in Chicago

harts — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:15:00 GMT

Hello from Chicago,

So it is 7:30 and I am at the Days Inn in Chicago. It is quite cold here and there is a lot more snow than in Saskatoon. The trip was quite uneventful, but since I have nothing else to do(Nfl playoffs are done for the night, good work Arizona, and go Colts go)I thought I might as well get into the habit of posting on here. Because of the increased Airport Security, the Saskatoon International Airport has constituted a second security check to go along with a ban of carry on luggage on all flights bound for the USA. United Airlines suggested that I go through security one and a half hours early to get through the security in time for my flight. The first step was the normal security process and took all of 3 minutes to complete. I then proceeded to the departure area where I waited for about an hour. Then the secondary security process began which consisted of a search of everyone's personal belonging and an intensive pat down for everyone boarding the plan. After this they sent us to sit on green plastic patio chairs in a hallway for 10 minutes before we boarded the plane... The mighty Saskatoon Airport. The plane was maybe a fifth full. Arrived in Chicago no problem then proceeded to the huge customs line where it really sunk in just how big this airport really was. It took maybe 30 minutes to get through customs and in the line I saw passports from such places as Germany, the UK, Japan, China, Ireland and Mexico. Just to hammer the point home I proceed to the airports own LRT-like train system that shuttles people between terminals. My hotel's shuttle van pulled up just as I walked outside to try and find it (60 minutes after the family who boarded it with me phoned for it)and off we were to the Days Inn Chicago. I can't believe that this place is considered an airport hotel seeing as it took 25 minutes to get here. Regardless I have my shuttle back to the airport booked for 9am tomorrow and look forward to a night of excited, restless sleep. The hotel is OK, and for $50 bucks a night it is pretty much what I expected. About the same quality hotel as I stayed at in Humboldt half the summer when I worked for the Department of Highways.

I just received a message from Kurt who gave me his buddies number who were gonna travel with. He's in Bangkok right now and it sounds like he might join me on the train from Bangkok to Chang Mai to meet up with Kurt. This sounds good to me, as I'm not really sure what to expect from a 13 hour night train on my second day in Thailand. This guy actually writes a blog of his own which is quite good. You can check it out at stophavingaboringlife.com. I am positively dreading my 23 hour trip from Chicago to Bangkok. I stop in Tokyo for 3 hours on the way to re-fuel, but otherwise that's all flying time. I am now gonna head off to my room to re-pack (I get to take a carry-on bag on my next flight, Thank God)and rest up. The next time I check-in, I will be in Asia. Goodnight!

Photos: My Pics From Home

harts — Sat, 9 Jan 2010 05:37:00 GMT

Test Post

harts — Sat, 9 Jan 2010 05:32:00 GMT

Hello,

This is just a test post to make sure everything is working fine. I will be leaving in just 2 days! I can't believe it... I will try my best to post regularly and keep this blog up to date with my travels, no guarantees though.