Bangkok...back to Thailand, baby

From Pakse, Laos, I crossed the border into Thailand. I could have gone directly to Bangkok on an overnight-bus, but I decided to stay one day in Ubon Ratchattani and then push on to Bangkok the following evening. Even though Ubon was pretty much the most uninteresting city I've seen to date, staying there for one night turned out to be a good plan. Coming directly from Laos, I would not have been ready for the chaos of Bangkok, and this gave me one day in a middle-ground to adjust, plus I found a cheap internet cafe, and I was able to hunker down for a few hours to dig myself out of the email-hole I'd managed to develop. Unfortunately, the internet cafe I selected in Ubon was one of these gaming center/internet combo places, and my USB flash drive (the one with all of my travel photos) contracted a virus that made it look like my pictures had been erased. Everything turned out ok, but not before I had a mini-meltdown at the internet cafe. I think I would rather lose my passport than lose all of my photos from traveling. Though it would be a huge inconvenience, my passport, at least, could be replaced.

Bangkok is intense. It's a huge city with pretty much anything and everything you could possibly imagine. The traffic is insane, the streets are packed with taxis and tuk tuks, and the sidewalks are crammed with food stalls and vendors of every product imaginable. The sounds, smells, heat and humidity hit your sense like a ton of bricks. I landed amidst this pandemonium early in the morning, fresh off an awake-all-night-bus from the sleepy town of Ubon. I had a surprisingly uneventful tuk tuk ride from the bus stop to the Skytrain station, hopped on the Skytrain to the Sukumvit area, checked myself into the super-clean Soi 1 Guesthouse, and set out to explore the city.

I had some errands to run (the occasional organizational day is necessary when you are traveling for an extended period: a visit to an embassy to apply for a visa, a quick stop at the pharmacy, questing for yet another pair of size 11 flip flops to replace the ones I destroyed the previous week...you get the idea), so I didn't have much time for sightseeing, but walked around most of central Bangkok with a few excursions here and there. I was planning to use Bangkok as my travel hub over the next few weeks, so I wasn't too stressed out about seeing all of the sights on this particular visit.

One evening, I went to the infamous Khao San road. This is where most of the backpackers stay and is famous through out SE Asia as the original "backpacker ghetto". I made a conscious decision not to stay there because the area is not well linked to the rest of the city via public transportation, and I was in errand-running/organizational mode. Plus, Khao San has its own distinct vibe, and sometimes I just need a break from backpacker-land.

All in all, my time in Bangkok was a fun experience. The food is fantastic, and the city is full of life. A visit to Bangkok is the travel equivalent of adding a shot of espresso to your life.

-Julia


Bangkok


A lizard chilling out in Lumpini park, Bangkok


Khao San road at night


Evening food stalls in Bangkok...fantastic curry!


Bangkok

Pakse and Champasak

From Tat Lo, I headed with Phil back towards Pakse. Upon arrival in Pakse, we spent two days eating Indian food (we found a fantastic place with cheap Indian food and English menus) and enjoying the forgotten wonders of modern technology, such as air conditioning, tv and internet.

While in the area, we took a day trip down to Wat Phu Champasak, a pre-Angkor era Khmer temple complex, just south of Pakse. Getting there involved several different modes of transportation and some serious haggling with the tuk-tuk drivers, but it was definitely worth the effort. The ruins were some of the most atmospheric that I've seen so far and had none of the crowds that you see at Angkor Wat.

Pakse was where Phil and I had to part ways. From Pakse, my plan was to head into Thailand and he was headed North towards China (from China he's traveling the silk road West to Europe). We had been traveling together for 3 weeks, the longest I'd traveled with anyone since Billy left SE Asia. We'd become good friends, and it was sad to say goodbye. Thus is life when you travel alone; you meet some fantastic people along the way, but you almost always have to say goodbye...at least until the next time.

I've been so fortunate to have met such amazing people on this trip. Truly, it has been the people who have made this a special experience for me.

-Julia


Pakse


French-colonial buildings in Pakse


Pakse from the back of a tuk tuk


The Mekong on a beautiful sunny day


Ferry to Wat Phu Champasak


Entrance to Champasak


Temple ruins


Terrace steps to the main temple complex


Overlooking the Mekong river valley from the main temple terrace

Bolaven Plateau and the Chili-standoff

After a few days of total relaxation, Hendrik, Phil and I continued north to Pakse and then on into the Bolaven Plateau region. The area is, you guessed it, a plateau, known for it's cool coffee-growing climate, great hiking and impressive waterfalls.

Our first stop was the town to Paksong. We had wanted to do several days of trekking, but a tropical storm that had hit Vietnam was wreaking havoc on the Bolaven Plateau, dumping tons of rain, so the trails were too muddy to navigate (and there were zillions of leeches, yikes!). Instead of long hikes into the woods, we ended up taking some short walks around the town, visited a few of the waterfalls and enjoyed the novelty of being cold (I was starting to forget what cold and rainy is like, now I remember). Phil and I explored the local market, where we learned the Lao phrase for "tall foreigner", which is "farang nung". Pretty much everyone has been calling me that, so I'm glad that I finally understand what it means.

In Paksong, we met Uma and Etienne, a Thai-Canadian couple who were also traveling in Southern Laos. It was great hanging out with them and their language skills meant that we could have some meaningful conversations with the locals and were saved from a chicken soup-only diet. Spending time with travelers who can speak the local language was a stark reminder about how different my experience has been here in Asia as compared to my time in Central America. While I have met some great travelers, I definitely miss being able to easily communicate with people other than fellow backpackers, or locals involved with the tourism industry.

Paksong was also the location of my first official defeat, since leaving home, in the spicy-food-standoff*. I love spicy food, and usually when I order a spicy dish here in SE Asia, the server will raise his/her eyebrows at me with a look that says "oh really white girl, we'll just see about that". I don't know if they tone down the spice for me or not, but usually I can handle whatever level of spiciness I'm given. My demise was not at the hands of some chili-loving SE Asian cook, but was my own brilliant doing. I took a big spoonful of the handmade chili paste that was provided at every table (like ketchup would be provided at a restaurant in the US), dropped it in my soup, stirred it up, took a nice big bite, and then sat there as my taste-buds were seared into oblivion by some insanely hot Laotian chili pepper. Lesson learned: when in a new place, respect the potency of the local spices before dousing your food.

From Paksong, Hendrik left us and headed towards Vientiane while Phil, Uma, Etienne and I went to the town of Tat Lo for one day. Tat Lo was much warmer and drier than Paksong, so Phil and I took advantage of the conditions and went hiking. This area of Laos sees far fewer tourists than the North, so the people are generally quite warm and welcoming (in general Lao people are very kind, but the people from small villages truly have hearts of gold. We had a fantastic time hiking through the countryside and surrounding villages, interacting with locals and playing with the little kids.

-Julia

*I am excluding from this statement the time in Malaysia, while travelling with Billy, when I mistook a whole green pepper for a stir-fried green bean and popped the entire thing in my mouth (with disastrous results, of course). That was more like a sneak attack than a fair fight between me and the chili-pepper.


Muddy road to Paksong


Paksong


Little girl in Paksong, contemplating how to use chopsticks


Hendrik gets a haircut (he was very trusting to let me near him with a hair-trimming device)


Rain, rain, rain


the 120m Tad Fane waterfall, Paksong


Phil, Etienne, Hendrik and Uma, walking home from the waterfalls


Etienne, Uma, Hendrik, Julia and Phil at dinner in Paksong


The market


Hendrik and the jars of home-made Lao Lao (Lao whiskey soaked with herbs)


Figuring out how to get to Tat Lo


Answer: in the the back of a pick-up


Sunset on the Bolaven Plateau


Goats in Tat Lo


Village kids leading us to a waterfall


Waterfall outside of Tat Lo


Phil, hanging out with some local kids


Some of the local peppers, the same kind which almost killed me

4000 Islands

If you are in need of somewhere quiet, peaceful and tranquil that also has good food and friendly locals, head directly for the 4000 islands region of Southern Laos. This is where the Mekong river splits up and flows around thousands of islands (hence the name). It's the perfect setting for several days of R&R.

I was still traveling with my kiwi travel buddy, Phil, who I met in Vietnam. The two of us landed in Don Kong and met up with Hendrik, a friend I had also previously met in Vietnam. The 3 of us took boat tour of the surrounding islands, relaxed, and soaked up the chilled out atmosphere that is Laos. Hendrik and I decided to get ambitions and rented bikes to ride around part of the island. Through some erroneous navigation, we ended up riding around the entire island (a 50km loop). It took all morning to complete the trip, but the views were fantastic, so it was definitely worth the extra effort.

Returning to Laos also meant enjoying my favorite Lao dishes once again. A ma officially addicted to Laap (minced pork or chicken with onions, chilies, lime and mint. Add a little sticky rice to the equation, and I'm in heaven.

-Julia


A storm rolls towards the Mekong


Schoolkids in front of a French colonial building, Don Det island


Train Engine left by the French, Don Det island


Hendrik and Phil strolling around Don Det island (my cheap Vietnamese sandals bit the dust as I was taking this shot, yet another pair of sandals falls victim to my fierce toe gripping)


4000 islands


The most patient and understanding cat, ever


Phil enjoys some street meat


Hendrik digs into some sticky rice on the bus

Back into Laos..or is it Lao

I really enjoyed my time in the North of Laos and since leaving the country, I'd heard nothing but glowing reports about the southern part. I had been planning on a few weeks in Burma, but given the recent events and civil unrest, I decided to bag that plan and do something else (I have no desire to put myself directly in harm's way, plus I'm fairly certain that my mom would have a heart attack if I decided to go to Burma right now...and we don't want any of that now do we).The back-up plan of returning to Laos, via the country's southern border with Cambodia, fell right into place.

After Dave's departure, Phil and I headed back to Phnom Penh and started our journey towards Laos (or is is Lao, I can never seem to get a straight answer about the county's official name, though everyone seems to be certain that their answer is the correct one). Traveling into Laos involved one more night in Phnom Penh (Cambodia is all about the hub and spoke road infrastructure). Upon arrival in Cambodia's capital, the smart thing to do would have been to call it an early night and rest up for the next day's long journey north, but we met some cool German travelers and ended up staying out way too late. At the time, we told ourselves that we would sleep on the bus. Sounds reasonable enough, right? Wrong.

The bus turned out to be a Sihanoukville-style Asian chicken bus, complete with blasting karaoke music and a screaming baby (who was, naturally, sitting right in front of us). In one of my more ingenious moments, I managed to spill an entire bottle of water on my lap. So not only was I tired, uncomfortable and unable to sleep, but I also looked like I had peed myself. Sometimes I really amaze myself. Well, the developing world travel gods must have taken pity on us, because our bus ride to the Cambodian border town of Stung Treng turned out to be an 8-hour trip rather than a 12-hour trip, that or we had misunderstood the projected travel time. Either way, it was like an early Christmas present.

We stayed the night in Stung Treng, then bid farewell to Cambodia the following morning. Two buses, two tuk-tuks, two mini vans, a ferry, a motorbike taxi, and a boat trip after leaving Siem Reap, we arrived safe and sound in Dong Kong, Laos.

-Julia



The journey began as we left Siem Reap


Phil gets beat at pool by some Cambodian women and doesn't take it well


Jan and Bastian, Germans who convinced us to stay out past our bedtime


Phil's breakfast bares striking resemblance to a chromosome, no?


Whizzing by the Cambodian countryside


Hotel in Stung Treng was not made for tall people


Ferry across the Mekong in Stung Treng


Cambodian couple on the ferry


This was the border "hut", very official-looking


Roaring Mekong river (it was the rainy season, so the water level was quite high)


Welcome to Laos...or is it Lao?