We're on Island Time Now

We left Laos on an overnight train headed for Bangkok. We stayed here a couple days so that Lindsey could follow up on her ear issue with a doctor at what proved to be the nicest hospital (Bumrungrad) either of us had ever seen. We're a bit sad we didn't take pictures as the entire hospital looked like a hotel lobby.

Having already seen most of the city's major sites, we took a different approach to the city this time around. We binged a bit on Starbucks and fast-food, saw a couple movies, and spent most of our time wandering air-conditioned shopping malls. The highlight of it all were VIP seats at the movie theater which reclined and came with blankets and pillows. Even though the Nick Cage flick was a bit lame, you could enjoy any movie in seats like this.

From Bangkok we headed to Ko Tao, an island on the Gulf of Thailand known for its exceptional scuba diving. Lindsey was a bit disappointed that Ko Tao doesn't have the long stretches of beach she'd envisioned, but we'll get to those on our next island.

After seeing a few overpriced rooms, we checked into a horrifically hot (and overpriced) room at a dive 'resort' for $5/night. Our first day we rode around the island's insanely steep and slippery roads to some of the island's more remote bays. At several steep points, Lindsey had to get off and walk up since the bike didn't have enough power to keep going. We both wish we'd been forewarned, but once we arrived at Hin Wong and Tanote Bay we enjoyed the swimming and snorkeling. That evening we cooled off in the breeze along the beach before retiring to our sauna of a hotel room.

The next day, Steve went on a full day scuba trip, at three of the island's best dive sites. He was immediately impressed as he swam through literally millions of fish, the highlights being a school of barracuda, a massive puffer fish, moray eels, blue spotted rays, a 5ft potato grouper, and large stretches of beautiful coral. Lindsey had hoped to get her scuba certification here, but decided it was not a good idea given her ear issues.

Swimming through the school of barracuda was amazing.

The ultimate highlight was a brief encounter with the world's largest fish, a whale shark. This was exactly what Steve was hoping to spot, although they are generally very elusive. Even though it was a small one at only 10 feet (they grow to 40 ft), it was still amazing how easily such a massive creature can move through the water. Steve's dive group of four was the only one to see a whale shark that day and earned him some special bragging rights back on board. He was a bit excited and distracted, resulting in some pretty bad pictures and video.

The same day, Lindsey took a great yoga class before relaxing on the beach. There she played with a couple local dogs that eventually were sleeping on her towel with her. She was excited to take the day to just relax.

Since Ko Tao lacked the wide beaches we wanted to relax on, we skipped over to Ko Samui aboard another ferry. We might head back to Ko Tao (it's fairly close) for more snorkeling at some point, but are currently enjoying things here on Ko Samui.

Tubing Vang Vieng

Heading south in Laos, our next stop was Vang Vieng. The town is a backpacker haven, which means the former local flavor has been over-taken by 19 year-old revelers, loud guesthouses & bars, and "happy" (aka marijuana-supplemented) restaurants. What the foreign influx hasn't yet ruined, however, are the views of the surrounding limestone cliffs. We had a great one of these from our balcony.



One of the main attractions of the town is inner-tubing down the Nam Song River. While this might sound like a peaceful and relaxing experience, we soon learned it was anything but. The river is overflowing with tubers, swimmers, motorboats, kayaks, and those brave enough to leap from the numerous rope swings. The river's edge is also overrun with western bars, each with its own music genre in competition with the next's. The bars have various platforms, zip lines, rope-swings, and slides that all look a bit suicidal, but are amazingly popular. When we heard a rumor that two girls had died in rope swing accidents so far that month, it didn't surprise us much. Yet despite all the bars, there were some pretty parts.



The highlight of our float was the local crowd. Even after three days of celebrating the new year, the Lao people were still going strong. As we floated along everyone splashed and tried to involve us in the celebration. Two men, specifically, took a special interest in us and practically forced beer down our thoughts to our delight.



Away from the river we tried more street meat and especially enjoyed the Lao BBQ chicken and rice cooked in bamboo shoots.



The next day, we returned to the river, this time on a kayaking trip. During the wet season, the river can be quite trecherous, but as we were at the very end of the dry season it ran quiet low. Along the way, our guide stopped at two different caves to explore. These were not the tourist-safe caves you'd see in America, with installed lighting or walking platforms. One of the caves had been used as a bomb shelter by locals during the many bombing campaigns in this area. The other cave provided a shortcut through the mountain and is still heavily used by the locals. This cave's floor is littered with burnt bamboo sticks which they use instead of flashlights.



After kayaking, caving, lunch, and more kayaking, Lindsey started to slack a bit on the paddling.



Vang Vieng was a beautiful place and we can see what brought people here once upon a time. Unfortunately, it now lacks any of it's former charm and is a lot more like a college spring break venue. So after a few days of playing around the river, we headed on a bus to Vientiene to cross back into Thailand.

Vientiene turned out to be a pretty dull place. The one thing we did do here was visit a rather odd park of Buddhas set just outside of the city. This provided a good 20 minutes of entertainment and a few funny pictures.



Our next planned stop to the Beer Lao Factory was going to be the highlight of our day, but the plant was sadly closed for the new year. We looked at the closed gates sadly and returned to our hotel for a nap.

After a couple days in backpacker-land followed by another in nothing-land we were excited to get back to Thailand and headed there on an overnight train. More to come on the Thai islands.

Super Soaking Luang Prabang

We headed towards Luang Prabang on a slow boat down the Mekong River, arriving after two days of relaxing, reading, and watching the scenery pass by. The views weren't as grand as we expected, given the popularity of this boat trip, but regardless the ride was a nice way to get from a to b. We shared the ride with Adrian and Sabrina whom we had met on the Gibbon Experience and were able to play a few more games of our new favorite card game: wizard.



We were excited to return to Luang Prabang, having been impressed with it for a whole two hours our first time through. We checked a few places to stay, all of which were extremely overpriced for the New Years celebration, and decided to splurge rather than be ripped off. Our room at the Sayo Naga was divine and a happy home for three nights.

Lindsey was enchanted by the town's architecture and we enjoyed walking and biking around the small town.



Our first morning there, Steve woke up early to watch the monks collect alms. The monks, only allowed to eat twice each day, depend on donations of food each morning, mostly consisting of sticky rice. This morning it happened to be a bit rainy, but was still a great sight to see their robes in the dim light.



We toured the obligatory temple, Wat Xieng Thong and were satisfied without seeing the city's other 100 wats.



But aside from these sights, we really came to Luang Prabang to celebrate Pi Mai, the Lao New Year. This three-day festival celebrates the passing of the old Songkan spirit and the arrival of the new spirit. It also marks the end of the hot season and the arrival of the monsoon season. On different days they wash their houses, their buddhas, but on all days they delight in dousing each other with buckets of water.

We quickly realized that we weren't exempt as a simple trip around the block would leave you dripping wet whether you happened to have been walking, biking, or riding in a tuk-tuk. Already drenched, we bought massive water guns (Lindsey's had a backpack of water) and fought back.



We rode around town, shooting back at road-side groups of people who hurled buckets of water at us. In certain places, we stopped to join small parties with music, food, and of course, water fights. The waterproof case on the camera certainly came in use.



This kid really enjoyed drenching us:




We also pickued up the ability to claim something few can: "I once got in a water fight with a group of monks." These guys, who live a pretty strict life, seemed especially delighted to be joining in.



Locals everywhere were incredibly inclusive and wanted the foreigners to enjoy it. It did get frustrating at times when you just wanted to get to a restaurant and still be dry, but all in all it's a great holiday.

One thing that did amuse/frighten us were the realistic water guns that children carried. It's just a bit odd getting shot with water by a kid weilding an AK-47 rather than one with a super-soaker.



The rest of our time in Luang Prabang, we ate some great food (Joma, Saffron, Paradise, and a street-burger) and enjoyed the night and day markets. There are lots of pictures in the albums of the things they sell in markets, or favorite of which is random plastic stuff by the pound. Lindsey picked up a new bag and a Lao beer t-shirt, while Steve bough a woven soccer ball for our upcoming beach time.



While we left Luang Prabang before everything really finished up, we we're ready to be dry again. Next stop: Vang Vieng, Laos for tubing, rafting, and some beautiful views.

Finally, for those of you concerned, we're keeping and eye on the events in Bangkok and trying to figure out how we are getting to the Thai islands. Not to worry.

Gibbons, Ziplines, and Laos

We entered Laos on a flight from empty Siem Reap airport (with its two daily departures) to the even smaller Luang Prabang airport. We happily picked up some new passport stamps and caught a ride to town, excited for the thrill of a new country, but missing Cambodia a bit.



Even though we flew to Luang Prabang (where we will return to) we wanted to head farther north to the Thai border, 14 hours away. After checking out our options, we decided to leave only 2 hours after we'd arrived. Given that Laos isn't as touristy as our prior stops, our only option was the local's bus, which lacked air conditioning and other luxuries (like a toilet). What they didn't lack, however, was a seriously loud entertainment system, which showed Lao music videos for the entire 14 hour trip. The videos were hillariously filled with random things one might see around Laos (rice farming, rivers, elephants) and got the locals singing at all hours of the night when their favorite tunes were played.



After a while we opted for an ipod movie and quickly realized we weren't the only ones watching it. Behind us, a man had lodged his entire head between our seats to get a good view. He watched a movie he couldn't even hear for over an hour, but seemed delighted to do so.

We were headed to Houayxay (pronounced way sigh), which itself is absolutly void of interest, to book a trip with the Gibbon Experience. The trip takes you into the nearby jungle to sleep in tree houses, fly across dozens of ziplines, and see wild gibbons. We booked a trip, got some rest and walked around town.

The next morning, we took a bumpy three-hour drive on benches in the back of a covered pickup truck to a small village. From here we hiked for about an hour to the Gibbon Expereince base camp where we got harnesses. They reviewed some general safety info and when asked, 'is it safe?' responded that it definetly wouldn't be allowed in the States. Not too encouraging, but at least they guaranteed that no one has ever fallen. They told us about the three treehouses we could between to stay in: #1 had a large bee-hive and cat that kept the tree rats away, #2 only slept two, and #3 had a resident viper that also helped with tree rats. Lindsey was put off by all of them, but agreed to #3 as it was farther into the jungle and one snake (that keeps away from the actual house) is better than these mysterious tree rats.

Five of us and our guide headed for #3, and after ten minutes of walking we arrived at the first zipline. We clipped our roller and safety line to the wire and took a short, but amazing, 60 meter glide into tree house #1. We continued onwards, and after another hour of hiking and five more ziplines, we arrived at tree house #3. Each zipline we took seemed higher and longer than the previous, yet they weren't at all frightening. We both felt very safe and loved the sensation and vantage point high over the canopy. Steve just loved being geared up and sweaty.



Once we arrived, the five of us (us, an Austrian couple of doctors, and an Australian) relaxed and got to know eachother. We played cards, had dinner, and discussed the gastro-intesinal issues of travelers. Lindsey serenated the jungle with various ABBA tunes before we all fell asleep, tucked safety in our mosquito/rat nets.



Our guide, who was supposed to stay in a shelter across the zipline, also stayed in our treehouse. We later learned that the local guides are terrified of spending the night alone in the jungle because they believe ghosts will attack them in their sleep. They have such a strong belief in this, that you can't really argue with them.

Around 3am, we heard thunder crossing the mountains and within minutes strong wind blew our mosquito net into the air and heavy rain drenched us. Having briefly reviewed storm evacuation at base camp, we asked our guide if we should go, only to find him already harnessing up and heading out the door very nervously. The guides are even more scared of storms than ghosts, and his frantic demeaner hardly put anyone at ease. With lightning illuminating the sky, we all scrambled to harness up, and because the thunder was still over five seconds away, we were able to safety zip out of the tree house under heavy moonlight. We were all drenched and cold, but we felt we'd gotten a certain thrill out of it, or at least Steve did. Closely piled into the shelter, our group got even closer as we took a few more hours of sleep.

In the morning, our guide took us farther into the jungle, crossing a series of ziplines, the longest spanning 380 meters (~1250 ft). Here is a virtual zipline for you all:

[Long zipline video coming soon!]

The humidty took its toll on our cleanliness, but we loved every minute of it.



By noon, we headed for lunch with those staying at the other treehouses and began to piece together some issues with our guide. The other travelers had been taken to see gibbons in the morning, and had warm breakfast delivered to them, while we did not. Additionally, our soaked beds and pillows had not been changed, when the guide promised they would be. We headed to basecamp to resolve these problems, and were able to work them out with the volunteer English teacher. While his job description certainly wasn't guest relations, he promised to improve the rest of our stay. He explained that the Hmong guides are generally very lazy people and cared little about work or learning English. When he tried to ask our guide why he hadn't brought us to see gibbons or delivered breakfast, the best answer was that he was tired from the storm evacuation.

After lunch (delivered 2 hours late thanks to Hmong work ethic), our group of five headed off without a guide, for more ziplining. Eventually exhausted, we returned to our treehouse for an early night to bed. Lindsey loved acting like a monkey the whole day.



The next morning, we woke up at 5am and headed to a platform overlooking the trees in search of gibbons. We waited patiently and were rewarded with a very close (although brief) look at these amazing acrobats swinging across a bamboo patch. For the following ten minutes we watched them work away from us across the canopy, jumping from tree to tree hundres of feet in the air. Thankfully, the "Gibbon Experience" lived up to its name. The early morning mist also made for some of our most beautiful views.



The rest of the morning, (you guessed it) we ziplined with a newfound comfort, easily riding upsidedown or backwards as the guides do.



Steve snapped one last picture of our crew monkeying around.



After a dozen rides, we headed to breakfast before a bumpy ride back to town. Even with unreliable guides, we both really loved the Gibbon Experience. It could certainly be organized 100 times better, but gives you an opportunity to hike and zipline on your own at your own pace. It's something you can't do anywhere else in the world, and most certainly not in the U.S.

Next we're headed on a slowboat down the Mekong River back to Luang Prabang to join the massive water fight that is the Buddhist New Year!

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Angkor

We arrived in Siem Reap excited to see Angkor Wat, the world's largest temple, as well as other temples built by the Khmer Empire from about 800-1400AD. The Khmer, once the predominant power in South East Asia, built scores of temples surrounding Siem Reap. The area, collectively known as Angkor, was the largest preindustrial city in the world, with nearly one-million inhabitants, at a time when London was home to only fourty thousand. After the collapse of the empire, the temples were abandoned, and suffered severe decay from wet weather, jungle growth, looters, and vandalism. They were "discovered" again in the mid-1800s by a French explorer (brought there by a Khmer guide) who popularized them to the west. Many of the temples remain in ruins, from centuries of neglect, although some survived or have been partially restored by various NGOs.

We arranged for a tuk-tuk driver to take us around the temples over three jam-packed days and on our first day, we were joined by a tour guide. The guide helped us understand the history, symbolism, and stories of each temple. We started out with sunrise over Angkor Wat at 5:30am, and didn't quit that day until nearly 4pm. The next day, we took in another sunrise and lasted til sundown, making our way to some of the outlying temples. By day three, we skipped the sunrise and stopped midday, suffering from some severe temple fatigue.

Angkor Wat, the Cambodian people's favorite, also proved to be ours. The temple is surrounded by a moat 2 miles long, rises to 65 meters, and was constructed around the same time as Paris' Notre Dame. It was built as a shrine to the Hindu god Vishnu, although has fluctuated between Hinduism, Buddhism, and a combination thereof throughout its history. Our first glance at dawn (pictured below) was an amazing sight and made us consider just how different it is than any other structure in the world.



Covering the outer wall, 800 meters of bas-relief carvings record various historical or religious stories in great detail. We spent a lot of time learning the significance of each of these. Below is a picture of one of the most famous bas-reliefs, the Churning of the Sea of Milk story, but I'll leave out the long explanation of it.



On the last day, Steve took a hot-air balloon ride to get an aerial view of Angkor Wat. Those pictures are in the online album, and show you the grand scale of it all.

Another favorite was Bayon. Built by a king who clearly liked himself, the temple looks out over the land with 200+ faces that are a combination of his own and buddha's. While there are also various carvings here, the faces were the main attraction. Steve couldn't resist this opportunity:



Our next choice was Ta Prohm, which you'll likely recognize from the movie Tomb Raider. This temple, torn apart by jungle growth, was not fully restored and allows visitors feel like they are discovering it themselves. Only the largest trees remain, but it still feels like you are Indiana Jones walking through the ruins.



The last one I'll mention is Bantaey Srei and while minascure by comparison, has some of the finest details in its carvings.



Another great moment was sunset atop one of the temples.



Aside from temples, we toured the Cambodian Landmine Museum to learn a bit more about the six million mines that have been laid here by the Khmer Rouge, various other Cambodian governements, Thailand, Vietnam, America, and Russia. The head of the museum was a former Khmer Rouge soldier who laid thousands of mines and is now doing his best to remove them, having so far personally removed over 50,000.

We had planned to do some volunteer work here, but ultimately decided against it. While there are plenty of opportunities to visit orphanages, it is difficult to determine if showing up for a day is good or bad for the children. Most places either charge you a significant amount of money (which may or may not go to the children) or require a monthly commitment. Instead we bought some students lunch at the market and handed out some toys to children who were working.

Our last stop in Siem Reap was to their night market, which was unlike every other market we've been to and must have been established exclusively for tourists. The shops here had a bit more variety and creativity than we've seen elseswhere, and as a result we made some purchases. We picked up some souvenier tshirts, Cambodian scarves, and silver trinkets which are popular here.

Today we fly to Laos, to swing through trees with gibbon monkeys and celebrate the buddhist new year! Cambodia has been a great stop and we really recommend it to everyone.