Evan in SE Asia: January 2012

Two weeks to fill in!

After our time in Chiang Mai, we boarded a bus to the border town of Chiang Khong. It's right on the Mekong River, across from Laos. We had a short evening in the town and then started our cross into Laos the next morning. Border crossing was a bit strange. It was my first time entering a different country by crossing a river only a hundred meters wide. After going through immigration we were taken to the pier and waited for about two hours. The boats were very long and narrow. We were thinking we would be sitting on hard wooden seats for the next few days. They were actually what I can only assume were just bench seats taken out of vans and placed on the boat. They were all very close together. We had assigned seats and we got on to find our seats taken. So we just sat somewhere else. People kept getting on and wanting to sit in "their" seats. We had to explain again and again that everyone was in the wrong seats so if one person wanted someone to get out of their seat, it was going to mean that everyone had to move. I'd guess there were about 80 people on there. Everyone was agitated. Not a good way to start the ride. Finally the boat sputtered to life and we started chugging down the river.

The ride was about five hours. It was some of the most amazing scenery I can remember. Beautiful mountain ranges covered with foliage and sandy banks up both sides. We passed many local villages, stopping at many to pick up commuters (this is how they get around!). Some stops brought children with drinks and snacks. They boarded and walked up and down the aisle. The quickest beverages to go were the beers. Now, the views were great, but some of the people we shared the boat with were nothing short of annoying. I made do by shoving my ear phones in and burying myself in The Girl Who Played With Fire (don't worry, I looked up often to enjoy the view). Finally we arrived in our stopover town for the night. It happened to be New Year's Eve and we found ourselves in a tiny town where the electricity purportedly shuts off when it gets dark. This town basically functions only as a stopover for people moving from the border of Thailand and Laos down to Luang Prabang, so there were only hotels and restaurants up and down this one dirt road. Kodi and I went to eat and we were in bed by 10 at the latest. We awoke in the night long enough to hear fireworks and shouts. Not the most memorable New Year's Eve.

The next morning we boarded the boat and set out for an even longer day. About seven hours total. The views were just as good. The people were more annoying. Kodi was about to crack some skulls. We arrived in Luang Prabang just before sunset. We had already booked our hotel so we found a tuktuk to take us there. We went out that night to properly celebrate our New Year's Eve.

The next morning Kodi was beset with a bit of sickness. Simply from the previous night's adventures? No. Turns out it was food poisoning, most likely from a tuna sandwich she ate during the boat ride. I'd like to say it was a short episode, but it wasn't. Kodi was pretty much in bed sleeping for a full 24 hours, and then another few days of eating very little amounts of mild food and very little activity. We didn't get up to much in our first few days in Luang Prabang. Towards the end of our stay we explored some temples and local sights. The town itself was really nice. Laos has a lot of French influence leftover from their colonial forays in SE Asia. This was immediately evident in the architecture of the buildings. The names of some streets and establishments were also French. My favorite were the bakeries and, specifically, baguettes everywhere. Our last two days in Luang Prabang, I booked a few tours with a local "fair trek" tour company. Supposedly, they give a lot back to the communities. Kodi still wasn't feeling up to anything strenuous so she took it easy in town.

The first day was a few-hour trek through a jungle to a magnificent waterfall. We drove about an hour outside of town to a traditional Hmong village. We were supposed to get some time to walk around and interact with the locals and see how they lived, but we just kind of walked right through the town and started into the jungle. It was a good hike and saw some great jungle scenery. Wildlife was suspiciously lacking but perhaps they were just good at evading us. Finally, we came upon the waterfall. It was a pretty amazing waterfall. The water was a bit chilly but it was very refreshing. There was also a rope swing which was good fun and provided enjoyment for onlookers.

The next day I went on a biking tour. I had chosen the "serious" mountain biking tour which required participants to be fit and prior experience was strongly suggested. I wasn't too worried about it because I've had my share of mountain biking and I'm in decent shape. There were two other guys who went on the tour. A Spanish fellow and an older German guy. Both were definitely "serious" bikers. The Spaniard was an ex-pro competitive mountain biker and the German has been biking everywhere. They both spoke perfect English and talked mostly about great places around the world to bike. But we also had great conversation about other things and we had a good time. The biking was pretty tough, but manageable. We rode on dirt roads that just went up and down through crazy mountain landscapes and valleys with rice paddies (now dry because the wet season is over). I think we were all a little disappointed as it wasn't the kind of mountain biking we were expecting. The other two guys easily distanced themselves between the guide, and even I was doing a bit better than him. I felt a bit bad for him because I don't think they do this tour often, and he's only done it a couple of times. He spoke English well, and when we stopped for lunch I was able to satisfy my anthropological curiosity and ask him a lot about Laos culture. During the day we rode through many small villages that obviously didn't see many foreigners. Calls of Sa-bai-dee! (hello!) rang out constantly. Many of the kids closer to Luang Prabang had shouted, Pen! Pen! I asked our guide what it meant in Lao and he said they just wanted pens, presumably to write or draw with. As remote as these villages seem, they all have electricity and many of them have satellite dishes. One town we passed through had some guys practicing their cockfighting. They covered up the roosters' sharp spurs so they wouldn't actually hurt each other. Towards the end of the scorching hot day, we stopped at a river and joined some of the local boys in going for a dip. It was an exhausting day and I ran out of water just before the end, but it was some of the best few hours I've had on the whole trip. Seeing places largely untouched by tourists and westernization was something special to me.

After Luang Prabang we had been planning to go to Vietnam. But we had some plans to meet friends in other places and going there would just not give us enough time. In the end, we decided to skip Vietnam because we wouldn't be able to appreciate it in such a short time. We headed down to Phuket, Thailand to get our beaching in. It's a small island in the south of Thailand dominated by tourism. We've been here about six days and I had had enough after just a few. The beaches are nice enough, but so overcrowded. The first day we walked around Patong, the area we are in, which is the most notoriously crowded and seedy. The next day we went on a boat tour of some smaller islands about an hour away. The places were amazing. The water was a brilliant green which massive cliffs shooting straight out. We went to a small bay called Maya Bay where parts of the film The Beach were shot. The amount of tourists stuffed in this tiny place was enough to ruin it for me. Half of the beach was covered by the tourist boats and the other half with fat people wearing swimsuits and they have absolutely no business wearing. Now, I know that I'm part of the problem being one of the tourists, but I guess I had foolishly hoped it wouldn't be as bad as it was. Finding more secluded areas is pretty difficult. The next day we rented a motorbike in hopes of finding a better beach spot. We followed the coast south and did manage to find a beach that was a little less populated. We stayed for a pleasant few hours before heading off again to explore. We didn't find much else. Lots of resorts. Lots of shopping. I guess I can't really complain about being in mid-80 degree weather on a beach in the middle of January...

Tomorrow we leave for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After that, down to Bali, Indonesia. Then to Singapore. From there, Kodi and I will part ways. She heads back to the States on February 1 and I'll be heading to Cambodia to meet with a friend from Korea.

Until next time, enjoy the pictures! You might notice some of the pictures, taken with my DSLR, have a black spot in the upper right corner. Or maybe you didn't, and now all you will be able to see is that spot. Some speck caught under the lens. Very aggravating. Don't forget to check out the webalbum for even more pictures!