Luang Nam Tha

The night bus from Luang Prabang to Luang Nam Tha was hellacious. I've come to the conclusion that all public transportation here is overcrowded, unreliable, and very uncomfortable.

The bus arrived at the bus station for us two hours behind schedule. When my companions and I tried to find a place to sit, the only available seats were in the very back of the bus with zero leg room. Then our departure was delayed another 15 or 20min because the locals had to strap a refrigerator to the back of the bus.


The night bus. You can sort of makeout the refrigerator through the back window.

I was in fetal position for the entire nine hour drive as the back of the bus bounced around all the potholes in the road. Once we had a flat tire and everyone got out to stretch their legs, and another time we had to stop in the middle of the road because a herd a cattle were blocking the way.

We arrived at the Luang Nam Tha bus station about 6am and walked to the nearby Manichan guest house for a much needed sleep.

We woke up about 12pm, tried to schedule a trek from the Eco Center, but failed to get one for the next day. Then we chartered a tuktuk taxi, and went to check out an old bombed out temple called Pheom Phouk. Its remains have gone untouched, but they built a new temple just next to it. There was a group of four children collecting donations at the temple that we played a few quick games with and then decided to return to town and try the Eco Center again.

We got a jungle trek scheduled and then Suzanne and I walked 5min south of our guest house to an herbal sauna. So nice.


Herbal Sauna hut

We stayed there for about two hours going in and out of the heat and pondered the idea of getting a massage.

After deciding the massage will be much better after our jungle trek, we walked back to the guest house to meet the two Irish blokes and English lads, had a bite of dinner, drank a few beers, and went to bed.

Suzanne got up early and took a day trip to Muang Sing, so the rest of us rented bicycles and peddled our way 6km north of town to a local waterfall.


The hut where we took a breather after the bike ride.


Nick, Olly, and Enda cooling down.

We sat in the sun all day playing in the water, and eventually made friends with some of the young locals who were hiding at the top of the falls having a private party. The funny thing is they went swimming fully clothed. No bathing suits, just jeans, t-shirts, skirts, whatever.

They fed us homemade Lao whiskey called LaoLao and were very entertained with the chance to speak with some foreigners. We occasionally splashed each other with the cool refreshing water, laughed, and ate some kind of cucumber that looked more like a small melon

We eventually biked back to town to take a rest from the sun at our guest house and drink frozen lemon shakes to cool down. We then decided to walk down for another herbal sauna to prepare us for tomorrow long hike through the Biodiversity Conservation Center.

The trek will take a couple days and then we plan to head back to Luang Prabang (transportation currently undecided), so I'll get back to this in a few days.

Luang Prabang

The past couple days in Luang Prabang have been very relaxing. I buddied up with two twenty something British lads (James & Nick), two young blokes from Ireland (Ollie & Enda), and a middle aged Dutch woman (Suzanne). We all met on the ferry boat and teamed up to split a couple rooms in the Viradesa Guesthouse next to the Mekong River.

Yesterday Suzanne and I woke up early and took walk to get some breakfast while everyone else was waking up. We walked through a small farmer's market where the villagers sell their crops and other assorted handmade good and handicrafts.


The farmers' market

We stopped off at a small picnic table to eat a bowl of noodles, and then took a small side street packed with flowers and plants back to our guesthouse.


Side street

Once everyone was up and moving, we chartered a flatbed truck taxi to go to the Kuang Si waterfall. We bought a lot of fruit from the farmer's market for the one hour drive. It was only 30km away, but the roads were very bad with lots of potholes and sometimes not even paved.

There was a small park at the base of the waterfall with a kind of petting zoo that you have to walk through. There were two cages; one housing a family of Asiatic black bears; the other holding a lone tiger.


James feeding a baby bear

After walking through and checking out the tiger for a bit, we came to the actual waterfall. An enormous, multi-tiered waterfall with a small swimming hole.


Kuang Si Falls

There were many siteseers already there, so we set up camp on one of the wooden docks next to the swimming hole and began eating some of our fresh bananas, lychi, apples, and oranges.


Enda, me, & James halfway up the falls


We met some other familiar faces from our ferry boat and relaxed next to the falls for most the day. Occasionally jumping in for a swim and also climbing up parts for the falls for a cold shower.


James, Olly, myself, Nick, & Enda

On the way back to town our taxi driver stopped off at one of the hill tribe villages where the villagers make different handicrafts to sell to tourist. Once we got out of the taxi a horde of young girls swarmed us with braided bracelets for sale. They were very persistent, so everyone bought at least one out of pity.


Selling bracelets in the Hill Tribe

For dinner I managed to convince James, one of the British boys, to walk with me through the farmer's market so we could eye out some cheap food. All the other guys wanted to eat in a more standard restaurant, so we split up for a bit.

The farmer's market was very lively at night with different tables and stalls set up. We decided on one with a buffet of various Lao dishes like coconut curry, different kinds of noodles & vegetables, spring rolls, baked tofu in a red sauce, baked pineapple, etc. We both loaded up one plate with as much as we could fit for a grand total for 5,000 kip (about 50 cents).

The funny thing about dinner is the number of Japanese folks we met while eating. Every Japanese person I've met so far on my travel sat down and ate dinner with us; including an English teacher and his Japanese girlfriend (Adam & Mayu) I met on the plane from Nagoya to Bangkok.

After dinner I went to a bar/club called The Hive for a few BeerLaos and talked with several other travelers about our experiences in Thailand and Laos.


The Hive

The following day Suzanne and I went walking around town and stopped off at the Wat Xieng Thong for a look around.


Wat Xieng Thong


A closer look

That evening my current team of friends and I will took a night bus north west of Luang Prabang to Luang Num Tha. I'd heard there was great jungle trekking and beautiful country to be seen there.

Slow Boat through Laos

I would not wish my experiences of the past few days on my worst enemies. I have traveled for three days non stop, but I finally arrived in Luang Prabang.

I crossed the Mekong River border into between Thailand and Laos at Chiang Khong in the pouring rain. A small motor boat sped me across the river into the Laos town of Huay Xai.

I passed through customs without any problems and exchanged the last of my Thai baht for Laos Kip only to receive a wad of cash very similar to Monoply money that made me feel like a millionaire.

From Huay Xai a large group of people and I boarded a small, wooden, covered, ferry motor boat to make the trip down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang.


The slow boats

There are two ways to make this trip: slow boat or speed boat. The slow boat takes 48 hours, and the speed boat takes six hours, but there have been a few fatalities in the past year.

I took the slow boat, and it was an experience I can only laugh about. The speed boats for the day were all canceled, so all the customers were crammed onto the slow boat. People were sitting in the aisles, on the floor, next to the engine, everywhere. There was not a single inch of free space on the entire boat for the duration of the six hour first leg of the journey.


No room to move


Best seat was in the window

We arrived at the small one road town of Pakbeng about 7pm and stayed there for the night. As I got off the boat with my backpack and bags, I was approached by several locals and offered a room at a nearby guesthouse, marijuana, and opium within a matter of 30sec. Unbelievable.


Pakbeng-- a one road town

A small group of new friends from the boat checked into a quaint guesthouse with an immaculately clean bathroom, ate some dinner, played cards and drank a few BeerLao before going to bed.


Boy bathing in the street before bedtime

The next day was the same as the first. Another long and crowded boat ride down the Mekong, but this time I could look out the window and take in some of the wonderful jungle scenery.


Scenery down the Mekong


Approaching Luang Prabang

We arrived in Luang Prabang about 5pm just as a massive rain storm started. The rains kept many people from getting off the boat, but I grabbed my bags and made a run for it.

I haven't had a chance to explore this town yet, but so far I'm very, very surprised. It's nice, clean, and almost looks high brow. There are many shops and restaurants lit up in the night, and it seems to be a very cool city.

More later.

Thailand Pai Bye

The day after my jungle trek I decided to take the advice of my friend Jason and visit the small city of Pai. It's located north east of Chiang Mai near the Burmese border in a mountain valley.

I inquired around Chiang Mai about airconditioned minibuses, but they were all full, so I took a taxi to the local bus station and bought a ticket for the 2pm bus. The bus was packed solid with various locals, travelers, backpacks, and boxes. No room to move whatsoever.

The drive took about three or four hours winding through mountainy roads and pockets of cool fresh air with spectacular scenic views of the jungle covered mountains.

I arrived in Pai and followed the signs posted along the street to Mr. Jan's Herb Garden & Guesthouse. Mr. Jan checked me into a modest bungalow and I was free to explore the streets.


My bungalow in Mr. Jan's Herb Garden

While wandering the streets full of cafes, restaurants, and bars by myself, I recognized a familiar face from Chiang Mai who was also traveling alone. She was an Italian girl named Sabina that had just arrived, so we decided to grab a bite to eat and talk about our experiences in Thailand.

We sat next to a table of two local Thai girls that spoke English extremely well and one English medical student named Louise. They had all been in Bangkok for the AIDS conference and were not happy about the way it had gone, so we changed the subject to suggested itineraries for a day in Pai.

The following morning I woke up and rented a small 125cc scooter for the day to zip around the surrounding areas. Best move ever.


Me & my scooter

I was heading out of town toward the hot spring national park when I spotted Louise and her friends lending a hand in a rice field. I stopped off and pulled rice with some local villagers and learned a little bit more about the rice growing process.


Pickin' Rice


Putting it into bundles


Getting the bundles ready for replanting


All of us then went to the hot springs to sit and relax, but the water was an astounding 80 degrees Celsius. It was much to hot to sit it, but very nice for getting your feet wet.

Later that day I just went driving all over the place, through the rice fields, and around the mountains. I got a little lost, but everything was okay because the roads were very easy to navigate and there was very little traffic. Maybe the occasional cow, but that was it.

For dinner I went to a place across the street from Mr. Jan's Guesthouse called the House of Glass. There was an all you can eat BBQ, but a storm had blown through knocking out all the power in town, so everything was done by candlelight.

Sabini, the Italian, mossied in later and we began playing cards with some of the other patrons. The card games and discussions continued late into the night with various people joining and leaving until I finally called it quits and went to bed.

I woke up early in the morning to catch the first bus back to Chiang Mai. I had left some belongings in my hotel room there (I was already booked into the hotel in Chiang Mai before making the decision to go to Pai), and I was worried the staff might throw them away if I did not make it back by noon.

The overcrowded bus ride back seemed to take forever because of my lack of sleep and hangover, but I made it back to my hotel just in time.

As soon as I walked in the door, the lady at the front desk informed me a minivan was coming to pick me up in 5min. and drive me to the Laos border. Evidentially, it was part of the package I got hussled into while in Bangkok, so I rapidly packed my bags and hopped onto another four hour bus ride.

All the minvan passengers and I arrived at a small border town of Chiang Kong in the north of Thailand around 6pm and checked into guesthouse. Yet another part of the package deal, so I'm beginning to think I didn't get scammed at all.

Goodbye Thailand, for now. Tomorrow I head into Laos.

World Story 3 Day Jungle Trek

The jungle trek was good; commercial but good. It was very organized and suprisingly professional. From the detailed list of things to bring to the very timely departure times, lunches, breaks, and dinners everything went smoothly.

We had a very entertaining group of ten people that kept things interesting at all times. There were two middle aged brothers from Ireland (Michael & Vincent) and their significant others (Emor & Simone), a young nerdy, but very nice couple from Denmark (Jens & Maria), two young sarcastic and funny friends from Holland (Dennis & Michael), another well traveled man from Holland (Ilco), and myself.

The Irish group were not physically fit for the trek nor were they very outdoorsy people, but they did their best. They didn't complain, but it was obvious the trek was a little difficult for them. The two Dutch friends were in the same boat. For example, Dennis started the hike with a can of Pringles sticking out the top of his backpack, so he quickly earned the nickname Pringles for the rest of the trek. Other nicknames were soon to follow.

Day 1: The World Story flat bed truck came to pick me up from my hotel at about 9:30am. The Irish couples were already in the truck. We got acquainted while we made the rounds to pick up others in our group and stopped by the World Story office to drop off excess baggage.

From the office all ten people plus the two local jungle guides packed into the back of the covered flat bed truck; the guides standing on the open tail gate and holding onto the hard top because we were a full load. We drove about an hour outside of Chiang Mai, but I'm not exactly sure which direction we went. We stopped off at a market along the way to buy any last second supplies.

The first event for the day was elephant riding. We arrived at a small elephant camp and were immediately escorted to a make shift bamboo scaffold to board the back of an elephant in groups of two and three. I buddied up with Ilco, who earned the nickname Calvin Kline for his stylish shirts and slicked back hair, but he turned out to be a very interesting person. We talked about his work with an AIDS awareness project called Dance for Life while the ride started.

There was a guide that sat on the elephant's neck and/or head who steered the elephant by giving voice commands and occasionally using a small metal hook in the elephant's ears if we veered off course. We went around a track through the jungle that took about 30min. It was interesting, but nothing I feel I need to do again any time soon.


On an elephant w/ Ilco from Holland

Next we piled back into the truck and drove a little further into the mountainy jungle. After another 20min we all got out, ate a bit of fried rice for lunch, put on our packs, and started hiking a narrow foot path along the side of a small river. We crossed the river many times using logs and bamboo bridges before coming to a large and powerful waterfall where we took a break to go swimming.



The two Irish girls almost got swept away by the rushing current, and one of our guides had to jump in and grab them as they started to panic. It was not as serious as they made it out to be, but for the rest of the trip we called Simone Miss Floating, an appropriate nickname.

After cooling off in the waterfall and a bit of drama we started walking again along the river and climbing steep hills.


Rice paddy in the hills

About 6:30pm we walked into a Hill Tribe village for the night. (The Hill tribes have made some kind of monetary deal with the touring companies to house the tourists, cook dinner, and sell drinks and small handicrafts to make extra money.)





We put all our gear in a bamboo hut, got cleaned up, and prepared for dinner. While everyone in our group sat around a wooden table waiting for the food, I decided to wander around the village and take some pictures. There were cows feeding under the some of the huts, wild chickens running around, and a few pigs tied up under trees for shade.





After exploring a bit I poked my head into the chef's hut to see what was cooking. He and our guide, Sam the King of the Jungle, invited me in to sit down and talk while they prepared the food and drank some homemade rice liquor that was very similar to Japanese dry sake.

I made good friends with them when I explained I was an English teacher in Japan and started giving them simple language lessons. They also spoke a little Japanese because many Japanese tourist come through, so we communicated in a mix of English and Japanese. Very entertaining and totally baffling to everyone else in the group.

Dinner was some kind of tasty potato stew and other mixed vegetables. After eating everyone sat around with our guides by candle light and did different puzzles and riddles made from toothpicks, but I decided to wander back through the dark village with my flashlite.

I was invited into the hut of a small family where I gave a simple English counting lesson (1 through 10) to their very cute and playful five year old boy. Eventually the boy's father, named Mr. Moo, began playing a homemade harp by the firelight and everyone slowly went off to bed.



Day 2: We woke up about 9am to the natural alarm of roosters and ate a simple breakfast of toast and fruit. We then walked about 30min into the jungle to another waterfall for swimming.


Coolin' off

After swimming and taking a rest, we hiked a bit more and came upon another Hill Tribe Village where we stopped for a modest lunch or ramen noodles and more fresh fruit.

It was extremely hot after lunch, so we took a long break in the village and most people played cards in a hut and took naps. I walked around the village and played chase with some of the little boys. Eventually I was invited into another hut with some older tribesmen and they let me try some very potent homemade whiskey called Habu. It was in a bottle stuffed full of leaves and sticks, but it tasted pretty good.


Hill Tribesman

Eventually we started hiking again up some serious terrain. The Irish contingent were not physically prepared for this, but they did the best they could. We arrived at another hill tribe village for the night, and everyone immediately started drinking cold beer sold by the tribe. This made the Irish very happy and they slowly began to loosen up.

I went off to talk with our guide Mr. Sam while he prepared a green curry for our dinner. After dinner everyone continued drinking, eventually pulling out bottles of Thai whiskey, much to the delight of the Irish. We started a interesting drinking game where the losers had to drink, sing a song, or dance.

The wheels came completely off at this point and the conversation turned political. Not a good idea. One of the Irishmen began defending George Bush while our guide, Mr. Sam, tried desperately to break up the argument before it got too serious. That killed the fun for night and everyone stumbled off to bed.

Day 3: We woke up very slowly and ate some pancakes and fruit before hiking down hill to yet another waterfall for swimming and showering. Then onto our lunch spot next to a paved road for some Pad Thai noodles.



After lunch we got back into the flat bed truck and went to the bamboo raft launching place.


Bamboo Rafts

We broke into groups of three and four and boarded very long and narrow rafts. Using a bamboo pole the Danes and I pushed ourselves down a shallow river and through some very cruisey rapids. Nothing too serious, but a nice way to cool down after a few days hiking in the jungle.


Bamboo Rafting w/ the Danish couple

We then got into the truck again and drove an hour back to Chiang Mai to say goodbye and drop everyone off at their hotels. All in all I would recommend it to anyone looking for an introduction to hiking in Thailand, but I'm sure there are more serious hikes to do around here. Anyway...

Memorable quotes from our guide Mr. Sam:

1. "No money no honey."
2. "No fun no babies."
3. "Thank you big as a mountain!"

Chiang Mai Arrival

Today is my Grandfather's birthday. Even though I'm a world away, I'd like to wish him a very happy birthday and send him my love.

The night train to Chiang Mai was okay. I met a very paranoid Norwegian guy whose name I've already forgotten, but I think it was Steven, and we talked about all the different scams and cons in Bangkok. We agreed there is a lack of violent crime, but you have to watch your wallet at all times and be careful who you talk to.

In my case I don't think I was scammed so much as hussled into paying more money than I usually would. My train ticket and everything checked out okay, and I was met by the jungle tour guides at the Chiang Mai train station early this morning.

They drove me to their office where I officially signed up for the jungle trek and then onto my hotel, the Silver Place. My room is very spacious with a double bed, cable television, small veranda, and I have my own bathroom and shower. There's no air conditioner, but there is a fan that keeps the place fairly cool.

The hotel is located about 2min walk from the southern gate of the city. Chiang Mai is laid out in a neat square with moats and walls marking the boundaries and inside are numerous Buddhist temples.

I spent my morning walking around the back streets of the city, checking out a giant food market, enjoying not being harassed by everyone for my money, and going in and out of several temples. Nothing too special, and by about 12pm I decided to walk back to my hotel and take a nap.



After my nap I went back into the city with the intent to see Wat Chedi, a very old temple that partially crumbled during an earthquake hundreds of years ago. Along the way I stopped off at Wat Fonn Zoi which looked to be under construction. I walked behind the temple and saw several young Buddhist monks playing on small boat in the middle of a pond.



They waved me over to a bamboo pier and were very eager to speak English with me. One of them even asked me to check his English homework! We chatted for a bit about their schooling, took a couple pictures, gave them my email address, and then said goodbye.



Further down the road I came to Wat Chedi which was impressive by sheer size. It's like a pyramid atop a mountain of steps with the top broken off. There were many tourist around, so I headed to an adjacent elementary school to look around.

School must have just let out because all the kids were outside playing games like ping pong, basketball, and some strange version of bowling. The most exciting to watch was the Thai volleyball which is played with a small ball of wrapped bamboo and kicked over a shoulder high net. The older kids were really skilled, and it was cool to watch them spike the ball with great accuracy.

I hung out for a bit and talked to them because they thought it was fun to practice their English and they invited me to play ping pong. I declined because they were too good, but we took some group photos and had a laugh.



It was long day with a lot of walking and it shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. Tomorrow I venture into the jungle for three days of jungle trekking. I'll get back to this blog in a few days.

Happy birthday Granddad!

Marco... Polo

Two days in Bangkok is plenty. I'm getting out of here tonight, but I have some time to kill before my night train to Chang Mai leaves.

I've been staying at a youth hostel called Marco Polo for the past couple nights. Nothing special, but it's located on Khao San Road, network central for tourist.



This area of Bangkok is loud, noisy, and very dirty. It's absolutely littered with European tourists, husslers, begging cripples, transvestites, etc. You name it, it's here. The narrow street is lined with various shops and sidewalk vendors to cater to your every need.


Street Vendor

Yesterday I walked around the city and visited a couple temples; most notable the Grand Palace. Big, bright, and very crowded.



After leaving the palace grounds I somehow managed to walk through a university campus where a Thai man approached me and told me he was an English teacher from Chang Mai.

He suggested I go to a nearby, small temple, called the Lucky Buddha, then to a clothing shop for tailored suites, and finally a TAT tourist office. Before I knew it, the man negotiated a flat rate of 30 Baht (about 90 cents) with a small trike taxi driver and I was off.


Inside a tuk-tuk

At the small temple another suspect Thai man came in and sat next to me. He claimed to be a pilot for Thai Air and began making small talk with me. He asked me where I was going and what I was doing, and finally he also told me to go to the tailor shop for a suit because I could buy a cheap suit and sell in once I got back to Japan. Sounded very strange.

The taxi driver took me to the tailor shop where I was met at the door by a very nervous Indian looking guy telling me how lucky I was because it was the last day of a promotional campaign. He offered to measure and make me an Armani suit, give me two silk shirts, and two silk ties for $300. The whole scene didn't feel right, so I left and went back to the three wheeled taxi.

The TAT tourist office was just around the corner. This place seemed a bit strange as well, but the travel agent speaking with me seemed to be a very nice young lady. She suggested I take a night train to Chiang Mai and wait for my Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia visas to process. Sounded like a reasonable idea to me, so now I have a plan for the next week.

My visas will be shipped to me next week, and I have arranged all transportation to Chiang Mai and from Chiang Mai to the Laos border crossing, as well a three day jungle trek, elephant ride, and bamboo rafting adventure. The cost of all this was about $200 for the visas, a little more than expected, and $100 for the trek/elephant/raft adventure. If for some reason this turns out to be a scam, I will be out a little bit of money, but it will prove to be a valuable lesson learned. Never trust anyone who approaches you in the this area of the world.

You never know where you might be swept off to.

Bangkok & Books

I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand at 1am local time and checked into a very grimy hotel in the heart of the tourist district, but it has air conditioning. It's been a long day.

My flight from Nagoya departed about 12:30pm and went to Tokyo Narita where I spent a majority of my day sitting around reading. Finally boarded my connecting flight about 7pm and slept and read most of the way to Thailand, but I'm still exhausted.

Books I'm traveling with:

Da Vinci Code: I bought this book a week ago for my trip, but I made the mistake of starting it a few days ago. It's fast, easy read, and I polished it off while waiting around the Narita airport. It's fluff, but very entertaining.

The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility: The Ideas Behind the World's Slowest Computer: I have to credit my friend Daniel Bowman Simon, currently living in the Philippines as a Peace Corps volunteer, for tipping me off about this one. It's a manuel to promote long term thinking and responsibility in the extremely fast paced world we are living in now. I knocked out a few pages of this on the plane, and it's really interesting, but a little scientific in areas.

MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change: I got this book because I think it's aimed at people just like me. For years I've not cared about politics in the slightest, but due to recent events like 9/11, the Iraq War, Michael Moore, and the success of John Kerry's MoveOn related campaign, I feel it's time for me to start getting involved on some kind of level. This book looks like an interesting place to start.

Lonely Planet South East Asia on a Shoestring: This is an essential part of my trip. It's recommendations for hotels and restaurants can be misleading at times, but the maps of cities as well as various transportation schedules and prices are extremely valuable. Never leave home without it.

That's all for now. I'm gonna go drink a beer, try to figure out where to go from here, and go to bed. It's late.

Shopping in Nagoya

This past weekend I was last minuet shopping in Nagoya when I saw this thing out front of Nagoya Station. It's supposed to be Spiderman, but if you look closely I think it has breasts. I dunno.

Anyway, I'm flying to Bangkok tomorrow to start a seven-week tour of South East Asia. I have no real plans, and honestly don't know where I'll end up, but it should prove to be an interesting jazzy adventure. All improvised.

I will try to update this blog as much as possible from the road, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to post photos. It will depend on the quality of internet cafes in the area. I'll do my best.

It should get interesting from here.


Like a rolling stone...