So Laos for our part is coming to and end soon! Tomorrow we step on an exquisitely long journey taking us to the capital of misbehave....Bangkok =)
But still a little on Laos then. We did the 4000 islands and it was great and relaxed as stated before. Then it was of to Pakse which isn't at all special, more like a small french colonial (again the french) city in southern Laos. Nick stayed in Don det.
I had a great time during my 2 days. I hired a motorbike and roamed the Bolauven Plateau by myself in the search for the perfect cup of coffee! See the Bolauven plateau is a huge mountanious area with tons of coffee plantations, jungle and waterfalls! I went on the bike for what seemed like an eternity on a road I didn't know where it led. Well it led me first to a waterfall which was just beautiful!! I mean 200m falling down from the mountains in to the ravine and just sitting there next to it and sipping fresh coffee from a cliff side cafe...oh wow!!
Then it took me even further on this never ending road on my motorbike, I mean I even got to the next country district until I finally found what I was looking for, the Sinoukh coffee plantation, one of the bigger ones. It laid on a beautiful ground with a resort attached to it and some of the most impressive gardens yet I've seen in Laos! Well more coffee there for me of course! Then I realized, darn I need to get back cause my nus is leaving in a few hours and I am 100km away from Pakse!! I drove on about 90km on a 50km road all the way back just jetting through the traffic =)
Well I got back in time to meet up with Nick and the night bus!
Next day we arrived in Vientiane....most boring capital yet in the chapter of our travels. It took us a good 2 h to find a hotel that wasn't A. full or B. trying to extortionate us on the prices! We quickly decided this town wasn't big enough for the both of us and got the heck out of there the next day! I mean Vientiane is quite a clean and friendly city.....just not exciting in any way!
And now we have been residing in Vang Vieng for the past 3 days. It is a small city or town you might call it, surrounded by mountains and the mekong river! We have just chilled and taken it slow! Rock climbing we did as well and this was an awesome experience, hanging 20m up on cliffs above water at times and trying to push on with that last bit of energy to get to the top! Definetely something I will continue on in Thailand!
And now tomorrow it is off to Thailand! Yes the hedonistic capital of Bangkok awaits, where there will be party for a few days and shopping before jetting off to what I have been looking for, for weeks an island with a beach and a bungalow next to it and just laying there for a week!!
lördag 15 januari 2011
tisdag 11 januari 2011
pics my dears!!!
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| Temples of Angkor |
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| Angkor Wat |
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| Koh tonsay= paradise |
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| My bungalow on Koh tonsay |
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| Angkor |
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| Bayon....magnifigue |
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| Ratanakiri jungle where I was trekking |
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| Guess who....another endangeroud species |
Entering new territory....
So I finally crossed to border to Laos! How to do it.....in the back of a 1986 Toyota Camry from hell.....is there any other way to do it!?
Well it was me, Emily from Belgium who I met in Ban Lung and travelled with and a quiet but indespensible Polish couple, all of us cramped in the backseat, with the driver, his kid and wife taking up the front seat! Well it must have been quite a sight for the locals seeing us falang drive up to the border and jumping out =)
4000 islands was the premier destination in Laos for me and after another busride and small boat trip over the Mekong I/we (Emily & me) finally reached it! Now god bless my poor raggedy soul after doing 11 cities in 3 weeks in Cambodia, it needed the rest and so it got! Basically the islands consist of a small town centre and then lined up with simple bungalows and restaurants along the Mekong coast! So I checked into King Kong bungalows, which btw is just an indespensible place on the Don Det island! Come back to that later! So I laid in my hammock on my porch through the week, I ate amazing food (banana pancakes with honey and chocolate for breakfest, what do you think of that!), drank loads of smoothies and beers. read books, bicycled around the island and found gorgeous waterfalls! See what you do at the islands is nothing, in a good way, you do not stress, there is no must and the people are so generous and kind it sweeps you off your feet!
I found myself most nights in a multikulti poker table over at my place, playing with an American, 2 Scotts, 3 Finns, 1 Swede and petite moi! It was good times!
Hey I met up with my missing partner in crime, Nick, after a few days alone on the island. It was good to meet again and we had some good times laying in hammocks =) Of course he had to loose his cellphone the day we left the island, realizing it just before stepping on the bus and having to go back while I got on the bus to Pakse! I am sure he found his cell again, he left it by the docks =)
Well it was me, Emily from Belgium who I met in Ban Lung and travelled with and a quiet but indespensible Polish couple, all of us cramped in the backseat, with the driver, his kid and wife taking up the front seat! Well it must have been quite a sight for the locals seeing us falang drive up to the border and jumping out =)
4000 islands was the premier destination in Laos for me and after another busride and small boat trip over the Mekong I/we (Emily & me) finally reached it! Now god bless my poor raggedy soul after doing 11 cities in 3 weeks in Cambodia, it needed the rest and so it got! Basically the islands consist of a small town centre and then lined up with simple bungalows and restaurants along the Mekong coast! So I checked into King Kong bungalows, which btw is just an indespensible place on the Don Det island! Come back to that later! So I laid in my hammock on my porch through the week, I ate amazing food (banana pancakes with honey and chocolate for breakfest, what do you think of that!), drank loads of smoothies and beers. read books, bicycled around the island and found gorgeous waterfalls! See what you do at the islands is nothing, in a good way, you do not stress, there is no must and the people are so generous and kind it sweeps you off your feet!
I found myself most nights in a multikulti poker table over at my place, playing with an American, 2 Scotts, 3 Finns, 1 Swede and petite moi! It was good times!
Hey I met up with my missing partner in crime, Nick, after a few days alone on the island. It was good to meet again and we had some good times laying in hammocks =) Of course he had to loose his cellphone the day we left the island, realizing it just before stepping on the bus and having to go back while I got on the bus to Pakse! I am sure he found his cell again, he left it by the docks =)
fredag 7 januari 2011
This ain't no technoligical breakdown, this is the road to hell
Alrighty, At this very moment I have just lovely Combodia and now first time I'm sitting down in little old Laos. First impression is that it is quite laid back. Im at the southern part at a place called 4000 islands. I'm on an island called Dondet. Which apparently is the biggest backpacker place at these parts. Internet is quite tough to get. but luckily their are one internet cafe here (with slow internet). so again apologies for no pictures (seems like every update I apologise for new reasons).
The bus rides have been quite fun (read: not so). I don't experience as bad as James does (I'm a heavy sleeper) but they are quite taxing on your stamina. Today my bus was delayed for an hour because the door wouldn't open and their key was inside the bus (?). So I sat there for an hour watching them.
My next update I will write about my thoughts about Cambodia. Intrestingly enough I did have an epipheny about two days ago. While sitting on a bustling street all by myself in Siem Riep. Tons of tourists and locals walking by. The two waittresses smiling everytime they walk by me. I realised, I love it here. I fell in love with Cambodia. I don't know why it hit me all of a sudden but their I was sitting and not wanting to leave. But alas, I must continue on and so I did. Knowing full well I will most likely not return for a long while.
Oh well, enough about that now it's off to try to find James here in Loas. All I know is he was on his way to the 4000 islands four days ago. I don't know which and right now I can't access Facebook (our only way to communicate) to leave him a message. Hopefully he is reading this and will write a comment. Otherwise right now I'm living at one of the bungalows at a place called paradise. see ya around
The bus rides have been quite fun (read: not so). I don't experience as bad as James does (I'm a heavy sleeper) but they are quite taxing on your stamina. Today my bus was delayed for an hour because the door wouldn't open and their key was inside the bus (?). So I sat there for an hour watching them.
My next update I will write about my thoughts about Cambodia. Intrestingly enough I did have an epipheny about two days ago. While sitting on a bustling street all by myself in Siem Riep. Tons of tourists and locals walking by. The two waittresses smiling everytime they walk by me. I realised, I love it here. I fell in love with Cambodia. I don't know why it hit me all of a sudden but their I was sitting and not wanting to leave. But alas, I must continue on and so I did. Knowing full well I will most likely not return for a long while.
Oh well, enough about that now it's off to try to find James here in Loas. All I know is he was on his way to the 4000 islands four days ago. I don't know which and right now I can't access Facebook (our only way to communicate) to leave him a message. Hopefully he is reading this and will write a comment. Otherwise right now I'm living at one of the bungalows at a place called paradise. see ya around
måndag 3 januari 2011
My new year!
So I had a different kind of new year this time and end of the old one! I figured I've had so many crazy party and dinner filled new years, what should I do this time? I mean I am in Cambodia and Asia, I should definetely do something diffrent from home! I admit bubbles and foie gras is lovely but this is rather not the time for that.....
Hmmm of I was to the remote eastern Ratanakiri province of Cambodia, covered in jungle and the red dust roads (if you can call them roads)!
Now getting to this remote place called Ban Lung is not the easiest.....comfort travel is excused away quickly as it is 6h by minibus on the roads from hell!! Oh that is 6h unless the minibus doesn't brake down...of course in the middle of nowhere, 2h away from civilisation by car =) The road is so covered with red dust that all windows must be closed during this travel for it get's everywhere!
Needless to say the bus took 10h to Ban Lung and I arrived completely broken from dust and a cramped position next to a Khmer family, picture a toyota minibus with about 20 people inside and you will get the picture! (it's designed for 10)
Off I was to the jungle the next day with a young french couple I met on the bus! 2 days in the jungle I guessed would be a different enough new year for me, visiting far away hill tribes and sleeping in their village!
Christ was the jungle trek hard at times!! We descended waterfalls and we climbed up them, we crossed rivers and we hiked through thick jungle covered in icky spiders and other creeps! We had lunch next to a waterfall and by the river, oh this scenery was to die for!!! Just like Hollywood! So quiet except the jungle life that surrounded you, miles and miles away from any kind of civilisation!! However I come quickly aware of the fact that A. you are in a remote (real) jungle and B. there are creatures here that you don't have home, having lunch and being surrounded by...and I'm not kidding the biggest, ugliest, ickiest and dangerous spiders I ever saw...and yes they could kill a man by a bite, I'm talking tarantella size now! Man did it scare me.....and then the scorpions.....jeez, we had scorpions running around and ant's big as cherries not to mention snakes and tigers as well!! One part of the trek we descended to a small valley or path you might call it and it was so filled with spiders and their webs I quickly named it spider valley =)
We finally got to the tribal village and spent a night there in their tribe hall, cooking on open fire, drinking local rice wine with the tribes men and sleeping in hammocks. Just hadn't accounted on one thing, that the temperature would drop to nearly 0 degrees in the hills of the jungle!!! Woke up 2 h later in my hammock by shivering! I had only thin as paper pants and a thin shirt on! I rolled myself into a blanket in the bag and to fetal position but I could not sleep more....for the love of god it was so cold!!!!!! I prayed that the sun would go up, but the bloody thing never did!!! Well eventually it did of course, but that was first after turning me in to ice =)
The next morning we continued our trek heading back home and after a good 10h trek we were finally picked up by motorbikes and taken home the last 20km!
So there you have it folk's, my new year 2010 and it was pretty awesome even if it didn't include any bubbley!!!
Now it is time for me to kiss goodbye this beautiful country and tomorrow head for Lao land and the 4000 islands where I will seriously rest my body and soul for they need it!!! First though there is the way of getting there as it involves the same kind of buses and the same road, plus some over corrupted officials at the Lao border and a ferry trip to the islands.....I already feel this can be reason enough for another blog =)
Happy new year dears!
Hmmm of I was to the remote eastern Ratanakiri province of Cambodia, covered in jungle and the red dust roads (if you can call them roads)!
Now getting to this remote place called Ban Lung is not the easiest.....comfort travel is excused away quickly as it is 6h by minibus on the roads from hell!! Oh that is 6h unless the minibus doesn't brake down...of course in the middle of nowhere, 2h away from civilisation by car =) The road is so covered with red dust that all windows must be closed during this travel for it get's everywhere!
Needless to say the bus took 10h to Ban Lung and I arrived completely broken from dust and a cramped position next to a Khmer family, picture a toyota minibus with about 20 people inside and you will get the picture! (it's designed for 10)
Off I was to the jungle the next day with a young french couple I met on the bus! 2 days in the jungle I guessed would be a different enough new year for me, visiting far away hill tribes and sleeping in their village!
Christ was the jungle trek hard at times!! We descended waterfalls and we climbed up them, we crossed rivers and we hiked through thick jungle covered in icky spiders and other creeps! We had lunch next to a waterfall and by the river, oh this scenery was to die for!!! Just like Hollywood! So quiet except the jungle life that surrounded you, miles and miles away from any kind of civilisation!! However I come quickly aware of the fact that A. you are in a remote (real) jungle and B. there are creatures here that you don't have home, having lunch and being surrounded by...and I'm not kidding the biggest, ugliest, ickiest and dangerous spiders I ever saw...and yes they could kill a man by a bite, I'm talking tarantella size now! Man did it scare me.....and then the scorpions.....jeez, we had scorpions running around and ant's big as cherries not to mention snakes and tigers as well!! One part of the trek we descended to a small valley or path you might call it and it was so filled with spiders and their webs I quickly named it spider valley =)
We finally got to the tribal village and spent a night there in their tribe hall, cooking on open fire, drinking local rice wine with the tribes men and sleeping in hammocks. Just hadn't accounted on one thing, that the temperature would drop to nearly 0 degrees in the hills of the jungle!!! Woke up 2 h later in my hammock by shivering! I had only thin as paper pants and a thin shirt on! I rolled myself into a blanket in the bag and to fetal position but I could not sleep more....for the love of god it was so cold!!!!!! I prayed that the sun would go up, but the bloody thing never did!!! Well eventually it did of course, but that was first after turning me in to ice =)
The next morning we continued our trek heading back home and after a good 10h trek we were finally picked up by motorbikes and taken home the last 20km!
So there you have it folk's, my new year 2010 and it was pretty awesome even if it didn't include any bubbley!!!
Now it is time for me to kiss goodbye this beautiful country and tomorrow head for Lao land and the 4000 islands where I will seriously rest my body and soul for they need it!!! First though there is the way of getting there as it involves the same kind of buses and the same road, plus some over corrupted officials at the Lao border and a ferry trip to the islands.....I already feel this can be reason enough for another blog =)
Happy new year dears!
torsdag 30 december 2010
Village life!
A I travel up north the country of Cambodia it gets more and more remote. Two long bus journeys and half a kilo of sweat later I have reached Kratie and close to the Ratanakiri Province. This province is known mainly for it's non excistence of roads for transport and it remote jungle mountains and tribes! Stories even tell of the obscelence of electricity in parts of the province so it is rural life at it's best! And yes this where I am going and spending my new year!
So what could possibly make me go there you ask yourselves now....well how about untouched jungle and wildlife, mountains to trekk, waterfalls to swim under or just lay in a hammock and see the sun go down! Sound pretty good so far!
But for now and until tomorrow I am in Kratie, a small river set town with a chaotic market with smells and sounds of the orient. This town is yet to be flooded by tourists, it still offers some authentic life in Cambodia. Ever tried eating from a 3rd world food stall on the street, well I have and it is a must if being in Asia. Sure in countries as Cambodia and Laos it gets a bit more dodgy as hygenic standards are absolutely obsolent. For instance dishwashing occurs in a small bowl with water and if lucky som dishwashing liquid. Cooking is on one stow and in one pan all the time, every time....again lucky if it's washed. Now chopping meat and veggies is done on a wooden log in the sun, outdoor with the flies, you can forget about european standards, this is worse then Kitchen Nightmares =) But it doesn't take long until you set a side these boundaries and start to divulge in to the world of food stalls as it is cheap dinner, about 1$ will buy you dinner!
I tooka motobike (125cc) and drove around the district today. Went to see a mountaintop temple and some nice coastal sights. Of course my curious mind made me took myself on the paths of the main road and I quickly found myself lost and on the country side aka jungle...roads dissapeared and so did the people. Well after some driving around I was back on the road and on the way back to the town!
Oh btw I owe all the people to tell about Christmas. I met some lovely people in Siem Reap, mainly two girls from Aussie land. We clicked instantly and after I came out I was more or less adopted by these gorgeous girls. I had a blast with their company, with tours to the silk farm and markets and the best massage I've had in years involving a girl who twisted my whoole body in the most Yogic positions to crack my bones! But it was our nights out that took the price, having Margarita evenings, Mango daiquiri evenings and Tequila sunrise evenings! Goosh was that fun!! Again it is sad to depart from each other as always on this trip as they were going to Laos ahead of me and then home =( Well I was 10000km from home but ended up having one of the best Christmasses ever.......funny isn't it!
So what could possibly make me go there you ask yourselves now....well how about untouched jungle and wildlife, mountains to trekk, waterfalls to swim under or just lay in a hammock and see the sun go down! Sound pretty good so far!
But for now and until tomorrow I am in Kratie, a small river set town with a chaotic market with smells and sounds of the orient. This town is yet to be flooded by tourists, it still offers some authentic life in Cambodia. Ever tried eating from a 3rd world food stall on the street, well I have and it is a must if being in Asia. Sure in countries as Cambodia and Laos it gets a bit more dodgy as hygenic standards are absolutely obsolent. For instance dishwashing occurs in a small bowl with water and if lucky som dishwashing liquid. Cooking is on one stow and in one pan all the time, every time....again lucky if it's washed. Now chopping meat and veggies is done on a wooden log in the sun, outdoor with the flies, you can forget about european standards, this is worse then Kitchen Nightmares =) But it doesn't take long until you set a side these boundaries and start to divulge in to the world of food stalls as it is cheap dinner, about 1$ will buy you dinner!
I tooka motobike (125cc) and drove around the district today. Went to see a mountaintop temple and some nice coastal sights. Of course my curious mind made me took myself on the paths of the main road and I quickly found myself lost and on the country side aka jungle...roads dissapeared and so did the people. Well after some driving around I was back on the road and on the way back to the town!
Oh btw I owe all the people to tell about Christmas. I met some lovely people in Siem Reap, mainly two girls from Aussie land. We clicked instantly and after I came out I was more or less adopted by these gorgeous girls. I had a blast with their company, with tours to the silk farm and markets and the best massage I've had in years involving a girl who twisted my whoole body in the most Yogic positions to crack my bones! But it was our nights out that took the price, having Margarita evenings, Mango daiquiri evenings and Tequila sunrise evenings! Goosh was that fun!! Again it is sad to depart from each other as always on this trip as they were going to Laos ahead of me and then home =( Well I was 10000km from home but ended up having one of the best Christmasses ever.......funny isn't it!
tisdag 28 december 2010
It must be a trick of the light
Howdy, been awhile since my last post. Have been down in wild west Sihounikville for the past week. Enjoying the good company of Anders and other friends which I met here. Last time I updated was quite awhile ago so I have lots to tell...
Or maybe not. Sihounkville has been wonderful, other than the first night when we had a barfight. But that was all well and good. As thankfully when they took the fight outside the bar the police were right there to break it up. One of the fighters decided to attack one of the police so they decided to give some warning shots in the air. So the answer is no, their was no gunfight in the bar we were in and no, no one got hurt. Very safe when cops are everywhere to make sure everyone is safe (while their taking the bribes).
Other than that it is very peaceful here. Anders showed me to Otrus beach which is completly empty. We had the whole beach for ourselves to just relax and enjoy. And to make things even better the water is just crystal clear so it's just to enjoy. Pure bliss.
It has also been quite fun to hang out with Anders and learn a lot of Sihounikville. We met two swedes who were also living down here and we got along like two peas in a pod. They were working at a charity school helping to repaint it pro-bono. It was quite nice to go up there to check it out and to play with all the children.
That is the one thing which I love about cambodia. The children here are the greatest. When I was playing with them or taking photos. All of them were just smiling and having a great time. I haven't seen any kid who looked miserable. Yes, they are quite poor and some are working (which I think is horrible) but they still have these genuine smiles on their face and they haven't forgotten to be just kids. It is easy just to forget everything horrible that has happened when you are with these kids.
Alright, that's enough for now. Have a lot more to tell and once I remember to take my usb with me to the cafe I will upload tons of photos (hopefully).
Next time: Fear and loathing in Cambodia or how I stopped worrying and loved the country
Or maybe not. Sihounkville has been wonderful, other than the first night when we had a barfight. But that was all well and good. As thankfully when they took the fight outside the bar the police were right there to break it up. One of the fighters decided to attack one of the police so they decided to give some warning shots in the air. So the answer is no, their was no gunfight in the bar we were in and no, no one got hurt. Very safe when cops are everywhere to make sure everyone is safe (while their taking the bribes).
Other than that it is very peaceful here. Anders showed me to Otrus beach which is completly empty. We had the whole beach for ourselves to just relax and enjoy. And to make things even better the water is just crystal clear so it's just to enjoy. Pure bliss.
It has also been quite fun to hang out with Anders and learn a lot of Sihounikville. We met two swedes who were also living down here and we got along like two peas in a pod. They were working at a charity school helping to repaint it pro-bono. It was quite nice to go up there to check it out and to play with all the children.
That is the one thing which I love about cambodia. The children here are the greatest. When I was playing with them or taking photos. All of them were just smiling and having a great time. I haven't seen any kid who looked miserable. Yes, they are quite poor and some are working (which I think is horrible) but they still have these genuine smiles on their face and they haven't forgotten to be just kids. It is easy just to forget everything horrible that has happened when you are with these kids.
Alright, that's enough for now. Have a lot more to tell and once I remember to take my usb with me to the cafe I will upload tons of photos (hopefully).
Next time: Fear and loathing in Cambodia or how I stopped worrying and loved the country
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