Giuliana and I went and gave blood today. IT WAS CLEAN. Figured it was good to do something helpful for the country.
At the end they gave us a pop, a box of cookies, a tshirt, stickers and we get Cambodian blood donor cards with our picture on it. Sheesh! if I'd known that I would have given blood yesterday.
So if you like any of the above things and have blood, come to Cambodia and giv it.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Angkor
I'm writing this from Siem Reap, the town from which on goes to all the temples of ANgkor. Now that I'm here I just can't be bothered you know? I think I'm just going to skip the temples and I dunno, watch some TV or something.
Capitol GuestHouse
The Capitol GuestHouse in Phnom Pehn is wicked cool.
If you've ever watched a movie about travelling in SE Asia and seen where people live, this place will remind you of it. Apparently it was one of teh first to open in Cambodia (in teh 80s are whenever) and it has an older look to it.
It's tough to explain...the red and yellow (now brown) tiles. The maze of hallways you have to go to to get to your room. The enclosed alleyway you cross over on a metal bridge to get to the second building of the complex.
Tough to explain indeed, but very cool. If you saw it you'd know. Man I'm an awesome writer.
If you've ever watched a movie about travelling in SE Asia and seen where people live, this place will remind you of it. Apparently it was one of teh first to open in Cambodia (in teh 80s are whenever) and it has an older look to it.
It's tough to explain...the red and yellow (now brown) tiles. The maze of hallways you have to go to to get to your room. The enclosed alleyway you cross over on a metal bridge to get to the second building of the complex.
Tough to explain indeed, but very cool. If you saw it you'd know. Man I'm an awesome writer.
kids that beg
I think I've already mentioned how poor the poor are in Cambodia. Lot's of landmine victims and just people who can only beg.
The children are the most interesting beggars. Some seem genuinely poor and in need of food or money...when we give it's usually food. Others though are different.
They will walk up to you while you eating or just walking and do this weird chant thing. I think tehy're just asking for food but they use a VERY tragic voice and look. Some will stay on you for awhile, and eventually go away.
WHen they realize they aren't getting anything they suddenly turn into normal kids again. SOme start singing, some run and one kid shot me with a (empty) waterpistol.
Gotta make your money somehow. If they are that destitute I'm glad they can jump and play and stuff, but if they're not and just looking for a quick cash advance...man are they irritating.
The children are the most interesting beggars. Some seem genuinely poor and in need of food or money...when we give it's usually food. Others though are different.
They will walk up to you while you eating or just walking and do this weird chant thing. I think tehy're just asking for food but they use a VERY tragic voice and look. Some will stay on you for awhile, and eventually go away.
WHen they realize they aren't getting anything they suddenly turn into normal kids again. SOme start singing, some run and one kid shot me with a (empty) waterpistol.
Gotta make your money somehow. If they are that destitute I'm glad they can jump and play and stuff, but if they're not and just looking for a quick cash advance...man are they irritating.
also...
I apologize if anyone felt I made light of the situation over here. Like I have said the magnitude of the whole thing is hard to grasp, and even harder when you have limited info outlets.
earthquake
I thought this whole thing felt a little surreal to me because I didn't have the normal media barrage I get when something like this happens. A few headlines on the internet and that's about all I knew. I'm really used to sitting in front of the TV and watching results come in for hours.
Then we went to Kopong Thom and the place we stayed actually had a TV in the room. Hey hey CNN. Watched that pretty much whenever we were in the room, and I have now had my info fix.
After that I think the surreality may be a result of me actually being as close as I am. My plans might have had me in the south of Thailand, and I'm not THAT far away right now. And then there's also the sheer scope of the thing and we all know that probably has the most to do with not truly being able to understand.
I don't know what the news coverage is like at home, but CNN International is doing its best to cover the whole thing. Continuous as far as I saw, with even the weather people doing additional research on Tsunamis to add into their regular forecasts. They talk about the local populations and have human interest stories on them, but of course more of their coverage (65-75%) is on foreigners. I'm sure the newsrooms had discussions as far as what to cover.
In the end though the audience wants to hear from people they can relate to and that means tourists speaking English, German or French (for the most part). That's where teh dollars pounds and euros come from so that's who you have to keep happy. At the same time I think they're doing on okay job covering the local stuff as well. Let's just hope they and the rest of us remember the local stuff 2-3 years down the road when people are still rebuilding.
Then we went to Kopong Thom and the place we stayed actually had a TV in the room. Hey hey CNN. Watched that pretty much whenever we were in the room, and I have now had my info fix.
After that I think the surreality may be a result of me actually being as close as I am. My plans might have had me in the south of Thailand, and I'm not THAT far away right now. And then there's also the sheer scope of the thing and we all know that probably has the most to do with not truly being able to understand.
I don't know what the news coverage is like at home, but CNN International is doing its best to cover the whole thing. Continuous as far as I saw, with even the weather people doing additional research on Tsunamis to add into their regular forecasts. They talk about the local populations and have human interest stories on them, but of course more of their coverage (65-75%) is on foreigners. I'm sure the newsrooms had discussions as far as what to cover.
In the end though the audience wants to hear from people they can relate to and that means tourists speaking English, German or French (for the most part). That's where teh dollars pounds and euros come from so that's who you have to keep happy. At the same time I think they're doing on okay job covering the local stuff as well. Let's just hope they and the rest of us remember the local stuff 2-3 years down the road when people are still rebuilding.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
And now what have I been up to
Well not much.
We went down to Sihanoukville (or S'ville as some of the hip expats like to call it) and sat around. We sat on the beach, we sat on a boat that took us to islands and beaches and we sat in the lounge/patio at our hotel reading and writing.
There's something a little bit surreal about sitting on a beach, listening to Little Drummer Boy, having little kids wearing santa hats try to sell you fruit, or bracelets or askj for your empty water bottle, all the while sweating a little bit because even though you're in your lounge chair under a beach umbrella it is really hot. And then when you get bored with your book you take a dip in the water....heh what a world.
So that was nice and uneventful. WE nearly went to an old French Hill Station on Bokor, but funnilly enough we just really wanted to get back to Phnom Pehn, so we did that instead. WE are leaving here tomorrow for Khompng Thom...see you there!!! Or not
We went down to Sihanoukville (or S'ville as some of the hip expats like to call it) and sat around. We sat on the beach, we sat on a boat that took us to islands and beaches and we sat in the lounge/patio at our hotel reading and writing.
There's something a little bit surreal about sitting on a beach, listening to Little Drummer Boy, having little kids wearing santa hats try to sell you fruit, or bracelets or askj for your empty water bottle, all the while sweating a little bit because even though you're in your lounge chair under a beach umbrella it is really hot. And then when you get bored with your book you take a dip in the water....heh what a world.
So that was nice and uneventful. WE nearly went to an old French Hill Station on Bokor, but funnilly enough we just really wanted to get back to Phnom Pehn, so we did that instead. WE are leaving here tomorrow for Khompng Thom...see you there!!! Or not
Earthquakes and Travel plans
First of all for those who are VERY unclear on SE Asian geography I am perfectly safe and in fact now far away from the ocean.
So I was going to come on here adn say, guess what???!!! I'm staying on until the start of April. I'm going to the south of Thailand and Malaysia and Singapore and INdonesia....and oh, there's the 4th largest earthquake ever reported... hmmm
Now I still plan on going because before going to all those places I'm heading to Vietnam. My hope is that by the time I want to travel to those areas things will have recovered. That, and teh places I was planning to go were not nailed by the tsunami. But anyway, more details on that as it develops.
I know I should be wondering about the thousands that are now dead missing or homeless, or something along those lines, rather than can my trip still go ahead, and I am. But really there's only so much worrying that one can do. That and because the only reason I even know about the earthquake is I happened to go online...I heard nothing for 24 hours, so while I understand that it is of a gret magnitude I do not have teh pictures video and audio clips to really help me come to grips with the whole thing.
So I was going to come on here adn say, guess what???!!! I'm staying on until the start of April. I'm going to the south of Thailand and Malaysia and Singapore and INdonesia....and oh, there's the 4th largest earthquake ever reported... hmmm
Now I still plan on going because before going to all those places I'm heading to Vietnam. My hope is that by the time I want to travel to those areas things will have recovered. That, and teh places I was planning to go were not nailed by the tsunami. But anyway, more details on that as it develops.
I know I should be wondering about the thousands that are now dead missing or homeless, or something along those lines, rather than can my trip still go ahead, and I am. But really there's only so much worrying that one can do. That and because the only reason I even know about the earthquake is I happened to go online...I heard nothing for 24 hours, so while I understand that it is of a gret magnitude I do not have teh pictures video and audio clips to really help me come to grips with the whole thing.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
The big C
This was going to be insightful but my Hotmail isn't working on this computer so I'm in a grump. So there.
Cambodia is poor, and so is Laos. However, it is obvious that here the poor are much poorer and the rich are much richer. There are lots of people around who seem to be doing alright for themselves, but there are also those around who have jack diddly.
Hopefully some of these people will get picked up as teh whole country improves.
Looking around you can see that the French spent much more time and effort and money here. Here being Phnom Pehn. Mostly it's the roads, but buildings and all that other infrastructure is of a much higher level here. So C gets the best, but also the worst and L gets to cruise along. PLeasantly communist with itself.
So there you go. Don't know what any of that was meant to say but it has been said.
Oh, and I bought a Snicker's Bar tonight. Yummy. You know you've learned teh value of money a bit more, when you spend 1/2 an hour debating whether you can justify 55 cents for a chocolate bar.
Cambodia is poor, and so is Laos. However, it is obvious that here the poor are much poorer and the rich are much richer. There are lots of people around who seem to be doing alright for themselves, but there are also those around who have jack diddly.
Hopefully some of these people will get picked up as teh whole country improves.
Looking around you can see that the French spent much more time and effort and money here. Here being Phnom Pehn. Mostly it's the roads, but buildings and all that other infrastructure is of a much higher level here. So C gets the best, but also the worst and L gets to cruise along. PLeasantly communist with itself.
So there you go. Don't know what any of that was meant to say but it has been said.
Oh, and I bought a Snicker's Bar tonight. Yummy. You know you've learned teh value of money a bit more, when you spend 1/2 an hour debating whether you can justify 55 cents for a chocolate bar.
Ants
On my way here I was waiting to cross the street, and suddenly felt pain. I was standing on an anthill. Don't stand on anthills. Or don't wait for traffic.
Traffic here, sheesh. When crossing on foot it's all about frogger style, looking up the street for gaps. When driving. I haven't had the pleasure but it looks pretty easy. Cars just seem to move across lanes of traffic and people drive around. It's all very cooperative. Of course I think the flow is greatly helped by the large number of motorcycles.
Driving here, pretty nuts. Ants, pretty nuts. Good ol' Phnom Pehn. Heading to Sihanoukville tomorrow. (That's on the ocean)
Traffic here, sheesh. When crossing on foot it's all about frogger style, looking up the street for gaps. When driving. I haven't had the pleasure but it looks pretty easy. Cars just seem to move across lanes of traffic and people drive around. It's all very cooperative. Of course I think the flow is greatly helped by the large number of motorcycles.
Driving here, pretty nuts. Ants, pretty nuts. Good ol' Phnom Pehn. Heading to Sihanoukville tomorrow. (That's on the ocean)
Sunday, December 19, 2004
PayPal
And yes I do have a PayPal account, so if that was the only thing preventing you from sending me huge sums of money I will give you those details right away. Not sure how I would access it over here, but I'm sure if the money exists and is mine someone would heppily give it to me for a small commission.
Giuliana
For those of you asking about Giuliana she is well.
I don't know what else to tell you as we do pretty much the same stuff. She just sees things from a little lower, and is a girl and stuff.
For those of you who would like to know more I'll be sure to tell her about her legions of fans and encourage her to start a blog of her own so you can compare our writing for grammar, sentence structure and syntax.
I don't know what else to tell you as we do pretty much the same stuff. She just sees things from a little lower, and is a girl and stuff.
For those of you who would like to know more I'll be sure to tell her about her legions of fans and encourage her to start a blog of her own so you can compare our writing for grammar, sentence structure and syntax.
Cambodia
Had a rollicking good time getting into the country. Paid my $1 stamp fee to leave Laos, cheaper than expected, then joined forces with some French, Brits and Aussies to get our sppedboat ride to Stung Treng for $4 (way cheaper than expected) then thanks to one of teh frenchmen paid nothing to get stamped in Cambodia. For using an "unofficial" border we did okay.
Apparently the Toyota Camry is the most amazing car ever. All the "taxis" in Cambodia I have seen are that model, and man do they fly...well not that fast, but in relation to everything else on the road. Four of us paid for one outright rather than share the car with us and 4 locals to save $3. Did our trip to Kratie from Stung Treng in 2.5 hours, a trip that used to take 6 hours due to the road. We drove by a lot of people still working on it.
Kratie for one night then down to Phnom Pehn yesterday.
Moto drivers here are nuts!!!! They followed are bus all the way downtown and when you keep saying no and walking away they keep following until you actually have your pack on and are striding purposefully. If your stride isn't purposeful they stay on you because they know you're about to change your mind.
Aside from them... a lot more poverty here than Laos. And if you're going to be poor and can choose, stay in the country, it's easier to be poor there. Unless you're sure (I mean SURE) you're the peassant whose going to find the streets of the city paved with gold, then come on down!
Lots of heat, lots of markets, and oddly a lot of old military maps of the country. Well I guess not that oddly if you think of its history. SAw a former interrogation camp museum and I really have to think that Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge buddies may be the most messed up people ever. I mean they were really crazy. From what I'm understanding welll, I'd better not make a Nazi to Khmer Rouge ratio or someone will find something to get mad about. They were all sickies.
MMMMM, yup that's it. Like I said don't want to write much.
Apparently the Toyota Camry is the most amazing car ever. All the "taxis" in Cambodia I have seen are that model, and man do they fly...well not that fast, but in relation to everything else on the road. Four of us paid for one outright rather than share the car with us and 4 locals to save $3. Did our trip to Kratie from Stung Treng in 2.5 hours, a trip that used to take 6 hours due to the road. We drove by a lot of people still working on it.
Kratie for one night then down to Phnom Pehn yesterday.
Moto drivers here are nuts!!!! They followed are bus all the way downtown and when you keep saying no and walking away they keep following until you actually have your pack on and are striding purposefully. If your stride isn't purposeful they stay on you because they know you're about to change your mind.
Aside from them... a lot more poverty here than Laos. And if you're going to be poor and can choose, stay in the country, it's easier to be poor there. Unless you're sure (I mean SURE) you're the peassant whose going to find the streets of the city paved with gold, then come on down!
Lots of heat, lots of markets, and oddly a lot of old military maps of the country. Well I guess not that oddly if you think of its history. SAw a former interrogation camp museum and I really have to think that Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge buddies may be the most messed up people ever. I mean they were really crazy. From what I'm understanding welll, I'd better not make a Nazi to Khmer Rouge ratio or someone will find something to get mad about. They were all sickies.
MMMMM, yup that's it. Like I said don't want to write much.
railroads
The only railroad the french built in Laos is on Don Det and Don Khon. I cycled a lot of the bed and saw the two ends. It was very cool. I drew pictures (!!!) and took pictures and can tell anyone who wants to hear about it when I get back.
South
So we went south. And we got to Champasak and saw the ruins. VERY cool. And I must say I really enjoyed my pad on the Mekong, hammock and all that. Very nice.
This entry is going to be mighty shorty, mostly just because I don't feel like going too long, and I write enough in my journal. Also, we haven't really done a lot.
So Champasak, then on to Si Phan Don, more specifically Don Det. Don meaning Island as far as I can tell. Anyway, so once again in a hammock in abamboo bungalow letting my brain rest for four days or so. Partaking in too many fruit pancakes and fruit shakes, but thus is life I suppose. I had Kip to spend because it isn't accepted anywhere else so I did. For those who are wondering it was less than $2 for about 3/4 ounces.
The place we were staying cost 50cents a night, and with that and the food I was gorging myself on (I ate sooo much compared to the rest of teh trip) it was less than $5 a day.
And then it was on to Cambodia...
This entry is going to be mighty shorty, mostly just because I don't feel like going too long, and I write enough in my journal. Also, we haven't really done a lot.
So Champasak, then on to Si Phan Don, more specifically Don Det. Don meaning Island as far as I can tell. Anyway, so once again in a hammock in abamboo bungalow letting my brain rest for four days or so. Partaking in too many fruit pancakes and fruit shakes, but thus is life I suppose. I had Kip to spend because it isn't accepted anywhere else so I did. For those who are wondering it was less than $2 for about 3/4 ounces.
The place we were staying cost 50cents a night, and with that and the food I was gorging myself on (I ate sooo much compared to the rest of teh trip) it was less than $5 a day.
And then it was on to Cambodia...
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
future
So now I'm over here and I'm looking at other countries I kinda want to visit. However, as always money is an obstacle. Now I don't know how many people actually read this blog, but judging by the overwhelming response to my request for feedback I'm going to put a conservative estimate at 1-2. 3 if Mary Margaret isn't too busy at school. But anyway...I'm going to do this anyway, assuming most people will take it as a joke, but some might be stupid enough (kind enough) to follow through.
Help James travel more by sendibng (large) cash donations of cheques, money orders or cash made out to James McRae. If you want to send it email me and I'll give you further instructions. Don't have my email? Well then you're obviously a random person who has stumbled onto this...way to surf teh information superhighway nerd.
Anyway, send money or I'll have to come home and you'll all have to listen to me and see me adn all sorts of nasty things.
But serioulsy I would appreciate feedback. Just do it once to make me feel good. (and money)
Help James travel more by sendibng (large) cash donations of cheques, money orders or cash made out to James McRae. If you want to send it email me and I'll give you further instructions. Don't have my email? Well then you're obviously a random person who has stumbled onto this...way to surf teh information superhighway nerd.
Anyway, send money or I'll have to come home and you'll all have to listen to me and see me adn all sorts of nasty things.
But serioulsy I would appreciate feedback. Just do it once to make me feel good. (and money)
travellers
Although we aren't the most hardcore travellers as far as getting off the beaten track goes, I think we're doing alright. We've ridden some crazy buses and gone to teh corners of the country, and being in Vang Vieng really brought this home for me.
There you see girls and boys in all the clothes you're told to avoid in the rest of the country. The foreigner section of town is focused around caves, kayaking, TVs and beer. Nothing wrong with all that of course, but that's what's there. A lot of the people that are there seem to have made Laos a lsight adventure from Thailand. I don't kinow if this is true, but I don't know how things could be otherwise. You wear a tanktop in Sam Neua and you'll know people are looking and throw on something more in a hurry....well if you were a girl of course.
Anyway to sum up... not the most hardcore travellers, but doing alright.
There you see girls and boys in all the clothes you're told to avoid in the rest of the country. The foreigner section of town is focused around caves, kayaking, TVs and beer. Nothing wrong with all that of course, but that's what's there. A lot of the people that are there seem to have made Laos a lsight adventure from Thailand. I don't kinow if this is true, but I don't know how things could be otherwise. You wear a tanktop in Sam Neua and you'll know people are looking and throw on something more in a hurry....well if you were a girl of course.
Anyway to sum up... not the most hardcore travellers, but doing alright.
Kayaking fun and Vientiane
We decided to travel from Vang Vieng to Vientiane by paying for a kayaking trip. They truck us for an hour, we paddle a bit and they truck us the rest of the way. It was not in any way arduous, and it was mighty short, especially when considering the leisurely 1.5 hours for lunch, but still a good time.
Therewas one real rapid that tossed us...I was glad it did. Nothing like being thrown into a torrent, especially one that's pretty small and relatively safe. At our lunch stop we swam for a bit and jumped off a big cliff. Well kinda big, I've done bigger and certain others I know have done bigger still. I was the only one to jump, because I am the man.
Vientiane is a lovely town, and is very differetn from the rest of Laos. They just had a conference here and I'm assuming that's the reson it's so clean, so at least they're trying to avoid litter here. They even have hilariously translated signs up (sponsored by Australia) that in effect say love your city and don't litter. Unfortunately they haven't got around to providing bins yet. And for the most part it's just the downtown that is done up really nicely, about a 20 minute walk in any direction and sidewalks disappear, and things just feel a bit more Laos. We discovered this today when getting our Cambodian visas dealt with.
There are far more expats here and teh expensive grocerty stores that go with them. I forget it's getting towards Christmas, but the small boxes of christmas cake for huge prices bring it all back quickly.
Also this is the first really flat area of the country. Luang Nam Tha was on a small flood plain but this is much bigger. Looking at a map of the country today, it's all monutains in the north...no wnder ti took so long to get places.
Nice here, everything's a bit more expensive and we're going sightseeing tomorrow. Friday we're heading south and I don't know when I'll see internet on that trip...maybe stop in before we hit Cambodia, maybe not. If I don't, then I won't be on here until Phnom Phen (so dn't worry if there are no updates.
Therewas one real rapid that tossed us...I was glad it did. Nothing like being thrown into a torrent, especially one that's pretty small and relatively safe. At our lunch stop we swam for a bit and jumped off a big cliff. Well kinda big, I've done bigger and certain others I know have done bigger still. I was the only one to jump, because I am the man.
Vientiane is a lovely town, and is very differetn from the rest of Laos. They just had a conference here and I'm assuming that's the reson it's so clean, so at least they're trying to avoid litter here. They even have hilariously translated signs up (sponsored by Australia) that in effect say love your city and don't litter. Unfortunately they haven't got around to providing bins yet. And for the most part it's just the downtown that is done up really nicely, about a 20 minute walk in any direction and sidewalks disappear, and things just feel a bit more Laos. We discovered this today when getting our Cambodian visas dealt with.
There are far more expats here and teh expensive grocerty stores that go with them. I forget it's getting towards Christmas, but the small boxes of christmas cake for huge prices bring it all back quickly.
Also this is the first really flat area of the country. Luang Nam Tha was on a small flood plain but this is much bigger. Looking at a map of the country today, it's all monutains in the north...no wnder ti took so long to get places.
Nice here, everything's a bit more expensive and we're going sightseeing tomorrow. Friday we're heading south and I don't know when I'll see internet on that trip...maybe stop in before we hit Cambodia, maybe not. If I don't, then I won't be on here until Phnom Phen (so dn't worry if there are no updates.
puking
I don't understand why so many Laos (mostly ladies) puke on buses. 15 minutes into the ride and you start hearing noises, and because we're going up hill, we aren't exactly moving quickly. I guess if you're not used to any movement besides your own a bus might seem a bit much. What really gets me though is the fact that some of thame forget their own plastic bags...15 minutes in, you should have your own supply, don't touch the ones I brought along for garbage.
Sunday, December 05, 2004
hello
So I'm writing this stuff...and I assume people are reading it.
I would like to hear what's going on in your varuious bnecks of woods. My email still works, and you can leave responses to the various blog entries as you see fit. I encourage it, just don't expect immediate responses.
I would like to hear what's going on in your varuious bnecks of woods. My email still works, and you can leave responses to the various blog entries as you see fit. I encourage it, just don't expect immediate responses.
Vang Vieng
We're here now. I'm keeping this short because I've been on for too long.
Dropped on the highway, walk across an old airstrip, and this functions in some metaphorical way (yet to be fleshed out) as a seperation from teh rest of the country. VV, at least the part the falangs stay in, is different than what I have seen.
Guirls are lsutting it up (tank tops) compared to everywhere else, and restaurants all feature recling tables. There are also TVs in these restaurants playing satellite, movies and for some odd reason 30% are playing Friends episodes on a constant loop. After not watching TV for so long, trying to write in my journal with it on teh backgorund is crazy hard. Can't maintain anything resembling concentration. I guess that's a lesson to me about TV when I return to the real world. Mum, you've been saying it all along and I guess you were right.
Nice town. Went tubing yesterday, (sit in an inner tube and drift down a river, buying beer alonfg the way) and enjoying another relaxing day today. The happy foodstuffs that were supposed to be around were not apparent yesterday. Of course now that we're leaving tomorrow...I see the restaurants EVERYWHERE. I guess I should have just looked for the signs out front with smiling faces and mushrooms drawn in marker. Oh well.
We're probably going to kayak out of here tomorrow, then bus a little and be in Vuientiane tomorrow night. Then it's Cambodian visas and heading south towards there. We're aiming to be in Sihanoukville in souther Cambodia for Christmas.
Also I'm now looking at Malaysia, INdonesia and Vietnam...you knwo for something to do because I don't think I'll be ready to come home in January (too cold).
Dropped on the highway, walk across an old airstrip, and this functions in some metaphorical way (yet to be fleshed out) as a seperation from teh rest of the country. VV, at least the part the falangs stay in, is different than what I have seen.
Guirls are lsutting it up (tank tops) compared to everywhere else, and restaurants all feature recling tables. There are also TVs in these restaurants playing satellite, movies and for some odd reason 30% are playing Friends episodes on a constant loop. After not watching TV for so long, trying to write in my journal with it on teh backgorund is crazy hard. Can't maintain anything resembling concentration. I guess that's a lesson to me about TV when I return to the real world. Mum, you've been saying it all along and I guess you were right.
Nice town. Went tubing yesterday, (sit in an inner tube and drift down a river, buying beer alonfg the way) and enjoying another relaxing day today. The happy foodstuffs that were supposed to be around were not apparent yesterday. Of course now that we're leaving tomorrow...I see the restaurants EVERYWHERE. I guess I should have just looked for the signs out front with smiling faces and mushrooms drawn in marker. Oh well.
We're probably going to kayak out of here tomorrow, then bus a little and be in Vuientiane tomorrow night. Then it's Cambodian visas and heading south towards there. We're aiming to be in Sihanoukville in souther Cambodia for Christmas.
Also I'm now looking at Malaysia, INdonesia and Vietnam...you knwo for something to do because I don't think I'll be ready to come home in January (too cold).
Karaoke
Just to get this off my chest. sheesh.
The bus played these over and over on their VCD player (which I think only exists as a medium to serve teh Karaoke industry).
There are two types of videos they were showing. Thai and Laos. The Thai ones came some with artists and some with minimovies. Mini movies featured a guy and a girl, not being able to get together (limited mobney, work, mean father, etc.) They would remember one another and eventually get together at the end. At least part of this (usually all of it) would take place in slwo motion.
The ones featuring the artists use whatever camera angles (often just one straight on, but also 4 way splits and stuff). I shouldn't mock their editing techniques but I can lauhg at what they're filming. Drummers, hardcore longhaired drummers basically keep time on cymbals and the odd sanre hit (I cvould be a thai rock drummer and I have less rhythm than ... I can only thing of rude things directed at people with medical conditions). The guitarists are even better though. A lot of these songs I can't even hear a guitar, unless it's heavily synthed to sound like a traditional instrument (which would be odd). Then they show closeups of the guitarists anyway, featuring fancy fingerwork moving 5 times faster than the song, and not matching up with any noises I'm hearing from teh speakers.
Laos videos seemed filmede on a hi-8 camera and look they they're tourist packages, featuring shots of smiling people, Beer Lao signs, stone hjars and awkward zoom ins on empty bomb casings. Other tourist highl;ights they show includet the Friendship Bridge to Thailand and of course a series of buses. There was one with a story though. I had a guy in drag chasing another guy around. I think the storyline was teh ugly chick will get you in the end, even if you hide under a chicken cage. Who knows
I don't think this is me feeling superior as much as it's me laughing at cultureal differences (they dio it to me all the time).
Minbd you I don't know what Karaoke is like in Canada so maybe it's all the same. Perhaps someone who knows more could tell me, and tehn they could stop singing Karaoke adn get a life. Maybe...
Oh, adn tehy did randomly have some Charlie Chaplin movies mixed in with some of teh songs. That man is a genius...I never realized how much until I watched him on a bus in Laos.
The bus played these over and over on their VCD player (which I think only exists as a medium to serve teh Karaoke industry).
There are two types of videos they were showing. Thai and Laos. The Thai ones came some with artists and some with minimovies. Mini movies featured a guy and a girl, not being able to get together (limited mobney, work, mean father, etc.) They would remember one another and eventually get together at the end. At least part of this (usually all of it) would take place in slwo motion.
The ones featuring the artists use whatever camera angles (often just one straight on, but also 4 way splits and stuff). I shouldn't mock their editing techniques but I can lauhg at what they're filming. Drummers, hardcore longhaired drummers basically keep time on cymbals and the odd sanre hit (I cvould be a thai rock drummer and I have less rhythm than ... I can only thing of rude things directed at people with medical conditions). The guitarists are even better though. A lot of these songs I can't even hear a guitar, unless it's heavily synthed to sound like a traditional instrument (which would be odd). Then they show closeups of the guitarists anyway, featuring fancy fingerwork moving 5 times faster than the song, and not matching up with any noises I'm hearing from teh speakers.
Laos videos seemed filmede on a hi-8 camera and look they they're tourist packages, featuring shots of smiling people, Beer Lao signs, stone hjars and awkward zoom ins on empty bomb casings. Other tourist highl;ights they show includet the Friendship Bridge to Thailand and of course a series of buses. There was one with a story though. I had a guy in drag chasing another guy around. I think the storyline was teh ugly chick will get you in the end, even if you hide under a chicken cage. Who knows
I don't think this is me feeling superior as much as it's me laughing at cultureal differences (they dio it to me all the time).
Minbd you I don't know what Karaoke is like in Canada so maybe it's all the same. Perhaps someone who knows more could tell me, and tehn they could stop singing Karaoke adn get a life. Maybe...
Oh, adn tehy did randomly have some Charlie Chaplin movies mixed in with some of teh songs. That man is a genius...I never realized how much until I watched him on a bus in Laos.
bus ride 2
So this bus ride was on a VIP bus, meaning it's newer, faster, has air, reclinging seats and this one even had a TV.
Sam Neua to Vang Vieng was the plan (the bus was going to Vientiane but we were getting off here in Vang Vieng). And because it was faster it would leave 5 hours after the other ones but arrive at around the same time ...5AM the next morning. Of course that was the plan.
Because of a summit that was going on in Vientiane foreigners weren't allowed into the city and university students etc. got sent home. This bus ride was onhe that saw a lot of them heading back to school. And with them came their suitcases. Also with them, or whoever was on the bus came bags of rice (as usual), but also came more and more and more and mroe people (with mroe rice of course). There were 46 seats full of people, then there were easily another 20+ people in the aisle. I would say they weer standing except they were all sitting on teh rice and other bags that were stacked teh entire length of teh aisle (right to the steps oput the door) about 3 feet high. This bus has compartments underneath...supposedly to preclude teh need for a roof rack...guess what, they had to tie a tonne of bags on the roof anyway, just to make room for all teh people. INSANITY!!!!!!!
I don't want to judge, but I really have to think some people in Laos jsut aren't thinking...because this bus was far and away above any other bus I have seen here. There's something wrong with your brain if you thought wedging this many people with this much stuff on a bus would go off without a hitch. Even teh almighty VIP can't handle it. VIP, which by the tiem teh bus got rolling meant newer than a regular bus, same speed, seat with a bit of tilt, Karaoke on teh TV, but no air. Once they realized they had to move what they'd created teh air stopped ... I assume so the engine didn't die.
On the trip some hose popped, a break stopped working and a tire went flat. After that the driver slowed down even more, just to make sure teh bus made it. Maybe it's because I some from a place of maxuimum occupancy that this is opbvious to me but things, even metal buses, can only carry so much. No matter how much kip you think you're making on this one monster run, in the long run your pretty VIP bus is tyurning into a shit mobile, rattling around like the rest of them. Heh whatever.
I actually really enjoyed the ride, probably because I had seat adn because of delays to fix things we got to our destination around 10AM...much prefer arriving with light. Buses here leave in teh morning and arrive when still dark (if it's a really long journey) but we found the two that broke down enough to get us into town in daylight. Giuliana was in aisle and had various people leaning on her and sharing her foot space...but at least we weren't the two Danes who got on about 5 mins before departure adn decided to get off at some tuiny town along the way.
FUN!
Sam Neua to Vang Vieng was the plan (the bus was going to Vientiane but we were getting off here in Vang Vieng). And because it was faster it would leave 5 hours after the other ones but arrive at around the same time ...5AM the next morning. Of course that was the plan.
Because of a summit that was going on in Vientiane foreigners weren't allowed into the city and university students etc. got sent home. This bus ride was onhe that saw a lot of them heading back to school. And with them came their suitcases. Also with them, or whoever was on the bus came bags of rice (as usual), but also came more and more and more and mroe people (with mroe rice of course). There were 46 seats full of people, then there were easily another 20+ people in the aisle. I would say they weer standing except they were all sitting on teh rice and other bags that were stacked teh entire length of teh aisle (right to the steps oput the door) about 3 feet high. This bus has compartments underneath...supposedly to preclude teh need for a roof rack...guess what, they had to tie a tonne of bags on the roof anyway, just to make room for all teh people. INSANITY!!!!!!!
I don't want to judge, but I really have to think some people in Laos jsut aren't thinking...because this bus was far and away above any other bus I have seen here. There's something wrong with your brain if you thought wedging this many people with this much stuff on a bus would go off without a hitch. Even teh almighty VIP can't handle it. VIP, which by the tiem teh bus got rolling meant newer than a regular bus, same speed, seat with a bit of tilt, Karaoke on teh TV, but no air. Once they realized they had to move what they'd created teh air stopped ... I assume so the engine didn't die.
On the trip some hose popped, a break stopped working and a tire went flat. After that the driver slowed down even more, just to make sure teh bus made it. Maybe it's because I some from a place of maxuimum occupancy that this is opbvious to me but things, even metal buses, can only carry so much. No matter how much kip you think you're making on this one monster run, in the long run your pretty VIP bus is tyurning into a shit mobile, rattling around like the rest of them. Heh whatever.
I actually really enjoyed the ride, probably because I had seat adn because of delays to fix things we got to our destination around 10AM...much prefer arriving with light. Buses here leave in teh morning and arrive when still dark (if it's a really long journey) but we found the two that broke down enough to get us into town in daylight. Giuliana was in aisle and had various people leaning on her and sharing her foot space...but at least we weren't the two Danes who got on about 5 mins before departure adn decided to get off at some tuiny town along the way.
FUN!
Caves
We took a day trip from Sam Neua to teh caves at Vieng Xay. This was where the Communist Pathet Lao had their hideout until the revolution was a success in 1975. They have a series of caves they used to keep themselves protected from American bombs.
Anyway...these were some cool caves. The first one was teh coolest by far.
Each cave was sewt aside for one member of teh leading crew and their family. They were all equipped wiuth bedrooms and meeting rooms and toilets and safer emeting rooms and rest houses (for whent he cave was icky and it was safe outside). They have big cement walls to prevent from rocket attacks adn safe rooms with metal doors and air machines (Russian made of course). The first cave was cool because of teh part called the Elephant cave. This place had room for klike 3000 soldiers to sleep and also had a number of huge theatre speaking platform things built into the cave. Very cool.
There are craters from bombs everywhere and one in front of the Red Prince's pad had been turned into a swimming pool. The Red Prince was a memeber of the Royal Fmaily who went commie...being educated in Frnace and all that he also had a tennis court installed once the war was over. When the guide said this guy had been the last member of the royal family alive, I had to ask.
I wanted to ask what happened to the royals. Touring their palace in Luang Prabang and seeing all their stuff, but no mention of where they were was odd. I have read after the commie victory they were sent north and never heard from again. SO I had to ask this guy.
UNfortunately my question wasn't understood (sop he said!) but he did say something else that was interesting. According to him the Laos revolution was not fought against the Royalist forces, it was fought against the Americans. There was no Laos opn LaOS fighting at all. He said at one point in the war, the AMericans were fightiong from an area controlled by the king, but they never fought the king. I find that interesting, expecially since I'm pretty sure the Americans weren't about to do more than bomb the country, having enough fun on teh ground in Vietnam.
Anyway, so in Laos, they claim a victory over the USA. Take that AMerica! You lost a war to a country of 5million...for shame.
I really want to get an answer about what Laos people think happened to the king though...oh well.
Anyway...these were some cool caves. The first one was teh coolest by far.
Each cave was sewt aside for one member of teh leading crew and their family. They were all equipped wiuth bedrooms and meeting rooms and toilets and safer emeting rooms and rest houses (for whent he cave was icky and it was safe outside). They have big cement walls to prevent from rocket attacks adn safe rooms with metal doors and air machines (Russian made of course). The first cave was cool because of teh part called the Elephant cave. This place had room for klike 3000 soldiers to sleep and also had a number of huge theatre speaking platform things built into the cave. Very cool.
There are craters from bombs everywhere and one in front of the Red Prince's pad had been turned into a swimming pool. The Red Prince was a memeber of the Royal Fmaily who went commie...being educated in Frnace and all that he also had a tennis court installed once the war was over. When the guide said this guy had been the last member of the royal family alive, I had to ask.
I wanted to ask what happened to the royals. Touring their palace in Luang Prabang and seeing all their stuff, but no mention of where they were was odd. I have read after the commie victory they were sent north and never heard from again. SO I had to ask this guy.
UNfortunately my question wasn't understood (sop he said!) but he did say something else that was interesting. According to him the Laos revolution was not fought against the Royalist forces, it was fought against the Americans. There was no Laos opn LaOS fighting at all. He said at one point in the war, the AMericans were fightiong from an area controlled by the king, but they never fought the king. I find that interesting, expecially since I'm pretty sure the Americans weren't about to do more than bomb the country, having enough fun on teh ground in Vietnam.
Anyway, so in Laos, they claim a victory over the USA. Take that AMerica! You lost a war to a country of 5million...for shame.
I really want to get an answer about what Laos people think happened to the king though...oh well.
condensed milk
I just have to say...the stuff they serve here as condesed milk (I think it's just sweetened) is awesome. I hat coffee, and I'll have some of this stuff in some dark dark Lao coffee and its GREAT. Coffee lovers, I can only imagine how you'd feel drinking this stuff. So good.
Then tehy put the CM on bread...1000 kip for a baguette slathered in the stuff, AWESOME and CHEAP. Then tehy put it onpankcakes and french toast and everything. I tell you ...wow.
Just had to share that with everyone. MMMMM.
Then tehy put the CM on bread...1000 kip for a baguette slathered in the stuff, AWESOME and CHEAP. Then tehy put it onpankcakes and french toast and everything. I tell you ...wow.
Just had to share that with everyone. MMMMM.
Bus rides are fun!!!!
So I went through two significant bus rides recently. Let me tell you about them.
First we headed from Luang Prabang to Phonsovan intending to catch teh Vietiane to Sam Neua bus there and heading on that night (rather than spending money for a night in Phonsovan, which we had decided to skip due to time limits). Phonsovan has some interesting stone jars carved by unknowns and spread all over the place...next time I guess.
This bus ride was cool...guy on the top tying bags while the bus was rolling, bunch of army guard post (four guys in a bamboo lean-to with AK47s beside the road) and all that.
Anyway, so everything went according to plan and we caught the second bus. Resulting in numerous giggles frmo the bus staff. Most falangs (farangs in foreigners in Thai, and falang is Laos) don't catach this bus in the middle of the night I guess. They initially tried to charge us 80000Kip a piece but we had read our bus signs and magically 60000 kip tickets appeared shortly after we made a stink.
QWe were just satisfied to sleep (we were very rude and took the whole back row) again much to our friends' amusement. They sang along to whatever songs were on the radio and had a grand old time, but event they lay down for a rest periodically. Oh and we only took the back row because they told us to and no one wanted to sit near us.
SO as we slept fitfully, at about 4 in teh morning and 15km from our destinatyion the bgus was having issues getting up a hill. Turned out the engine had gone and gotten itself broken. We sat around on the hill while they tried to fix it and when that was never going to happen we sat around on the hill waiting for a vehicle to appear. The roads aren't terribly used at night (or the day for that matter). Eventually people started moving past and a bus was sent from town to pick us up...ended up getting in around 10AM. It was a pretty cool adventure though. The moon was really bright and there was m,ist all in teh mountains, a very nice nioght to get stuck with no lights. It was also fun to see the Laos people and there reaction...some napped, some started a fire to warm up...I'm sure it happens a lot.
I also enjoyed napping and being woken up to "Hey mister wake up" simply because that's what they knew how to say, it wasn't like they said anything to me after that, just giggled.
So then we had another bus trip...I'm actually going to put it seperately. Keep some chronological order.
First we headed from Luang Prabang to Phonsovan intending to catch teh Vietiane to Sam Neua bus there and heading on that night (rather than spending money for a night in Phonsovan, which we had decided to skip due to time limits). Phonsovan has some interesting stone jars carved by unknowns and spread all over the place...next time I guess.
This bus ride was cool...guy on the top tying bags while the bus was rolling, bunch of army guard post (four guys in a bamboo lean-to with AK47s beside the road) and all that.
Anyway, so everything went according to plan and we caught the second bus. Resulting in numerous giggles frmo the bus staff. Most falangs (farangs in foreigners in Thai, and falang is Laos) don't catach this bus in the middle of the night I guess. They initially tried to charge us 80000Kip a piece but we had read our bus signs and magically 60000 kip tickets appeared shortly after we made a stink.
QWe were just satisfied to sleep (we were very rude and took the whole back row) again much to our friends' amusement. They sang along to whatever songs were on the radio and had a grand old time, but event they lay down for a rest periodically. Oh and we only took the back row because they told us to and no one wanted to sit near us.
SO as we slept fitfully, at about 4 in teh morning and 15km from our destinatyion the bgus was having issues getting up a hill. Turned out the engine had gone and gotten itself broken. We sat around on the hill while they tried to fix it and when that was never going to happen we sat around on the hill waiting for a vehicle to appear. The roads aren't terribly used at night (or the day for that matter). Eventually people started moving past and a bus was sent from town to pick us up...ended up getting in around 10AM. It was a pretty cool adventure though. The moon was really bright and there was m,ist all in teh mountains, a very nice nioght to get stuck with no lights. It was also fun to see the Laos people and there reaction...some napped, some started a fire to warm up...I'm sure it happens a lot.
I also enjoyed napping and being woken up to "Hey mister wake up" simply because that's what they knew how to say, it wasn't like they said anything to me after that, just giggled.
So then we had another bus trip...I'm actually going to put it seperately. Keep some chronological order.
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