Ten days In Laos

Ten days in Laos

A small river, crossable in minutes on a longtail boat, distinguished the boarder between Northern Thailand and Laos. Then a lazy, two day boat ride on the Mekong River took us to our first intended destination in north central Lao, Luang Prabang. 

Luang Prabang was a quaint town, with a busy tourist area selling baguettes, fruit shakes and colourful crafts at every turn. I've been getting up in the mornings for a walk/run, and it's usually the best time to see the locals doing their morning activities. In this town in particular, monks dressed in bright orange robes are out in large numbers, quietly collecting gifts of daily food from the local people. It's a nice ritual to see from afar.

We'd seen a lot of markets, so our plan was to get out of town to see the countryside. We signed up for a day of mountain bike riding with a guide to show us some sites. He took us to a gorgeous waterfall called Tad Sae, which tiered down a clear stream and pooled into perfect swimming pools. 

After a crisp dip, Hamish and I took off alone for a walk up the stream. When I say walk, I really mean sweating our way up and down steep, jungle clad hills while trying to avoid snakes, spiders, and whatever else was lurking.

Hamish seemed to be on a bit of mission forging ahead, I thought to find another waterfall.  It turns out he was looking for a pretty spot to propose. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was so lovely, and bit funny seeing him kneel down on the jungle floor with both of us hot and sticky from the walk. I said yes and we could finally turn back with big smiles all the way.

We took a 5 hour bus marathon to Vang Vieng, our second destination. It was a very windy, steep road through lush mountains and small villages that I would happily do again for the stunning scenery. We did some more rock climbing and kayaking, and spent a rainy afternoon watching friends re-runs- a weird theme in the towns' tourist joints.

Our third and final destination in Laos was Vientiane, the country's capital city. We found it pretty modern compared to the rest of the country and light on interesting things to visit. We did however find a very interesting exhibition on the Vietnam/ American war. It was unbelievable to find out that millions (literally) of unexploded bombs remain today in the Laos countryside.

Today we leave Lao after our short but memorable visit. We will fly (to save a 24hour bus ride) straight to Hanoi, Vientam.

North Thailand

North Thailand

I was pretty stoaked to find some good veg cafes and authentic Thai culture in the lovely city of Chiang  Mai. We had hoped to arrive in time for the famous Sunday Night Market, but our flight from Phuket was delayed and we arrived at 12.03am, just in the nick of time to check into a room before they shut up for the night.

We spent a quiet few days exploring Chiang Mai, including an interesting meditation session with a quirky monk. Meditation is harder than it looks.

Hamish had stayed in with a dodgy tummy, and thinks he picked up some salmonella from chicken we where served down south, and it lingered for several weeks. Then it was my turn to be sick, and I got dengue fever (as diagnosed by my travel health book). We moved on to a trendy little town called Pai and stayed at some comfortable mud brick earth houses to rest and recover.

After 3 lazy days in Pai, Hamish was eager to get moving on two wheels...He had hired a Honda Phantom motorbike and was keen to ride the loop route on highway 1095, approximately 500km long, that travels over mountains and through the countryside back to Chaing Mai. I'd be sitting on the back, a good idea in theory...

The first day of riding was spectacular. The scenery was absolutely stunning and Hamish was in heaven rolling through the perfectly sealed, curving roads. Something I hadn't considered though, was how sore my bum would get on the passenger seat! But kiwi ingenuity to the rescue on the next day, as we duct taped a frilly cushion to my seat and all was good again. But after the second day, despite the view and the cushion, I decided a bus would be a better idea, and Hamish happily completed the final 180km by himself. Next time I'll have to get my own bike I think.

We met back up in Chaing Mai in the afternoon,  in perfect time to visit the Sunday Night Markets.

South Thailand

South Thailand

Fresh food, beach bliss and outdoor adventure awaited us in Southern Thailand! 

Quite a contrast to India, we let loose in modern Bangkok eating fresh street food and sucking up heavenly icy mango smoothies. It's not that I didn't enjoy food in India, but I really missed fresh fruit and veg. After a few introductory days in Bangkok we ventured down south to check out Thailand's famed beach scene.

Stop 1...Koh Tao, the divers island. Apparently they churn out more Open Water Dive Certs here than anywhere else in the world. So, we joined the masses at Big Blue, diving by day and enjoying dinner and drinks out with other divers by night.

Stop 2... Krabi Town, more of a transit town with a very good local food market for evening dinners. Here we hired a scooter each and headed out into the country side with another couple, Mark and Rachael, for a day trip to a National Park. The star of the park was a 7 tier waterfall, although the epic hike up to it was more memorable. We had to resort to some Scout/ Duke of Ed style decision making when deciding if we should retrace back down the dangerously vertical track during pending monsoon type rain, or continue on a loop track with an uncertain ending.

Stop 3...Railey, the climbers island. I was really excited about coming here and got straight into a satisfying half day of climbing with the guy who sold us our bungalow accom, a seasoned local. I loved the rock climbing and am already thinking about how I can incorporate it into Melbourne life.

The next day we explored the beautiful island and found ourselves climbing, this time without ropes, up and down a steep  mountain to reach a secluded lagoon. It was a health and safely nightmare, that Hamish did with just jandals on, but it felt very adventurous. Luckily I'd had a bit of pre-conditioning with the previous days climbing, otherwise I might have chickened out.

The beaches on Railey, surrounded by huge cliffs (often with rock climbers scaling them), where absolutely stunning, and it was quiet enough that we could relax into the hippy island vibe. I could have stayed much longer, but we wanted to sneek in a look at famous Koh Phi Phi, so we island hopped our way over on a ferry.

Stop 4... Koh Phi Phi is popular..it turns out very, very popular. Perhaps because it is close to 'The' Beach. And defiantly for its party scene (sadly cheap and seedy). Consequently, we choose to spent more time off shore than on. We did a half day, island hopping boat trip to get a good look around, which included snorkeling, cliff jumping and a private beach party at night in a cave. Some young thai guys organised cold beers, a sound system and some epic fire dancing showing us how to party Thai style.

We had to get up earlier than we wanted the next day for another diving trip. Hamish was keen to dive a sunken car ferry, and I joined in on two very beautiful reef dives. 

Next we fly up north to Chang Mai, to see a different side of Thailand.

North India

North India

It's been two weeks since I've written a post and I'll struggle to recap on all we've done, I'm not sure where to start...I guess the recent wedding, the anticipated highlight of our India visit, is a great place.

We met our friends James and Bronnie for a third and final time in Amritsar, picking them up at the airport and whisking off in a taxi to a city called Bathinda. We where held up by a sit in protest on the highway, just 5km out of Bathinda, so we arrived a bit late and had to rush straight to Karrendeep's house where the family was preparing for the evening wedding celebrations. We arrived just in time to join in on getting some henna done on our arms and hands, then Bronnie and I both had to hang out slightly helpless for a good hour+ while it dried. 

Several more hours passed and we wondered when the party would be starting. The plan was for dinner/ partying on Saturday, followed by more formal ceremony on the Sunday.

Finally at about 9pm we headed to the venue for an interesting night of dancing, very loud music, yummy food and a bit too much attention from the wedding photographers. I'm sure we had a photo with almost every guest, but it was lovely to be made so welcome at the wedding.

The next days events where similar to the previous evening, but with some beautiful ceremony thrown in, such as Karen arriving in traditional dress on a white horse, and my favorite part of every wedding, seeing the bride dressed up in her gorgeous wedding dress. Oh, and on the Sunday,  Bronnie and I wore traditional India clothes too. Bronnie wore her custom made sari and looked stunning, and I wore a very bling outfit that the family kindly arranged for me.

All in all it was a beautiful occasion that we where thrilled to be apart of, and another great opportunity to share with James and Bron.

Previous to the wedding, we travelled through some amazing places as we worked our way up North from Mumbai. We learnt to make Malai Kofta's at a cooking class in a lakeside town called Udaipur. We checked out the best fort we've seen in India in Jodhpur. We did an overnight camel safari in Jaisalmer where we slept under the stars on sand dunes (loved this). In Delhi we joined in on carnival festivities during their Navaratri festival, and finally in Amritsar we enjoyed a free lunch at the beautiful Sikh Golden Temple and got stuck into the dance party like atmosphere at the India/ Pakistan boarder crossing.

This concludes our very busy, quite amazing time in India. We have travelled a lot of km's have seen many sides of this remarkable country, and we leave having had a great experience.

Hampi, Goa and Mumbai

Hampi

An unusually cool town, our brief trip to Hampi was well worth the diversion inland. Hampi is a small settlement in the middle of flat plains, with a landscape scattered with oversized boulders and 14th century ruins indicating it was once a bustling trading hub.

The locals have in recent years settled in the ruins, using the foundations to build their houses and shops, but the site is being restored to preserve what is left, and the locals are being encouraged to move 3km down the road. What remains of the old town is a just a few streets of tourist accommodation and local housing amongst a crumbling mess of demolished buildings. 

We hired bikes and a guide to show us around and explain the history of the ruins.  We finished the day with a climb up a nearby mountain for a panoramic view and a gorgeous sunset.

Moving on from Hampi, we headed back to the coast for two relaxing days at Goa's southern beach-Canacona- with our friends James and Bronnie. So good to see them again- we spent the days swimming in the sea-retreating in the heat of the day to a beach side restaurant for cocktails. 

An overnight train plucked us from paradise to the city sprawl of Mumbai. A pungent mix of wealth and poverty, we saw as much as we could in 1 and 1/2 days through a city tour with a local guide. He took us through the rich intercity suburbs to the slums Mumbai is well known for. My initial reaction was that the slums aren't 'that' bad, many with satellite dishes and set amongst lively markets and busy industry like recycling sorting- there is a strong community feel. But none have toilets and most probably don't have running water. And the waterways that surround the neighborhoods and thick and toxic. And as we pull away from the city, these shack neighborhoods just keep going. The scenery of India is certainly changing has we leave the South.

Coastal India

Cruising up the Coast

We are on a day train from beachside Goa to an place inland called Hampi. We have sleeper class tickets again, which means chilling with the locals, but it doesn't matter for a day trip. In fact, it's great sitting amongst a big family, watching all the goings on-seat hopping, chatty children, card playing, hair brushing, continuous home cooked food being shared around, chai and curry sellers working the aisle. It's like being in someone's home.

The adults and kids are friendly and chatting to Hamish and I, with few words and mostly smiles and gestures. We keep getting offered food, and the adults insist we try the egg flavored digestives and the breath fresher, which tastes like rose perfume.

We have been cruising up the coast at a steady but enjoyable pace. We stopped for two days at a quiet beach near Kannur for Hamish's birthday and splashed out on some beach front homestay accommodation for the occasion.  The food was amazing (typical coconut flavors of South Indian food) over long conversations at the dinner table, just awesome.

We kicked on up the coast to Goa on an overnight train, and spent two days speeding around on a scooter checking out the forts, churches, temples and Portuguese era houses within the three main areas- North, central and south Goa.

South Goa was the most beautiful, so after a two day trip inland to Hampi, we will return to South Goa for two days of chillaxing with James and Bronny, before heading up to Mumbai! 

Keralan backwaters

Keralan backwaters under a full moon

Hamish and I are now in Alappy, 2 hours down south from Kochi. We are here to tour the Keralan backwaters on a converted rice barge house boat. We got a tip from a German couple on a good place to hire a small private boat, complete with captain, driver and chief, and our setup is amazing. It's a public holiday today (Ghandi's birthday) and lots of Indian groups have hired out boats for family gatherings (and what sounds like a lot of karaoke) so the waterways are almost as busy as the roads!

This avo, we putted around palm fringed canals and waterways, and have parked up at a quiet lake for a night under a full moon. Bliss! 

Tomorrows challenge is to catch our first train. We have been trying to buy our tickets online for days, but the booking site is rubbish, so we will have to try our luck at the station!