Saigon, Hoi An, Hue, Vietnam February 22 to 29

Dear family and friends,

Travelling by bus across the border from Cambodia to Vietnam was hassle free. No changing buses or standing in long lines. The bus had a hostess who collected our passports and got some of the processing done. We got off the bus first as we were stamped out of Cambodia and then again to get stamped into Vietnam. The bus attendants took care of unloading all the luggage for security checks which was really quick. All very efficient.

From the border to Saigon was like driving along Victoria street at the Breslau end, for 75km.

I had heard from so many people to plan to get in and out of Saigon as fast as you can, it grimy, crowded, polluted and full of thieves. It was polluted likely from the cazillion motor bikes and cars jam packed on every street. I have seen grimyer and more crowded though and the thieves left me alone. It is crazy busy or so it seems after being in Loas and Cambodia with their slow steady ways. I liked the tree lined streets and all the greenery on the boulevards. There are lots of clean lovely green parks. Saigon looks prosperous.

At first I could only take being on the streets for an hour because of the fumes. I got congested and my breath got puffy, I would go back to the hotel and sit in the a/c lobby for half an hour until things settled and then go out again. As the day went I adjusted and did not need break times.

I had 2 nights and 1 day, not much time, I wished for more but I had booked a flight from there to Da Nong and could not change my plans and stay longer without losing flight ticket cost. The flight was $68. and saved me a 15 hour bus ride.

I walked around Saigon, spent time in the parks and browsed the Ben Thanh Market, everything that could possibly be needed can be found here. Food, cloths, jewelry, hardware, cosmetics, medicine, booze and more all there. I ate pho at three different and all recommended restaurants and none was better then what I have eaten at home in Kitchener. I ate amazingly good peanut ice cream. I found the little side streets that have no traffic, like the ones in Bangkok, they are like little villages off the busy main traffic arteries. I love watching food ladies, wearing cone hats, going from one side street to the next with their portable kitchens. They have a pole with components hanging on either end, the pole rests on the shoulder. They seem to each have a specialty. They walk along calling out what they have to offer. Someone will wave them down and quick as a flash the pots are on the ground the lady is sitting on a little folding stool she carries with her ladleing out whatever she has into little bowls. One had a little gas burner and tank which she used to stir up a quick fry served with rice. I booked a hotel in Hanio that has a computer in each room I am hoping I will be able to upload some photos.

On both evenings I parked myself at an outside cafe on the traffic circle by the market and watched motorbikes. Ten lanes, 5 going each way, jam packed with motorbikes some with 2, 3, and 4 packed to a bike. They all seem to be heading for each but they glide smoothly past each other. It looks choreographed. Much better then watching TV. Except for the fumes.

My flight Thursday was at 8:45a.m. I was up early that morning after packing and breakfast I still had half an hour before leaving for the airport. I decided to take one more quick walk around. We all get those WTF things that happen well they tend to happen more often when traveling. I have had a few this trip but this one on this early morning walk was a big holy crap WTF. As I was walking along I seen ladies sweeping cockroaches out their front doors onto the street, sweeping them out of restaurants.

The flight to DaNong took 1 hour, 20 minutes. From the airport I took a taxi to Hoi An 35 km away. DaNong too looks prosperous with its landscaped boulevards and well maintained buildings almost like arriving to a resort town in Florida. The drive was along the coast of the South China Sea where there are beautiful big resorts and villas. Some areas looked like they could be holiday time share villas.

Hoi An's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site so pretty on it's riverside location. It is packed with tourists. It looks as it must have looked centuries ago. It was once an important port used by Japanese and Chinese traders. Now most of the historical buildings house tailor shops. There are at least 300 shops here where people come from all over to have cloths made to order. There are also dozens of cobblers making shoes to order. I did not have anything made but talked to some who did. Some were happy with their orders others not so much. You need time to sort out the good from the bad before getting anything made.

I stayed 4 nights leaving early morning February 27 for Hue. Spending the first couple days browsing the streets, enjoying sitting in the cafes people watching. On Saturday I rented a bike for the day and rode to the coast, about 5 km each way to spend the morning at China Beach. It was a perfect day for it, not too hot. I walked along the shore ending up getting wet almost to my waist from the waves coming in. I sat and watched the families with their picnics eating on the beach. Lots went in swimming but none wore bathing suits they just dived in fully clothed. I could almost see the cast from the TV series by the same name that aired in the nineties going about their dramas. It was such a nice way to spend a day. I rode back to the hotel mid afternoon took a shower and then a nap. Later I met up with some people I had met in Saigon who had arrived that day and were staying in the same hotel. We went out to a riverside bar for drinks and food, the whole place looks magical at night glowing with silk lanterns and fairy lights.

Monday mid day I arrived in Hue, pronounced Hway, another place with UNESCO World Heritage sites located on the Perfume River. Hue is 168 km from Hoi An, the temperature dropped from 35c to 20c in the three hours it took to get there.

Vietnam is obviously more prosperous than its neighbors Cambodia and Loas and a lot more more organized when it comes to tourism. I have a huge problem though with the climate. It is continuously damp here whether hot or cold. The buildings all smell of mildew/mold. My cloths feel damp. Even with the a/c on the damp is there.

Tuesday I booked a full day tour that included all the places I wanted to see around Hue. Vietnam has some really beautiful countryside and the sites I visited all within a 25 km radius of Hue were beautiful. Gorgeous landscaping, manmade and natural lakes all like the photos seen in books about Vietnam. After visiting the sites we got on a dragon boat for a tour along the Perfume River.

I booked in a sleeper car for an overnight train trip to Hanoi leaving today (2/29/12). The journey will take 16 hours leaving Hue mid afternoon and arriving in Hanoi at 6:00 a.m. I booked a room in a Guesthouse and arranged for pick up at the train station. A nice thing about traveling in Asia has been that hotels allow early check in without charge if a room is available. Pre arranged rides save the hassle of dealing with taxi touts clambering for business at every rail, bus and airport.

I hope you are well, write to me. Sandy xo

Phnom Penh Cambodia February 17 to 21

Dear family and friends,

A six hour bus trip got me from Battembang to Phnom Penh. The trip seemed particularity long maybe because there was not a lot to look at along the way, no stunning landscapes or busy villages just dusty shops along side the road and flat lands. Phnom Penh was my last stop in Cambodia before going to Vietnam. The first thing after getting settled into the hotel was to apply for a Vietnam visa. The Visa's have a 2-3 day turn around time, cost is $40. U.S.. I got it through a travel agency which for some reason is cheaper and faster then going through the Vietnam embassy .

Phnom Penh is stinky, polluted, there is dust everywhere. Buildings are run down the sidewalks broken and dirty. Cars zoom past rickshaws. Drain pits were being opened by barefoot men with pick axes. Hot and humid, everything is done at a slower pace because of it. Sex trade is big in Cambodia but before now I had not seen any blatant signs of it. Like in Bangkok there are lots of pot bellies with pretty young Kymer ladies on their arms.

Then there is the riverside pramenade, something newer and cleaner nicely planted with trees and flowers, people strolling. There are new highrises being constructed. The National Museum grounds and the oppulent Royal Palace lush gardens are good places to find calm.

The National Museum houses a good collection of Ankor era sculptures and other Khumar artwork. I spent a couple hours wondering through the exhibits. I visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda on the same day. The Silver Pagoda so named because it is floored with silver tiles. The Pagoda is home to an emerald Budha and a life size gold Budha decorated with close to 10,000 diamonds. It is amazing all of this has remained intact. In 1975 the Khmer Rouge marched everyone out of the city at gun point to work in the fields, the city was empty of all it's citizens and occupied by the Khmer Rouge.

I had dinner that same night with some really nice people from Ireland staying at the same hotel as I was. When asked they said they enjoyed the Cambodian beer but were missing their Guiness. We went to an Italian restaurant, my first 'western' food in a long time. I had pasta, salad and garlic bread. The pasta had shades of being good but was odd tasting and did not quite make tasting like pasta as I know it. I think the noodles were fat rice noodles and the sauce had a faint lemon grass flavor. The salad and bread were OK. The draft beer was very good. The company of new friends excellent.

Next day I went to Tuol Sleng Museum, once a High School it was taken over by the Khmer Rouge who turned the classrooms into torture chambers and prison cells. Security Prison 21, S21. Each prisoner that passed through S21 was photographed, these are displayed along the corridors. After leaving here I went to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek where most of the prisoners from S21 were executed. There is a memorial stupa displaying more then 8000 skulls of victims and their ragged cloths. Visiting these places was a somber experience I felt heavy and sad but yet again in awe of the Khmer people having been to hell and back yet here they are today smiling and gracious.

Sunday I took a break from site seeing and hung out in the hotel sitting area on the main floor reading and chatting with other guests. Later I went to the bar area which has daily happy hours, 2 for 1 drinks, bowls of peanuts, travellers telling stories, it was fun.

My Vietnam visa came on Saturday morning so Monday morning I got on another bus this time to Saigon in Vietnam.

I hope you are all well. Write to me, tell me your news.

Sandy

xo

Battembang, Cambodia February 13th to 16th

Dear Family and Friends,

The bus ride from Siem Reap to Battembang took 4 hours not the advertised 3 hours, the scenery nothing special. I was thinking myself pretty 'worldly' when it comes to different cultures and food. I fell off my high horse though on a bus trip after the bus driver pulled over for the mid trip break so passengers can use the toilet and grab a bite to eat. Yuk to the squat toilets, especially the ones along the roadways. No running water, there is usually a water trough beside or behind the squat with a dipper in it that is used to ladle water into the squat to flush it. The ladle is also used to pour water over your butt to cleanse it after you have done your business. No toilet paper. Never take a bus trip without toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

The food offering at this break point were sandwiches made from a scrawny cooked chicken, neck and feet along with some feathers still intact hanging on a hook in the open air. Who knows for how long. Trays of bugs that had been fried in garlic then garnished with chopped spring onion and red peppers. An assortment of mince meat dumplings being kept warm in the sun. The flys like to sit on the dumplings. Some dusty bags of seaweed flavored chips. I was not hungry but I did buy dumplings for some stray dogs that grabbed my heart. I carry fruit and biscuits on bus rides in case I do get hungry.

Battembang at first glance seemed another dusty dirty city with scores of motor bikes buzzing around. But as I walked around the city got nicer. There is some nicely preserved French architecture along the river. The river walk itself is really nice and the main market building is also architecturally interesting.

My first night in town I went to what was billed as a circus performance at the 'Phare Ponieu Selpak' a multi arts centre for disadvantaged kids. Some of the kids attending learn circus performing, two of them recently accepted into a circus school in Montreal. They have past graduates performing in Circ de Soleil. The performance turned out to be a modern dance which was really good and I did enjoy it but I was a bit disappointed not to have seen a high wire act or acrobics performance.

It was really hot, midday temps reached 40 C while I was there so next morning in an attempt to get in some site seeing before it really heated up I hired a tuc tuc driver at 7:00 a.m. to take me out of the city to see the country side. I had read that the rural area around Battembang was really pretty and it was. I visited a partially collapsed 11th century watt and a brick factory. I wish I could post photos, they could do the talking.

After a tour around the countryside I wanted to to take a ride on the bamboo train, one of the worlds all time classic train rides. The bamboo train, known in Khmer as a norry, consists of a 2-3 meter long frame covered lengthwise with slats made of bamboo that rest on 2 barbell like rods with steel wheels on either end that sit on the track, the rear 'barbell' attached by fanbelts to a 6 hp gas engine. Locals use them to transport themselves and their cargo, vegetables, charcoal and such between villages and to markets along the track. The track happens to be a single track line left from the French era, if another train comes along in the opposite direction it could be a problem with any other rail train but not this one. The rule is whichever train carries the lightest load has to get off the track and let the other pass. These trains unload and come apart really fast, seemed like 2 or 3 minutes and the whole deal was off the track. Once the oncoming train is past the disassembled train is put back together on the track and starts off again. It was fun, the train clickty clacked along the warped track and had to be disassembled 3 times during my 14 km journey. A planned rail upgrade by the Cambodian government will soon put an end to the bamboo trains.

I signed up for a Khmer cooking class for the next day. The class started with a visit to the market to buy the ingredients for our meal. We made an appetizer and 2 main courses. I enjoyed the morning mainly because the other folks in the class were such fun. The food was OK but so rich I could only eat a small amount of each dish. We made fish in coconut cream and beef in a sweet wine sauce, the appetizer a sweet mango salad.

I left Battembang on February 16 and am now in Phnom Penh Cambodia. I will be here until February 21 when I will get on an another bus to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon in Vietnam.

I hope you are well. Write to me. Take care.

Sandy

xo

Siem Reap Cambodia Part 2 February 9th to 13th

Dear family and friends,

The last four days here in Siem Reap other then a couple half day side trips I have spent wondering around getting to know the city. At breakfast I have been chatting with two of the wait staff, a young man, He, who is 19 and a young lady, Shanee, who is 18. Both names as I have spelled them are what I call them and phonetically close to what their names sound like. Both work 5:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. 6 days a week at the hotel. They get an hour break each day, are not paid by the hour but by the month. They both also work at one of the night markets from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. 7 nights a week. Between the 2 jobs they each earn $160. a month. They also get tips sometimes which they say is their spending money, their salary goes to their parents who feed and cloth them and put some aside as savings for when they marry. He who has better English then Shanee does most of the talking, they are both eager to learn more and are happy for any opportunity to practice. He told me his mother is one of 11 children and is the only family member to have survived Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's attempt between 1975 and 1979 to form a communist peasant society. During this period millions of Cambodians were forced into labor in Pol Pot's "killing fields" where they worked 18 hour days and were fed a thin rice porridge once a day. The countries educated, the weathy, former government personal including their entire families were killed. If you wore glasses you were considered intelligent and killed for it. An estimated 4 million people died of starvation, disease or were executed under his leadership. Pol Pot died in 2000 though he was responsible for one of this century's worst genocides he never went to trail for his crimes.

As I wonder around sometimes stopping to sit and people watch I usually end up in conversation with Cambodian people. I will talk to one and within minutes there are 3 or 4 more joining in the conversation, like He and Shanee they seem eager to practice speaking English. They tell me so many things about their country. The public schools are very badly run and it is not possible, their words, to get an education attending them. The teachers are so poorly paid that they must work 2 and 3 jobs just to survive. There are no school supplies, text books are torn, old and out dated the schools dirty and run down. Government health care is almost non existent, most health care being provided by NGO's (non governmental organizations). If they want a good education they must attend private schools. They tell me there is corruption in everything the government does. They also talked about people being forcibly removed from their homes and land and re located to other parts of the country. The lands confiscated are prime lands being used to develope large hotels or government personnel homes. None are willing to protest preferring to hope and pray for better leadership and the end of corrution.

There is a lively area around the old market called Pub Street, the place to be in the evenings. Good draft beer cost between $.50 and 1.50 depending on where you go. There are scores of little restaurants, good cheap eats right through to pricey gourmet fare. Siem Reap has fabulous luxury hotels where a bed for the night in the presidential suite can cost upwards of $2000. I seen a stretch limo the driver trying to maneuver the big long car through the crowded streets around the market area and Pub Street.

Every block or two there is a small corner stand attended by ladies that sell an assortment of bugs, small bugs and large bugs some the size of a Toonie. People here eat them, they peel off the legs and wings and pop the body into their mouths giving them a good chew.

Tuc tuc and motor bike drivers buy gas from little stands that sell gas by the quart bottle, usually in recycled liquor bottles. They fill up right where they buy the gas, the bottles are reused over and over.

Thursday I hired car and driver ($15. for 6 hours) to take me to the boat dock on the Tonle Sap, largest fresh water lake in Cambodia, where I could get on a boat that would take me out to see one of the many floating villages on the lake. There are 170 such villages with 80,000 inhabitants. The driver came with me on the boat, he spoke pretty good English though he did not know much about the villages he was good at negotiating the price for me and translating. The village we went to is one of the largest with 5 schools, 3 gas stations, 1 boat service station, 3 karaoke bars, 1 heathcenter, a fish wholesaler and a large generator, all floating. People have been here for generations and rarely go on land. There are floating stores that sell vegetables and rice. One lady rowed from house to house in a boat selling eggs, the boat driver told the car driver who translated for me that the eggs are at the half formed embryo stage, they are for eating and the people love them.

In a typical village most are very poor the main form of livelihood is fish both for food and earning, average yearly income is $500. Life expectancy is 56 years. 12 percent of children die before age 5, half are malnourished. Literacy rate is 46 percent. These facts were posted on a board located at one of the stations we stopped at. I found out later the schools are mainly run by NGO's (non governmental organizations)I am thinking one of those organizations posted the sign. I had no idea before going just how difficult is is for these people yet the boat driver who lives in one of the villages said he would not move to land, he likes being on the water it is all he knows or wants.

I watched mothers hang their babies bum off the side of their floats to do their business, likely how the adults do it too. The people live off the fish from the same lake they poop in, bath in and launder in. I was reminded of the village I had visited in Burma.

We toured around the lake for a couple hours then back on land the driver took me on a nice tour of rural Cambodia.

Next day I went to a silk farm located about 25 km outside Siem Reap. There are groves of pretty mulberry trees, silk worms eat the leaves. We were taken through the whole process from mating moths to how the silk threads are unravelled from the larvae cocoons and ultimately woven into silk. The tour was free and really interesting. The catch was they had a shop on the farm which was the last stop on the tour, the hope is that visitors will make a purchase. I did not buy anything but there were quite a few who did so it all worked out.

Saturday I spent the day at a local orphange. There are lots of them here, for the most part run by NGO's. The government does not support orphanages. The one I visited was founded by a Cambodian man who started with the money he got from selling his home, car and all his possessions. There are 67 kids ranging in age from 1 year to 19 years. The kids attend private school outside the orphanage and have daily on site English classes taught by volunteers from all over the world. The kids all seemed happy and were so open and fun to be with. The little ones all trying to climb on me at once. We sang kids songs which they are learning from the volunteers there to teach English. I only heard about this particular place that morning, I wish I would have known about it sooner, I would love to spend more time there with the kids. Something about the place did not sit right with me. I will have to think on it for awhile and try to figure out what it was that niggled at me while I was there.

I went into a grocery store to pick up some deodorant, they all have whitener in them some claiming to have double action whitening. I have no idea why white pits are so appealing in this part of the world. I picked up the double action stuff because it also promised 24 hour odor protection.

Yesterday I had an herbal steam massage, the masseuse used bunched up bags of herbs that have been steamed over boiling water and kind of pummels with them. It was weird. The bags were hot and a bit smelly and I didn't like how they felt on my skin. I stopped her about 30 minutes in and told her to get rid of the bags and continue with a traditional massage.

After a 3 hour bus trip I am now in Battembong Cambodia. Siem Reap is hot and dusty and noisy, the car, tuc tuc and motor bike fumes are awful but I enjoyed my time there in spite of it. Visiting the spectacular temples of Angkor was really something something and so are the Cambodian people I met while I was there.

I hope you are well. Write me.

Sandy

xo

Siem Reap, Cambodia Part 1 February 3rd to 8th

Dear family and friends,

I am now in Siem Reap Cambodia the service city for people visiting Ankgor Wat. The city is sprawling chaotic, noisy, dusty and hot. I have been here 6 days and it is growing on me. For the most part on this trip I have been staying in small inns and guesthouses, all have been charming in their own way. Before coming here I booked into a large hotel the price was right and it is as good as the online reviews claim it to be. It has a nice pool, large buffet breakfast included, spotlessly clean my room is large, air conditioned and has satellite TV with lots of English channels and the hotel has an in house spa. Price is $23.00 U.S. per night. 90 minute massage $8.00 U.S. My only complaint is that with the smaller places I have stayed the opportunity to meet and talk to other travellers is better, here people tend to stay in their rooms when there not out about so not much socializing. The massages are really good, I have had 2 so far. I tried an oil massage for the first time and it was nice but I prefer the traditional one. I will try the herbal steam one next, see what that is all about, they use bags of herbs and maybe pound you with them, not sure. I will let you know.

The food here is not like Thai or Lao food though they use coconut and similar herbs like lemon grass and cilantro it is not spicy at all, no hot peppers. The food is always accompanied by a pepper mixture that I am starting to like, they grind a special peppercorn available here, I forget the name of it, which is mixed with fresh squeezed lime juice. The dishes I have had so far have been really rich and though good I could only eat half the serving because of the richness.

The currency here is known as riel, about 4000 to the U.S. dollar, but the country pretty much runs on the U.S. dollar so there is no need to convert money. I have U.S. dollars and it is nice not to have to deal with all the zeros or use a calculator.

Cambodia today is stable and at peace. I have read that inflation and corruption are are high and there is extreme poverty, like in Laos, many are subsisting on yearly incomes of less then $1000. Despite the horrors that happened here between 1975 and 1979 the people, called Khmers, are friendly and always smiling. They seem to have unbreakable spirits, yet the horror is present, I have heard more then one person quote the time between then and now in years, months, days and hours.

I am here in Siem Reap like all the other tourists piling into the city, to see Angkor Wat, the eighth wonder of the world. The Khmers are immensely proud of their treasure, people always asking 'what do you think of it' with beaming smiles on their face. Before visiting the complex I read a good guide book available here from kids selling them on the streets in the old market area. I also watched documentaries on YouTube both giving me a really good sense of what I was going to see. I bought a 3 day pass and that has not been enough time to see the entire complex but I did see the important parts and it allowed me to spend extra time at the main temple we are all familiar with. Before coming here I had no idea of the enormity and wonder of it all.

I hired a tuc tuc and driver for each of the 3 days. The drivers name is Sanboe, his charge for a full day was $13.00, he drove me around to each of the temple sites and waited while I trekked around. He was really helpful giving me names of the cities or temples, few of the sites are signed. We were out for 2 full 8 hour days and then a half day. I paid him extra and he was so grateful, bowing and smiling. The area is vast I had always thought of Angkor as being one big temple but it is so much more then that. The first day we did what is called the small circuit, 17 km driving from one site to another. The second day we did the large circuit which covers 26 km. The third day I re visited the main temple Angkor Wat. Walking the causeway over the moat leading to the Wat, (temple) is an experience in itself, strolling along in the heat on something built over 800 years ago was hot yes but also amazing. It was hard to take it all in in a single visit, I wanted to be there again. The Wat is the largest religious structure in the world. It was built between 1113-50, unlike other Angkor monuments it has been in continuous use since it was built. It is surrounded by a moat that forms a rectangle 1.5 km by 1.3 km. The famous stone carvings are facinating to look at. I watched the wild monkeys that hang out in the northwest corner as they chased each other about. One brazen monkey stole a water bottle from a lady's backpack unscrewed the cap, had a drink and dumped the rest. He was so adept at it I am pretty sure he does this regularly.

I am here in Siem Reap until the 13 th when I leave early in the morning for Battambong Cambodia about 3hours away by bus. I will spend 3 nights there then move on to Phnom Penh Cambodia. The rest of the time here I will take a boat trip on the Tonle Sap river to some floating villages. I would like to visit a silk farm and there are a couple good museums on my list. Of course I will fit in a couple more massages while I am here. The spa is on the same floor as my room, how cool is that. It is extremely hot and the humidity really high. Daytime temps run about 36C but with the high humidity it feels like 40. Asia starts to really heat up now and will be worse in March.

Vietnam is next country on my agenda where I will head north for cooler temperatures. Because of the heat everywhere else I may head for home mid March.

I have no idea why the above paragraph is so faded and I cannot fix. If anyone knows what the problem is please let me know.

I hope you are all well, write me, send me news, if you have no news send me a photo of yourself I would love to hear from you.

Sandy

xo

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