Day Eleven

Angkor Wat has a grand entrance, very nice walk way crossing the pond. The stones were original built in 10 century, It's amazing how people those day can built something so impressive. It took 36 years using 380 000 people to finish it. IMG_3644

we spent just over 4 hrs there, first hour is waiting for sun rise which was quite disappointing because it was cloudy day. we still enjoyed seeing the rest of the Wat. We proceeded to see two more castles before headed back to hotel for lunch. We had 1hr to freshen up & eat before heading out again. Everyone went different way to find restaurant, Ian & I found one next to hotel. That was a mistake we ended up paying $13 for foods that would cost $5 for both of us somewhere else. It's not the cost I'm complaining about the food-We cook much better than that at home. Oh well you win some you loose some! lol IMG_3769IMG_3657

We've seen two more castles in the afternoon & headed back for a rest around 5:00PM. Everyone agree to meet for dinner @ 6:30PM just enough time to shower, change & out the door gain. Patrick, Ian & I walked to Kmer restaurant and the rest took Tok Tok. We got there half an hour after them cause we got lost in the maze. We had curry soup & I enjoyed the dinner very much cause it's really close to what I cook at home. Again I can't resist the night market, not as big as the Bangkok one but enough stuffs to look at. Of course I went on spending spree again, I bought sling bag to carry around my junk like tissue paper, sun screen lotion.... that was my excuse anyway oh because it's also cheap :). IMG_3803

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Luang Phrabang

Luang Phrabang is noted for its many temples, scenic views, and long lines of monks collecting morning dak bhat. Since we arrived in the evening we went into the center of town to the night market and got some food, purchased some goods at the market, and went to the Hive bar for some drinks with the rest of the group. I guess the Hive bar must be the bar of choice in the lonely planet book, because it was just full of tourists.IMG_4121.JPG

Beer bottle mosaic at the hive

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The next day, I got up early in the morning 5:45 to see the monks collect the dak bhat, seems I was not quite early enough as I only seen a few, and not the hundreds that the place is known for. I checked out the morning market (dalat sow), and then sat by the Mekong for a while. Since we were only here for one day, we had to decide what we wanted to do, take a boat up the river to see the buda cave (4 – 5 hrs), see the waterfalls ( 3hrs), or stay and walk the town. I had seen pictures of the caves, and the waterfalls, so decided to walk about town and see the many wats. I took many pictures, you should see them in the photo gallery in the Laos section. I started to look at some of my cameras features, in particular, the colour enhance, and colour swap, you will see a number of the photos that I took using this method, where the robe is in colour, and the rest of the the photo is black and white cool effect. The colour swap pictures make the trees look like it is fall, but everything is actually green. IMG_4207.JPGIMG_4218.JPG

A good dinner, and an early night so that we can get up to see the monks this time at 5:20, and we were rewarded with seeing many monks mostly young collecting their morning dak bhat. IMG_4248.JPG

Then the group leaves for Van Vieng on quite a scenic trip through the mountains. For those of you who think that the road to whistler has a lot of curves in it, if you drove on this road you would think that the sea to sky hwy was a straight line. Small villages dot the road, which is in essence carved on the side of a hill, I'm not sure how they get their houses to stay, or what they do for a living, but there are many villages, and many people living in them. I'm glad that we did this trip rather than fly. The views, the farms on the side of a hill, the mountain tops surrounded by clouds, the mist rising from the forest due to a recent rain. I like it 

Day Twelve

Another travel day from Siam Reap to Phnom Penh from 6:00AM to 11:00AM. @ Town View 2 hotel. Check in & rush out to find quick lunch because we had to leave by 11:30AM to chilling Toul sleng Prison. We had a very knowledgeable guide who was able to explain the life of prisoner so in detail that it chill my spine. Walking around this prison cell from room to room giving me the chill & goose bump. I can't even imagine what they went through before they got executed. I can't describe the emotion that went through me seeing their pictures on the wall. Hundreds of innocent faces that happen to be born in a wrong place at the the wrong time. Second stop was killing field about 40min. away from prison. This is where Pol Pot soldier brought prisoners in by truck load daily to be executed. There were bones along the walk way, skull were stuck in the monument towel built by Chinese?....Overall today was a sad somber day. We went to our tour guide house for dinner $6/person, there were lots of foods so it's a pretty good deal. His house is not too big but 4 families live there, because his wife have 3 sisters who are married & in Cambodian tradition men move in & live with wife's family. IMG_3829IMG_3832

We also get to meet around 20 village kids age from 6-15 in their english class room. This class room was set up by the tour guide under neat his house so we donate $1 each to help him pay for the teacher & supplies. On the way back to hotel couple people decided to hang out in the heart of the darkness night club so we joined them. This suppose to be the craziest club in Phnom Pen ( drugs are abuse openly there) but we've seen nothing happening, it was pretty quiet there were more worker than customer so we decided to leave by 10:30PM. Few of us stayed longer, guess what @ around 11PM people just pouring in. There was pretty crazy party there for sure oh well I had good night sleep. IMG_3834 

Van Vieng

So after the windy road we arrived in Van Vieng just after mid day. We had to rush to get the last tube ride down the river. Let me tell you about the tube ride, it is a tradition to take the tube ride and float down the river, the scenery is spectacular, but what makes the ride special, and ruins things a bit as well are the bars that line the river. The bars are along the river, and have rope swings, slides, etc for you to play on. This is all in place to get you to have a few drinks at their establishment, now realize that one can get more than just drinks here, or special drinks as they call them. IMG_4305.JPGIMG_4291.JPG

So seeing all the kids swinging, drinking and partying is interesting, but the mountains the seem to come out of the river, are beautiful. The group stopped at a number of the bars along the way, and had a lot of fun. At the last bar we were graced by a long boat visit from Phaydy, and Rolina, who brought the camera, so you can see some of the pictures along the river, and some of the swing over the river. IMG_4311.JPG

It was a whole lot of fun, some of the group say that it was their highlight of the trip, it was fun, but I would not say that it was the highlight of the trip for me. Another thing that is interesting about this place, is the many cafe's that have tables and pillows to sit at, and watch reruns of friends, Simpsons or something like that. IMG_4386.JPG

They are all young backpackers stoned or drunk,at ruined by the drunk party antics of the young backpackers. For dinner we tried Lao BBQ similar to Korean BBQ, but with a broth in the bottom to cook noodles and vegetables, served with jeow sukiyaki. A nice stop on the trip. IMG_4377.JPG 

Day Thirteen

Phnom Penh to Kratie started out at 7 AM should only take 4hrs but took us more than 7 hrs due to 4 times blown up tires. It was a very hot day, I felt bad for the driver luckily there were two of them. They had to change tires themselves, and they don't have good tools. We had to get off the bus few times for them, and it was boiling hot. We got in Kratie late so not much to do, got shower & went out for dinner with the group.

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Next morning after breakfast we head out to see Irrawaddy Dolphins by motor cycle at 8 AM. It took about 40min to the river, got in the boat and head out about 15min to the area where Dolphins are playing. We spend just over an hour there watching or trying to take pictures. There weren't many of them so we didn't see them close up, all I can tell was they were grey , but not sure the size because they didn't jump up to show show off their beauty. IMG_3884

Back to hotel, grab a sandwich & head out to Lao ( Don Khong) in Champasak. Visa into Lao cost us Canadian $52 that is the highest price in the group. We don't know what Canada did to Lao maybe because we don't have Canadian Embassy in Lao? :-( We stop to see waterfall on the way cost 10000 kip per person, exchange $100US=84000kip. We got to ferry terminal but had to wait 15-30min or till they had more than 3 cars on ferry otherwise we had to pay 60000kip more to go on alone. Another hot day & waiting seems so long when you can't wait to get in hotel to shower, i took shower at least 2 times a day. Finally we arrived to Don Khong & checked in Pon's hotel by Mekong river. It was comfortable hotel, nothing fancy but it is a bonus that we got the water view room. Don Deng is very small island so we had dinner @ hotel by Mekong river, it's Ian first Lap in lao so he decided to have Lap Pa with lots of chillies with Koa newn. I decided to have fried fish in tomatoes that I was craving for awhile. First time drinking Beer Lao, I'm not a beer drinker but find that it's not as bitter as other beer that I've tried before, large size cost 15000kip=less than $2. IMG_3921 

Vientiane

So here we are in Vientiane, Phaydys home from the past. When we arrive we are in the midst of a torrential downpour, man can it rain hard here. The streets fill with water, one can not even cross the street without getting soaked. Our plan was to stay in Vientiane for a couple of days so we relaxed a bit that afternoon before having a few drinks by the Mekong, and then on to a French restaurant for dinner. Now I said when I started this trip that I was only going to eat local food, so why French, well for one it was the last opportunity for dinner with the group, and two Laos was a French colony at one time so I am actually eating local go figure. I had a steak, I like steak. Off for a couple of martinis to end the socializing with the group.

 

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The bars in Laos all close at 11:30, so for those of you who don't even start partying till 11:00 or 12:00 you would have to change your habits or not go out at all. In the morning, we plan on finding our way to Chaing Mai for the day after next I found out some prices, and ways to get there, and none seem to be good, and they each take up a whole day. So we made the executive decision that we would travel with the group at the end of the day back t o Bangkok on the overnight train. So now we have to see all the Vientiane has to offer before 3:00 if you looked on the photo gallery you will see that I had already posted pictures. We seen where Phaydy lived, went to school, That Lunag, the fountain, the vertical runway (I'll get to that in a bit) and the budha park, and were back by 3:30 to cross the friendship bridge to Thailand. So the vertical runway, this is known as Anu Savaly or a copy of the arch de triumph in Paris, complete with the champs de lise.

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So now why the vertical runway, well in the time of fighting, and when the US had a secret military base in Laos, the US government gave Laos a bunch of concrete to build a new runway so the US could fly and land their planes. How nice, to the Lao government took the concrete and made this monument, good on them! Finding Phaydys place was an adventure, she knew that it was near That Lunag so from there our driver was directed to the house, but everything is different, no land marks to go by etc. IMG_4455.JPG

We end up near the place, and ask someone she knows the place and directs us to it, but we are not sure, so I take a picture, no thats not it, delete the picture, ask someone else its just over there, so we go over there, what a beautiful place, take a picture, knock on the door, and someone comes out, that not the correct person, ask them where it is, it is one lane over, delete those pictures, then off to the correct place. Took some pictures, thats it it is the place see the people inside, and have to move on. IMG_4476.JPG

We first stop across the road to a childhood friend of Phaydy she did not recognize Phaydy, but once introduced they talked for a while, and we had lunch at her place, she was busy serving other people, it is nice to see her restaurant busy. OK after lunch out to the budha park an unbelievable place, so many sculptures and artifacts I was only able to take a few pictures ok a whole bunch, but still not everything.

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It is really hot today, my watch says 40 c Hot. Back to meet the group, eat some food, and buy a bottle of wine for the overnight train. So we seen everything there was to see and made it to the group in time, power tourism. The overnight train was fun, I played some mind games with Zara a bit, by showing her some people in the water beside the train tracks, and said those were the people that did not pay, so I hope that she had her ticket still.

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It worked for a while. Not really a good place to sleep, but did get some rest. In the morning when the train arrived, that was the end of the group tour. and we all parted ways. 

Day Fourteen

Awake by roosters chanting at each other like 5am, can't turn them off so decided to watch TV. Most of channels are Thai program, only one Lao channel that mostly reporting news around the world but not much of what's going on in Lao. Decided to get ready for breakfast & tried to find out what we can do here. We only have two options, one is to rent a bike & cycling 32km around island & two is to hire a boat 5000kip/hr to go from island to island, there are 40 islands in the area, some big & some small. Anyway we decided to bike because I think I need some exercise after all it gave me the excuse to eat more. IMG_3949

Rental cost 10000kip all day so I thought I could do in the morning take a break & go out again in the evening. Boy was I ever wrong, I couldn't even make my first round, it was hot & was my first time riding this year that's my excuse anyway. I had to stop few times to walk due to dinosaur ride (dino sore ass). We stopped to have lunch, truly laotian style very spicy papaya salad & noodle soup cost us 30000kip=$3. 8KM left to go but my left knee got really sore & thinking I should walk all the way back but one German guy got flat tire so we decided to give him by bike & I got on the back of Ian's bike all the way back, that was nice :-) Took a nap before dinner & stayed up with the group till late before hitting the sack. IMG_3984 

Day Fifteen

After breakfast we packed up & get ready to move on to Don Deng. On the way we stop to visit museum & wat phu which built in the 9th century, it's quite high up on the mountain so it's quite a bit of climbing to do. Looking down once up there it's quite pretty & peaceful. IMG_4018

We spend more than 2hrs up there before heading to Don Deng via boat. It was a very interesting boat ride due to the way it's set up, there are no safety regulation into this boat design. No safety guard nor safety seat, you take it at your own risk :-O actually it's not bad, I felt safe in it I was thinking it would never be allowed in Canada. This was a home stay experience so we got split up to different houses, two to three people per house. We got a very old traditional house that the toilet is separated from the house, there is no bathroom that you can shower except couple barrels of water that you can stand outside (yes no cover) & clean yourself out in the open. I decided to do my shower & used the toilet from next door neighbor because they have proper bathroom. IMG_4054

This was our bathroom

This was our bathroom

We had group dinner in one house (Laotian style), I noticed not many people like it. I know it was hard for me too to sit on the floor for a long time, my legs went sleeping few times. Dinner was ok nothing special, that's what the local eat so we just happy that someone cooked their specialty for us. Night was short, we were in bed before 9PM because nothing there to do so everyone just head back to their homestay. 

Chaing Mai

So we caught a plane asia air to Chaing Mai and booked into the hotel that we are supposed to be in, but a day early Sunday. Now what a contrast to what we have been staying in. this place is beautiful the lobby is huge, music playing many more stars than what we have been in. There is a special Sunday night market in the old walled town, so we decide to go there and see what we can see. On the way, we see a shabu shabu place to eat, and decide to go in, what Japanese in thailand, so maybe call it a hot pot, or sukiaki and we will be fine, ate too much though, as it was all you can for an hour. The street market was good, all kinds of goods that will not fit into our carry on bags and a whole bunch of stuff that is cool while you are away on holiday, but is somewhat useless when you are back at home in the real world, or is this the real world and home is made up. The next day we slept in a bit, no roosters to wake us up. Then went on a jungle flight trip, where we zip trekked through the trees for a few hours, great fun.

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Our booked tour started in the evening with a kantoke dinner. now this was nice to see, but a bit, no a whole bunch, setup for tourists. with preprogrammed recordings for the dances that were going to come up in a number of languages. A little tacky for me, the entertainment was good, and the food well it was good, but overcooked, I expect this from a mass produced meal still had a good time, I was up on stage for the last dance, you can see the pictures, there is a video as well, I will get that up sometime when I get more bandwidth and time to figure out how to get them to display. This is where we met Minnie our tour guide for the rest of the tour, and she explained what we would be doing over the next few days, a nice girl I will comment more later. IMG_4661.JPGIMG_4636.JPG

The next day we took a tour with another group to Wat Dusep, spelling is not correct, but who cares at this point. we first went to a Hmong village, and seen how they lived, and used to live. They used to be a large producer of opium for the world, now with the help of the Tahi King, they have given the groups more things to sustain themselves rather than drug trade. What Dusep was beautiful a landmark of the north so many things I can say, but I will keep them to myself as you have heard enough about temples. I still find them interesting for many reasons. 

Day Sixteen

Breakfast was at 7:00AM, so we all meet up at the same house. After that we had till 9am to explore before heading out to the airport for Luangprabang. There was no direct flight from Parkse to Luangprabang so we had to go via Vientiane. IMG_4093

We had more than 3hrs once we got in Vientiane air port, so we got out to have lunch at Joma restaurant, it's a foreigner hangout. Foods & drinks are all cater to westerner. Ian & I took off after lunch while everyone else just chilled there. We walked along Mekong river looking for familiar places that I used to hang out when I was younger. Places have changed a lot since 30 years ago even 15 years that i was there in 1995. After couple hours of walking we decided to find tuk tuk back to airport, guess what? the rest of the gangs were in the tuk tuk passing us so we hop on with them. By the time we got to Luangprabang it was quite late so Nicole showed us where's the night market & the popular night club. There were street full of foods, all kinds of foods that we liked so of course Ian & I decided to eat street foods which was not recommended, oh Marca was with us so he ate street foods with us. It was pouring rain during our dinner, I felt sorry for the vendor they had to cover up their goods, some were packing up so there weren't too many vendors in the night market. IMG_4112

We walked for awhile & decided to meet the gangs in the pub but it was still early so no one there. After couple of drinks we decided to head back & the rest showed up but we needed the rest so we didn't stay, beside the music was so loud that we couldn't have decent conversation anyway. 

Chaing Rai

The next morning we started our tour to Chang Rai, and the golden triangle. Got picked up by Minnie in the morning and went to a orchid and butterfly farm. Well not too may butterflies, I guess it is not the season, but learned a lot about how orchids are grown and cultivated, I now know why the orchid my mom gave Phaydy for Mothers day did not do so well, if it is still living after we get back I will better know how to take care of it, and hopefully restore it to have beautiful flowers again. I took a number of pictures of them, I will have to put together a gallery of just plant pictures that I have taken over this trip. Sorry mom I hope I can revive the orchid, it was the hot sun that did it in. Wilma I hope the watering of the plants is going well.

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Then on to the elephant village, were we witnessed the care of the elephants, fed them and took a ride on one for an hour. I really liked this one, I was not that excited before the trip that we would ride on an elephant, but going for the ride through the forest, was a really nice experience.

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Had lunch and then in the car again to visit a market where Minnies mom worked, I was tired, and had just eaten, so I slept on the way there. Once there we purchased some sweet goods for the hill tribe kids, did not know about this, but found out later the reason why. It was nice to see Minnies mom at the market as we had started to have some really nice conversations with her in the car while driving. So now a river boat trip for a while, where we went the opposite direction toward the Myanmar boarder, and seen the flags that cross the river indicating the boarder. We obviously did not cross but turned around and enjoyed a trip down the river lined by farms of chillies (yum) oranges, and a variety of other fruit and vegetables. IMG_4839.JPG

Out of the water to visit some hill tribes the different cultures of the hill tribes were explained to us during the drive, and we read some articles about them as well. Minnie was a fantastic guide in this way, she went our of her way to make sure that we understood the cultures, and the details of the people and the places that we were about to visit. The first tribe that we visit, Akah I believe we pull up to just an intersection with a few people outside. We get out, and Minne describes some things about the people. I bring out some sweet treats for the kids, the first was a little scared, a new face, you know how kids are, then one hears, about us, then another, and soon without any calling or yelling, every kid from the village is at my side getting a sweet treat. They may have eaten the sweet, but the sweetest treat was mine seeing the smile on the face of a small child who really has nothing, and maybe make them happy for a while. How glad am I that we stopped to get those treats. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can tell who is happier! IMG_4858.JPG

Off to another hill tribe village, this time a village of the long neck people originating in Burma. Now these people are fascinating, how can their necks be so long, they are people that have the same bone structure as every other human, so what is the deal. I read up on it and I know, what it is you should too. I don't want to spoil the research for you just tease you into looking it up yourself. If you ask me later I will tell you.

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We must have been one of the first few groups to go through, as they had stalls all set up selling their traditional handy crafts they all sell the same stuff and want you to come to their shop. Who to chose, and I don't want anything anyway. I feel for them as this is their only livelihood, plus the admission fee that we pay to see them (it is good for them to get something and not just be a spectacle). Oh did I mention I ran out of treats for the kids at this place I wish I had more :-) Another hill tribe, and then off to the hotel in Ciang Rai. What a full day and lots of fun.IMG_4894.JPG 

Day Seventeen

Another day in Luangprabang, we had only one full day to see all the attractions. We decided to see everything that we could in town, because anything out of town would take a minimum of 4hrs to max of 6hrs by car/boat. We met Marca by Mekong river taking pictures so we decided to sight seeing together. We went to King palace first, now it's a museum then few more wats after that I was poop. We went back to hotel to rest till dinner time. Ian couldn't wait to go back to his favorite restaurant (street foods). Nothing else to do at this time except shopping, my favorite pass time. IMG_4227 

Golden Triangle

Up in the morning, and off again, we are going to the most northern place in Thailand, forgot the name off the top of my head, sorry Minnie, a place where we can find views of Myanmar across the river, and a bridge across the boarder. IMG_4950IMG_4949

We decided not to go, as the things are same same. Ok why did I say same same, well because I have been seeing t shirts that say same same on the all the time, I did not know what it meant at first, now I know, everything in every market is the same, thus same same. I bought a t-shirt of the golden triangle here, at the closest point I could get to Burma without swimming across the river, which I watched one guy do, and just walk into Burma, go figure the visas and travel has to be planned ahead of time in order for us to get in. In the car again, to see the golden triangle, did you know that there is not actually a triangle of gold, but rather just an island in the middle of the Mekong where the three countries meet together. IMG_4958

The gold is from the currency used to for the drug trade that happened here in the past it is pretty much cleaned up now. We visited the opium museum and found out lots of how and why it became big in the area. got to try some as the museum was doing a little bit of cleaning up, and was letting some go cheap. Wow I can see why the recommend taking it while laying down, a little to strong for my liking. Oh you didn't believe that did you it is illegal here as well you know, or maybe not. So off in the car again for a long ride to Chaing Mai to end the trip, or so I thought then came the white temple. Oh I almost forgot to mention Minnie went over and above and took us to a temple that has many monkeys she took us there because she wanted to show us her temple, the one of her birth year I really liked the temple the monkeys the fish, and the fact that she went our of her way to take us there. IMG_4924IMG_4937 

Day Eighteen

Got up very early to see Monks walked on the street in a group of 10plus for Takbath ( people waiting by the street offering mostly rice). We don't have this in Canada due to lack of Monk plus Lao people are scattered away from each others. We have temple in Langley but only one Monk lives there, so people would take turn to bring foods to him. IMG_4247

Got back to hotel, had breakfast & it was time to head out to Vang Vieng. It was a long ride 7 hrs on a twisty road. We got in vangVieng @ 3pm, got in hotel Ian decided to do tubing so he had to rush before it got dark. Few people went out tubing but I decided to explore town by myself. B y the time I got in town I met up with Rolina so we both kind of tired & thirsty so we had fruit juice & chat for over an hour. It was really a nice chat, I knew more about her, she was kind of a loner in the group. she didn't join us for dinner nor drink most of the time. She said she didn't feel comfortable in a big group but like chatting one on one, it's more personal basis that she likes. I really admired her on what she did, she is a maxican girl who moved to Switzerland & lived there for 4 years. After this trip she will go to Newzeland for a month after that she will settle down in Australia. She has no idea what she will be doing there but willing to take whatever come her way to make enough money to live there. Her live story gave me new perspecctive in life that you don't have to have the money before you can explore life in other country as long as you are willing to work hard to stay safe & alive. ..... IMG_4286 

White temple

So its a long trip to Chaing Mai, and I am asleep in the car not expecting any more stops when I wake up because we have stopped. My neck is sore from the poor position that I was sleeping in. What is happening, did we stop for a bathroom break no there is beautiful white temple in front of us. It is called Wat Rong Khun the white temple, and is really new so new in fact that it is not even finished. IMG_4992

All white with mirrors lining the whole thing a big contrast to the gold and brick of the other temples what a treat. I go in with Minnie as Phaydy can not go in as she is wearing shorts. I stop to take a reflection picture in the lake in front of the temple then proceed to walk in, before the entrance is a pit full of hands reaching out, as you have to cross those in hell wanting a way out before entering the temple very new and forward.

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Everything about this temple is new for today, and not from the past once inside it is so beautiful, not finished yet, but a full mural of history today. In all the ancient temples there are wall murals depicting wars and struggles of people building the temple. In contrast this new temple depicts things of today, the struggles for oil brand names, military power space control. There is a world trade center attack, in the eyes of a scull a picture of bin laden, and George bush. img_5120img_5121

I could sit there for an hour and not see it all. What a great ending to a trip the last temple is about the new, the first temples so much the old. I started in Ayuttya with old ruined temples and I talked about how I felt standing in a place with such history, and imagined the people that were there at that time. Then I come full circle to a temple so new, not depicting the old, but depicting the new todays struggles, and looking into the future wow. I have been struck in a different way very refreshing. The designer is quite the artist and has many pictures that he has done that are just amazing I will have to share that with some of you when I get back. A great trip we can not make it to Myanmar, and will now travel to Kho Semed for a couple of days on the beach. Blog off 

Day Nineteen

Another 3hrs on the road, had breakfast, went for a walk in town to make sure we didn't miss anything the night before & back on the bus heading to Vientiane. We got in Vientiane & it was pouring rain. By the time we got in hotel I wasn't feeling too well so I took a nap since we planed to stay couple more days i didn't feel the rush to go anywhere. Got up just in time for a walk with the group to restaurant & had Mai Tai a warm up drink by Mekong river before dinner. IMG_4412

I was surprised to see how low the river is now, I remembered it to be quite big & the water was clearer, not as muddy looking as now maybe it's raining season. Nicole suggested Western food for dinner since everyone is tired of eating rice so we all went to Italian/French restaurant for Pizza, pasta & steak for dinner. I haven't had the chance to have a decent wine in this side of the world so we ordered wine, wasn't good but wasn't bad either. The night didn't end there we had another stop at Martini bar & had couple of drinks there before heading back.

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Nicole informed everyone to go out early if we wanted to hit all the attractions because we had to head out to catch a train to Bangkok by 4pm. 

Day Twenty

We got up a bit late because we weren’t rushing to go anywhere since we’ll have 2 more days here. Well we were wrong after checking with Travel agency to find out how we can get to Chiang Mai by Jun.22 because we had dinner plan with new tour guide by 6:00pm, it was impossible for us to stay in Vientiane 2more days. The first flight out from Vientiane was 7:00am on Jun.22 there was nothing else available & it would cost us $200 plus each, it means that we had to find 2 nights hotel & only one full day to see things so we decided that it’s not worth the money & the trouble . We had to rush back to Nicole to let her know that we decided to go to Bangkok with the group. By this time it’s 11am so we rushed out to get Tuk Tuk , negotiated the price to see all the places that we wanted till 3:30pm. As you can imagine how we rushed around, I’d like to show Ian where I went to school, luckily my high school was near by the Patuxay or Anousavaly in the old day. Patuxay is one of the tourist attraction this day that was changed so much from what I remembered. They have many souvenir shops in different level where they were just empty space before. The did good job on garden it looks prettier & water fountain was added later as well. I remembered spent lots of time for years with my friends there, especially having lunch there with my sister Kham & my brother Vanh every days on school day.

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We headed to That Luang, that is not just another Wat. There is a big festival every year in December for couple weeks, I used to hang out there almost everynight till the end because I could walk from my house. I was close enough to hear all the music & party that went on till mid night.

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I told my Tuk Tuk driver that I wanted to see my old village but not sure where because thing got changed so much. Anyway after few questions along the road we found my cousin's house that was built on the same land that my old house was. Knowing that they don't make much, I was surprised how big the house is. My cousin wasn't home, I met his daughter, her husband & her son, she remembered me. I had couple pictures with her so my mom would know that I did visit my cousin.

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We walked across the street to see my old friend, she didn't recognize me at first. We chatted a bit & she insisted that I had lunch with her before I rushed out. She was mostly busy with her customers so I chatted with her husband more to find out about their life. They did good for themselves, have big house & big car.

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Off we went to Wat Xieng Khuang, it's a bit far 40min. so it was a bumppy road at certain section. Ian took lots of pictures there & had to rush back because I wanted to stop at Talat Soa. I was disappointed that it got changed to be a mall rather than an open market that I remembered. We went through it quite quick, nothing that I really wanted there so we left empty handed which was good because we had no space in our bags anyway.

We stopped to get a bottle of wine that we found in the wine store that I had this wine at home before so I was sure that it would be good. We had noodle soup before we met the rest of the group just in time on the bus to border of Thailand.

There was quite a wait at the border for a 6:30pm over night sleeping train, it was a very hot & tired day and Ian found out that they had a shower room at train station for 5 bath. Of course I needed a shower, I couldn't go to sleep without it after a long hot day rushing around. Did I mention that the whole group went to eat & left a pile of bags with Ian, Marca & I to look after?. It was good though that three of us had the time to take a shower.

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I've never been on a long train ride leave alone sleeping on one. We had dinner & wine, pretty relax after a long day. That wasn't so bad sleeping on a bunk bed, going to washroom was not too convenience but doable, I know it's clean because I can see the track below :-).

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Day Twenty one

We got in Bangkok train station by 7:00am, got meter taxi & got big hugs from everyone before departure. It was sad that the trip is ended but we were also looking forward to the next one in Chiang mai. Bought ticket from Air Asia 2100Baht each & the morning flight just left, so we had to wait 3hrs before next one. Went to food court to refuel, interesting that you need to pre-bought the ticket at 500B minimum for different food stand, they just swiped the card. Of course my eyes always bigger than my stomach so Ian had to go back for reloading the card.

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It's only take 1:15hr from Bangkok to Chiangmai, 150B for taxi to Chiangmai Plaza Hotel. After many hotels experiences at a standard level, we were kind of surprise at comfortable level hotel was so much different in the size (fancy furniture's/ layout) & services that you get. Boy I can't imagine what luxury level would be like. Anyway we were really please with our choice to come here earlier.

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Went to check out what's there to do before our tour start tomorrow evening. Booked for Jungle Flight next day from noon till 6pm. Again our hotel was in the center of all the shops & many Wats around, plus Suday night has special night market that spread out at least 3 long blocks (awesome). Got hungry again so we tried out Sabu Sushi, all you can eat for 300B that's close to $10/person. Of course we stuffed ourselves, couldn't help it, so many selection & sooo good. IMG_4550

Night market was very busy, both side of sidewalk were used plus the middle of the road. so as you can imagine traffic is flowing one direction only so if you go against trafic you won't be able to walk. Spent more than 3hrs there & had to walk back few more blocks to hotel. I was poop but didn't want to take Tuk Tuk hey I had to burn up those yummy foods that I kept on stuffing them down. IMG_4559 

Koh Samed

Well since our trip to Burma was not going to work out due to visa and other logistics, we took Minnies advice, and found our way to a costal island to spend a couple of days relaxing. We wanted somplace that was nice, but not too touristed, and we found it. First we had to get there, so booked a flight from Chaing Mai to Bangkok, and then we needed to get to the coast, there are many ways, bus, mini bus, and taxi all of wich had thier challenges after going to the bus terminal, and not wanting to wait 2 hours we caught a taxi to the pier. Two hours later, we find our selves at the pier and have hosts greet us, odd. We get told that the last boat had already left, but we could go for 2000 baht (we only paid 1500 baht for the 2 hour taxi ride). The research that I had done earlier, said it should only be 50 baht each way so now I am confused, and then since we did not have a room, they were going to book us a room all they had was 5000 - 21000 baht per night, no no no I was thinking of staying for more like 1000 per night. Se we mentioned this to the girl, and she reluctantly pointed us to a pier a 100 meters away were we got our 50 baht tickets actually got a round trip ticket for 100. The ferry stuff now, we were told the ferry is leaving at 5:00, its now 4:50 so we go to find the boat, but there is a whole bunch of boats, and none look like they are loading. The guy we pass says the boats are not leaving till 5:30 I ignore that as I assume that he just wants us to eat and drink at his place. We read the ticket again, and is says any boat, but we are not sure, so we ask someone, and they point us to a boat. We noticed one boat getting loaded with stuff, and a bunch of school kids I wanted to go there, then we seen another boat that had two people on it. So here we are sitting on this boat wating for it to leave I guess I wont start questioning things until 5:30. So this bigger boat comes by and wants to dock where our boat is, so they come crashing in, yes they actually bump into the boat that we are in, and proceed to throw a roap to tie the boat to the dock. Now we see our driver com running down the pier to get his boat out, now it is a struggle one boat wants to dock and is not giving way, and the other boat wants to get out, but the bigger boat does not want to let it out. Eventually the boat that we are on, manages to push the tail end of the bigger boat out enough that they can back out and are no longer blocked. This whole thing could have been a lot faster, and easier had the bigger boat just let our boat out once the intention was made that our boat was going to leave. Who knows what the deal is between those two. So I assume that we would be on our way, no the boat with the school kids pulls up beside us, and motions for us to get on that boat, not knowing any better we take our bags, and move to the other boat. Now we should be on our way, hold on, the engine on this boat stalls, a guy comes out opens the hatch goes down for a while and comes back up, the engine starts. Now we should be on our way, not so fast, another 50 meters, and the engine dies again I don't think this was the correct boat to get on. I look for any paddles, as we may need them I deffinetly see live vests (thats good). After all that we make it to the other side safely, now we are on the bottom level of the boat, and it docks to the pier where there is no lower exit, a couple climb out of the boat using the tires piled up on the post of the pier, Phaydy thinks I joking when I say that is our way off, in a short while she realizes that it is the way off. Good thing for government safety regulation. I love this place.

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We are on dry land now, so lets get oriented and get some food, there is a little pub so we drop in there order some drinks, and some noodles. There is a guy sitting near by that is a falang (foriner) that looks like he may know a bit about this place, so Phaydy suggests that I go talk with him. I do and find out where to stay on the island, it is not that big, and most of the stuff in near the beach which is 800 m down the path. Armed with some places to stay we try to get a taxi to take us, they just say its a short walk and just walk it. Go to the first place on the beach they don't have anything, but send us to someone that does, no hot water, but who needs it the water from the tap is warm anyway, and the outside temperature stays in the mid thirties anyway. Now we have our place and go for a walk on the beach, great sand, and seaside restaurants everywhere. We sit down at one that has a short table with triangle pillows to have a few drinks, the food looks so good that we have some of that as well. This became our restraunt for the rest of our stay (I liked it).

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Not much to say about being on the beach except for we got up paid for our chair and stayed there all day. They guy we met at the bar the other day comes and sits at this place everyday. He is a retired fellow from the UK who has been living on the island for four years, he has been sitting in that chair everyday for four years. Now some things you see while just sitting there I noticed that there was an influx of people coming to the beach with each ferry arrival, and once they arrive they imediatly stop to take a picture, but not a normal picture, it has to be some sort of model pose. Then the catch each and every time they do the jump pose, so joking arround I try to get Phaydy to do the jump, we she is having non of that. I still want something for the blog, so I say that I will do the jump, and let her that the picture, so here we go, take one, did you get it, no I did not get it, take two, did you get it, no I didn't ...... take twenty, did you get it, no awe crap you can't take picktures, here let me take one of you, two takes two pictures, lets try this again, it can't be that hard, a few takes later it can't be done. So what you see are the best two.

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And the two of Phaydy nice reflection in the water

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What a great place will have to come back sometime. The guy (Adrian) said if it was any more laidback one would fall over. I must agree.

 

Day Twenty two

Went down for breakfast & went for a walk around the ruin wall, stopped at the market again. just checking out the cost of living here regarding clothing's, foods etc... didn't really buy anything it was really hard not to. Everything were so cheap that you didn't think that it's any good. Went through whole sale flowers market that were so many different kinds. Got hungry again, so we decided to have noodle soup (Phoe) small street restaurant. Surprised to get such a small amount of food that I'd need second bowl. Anyway we decided not ordering another one & find something else in the market to top up. Guess how much we paid for that noodle soup? 50B for two bowls, that's $1.50 no wonder people here are so small (skinny) compare to us. We grabbed some fruits & off to have them by the bench along the Ping river

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Tour bus for Jungle flight picked us up on time & there already 4 couples in there. It was more than an hour ride on winding road to the mountain. After the safety talk we headed to Trekking, it was my first time, I always wanted to do it in Whistler but haven't got the chance. There were 22 platforms that we went through, the scaryest one was that they dropped you down fast from really high. I wouldn't never do the bungy jump, I didn't like the feeling of the free fall nor not trusting whether the cord is secure or whether it would stop before you hit the ground.

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Day Twenty Three

After a long day zip trekking, we made it back to hotel to get ready for dinner. This was our first dinner at Kantoke Palace, that's where we met Minnie our Chiangmai tour guide. She had given us our week plan with her starting next day. Dinner was not bad I said that because I expected real Thai cuisine, not so much northern Thai food that mostly catered to tourist. Shows were pretty good, they had different dances & talents show that preprogrammed for tourist. The best show was watching Ian up on the stage dancing with the dancer. Ian didn't want to go up but I was not going to let him rejected the girl who was asking him for a dance. Anyway Ian did good job on his first Thai dance, I was quite proud of him. Next day we got picked up & headed to Hmong village to see how they live, what was there before the government stepping in to help them out. Now it's a tourist town full of colorful crafts along houses & street. After that we went to see Wat which I don't remember all the Wat name. It's very pretty Wat built on the hill, 200stairs up & the look out to city was quite pretty from up there. 

Day Twenty Four

That was the real beginning of Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai Trip, we got picked up early by Minnie & her driver. We started out with visiting orchid & butterfly farm. There were so much information on how to grow orchid from beginning to the end. I need to pull up the web to get info in here but i can always get it out anytime so i won't bother to list the step. I was amazed by how orchid grow without soil. See the photos, I personally have not successfully keep one alive for very long time. The butterfly farm was not in season, so not enough of them to us a show. I bought pretty pink orchid earing for souvenir, love it. Off to Elephants show, they gave us a wonderful entertainment from the banana feeding to bathing, lumbers collecting to painting. Who said elephant is a big animal & not very smart, well they proved to me that day that they are very smart animal. I always want to ride one & we did it there, we had pretty young one who has a mind of its own. He was pretty calm but like to stop enjoying his feast along the trail & in the river. We ended there with lunch by the river, it's very well organized show, thumbs up for the organizer there. Next stop is Hmong villages, the plan was to see three different villages, first two are free & last one we had to pay admissions fee 500 baht each. Minnie suggested that we should bring sweet for Hmong kids, so we stopped at the market on the way & that's where her mom works. She sells ready to eat food like T & T market food court for people who has no time or too lazy to cook. I remembered back when I was younger mom would bring ready to eat food home when she was late from market & I remembered that I really like them because it was different from how my mom cooked it. Hmong kids were so sweet, as soon as we arrived & brought out the sweet they were running from all corners. They would call each other out so they all can get some. You can see in photos Ian was smiling from ear to ear enjoying giving them sweet. In all Ian had more fun giving than kids receiving them. What a wonderful memories to think back & remember each kids reaction , some were pretty shy, some scare & some pretty happy to see you. Off to long neck village where we paid admission to see them, they don't really live in that area. It's more tourist display, the girls were dress up in their custom such as rings on their neck & their ankles & colorful clothes. I really feel sorry for these ladies even though it's their tradition & choices they've made but how can you be comfortable & happy having all these rings on your tiny body all your life. They started to wear them very little & they don't take them off they just keep adding up to 20 rings max on their necks. I had the opportunity to try the rings on my neck, it's hot & very heavy. Minnie was telling us that the new generation are not wearing them anymore due to new life style that they are exploring other side of the world, have to get job in the city where people are totally dressing differently. Heading to Chiang Rai by speed boat that's not very speedy along the river, this river border Thailand & Burma which run into mekong river that border Laos & Thailand. This is where the golden triangle is formed, between these three countries. It was a long day by the time we checked in the Hotel in Chiang Rai, pretty big & fancy hotel. Of course the night didn't ended there, we ventured to night market for foods & entertainment. Again lots of the same stuffs that so cheap that we didn't think it's worth buying. We got foods from different vendors & watch a ladies boy doing their Cabernet show. By 10pm I was so poop, all I wanted was to sleep. Ran into Minnie & her friend while waiting for hotel taxi to pick us up. She was quite please to see us out enjoying the local hangout of course mainly catering to tourist. She was mentioning it normally busier in high season than when we were there. 

The End

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So we have done all our traveling, we had the greatest time full of experiances that will last a lifetime. We will come back from time to time to read what we have done and to reflect on the trip. Please enjoy the posts as we enjoyed writing them and putting them on the web for you during our travles. Thanks for following.

Ian & Phaydy 

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