Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, Laos - January 24 to February 2

Dear family and friends,

The 4 hour bus trip taking me to Vang Vieng from Vientiene went by quickly. Hills covered in tropical vegetation, giant limestone rock formations, rice terraces, Laos is a beautiful country. We drove through lots of little villages, the houses mainly framed in bamboo with woven grass matt walls. The people in these villages live a meager life, I read that for many their average yearly income is $800. They grow what they can, keep some livestock, trade or barter for what they can and earn a bit here and there as they can. I seen lots of people gathering a long thin grass and laying it out in the sun to dry and found out later it is sold for use in making brooms. The brooms themselves sell for a couple dollars seems to me that would mean all that work in gathering and drying would be paying them pennies.

Vang Vien is a small riverside town banking the Nam Song river. It would be idealic if it were not for the hordes of partying kids, I was told they are gap year kids there for the cheap booze and drugs which are readily available and for the tubing on the Nam Song. A lethal combination, a young girl I spoke to in the lobby of the hotel I stayed at told me there were 22 deaths from drowning in 2011. A few of the restaurants sell 'happy pizza' along with quart size bottles of BeerLao and homemade hooch. They are all open air most have large screen TV's that loop episodes of Friends and The Simpsons all day long, when I left early the next morning they were still playing. Must be round the clock amusement for the stoned kids.

I had a late lunch there of spring rolls, not nearly as good as the ones I had eaten in Vientiene, that also served as dinner at a quiet place upriver from the madness in the town center.

Next day I got on a mini bus, really a 9 seater van, for the 6 hour drive to Luang Prabang a nice trip very scenic.

Lunang Prabang is one of the most visited cities in Laos. Formerly the royal capital of the country it is now a UNESCO world heritage site. I have been here 10 days and really like it. I had pre-booked a room in a guesthouse which turned out to be a nice place to stay for awhile. There is a balcony off my room that I sit out on and watch the goings on in the little street below. There is mostly foot traffic, the odd car or motorbike drives past. I am a nosy parker so this suits me quite well. There is a couple from Denmark staying in the room next to me, their balcony is next to mine. We chat back and forth, they are world travellers and have lots of tales to tell.

The old quarter of the city where I stay is on a peninsula bounded by the Mekong River and the Nam Khan River and can easily be covered by walking. The guesthouse has bikes for use of the guests and I take one out most days riding it down along the river, sometimes stopping for a BeerLao or coconut water at one of the riverside bars.

Last Friday a lady I met from New Zealand and I hired a tuc tuc to take us out to a waterfall, Tat Kuang Si, located about 30klm from town. We also wanted to visit a bear sanctuary out that way. The falls was beautiful, a multi layered cascade that falls over limestone formations into pools of mint green colored water. The falls are set in a spotlessly clean public park, lots of families were picnicking. You can swim in the lovely pools, we just watched and then later stuck our feet in.

The cuddly looking sun bears at the sanctuary were adorable to watch. They have been rescued from poachers and have a pretty nice life here. Lots of platforms and obstacle courses to keep them busy. A few were whiling away the day swinging on hammocks, we watched them for a long time while our tuc tuc driver napped.

I booked a one day mahout, elephant trainer, course held at 'All Lao Elephant Camp' which offers the training with ex-logging elephants and it turned being a really exciting full day. The site is located twenty minutes drive from Luang Prabang. Spending a day riding on and learning about elephants in a pretty setting along the river was unforgettable. We, there were 4 of in the group, were first given our official mahout uniform, blue cotten pants with matching shirt and then introduced to our elephants for the day. My elephant was a bit battered looking he had been abused when he was a working elephant. Asian elephants are a bit smaller then African elephants with pink tinged ears and trunk. I was told his name countless times but could not keep it to memory so ended up calling him 'elephant' which he responded to nicely. After learning some commands, which I also promply forgot, and feeding them piles of green bananas and sugar cane we got to ride on their neck through the jungle and then into the river. The elephants love being in the water and were so playful spraying water up on us from their trunks. It was fantastic.

The languages of SE Asia are tonal and really hard for me to distinguish one word from another part of the reason why I could not keep elephants name in my head or remember commands the sounds are so alien to me. The script too is impossible to decipher. Most service people have a bit of English, enough to sort out what is needed but very few are fluent. For some reason I am doing goofy stuff like ordering un cervasa and I am always saying si instead of yes. The market vendors all say, Madame today is your lucky day, I will give you the same price today as I would give my sister, Madame you are so lucky. Hasn't gotten old yet I laugh every time I hear it.

I went to a Lao cooking class yesterday. It was hands on with lots of chopping and pounding of ingredients we then cooked the concoctions on small charcoal stoves the Lao people use for most of their cooking. Afterwards we sat down in a lovely setting and ate our creations. A fun day not sure if I will ever prepare the food again as the ingredients will not likely be available in Canada but I know a bit about Lao cuisine now. The chef/instructor had a good sense of humor, always joking he reminded me of Yan from the 80's tv cooking show 'Yan Can'.

Today was my last full day here as I am leaving for Cambodia tomorrow morning. I took out a bike and rode to the end of the peninsula where the Mekong and the Nam Kham river meet. There is a bamboo bridge that crosses the river to the other side. I went across and road a few kilometers to a little village known for its silk weavers. I have not bought anything up til now and did not plan to buy today but the prices for the silk were so good I bought some pieces for my bedroom.

I have enjoyed Laos, the country is beautiful and the people so friendly. I might pass through again after Vietnam. I was supposed to be here until Sunday but my flight got changed to tomorrow and I feel a bit cheated.

I hope all goes well with you. Write to me, send me news I would love to hear from you.

Sandy

xo

Vientiane Laos January 20th to the 23rd

Dear family and friends,

The overnight VIP bus I took from Chiangmai got me to Udon Thani, about an hours drive from the Laos border crossing. I got on a another bus to Nong Khai and from there took a tuk tuk to the border. I got stamped out of Thailand then got on a mini bus that took me to Laos immigration where I paid $42. U.S. for a visa. Vientiane is about 16 klm from the border, it was pretty hot so rather than get on another crowded bus to the city center then a tuc tuc to the hotel I opted to take a taxi, cost was 200bht, it had air conditioning, the driver spoke English, and he carried my bag into the hotel.

Kip is the name of the currency here and like in Burma it has too many zeros for me, I am always pulling out my calculator. With ATM and bank charges factored in one Canadian dollar is worth 7500 kip.

France somehow colonized Loas in the 18th century, I am foggy on the details. Vientiane was settled by the French as a hub of Indochina at the end of the 19th century. The city still has French influence with fresh baguettes available at every restaurant and shop and many of the little street are called Rue. The hotel where I stayed was located on Rue Francois Nginn.

The overnight bus ride was fine, cost 640bht, I slept well in the reclining seat. Going this way saved me a $250. U.S. air fare. Twelve hours of day time travel on a bus would be next to impossible for me to tolerate but going at night and being able to sleep makes the trip much easier. I arrived at the hotel at 11:00 a.m. unpacked a few things, had a shower and then headed out to see what I could see. I really like it here. I had lunch at an outside cafe, the food was delicious, I think I like Lao food better than Thai food, it is full flavored but not with the same intensity as Thai food. I was close to swooning while eating the fresh spring rolls, the dipping sauce was that good. I then had a green mango salad served with sticky rice on the side, it was deeelish. I plan to spend a week or two in Luang Prabang after leaving here Monday and after an over night stop in Vang Vien, for sure I am going to take a Lao cooking class while there, I need to learn about this food.

Vientiane is the capital city of Laos, it seems small and the central area where I am staying is very charming. The city sits on the banks of the Mekong, has lovely old buildings and restored villas now mostly boutique hotels and restaurants and of course lots of temples to visit. There is a good morning market to browse through and the night market along the river walk makes for a lovely evening stroll. The river walk itself is done with paving bricks and lots people are walking along it in the early evening. It is where people go to watch the sun set on the Mekong.

On Saturday after another delicious lunch I went in search of a massage. After walking through out the city in the heat I felt deserving. I went to a place called The Wellness Center and had such a good massage I went back on Sunday for another one. The massage here was better then in Thailand. I was stretched and twisted and pounded and the tiny masseuse walked up the back of my legs and back. I am much too undisciplined to do the stretching exercises every morning that are recommended for people of my age, these massages do it for me, I sure am going to miss them after I am back home. I am addicted. Cost 35,000 kip.

Getting a massage here in Laos and in Thailand involves walking in to the reception area where you tell an attendant what type of massage you want, there are various types I alway choose the Thai massage. She will then lead you into a comfortable seating area and give you a cold glass of water. The masseuse will come in with a bowl of warm water, you place your feet into it and she washes them using a soft scrub. You are then given a basket containing loose fitting soft cotten pajama type bottom and top that you change into. You then lie down on a mattress on the floor, fully clothed, in a little room and the massage begins. It is always air conditioned, soft music is playing and the places I have been to all seem to smell like lemon. Afterwards you are offered jasmine tea and usually a cold scented washcloth. So nice.

Dinner last night included more of those delicious fresh spring rolls, a rice vermicelli dish with chicken and different kinds of vegetables, so good, a big bottle of BeerLao and coconut ice cream for dessert cost me a whopping 60,000 kip. While eating my ice cream I remembered that in Bangkok a popular sundae is vanilla ice cream topped with kernel corn and whipped cream. They also sell yogurt with kernel corn in it. Makes my stomach turn a bit thinking about but the Thai's love it.

Monday morning, January 23, and I am off in the direction of Luang Prabang. It is a 10 hour day time bus ride from here and since that is way too long for me to sit on a bus I am breaking up the trip with an overnight stop in VangVieng, a small town on the banks of the Nom Song river. It is a 4 hour trip leaving me with a more manageable 6 hour ride on Tuesday.

I hope you are well, email me, send me your news or leave a short comment here, put your name in the body and select anonymous unless you have a Google ID. I would love to hear from you.

Sandy xo

Chiangmai Thailand January 17th to the 19th

Dear family and friends,

I booked a flight to Chiangmai in northern Thailand for 10:30 a.m. the same morning I arrived back in Thailand from Burma. I was checked into my hotel in Chiangmai by noon. I walked around the central area of the city for awhile, booked a day trip to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle for the next day and bought a ticket on the overnight VIP bus leaving Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. for Laos. This did not give me much time in Chiangmai but enough for me. I met some people from California who spend January through March every year in the area. They told me there are a lot of people from all over who do the same. I thought it an OK city but cannot see spending 3 months there. It had been a long day I was weary I had wonderful relaxing Thai massage at a place called The Green Bamboo, got a bite to eat and I was in my pj's by 6:00 p.m. I was leaving on my day trip next morning at 7:00 a.m. I slept soundly that night, the hotel was located on a small side street away from the traffic noise, very quiet.

The day trip had a full agenda, we first visited what in English is called The White Temple, it was lovely. All white, very ornate, inlaid with mirrors that sparkle in the sunlight. I will post a picture here when I can.

Next we made a quick stop at a hot water spring, not much to it, the surrounding area was filled with stands selling all kinds of souvenirs doodads and trinkets.

A two hour drive later we arrived at the Golden Triangle. A place where the 3 countries, Thailand, Laos, and Burma can all be seen at one time, each country converging into the Mekong River, thus the 'Triangle'. Golden is a reference to the trade in opium that took place up until 1969 on a little island there called no-man's land. Since no-man's land does not have a country affiliation it does not have a currency so all the drug trading was done with gold, thus the 'Golden Triangle'. The place has quite a history. We boarded a long boat docked on the Mekong River and went to Laos first then to Burma. In both places we were given 30 minutes to go on land and browse the little tourist shops set up along the shore. No passport required though we were charged 20bht each at both landings. I went, I saw and I am now satisfyed, seeing the area has been on my list for a long time.

After getting back on shore in Thailand we had a late buffet lunch and then headed out to visit some hill tribes. We seen four tribes in all including a group of long neck Karens originally from Burma. It was all very nicely staged in little villages set up by the Thai tourist board, not too much real about it. Seemed to me like the people dressed up every day for their parts and then after the show would jump on their motor bikes and go to their real home. We were told by the guide that the tribes do live and work in the little villages we seen so it must be true.

After this we got back in the van for the 3 1/2 hour trip back to Chiangmai. All in all it was a nice kind of quirky day, I enjoyed the other travellers in the group, really interesting people. The guide was funny and I got to see stuff I have often dreamt of seeing. We got back to town about 9 o'clock, I went for dinner with a couple others from the group and then called it a day.

Next morning I packed and got stuff ready for my overnight bus trip leaving that night and then browsed some more around the markets and old part of Chiangmai. All that walking around in the heat of the day meant to me I needed to have another massage this time I opted for a 2 hour full body massage and facial. 350bht. Wonderful, I have no idea how I am going to live life back in Canada without these wonderful spa interludes. I feel so relaxed and well after, I am sure I have been cured of some terrible awful disease I never knew I had.

I had dinner with the mother and daughter I had met from California and then headed to the bus station for the 12 hour overnight trip to the Thai-Laos border.

I hope you are all well, write to me, tell me your news, send me photos.

Sandy xo

Burma January 5th to the 16th

Dear family and friends,

On January 5 th an hour long flight took me from Bangkok to Rangoon Burma, now called Yangon Myanmar. Burmese food, no thank you, oily curries, yuk. After my first and only Burmese food experience I stuck to Indian food and Shan noodles, both were good. The beer was good but pricey relative to Thai beer. I stayed in hotels ranging in price from $60. to $80. U.S. per night. I only ate in the hotel dining rooms, though the streets are full of street food vendors I did not eat it. Overall I found it to be more expensive to travel there than in Thailand. I seen very few westerners on the streets. I took flights between the places I planned to visit, all were about an hour long.

Most of the women and men wear an oversize ankle length tube type of skirt called a longyi that is wrapped around the waist and fastened by folding over at the top. A lot of the people including the women chew betel nuts, a mild stimulant, making their teeth and lips a red/brown color. Chewing seems to require a lot of spitting out of red stuff, meaning watch your step. The women and children have light colored powder made from sand wood smeared on their faces, some have decorative lines and swirls through. The powder is thought to protect the face from the sun and is also for beautification.

There are frequent blackouts, pretty much daily, all the bigger businesses and hotels have back up generators. Internet is available but so very slow and it to is often not working.

Everyone in Bangkok has a cell phone, I did not see one person in Burma with one, just little stands in the streets with a phone you can pay the attendant to make a call from. The roads are full of old cars from the 70's and 80's, with a mix of left and right hand drives. The fumes are terrible, I just wanted to hold my breath most of the time I was there. The infrastructure is in a sorry state, broken sidewalks, it is hard to walk without tripping, and rough roads. The city is jam packed crowded with people and street stalls and more people yikes between tripping and getting elbowed it is hard not to build up a bit of 'road rage'.

The Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, was something something. The complex is immense aside from the main temple there are 82 other buildings, big and small temples all with residing Buddhas. The main temple said to be 1,000 years old, is covered in gold, estimates say 53 metic tons of gold cover it. It is also studded with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. It is a site to see. I spent hours there wondering around. So peaceful, beautiful and the complex grounds so clean.

I took what is called the circle train around the outskirts and countryside surrounding Rangoon and really enjoyed the three hour trip. The countryside is beautiful, green and lush. The other travelers on the train mainly small vendors going from one place to the next were interesting to watch. I took pictures and when I can I will post them here, they tell the tale better than I can.

I flew to Pagan now called Bagon, on January 8. Pagon is a collection of three towns within fields of ancient pagodas built in the eleventh century, the area breathtaking in its scale. There are some 44000 pagodas, (temples). Motor scooters are the main means of transportation by the locals, I did not see many cars. Horse carts can be hired to take you around the temple filled plains, the drivers speak a bit of English, enough to guide you to and about the more accessible temples. I hired one for a day, it was a nice way to wonder around. The Guesthouse I stayed in was charming, hundreds of temples in view from the small deck off my room.

January 11 I went to Mandalay. I met some people from Australia in the airport who were there for two weeks to visit and work in an orphanage they sponsor. They invited me to join them for a day. They had also applied to the government for and were granted permission to visit a small village they had been told about and wanted to sponsor located 25 kilometers from the orphanage. They wanted to assess in what ways they could best offer assistance. I went along that day, we first went to the orphanage. There are 100 children living in the orphanage ranging in age from 1 to 15. Ten full time caregivers also share the housekeeping, laundry and cooking duties. The kids eat salt rice three times a day with a vegetable soup added for the evening meal. They get meat protein once a week and an egg once a week. The Australian group have been sponsoring the orphanage for 4 years, they focus on hygiene and sanitation. This time they brought along a 3 months supply of protien powder. The kids were so excited to see the group, they all got little packages with fresh supplies of toothbrushes, soap and such. Each child also received a toy and or school supplies. It was fun to watch they were so excited.

Going to the village was an experience I was totally unprepared for. We went by truck, 12 of us packed into the truck bed. There were 4 army guys who escorted us to and from the village. We were not allowed to take cameras or cell phones, these guys had guns so we paid attention. The village is located on the bank of a small river. The bank was knee deep in garbage, the paths between the little huts the villagers lived in were littered with garbage. The people toss their litter out the windows. There were no toilets, little kids run around naked popping and peeing wherever they happen to be standing at the time of need. Adults do their business in the river where they also bath and launder. I was horrified and it took everything I had to stay with the group and act like this was a normal situation to be in. First on the help agenda will be to install composting toilets, doing a garbage cleanup and getting a hygiene education program started. We stayed about 2 hours an interrupter helped get thing sorted as the volunteers talked to the villagers. I can only praise the Australians for their dedication and loving spirits. I gave a donation, enough to install a composting toilet, but it is not in me to work along side them. I could not wait to get out of there. I have thought about those people every day since.

I did not see much of Mandalay because the day after the village visit I got sick, intestinal; fever, vomiting, water runs. I had Cipro antibiotic with me and took it. I had gotten Dukoral vaccine for travelers diaria before leaving Canada but I guess it did not cover whatever it was I picked up. I was sick for 3 days and needed another day recouping. I missed my flight to Inle Lake so missed seeing that area. I had to fly back to Rangoon on the 16 th to catch my 6:00 a.m. flight back to Thailand on the 17 th.

An article on Lonely Planet talks about how in 1985 the superticious ruler at the time decided that all 25, 50 and 100 kyat (Burmese currency name) notes were to be replaced with 15, 35 and 75 kyat notes in honor of his 75 th birthday. Only small amounts of the old currency could be exchanged leaving many people nearly destitute. The leader was still not happy and 2 years later he changed all the notes to 45's and 90's. He had become obsessed with the number 9. This time no exchanges were allowed. Today any wealth is stored not in banks but in gold.

Burma has been controlled by a military junta since 1962. The junta have built themselves a new city complete with a golf course at the cost of two billion dollars and the use of forced labor. Far away from and inaccessable to the majority of Burmese people, while the rest of the country's infrastructure including education and healthcare are non existent or crumbling and the majority of Burmese people live in poverty. The country is rich in natural resoures but the economy is filled with corruption. The military have been accused of large scale herion trafficing.

While I was in Rangoon the British Foreign Minister was there to pressure for change following Hillary Clinton there last November in the same capacity. Changes seem to be coming to Burma, political prisoners were released during the time I was there and a democratic election is promised for April. I hope the changes happen.

Write me a few lines, send news, photos.

Sandy xo

Bangkok Thailand January 1st to the 4th

Dear family and friends,

I arrived in Bangkok New Years eve about an hour and a half before midnight. I stayed in the Sukhumvit area, the small street where the hotel is located was packed with partiers around the street bars and on the street. Though I did not take part in the festivities it sure was fun to watch from the hotel's outside foyer.

Bangkok is huge, smelly, noisy yet I like it. I always felt safe. The Thai people helpful and friendly. (With bank and ATM charges factored in 1 Thai bht is worth 4 cents Canadian)

What did I like?

The sky train and the river ferries that took me to all the places I wanted to see in cool comfort. The traffic here is horrific, taking a cab anywhere during the several per day rush hours can take hours and I found the taxi drivers hard to deal with, they wanted all my money. The sky train whisks you up over top of all the fumes and traffic jams quickly, is air conditioned, clean and inexpensive. The ferry takes you along the river well away from traffic noise and fumes with access to a lot of the attractions I wanted to see.

The Thai food, I ate the street food at least once a day it is cheap, fresh and delicious, 30 to 80 bht. Fresh coconut water, the coconuts in coolers packed with ice, the tops chopped off and a straw stuck in it when you buy one, so refreshing, I drank one every day. 20bht

The massages, nothing like an hour long foot massage after a long day of walking. 120bht

The small streets running off the main traffic filled arteries are like little villages with shops and outside vendors, you can find just about anything you need all packed in, banks, pharmacies, bars, food... it is all there. 7 11's everywhere, they are all cold as a freezers inside, I popped in and out of them all the time to cool off.

Did I mention the massages? Full body 1 hour Thai massage leaves the body so relaxed, it can get a little bit painful during but after oh boy. 200 bht

I love the little spirit houses seen in outside corners of most Thai homes, business even gas stations have them. When a building is constructed it is a Thai custom to install a spirit house on the property outside the shadow of the new construction, this gives a new home to the spirits displaced by the building. If the little house were to be put in the shadow the spirits would be unable to enter their new home.

Lays Potato chips has a whole different variety of chips here with such tempting flavors as salmon, peking duck, sushi, hot chili squid or crab and I seen a tube of blueberry and hazelnut flavored Pringles chips.

There are a whole array of beutifying products I have never before seen, all on display on the third floor of the big MBK mall. How about some armpit and inner thigh whitener or some nipple pinkener cream. Triple action soap and cremes that promise to firm and tighten the breasts, body and vajaja. For the men a serum to lengthen, widen and strengthen the penis. There are testers available so you try before you buy.

I visited all the tourist spots. lots of temples, Chinatown, the flower market, the grand palace, Jim Thompson's house. A couple young guys from Montreal that I met on the river ferry tagged along with me one day, really nice kids, I think they were missing their mom.

What did I not like? The air quality is awful, it was hard to breath sometimes when walking around, the exhaust fumes, pollution and smells can get pretty bad. Enough to make me want to get out of town after a few days.

There are scores of pot bellied, pigeon toed, hairy eared old goats swaggering around with young Thai women on their arms. Viagra is sold over the counter and on the streets, I am thinking that's what keeps the old goats fueled.

I am using my new iPad to write this, the kids gave it to me for Christmas, I love it, perfect for traveling it is small and lightweight but I cannot upload pictures from my camera with it. I did get the photos I have taken so far put on to a usb and when I find an Internet shop that will let me upload from it I will add pictures.

I hope all goes well with you, write to me, tell me your news.

Sandy xo