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All posts for the month January, 2016

Angkor Temples over Three Days in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Posted by Karen on January 13, 2016
Posted in: Cambodia.

We hired a Tuk Tuk and Driver for three days (11th – 13th Jan for US$76) to show the four of us (Aad, Mike, Vince and myself) around the temples of the Angkor Archaeological Park and Siem Reap Province. These represent the ruins of the ancient Angkorian capital cities of the Khmer Empire (9th – 13th Century AD) and included the most famous and well known Khemer temples, such as  Banteay Srey (11th Jan),  Angkor Wat (12th Jan) and Bayon (on 12th Jan).

Day one (11th Jan) we had breakfast at a nearby cafe….nothing special but cheap and cheerful! Our driver, Sovoeun, collected us at 9.00am for our full day out… starting by a stop off to purchase our three day pass (including photo) for US$40 each. We rode past Angkor Wat enroute (we will go there on day two)…we passed through the South Gate of Angkor Thom, which as very impressive and as we approached we saw elephants giving people a tour of the the area. We passed another temple with a large crane…I think it was Bayon, which we will stop off and see tomorrow. We were headed out of the North Gate on our way to Preah Khan Temple, this was an awesome place and at the entrance there were musicians performing, mostly land mind victims, so Vince and I contributed to the collection pot (an occurence that seemed to be regularly repeated at most of the temples). There were also some stall holders, trying to sell tourist stuff but we were not interested in books, postcards, t-shirts etc…..and although I would not have bought any, I did find the paintings by local artists interesting along with handmade musical instruments, including some drums with what I think was snake skin.

Back in our tut tuk we were taken to a smaller “hospital” temple….origianally called Rajasri, but now called Neak Pean (coiled serpents/nagas)…..showing the four elements within the 4 water pools…..Earth – Human, Wind – Horse, Fire – Lion and Water – Elephant. It was quite a long way out to the Island Temple in the middle of the last baray ( Preah Khan Baray) to be constructed by a Khmer King. The temple is on the axis of a lotus pattern of 8 pools and the water was thought to have healing properties. All four of us had the same thought as we travelled over the wooden bridge…..hope we don’t end up in the water like we did at Inle Lake in Myanmar!

Next we stopped at Ta Som, a small monastic complex like a miniature Ta Prohm, built in the late 12th Century AD by King Jayavarman VII in the Bayon style and it is the most distant temple on the Grand Circuit…lastly we headed 37km North of Siem Reap and visited Banteay Srey, Citadel of Women, from the late 10th Century AD under King Rajendravarman, with some of the most beautiful carvings in Angkor, stopping off on the way for some lunch.

On the return trip we stopped briefly at the Cambodian Landline Museum….which was very emotional….especially reading the stories of the child victims that live at the centre.

We completed our day with a climb up for sunset shots at Pre Rup (Temple Mountain) built by King Rajendravarman II in the late 10th Century AD…..a very busy day! I was very hot, in fact feeling like I was going to pass out by the end of the day……but after we got back to our hotel and freshened up I felt much better. Dinner with the boys was just some burgers at the nearby little place we had breakfast and dinner last night!

Day two (12th Jan) Up at 4.30am to get picked up at 5.00am our driver had us out to Angkor Wat in the dark so we could watch the sunrise over it. It was absolutely jam packed and although well worth the early start to see, I had trouble seeing over the crowds and Vince ended up taking photos over people’s heads and hoping for the best….we weren’t disappointed….you’ve got to love that Olympus TG4….BRILLIANT! We spent quite some time exploring the temple, including making friends with a pig down by the lake….Ankor Wat truly was beautiful. However, the line was so long to go into the inner sanctum that we decided to give that a miss.

Back in our tuk tuk we sped off for the South Gate of Angkor Thom, the Walled City of King Jayavarman VII from the 12th and 13th Century AD built in the Bayon Style. We saw the elephants again on the way through and briefly stopped to take some photos….we were shocked to see their tusks had been removed….they did not look very happy….you would not get me to part with any money (fee was US$20)      for a ride ….it seemed too cruel!

Bayon, the temple of faces at the centre of Angkor Thom, was absolutely fabulous to experience, but again packed with tourists and it was frustrating us to try to get photos because of the crowds. It was getting on to the middle of the day and the sun was unforgiving. I was overheating again and so was Vince, so we decided to just walk along the Terrace of the Leper King towards the parking area near the North Gate, and as we did so we walked past Baphuon (Central Angkor Thom) from the mid 11th Century AD under King Udayadityavarman II, but we didn’t go inside as we were melting, hungry and getting over the crowds. Walking past the Terraces of the Elephants was amazing and the detail was just fantastic.

We soon found ourselves in the parking area and made our way to some stalls to get some cool drinks and Vince poured a bottle of cold water all over me to cool me down….which made me feel like I’d wet myself but did work! Back in our tuk tuk we headed East out of the Victory Gate, past some smaller temples (e.g. Ta Keo), but to be honest we were all “templed” out and the heat had just zapped us….so we opted to just head for the Jungle temple, Ta Prohm, that had been filmed in “Tomb Raider”. No Lara Croft today, this Bayon Buddhist style temple built by King Jayavarman VII in the mid 12th – early 13th Century AD had been clearly reclaimed in parts by the jungle! Again, lots of tourists but well worth the visit….I had a little adventure of my own here …..but that’s another story!

We were finished by lunch time, so we got dropped off next to Pub Street, and we had lunch at The Red Tomatoe before walking back to our hotel to cool down and have a bit of a rest. Later in the evening, Vince and I took a walk to Pub Street and had a foot massage (US$7) for a hour in “Pure Vida” for our aching legs and feet….followed by dinner at the “Temple Bar” where we were treated to a display of Aspara Dancing…….very interesting and enjoyable.

Day Three (13th Jan). After a less than stellar breakfast we headed south today at 7.30am to avoid the heat….off to see the Roluos Group, the oldest Khmer Temples and it was the first Angkorian capital city.

First we stopped at Preah Ko, which was the first temple to be built in the 9th Century in the ancient, and now defunct, city of Hariharalaya, by King Indravarman I, some 15 kilometers south-east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia. It was a relatively small temple with three main buildings. Preach Ko was dedicated to the Hindu God, Shiva, and was a funerary temple of the king’s parents, maternal grandparents and the previous King, Jayavarman II and his wife. It is in the Preah Ko style of construction.

Back in our personal tuk tuk we were whisked onwards to Bakong, the largest temple in the group from the early 9th Century AD which was part of the King Indravarman period and also in the style of Preah Ko. It was the first mountain temple, built of sandstone, it resembles a pyramid, guarded by lion guards and elephants….it was very impressive.

Our final visit was to the Lolei Temple….also from the late 9th century AD…it is the northernmost temple of the Roluos group of Hindu temples built as part of Hariharalava, King Yasovarman dedicated it to Shiva and the members of the royal family. Once an island temple, Lolei was located on an island slightly north of centre in the now dry Indratataka braay. Scholars believe that placing the temple on an island in the middle of a body of water served to identify it symbolically with Mt Meru, home of the Hindu Gods, surrounded by oceans.

At both Bakong and Lolei there are contemporary Theravada Buddhist monasteries. At Lolei, Vince spoke with one of the monks, Hun, and explained that his wife was a teacher interested in schools in Cambodia, and suddenly we found ourselves being invited into the school. The school caters for both boys and girls from the local community and is free (funded by donations). They have around 250 students from primary and secondary up to 18 years, including sending some off site to univerisity. We got to see an English class operating, as well as a computer class and the library…..Hun introduced me to the class and I really enjoyed interacting with them….I have never taught in a bilingual class before…..loved it! . We made a small donation and found it a very interesting experience….in fact more interesting than the temple itself which was under renovation.

We decided not to go on to the Floating Villages as Aad was feeling unwell and Vince was hot…..so we got dropped off in town at Swensen’s Ice-cream. After which we went our separate ways….Vince and I shopped for an Angkor Wat charm from my bracelet in the local market, and we were again tempted into a foot massage which was blissful! Lunch was at “Geneviev’s” ….we found out later it is recommended as one of the top 3 restaurants in Siem Reap! It employs people with disabilities and is linked to the Fair Trade Village, which we also popped into look at as they offer employment and skills training for people with disabilities and showcase their wares…I bought a pair of earrings recycled from bullets. Whilst we were there, we met Rick (Access Seim Reap) and he and Vince got to talking motorbikes….one thing led to another and it turns out he has a project in mind to provide cheap transport for people with disabilities, including landmine and UXO survivors who are in wheelchairs…which involves building a custom made sidecar. We would really like to try to help and I contacted our friends in the Perth Motorcycle and Sidecar Riders group (which Vince founded) to see what can be done to assist…..US$800 would buy the bike and make the sidecar….giving a degree of independence and dignity to people in wheelchairs……Craig and the gang are keen to get involved…….I’m very excited about it!

Back at the hotel we had a bit of a rest and then went out for dinner to Pub Street….again to the Temple Bar….this time with Aad and Mike, so they too could see the dancers. Afterwards we walked through the night markets and we tried “snake”…..well Vince and Mike actually ate it…..I tried to bit a bit off but it was rock hard and I was worried I might damage my dental work……so I just licked it a bit instead! They also had spiders….but I passed on those!

 

Surin (Thailand) to Siem Reap (Cambodia)

Posted by Vince on January 10, 2016
Posted in: Cambodia, Thailand.

I could swear that I could hear it raining outside so I wasn’t in a rush to wake up or get out of bed, but when I did pull back the curtains the sun was shining and the ground dry so it was time to yet again pack the bike and clock up a few more miles – about 290km today that would take us all the way south from Surin to the Chong Chom – O’Smach border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia, and from there down to Siem Reap, home of the fabled Angkor Wat collection of temples.

Karen launched herself into packing our gear so whilst I bumbled around trying to wake up and retrieve the bike from the narrow corridor I’d slipped it down yesterday so it would be parked out of eyesight overnight, she had everything ready to throw on the bike. About 08:30am we got moving, looking for a place to get some breakfast.

Karen spotted a coffee place so we doubled back there, parked the bike, and cocked up our drinks order. We had intended to order a coffee and a tea – but presented with three columns of figures adjacent to each item on the drinks menu which suggested a sliding scale of cost as you up sized through small – medium – large – we ordered a large coffee and a medium tea but they came out as iced drinks served with a straw – only then did we notice that the column headings were hot – ice – something else that I can’t recall offhand. Duh !!!! We ordered hot drinks – and even then Karen wasn’t fussed on her Ceylon tea as it looked like carrot juice topped with frothy milk, so all-in-all it was a bit of a breakfast fail – even the 2 x ‘American Egg Breakfast’ we ordered would have been unrecognisable to any Americans ….

We refuelled just down the road and that was a bit more successful, and then headed for the border, chipping away at a nice pace in the light traffic. Exiting Thailand was very simple – I just handed in our ‘Simplified Customs Form’ that had been issued for the bike and get that stamped, and then our departure cards were checked and our passports stamped out at another hut, and then we were on our way to Cambodia – about 50m away.

We didn’t have any US$ on us and I’d checked the Thai Baht – US$ exchange rate last night – approx 1,100 THB = US$30, but I wasn’t surprised when we were told we needed to pay 1,300 THB each for our Cambodian Visa On Arrival. I argued a bit with the two guys behind the window but wasn’t getting anywhere, so after voicing my disapproval I paid the money and got a stamp in my passport from one of the guys which showed his title – some senior police dude in charge of visa services. Hmmmm – I should have filled out one of their feedback forms that invited comments on their visa services.

From the Immigration Office building we could see a couple of resorts just a stone’s throw away – apparently a lot of Thai’s cross the border to try their luck at the casinos here, before heading home again.

Once we had the paper visa stamps glued in our passports we then went to the next window where another officer meticulously poured over our arrival cards and passports, comparing the various entries, before stamping and counter-stamping and stamping again in our passports and on the forms, before rechecking all of the stampings and all of the forms. Very diligent. This officer told us to ride down the hill a bit to look for the Customs place where we could register the bike, so we thanked him and raced down the hill to get in front of a line of trucks making their way slowly down to the same spot.

The Customs place wasn’t much more than a box with a window cut in it, and here we just filled out a simple register which I signed. No carnet, no importation forms, no fees – yippee!!!!

Only one more checkpoint to get through – the final passport check, which was nothing more than a cursory glance a chuckle or two from the officer – and then we were on our way into Cambodia, back to riding on the right hand side of the road.

As a special treat for Karen I decided to avoid the shorter main route down to Siem Reap and instead opted for the back roads way there, so we turned left (east) at Phong, just south of O’Smach, and headed to Anlong Veng, before turning south for Siem Reap. This road was marked as a minor road on the map but was in good condition (though bumpy in places) and we made good time towards Anlong Veng.

A lot of locals had spread out some vegetable thing on tarpaulins on the side of the road – we passed km after km of this thing drying out in the sun, occasionally seeing people raking it over or spreading it out by hand.

Originally I’d planned to slip past Anlong Veng and scoot straight for Siem Reap without stopping but Karen was feeling thirsty so we left the bypass and headed into the centre of town, which looked a bit like Shitsville to be bluntly honest. The first ATM we tried wasn’t working, but after a bit more riding and then watching Karen do battle with the next ATM we found, we were finally cashed up – but in US$. Just near the cross-roads in the middle of town we stopped to get some cokes and condensed milk (Karen plans to make rice something-or-other sometime), and we were then back on the plan and heading down to Seam Reap.

The road was sealed, wide, and carried few cars but enough scooters and farm trucks. Scooter riders here are manic – they don’t check before veering off the road in any direction. We pushed on at a pleasant pace, enjoying using 6th gear for a change as up until a few days ago we haven’t needed or used it for ages.

About 30km or so north of Seam Reap the road narrowed and started to get bogged down with lots of tuk-tuks carrying tourists out to see the temples scattered around Angkor Wat, so this slowed our progress, and then the road surface became very pot-holed so that was another obstacle, but not nearly as challenging as the shit-for-brains car drivers we encountered when we finally entered Siem Reap proper.

We had to ride from one end of town to the centre and a bit beyond before arriving at our guesthouse, and it was almost like being back in India I thought, with cars and trucks and buses and scooters all over the road – coming at us on our side of the road, doing u-turns into oncoming traffic, stupid stuff like that. I was relieved when we arrived at the Panda Guesthouse, and we saw that Aad and Mike had beaten us here as their bikes were already parked down the side of the building.

We unpacked, caught up with Aad and Mike briefly when they returned from lunch, and then we nipped outside for a late lunch ourselves, before seeing the guys again and collectively arranging three days of temple sight-seeing via tuk-tuk, starting 09:00am tomorrow. I can’t wait to go see the temples (again) – but for now I need to dash and go charge the GoPro.

Udon Thani to Surin

Posted by Vince on January 9, 2016
Posted in: Thailand.

9th January, 390km (approx).

The plan today was to ride 390km south from Udon Thani to Surin, to put us within easy distance to get to the Thailand-Cambodia border crossing tomorrow. Karen was starting to look like a McDonalds McBacon McMuffin McBreakfast so for a change she went to the breakfast bar at our hotel and enjoyed their bacon, but I gave the Udon Thani McDonalds one last breakfast order and all my loose change.

We packed the bike under the watchful stare of hotel guests standing around the lobby of the Centara, and then got a round of ‘thumbs-ups’ from them as we rode away, initially in the wrong direction as the GPS hadn’t yet acquired enough satellites to figure out where we were.

Traffic was light as we departed Udon Thani, and out on the open road we tapped the bike a bit and cruised along around 110kmh – 120kmh for most of the day, enjoying the quickest pace we’ve had in ages, though frequently being baulked by slow cars and trucks. It was in these situations that the Thai riding practice of riding in the left hand motorcycle lane really paid off, as if the oncoming traffic was too dense to allow a safe pass on the right, we could legitimately pass on the inside using the motorcycle lane.

Aad had warned in a recent email that Highway 2 heading south from Udon Thani towards Bangkok and which formed a large part of the quickest route towards Surin was absolutely manic to ride on – Aad and Mike had seen a dead rider on the road just a couple of days ago and had read that there are about 80 fatalities/day in Thailand – making it the second-most dangerous place in the world to ride – so we avoided Highway 2 from the start and instead used the GPS to plot a motorcycle-friendly ‘curvy road’ route down to Surin, which probably added both time and distance to our ride, but also added fun and enjoyment, and subtracted some of the highway dangers that Aad had alerted us to.

Our country back-roads ride took us down narrow country roads in rural areas, passing through some sleepy villages scattered here and there. We stopped in one to refuel as I was a bit unsure about finding fuel further down the road, and the fuel pump attendants were amazed to see the big BMW, along with the off-duty policeman who came over to photo the bike, explaining as he did that he as only partially in uniform, as he showed off his casual shorts and things, underneath his uniform shirt.

Further down the road we stopped for a drink and a bag of crisps, not realising at this stage that this would end up constituting our lunch for the day. Just south of here we crossed a long bridge spanning a wide lake – stopping on the bridge to photograph the floating huts attached to the large fish-net contraptions they had.

We started to see signposts to a Dinosaur Museum, and whilst we didn’t go inside we did park the bike under a brontosaurus and took a few photos.

South of this place the road doubled in lanes and traffic, until we got bogged down in a town called Roi Et. GPS’s should have an option to ‘take town bypass roads if available’ as our GPS led us right through the centre of this town, still busy cleaning up the streets after an overnight celebration – Karen thought it might have been Chinese New Year perhaps. We did ride for a while with some young guys on their little bikes and we all had fun – we got a laugh out of them when we blipped the throttle whilst waiting for a red light to change green as one of the young guns almost launched himself off, much to the amusement of his mates.

South of Roi Et the road became more rural again so we upped the speed and settled back into our 110kmh cruise mode. The GPS led us straight to PPS Home – cheap at $20, clean, easy parking with the bike right outside our ground floor room, and no food within walking distance – so after getting some cold Chang beers (no time constraints on buying alcohol in Surin I note) we ordered pizza and had that delivered, and watched the last of the Harry Potter movies.

Tomorrow we enter Cambodia and ride to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat and catch up with Aad and Mike. It’ll be great to see the guys and hear about their time at YSS in Bangkok. Bring it on !!!

7th January …..Bangkok Hospital Udon Thani

Posted by Karen on January 7, 2016
Posted in: Thailand.

Breakfast was at MacDonalds….bacon and egg mcmuffins……very conveniently located next door. Then off to the hospital to see the specialist….just a short walk from the lovely Centara Hotel where we are staying.

The hospital in Udon Thani seemed a bit more dated than the one in Chaing Mai but none the less quite efficient and we didn’t have to wait too long…..a nurse escorting us to each of the various sections we needed to go and passing paperwork on. Despite Chiang Mai assurances they would forward my records no one had any X-rays or reports so that was a bit of a concern, but it was all good news at the hospital ….the orthopaedic specialist says it’s about 60% healed….X-ray shows implants all in good position and alignment….. so they took the cast off….they now have the horrible smelly thing…. although Vince did suggest I gift it to our friend Mike who had wanted to draw on it for me (haha)! Better off in the bin I think!

I have been given 4 different drugs to take for pain, inflammation, muscle relaxation and calcium for healing…….now I will really rattle! The drugs are because the Dr says the Physio will make the arm very painful….I had an hour session today with the people from the rehabilitation unit and yep……pretty painful! So I have to put hot and cold packs on and some special exercises to do each day for an hour….as many times a day as I can manage. The Dr wanted us to come back in 6 weeks for more X-rays and checks but we told him we expect to be back in Aust by then….so he agreed we can get it checked then, as he’s not worried. He reckons it will be three months before the bone will be fully healed …..so no heavy lifting or push ups on it (I couldn’t put that kind of pressure on it anyway at the moment it’s very weak….and anyone who knows me will know push ups aren’t even in my vocabulary!)

We have decided to stay another night here, and after considering the hassle of crossing the border another two times to go through Laos to Cambodia we have opted to just start to head south through Thailand and go to Cambodia that way instead.

Border Crossing from Laos on No 1 Friendship Bridge to Udon Thani

Posted by Karen on January 6, 2016
Posted in: Laos, Thailand.

We had a short ride to do today so a leisurely breakfast and packing of the bike had us on the road from the S Park Design Hotel (US$63 per night) by around 9.00am

The GPS was playing up trying to send us on a route over 300km when we really only needed to travel around 80km. But Vince in his intrepid style “winged” it as we could see the Friendship Bridge with Thailand on the other side of the Mekong River. The Laos side of th borde was a little haphazard with not a lot showing in English to assist us, but we managed with some officials pointing us towards the correct windows to get our passports stamped as well as the paperwork for exporting the ANIMAL out of Laos……I wouldn’t say it was an easy or streamlined process but in the scheme of things not too bad. Unfortunately, the Thai side was nothing short of a dog’s breakfast. There were signs in English but not a lot of it made sense. There were many windows numbered up to 10, with some including A’s and B’s etc……they didn’t run in sequence and there were several saying “Visa on Arrival”……very confusing! After unsuccessfully lining up a couple of times, and having to let some locals know just exactly where the end of the que was (as many thought it ok to just push to the front) we eventually found our way to No 7 were we had to get forms to fill in along with a form for the importation of the ANIMAL…we we’re then told to go to No 6 and then to 5. After lining up at 6 we were told NO…..we had to go to 5 first…so off we went. Vince got through ok but when it was my turn the officer demanded money (which we didn’t have in THB) ….I asked what the fee was for but it was never explained. I told her we had no Thai money, only Kip, which she made clear she didn’t want….. so Vince went to find an ATM. She told me to stand aside and I refused, as she still had my passport! She told me that I couldn’t have it back until I paid the money, and I said that was fine but as there was no signage with fees or rates and I had no money at this point…… I was still not moving aside until I had my passport…..other westerners in the line start had also asking about the reason for the money as well….suddenly I found myself being handed back my passport, fully stamped, and she waved me away! I caught up with Vince and we still went to the ATM so we had some local money anyway. I am not sure if the fee was legitimate or a scam……we certainly got scammed at the last border crossing from Thailand……corruption is very evident at times….no explanation, or if one is given it doesn’t make sense, no formal evidence of a fee scale etc and certainly no receipts or paperwork for the transactions!

We road into Thailand and were stopped at two different police checkpoints …..Vince was teasing me that we were boarder runners and their must be an APB out on me…..which of course was all nonsense and we passed through them without any problems at all.

Vince had organised for us to stay at the Centara Hotel, right next to the Central Plaza shopping centre and walking distance to Bangkok Hospital Udont Thani ….the hotel was lovely and on special only A$53 per night…..the lap of luxury….I could get used to this! We had lunch in the shopping centre at Santa Fae Steakhouse…..no match for the one we had in Le Vendome in Vientiane! We also booked our tickets to see Star Wars The Force Awakens at the cinema at 8.10pm.

I had a wander around the shops and Vince gave me a belated Christmas gift of a bottle of perfume……feeling very spoilt! We bought 3 external hard drives …. as our laptop is almost full and we need to back things up and post them home….a time consuming job over the next few days!

Dinner was at the Pizza Company and then we went to catch the movie….all very civilised! Star Wars was good to see on the big screen…true to the original Star Wars!

Vang Vieng to Vientiane and some off bike days

Posted by Karen on January 5, 2016
Posted in: Laos.

On Saturday (2nd Jan) we had planned to ride just from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng – actually just a few km south of Vang Vieng -but we couldn’t locate the guest house there that Aad and Mike had booked – and when we checked with some guys at a nearby petrol station they rang the owner and he said he was 30km south – we rode down there but still couldn’t find it, so we tried to push on to Vientiane but the road was bad with many potholes and roadworks and it was getting late, so we stopped short.

Then on Sunday morning (3rd Jan) we did the last stretch into Vientiane…staying a the lovely S Park Design hotel (A$80 per night) and a welcome return to normality for me…..everything is clean, everything works, the hot water and shower is to die for, there are crisp white sheets, four pillows on the double bed, bedside tables, toilet paper ( even a spare roll) and toiletries in the bathroom, a TV, Mini Bar, Wifi, there is room service, and we got all our washing done! I’m in “Heaven”! I do think traveling overland and roughing it is much harder for girls than it is for boys…..they seem to be able to cope better with a lack of hygiene and creature comfort facilities…..although I must say Vince is very good in that he does plan a little indulgence now and then to keep me going…..not sure I could survive without that! Even Adventure Girl still needs the odd bit of pampering and girl stuff!

We’ve parted ways with out travelling companions, Aad and Mike, for the moment – they headed towards Vientiane with us but stopped on the outskirts of the city and changed their minds regarding their plans – they were fed up with the bad roads and some bad drivers so they decided to skip Vientiane and southern Laos and instead they went straight into Thailand where everything is a bit more civilised and orderly. We said brief goodbyes …. Well not really goodbye just ’till we meet again I’m sure. I know they didn’t want a big emotional thing so I tried very hard not to cry….and managed……they have become like our family on the road…they ones you choose for yourself! We’ve had a great time with them and I’m sure we’ll cross paths again soon – possibly when it comes time to transport the bikes back to Australia.

Our first night in Vientiane was really just getting showered and sorting our our dirty washing as things are desperate…we are BOTH on commando underwear mode now and I love Vince but I can’t stand to be too close to him in his riding gear…he PONKS BADLY! Dinner was in the Musso Resturant attached to our hotel and this was a very unusual place…..featuring motorbikes and superhero memorabilia in an environment so dimly lit you could hardly read the menu or see your food….which was tasty but very expensive. The alcohol was only sold by the bottle (including spirits) so we opts for soft drink…and even that was served strangely….with the can put aside on a separate area and when I finished my glass is was quickly whisked away with vulture like accuracy and replaced without my knowledge and in doing so ended up being two cans used instead of the one….very crafty…..there were so many staff they grossly outnumbered the patrons and consequently we felt most uncomfortable as our every move was watched and pounced on.

On Mon 4th Jan we awoke fresher after a great sleep in a comfortable bed….although I awoke to a bad allergy and had to take some steroids to calm it…interestingly Vince said he had a bit of bother breathing during his curry last night…..I wonder if our meals were loaded with MSG…..hmmmmm…..’Tis a puzzlement! Breakfast was at the hotel and was unremarkable.

We got a taxi into town but the driver dropped us far away from our destination so we walked for miles to go to the post office …..I am not really into exercise and I am sure marrying a personal trainer it was probably on the cards he would try to work on my fitness….I begrudgingly chunter and complain the whole way….but I do do it! It was a long way and the GPS was less than helpful at times but at least it was open (unlike our unsuccessful attempt in Luang Prabang. We had a bit of a mission and a huge cost (508,000 Kip/LAK) for just 2.5kg and we didn’t end up posting our pr virus anniversary painting back as they didn’t have cardboard tubes and the brown paper on offer just wasn’t going to offer any protection. We will try again from Thailand.

After the most office we had another long trek in the heat in search of the MAG Office. We stopped off in a cafe for a drink and some noodles before facing the heat again. We were intrigued by the names of streets and businesses……French, Swiss, German, Korean and a lot of Vietnamese. MAG was very interesting, we looked around a ND watched some videos…..not as emoji ally shocking as our experience in the UXO Survivor Centre in Phonsovan, but non the less confronting. We spoke with Noy (Information Officer) and Bethan (Program Officer). Bethan had just arrived from their HQ in Manchester, England and will now manage programs in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. We bought some t-shirts for Vince and his brother, Ken (our No 1 support team in Australia) and a DVD – so whatever space we reclaimed by sending stuff back this morning we’ve subsequently filled again.

We managed to get a tuk tuk back to our hotel…..quite expensive here (60,000 Kip/LAK on average) and the heavy traffic jams didn’t help our journey. For dinner we had a special treat….Vince had been promising me a great pepper steak and chocolate shuffle at a French restaurant, Ven Dome, he had gone to on his last visit, near his previous accommodation. It was vu romantic and the food and carafe of red wine was just the ticket. Coincidently, we met up with Andrai and Ingrid….a couple from Tasmania we ran into several times in Phonsovan (Plain of Jars, UXO Survivor Centre and Nisha’s Indian Restaurant). They too had come for the great food. Vince told me that during the war this place was frequented by the CIA spooks and journalists and I could picture them here in that time warp.

A fantastic and memorable day!

On 5th Jan we went to visit the COPE Visitor Centre where they make prosthetic limbs for UXO victims  – and that was supposed to be quite an inspiring place to visit from what we’ve read – http://www.copelaos.org/visit.php but I found it very depressing and in fact it made me angry to see the carnage of civilian casualties, especially children. The US has a lot to answer for and really needs to take responsibility for the clean up required…..very disappointing that they do not appear to have stepped up to this!

We went for a walk around and intended to visit the World Trade Centre…but found it is still under construction. We had late lunch at the Billabong Sports Bar and Grill, we had tried to go back to Le Vendome but it was closed. As we walked towards the river to see the sunset over the Mekong, we stopped off at a little handicraft shop, Saoban, which sells handmade items from women exiting prostitution by providing safe work environments and alternative income….we wanted to support this in some small way….so we purchased a silk scarf for 200,000 Kip/LAK. There are so many worthy causes here  we wish we could give more, but we are quickly running out of money options ourselves as we enter the final few months of our trip.

Tomorrow we head for Udon Thani, Thailand so I can make my orthopaedic specialist appointment at the hospital and hopefully get rid of this cast and start Physio. There’s a cinema next to our hotel in Udon Thani, so we are hoping to catch the new Star Wars.

NYE In Luang Prabang and Our First Wedding Anniversary

Posted by Karen on January 1, 2016
Posted in: Laos.

Although we knew it was the 31st Dec, last day of our 2015 adventures….it somehow didn’t seem much like NYE in Luang Prabang, Loas. People were gearing up with lights and signs, so unlike Christmas they do celebrate it here….but it just didn’t have the same feel to it…..not that we are party animals in any case….we generally don’t even see in the New Year….tucked up in bed asleep it just seamlessly passes us by.

The four of us walked into town (quite a way as in most places the cheap accommodation is always out of town) and after getting some money out of the ATM we stopped in at a little place called “Merry 2” for breakfast…..nothing to write home about but sustaining none the less. The waitress gifted us 4 mandarins for New Year.

We then continued our walk through town…and Vince and I stopped and looked at small Art Gallery, where we were impressed with the local artist’s work and considered purchasing one as a gift to each other for our first wedding anniversary tomorrow. The boys waited outside as “they don’t do art” according to young Mike. Walking a bit further down we saw the way up to Mt Phousi. Vince had been to the top on his previous visit and wanted to show me….so we climbed Mt Phousi (I know he loves me but sometimes I think he’s trying to kill me!) On the way up I was tempted to hit the gong but managed to restrain myself. We passed a lady with flower offerings and small bamboo cages holding pairs of birds…..these she indicated were offerings for good luck. Whilst we didn’t really want to encourage trapping birds and selling them I did want to do something (I hate seeing birds in cages) so we purchased a pair for 20,000 kip/LAK and I later freed them in the bush. At the top we had a bit of a rest and enjoyed the great view over that town. The Temple was similar to many others we have seen before. On the way down the other side of the mountain it was much easier and near the bottom there were many replicas of the woman we had seen going up….all selling the same flowers and cages with 2 small birds inside. Aad and Mike elected not to climb the mountain so they were waiting for us when we came down and we all went across the road to the National Museum.

I was overheating and had guzzled down a bottle of water….which made me feel ill, so I sat in the shade in the National Museum grounds whilst the others took their photos. The gates were being closed for lunch time and we found ourselves trapped as I watched patron after patron being redirected way over to the other side of the grounds….the people on the gate then let a group of Asian tourist through so that was it ….we were going though that gate….my mind was set…..they boys were reluctant to take on the challenge but I was determined……so off I went and when they tried to redirect me I directly questioned them as to why they let the others through and not us…….suddenly locks were being undone and we were being let through!

We all took a stroll down to the river, passing the accommodation where Vince had stayed at previously…..cute bungalows. There we cafes and restaurants all along the river and we watched a ferry coming from the other side of the Mekong. Vince wanted to stop for a coffee but the boys wanted to push on, so we parted ways agreeing to meet up at the Belgian Beer Garden (which we had spotted opposite the little art gallery) for lunch.

The coffee place, Saffron, uses locally grown beans…..a replacement crop for the opium poppies now illegal for the hill tribes. Vince really enjoyed it and I had a nice cup of tea before sharing a chocolate muffin with my husband. The walk along the streets was filled with interest with all sorts going on, mostly daily life but immensely entertaining none the less. We saw all sorts of I amazing vehicles along the way including a little monkey bike that Vince though we should get for me!

We arrived a little before the others at the Belgian Beer Garden so we went back over the road for another look at the art work and eventually we settled on one…..but the price had shot up from the 700,000kip/LAK …..we were originally told they were all the same price, to 850,000kip/LAK ……so we said we would think about it.

Back at the lunch spot we had just got our drinks…..a beer for Vince and a special treat for me….a glass of red wine! Wine and spirits are extremely expensive here due to taxes so I often just have a soft drink….Vince insists I need to learn to like drinking beer as he never misses out…..it’s true….even on tiny roadside stalls where you can’t get water but you can always get beer! Sitting outside we soon spotted the boys who quickly joined us and we all enjoyed a leisurely and delicious lunch. After a second round of drinks, I decided to try to barter for the painting (not something I like doing)….Vince was all for it so off we went and I offered 600,000 this was refused but countered at 700,000 (A$116) so we agreed. They took it out of the frame for us and rolled it up I a bamboo tube….we will have to replace this to get it though Australian customs I’m sure.

We walked back to our hotel and just pottered about for the evening….we didn’t bother with any dinner as we were still full from our late lunch…..true to form we were in bed by 8.30pm….Happy New Year!

We woke up late on 1st Jan – Our First Wedding Anniversary! We had a few plans ….but the day was filled with a comedy of errors….walked miles….post office closed and we were staying at the “Faulty Towers hotel” ……no water yesterday now whaling pipes all night long! We did manage a nice, although expensive, brunch at the Indigo Terrace and a reasonable dinner at Belgian Beer Garden…..our dessert even had a sparkler in it!