Steve on Tour

Back in Blighty

2008-07-10T19:23:00.004+12:00

I left Russia for the Baltic states. I travelled through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. All sharing the scars of a past of occupation and oppression. First by the Russian Tsars, then by the Nazis and then the Soviets. Tallinn is a beautiful chocolate box of a city and felt quite Scandinavian. All three cities suffer from large Russian populations who are not interested in integrating with the Baltic society. The Kremlin even encourages the Russian minorities not to integrate. Latvia has the largest Russian minority and has the biggest problem. The Baltic capitals also suffer from modern Western tourism, especially stag dos. There are strip clubs in each of them. Riga has the highest proportion of strip clubs a fact that made a local MEP complain to his Liverpudlian counterpart for spoiling his city. I travelled from St Petersburg, and between the Baltic States by Eurolines.

I continued into Poland which has suffered its fair share of occupation and oppression. It was a day long train journey from Vilnius to Warsaw costing 60Lt. We arived in Poland and then hit returning holiday makers who swarmed on the train. We were joined in our carriage with some very friendly Polish students who taught us some Polish. Although they did say that as I was from England I should be able to speak some Polish already. Warsaw was flattened during the Second World War and then suffered from Soviet building. Following the Second World War the old town was rebuilt and is UNESCO listed.

I caught an overnight train from Warsaw to Cologne. The train was six hours late. Unfortunately to make up time the train did not go via Koln. I got off the train with a German and a Pole who both wanted to go to Koln. It was raining. The Pole turned to the German and said in English, "English weather". It seems rain is indelliby associated with England. I had pre-booked a bus from Brussels to London but I missed the connection. I caught another train to Brussels and spent a night in a wet and dismal Brussels.

My welcome to Britain was not overwhelming.

"How long have you been out of the country?"

"Two years"

"Where have you come from today?"

"Brussels"

"OK go through"

The immigration official said this in the most boring monotonous tone imaginable. It seems my bounding off of the Eurolines bus into the arms of Blighty was not a feeling reciprocated by the authorities. The immigration and customs checks by the French and British took a combined two hours. Other than that the eight hour (scheduled to be seven hour) trip from Brussels to London was pretty uneventful as we glided under the Channel in the Eurostar. I arrived at Victoria Coach Station in rush hour and made my way across town on the tube (nearly squeezing a wide eyed women into a wall with my backpack) to Liverpool Street before catching a train home. It was good to hear the Essex accent in all its glory on the train home. My parents were surprised to see me. I made a point of misleading them as to when I would be home so that I could surprise them and have since been surprising friends and family. I don't believe I'll get as good an opportunity to see the look of surprise on people's faces when I walk through the door.

Russia VI - Moscow and St Petersburg

2008-06-30T00:05:00.006+12:00

My time in Russia ended with its most famous cities Moscow and St Petersburg. I had a superb time travelling across the country. The Trans-Siberian trip was an ambition of mine for some time. I was really glad I had the opportunity to stop in cities across Russia to get a taster for the country. Moscow and St Petersburg are on a different scale to other Russian cities. There are lots of great sights to see. As I travelled across the country I was warned that the closer to Europe the less friendly Russians became. I did not find this to be the case. The people of Moscow and St Petersburg were just as friendly and helpful as any other big city.

My arrival in St Petersburg was the end of my journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway. I had travelled all the way from Ulan Ude in Siberia by train. There is no one train called the Trans-Siberian Express, rather the rail line itself is known as the Trans-Siberian. It had always been an ambition of mine to travel along the Trans-Siberian. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see Russia from the train. It satisfied my romantic notions of travelling. While there is a certain cache to travelling directly from Moscow to Beijing by train for five days, I was glad to have the time and money to get off the train to see more of Russia. Travelling by train in Russia is an excellent way to meet local people. If you travel on the direct trains without getting off to say Irkutsk, Ulan Bator, or Beijing you'll often find lots of westerners in the carriages with you. Whereas travelling from East to West and making stops you will travel mainly with Russians. Travelling with the Russians highlighted how friendly and generous they are. From Moscow I caught an overnight train to St Petersburg. It was on the night of the Euro 2008 semi-final between Russia and Spain. One of the guys on the train was hanging out of a window with a TV aerial trying to get a good picture. The train from Moscow to St Petersburg cost 2311 Roubles, I bought the ticket at Hotel Irkutsk in Irkutsk. I was on train 004 the newest train I had travelled on in Russia. The train journey from Kazan to Moscow was another overnight train. We bought the ticket the day before from the Kazan ticket office for 2575 Roubles. I managed to drop a full bottle of beer on the floor as soon as we walked into our Kupe. The smell of beer stayed with us through the night.

I arrived in Moscow without great expectations, they were reserved for St Petersburg. I was mightily impressed by the centre of Moscow. There are lots of historic buildings that have been tastefully preserved. Undoubtedly the highlight is Red Square. While Red Square is tiny in comparison to Tiannamen Square it is far more atmospheric. St Basil's Cathedral sits at one end while the high walls of the Kremlin dominate the other side. I went to see Lenin's pickled body and completed the hat trick of dead communist leaders, Ho Chi Minh, Mao, and Lenin. It is quite obvious that Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum is heavily based on Lenin's. It was a much more tasteful affair than China. There was no pushing and shoving, although there were still guards shushing the crowds. Another great highlight of my stay in Moscow are the metro stations. I spent the best part of a day touring the various stations with their different architecture styles. I stayed at Novo Hostel, a great little hostel that was more like a home stay. 700 Roubles a night. A common story I was told on the traveller grapevine was militiamen targeting tourists for their papers. I fortunately did not have a problem. However, Hemmo did. He was stopped by a militiaman. Hemmo produced a photocopy of his passport and his registration card. The militiaman accepted the photocopies but he also said that he needed to see Hemmo's train ticket to prove that he had arrived within 72 hours. Hemmo stood his ground and refused to go and would not pay a bribe to the police station, and eventually the militiaman gave in and left him alone. I had also heard stories about violence in Moscow. Moscow did not feel anymore dangerous than any other Western city. Leningradsky train station was the most unpleasant part of Moscow. that I came across Outside lots of dodgy guys were hanging around with various wounds and injuries. There was a heavy police presence. Once inside the station it was perfectly safe but I did not fancy hanging around outside for any length of time.

St Petersburg is a beautiful city. I was in town for the White Nights. In the middle of summer it doesn't get truly dark at night. The Russians use this as a great excuse to party in the streets. I was watching the nightly water fountain and light show when three Hummer limousines pulled up full of Russian women in wedding dresses. I'm not sure why they were all in wedding dresses but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. St Petersburg is known as the Venice of the north. Canals criss cross the city. At night you have to be careful that you don't get stranded on one of the islands when the bridges are raised in the early hours to let ships pass. St Petersburg has lots of wonderful old buildings. Peter and Paul Fortress has great views from the battlements that overlook the city from the opposite side of the river. Outside of the city Peterhof Palace is spectacular with huge golden cascading water fountains. The Hermitage is famed as one of the best museums in the world. It is an impressive building. I was a bit disappointed. It felt to me more like a gallery than a museum. There are lots of nice things to look at but they become a bit monotonous. I really liked the rooms that had furniture and artifacts. Even if most of the rooms are galleries they are still quite something. I stayed at Nevsky Hostel, which has a great location close to the Hermitage. It was 750 Roubles for a bed in an 8 bed dorm. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

Russia V - Russia 3 Holland 1

2008-06-23T00:46:00.011+12:00

I arrived in Kazan the day of the Euro 2008 Quarter-Final between Holland and Russia. I was travelling with a Dutch guy and we were intent on watching the game. We very nearly missed the train to Kazan from Yekaterinburg, beginning the journey in carriage that resembled a sauna.

I arrived in Yekaterinburg just after Russia had qualified for the knockout stages of Euro 2008. In the morning there were still a few people driving around with flags hanging out of their cars. In Kazan on the day of the Quarter final there appeared to be little interest in the match. As kick-off drew near we headed out into the city in orange t-shirts from a charity shop. If you walked around in orange t-shirts on the day of an England/Holland match in the UK I think you would stand out. Russian men have such a lack of fashion sense that two men walking down the street in bright orange t-shirts draws no attention. We struggled to find a bar with atmosphere to watch the game, until we stumbled upon a small bar which was packed. We were given pride of place in front of the TV. When the locals discovered I was English there were many apologies for knocking England out in the qualifying. They gave a hearty rendition of the Russian national anthem (click here to watch). The match began and Russia dominated. While I was wearing a Dutch shirt my sympathies were with the Russians. When they went up 1-0 the place erupted. The Dutch drew level at the very end of normal time and Hemmo jumped up and down screaming for joy. Luckily no one clouted him. In extra-time the Russians took control and scored twice to win 3-1 (click here to see the Russians celebrate the third goal). Immediately after the final whistle crowds of people poured on to the streets. Cars raced up and down the streets with flags hanging out of the windows and people were on top of buildings celebrating (click here to watch a video of their celebrations). One of the guys in the bar wanted to swap t-shirts with Hemmo and went off happily in the dodgy orange t-shirt. Needless to say Hemmo was none to pleased about the result.

The journey to Kazan from Yekatertinburg should have been straightforward. We arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare. We kept an eye on the departure board and went to our platform. The strange thing was there was a different train there and when it pulled off no-one was left on the platform. I thought this was a bit strange and had a wander over to the other platforms. I discovered our train had had its platform changed. I ran back to Hemmo, we grabbed our bags and ran across the station. We managed to jump on just in time. It was a hot and humid afternoon and we had already begun to sweat. To save some money we had decided to do this leg of the journey in Plastkartny, third class, the equivalent of hard-sleeper in China. I bought the ticket from Hotel Irkutsk and it only cost 1000 Roubles. In Plastkartny there are about sixty beds crammed into a carriage. The carriages have air-conditioning but this works on an air pressure system when the train is moving. The train had been sitting there a while, fuill of people in the sun. We struggled into our carriage already dripping with sweat only to be confronted by a sauna. Plastkartny is a bit of a squeeze and not quite as comfortable as hard-sleeper in China. However, it is not that bad. I found Kupe a much more comfortable way to travel for long distance. I was amazed to see in our carriage a boy wearing a Tottenham shirt. I tried to inform him of what a good team he wa supporting but it seemed to him it was simply a t-shirt. It was the first time I had seen any local wearing a Tottenham shirt in all of my travels. I had my photograph taken with him but I think this only served to confuse the kid more. A guy in our block of beds was an aircraft engineer who spoke English. We chatted with him for a bit and Hemmo did his survey. Hemmo had been conducting a survey on his travels. He asked people which three countries have the most attractive opposite sex, and you could not mention your own. Russia was figuring highly amongst male travellers simply for the way the women dress. Russian women are certainly very glamorous though this just crosses into the scantily clad prostitute look, or as an American girl described it 'trailor park trash'. Hemmo's survey was always a good ice breaker with people.

Kazan felt quite different to any other Russian city I visited. The influence of central asia can be seen quite strongly here. Kazan is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan. While there have been calls for independence from Russia it is still part of the Russian Federation. Kazan has a beautiful Kremlin, in the centre of which is the large Mosque in Russia (as you can see in the above picture). The Kremlin was declared a World Heritage site in 2000 when the city celebrated its Millennium. It feels multi-cultural and cosmopolitan. It is also obvious that in recent years a great deal of money has been spent beautifying the city and restoring old buildings. The hot summer weather stayed with us in Kazan and we were able to go and sit on the beach on the banks of the Volga river with the Kremlin in the distance. We stayed at Hotel Volga which is very close to the Railway Station. The receptionist was the spitting image of Deirdre from Coronation Street. Kazan is not that big and it is very easy to walk to the centre of the city or to the Kremlin from there. A twin room cost 2000 Roubles a night and a buffet breakfast was included, which I abused to the best of my abilities.

Russia IV - Russki Vodka

2008-06-21T00:46:00.008+12:00

After returning to Irktusk from Olkhon Island I had a three day two night train journey to Yekaterinburg. For the first half of the journey I shared my Kupe cabin with a young Russian guy. After going through the getting to know you section of my phrasebook conversation stalled. I worked on my journal and read my book whilst the Russian stared at the floor for a couple of hours, after which he went to sleep for twenty hours. At Novosibirsk the youth departed and I was joined by a Russian Army Major, called Andreas, who could not speak a word of English. He immediately pulled out a small bottle of vodka. We started on the getting to know you phrases but communication was a bit tricky. He did want to make sure I was Christian and I decided it was best not to get into too tricky a religious debate with a Russian Army Major who could not speak English and had served in Chechnya. We did get along well and being polite I did not refuse the large glasses of vodka that he offered me and expected me to down in one. We finished the first bottle of vodka and headed for the restaurant car to buy another bottle. Along the way we came across members of his unit. We got back to our Kupe and started on the bigger bottle of vodka. Two of the members of his unit came to join us and the two of them could speak a bit of English. One of them was teetotal (the first Russian teetotaler I had come across). Some bread, mustard and salami was produced. I then cannot remember what happened next. All I know is that I woke up with a stinging head. I was covered in broken biscuits. I did not have my glasses, my watch or my phrasebook. Andreas helpfully sprayed some aftershave into my eyes and I went off to the toilet. I returned to the Kupe and found my watch was in my pocket and my glasses and phrasebook were hidden on the floor. The Providnista (Russian train attendant) for my carriage who reminded me of my Nan and seemed to be particularly kindly had a look in our Kupe. She took one look at the state of the Kupe and then looked at me to which my answer was, "Russki Vodka". She gave me a knowing look and a tut tut shake of her head. I get the impression that a large part of the Providnista job is looking after the paralytic Russian male. Russians do not drink until they are drunk but until they are unconscious. Andreas seemed to be in a worse state than me. He had offered me a glass of beer which I declined. He drank the beer and went back to sleep. The rest of the journey to Yekaterinburg seemed to take an absolute age.
Yekaterinburg sits on the continental border between Europe and Asia. It is a pleasant place to take a break from the train. It feels and looks like you imagine a Russian city. However, much like Irkutsk lots of historic buildings survived the Soviet bulldozers. The Yekaterinburg metro feels like a time capsule. A great part of the stay was Yekaterinburg hostel. It had only been opened a month and the guy running it was very friendly and helpful. It felt more like a homestay as the hostel is run by a family. They cooked me dinner and had lots of food in the fridge for me and Hemmo to use. The only problem I did have when I first arrived was getting in. The hostel was as ever in a non-descript Soviet tower block. The directions from the metro to get there were excellent, however, I did not have instructions of how to get in. I sat on the steps for an hour until someone came out who was involved with the hostel.

Russia III - Bont Dwems Bont

2008-06-17T16:22:00.010+12:00

One of the reasons I am excited to be in Russia is that I associate it with the danger and excitement of James Bond. I am no James Bond, I am more Dan Cruickshank, though not as loud and hopefully not as annoying. My Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook is one of the more lighthearted ones I have come across. They have a section of James Bond phrases, including "Your plans for world domination are sadly mistaken", the Russians find these particularly funny. While Russians generally don't speak English you often come across people who do speak English well. These people are also very intelligent. In China and South East Asia intelligent people do not necessarily know a great deal about countries outside of their own. However, the Russians I have come into contact with seem to be very well informed. On the train from Ulan Ude to Irkutsk I was in Kupe with one other Russian guy, Sergei, he did not look the most intelligent guy. We got chatting, he spoke a bit of English and he turned out to be very well informed. We even got into a somewhat confused discussion on literature as I was reading 'The Quiet American'. Sergei, like any Russian worth his salt, shared his lunch with me, kebabs. In Ulan Ude I was in the back of a bus and the guy sitting next to me spoke English. We talked about the weather and he knew about the Gulf Stream, not something you would expect someone to be aware of in the middle of Siberia.

I hopped on the Trans-Siberian train to Irkutsk and skirted along Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, holding a fifth of the world's total fresh water. The Lake's water is so pure that you can drink it. The sheer scale of the Lake is apparent as the train trundles by although it would seem more accurate to call it an inland sea rather than a lake. I went to stay on Olkhon Island. The island is large enough to have its own lakes. The main settlement Khuzhir is a very small town of only a few hundred people. It is full of wooden buildings and has a rundown charm. Cows wander the muddy streets eating rubbish while motorbikes with sidecars zoom passed. Hemmo (the dutch guy I met in Irkutsk) caught a minibus to Khuzhir from Irkutsk. It took 7 hours and cost 500 Roubles. We had to wait our turn to get on the ferry to the island. There is a public bus that goes to Khuzhir from Irkutsk which leaves earlier but gets priority to board the ferry. The ferry boarding is every man for himself. The crew get off and stand infront of cars to stop them moving while others force their way on. Once all the cars are off the ferry the captain raises the gang plank and in a very Cold War sounding announcement gives the waiting queue of vehicles instructions. In the midst of Winter when Lake Baikal is frozen over (something I find difficult to believe after seeing it in all it's glory in the Summer) it is quicker to drive to Olkhon Island because you can just drive over the frozen Lake. Khuzhir is renowned for Nikita's Guesthouse. A holiday village of wooden huts and yurts. While I was there it was very busy as it was a Russian holiday. There is a feel of a family holiday camp which some people won't particularly enjoy, but there are lots of backpackers and travellers. The food is excellent and plentiful. There are no showers in Khuzhir so to have a wash you can either go in the Lake which is icy cold otherwise the traditional way to wash is in a Banya, a Russian sauna where you pour buckets of cold water and hot water over yourself while being beaten with birch branches. One of the days we did a trip to the North Cape of Olkhon Island. The island is a lot bigger than you imagine, being bigger than Singapore. One of the great parts of the trip was the vehicle we were in, a very cool looking old Russian jeep. Nikita's Guesthouse charged 750 Roubles for a bed in a twin room including three meals a day. The day trip to the north of the island cost 400 Roubles.

I had heard mixed reports about Irkutsk. A lot of stories involved violence amongst Russian males. I did not see anything to corroborate those stories. Irkutsk does have rundown Soviet buildings and the intimidating housing blocks with alleyways and squares. However, it also has charming wooden buildings and lots of old Grand buildings. In its heyday it was known as the Paris of Siberia. There are trams trundling down the streets and I found the locals to be helpful and friendly. While my grasp of Russian was near to non-existent I did discover I knew more Russian than I realised. I went to Subway and found one of the staff spoke English. I was ordering with another member of staff who didn't speak English and was wondering out loud what mayonnaise was in Russian, the one who spoke English answered mayonnaise. I also discovered in an internet cafe that printer is simply printar in Russian. While I was in Irkutsk I stayed at Admiral Hostel which is a newly opened hostel I found on Hostelworld. It was a nice little place. The only problem is that there are only staff there in the morning so if you turn up without having pre-booked you will have to hope that the staff are there or a guest is in. Admiral Hostel cost 500 Roubles a night, in a 6 bed dorm, with a full kitchen, and the use of the washing machine was 200 Roubles.

I made a bit of a mistake with my onward train booking in Irkusk. I went to the train station and bought a ticket to Yekaterinburg for 8000 Roubles. I didn't have a problem buying the ticket and the price was again slighty more than quoted to me by Svezhy Veter Travel Agency. I was in Kupe. Hemmo bought a ticket to Yekaterinburg leaving twenty minutes after mine and arriving three hours later than mine for only 5000 Roubles. He bought his ticket at Hotel Irkutsk who have an English speaking train ticket ofice. The woman there told him about the cheaper train. I am in train 009 and he is train 069. When I came back from Olkhon Island I went there to book train tickets on from Yekaterinburg. Hotel Irkutsk charge 150 Rouble commission. The 009 train is the Baikal train and is considered the best train on the Trans-Siberian railway. From the outside it stands out with its very bright blue and white paint book. Inside the carriages are very new and very well serviced. The providnistas (Russian train attendants) were excellent in my carriage, friendly and helpful (even though they did not speak English). In my carriage was a plate of biscuits, a bottle of water and some fruit juice.

Russia II - Cultural Differences

2008-06-11T03:19:00.002+12:00

Whilst I am still technically in Asia, there is a definite cultural change. From the train I could see local people sunbathing on the shores of Lake Baikal, a sight I have not seen since leaving Australia. In China and South East Asia a common sight is people clad head to toe with only their eyes showing. It can be blisteringly hot but people will be wearing balaclavas and gloves. It is a strange sight for western eyes, especially those of an Englishman, because when the sun has got his hat on and the thermometer creeps to mildly hot then everyone disrobes. The reason that Asians cover themselves up is that to have a tan is an indication of poverty. To have a tan in Asia is an indication that you work in the fields. The rich stay inside and have icy white skin. To be pale is a sign of high status.

On a bus in Vietnam from Quang Ngai to Danong I was chatting to a local. He was saying how attractive pale women were. I told him that in England people crave dark skin. He found this amazing. I told him how people will dye their skin darker or go to tanning salons and he found it unbelievable. Mr Trinh Ngoc The (my guide in Ha Tien) said that Mekong Delta women were very beautiful because of their white skin (he said this was due to drinking coconut milk). In 'Another Quiet American' Brett Dakin states that Westerners have a high status in Laos partly because of their white skin. I bought Nivea suncream in Malaysia. On the bottle it said 'non-darkening' a selling point you are unlikely to see on a bottle in the West. If you look at moisturisers in shops the majority are not simply moisturisers but bleach your skin white as well. A complete contrast to moisturisers that add a 'healthy' tan to the skin in the West.

Russia I - Who said Russians don't smile?

2008-06-10T22:35:00.004+12:00

One of the things that I have been told countless times by fellow travellers is that Russians don't smile. I arrived at an obscure Russian border crossing on the Mongolia border on a bus from Ulan Bator. The Russian immigration lady gave my passport and me a steely eyed stare for a good while. She then rang someone and then finally asked me a question. I smiled and said I don't understand but offered my phrasebook as assistance. She started laughing, not what I was expecting. She then yelled across the other side of the room to see if any of the officials over there spoke English, none of them did but they all thought it was very funny. A thin ill looking immigration official wandered into her booth and had a good chuckle aswell. Eventually a woman appeared who could act as interpeter. They wanted to know how I got to Mongolia. When I told them I got there from China I then had to explain how I got to China. Once I worked my way back to Singapore they were satisfied. I then had to take my bags over to a plinth for customs. An Asian guy appeared and asked me to open my bag, or rather signalled to open my bag. On top was my Trans-Siberian Handbook (Bryn Thomas). The official had a look at the map and the pictures. He gave me back my book and waved me on. He didn't bother with the other much larger backpack. I had been given a Customs Declaration form but it was in cyrillic so I couldn't fill it in and they didn't care. The only trouble I did face at customs was my bus 'forgetting' me and driving off. I am pretty sure they didn't forget and simply didn't want to hang around. Either way the Russians were again very helpful and called the bus back. They found this very funny aswell. If you do get the bus from Ulan Bator to Ulan Ude you can change US Dollars or Euros on the border for a good rate.

Back on the bus a woman suddenly appeared who spoke English. She was amazed by my travelling alone and not speaking the language. My answer as being English to where I was from seemed to satisfy alot of other questions she had about me. She offered a homestay at her place, "not for free of course but cheaper than a hotel". I had already arranged a homestay through Natalia Myasnikova (+7 9025 648278, myasnikova_nat@rambler.ru) who I found on the internet. I was staying for 1,000 Rubles a night including breakfast with Tatianna an old Russian lady who didn't speak a word of English but is very nice. Russia is unfortunately expensive, or at least on par with other Western countries, and isn't really setup for budget travellers. If I had not found a homestay through Natalia then I would have skipped Ulan Ude because it would have been too expensive to stay here.

Tatianna had her 11 year old grandson Bulat to stay. Bulat spoke excellent English and took me out to Lenin Square and to find somewhere to eat. I'm not sure as an eleven year old I would have been a good tour guide but Bulat made an excellent effort. Ulan Ude's claim to fame is having the largest Lenin head in the world. It is very big. The square is dominated by Lenin and people roller blading, skateboarding and BMX biking. I wonder what Lenin would have made of it. I have been impressed by Ulan Ude. It is a pleasant small town. There is a friendly atmosphere and people seem to be having a good time, possibly helped by the big blue skies and the hot temperatures. The drive into town on the bus passed through lots of rolling hills and plains with communities of wooden houses. In Ulan Ude lots of wooden homes still survive. There is a recently renovated high street which is quite pleasant. I got buses to visit the two main attractions (other than the head). On both the drivers charged me the local price and took me to the right places. I visited Datsun Buddhist Monastery a pretty spot out of town. I also went to the Outdoor Museum which was setup in 1973 to preserve old buildings. They have transported wooden houses, churches, and native yurts, aswell as sone circles to the museum. I even bought my train ticket to Irkutsk from the train station without a problem. Although I did write it all down in Cyrillic first. While I was waiting in the queue people asked me to save their places (or at least that is what I thought), which is fine until more than one person asks and then they both return. When they did return they then discovered I didn't speak Russian but they both turned out to be helpful with my ticket purchase. I mentioned that Russia is expensive and not a good place for a budget traveller. I have tried to save money by buying tickets as I go rather than going through a Russian agency. Funnily enough it seems the ticket I purchased today has cost me a few more dollars more than it would have done if I had gone through Svezhy Veter Travel Agency www.svezhyveter.ru.

Mongolia

2008-06-05T07:35:00.001+12:00

I left Erlian in the morning. The border is north of the town. I went to the central market to try and find the Russian jeeps that go to Zam Uud. You know you are in the right place because hordes of women with roles of bank notes descend upon you wanting to exchange money. I only had 200Y left and exchanged it for 32,000TNG which seemed a good exchange rate but at the border crossing you can get a better one at the official exchanges. I intended to take one of the Russian jeeps. Instead I was directed into the back of a very shabby looking VW Passat. The driver charged me 70Y and off we went. What I hadn't realised when I got in was that the rear seat I was sitting on was not a seat. I had noticed a quilt over the back seat and assumed it was because the seat had worn out. What I did not realise until I was sitting bent double was that the quilt was covering a layer of sacks. There was another layer of sacks along the rear parcel shelf and there were sacks in the front seat wells. I don't know what was in these sacks but it was something that he had made a poor attempt to conceal. So we roared 5 minutes up the road before stopping for half an hour, turning round and going back to the market and waiting there another half an hour while he talked to some mafioso figures. Two more locals joined me on the back seat and we set off for the border. The road through Erlian, across the border, and into Zam Uud is perfectly straight. We roared up to Chinese customs, the driver was very keen on all the windows being up so the one window winder was passed around. I had no problems at Chinese immigration and pressed 'satisfactory' on the immigration official's rating box. In Chinese state run institutions they have customer service electronic rating machines, the three options being 'satisfactory', average', and 'poor'. We all piled back into the car and headed across no-man's land. A long line of trucks stretched toward the Mongolian border. We flew passed only for the Passat to grind to a halt. The driver tried a variety of fixes to get us moving again while truck drivers looked on giving encouragement. The window winder was passed around again. Eventually, with the aid of a mudpack, we were on our way again. Mongolia immigration was a breeze. No questions asked other than a stern look. The Mongolian Immigration and Customs was surprisingly chaotic. There were lots of Mongolians hanging around. I went upstairs to try and find the train ticket office. It turns out there isn't one or they did not want to sell me a ticket. I wandered in and out of offices until I found one guy who said "no Zam Uud". I'm not sure any other country I've been to would let you just wander in and out of the customs and immigration building. Outside a customs official was checking the car. He took no interest in my bags in the boot which were lifted out of the way. He did express on interest in all of the poorly hidden sacks in the car. I'm not sure what was said but we were allowed to continue. The driver then decided he wanted payment which I smilingly declined until he dropped me off in Zam Uud.

Zam Uud is only a few minutes drive from the border. It is much smaller than Erlian and much less developed. There is one very new road that goes through the town from the border (I assume the Chinese built it). Other than that there are a few ugly concrete square buildings, some charming if decrepit wooden homes and some Gers. Its pleasant to look around but it doesn't take long. I was dropped off in front of the Railway Station. The black building to the left of the Railway Station sells tickets. Mongolians like most Asians don't queue. There was hardly anyone purchasing tickets but people still tried to push in front of me even when I was in the act of buying the ticket. I got a kupe ticket (4 berth) for 15,900TUG (about $16) for the overnight journey to Ulan Bator. Downstairs is a left luggage room (250 TUG) staffed by an intimidating and authoritarian Mongolian lady who turned out to be quite friendly after I attempted to say 'thankyou' in Mongolian. When Elton John said sorry was the hardest word he had obviously not tried to pronounce thankyou in Mongolian. I kept saying it and people look at me strangely I repeat it a few times until I'd say thankyou in English whereupon they would say it in Mongolian, I would repeat it incorrectly and they would say it again, I again repeat incorrectly and they would cut their losses.

Mongolian train attendants look somewhat mean and menacing in their 1970s style stewardess outfits. I half expected a large spike to appear from the sole of their knee high boots. In my kupe was one Mongolian woman and two Mongolian traders. One was short and round and called Batu, he spoke a bit of English. He had a tall friend with a large scar across his face. I didn't catch his name but Scarface struck me as appropriate. I arrived in the cabin to find Batu tucking into his lamb dinner, a large fatty bone was thrust in my direction whether I wanted it or not. Whereupon a bottle of vodka was produced, much like the leg of the lamb I was expected to join in. The bottle of vodka ran out in no time at all and I was sent to the restaurant car to procure another bottle. Luckily enough they would not sell me a bottle unless I was eating in the restaurant car. On the way back I came across a guy who was being tasered. I am not sure what he had done to deserve this. He was not having a good time whereas the guy with the taser was. Mongolians were walking up to him and twisting his ears. The sunset from the train was particularly beautiful as we crossed the desolate countryside. We then hit the Gobi desert where the train became uncomfortable. It was an old train so lots of dust managed to fill it. All the windows were closed which meant it was very hot and stuffy. I discovered that my bed was not very comfortable and the vodka hangover was beginning to kick in. Unfortunately Batu and Scarface returned just as I was dosing off. They had been to restaurant car and by all accounts had had a very good time and brought some bottles of vodka back with them. I did not want to play and after repeatedly saying no and stopping them from dragging me out of bed they eventually gave up. In the morning I was pulled out of bed at 7.30am because the attendant wanted my sheets. Batu offered me a can of beer which I declined while Scarface was knocking back the vodka. The two hours into Ulan Bator were very beautiful as we crossed the steppes. The closer you get to Ulan Bator the uglier the view becomes. Although there is something exotic seeing the suburbs filled with Gers.

I had heard lots of negative stories about Ulan Bator. I had been forewarned about the cab drivers. I hadn't booked a hostel. I caught a taxi to UB Guesthouse (if you pre-book they will come and pick you up). The driver decided to double his price when we arrived. I started yelling out of the window whereupon he gave in and let me take my bags. In the dodgy courtyard outside the hostel a girl vomited in front of me while appearing to carry cans of glue. I discovered that dodgy courtyards are the trend in ex-Soviet countries. The idea being that the workers would live in a nice community with a large area in which to socialise. Unfortunately now it seems these courtyards are surrounded by big imposing buildings with lots of dark alleys for people to hide in and places for large groups to congregate. UB guesthouse was a nice small hostel. I had a dorm bed for $5 a night. The beds were very uncomfortable but the guys who ran it were friendly and helpful. UB Guesthouse (aswell as all of the other hostels and guesthouses) run their own tours around Mongolia. I was hoping that a short tour would be leaving when I arrived, unfortunately that wasn't the case. Their advice was to carry nothing on you when walking the streets, and not to be out after midnight. I didn't witness any muggings myself but there were lots of stories to confirm what I was told. Ulan Bator does have an international feel to it from the large number of International Aid workers there. For a small city the traffic in Ulan Bator is pretty bad. The traffic is not helped by the driving style of the locals which combines Asian crazy driving with Russian aggressive driving. Ulan Bator is not as bad as it is made out, there are a few things worth seeing such as the Natural History Museum and the Gandan Monastery. There are also lots of restaurants that are very cheap, if you are heading on to Russia this will be the best value for money you will get in a while The reason for coming to Mongolia is to not to spend your time in Ulan Bator but to visit the countryside. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked because of my Russian visa expiring at the end of June so I headed out the day after arriving for a Ger camp. I went to stay at Elstei Ger Camp which is run by Shuren Travel. It is a beautiful site about an hour from Ulan Bator. When I arrived there was only one other group of guests there. Backpackers on an organised trip from Moscow to Beijing. Elstei Ger Camp is not your typical Ger camp. For starters there are hot showers and a restaurant. The food was excellent and plentiful. The Ger's are very comfortable. If you don't fancy roughing it but want to get a taste for the great outdoors then it could be the best option. The sense of space is amazing on the steppes. I went horse riding while I was there which was a bit of a sore experience. I visited a nomadic camp and had fermented yak's milk. After a few days at the camp I went back to Ulan Bator. The only trouble I had in Ulan Bator was on my return from the Ger Camp. I was staying at UB Guesthouse but this time in one of their side apartments. I was sharing a 4 bed dorm with two Dutch guys and an Australian. All seemed fine until they returned at 3am screaming and shouting. They took great pleasure in annoying me. I took great pleasure in taking their shoes in the morning.

Where am I?

2008-06-03T23:46:00.002+12:00

If you have been following my travels you may have noticed my blog is not up to date. I will eventually type up where I have visited and what I have been doing. In the meantime I thought I would give a brief summary of my month in China.

China is enormous and a month does not do it justice. I crossed into China from Vietnam. From Nanning I caught a train to Guilin and then spent a week in Yangshuo. Yanghsuo is beautiful with limestone karst scenery. I did a day trip to the stunning Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces before catching an overnight train from Guilin to Wuhan. I then travelled to Wuyuan to visit the Huizhou villages. I also visited villages in Yixian county near Tunxi. The villages are wonderful time capsules. I then walked up Huang Shan mountain. I think I walked about 45kms in 24 hours broken with a fitful sleep in a very smelly dorm room on the summit. I went back to Tunxi where I caught a bus to Shanghai. I travelled by overnight train to Xi'an and visited the Army of Terracotta Warriors which isn't quite as good as you think it might be. It was in Xi'an where I felt the earthquake tremor. From Xi'an I caught an overnight train to Beijing. I had a very busy week of sightseeing in Beijing. The undoubted highlight being the 10km hike along the Great Wall of China from Jinshanling to Simatai. I left Beijing by overnight train to Datong where I visited the Hanging Monastery and Yungang Caves. I arrived in Erlian today. Erlian is the Chinese side of the Mongolian border. I cross tomorrow and hope to catch an overnight train to Ulan Bator.

If you would like to see my photos from the trip then visit www.flickr.com/photos/skimmens. The photos are up to date, unlike the blog.

China XII - Zai Jian (Goodbye)

2008-06-03T01:48:00.006+12:00

I left Beijing and headed for Mongolia. I had intended to catch the direct Trans-Mongolia train from Beijing to Ulan Bator, unfortunately the train I would have to catch before my visa expired had been cancelled. I decided to travel to Ulan Bator via Datong. Datong is not a destination in itself. It is a large unattractive city even by Chinese standards. The reason to come to Datong are the Yungang Caves and the Hanging Monastery. I took an overnight train from Beijing to Datong, spent the day visiting the attractions and left the next morning for Erlian (on the border with Mongolia).

As soon as I stepped out of the station I was met by a very polite CITS agent. He was selling the CITS tour to the Caves and the Monastery. I choose to go it alone and regretted it. I was wandering around the main square and met Simon. Simon offered a taxi to take me to the Yungang Caves and the Hanging Monastery. It seemed like an excellent deal. What I hadn't grasped was that it relied on other people sharing the cab. We took off and for some reason drove around Datong. I was becoming fed up with their delaying tactics until they decided to take me to the Caves. We arrived and they looked for other people I could share the cab with for the drive to the Hanging Monastery. The Yungang Caves are very impressive. It does feel like an Indian Jones set with the huge carved Buddhas towering over you. When I returned after over an hour wandering around the caves I found Simon with a French couple who had been waiting an hour for me to return. We set off for the two hour drive to the Hanging Monastery. The taxi driver turned out to be the slowest driver I had come across in Asia. We arrived at the Hanging Monastery to be confronted with a very loud building site. It seems the local authorities have decided to upgrade the existing tourist facilities. The Hanging Monastery is impressive to see but not quite as impressive or extensive as the Caves. I met people there who had taken the public transport option to get there and they did not recommend it. In the end I saved a small amount of money with the taxi but it was not worth the effort.

While Datong is an ugly industrial city in the midst of a rebuild there is a certain charm to it. The people were very friendly. I was walking across the enormous square infront of the railway station and a man yelled hello at me from the other side of the square and waved (he was arm in arm with another man at the time). Another guy ran up to me said hello, giggled, and then ran away. I was on the way to dinner and came across a rag tag bunch of teenage security guards armed with truncheons who all smiled and waved at me.

In the evening I looked for somewhere to eat along Xima Lu. I tried to enter a couple of restaurants only to be met with smiling faces but waving hands saying 'no'. I eventually found one restaurant who let me in even though they were slightly bemused by my presence. A picture menu was produced. A waitress stood over me as I flicked through. The trouble with a picture menu is you are not entirely sure what you have ordered. In China the waitress hangs around and I am never sure whether I have ordered the correct amount of food. After haphazardly pointing the waitress said something. I replied 'tingbudong' (I don't understand). There was a group discussion amongst the army of waiting staff. A delegate was sent to my table to retrieve my English-Chinese dictionary. A few minutes later a diner came over to my table. She spoke some English and said that the waiting staff were concerned I had ordered too much. I suggested they cut out anything they wanted, this did not cross the language divide. After much discussion between her and the waitress fraternity it was decided the order would not be changed. The various dishes finally arrived and were pretty good. The woman who had acted as translator periodically checked in on me. The funny thing in China is that the Chinese act paternally towards foreigners, they are concerned for your welfare and will help you even when it isn't required. For instance, the waiting staff then decided that my chopstick skills weren't up to scratch and replaced them with a knife and fork.

I stayed at the Railway Station Hotel in Datong. I paid 110Y for a deluxe room (reduced from 128), though they wouldn't reduce the standard room from 107. The corridors were very long and everything was well passed its prime. The staff were very friendly even though they didn't speak English. The other guests were most surprised to see me wandering around. While the smart hostels of Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai were very nice they do leave you in something of a Western bubble. There is some cache to walking down the corridors of a seemingly dodgy old Chinese hotel to be greeted by smiles from the other guests.

I left Datong the next day for Erlian. I paid 86Y for the seven hour journey. The bus leaves from the main square in front of the Railway Station at 9am. I had been fighting a pretty successful battle stopping people smoking on board. Unfortunately they all grouped together at the back of the bus and fended off my challenges. The drive to Erlian is interesting for the change in the landscape as you cross Inner Mongolia. In and around Datong things feel different. Donkeys appear and are used to plough, there are no water buffalos (nor rice paddies) in sight. There are even sheep. Upon leaving Datong the scenery really changes. The further into Inner Mongolia the flatter and sandier everything becomes. Other than the road and railway line there is nothing to see for miles around.

The only reason to be in Erlian is to use it as a transit point into or out of Mongolia. It is a small town by Chinese standards. I found the Erlian factsheet on Lonely Thorntree useful. If you are crossing the border to Zam Uud make sure you buy everything you need here because there is nothing in Zam Uud. Erlian is quite a busy town especially around the market. In Erlian I got quite a few surprised stares from the locals and some hellos. I stayed in the hotel opposite the Railway Station. I got a twin ensuite (hot shower) for 100Y. The price on the wall was 128Y, I wrote down 100Y and they accepted immediately (I should have pushed them harder). An interesting sight in Erlian are the huge steel dinosaur models on the road into town (which you can see from the railway line aswell).

China XI - Beijing

2008-05-30T00:06:00.005+12:00

I did not have an auspicious start to my stay in Beijing. I arrived at Beijing West Train Station in a melee of people. I tried to hunt down the number 47 bus that the hostel I was staying at told me to get. Unfortunately the number 47 bus does not stop in the bus station at the train station so after walking up and down the street I eventually found the stop. There was a large group of people that had spilled on to the road. After waiting for half an hour the number 47 finally arrived and the crowd stormed the bus. I went in elbows blazing. I made my way in only to have an old guy ranting and raving at me. I don't know what he was saying but I ranted and raved at him back. I may be an 'outsider' as the Chinese call foreigners but that doesn't mean I won't give as good as I get. If I took anything from five years of Welsh PE teachers bellowing in my ears it was "Ruck over lads".

Beijing is a city of contrasts. There are the parts that are brand spankingly new. They out do anything I have seen in any other country I have been to. For instance, the city park surrounding the ruins of what is left of the City Walls (after Mao knocked them down). Then there are the parts that look very dated. In between is the construction work going on. It seems that everywhere I go in China something is being built and something is being knocked down. I am amazed at the number of cranes I keep seeing. The subway network is a case in point. The original underground train lines feel very dated and they still haven't finished the electronic ticketing. The new lines that they have just finished for the Olympics are very shiny and new and out do Shanghai and Singapore. On the inside of the subway lines they have put advertising so when you look out of the train window you see LED screens. The clever part is that they have managed to animate them at such a speed that it looks like one screen stays with the train as you move along. The advertising in the tube lines is dominated by the Chinese hurdler who has Chinese Olympic track and field hops on his shoulders, read an article about him and the hopes the Chinese have for him from the BBC. In Beijing I have got a lot of stares though Beijingers seem to look you up and down more than look at you. I have got the impression that a lot of locals take the piss out of you. It seems they have a Parisian attitude to foreigners at times.

I have now seen two of the three pickled Communist leaders. I saw Mao in what was a less respectful setting and much more Chinese affair than Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. In China Mao figures a lot less than Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. In Vietnam there are lots of Communist banners and billboards, not to mention Vietnamese flags, lining the streets. Ho Chi Minh figures on at least half of these. He may have been dead for over a quarter of a century but you would be forgiven for thinking that he still ruled the country. An impression the current leadership would quite like you to have. In China there is the odd Mao statue or his face on a memorial, and of course on banknotes, but his presence is not overarching. The Mao mausoleum is strange because you are literally pushed through in groups either side of his coffin. All you can see is his face and a big hammer and sickle flag draped across his body. There are white gloved porters pushing people to fill up space in front and move through quickly. It is hardly respectful but it is very Chinese. The Mausoleum is in the middle of Tiannamen Square. You are not allowed to take bags or cameras in with you (though the Chinese were walking in with mobile phones). The locker rooms for bags is on the opposite side of the road to the east of the Mausoleum.

There is a huge amount to see and do in Beijing. I had a week and was rushed off of my feet getting round to see everything. The Forbidden City is enormous. The best place to see just how big it is is from Jingshan Park which has a hill overlooking the Forbidden City. I spent a good 5 hours wandering around the various courtyards. It is impressive though gets a bit much in the end. The Summer Palace is very pretty and pleasant to wander around but nowhere near as impressive as the Forbidden City. Tiannamen Square is enormous and the centre of Beijing. It is peculiar to be there because of its history. Without a doubt the best thing I did in Beijing was to visit the Great Wall of China. I have visited a number of so-called wonders of the world and they don't always live up to the hype. The Great Wall hike fulfilled my expectations. Parts of the wall have been restored whereas others have been left to ruin. The Wall winds its way up and over the green seemingly unspoilt countryside. There were hardly any tourists and even the the locals following you trying to sell you things weren't too persistent. As ever in China if you can avoid visiting at the weekend then it will be quieter. It is also important to choose where you visit the wall. There are a number of different options. I did the 10km hike along the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai. Other sites are renowned for having the authenticity restored out and being full to the brim with tourists and touts. The hike cost 220Y booked through Red Lantern Hostel. This did not include the entrance fees to each section of the wall which cost an extra 50Y and 40Y. The 220Y charge covered the bus there and back, lunch and some sandwiches for breakfast. You are not guided along the wall (it would be pretty difficult to get lost). Although a Norwegian and I managed to march off ahead of everyone else and take the long way round, which meant we got to see more of the wall and in a quieter environment.

Silk Street is a large department store selling all sorts of clothing at cheap cheap prices. The designer names brings the westerners in to pick up a fake Rolex watch or Gucchi bag. I went to have a look around and possibly get a suit made. As ever the stalls all sell the same thing so the stall keepers all fight it out to get your attention and your money. At first this can be charming. Unfortunately the Chinese and Chinese women take things too far. I was grabbed and pulled back into stalls, which I didn't take kindly too and was more than happy to give them a taste of the back of my hand than the inside of my wallet. I saw a number of Chinese women pulling huge strops (hissy fits if you are from America) when negotiations didn't go their way or westerners decided to pull out of a deal. In general I have seen a lot of Chinese women pull strops like toddlers. I have also seen lots of Chinese children pull strops. I can't help but wonder whether the 'one child' policy produces lots of spoilt children. I had one woman corner me in her shirt shop and get very angry simply because I came up with a low price (I'm sure it wasn't that low) and then she wouldn't let me leave. I pushed passed her and then she got my thumb in a lock. She apparently wanted to see the back of my hand. I don't understand why she would think I would want to buy anything from her. On the other hand I bought come tourist tat from a stall on a side street off of Wangfuling Dajie. The first stall came up with ridiculous prices and would not drop them so I walked off. The next stall the guy came up with ridiculous prices but dropped them and was friendly at the same time. We had the sort of fun bargaining where I thought I had a good deal (10% of his initial price) and he made a big profit.

I have been looking to buy a tailored suit since I had been in South-East Asia. However, I never quite worked up the enthusiasm to go through with the hassle. As Beijing is my last stop to get a suit made on the cheap I headed for Silk Street. The first tailor I went to had a salesman who stood far too close to me and wouldn't budge on the price even though they didn't want me to leave. I didn't want him measuring me up and left when a couple of westerners arrived while he chased me down the hall tapping on his calculator. The next one I went to seemed much nicer. I got the impression that the girl doing the sales pitch was a trainee (or it was a ploy), still she was not nearly as pushy and the prices were lower even before we started haggling. I got a 3 piece suit and shirt for $200. I can't say I am altogether happy with the suit that I got. I would suggest being very careful at the fitting stage and not to let them push you around.

While I was in Beijing I stayed at Red Lantern Hostel. It is a nice hostel in a Hutong style. However, I spent very little time there because I was always out and about doing and seeing things. It might be better to choose a more central location over character.

China X - 1,321,000,000 people

2008-05-28T02:07:00.001+12:00

China is the world's most populous nation. Unsurprisingly then wherever you go in China there are lots of people. Whether the Chinese are out in the country in tour groups, or whether you are visiting another huge city, or even discovering how many people can be involved in changing a light bulb, you cannot escape 1,321,000,000 people.

The Chinese apparently love travelling in large groups. If you are unlucky enough to be visiting a Chinese tourist attraction over a weekend you will come across large groups of Chinese tourists. They are led by tour guides with their own microphone and speakers, as well as a flag and hats for all of the group. These groups do not pull any punches. The Chinese treat one another like members of one very large family, so they have no inhibitions about barging one another and you out of the way.

Chinese cities are enormous. While I have heard of Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi'an. I had not heard of other enormous cities that I came across on my travels, such as Nanning, and Wuhan. These cities have not reached their limits but are continuing to grow. Everywhere you go in China the sight of construction and cranes is common. The journey into Shanghai seemed to be through one colossal construction site for two hours.
Not only are there lots of people and the cities huge but there always seems to be more people than the Chinese know what to do with. The seemingly oversupply of people was best illustrated in every shop, restaurant, or just about anywhere employing anyone. In the Beijing West Train Station Cafeteria at 11pm there were possibly 15 customers. It was not quiet however because of the raucous yelling between over thirty members of staff. Of the thirty perhaps ten were doing something. The high levels of staff across China do not necessarily equate to high customer service levels rather the reverse. Service is generally more akin to a McDonald's teenager. I can only assume that people are cheap to employ. With all these people there are strange ways that jobs are created. In a bookshop in Shanghai they had at least five cashiers with shop assistants on each floor. When I purchased a book I took it to the cashier and paid I then had to go to the door where two security guards stamped my receipt, put my book in a plastic bag and sellotaped it shut. In restaurants the till is often separate to the kitchen so that one person takes your order, the other person takes your receipt and some other people cook your food. There are a million security guards hanging around business who do not look particularly secure. Government buildings are even worse with army guards, police guards, and security guards. Security guards in China are a mixed bag. They are often dishevelled looking. If their job is to walk around then they wear trainers which spoils the big hat and uniform look. The large uniformed presence can be intimidating, however, in all my encounters they have been harmless and somewhat bored. Tiannamen Square has to have the largest guards I have come across on my travels. To enter the square your bags are often searched, there are security cameras watching your every move and guards spread out across the square. As a foreigner you wonder whether they are watching you but it seems that authority fears more from the locals.

China IX - A to B in China

2008-05-27T19:35:00.001+12:00

China is enormous. I spent 6 months in South East Asia. If you look on a map South-East Asia is merely a thumb nail against China. I am only in China for a month so I have had to cover alot more ground much more quickly. China is geared up for long distance travel. Unlike America China doesn't rely on cars or aircraft instead trains make up the backbone of long distance transport. It is estimated that at anyone moment there are 10 million Chinese on the nation's railway network.

A Chinese train station is like a European Airport. They are huge. When you enter the station your bags are x-rayed (though they don't search individuals). The next stop is the waiting room for your train. The waiting rooms are pretty big and yet they manage to get packed. Everyone is herded into different queues for their trains before the gate is opened and the crowd surges through. As with any crowd situation in China pushing and shoving is the norm. It doesn't matter what delay is up ahead someone behind you will be trying to push passed.

All the trains I have been on in China have been full. I've tried booking trains and not been able to get on them, even a few days in advance. I have travelled on hard seat double decker trains where they squeeze a large number of people in with relative comfort. The hard sleepers are carriages with bunk beds in three levels that face each other in pairs. In one carriage there are 60 beds. It is not a good place to swing a cut. The bottom bunks become a bench for eveyone while there are a couple of fold down seats in the aisle, but you do have to avoid getting your knees and elbows whacked by all and sundry who move pass.

The squat toilets onboard are pretty abysmal. I wouldn't fancy squatting over one with the slippery floor and the train juddering about. The smells on board can be strong from the number of bodies and the food that the Chinese eat. Dried fish snacks are very popular. While alot fo the facilities are very new the old habits of the Chinese diehard. In the scrum waiting for the gates to open for the overnight train from Guillin to Wuhan there were plenty of guys wretching and spitting on the shiny floor. In the brand new Wuchang train station (in Wuhan) I saw a woman pick up her baby and suspend the baby mid-air over a bin while it did its business. The walk to the toilets was obviously too far. Chinese children come ready equipped for such situations with chapless pants (in South-East Asia children often don't wear any clothes on their bottom halves).

Chinese trains do not have vendors going up and down the carriages like you find in Thailand. There are food and drinks carts that go up and down the train regularly (apart from on the T28 from Xi'an to Beijing). It does seem though that some of the attendants on board have taken it upon themselves to make some extra money. A female attendant on the train from Wuhan to Jiulong had a shopping basket full of tat that she attempted to sell to everyone.

China VIII - Brothels in Xi'an

2008-05-26T04:36:00.004+12:00

Brothels are ten a penny in Xi'an. The whole city seems to be a red light district (other than the Muslim Quarter). Chinese brothels are not all that obvious because they sit in plain view of everything else on the street. They look like a hairdressers with some girls hanging around inside, with at least one hovering by the door. Chinese shops always have too many staff and someone is generally hovering by the door. Distinguishing between a normal shop and a brothel is further complicated by Chinese women dressing like prostitutes. I was making my way down the 16km long west path of Huang Shan mountain to see a Chinese woman walking up in high heels and fishnet stockings. The only way to distinguish between a hairdressers and a brothel is the bed inside, the dodgy curtains pulled across the front and the red light at night.

People visit Xi'an to see the Army of the Terracotta Warriors. Unfortunately the warriors are overrated. The trouble is you have seen so much of them before you arrive that your expectations are set very high. The warriors are housed in enormous aircraft hangers so there is little atmosphere. It is also impossible to get up close to them. All in all it felt a somewhat peculiar experience. generally you visit the site of something you have seen on TV or in a book to get up close and gain a greater appreciation for it. I can't help but feel that seeing the Warriors on tour in the British Museum would have been better. It is not all bad I would just keep my expectations in check and not plan to learn anything new from a visit. Disappointingly, though not unexpectedly, the visit finishes with you departing through a shopping centre with the usual calls for your attention.

Xi'an does have other attractions. The most fascinating part of the city is the Muslim quarter. It is an area of narrow streets and masses of people. The Muslim Quarter has its origins roughly from 742 when the Great Mosque and its surrounding area first appeared in the imperial records. It developed via the Silk Road trade. A highlight of a visit to the Muslim Quarter is an opportunity to have Yang Rou Pau Mo (Crumbled unleavened bread soaked in Mutton stew).The Big and Little Goose Pagodas are interesting towers that are worth having a look at. the Big Goose Pagoda has an enormous water fountain show outside of it, supposedly the largest in Asia (although the one in Singapore made a similar claim). In the same complex as the Little Goose Pagoda is a museum of local artifacts and explanations of how the city has developed. I thought it was more interesting than the highly acclaimed Shanghai museum. The city walls, dating from the Ming dynasty, have been restored around the city centre and you can cycle to your hearts content along them. I stayed at Xiangzimen International Youth Hostel in Xi'an. It was an excellent hostel that was more akin to a hotel.

China VII - Did you feel it?

2008-05-25T21:24:00.005+12:00

I was sitting in an internet cafe in Xi'an when my chair started shaking. I looked around to find out who was shaking it. There wasn't anyone so I went back to typing. At which point everyone else in the internet cafe launched themselves towards the stairs. It turned out it we were feeling an aftershock of 6.4 magnitude from Sichuan. Xi'an is the closest I have been to the epicentre of the earthquake. The building didn't fall down and the greatest danger seemed to come from the crowd rushing down the stairs. Outside everyone had gone into the streets and was standing around relaying their tremor stories. I was curious to know what an earthquake felt like but I wasn't best pleased to feel it in a building that didn't look tremendously sturdy. I did eye the ceiling with some trepidation.

While I have been in China the two big news stories have been the Olympic Torch Relay in China and the Earthquake. The trouble in China is if you don't speak Mandarin it can be quite difficult to follow what is going on. It is not always possible to find the English language news channel and internet cafes are hard to come by (if the news websites haven't got a block on them). If you do get the English language news channel (CCTV9) then it doesn't necessarily fill you in with unbiased information. The coverage I do see is more like a disaster movie and is heavily concentrated on the heroic actions of the rescuers. There is no questioning of why certain buildings fell down. The only critical coverage I have seen has come from international news media outlets, such as the the Herald International newspaper, on the BBC news website, and on the NY Times website. Here is an article from the New York Times which you would never see in the Chinese media. The 3 days of mourning passed me by. I was climbing up and down a mountain for two of them and only found out about watching the news on the top. What I do find strange is how the earthquake is being spun as an opportunity for China to be one nation and face adversity together. I understand that is how most societies react but it seems that acting as one in China equates to crowds of people chanting (or that is at least how the media presents it). They have also taken to calling the earthquake 5.12 in echo of 9.11.

China VI - Flame of Controversy

2008-05-24T19:39:00.000+12:00

On my last day in Shanghai the Olympic Torch Relay was passing through. While I am no fan of China's One Nation policy or the xenophobia it produces in its citizens (in Wuhan I saw a t-shirt for sale in a normal high street shop that said "China's Voice: Tibet is, was and always will be part of China"). I was interested to see how the locals would react to the torch. In the Chinese media the Olympic Torch Relay is big news and was the top story until the earthquake. I was in Vietnam when the protests in the West took place so I can't comment on the Chinese reaction. The Chinese media present the Chinese people as being madly in love with the torch. I've spoken to a few Chinese people and they all seem very enthusiastic about the torch and the Olympic games.

My experience of the torch relay in Shanghai underlined the country's authoritarianism. There were hundreds of police and army guards on the streets. The streets were closed off and people, whether they were going to work or to school were not allowed to pass. What made the situation particularly daft was that the pavements were quite clear of people and it would have been possible to walk along them but for some reason these were closed by policemen and badge waving officials. It appeared that the pavements had been reserved for school children and young people clad in uniform outfits to cheer the torch. Normal people who had turned out with flags and stickers stuck to themselves apparently did not represent the harmonious society that the authorities wanted to project. The groups of school children were marched off in pairs once the torch had passed. The massive security presence was not to stop protests because there was no one protesting. The police took no interest in me and seemed more intent on making the locals' lives as awkward as possible.

In itself the relay was uneventful and unexciting. A couple of commercial sponsors came through on trucks (Samsung and Coca-Cola) with scantily clad girls dancing. Next was a coach with the relay runners on board who were dropped off at no more than 25 metre intervals. This coach was closely followed by a coach full of army guards. After a while the actual torch appeared. The relay runner ran his alloted 25 metres and set alight to the torch of the next relay runner. The torch was followed by another coach of army guards.

China V - Shanghai

2008-05-23T03:54:00.001+12:00

Shanghai is not quite as vast and monumental as I expected. The buildings are undoubtedly grand and modern and the skyline looks great. Yet I did not feel it had quite the impact on me that Nanning did. Shanghai still retains some of its historic districts such as the Bund and the French concession. These historic districts are undoubtedly the most interesting parts of Shanghai to wander through.

Ordering food in China is always an experience. A and I went in to a small restaurant up the road from the hostel. They produced an English menu with one particular dish that looked particularly interesting, 'Noodle with Double Happiness' . There were four waiting staff and a number of cooks, while there were only three tables. There was a great deal of difficulty ordering, I wanted steamed rice with dumplings but the steamed rice really confused them. We put this down to us being outsiders. A Chinese guy sat down at a table and began ordering he had a similar problem to us because he said "I hear but I don't understand" to the waitresses. A understood his comment because he can speak a little bit of Chinese.

Shanghai is a city of excess and poverty living side by side. There were quite a lot of homeless people living on the streets. At the same time there were boutique shops and bars. I visited the Cloud 9 bar at the top of the Jinmao Tower. The bar is part of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. To reach the bar you have to pass through the opulent hotel, and if you are like me get lost as you change lifts to get to the 87th floor. I had a cocktail that cost 90Y plus a 15% surcharge. The biggest rip-off in Shanghai is the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel. They charge you 40Y for the privilege of riding in an underground tunnel to cross the river. The carriages are glass so they have filled the tunnel with lights. The metro charges 3Y without the lights.

Shanghai has a few tourist spots that have acquired the harassment disease. Out of nowhere guys and girls appear with a handful of watches or a sheet full of things you can purchase. As you walk along East Nanjing Road you are constantly asked "Hello you want watch, bags, t-shirt". If you walk along the busy promenade to enjoy the view then a variety of people selling an assortment of different things will attempt to grab your attention.

I was waiting for a train in Shanghai to Xi'an when I heard a loud commotion I thought there was a fight instead it turned out to be a woman talking on her phone. Everyone in China appears to have a mobile phone. The Chinese like to show everyone else that they have a mobile phone. When talking on the phone it is amazing how loudly they will shout. The Dom Jolly sketch would not draw laughs here because everyone would think it was standard practice. I was sitting have a coffee in a posh bar in Wuyuan. I was the only customer when a group of three men men arrived. They sat down on the opposite side of the room. At which point one of the three decided to make a phone call and began shouting down the phone like his life depended on it. While his friends sat nonchalantly by treating this all as normal.

I arrived in Shanghai from Tunxi (Huangshan City) a 6 hour bus journey. I bought my ticket from the hostel for 132Y and the bus came to the hostel to pick us up. It was quite comfortable with some decent legroom. I stayed at Mingham Hostel (aka Hiker's Hostel) in a 4 bed dorm for 45Y a night. The room was small, but the hostel was very nice and the facilities were very good. The location is very central, close to the Bund. I left Shanghai by overnight train to Xi'an which cost 312Y. I bought it from the Chinese ticket office just round the corner from the hostel. The ticket office wasn't busy and they didn't charge a commission.

China IV - Smelly dorm on a Mountain top

2008-05-20T18:28:00.005+12:00

The Chinese love their mountains and love nothing more than climbing up and down them. My legs were a touch sore after walking 45kms in just over 24 hours. I spent one night on the top of the mountain in one of the most unpleasant dormitories that I have stayed in in two years of travelling.

Huang Shan Mountain (Yellow Mountain), is actually a mountain range that covers more than 460 square miles. The mountain is famed for the sharp peaks and trees clinging to the top. They are mentioned in poems and can be seen in paintings. Unesco has added Huang Shan as a world heritage site because "of its stunning landscape and its contribution to Chinese art and culture". The Olympic Relay visited shortly ater I had been, click here to read an article about it on the BBC website.

My 45km walk began at the base of the mountain. The normal way to go up is to catch a bus or taxi to take you 10kms up to the entrance at the chair lift on the Eastern side, then walk up the rest of the 6.5kms to the top. I went to the bus station and was put in a taxi only to find the taxi driver trying to charge me an exorbitant amount, so I decided I would walk the whole 16.5kms to the top taking me three and a half hours. For the privilege of walking to the top pf the mountain you have to pay, 200Y. It was pretty sweaty and tiring. I timed it well to miss the crowds. The good thing about the Eastern steps is that they are covered by trees and they are not as steep as their Western counterpart. I watched the sunset amongst the pine tree clad peaks.

I then went to Paiyunlou hotel and stayed in a dorm (140Y). While the mountain top did not seem too busy the hotel was packed. While the room seemed quite new and appeared clean. It stank of stale sweat, more akin to a dirty gym than a place to sleep. I went for a wander and returned to the dorm. It was full. The smell was even worse when full. I wasn't quite sure why it was so smelly when there was a shower ensuite. The Chinese are not the quietest at the best of times and sharing a dorm with them proved to be no exception. The Chinese act as one big family so they don't have the same hang ups that we might have around strangers. A young guy was happily shouting down his phone to someone. No one else in the room seemed to give him any attention, however, I did not want to hear him shouting all night so I indicated to him it would be best if he went outside. He quietened down only for the guy in the bunk above mine to start shouting into his phone. Once all of the shouting died down the rumble of snoring from every corner grew. I did my best to shake beds to stop them, but I could not manage three beds at a time. Then the cold seaped into the room and I was beginning to lose my good humour.

Luckily I was up early at 4.30am to get down to Refreshing Terrace for the sunrise. For Sunrise the hotel provides thick coats for free. Across the mountain various rocky out crops have been given various peculiar names. "The Peacock playing the Lotus", "Watching Fairy Peak", "Bookcase Peak", "Monkey Watching the Sea", "Heavenly Dog watching the Moon", Immortal walking on stilts", and "Eyebrow Peak" to name but a few. I headed off into the Grand Canyon (or Illusions Scenic Area) for a three hour walk back to the peak. I did not realise what I was letting myself in for. The engineers who decided to attach pathways to the edge of these huge statues of rock must have had a job on their hands. The paths are perched precariously on the edge of the rocky outcrops. The scenery along the walk up and down the Grand Canyon was spectacular, matching the steepness of steps up each side.

An amazing sight walking up either set of steps is the locals carrying things up or down. For some reason they don't use the chair lifts to take everythng up and down. Men have bamboo poles that they dangle goods on each end. I even saw a generator being carried by four men down the 6.5km Eastern steps. You can even be carried up or down in a sedan chair.

When I made it back to the summit the crowds had started arriving. One of the things you discover in China is that the Chinese live for the weekend. The weekend arrives they jump on trains and go and visit their tourist sites. When you travel you forget what day of the week it is, in China it is all important to time where you are for the weekends. I visited Huang Shan mountain from Tunxi. While it was not the weekend that did not stop the crowds emerging. The locals do not seem to believe in being prepared to climb the mountain. I often saw Chinese women wearing short skirts and high heels!I met a Western couple who visited the mountain over a weekend and said it was awful. They spent most of their time fighting their way through the crowds. I had a bit of a crowd to fight through on the Western steps on my way down. Although once I got passed the top cable car entrance the crowds thinned out. The Western steps seemed to go on forever. Whenever I thought I had reached the end there was another corner to turn and another row of steps.

I would certainly recommend a trip to Huang Shan and its great to be there for sunset and sunrise, just watch out for the dorms. I caught the bus from Tunxi to Tangkou the major town at the bottom of the mountain. There is not a great deal in the town although I did find Mr Hu helpful, and he'll probably find you when you arrive. I booked my hostel on top of the mountain through the hostel I stayed in in Tunxi. I stayed in the YHA in Tunxi which was excellent. The staff were very friendly and helpful and the hostel's facilities were excellent.

China III - Back to the Huizhou

2008-05-18T01:46:00.014+12:00

The Huizhou villages are wonderful time capsules of a bygone age. They are a complete contrast to the huge cities of China today. While they have not escaped tourism, some are listed as world heritage sites, they do still retain a unique charm. They do appear to be off the western tourist trail. It was the longest I went without seeing another westerner, five days, and the longest I went without coming across someone who could speak English. Although that is not to say the Chinese do not know about the villages and as with anywhere in China avoiding visiting over a weekend is probably a smart move.

Although modern Chinese tourism has managed to get its claws into them. My first taste of Huizhou villages was around the city of Wuyuan. I hired a motorbike and driver for the day. My driver didn't speak a word of English but that didn't stop us negotiating a price for the day and where I wanted to visit. The only trouble I faced was that even though he didn't speak English and I didn't speak Chinese he did insist on leading me around all of the villages. While that did give me a chance to sit down and eat peanuts with some locals it also led us to having a falling out. We visited Qinghua for Rainbow Bridge (20Y). There was not a great deal to see and while the bridge is historic and pretty it would not be a great loss to skip it. It was interesting but there was not a great deal there and it was very touristy. I went to Big Likeng (20Y) which was amazing. Of all the Huizhou villages I have visited it was the least touristy and most atmospheric. I spent part of the afternoon sitting with the driver in someones home eating peanuts and drinking Green tea while watching earthquake coverage on the TV. The drive there and back was pretty good as well winding through the forest following the river. We drove to Qinghua for lunch. Lunch was a bit tricky as no one spoke English, eventually I managed to order a bowl of noodle soup with meat which turned out to be pretty good. The Chinese ability to down a bowl of noodles is a sight to behold. The afternoon stops at Si Xi and Yancun (36Y) were excellent, although me and the driver were having a falling out by this stage. I think this was down to me becoming increasingly frustrated with playing follow the leader with him. I spent the night in Little Likeng (30Y). We went on to Xian Qi (20Y) which was a glorified tourist market, though there was a pretty little village on a walk across fields. The whole day cost 160Y (including 40Y extra to visit Xian Qi). I stayed in a small basic guesthouse in Little Likheng for just 40Y (shared bathroom). You might assume that Little Likeng is smaller than Big Likeng, however, you would be wrong. Little Likeng is very pretty with a small river running through the centre. I was lucky enough to see the village ducks being rounded up along the river as the sun set. It is also one of the busiest places for tourists in the Wuyuan. I would recommend spending the night in Little Likeng so that you can appreciate the place before the tourists arrive (or after they have left).

Hongcun is one of the UNESCO listed Huizhou villages. The whole village was originally laid out in the shape of an ox. The west end of the village, called Leigang Hill, resembles an ox head and that is where two huge trees stand like ox horns. At the front and rear of the village are four bridges that span a Jiyin stream and resemble four legs of the ox. The several hundred well-arranged houses form the body of the ox, and the 1,000-meter-long Jiyin stream that meanders through the village is regarded as its intestines. A crescent pond in the village is the ox‘s fourth stomach, its known as the postage stamp and is a great place for photographs. I arrived in Hongcun in the evening. I went wandering off into town to try and find somewhere to stay. I found one quite large hotel with no one inside. a woman appeared and after some gesticulating she led me to a room, we agreed on a price and I started unpacking. A guy arrived had a loud conversation with the woman and then gesticulated that I could not stay. I tried to understand why not and gesticulated back, but to no avail. I went off wandering again and ended up at the entrance to Hongcun (by the bridge) where there was a small but very modern hotel, with a price to match of 150Y for a double ensuite. It seems the hoteliers of Hongcun are rather unused to Westerners. After agreeing upon a price I then had to go through an elaborate charade to demonstrate my understanding the principles of a key deposit (that I return the key when I leave). A couple of Chinese students who spoke a bit of English were drafted in to help with the charades. I think the hotelier assumed I had just been parachuted into central China without staying anywhere else before. The great advantage of staying the night in the village is being able to explore the myriad of alleyways at dusk and dawn without the hordes of tourists. However, the Chinese do get up early so it does not take long for them to arrive. Some people might suggest that once you have seen one Huizhou village you have seen them all. While this isn't true it is nice to be able to break up the visit by going to Mekung. Mekung (20Y) is a very small Huizhou village high up on a ridge overlooking a bamboo covered valley. The walk through the bamboo forest to the village takes about an hour. It is beautiful, and while I was there very quiet even though Hongcun was busy.

Wuyuan was a much bigger city than I realised when I returned to it from visiting the villages. I went to find the Post Office so I could send some postcards. I found the word for Post Office in the back of my guide book and headed out asking locals as I went. I eventually found the Post Office. The women working there were most surprised to see me walk in and were a bit flummoxed by what I could possibly want. After a while they cottoned on to my wanting stamps. In the meantime a crowd of customers surrounded me to see what was going on. A particularly short Chinese guy was most impressed by my height and that I was from England. I had some dumplings for lunch which again was a bit tricky. I walked into a dumpling shop. I was met by surprised stares. When they decided I want something to eat they got a pointing stick for me to use on the wall menu the only trouble being it was all in mandarin. I used the poking sticking to point at the food of the other customers. I also stumbled across the peculiar Chinese brothels. Peculiar because they are as obvious as anything sitting in the street barely disguised as hairdressers.

I reached Wuyuan from Wuhan. It was a convoluted journey. I caught a train from Wuchang to Jiulang., It was a hard seat in a double decker train which took three hours. I arrived at Jiulang only to have a problem finding the bus station. After wandering around for a while a girl approached me speaking English offering to help me. She helped me to find the bus station where I then caught a bus to Jindezhen which took another two and a half hours along a large empty dual carriageway with helpful signs in English such as 'Overspeeding Prohibited". I arrived in Jindezhen at the bus station opposite the train station to discover there no onward buses to Wuyuan. I walked around to the other bus station in town where I caught a bus to Wuyuan for the one and a half hour journey. The journey to Wuyuan was very beautiful once we left the urban sprawl of Jindezhen behind. I arrived in Wuyuan at 7pm. I was immediately latched on to by a moto driver wanting to take me to one of the nearby villages. I eventually lost him and settled into a hotel next to the bus station for 80Y. After spending the night at Little Likeng I caught a bus from Wuyuan to Tunxi which took two hours. I caught another bus straight on to Yixian (one hour, 12Y) and then another bus on to Hongcun (2Y). I caught a moto from Hongcun to Mekung (30Y). I got the moto driver to write down his mobile number so that I could call him from the guardhouse for the journey back to Hongcun. I then caught a bus to Yixian and a bus from there to Tunxi.

China II - Yangshuo and Tour Group Rebellion

2008-05-14T20:00:00.005+12:00

Yangshuo was described to me as the most Western friendly town in China. Yangshuo is a tourist town. The reason everyone is here, of course, is for the stunning scenery. Huge karst rocks pop out of the verdant green rice paddies while rivers sweep around the hills. The area covered by the karst scenery is vast and its easy to spend a few days cycling around.

Yangshuo is pleasant but it does suffer from tourist town problems. There are for starters lots of people there as tourists and lots of people attempting to make money from the tourists. It isn't a bad place to be based and it is quite easy to escape the town and get into the karst scenery.

In a contrast to the karst scenery of Ninh Binh in northern Vietnam old buildings and villages have survived to a greater extent and they lend an atmosphere to the scenery. Unsurprisingly with the number of tourists in Yangshuo there are lots of tourists out and about in the countryside. The vast number of which stay in certain tourist traps. I went off cycling on my own and escaped the crowds. Without doubt the prettiest area was along the Yulong River. The river is lined by the karst cliffs and green rice paddies. I had a great lunch and a long chat with the owner of the Mountain and Water Farmer Restaurant in the old village of Jiu Xian. She had a book of English words that visitors added to. For some reason we got chatting about arteries and veins. I'm not sure she entirely understood my definitions of the two. Another great village was Xing Ping where I did a disappointing cruise along the Li River. However, the village itself was very interesting once you got into the back streets away from the river.

On the way back from my second day of cycling along the Yulong River the chain slipped off on my bike and jammed between the gears and the wheel. I could not budge it for love nor money. An old man appeared to see what was going on, whereupon he disappeared to return with an adjustable spanner. By this time my hands were covered in grease. The old man disappeared again only this time to return with a bowl of water and some soap.

For some reason at the end of my stay in Yangshuo I broke a cardinal rule of travelling. I decided to do some organised tours. I'm not sure why I chose to do this but having done my best to avoid the organised tour in South East Asia I chose to do a couple in Yangshuo. An organised tour is not always a bad thing, however, prices are so low in Asia it is nearly always possible to organise it yourself with a local. I did a boat trip along the Li River for 60Y which was really disappointing. A bus picked me up from Fawlty Towers guesthouse and we were driven to Xing Ping for 5.50Y put into smaller buses costing 2Y where we were driven up the river to another landing stage and put in small boats where we had possibly a twenty minute trip along the river before stopping on a sandbank for twenty minutes and then coming back down the river. I followed this up the next day by visiting the Dragons Backbone Rice Terraces. These are beautiful rice terraces carved on the mountain side by hill tribes. It is a beautiful spot well worth a visit. It is possible to catch public transport there. I chose to do a day trip from Yangshuo and get dropped off in Guilin on the way back where I could catch a train to Wuhan. We spent four hours on the bus getting there. As we neared the guide then informed us that having paid 160Y we would each have to pay an extra 50Y to watch a 45 minute show about the long haired hill tribe women. When we voiced our unease about this and the fact it was not part of the advertised itinerary the Chinese tour guide got very angry. I lead a rebellion of the westerners on board who wanted to spend as much time on the rice terraces themselves. The coach was half Chinese and half Western tourists. The tour guide would not drop us at the bottom of the rice terraces so we had to walk the fifteen minutes to the entrance and she made a big deal of saying that if we were late back she would leave without us. Some of the Chinese tourists joined us and we marched off in search of the rice terraces. There is another bus you have to catch to the rice terraces themselves and then there are a couple of main view points. What was particularly annoying was that if you went to see the long hair show you would not have time to go to both view points. The only reason to do the tour is to save time, if you have a few days then it is much better to do it yourself.
I travelled to Guilin from Nanning on the N722 train. I had purchased my ticket the previous day from a very smiley ticket seller. I think I bought a hard seat but I wasn't entirely sure because everything on my ticket was in Mandarin apart from some numbers. The ticket cost 65Y. Hundreds of people were getting on the train the next morning. Everything was organised. I wandered down the train with my ticket whilst the waiting attendants pointed me in the right direction. Once I was aboard passengers helped me find the right seat in the double decker train.

I arrived in the huge Guilin train station intent on catching a bus straight to Yangshuo. It was not as easy as I hoped. The Chinese passengers headed off in different directions. There were lots of buses milling about but I was struggling to work out which ones went to Yanghsuo whilst trying to avoid the shouting touts. After getting on a couple of buses and refusing the prices they tried to charge me I found a bus that would take me for 14Y. I headed off for the hour journey to Yangshuo with a guy behind me blowing his nose on the floor. I stayed at Fawlty Towers Guesthouse immediately opposite the entrance to the bus station. The staff were friendly and helpful. However, I was disappointed in the tour they sold me for the Li River.

China I - Into China

2008-05-08T02:01:00.002+12:00

I finally left Hanoi after what turned out to be a month stay. Hanoi grew on me while I was there and it was nice to have a break from travelling, but I was still glad to be leaving. The contrast between Hanoi and Nanning is vast. Both are sprawling cities but Nanning has such a feeling of space, maybe characterless space but space nevertheless. What I found amazing is that Nanning is not a famous or particulatly big Chinese city and yet it is huge. Not only is it huge but it is getting bigger. Nanning does have something of a Milton Keynes or Canberra feel to it. The streets are big and wide. Everything is spread out and planned. On the face of it there doesn't appear to be any links to Nanning's past. The border crossing was a bit laboured on the Chinese side but I eventually got through, luckily I'm not Sloakian.

The border crossing on the Vietnamese side is quite low key. There is an immigration section to check your passport, the guy said something to me in Vietnamese which I didn't understand but the Vietnamese found funny. The bus doesn't cross the border instead bright yellow golf buggies drive you to the Chinese side. The Chinese immigration building is vast. It is a big impressive statement. The Chinese side of the border seems to be something of a tourist destination. There is a big gate and some old buildings. Once inside you have the health check to go through. This involves filling in a card and saying you don't have any SARS symptoms. The official took the cards and didn't bat an eyelid. Next up is customs who were searching a Chinese (or Vietnamese) guy's bags but waved me through. Out of the 6 of us on the bus only one other was a westerner, another backpacker. He was Slovakian. He wasn't scruffy and from his accent it sounded like he had been educated abroad. For some reason the Chinese immigration official didn't like his passport. The only question I overheard was, "Where are you going?" and I got the impression that the answer wasn't sufficient to quell the official's interest. At this point another official arrived with a very big magnifying glass. An official then appeared next to me and asked to see my passport and arrival card (you fill one of these in). The Slovakian and I were then sent back to customs. My bag was opened by a very nice and very young Chinese official whose English was excellent. He pulled some things out of bag and took an interest in my documents folder where I keep photocopies of passports and visas but he didn't really thoroughly search it. I had my Lonely Planet China guidebook wrapped up inside and he didn't find it. Apparently Chinese customs have been known to confiscate Lonely Planet China guidebooks because the map shows Taiwan as a separate country which is not correct according to China. I was sent back to immigration where the official (again another young guy) thoroughly checked my passport and asked me to remove my glasses to check I matched my photo. He was particularly interested in the emergency contact details of my relatives. These guys were't American customs and immigration officials. They were really quite pleasant. All of the officials asked me where I was going and I told them Nanning. They didn't ask where I was staying or delve any deeper. I'm not really sure why the Slovakian registered such interest. He was still at immigration when the golf cart drove off outside.

The drive from the border to Nanning was uneventful. While uneventful just crossing the border showed a marked changed between China and Vietnam. Not only were the Chinese immigration buildings much more grand. The road was a dual carriageway all the way to Nanning and even 3 lanes at times. I've not been on such a big modern road since Thailand I'm pretty sure they aren't in as good condition. Lining the roads the scenery could have been from Vietnam. Lots of rice paddies with farmers in conical hats working away. There were small towns of square concrete houses. Yet there were also big petrol stations that you see in Western countries and we stopped at a motorway services. The buildings were huge and looked very new but there didn't seem many people around and the buildings seemed to be mainly empty. It was true of the roads aswell. There was very little traffic.

Nanning appeared out of the green countryside like an oasis in a desert. Not that it was a welcome sight rather it just seemed to come out of nowhere. Normally when you approach a city you travel through the suburbs, small houses and shops, and as you get closer to the centre the buildings get bigger. It was only when we turned off of the motorway that Nanning appeared. The outskirts were huge towers and skyscrapers. Not only were there lots of huge towers but there were even more being built. I've not seen so many cranes in one place before. When we arrived at the station the coach station was packed with coaches and buses. I caught a bus (number 6) to the train station, at least I hoped so. I got on and showed the bus driver the symbol in mandarin and he motioned me to get on. The journey across Nanning took some time. There is alot of traffic and Nanning is big. The newest tower seem to be around the bus station but there is building work across the city. Once you get closer to the train station you start to notice some old buildings. Its strange to see them, something common in cities across the world. A glimpse at what Nanning once looked like. They aren't necessarily attractive and it looks like they will be soon wiped away.

Nanning is alot less chaotic than Hanoi. The streets are very wide. In the middle are 3 or two lanes for traffic going in either direction. On either side are bicycle and motorbike lanes. All the traffic obeys the traffic lights and no one touts their horns. It was quite a hazy day when I arrived and the towers in Nanning appeared out of the haze. I'm not sure if this is pollution or just the weather, but the haze did seem to get worse further into the city. The second day was much clearer but there was still a bit of a haze. To appreciate the size of Nanning I went up to the City Top viewing gallery in Royal Plaza (Royal Plaza has large statues of Elephants which you can't miss on the number 6 bus route). From up high you can see how big Nanning is and how much bigger it is getting.

I stayed at Ying Bin Hotel opposite the train station. I got a double room with ensuite hot shower, air-conditioning, TV, and a computer with internet for 120Y. Ying Bin Hotel is huge and has the feel of a hospital. There are two receptions, I went to the one on the corner with Cahoyang LU and there always seemed to be someone who spoke English. In the corridors there was a great sign which had a picture of lips and a finger over them with some mandarin chracters underneath was written "lightly". After I had checked in I wandered down Chaoyang Lu to look for somewhere to eat. The streets were pretty busy. During the day the streets are not busy but there is still lots going on. In the shade of the trees men sit around playing Chinese chess and what appears to be poker. There is also line dancing, which in the evening takes on a techno theme while alongside people are ballroom dancing. I went down a side street and came across a noodle shop. I wandered in and tried to order something to eat. The staff didn't speak English and I couldn't work out what was actually in the noodles. In the end I pointed at the picture on the wall and ordered a drink which came to less than a dollar. The noodles arrived in a very spicy broth with peanuts some greens and some wontons. It was very nice though very spicy. The staff took a keen interest in me. They were all teenagers apart from the cook. I tried to get them to teach me some Chinese. One of them was not impressed by my chopstick technique. I'm pretty good with chopsticks, I was picking peanuts out of the soup and can eat rice with them. He considered my technique all wrong and kept moving the chopsticks in my hand to his satisfaction. The next night I ate at Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is quite a flash affair. Not only have they mastered the western pizza but they have also mastered Western serving standards. They seemingly forgot about my pizza and it wasn't until I reminded them that my pizza suddenly after everyone else had left the restaurant. The meal cost me $14, quite a difference to the bowl of noodles and not quite so satisfying. On the way back from Pizza Hut I was walking along Chaoyang Lu when I noticed groups of women hanging around suspiciously. I say suspiciously because while there were lots of people out on the streets these women were in groups but not talking to one just watching the crowd. When they noticed a man or a group of men walk passed they would walk along side them and chat to them. It seems that prostitution is really blatant in China. In my hotel room I had a telephone and throughout the evening it would ring. I'm not sure what they wanted but in the guidebook it says prostitutes will ring rooms directly. I took the phone off of the hook.

I got a bus from Hanoi to Nanning with Honggai Tourist for 300,000VND. I bought the ticket at Hong Ha Hotel (204 Tran Quang Khai). The bus company have a new office next to the front entrance to the hotel, but if no one is in there go to the hotel. The bus leaves from opposite the hotel, it is a green bus. There were only 6 people on the bus when I got it but it still departed at 9.30am on the dot. There are two buses one at 7.30am and 9.30am. Once you cross the border you are transferred to another bus to take you to Nanning. I arrived in Nanning at 5.30pm (China is 1 hour ahead of Vietnam). I changed the bus ticket 6 times because of the troubles with getting visas arranged and they never gave me a problem changing the ticket (or charged me a fee).

SE Asia XXXX - England United

2008-04-30T05:05:00.005+12:00

In Vietnam you are guaranteed to be asked, "Where are you from?". Generally it is part of a triumvirate of questions the other two being, "How old are you?" and, " Are you married?". When I say "Anh" (England) the response is always positive. It seems in Vietnamese eyes (if not South East Asian eyes generally) the defining feature of England is football, or more precisely the Premiership. Lots of Vietnamese do not speak English, or have a limited grasp of English and yet when they discover I am English they want to know if I am from Manchester. In no other country have I been asked if I came from Manchester. Manchester Untied appear to be the unofficial national team of Vietnam. I'm yet to meet a Vietnamese who supports any other team. In Laos the majority of people I spoke to support Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, or as one Monk put it, "I support the Premiership". In Thailand the big four receive a hearty following but Liverpool are the undoubted leaders. In all my travels I am yet to find a South East Asian who supports Tottenham. Although the Vietnamese upon hearing that I support Spurs reply, " Robbie Keane".

When I was in Thailand I had a long chat with a guy from Bangkok on the train to Ayutthaya who lambasted McClaren's decision to drop Beckham. In Kuala Lumpar I was in an unsavoury part of town and saw a street stall with a TV showing highlights of the England vs Croatia qualifying game for Euro 2008. When it was announced that England had failed to qualify there was shock amongst the group. In Trang I was having difficulty explaining to a group of Thais that I was English. We were at a bus stop and the bus stop had a huge Barclays Premier League advert on it, after pointing at that for a while the penny dropped. When I arrived at my guesthouse in Hanoi the manager launched into a match report on the Champions League semi-finals. In Laos whilst doing a trek through the Luang Nam Tha National park I was discussing with one of the guides his support of the Big Four.

SE Asia XXXIX - Hanoi Visa Woes

2008-04-29T01:41:00.002+12:00

I had a love hate relationship with Hanoi. The city is vibrant. The Old Quarter is full of old buildings and has lots of atmosphere. However, the city is manic. The narrow streets of the Old Quarter are full of traffic. It feels like you are part of the traffic as you walk around and dodge the motorbikes. It felt stressful simply wandering the streets. The Old Quarter reminded me of the packed streets near the riverfront in Phnom Penh. While they are not as chaotic or dirty they feel suffocating especially when the traffic backs up during rush hour.

The traffic in Hanoi is amazing. The motorbikes swarm the streets in a constant whir of action. The sight of western tourists standing by the side of the road waiting for a gap is common. The trick to crossing is to step out and keep walking whether there is a gap or not. Moto's will carry everything and anything. A mattress presents no problem, even a family of five on a motorbike is not a problem. In such chaos I was surprised at how rare it was to see an accident.

A must see in Hanoi is Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. You would be forgiven for believing that Ho Chi Minh is still alive with the number of images you see of him across Vietnam. White uniformed guards line the way as you walk single file into the mausoleum. They are there to shush anyone who dares to speak in Uncle Ho's presence. It is a bit strange seeing his grey frail body lying there.

The first place I stayed in Hanoi was Thien Trang. I had a broom cupboard of an ensuite room for $10. When I got back from Halong Bay I moved to Real Darling Cafe. I had an ensuite for $8. Real Darling also had dorm rooms and there was a travellers atmosphere in the cafe downstairs. I stayed there for two weeks and get on well with the staff. Real Darling Cafe were very helpful and charged one of the better prices for organising visas.

I spent a month in Hanoi because of problems procuring onward visas. The first problem was that the Chinese changed their visa rules. The change occurred just a week before I applied. The change made it much more difficult to get a visa and nigh on impossible to get a double entry visa. The stop in issuing double-entry visas was a problem because my plan had been to go to Hong Kong to get my Russian and Mongolian visas. It is not possible to get a Russian visa in China as a tourist. If I went to Hong Kong then I would have to get another Chinese visa which could prove expensive or impossible. I decided to try and get my Russian visa in Hanoi. Unfortunately the Russian Embassy require that you have the original copy of the letter of invitation to Russia. It costs $35 to obtain the letter from an agent on the internet, however, getting it sent from Russia took 4 working days and cost me an extra $75! I then discovered that the Russian Embassy would only issue me a visa if I had at least a 90 day Vietnamese Visa. I only had a 30 day Vietnamese Visa which I extended once. The 90 day visa cost me an extra $115. In the meantime I got my Mongolian one which was a relatively straightforward affair.

The Russian Embassy is a huge concrete complex which is ugly even by Vietnamese building standards. The address of the Russian Embassy is 191 La Thanh. However, the Embassy is located next to 1133 La Thanh. I don't know if this is a cunning deception to confuse enemies. The Consular is on the other side of the complex down an obscure alleyway. If you follow the high walls round you will eventually find some benches opposite a steel door. The only thing to tell you this is the place is a plaque with opening hours, and a glass cabinet with pictures of Russia. Apparently Russia has aircraft carriers, women and missiles. The steel door opened a little after 9am. It did not open so much as you heard a click, whereupon the Vietnamese guard opened the door. Inside the steel door was a small square with a single door in the corner. There was no sign of the person who unlocked the steel door. I wasn't sure whether to open the door in the corner. I nudged it and it opened. I was presented with a small room and a huge metal detector. On one side was a large window with a letterbox at the bottom and a very tall beautiful Russian woman standing behind the glass. I showed her my passport and she gave me an English application form. I filled it in. While I was filling it in the Vietnamese women who had been sitting on the benches outside came in. I queued up behind two of them. A third walked in and moved in front of me. A fourth walked in and managed to squeeze herself between me and the newly arrived third woman. I was somewhat amazed and tapped the woman on the shoulder. She looked at me and giggled. These four women were thoroughly enjoying themselves peering over one anothers shoulders to see what the Russsian official was doing. The Vietnamese don't really undertand queueing and my tap on the shoulder rather than eliciting a realisation of her queue jumping seemed to signal a different intent on my part. She wouldn't make eye contact with me but her compatriots did. They looked at me, chatted with their friend, giggled, and looked at me again. The Vietnamese left and the Russian offical looked at my papers. They all seemed to be in order. It turned out that she did speak English as she asked me when I wanted my passport back. One day processing costs $55. All in all my 30 day tourist visa cost $255.

The first time I went to the Russian Embassy it was very quiet and I was shown in ahead of the few Vietnamese who were waiting. The second time it was absolutely packed and I had to wait an hour before I could skip the queue and queue inside for another hour. How quickly you can skip the queue depends on what Vietnamese guard is outside. I went back because the machine readable line at the bottom had a spelling mistake in my first name. Apparently this doesn't matter so long as your name is spelt correctly on the main part of the visa. (I didn't have any problems in Russia with the misspelt machine readable line).

The Mongolian Embassy in Hanoi is the least official embassy I have visited. The Embassy is in the new diplomatic quarter. It is off the main road behind the Pakistan and Nigerian Embassies, and the opposite the Brunei Embassy. The address is Villa No. 5 but consular activities take place at Villa No. 6. A Vietnamese guard pointed me across the road. I rang the door bell and a gentleman opened the gate for me and showed me into the house. I was lead into what appeared to be someone's living room. A large desk sat at one end with a computer and some seats. A large Mongolian with a Russian accent sat behind the deak. He gave me a form in English which I filled in, I asked for same day processing which cost $60. (I got a 30 day visa with up to 90 days before entry). I did not require a letter of invitation or an itinerary.

I arranged my Russian and Mongolian visas myself. I went through Real Darling Cafe for my Vietnamese visa extension, 90 day Vietnamese Visa, and my Chinese visa. There are a few people who work there but the best person to use is Mrs Nguyen Thi Luong who always knew what she was talking about and if she did not know the answer she phoned someone to clarify. Real Darling Cafe Guest House, 33 Hang Quat Street (0084) 48269386. I found them to be very helpful.

How to find the Russian and Mongolian Embassies in Hanoi

To find the Russian Embassy you head west along Kim Ma St until you reach the huge Daewoo Hotel, from here carry straight on along Kim Ma St until you pass a boating lake on your right (Swan boats). There will then be a large junction over to your left is a huge ugly concrete complex, this is the Russian Embassy. Follow the high walls along to the right (as you face the Embassy) and you will come to an alleyway. If you walk down this alleyway you will come to a row of benches and a steel door. The Russian Embassy in Hanoi is open Monday 9-12, 16-17, Tuesday 9-12, Wednesday 9-12, 16-17, Thursday 16-17, Friday 9-12.

To find the Mongolian Embassy go to the Family Medical Practice (on the Lonely Planet map) 298i Kim Ma Street. From the clinic walk west to the first junction with traffic lights, turn right and cross over the road, about halfway down the road is the Nigerian Embassy turn left along the street between the Nigerian and Pakistan Embassies. Follow the short street to the end, on your left is Villa No. 5, infront is the Brunei Embassy, and on your right is the Mongolian consular Villa No. 6. It is only open Tuesday and Thursday morning to process visas.

SE Asia XXXVIII - Halong Bay

2008-04-17T01:41:00.000+12:00

Halong Bay is a beautiful area in Northern Vietnam. It is a stunning bay with over 2,000 limestone karst cliffs rising out of the water. I did a 2 day/1 night tour out into Halong Bay. I was very lucky with the group on board with a mix of young and old who were quite happy to sit around and have a chat and enjoy the scenery. The trip to Halong Bay was easily the best thing I did during my stay in Hanoi. It was so quiet and relaxing. When we got dropped off in Hanoi the noise and chaos resumed instantly. I went for the expensive tour option for Halong Bay and had a very enjoyable time.

The only negative aspects to the trip were problems that all trips will suffer from. The journey to Halong City to catch the boat takes a while, 3-4 hours. Halong Bay itself is very busy. I was aware of this but other people were a bit disappointed by the sheer number of boats around us. Even though there are lots of boats it still feels quite serene. The number of tourists becomes obvious when you go ashore. We went to Amazing Cave which is worth a look but you do fight it out with lots of other tourists and may aswell stay on board the boat and enjoy the scenery. We then climbd up to a view point, packed with tourists. We went for a swim here and I made sure not to put my head under the water. There was lots of litter in the water and some Australian girls were convinced that there were jellyfish. When we anchored there were at least 35 boats in the same spot (there are apparently only 3 overnight anchorage points in Halong Bay so they are all busy). We were on the outside of the group so it was peaceful apart from a couple of generators.

I did a 2 day, 1 night trip to Halong Bay with Handspan tour operator. It cost $155 which included a $30 single supplement, all food on board, and transfers to and from Halong City. Drinks on board were pricey (but this seems to be standard on any boat) $1 for a can of coke, $1 for a small bottle of bottle, and $2 for a can of Tiger Bee. We were on the Valentine Boat although there was nothing written on the boat to indicate the name. The only name was "Bai Tho Co Tourist" and the number 3998. The facilities on board were excellent. There was a large upper deck where you could lay on a sun chair and enjoy the view. The rooms were more like a hotel room then a boat cabin. The ensuite bathroom was easily the nicest bathroom I had during my stay in Vietnam. The food was plentiful and very good. There was lots of seafood. Our first lunch consisted of a large crab each, followed by shrimps, then spring rolls, squid with vegetables, and a fish. Dinner was a different type of crab , a huge prawn cocktail, squid in breadcrumbs, mixed vegetables, rice and another fish. Breakfast consisted of some pastries, unlimited coffee, tea and orange juice (or so it seemed). The guides were good and not mini-Hitlers. In South-East Asia the guides I have come across tend to be authoritarian, or at least the language barrier means they aren't quite so good at sugar coating their commands. The tour guide had some interesting interpretations on what the rocks in Amazing Cave represented. I'm not sure if he gives the same explanation to every group.

The choice of trips to Halong Bay present a bit of a minefield to the budget traveller. The truly budget tours for under $30 are known for problms with safety, food, theft and not getting what you were told you would get for your money. Even the mid-range tours for around $80 can be hit and miss. If you would like a full run-down of the different options for Halong Bay tours read this article on the Travelfish website. I wouldn't recommend a day trip to the Bay because it takes 3-4hours by bus to get here which doesn't leave you much time to enjoy Halong Bay.

SE Asia XXXVII - Into the North

2008-04-08T01:40:00.004+12:00

Travellers often skip north Vietnam between Hanoi and Hue. Dong Ha and Dong Hoi do not have a great deal to offer unless you are interested in the DMZ battlefields. Ninh Binh on the other hand is a really beautiful area and a great place to relax for a few days.

Dong Ha is not the most pleasant place I have been to. It straddles the main north south highway. I stayed there because it is the closest town to the DMZ. The DMZ used to separate north and south Vietnam. It was the site of fierce battles. There are lots of sites associated with the Vietnam war scattered around the area. I went on a motorbike tour organised with DMZ Cafe costing $17. I went with Mr Khan we visited Doc Mieu Base, then to Vinh Moc, Hien Luong Bridge at Ben Hai River, Truong Son National Cemetary and then Con Tien Fire Base. The best part of the trip was visiting Vinh Moc for the tunnels. The tunnels were dug by the locals to escape the bombardment during the war. They are over 2 kms in length. The tunnels grew in complexity during the war to include kitchens and hospitals, 17 babies were born in the tunnels during the war. The rest of the sites are a bit difficult to appreciate because often there is not a great deal to see. The great advantage of having a motorbike tour was that my driver Mr Khan was an interpreter for the Americans so he was able to draw on his personal experiences in the area. He was bitter about how the Americans had cut and run. We drove along the Ben Hai river, the old border and he showed me the B52 craters sitting amongst the rice paddies. One of the sad legacies of the war is that there is no recognition of the sacrifice made by the South Vietnamese soldiers. South Vietnamese war cemeteries were bulldozed after the war or simply allowed to fall apart. We visited Truong Son National Cemetary which only has the remains of North Vietnamese soldiers. I arrived in Dong Ha from Hue by train hard seat 18,000 VND. A rather persistent moto driver took me to Ha Noi 2 Hotel 120,000 VND for an ensuite. I left Dong Ha for Dong Hoi by train which cost 26,000VND for a hard seat. A family had colonised my seat, with small children at my feet. Dong Hoi is a much more attractive town than Dong Ha. It sits on the coast across an estuary. There is not a great deal to see in the town, down to the American bombing campaign. There are the remains of the old city wall and a burnt out shell of a church. I did come across a guy who tried to speak to me in German, which he had learnt when living in East Germany in the 1980s. I didn't see any other Westerners while I was there. I stayed at Nam Lang in Dong Hoi which was new and was pretty good value at $10 for an ensuite.

One of the highlights of my stay in Vietnam was Ninh Binh. Ninh Binh has the famous limestone karst scenery that you will read alot about in my blog. It is a really pretty area and much less touristy than I expected. There are a couple of tourists spots that are over crowded but they are easy to avoid. I spent a few days cycling around the area enjoying the scenery. I enjoyed staying in Ninh Binh because it is a typical Vietnamese town. Not far from Ninh Binh is Phat Diem made famous by Graham's Green 'Quiet American'. It is a pretty little town with a bizarre looking cathedral. I was there for the Sunday service with huge crowds. I was targeted by a local nutter who wanted a fight with me. I wondered if it was because I stayed at Thanthuy's Guesthouse the main place for backpackers in town with a large dining area which is a good place to meet people. I didn't think the staff were great and certain things seemed to be priced highly. I hired bikes from Ngoc Anh Hotel the other side of the main highway. I caught the morning train from Ninh Binh to Hanoi, which cost 43,000VND.

SE Asia XXXVI - Hoi An and Hue

2008-04-04T01:39:00.006+13:00

Hoi An feels like a time capsule. The buildings appear lovingly decrepit. There is a somewhat sleepy feel by the normal frenetic Vietnamese standards. It is unsurprising to find tourists dominating the town. Unfortunately this domination has brought all the negative aspects you would expect. There are a large number of tailors, accompanied by a fair share of craft shops and general tourist tat shops. The old shops that once existed in the streets of Hoi An have all but disappeared. The touting from these tourist shops isn't that aggressive but you wander around constantly hearing, 'come in my shop' and 'you buy something'.

While I was in Hoi An I went to get my hair cut. It was a bargain at 30,000VND. The only trouble was that I got my hair shaved off rather than trimmed. A shaven head did not cause me any problems but I was chatting to an Asian American and he was telling me that when he first arrived in Thailand he had a shaven head. The trouble was the locals assumed he was a monk and were quite confused by him not acting like a monk. South East Asians are remarkably well preened. It is not only women but men. It is not uncommon sight to see a man preening himself in his scooter mirrors. No matter what size the town or village there is always a hairdressers, if not a handful. The only real exception are in the hill tribe areas and there you see people picking lice out of one another's hair. The scruffy look is not in fashion. Men are well groomed and do not have designer stubble, the most the Vietnamese will stretch to is a whispy Ho chi Minh style goatee. Men look and act quite femininely. Men and boys are very touchy feely with one another, in a way that would appear strange in the West. It is not uncommon to see men sleeping on top of one another in the midday sun. Throughout South East Asia and on the streets of Vietnamese towns the sight of a barber is very common. They setup against a wall or a tree with a mirror and a chair. In Vietnam barbers also come equipped with headlamps and a variety of long brushes, almost a mini chimney sweep kit, used to clean people's ears out by the side of the road.

Hoi An can make you wonder whether the stereotype of Vietnamese out for every dollar in your wallet are in actual fact true. I did not find this to be true. However, like everywhere else in the world where tourists congregate they attract people who are there purely to make money from them. It is even more obvious and contrasting in South East Asia where the locals are poor and the tourists are rich. Hoi An has a problem with this because it is a small place dominated by the tourist trade. I often found the Vietnamese to be helpful beyond the call of duty. When I was in Saigon I posted a parcel home. The Vietnamese post office worker who packed the parcel was very efficient and told me that by going over a certain weight the cost of the parcel would jump. He told me to take something out. I arrived in Danong only to discover that there was an international fireworks competition taking place that evening and there was no available accommodation. After walking around all the hotels I could not find any accommodation. I stumbled into Phu an Hotel where a helpful guest translated for me with the staff who booked a taxi to take me to Hoi An (30kms down the road), a hotel in Hoi An, and allowed me to leave my bag there until the fireworks finished. That is not to suggest that the Vietnamese are not adverse to making a profit. Bargaining is required and the key is playing a game. Keeping a smile on your face and acting playfully is important because everyone saves face. It is no good losing your temper. In South East Asia to lose ones temper means you and the other person have lost face.
I caught the local bus from Hoi An to Danong which takes just over an hour. I knew that this bus should only cost 10,000VND. We set off the conductor came over to me. She started at 40,000VND which I laughed at and politely declined. She sat next to me for a while seeing if I would give. Eventually she went back to the other passengers and collected the money from them before coming back to me and settling upon a much more reasonable 20,000VND. I had already purchased my train ticket to Hue through my guesthouse in Hoi An for 95,000VND. The train was packed. The journey to Hue from Danong is particularly beautiful as the train winds its way along the coast. I enjoyed Hue because it is bigger than Hoi An and better able to absorb the tourists that visit. I felt that there was a great deal more to see ad that what was there was more genuine and less commercialised. The westerner backpacker area of guesthouses has not overrun the historical part of town. The citadel is great to look at and the Imperial Enclosure is fascinating to walk around. I spent a good few hours there without being hassled. There are certain key attractions that everyone goes to see in the Imperial Enclosure and then they leave. The Imperial Enclosure is enormous and there is a lot more to wander around and explore than most people realise. While I was there I also cycled out to the Tu Doc tomb and the Ho Quyen an Elephant and Tiger fighting arena. It looks like a Roman fighting arena and is in amazingly good condition.

I did have a problem in Hue with my accommodation. I stayed south of Le Loi at Binh III for $8. I had agreed I would move rooms the next day. Unfortunately their definition of moving rooms involved banging on my door from 7am. I got increasingly annoyed with them so that I checked out, when I did they turned nasty and tried to up the price already agreed. Unfortunately when face is lost then the rules of the game change. I moved to the guesthouse opposite Binh Dong III for $8 and was not disturbed. In Hoi An I stayed at Dai Long Hotel for $15 a night, which was a nice place but a touch overpriced.

SE Asia XXXV - My Lai Massacre

2008-03-29T18:01:00.001+13:00

The Son My Memorial sits near the coast off of Highway 1A from Quang Ngai (if you want to know how to get there check the previous post). The scenery is very beautiful. Rich green rice paddies were covered by big blue skies. It is strange to visit a memorial to such a terible event in such a beautiful place. The My Lai Massacre took place on the 16th March 1968. 504 civilians wer killed by US troops. The My Lai massacre is commonly seen as an example of when a few soldiers go 'bad'. In Actual fact the massacre was an authorised mission and the soldiers were told "...anyone down there was VC or VC sympathisers." Leioonard Gonzales of Charlie Company testified to the Peers Inquiry that "that day was a massacre", the command was "...kill anyhting and evrything...". The BBC has recently broadcast a documentary using recording from the PEers Inquiry that investigated thge cover-up of the incident. The Inquiry produced 20,000 pages and 400 hours of audio recordings. However, Jerome Walsh a lawyer at the Inquory described General Peers findings as being gagaed and that it was a "...fiasco of military justice". The BBC broadcast the documentary for the 40th anniversary of the massacre.
The Son My Memorial is a moving place to visit. Inside the museum is a wall with the names of the victims. There are Ron Haeberle's (US Army official photographer) photographs of the massacre. There are personal accounts from survivors and parts of village life that survived the village being burnt to the ground. The way the memorial presents the crime can grate with western sensibilities. There is a large diorama of US troops shooting women and children, accurate but not something I think you would see in a western equivalent. The descriptions of photographs refer to imperialist puppets and the usual anti-capitalist diatribe. What is very powerful is the recreation of the village after the massacre. Ruined huts are scattered around rice fields. While I was there old women were working in the rice paddies. Next to each hut are details of the family who lived and died there. The concrete paths that link them have small bare foot prints mixed with large G.I. boot prints. I'm not sure the concrete models of dead livestock fitted in but that may just be my western sensibilities again.

Below is the introduction to the documentary from the BBC website. "For a year after My Lai, the rapes and murders were covered up. Much of what we know thereafter came from the widely publicised court martial of Lt William Calley in 1970/71. He was the only man ever found guilty of any offences at My Lai. But the massacre was much more than the actions of a few rogue individual soldiers. It was carefully planned and a high body-count was the main aim. Before Calley's trial, The US Army itself held its own investigation into the massacre. "The Peers Inquiry" heard evidence behind closed doors inside the Pentagon from December 1969 to March 1970. *The inquiry recordings lay forgotten for nearly 40 years. Tonight, for the first time, you can hear the testimonies of those involved and the full extent of US Army activity on the ground on16th March 1968. You can also hear new interviews with soldiers who took part and with one of the members of the panel of the Peers Inquiry. Over 14 weeks, Lt General William Peers and his panel took statements from 403 witnesses: soldiers, senior officers, chaplains, journalists and Vietnamese. The findings of the investigation were so uncomfortable for the US Military they were suppressed. Some 400 hours of tape were recorded - and classified. Until now. The accounts are shocking: "The first shot hit a baby in the head and I turned around and (was) sick" - one soldier. Another: "Most people in our company didn't consider the Vietnamese human…..A guy would just grab one of the girls there and ….they shot the girls when they got done." The tapes of the Peers Inquiry prove that US soldiers raped and killed hundreds of civilians in not just one but three villages that day. They prove that two companies - not only the infamous Charlie Company - were involved. They show how badly trained and ignorant of the laws of war many of the young soldiers were. These tapes also prove that the orders "to leave nothing alive" came from senior officers. The Peers Inquiry made key recommendations about the training of soldiers fighting insurgents and about the responsibility of leaders in wartime - issues with huge resonance today in Afghanistan and Iraq. The programme is presented by American military journalist, Robert Hodierne, himself a journalist in Vietnam." http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/1968/mylai.shtml

SE Asia XXXIV - On the road

2008-03-28T03:39:00.001+13:00

I covered a lot of ground in a few days making my way down from the highlands and on to the coast. What stood out from these days were the insane risks that Vietnamese minibus drivers take. They all seem to have been schooled at "Get Away Driver's R'US". What is amazing is that everyone sits back and accepts the detours and crazy driving manoeuvres as common practice. Apart from one woman sitting next to me squealing, though that may have been because she was sitting next to me.

The bus from Buon Ma Thout to Nha Trang was packed by the time we had driven around and picked up passengers outside of the bus station. I caught the 6am bus to Nha Trang for 70,000VND. The journey down from the highlands to the coast is very pretty. A Catholic missionary joined the bus. Joseph was working in the Phillipines and had come back to Vietnam to visit his relatives. His English was excellent and we chatted about Vietnam and travelling. My plan for the day was to go to Quy Nhon a further 4 hours of travelling from Nha Trang., Joseph informed me that there was a direct bus from Buon Ma Thout to Quy Nhon, something I didn't know and would have made the journey quicker as it takes a different route. I decided to jump off of the bus once we joined Highway 1A that runs from Saigon to Hanoi. It struck me as pointless going to Nha Trang to come back on myself to go to Quy Nhon. Joseph wasn't a fan of the plan and quite worried for my safety. Apart from anything else he was worried I would get ripped off. As it turned out the only dodgy thing that happened was a rather friendly moto driving stroking my arm. I only waited ten minutes for a bus heading to Quang Ngai. I did have to negotaite with the conductor. After many noises on my part and much lauighter from the rest of the passnengers I paid 60,000VND to Quy Nhon. The bus was packed but the driver was taking life easy. The view of the coast was spectacular even if the clouds of cigarette smoke obscured it. I was surprised to find Highway 1A, the main artery linking north and south Vietnam to be nothing more than a normal road with hard shoulders that were slow lanes for local traffic. At one point the road climbed up the side of a cliff face and plunged over the other side only to be confronted with huge pot holes with truck and bus swerving to avoid them.

Quy Nhon is a small Vietnamese town on the coast. It sits in a pretty bay. The beach is very long, colourful fishing boats are moored just off shore or sit on the beach itself. Quy Nhon is a small town by Vietnamese standards but is still pretty big and busy. There are very few western tourists. Quy Nhon is certainly a nice place to break up the journey going north. There are some Cham towers in the town and the locals appear to be genuinely pleased to see you. I stayed at Barbara's Backapckers a hostel setup by a New Zealand woman. It was a nice place with lots of informaion on what to do in the area. I stayed in a 6 bed dorm for 50,000VND which only two of us shared.

Minibus drivers in South East Asia are psychotic. Vietnamese minibus drivers are among the more mental. I got a minibus from Quy Nhon to Quang Ngai. I arrived at the bus startion on a moto and as soon as I got off a guy was chasing me. I agreed 50,000VND for the journey to Quang Ngai and got in. I asked when we would be leaving, he said 8am (it was 7.30am). I was the only passenger. We roared off down the road. The driver must have gone to the bank robber driving school. We chased down moto drivers and screached to a halt alongside them, before doing a u-turn and flying off in the opposite direction. It had more in keeping with a kidnapping than a bus service. The minibus pulled up next to a guy standing next to the road, the conductor jumped out and bundled him into the back of the minbus. We went back to the bus station where a German joined us. We waited around for a good twenty minutes before doing some more circuits of the local area. We eventually had a pretty full transit van and we started on the road north. The airconditioning wasn't working and it felt like a sauna. The driver was really going for it. He did the usual crazy manoevoures, passing on blind bends, overtaking with traffic coming at us head on, forcing motos off of the rod, while at the same time having the horn blasting and the conductor leaning out of the window screaming "oi, oi, oi" at anything in our path. I could understand driving like this to get to our destination quickly but then we would slow for no apparent reason before speeding up again. Click here for a video of some of the risks he took, if you listen carefully you can hear the "oi,oi,oi". We would drive at 120 km/h through the centre of a town before slowing in the countryside with no potential for picking up passengers. When people were seen at the side of the road we would pull up beside them and the conductors would try to kidnapp them. The locals at the side of the road appeared to be just as repulsed by their hard sell tactics as foreigners are.

I was going to Quang Ngai to visit the Son My Memorial to the My Lai Massacre. I have written about that in a separate post. I got dropped off at the ringroad in Quang Ngai and wandered over to a roadside cafe. I had a cheap lunch and then the moto mafia descended. I knew the cost of a return journey to Son My should be 50,000VND but that as a westerner you were highly unlikely to get this price so the best you could hope for was 100,000VND. Two moto drivers sat down and their initial offer was 200,000VND. I laughed and said nothing. The negotiations drew a small crowd. I could see little point in returning a price so collected my bags and asked to use the toilet. I was directed to a muddy chicken coup out the back. When I returned the patriarch of the family said 100,000VND, I agreed to the price and he directed me to a moto driver (I left my big bag at the cafe). The scenery is very beautiful, big blue skies with rich green rice paddies lining the road.

After my visit to the Son My Memorial I returned to Quang Ngai to continue my journey north to Danang. I had another hair raising minibus journey ahead of me. I got my bags and walked across the roadf to catch a bus heading north. A minibus was waiting. The conductor tried to nget me on board for 90,000VND which I knew was way overpriced. I put my bag down and sat at the side of the road confident more buses would be along shortly. She returned and offered a cheap price, I refused eventually it came down to 50,000VND and I accepted. On board it turned out that the minibus was not departing for Danang immediately. We toured around the ring road. After twenty minutes we were full and I assumed we would be leaving for Danang. Another full minibus pulled up infront of us and all of their passengers got off and got on to our already full minibus. When I say minibus we were in a Ford transit van. There were seats for about twenty people. The back seat seat was folded down and they manged to squeeze 40 people into the van. The conductor hung out of the sliding door touting for even more passengers while yelling "oi,oi,oi" at anything in our path. The driver was of course mentally deranged, even with the number of passengers on board we went at light speed to Danang. Click here for one video and a second video of his driving. Sitting next to me was a local from Quang Ngai going to Danang to watch the fireworks. It turned out that an international fireworks competition was on in Danang and that was why so many people were going.

I arrived in Danang and caught the local bus from the bus station to the centre of town for 3,000VND. I hunted high and low for a room for the night and could not find anywhere, not even at the expensive hotels. I went to Phu An Hotel and asked for a room. They didn't have any either so I asked about buses to Hoi An. It turned out that there were no more buses to Hoi An. Luckily a guy at the reception who was staying at the hotel spoke excellent English. He said a taxi to Hoi An should cost no more than 300,000VND. A hefty sum but in the end it was my only option. I went to watch the fireworks. There was a huge crowd but for some reason no one had apparently told the crowd where the fireworks were going to be. Everyone was setup around the bridge but the fireworks were on the other side of town. They looked impressive if slightly far away. I caught the taxi afterwards toi Hoi an, which cost 280,000VND and took 40 minutes. I had booked a room at Dai Long Hotel for $15 (the first room I had booked since I was in Krabi back in December).

SE Asia XXXIII - Motorcycle Diaries

2008-03-27T21:10:00.001+13:00

On the Vietnam travelling circuit Dalat is a famous stop for its scenery and cool climate. Dalat is also famous for the Easy Riders. Motorcyle riders who take tourists on tours of Dalat and furthafield. I spent 3 days on the back of Mr Titi's motorbike. Its a great way to travel and to get off of the beaten track. Dalat is the Cameron Highlands of Vietnam. The French came here to escape the humidity of Saigon. In many respects its similar to the Cameron Highlands the scenery is lovely but the town is unlikely to win any beauty pageants.

The first day I did a day trip around Dalat. There is quite a bit to see in the surroundings of Dalat. We stopped in a couple of Pagodas and went to see how various things are made. Dalat is up in the hills and the roads are undulating. The French introduced pine trees here and it makes for a nice aroma. It is noticeable that the hills have been cleared of most of their natural vegetation. Mr Titi said that the change has come in the past twenty years with the government bringing northern migrants to resettle in the area. The clearing has increased as the price of coffee has risen. Of the stops the best by far was Elephant Waterfall. It is a stunning waterfall in a picturesque setting. It seems that the heavy rain that greeted my arrival in Dalat happens every afternoon. I wasn't aware of this and when we returned inthe afternoon I got completely soaked. I would recommend heading out in the morning and getting back before the rains come. On the return to Dalat Mr Tit gave me the hard sell for a longer tip. I agreed to 2 days because the day charge at $60 was too much for any longer.

The best part of the next two days travelling was getting out away from the normal tourist circuit. It was great to cruise along on the back of the mtorobike and enjoy the scenery. It was funny to see the reaction of locals as they did a double take when they realised a foreigner was driving by. We left Dalat at 8.30am. Out from Dalat we stopped at Tuyen Lam Lake. It is a very big lake with a pagoda on top of a hill. We headed down out of the hills to Chicken Village a very touristy small village that apparently got its name from the number of chickens that lived in the village. A giant concrete chicken sits in the middle of the village. From there the next hour was a bit dull we stopped to see more things being made before the scenery changed for the better. More green rice paddies appeared and we started to head back into the hills. We made our way up over mountain passes to see some stunning views. At random points Mr Titi would drop me off to walk and he would wait up ahead. I got some very strange looks from Vietnamese driving passed wondering how a random foreigner got himself into the middle of nowhere. We stopped in K'bong No for a coffee. It was a very small town sitting astride a river. We arrived in Du Lich the night's stop at 5pm. I wandered around the town as the sun was setting. The town was not pretty but the scenery surroudning it certainly was. I also had a strange encounter with the wildlife. I was walking down the main street after buying some water when an elephant suddenly appeared next to me. The mahoot didn't bat an eyelid and the elephant strode off into the distance. We stayed at Du Lich Mo Trung for $8 I got a fan room with single bed and cold ensuite. It was a good evening spent with a few more Easy Riders and their passengers. A lot of rice wine was drunk. The next day we left at 8.30am to drive down to a local village just outside of Dalat. From there we stopped at a brickworks and continued on to Gia Long and Dray Sap Falls. Two extremely impressive waterfalls. We then arrived in Buon Ma Thout at 2.30pm, a touch early for my liking.

Mr Titi was a safe driver and relatively chatty. He gave quite a bit of commentary although alot of this was lost in the wind noise. I did find it a bit uncomfortable when we would wander into people's homes at the end of which Mr Tit would declare "You take picture now". Actually at the end of every commentary or side trip would be the order "You take picture now". I assumed that as an Easy Rider he has an arrangement to go into people's homes. Most of the time the owners were oblivious, sometimes they were welcoming, and at other times I got the distinct impression that we were not welcome. I got the impression Mr Tit didn't have my best interests in mind., He got into a sulk when I choose the cheaper option for the stay in Du Lich, even though it turned out a number of other Easy Riders were staying there with their passengers which made for a fun evening.When we arrived in Buon Ma Thout it was 2.30pm. I had paid for two full days at $60, 2.30pm was not a full day. I had felt like Mr Titi was riushing me during the stops but then he seemed to be the previous day and we didn't arrive until 5pm at Du Lich. The arrival in Buon Ma Thout was furthered soured by the receptionist at the guesthouse Mr Titi took me to lying about what time buses left for Nha Trang. She said there weren't anymore, I asked around the corner and they said there were two still to go. When I confronted her she wasn't in the least bit apologetic, simple saying "I think you stay here tonight". I found somewhere else. Mr Titi was there and didn't do anything to help me, he seemed more intent on getting his commission.

I wasn't going to give my money to the lying receptionist so I wandered around town looking for somewhere else to stay. A task further complicated by the completely wrong Lonely Planet map. It turned out that finding cheap accommodation in Buon Ma Thout wasn't as easy as I hoped and I ended up getting a moto out to the bus station (15,000VND) where I stayed at Ban Me Hotel five minutes walk away. After some negotiation i got a twin room, with fan, and hot ensuite for $10. I seemed to be the only guest, its best days were long gone but it was acceptable. I had dinner at one of the roadside cafes. The locals were extremely surprised to see me wander in and even more surprised to see me eat the food. I left Buon Ma Thout on the 6am bus to Nha Trang for 70,000VND (4 hour journey).

I got one of the Open Tour buses from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat. I went with TM Brothers Open Tour Bus for $6. I wouldn't recommend them. The journey to Dalat took seven hours. The bus was only a quarter full but the seats were small and uncomfortbale. It wasn't helped by the bus driver constantly using the air horns which seemed to be mounted inside the bus next to my head. There was torrential rain on our journey up to Dalat and when we pulled our bags out from underneath they were soaked through. What annoyed me further was that we were dropped at a place and they tried to hard sell us a room. I suppose it wasn't surprising as this is how the Open Tour buses make their money. The advantage of the Open Tour buses is that they depart from Pham Ngu Loo, although we still managed to leave an hour later than scheduled. I would avoid TM Brothers or TM Cafe in the future and use a different operator.

SE Asia XXXII - Ho Chi Minh City

2008-03-20T20:50:00.006+13:00

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) or Saigon, as the locals still call it and the train timetables say, is a huge sprawling city. The preservation of old buildings has unsurprisngly been of low priority and cake towers dominated the streets. The most interesting aspect of Saigon is the traffic and that doesn't bode well for the rest of the city. The traffic is amazing. The roads whether wide or narrow are filled with motorcycles and the odd car . To cross the road is a game of chicken across the street and become engulfed by the motorcyle swarm. There are traffic lights in HCMC but they are rarely obeyed. The traffic enmasse decide when the lights have changed colour, irrespective of whether they have. It is not unusual to discovert that the pavement you are walking on has become an express lane to skip a traffic jam or a set of traffic lights. HCMC does have some sights of interest but you could easily see these in a day or two.

HCMC is alot more civilised than I imagined. My expectations had been sufficiently lowered after reading "Don't tell Mum I work on the Rigs"and the story of driving into Saigon in a taxi and being robbed with a machete across your throat. However, time has done its job and Saigon is quite civilised certinaly more so than Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh felt much more unpleasant. I would not want to live in Phnom Penh but I could live in Saigon. I wandered large parts of the city and never had a problem other than the traffic. I walked around at night with a bag and never felt threatened.One of the complaints I often hear baout Vietnam is that people are only out to make money from you and that this is especially true in the south. There is one tourist area in HCMC, Pham Ngu Loo. I choose not to stay here and instead stayed in Co Giang at Kim Loan. If you stay in Pham Ngu Loo then you could well be left with this impression. Co Giang, south of Pham Ngu Loo, is just an alleyway with some guesthouses running along it and doesn't have the restaurants or tourist shops. It means that you don't get hassled apart form a couple of moto drivers. Pham Ngu Loo was the only place in Saigon I got hassled. I've not come across people trying to shine your shoes, but this was common in Pham Ngu Loo (and as it turned out in other touristy parts of Vietnam). In the rest of the city there are moto drivers who try and attract your attention but I didn't find the ones in Saigon that irritating. I think its because Saigon is so big that they are more spread out. I found the motos to come in handy at times. Saigon is huge and at times the streets are faceless with the same cake towers lining the way. It is easy to wander for a while and get lost. The motos I used to get back to Co Giang were all pretty good and I didn't have to bargain hard with them to get a fair price. I stayed at Kim Loan in Co Giang. I got a twin fan room with hot ensuite, TV, fridge, and table chair for $10. The husband and wife who ran it were relatively friendly although their teenage daughters didn't seem quite so pleased with guests wandering in and out of the house.
HCMC has a number of museums. The most interesting is the War Remnants Museum, formerly called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes. It is one of the best museums I have visited. A great deal of unpleasant material is presented in a tasteful if confronting manner. There are lots of disturbing pictures of the victims of the Vietnam War and victims from the reprecussions of the use of herbicides (particularly disturbing are conjoined babies in glass jars). I found the most interesting exhibit was Requiem. An exhibition of photographs from war correspondents who died during the American War (as the Vietnamese call it). The Reunification Palace is also well worth visiting. It is famous as the site of the South Vietnamese surrender to the North after tanks crashed through the palace gates. It was built in the 1960s and has an uncanny resemblance to Tracy island. Another popular tourist sight is the main post office. It is in an old French building and inside is a large portrait of Ho Chi Minh. The staff here are excellent.

SE Asia XXXI - Pleased to meet you

2008-03-19T01:40:00.002+13:00

The Mekong Delta is a great introduction to Vietnam. It is busy, bright, and colourful. When you cross the border into Vietnam from Cambodia the contrast is huge. I've not seen rivers so full of commerce and trade in Laos or Cambodia, or Thailand for that matter. There are alot more people and there are alot more people out on the water. The Mekong Delta is an excellent place to travel around because of the transport connections. Wherever I was there seemed to be minibuses leaving regularly to all corners of the Delta.

Cahu Doc was my favourite spot in the Mekong Delta. It is a smaller town than Can Tho and it is a bit more off the tourist radar so there are fewer visitors. There are some good places to eat and it is easy to get around. Chau Doc is similar to Cambodian as it is centred around a market. Chau Doc's streets are narrow and there is alot of traffic. It does have a charm. There is the odd French building hidden amongst the cake towers. The people are friendly and appear to be pleased to see you. While you see Khmer faces, the change in the way people look is noticeable and much more noticebale than crossing from Thailand to Laos or Laos to Cambodia.I stayed at Vinh Phuoc Hotel in Chau Doc, where a fan twin room was $7, with hot shower ensuite. The staff were quite friendly and helpful. I did a trip out to the floating houses and Cham village, with a woman rowing the boat standing up and her two children joining us. It was a nice way to see the community. I paid a somewhat inflat $5 for the hour and a half trip. I also messed up on negotiating a moto to Sam Mountain and paid 40,000VND for a trip that could be done by public bus for 3,000VND. Sam Mountain is a Vietnamese tourist destination. There are lots of Buddhist shrines in gaudy colours. Bars line the path down the 'mountain' and are filled to the brim with hammocks. The view from the top is good if a bit hazy. It is amazing just how flat the area is, although not surprising considering this is a river delta. The Vietnamese were most surprised to see more on their bus back into town. I pulled out my phrasebook and it was leafed through with great interest.

From Chau Doc I went to Ha Tien by bus, the journey took three hours. I arrived at the bus station early and there were three locals on board. They were most surprised to see a westerner getting onboard. They took a keen interest in me and merrily chatted to me in Vietnamese even though I couldn't understand a word of what they were saying. I got my phrasebook out and they had a flick through and asked me some questions. I then became something of a zoo exhibit as they seemed to discuss me. The women were none too impressed by my stubbily face. The bus was almost full once we pulled out of the station only to stop outside the station to pick up an extended Cambodian family. I was squeezed next to a young Cambodian guy who managed to get through half a pack of cigarettes in the short time he was on the bus.

I arrived in Ha Tien to be greeted by the moto mafifa. It turned out the bus station had been moved and was now further away from town. I refused all motos and walked to town, it was only a 15 minute walk, but I was shadowed by a moto driver the whole way. I managed to drop the tail and found Tu Anh Hotel. I had a double hot shower ensuite, air-conditioning, and TV for $10. The staff were a bit strange. When I came back in the evening I was in my room and they came knocking on the door and searched around my room. I'm not sure what they thought I could have smuggled in considering I walked passed them to get in and collected my key from them. I wasn't hugely impressed by Ha Tien the town. There is alot of building work going on and there aren't many people around in the middle of the day. I was hanging around in a cafe poking some awful food when a Vietnamese guy sat down at my table. I'm always a bit dubious at such interruptions because so many times they turn out to be trying to sell you something. Unsurprisingly he was trying to sell me something, a moto tour. I didn't want to hang around Ha Tien for the afternoon and the prices he quoted were pretty good.

I went off with Mr Trinh Ngoc The (0918 574 780 trinhngocthe2000@yahoo.com) for an afternoon trip to Thach Dong Cave Pagoda and Mui Nai beach for 40,000. It was a very relaxing afternoon. The scenery is beautiful and there is little traffic. Green rice paddies line the roads and water buffalos plod nonchalantly around. The road back from Mui Nai along the coast is especially beautiful. History is not far away. Inside the Thatch Dong Cave Pagoda is the Stele of Hatred which commemorates the massacre by the Khmer Rouge of 130 people here on 14 March 1978. Along the coast road is a large cemtery for Vietnamese troops who died in Cambodia. Mr Trinh was a good guide and very chatty.

The next day Mr Trinh took me to Hon Chong the next day for 50,000 VND. There are no buses from Ha Tien to Hon Chong. The journey to Hon Chong is quite pretty apart from the cement factories.While the afternoon trip from Ha Tien was a very relaxed affair the morning trip to Hon Chong was quite the opposite. Mr Trinh was on a mission to get there as quickly as possible. We roared off to Hon Chong. The helmet he gave me swung around on my head, so with one hand I had to hold it in place while with the other I held on for grim life. Every time I got a moto in Vietnam they always gave me a helmet to wear, whether that helmet fitted was another matter. I often wore helmets Laurel and Hardy style perched on top of my head. Normally you don't need to hold on to the back bar when travelling by moto but Mr Trinh was flying over bridges and bouncing his way across the pot holes. We rounded one bend to be confronted by a truck and bus coming towards us head on. I closed my eyes. We managed to get by unscathed apart from a shower of gravel.

Hon Chong is a picturesque spot on the coast. The town isn't very big and what there is is spread along the two beaches. There were no other westerners around. The only real sign of activity was around Chua Hang Grotto with hordes of Vietnamese tourists. There is a great restaurant overlooking one of the bays at Hon Trem Guesthouse. The food is excellent and the view over the bay is beautiful. I was staying at Huong Bien Guesthouse, the cheapest guesthouse in town. For $8 I got a fan twin room with cold ensuite. It was alittle bit dodgy but I thought it was OK. The family who ran it were quite friendly apart from the manager who was way too friendly and fake. Sure enough when i returned in the evening and confirmed that I would be leaving tomorrow she turned nasty (even though I had said I would when I arrived). My room had become distinctly less appealling in the intervening hours aswell. The room was like sauna. There were no screens so I couldn't open the windows. There were already lots of mosquitos to keep me company. The hordes of Vietnamese tourists had all descended upon Huong Bien Guesthouse for the night. I asked the manager what time the bus to Rach Gia was and she said 5am. I'm pretty sure there were later ones and I thought she told me this time to spite me. I got up at 5am and the bus didn't come past until 5.30am. I sat with some locals in the meantime, one of whom who spoke broken English implied there were later buses.

The bus got about 20 minutes down the road while picking up parcel after parcel. The conductor came to me and summarily demanded 100,000VND. I hadn't been in Vietnam long but I knew this was far too much. I refused. He justified the price due to my bag being on the seat next to me, something he told me to bring on board with me. I refused and paid him 50,000VND. It took 3 hours to reach Rach Gia. I didn't hang around. I caught a minibus to Can Tho. The Mekong Delta is an excellent place to travel around because of the transport connections. Wherever I was there seemed to be minibuses leaving regularly to all corners of the Delta, apart from Hon Chong. It was another two and a half hours and 47,000VND to Can Tho. There was a twelve year old policeman sitting next to me who was quite chatty. The road was very bumpy. I was on an official minibus run by Mai Linh, a company who run taxis and minibuses throughout Vietnam. Mai Linh minibuses are quite a high standard but there is still very little room when they are full. Luckily there were only 5 people on the minibus so we could spread out.

I arrived in Can Tho to discover I was at the bus station 8kms from town. I only discovered this after walking 8kms to town. Can Thoi is a big busy town. It is quite charming along the riverfront. There is of course lots of activity in the water. A great place to watch it all is from a cafe on top of the ferry ticket office. A friendly family run it and the dad seems to spend most of his time watching whats going on on the water aswell. There are lots of boats heading off to different corners of the Delta. The small ferry boats looked OK but they were absolutely packed to the rafters and didn't look like a comfortable way to travel. I came to Can Tho to visit the floating markets. I went to Cai Rang and Phong Dien floating markets. I did this independently. I talked to a moto driver, or rather gestured, and we agreed on 100,000VND on a round trip to visit both market including waiting time. Gestures can convey alot, combined with a trusty phrasebook. We went to Cai Rang first and I hired a boat to go out into the market. It was more tricky than I imagined. Most people hire a boat in Can Tho but this takes longer and you don't get to Phong Dien in time for the market. The prices at Cai Rang were higher than from Can Tho and I eventually found one for 70,000VND for an hour. I got the impression that these guys did not normally take tourists out and that I was doing them a favour. They sat me in their boat and pushed me down the muddy bank. Once in the water the woman paddled me around the barges and boats. Cai Rang is huge, there are lots of big barges piled high with different fruit and vegetables. In between the big boats and barges were small boats buying the produce as well as ones selling snacks and drinks. After an hour I tried to get my paddler to take me back, it took a few attempts but she eventually did. Once she did I had to climb over a few boats and on to a pier. I gave her 70,000VND and then she started demanding more money. I gave her 10,000VND but was very annoyed. In paying 70,000VND I already felt like I was being charitable. Phong Dien is a much smaller place and the market is much smaller. In many ways it is more attractive. I didn't feel the need to go out on the water and instead watched the proceedings over a cafe sua da (iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk). When my moto driver took me back to Can Tho he tried to demand more money from me. I laughed at him, and paid him the 100,000VND we had agreed to. I had not come across people suddenly demanding more money in the reast of South East Asia. I had paid too much and been ripped off but at least I had done so in agreement. To demand more money after the event struck me as underhand.

I had assumed oprganising the trip from Can Tho independently would be cheaper than going through an agent. Can Tho had its own Del Boy who greeted me at Hien II Guesthouse. The guesthouse was surprisingly nice. The room was small but I had a fan double and hot ensuite for $7. Del Boy then proceeded to sell me a huge tour which I had no interest in doing. I managed to lose him but kept bumping into him around town. He seemed to appear out of every alleyway, reminding me of my promise to think about his tour. As it was the shorter tour that I did would have been cheaper with him then organising it myself, assuming no hidden charges appeared. I didn't see Del Boy around Hien II for the next couple of days. I don't think he works there, I think he just goes from guesthouse to guesthosue trying to sell his tours.

I left Can Tho for Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). I was on another minibus which was packed. I tried to get the a seat with legroom but the guy putting people in the bus wasn't happy with me sitting there. I eventually persuaded a small man to take my seat so that I could have some space. I do find that the Vietnamese like their power and if they tell you to sit somewhere then they will not give in. Maybe this is true of people in general or it could be to do with loss of face in Asian culture. I have assigned you a seat you will sit in the seat. The journey was as life threatening as ever as we raced to HCMC. It was made more hazardous by the BO fumes being emitted by the old woman sitting infront of me. I arrived at Mien Tay bus station in HCMC, the moto mafia descended and I found a driver who would take me for 50,000VND to Co Giang.

SE Asia XXX - Apocalypse Now

2008-03-13T17:55:00.004+13:00

Ok so it wasn't quite Martin Sheen going up the Mekong in a gunboat into the darker recesses of Cambodia to find a renege commando. I was going in the opposite drection from Phnom Penh down the Mekong to Vietnam. It wasn't the most taxing of border crossing trips. The only annoyance were the number of stupid questions asked by the tour group on my boat. I'm pretty sure Martin Sheen would have killed them all before Marlon Brando got his hands on them.

There were about 20 passengers aboard the majority of whom were on an Interpid tour from Bangkok to Saigon via Siem Reap. The Intrepid group were chatty and friendly. They did seem to spend a great deal of their time asking stupid questions and once one stupid question had been asked someone else in the group would repeat it. The tour guide appeared to be a bit tired of stupid questions. I think if you put people in a group and give them a leader who is designated as all knowing then they are going to ask stupid questions. The independent part of the brain switches off and sheep mode is activated. I'm not anti-tour but I don't think its necessary to do the tour they were doing especially as they flew sections of it.

The journey down the Mekong from Phnom Penh to the border took about 3 hours. There wasn't a great deal to see but it was a relaxing change to the madhouse that is Phnom Penh. The river is wide and there appear to be few settlements along it and very few boats out on the water. Vietnam is an immediate contrast. Even so it is a relaxing way to make your way to Vietnam and good value considering the amount of time it takes. It took an hour to reach Chau Doc from the border. This section of the journey was the most interesting of the trip. The river narrowed and there was a massive increase in settlements lining the banks aswell as boats in the water. One of the noticeable things with the settlements in Vietnam were the number of TV antennas. I had not seen so many dominating a skyline of a town anywhere else in South-East Asia.

Cambodian immigration was the prettiest border crossing I have been to. The imigration huts were in a wooded enclave next to the river with mango trees. There was hardly anyone there. Vietnamese immigratiuon and customs was a great deal more rigmarole. Firstly we got off the boat and climbed up a muddy bank. A border guard checked out passports. Another guard took out passports and we were all sent into a room for 5 minutes where there were toilets and signs about SARS. After a couple of minutes we were taken out of the room (nothing happened in the room). We were walked further along the riverbank where the local child sales team descended with drinks and snacks for sale aswell as a roving money exchange. We were made to stand inside a hut for about 5 minutes and then walked down to a small pontoon where our boat had docked. We took our bags to another building and everyone had their bags x-rayed. We took our bags back to the boat. We then twiddled our thumbs for an hour and a half waiting for our passports to be returned. The Intrepid guide reckoned this was longer than normal.

I travelled on the Hang Chau Tourist Express boat from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc. The Hang Chau Tourist Express departs Phnom Penh at 12.30pm from the boat dock almost in the centre of town. It cost $19, though the price was going up to $22. If you want to travel by boat to Vietnam from Phnom Penh there are 4 options. 1) Expensive cruise all the way to Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) 2) Local slowboat 3) Bluecruiser boat 4) Hang Chau Tourist Express. The Hang Chau boat isn't meant to be quite as nice as the Blue Cruiser, but the Bluecruiser costs $10 more. They give you sandwiches and some water for the $10 extra. The Hang Chau boat seemed quite well maintained and the Captain had everything well in hand.

SE Asia XXIX - Phnom Penh

2008-03-12T17:49:00.000+13:00

Until Phnom Penh I had not been in a city in South-East Asia that I felt was distinctly unpleasant. Phnom Penh has a lot of negative South-East Asian characteristics and it seems to have them in such an abundance. The traffic is incesant and chaotic, motos drivers yell at you, people hassle you to buy things and its hot and humid. I felt a degree of culture shock in Phnom Penh that I had not yet felt on my travels. I think my month in Laos had got me used to a relaxed pace of life, and Cambodia outside of Phnom Penh is also relaxed (maybe not Siem Reap). Nothing bad happened to me while I was there and while there felt like a dodgy atmosphere I never felt in any danger. The only reason I can suggest visiting Phnom Penh is to go to Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields.

Phnom Penh is a dirty unpleasant city. It is claustrophbic, the traffic is crazy. On every corner is a moto driver or ten trying to grab your attention. It is hot and humid. Piles of rubbish rot along the roadside. The streets behind the river are a maze. The buildings all look the same and there aren't any obvious landmarks, it can become quite disorientating. When this is combined with oppresive heat and humidity, and the dodging of motos it doesn't make for pleasant ambling. I would be dripping with sweat having breakfast in the shade at 8am and I'm not Jonny Vegas. The chaotic feel is enhanced with pavements full of either parked motorbikes or stalls. By the early evening kids are outside playing on what little pavement there is or in the road. Playtime goes on late into the evening.

There are positive aspects to Phnom Penh. There is some impressive French architecture hanging around and some local efforts pre-dating the Khmer Rouge era. The Royal Palace and Silver Pagode are beautiful and worth visiting. The National Museum is a beautiful building and a good place to escape the chaos of Phnom Penh. I was sitting in the courtyard and chatted to a couple of guys from the countryside. One of whom wanted to be a politician and use his love of karate, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, as a political philosophy. The nicest place in Phnom Penh was the National Stadium. I chanced upon it wandering through the streets from Tuol Sleng. There was a big crowd of people outside and I wondered what was going on. On my way in I noticed that there were badminton games taking place in any space available. It turned out there a football game being played. Two Cambodians came over to chat with me to practice their English. I wanted to know who was playing but it turned out they were not interested in the game. They were there for aerobics. Sure enough once the game finished the crowd that had developed spread itself around the top of the stadium, and with speakers hooked up, several different aerobics classes began. Cambodians, Thais, and Laos, really enjoy their aerobics. In the late afternoon you often hear a techno beat coming from somewhere and when you go and investigate you dicsover lots of middle-aged women jumping and punching in unison. They take place in any public space, often along the riverside. In Vientaine (Laos) a particularly popular spot is next to the Mekong in the centre of town. Aerobics isn't necessarily seen as that taxing but these South-East Asian women can really move. In Vietaine Western men tried to take part, within five minutes they were out of synch with everyone else and within ten minutes they were taking a seat on the bench. While I had seen aerobics in alot of places I hadn't seen quite so many people in one place doing it before. There was a great atmosphere all around the national stadium. I would recommend taking a walk over there if you want to see Phnom Penh residents enjoying themselves.

Tuol Slenh is without doubt the most important place to visit in Phnom Penh, if not Cambodia. While walking around Tuol Sleng is chilling, the walls of faces, the photographs of the state the Vietnamese found the prison, the tiny cells where people were kept, the paintings of what the tortures inflcited on people, and the cabinets full of skulls from the Killing Fields. The true horror of what was done there does not come across without reading David Chandler's "Voices from S-21". S-21 was the codename for Tuol Sleng. Tuol Sleng was a school that the Khmer Rouge used as a torture and interrogation facility. "S-21 was a total instituion whose mission was to locate, question, and destroy the enemies of the Party Centre" (Chandler). Once the interrogators had achieved acceptable 'confessions' the prisoner would be taken to the Killing Fields where they would be clubbed over the head and thrown in a mass grave. 14,000 people, men, women and children, were killed at S-21. The confessions were used as a tool to gather more suspects to be interrogated and killed. Innocent people being wrongly detained and killed was acceptable according to a DK adage "It is better to arrest 10 people by mistake than to let one guilty person go free" (Chandler). Chandler deals with how prisoners once arrested were guilty. The interrogator may not know why they were arrested but the fact of the arrest meant they must have committed a crime. Violence during interrogation was commonplace. Chandler quotes a Duch directive to the interrogators and guard, "You must rid yourself of the view that beating the prisoners is cruel. Kindneess is misplaced. You must beat (them) for national reasons, class reasons, and international reasons". Duch was the head of S-21 who is currently on trial for war crimes. Click here for an article on the BBC News website about his trial. Tuol Sleng was discovered by Vietnamese troops when they captured Phnom Penh. They were drawn there by the smell of rotting bodies. When they arrived they found bodies still strapped to bed frames in cells. The Vietnamese preserved Toul Sleng as a testament to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. Chandler states, "the history that he (Mai Lam Vietnamese Colonel fluent in Khmer, had constructed Museum of American War Crimes in Ho Chi Minh City) constructed in the exhibits at S-21 denied the leaders of the CPK any socialist credentials and encouraged viewers to make connections between the Democratic Kampuchea regime and Tuol Sleng on the one hand, and Nazi Germany...on the other". I found the most disturbing part of Tuol Sleng were the walls of photographs of prisoners. The prisoners were photographed when they arrived, and if they were important, when they died.

I stayed at Angkor Meas Guesthouse in Phnom Penh. $5 for cold ensuite, fan, single bed, and TV. It was the worst room I had in Cambodia (other than the Golden Parrot in Battambang) although it wasn't too bad. I stayed there because I could not find any cheap (ie $5 rooms) in Phnom Penh, it seems rooms are unsurisingly more expensive in the capital. Angkor Meas is at 112 Street 19, Songkat Phsar Kandal 2. It sits in the maxe of backstreets. The easiest way to find it is to go to the road along the riverfront, find Kiwi Bakery and Restaurant, walk south and then take your first right, keep walking straight until on your right is a Sports Cafe at this junction turn left and Angkor Meas is on your left.

I got my Vietnam Visa in Phnom Penh. I hired a tuk-tuk to the Vietnam Embassy and it cost $3 including wait time outside before taking me back to the centre of town. The 30 day tourist visa cost $35 (British passport holder) and I was able to collect it the next day. In hindsight I should have got a 90 day visa if I had known that I would need it to get a Russian visa in Vietnam.

SE Asia XXVIII - Road from Hell

2008-03-09T02:39:00.002+13:00

The journey on the road from Siem Reap to Sisophon is appalling. It is the worst road I have been on in South-East Asia and we were on it for 4 hours. It is only 171kms from Siem Reap to Battambang, and it isn't like Laos where you have to climb over mountain ranges, The land is perfectly smooth apart from the road.

The road is terrible because it appears whatever old road existed has been ripped up to build a nice new road unfortunately construction seems to have stopped at the ripping up stage. The road now is a dust bowl which is heavily rutted. It was so bumpy that trying to read was nigh on impossible as the words appeared to be a blur before my eyes. They have started to put irrigation sections in and the most uncomfortable parts of the journey were going up and around these new constructions. The roads between Siem Reap and Phnom, Battambang and Phnom Penh, and Sisophon and Battambang are all fine. The reason why a key road between Thailand and Cambodia has been so delayed is apparently due to Bangkok Airways. The rumour is that they pay Cambodian politicians to hold construction of the road back. Bangkok Airways has a monopoly on the route between Bangkok and Siem Reap.

The journey wasn't helped by the bus not having any air conditioning. The only source of ventilation was a skylight near the front of the bus. The road was swirling with dust and this quickly filled the bus. It was boiling hot, humid and dusty. The locals onboard were not happy and when the locals get animated you know its bad. I was squeezed next to a family, or at least a dad and two children.

I bought the ticket from Sam So Guesthouse for $6. The bus was an hour late picking us up from the centre of town. It is possible to catch a boat from Siem Reap to Battambang. I had reports advising the bus journey was a safer option. However, if I had known the road was going to be so bad I may have given the boat option more serious consideration. It took 4 hours from Siem Reap to Sisophon and then 2 hours to Battambang.

I should have known the road would be bad because of the Scam Bus. The Scam Bus is not one bus but a broad name for buses running between Khao San Road and Siem Reap. The tickets are cheap in Khao San Road but as the journey progresses you pay more and more money, including an expensive border crossing. They then take the bus on a circuitious route so that you arrive in the middle of the night in Sioem Reap and stay at the guesthouse they want you to, if you try and go somewhere else they kick up a fuss. Lots of people had told me about the Scam Bus throughout my time travelling and I was surprised to bump into people in Cambodia who had been on the Scam Bus. I met one woman who had been told by a travel agent in Khao San Road that they could only sell a return ticket on the bus to Siem Reap and she bought it. She decided to fly back to Bangkok from Siem Reap because the journey was so appalling. Click here for a link to Tales of Asia with stories of the Scam Bus and click here for Travelfish's guide of how to get from Bangkok to Siem Reap.

SE Asia XXVII - Bamboo Train

2008-03-08T15:55:00.007+13:00

South East Asians are pretty ingenius when it comes to working with what they have got. The Bamboo train is a great example of their ingenuity. The Bamboo Train (or Nori Train as its called by the locals) is a self porpelled carriage that runs along a railway line. There are two axles with wheels on either end, the wheels look like old drum brakes. On top of the axles sits a plank made of bamboo (hence bamboo train). At the back of the plank is a small engine that drives the rear axle via a rubber drive chain. The Nori trains run on old railway line which is still in use although they only run once a week each way between Phnom Penh and Battambang. The journey can take 19 hours, if it doesn't break down(its only 6 hours by bus). This is due to the decrepid trains and railway track. When you sit on the Nori train you can see how badly warped the rails are and how big the gaps between each rail are. It makes for a bumpy ride. The Nori train can get up to some pretty high speeds as it bumps its way along. The passengers sit just under a foot off the ground on the plank of bamboo and if you are a tourist a cushion. There are no sidings for the Bamboo trains so if two are approaching one another the one with the lightest has to get off the tracks. It is very easy to take apart as the only thing holding the plank on top of the axles is gravity. When I was on there we had to get out of the way of a nori train with a cow on it and one with twenty or so locals piled on with their luggage (click here to watch the video of the locals on the train). For a tourist trip you hire one for yourself with driver and it costs $6. I had some local kids join me on the trip, the youngest appeared to be an apprentice Nori train driver.

Battambang has a similar setup to the Mekong towns I passsed through in north-western Cambodia. There is a main central market and around that are old buildings. During the war the Americans didn't bomb Battambang. What makes Battambang a bit different is its surroundings. The suburbs have also managed to maintain some old buildings. On a moto tour north through town the buildings line very green streets. There are old French mansions. It is surprisingly clean. Rice paper on bamboo grids loes drying in the sun and the people are going about their daily lives. It feels very unspoilt and there are no tourists around (a major difference to Siem Reap). Wat Ek Phnom is a large Wat with very brightly coloured murals inside. Next door to the Wat is a huge seated Buddha. The ruins of an 11th century temple sit behind the Wat ($2 entry). I had two young 'guides' lead me around the ruins. I say guides but these kids just tried to stay one step ahead of me throughout while playing with each other. Once I got to the end of my look around they then announced they were my guides and thus required payment. This happens a fair bit in South-East Asia. These guys were quite charming and not demanding so I paid them though not as much as their original pitch. I can't say they were much help though, sometimes the child guides can be useful. When I visited the caves in Thaket (Laos) I had a boy lead me through one of the caves. I agreed a price beforehand and it proved to be money well spent as he hopped, skipped, and jumped along rocks and over the icy cold water.I arrived in Battambang a bit battered and bruised after the journey on the road from hell. I made it through the scrum of moto drivers and headed for Royal Hotel. It was fine, a bit pricey (by that I mean a couple of dollars more expensive than normal, what I didn't like was the attitude of the staff. So to spite them I stayed at Golden Parrot, I'm not sure they took it to heart. I got a double ensuite cold shower with TV for $4. It was the dodgiest room I had stayed in up to that point in Cambodia. It wasn't that bad, but in reality Royal Hotel is probably a better bet. The tout outside Golden Parrot also took me on a tour of the local area to Wat Ek Phnom and the Bamboo Train. The journey on the moto cost $7. I caught the bus from Battambang to Phnom Penh. It was a much better journey due to there actually being a road covered in tarmac. It cost $4.50 and the monk sitting next to me paid the same. The monk was a very chatty young guy, who spoke excellent English.

SE Asia XXVI - Ancient Angkor

2008-03-06T16:39:00.001+13:00

I'm pretty sure most people have seen a picture of Angkor Wat. If you haven't by the time you get to Cambodian then you'll see it plenty of times in Cambodia. Angkor Wat is key to modern Cambodia its a source of national pride in a country that has been over thirty years of turmoil. If you are a visitor to Cambodia thwen that almost certainly means you will be visiting Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world, but it is only one temple. Angkor Wat is the umbrella title for over 1,000 temples. In reality there are around 20 large temples to go and explore.

Cambodia and its people have suffered greatly over the past forty years. First the Vietnam War spilled over into its borders. Whether this was inevitable or not is open to debate. Sihanouk had managed to placate the North Vietnamese by allowing their troops to operate in Cambodian territory and by using the port at Sihanoukville has a supply line. By 1970 there was open civil war with the Khmer Rouge heavily supported by Vietnamese troops. The Americans came into the war using South Vietnamese troops and B-52s to pound the country. According to Kiernan "nearly half of the 540,000 tons of bombs dropped (on Cambodia were) in the last 6 months' of US involvement. "Up to 150,000 civilians civilian deaths resulted from the US bombing campaigns in Cambodia from 1969 to 1973" (Ben Kiernan, 'The Pol Pot Regime'). Once the war was over the Khmer Rouge killed 1.4 million people (figure is disputed amongst historians). An amazing figure considering the population of Cambodia was only about 7.5 million. In the UK that would equate to 10 million deaths. The Khmer Rouge while purging Cambodia turned their attention to reclaiming Cambodian lands, the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Unfortunately all they managed to do was antagonise the Vietnamese who invaded in December 1978 and very quickly controlled the whole of Cambodia. The pockets of resistance left were along the Thai border where the Thai's allowed the Khmer Rouge to rebuild itself along with help from China and the US (see Henry Kammm 'Cambodia: Report from a stricken land'). Throughout the 1980s the Vietnamese occupied Cambodia using ex-Khmer Rouge leaders to run the country. By the late 1980s Vietnam could no longer afford the expense with the collapse in funding from the Soviet Union so they moved to withdrawal. At which point the UN came in to support the country and take it to democracy. Unfortuantely,according to Kamm, UNTAC failed in its mission to disarm the various factions. Whilst elections were held in 1993 the Cambodian People's Party (created by the Vietnamese) ignored the results and held on to power. Politics in the 1990s was dominated by pitched battles between the politicla parties and corruption. With a recent histroy like that it isn't surprising that you would want to look back (and politicians would want to look back for some form of legitimacy) to the glory years for your nation. What I enjoyed most about Angkor were the myriad of different temples that you could explore. While I was aware there were a large number I had no real appreciation of just how mnay there were, how well preserved (or restored) they were, and how big some of them are. Angkor Wat is the biggest, it is undoubtedly very impressive, however, I didn't find Angkor Wat amazing. I was underwhelmed, maybe my expectations were set to high. Whereas the other temples I found fascinating. Admittedly they can become a bit of a blur so I wouldn't recommend seeing too many in one day. My personal favourites were the temples that nature had reclaimed. When the French rediscovered Angkor all the temples had been reclaimed by nature in one way or another. They then did work on restoring them or stopping them from collapsing further. Ta Prohm is renowned for the huge trees growing on top of the walls. I was there at sunrise with only a couple of other people and it was great to wander around. The best temple for an Indiana Jones experience is Beng Mealea. It is 2 hours from Siem Reap and well worth the drive. I arrived there at 8am and had the place to myself. It is a huge ruin and you can climb up over the ancient blocks on top of the galleries. Apparently Beng Mealea was in better condition in the mid-1990s until relic hunters decided to dynamtie the foundations to try and find gold. I hired a tuk-tuk to take me to Beng Mealea, Kbal Spean and Banteay Srei. Mr Sor Lai (+855 928 49311)charged $30 for the day trip. I found alot of tuk-tuk drivers wouldn't take me and those that would wanted $50. The road between Beng Mealea and Kbal Spean is in very poor condition and could explain why tuk-tuk drivers didn't want to combine the two in one day trip. I even had a moto driver follow me down the road back to Siem Reap and engotaite with me as I cycled along (he wanted $30 for a moto trip to them). In Cambodia tuk-tuks have a cabin attahced to the back of the motorbike, like a small carriage. A much more comfortable way to travel than on the back of a motorbike for 2 hours. Ta Nei is another good temple hidden in the jungle which most people don't visit. A tuk-tuk driver told me it wasn't worth the effort. It is a small temple but its another one that hasn't been cleaned up too much and is worth the effort in finding from the main road. The Bayon is special, the faces are amazing and there are just so many of them. The Bayon is in Angkor Thom which has a number of temples within it. One thing most people miss are the East and West gates of Angkor Thom. They are on opposite sides of the Bayon and a great place to get a photo of an Angkor Thom gate without a tour bus driving through it. Click here for the Travelfish take on all of the different temples. Sunrise is the best time to visit may of the temples in Angkor. Everyone goes to Angkor Wat for sunrise which means everywhere else is quiet. Sunrise at Angkor Wat can be very good with the colours behind the towers but you will share it with a few thousand other people. Sunset is another good time to visit any temple other than Bakheng. All the people who watched unrise at Angkor Wat are now at Bakheng to watch the sunset. Bakheng is not that big and its just crawling with tourists. Sunset here is OK but the crowds are ridiculous. Angkor Wat is best visited just after suynrise when all the tour groups depart and it is very quiet to wander around. Angkor Thom is quiet at sunrise. I was in the Bayon on my own at sunrise. The faces are great to watch as the sunlight catches them. The same was true of Ta Phom. With the other temples I cycled around and if there were tour buses outside I carried on to the next. There are so many temples it is always possible to find another quieter one.

I got a seven day pass for Angkor Wat. It cost $60, unfortunately an oil company (Sokimex) runs the ticketing only 30% goes to Aspara who look after the temples. In one day you can see all the major central temples. It will be a rushed day and the temples may be crowded but its possible. In two or three days you can see the central temples at a relaxed pace and some outlying temples. In seven days you can see everything twice. The great advantage with seven days is that you can pick and choose when you visit each temple and generally avoid the crowds. Angkor Wat is a huge tourist attraction and it is easy to get swamped by the crowds. I didn't have to hire a tuk-tuk to get around and could enjoy cycling around. Hiring a bike is a relaxing way to see the temples. It gives you more interaction with the locals as you make your way between the temples. The only trouble with hiring a bike is the sore arse and the traffic on the roads. The roads around the temples make up some of the main local arteries. The roads are barely wide enough for tow tuk-tuks to pass let alone two dumper trucks and yet the locals somehow manage it. The drivers are lunatics; coaches, dumper trucks, motorbikes and tuk-tuks roar along. The traffic is accompanied by the orchestra of air horns. I find it a bit difficult not to notice a huge loud dumper truck bearing down upon me on a bicycle but incase you somehow have managed to ignore it the air horns will be blasting. Not all sections of the road are that bad. There are sections that are quite serene as you peddle along the tree lined routes.
Outside every temple is an assortment of stalls, selling tourist tat, drinks and food. Everything is overpriced compared to what you pay in the rest of Cambodia (still very cheap compared to the West). The game is to attract your attention to their stall. Generally there will be a crowd of children to attract your attention or sell you something directly. I didn't find it too irritating but then I had been forewarned. Some of the kids are excellent salesmen. If their sales pitch doesn't work then sheer persistence brings them some rewards. I ended up with bracelets, postcards, and drinks that I had no intention of buying. One very good deal are the photocopied books. Its possible to buy photocopied books throughout South-East Asia and Angkor is no exception.

Siem Reap was not as bad as I expected. My expectations were pretty low. The area around the Old Market has been gentrified and is quite pleasant. Although it is busy and full of annoying moto and tuk-tuk drivers aswell as massage parlours vying for your attention. There are lots of restaurants and bars around the Old Market. The further from the Old Market you go the less clean cut Siem Reap becomes. Development has exploded in Siem Reap and as the urban sprawl increases they have had less time (or maybe less care) to make it look pretty. The roads around Wat Bo still seem to be unfinished and there are still new buildings being put up. To replace the tourist stalls at the Old market they have built a new market about 5 minutes walk north, while there are lots of stalls no one seems to have told the tourists that they exist.

I was very lucky with the guesthouse I stumbled upon in Siem Reap. I stayed at Sam So Guesthouse (0164 Wat Bo Village, +855 12602956). It is the best value for money guesthouse I found in South East Asia. The room was a hotel standard double with ensuite (although cold shower) and big cable TV. All for only $5. Cambodian guesthouses are good value and I never paid more than $5. Sam So Guesthouse was head and shoulders above anything else. I didn't even expect to find such good accommodation for $5 because of the sheer number of tourists forcing prices up in Siem Reap. I was walking through Wat Bo Village (the other side of the river form the Old Market) and had looked in a few guesthouses which were eityher to expensive, full, or not that ncie. I saw the sign for Sam So down an alley. The guesthouse sits in a courtyard surrounded by homes of locals who all seem to be involved in running it. I'm not entirely sure how. They all seemed very happy and there were always lots of hellos or goodbyes when going to or from. I rented a bike there which cost $2. Sam So Guesthouse isn't in the Lonely Planet, if you have a LP map it is north of Viroth's Restaurant anmd south of Angkor Thom Hotel. An excellent restaurant closeby is Star Restaurant. It is close to Angkor Thom Hotel. From the outside it looks like a garage and the only distinguishing feature inside are the walls scrawled with signatures. The food is excellent and very cheap. I ate there regularly and it was noticeable that others did. The amok is superb.

SE Asia XXV - Into Cambodia

2008-02-28T00:08:00.000+13:00

Having alot of time I was able to stay in some Cambodian towns on the Mekong. I stopped in Stung Treng, Kratie, and Kompong Chom on my way to Siem Reap. In many respects they are very similar. They are all based around a central market (Psar) and they all have architecture that has survived the ravages of the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese Army, American B-52 bombers, and the more peaceful though no less destructive modern development. Of the three I would suggest Kratie is the best one to visit.

Stung Treng is the least attractive of the three and has the fewest western visitors. When I arrived on the minibus from Laos there seemed to be something of a hostile atmosphere. The Psar is dirty and piles of rubbish litter the streets. All in all I was wondering whether it was a great decision to rile against the masses and stay in Stung Treng. I found a nice guesthouse to stay in for $5 (double bed and hot shower ensuite). I can't remember the name of the place but there are a number of faceless cake tower guesthouses. I looked in the ones mentioned in the Lonely Planet, they were more expensive and falling apart. In the afternoon I wandered around the town and along the riverbanks and other than stepping over the rubbish it seemed much more pleasant than during my arrival. I caught the bus to Kratie in the morning which only took a couple of hours and cost $5.

Kratie is the prettiest of the three towns. It had the most well preserved French buildings which sat charmingly around the Psar. There was still plenty of rubbish around but not as much as Stung Treng. Of the three Kratie is the most touristy, this is due to the Irrawaddy Dolphin. For $5 ($7 on your own) you can take a boat out into the Mekong to watch them. The Irrawaddy Dolphin seems to take a relaxed approach to being a dolphin and didn't jump around. Dorsal fins pop out of the water regularly and maybe a tail but that is about it. It is still worth going to see them if only to relax on the Mekong and enjoy the scenery. The journey north to the boat landing takes you through villages. I was surprised to see ox carts trundling up and down the road, something I hadn't seen in Laos. I can't remember the name of the guesthouse I stayed in, but if you walk north along the road that follows the Mekong there are three next to one another. Apparently the UN stayed here during UNTAC and the Red Cross are there now. I paid $6 for a double ensuite hot shower. I even got to watch Tottenham win the League Cup. I was shadowed by Khmer Del Boy Mark 2 while I was in Kratie. He was nice enough and his English was good but like a child he did not comprehend that the more he hung around me and nagged me the less inclined I was to listen to him and the more inclined I was to hit him. I was going to the guesthouse that he tried to sell me anyway and then I choose to get him to take me to see the Dolphins. In the morning I was going to buy a ticket for the bus and he intercepted me enroute to get the commission (it didn't cost me anymore). There are at least two different buses from Kratie to Kompong Cham, the one I was on cost $4 and took four hours.

I wasn't in the best frame of mind in Kompong Cham. I was frustrated by the poor selection of accommodation and found the staff at the various places irrritating. I ended up staying in Bophea Guesthouse, the best of a bad bunch. I paid $4 for a double with cold shower ensuite. The ensuite had a steel door that looked like it used to be the cold room in a butchers. If you are only going to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh while you are in Cambodia then you may aswell stop in Kompong Cham to get a taste of small town Cambodia. It again has a Psar and some French buildings. I found Kompong Cham alot less charming than Kratie. For a small town there are alot of annoying moto drivers. I paid $5 for the four hour bus journey to Siem Reap.

Tickets for Cambodian buses appear to be sold per seat rather than per person. A whole family can fiyt iself on two seats. Unfortunately this means a whole family can sit on one seat next to you and they unsurprisngly spread out. From Kompong Cham to Siem Reap I had a small child and her Grandmother who halfway through the journey was joined by another yet smaller child. The bus had a TV and was playing some Cambodian comedy shows. One was the Cambodian Fast Show, there were no gay tailors instead they had a sketch repeated throughout the thirty minutes of three guys throwing a flip-flop and one of the three somehow not throwing it correctly. Comedy gold according to the show and everyone on the bus. Another sketch was the rivalry between a man with a moustache and a woman (no moustache) in a village. The woman kept winning their altercations. Once the Fast Show had finished we had a man and a woman singing a song, it looked like it was filmed back in the 1960s. Again they were having a dispute of some description during the very long song. The lunch stop was a cafeteria of sorts where the plumbing in the toilets had given up so a 'new' floor had been added, a layer of bricks. A cow and calf were nosing around the piles of rubbish, a depressing sight.

SE Asia XXIV - $1 Bribes

2008-02-25T17:57:00.002+13:00

The border crossing from Laos to Cambodia is a pretty painless affair as long as you don't mind parting with $1 bills. The bribery of the officials has become quite formalised. Everything costs $1 and if you are not happy paying the fee then you won't be leaving Laos or entering Cambodia. I've been told that the Cambodia Thailand border is more of a free for all especially with the decline in value of the US dollar. It is much easier if you have $1 bills with you. There were 40 odd westerners all crossing at the same time who had come by minibus from Si Phan Don. The customs officials very quickly run out of change and are not interested in helping you otherwise. If you don't have US Dollars make sure you have some form of currency. At the Cambodian border one guy protested that he didn't have any other money (after paying $20 for the visa) and the Cambodian official refused to give him back his passport so someone else paid the bribe for him.

I bought my ticket to Stung Treng from Papa. It cost $14 including the boat transfer (provided by him) to the mainland. Papa walked me to the minibus station and paid for a ticket. I got the impression that they aren't pre-booked, people just show up and they squeeze everyone on to the available minibuses. I'm not sure how onward journeys are checked because I wasn't provided a ticket and Cambodians take over from Lao once you cross the border. The minibuses are meant to leave Nakaseng (the 'port' on the mainland for access to Si Phan Don, an ugly place to say the least) at 8am but as expected we didn't leave until closer to 9am. There were 5 minibuses packed with Falang and piled high with rucksacks. It took about half an hour to get to the Laos border checkpoint. The photo at the top is of the Laos bordering crossing point. Two guys sit in the shed one takes your $1 bribe and the other stamps your passport and takes your departure card. The Chinese are building a big new highway here but when I passed through it was a dirt track. The minibus drops you here and they drive to the Cambodia border with your luggage, just a five minute walk across no man's land.

The Cambodian border is a bit more impressive than Laos shed. There are a few buildings and quite a few officials. The first thing you have to do is apply for your visa which means filling in a firm and providing a passport photo. If you don't have a passport photo they charge you $1 to take your picture. A couple of swiss people had their passports examined very closely and were made to wait a bit longer than everyone else but they eventually got their visa. I did not have a Cambodian visa. It costs $20 on the border plus a $1 bribe. Next up is up your arrival and departure card, to get one of these costs another $1 and then you are officially in Cambodia. No one checked the luggage.

The next stage was a bit more dodgy. The Laos minibuses had unloaded our bags and we were left in the hands of Khmer DelBoy. He was the only person who seemed to know what was going on and his priority was trying to get you to travel further with his operation. I was going to Stung Treng and wasn't charged any more money. As I mentioned earlier I am not sure how people got on who were going all the way through to Siem Reap. It seems to me that as you get passed from one set of minibuses to another someone is going to say you need to pay more. I have no evidence of this, its just my experience of the way other places work. There isn't any public transport at the border and the journey to Stung Treng is two hours away and I didn't see any moto drivers hanging around. Unsurprisingly Khmer Del Boy squeezed us all into a bus and a couple of minibuses and off we went to Stung Treng. The road is straight and smooth and there is very little traffic. Once we arrived in Stung Treng Khmer Del Boy lead the group to a guesthouse for lunch, no doubt he has a deal with them for sending them the business. I was the only person to stay in Stung Treng and I went off to find somewhere to stay (I didn't take Del Boy's guesthouse).

Click here for Travelfish's take on the border crossing.

SE Asia XXIII - Si Phan Don

2008-02-25T17:24:00.004+13:00

Si Phan Don translated means 4,000 islands. The 4,000 islands sit in the Mekong at a wide stretch on the border with Cambodia. The majority of the 4,000 islands appear when the Meking is at its lowest in the dry season, I spent a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable week there. A big part of why I had such a good time and why I stayed longer than I planned was Papa and his Souksanh Guesthouse.

Papa, aka Mr Souksanh, runs with his family his namesake guesthouse. He is a 50 year old, has three children, and expecting a fourth with his second wife (his first wife died last year). One of the stranger culture gaps I found was Papa showing a photo album from his first wife's funeral, including pictures of him and his children crying infront of her urn. Papa is a small guy but surprisingly strong highlighted by his ability to drag you off to meet other guests. He has incredibly cracked feet, generally he walks around with plasters on. I think its due to being in and out of the long boat into the water regularly. Papa's English is tempremental, depending upon what you are asking and how much lao-lao he has had to drink. I spent ten minutes trying to explain walking across a log (which we had done on a boat trip with him that morning) with my phrasebook, which turned into charades. The people of Laos like to drink, either the legendary Beer Lao or the more potent lao-lao. The drinking of rice wine is popular throughout South-East Asia. However, unlike Western consumption of alcohol it doesn't seem to lead to violence. Papa liked his lao-lao more than most. Lao-lao is the Laos take on rice whiskey distilled by local people from femented rice. It is a strong spirit that bears more in relation to vodka than whiskey. Papa spent most of his time drunk. I went on boat trips with him driving the long boat and he was very competent at what he was doing whilst still being drunk. I did two boats with him one to Khon Phapeng (75,000 Kip), and the other to Don Som (50,000 Kip plus 10,000 Kip entry fee levied by the local villagers). There are lots of tours offered to Khon Phapeng, however, all of these tours go along the mainland and drop you at a viewing gallery. Papa on the other hand takes you by boat on a very scenic journey, down the Mekong through the ebb and flow of the islands and rapids. He 'docks' the longboat in a shallow inlet, where upon he lead us down a dried out arm of the waterfall over old fish traps to appear right infront of the waterfall. Up close and personal Khon Phapeng is particularly impressive. There was the obligatory lao-lao to honour the souls of the dead that the Lao and Thai believe are trapped in Khon Phapeng. On the trip to Don Som Papa took us down the Mekong to another island where we walked, climbed and scrambled our way to a small waterfall and rapids. We swam in the fast current and jumped into the plunge pool. I swallowed alot of Mekong water during this and when I surfaced from the jump Papa gave me a glass of stronger than normal lao-lao. Papa caught us a fish and we barbecued it at the rapids. On the journey back Papa anchored us on a bush in the Mekong and jumped in to collect snails from the river bed. A couple of guys followed him in and weren't quite as successful. Papa is extremely proud of the guests who stay for a long time. It is almost guaranteed that you will end up staying longer than you originally plan. Papa is very persuasive. One guy stayed for 2 months, others a month at a time. While I was there a French couple who stayed a month last year were back and again staying for a month. They had intended to stay for 2 weeks and then go to Cambodia but were persuaded otherwise. Papa regularly invited me to join him for lunch or snacks, and he didn't charge me. If the Beer Lao gets flowing then Papa will contribute a couple of bottles. On my first day he dragged me over to a bungalow where the French couple and an Anglo-Swiss couple were chatting. The French couple tried to explain my name to Papa so it would be easy for him to pronounce. They used 'steamed' becuase of the similar sound, which became 'Steamed rice not sticky rice', shortened to simply 'sticky rice' for the duration of my stay. He brought some Beer Lao bottles and then invited us inside to watch Thai boxing with him and his family. We ended up betting bottles of Beer Lao on the various fights, Si Fa or Si Daeng (Red or Blue). When I left for Cambodia Papa took me by boat to the mainland. Before I left we settled the bill which they had an under charged me, by not adding in the cost of the accommodation, I added it and paid them the correct amount. Papa then tied a piece of string around my wrist, so did Mama, and so did the French couple, followed by an obligatory shot of lao-lao (at 8am). The string tying ceremony is a Lao custom. The French couple were having a new long boat built for Papa (they were paying half, Papa was paying the other half). The building of the boat involved so many string tying ceremonies that it looked like they had plastercasts on both of their wrists.

Souksanh Guesthouse is very much a family affar. The older children and the wife do most of the work. They are very friendly. The food is pretty good and a good price. Although what you ordered and what you received weren't always the same thing. The girls taking your order would smile and laugh and I couldn't discern whether that was because I was sticky rice or whether it was because they didn't understand what I was going on about. There are better places to eat on Don Khon though they are more expensive. The accommodation is excellent value. There are three bungalows with ensuites for 50,000 Kip and double rooms with shared bathrooms for 30,000 Kip. Papa was in the process of building ensuites on to the double rooms (so prices will go up). There is a shared veranda that streches across the front of the double rooms. The only problem with the double rooms is they can get quite hot come the evening after heating up during the day, and the fans for the room (and the lights) remain on until around 9pm or when the film the girls are watching on TV finishes. The bungalows are made from traditional materials so are cooler.

There are two main inhabited islands where most of the accommodation options are, they are Don Dhet and Don Khon. Don Dhet has been colonised by the Vang Vieng tribe. The northeast corner of the island is packed with bungalows, bars, and cafes, which slowly disperse along the eatsern and southern shores. Don Dhet, like Vang Vieng, caters to the lowest common denominator and would make you wonder where in the world you actually are. Don Khon on the other hand still retains its Lao charm. That isn't to say it is untouched by tourism. Guesthouses line the northern shore from the French bridge east. The French bridge is a legacy of the French railway that used to run across the two islands and is the only link between the two islands. The guesthouses on Don Khon are much more in keeping with the local buildings around them and you feel part of the local community rather than an incongrous backpacker resort. During the day tourists come from Don Khon and Thai daytrippers visit. From the southern tip of Don Khon it is possible to go Irrawaddy Dolphin watching. There are an amazing set of tiered waterfalls, Li Phi Falls. There are beaches of sorts and it is possible to go for a swim. The water is clear and appears to be clean, although considering it has made its way down from China, through Laos and Thailand, I wouldn't want to be drinking it. Although you end up showering in water from the Mekong anyway. The interior is untouched by tourism, other than the odd Falang cycling round. Most visitors stick to the path along the former French railway or out to the East with Li Phi Falls. There are a few French buildings and a rusting locomotive near the bridge. The interior is filled with dried paddy fields and villages, even a couple of Wats. If you follow the route of the French railway you pass through forest and can chance upon a Buffalo wandering through. The people on Don Khon don't take a great deal of notice of Falang, I think it is because of the number of visitors they receive every day. I do not want to suggest that Don Khon is packed with daytrippers. For a small place there will be Falang around the attractions but even in the middle of the day the island still remains peaceful. I spent a great deal of my time sitting by the water enjoying the serenity while drinking iced Lao coffee (very strong coffee with a think layer of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom). It was very hot during the day and could be quite humid. At night Don Khon is very quiet. The only way to get electricity on the island is to run a generator and most of these shut down around 9pm.

I got a tourist bus from Pakse to Si Phan Don. It cost 60,000 Kip from the centre of town to the boat landing. Double the price of the local bus but once you worked in the cost of tuk-tuks at either end it wasn't too bad. It had the added advantage of getting you to the boat landing with other Westerners to share the cost out to the islands (shared it cost 20,000 Kip each to Don Khon, alone would have been 60,000 Kip). Even though it was a service targeted at Westerners the bus was not for wetsern sized people and as ever every bit of available space was used. The only way to reach the islands is to catch a long boat from the mainland.

SE Asia XXII - Same Same but Different

2008-02-18T01:24:00.000+13:00

My journey into southern Laos took me through some extremely relaxed towns. In the midday sun it appeared only mad dogs and Englishmen roamed the streets. The locals were getting drunk in the shade. The towns along the Mekong don't seem to have suffered the bombing that some of the towns towards the Vietnamese border have so a great amount of French architecture has survived. Although it seems to be decandently crumbling and in Pakse, where there is money, development priority is with the ugly cake towers rather than renovating what the colonialists left behind.

The people of Thaket are friendly, not a surprise this is Laos after all, but a big contrast to what you find further south. I don't know if I was being overly sensitive but there was a marked change from how people reacted to you when you got off the bus in Savannakhet, after leaving Thaket. There are two parts to Thaket and the most pleasant is the old town along the banks of the Mekong. This is where the French buildings are and where people are very happy to see you. Thaket is similar to Savannakhet and Pakse a great difference is how easy it is to get into the surrounding countryside. I hired a bike and went off for the day to visit some nearby caves. The scenery is beautiful. There are weird rock formations jutting out of the landscape. The main reason to come out here is to visit the caves inside them. The first cave I visited was Tham Xieng Lap and I somewhat inadvertantly hired a small child to be my guide. We climbed our way across the river in the cave and made our way around. I was making slow progress on my rabbit eared bike but was still getting along pretty well when I was heading down a dirt track to the Buddha Cave (it is full of Buddhas). At which point a big pickup truck pulled up next to me and the driver offered me a lift. I chucked my bike in the back and got in. It turned out the driver was Thai, although I wasn't sure if he had been born in Laos and now lived in Thailand. In actual fact I couldn't really work out why he was there at all. He was a small chubby version of the King. His English wasn't the best and my Thai is limited, especially without a phrasebook. The conversation lasted a couple of minutes and then we arrived at the cave. I paid for parking and we walked into the cave. It isn't the most impressive cave you have ever seen but the atmosphere was good with lots of worshippers. I thought I would say my goodbyes to my Thai driver but he said he would drive me back (or at least thats what I understood). We got back to the main road and I went to get out but it turned out he wanted to visit some caves aswell. We managed to find Elephant cave, which is really worth the effort. Apparently there used to be an evil head in the cave so the villagers blew it up and what was left was the elephant. I didn't see the elephant until I looked at my pictures afterwards, I was taken aback by the rock formations and one of the locals 'playing' the hollow rocks like a xylophone. The locals had also built a set of very dodgy ladders up to the cave. After this I thought I would again bid farewell to my Thai companion. Instead he bought me lunch. I finally understood that he was a businessman from Bangkok in Thakek for the day sorting out a building contract. I got the distinct impression that he was bored and driving me around provided some entertainment. He dropped me back in town. I cycled down to Wat Pha That Si Khotabong. A holy site for Laos but not anything spectacular.

Thaket sits on the Mekong and is 6 hours southwest of Vientaine by bus. The road there is the straightest I had come across in Laos (all the roads along the Mekong are long and straight). The bus station is 6kms north of the town. I stayed at Thaket Lodge which is handerly only 3kms from the bus station but 3kms from the town centre on the Mekong. It is in a new busy charmless part of town. Travel Lodge appears to have fallen into the classic Lonely Planet trap. Once recommended as the best place to stay in town it lives on the guaranteed customers coming its way and lets itself fall to rack and ruin. I had a dorm bed for 25,000 Kip, which was fine although whether the bed linen was changed between users is open to question. The shared bathrooms were falling apart and the staff couldn't keep up with the number of guests. The main reason to stay there is that it is the only independent traveller friendly place in town (and there aren't many backpakcer styled places to stay in Laos in general). It is renowned for the Lodge Book where travellers write about their experiences travelling in the surrounding countryside. It is a great source of information, and you don't have to stay there to have a read of it. It is also the only place to hire a bike, a fact I discovered after walking around town for an hour trying to find somewhere cheaper. They charge 25,000 Kip for rabbit eared bikes, twice as much as anywhere else in Laos that I encountered.

The journey to Savannakhet from Thaket was another experience. We left on time only to drive at walking pace for twenty minutes, at which point the bus turned round and picked up a full bus load of passengers from what appeared to be a bus that had broken down. Needless to say the fact that the bus was already full wasn't a hinderance. The plastic stopols appeared and the new passengers were squeezed in as well as their luggage. At one point we pulled over, and with everyone packed in, the rear engine cover was opened spewing exhaust fumes straight into the bus gasing us. Sitting next to me were some Thais who seemed much impressed by my ability to say Sawadee, so impressed that they took photos of me and had their picture taken with me.

Savannakhert has the largest number of crumbling French buildings in Southern Laos. The town centre has a great deal of character, combined with a typically relaxed southern feel. The strange thing is that the people aren't friendly. A big contrast to Thaket and northern Laos. The jaded reaction to falang doesn't sit with what you would typically expect from a place that seems to have few visitors. Savannakhet doesn't have the easily accesible sights outside of the town that Thaket offers. I tried to visit That Ing Hong outside of town but after pedaling furiously for 20 minutes the bike I hired from the Tourist Information Office wore out my patience and I was sorely tempted to give it the Bijarne Riis treatment. The food is cheap and very good at Au-Rendez-Vous. Just along the road from here (towards the bus station) is the Sundowner bar. It is run by an Australian and his Laos wife. Sundowner had only been open 3 weeks when I was there. As the only customer I felt a touch sorry for them and found myself drinking more Beer Lao than I intended. I also ate at Moonlight Ranch, the food was good though the son of the owner was apparently the Laos incarnation of Damian. He just stood staring at me for twenty minutes. He didn't smile or say sabadee, true signs of devil incarnate in a Lao child. The best place in Savannkhet is the Friendship Shop (near the plaza on Th Si Muang). It is a quiet unassuming place with an art deco exterior. The staff are generally asleep. What makes the Friendship Shop such a great spot are the amazing selection of cakes and pastries that are cheap as chips. They have everything from chocolate brownies to pineapple strussels. I stayed at Savanbanhoo Hotel for 45,000 double ensuite hot shower, which was an uinspiring place.

Pakse is much larger than Thaket and Savannakhet but this does not mean that you are cofnronted with hustle or bustle. It has french buildings but they are few and far between, new development has taken their place. Even so the relaxed atmosphere was attractive especially with the temperatures picking up. The journey to Pakse was an experience even by Laos standards. When I arrived at the bus station at 6.30am I found myself on the most decrepid bus I have seen in Laos. It was rusting to pieces before my eyes. I assumed it couldn't possibly be the bus to Savannakhet so attempted to board the gleaming bus next to it, every Westerner tried to do this. When we left the bus station the bus wasn't full, this was only a brief respite. The benches on either side of the aisle could fit two people side by side, before long there were three or four crammed on to each. The roof was full of passangers worldly belongings and a motorbike. The aisle was packed with bags of rice. The 'never full' Laos bus policy is amazing because even when you think it isn't physically possible to squeeze anyone else in they somehow manage to do so. Laos would not be impressed by the Tardis. We pulled up for lunch and the chicken on a stick women attacked. If you didn't want a chicken stuck up your nose then you had to hold your window down. Once we left the bus station I discovered the only thing keeping my window in place was my weight and when I leaned forward it duely fell on top of me which everyone on the bus found hilarious. We finally arrived at the northern Pakse bus station and piled into a tuk-tuk for the journey into town for 10,000 Kip each. Although this may be a scam depending which bus you are on. I met a Norwegian couple in Pakse who said they stayed on their bus and it then drove them into the centre of town.

We had dificulty finding accommodation in Pakse so I shared a room one of the guys from the bus. We got a triple room at the Great Wall Hotel (next to Larkham Hotel) for $13 with hot ensuite and cable TV. It was the nicest room I have stayed in in Laos. The second time I stayed at Nin Nao for 30,000 Kip for a cold ensuite which was probably the worst place I stayed in Laos, although apart from the smell of rotting rubbish outside it was OK.

I did a day trip from Pakse to Wat Phu Champasak. with some people I met on the bus to Pakse. We hired a minibus and driver for $45 (414,000 Kip) between the four of us, which worked out cheaper than going on an official tour. Wat Phu is about an hour south of Pakse depending on the Mekong ferry crossing. The ferries are 3 boats lashed together with planks of wood on top. It is amazing how heavy a load they can carry, there were four or five cars on each one and even trucks were waiting their turn to cross. The ferries sedately cross the Mekong from Champasak to Ban Muang. Wat Phu is an ancient Khmer religious complex strecthing 1400metres up the lower slopes of Phu Pasak mountain range. The temple was originally built in the 5th Century and has been modified over the years since. It is an impressive sight especially once you have climbed to the top and look out over the complex spread below you. We stopped for lunch at Souchita Restaurant overlooking the Mekong, opposite one of the former residences of the Champasak Royal Family. Chamapsak itself is a sleepy little place stretching along the Mekong.

Tat Lo is a small village on the edge of the Bolaven Plateau. It is on the Se Don River. There are three waterfalls nearby, by far the most impressive is the one that is furthest away (10kms). I had intended to hire a bike to get there but it turns out that nobobdy has bikes in Tat Lo even though they have signs to the contrary. It only took an hour and a half to walk to Tat Suong and it is well worth it. A path leads down from the nearest village and brings you out above the falls. When I was there there was very little water and most of what was going over was being blown back up in a cloud of spray. On the opposite side to the village is a goat track that leads to a very dubious set of homemade ladders leading down the cliff face through the forest. At the bottom of these ladders is an even less appealing goat track that follows the rock face and brings you out underneath the overhang of the waterfall. The view is spectacular. I made my way back to the ladders through the piles of dead leaves, and considered the steep descent down or going back the way I came. At which point a rather large green snake rustled from one set of leaves to another and I decided that going back might be the smarter move. I went up quicker then I came down.

I had originally intended to spend a few days in Tat Lo. However the reaction I received when I walked into the village made me feel uncomfortable. Everyone turned away and didn't make eye contact. An unusual reaction in Laos and one that made me wonder whether the locals appreciated the few tourists they were already receiving. When I walked to Tat Suong I went through a couple of small villages and found the people there to be much friendlier. I stayed at Siphaseuth Guesthouse right on the river. I paid 60,000 Kip for a double ensuite with hot shower (there wasn't a sink, though there were taps).

When I returned to Pakse from Tat Lo I arrived at the southern bus terminal and got really irritated by the tuk-tuk drivers hassling me. I decided to walk the 8kms into town. I did it without a problem. My victory over the tuk-tuk drivers didn't achieve a great deal other than confirming that falang are weird. I had tuk-tuks pulling up next to me every 5 minutes or so trying to get me on board.

SE Asia XXI - Vientaine

2008-02-15T18:07:00.002+13:00

Vientaine is a little bit plain in comparison to Luang Prabang. It feels much more Thai and recent development has scarred the city. It is though still quiet and the people are friendly. Vientaine does not carry a great initial impact. However, I found after a couple of days it has a beguiling charm. Whether its sitting on the esplanade watching the sunset over Don Chan, (the sand island in the Mekong) whicle watching the locals play on the beach, or wandering around a spectacular temple.

The visit to Kaysone Phomvihane's house just north of Vientaine was a highlight of my stay in Vientaine. Kaysone was the leader of Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1955, and then Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and then president until his death in November 1992. He lived in the old CIA headquarters from 1976 until his death. The house and his office next door are the picture of understatement. They have remained largely untouched since his death, a time capsule of a communist leader. His shoes are lined up neatly by the door. The whiteboard with his diary for the coming days remains untouched. His winter jacket and suits hang in the wardrobe. The buildings are just bungalows and the interiors do not appear to have been updated since the 1970s. When you walk through the house the only trappings of statehood are gifts from other communist states which appear out of keeping with the rest of the decor. The guides were hugely excited to see me arrive. They were immaculately turned out. They unlocked the buildings and gave me cotton socks to put over my shoes. They were desperately pleased that I signed the guestbook, which was placed on a podium. Both of the guides were thoroughly charming and hoped I would come back soon (they plan to open some more buildings in the compound). The house is a great tribute to Kaysone but it isn't that easy to find. There are no signs from the main road and on my first attempt to find it I cycled passed the entrance. There is a guardhouse with a boom gate where some very nice communist guards looked after my bike. Just around the corner from the house is the bombastic museum built in his honour. There could not be a greater juxtapostion of style. The museum is fronted by a huge staue of comrade Kaysone. The building is huge and they have only managed to fill most of the second floor. The ground floor is completely empty. The second floor isn't even full of Kaysone displays, one section is taken up purely by photographs from communist party meetings, a large amount of the content is borrowed from the revolutionary war section of the national museum. There are a great number of communist guards hanging around the building. I had one guarding my bike outside. The architects managed to work in one of those 'god' circles which magnifies sound when you stand in it. It is at the top of the stairs to the second floor and a large statue of Kaysone watches over it. I amused myself clapping my hands and stamping my feet, which didn't seem to surprise any of the guards watching on. I was of course the only visitor, much like the forgotten busts of Kaysone Phomvihane in every town in Laos, the capital city and country seems to have forgotten there is a huge museum (and a small house) waiting to be revered.

Vientaine is in many ways a nondescript sort of a place. Vientaine represents the rest of the country very accurately, it is relaxed, quiet and without crowds of people. While war did not touch it (it was considered neutral by both sides) modern development has. It looks like any other small town in Vietnam or Thailand. It could be Quy Nhon or Krabi. What sets Vientaine apart is just how quiet and relaxed it is. I've not come across a capital city like it, other than Canberra. Canberra isn't so much relaxed as lacking in people. Unlike Canberra it doesn't have the excuse of two much larger cities to draw attention. While Luang Prabang is the epicentre of tourism with the architecture and scenery, Vientaine is the political and business capital and is the largest city in Laos.

While Vientaine is quiet, tuk-tuk have still descnded upon it like nowhere else in Laos. When our bus arrived from Vang Vieng at Talat bus station they were lined up at the entrance watching the buses drive in. When they caught sight of western faces a stampede developed as they chased the bus. By the time the bus doors opened at least 30 tuk-tuk drivers were swarming the entrance shouting 'where you go, where you go'. The only thing that stopped this chorus was when I got off and whacked my head on the door frame, which was greeted by a group 'oh'. (I was surprised it wasn't greeted by a chorus of laughter, the typical response in South-East Asia). We walked the short distance into the centre of town. Tuk-tuk drivers are parked all over the city (and the city really isn't that big) and you are constantly asked 'where you go'. Alot of the tuk-tuk drivers speak English quite well and you wonder whether they could not put their skills to better use. It shows that either other opportuntiies do not exist or the money made being a tuk-tuk driver outweighes other occupations.

While Vientaine isn't eye catching there are some sights worth seeing. Wat Si Saket is the most beautiful temple I have seen in Laos. It rivals Wat Phra That Lampang Luang (near Lampang in Thailand). Wat Si Saket feels old and unique. A cloister surrounds the Sim with large buddhas lined up and tiny buddhas sitting in niches in the walls behind them. The Sim is even more beautiful with a large seated buddha surrounded by smaller buddhas and the walls are again filled with niches and tiny buddhas. There are about 7000 buddhas in total. Pha That Luang is a stunning sight from afar. It is a giant golden stupa and against a pefectly blue sky it really shines. Admittedly there isn't a great deal to see once you get up close. Xieng Khuan (known as Buddha Park) is another place well worth visiting. It is the eccentric fusion of Hindu and Buddhist religious thought in the form of sculpture. There is a giant pumpkin sculpture which you can climb inside, depicting hell, earth and heaven. If you climb up the inside you appear out of the mouith of a sculpture on the top of the pumpkin. The park is only 20kms from the city centre but most of the journey takes place on pot-holed dirt tracks filled with clouds of dust. It seems that the money for the Friendship Bridge (border crossing into Thailand) paid for the road up to that point and they haven't got around to finishing the rest. I've not come across a capital city where only 20kms from the centre you come across a well used road in this condition. Our bus was packed to the rafters. On board was a US-Lao citizen who had left the country in 1976 after the communists had taken power and has only been back in Laos for the passed two years. A sight you cannot miss is Patuxai the Laos equivalent of the Arch de Triumph built with concrete the Americans intended for a new runway at the airport. From afar it looks quite impressive, but the closer you get the uglier it appears. An apt label has been painted on its side, "From a closer distance, it appears even less impressive, like a monster of concrete".

The national museum in the centre of Vientaine is a clear example of changing times in Laos. The museum used to be called the Lao revolutionary museum. The exhibits dedicated to the revolution are dated and talk of the American imperialist and his puppets or stooges. There are weapons lying around, including rifles that brought down jet fighters. There are personal artefacts including Kaysone's 'chest expander'. The newer exhibits relate to historical discoveries and ancient cities. There is also an exhibit on Gerrit van Wrysthoff who visited Vientaine in 1641 as an envoy of the Dutch East India Company, the most modern exhibit paid for by the Dutch government.

The Dutch exhibit is another sign of changing times. If you are an NGO or a foreign government and you have the money in a poor country such as Laos you can pretty much do what you want. It is an issue covered by Brett Dakin in 'Another Quiet American' regarding his time working in the Laos National Tourist Authority. It is an interesting insight into life as an expat in Vientaine. Dakin directs strong criticism at what he sees as westerners who work for foreign governments and NGOs, travelling the globe from one undeveloped country to another being paid six figure salaries and not being of great use to the country they are supposedly helping. He argues that their salaries would be of much better use simply given as aid. Dakin also gives an insight into life for Lao under a one-party dictatorship. In the National Tourist Authority promotion and credit goes to those who are in favour with the communist regime rather those who do a good job.

Accommodation in Vientaine, much like Luang Prabang, is overpriced compared to the rest of the country. Also like Luang Prabang most of it seemed to be full. I stayed at Joe's Guesthouse on the riverfront for 50,000 Kip for a single room with shared bathroom. It was a very small room, but it was clean (so were the shared bathrooms) and the staff were friendly in an abrupt manner.

Vientaine's southern bus station is 8kms north of the city. It is apparently 60,000 Kip to hire a tuk-tuk to take you there. I booked a ticket, including a tuk-tuk to the station, with DD Travel (on a side street from Wat Mixay near the riverfront) to Thaket for 115,000 Kip (the bus journey alone should cost 65,000 Kip). I was picked up at 5.30am. In typical Laos fashion we were rushed onto a bus as it was pulling out of the station only for it to drive out of the bus station and pull up 5 minutes down the road where we waited half an hour while being assaulted by food and drink vendors.

SE Asia XX - Vang Vieng

2008-02-11T01:10:00.001+13:00

Vang Vieng sits on a beautiful spot on the Nam Song River, surrounded by limestone karst cliffs. Every silver lining has a cloud and Vang Vieng is no exception, although it has a very big cloud. Vang Vieng has been blighted by mass-market backpacker tourism. The old town doesn't seem to exist (until you cross the river) and local businesses seem to be purely devoted to satisfying tourist needs. The main strip is full of restaurants with exactly the same menu and a number of them are showing reruns of Friends. In saying that the scenery is beautiful and it is possible to escape the more negative aspects of the town.

Tubing is what Vang Vieng is famous for on the backpacker circuit. The journey down the Nam Song is lined with bars and people get watsed as they make their journey. The majority don't make it to the end so get picked up by tuk-tuks after the sun has set. We didn't do the ubing ebcause we got back to late from the caves. Unfortunately Van Vieng takes on the atmosphere of Albufiera in the evening with drunk westerners staggering down the streets bellowing loudly to one another. While this is fine on Southend High Street it doesn't sit with Lao culture. It seems that Vang Vieng has fallen prey to satisfying a lowest common denominator, getting people drunk cheaply in an attractive environment, and been very successful at it.

One night we dined along the strip. We found what appeared to be your typical cheap Lao cafe. They produced a menu which looked incredibly similar to every other menu along the strip. Henry and I ordered off of their chalk board (noodle soup and a rice dish), Jenna ordered tofu from the menu, The staff were greatly confused and after some mobile phone calls a chef appeared from down the street to cook her order. I don't know whether he worked there, or whether he just went from kitchen to kitchen following the orders off of the same menu.

While the old town of Vang Vieng has been lost, the over-development has so far been contained in the town and not affect the countryside. Henry, Jenna, and I visted Tham Chang cave with its interior of bridges and a balcony with a great view over the valley. We also walked the 6kms to Tham Phoukham cave. It involves a steep climb to the cave entrance. Once inside you are greeted by a large chamber with a Buddhist shrine. It is possible to hire a guide, however, we had a couple of torches and went off wandering. It was good fun even though in the darkness we managed to get disorientated a couple of times. In the afternoon we waded up the Nam Song river, the more traditional way is to float down on a tube.

It is possible to escape the negative aspects of Vang Vieng. We stayed at Riverside Bungalows. It is a quiet spot (apart from the dull thud from Don Khong island) with great views over the river. They have a variety of bungalows and huts to choose from, starting at 38,000 Kip for a basic hut, to 58,000 Kip for a bungalow with ensuite. If you stay in bungalow 16 you may find a foot long lizard living in your bathroom. I thought it was a model at first, but then it disappeared and reappeared the next day.

The bus station sits on a legacy of the Second Indochina War, a CIA landing strip (Lima site 27). The travel agencies in town will try and sell you the more expensive VIP buses or a minibus. We jumped on a public bus for just 25,000 Kip for the four hour journey to Vientaine. They seem to run every hour on the half hour (in the morning at least).

SE Asia XIX - Plain of Jars

2008-02-08T01:21:00.000+13:00

Phonsavan is famous for two reasons. The first is that it is the site of the Plain of Jars. Jars carved from solid rock 2,000 to 1,500 years ago. The second is that it is one of the heavily bombed parts of Laos during the 'Vietnam War'. Quite something considering Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world. A legacy that the locals have put to use by using the war scrap they can get their hands on. Both of these reasons make Phonsavan worth a visit. What makes a visit to Phonsavan special is that it feels like you really are off the beaten track.

The Vietnam War is pretty firmly rooted in popular culture. Most people in the West know that the Americans fought a war there. What is less well known is that the Americans also fought in Laos, in what was known as the 'Secret War'. It was a 'Secret War' because the Americans had agreed not to fight a war there with the Soviets and Vietnamese in Geneva Agreements. Laos was significant because it was originally seen as the key to safeguarding South East Asia from Communism. The French fought Dien Bien Phu to defend Laos from Vietnam, the battle that they lost and led to their withdrawal from Indochina. When Eisenhower handed the Presidency over to JFK he told him in a briefing that Laos held the key to South East Asia and if it fell to Communism the whole of South East Asia would crumble. The so-called domino effect. The Vietnamese did not withdraw their troops following the Geneva Agreements and while the US did withdraw troops, they soon replaced them with advisers. US policy was to fight a holding war to stop the North Vietnamese (under the cover of the Pathet Laos forces) to take control of the country. Once the North Vietnamese had been defeated in South Vietnam Laos would be saved. Laos also took on greater significance for the Americans because the majority of the Ho Chi Minh trail passed through it. The Americans used the Hmong (originally recruited by the French) to fight a guerilla war against the Pathet Laos and NVA forces. To support them they used airpower. An excellen insight into American involvement is provided by Christpher Robbins in 'The Raven's' the story of US pilots (Forward Air Controllers) based in Laos and Thailand who targeted the US bombing raids. While the war may have been considered 'Secret' that didn't stop Laos becoming the most heavily bombed country in the world. Whatever your opinion of US involvement in Laos the bombing has cast a long legacy over the country, particularly in Xieng Khuan Province in northern Laos and in the southern provinces where the Ho Chi Minh Trail passed. It makes you wonder whether it is correct to refer to this period as the 'Vietnam War'or rather the 'Second Indochina War'. Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is an NGO that is clearing the area of UXOs. They have an office on the main street in Phonsavan which has information about what they are currently doing to clear the bombs and how the bombs got there in the first place.

The Plain of Jars is an interesting place though not necessarily spectacular. There are jars, carved from rocks, scattered all over the area. A couple of the jars having carvings on them. There are 3 main sights that tourists can visit, the other sites (160 different sites and in total 4,000 jars) are still being cleared of UXOs (unexplored ordinance) from the 'Vietnam War'. The biggest of the jars weighs 6 tonnes. There are many theories surrounding their existence (including that they were used to store rice whiskey) the most likely is that they were funeral urns and the size and location denoted the importance of the corpse. The first site has the 6 tonne jar and the most number of jars (around 250) scattered over a couple of hills. The second site has ninety jars. The third is the prettiest site, involving a short walk across rice fields and up a hill. On the way to the third site is the wreck of a Russian tank (or at least what has been left behind by scrap metal dealers). The landscape is pot marked by bomb sites. When you visit each site there are signs up by MAG which state the number of UXO found when the site was cleared. A constant reminder of the legacy of the war are markers on the ground telling you where it is safe to walk.

What makes Phonsavan interesting is that it isn't a touristy place. While I was there it was very cold (due to the elevation) and cloudy often with spurts of drizzle. The town after being flattened in the war has been rebuilt and reflects the conformity of new design in South-East Asia. After we finished our tour of the Plain of Jars we went in search of the war memorials. For many nations war is a defining feature of their nationhood, their war memorials are given pride of place. In Phonsavan, a place so clearly defined by war, has its war memorials on a couple of hills 3kms south of town. There is not any obvious way to reach them and no sign that people regularly visit them. We wandered south and then through a maze of streets before deciding that we would have to climb the hill to reach the Vietnamese War Memorial (which was out of sight by this stage). Generally walking up a hill is not a major concern, however, the thought of UXOs concentrates the mind. We made it to the top of the hill without incident and stumbled upon the Vietnamese War Memorial, which was locked. Out of nowhere a very old man appeared who we concluded was the caretaker. He spoke French and charged us 3,000 Kip to go inside. I can only assume that it is his only source of income as he seemed to live in a hut in the corner of the memorial. The memorial is impresive, two soldiers stand side by side pushing forward against their common imperialist foe. The Lao memorial is a complete contrast, it is simply a stupa, again it was locked, and the only sign of life were the kids playing football outside. Our journey back from the Lao memorial involved climbing through a couple of barbed wire fences. On my walk back into town I came across a couple of locals one of whom had a jacket with USA emblazoned across the back. The Second Indochina War has undoubtedly shaped how the people of Phonsavan live their lives but outside of the danger of UXOs they all seem to want to forget it ever took place. A testament to Laos never really wanting the war in the first place.

The journey to and from Phonsavan by bus is quite an experience. Like every journey in northern Laos it takes a long time. It is rare to come across traffic as you climb up and down the side of mountains and pass through villages. Large parts of the journey were through thick clouds and then you would suddenly appear out the other side with a spectacular view. At times the view is the same as peering out of a plane window with mountain peaks poking through the clouds. For some reason on bus journeys in Laos when they make a toilet stop (it seems to be only one stop irrespective of the length of the journey) they stop in the middle of nowhere, never in a village. At one point we pulled over to change a tyre. We stopped on the outskirts of a hilltribe village and a group of kids formed up, curious at the sight of the bus stopping and westerners getting off. We also had a would-be stunt man on board. One of the conductors climbed out of a side window and onto the roof. The bus was moving pretty quickly down hill out of the lunch stop. It looked like he was just going to look out the window, before pulling himself up on to the roof. All of the westerners were amazed, whilst the locals didn't bat an eyelid. We think he climbed out so he could smoke.

When you finally arrive in Phonsavan you are greeted by a scrum of touts, they at least save you the money of a tuk-tuk into town. I choose Phoukham Guesthouse with Henry and Jenna who I met on the bus. We got twin with ensuite for 40,000 Kip. Phoukham Guesthouse was a fine place to stay, however, I met other people who stayed there downstairs and they said the rooms were appalling (check before you commit). We also booked a tour of the Plain of Jars through Phoukham. The price started at $19 which sounded a bit steep. I wandered down to Diethlim Travel who quoted $13 per person which Phoukham then matched. I don't think there is a great deal of difference between any of the tours. We were lucky that we were the only ones in our minibus. When we left Phonsavan we got up at 5.30am to find only a sangthaew in the main street. We were able to hire it for 30,000 Kip between the three of us. When we got to the bus station the bus was half full so unlike the rest of Laos you do not need to worry about getting their early. The bus to Vang Vieng cost 75,000 Kip and took nine hours. The bus from Luang Prabang cost 110,000 Kip (although I bought my ticket the night before in Luang Prabang so it included the tuk-tuk to the bus station) and took ten hours. The bus was packed.

SE Asia XIIX - Luang Prabang

2008-02-05T00:22:00.004+13:00

Luang Prabang was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. UNESCO described the city as "an outstanding example of the fusion of traditional architecture and Lao urban structures with those built by the European colonial authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its unique, remarkably well-preserved townscape illustrates a key stage in the blending of these two distinct cultural traditions."

The delight of Luang Prabang is wandering around the colonial building lined streets and popping into the myriad of temples. Luang Prabang is packed with temples and monks. One of the most atmospheric things you can do is watch the line of saffron clad monks collect alms at dawn. (Although if you read this article on Wikitravel even this act may have been corrupted by tourism.)Wat Xieng Thong is the prettiest of the temples, so pretty in fact that when the Chinese invaded they didn't burn it down. Wat Xieng Thong is at the north of the peninsula and if you cary on walking down to the river you will come across a bamboo bridge that the locals have made. They charge a 4,000 Kip toll. On the headland is a very basic cafe, which has sweeping views over the Mekong and mud flats. When I was there it was full of kids flying kites. Also on the other side of the bridge is Ban Xieng Lak a weaving village. A great place to get a view over Luang Prabang is from Wat Phu Si. The views are great although it does get very busy at sunset. The Royal Palace Museum is a great peak inside the former life of the Lao Royal Family. The throne room is especially pretty covered in multi-coloured glass tiles.

I did the Pak Ou trip from Luang Prabang. It is a two hour cruise up the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves where there are two caves full of Buddha statues. On the way back you stop at Ban Sang Hai where they make rice whiskey. The cruise along the Mekong is the best part of the trip, although the cloud and mist didn't begin to clear until about 11am. On the way back the sun had burnt the cloud layer and it made for a much more picturesque journey. It is amazing how unpopulated the area is and as you cruise along you only come across occasional breaks in the tree line where villages sit. The caves themselves are not that spectacular. The first cave next to the river is the most atmospheric. There are swarms of children selling stones and birds in cages on the way up to the second cave. I paid 70,000 Kip for the trip at Luang Prabang Travel and Tours (next to the main boat ramp behind the Royal Palace Museum). Once you get to the caves there is a 20,000 Kip entry fee.

Kwang Si Falls is stunningly beautiful. If you can only do one trip in Luang Prabang I would recommend this over Pak Ou caves. There are a number of small pools and rapids. The main attraction are the very high falls broken by pools midway down. It is possible to climb up to this first of pools. It is also possible, and well worth, climbing to the very top of the waterfall. From here you can walk across the top of the waterfall (probably not the best idea in the wet season). I did an afternoon trip in the back of a packed Jumbo for 45,000 Kip.

The people of Luang Prabang are generally very nice and friendly. However, it would be naive to think that the amount of tourists and money coming in to Luang Prabang would not have had an effect, I was chatting to a Canadian in Oudomxai who had been travelling for a number of years in Asia. He described the change as one where the local people move from a position of deference to the westerner to one of indifference and then contempt. While this wasn't a big problem in Luang Prabang it was still the most touristy place I visited in Laos other than Vang Vieng or Don Det. There were groups of kids, especially around the entrances to Wat Phu Si who were trying to sell you things and there was a little bit of begging. The 'high-class' tourists have made Luang Prabang touristy but not by bringing everything down to the lowest common denominator like Vang Vieng and Don Det. UNESCO World Heritage listing has made Luang Prabang even more popular as a tourist destination but it has also protected the city from some of the more ugly building developments in other parts of Laos.

The main tourists in Luang Prabang are middle aged or older. There are lots of North Americans and French. I have never come across as many French outside of France before. Luang Prabang is not dominated by backpackers, which has its advantages. There isn't a plethora of cheap bars. There are some very expensive looking restaurants and cafes, trading on the chic of the French colonial buildings. These establishments are very cheap by Western standards but an arm and aleg by Laos standards. It is more than possible to eat cheaply in Luang Prabang, there are the cheap noodle shops and in the night market is a stall where for 5,000 Kip you can fill a bowl with as many noodles and as much vegetables as you want (although I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning here). Accommodation is also more expensive than the test of Laos. I had been paying 60,000 Kip for a double with ensuite hot shower and sometimes a TV. In Luang Prabang the equivalent was 100,000 to 120,000 Kip. I paid 60,000 Kip at Merry Guesthouse 2 for a twin with shared bathroom. It was OK but nothing special, the shoe rack was always full so I think alot of people had to settle for it. Merry Guesthouse 2 is quite noisy due to the family who own it. There are, like the restaurants, expensive boutique hotel options as well.

I arrived in Luang Prabang by bus from Oudomxai. I had stopped in Oudomxai to break up the journey to Luang Prabang from Luang Nam Tha. It was four hours sitting on a plstic stool in the aisle of the bus over bumpy gravel roads going up and down hill sides from Luang Nam Tha to Oudomxai. The road from Oudomxai to Luang Prabang is much better quality, though it still takes five hours. I stayed at Lithavixay Guesthouse, it was 60,000 Kip for a double with hot ensuite and TV. There isn't a great deal to do in Oudomxai. At sunset it seems all the tourists in town head up to Phu That on a hill in the centre of town. There is also the bust of Kaysone Phomvihane. Kaysone Phomvihane was the leader of the Laos PDR from 1975 until his death in 1992. These busts are in every town in Laos in the most out of the way places. They appear to be shiny and new and yet forgotten. Apparently after his death North Korea donated 50 busts to Laos. One of the tricks to travelling in northern Laos is arriving early for your bus. Often the buses leave before 7am. Generally there is one bus in the morning (maybe two) and they are normally packed. The locals get there early to make sure they get on, so even if you have a ticket you are not guaranteed a seat. The bus station in Oudomxai, surprisingly for Laos, is near the centre of town, so you don't need to get a tuk-tuk there or back. Unlike in Luang Prabang where its another 10,000 Kip share tuk-tuk into town. I got to the bus an hour before departure and got one of the last seats. With half an hour to go it filled until there was no space left on board. People were squeezed down the aisle and around the driver. After a couple of hours we had a toilet break and I got chatting to the driver who spoke perfect English. It turned out he had a passion for magicians and seemed delighted to be able to talk to a native English speaker about them. He hadn't heard of Paul Daniels.

SE Asia XVII - Trekking in Northern Laos

2008-01-28T22:40:00.004+13:00

I went to Luang Nam Tha to go trekking in the Nam Tha national park. Luang Nam Tha is a fine small town. What makes Luang Nam Tha special is the scenery surrounding, rich green rice fields dotted with small villages. Luang Nam Tha is renowned for Nam Tha national park. An untouched part of jungle in northern Laos. I did the 3 day Forest Camp trek with Green Discovery.

We spent 3 days out in the jungle, only coming across people on the last day. When we did they were local tribes people. The first Akha tribes people were hunters with a pack of dogs and homemade rifles (they looked like muskets). One of the most atmospheric parts of the trek was following one of the Akha guides on the last day as he was singing to himself and flashing his machete at any piece of foliage that crossed his path. On the last day we stopped at an Akha village and were invited up to the chiefs hut. Although it did not comapre to my experience in the Cameron Highlands when I visited an Orangi Alsi village. While there weren't any tourists around once we arrived everyone tried to sell us a bracelet or necklace. It is understandable that they want to make some extra money but it does make it difficult for you when you are faced with so many people.

The trek had not begun auspiciously. We had walked for only five minutes before coming across a bog and I managed to get stuck up to my ankles in the mud and very nearly fell face first into it if one of the guides hadn't grabbed me. We were constantly walking up or down, it was very rare to come across a flat stretch. The local tribes people have massive calves from living in the terrain. We walked for about 4 hours a day and didn't get up early. The most difficult parts of the trek were probably the number of single log bridges we had to walk across. On the first one, Jackie, fell off and luckily didn't hurt herself. The day's trekking was quicker than the guides said because we had a relatively fast group. The guides weren't setting the pace. The guides were good and pretty informative. We came across a herd of Buffalo. One of whom was particularly curious, she wandered across the river and had a good sniff of us, while her colleagues rolled about in the mud.We spent the night's in huts in the jungle. We had sleeping bags and mosquito nets. The first night was absolutely freezing and I struggled to sleep. On the second night mice scurried around. Every meal was sticky rice with buffalo meat and some vegetables of some sort (generally cabbage). On the last night the Akha guides brought some chickens. The only bottled water we had for the three days was what we carried in with us, once this ran out we were on to boiled water. Kevin and Travis decided to bring a couple of bottles of Beer Lao with them. There was plenty of rice whiskey round the camp fire, even a green variety. It was a very enjoyable 3 days especially because Travis, Kevin, Josephine and Jackie were a great bunch of people.

I booked my tour with Green Discovery, a 3 day trek for $87. One thing to bear in mind if you are travelling on your own is that these treks will not go with 1 person. They require a minimum of 2 people, so your choice of what trek to do can be limited by what other people want to do. I was under the impression that going deep into the jungle we would visit tribal villages removed from the outside world. I wasn't the only one under this impression. Two people in our group of five had already done the Green Discovery 2 day 1 night trek (where they spent a night next to a village) and enjoyed it so much that they did the 3 day trek. On our first night we arrived at our camp in the middle of the forest. We had a wash in the ice cold stream and then had dinner. When dinner finished we asked our guide when we would be visiting the village. He replied that there was no village. We paused and asked again. We couldn't understand why there wasn't a village nearby because we had two tribes people who came with us. It turned out that these two tribes people had come from the village on the road we were dropped at before beginning our hike. The second night I again assumed we would be near a village but we were staying in an abandoned village and the Akha had moved 3 hours away. The 3 day trek is described as the Nam Ha Forest Camp. The sales pitch on their website and on their leaflets is ambiguous enough for you to infer what you want from them. The fact that all 5 of us were under the wrong impression shows that they should make things clearer.

Luang Nam Tha is a fine small town. It was rebuilt after being bombed flat during the Second Indochina War. The most atmospheric part of town is by the river where the locals have built a bamboo bridge. If you don't want to go trekking then it is still possible to explore the countryside near to the town which is dotted with villages. It is worth cycling (or hiring a tuk-tuk) to go to Wat Phoum Pouk, while the ruins are not worth seeing in themselves the view is beautiful and the journey along the dirt tracks through the green rice paddies is superb. A feature Luang Nam Tha are the drug pushers. Akha tribe women walk up and down the high street. If you are sitting in any of the restaurants or cafes along here they will attempt to sell you tribal bracelets. They are persistent. If you decide to purchase a bracelet a tribal hat will then appear with sachets of drugs inside.

For a small town there are a lot of options for eating in Luang Nam Tha. There is a particularly good Indian restaurant and the night market serves cheap local food. One particular evening I wandered along the main street and stumbled into a small restaurant. At first I thought it was a Lao restaurant of sorts and then I realised it was a Chinese restaurant. The staff seemed entirely unused to foreigners (or maybe anyone) having dinner there. I was sternly ordered to sit down and brought a menu. The menu was in three languages, English, Lao and Chinese. I choose my order and was then surrounded by a group of Chinese who tried to interpret my order. I wasn't sure why there was such a great deal of confusion as the translation in Chinese (and Lao) was written next to what I had picked in English. Once they had decided what I wanted they told me I that I couldn't have it. I choose something else and my choice was again met by a debate. They seemed particularly confused by the latest request for fried carrots. The debate ceased and a carrot appeared from the kitchen. It was a sorry excuse for a carrot and I wasn't entirely sure whether they wanted me to confirm that I wanted carrots or whether they wanted to see if I would eat their carrots. I gave the thumbs up and the cook went away very pleased with herself. I also ordered a Sprite which was again met by a vigorous debate. A bottle of Sprite appeared which I accepted and everyone was again very pleased with themselves. By this stage I had begun to wonder about the merits of my choice. However, somewhat surprisingly, the food was excellent.

I stayed at Khomking Guesthouse and another Guesthouse (I can't remember the name but you can't miss it as it has a huge Honda sign on the front). At both establishments I had a double ensuite with hot shower for 60,000 Kip (at Honda I had a TV as well). Khomking was a nicer place to stay and the staff were friendlier. At Honda after I arrived from the trek I had a shave and a shower when I walked back passed reception the owner seemingly forgot who I was with my transformed appearance and demanded I pay for the room (which I had done less than an hour before).

When you arrive at Luang Nam Tha on the bus you aren't actually in Luang Nam Tha but 8kms away at the new bus station. The new bus station is further from town then the new airport. Plenty of buses still go to the old bus station in town, but not ones coming from Huay Xai or going to Luang Prabang. It costs 10,000 Kip to get into town in a shared tuk-tuk. When I left Luang Nam Tha I had to pay 20,000 Kip for a tuk-tuk to the bus station, if you can get a share one then it is 10,000 Kip. Unfortunately while there are lots of travellers coming and going the only way to get the 10,000 Kip tuk-tuk is to buy your bus ticket in town. You will end up paying 5-10,000 Kip more than you should but it may be the easiest way to do it. I was going to go directly to Luang Prabang but that bus was full (with half an hour to go) so I managed to squeeze on to a bus bound for Udomxai (halfway to Luang Prabang) on a plastic stool.

SE Asia XVI - Goodbye Thailand, Hello Laos

2008-01-24T02:08:00.002+13:00

The Mekong river is the border between Thailand and Laos in the north and then again for the central and southern regions. Chiang Klong and Huay Xia sit opposite one another across the northern border. They exist in a relaxed stupor with some beautiful scenery surrounding them. They do not have the hustle and bustle of commercial border towns (such as Mae Sai). While most people pass through and only stay if they have to, they both make a nice relaxed place to watch the Mekong flow by.

Thailand and Laos are similar in many ways. Ethnically Thai and Lao are very similar. Today more ethnic Lao live in Bangkok then Vientaine (the capital of Laos), due to internal migration from Isan. The languages are very similar. Lao is a newer language than Thai but it is based on an older alphabet. When Laos decided to formalise the language they used an alphabet devised by the Thais (which in turn had been created by Khmer scholars who used Mon scripts as models). Understandably there are a great number of similarities between the languages. The lowland Laos generally understand Thai. The number system is almost identical and as a foreigner the only new number you really need to learn is for a thousand (other than eight or twenty). The need for a thousand is because the smallest denomination in Kip (Lao currency) is 1,000. There is a 500 Kip note but most tourists haven't seen one and it is pretty difficult to buy anything for 500 Kip. The exchange rate is roughly 10,000 Kip to 1 US Dollar. The romanization of the Lao language suffers from a similar problem to that of Thailand in that there isn't a standard romanization. The romanization of the Lao language is generally how the French would pronounce it rather than the English. The clearest example of this is with the name of the capital Vientiane. The correct English pronunciation is Wieng Chan. However, if you say this to fellow travellers they do not know where you are referring to.

Unsurprisingly Thailand and Lao, being bordering nations, have a history that is woven together . Laos was originally the bigger player. The Kingdom of Lan Xang, Land of a Million Elephants (the equivalent today would be the Land of a Million Tanks) established by Fa Ngum in 1353 originally held sway. However, ever since the invasion of 1778 Laos has very much been the junior partner to Thailand (Siam). Thailand's most revered Buddhist artifact is the emerald Buddha, which was taken from Vientiane during the invasion of 1778. In 1827 the Siamese burnt Vientiane to the ground and deported most of the population to Siamese lands. The Vietnamese also pressured Laos, with the province of Xiang Khoang being a Vietnamese protectorate since the 15th century. If it wasn't for the intervention of the French and the protection that they offered it is conceivable that Lao would have ceased to exist. In 1893 the French pressured the Siamese into accepting a French protectorate east of the Mekong. However, this confined the vast majority of the Lao population to be left in Siam, the region of Isan north-eastern Thailand. Laos only has a population of 6 million people, with the Isan people it would be close to 20 million. In 1987 Thailand and Laos relations descended into conflict over a border dispute, 1,000 people died before a cease-fire was called in 1988.

Chiang Klong is the crossing point to Huay Xai in Laos. Chiang Klong is so relaxed it is almost horizontal. The locals are particularly friendly, even by Thai standards. I went looking for the Giant Catfish Museum. This part of the Mekong is famed for them. I stumbled upon a group of local fisherman who invited me to join them. They were drinking rice whiskey and by their general mood had got through a fair amount already. A few spoke some broken English and my phrasebook was used in reverse to ask me questions. They enquired about my I Love the King t-shirt and whether it was because I liked yellow, when I said it was for the King they were extremely pleased. They found my attempts at pronouncing their names hilarious. One of them wanted his photo taken with me and they were very pleased to have a group shot. I was invited to join them the next day, to which I politely declined as I was going to Laos. If you are in Chiang Klong in the afternoon pop down to the Giant Catfish Museum and I am sure they will be there.

Huay Xai is smaller and a touch down trodden compared to Chiang Klong. I wandered up the boat ramp into the town and I kept getting hassled by one particular sangthaew driver. I sat down in a cafe at BOP Guesthouse for a drink only to discover that this guy owned it. He continued hassling me and then offered his sister to me in marriage. There seemed to be a lot of travellers staying there, but I wasn't impressed by Huay Xai's version of Del Boy. I stayed at Oudomphone Guesthouse. It was 250B for a double ensuite with hot shower. Much like Chiang Klong there are alot of guesthouses and hotels to choose from.

I caught the 3rd class bus to Chiang Klong from Chang Rai (57B) taking 4 hours. The bus stops on the outskirts of town and it costs 20B for a motorcyle taxi or a 10 minute walk into the town centre. There are lots of guesthouses to choose from. They line the road through town, that parallels the Mekong. I settled for Baan Tamila, about halfway through town. The room (a twin) was 350B, with ensuite hot shower and a view of the Mekong. The restaurant had an even better view.

The border crossing is exceptionally straightforward. On the Thai side follow the road through Chiang Klong to the end, walk down the slope towards the Mekong and get your passport stamped at Thai immigration. The longboats to cross the Mekong are at the bottom of the ramp. There is a tent with a desk where you pay 30B to cross to Huay Xai. The journey takes less than 5 minutes. On my boat were a large group of people doing the slow boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang. I was surprised at the number of people doing it considering the bad reports I had heard about the journey. When I reached Luang Prabang I met lots of people who had done it and their opinions o the journey ranged from indifference to annoyance about the journey. On the Huay Xai side you walk up the ramp and then up a flight of stairs to Laos immigration. You can get your visa here. I got mine in Bangkok at the Laos embassy. I didn't realise at the time but because the Laos government now gives 30 day visas at the Huay Xai border crossing they now give visitors 60 days if you already have your visa.

The journey from Huay Xai to Laung Nam Tha was a good introduction to bus travel in northern Laos. The bus looked new and for some reason had lots of small sliding windows. Once we got going the conductor handed out plastic bags to all of the Lao passengers. For the next 4 hours they vomited into the bags and threw them out of the small windows. A guy infront of me vomited throughout the 4 hour journey and managed to get off with a big smile on his face. As an American traveller aptly put it, "They are good at getting it out". I met another traveller who was on a 10 hour bus journey (standard in northern Laos) and during the journey they ran out of plastic bags. The road from Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha is a new road built by the Chinese. It is in excellent condition apart from a couple of sections. The road is constantly winding its way up one hill to plunge down the other side, with switch back after switch back. While passing through lots of little hill tribe villages. The time that buses leaves Huay Xai for Luang Nam Tha is as clear as mud. I saw signs saying 8 am and 9 am, and asked in my guesthouse and was told 8.30am and 12.30pm. I arrived at the bus station at a quarter to eight and only to find that buses leave at 9am and 1.30pm for 55,000 Kip. I know the price for a tuk-tuk from the centre of town to the bus station should be 10,000 Kip, I was quoted 20,000 Kip and kept walking, A motorcycle pulled up next to me and offered me a lift for free. When we finally arrived at the bus station it turned out that the driver was Thai (he used his nationality as an explanantion to why he had not charged me). The bus station is a long way out of town and unless you come across a helpful Thai you may just have to pay 20,000 Kip.

SE Asia XV - China in Thailand

2008-01-23T23:19:00.001+13:00

Mae Salong is a wonderful small town sitting atop a mountain ridge in northern Thailand. It is one of the least Thai parts of Thailand because it was settled by Chinese nationalist troops. The KMT (Kuo Min Tung Chinese) arrived in Mae Salong after losing China to the communist forces. They originally settled in the Shan state of Burma and launched two large scale raids into China (supported by the CIA) both of which were stopped by the communist troops. They turned their new home into a fortified drug den and became semi-autonomous. The Burmese were understandably not pleased to have a large mercenary force in their country and attempted to drive them out. The Burmese failed militarily but put diplomatic pressure on the US at the UN resulting in an agreement to airlift the troops to Taiwan. Not all of them left so willingly and set up camp across the border in Thailand at Mae Salong. They continued opium production and remained semi-autonomous in Thailand until the 1980s. The Thais used the KMT to help stop communist insurgents in the north. Since the 1980s with crop substitution and greater control from Bangkok the opium trade has been wiped out in the area. To this day the locals still speak Chinese (Yunnanese). When you wander around the area lots of signs are in Chinese. In my accommodation almost all of the TV channels were in Chinese.

Mae Salong is now famed for its tea. One of the ways that opium production was wiped out was through crop substitution with tea. The hills are covered in tea plantations. There are a plethora of tea shops in town that will let you taste the teas in an elaborate Chinese tea ceremony. They will also try and sell you Chinese tea sets, made in Taiwan. I found a 12 year old entrepreneur who sold me some green tea. The whole transaction was tricky because she didn't speak a word of English, my Thai is basic and I don't speak Chinese. Apart from the Chinese and tea, Mae Salong is also surrounded by hill tribe villages. It is very easy go off on walks across the surrounding hills and pass through lots of different villages. Akha women in full tribal dress are a regular sight in town. One of the highlights of staying in Mae Salong is the morning market. It is the most intimate charming market that I have visited in Thailand. It is very small and attracts people from the hill tribes aswell as the local Chinese.

I had intended to travel directly to Mae Salong from Chang Mai. I caught a bus to Tha Ton and arrived at 2.30pm only to discover that Sangthaews only go up to Mae Salong between 7am and 1pm. There was, hoiwever, a bus to Mae Sai at 3pm so I jumped on that. Sangthaews only run back down to Tha Ton from Mae Salong until 3pm and back to Ban Pasang before 1pm. Mae Sai is the northern most town in Thailand. It is a border crossing into Burma. It is a much bigger, busier town than I expected. After dark I felt a touch uncomfortable walking around, a feeling I hadn't had in Thailand. A regular Sangthaew runs between the bus station and the border for 10B. You are dropped off at the bridge, accommodation runs along the river to the right of the bridge. To find it walk to the left of the immigration office on the bridge and you will come to a covered street with stalls, follow this along and you will find different accommodation lined along it. I ended up staying in Riverside Guesthouse which was damp and tatty, and expensive at 400B. The next morning I caught a Chang Rai bound bus to Ban Pasang. I waited 2 hours for 5 more people to show up to share a Sangthaew with. We paid 70B each (it would have been 50B with 7) to go up to Mae Salong. I stayed at Shin Sane guesthouse, run by a very happy go lucky Chinese guy. I paid 200B for a bungalow with ensuite hot shower. It gets cold at night and a hot shower is a must in my book. Three guesthouses are grouped next to one another. There are also more expensive ones further afield.

From Mae Salong I stopped in Chang Rai. Chang Rai is a very quiet town with nothing of any real note. The night market is good and there are a couple of good temples. The Hill Tribe museum is well worth visiting and has alot of information regarding the tribes in the Golden Triangle. I choose not to go hiking to hill tribes in Northern Thailand because I have heard bad reports about it from fellow travellers. I have been told many stories where treks from Chang Mai are well worn paths full of tourists heading up to markets where tourists gawk at the hill tribe people and take photos. Until I went to the Hill Tribe museum I didn't realise that one of the premier hill tribe attractions, the Karen long neck tribe, was even more exploitative. The Karen are not native to Thailand, they come from Burma. They fled Burma and are refugees in Thailand. They are placed in prison camps outside the main refugee camps where tourists can come and visit, pay an entry fee and take photos. The UNHCR has now got involved, click here to read an article on BBC News about it.

How to get a job on the mines in Australia

2008-01-23T17:02:00.001+13:00

I have added this post because I have noticed a number of people visiting the blog in relation to my experience working on the mines in WA. What I have written below is my perspective on how to get a job. A perspective based on working as an Exploration Field Technician for Jubilee Mines at their Cosmos and Sinclair sites from August to November 2007. The suggestions below are by no means exhaustive.

How do I get a job on the mines of Western Australia?

1 - Know someone working on the mines.
It may be a long way removed from the old boys club of public schools and city corporations in London but the mining industry in many respects is closed to outsiders. A large number of jobs do not appear to be advertised to the general public. Most people I spoke to got their job because they knew someone senior who could get them the job or they had a friend who told them that there was an opening and told them who to contact. In the Exploration team a large proportion of Field Technicians got their job because someone senior wanted a job for a relation. I got my job because a friend of the family was a Geologist.

2- Find people working on the mines.
Do not despair if your uncle isn't on the board of directors of BHP. The easiest way to find people who work on the mines is to go where mine workers go. While life on the mines is more civilised then it once lots of mine workers still spend their R&R sitting in pubs. I spoke to one Drillers' Offsider who went to the pubs in Kalgoorlie and talked to people. He eventually found someone who gave him a name to contact higher up in the company.

3 - Contact the mine companies directly.
Speculative inquiries for mine jobs do not appear to be the norm but that doesn't mean they don't work. A colleague got her job by phoning around mining companies based in Perth.

4 - Who are the mining companies?
If you want more information then a good place to start could be doing the Marcsta course in Perth. The Marcsta is basic health and safety for mine sites. If you already have a job lined up then the mining company will often pay for you to do this (they did for me). When I did my Marcsta the majority of people did not have jobs lined up and the instructor spent most of the day talking to them about what sorts of jobs were available and what to expect on a mine site. The classroom where I did my Marcsta had maps with the names of all the different mines in WA. It would be possible to get the names of the mining companies here and then use the websites to get contact information.

5 - Do a course in Mining.
It is possible to do courses in technical colleges in Kalgoorlie and Perth on mining. One of the geologists on site did this in Kalgoorlie (rather than getting a degree in geology) and two of the Field Technicians I worked with did courses in Perth. The teachers on these courses often have contacts within the mining companies and can help you get a job.

6 - What jobs are currently available?
When I was on site Drillcorp had a large shortage of Drillers' Offsiders. Drillcorp are part of Boart Longyear. The shortage was so great that they seemed to be hiring people who did not necessarily match the traditional image of a Drillers' Offsider. Drill teams had to stop work because they did not have enough offsiders. Offsiders were doing extra long swings to compensate for the shortage. The situation may have changed but it could well be worth conducting Boart Longyear to see if openings still exist.

SE Asia XIV - Train travel through Ancient Kingdoms

2008-01-22T23:17:00.002+13:00

I left Bangkok for northern Thailand via the ancient kingdoms of central Thailand. Ayutthaya, Lopburi, and Sukhothai have amazing ruins with few tourists. I often had the ruins to myself, giving the trip an essential Indiana Jones quality apart from all of the antiquities having been taken and the rows of headless Buddhas. Travelling by train is a great way to see Thailand and Thais. Before heading north I went on a day trip along the Death Railway to Hellfire Pass.

Third class trains are a great way to see Thailand and Thais. The windows are wide and open. The country rushes by and, apart from the odd fire with the ensuing influx of flying embers, the coaches with bench seats are a relatively comfortable way to travel. The locals are surpised to see a farang travelling with them in third class. I always managed to find myself near a Thai who spoke English and wanted to chat. The thai passengers are an endless list of characters, ably supported by the food vendors wandering between the carriages. Third class is also cheap as chips. The journeys from Bangkok to Ayutthaya and Ayutthaya to Lopburi both only cost 15B. The five hour journey to Phitsanulok cost 125B. A great source of information for train journeys in Thailand (and the rest of the world) is www.seat61.com.

Ayutthaya is an hour north of Bangkok by train. It is an ancient capital of Siam and was founded in 1350. It is a natural island surround by the Lopburi, Prasak and Chao Phraya Rivers. The great aspect of the ruins of Ayutthaya is how they have survived next to a modern Thai town. Half the island is given over to the town while the other half has the ruins scattered around. Ayutthaya is a Thai town going about its business with the ruins in the background. The ruined temples do not appear to have been heavily reconstructed. Wat Chaiwatthanaram sitting on the river was particularly picturesque with the setting sun behind it. It is very easy to wander around the temples. There is an admission fee of 20-30B for each temple. I was standing outside one ruin with lots of Rooster statues when an old Thai woman appeared next to me with a lotus flower and candles. I protested that I wasn't Buddhist and shouldn't really be praying to Buddha, but she didn't understand and I didn't want to be rude to an old woman. I paid for them (10B) and she prayed for me, it then turned out we were going to another Buddha shrine (I paid another 10B) and she prayed for me again, we then went to a third shrine (I paid 10B again) and she prayed for me again. People feeling the need to pray for me appears to be a habit I have got into. The train station is on the eastern side of town. I hired a long boat and visited the temples on the rivers surrounding the island. It cost me 500B and was a great way to see them. There is a cross river ferry that will take you into town. I was surprised to find so few tourists and guesthouses. I can only assume that because it is so close to Bangkok people simply visit on day trips. Even so I only saw a couple of groups of tourists at a few of the more famous temples, otherwise I had the place to myself. I stayed at Bann Kun Phra which has an excellent restaurant on the river. The rooms have ensuite cold showers but the walls are paper thin. I paid 300B for a double bed. It is a fine place to stay apart from the woman who runs it, who seemed to be somewhat paranoid and became increasingly suspicious of me during my stay.

I caught another third class train for the hour journey to Lopburi. Lopburi does not have the extensive ruins of Ayutthaya or Sukhothai but the ruins it does have are amongst the old town. The old palace is well preserved and sits in the centre of the old town. There is a museum in its grounds as well as some hedges cut into the shape of elephants. Opposite the train station are more ruins. To the south of the old town are the remains of a temple known locally as Monkey Temple. It is swarming with monkeys. So much so that local guides wander around with sticks to keep them in check. I had one monkey run up my leg and jump on top of my backpack. The monkeys are not restricted to the temple they have infiltrated the town. They use the telephone lines to cross roads and get between the buildings. I spent a good hour watching a group of monkeys leave a path of destruction through the town centre. A similar problem has befallen Prachuap Kiri Khan, a charming little seaside town south of Bangkok. The monkeys on Chong Khra Chok hill have large grounds but they are moving into the rest of town. It is peculiar to see monkey's running riot in a petrol station. If you arrive at the train station in Lopburi looking for accommodation walk out of the train station turn right and then left and you will find the Tourist Information office who will provide you with a map. I stayed at Nett Hotel, 200B for an ensuite cold shower with TV.

A 5 hour train journey took me to Phitsanulok, where I caught a bus to Sukhothai an hour away. The ruins at Sukhothai Historical Park are considered the best in Thailand. Sukhothai was founded in the 13th century and was the first capital of Siam. The most famous temple is Wat Mahathat which is full of Buddha images. Sukthothai Hiostorical Park is broken up into zones and you buy a ticket for each zone. The most restored ruins are in the centre, inside the city walls. Outside of the city walls (especially to the West and South) you are surrounded by countryside as you cycle around. The ruins aren't amazing outside of the centre but it is still very enjoyable. There are a couple of amazing temples to the West and North. Wat Saphan Hin has a huge standing at the top of a hill. At the bottom of the hill is a very happy policeman. He has a little hut and seems charmed by his surroundings. He'll watch your bike and try and sell you some water. Wat Sri Chum is also amazing with a huge seated Buddha squeezed between 4 walls. In the Lonely Planet they suggest that you stay in Phitsanulok and catch a bus to the ruins in Sukhothai. I really liked Sukhothai. It is a typical Thai town with few tourists. There isn't a great deal going on but what there is is Thai. I saw an Elephant wander down the street one night. I stayed at TR Guesthouse run by a very friendly couple. I had a double bed with hot water ensuite for 250B, it also included free internet. The owner will even pick you up from the bus station, his telephone number is 055-611-663. If you want to stay as close as possible to the ruins then there are a number of guesthouses inside the city walls of the Historical Park and they seem to charge similar prices to Sukhothai.

My train travel's in Thailand began before I left Bangkok when I went on a day trip along the Death Railway. The Death Railway is synonymous with pain and suffering. 13,000 Allied Prisoners of War and another 80,000 Asian labourers died building the line. Thai railways run a day trip along what is left of the line. The day trip isn't to commemorate the history of the railway but to visit Sai Yok waterfall at the end of the line. It costs only 100B for the return journey and makes for a cheap day out for Thai families. I was the only farang on the train apart from a Japanese guy (who was going to the waterfall). I didn't ask him about his views on the history of the line. The day trip is a full day, the train left at 6.30am and didn't get back until 9pm. As the only Farang aboard I was the subject of great interest. People wanted their photographs taken with me and to say hello. On the return journey to Bangkok I boarded at a different station to everyone else because I didn't visit the waterfall. My absence appeared to cause a great deal of confusion on board, its embarrassing to lose your only farang. My return at the next station down the line was greeted by much enthusiasm, a round of applause followed my walk through the carriages. The first stop was at Kanchanaburi for the Bridge over the River Kwai. The river was originally called Mae Khlung, the railway runs alongside the River Kwae but doesn't cross it, due to the success of the film the Thai authorities changed the name of the river. Kanchanaburi is heavily built up with tourism and when we arrived late in the morning the bridge was packed with tourists (you can walk over it). The end of the line is Nam Tok, it is a much smaller and nicer town than Kanchanburi. The railway line is particularly scenic between Kanchanaburi and Nam Tok, passing over Wampo Viaduct. I hired a sawngthaew, for the extortionate rate of 600B, to Hellfire Pass. My sawngthaew driver was in no hurry and whenever we were on even a slight descent he took the car out of gear and let it roll. When I finished at Hellfire Pass I came back to find him sound asleep. Hellfire Pass was a particularly bad section of the line for the POWs they were forced to cut through solid rock without machinery. It was called Hellfire Pass due to the deathly figures cast on to the walls by the fires lit when the POWs were forced to work through the night. A POW who worked here came back in the early 1980s to find it. He found Hellfire Pass covered in jungle and enlisted the support of the Australian Government to clear it and turn it into a memorial. It is a moving monument to the men who were forced to work and die here.

SE Asia XIIV - Expectations

2008-01-21T23:00:00.000+13:00

Bangkok is the number one toursit destination in Thailand. Chang Mai is the number two tourist destination in Thailand. When travelling in South East Asia popular opinion (or at least the people I've come across) is that Bangkok is a pollution infested, traffic gridlocked, dirty city. Whereas Chang Mai is a cultural wonder. Bangkok surpassed my expectations and I spent 10 days there. CHang Mai on the other hand fell far short and I only stayed a few days.

Bangkok is a city of two halves. The old city with the narrow srtreets, klongs (canals) and old buildings focused along the Chao Praya River. The other half of Bangkok is the new city starting from Siam Square and heading out along Sukhumvit Road. New Bangkok is just a bit plain, it isn't a bad modern city it is just a little bland. I had Sircumvit recommended as a good area to stay. I only think this is the case if you are desperate to shop or visit dodgy ping pong shows (not table tennis). It is far more convenient to stay within the western ghetto of Khao San Road and enjoy the old city close by. South of Khao San Road is the Grand Palace with the sacred (and ridiculously busy) Wat Phra Kaew the home of the Emerald Buddha. Just south of the palace is Wat Pho with the huge Reclining Buddha. Across the river from here is Wat Arun an amazing sight easily visted on a cross river ferry. There is a great little cafe to the left of the boat landing on the opposite side of the river to Wat Arun. There are lots of great temples all around Bangkok and the further from Khao San Road you go the less likely that you will encounter any other westerners there. Further south of the palace is China town a crazily busy area packed with street markets whre you can buy anything from knives and swords to SWAT body armour. Nancy Chandler's Map of Bangkok is useful to have and gives you tips on where to find some of the least disturbed parts of Bangkok. A bus map is also very handy. Buses are very cheap (under 15B a journey) and it is easy to get from Banglampoo (Khao San Road). to Siam Square, getting back is another matter and that is where the map comes in handy.

I mentioned in a previous blog that the Khao San Road area is a Farang ghetto. I stayed on Soi Rambrutti, an extension of the ghetto, at My House. There is a lot of accommodation in the area and it suits a varioety of budgets. My House is at the cheaper end, 200B for a single (a rarity in Thailand) fan ensuite cold shower and a window. It was clean even though the walls were decorated with curious stains. The staff were not particularly friendly and only entered into conversation with me about my royal t-shirts.

Bangkok is renowned for appalling traffic and it lives up to its reputation. I sat on buses that didn't moved for half an hour. The sky train is a good way to bypass the traffic but only if you are travelling along a narrow corridor. The river boats are a good way to get around the old city, especially if you are staying Banglampoo (Khao San Road). There are big ferries that run up and down the river and cross river ferries (which are just small barges). The ferries are often very crowded. The Chao Praya River is very busy with ferries, longboats, barges and other vessels. A journey along it is rarely smooth.

The fastest way to get from Banglampoo to Siam Square is on a river bus along the Klong. Bangkok was known as the Venice of the East and while most of the Kloings have been concreted over some still exist. the boat stop is under the bridge next to CentralWorld in Siam Square. The journey to Banglampoo (the stop is next to the Octagon Fort) costs 12B. It has a James Bond quality to it. The conductors walk up and down the edge of the boat collecting fares while the boat is speeding down the narrow canal. They wear a crash helmet for protection when passing under the numerous low bridges. An unusual safety feature by Thai standards and an indication that alot of conductors must have hit their heads. For a particularly low bridge the whole roof folds down, a modification worthy of Q. I thought it was hilarious. For more info click here.

With all the reports I had heard about Chang Mai I envisaged a place that was small and old, full of temples, with friendly, helpful people and not blighted by tourism. It does tick most of these boxs but tourism has its tentacles all over the city. The trouble is that Chang Mai is much smaller than Bangkok so it is much more difficult to absorb the shear number of tourists. There are markets but I found these markets to be orientated to the tourist and not as interesting as their Bangkok equivalents. The locals are friendly and maybe a lot friendlier if you have only encountered Thais trying to sell you something on a beach or on Khao San Road. However, the Thais in the towns between Bangkok and Chang Mai are much friendlier because they don't come across as many farang.

One of the easiest trips out of Chang Mai is to Wat Doi Suthep. It is a very important temple to the Thais on a hill overlooking Chang Mai. The views are meant to be great, unfortunately I was confonted with a thick haze. The temple is heavily visited by tourists and locals, and is surrounded by tourist tat stalls. If you want to walk it is an hour to the base of the hill and then in a sangthaew 40B from the base to the temple. They are queued up and when there are enough passengers they drive up. The way down isn't so organised. There is a flat fee of 30B the trouble is finding a sangthaew full enough to go down. The easiest way to find one is to walk down the hill to the first big bend and wait for a sangthaew to drive passed, they will pull over and you can jump in.

Chang Mai is busy with tourists of all types. I found cheap accommodation to be more diffiult to come by then anywhere else in Thailand. I wandered the sidestreets of the eastern moat and ended up in Moonlight Guesthouse. It was an uninspiring place, 200B for a room with a bunk bed, and a shared bathroom. I moved the next day to Mataka. I had a double bed with cold ensuite shower for 180B. The rooms appear to have been recently refurbished.

Lampang is just south of Chang Mai and can be visited on a day trip. I stopped there on my way north from Sukhothai. Even though it is close to Chang Mai it is a sleepy place with few tourists. I stayed at Riverside Guesthouse, 250B for a triple room with shared bathroom. I walked from the bus station to the centre of town, which is alot further than you might think, a sanghtaew is a better idea. Lampang has a number of temples. The most beautiful temple I have visited in Thailand lies just south of Lampang. Wat Phra That Lampang Luang is spectacular. There is a really distinctive atmosphere as you walk into the coutryard. It feels like you could be on a top of a remote Tibetan mountain (probably diminished by the coach loads of tourists who arrive later in the day). I was quoted 500B for a round trip from Lampang, I found another sangthaew who was heading south and dropped me at the temple for 60B. I persuaded him to hang around and he took me back to Lampang for 100B.

On the main road between Lampang and Chang Mai is the National Elephant Institute. It is possible to get any Chang Mai bound bus to drop you off here. They have two Elephant shows a day here (aswell as Elephant rides and Mahout courses). I arrived for the afternoon show. The show was thoroughly entertaining. Over 20 elephants are used and they seem to enjoy themselves, at the very least no force is used on them to perform the activities (apart from prodding). The show begins with the Elephants bathing. They then march into the arena and line up. One rings the bell to start the show while another raises a flag. The show involves displays of log dragging, lifting and pushing. They play some musical instruments and paint pictures. One picture was an impressionistic piece, the other was a still life of flowers. The show closes with an opportunity to feed them sugar cane and bananas.

SE Asia XII - Highway to the Danger Zone

2008-01-20T00:49:00.000+13:00

Kenny Loggin may not have had in mind Thai transport when he wrote his 80's classic but it is a pretty accurate description for some of the things you see and experience on Thai roads. In Thailand to say that there are rules of the road would be a very liberal interpretation of rules. A very simple rule is to drive on the left. It is loosely applied. Motorcyclists go wherever they choose. Minibus drivers feel the need to show their police car chase credentials every time they get on the road. Coach drivers do not want to stop wherever you are getting on or off. Travelling in Thailand is always an experience.

In Thailand to say that there are rules of the road would be a very liberal interpretation of rules. A very simple rule is to drive on the left. It is loosely applied. If you want to drive to the right of oncoming traffic you can. Motorcyclists go wherever they wish. On dual carriageways the hard shoulder is a motorcycle lane where motorbikes can go in either direction. Motorcyclists legally have to wear a helmet, they rarely do. If you see a motorcyclist with a passenger it is almost guaranteed that one of them won't be wearing a helmet, even police motorcyclists don't all wear helmets. The helmets most people wear have more in common with a horse riding helmet rather than something that will protect you in case of an accident. The road isn't the only domain of the motorbike. I have had to jump out of the way of motorbikes on pavements, including police motorbikes. I don't know what the legal age to ride a motorcycle is but I have seen some very young looking teens speeding around. The Thai youth have mastered the art of fitting as many people as possible on to motorbikes. The art is most practised before and after school. Four people is not rare, and I've seen six with two toddlers being held in arms out to the side.

Minibuses are the most dangerous way to travel in Thailand. This is a statement not backed up by statistics but they certainly feel like the most dangerous. Minibus drivers seem to have a death wish. They drive like their pants are on fire. They pass everything in their way no matter whether its on a blind corner, double lines, oncoming traffic or if driving through the middle of a town. To make matters worse you are crammed in like sardines. They are not Ford Transit van size but Japanese minivan size. Normally they squeeze in 16 people but I've been in one where there were over 20. There are no seat belts, there might be one in the front seat. In the book "First Time around the World" they suggested carrying your own seat belt, I thought this sounded daft and it is for first world countries but it makes a lot of sense in Thailand. To top it all minibuses are generally overpriced. In tourist towns they are advertised as if they are the only way to get to the next town. They might be the only transport that will pick you up from your guesthouse and take you to the next town but there will be lots of coaches doing the same route. Coaches are generally three times cheaper than the minibus equivalent. If the minibus isn't picking you up then you generally have to wait until it is full. "We leave now" never means straight away.

Coaches are a very cheap way to cover long distances in Thailand. The cheapest are third class, they have sliding windows and stop for any passengers who want to get on or off. In the south they generally ply short routes, up north they seem to be prevalent on most routes. They aren't always designed for western sized people. I was on a bus from Ban Pasang to Chang Rai. It was standing room only and while all the Thais could comfortably stand up straight I had to have my head bent over to one side. The space between seats can be too small to accommodate western length thighs. While they can be uncomfortable they are one of the most entertaining way to travel long distances. The conductors are particularly vocal calling out for more passengers and you often find locals puzzled at you being on their bus with your backpack. Second class coaches have air conditioning, and first class or VIP have air conditioning, toilets and sometimes a stewardess dealing out refreshments. I generally travel second or third class because they are so cheap. Coach drivers have less of a do or die attitude than minibus drivers. However, all coaches I have been on avoid stopping. The journey is a fluid motion where getting on or off is done while the coach is still moving.

Outside of Bangkok Sangthaews are the main local transport. They often run regular routes. Sangthaew means two benches. They are pickup trucks with two benches in the back and a roof on top. There are often grab rails on the back for people to hold on to when the inside is full. Sangthaews can be an Australian style ute but they can also be old trucks with wooden cabins crafted on to the back. I have shared the back with a variety of Thais and their baggage. On on occasion the back was full of raw meat and egg yokes. On another I had a severed pig's head staring at me with some of the rest of the bits of his body. When his owners got up to leave they left a pool of blood on the floor. Normally they are a very cheap way to get around town (or go further). The only problem for the traveller comes when the Sangthaew mafia decide that tourists need to hire a whole vehicle to go to an attraction. I can understand it when locals don't go to a certain place. However, it irritates me when they drive passed the place anyway. For instance, in Krabi Wat Thom Seua (Tiger Cave Temple) is a popular tourist attraction outside of town. I could not find a Sangthaew driver who would take me for less than 100B. On the way back I discovered Tescos was just down the road from the turnoff for Wat Thom Sea. I walked there in under 20 minutes and caught a Sangthaew back to Krabi for only 20B. Sangthaews are usually safe to travel in because they run a local route, and if they go further afield they are on the look out for more passengers so do not drive fast. The scariest journey in Thailand I have had was in the back of a Sangthaew. It was from Trang to the pier for Koh Sukorn. The driver must have gone to the Australian Ute drivers school. I was hanging on in the back with piles of boxes and an old Thai woman who found it all hilarious. I have heard it said that Thai's drive like maniacs because of their Buddhist belief. I have often seen passengers in Sangthaews wai (prayer like gesture) Buddhist temples as we drive passed. I was sitting in the front of a Sangthaew and the driver took his hands off of the wheel (on a winding steep downhill mountain road) and wai'd the Buddhist temple. I'm yet to see a motorcycle driver follow the same principle but it wouldn't surprise me.

SE Asia XI - Who to trust in the Garden of Eden?

2008-01-16T03:28:00.000+13:00

Knowing who to trust when you get off a train or a bus is tricky. Backpackers stick out like a sore thumb. It isn't difficult for touts to pick out the walking ATM, like shit attracting flies you attract touts and tuk-tuk drivers. In the end you have to trust someone, and this Thailand land of the Buddha and smiles.

I find it dificult to trust tuk-tuk drivers at the best of times but when they are the first to greet me I am even more suspicious. When I am jumping off of a train and I am immediately approached "Where you go?" my defensive barriers are up and I go and find information somewhere else. It might be easier just to go where the tuk-tuk driver wants to take me and just pay the extra but I like to think that I can get there under my own steam. In Lopburi I didn't have a map, I couldn't find anyone who could help apart from a cycle rickshaw driver who had fixed his sights on me even before I had gotten off of the train. I choose not to give in and wandered outside. I immediately stumbled upon a Tourist Authority Thailand sign and was sitting in the office chatting to a guy about the merits of Lopburi in minutes. When I arrived in Phitsanulok station I found a bus stop (passing the ever would be helpful tuk-tuk drivers) and was on a local bus to the coach station amongst locals. The conductor seemed to take a particular interest in me.

While being somewhat suspicious of people's intentions can be useful it can also turn you into a defensive traveller with all locals who offer help. This is Thailand and people are naturally helpful and friendly. The people who are most likely to want to get more baht out of you are those who deal with tourists most often. When one farang doesn't kick up a fuss about a high price why should the next? Even so these Thais should not be treated with contempt. In the end if they do rip you off it won't be a huge amount of money. After all "You'll never be screwed as sweetly as you will in Thailand" (I don't know who to attribute this quote to, but it's a good one).

Khao Sok National Park is beautiful. I have heard it described not inaccurately as the Garden of Eden. When you arrive on the coach from .... you are dropped off at the junction with the main road and the entrance road to the park. Along this entrance road are a series of bungalow enterprises. When you get off of the coach you are surrounded by bungalow touts. The natural response is to get defensive and ignore all these requests for your interest. I saw one guy get off the coach walk through the scrum, sit down and have a cigarette still ignoring the touts and then walk to the park gates with his pack on his back. However, the touts at Khao Sok are a tight knit bunch consisting of locals who have grown up in the area and have started businesses catering for the farang. The tout for Smiley Bungalows is the owner. I along with another couple choose Smiley Bungalows over all the other competition. Once we had the rest of the touts started moaning comically, "everyone chooses Smiley", "smiley, smiley smiley", "go off to your Smiley bungalow". When I left Khao Sok I missed the first coach and the second coach drove passed without stopping. During my two hour wait I was invited to sit down with the touts and play cards with them. I even managed to win enough money off of the owner of Smiley Bungalows to pay for my coach journey. It was a fun and friendly atmosphere.

Khao Sok has grown steadily more popular in recent years, as a highway has been built passing the gates of the park. It is still relatively quiet and peaceful in the tourist town built outside the gates although I can see it becoming overdeveloped in not too many years. Activities have sprung up to cater for the tourists. I did an Elephant trek. It was disappointing. It cost 850 Baht and lasted about two hours. It is quite something to be sitting on a bench on top of an elephant and to plod along. However, the trek element was sorely lacking. The impression in the advertising is that you will go through jungle, in fact you go up the road you drove in on and then down another dirt track to a pool. The journey back is reversed. I have been told that there are much better treks in northern Thailand, where there is more trekking for less money. The Elephants didn't appear to be mistreated by their mahouts, they had wooden canes which they used to prod the elephants. The control came from their voiced commands. I have heard stories of some very rough treatment being doled out to elephants on other treks in southern Thailand. The activities offered don't actually take part in Khao Sok. There are plenty of trails to follow in Khao Sok and you can hire a guide if you want to go further afield.

Smiley Bungalows was a particularly nice place to stay. It is the best value accommodation I have stayed in in Thailand. The bathroom had the luxury of a lukewarm shower and there was a big balcony to strecth out on. The woman who runs it is very friendly and speaks very good English. She is more than happy to sit down and have a chat with you (and play cards if you are waiting for a bus). I was charged the rate of 300 baht for a large bungalow because they didn't have any small ones left (the normal rate is 500 baht). The top photograph is the view from my balcony. They will also take you to feed the monkeys at sunset for free (most of the bungalows offer this aswell).While the town that has grown outside the gates is for tourists it has a very friendly feel. They don't seem to be fed up with the farang quite yet. There are plenty of places to eat and prices are reasonable.

SE Asia X - T-shirts

2008-01-15T21:41:00.000+13:00

You know whether a place is truly Thai by the t-shirts that the locals wear. If it is a Thai town the locals will wear pink, yellow and blue t-shirts. If it is a town for tourists then they will dress more like westerners that surround them. If it is a Thai town there be lots of shops selling a variety of pink and yellow t-shirts. If it is a Thai town there will be images of the King everywhere.

Any day is a good day to wear yellow or pink. The best day to wear yellow is a Monday when everyone else wears yellow. Thai's wear yellow on a Monday due to that being the King's birthday. If you want to be super patriotic then you can have a yellow shirt with a pink jacket. I even saw a dog whose owner had dyed its fur yellow (I think it was for the King, I can't think of any other reason). The reason why pink became an overnight fashion sensation is because the King left hospital in November wearing a pick jacket. My pink t-shirt has a drawing of the King with "Love King 80" written on it. If you were wondering about blue it is the colour for the Queen.

If Bangkok is a city of villages then Banglampoo and more accurately Khao San Road is the village of the farang. It used to be a backpacker ghetto and is now a place for all the farang passing through. You see the 18 year old backpackers, the too cool for school backpackers, the dreadlocked hippie backpackers, western couples of all ages, western families, and the farang man and thai woman couples (I have never seen the reverse). It has a nice atmosphere to it. Although it is obviously not a Thai area because Thais don't wear pink and yellow t-shirts and you can't buy them here. When you venture outside of Khao San Road arena you see lots of t-shirts being worn and lots of places to buy them. In Chatuchak market I got my blue t-shirt in tribute to the Queen.

Ko Lanta is another farang ghetto. It is a pretty island south of Krabi. I stayed one night at Sea Coconut. I didn't like Ko Lanta because it didn't feel special. It just felt like a westerner holiday spot. The prices were higher than Trang, and nobody was wearing pink or yellow t-shirts. Krabi is a town built on tourism, however, it is not dominated by tourists. I spent a week in Krabi, somewhat unintentionally as a large part was spent sitting on a toilet. The town has plenty of shops selling yellow and pink t-shirts and there are lots of pictures of the King plastered around the town. I visited Rai Leh from Krabi. Rai Leh is a beautiful peninsula with beaches surrounded by karst limestone cliffs. It is full to the brim with tourists. I also climbed Wat Thom Seua. It is a buddhiust temple with a Wat on top of a karst cliff. It is a killer walk (and climb at times) to the top of 1237 steps.

I seem to always get a favourable response from the locals when wearing my pink or yellow t-shirts. I get an even better response in western enclaves when the locals are extremely surprised to see a farang in a pink or yellow t-shirt. I am often asked "Do you love my King?" to which I dutifully reply Yes. The King is a great source of national pride and he appears to be widely loved across the population. Admittedly it is illegal to criticise the King, so liking him is an easier option. The fact that I'm asked "Do you love my King?" and not 'the' King demonstrates the personal pride that the Thai people feel. It is also not something limited to the ethnic Thais. I have seen Chinese and Muslim Thais wearing the t-shirts. I have seen many Muslim women with pink or yellow head scarfs on with the royal insignia. It is not limited to age groups or economic classes. To wear yellow or pink is a sign of being Thai, not a sign of being rich, poor, old or young. There is a topic thread on Thai Forum and a contributor suggests that an element of peer pressure is involved in the fashion trend.

The King is everywhere in Thailand. There are huge billboard images in every town. The entrance to towns has archways or bridges decorated with pictures of the King and Queen. If you go into shops, guesthouses, or people's homes (they can be all be the same thing) there will be an image of the King or three and maybe a picture of a past favourite King. In markets there are stalls that just sell pictures of the King. There are shops that specialise in King memorabilia. I remember being surprised by seeing a picture of Queen Elizabeth II in Canadian immigration when I crossed from the US. In Britain in recent years support for the monarchy was at its height during the Queen's golden jubilee, I remember lots of flags but I do not remember huge billboards with a picture of the Queen taking a photograph or looking at a map. Here is a link to the BBC News website to an article, "Why Thailand's king is so revered".

The King is not simply respected he is revered. His opinion, his ideas, his actions matter. In Britain amongst the general population I would suggest that the Queen is respected but I would not suggest that this would extend to her opinions on economic or political matters. In Thailand the military coup government adopted as government policy an initiative led by the King for Thai economic self-sufficiency. If you visit the Teak Palace in Bangkok there are two houses devoted to pictures taken by the King. The King is an avid photographer and the displays tell you how he has invented a number of innovative photographic techniques. One gallery relates to pictures taken by the King during flooding in Bangkok in the early 1980s. The captions explain how the King's photographs were clear and enabled officials to see clearly what the problems were and how to deal with them. The King is also a musician. In the gallery are pictures of him playing saxophone with Louis Armstrong.

If you had been travelling in Thailand for the passed two weeks you might wonder where all these yellow and pink t-shirts are. Princess Galyani Vadhana died on the 2nd January. She was the King's older sister and died of cancer at the age of 84. The country has entered mourning and part of that mourning is to wear black. Here is a link to an article about her death on BBC News. Her death has been met by a reaction similar to that of the Queen Mother's death. Books of condolence have been opened in all towns like in Britain, but unlike Britain the billboard images of the King have been replaced by pictures of the Princess. Thai's have stopped wearing yellow and pink while they mourn her death. The Royal Family are observing 100 days of mourning and those who work for the government have 15 officials days of mourning, they must wear black to work. In the Bangkok Post (15th January 2008) an article entitled "100 days of mourning sought", it begins "The cabinet will today consider extending the official period for Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana from 15 to 100 days." In another article in the Bangkok Post they mention how black clothing has been selling out, "In Trang, a clothing shop owner said black t-shirts and suits had been sold out since January 3rd, one day after the Princess passed away".