Here's the links to some more photos for anyone who's interested...
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Sweet endings
From Laos we headed a long way south to Koh Samet in Thailand for a last few days of sunshine. Our sun tans have been topped up, our appetite for seafood satisfied and our wallets well and truly emptied.
Today is our last day in Asia - in 8 hours we'll be boarding a plane to London. Fair well Asia - it's been awesome.
Today is our last day in Asia - in 8 hours we'll be boarding a plane to London. Fair well Asia - it's been awesome.
Monkeying in the jungle
An early start, Laos baguettes for breakfast and a day on a bum-numbing boat took us to Ban Phe, which is something of a Mekong service station. We stayed for one night and ate the worst Indian meal of our entire trip, we made the mistake of thinking that the Indian owner would serve authentic cuisine. The next day, the motherly owner of the guesthouse where we stayed sent us off with a packed lunch for another full day's boat ride.
The scenery up river was beautiful and the grinding of the engine became quite relaxing as we powered up the Mekong with just enough speed not to be pushed backwards. We were pleased to have opted for the slow boat rather than the super high speed death boats we saw zooming past complete with crash helmets.
After a total of 19 hours sailing up the Mekong we arrived at our destination - Huay Xai. Why the laborious boat journey you may ask (and yes, we did travel almost entirely by boat in Laos - a fact that Olly is very proud of), well Huay Xai is the starting point of the Gibbon Experience. This is a once in a life time experience to live like a monkey for three days. It was expensive, but our final blow-out before ending our trip. And wow, was it worth it!
Day one: after watching a safety video on how to propel yourself through the canopy on a zip line and signing a less than reassuring legal agreement, dissolving the owners of all responsibility, we were loaded into the back of a 4x4 jeep. Why the off road tyres we wondered as we hurtled along the brand new Chinese trade road? The answer became abundantly clear as we bumped down a tiny mud track across a river and then deep into the jungle. Rather than the usual waving, someone had taught the local kids to trust their hips at passing tourists. Very amusing!
The dirt road took us past several villages employing slash and burn to clear forest for agriculture to maximum effect. The further we went from the main road the fewer the scars on the landscape however. We stopped in a small jungle village, the edge of civilisation for 3 days.
It was then a 1 hour trek and several zip lines to our tree house home. The Gibbon Experience has been built with local labour to provide employment to the jungle villages and protect the forest from poaching. There weren't any half measures. Tourists zip through the forest above the canopy on zip lines, some of which are 600m long. The views are amazing. It's also quite an adrenaline rush.
We stayed in tree house number 1, a three story palace in a giant tree right in the heart of gibbon land. It came with it's own resident cat called tiger who seemed to live mostly on giant june spiders. It was just Olly and I and another Londoner called Zen.
Our guides left us to our own devises and dinner arrived shortly after via zip line. The noises in the jungle were intense. And we were super lucky, seeing more than 5 gibbons that evening alone.
We slept under fabric mosquito nets, well tucked in against giant spiders, rats and all sorts of other insects. The jungle noises were quite unnerving as I tried to fall asleep.
Day 2: we awoke to jungle monsoon rain. Luckily however it cleared as we headed into the jungle for more ziplining and trekking through the jungle. Zipping down was great, walking up through muddy jungle was a bit more like hard work. I finished with a very muddy ass. We also had to fend of the leaches which appeared in abundance after the rain. However, worse was to come!
That night we saw more gibbons, enjoyed our super out door shower and slept more soundly having acclimatised to the 'noise'.
Day 3: it rained and it rained. We'd already been warned that there may be a 14km walk out of the park should that river we crossed at the end of the jungle become too deep. Resigned to our fate of a day of walking, ourselves and our rather grumpy guide set off.
Soon we discovered that this trip would be as much wading as walking. The small streams that we passed on the way to the jungle had literally turned to rivers over night. At one point we were wading up to our wastes through muddy brown water. We didn't see any snakes, but the leaches enjoyed the mobile filling stations walking past.
After 3 hours of walking and miles and miles still to walk our guide stopped and sat down. What is it we asked. He replies smiling, "jeep coming" just as the wonderful sight of a 4x4 came around the corner. Luckily they'd had the foresight to keep a jeep on our side of the river.
Back at Huay Xai, filthy and knackered, we enjoyed a night of sharing our tales of the jungle with other travellers.
The next day we were off to Thailand, about 50 metres across the river.
The scenery up river was beautiful and the grinding of the engine became quite relaxing as we powered up the Mekong with just enough speed not to be pushed backwards. We were pleased to have opted for the slow boat rather than the super high speed death boats we saw zooming past complete with crash helmets.
After a total of 19 hours sailing up the Mekong we arrived at our destination - Huay Xai. Why the laborious boat journey you may ask (and yes, we did travel almost entirely by boat in Laos - a fact that Olly is very proud of), well Huay Xai is the starting point of the Gibbon Experience. This is a once in a life time experience to live like a monkey for three days. It was expensive, but our final blow-out before ending our trip. And wow, was it worth it!
Day one: after watching a safety video on how to propel yourself through the canopy on a zip line and signing a less than reassuring legal agreement, dissolving the owners of all responsibility, we were loaded into the back of a 4x4 jeep. Why the off road tyres we wondered as we hurtled along the brand new Chinese trade road? The answer became abundantly clear as we bumped down a tiny mud track across a river and then deep into the jungle. Rather than the usual waving, someone had taught the local kids to trust their hips at passing tourists. Very amusing!
The dirt road took us past several villages employing slash and burn to clear forest for agriculture to maximum effect. The further we went from the main road the fewer the scars on the landscape however. We stopped in a small jungle village, the edge of civilisation for 3 days.
It was then a 1 hour trek and several zip lines to our tree house home. The Gibbon Experience has been built with local labour to provide employment to the jungle villages and protect the forest from poaching. There weren't any half measures. Tourists zip through the forest above the canopy on zip lines, some of which are 600m long. The views are amazing. It's also quite an adrenaline rush.
We stayed in tree house number 1, a three story palace in a giant tree right in the heart of gibbon land. It came with it's own resident cat called tiger who seemed to live mostly on giant june spiders. It was just Olly and I and another Londoner called Zen.
Our guides left us to our own devises and dinner arrived shortly after via zip line. The noises in the jungle were intense. And we were super lucky, seeing more than 5 gibbons that evening alone.
We slept under fabric mosquito nets, well tucked in against giant spiders, rats and all sorts of other insects. The jungle noises were quite unnerving as I tried to fall asleep.
Day 2: we awoke to jungle monsoon rain. Luckily however it cleared as we headed into the jungle for more ziplining and trekking through the jungle. Zipping down was great, walking up through muddy jungle was a bit more like hard work. I finished with a very muddy ass. We also had to fend of the leaches which appeared in abundance after the rain. However, worse was to come!
That night we saw more gibbons, enjoyed our super out door shower and slept more soundly having acclimatised to the 'noise'.
Day 3: it rained and it rained. We'd already been warned that there may be a 14km walk out of the park should that river we crossed at the end of the jungle become too deep. Resigned to our fate of a day of walking, ourselves and our rather grumpy guide set off.
Soon we discovered that this trip would be as much wading as walking. The small streams that we passed on the way to the jungle had literally turned to rivers over night. At one point we were wading up to our wastes through muddy brown water. We didn't see any snakes, but the leaches enjoyed the mobile filling stations walking past.After 3 hours of walking and miles and miles still to walk our guide stopped and sat down. What is it we asked. He replies smiling, "jeep coming" just as the wonderful sight of a 4x4 came around the corner. Luckily they'd had the foresight to keep a jeep on our side of the river.
The next day we were off to Thailand, about 50 metres across the river.
Lovely Luang Prabang
Our journey to Luang Prabang marked our return to the Mekong. As we climbed off the second of our long boat rides we were struck by the beautiful tranquility of the town which has some of the most interesting history in Laos. The historical city is protected from development, so is full of low rise wooden shuttered buildings that look like they've stepped straight out of the history books.
We were firmly back on the tourist trail, and the prices here rocketed as a result. However, the city is beautiful and definitely a must see for anyone visiting Laos.
We spent a day exploring the city, visiting the ancient temples, cultural museum, narrow streets and climbing up to the stupa overlooking the city. Our walking tour conveniently ended at the aptly named Utopia, a backpacker hangout over looking the river with Thai style loungers and very large glasses of red wine. This is a city which knows how to treat travelers to some creature comforts. Later we found a couple of good bars and some fellow backpackers to enjoy them with.
As a result, our second full day in Luang Prabang didn't really get going until midday. We spent the afternoon exploring the Royal Palace, now the national history museum, which was home to Laos' kings until the last one abdicated from the throne in the 1970s. Whilst it's a beautiful building, it was no where near the plush luxury which we've been used to seeing in South East Asia. The gifts of moon rock from the US president in the 1960s were a telling gesture of the politics at the time.
We also did a bit of shopping in Luang Prabang... it has the best night market that we've seen on our trip so far. Beautiful handicrafts made by the tribes in Laos. I may have brought a bed spread covered in scenes of Laos rural life...
We finished our stay in Luang Prabang with a traditional BBQ. Delicious!
We fell in love with Nong Kiew
After a very scenic 6 hour boat ride down the Ou river we arrived at Nong Kiew. Maybe it was because it was our first exposure to Laos culture, the friendliness, great food or stunning landscape, but we both agreed that we could have spent far more than the 5 days we stayed there.
We had a cheap bungalow with balcony over looking the river and the view would be enough to keep you entertained for weeks, we however are the active sort.
Blissfully unaware how averse the Laos' are to flat roads, we rented 2 bicycles to go in search of some nearby caves....for anyone considering the tour de France, I can't imagine a more rigorous warm up. We found the caves after walking through rice paddies, past buffalo and small children, this was caving in the true sense and once inside we discovered relics of the Pathet Laos, who used the caves along with the local village during America's secret war.
By the time we got back to our village we'd decided any more cycling was out of the question, but with a desire to see more, naively booked ourselves on a trek called 100 waterfalls, which we were told was the most scenic choice.
The following day we discovered (slightly to Jo's consternation) that the trek comprised of climbing up a cascade of.....100 waterfalls. Once we got to the top the view was worth the effort.
One of the other cool things about Laos were the insects, one night this flew into the side of my head;
It was hard to leave this sleepy remote corner of Laos, but time was pressing so once more we took to the river ( which was to become a theme) and after a 7 hour boat ride found ourselves in the equally laid back city of Luang Prabang.
We had a cheap bungalow with balcony over looking the river and the view would be enough to keep you entertained for weeks, we however are the active sort.
Blissfully unaware how averse the Laos' are to flat roads, we rented 2 bicycles to go in search of some nearby caves....for anyone considering the tour de France, I can't imagine a more rigorous warm up. We found the caves after walking through rice paddies, past buffalo and small children, this was caving in the true sense and once inside we discovered relics of the Pathet Laos, who used the caves along with the local village during America's secret war.
By the time we got back to our village we'd decided any more cycling was out of the question, but with a desire to see more, naively booked ourselves on a trek called 100 waterfalls, which we were told was the most scenic choice.
The following day we discovered (slightly to Jo's consternation) that the trek comprised of climbing up a cascade of.....100 waterfalls. Once we got to the top the view was worth the effort.
One of the other cool things about Laos were the insects, one night this flew into the side of my head;
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
How now beautiful Laos?
Laos ain't online, thus the hiatus.
In one word "Wow" it is a beautiful country. To get there we took a night bus from Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu, the closest town to the northern border crossing into Laos, it's also the place where the French lost the battle for Vietnam.
In Hanoi we foolishly went to a travel agent to book the bus and were assured of a first class sleeper bus with beds designed for westerners, well, not quite but we did get an amazing disco bus.
The next morning we pulled into the very sleepy Dien Bien Phu at 6am, about half an hour after the bus to Laos left, so decided that the day would be spent visiting the 'sites', I.e. all the significant places where the French lost the battle there, including our last unbalanced Vietnamese museum, which interesting displayed amongst other things a wheelbarrow used by the Viet Minh during the battle.
Also it was our first experience of Bia Hoi, which is arguably the best beer in Vietnam and unfortunately we left to our final afternoon.
The next day we woke up at 4.45 as our bus was leaving at 5.30 and to ensure I didn't miss all the mountainous scenery along the border I'd bought an energy drink which I dually drank on waking up - enter Super Horse, I was awake, in fact I've never felt more awake and the 5hour bus ride passed in no time.
The bus dropped us off next to a river on the opposite side from the boats and the town and just by looking around we could see the 21st century was far behind us and the natural beauty of the landscape was breathtaking.
After an hour of eating and changing money we managed to share a boat with 3 other backpackers who'd been stuck there over night and chugged down the river in a very skinny boat to Nong Kiew.
In one word "Wow" it is a beautiful country. To get there we took a night bus from Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu, the closest town to the northern border crossing into Laos, it's also the place where the French lost the battle for Vietnam.
In Hanoi we foolishly went to a travel agent to book the bus and were assured of a first class sleeper bus with beds designed for westerners, well, not quite but we did get an amazing disco bus.
The next morning we pulled into the very sleepy Dien Bien Phu at 6am, about half an hour after the bus to Laos left, so decided that the day would be spent visiting the 'sites', I.e. all the significant places where the French lost the battle there, including our last unbalanced Vietnamese museum, which interesting displayed amongst other things a wheelbarrow used by the Viet Minh during the battle.
Also it was our first experience of Bia Hoi, which is arguably the best beer in Vietnam and unfortunately we left to our final afternoon.
The next day we woke up at 4.45 as our bus was leaving at 5.30 and to ensure I didn't miss all the mountainous scenery along the border I'd bought an energy drink which I dually drank on waking up - enter Super Horse, I was awake, in fact I've never felt more awake and the 5hour bus ride passed in no time.
The bus dropped us off next to a river on the opposite side from the boats and the town and just by looking around we could see the 21st century was far behind us and the natural beauty of the landscape was breathtaking.
After an hour of eating and changing money we managed to share a boat with 3 other backpackers who'd been stuck there over night and chugged down the river in a very skinny boat to Nong Kiew.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
Farewell Vietnam
We spent two days exploring Hanoi, Vietnam's charming capital. We didn't venture far from the old town which surrounds a lake home to a giant turtle. We spent most of our time exploring the narrow streets originally named after whatever was sold on them. Today we found barbie street, tourist street, shoe street, iron mongers street, party supplies street and many others. We also visited a couple of temples, the Hanoi Hilton Prison, museum with some amusing propaganda and overflowing markets. My highlight had to be the water puppet show. It was a brilliant show of skill, music and comedy. In the evenings we joined the locals on the street for bia hoi, and hung out in a couple of bars, one called Bomba Latina served the best mojitos we found in Asia so far. The food also improved massively once we reached the city. Grilled fish Hanoi style, full of lovely peanutty goodness, is definitely recommended.
We left Hanoi on the night bus bound for Dien Bien Phu, famous because it was the site for the battle ended French colonial rule in Vietnam. Our bus, complete with disco lighting was surprisingly comfortable.
We arrived at DBP at 7 in the morning and had a day exploring some of the old battle sites, a refreshing change from learning about the american war. By about 3.00 though we'd had enough and found a bia hoi garden where several hours quickly disappeared drinking jugs of beer and eating fresh peanuts.
The next morning it was up at 4:45 (!) to catch the bus to Laos. Olly was unusually awake having drunk a can of crazy horse, a bit like red bull on speed.
The border crossing, up probably the worst road we found in Vietnam, was virtually deserted. Entering Laos was slightly more amusing when we all got out temperatures taken with a strange forehead gun thing. Paperwork sorted, another page of our passports taken up with a shiny visa, and we were off into the highlands of north west Laos.
Our Vietnam highlights:
Best scenery:
Jo - rolling hills filled with fruit and veg in Dalat
Olly - Nimh Binh karst on the boat trip
Best site:
Jo - Paradise cave, Phu Nong National Park
Olly - ditto
Best place we stayed:
Jo - Century Hotel, Hanoi. $20 a night with fluffy towels and a computer in our room!
Olly - beach front hut on Phu Quoc
Best food: Olly - French meal at Augustines in Saigon
Jo - clams Thai style in Qui Nogn
Best Tour:
Jo - Dalat Easyriders
Olly - boat trip in Nimh Binh
Best journey:
Olly - ATR 72 flight from Phu Quoc to Saigon
Jo - local minibus journey from Chao Doc to Ha Tien, watching squabbling locals
Best beech:
Jo - Leper beach near Qui Ngon
Olly - Local beach in Hoi An
Best town:
Jo and Olly - Hoi An
Best local music:
Vietnamese Christmas songs on repeat for a 4 hour bus journey
Overall Vietnam gets about 7/10 as a backpacker destination. There is loads to see and do, travelling is well set up, as the locals love to travel, but we felt like we were missing the adventure of less developed places like Cambodia. You can get off the tourist trail very easily, but it's not long before another 'must see' site draws you back. The north of Vietnam has the amazing scenery, but on the whole we found the people in the south to be warmer.
We left Hanoi on the night bus bound for Dien Bien Phu, famous because it was the site for the battle ended French colonial rule in Vietnam. Our bus, complete with disco lighting was surprisingly comfortable.
We arrived at DBP at 7 in the morning and had a day exploring some of the old battle sites, a refreshing change from learning about the american war. By about 3.00 though we'd had enough and found a bia hoi garden where several hours quickly disappeared drinking jugs of beer and eating fresh peanuts.
The next morning it was up at 4:45 (!) to catch the bus to Laos. Olly was unusually awake having drunk a can of crazy horse, a bit like red bull on speed.
The border crossing, up probably the worst road we found in Vietnam, was virtually deserted. Entering Laos was slightly more amusing when we all got out temperatures taken with a strange forehead gun thing. Paperwork sorted, another page of our passports taken up with a shiny visa, and we were off into the highlands of north west Laos.
Our Vietnam highlights:
Best scenery:
Jo - rolling hills filled with fruit and veg in Dalat
Olly - Nimh Binh karst on the boat trip
Best site:
Jo - Paradise cave, Phu Nong National Park
Olly - ditto
Best place we stayed:
Jo - Century Hotel, Hanoi. $20 a night with fluffy towels and a computer in our room!
Olly - beach front hut on Phu Quoc
Best food: Olly - French meal at Augustines in Saigon
Jo - clams Thai style in Qui Nogn
Best Tour:
Jo - Dalat Easyriders
Olly - boat trip in Nimh Binh
Best journey:
Olly - ATR 72 flight from Phu Quoc to Saigon
Jo - local minibus journey from Chao Doc to Ha Tien, watching squabbling locals
Best beech:
Jo - Leper beach near Qui Ngon
Olly - Local beach in Hoi An
Best town:
Jo and Olly - Hoi An
Best local music:
Vietnamese Christmas songs on repeat for a 4 hour bus journey
Overall Vietnam gets about 7/10 as a backpacker destination. There is loads to see and do, travelling is well set up, as the locals love to travel, but we felt like we were missing the adventure of less developed places like Cambodia. You can get off the tourist trail very easily, but it's not long before another 'must see' site draws you back. The north of Vietnam has the amazing scenery, but on the whole we found the people in the south to be warmer.
Monday, 18 June 2012
Limestone maddness
We enjoyed a second day in Dong Hoi in style - a beautiful deserted beach
with a 4* resort and swimming pool. That wasn't in the guide book!
It's just as well we had a relaxing day, because the night was not so relaxing. The only way (we were told) of getting to our next stop, Nimh Binh, from Dong Hoi is the night bus to Hanoi, jumping off on route. OK we thought, until we found ourselves deposited on the roadside at 3am! The fact that Olly didn’t fit in the ‘bunk’ beds on the bus didn’t help either.
After some more sleep we took a xe om ride (on the back of two scooters) to the see the beautiful limestone formations surrounding the town. The trip included a VERY sweaty hill climb, followed by a far more relaxing boat ride. The boat drivers row with their feet!
Nimh Binh town is not much to write home about. The local specialty is roast goat. We were surprised to see one being blow torched on the pavement in preparation for dinner (it was dead of course, but still very much in one piece).
It was back on the road the following day, with a local bus ride to Haiphong. Loud music, sun and dust were the main themes of the journey.
In Haiphong, we brought tickets for the “fast” boat to Cat Ba, the island at the edge of Vietnam’s iconic Halong Bay. Along with two American girls we met on the bus, we boarded what looked like a suspiciously rusty, over loaded boat. The lady who sold us the tickets much have been delighted as she waved us off with the fair for a 45 minute boat ride in her pocket. 3 hours later we arrived in Cat Ba town. We could have been pissed off about it, but actually the boat ride was quiet fun and the scenery was beautiful.
Cat Ba is overrun with Vietnamese tourists. It’s summer holidays and if you have the money in Vietnam, you travel. We arrived on Thursday, when a room cost $10 a night. By Friday it was as though carnival had some to town and room prices rocketed to $30 a night. Vast quantities of beer and seafood were consumed and the cash machine emptied. Vietnamese are early risers though, so everything is over by 10pm.
Friday was a good day. Kayaking and boating around Halong Bay. The weather wasn’t the best, but we went with a fun bunch of people, avoided the crowds, paddled around stunning bays and didn’t get sun burn. The floating rubbish jettisoned by thousands of tourist boats was a bit of a downer.
We had dinner and beers on Friday night with our American friends – and Olly ordered a 400,000 dong crab – about 13GBP worth!
Saturday was more chilled (we had a lie in after Olly tried to stay awake to watch the football, on at 1:45am here). We climbed the island to see the Vietnamese war bunkers and gun emplacements.
We had a lovely dinner, featuring a little lizard which scurried up inside my trouser leg. Thank god it wasn’t a cockroach! The waitress couldn’t stop giggling and saying “very funny memory”. Here’s a photo of the little blighter:
Sunday morning, we set out for Hanoi.
This time we really did take the fast boat.
It's just as well we had a relaxing day, because the night was not so relaxing. The only way (we were told) of getting to our next stop, Nimh Binh, from Dong Hoi is the night bus to Hanoi, jumping off on route. OK we thought, until we found ourselves deposited on the roadside at 3am! The fact that Olly didn’t fit in the ‘bunk’ beds on the bus didn’t help either.
After some more sleep we took a xe om ride (on the back of two scooters) to the see the beautiful limestone formations surrounding the town. The trip included a VERY sweaty hill climb, followed by a far more relaxing boat ride. The boat drivers row with their feet!
Nimh Binh town is not much to write home about. The local specialty is roast goat. We were surprised to see one being blow torched on the pavement in preparation for dinner (it was dead of course, but still very much in one piece).
It was back on the road the following day, with a local bus ride to Haiphong. Loud music, sun and dust were the main themes of the journey.
In Haiphong, we brought tickets for the “fast” boat to Cat Ba, the island at the edge of Vietnam’s iconic Halong Bay. Along with two American girls we met on the bus, we boarded what looked like a suspiciously rusty, over loaded boat. The lady who sold us the tickets much have been delighted as she waved us off with the fair for a 45 minute boat ride in her pocket. 3 hours later we arrived in Cat Ba town. We could have been pissed off about it, but actually the boat ride was quiet fun and the scenery was beautiful.
Cat Ba is overrun with Vietnamese tourists. It’s summer holidays and if you have the money in Vietnam, you travel. We arrived on Thursday, when a room cost $10 a night. By Friday it was as though carnival had some to town and room prices rocketed to $30 a night. Vast quantities of beer and seafood were consumed and the cash machine emptied. Vietnamese are early risers though, so everything is over by 10pm.
Friday was a good day. Kayaking and boating around Halong Bay. The weather wasn’t the best, but we went with a fun bunch of people, avoided the crowds, paddled around stunning bays and didn’t get sun burn. The floating rubbish jettisoned by thousands of tourist boats was a bit of a downer.
We had dinner and beers on Friday night with our American friends – and Olly ordered a 400,000 dong crab – about 13GBP worth!
Saturday was more chilled (we had a lie in after Olly tried to stay awake to watch the football, on at 1:45am here). We climbed the island to see the Vietnamese war bunkers and gun emplacements.
We had a lovely dinner, featuring a little lizard which scurried up inside my trouser leg. Thank god it wasn’t a cockroach! The waitress couldn’t stop giggling and saying “very funny memory”. Here’s a photo of the little blighter:
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