Umm, why are we stopping the bus. Aaah, because we are about to drive through a lake, which no doubt was once a road. So after bumbling up and down the narrow bus to drag my trusty backpack to my seat at the back of the bus (all the cool kids sit up the back!). At least I had the foresight to put on the raincover. Unfortunately for me, the rain cover managed to do little more than collect the water on the inside to ensure a soaking wet bag. Hmmm, I'll find out later how much stuff is ruined.
Anyway wet bags inside the bus (now why didn't we do that before driving through the other big puddles??) and onwards through the lake. A quick view out the window confirmed my suspicion that I am driving through the sea. A more worrying sight upahead is a torrent of water rushing along beside the road. There lies a half overturned truck, and the remnants of a shack(or house?). We drive on creating waves leaving motorbikes struggling in our wake. On past a small boat, picking people up. Apparently the rains end in November in Viet Nam, unfortunately nobody told the rain gods this year.
Finally we make it! Hurrah, found once of the best value hotels in my travels, only 5$ for a really good room, with cable TV, fridge, bath and no big insects. But the rain continued. I was on the last bus in for the next few days. Not exactly ideal sight seeing weather. The beach was pretty trashed, I'd seen pictures and it looked quite nice. But now it was just covered in crap, mostly driftwood, which was slowly been scavenged off by locals packing it on the back of their ubiquitous motorbikes.
One day (okay part of the day) it did stop raining and after being cooped up I set off for a long walk in this direction (points finger randomly). It's always interesting getting out the centre of the tourist hotspots, as people reactions are quite different. After walking for an hour I stopped off at a small cafe, trying to decided whether the people were suprised, happy or horrified at the sight of a strange foreign guy. I got some pumpkin soup, leafy greens, pork rice, beansprouts, noodles & tea. All for less than a dollar (Although thats still FIFTEEN THOUSAND dong!)
I continued my wandering along, ended up getting stuck in a cul-de-sac. One kid, glanced up at me and looked terrified, like he was about to burst into tears. Memo to self, have a shave. After getting completely and utterly lost I just jumped on a motorbike and get driven home. Nice and easy! Although most motorbike taxi drivers are annoying still thankful when you have no idea where you are.
So after sitting out the rain in Nha Trang it was back on with the road show. Well until the night bus to Hoi An turned round after an hour and came back. Yipee! Try again next night. Obviously a lot of people were unhappy at this turn of events. However I later heard that the night bus the previous day has been stuck for 42 hours, hehe. Not so bad then. Basically the road had subsided down 5m for about 20m in length. The bus had to wait until the road fixers came and sorted it out.
The next day I made it smoothly to Hoi An. The tailor capital of Viet Nam, suit you Sir!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Dalat
It was planned with military precision, as you will no doubt have assumed. As with all my travel plans, I had throughly researched how to get the 460 odd miles from sunny Saigon to Dalat and pre-purchased the ticket which would guarantee my hassle free journey.
Naturally, the Vietnamese had other plans. Having turned up a good 15 minutes early for my bus as instructed, I am told that it was the main office I was supposed to be at, not the place I bought my ticket. Not a major problem, as the main office was but a mere 2 mins brisk walk down the road, and I arrived there with ample time to spare. Upon handing over my ticket for the 7:30 bus (I knew it was 7:30 for 2 cunning reasons. 1: I was told the bus left at 7:30 when I bought the ticket, and 2: 7:30 was the time printed on the ticket.) So, anyhow, I had over the ticket and after a brief flurry of Vietnamese (not from me I hasten to add) I'm told that the bus doesn't leave till 8:00.
Ahh well, time to chill out on the plastic chairs for 30 minutes. An hour later, just around the time I was debating if beanbags would be a comfy and funky-alternative to uncomfortable plastic chairs, I was led away to be executed. No wait ... led away to another tourist agency and was herded right up the back of the bus with my uber-large, yet essential, backpack. As soon as I sat down I was told this was the wrong bus and dumped back on the pavement for another 30 minutes, before being put squeezed into a shuttle bus, un-squeezed back out of it and re-herded back onto the original bus.
Finally, we were on out way. I peered out of the steamed up windows watching the scenery fly past as we ambled along at walking pace. 5 minutes later I conclude that everywhere in Saigon looks pretty much the same before realising we've gone round in a circle and are back outside the tourist agency again.
"So are you here for the flower festival?" said the Vietnamese guy on the bus.
"Huh?". Apparently there was a big flower festival on in Dalat, as I found out when I arrived with poster and flags everywhere. A few hotels were full. And being notoriously bad at reading maps, I couldn't figure out how to get to a hotel in my guidebook. Of course, by that time it was dark, as the bus journey was chaotic.
More waiting about, then we finally got on our way. For about 10km. Then we sat on the edge of Saigon, while they shuttled more people from the town onto the bus. 3 hours later, we finally left Saigon!
So by the time I got to Dalat it was dark. I got a motorbike to take me to a hotel, he claimed it was very far, I thought it was near, but couldn't work out where I was on the map. He drove down a straight road, down a 180 on the roundabout and back. I assume this was to make it seem far away! Not very convicing. That hotel was full but I found another closeby.
Lots and lots of rain. Everthing is damp and soggy. And quite cold up here. I bought a fleece to keep me warm, then I walked outside just as I realised a fleece is a really stupid thing to wear in the rain, it turns into a sponge! Strangely enough it's got a small NFL logo, not exactly what you expect to pick up in Vietnam.
I went for a walk down to the festival site. Lots of small shops. I had what I thought was a cheese & ham toastie, but it turned out to be odd. It wasn't melted cheese on the gridle, but cake mixture. Odd. More like ham cake.
Another night I went back down to the festival and saw some traditional dancing around. Looked like a hilltribe judging by their clothes. They sang, danced to some music. Shaking their spears at the fire. Unfortunately this was done on a raised platform and you had to stand below on the steps, while the security made sure nobody was getting a good view! I saw a security guy pointed and talking at somebody, at first I thought he was tapping his baton on his boots, because I heard a clicking noise, but he the baton was a stun-gun which he was menancingly zapping. Not to be messed with! Later on I saw a van of more security/army guys pull up, what intrigued me was the letters on the side of the van looked Russian. Acutally when I arrived in Vietnam, I was slightly suprised to discover they use the Latin alphabet, albeit with some diacratics, as Thailand, Laos & Cambodia all use their own squigly scripts.
After that I head to the pub in Dalat. There only seems to be one pub in Dalat, so not much choice. The bar owner is a whizz at connect four! But I managed to beat him a couple of times using the little known Diemer-Duhm gambit. However once he had countered this, I couldn't even beat him by cheating, not so subtlely throwing in two bits at once! Vietnam is a bit like Laos, everybody is either going North or South, stopping along the same points. I chatted to a few people in there, and unsuprisingly bumped into them again the next night. Helped sharpen my pool skills.
I had considered heading through the highlands, but eventually decided to head back down to the coast at Nha Trang hoping to escape the rain. It certainly didn't work out that way though.
Naturally, the Vietnamese had other plans. Having turned up a good 15 minutes early for my bus as instructed, I am told that it was the main office I was supposed to be at, not the place I bought my ticket. Not a major problem, as the main office was but a mere 2 mins brisk walk down the road, and I arrived there with ample time to spare. Upon handing over my ticket for the 7:30 bus (I knew it was 7:30 for 2 cunning reasons. 1: I was told the bus left at 7:30 when I bought the ticket, and 2: 7:30 was the time printed on the ticket.) So, anyhow, I had over the ticket and after a brief flurry of Vietnamese (not from me I hasten to add) I'm told that the bus doesn't leave till 8:00.
Ahh well, time to chill out on the plastic chairs for 30 minutes. An hour later, just around the time I was debating if beanbags would be a comfy and funky-alternative to uncomfortable plastic chairs, I was led away to be executed. No wait ... led away to another tourist agency and was herded right up the back of the bus with my uber-large, yet essential, backpack. As soon as I sat down I was told this was the wrong bus and dumped back on the pavement for another 30 minutes, before being put squeezed into a shuttle bus, un-squeezed back out of it and re-herded back onto the original bus.
Finally, we were on out way. I peered out of the steamed up windows watching the scenery fly past as we ambled along at walking pace. 5 minutes later I conclude that everywhere in Saigon looks pretty much the same before realising we've gone round in a circle and are back outside the tourist agency again.
"So are you here for the flower festival?" said the Vietnamese guy on the bus.
"Huh?". Apparently there was a big flower festival on in Dalat, as I found out when I arrived with poster and flags everywhere. A few hotels were full. And being notoriously bad at reading maps, I couldn't figure out how to get to a hotel in my guidebook. Of course, by that time it was dark, as the bus journey was chaotic.
More waiting about, then we finally got on our way. For about 10km. Then we sat on the edge of Saigon, while they shuttled more people from the town onto the bus. 3 hours later, we finally left Saigon!
So by the time I got to Dalat it was dark. I got a motorbike to take me to a hotel, he claimed it was very far, I thought it was near, but couldn't work out where I was on the map. He drove down a straight road, down a 180 on the roundabout and back. I assume this was to make it seem far away! Not very convicing. That hotel was full but I found another closeby.
Lots and lots of rain. Everthing is damp and soggy. And quite cold up here. I bought a fleece to keep me warm, then I walked outside just as I realised a fleece is a really stupid thing to wear in the rain, it turns into a sponge! Strangely enough it's got a small NFL logo, not exactly what you expect to pick up in Vietnam.
I went for a walk down to the festival site. Lots of small shops. I had what I thought was a cheese & ham toastie, but it turned out to be odd. It wasn't melted cheese on the gridle, but cake mixture. Odd. More like ham cake.
Another night I went back down to the festival and saw some traditional dancing around. Looked like a hilltribe judging by their clothes. They sang, danced to some music. Shaking their spears at the fire. Unfortunately this was done on a raised platform and you had to stand below on the steps, while the security made sure nobody was getting a good view! I saw a security guy pointed and talking at somebody, at first I thought he was tapping his baton on his boots, because I heard a clicking noise, but he the baton was a stun-gun which he was menancingly zapping. Not to be messed with! Later on I saw a van of more security/army guys pull up, what intrigued me was the letters on the side of the van looked Russian. Acutally when I arrived in Vietnam, I was slightly suprised to discover they use the Latin alphabet, albeit with some diacratics, as Thailand, Laos & Cambodia all use their own squigly scripts.
After that I head to the pub in Dalat. There only seems to be one pub in Dalat, so not much choice. The bar owner is a whizz at connect four! But I managed to beat him a couple of times using the little known Diemer-Duhm gambit. However once he had countered this, I couldn't even beat him by cheating, not so subtlely throwing in two bits at once! Vietnam is a bit like Laos, everybody is either going North or South, stopping along the same points. I chatted to a few people in there, and unsuprisingly bumped into them again the next night. Helped sharpen my pool skills.
I had considered heading through the highlands, but eventually decided to head back down to the coast at Nha Trang hoping to escape the rain. It certainly didn't work out that way though.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Saigon
I arrived in Saigon and found a cheap place to stay, above an art shop, renting out small rooms for 3$. Complete with a big flying bug zooming about my room. I had managed to swat it outside but now he's back. Staying in the main travellers area, full of the usual travel agents, internet cafes and restaurants. I went for a walk about, getting lost as usual. Saigon is a large, spread out busy city. 95% of the traffic seems to consist of manic motorbike drivers, using their horn incessantly. Some areas of Saigon are quite posh, with fancy restaurants and designer clothe shops. Also prevalent are some large shopping malls, where they have embraced Christmas fever. Christmas tunes, such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, tinkled through the sound system, except the singing is in Vietnamese, kinda of like Name that Tune. Outside Santas and Christmas trees adorn the pavements (I almost said sidewalks? Turning American!)
Vietnam acutally had the largest number of Catholics in Asia (excluding the Philippines) with around 10% of the 78 million population.
While wandering around I came across the Ho Chi Minh City Musuem. Saigon had actually been renamed Ho Chi Minh City, after the leader who led the Viet Minh forces to defeat the French after WWII and make Vietnam independent. However the locals still call it Saigon. I went in for a look about, it talks about the history of the country, and exhibits from the American war (or the Vietnam war, depending on your point of view). Also outside a few old aircraft and a helicopter. After a nosy around there, it was time for a spot of lunch. I picked up a roll from a nearby bakery. Seems to be a tendency to throw whatever you can into a sandwich. This one had some not very good pork, a sausage and some salad
with relish, and something approximating pate.
Some of the streets are lined with Vietnam flags, usually alternated with the hammer & sickle flag for a sea of red. In the streets, people wear these point Oriental hats to keep the sun off. Also a lot of people with face masks against the traffic fumes!
The next day I went along to the Emporer of Jade Pagoda. A fancy Chinese temple with large statues of guys with giants moustaches! Outside a few turtles were being released/dropped into the pond. Maybe it was an auspicous day.
Next stop was the zoo/botanical gardens. Not the best zoo, but a welcome escape from the motorbike and their beeping and tooting. After that I took a stroll down the Notre Dam Cathedral, inside a service was going on, so I only had a brief glimpse at the interior, before getting gently shooed away. Come in or get out, no hanging around.
Back closer to the guesthouse, I put my bartering skills to the test for a couple of books. It went like this:
"How much for these two?"
"$10"
"No, $5"
"Okay, $9"
"No, $5"
"No, no you say $6, when I say $9"
"No, $5"
"Okay, $8"
"No, $5" I walk away.
"Wait, okay 100,000 dong."
Tries to mentally divide by 15,000
"No, $5"
"okay, okay 90,000 dong is $5"
"No it's not, it should be....erm....75,000?"
"80,000"
So I got my two books for around $5, although when I looked at them they have the orignal cover, but are clearly just photocopies!
I went off for some dinner, decide to get away from the tourist cafes. I found a little cafe full of boisterous old men, plastic tables littered with empty beer bottles, stray dogs nervously snatching scraps off the floor before skittering away. I went in and suprisingly they brought out an English menu. First thing was steak and chips, not exactly traditional Vietanamese food! Also everything on the English menu was more expensive. I pointed at something on the Vietnamese menu, costing about a pound. I'll have that I confidently declared. Got some funny looks, and the staff slightly relucantly agreed. I'm sure they would of preferred if I'd spent more money on the steak and chips!
Now some old women came round and tried to sell various little bits of food, peanuts, something wrapped in seaweed. As I didn't know what I was getting I just smiled and said No. But smiling seems to be taken as I really do want to buy something. Just out of interest I continued to smile and say No (maybe the don't understand no) while they go through every item they have to sell, pointing at it. Eventually they exhausted all items and got the idea and left. Then my meal turned up. The trouble with ordering by pointing at random things if your likely to end up with a big plates snails. Which is what I got. You are supposed to suck them out of their shells, but I didn't have much look. Then somebody brought over a paperclip to eek them out, but still not much luck. Then they gave me a bottle opener to smash them open! A few locals tried to show me how to slurp them out. I seemed to spend most of my time sitting there making snail-sucking noises. Not much meat in them anyway. Still the herb butter sauce was actually quite nice, and the beer very cheap (30p, at least half of what the tourist cafes charge). I checked the receipt to see that the item did match what I had picked, it wasn't just the staff having a laugh. I left still rather hungry, but the next day I had a full English breakfast costing more than my room! It's good to try some new food, but also some familar food once in a while is nice.
Up early to catch the bus to Dalat, shouldn't of bothered it took another 3 hours to eventually leave Saigon...
Vietnam acutally had the largest number of Catholics in Asia (excluding the Philippines) with around 10% of the 78 million population.
While wandering around I came across the Ho Chi Minh City Musuem. Saigon had actually been renamed Ho Chi Minh City, after the leader who led the Viet Minh forces to defeat the French after WWII and make Vietnam independent. However the locals still call it Saigon. I went in for a look about, it talks about the history of the country, and exhibits from the American war (or the Vietnam war, depending on your point of view). Also outside a few old aircraft and a helicopter. After a nosy around there, it was time for a spot of lunch. I picked up a roll from a nearby bakery. Seems to be a tendency to throw whatever you can into a sandwich. This one had some not very good pork, a sausage and some salad
with relish, and something approximating pate.
Some of the streets are lined with Vietnam flags, usually alternated with the hammer & sickle flag for a sea of red. In the streets, people wear these point Oriental hats to keep the sun off. Also a lot of people with face masks against the traffic fumes!
The next day I went along to the Emporer of Jade Pagoda. A fancy Chinese temple with large statues of guys with giants moustaches! Outside a few turtles were being released/dropped into the pond. Maybe it was an auspicous day.
Next stop was the zoo/botanical gardens. Not the best zoo, but a welcome escape from the motorbike and their beeping and tooting. After that I took a stroll down the Notre Dam Cathedral, inside a service was going on, so I only had a brief glimpse at the interior, before getting gently shooed away. Come in or get out, no hanging around.
Back closer to the guesthouse, I put my bartering skills to the test for a couple of books. It went like this:
"How much for these two?"
"$10"
"No, $5"
"Okay, $9"
"No, $5"
"No, no you say $6, when I say $9"
"No, $5"
"Okay, $8"
"No, $5" I walk away.
"Wait, okay 100,000 dong."
Tries to mentally divide by 15,000
"No, $5"
"okay, okay 90,000 dong is $5"
"No it's not, it should be....erm....75,000?"
"80,000"
So I got my two books for around $5, although when I looked at them they have the orignal cover, but are clearly just photocopies!
I went off for some dinner, decide to get away from the tourist cafes. I found a little cafe full of boisterous old men, plastic tables littered with empty beer bottles, stray dogs nervously snatching scraps off the floor before skittering away. I went in and suprisingly they brought out an English menu. First thing was steak and chips, not exactly traditional Vietanamese food! Also everything on the English menu was more expensive. I pointed at something on the Vietnamese menu, costing about a pound. I'll have that I confidently declared. Got some funny looks, and the staff slightly relucantly agreed. I'm sure they would of preferred if I'd spent more money on the steak and chips!
Now some old women came round and tried to sell various little bits of food, peanuts, something wrapped in seaweed. As I didn't know what I was getting I just smiled and said No. But smiling seems to be taken as I really do want to buy something. Just out of interest I continued to smile and say No (maybe the don't understand no) while they go through every item they have to sell, pointing at it. Eventually they exhausted all items and got the idea and left. Then my meal turned up. The trouble with ordering by pointing at random things if your likely to end up with a big plates snails. Which is what I got. You are supposed to suck them out of their shells, but I didn't have much look. Then somebody brought over a paperclip to eek them out, but still not much luck. Then they gave me a bottle opener to smash them open! A few locals tried to show me how to slurp them out. I seemed to spend most of my time sitting there making snail-sucking noises. Not much meat in them anyway. Still the herb butter sauce was actually quite nice, and the beer very cheap (30p, at least half of what the tourist cafes charge). I checked the receipt to see that the item did match what I had picked, it wasn't just the staff having a laugh. I left still rather hungry, but the next day I had a full English breakfast costing more than my room! It's good to try some new food, but also some familar food once in a while is nice.
Up early to catch the bus to Dalat, shouldn't of bothered it took another 3 hours to eventually leave Saigon...
Friday, December 09, 2005
Phnom Penh
At Phnom Penh, I stood on the rooftop of the hotel watching a large jeep trying to reverse over a big mound of rubbish. After a few goes it succeeded and escape it's parking spot on the pavement, where it had been blocked in by another car. At least these people need jeeps for their cities and roads, or should that be dirt tracks. Lots of riverside restaurants and pubs abound along the Tonle Sap river, although the Khmer food served here seems for the most part to be the same as usual Thai food. Of course, you can still get all sort of other food such as burgers, pasta, salads. I even found a cheap Malaysian restuarant for a bit of Tom Yam.
Phnom Penh had a bit of a "wild west" reputation. Seems to attract a few oddballs anyway! I was talking to a guy who had been held up by two gunmen with rifles. They took his phone, while his driver ran away. Not quite sure if the driver was involved. Then he had to go through the hassle with the police who demanded $20 to give him the documents he needed for his insurance claim.
A book I was reading about Cambodia, mentions a few interesting facts like how nobody seems to bother that a policeman on a $16 wage is driving around in a $50,000 car! Another incident that sticks in my mind from the book, was when a vice-deputy high up goverment guy, was annoyed after his plane was delayed. He motioned his driver to go to the boot where he took his AK47 and started shooting the passenger plane. Only minor damage was recorded. Later he said it was dark and couldn't see where he was shooting, but if these people worked for him the would all by dead. A policeman confirmed that it was illegal to bring weapons into an airfield and shoot planes, but no action was to be taken against him!
Flicking through the Phnom Penh post newspaper, I came across the police reports, where arrest are made. Lots of people getting "chopped" on the head with an axe (alway three times!) or being shot with AK47. Although the most unusual one was the report of a Cambodian man who had been taken to hospital with an arrow in his chest. He had been hunting rats with a crossbow at 04:20am when he accidentaly discharged the arrow into himself! Sounds like a Darwin award nominee.
One day I went along to Toul Sleng Musuem. A horrific reminder of the attrocities commited by the Khmer Rouge. In 197 Pol Pot's men took over this school and turned into Security Prison 21 (S-21). For the next three years, this would be used as interogation centre. Afterwards the people were taken to Cheoung Ek (the Killing Fields) and executed, often battered to death to save bullets. The school rooms on the ground floor were divided into individual cells barely big enough to lie down. Other rooms are bare except for a steel bed, with restraints and rusty tools. On the walls old grimy black and white photos depict the people strapped to the beds, black pools of blood lying below their emanicapated bodies.
In other rooms vast galleries consisting of mugshots of all the prisoner. Again the Khmer Rouge had a systematic methodology for execution. All prisoner are photographed with their relevant numbers. Unsuprisingly, you can see the fear in the peoples face. When one person was taken, their entire family was also taken. One wall of pictures shows just kids. Then they must abide by the regulations written on the sign:
1. You must answer accordingly to my question - Don't turn them away.
2. Don't try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that. You are strictly prohibited to contest me.
3. Don't be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
5. Don't tell me about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
6. While getting lashes or eletrification you must not cry at all.
7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is not order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
8. Don't make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.
9. If you don't follow the above rules, you shall get many lashes of electric wire.
10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.
In another room, paintings depicting more horrors line the wall. People getting their finger snipped off, and soldiers throwing babies throw the air onto their bayonets.
Over three years an estimated 14,000-20,000 people went into S-21. There was 7 survivors.
Phnom Penh had a bit of a "wild west" reputation. Seems to attract a few oddballs anyway! I was talking to a guy who had been held up by two gunmen with rifles. They took his phone, while his driver ran away. Not quite sure if the driver was involved. Then he had to go through the hassle with the police who demanded $20 to give him the documents he needed for his insurance claim.
A book I was reading about Cambodia, mentions a few interesting facts like how nobody seems to bother that a policeman on a $16 wage is driving around in a $50,000 car! Another incident that sticks in my mind from the book, was when a vice-deputy high up goverment guy, was annoyed after his plane was delayed. He motioned his driver to go to the boot where he took his AK47 and started shooting the passenger plane. Only minor damage was recorded. Later he said it was dark and couldn't see where he was shooting, but if these people worked for him the would all by dead. A policeman confirmed that it was illegal to bring weapons into an airfield and shoot planes, but no action was to be taken against him!
Flicking through the Phnom Penh post newspaper, I came across the police reports, where arrest are made. Lots of people getting "chopped" on the head with an axe (alway three times!) or being shot with AK47. Although the most unusual one was the report of a Cambodian man who had been taken to hospital with an arrow in his chest. He had been hunting rats with a crossbow at 04:20am when he accidentaly discharged the arrow into himself! Sounds like a Darwin award nominee.
One day I went along to Toul Sleng Musuem. A horrific reminder of the attrocities commited by the Khmer Rouge. In 197 Pol Pot's men took over this school and turned into Security Prison 21 (S-21). For the next three years, this would be used as interogation centre. Afterwards the people were taken to Cheoung Ek (the Killing Fields) and executed, often battered to death to save bullets. The school rooms on the ground floor were divided into individual cells barely big enough to lie down. Other rooms are bare except for a steel bed, with restraints and rusty tools. On the walls old grimy black and white photos depict the people strapped to the beds, black pools of blood lying below their emanicapated bodies.
In other rooms vast galleries consisting of mugshots of all the prisoner. Again the Khmer Rouge had a systematic methodology for execution. All prisoner are photographed with their relevant numbers. Unsuprisingly, you can see the fear in the peoples face. When one person was taken, their entire family was also taken. One wall of pictures shows just kids. Then they must abide by the regulations written on the sign:
1. You must answer accordingly to my question - Don't turn them away.
2. Don't try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that. You are strictly prohibited to contest me.
3. Don't be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
5. Don't tell me about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
6. While getting lashes or eletrification you must not cry at all.
7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is not order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
8. Don't make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.
9. If you don't follow the above rules, you shall get many lashes of electric wire.
10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.
In another room, paintings depicting more horrors line the wall. People getting their finger snipped off, and soldiers throwing babies throw the air onto their bayonets.
Over three years an estimated 14,000-20,000 people went into S-21. There was 7 survivors.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Seim Reap
Siem Reap
The temples at Angkor were built between the 9th & 13th century. At this time the Angkor empire covered a vast area, north to China and all the way west to the Bay of Bengal. At it's height over a million people are estimated to live in Angkor. However only the Gods were deemed fit to live in stone, so only the temples remain, the wooden houses & buildings long succumbed to the jungle. The temple were "discovered" by Henri Mouhot around 1860. From 1908, a French organisation has made the effort to reclaim the temples from the jungle and preserve them. The trees and plants slowly rip apart the stones, this is most in evidence at Ta Prom.
Ta Prom, a 12th century buddhist temple, has been left in the same state as it was when discovered. So trees sprout from the top of walls and inbetween the stones. Some areas are sectioned off, as they may collapse, bricks lay strewn about. Carvings are everywhere, in particular I liked a face nearly hidden by tree roots, smiling out at you.
Inside the fortified city of Angkor Thom, at the centre lies the Bayon. A temple with more than 200 strangely smiling faces staring down at you. Very odd!
The most famous temple though is Angkor Wat, the nearest temple to town. Surrounded by a huge moat, it sits on an island and is accessible across a long causeway. Then another wall surrounds the edge of the island. Outside the main temple is an 800m long series of baf reliefs. The central temple rises three storeys and 55m, so you get a good view!
Although one thing is, that to get up you have to climb some steep stairs. When you go down they suddenly look very steep! So, you have lots of people slowly crawling down from the top. I cycled around the temple a couple of days. By the third day I was pretty much 'templed out' but took a tuk-tuk out to see Angkor Wat for sunset one final time.
The next day it was off to the captial, Phnom Penh.
The temples at Angkor were built between the 9th & 13th century. At this time the Angkor empire covered a vast area, north to China and all the way west to the Bay of Bengal. At it's height over a million people are estimated to live in Angkor. However only the Gods were deemed fit to live in stone, so only the temples remain, the wooden houses & buildings long succumbed to the jungle. The temple were "discovered" by Henri Mouhot around 1860. From 1908, a French organisation has made the effort to reclaim the temples from the jungle and preserve them. The trees and plants slowly rip apart the stones, this is most in evidence at Ta Prom.
Ta Prom, a 12th century buddhist temple, has been left in the same state as it was when discovered. So trees sprout from the top of walls and inbetween the stones. Some areas are sectioned off, as they may collapse, bricks lay strewn about. Carvings are everywhere, in particular I liked a face nearly hidden by tree roots, smiling out at you.
Inside the fortified city of Angkor Thom, at the centre lies the Bayon. A temple with more than 200 strangely smiling faces staring down at you. Very odd!
The most famous temple though is Angkor Wat, the nearest temple to town. Surrounded by a huge moat, it sits on an island and is accessible across a long causeway. Then another wall surrounds the edge of the island. Outside the main temple is an 800m long series of baf reliefs. The central temple rises three storeys and 55m, so you get a good view!
Although one thing is, that to get up you have to climb some steep stairs. When you go down they suddenly look very steep! So, you have lots of people slowly crawling down from the top. I cycled around the temple a couple of days. By the third day I was pretty much 'templed out' but took a tuk-tuk out to see Angkor Wat for sunset one final time.
The next day it was off to the captial, Phnom Penh.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Bangkok
Bangkok
I got the sleeper train back into Bangkok. There was a big festival that night, Loy Krathong. A kraythong consists of flowers and incense that can float in the water, and loy means float. During the day, kraythong sellers lined the streets, but at night the crowds appeared. It seemed like all the residents of Bangkok had come down to the river to launch their krathongs, it was heaving! I couldn't really seem much down at the river pier, although they also had a few shows put on. The occasional kraythong bobbed about, but the boats were making large waves and probably drowned most of them. I decided to head up to one of the bridges spanning the river for a better view. It seemed like everybody else had the same idea, but I managed to find a spot to watch the proceedings. I don't think I've ever seen so many cameras in the one place. Everybody was snapping away as the big boats came down the Chao Praya.
It was like a float parade on the water, with colourfully lit boats drifting along. At one stage the river was covered in boats, both floats and tourist boats, set against the backdrop of the illuminated Thonburi bridge. Some of the roads had been sealed off and crowds of people roamed the streets some singing a traditional song, about Loy Krathong. The long day & night took its toll and I retired for an early night.
The next day on Khao San road I bumped into a guy I had met in Penang. Went for a drink, and I made the mistake of trying the cuttlefish from the street vendor. DONT TRY THE CUTTLEFISH! I didn't feel well the next day. Anyway I survived and felt better later on, I had arranged to meet up for a korean barbecue. It was close to where I stayed before. I had eaten there before but didn't realise it was Korean-style. You get a big plate of raw meat (I recommend the pepper-steak!) and slap it on an upturned metal bowl which rests above hot coals. Then you try and cook it, turning (dropping) it with your chopsticks. A tasty meal and you can eat as much as you want for not much more than a quid. No wonder it is popular with the Thais. When we walked it in was full, but they soon made space and grabbed some chairs from somewhere. On the edge of the main dining area actually outside a BMW garage, next to a big group of rowdy students.
I went along to the Royal Palace, it was very busy with tourists. A huge complex with decorative temples and wats everywhere you turn! I saw the emerald buddha, a holy relic with magical powers and some natty clothes, which get changed three times a year, one for each season. It has been discovered inside a clay buddha. At one point, it was in Laos, I had seen a wat there that had been built to house it, but the Thais nabbed it back, much to the annoyance of the Lao people.
Next stop Siem Reap to see the temple of Angkor!
I got the sleeper train back into Bangkok. There was a big festival that night, Loy Krathong. A kraythong consists of flowers and incense that can float in the water, and loy means float. During the day, kraythong sellers lined the streets, but at night the crowds appeared. It seemed like all the residents of Bangkok had come down to the river to launch their krathongs, it was heaving! I couldn't really seem much down at the river pier, although they also had a few shows put on. The occasional kraythong bobbed about, but the boats were making large waves and probably drowned most of them. I decided to head up to one of the bridges spanning the river for a better view. It seemed like everybody else had the same idea, but I managed to find a spot to watch the proceedings. I don't think I've ever seen so many cameras in the one place. Everybody was snapping away as the big boats came down the Chao Praya.
It was like a float parade on the water, with colourfully lit boats drifting along. At one stage the river was covered in boats, both floats and tourist boats, set against the backdrop of the illuminated Thonburi bridge. Some of the roads had been sealed off and crowds of people roamed the streets some singing a traditional song, about Loy Krathong. The long day & night took its toll and I retired for an early night.
The next day on Khao San road I bumped into a guy I had met in Penang. Went for a drink, and I made the mistake of trying the cuttlefish from the street vendor. DONT TRY THE CUTTLEFISH! I didn't feel well the next day. Anyway I survived and felt better later on, I had arranged to meet up for a korean barbecue. It was close to where I stayed before. I had eaten there before but didn't realise it was Korean-style. You get a big plate of raw meat (I recommend the pepper-steak!) and slap it on an upturned metal bowl which rests above hot coals. Then you try and cook it, turning (dropping) it with your chopsticks. A tasty meal and you can eat as much as you want for not much more than a quid. No wonder it is popular with the Thais. When we walked it in was full, but they soon made space and grabbed some chairs from somewhere. On the edge of the main dining area actually outside a BMW garage, next to a big group of rowdy students.
I went along to the Royal Palace, it was very busy with tourists. A huge complex with decorative temples and wats everywhere you turn! I saw the emerald buddha, a holy relic with magical powers and some natty clothes, which get changed three times a year, one for each season. It has been discovered inside a clay buddha. At one point, it was in Laos, I had seen a wat there that had been built to house it, but the Thais nabbed it back, much to the annoyance of the Lao people.
Next stop Siem Reap to see the temple of Angkor!
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Vientiane
I tried to find a room with a window, but they seem in short supply in Vientiane. Not exactly the "Paris of the East" judging by the state of the roads, open sewers and dust!
There seem to be a lot of roads being re-surfaced when I was there, or perhaps just being surfaced. This consists of one truck schlooping tar down, followed immediately by another with guys shovelling stones and then by a road-roller. Instant road!
Although one day, they had flattened the mud road and it rained. The next day I saw a truck halfway inside the road, it had sunk. Vientiane seems more like a small town, rather than a capital city. The local English paper runs to about 10 pages. Apparently the local Vientiane's eat almost a kilo of rice a day. A lot of rice!
I had a look around a few of the temples in town. One had a ridiculous number of buddhas in it!
I went along to see Laos play a friendly against a league team from Thailand, Bangkok Bank. Unfortunately they lost 3-1, but they did score the best goal, a thumping volley into the corner of the goal. The kick-off was a bit late, but after the game I went across the road to the Laos Cultural Centre to see some "Jodaiko" (Japanese for passionate drumming). It was good, as the drummer started off with a giant drum and a log for a drumstick! The crowd was funny as the all clapped wildly when he hits the drum. None of this being quiet during the performance! Then he did a little drumming number starting with a simple rythmn, and repeating with embelishments, until the rhythmn is stuck in your head. Next up, another drummer come on, to beat the other side of the drum. Started off gently, prancing about playful and then BANG! they start beating the crap out of the drum, almost like a martial art.
There seem to be a lot of roads being re-surfaced when I was there, or perhaps just being surfaced. This consists of one truck schlooping tar down, followed immediately by another with guys shovelling stones and then by a road-roller. Instant road!
Although one day, they had flattened the mud road and it rained. The next day I saw a truck halfway inside the road, it had sunk. Vientiane seems more like a small town, rather than a capital city. The local English paper runs to about 10 pages. Apparently the local Vientiane's eat almost a kilo of rice a day. A lot of rice!
I had a look around a few of the temples in town. One had a ridiculous number of buddhas in it!
I went along to see Laos play a friendly against a league team from Thailand, Bangkok Bank. Unfortunately they lost 3-1, but they did score the best goal, a thumping volley into the corner of the goal. The kick-off was a bit late, but after the game I went across the road to the Laos Cultural Centre to see some "Jodaiko" (Japanese for passionate drumming). It was good, as the drummer started off with a giant drum and a log for a drumstick! The crowd was funny as the all clapped wildly when he hits the drum. None of this being quiet during the performance! Then he did a little drumming number starting with a simple rythmn, and repeating with embelishments, until the rhythmn is stuck in your head. Next up, another drummer come on, to beat the other side of the drum. Started off gently, prancing about playful and then BANG! they start beating the crap out of the drum, almost like a martial art.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Vang Vieng
After some faffing about with the buses, I got underway. I had previously bought a ticket for the bus but didn't turn up early enough and now the bus was full. Another 3 people were in the same situation. The overflow gets shoved on a minibus and leaves when it gets enough passengers. Although they put another guy going to Vang Vieng on an empty bus, instead of with us. Confusion reigns. Eventually he got moved onto the minibus and we got underway when one more person arrived. This being Laos we actually arrived before the normal bus, passing it on the way, although we left an hour later.
Vang Vieng primary reson for being on the tourist map is to break up the journey between Luang Prabang and Vietiane, otherwise it's close to a 12 hour journey. I doubt many people live here that are not dependent, if indirectly, on the tourist revinue. Lots of cafes showing Friends. All day. Every day. Odd.
A popular day trip is to float down the river in a tractor inner tube. I wasn't sure about this, but ended up following the trail when I went out for a walk. I walked down the road, stopping off at the small market for a quick nosy. After a while I reached an organic farm where they 'tubers' get dropped off. I decided to loop back and follow the river back down to town. The path comes and goes mostly along the river bank, through some shaded forest and back inland to farm fields. Dotted along the way are small wooden bars where people can refresh themselves with a BeerLao. At one bar there is a death slide, I stopped for a while to watch people slide along. One girl demonstrated how not to go on the slide. She let go nearly immediately at the top and plummeted into the water. Looked a long way down!
I passed a young boy who had been out fishing. Not of this line fishing for the Lao's! He had a spear and an old scuba mask. Also carried a fishing trap, which maybe left out overnight. One of these one-way traps, full of small fish and other squidgy stuff. At the riverbank there were these bright red dragonflies which posed nicely for my camera. Going back along through the village, I saw a big green praying mantis. And then I came across some strange beastie! At first I thought it was a twig in a spiders web, but I noticed it was alive. It floated about, although it was on a thread, it looked like it was flying through space. Very strange anyway.
After a hard days walk it was down to a riverside restaurant for a cool drink. There I chatted with a Japanese farmer. I had always imagined Japanese farming as a traditonal family thing pass down from generation to generation. But, it turned out he had just bought the farm (literally!). Then went for a game of pool, where the table was rubbish! The next night, some Irish geezer decied to arrange a game of killer, the prize a crate of beer. Needless to say, I didn't win. It was the tables fault!
At night I had walked past a Laos marriage. The band were playing some songs. Electric keyboard, electric guitar and vocals. Not sure how traditional that was! But they all got up and shuffled about. They didn't seemed to into the dancing anyway. The bride wore what from a distance looked like an intricate silk dress, while the groom had a white tuxedo ala Saturday Night Fever, smart.
Now it's on the Vientiane, the Paris of the East!
Vang Vieng primary reson for being on the tourist map is to break up the journey between Luang Prabang and Vietiane, otherwise it's close to a 12 hour journey. I doubt many people live here that are not dependent, if indirectly, on the tourist revinue. Lots of cafes showing Friends. All day. Every day. Odd.
A popular day trip is to float down the river in a tractor inner tube. I wasn't sure about this, but ended up following the trail when I went out for a walk. I walked down the road, stopping off at the small market for a quick nosy. After a while I reached an organic farm where they 'tubers' get dropped off. I decided to loop back and follow the river back down to town. The path comes and goes mostly along the river bank, through some shaded forest and back inland to farm fields. Dotted along the way are small wooden bars where people can refresh themselves with a BeerLao. At one bar there is a death slide, I stopped for a while to watch people slide along. One girl demonstrated how not to go on the slide. She let go nearly immediately at the top and plummeted into the water. Looked a long way down!
I passed a young boy who had been out fishing. Not of this line fishing for the Lao's! He had a spear and an old scuba mask. Also carried a fishing trap, which maybe left out overnight. One of these one-way traps, full of small fish and other squidgy stuff. At the riverbank there were these bright red dragonflies which posed nicely for my camera. Going back along through the village, I saw a big green praying mantis. And then I came across some strange beastie! At first I thought it was a twig in a spiders web, but I noticed it was alive. It floated about, although it was on a thread, it looked like it was flying through space. Very strange anyway.
After a hard days walk it was down to a riverside restaurant for a cool drink. There I chatted with a Japanese farmer. I had always imagined Japanese farming as a traditonal family thing pass down from generation to generation. But, it turned out he had just bought the farm (literally!). Then went for a game of pool, where the table was rubbish! The next night, some Irish geezer decied to arrange a game of killer, the prize a crate of beer. Needless to say, I didn't win. It was the tables fault!
At night I had walked past a Laos marriage. The band were playing some songs. Electric keyboard, electric guitar and vocals. Not sure how traditional that was! But they all got up and shuffled about. They didn't seemed to into the dancing anyway. The bride wore what from a distance looked like an intricate silk dress, while the groom had a white tuxedo ala Saturday Night Fever, smart.
Now it's on the Vientiane, the Paris of the East!
Friday, November 04, 2005
Luang Prabang
After finding a guesthouse, it was time for dinner. I had a nice roasted fish at the street market. You can buy something from the stalls, and then get a plate of pick and mix from various veg, rice & pasta dishes. As much as you can fit on one plate for 5000kip. The money is a bit crazy here, prices are given in kip or dollars. Usually end up paying in baht and getting kip back, most confusing! After dinner it was off to a Halloween party at Hive. People had been handing out fliers when people got off the boat, so a lot of the people from the boat came along. Probably enticed by the promise of a free shot of lao-lao (local spirit) with the flier. It got pretty busy, the bar had at least put in some effort on the halloween front, with a skeleton halloween DJ and various other bits and bobs. Halloween special drink was pumpkin, whisky and lao-lao, eurgh! I'll stick to the LaoBeer, nice tasting beer which is very reasonably priced :)
The next day a few people were sporting sore heads. In the morning we went up to the small hill in centre of town, where lurked a small temple, but the main attraction is the view across town. Strangely enough there seem to be a lot more palm trees when viewed from above, rather than at street level. Gina & I managed to get a big group of ten people and hire a van to take us to the waterfall. A very scenic spot, where a few souls braved the cold water for a swim in the natural pool. I took a walk up to a higher level. After some stairs, you had to cross over a minor waterfall, but it meant I'd have to take my trainers off anyway. A bit slippy underfoot in places. There was a bamboo hand barrier, but in one place, it had been broken, I wondered what had happened to the person who had broken it? It was a long way down. You can see that Laos is getting into the tourist way, by charging for entrance to the waterfall and the walk up is surrounded by vendors. Some with just enough English to say "Buy something!".
After that it was a quick stop off at the Hmong village, which was a bit like a zoo. I don't think many people were impressed. Also all the children surround the tourists as soon as they get off the bus and start begging for money, obviously must work sometimes.
After a rather bumpy journey back it was time for dinner, back to the night market. I had my eye on a rather tasty looking chicken. I decided half of one would be more than enough, the vendor then set about it with a cleaver quickly chopping it into lumps, straight through all the bones.
The next day it was over to Wat Xieng Thong for a look about. A temple situated close to the delta of the Mekong and erm.. that other river. Inside one of the wats was a large funeral carriage for the king. I hadn't realised what it was at the time, but in the afternoon I went along to the former Royal Palace and they had a model and an explanation of what it was. The Royal Palace, was as you would expect very fancy. Specifically the main hall, the bedrooms were somewhat austere in comparasion.
Later that night I bumped into another person from the boat, who had a group of people going to see a performance of some Laos ballet. Not my usual thing, but I went along to see what it was like. Turned out to be a story from the Ramayana being re-enacted. We got the cheap seat up the back! It was reminiscent of the Indian Kathakali I saw in Kochi, probably because of the similar looking characters, with odd green & white masks and from the same text. Not bad, but I don't think I'll be a regular attendee.
The next day, was fairly lazy, I did however learn (& forget) how to make some Lao food. The dishes were beef laap & steamed fish. The beef was sliced up thinly and vegetables added, some chicken stock and chilli. The beef is cooked very quickly in a hot pan and mixed all together. I think I cut the beef a bit thick in places, so a bit raw in the middle! The fish was nice, with mint & lemon and greens added and then wrapped in a banana leaf package and place in a steamer for 15 mins. Yummy!
The next day a few people were sporting sore heads. In the morning we went up to the small hill in centre of town, where lurked a small temple, but the main attraction is the view across town. Strangely enough there seem to be a lot more palm trees when viewed from above, rather than at street level. Gina & I managed to get a big group of ten people and hire a van to take us to the waterfall. A very scenic spot, where a few souls braved the cold water for a swim in the natural pool. I took a walk up to a higher level. After some stairs, you had to cross over a minor waterfall, but it meant I'd have to take my trainers off anyway. A bit slippy underfoot in places. There was a bamboo hand barrier, but in one place, it had been broken, I wondered what had happened to the person who had broken it? It was a long way down. You can see that Laos is getting into the tourist way, by charging for entrance to the waterfall and the walk up is surrounded by vendors. Some with just enough English to say "Buy something!".
After that it was a quick stop off at the Hmong village, which was a bit like a zoo. I don't think many people were impressed. Also all the children surround the tourists as soon as they get off the bus and start begging for money, obviously must work sometimes.
After a rather bumpy journey back it was time for dinner, back to the night market. I had my eye on a rather tasty looking chicken. I decided half of one would be more than enough, the vendor then set about it with a cleaver quickly chopping it into lumps, straight through all the bones.
The next day it was over to Wat Xieng Thong for a look about. A temple situated close to the delta of the Mekong and erm.. that other river. Inside one of the wats was a large funeral carriage for the king. I hadn't realised what it was at the time, but in the afternoon I went along to the former Royal Palace and they had a model and an explanation of what it was. The Royal Palace, was as you would expect very fancy. Specifically the main hall, the bedrooms were somewhat austere in comparasion.
Later that night I bumped into another person from the boat, who had a group of people going to see a performance of some Laos ballet. Not my usual thing, but I went along to see what it was like. Turned out to be a story from the Ramayana being re-enacted. We got the cheap seat up the back! It was reminiscent of the Indian Kathakali I saw in Kochi, probably because of the similar looking characters, with odd green & white masks and from the same text. Not bad, but I don't think I'll be a regular attendee.
The next day, was fairly lazy, I did however learn (& forget) how to make some Lao food. The dishes were beef laap & steamed fish. The beef was sliced up thinly and vegetables added, some chicken stock and chilli. The beef is cooked very quickly in a hot pan and mixed all together. I think I cut the beef a bit thick in places, so a bit raw in the middle! The fish was nice, with mint & lemon and greens added and then wrapped in a banana leaf package and place in a steamer for 15 mins. Yummy!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Laos
I had asked the guesthouse in Chiang Mai if there were many buses to the border, they said they left every hour, so I headed over to the bus station at 10:00am to find out the only one leaves at 13:00. Oh well, I had wander around getting used to the backpack again. Found a mall nearby and sat in that for a couple of hours waiting for the time to pass. Then the bus took a lot longer than I expected and the upshot was that by the time I got to the border it was shut.
The next day I had to pay 200baht for overstaying my Thai visa for a day, fair enough. Unlike the people in front of me, who had been told that their visa was for 2month when it was only for 1. Ooops!
After a couple of minutes on a longtail boat, it was across the Mekong and into Laos. With the paperwork done, I went for a walk. One travel agent with a huge queue seem to be selling all the tickets, but if you walked another couple of minutes you got up to the main road. I decided to try and just get to the boat pier. So after talking to a driver, I agreed a price to go to the speedboat pier. On the way, we stopped to pick up a couple of locals and a new bicycle crammed into the back of the truck. Transport is a truck with the back roof taken off and a couple of benches placed inside. After a detour we dropped off the locals and then on the wait to the pier. Didn't look like I had saved any money by going direct to the pier, same travel agent ticket sellers there. After a lot of hanging about, I was told I could go now. I went down to the riverside and then there was some more hanging about. Basically you quickly learn that transports doesn't leave to schedule but when full. So we needed eight people to be crammed onto the speedboat. And I do mean crammed, I had my knees stuck under my chin for 3 hours, while an engine roared in my ears, the wind blasted my eyes and then later the rain smacked off my head. I was glad to get off, everybody else was continuing for 3hours down to Luang Prabang. I got off at Pak Beng, roughly half way.
I seemed to be the only foreigner here. I quickly found a cheap guesthouse nearby, and had a nosy about. A quiet little village, a few guesthouses and restaurants with English-written menus, and then it seemed like residential area with small huts. I walked past a pool hall, where some teenagers invited me for a game. They only played with four balls set in a diamond, potted by number. The table was in the worst condition I have ever seen! Still, they seemed to enjoy playing it. Later went for some food, a nice creamy chicken dish, quite mild, no chillies.
The next morning I went down to the pier to see what time the slow boat to Luang Prabang leaves, turns out a lot earlier than me getting out of bed. So another day in Pak Beng. Turned out to be good though. I tried to hire a bike from across the road, but as I wasn't staying in their hotel they wouldn't let me hire the bike. Hmm, interesting usually they just take your money!
As there wasn't much else to do I decided to go for a long walk. The road goes from the pier inland, yes there is only one road with no branches, so not much thought needed as to where I would walk! I continually passed small villages separated by a short distance, the further I went the more people stared at me! I continued on for a few hours, I had seen buses occasionally whizz past so I hoped I could take one back rather than retrace my walk. A few boys on their bikes had been talking to me as I walked down. I asked one if I could get the bus back here, he said I could wait here. So I stopped walking and waited. It seemed like half the village had come out to stare at me. I had a group of around twenty people a few safe metres away just standing looking at the strange foreign guy. The kid then suggested I buy some food from him. As I was a bit peckish, and I had noticed the complete lack of shops outside town I agreed. He ended up inviting me into his house, where I sat down on a tiny stool and they brought out the sticky rice (in a bamboo container) a plate of chilies and a plate of something else. It was dark inside, not helped by the fact that the twenty onlookers had crowd round the door to watch me eat! I dipped the rice into the chilies and found out they were very hot!! Then I turned my attention to the other dish, as they encouraged me to eat. Oooh, some French cuisine, escargot. Oh well, I didn't feel I could refuse, so I picked one up and pulled it out the shell and chewed. Actually not too bad infused with herbs, something similar to mint. But the idea doesn't agree with my stomach so I just had the one, then stuck to plain rice!
After I paid the old woman who had served the dishes 5000kip (25p??). She seemed happy enough, repeatedly thanking me, then back outside into the bright light. The kids then said I could take one of their bikes back to town. So I jumped on the bike and we set off, actually it was quite far. One of the kids made the mistake of trying to show off by going no-handys he wobbled left, right, bam straight into the ground. Unfortunately I was right behind and the bike had no brakes, and I crunched right into his bike, but luckily not him. Still, he had a few cuts, which he covered up quickly chewing some nearby plants and placing it on the grazes to act as a plaster and stop the bleeding.
Another kid tried to outrace me, hah, I'll show him, so we both pedalled furiously going neck in neck (he was a lot lighter than me, it was easy for him!!) much to the amazed looks of passerbys, seeing the crazy foreign guy whizz past on a local bike.
The next day I headed down early to make sure I got the boat, and a mere 8 hours later I arrived in Luang Prabang.
The next day I had to pay 200baht for overstaying my Thai visa for a day, fair enough. Unlike the people in front of me, who had been told that their visa was for 2month when it was only for 1. Ooops!
After a couple of minutes on a longtail boat, it was across the Mekong and into Laos. With the paperwork done, I went for a walk. One travel agent with a huge queue seem to be selling all the tickets, but if you walked another couple of minutes you got up to the main road. I decided to try and just get to the boat pier. So after talking to a driver, I agreed a price to go to the speedboat pier. On the way, we stopped to pick up a couple of locals and a new bicycle crammed into the back of the truck. Transport is a truck with the back roof taken off and a couple of benches placed inside. After a detour we dropped off the locals and then on the wait to the pier. Didn't look like I had saved any money by going direct to the pier, same travel agent ticket sellers there. After a lot of hanging about, I was told I could go now. I went down to the riverside and then there was some more hanging about. Basically you quickly learn that transports doesn't leave to schedule but when full. So we needed eight people to be crammed onto the speedboat. And I do mean crammed, I had my knees stuck under my chin for 3 hours, while an engine roared in my ears, the wind blasted my eyes and then later the rain smacked off my head. I was glad to get off, everybody else was continuing for 3hours down to Luang Prabang. I got off at Pak Beng, roughly half way.
I seemed to be the only foreigner here. I quickly found a cheap guesthouse nearby, and had a nosy about. A quiet little village, a few guesthouses and restaurants with English-written menus, and then it seemed like residential area with small huts. I walked past a pool hall, where some teenagers invited me for a game. They only played with four balls set in a diamond, potted by number. The table was in the worst condition I have ever seen! Still, they seemed to enjoy playing it. Later went for some food, a nice creamy chicken dish, quite mild, no chillies.
The next morning I went down to the pier to see what time the slow boat to Luang Prabang leaves, turns out a lot earlier than me getting out of bed. So another day in Pak Beng. Turned out to be good though. I tried to hire a bike from across the road, but as I wasn't staying in their hotel they wouldn't let me hire the bike. Hmm, interesting usually they just take your money!
As there wasn't much else to do I decided to go for a long walk. The road goes from the pier inland, yes there is only one road with no branches, so not much thought needed as to where I would walk! I continually passed small villages separated by a short distance, the further I went the more people stared at me! I continued on for a few hours, I had seen buses occasionally whizz past so I hoped I could take one back rather than retrace my walk. A few boys on their bikes had been talking to me as I walked down. I asked one if I could get the bus back here, he said I could wait here. So I stopped walking and waited. It seemed like half the village had come out to stare at me. I had a group of around twenty people a few safe metres away just standing looking at the strange foreign guy. The kid then suggested I buy some food from him. As I was a bit peckish, and I had noticed the complete lack of shops outside town I agreed. He ended up inviting me into his house, where I sat down on a tiny stool and they brought out the sticky rice (in a bamboo container) a plate of chilies and a plate of something else. It was dark inside, not helped by the fact that the twenty onlookers had crowd round the door to watch me eat! I dipped the rice into the chilies and found out they were very hot!! Then I turned my attention to the other dish, as they encouraged me to eat. Oooh, some French cuisine, escargot. Oh well, I didn't feel I could refuse, so I picked one up and pulled it out the shell and chewed. Actually not too bad infused with herbs, something similar to mint. But the idea doesn't agree with my stomach so I just had the one, then stuck to plain rice!
After I paid the old woman who had served the dishes 5000kip (25p??). She seemed happy enough, repeatedly thanking me, then back outside into the bright light. The kids then said I could take one of their bikes back to town. So I jumped on the bike and we set off, actually it was quite far. One of the kids made the mistake of trying to show off by going no-handys he wobbled left, right, bam straight into the ground. Unfortunately I was right behind and the bike had no brakes, and I crunched right into his bike, but luckily not him. Still, he had a few cuts, which he covered up quickly chewing some nearby plants and placing it on the grazes to act as a plaster and stop the bleeding.
Another kid tried to outrace me, hah, I'll show him, so we both pedalled furiously going neck in neck (he was a lot lighter than me, it was easy for him!!) much to the amazed looks of passerbys, seeing the crazy foreign guy whizz past on a local bike.
The next day I headed down early to make sure I got the boat, and a mere 8 hours later I arrived in Luang Prabang.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Chiang Mai
After eventually arriving at Chiang Mai, I was beseiged by taxi touts trying to take you to their guesthouse. I decided I was just have a wander about, I had glanced at one of the maps and a guesthouse lay to the right. On reconsideration the map was probably upside down, as the reality is everything is to the left of the train station.
I had picked up a second-hand South East Asia LP at Khao San Road, but after checking it I found all the Chiang Mai pages had been ripped out. Anyway, I stopped one of these taxi-bus-songthaews and got him to take me to a guesthouse near the night bazaar.
Every night in Chiang Mai the pavements become crammed with street vendors selling their various wares. Although a lot of it looks like the same stuff! Then at the weekend there is the BIG night market in the old walled city. I went along to this and was suprised how busy it was. You end up just shuffling along slowly going with the crowds. No way out! Also as well as the usual handicrafts, there are some buskers doing their thing. Some traditional 4 string Thai instruments played with a bow, making strange noises.
One day I headed up the hill to Doi Suthep, a temple perched high above Chiang Mai. A series of steps leads you up to the temple itself. And there is a lot of gold used there! Golden pillars, golden statues, golden buddhas. Also a nice view back down to Chiang Mai itself. Quite a few cyclist stuggling up the big hill. Saw more cyclist in one day here than on my entire bike trip.
Tomorrow I head to the Thai border, where I should cross over the Mekong into Laos!
I had picked up a second-hand South East Asia LP at Khao San Road, but after checking it I found all the Chiang Mai pages had been ripped out. Anyway, I stopped one of these taxi-bus-songthaews and got him to take me to a guesthouse near the night bazaar.
Every night in Chiang Mai the pavements become crammed with street vendors selling their various wares. Although a lot of it looks like the same stuff! Then at the weekend there is the BIG night market in the old walled city. I went along to this and was suprised how busy it was. You end up just shuffling along slowly going with the crowds. No way out! Also as well as the usual handicrafts, there are some buskers doing their thing. Some traditional 4 string Thai instruments played with a bow, making strange noises.
One day I headed up the hill to Doi Suthep, a temple perched high above Chiang Mai. A series of steps leads you up to the temple itself. And there is a lot of gold used there! Golden pillars, golden statues, golden buddhas. Also a nice view back down to Chiang Mai itself. Quite a few cyclist stuggling up the big hill. Saw more cyclist in one day here than on my entire bike trip.
Tomorrow I head to the Thai border, where I should cross over the Mekong into Laos!
Friday, October 21, 2005
Bangkok
Bangkok
In 2548, after cycling over 3 million metres I arrived in Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. Which translates to 'The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.' or more commonly known as Bangkok. In Thailand they use the Buddhist calendar which starts 543 years before the Christian calendar, so 2005 is 2548. The final distance from Singapore to Bangkok on a roundabout route, and skipping a few bits by boat came to 3020km (1877 miles). Anyway, after all that cycling I decided it would be good to spend some time in one place, so I went flat-hunting. There are some places advertised in the Bangkok post, so I phoned them up, but most of them were full. I went to have a look at one place, and on my way I saw another apartment for rent, so I went and had a look. I decided to take this one and I was up in the 13th floor. Just a studio room, bigger than the other ones I had seen. And it had a fridge to store my cheese slices in!
I was staying close-ish to the Victory Monument skytrain station. A ten minute walk or so, and then I could jump on the train elsewhere. The skytrain and metro work well, which is a lot better than can be said for the roads which are pretty much constantly snarled up with traffic all day. Plenty of taxis, but all they do is sit in traffic jams, creating a haze of pollution! And don't even think about trying to cross the road as a pedestrian. Best to use a bridge. While the cars might all be still, the motorbikes will be weaving their way through the chaos.
I hadn't heard much music on my travels, so it was nice to be somewhere with a music scene. So I saw some good bands. Whilst I was staying in my guesthouse in Banglamphu I went to see a blues band play in the stangely names Ad the 13th. Geogia's Blues Band or something they were called. They played 5 nights a week, so plenty of practice. I chatted to a guy who had seen them quite a few times before, he'd been coming back to Thailand for a few years now. After the gig, the band were heading off to another music place, Saxophone, and invited us along. So we jumped in a taxi and arrived at Saxaphone, where another band was pumping out the tunes. It took me a while to realise, but the Saxaphone pub, was besides my flat, so I was in there a few times. Jazz-tastic!
Also went along to the Rock Pub, (great name, that must of taken a long time to think of) complete with large neon sign that says "School of Rock!". The first band up, weren't taking themselves to seriously, playing "I will survive"! I think they had a new line-up, a bit hesitant. Mind you better than I expected for a Tuesday night. Then the next band up were old school Classic Rock. With a long haired frontman, who looked like he should be in a shampoo advert, the thumb-plucking fat bassist (why are most bass players fat?) , the nonchalant guitar maestro and a Spinal Tap-esque rotation of drummers! They used up three drummers! The singer asked for any requests, and someone shouted out Foo Fighters and then they ended up playing Come As You Are, by Nirvana. I don't think I've ever seen a guitarist so bored, as he plodded through the song. He had previously just outplayed Jimmy Page on an old Led Zep number.
Also popped along to see a Thai Folk Band. Well one drunk guy in the corner liked the songs as he sang along and clapped (out of time), but somehow having lyrics in an unknown language doesn't work for me. Another night I went along to Tokyo Joes, where a guy, Ryan Adam was playing eclectic accoustic songs. Kinda strange, but quite good. Also saw a band called Live after Nine, who had a slightly crazy electric fiddle playing front man. Played some old Irish songs (Aah, ooh, me-daddio there's whisky at the bar), as they were Canadian. The frontman had a wireless thingy so he could run about the pub as he played "the world's fastest fiddle song". Done a good version of the ants go marching in one-by-one!
Nearby at Victory Point there was a food court, one time I got some nice pork, rice, bbq sauce and some noodle soup. They also give you another clear soup to go with the pork. I made the mistake of finishing it before I had eaten all the rest of my meal, and the guy whipped it away and replaced it full again. Oh, I've only had 2 bowls of soup. Please, Sir, can I have some more? Also popular here is the English Premier league, due to the time difference it airs on Saturday night. When you see Thai guys slagging off each other teams.
I managed to catch the flu in Bangkok, so I slept a lot! (Yes, even more than usual) At least it wasn't bird flu! Somehow a month whizzed by and it was time to move on. I bought a sleeper train ticket to Chiang Mai, and then lost the ticket! I didn't know the number so I couldn't get it re-issued. Ended up with a normal seat for 14 hours. Numb bum!
In 2548, after cycling over 3 million metres I arrived in Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. Which translates to 'The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.' or more commonly known as Bangkok. In Thailand they use the Buddhist calendar which starts 543 years before the Christian calendar, so 2005 is 2548. The final distance from Singapore to Bangkok on a roundabout route, and skipping a few bits by boat came to 3020km (1877 miles). Anyway, after all that cycling I decided it would be good to spend some time in one place, so I went flat-hunting. There are some places advertised in the Bangkok post, so I phoned them up, but most of them were full. I went to have a look at one place, and on my way I saw another apartment for rent, so I went and had a look. I decided to take this one and I was up in the 13th floor. Just a studio room, bigger than the other ones I had seen. And it had a fridge to store my cheese slices in!
I was staying close-ish to the Victory Monument skytrain station. A ten minute walk or so, and then I could jump on the train elsewhere. The skytrain and metro work well, which is a lot better than can be said for the roads which are pretty much constantly snarled up with traffic all day. Plenty of taxis, but all they do is sit in traffic jams, creating a haze of pollution! And don't even think about trying to cross the road as a pedestrian. Best to use a bridge. While the cars might all be still, the motorbikes will be weaving their way through the chaos.
I hadn't heard much music on my travels, so it was nice to be somewhere with a music scene. So I saw some good bands. Whilst I was staying in my guesthouse in Banglamphu I went to see a blues band play in the stangely names Ad the 13th. Geogia's Blues Band or something they were called. They played 5 nights a week, so plenty of practice. I chatted to a guy who had seen them quite a few times before, he'd been coming back to Thailand for a few years now. After the gig, the band were heading off to another music place, Saxophone, and invited us along. So we jumped in a taxi and arrived at Saxaphone, where another band was pumping out the tunes. It took me a while to realise, but the Saxaphone pub, was besides my flat, so I was in there a few times. Jazz-tastic!
Also went along to the Rock Pub, (great name, that must of taken a long time to think of) complete with large neon sign that says "School of Rock!". The first band up, weren't taking themselves to seriously, playing "I will survive"! I think they had a new line-up, a bit hesitant. Mind you better than I expected for a Tuesday night. Then the next band up were old school Classic Rock. With a long haired frontman, who looked like he should be in a shampoo advert, the thumb-plucking fat bassist (why are most bass players fat?) , the nonchalant guitar maestro and a Spinal Tap-esque rotation of drummers! They used up three drummers! The singer asked for any requests, and someone shouted out Foo Fighters and then they ended up playing Come As You Are, by Nirvana. I don't think I've ever seen a guitarist so bored, as he plodded through the song. He had previously just outplayed Jimmy Page on an old Led Zep number.
Also popped along to see a Thai Folk Band. Well one drunk guy in the corner liked the songs as he sang along and clapped (out of time), but somehow having lyrics in an unknown language doesn't work for me. Another night I went along to Tokyo Joes, where a guy, Ryan Adam was playing eclectic accoustic songs. Kinda strange, but quite good. Also saw a band called Live after Nine, who had a slightly crazy electric fiddle playing front man. Played some old Irish songs (Aah, ooh, me-daddio there's whisky at the bar), as they were Canadian. The frontman had a wireless thingy so he could run about the pub as he played "the world's fastest fiddle song". Done a good version of the ants go marching in one-by-one!
Nearby at Victory Point there was a food court, one time I got some nice pork, rice, bbq sauce and some noodle soup. They also give you another clear soup to go with the pork. I made the mistake of finishing it before I had eaten all the rest of my meal, and the guy whipped it away and replaced it full again. Oh, I've only had 2 bowls of soup. Please, Sir, can I have some more? Also popular here is the English Premier league, due to the time difference it airs on Saturday night. When you see Thai guys slagging off each other teams.
I managed to catch the flu in Bangkok, so I slept a lot! (Yes, even more than usual) At least it wasn't bird flu! Somehow a month whizzed by and it was time to move on. I bought a sleeper train ticket to Chiang Mai, and then lost the ticket! I didn't know the number so I couldn't get it re-issued. Ended up with a normal seat for 14 hours. Numb bum!
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Chaam & North
I hopped on my bike for an hour and zoomed up the coast from Hua Hin to Chaam. I decided to grab some lunch and as I was walking along I saw some roast chickens looking all tasty. Then the guy came across and asked if I wanted pork and pointed at the large splayed pig on a spit above a charcoal burner. Looked good as well, so I had some of that. The guy asked whether I wanted 1 kilo or 1/2kilo, I chose the smaller. I kinda assumed that I most be getting ribs as 1/2kilo of just meat sounded a lot. He soon had the pig of the spit and quickly hacked off the leg. That was pretty much mine, no bones just a big piled plate of meat. After a lengthy time I gave up with a good portion eaten. The next two days I didn't feel so good! Spending my time in close vacinity to the bathroom.
After that I headed on North to Petchaburi. I was looking for a guesthouse when I went down a lane and the dogs started barking, and then a woman came out and told me it was a hotel. Even the one I was looking for, good stuff. After shoving bike & bags away I went for a butchers to see a few of the thirty odd temples that cover the town. There was a nice old teak building and also lots of buddha statues inside the main bot. I was taking a few photos (the monk said I could take photos inside) when some people come in and start praying, so I just wander off out their way.
The next temple had some nice stone carvings outside with scary faces and then one face looked strangley out of place, looked like Harry Potter! Not sure how that got there, one of life's little mysteries.
The next day continued on towards the town of Samut Songkhran. I was unable to find much info about here as the only hotel mentioned in my guide book was pricey. I stopped for lunch and asked somebody about accommodation and they just shook their head and said no hotel until Bangkok. Hmmm, that's not good! Another 80km and it would be very dark and very tiring! Still not too worry, they didn't know of what they spoke. Samut Songkhran turned out to be a busy little town with at least a couple of hotels, maybe more. I shacked up at one for the night, getting some rest before the big ride tommorrow -- Bangkok!
After that I headed on North to Petchaburi. I was looking for a guesthouse when I went down a lane and the dogs started barking, and then a woman came out and told me it was a hotel. Even the one I was looking for, good stuff. After shoving bike & bags away I went for a butchers to see a few of the thirty odd temples that cover the town. There was a nice old teak building and also lots of buddha statues inside the main bot. I was taking a few photos (the monk said I could take photos inside) when some people come in and start praying, so I just wander off out their way.
The next temple had some nice stone carvings outside with scary faces and then one face looked strangley out of place, looked like Harry Potter! Not sure how that got there, one of life's little mysteries.
The next day continued on towards the town of Samut Songkhran. I was unable to find much info about here as the only hotel mentioned in my guide book was pricey. I stopped for lunch and asked somebody about accommodation and they just shook their head and said no hotel until Bangkok. Hmmm, that's not good! Another 80km and it would be very dark and very tiring! Still not too worry, they didn't know of what they spoke. Samut Songkhran turned out to be a busy little town with at least a couple of hotels, maybe more. I shacked up at one for the night, getting some rest before the big ride tommorrow -- Bangkok!
Hua Hin
As I cycled into Hua Hin there seemed to be a lot of police and miltary lurking about. Turned out it was the opening day of the Kings Elephant Polo Cup, and some bigwigs were out hobnobbing. I had missed the opening ceremonies on that day, but I went along later to catch a bit of the play.
I just jumped on a motorbike taxi as I didn't recall seeing any signs on the way down. I must of cycled straight past it previously. Anyway, there were 32 teams playing in the tournament. First up were the All Blacks who started off with the Haka to frighten the opposition, who responded by signing some French ditty. Then everybody was up on there elephant with their mahouts(drivers) and polo sticks. And then the referees drops the ball and Action. The elephants lumber about while the players weild their sticks with abandon, all the time the commentator is trying to make it seem fast and furious. And then some poor guys get the jobs of pooper-scooper, gives you muscles hefting all that dung! The people and the players seemed a bit hoighty-toighty. I was almost expecting to get asked whether I went to Cambridge or Eton, haha.
The commentator mentioned that Chivas Regal team is apparently the best team in the world. They started against the Australian team at 0-3. However at least one of the Australians had only ever been on an elephant for 30 seconds. By half time it was 4-3 to Chivas Regal. Not much of a match, though.
I just jumped on a motorbike taxi as I didn't recall seeing any signs on the way down. I must of cycled straight past it previously. Anyway, there were 32 teams playing in the tournament. First up were the All Blacks who started off with the Haka to frighten the opposition, who responded by signing some French ditty. Then everybody was up on there elephant with their mahouts(drivers) and polo sticks. And then the referees drops the ball and Action. The elephants lumber about while the players weild their sticks with abandon, all the time the commentator is trying to make it seem fast and furious. And then some poor guys get the jobs of pooper-scooper, gives you muscles hefting all that dung! The people and the players seemed a bit hoighty-toighty. I was almost expecting to get asked whether I went to Cambridge or Eton, haha.
The commentator mentioned that Chivas Regal team is apparently the best team in the world. They started against the Australian team at 0-3. However at least one of the Australians had only ever been on an elephant for 30 seconds. By half time it was 4-3 to Chivas Regal. Not much of a match, though.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Smited!
I woke up in the morning to find my tyre flat. I pumped it up again, but after a few km (in the wrong direction) it was flat again. Grrr! So I got the tyre off and put in a spare inner tube. However, getting the final bit of the tyre onto the rim was proving a whole lot more difficult. After much stretching and groaning, still no further. Then a guy with a pickup truck drove past, reversed and offered me a lift back into town to the "bicycle shop". I didn't expect to find a bicycle shop out here in the middle of nowhere, and I was correct. Turned out to be a mechanics. Still, helpfull mechanics though! I just about managed to stop them from tearing off the tyre again, miming that I wanted it back on. Within a few minutes, with four pairs of hands and a couple of feet. The tyre was fixed. Huzzah!
So I continued on my way, after asking directions this time. After about another three kilometres, it started raining. Heavily. Shortly followed by a psssss noise, eerily similar to that of a tyre deflating. Yep, another puncture! I saw a sign for a hotel a short distance away, so I trudged along through the puddles pushing my bike. But when I arrived it was full of trimmed lawns and posh little buildings and they wanted 1200baht for the cheapest room, eek! As I contemplated walking all the way back to the mechanics, the manageress, Na, asked if she could help. Then she mentioned she had a pickup truck and could give me a lift. So back to the mechanics (who all snickered at seeing me again so soon) and the inner tube was patched, and my second spare inner tube used (who would of thought I had two spares!). And the price, for me, was free!
I had mentioned earlier to Na that I was planning to go to Bang Saphan, and she offered me a lift across there. Cool, I was kinda fed up with the bike by now. So I got a lift to the next town, and found a hotel with a reasonable price. A bad day into a good day, thanks to the friendly folk of Thailand!
Although, the guesthouse was literally in the middle of nowhere. I looked down the road to the right, nothing as far as the eye could see, and on the left a small shop, and then nothing! I tried to get some food at the guesthouse, I seemed to be the only person there. Lots of pointing involved. In retrospect I think, I must of gave them the idea that I didn't want Thai food, saying "No Thai" when they talked to me, meaning I didn't speak Thai. I ended up with a plate of rice and a deep fried omelette, then off to the shop for some donuts!
So I continued on my way, after asking directions this time. After about another three kilometres, it started raining. Heavily. Shortly followed by a psssss noise, eerily similar to that of a tyre deflating. Yep, another puncture! I saw a sign for a hotel a short distance away, so I trudged along through the puddles pushing my bike. But when I arrived it was full of trimmed lawns and posh little buildings and they wanted 1200baht for the cheapest room, eek! As I contemplated walking all the way back to the mechanics, the manageress, Na, asked if she could help. Then she mentioned she had a pickup truck and could give me a lift. So back to the mechanics (who all snickered at seeing me again so soon) and the inner tube was patched, and my second spare inner tube used (who would of thought I had two spares!). And the price, for me, was free!
I had mentioned earlier to Na that I was planning to go to Bang Saphan, and she offered me a lift across there. Cool, I was kinda fed up with the bike by now. So I got a lift to the next town, and found a hotel with a reasonable price. A bad day into a good day, thanks to the friendly folk of Thailand!
Although, the guesthouse was literally in the middle of nowhere. I looked down the road to the right, nothing as far as the eye could see, and on the left a small shop, and then nothing! I tried to get some food at the guesthouse, I seemed to be the only person there. Lots of pointing involved. In retrospect I think, I must of gave them the idea that I didn't want Thai food, saying "No Thai" when they talked to me, meaning I didn't speak Thai. I ended up with a plate of rice and a deep fried omelette, then off to the shop for some donuts!
Monday, September 05, 2005
BangBurd
I set off from Chumpon a bit later than planned, but I never did like getting out of bed. After circling round a bit, I found a road heading out (somewhere!). I thought this would be the road on my map which follows the coast, but eventually I got pushed back onto the main highway. After a bit more cycling, I went past a sign saying shortcut to Chumpon. I most of taken the long road. I headed back towards the coast and onto the minor roads. The surface isn't as good as the highway, but a lot less traffic. I bounced along through orchards and fruit fields and rubber plantations. Then tried to continue north. It was getting a bit late, so I stopped at the next place to see if I could find somewhere to stay, but no look. They pointed me off to the mysterious Bangburd resort. I saw a sign where it said KM but no number! After more cycling down minor roads, I asked some people, ah only 5km. After 5km I asked more people, 10km further on. After about 15km and getting dark I finally came into town. But not before all the dogs intown realised a stranger had entered. Now, I used to like dogs, but put me on a bike and dogs HATE me. Turning from Andrex puppies into huge crazed, rabid, slabbering hounds of hell intent on ripping off your leg at the armpit. I usually tried and whizz pass them before they realise. One time going up a slight hill I came across a placid looking beast, and thought I would try and amble past peacefully. It almost worked and then it went crazy and I was right beside it. Strangely, some music started blasting out from somewhere at the same time and it ran away. I'll stick to whizzing past in the future, god help me if I encounter a deranged whippet. Well, I finally found the hotel, and quite nice and quite pricey it was too. I got them down from 900baht to 600baht. I wasn't going to be going anywhere else at 19.00 and I was knackered. So much for a gentle re-introduction to the bike, after all the detours and hotel hunting, I'd done over 100km.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Chumphon
I got the boat across from Ko Tao to Chumphon. Had to wait till everybody was off the boat until I could take my bike off. Another couple of German touring cyclist had ridden from Chang Mai in the north down to Chumpon, but now flying home. After eventually getting off the boat, I followed the bus to the main road into Chumpon about 7km away. It was starting to get dark. By the time I found a place to stay it was dinner time, off to a resturant for some Rad Naa. The next day, I tried to find a bike shop and after a while I found two, unfortunately neither could replace my spokes. Oh well, I found a travel agency and arrange to go over to Mynamar the next day. This will allow me a bit more time in Thailand, as my visa is a double entry, 2 month one. I need to exit and re-enter after the first sixty days, and then I get another sixty days. You need to pay $5 to get the visa for Mynamar. I dug around and came up with $4, so close! Still, I gave them some extra baht and I got rid of my $4. After a couple of hours on the mini-bus across to the other side of Thailand, we arrived at Ranong, where a car picked me up and took me along to the immigration office to get a Thailand exit stamp, and then onto the boat. The tour guy takes all the passports, and we trundle across to Mynamar, when we arrive, the guy hops out to the paperwork place and stamps all the passports and then after ten minutes jumps back on the boat. So I didn't even step foot on Mynamar soil. In that ten minutes Mynamar guys jump on the boat and try and sell cheap cigarettes and booze. Then back to the Thai Immigration office, then a car to the busstop and the minibus to Chumpon. Well, at least I got my visa extended.
Ko Tao
I bumped into Dan, Marko & Nako at the boat departure, they were also going to Ko Tao, so we joined up. They were going diving, I was planning on some hectic reading under a palm tree. I did borrow Daniel's snorkel once, to go out and have a look. At first it was really sandy, but once you got out a bit further it was clearer and saw some fish. I think the times I went in Malayasia were better, but maybe if you jumped on a boat to once of the dive sites and snorkelled there it would be good. Still I saw some strange fish and corals. I was going to only stay for a few days, but a pleasant place, so I ended up lounging about for five days. All this sitting about doing not a lot but eating, drinking, chatting and reading is going to make getting back on the bike a lot harder!
There was good book shop, run by the slightly crazy Mr J. who has signs all over the island. "Mr J. buy anything!", "To be good tourist tip Mr J. Everyone happy!" etc. I bought The Curious Incident of the dog at night-time (or whatever it's called) and Mr J. deemed the purchase worthy of a couple of free rambutans. Another time some free bananas. I read "Rule of Four" also. Another hard day at the office :)
There was good book shop, run by the slightly crazy Mr J. who has signs all over the island. "Mr J. buy anything!", "To be good tourist tip Mr J. Everyone happy!" etc. I bought The Curious Incident of the dog at night-time (or whatever it's called) and Mr J. deemed the purchase worthy of a couple of free rambutans. Another time some free bananas. I read "Rule of Four" also. Another hard day at the office :)
Ko Pha Nga
After jumping on the boat from Ko Samui, I headed to Ko Pha Nga. From there I struggled my bike the 10km to Hat Rin. It was really tough going. I never seen roads that go straight up like that before! They go from flat to what felt like 45degrees. Needless to say, I spent most of my time pushing it up, and rolling down. I got to another big dusty hill, over the other side was the place I wanted to stay. But this was too steep, combined with the dust meant that when I tried to push my bike up I just slipped straight back down! As I was struggling with this a pickup from the guesthouse came along and gave my a lift the final 200m, good timing. I settled into my small bungalow towards the top of the hill, a scramble up and down. I went down to the restaurant for a beer and met Daniel, Marko and Nako. Dan and Marko were both French chefs, while Nako was Marko's Japanese girlfriend. Daniel had spent some time working in a restuarant on the west coast of Scotland, so he could understand my accent well! This is the kind of place where days are for sleeping and nights are for drinking. A week here was long enough. I watched the Old Firm game here, in a pub full of Celtic supporters, and none of them bought me a drink at the final whistle! I probably should of written this blog more recently as I can't remembered much about what happened a few weeks ago. Must be my age...
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Surat Thani
I grabbed some lunch in a cafe, with the intention of trying to find a bike shop to fix another broken spoke. However the owner started talking about being a film extra, so after a chat with her and a couple of other foreigners who were being ropped in as well, I decided to go along. I grabbed my bags and bike and threw it in the back of the pickup.
After a while of going round in circles, sign were spotted that pointed towards the "Location". Once there we signed disclaimer forms about being filmed, something along the lines of them having the rights for "eternity" throughout the "universe". Guess the lawyers are taking any chances given the wording. The film is called BlackBeard, so you can guess it's a pirate thing. Actually I think it is a mini-series rather than a film. It stars Angus MacFadyen, who played Robert the Bruce in Braveheart. Haha, guess his career has gone down the tubes! He's seems to have bulked up for the role, he was pretty podgy.
Then grabbed a bit of food, noticing that everybody else had their plates piled high and was wolfing it down. The food was better than I expected with a buffet of various meat, veg & fruit. After food we were off to costume to get changed. I was handed the role of customer, a bit disappointing I wanted to be a pirate. Oh well, maybe they would see my latent talent. After the costume change we were pointed off to the set. Actually the set was quite impressive, with a large clock tower and a few streets, as well as a pier with ships.
Being an extra larged consists of sitting around doing nothing, until you get collared by some staff. I was grabbed for a bar scene, and made to walk from A to B to C. You do one take, then hang about some more. "Back to one, everybody!" They fiddle with the lights and cameras and then you go again. Except this time a lighting rig is in the path where you were walking! After an hour or so, I was dismissed to go back to sitting around out of shot. We arrived at 14.30 and filmed/sat about through the night, breaking for "lunch" at 10.30, some cold hotdogs and sandwiches done the rounds later. It finished about 06.00 and about 07.30 by the time we were back at the hotel. Then back on the bus at 15.30 for the next days shoot. The camp seemed to split into two groups, people like me who are nosy and then the people who actually want to be actors. Some of the latter are the kind of people who suddenly break into song while walking along. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed on set, so I don't have photos of me in my costume. (Phew!)
Same thing, walk about the background while they shoot the scene. Walking back and forward for a few hours. Then another few hours while the set up the next scene and change the lights. Then we were in the distant, distant background. Basically moving shadows. Finished up around 03.00 I think, the bus was going to the pier to Ko Samui, so I joined them. As the bus was about to leave, a huge guy stepped on the bus and walked up to a German geezer and says, "I think you have something belonging to me. Can I have your bag?" The German guy, walks up the back of the bus and takes his bag off, while another guy spots a bag under the seat and drags that off as well. Turns out he nicked a couple of pistols from the set. Stealing a firearm is probably not a charge you want in Thailand! Eventually the bus was off, stopping at a 7/11 in the middle of nowhere. But they are obviously wise to this, as they had 3 or 4 staff on during the dead hours. As the bus was about to leave, an Irish guy notices his bag is missing. The German guy must of grabbed his bag! He stays at the hotel to get it sorted out. Later at the pier one of the staff turns up with the missing bag, but it turns out to belong to a middle age woman, which the German thief had taken. The Irish guys bag must of being on another bus or something. All very complicated. Oh well, I untied my bike from the back of the bus and got on the car ferry to Ko Samui, I wasn't really planning on going here, but nevermind. I got a hotel close to the pier and slept, a lot. 09.00 till 19.00, got up had some dinner and then back to bed and woke up at 13.00. I'm losing days! I was going to get the 11.00 ferry to Ko Phan Nga but I missed that so another day here.
More about BlackBeard
After a while of going round in circles, sign were spotted that pointed towards the "Location". Once there we signed disclaimer forms about being filmed, something along the lines of them having the rights for "eternity" throughout the "universe". Guess the lawyers are taking any chances given the wording. The film is called BlackBeard, so you can guess it's a pirate thing. Actually I think it is a mini-series rather than a film. It stars Angus MacFadyen, who played Robert the Bruce in Braveheart. Haha, guess his career has gone down the tubes! He's seems to have bulked up for the role, he was pretty podgy.
Then grabbed a bit of food, noticing that everybody else had their plates piled high and was wolfing it down. The food was better than I expected with a buffet of various meat, veg & fruit. After food we were off to costume to get changed. I was handed the role of customer, a bit disappointing I wanted to be a pirate. Oh well, maybe they would see my latent talent. After the costume change we were pointed off to the set. Actually the set was quite impressive, with a large clock tower and a few streets, as well as a pier with ships.
Being an extra larged consists of sitting around doing nothing, until you get collared by some staff. I was grabbed for a bar scene, and made to walk from A to B to C. You do one take, then hang about some more. "Back to one, everybody!" They fiddle with the lights and cameras and then you go again. Except this time a lighting rig is in the path where you were walking! After an hour or so, I was dismissed to go back to sitting around out of shot. We arrived at 14.30 and filmed/sat about through the night, breaking for "lunch" at 10.30, some cold hotdogs and sandwiches done the rounds later. It finished about 06.00 and about 07.30 by the time we were back at the hotel. Then back on the bus at 15.30 for the next days shoot. The camp seemed to split into two groups, people like me who are nosy and then the people who actually want to be actors. Some of the latter are the kind of people who suddenly break into song while walking along. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed on set, so I don't have photos of me in my costume. (Phew!)
Same thing, walk about the background while they shoot the scene. Walking back and forward for a few hours. Then another few hours while the set up the next scene and change the lights. Then we were in the distant, distant background. Basically moving shadows. Finished up around 03.00 I think, the bus was going to the pier to Ko Samui, so I joined them. As the bus was about to leave, a huge guy stepped on the bus and walked up to a German geezer and says, "I think you have something belonging to me. Can I have your bag?" The German guy, walks up the back of the bus and takes his bag off, while another guy spots a bag under the seat and drags that off as well. Turns out he nicked a couple of pistols from the set. Stealing a firearm is probably not a charge you want in Thailand! Eventually the bus was off, stopping at a 7/11 in the middle of nowhere. But they are obviously wise to this, as they had 3 or 4 staff on during the dead hours. As the bus was about to leave, an Irish guy notices his bag is missing. The German guy must of grabbed his bag! He stays at the hotel to get it sorted out. Later at the pier one of the staff turns up with the missing bag, but it turns out to belong to a middle age woman, which the German thief had taken. The Irish guys bag must of being on another bus or something. All very complicated. Oh well, I untied my bike from the back of the bus and got on the car ferry to Ko Samui, I wasn't really planning on going here, but nevermind. I got a hotel close to the pier and slept, a lot. 09.00 till 19.00, got up had some dinner and then back to bed and woke up at 13.00. I'm losing days! I was going to get the 11.00 ferry to Ko Phan Nga but I missed that so another day here.
More about BlackBeard
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