Luang Prabang

I love it here, so laid back. Had a bit of a bad night though, something I ate I think and couldn't face the morning excursion so stayed in bed. Walked around town and went to Wat Xieng Thong. Typical (apparently) Laos architecture with the roof sloping almost to ground level. A serene place despite the number of visitors, originally built in the 1500's and the walls decorated with glass mosaics, this picture shows the tree of life, and one of me taken by a french woman who had the same camera and I thought, wrongly as you can see, that she knew what she was doing.






















Managed a coke for lunch and then went on the waterfalls trip, to Quang Si. Just beautiful, the falls must be 150 feet high, falling off limestone cliffs into a turquoise pool. I managed to climb half way up and had someone take a picture...how brave was I?





You can't escape the realities of life here though and at the base of the falls there was a sanctury for a rescued tiger, Phet, fully grown now but orphaned at 2 months by illegal hunters and also some rescued black bears.



In the evening I climbed Phousi hill inside the town, to watch the sun set over the Mekong and the River Khan which runs into the Mekong just north of the town.



Well it is Thursday (I think) and I am just back from a 1/2 day cruise, 2 hours upstream to Pak Ou caves containing 1000 Buddahs and 1 hour back. The river is majestic, the 11th longest river in the world and 3 or 4 times the width of the Thames in London. I estimated driver, three wood then think about it. (No comments from the golfers who know me that it must be about 250 yds then). Going upstream the boat kept close to the shore to avoid the strong current but on the way back we kept to the centre and went very quickly. The scenery all around is stunning, mist in the mountains, and I am afraid the photographs will not do it justice but I will never forget it. This is the view the Buddahs have.




Have also visitied the Royal Palace, now a museum and no photography allowed but what oppulence. The royal family were exiled to the north in 1975 by the communist government and never been heard of since, I don't think I am supposed to ask what happened? I took this shot leaving the palace looking at the hill where I watched the sunset last night.



Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and for good reason, but I can't stay here for ever and have booked a flight to Hanoi for tomorrow. I don't expect to find the same tranquility but I want to see it all so must move on. The purists here say I should get the bus as the 28 hours is an experience.....I'll fly.

It's taken me ages to upload these pictures but I take them all on maximum setting to keep so just have to put up with it. Beer time now though.

Last picture, this is the way the girls ride their motorbikes in LP...

"Friends" in Viang Vien

And I don't mean people I know. Those annoying 30 somethings playing on wide screen tv's in open air bars to an audience of 20 somethings reclining on mattresses. To be fair, a lot of travellers here have been away from home for so long that they probably need an injection of western "culture" but I felt a bit out of place. The town seems to have been taken over by the backpackers almost totally. Some good points, English is spoken everywhere and lots of budget accommodation, everyone very friendly and the sublime scenery make it a must for the younger set (Jo, you must add this one to your itinery), but it was not for me.

A pity the misty conditions did not allow me to capture the beauty of the mountains but I "borrowed" this image from another blog to give you an idea.




In the morning I decided to take the mini bus to Luang Prabang, 6 hours north and so glad I did. The journey up here was an experience in itself. Winding between the Karsts (must find out how they are formed) the road was suprisingly flat despite the mountain scenery. As we went further north though the mountains became higher, and more of an obstacle. The whole population seems to live at the roadside and we made countless diversions around cattle, chickens, piglets and children. The traffic that we overtook was much less of a problem. The bends looked blind to me but our driver could see through solid rock.

Luang Prabang is the most relaxed, laid back town I have ever been in. A beautiful mixture of traditional Lao and French colonial building, a cluster of Wats in the centre and the Mekong river all along the Eastern edge of the town. The night market is in full swing with a stunning display of locally made handicrafts, especially hand woven silks, and the people are so pleasant they just let you look without any pressure to buy. So unlike other places I have been.

Here are some views: the ride into town on a tuc tuc, the mighty Mekong and the boats for hire (on one of those tomorrow, going on a tour) and the view from my balcony, splashed out here and gone for a nice guest house, teak floors and furniture in a quiet lane in between the streets used by the night market. I have a shower that works and if you look carefully, through the gaps in the houses, I do have a river view..

The Ancient City, Bangkok

Took some pictures of the Atlanta lobby which was exactly as described by Lonely Planet, No Humphrey Bogart, but the Queen of Thailand used to eat there in the 60's. (I don't think she does now!)





















Spent Sunday with my charming friend, Miss Tussanee, who works for Swan Industries in Thailand and helped me during a trade show last year. We took a taxi to the "Ancient City", a 300 acre site with a fantastic collection of Buddhist shrines and temples, ancient remains, traditional Thai arts and crafts and wildlife. The site is so big we hired an electric golf buggy to get around (the nearest to golf I will get on this trip) and the breeze while we toured around was a relief from the extreme heat, >30 deg C. We had a meal of noodles and pork with a fresh, chilled coconut in a beautiful floating market in the centre of the park. Cost, 45 TB each, about 60p, can you imagine the cost of that in Alton Towers?

Here are some pictures from my phone camera just to give you an impression of some of the beautiful sights, my lunch and an example of the local fauna...





























We went back in to Bangkok to buy the camera, I withdrew some cash then decided I needed more to get the discount in the Panasonic store, tried to withdraw more and then found the card had been blocked, a security precaution I think, but a bit embarrassing having to explain back in the store. All sorted though and I have a new Lumix DMC FS3 and an instruction book written in Thai. Well I did expect some challenges but that is one I can't overcome!

Thank you to my lovely friend for spending her only day of holiday in the week with me. This is Miss T, "Ginger Juice" trying to look serious but difficult for the most smiley person in the whole of the "Land of Smiles".




Took a taxi that evening to the station and boarded the sleeper to Nhong Kai. Only upper berths available and had difficulty sleeping, worried about turning over and ending up in the aisle. Met an American guy on the train, Jonny, from Montana, and we travelled into the capital, Vientianne and onwards to Viang Vieng together. Border crossing into Laos was painless, no queues, tuc tuc into Vietianne, then a 4 hour VIP bus ride, $7 each. They must have realised we were not real VIP's and allocated a different bus, no aircon or waitress service but the windows did open. Here is Jonny at the half way house with the bus and a bridge we crossed on the way here.







Checked into a guesthouse with a balcony overlooking the river, double bed, hot shower, $4. And dinner of 1/2 a BBQ chicken, sticky rice and a litre of Lao beer, $3. Even a pensioner can live well here.

Welcome to Bangkok

I took this picture of the street where I was staying on 14th...Love Lane, in Georgetown, just like home (where the horses are) and the buildings are in a similar state of repair. At night the street was frequented by some ladies of the night. Well I say ladies but they were certainly not that and I don't think they were even female, scary!



Also got to use my mossie net for the first time. There was one in my room and we fought a battle of wills as I struggled to hang the net from the overhead reading light before it got me... I won. This was the view from my window, corrugated iron comes in a variety of degrees of rust.



Caught the ferry back from Penang in the morning to Butterworth, desparately hot and 5km to the nearest aircon, so I went there, to Pacific shopping plaza, parted with none of my Ringits but at least I was cool until the train left for Bangkok at 3pm. Another eventful trip, the journey is from 3pm to 10.45 the following morning so the seats are arraged like this during the day....



But the numbering is a bit odd. They convert to an upper and lower bunk for sleeping (2 people) but during the day they let day travellers on between stations on the route and everyone has a ticket with a seat allocation. So there can be a total of 6 people trying to occupy the 4 seats. Possession is 9/10ths of the law, don't move once you have your seat! (Not sure I explained that too well)

A major disaster along the way, the camera I borrowed from Helen has stopped working and needs to go back to Nikon. Bugger. Don't think I can manage with just the camera in my phone so I will have to buy one for this trip.

Almost another disaster coming in to Bangkok this morning. I thought the two kids at the side of the line were just waving until a rock they threw hit my window. This was the result.



Fortunately it was double glazed and only the outer skin was broken but the train crew were not impressed. I like to think the aim was not good enough to target the "farang's" window but welcome to Bangkok indeed.

Spent the day trying to get the camera fixed and trying to find the best deal if I do buy one tomorrow. Will have local help as Miss Tussanee (more later) is taking me sight seeing tomorrow before my train out in the evening. Have decided to change plan because I need to stop somewhere for a few days and chill out. The advice is head to Laos, so I am changing my route and going to take the sleeper to Nan Koi, cross to Vientianne and then to Luang Prabang to hole up for a a while. The advice is all on from "the man in seat 61" again. Thank you.

Chickened out of the real budget accommodation on Khao San Road, 300 Baht, (about 10 dollars), but a real cell. Didn't think Tussanee's hotel at 2,400 Baht was in the spirit of the trip so settled for the Atlanta, 600 baht, with aircon, warm shower and Lonely Planet recommended.

Hope to have some better photos to post if I get sorted but can anyone tell me what this tree is with the most wonderful scent? Hope the phone's camera picks it up OK.

Leaving on a jet plane

Finally left Heathrow 2 hours late and arrived Singapore with very little time to catch the train...but just made it.
This is what Heathrow looks like at 10.30 at night when you are on the last flight out, never seen it like this before.




No sleep on the plane and very little on the train to Kuala Lumpur. The benefit is I am so tired I can now fall asleep at will and even when it is inconvenient, I was last off the train at Butterworth. This was my little cubby hole on the sleeper.



The train journey through the day was entertaining but I wished there had been someone with me to help with all of the flower names. Was wondering what was shaking the palm trees and saw several groups (collective noun?) of monkeys, beautiful birds I couldn't identify either, so some internet research is called for to report more fully.

Took the ferry from the station to Georgetown on Penang, booked into my first budget hotel and have a real bed in an air conditioned room to look forward to tonight. Very Chinese round here and the New Year celebrations have just finished so the hotel offered me a special rate. Right!

Decided I have too many clothes for this heat (over 30deg C today) plan to ditch both pairs of trousers and get my knees out. That will frighten the natives!

This is Penang from the ferry.