Gibbon Experience

In the north-west of Laos there is an amazing national park, Bokeo, where a unique trekking experience has been set up. I was lucky enough to find a place on the Waterfall Experience so packed my bags and set off. I arrived early in the day from Luang Nam Tha to a tiny little town (two shops!) where I stayed overnight with the Irish girls. At lunch time, a previous Gibbon group arrived for lunch, along with a couple of Aussie girls who had pulled out of their trek due to paralysing fear... Not a great beginning, however the others raved about their experience so we boarded the sangtheaw to head into the jungle with a mixture of trepidation and excitement.
After travelling along winding and dusty roads for about 40 minutes, we arrived in a little village where groups of people lay exhausted on the grass. We met our guides then ventured forth, walking through corn fields initially, then crossing a few rivers via cantankerous bamboo bridges and plunging through massive clumps of bamboo.
We climbed steadily into the mountains, sweating and panting until we reached a small hut and were fitted with abseiling harnesses. Heading into the jungle again, we eventually came to a wire attached to a large tree. The wire was very long, disappearing into the distance through the trees. One by one, we were attached to it and encouraged to leap off the small wooden platform into the unknown. The zip wires were awesome! Once attached, I was flying through the air, high above the treetops and able to see out to the mountains either side, and rivers far below. I took some video footage and photos, but they cannot convey the experience fully (just make sure you book in when you are next visiting Laos!).
After some trekking and zip wires we zipped into our accommodation for the night - a double story tree house complete with bathroom overlooking a magnificant view, comfy beds and dinner and breakfast delivered via zip wire from the nearby forest kitchen. The jungle sounds during the night were awesome and I wished for some decent recording equipment to bring it home with me.
The next day we trekked early in the morning along slippery paths (actually, we slipped along trekking paths) in search of some wildlife. We were able to hear the Gibbons but didn't see any creatures. After breakfast we hiked to the next tree house and then had lunch and went swimming in a bone-crunchingly freezing river below the waterfall. One of the guides had built a bamboo raft for us so we spent time navigating the river in it. Very refreshing and lots of fun.
On day three we packed up and walked back out of the jungle, taking in the sights and sounds. The experience overall was great, but the downfall was the lack of communication from the guides. I wished that my uncle Stu had been there to name and explain the flora (some of which resembled plants from the daintree)! After arriving back at the village, exhausted from all the trekking, we stopped for a tasty fried rice then made our way over the border into Thailand.
I am now residing in sunny Chiang Mai, where I will be sitting a vipassana retreat for the next 21 days at the International Buddhism Centre at Doi Suthep so, no blogging for a while! I will emerge from retreat on the 16th March then fly to Nepal on the 20th!

Luang Nam Tha

A few days ago I took a day trek out to hill villages where we were invited to join a wedding celebration (lao whisky shots all round). Later, at the Tad Sae waterfalls, we chanced upon a training session for elephants. I was offered flowers by a young foont and was surprised to observe their skills in soccer. While it was amazing to see the dexterity of these magnificant animals, it was also a little sad. Surely these great beings should not be made to sit and lie down on command?
Yesterday, finally, I extricated myself from the warm embrace of Luang Prabang!! Have safely arrived in the tiny town of Luang Nam Tha. Its main claim to fame is its proximity to the National Protected Area, which hosts tigers, leopards, 200-and-something bird species.
Today I went for a trek through the jungle, up and down hazardously slippery trails with my freshly-cut walking stick. We had lunch laid out on leaves; sticky rice, pumpkin, spicy tofu and biscuits. We then stopped in an Akha village and shared rice wine with the village chief and swapped songs... an Irish tune, Laos love song, Hebrew walking song and Aussie offering (Waltzing Mathilda was all I could come up with I regret to say!!). In the village was a tiny hut on stilts with a removable ladder and our guide said it is for the boys aged between 13-17... a fine way to manage raging hormones! We danced the can-can for the village children (how's that for cultural exchange?!) then boarded the sangthaew to head back to town.
Tomorrow I am heading west to go to the Gibbon Experience so will be out of reach for a few days!

Luang Prabang -Continued!

I am still in Luang Prabang... I have grown rather attached to this little town in Laos. I keep thinking that I should move on and see the rest of Laos, but I am so comfy here... it's hard to leave!

Over the past few days I have visited a gorgeous waterfall, met a full-grown tiger, swung into a wonderful swimming hole tarzan-style, crept into caves filled with Buddha statues, hung out with local Laos children, eaten heaps of yummy food, ridden a mountain bike along rocky and dusty roads with a local guide for company, ridden an elephant, read a few books, booked a bus to Vang Vieng then cancelled the bus to Vang Vieng (due to belly upset that swept in unnanounced then departed just as quickly), played guitar with Laos locals and met loads of spunky, friendly, intelligent falang (foreigners). I have also farewelled many friends and have been experiencing the pain that arises out of attachment (perhaps my Vipassana retreat process is beginning already!).

After meeting two lovely young men from Melbourne who are travelling around SEAsia on mountain bike (heading out to the wilds along goat tracks and trade routes and staying in tiny villages along the way), I am inspired to spend some time off the tourist trail and to visit some more remote areas of this beautiful country.

Tomorrow I will join some Canadians who are heading out to the jungle for some trekking and visits to remote Hmong villages.

Sunrise Luang Prabang - Laos

This morning I woke up at 5.17 and walked through the empty streets of this gorgeous little town to climb the Phousi Mountain to watch the sunrise. As the sky became lighter, the mists began to rise and weave through the surrounding mountains like great white rivers. It was gorgeous.

At the top of the mountain is a golden stupa (monument to Buddha) and the floodlights attracted gazzillions of moths, some bigger than my hand. From the surrounding town far below, a symphony of roosters crowed to welcome the new day.


Eventually the sun lifted above the mountain and the world was full of golden light.


I hope your day is also filled with beautiful scenes, golden light and great peace!

Buses

Earlier I mentioned that we left our hotel in Hanoi vowing never to return. This was the place where Irish couple had submitted an application for visa extension and paid their cash, only to discover the next day that the application had been 'denied' (read, never left the building). The hotel refused to provide receipts for the purchase however, in their favour, they did return the fee. Irish couple were somewhat fearful of facing time in Vietnam police station due to expired visa.

Unfortunately, having seen a number of musty, small, dark rooms with damp beds in hotels that didn't provide free internet or breakfast, we returned to the hotel to be known hence as 'scam hotel'.

After convincing the scam hotel staff that they should give me a room for the same price as previous, I dutifully lugged my bags up four flights of stairs and opened the door to my room to discover a collection of someone else's luggage. They had given me someone else's room key. If I were a person of less firm moral character I could have had a field day of theivery, however I headed back downstairs, and a girl from the desk brought me another key - 'We have made mistake!'. My word you have! (reminds me of the place in Hue where we discovered by accident that every room key opened every room in the hotel - how's that for security!).

We deposited our bags in our rooms (one off a hallway with wet carpet being ineffectually blown by a fan as an attempt at drying), and headed out to find some breakfast and bus information. The plan was to travel from Hanoi to Luang Prabang. Scam hotel said they would reserve seats on a VIP bus for 25 to Vientiene or 40 to Luang Prabang, but that they could only book for the following evening (read: they get an extra night's rent out of us). Being thorough backpackers, we decided to shop around. A number of tour agencies said they could get us tickets for that night, and given the Irish couple's rapidly diminishing time in SEAsia, and the crappy weather, we thought that would be a good idea.

We headed back to scam hotel to let them know we would not be staying that night as we were going to book a bus. We were halfway down the street when one of the fellows burst from the front doors calling us back. We returned to scam hotel to hear their price. '$20, on VIP bus overnight to Vientiene', said one fellow, 'Don't go with other company, they will charge you but put you on local bus'. Given their generosity and helpfulness, we booked the ticket (and paid $5 for leaving our bags in the room for half a day).

At 5.30, following a mad rush to find food for dinner and the journey, we were ready to board the bus. At 6.00, we were still waiting at reception. At 6.15 a taxi turned up and seven of us, laden with luggage, were squashed aboard. After a half hour journey, we arrived at a dodgy looking bus parking lot, and boarded the 'VIP' bus. We were quite suitably appalled at its state. The Vietnamese woman directed us to the back of the bus where there was a large gap, the seats had all been removed! We were supposed to sit on the floor.

A couple of Argentine girls climbed aboard and were directed towards the back, but loudly refused. A cross-cultural exchange occured with the girls absolutely and admantly refusing to go to the back of the bus, and the Vietnamese woman yelling at them both. The Argentines won the battle and stayed in their reclining seats.

Throughout the night, more and more people got on the bus, filling the aisle with little plastic seats and at some point, a man began hitching a hammock up to the railings over our heads. An older Vietnamese man came to sit next to me (in the foreigner section!!) and twitched and fidgeted his way through a few hours. Turns out he was one of the bus drivers. We stopped at a 'restaurant' where I ordered vegetable noodles, only to discover chunks of beef through it. Aaaaarrrghhhh. At 5.00 in the morning we arrived at the border crossing into Laos, and had to wait 2 hours for the border to open. After departing Vietnam and paying for Laos visas (Irish couple got a fine but not arrested, thankfully), we left at about 9.00am, having no breakfast stop and thus rationing our meagre supplies to last the day.

Our journey continued until 4pm, arriving in Vientiene to find just about all the hotels 'full' as indicated by little signs in the windows. We stayed one night and left the next morning aboard a real VIP bus for Luang Prabang. VIP generally means that you have an on board loo, and they give you water and a little cake or pastry snack. We also received a nutritious and tasty lunch along the way. This journey was 9 hours, and progressed through absolutely stunning scenary. The mountains of Laos are beautiful and my faith in buses is restored! Luang Prabang is gorgeous and I hope to stay here for a good week to ten days, relaxing and enjoying some of the eco-adventure tours in the area.

Hanoi and Halong Bay

Have just returned to Hanoi following a three day Halong Bay adventure. Day One we squished ourselves into a little minibus with all our luggage declaring that we would never return to the hotel we were leaving (some issues with laundry, stinky cigarette smoke filled room and a visa extension paid for, but not fulfilled - the visa-devoid parties have been nervously waiting for the Vietnam authorities to pounce!).

On the bus, some idle chit chat revealed that 85% of the group were Aussies (apart from my token Irish friends). One conversation ran as follows:

'So where are you from?'

'Melbourne'.

'What do you do there?'

'I've just finished a Health Sciences degree at Latrobe'.

'Oh, do you know Pranee Liamputtong?'

'Yes, she was my honours supervisor'.

'She's my MUM!!'.

This was followed by exclamations of disbelief and wonder at the workings of the universe...

I mean, what are the chances of that? The world is a seriously small place!

Halong Bay was cold but beautiful. Braving the top of the junk to snap some pics was risking hypothermia, but I got a few to share with you. We stopped at a beautiful cave then slept the night on the boat. Next day we climbed a mountain on Cat Ba Island, grasping jagged rocks and climbing slippery, rusty ladders during the ascent. At the top was a four story metal structure to enable an even better view. I squashed my fear and braved the stairs and was able to take some more lovely photos. Pa, you would have loved it!! I returned safely to the earth without slipping or breaking anything and the structure also remained in one piece.

That night we enjoyed some drinking (white wine from Dalat for me) and had an awesome dance at the local nightclub on Cat Ba Island. Much fun!! Next day we returned to the boat and headed back to Hanoi, via a long wait at a mediocre restaurant. To get off our boat we had to clamber with all our packs (and my guitar) from boat to boat, which were all crammed against each other in the bay close to the dock. After a few hours on the bus we had a 'loo stop' (read 'opportunity for the tourists to buy shonky wares out of guilt at the handicapped childrens workshop') and I decided it would be fun to join in a game of hacky-sac with some random travellers. Feeling far more graceful and athletic than reality allowed, I took a plunge for the hacky, tripped in a crevasse in the concrete, twisted my ankle and landed arse first into the 15cm wide channel of water. As I sat grasping my ankle and rocking in pain, the water seeped through my fisherman pants, leggings and undies. I provided a great laugh for the 40 or so tourists sitting inside and then slowly made my way back to the bus to find some dry clothes.

My friends have rationed me to only one 'pain complaint' a day, however I have informed them that if they take a moment to ask 'How is your ankle this morning? Has the swelling gone down?', I will feel adequately acknowledged and comforted and will not need to mention it!! So, yes, the ankle is a little painful, but there is very little swelling so all is well. I can carry my pack so still qualify as a backpacker/traveller.

We are heading into Laos in the next few days... will be lovely to be in the warm again. So long sweeties!!