Ko Chang

Ko Chang is a small island in the southern gulf of Thailand, a former national park,with plenty of opportunities for trekking, beaching, and generally enjoying jungle and rainforest. I had great plans for my days on Ko Chang! And the island is still all that--but as I have been eating antibiotics and painkillers in massive amounts the past few days I am not really my normal energetic self, and so most of my fun plans were suspended, replaced by a desire to spend a week in a hammoc, reading, recouperating, doing nothing, alone. However, catching a bus down here I befriended the Aussi woman in the seat next to me, Kim, and arriving at Lonely Beach we both found small bungalows by the water and agreed to go for dinner. Very randomly, so had Susan and Darren, two people I aquainted in Vieng Viang, decided to do--and so my original plans of recouperating in silence with my book have been replaced with wonderful company, fascinating discussions, general chit-chat and only a little bit of reading. Most of this, fortunately, done on a beach while tanning nicely. I haven't really seen any other bits of the island than Lonely beach, which is a strip of some 500 m of sand, five restaurants, endless amounts of bungalows, quite a few internet shops and general vendors, plenty of palms and a lovely beach. But I've had a good time, and I feel better. Tomorrow I head back to Bangkok where I should be able to upload photos before I figure out how to get to Siem Reap and Cambodia shortly after that.

Bangkok

Leaving Ko Panang in the afternoon I arrived in Bangkok a little too early in the morning, but wide awake and ready to hit the big city! My friend Mikey, being a true gentleman, had offered me a spare room in his house while I was in town, so my first adventure was conveying his address to a Thai taxi friver and pray that I'd get to the reight part of town... With my first taxi experience in Bangkok in mind, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself getting to the right door in no time, with no hassle and for a lot less money than expected. My second meeting with Bangkok was all the muvh better than the first in most ways, particularly as I actually had time to see the city this time! I have spent my days in Bangkok walking around the older parts of the centre, looking at the Grand Palace and the temple of the Emerald Buddha, seeing the Wat Poh where Thai massage apparently originated and they have a giant reclining golden Buddha, some 15 m long and 11 m high; eaten Pad Thai off the street vendors in Khosan road; braved the Chatachut weekend market--supposedly one of the biggest outdoor markets in the world with some 10'000 stalls, helped Mikey sorting out stuff as his wallet was stolen from his pocket, posted 11 kilos of stuff that I hope reaches home before Christmas (or you'll all be waiting for your Christmas presents!); gone back to Khosan road to browse the endless amounts of CDs, dresses, bikinis, slacks, t-shirts and what-nots they sell there; eaten lovely food with Mikey; taken taxis across town and had drivers try and explain the street layout to me while I marvelled at the endless mix of old and new, modern and ancient, worn-down and fancy that Bangkok comprises of. My most fascinating moment though, was my meeting with Thailand post: Having shipped originally 10 kilos of stuff back home from the branch at Chatachut market I wandered back into the myriad of stall for some food quick food--and spotted something I needed, but had not known of until I found it there (Karianne's Christmas present, actually). I pondered the matter and need for a short while and realised it was genuine, I had to bring this thing home, and sighed with the thought of carrying it all the way through Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea and China ... Passing Thailand Post on the way out of the market I had little hope but nothing to lose, and so I walked back into the office wondering if I could add this little something to my parcel. It took me two attempts to ask (the first time I ended up getting change for a big note, which I also needed)--but to my utter surprise, the guy that had helped me wrap the package in the first place smiled widely, as Thai people do, and said of course, why not? Somehow my faith in helpful Thai people seemed restored as we re-wrapped my box and he asked me to please fill in a new form for the parcel; better to have it correct, otherwise someone might make trouble for it, that's no good you know, miss.

Koh Phanang

Asking other travellers for advice on where to go in Thailand, every single person I've spoken to has suggested Koh Phanang to me--and, after figuring out the full moon party with its trance-house-dance-drug-style might not fit me, added "the northern parts--you'll love the northern parts of the island!" And they were right. Renting a moped to go around the most of the island, I drove the some 10 (or is it 15?) kilometres across it, from Ban Kai in the south where I stayed, to Ban Chalok Lam in the north. The latter is a small fisherman's village, and offered the feeling I guess I'd been expecting but hadn't found in Thailand yet: The everyday Thai life. By all means, Thailand is a beautiful country--but often I get the feeling it only lives off of tourism and its derivatives; shops, markets, accommodation, and food. Even the island's elephants are there mainly for the tourists these days; standing in cages to be fed bananas... However, in Ban Chalok Lam, as I enjoyed a fruit shake on the pier, I enjoyed a more typical everyday life that goes on when the foreigners have left, with small fishing boats and busy villagers glancing at you rather than eyeing you for business. Moving my way westwards to Hat Salad, I found an amazing spot with small bungalows right on the beach, palm trees, hammocs--and very little apart from only that. I wanted to gather my things and get a sea-side hammoc on the beach, but--as one should expect I guess-- the taxi business is as corrupt on Koh Phanang as any other place. In the end, however, my main goal for my stay in Thailand--swimming, relaxing in a hammoc and doing nothing, maybe read, tan a bit?--came back to me, and as the full moon faded and the tide rose the water to above waist level again, I found that I was already at a lovely beach, so no worries then! Staying for a few more days, Bong--the lady running the guest house, turned out to be amazingly chatty when she had the time. Being practically the only person at the Panang Rainbows for a few days I actually did get to see everyday life in Thailand, as well as knowing her family.

Long time no writing...

I'm sorry this place has been all quiet for a while! Laos simply would not let me upload photos, no matter where I went, and so getting online just to write--with such horrible and expensive connections anyway--just didn't seem all that tempting. Since my last post I made it directly from Pakse to 4000 islands at the very south of Lao, 5 km away from the border to Cambodia. taying on Don Kohng the first night was not so interesting, but Don Det is a truly backpaker's island, only without the Vieng Viang party-tubing factor. That's what you want, you say? Well, that's not what I want... I wanted a small shack of a bungalow on the beach, though--and that was what I got! Hooking up with 7 other random people form the bus down to Pakse the group got a bit big for me, though--and after a few days of lovely company but the downs of having to wait for democracy to take its turns around all diplocamtic corners, I caught a bus straight to Bangkok (Thailand) on the 15th of October. Travelling through Pakse, I carelessly left my lunch baguette in the first bus--and had one of my nicest moments in all of Laos when I strolled the local food market for a food stall and found the loveliest woman selling amazing noodle soup and something tasty I don't know what is called, but yum!--tasty! In fact, I think that was my best meal so far on the trip, if not only for the food then also for the lady and her photo posing for me with the dead chicken she would make soup with for the guests after me.. (Yes, I'd show you the photo here, but all these computers think my folders are .exe files, and so I cannot get to the pictures.) The bus trip to Bangkok was uneventful, but fortunately rather speedy. Arriving in Bangkok I made the mistake of getting a metered taxi from the northern busstation to the southern one. They're much cheaper you say? Right. Not if they take you half way around town first... He had a few charming tricks up his sleeve, but after almost six weeks in various Asian countries the tricks are rather easy to spot. In the end I told him off and gave him the money he should have, and from the lack of fighting back I reckon he knew he was exactly what I called him; a cheeting bastard liar. Getting on a new bus an hour or so later, I was finally headed for Surat Thani, and a boat to Koh Pah-Nang! Well, so I thought... The bus got to Surat Thani ok, and having 60 km left to get to Don Sak and the ferry--and 2 hours until the last ferry departed--I was happy and content. The bus ride took 45 minutes more than I had...and so I ended up on a ferry to Ko Samui instead. There are, undenoably, other ferries I could have taken; the problem is that when you'are at one ferry pier 60 km away from the other piers, they don't tell you that the night ferry still runs, 'cause it's not their company that runs it. Ergo, the night ferry does not exist at the pier you're at, and so you have to take the chance on it existing elsewhere, or you can go to, say Ko Samui. Enjoy! It was an ok night in a very decent hotel, though--with plenty of time for pampering my poor feet, skin and hair, so I had a great evening by myself! Finally arriving in Ko Pha-Nang the next morning, my Canadian friend Mikey, who has clearly stayed too long in Bangkok and got too used to local ways, picked me and my bags up on a scooter--I wish I had a photo! Ko Pha-Nang is a lovely little tropical island, although very typically living from tourism more than anything else. There are no fishermen on the beaches in the morning, no boats coming in that I can see...there are however numerous places selling you food, onward tickets, renting you bikes and offering you a beach-side bungalow for a more or less ok price. The weather has been a bit on and off, with rain showers every day so far, but I'll be staying here for a few more days until I head up to Bangkok again to have Mikey as my local guide for the weekend. I'm hoping to get some photos to you there, and some more words about what I've been up to.

Vieng Viang -- Vientiane -- Pakse

Vang Vieng is a scenic little riverside vilalge turned into a non-stop backpacker party with wet 20-something Westernes in bikinis and swinnimg shorts. A heaven if you miss Thailand or want to get hammered--a rather odd place to be when you are looking to go trekking and see hill tribe villages.. Arriving there on Wednesday evening, I had already aquainted Swiss Sabina on the bus from Luang Prabang before I found Duch Susan in a random street. Together we spent Thursday exploring the surrounding rice fields, caves, local villages and roads around Vang Vieng--lovely! The village is also surrounded by small rivers and karst rocks; and it is amazingly beautiful. Going for 6 km on bikes, we were ready for a swin when we reached the Lagoon cave. After stopping for a lovely local lunch where they stressed that "this is Lao PDR--please don't rush" two hours had passed and the rest of the caves were missed out on as we peddaled home for a well-deserved beer. As sabina and Susan left the next morning, I rented a rubber tube to float down the river with Darren (UK)--apart from a rather deep cut in a minor toe, the trip was great fun! Vang Vieng is not really what I wanted in the long run though, so this morning I caught a bus to Vientiane, planning to head on to Pakse tomorrow. Unfortunately my small camera was stolen as i arrived here, but the big one is still with me! Internet connections (known as internert where I am right now) are painfully slow, or they think all my pics are .exe-files--so it seems photos will have to wait yet again.. Sorry! (I have plenty of great ones, though.)

Luang Prabang--keywords

Arriving late evening in a random street in Luang Prabang, two friendly guys at a guesthose got me a tuk-tuk. It was, obviously, overprised; but when it`s less than 2 euros, who cares as long as you get where you want to get safely? The city of Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site--and a gorgeous one! With temples all over the place, dotted with a subtropical scenery and two rivers making the whole place into a peninsula, it is a haven of guesthouses, travellers, fruit shakes, tuk-tuk rides and potential trekking adventures. Among others. In fact, I think that almost whatever you are looking for, Luang Prabang can provide a little, heavenly version of it. So far I have checked out one of the waterfalls in the area for a lovely swim; cruised the streets for good food and new sights; checked out local temples, sampled the local massages; sprawled at the Hmong night market; enjoyed a slow-boat ride up to the Pak Ou caves lined with myriads of buddha statues; made new friends, eaten great food such as a Lao braai, had cheap drinks, and--to finish the nights off--gone bowling at the local hot-spot and the only place i Luang Prabang not affected by the cerfew (apparently because it is run by a guy who could be called "Tony")...

More photos will be added once I can get the net to upload them!

Entering Laos

As I got on the sleeper bus from Kunming to Luang Prabang (Laos), the old and familiar feeling of starting a trip, going somewhere hit me--and it occured to me that I never had that feeling in China. Probably because there was so much to do before I literally jumped on the plane; but maybe also because China, despite its many differences from the West, is a very organised (in fact sometimes overly organised) country. The buses run in given patterns, on scheduled times, taxis have signs and metered fares, and prices--althoug you have to haggle--are to a certain extent set. Crossing the border to Laos this morning was like returning to Africa: All of a sudden we were delayed three hours for a customs inspection and a food break; the roads got ten times bumpier, the scenerey got subtropical and lush, people got somewhat darker, and the countryside was filled with charming little wooden huts with thached roofs. And I love it! And, just in case you wondered: Of course you can have a visa on arrival in Laos! Contrary to popular belief among the organised Chinese in China, not everyone has one in advance, and once the border is crossed the Lao-feeling affects the bus so that most problems are solved quite easily; they are perfectly happy to wait the 15 minutes it takes to get a visa on arrival. I navigated this fascinating scene with my newfound friend Ben (US), who added to the African/random feeling by his story of having his wallet stolen in Kunming and now lacking the money to get across the border and to his friend in Bangkok; we sorted this out in the end, though--as far as I know, I got off the bus after "only" 25 hours, long before Vientiane... In accordance with the cultural change, the Chinese bus let me off not on one of the three bus stations serving Luang Prabang, but in some random, rather big-ish street, claiming I was where I had paid to be taken. I had no idea where I was, and it was dark. However, the sounds around me were friendly, so no reason to despair; and within 10 minutes two local guys had hauled me a tuk-tuk and explained the driver where to take me to find my hostel. The temperature has got a bit higher, the sun has shone on me all day, and everyone seems to speak English--I cannot wait to explore the city tomorrow morning.

I will never be Chinese

Having travelled quite a bit, I find that some countries make you feel at home while others are somewhat different, and although pleasant I will always remain a visitor there. China is one of those countries, at least for now. With its incredible population, most people are at best ignorant and uninterested in me and myt life here--at worst scamming, tricking and downright rude to foreigners in general. Taxi drivers keep passing me by, keep taking extra turns; people take random photos of you whether you want to or not; they don`t think it rude to say "hello" in an inticing voice and then crackle with laughter and chatter in their own language behind your back (about orchids for all I know, but normal social awareness assumes it might be me who`s the great source of fun). In short, I often feel like an animal in a zoo cage, as I often did in Africa--but, sadly, most Chinese don`t offer the same warmth when peering, pointing and downright staring as African people do...this is a nation that catches wild birds and put them in cages so they can sing for them when they please to listen. They celebrate their National Day by doing nothing other than having holidays, and they still sell milk in all stores, never mentioning the crisis from what I see. That being said, the cultures that clash when an independent, young European backpacker meets China, are powerful--and the power goes both ways. I would never dream of doing stuff they do--and they would probably never have dreamt that I`d do stuff I do. At their best, Chinese people are incredibly warm and welcoming; inviting you into their homes, offering you food, spontaneous advise and company, and woudn`t dream of taking money for the expenses they have when helping you because you don`t have your own cell phone. And you find them everywhere--on mountains, on busses, in a random park when you sit down to listen to the local elderly play music and sing together. It amazes me that all these characters exist in the same country, even in the same cities, and how running into the first kind almost always causes an encounter with the second kind. As I move on, some Chinese people will stay with me for life, for good and bad--mostly for the good.