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trip conclusions

sapote — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 07:37:00 GMT

hello friends, am now back state side. i had a great trip. really fun iwth sis at end. will mention acouple places here to check out if you are in the region. beyond what is already talked about. real good vegetarian buffet in george town. is east side of police station on street to komtur. is signed as such. north of ao nong bay off of hiway 4. there are two places. youll need your own transport of some kind. one is a river that comes through the mt becoming a very clear stream. lovely. little pay to enter board walk. then not too many k past that on west side of road is sign for cave. Klang cave very few k off hiway. is worth visiting. very large. there is a guide to hire with headlamps. impressive. also it is a community based enterprise for encouraging tourism and hopfully income for the local community. there is a small sign just at entrance to road leads to hill behind rubber plantaion. up at koh sok NP we stayed at 'our jungle house' a lovely place eco friendly. lots of gh in 'town' by park entrance. this on way off down dirt road near little creek. we enjoyed phetchaburi. good mrkt soem sights and fun to wander town looking at the Myriad of wats.

biking thailand is easiest in terms of signage and shoulders. Laos and Cambodia difficult riding there are numerous roads under 'destruction' which will one day be good new raods. hopfulyl with a shoulder. hot drink lots of water. have fun with any of it :)

Feb. 26. Hat Yai, Thailand

sapote — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 23:20:00 GMT

I went for a quick walk for breakfast before a 5 hr trip to Hat Yai. it took us an hour getting thru traffic to pick two other groups of people including a helpful man who guided tours. We left over the bridge instead of on the ferry. We sped uncomfortably fast to a bus rest stop near the border where the driver collected everyone's passports and had them processed prior to the border. It still took an hour waiting in lines to cross out of Malaysia and into Thailand - simple but lengthy. speed demon driver,. After being dropped at our hotel, we had lunch at a street vendor, vvisited the train station, wandered in a long loop and visited three temples. this town is crammed with tour operators and transportation options, massage choices and the usual more stores and malls than people. We wandered about again the late afternoon.

Feb 24. Georgetown

sapote — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 23:08:00 GMT

Our morning routine has been to go to the Food market looking for papaya. The hotel breakfasts have been meager for my preference. We visited the famous street art on Armenian St Which includes a crush of tourists snapping photos on many block. The street is lined with refurbished shop houses, now restaurants and art galleries Along with a plethora of souvenir shops.

We visited the Clan Jettties which were homes to Chinese fishing clans. They have now been turned into a tourist attraction. People lived there and have shops to sell to tourists.

From other visits I knew of a great Chinese vegetarian buffet and we went there each day for lunch. I'm able to load up on a variety of vegetables.

While buying onward tickets we heard Lion Dance drums and bolted down the street to catch the performance. saw Lion Dance at travel agent's store.

Area is a UNESCO world heritage site with historical buildings especially shop houses. Much street art including metal sculptures with sayings and wall paintings, and ethnic diversity. Many guests and tourists and travelers.

We've been to a Penang museum and a 3D photo experience where we took pictures of each other in different settings

We ate in Little India for two dinners since we won't see Indian food as much in Thailand.

Queen Victoria clock tower, fort, strait front beach,

To Komtar for bus to Botanical Garden 30 min, walked around, rainforest walk, hill with tribe of monkeys of all sizes. Bus to turnaround by bay walk, walk along bay and back to veg restaurant for lunch, I got my hair cut At a place I've been to twice before. After diner we ended the day with a walk to esplanade aT the bay then back to the hotel.

Feb 20 -21 Ipoh / Taiping

sapote — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 17:12:00 GMT

We've mainly traveled on freeways between JB and Malacca and KL and Ipoh. Lots of palm plantations and today we got into some hills. Very steep but the road went between them. Today was the longest trip. The bus stopped at a rest stop after about two hours for 10 mins or so. I think the traffic may be heavy because of the holiday.

Upon arriving in Ipoh, we went down the block to a Chinese buffet I remembered. As we were finishing lunch, a Lion Dance troupe arrived!!!!!! What a performance right in front of us. They performed for about 15 minutes dancing around the restaurant to bring good luck.

Then, we looked around at some colonial buildings including the train station. Colonial seems to be British from mid 1700 to mid 1800. It's like visiting an older town where the downtown is partly empty. It seems to have very busy places and very deserted places.

Joan had the Ipoh signature chicken rice dish. (Joan Very good

The next morning, we had 9:30 bus tickets so got out shortly after 7 for breakfast. This was the first hotel without a breakfast but we found a restaurant attached to another hotel with a buffet. Walked over to the bus station and were so early we went to the train station and sat outside it for a while.

Off to Taiping and got there in less than 1.5 hr. Then we started wondering where our good luck from the Lion Dance went.

We went thru Taiping without stopping. We ended up at another town about 7 km away. Lani had actually arrived at that station before and said that there was a local bus to Taiping. One arrived after about 15 min and said no, wait another bus will come. A woman came by and confirmed that yes, a local bus would come. 20 mins later the woman came back and said come with her, she would drive us. She ran a store across the street and her husband would watch it. She then drove us back and toured us around the gardens and to the hotel. !!!! We then went to the hotel to leave the luggage. Tried to book a bus at the downtown station, all the buses for tomorrow were full from that station. Since we didn't want to try to get back to the bigger station, we went back to the hotel and tried to buy online. We were looking both from here and from Ipoh. We tried to book thru a bus company site and a general bus travel site. Neither would take credit cards, so Joan decided to set up a webcash account which both would take. It also wouldn't take the credit card.

We walked around looking for a travel agent and asked at the big hotel in the middle of town. She directed us to another bus ticket counter. After we found the bus office, we discovered that we could travel late at 6:40 pm tomorrow.

Next morning, ate at the hotel buffet. They even had my rice porridge. We walk to the lake gardens, a large park with many trails and visited the zoo. It has good habitat for a variety of Asian and African mammals and birds.

After lunch at the fod court, we walked to another very informative museum. We then saw a Chinese performance of balancing acts and a great unicyclist doing tricks. Finally time to reclaim our luggage at the hotel and go to the local bus startion to catch the 5:30 local bus to the outlying bus terminal. We sat for 25 anxious minutes before leaving. Then the bus stpped to pick up and let off people on the way. We arrived with 10 minutes befroe the scheduled departure and waited an additonal 15 minutes. Left at 6:55 heading into the duask for Butterworth / Georgetown. After a slow trip we got to the ferry terminal at about 8:30. We got shuttled (we think for being elderly with luggage) to the ferry terminal enterance to avoid 10 min walk.

We must have just missed the ferry because we waited 30 minutes for the next one. Upon arriveing on the other side, we tried to hire a taxi who referred us to a bus. We walked to the hotel arriving around 10. Beautiful hotel, see you in the morning.

Feb. 18-19 KL

sapote — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 16:27:00 GMT

Surprisingly, the bus ride from Malacca was about two hours but we ended up at a terminal at the edge of the city instead of downtown. So we had to figure out the light rail into town. Then we were stuck at where to go from the station. Just as someone was telling us to go two more stops, I recognized the area. After crossing two busy highways and going arund behind buildings, we got to the hotel.

I'm always glad to know new routes into an area so I was pleased to take the light rail.

We toured around the city most of the afternoon. Got back around 4:30 to cool off and then back out. However it was raining so we ended up in Times Square Mall - 10 stories of everything including cinemas on one floor and kids play place over two.

Next morning, we went to the Lake Gardens to see an orchid and hibiscus garden. However, we ran into two very interesting other things - the National Mosque and the Islamic Arts Museum.

The Mosque is open to the public for part of the day as part of their outreach program. They have robes and headscarfs for women to wear and robes for men if they weren't dressed enough. We could look into the main worship area from an area staffed with women who wanted to explain Islam. I think especially when we said US. The first woman was the equivalent of a Jehovah's Witness or determined Mormon. Once we escaped from her we talked to a mild young woman, mainly about their dress and practices.

Then we went to the Arts Museum- mosque architecture, textiles, tiles and ceramics and jewelry. The architecture was mixed with history and the spread of Islam.

Back down to rail station for lunch where we talked to a Swiss young woman who was spending a year traveling in Asia.

Then to the Planetarium for a short while but interesting displays. There was an thorough timeline of space exploration among others. Finally to the orchid garden with lots of orchids and the hibiscus garden with mainly bougainvillea strangely.

Back into the main part of town. {From Joan -It's amazing that Lani finds her way around a poorly laid out city. No straight roads or grid system for them. She goes in and out of street, alleys and through malls and gets us places.)

We also had an adventure buying our bus tickets for tomorrow. Last night I discovered that the morning trains were sold out and some of the buses. The bus company we used from Malacca only had afternoon buses so we went to the bus terminal where there are booths for about 30 bus companies. We found one with a 10am departure only to discover than we had 35 RM between us and the ticket was 41 RM. We had 300 RM back in the hotel room 20 min away. I offered a credit card - no. Then a US 20 - no. We headed for an ATM to find that neither of us were carrying a debit card. Then we saw a money changer so I changed the 20 for 68 RM. And got the tickets.

Feb 17 - Malacca

sapote — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 22:37:00 GMT

Tues - up and out early, walking the less trafficed streets - we're actually able to cross the streets. At JB Sental, bus to Larkin Bus Terminal. Without a good samaritan, we wouldn't have made it.

At Larkin, we were on the bus within 10 mins for a 2.5 hour drive to Malacca Sental bus terminal. And yet one more bus to downtown Malacca. Oh what a beautiful historic hotel we're staying in. Leave our luggage and start exploring highlights of town. Highlight - a replicate of the Sultan's house from 1400's with a lot of history about that era. Old church and fort ruins and more history. After checking in, we walked along the river walk enjoying the murals on the buildings across the canal.

We're staying in a historical area from the Dutch then Chinese eras. This is an UNESCO site, now a tourist hub.

Hi Claire!!

Love, Lani

Feb 16 - Events in Singapore

sapote — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 22:22:00 GMT

Sunday morning - MRT to Chinatown, great market and another food court, wandered Chinatown, decorated for New Years. The main street median was lined with goat statues for the Year of the Goat.

MRT to Bayfront - another expansive mall on the other side of the bay from yesterday. A notable feature - three tower with a "boat" across the top - Google Marina Sands Hotel for an amazing picture. We ate at a food court at the other end of the spectrum - very up-scale. Then along an amazing sky bridge through one of the towers to Gardens at the Bay - google for more pictures. WOW - several hours of very educational wandering through various outdoor exhibits both plant and cultural. Home on the MRT at the end of a 9 hour day.

Monday - back downtown to the Asian Civilizations Musuem. Really enjoyed learning the history of the many cultures that influenced SIN. They did a huge clean up in the early 80's of the water front and water to become the clean city it has the reputation for today.

Back to the hotel, lunch, picked up luggage. We took the MRT to Kangji station where we caught the 170X bus across the border in severa steps. First exiting SIN then bus across the causeway to JB Sental to enter Malaysia. We walked a looong half a mile to our next fancy abode. No longer on level and uncluttered sidewalks. Short evening walking about town.

Feb 13 leaving Phnom Penh

sapote — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 22:04:00 GMT

After 3 days in PP, I was ready to meet Joan. I was heading for the airport. If I thought walking the streets of obstacles was entertaining then riding a moto to the airport was far more exciting. Don't like the lane you're in, use the sidewalk. Gridlock at the interstection, move over to oncoming traffic, they'll go around you. Took around 40 mins clinging to the driver as we wove around cars, motos, people, etc. Arrived at the PP airport, a small 3 min walk end to end. After a several hour wait, I'm on the plane to SIN.

Group of youth from Singapore International School with 4 teachers from 4 countries kept me entertained on the 2 hour flight. The wonderful SIN airport makes it easy to transit between terminals. Arrived at the in-airport hotel Joan booked, whee! High Luxury.

A few hours sleep then I go to meet Joan at 2:30 AM. I am thrilled and excited to have her here. Then a few more hours sleep before leaving for the adventure.

The MRT leaves from the same terminal for an hour train ride to our stop in Little India. 15 min walk to our next hotel. We are at the edge of Little India.

Left athe bags at the hotel and explored Little India for lunch at a food court. Then after checking in, we took the MRT to downtown and amazed the variety of large skyscrapers - modern of all shapes and sizes. Saw some of the plentiful sculptures. Walked to the Fountain of Wealth through blocks of multi level mall including tunnels everywhere.

Back to a different food court close to the hotel for dinner. We're learning the MRT. : )

2/10 phnom penh, again

sapote — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 17:08:00 GMT

so stayed sevearl days in Kompot. is easy town to be in. and figured be nicer then more days inPP. get into my routines. walk to far end of riverside walk where there is a fish mkt in the mornings. found atable there selling the yummy rice porridge. fun when i get recognized and they laugh and serve me with out my asking.

is a very busy place. fush of boats unload, vendors buying and individuals buying fo their own use. some other foods stuffs. snacks, yum coconut patties grilled and coconyt pastry thing. plus usual waffales and other assorted skewers and fired etcs. one day i walked across to other side and very plesant wat. there is an area of salt producaton that people visit but didnt go so far. also famous Kampot, pepper grows here. a Very fancy resort up in the hills near one plantation. there are some cave temples. one old pre ankor era. Kep on the coast is a day trip for many and out ot rabbit island. tons of travlers. many expats. cafes returants and a multitude of gh or hotel of every ilk. there is a nights sunset crusis up river and out to see fireflys. is lovely walking for sunset along malacon. light streaming across water setting behind Bokor mts. i too advantage of havinga shiatsu treatment at Seeing Hands massage. numbr of years ago the Mary Knoll order of nuns had come and arranged for blind folk to learn massage as a trade. many places in Cambodia specifically offer this.

i gave my bike to EpicArts center. they have a store front and cafe. train and imploy and sell the work of differently abled folk. they also have aperforming arts school with a two year program. i was lucky enough to happen across a video filmed by UNICEF by a group from the school for thier last project. the vid is also to help educate people about talents of us each with the abilities we have. i meet lots of interesting travlers. long and short journeys. mkt lunch a few stalls with a buffet type arrangment with variety of dishes. often with veg stuff. also a crepe i like filled iwth mung sprouts and othe rveg on top. today cam to PP on the bus. leaves at 7. ish. a young couple from bellingham wa. many months in NZ. had met french couple recenetly doing same. now SE Asia. anyway nice ot have them for our mutual entertainment to pass the hours. took over and hour at end of trip 17k to arrive at station. well is along side the street. with a pounce of tuk tuk moto touts. eagerly awaiting. sad ofr them going 1 block. go back to same gh from last time. nice folk clean close mkt. and a small street mkt of wet goods for couple blocks. and couple cybers near too. only detriment is no balcony to stand on as some places have. loved that aabou tmy last gh in Kampot. large breezy verands. it was also block from mkt and close river. here have to walk dash dodgge multiple blocks to river walk. so three days and Joan in Singapore! :)

2/5 kompot

sapote — Thu, 5 Feb 2015 18:24:00 GMT

so did stay PP couple days. great thing is mkts, and i only few blocks from big one. awful thing is traffic!! i am staying abit of distance from river and to walk there is unpleasant. side walk used up with various obstructions and crossing any street is frustrating and always tense. crush of rushing traffic. both directions and soem coming in wrong lane and peole making turs. even earlyin morning not so easy. anyway great river side walk for quite a distance. sevearl attractions for tour busses. palace and museum. the road along the riverwalk area and several blocks deep is a crowd of big a little guest house an dhotel. resturants cafes pubs tour agents etc. are soem few art galleries adn souvenir shops. i bought little trinkets at a store that provides out let for marginalized youth and wimmin to sell wares. also one of sevearl resturatns that trains same, is in vicintiy. and the blind peoples massage. taht says massage by professional blind people. hmmm. anyway early morning to beat some of traffic head out of tonw. takes awhile to just get to junction for heading south. wind behind yea. bumpy narrow heavy traffic road. many of the little unbrella iwth liters gas to sell and a clooler of dinks. seems every other yeard has this. also lots coconut waters or cane juice squeezers. hmmm seen ti ghve said this before. did stop for each. they put orange or lemon through with cane stalks. is a hand crank whell fill with ice and greenish juice. tasty. adn later a green coconut water and got the meat to go. are mile post stones but go alternatingly from city to city so not mention Takeo much. weary hot, really glad to see city approach in the distance across the rice fields. is an old part of town near 'lake'/wetlands' adn a new bustling numerous big stores and sevear round abouts on a few streets. go to old part nice gh over look lake. veranda over looking lake side walk. my thighs did fine biking but siezed up walking. ouch! going slow later after elevate awhile does subside. number of food carts arrive in eve along walk. and small mkt have people out. shoulda stayed extra day as i have time. next morn another long day so out early. road better for awhile and even a shoulder but loose that. less traffic. take a cutacross raod to Tani through rice fields pleasant little traffic. long tired. soem signage appreciate little hints. arrive what i htough would be a bigger town, even say hotel on map. is One. strip town of bus van intersection crummy mkt, food carts along strret for people off on next transport. bit of town behind road schools district office wat. with two large valley ball courst used day and eve. hotel ok not great but have wonderful balcony overlooking street scene. shorter day today, take the route through Kep just to go down by ocean. is mostly just long stip along shore loads tourist accom and eatery. spendy fish places on bay. nice to ride along coast alittle. best part of ride was meeting first a young french man one a no speed bike bought in siagon tow week tour. then another young couple ona nice or more month trip. heading east from bkk. they give me great tip for gh in kampot. i pass on my coule tips of palces forward. yesterday an older dutch man on big circuit. coming back out of kep road one lane and huge dust gravel shoulder on each side. that sevearl miles. into the wind. then hiway more traffic. at one point a torrent of school kids in a river . most ride bikes but many on motos as well. saw a few put on helmets only as approcach a police bos on raod. arrive kampot. city adn not sure where is center ask for mkt and finally find it did find gh couple had suggested. is low key clean cheap great balcony. will stay two days do end of biking part. now what to do with self?!? have so enjoyed the biking on the whole. still days till Joan. see how i find my way around here. am close to mkt and not far from river/travler area. and man at gh told me of thes cyber not too far afield. he live here doing computer trainigng adn consulting of soem kind. sure have meet alot of stories. yesterday man in hotel doing translating for an environmental ngo. he had alos dow work for npr. today an italian man woking here for UN doing some research. so.......

feb 1 Phnom penh

sapote — Sun, 1 Feb 2015 14:27:00 GMT

stayed another day in KC. Keith not feeling well in morn and deciede best stay over. enjoy walk up river side walk. there is a long bamboo bridge out to an island. gets desstroyed each rainy season and rebuilt each year. cars motos epople. and is abit of tourist attraction. nice just the alk. up at far end is tables and little eateries along the sidewalk. mostly selling balut. steamed duck eggs of almost hatching duklets. nope never tried. also lots of cane juice squeezeers and cocnut waters. further down group of men playing a game, kick iwth foot over head a springy badminton type birdie. skilled. then large aerobics group with Loud motivating music. then aline up of men on motos by walk watching another group play, hmm tossing balls metal i think along a long sand court. then over on the sand soem volleyball. plus of course just walkers and sitters. the water fron has the hippie type travler hotels as well as upscale kind. plyus tons of regular hotel. next moren. Keith better but not great and we deciede bus to PP also because road is Bad. and it was!! really glad be on bus. not all is destruction but alot. a pall of dust layers over all. red pigment saturating everything. back and forth sides of road. as close town many large factory type business. charcoal rice mill brick making cement pipes . plus manufacturing and seeling industrial works. big city. bus stop at centreal mkt. i got turned aorund thought river other direction :( finally end up just stay gh near another mkt. pretty basic but it does. walk to river am closeish to soem of main sights in PP. very touristy donw by river. i in travler denses region or one of. morn go look for GH had been recommended turn out not far from where i am. find another GH i do like. will stay couple days i think. hurt my thighs some how so limping abit. so see what the next days bring. Keith heading to Siem Reap to see Ankor on his way back to Bangkok. i plan south for few days. till Joan arrive !! :)

29 jan kompong cham

sapote — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 20:50:00 GMT

spent cthree days in Kratie. got to go to my favorite little eat spots and folks who sold me fruit and wanter. fun make a familiarity. nice walk to fro river front road. Keith arrive from enjoyabale trip on Mekong Discovery Trail he ahd done part of. turned out to be paved. was glad i had come to Kratie and did some rest days. so we stay a day for him get stuff sone. met sevearl iintersting travlers. tow wimmin from Ca teach english in china. Oz womyn been africa now asia. fun hear stories. leeft next morn. not as early not so far to go. Keith stay for his hotel breakfast, i to good rice soup in mkt. is smaller road wnds through country side. busy but not as much and very pretty. lucher, groups of houses on stilts rice fields dotten with white cattle. working teams or grazing. lots water buffalo and as we contiue more and more fruit trees just filing spaces between agriculture adn houses/ stay Chalong. find nice guest house on back road by river. number of GH not sure why so much call for them. the mkt is not very pleasant dirty and chaotic. this jmorn back there for a abite of breakfast. the main raod turns south and we continue along river. still busy but less steadily little groups of houses or samll towns amongst the fields. wea re continually waved along with hi hello here even by most adults too. nice. this area has a loarge Muslim population. many mosques, and several sschools. is a long day 80k but we jsut go steadily and stop along in the shade. several times had to go around a large wat complex set in now middle of road. numerous bridges now at least metal plates not just wood slates. new big breach at one plaace. cross on ferry, fun. is big enough for cars many motots and walk ons. but steep sand road bac\nk up down. biggiesh town on other shore. and we south to KC road worseens but stay sort of as pavemint. hot weary. road just into town is wretched! then gets worse. construction destruction. find hottel kKeith looking for and i to one travelr had recommended. nice and just on water front. hurry out for food in mkt and soem fruit for morn. not quite so long manana i think to a smaller town part to PP then next day arrive there. so lovely country side scens hard discribe in a quick hurry. soem day pix eh

25 jan kratie

sapote — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 17:36:00 GMT

so yesterday morning. after i went out on a short dawn walk. met withh Keith and we head out along river road. this is the north part of the Mekong Discovery trail. road is a small one lane road along the river with row of houses right on the bank. this is very poor country in general and some places like here seem more impoverished then others. regular moto traffice carrying the usual multiple people or loads of goods. we have seen little trusck grocery stores travel through countryside here they are the motos some trucks very few cars. road is bad as per usual for area. small wooden bridges over samll ravines. as go along fewer or farther between houses small garden plots regulary people out watering with water cans one on each end of pole across thier shoulders. or plastic jugs. lots of houses on pilings wwoden or some laced bamboo. saw tow schools built by oxfam. community pumps in several places. kids still call out hi but not as fervently. small groups of houses or one here then later then tiny ih house type 'stores'. road for a while under construction piles of gravel along one lane in road. then place where graded and rollered great smooth riding. then back to now jus tplin roack and dirt. hard biking joustled jounced rattled finally Keith say not want keep on. i ready turn around. by time return town not long till head to llucnh at Le Tonle agian. happy to support them, the food is good, though really slow coming. convergence by evenings end of 7 cyclists! wow. share stories with coupel from Switzerland just coame when we going. exchnged maps andn info. go things to know about road housing or lack there of. they did back road getting to Kratie and van from there to STung. Keith said he decieded to go on bvan part way then get out ride 'Trail'to Kratie. i opt out need bit of rest i guess so will wait in K. so this morn go to meeet van for 7 30 departure. great scene of vans milling touts racing to each moto taxi that arrives wher egoing take thins can i carry your luggage. two little girls mom travleing in oour van one crying but they spoke english alittle so she kept getting pulled to want to talk with us. good for her. there is a rack extending out the back of the van that is used for big luggage which there is often Much of. so our bikes get tied on alogn with a stack of folding wooden shairls huge gunny sacks of ? everyone eleses biggie bags boxes andn bales. all up to the roof line and hanging obout 4 feeet off behing. some others even more loaded. waiting.... waiating... more folks about 9 we have 20 epole in a 15 person van. off we set. buring speed records out of town. road ok we going too fast for me. with the horn on continual blast. driver on and off cell. then raod deteriorates bump rut hole gravel then its under construction, piles of gravle ungraded on edge road and dirt on other. at one time truck stop in front of us another oncoming truck blockuing our passing chance stopped as well. he just turns hard left 4 wheeling up the dirit bank around trucks. by thins time impeding grader moved so our lane trucks blasting frwd we lurch off bank just infront of it and off we blaze. then just un pavaed road billows of red dust in a pall over all. couding our vision, but not the horn, and still the cell in use. people get out and in along the way. we drop Keith at an intersecton....? signage? off we shoot. arrive Kratie little before 12 wow on time. well the three hours they daid would take. just couple hours later. edge of mkt the van roundup. really gald got location close by from other cyclist re GH arrive gladly window and second story balcony :) to mkt the dry goods kind but edges is fruit veg in strret adn selling of prepared food. take away in a bag, i have my truty cup, or some inside sit down for noodle soupe or rice. i choose outside with the table of lidded pots pick up one after antoehr decieding on what looks good. any of it generally some not ingeds i want or enough veg. then fruit shopping and successful cyber hunt :) am right on river more later

23 jan stung treng

sapote — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 20:55:00 GMT

so now in cambodia. enjoyed champasak. left early, sun rising earlier sa time goes on. lovely smoky red across river. good luck just as arrive to ferry area, the 'small' ferry driver just going down. is tow small canoe type boats with wood planks between. me and bike another passenger and three bags of noodles being delivered. driver has a partial arm missing, still deftly manages to wheel my bike up narrow wood ramp and then off again other side. is sand banks each side. a push. then 6k to hiway noodle usual.

Keith stayed later to get the breakfast at hotel again. topnotch hotel they do very well. Inthiras 4 locations in Laos. mostly flat and become increasingly less populated. no towns barely clusters dry open scrub land. hills east more trees on upper slopes. a national park somewhere there. long distance between even shops, 'sundry' stores. and few places sell minimal food stuffs. at gas station some folk selling grill including roast potatoes. yea. later 2 30ish papaya salad. hot long open stretches arrowing into distances. wondering about Keith when he finally show up, stopped chat cyclist awhile. getting close to koh kong big back packer destination as well as don det.

i am really tired!!!!! not enough food, hot and by the time we do find a first accommodation is 110k! yiks bit spendy motel but..... nice. and spendy cafe in front. pay twice as much for same bowl soup as this morn. and this not come with the veg plate from earlier. cabbage green beans lettuce. young man who took our money at motel real interested in bikes i encourage him take a spin on mine. he Love it :) this morn 28k border. noodle just before arrive. border is small casual bureaucratic! this extra charge for stamping out then medical - do you have temperature? another charge. then pay for visa extra of no picture, then get stamped. we had decided to take the transport from border to ST so hang there at border two hours! wait foe van to fetch people. oh could go now for twice as much. little line of stalls . people come but usual attached a bus already. this driver in business take people siem reap where ankor is. anyway eventually. the road is really bad mostly big holes stretches of unpaved some paved.

town very dusty construction going on. river there but not much enjoyable access. crowded jumble. GH wanted full go, another. but go back to eat. they are training for marginalized rural youth to learn trade. good food Slow service but well done. meticulously done. like supporting them. met swiss family three kids traveling already a year. biggish mkt all chaos, will be learning what Cambodia has to offer. no papaya. but few other fruits i like. tired. from yesterday and then not eat from 8ish till 2 30. arg. so bit of low today. thanx for coming along.

21 jan champasak

sapote — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:34:00 GMT

so bit of catch up. have been far from cybers or even wifi some of it. is rural out in the country. some times difficult to find those road side motels. as leave Savanneket, again Keith stay for his hotels breakfast and will catch up. few miles back to the hiway. is rolling hills and warm up earlier these mornings. dry and mostly small bush trees and pasture land. some rice but in cut over stage. still enjoy the wave of hi hello saibadees blowing us along. children hollering from invisible places or converging in a gang of farang farang rallying cry. long day.

we arrive in small cross roads town. road goes to Viet border, is couple little motels. very basic but clean. just by mkt. peruse for papaya and dinner. we also licit alot of laughter. yes we are pretty amusing. the small mkt all agog at us sitting in local mkt cafe tables and trying get an order placed. with help from the crowd. fun .

onward close to dawn. again take awhile to find that open noodle stall with their water hot enough. came across mkt out in between towns regional. try new fruit some palm thing interesting. they have lots of insects and glad also roast potatoes. always the purple variety of sweet though occasionally the yellow. we see more water melon stands. a dutch couple of cyclist come north. tell of place stay ahead. funny when we come close the configuration of two motel they tell is repeated twice.

do find nice motel out side of the town. shorter day. bike into town but is a strip town not much going on. few munchies. next morn have to wait for the noodle water. then a really long day. hills closing around us but now gaps that go through. minor agriculture and now green early plantings of rice. map is unhelpful too often. Two biggish sized town shown. one exist in different place. though never do see its name just a town in near vicinity . then the next town never does appear. 95 k later arrive

pretty crummy motel. with VERY LOUD music arg. next morn on in to Paxxe. pass a Wonderful! Huge market. wish we staying her just so i could visit. we grab quick snacks yumm a bustle and crowd to navigate. across big bridge of mekong and down new road. really nice quite and scenic near mts. french couple cyclers on recumbents stop to visit. year and more on road north amer and south now asia.

into Champasak. small long town famous wat ruins here. had been few years ago. Keith did visit. hot afternoons glad to find cyber. lovely sunrise across mekong. we head south into ...? not likely cyber again till. but will check in as can. hope not too far to that motel :)

16 jan savanneket

sapote — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 13:23:00 GMT

well had a VERY LONG day yesterday. to a really nice side road going down along the river. deeper into rural Laos. small small towns, several bridges, one lane and wooden slats. i walk across. steel undergirding. all the little towns a spill of shops bustling a profusion of goods out into the street. couple places where hundreds of students were converging by bike on regional schools. a steady stream of 'hi' 'saibidee' frequently grocery trucks on route. slowly move along music playing to alert all. womyn in back man driving she deal out veg meat fish .

Came through one bigger town three accommodations. but hadn’t gone too far yet, so onward. goal is intersection. small truck farms lots of greens, and small rice plots. we get to eat greens more with meals, they bring raw cabbage green m\beans and mint. arrive junction. two restaurants few houses and a shop. ooops.

had come about 60k by then is mid days hot my now and tired. 40 k to savannneket. long stretch of very little just bush or towns only small gather of house. next junction less. police post and couple food stalls. onward. rolling hills not steep at all but slow up. finally finally town. is big city.

historic area, but mostly just reg city. lots of chinese viet names and thai in laos mix. variety of food choices. Haven’t found mkt, have 'new site, old is defunct. well see what day brings. day off bike here. wandering

14 jan thakhek

sapote — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:37:00 GMT

this will be quick update as it has been days and not remembering much. Laos is quite rural and even more so then thailand was. the main hiway is two lane road with no shoulder not easy riding at some times. with much traffic. though when not alot and between towns is peaceful and beautiful.

people have been very friendly. alot less english. towns even ones listed on the map which would indicate they are larger or if listed on milage markers, ended up more often being very small anyway. generally no pavement off the main hiway. passing schools is often a riot of childern screaming saibadee or even hello. erupting from doorways and across play fields. these are the smaller childern, older ones more reserved.

first few days difficult to know how far to any where. as posts rotating between larger, far away city/towns and sometimes the smallere but some distinction towns ahead of us. so can't keep track of miles to next place. in enjoyable to stay in a small place. Over night wander about and see life as its lived in daily rural Laos.

rained couple days more one then another. enabled me to purchase sturdy rain cape. will likely never have to use again. has been chilly mornings. but warms in after noon. the hills have been at bay over to the east. i want very much to come back some day and do the famous 'loop', via moto. goes up around into the mts. layers and layers ofsmall peaks and rivers wnding throughout. caves in abundance. so much unexplored . met canadian geologist, mineral exploration, hmmm, any way gets go to exploring and said how fantastic it is.

are now in a town on river, old french influences. aging buildings some repaired and traveler guest houses. some few upscale ones as well. ok till later then

7 Jan vientien laos

sapote — Wed, 7 Jan 2015 16:08:00 GMT

well whirlwind the last couple days. made the Unhappy discovery had over stayed my visa!!! thought i guess that i had two months but no...... so decide in a bit of panic to bus on to Laos straight away. asked about transport night before at guest house, yes bus 8 am, out we go into fading smoky red full moon twilight at 7 so might get bite at mkt before. ask around and busses had left! but sawengthaw (sp) last one before 8 so..... soon enough arrives. is easier then bus throw on roof. not many passengers but a load of propane tanks going to town to fill. and a few various deliveries along way. sack of manioc here, bags of noodles there. take on few things.

arrive big mkt in Tha Bo, would love to have cruised it. quick noodle soup. we chose to ride from here and Keith sees there is shorter route. yea for that! about 25k some of it bad road, narrow no shoulder lots traffic. but arrive to main road. go into immigration with bated breath and trepidation. and there is a separate line , pay over stay fine. wow that simple. !! gratitude!

ride on over bridge. mekong is wide river. very narrow no chance to pix. saw tandem cyclers going other way, recumbent in front upright in back. no chance hello. arrive Laos border. get form to fill exchange little money to pay visa and wait. and wait in this line long. one widow, and this is the busiest border between T and L. well maybe Poipet but still. then wait again to get passport returned. about hour and half hanging about.

there is no signage! for road info. we go out of immigration road to bit t doesn’t say V this or that or how far. 20k to town and never saw single info sign. distance or where. got to big junction again big guess. we took upper north road loop apparently. coulda followed closer to river. at any rate long time of street traffic and not knowing where going finally figuring to turn toward river and keep querying eventually did arrive to river at touristy area. had GH recommendation. in the thick of it. are many high priced and low priced.

throngs of internationals. as ready to hear french as english. meet couple from belgium had been moto biking Viet Cam Loas, gave us good tips. huge night mkt. the clothing etc kind. not food. there is a really long malacon running along river, people jog bike and morning out doing exercise groups. i went out fair early to river wander then longish circuitous walk about. great mkt extensive. the part in the street closing up around 8 as they often do leaving just the indoor part open. is a labyrinth of small curving lanes alleys through a maze of tents awnings tarp sided stalls. long push wagons 6-7 feet long 32 wide they navigate goods through. buckets of flopping fish, piles of hopefully not flopping chickens. slabs of meat in all variety. veg area and egg area.

visited interesting Chinese wat and a big castle looking city gate in middle of main street round about. and did finally! find cyber. number of them signed but bit the dust. anyway stay another night here then ...... oh in midst was having an on-going slowly flattening tire. Keith is great about equipment and fixing! really good 'kit' wonderful small pump. anyway see what afternoon brings. buying map priority.

5 Jan sang khan

sapote — Mon, 5 Jan 2015 18:46:00 GMT

so back a day and see if i can remember. big night mkt in CK and the streets crowded in old town. walk malacon look river. pretty sunset.

next morn meet K at 6 30 he at different hotel. the place is jammed with people. long lines of folk kneeling along street waiting to give offering to monk. next set of monks other people take the place of others leaving. the street of shops packed.

on out of town. beautiful morning. light mist on river. stop numerous times in the ride for pix. countryside of agriculture. some rice corn banana steep hills coming down river. big trees, curve in and out of hills. arrive cross roads town small place does have couple motels. we get nice one few blocks from market with access to view river.

wander the town. small night mkt. this morn ride away before finding noodle shop. more and more hilly. Crossing of the toes of the hills dipping in the river. over and over. small steep grades. wears me out. very pretty country. lots of tamarind being harvested along road. rubber in small plantations. lots banana, mango, not ready :(, rice manioc later tobacco. Hadn’t seen before. Same most of yesterday and part of today. few and small agricultural towns. mostly old wooden houses. some with cement under story. some quite lovely ornate larger wooden houses. and some more modern cement type. as on east more modern built up towns more traveler amenities.

town finally early aft. guest house just coming into town. fine have little bungalows on river but really only bad big so opt for high priced spread. very nice wooden and cement up on stilts. glad to find cyber. couple mkts see if i can find my papaya.

had nice fried rice and egg lunch. serve cucumber and tomato slice. and often if get plate of food like that at restaurant, will bring small cup for tasty broth. have been able to find veg most night. just cup worth but needed. couple times now have had food hadn’t seen before. one a salad bit too spicy with shredded few veg plus a kind of mushroom. also a spicy mix with deep fried, so often that, of rice ball mashed with some spicy thing. enjoying myself. bit worn out today hope not so hilly tomorrow. saw german cyclist today, and the couple from holland in CH really hot afternoon, though continues to be quite cool in morn.

3 jan chiang khan

sapote — Sat, 3 Jan 2015 19:48:00 GMT

chilly but not as much as some mornings recently have been. find the standard noodle stand down the road a ways.

an up and down day of hills but not long or steep. alot of traffic not so pleasant just along road can't really see much of country side. lots of commerce and more as near CK, big touristy destination. Thai tourist primarily with a sprinkle of farang thrown in.

historic old town, antiquey, tons of shopping shops of trinkets souvenirs tshirts etc. cafe boutique hotels line river front. nice walk way along though for quite most of the town. lots of bike rental.

we met two tourers from Holland. had come down road we travel tomorrow. is busy traffic still cause holiday, but not many towns. 200 k with couple small towns here to Vientiane. am in a little, off the main drag area. guest house. nice folks. ok enjoy