In Laos you are not allowed to throw old Buddah's away - so here is their resting place. There's a huge cave full of them.
To get to the Thai border we had a choice of 11 hours on a bus or three days kayaking. This was yet another highlight of our trip
Yup, we came off in the end. It wasn't so bad, but I did bash my knee on the rocks. Mitch made sure he caught all the action.
At the end of day two we had to say goodbye to the kayaks and get on a boat for the last leg.
We’ve met some lovely people here. Ann, our 74 year old kick-arse companion who is travelling Asia on her own and a lovely Austrian couple called Oliver and Karin who shared our crazy border crossing with us. They are doing a similar route to us so we keep bumping into them in various places. There was also a really nice German girl called Katrina who shared our kayaking and biking trip with us, and last but by no means least Mitch and Evette. A hysterically funny pair from Seattle who have, frankly, renewed my faith in Americans. Having said that, of the, ridiculously few, Americans we have bumped into along the way all of them have been nice.
It’s really quite sad though, that some of the Americans we have met have felt the need to almost apologise in advance for being American and ‘joke’ about pretending they are Canadian. It’s not so surprising when you consider that these people are travelling around places like Cambodia and Vietnam and seeing the ongoing effects of what their country has done in the past. I was absolutely stunned and sickened to find out that the US backed Pol Pot! Why? Because the Vietnamese were against him and they hated the Vietnamese. But their reason for hating the Vietnamese was the ‘threat’ of communism wasn’t it? So what the fuck was Pol Pot then? A good, democratic leader? Not that we are any better. The Brits have done their fair share and more. Add to that that we have to tell people we are Christian when they ask and I’m surprised anybody even talks to us. I remain horrified at what the Europeans did to the South Americans in the name of Christianity.
Crossing the border from Laos back into Thailand. We had to get off the boat and walk whilst the guys grappled with this crossing.
Travelling back across the Thai border from Laos was a bit of a culture shock. Suddenly there was tarmac on the roads, Neon lights and hamburgers on the menu. We left Huai Xai for Chiang Mai pretty much immediately. Chiang Mai is so much nicer than Bangkok. It's a huge city but with all the hustle and bustle, but somehow more chilled. They have a night market to die for. Whereas Koh San was full of tacky bits and cheap fakes here we saw some of the most amazing art from sculptures to paintings. The silk on offer was ten times better than in Bangkok too. We took the moped about 50 km down the motorway to an elephant sanctuary. It was really worth the very scary ride down.
Tim befriends a baby elephant
Bathtime
We had a fantastic day just playing with the elephants. Tim and one baby elephant bonded so much I thought we were not going to be able to leave. She curled her little trunk around his shoulder and they were playing tug of war for hours. They had a hospital there which was really sad. One of the elephants had lost half his trunk when he’d caught a land mine.
I felt really sad to leave Chiang Mai. On our last night we bumped into Evette and Mitch who we thought we’d seen for the last time in Laos. We had a great night out with them and got severely slaughtered. Not good when your 10hr journey back to Bangkok starts at 7.30am the next day. Needless to say, it was a rotten journey.
The Opium Lady - Chiang Mai
An 11 year old girl in Chiang Mai trashes Tim at Connect 4 again and again and again much to the delight of the rest of us. Tim wasn't happy though - he played her again and again until he finally beat her. I am not having children with this man!!
Meanwhile, we got our hair done.
-----Original Message-----
From: danapalamara@tiscali.co.uk [mailto:danapalamara@tiscali.co.uk]
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 09:48:52 +0:07
Subject: Passage To India
Hello again.
Six months in, tours of S America, Polynesia, and SE Asia complete, only two months to go and I ...
Am very scruffy
Have REALLY bad hair
Have given up completely on deodorant and any form of make-up
Nice.
And as for the state of Tim....
We leave for India the day after tomorrow. The two and a half months we've spent here in SE Asia have been at once amazing, interesting, heart breaking.
We've been to villages that were so undeveloped the children were scared of our torches. We've seen some amazing scenery, beaches, people and had loads of fun, but also seen that there really are parts of the world where a child can die just because he has cut his finger. We've also seen the effects first hand of the Pol Pot regime and the Vietnam War. If anybody is considering
supporting a new charity, might I suggest they consider one of the landmine campaigns. Not a day went by in Cambodia where we didn't see at least ten victims. There are hardly any old people in the country ...they were all murdered 30 years ago.
On a lighter note we have awarded Laos the 'Transport 2005 Award'. They really have mastered the art of packing 30 people plus backpacks into a 12-seater truck plus 3 or 4 tiny Laos people in between. Just when you thought you were able to move one foot slightly to the left every now and again…..oh.. here comes not one, not two, but four more back packers, plus back packs.
And oh….what's that? Ah….a bag of rice, no three bags of rice. And here comes a beautiful old lady with a million wrinkles and no teeth. (I've never
seen so many OAP's on opium) What's she saying? Ah I see, you want me to put this bucket under the seat? Said bucket having no lid and being filled with freshly caught fish and river water. Said seat being mine and route being full of holes. I guess you'll understand why I gave up on the deodorant. London Transport, eat your heart out.
Many of you will be relieved, but most of you disappointed, to know that I did not kill or maim Tim. This is because a lovely little Thai man at the Sony Centre in Chiang Mai waved his magic fingers over my camera and managed to get it working again. I have a new found respect for Sony. I am not joking when I tell you that we poured at least half a pint of water out of that machine.
You always need a motive for murder. I'm sure Tim will give me at the very least one during the next few months in India, so don't worry. I'll maim him very soon.
Thai / SE Asian food is lovely, but if I see another bloody noodle or grain of ri..oh fuck..we're off to India. Slate me as much as you like, but I really want some toast with no sugar in the bread and salt in the butter.
Who knows what adventures India will bring. I'll be sure to update you.
Love and kisses to all,
Dana
xx
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