Hello from Cambodia

Where my last post left off is Caitlin had just left for the airport.  Since then I have done a lot of traveling!!  After Caitlin left, I continued to travel south through Laos, stopping in the cities of Vien Viang, Vientiane, and 4000 Islands.  Vien Viang is this crazy party town where twenty something westerners go to: drink, hook up, sleep, repeat.  It is the town in Laos where you can go tubing down the river but along the river there are several bars you can stop at along the way but they aren't normal bars, they sell all kind of drugs including pot, mushrooms, opium, and laughing gas balloons.  The statistics are that a tourist dies about once a week because they get too wasted and drown in the river.  I lasted there about one and a half days, tried to bike out to an organic farm in the area only to find it was pretty much deserted.  That was disappointing.  The city was beautiful as far as scenery but I just wasn't a fan of the type of people that hang out there.  So I moved on to the capital city of Laos, Vientiane.  I don't really love big cities but I like to visit.  There was a really cool Buddha Park with several Buddha statues that was built in the 1950s - you can see photos.  I also just walked around the city and took walks near the river.  I only stayed there a couple of nights as well.  Then I moved down to the 4000 Islands which is this area is Laos where the Mekong River creates several (4000?) islands, many are extremely small but also several that are inhabited.  This was one of my favorite places in Laos.  I think I like places where you have to get there by boat so that there are no cars and everything is accessible by walking, biking or boat.  The highlight of my time there was a kayaking trip where I got to see the extremely rare and highly endangered Irrawaddy dolphins.  We kayaked down the river and walked around a couple of water falls but also spent some time in the bay where the dolphins hang out.  From what i have heard not many people see them but they were jumping almost the whole time we were there which was pretty amazing.  I didn't get pictures because I just wanted to enjoy the moment and when you try to take photos of fish jumping out of water it is generally unsuccessful.  In the 4000 Islands I had my own bungalow along the river for about $2.50 a night.  There was a hammock so I did a lot of hammock time.  Each night there were these really beautiful electrical storms that would light up the sky but with no thunder - I have never really seen that before.  After the 4000 Islands I moved into Cambodia.  I spent one quick night in the capital city of Phnom Phen and quickly took a bus to the coast.  Upon arrival I signed up for a Open Water Divers Course which consisted of 4 days of diving, two days in the pool and two days of open water dives in the Gulf of Thailand.  I was a little nervous about it because I was afraid I would panic, which is the worst thing you can do while under water.  I ended up doing really well and now as I am blogging I just finished the course.  I am really excited because now if I want to I can dive in New Zealand or if I go to Australia the Great Barrier Reef.  Anyways the diving was pretty good - we didn't have great visibility since it is sort of the rainy season here but I saw a lot of really cool coral, horned starfish, angel fish, and on my last day two cuttlefish which were really amazing.  If you don't know what they are google image search it.  I have about nine days left in SE Asia and I will spend some in Siem Reap and the Angkor temples in Cambodia and then maybe about a day in Bangkok before I fly out.  I am excited to be back in New Zealand because I am starting a three week introduction course to Wilderland, a place that is an example of cooperative sustainable living.  I am really excited.  All right gotta go do some research on where I am staying in Siam Reap - cheers and good night!!

Some of the beautiful landscape in Vien Viang - it is a great place for rock climbing

Some of the sculptures at the Buddha park

Buddha park

Buddha park

View from my bungalow in the 4000 Islands

Largest waterfall in SE Asia (largest in largest volume of water passes these water falls, not tallest)

Sunset in the 4000 Islands

Same sunset but later

Taking a bike ride around the islands - it didn't last long, that day was way too hot!!

An example of some of the road blocks you encounter in Cambodia

 

Buses in Laos

Bus rides in Laos are fucking crazy.  I am not kidding.  There are no trains so the main way to get from town to town is on a bus.  First of all the roads are not that great - they are generally about one and a half lanes, with pot holes, and some gravel.  The roads are on steep mountain sides so they are curvy with one side being a giant cliff and the other a ditch.  I have taken four bus rides so far and we have had close calls of hitting a dog, baby pigs, chickens, ducks, cows and other vehicles.  If you have a nalgene without a sippy lid don't plan on having a drink of water.  Most drivers like to blast Lao radio so you can't hear your ipod over the foreign music.  On a bus ride I did with Caitlin, we took one of the local bus and in a van with 13 seats, we crammed in 17 people.  Caitlin got puked on by a baby.  On my bus ride yesterday there was a random Lao woman sleeping on my shoulder.  Which wasn't really annoying but I get super accommodating thoughts like 'I wish my shoulder was more comfortable' and I start to feel bad.  In Laos the horn is used to communicate when you are going around blind corners and are going to fast to stay in your own lane or to let people know you are passing them.  It has a completely different meaning than how it is used in the states.  There is usually no line in the middle of the street but if there is, it means nothing.  Anyways I had a pleasant five hour ride yesterday, nobody puked.  Currently in the party town of Vian Vieng and got my party on last night.  It was good fun and met some cool people.  I am trying not to get trapped here.  Today I am planning a bike ride out to an organic farm - they do mulberry tea and goat cheese!!

Biking in Laos

Since the trekking trip Caitlin and I have gone on a couple of biking trips, one in Luang Nam Tha and one in Luang Prabang. 
1st Bike Day:  This day was very chill, with nice bikes.  We went on tiny dirt roads where kids would run out to wave at us.  We mainly saw villages and rice fields.  In the afternoon on the bike ride we passed by a restaurant that sounded happening so we stopped.  Once we went in there were a ton of people there (on a Tuesday afternoon).  We walked in and everyone stared at us and a table of people asked us to sit down.  They only spoke a little bit of english but poured us each a glass of beer that never emptied and we tried to order some food.  We got a plate of veggies which was fine and a soup with some crazy looking chicken parts in it.  There was also kareoke so I did a song.  Caitlin didn't know any of the songs in English they had (there was only about 6). 
2nd Bike Day:  We also went on a bike ride to a park with a water fall.  The destination was really cool but the ride was a bit tiring.  We road total 40 miles but it felt like 60 on the bikes we had.  I think both of us are used to custom fit bikes (spoiled I know).  On my bike, the seat wouldn't stay taller so my legs were a bit bent and the front derailleur wouldn't shift up so the hills were pretty easy but on downhill and flat all I could do was coast.  Caitlin's handle bars were too low so her back was in a lot of pain when we were done.  We had a beautiful day despite the pain.  The waterfall park was really amazing - several waterfalls with clear blue pools to swim in.  There was a hike to the top and a bear santcuary where they rescue bears that are raised in small boxes for bile which is used in Chinese medicine.  A great day but I think I need another back massage.  Here are some pics:

Ride 1 - some rice fields

Ride 1 - a bridge

Ride 1 - big sky

Ride 1 - Caitlin

One of the roads we biked down - the cows are pretty chill

They do starts in big clumps then distribute them to the fields

This was one of the weird chicken parts that came in my soup

Pretty sky

Ride 2- bear santcuary

Pretty pools

Main waterfall

From the top

Pools at the top

On the hike down from the top

Swimming!!

Trekking in Laos

We traveled from Thailand into Laos, to the city of Luang Nam Tha.  We chose this as the destination because it is close to the National Park which is a large area of protected jungle.  The town was cute with several agencies to book treks from.  We chose one that we liked and booked a three day trek with the third day being a day of kayaking instead of hiking.  The trips that you can book get cheaper as more people book, even so we were hoping for a bit of a smaller group in order to see some wildlife.  We ended up with a group of 9 which I think is the biggest it can be - oh well at least it got cheaper.  Our companions actually ended up being really cool - even when the trekking was a bit torturous they had very high spirits.  I had prepared a blog post just giving you the play by play but I decided it got too long and just to give you the highlights.  Day 1: we did about 7 hours of trekking (with breaks).  Basically we went up a big hill and then down.  To be honest the views weren't amazing because the foliage was so thick but the jungle was really cool.  I ended up getting two leeches on my foot that day.  I was wearing chacos because they are the only shoes I brought to Asia with me, they were great for hiking, since we weren't carrying much weight but made me pretty vulnerable to leeches.  I sweated through my clothes probably within the first half hour of walking.  I don't think I have ever sweated through a pair of pants before.  Night 1: we stayed at Jungle Camp, where all nine of us, plus 3 guides, slept in one room with mosquito nets.  In the middle of the night it started to rain really hard and didn't let up all night and into the next morning.  There was a debacle with the water drop off and we only got about a 1/2 liter after the sweaty trek.  Finally more was delivered the next day.  Day 2 we did about 5 hours of trekking with less breaks than the first day.  Two of our party took the short route due to blisters.  The rest of us took the long way.  The jungle got even more lush and the guides told us about the local fruits, edible plants, and plants used for medicinal purposes.  I got three leeches on me that day, Caitlin even got one and she was wearing shoes, I managed to get one on my back - it was trying to latch on through my shirt.  We arrived another camp where three rivers joined together and we did some swimming which felt great after hiking for a couple of days.  Then we were picked up by a van and taken to a village where we were having dinner and spending the night.  After a walk we went into where we were staying and there were some kids and a mom hanging out.  As soon as we sat down the mom pulls down her sons pants to show us his hugely swollen testicle.  I have never been greeted this way.  We didn't really know what to do, the kid didn't seem to be in pain.  The other members of our party said it was a hernia.  We went on with our evening.  We also had dinner with the chief of the village and it was really fun to learn the history of his tribe, learn about their customs and meet his family.  Night 2:  We stayed with a family.  It rained all night on a metal roof and the whole family (including roosters) were up around 4:30.  Day 3:  In the morning we walked around - I took a lot of pictures of baby animals because I feel awkward taking pictures of the people.  We also saw a lot of people doing handicrafts - it is like breathing to them.  The women are usually always doing some sort of sewing or weaving and the men more carpentry work or fishing nets.  We loaded into inflatable kayaks and went down a river - we were supposed to go about 17 km but I am not sure if we went that far.  The river was nice - I really liked it.  It was calm about class two rapids.  Caitlin and I were the most skilled at kayaking in our group so we would try to go down the roughest part of the rapids.  We also stopped at a couple of villages that day which was really cool.  During the day most of the adults go work in the rice fields leaving the children and the older people.  We met a 66 year old woman who had never seen a foreigner before.  Our guide also told us about the political and romantic customs of his village.  I learned that in some villages there is a hut where men and women can go to 'hook up'.  If a woman gets pregnant, she can choose from the men she has slept with to marry.  But the men really want to be chosen - they don't care if it is really theirs because having children is so valuable for their culture.  They need them to work in the fields and support them when they get old.  I never asked how people chose to marry without impending baby though.  The kids were very cute and all the people are so tiny compared to the size of us.  When it was time to go our van picked us up and told us the road conditions were pretty bad because of all the rain.  We drove a bit and soon came upon a truck of locals that had driven into the ditch - we all got out and pushed it out.  Next we came to a big truck that had gotten stuck in the mud.  We had to wait about and hour for a bit bulldozer type machine came to pull it up the hill and fix the road for us.  Shortly after the road had gotten fixed our van got stuck and we had to push it out.  After a long ride back on a slippery road where one side was a very long drop off we got back into town around 9:30 when we were supposed to be back around 5.  Despite the leeches, the rain, and the mud I had a really good time.  We are still in Laos - Caitlin just left this morning for Laos - right now my plan is to go south in Laos, then loop through Cambodia back to Bangkok where my flight leaves on July 31st.  Cheers!!

Lunch on the first day - the little packets are sticky rice which accompanies every meal.

Me sweating my balls off.

Bamboo forest with one of our guides

Caitlin posing with spirit tree.

Spirit tree

Lovely view of the lush forest.

A view of one of the villages

I liked the roof - they use a lot of natural building materials

Adorable tiny puppy that I could not get enough of.  It would wiggle it's tail when you rubbed its back!

Machine that had to rescue us and fix the road.

Chiang Mai Part 2

For our second day in Chiang Mai, we planned to go volunteer at a childrens orphanage.  We didn't really plan much but Caitlin read some blogs online that said you could just go there.  We had the name of the orphanage and some brief directions on how to get there so we headed out on a public 'bus', which was more like the back seat of a truck, and hoped for the best.  The driver dropped us off in a place with children playing so we walked in and said we wanted to volunteer.  The people looked at us like we were crazy (nothing new really), but after a couple of minutes we figured out we were at a school, not the orphanage we had aimed for.  We figured it out and where  we were going was just down the street.  So we walked over but found out that you must apply in advance and the minimum amount of time you can volunteer is for a month.  We definitely didn't have that kind of time (and lets be honest, I couldn't be around kids for a month) so there we were several kilometers from town with about a half day left.  I looked on the map and noticed if we went further in the same direction we would get to the botanical gardens.  We both are into plants (Caitlin really into plants).  So we flagged down another 'bus' that took us one leg of the journey, then another one to take us the rest of the way.  We got there and paid and the woman asked us if we want to walk or take the bus.  We asked how much walking to see everything and she said about 4K so we said walk.  I am glad we did because on the walking you get to see much more but I see why most people take the bus.  The maps show one trail but when you are actually walking there are several trails to choose from so we mostly got lost trying to get to the different areas of the gardens.  Most of the walking was also up hill.  I feel like I sound lazy but it is actually much harder in 80-90 degree heat.  The plants were cool a lot of vines and ferns - very jungle like.  There were also some green houses and a natural science museum we got to enjoy as well.  When it was time to leave we weren't really sure how we were getting home.  We went to the road to flag down a bus then some nice people were pulling out and said they could give us a ride.  We figured people who visit a botanical garden have a low chance of being murderers or rapists so we hoped in.  We found out that both of them had worked in the gardens for 20 years so it was fun to chat.  Back in Chiang Mai we grabbed some dinner and decided to check out the regular night market.  Not as cool as the weekend markets but found some really beautiful art stalls that we hadn't seen before.  We went to bed early because we had booked for the next day a one day trek which included elephant riding, a bit of trekking, and some bamboo rafting.  We were mainly doing it for the elephant riding because we were planning on doing most of our trekking out of Laos, which is supposed to be better than Thailand.  The trek ended up feeling pretty touristy.  We did get to feed the elephants but we didn't quite like the way they were treated.  At one point a woman fed our elephant a plastic bag.  The elephant that we had had a baby with it and the baby was attached to the mom on about a 10 foot chain so it couldn't go far and the mom would follow with us on it.  It just felt mean.  We rode on a box on the top which felt more like a roller coaster than anything else.  After talking to some people we figured out that the experience you really want is to ride it without anything underneath you on the back of the head (I probably won't pay for it but if anyone reading this ever goes to Thailand).  We did a little walk through some jungle with a local guide telling us about the plants and we also walked through a village which was neat to see.  After that we rafted down a river on these little bamboo rafts it was touristy but also refreshing and fun.  They let you steer and at one point the guide made Caitlin steer in this tricky part with rocks and we rammed into one.  It was funny, all the locals gather to watch us make fools of ourselves.  We called it an early night back in Chiang Mai and started planning where we were going next.  For our last day in Chiang Mai we saw some temples and visited the University Art Museum.  Then we booked a two day bus ride to Laos.  As I am writing I have just returned from a three day trekking trip, will post about it soon.  Much love!!

At the botanical garden

At the botanical garden

The best shot of Caitlin feeding the baby elephant

My favorite snack!!

Chiang Mai Part 1

I believe when I left off last we were leaving Ton Sai to head north to the capital in the north Chiang Mai.  We used a day for travel and took a flight from Krabi to Chiang Mai, with a stop in Bangkok.  Our stop in Bangkok took longer than expected and put us in Chiang Mai around 11:30.  The hotel that we had picked out had free pick-up but when we tried to call from the airport, the payphones ate all our change, then we got someone to let us use our their cell phone but there was no answer.  So we grabbed a taxi and still tried to get there to see if they were open.   The airport is near the city so the cab ride ended up being short and cheap which was great.  We found our hotel, we found people drinking in front of it, but unfortunately reception was closed.  We were pretty tired at that point and just wanted to find somewhere to drop our bags and find some beers so we went to the place next store.  It was a little more expensive but we figured it was the quickest option, and easier to move to the hotel we wanted the next day.  Then we set out to the local 7-11 (anyone who has been to Thailand will know what I mean) to grab some beers.  We found out that because of an election happening the next day they couldn't sell us any.  Defeated we went to our hotel to go to bed.  The first day in Chiang Mai was a Saturday, we spent most of the day doing 'errands'.  Which for us was doing laundry, catching up on blog posts, Caitlin replying to job emails, me trying to figure out how to get reimbursed for my ipod getting stolen (my ipod touch was stolen somewhere between Bangkok and Ko Samoi).  In the afternoon we also fit in a museum visit and a massage.  We found that so far we liked Chiang Mai much better than we liked Bangkok.  For one it is a much smaller city where you can basically walk to most things that you want to go to.  There is this square moat in the middle of the city which also makes it really easy to orientate yourself while you are walking around (well maybe not for Caitlin :).  The city is not as hot, the tuk tuk drivers harass you less, there was a lot more greenery amongst the city, but there is still the pleasures of Thailand like daily fruit smoothies, cheap delicious food, and inexpensive massages.  So it was a Saturday and in Chiang Mai there are night markets where they shut down streets and venders come to set up food carts and mostly homemade items for sale.  Caitlin and I headed out and we didn't really expect was about to happen.  We both became shopaholics.  The market was amazing.  Both local and tourists were in attendance.  Most of the goods for sale were homemade - from purses, shoes, jewelry, art, clothes, housewares, and most of it for under $10 per item.  We had pretty good self control and bought some things for ourselves and some presents for friends and family, after a few days in Chiang Mai we ended up shipping home a box.  In about 2 or 3 months it will arrive in Olympia.  I however will not be seeing those items for at least a year.  The next day we had booked a cooking class through our hotel where you cook 5 thai dishes, where you get to pick what you cook from a huge list and in the end you get to take home a cook book.  The class was all day beginning with a visit to the market.  Caitlin and I arrived to the class and picked out what we wanted to cook.  We both picked out all main dishes (to get the most out of our class) and we were off to the market.  It was the food market near our hotel so we had already seen it but it is a really cool market - lots of produce and meat.  It is cool to see the different produce but also the cow brains and blood patties sitting in pools of water.  So we picked up our ingredients.  Our teacher was pretty cool, he had this really strange way of speaking, almost like an evil story teller.  We headed back to where we were cooking (there were a bunch of gas burners set up in an outdoor, covered patio) and chopped all of the ingredients for our dishes.  We were making 1 serving portions so it ended up not taking too long.  One of the coolest parts, I thought, was making fresh coconut cream and milk from freshly grated coconut.  If you have never seen it before, you start with a few cups of freshly grated coconut then you add warm water.  You then squeeze the coconut over a sieve, the first time you squeeze, the product is coconut cream and the second squeezing produces coconut milk (both used in ample quantities in our dishes).  I would like to make if fresh at home but I am not sure if fresh coconut is available.  The actual cooking process was incredibly quick and easy actually.  I think the hardest part of replicating it at home will be finding the correct ingredients.  The dishes I made were yellow curry, red curry, pad thai, coconut prawn soup, and a ginger chicken dish.  Caitlin did a few of the same but also did spring rolls and Chiang Mai curry.  We also got to eat everything that we cooked but after the first dish (coconut soup, really rich) I could only eat bites of our next dishes.  It was fun to learn but I am glad I will have a cookbook to help me remember the recipes we learned.  Caitlin will have to teach people in Olympia when she gets back.  That night we went to the Sunday night market and shopped our little hearts out again.  Here I am going to break up my post because it is getting too long.  Here are some pics of the market and our cooking class.

Some treats at the market.  I have no idea what they are though.

The market went on forever.

Caitlin and I at cooking class.

I believe this was the red curry - my coconut milk is boiling.

He taught us how to make fancy plate decorations.

More cooking, do you like our aprons?