In 3 hours we get on a train back to Yinchuan. Fortunately classes don't start for another 10 days. This was definitely the kind of vacation we need a vacation after.
After we left Vientiane we took a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad bus up to Luang Prabang. We got a room close to the Mekong River and basically played cards for 2 days. It was nice.
From Luang Prabang we took a GORGEOUS ride up the Nam K-something river on a long boat. There were tons of children playing on the shore or on the rocks in the middle of the river. They would all wave enthusiastically, and most of them were naked. It was pretty hilarious. Some of the kids would run along the shore with the boat as long as they could, or do flips and jumps when they saw us watching. It was easily my favorite part of Laos. The limestone cliffs, mountains, river side gardens, rapids (easily avoidable), vegetation in general, and mostly the children made for a pretty spectacular 8 hours.
When we arrived in Nong Khiew on the long boat we got to shore and saw two small villages connected by a long bridge and totally surrounded by mountains and cliffs. It was the stuff of movies. It was by far the most beautiful scenery in any town we stayed our whole trip. There was not much to see or do, but just being among the scenery was pretty neat.
The next morning we took a tuk tuk to a small town about 30km away, where there was supposed to be a bus to the China border. There was not. So, we hitchhiked in a pick up truck with a caravan of Chinese photography club members. It turned out they were guys from all over China who were just friends by their association with this photography group. One guy was apparently in charge of all of the roads in the Yunnan province, so we let him pay for lunch. They brought us all the way to the border where we hopped on a bus that was on its way through to Kunming. It all worked out fantastically. We've had to work a whole lot harder to get from point A to B on this trip, so we appreciated how everything fell into place.
We arrived in Kunming by bus around 6am and bought train tickets to Xi'an for that evening. We couldn't get train tickets to Yinchuan until the 12th so we spent the last 2 nights here finishing our souvenir shopping, with the exception of the Woller men (Dave included)... who have me stumped. Suggestions welcome.
We'll be in Yinchuan tomorrow. It's been a long, fast, slow, crazy, exhausting, fun, enlightening 5 and a half weeks.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Vientiane, Laos: Home of BeerLao
We are currently in Vientiane the capitol of Laos, but more importantly (to me) the home of BeerLao. Most people have never heard of BeerLao but it is widely accepted (by me) to be the best beer in Asia. It's better than Tsing Tao (Qing Dao, China), Tiger (Singapore), and every Japanese beer I have ever had (Asahi, Soporo, etc.) To attest to the quality of this beer, in 2002 Carlsberg bought a 25% share of BeerLao. Carlsberg experts were brought in to "improve" the beer but but were surprised to find that BeerLao consistently won blind taste tests against foreign beers. [1]
Yesterday I was able to visit the Beerlao Brewery. I got a free sample (two, really, since Jes always gives hers to me and that alone is reason to be married) and went on the 15 minute tour of the brewery. We were only walked through the bottling and packaging area and only got to see the outside of the building where the brewing actually takes place. However this tour was unlike any other brewery tour I have ever been on and I've been on a few (Coors, Miller, Anheiser Busch, Schells). For this tour we were able to walk through the actual factory. Nothing was behind glass. There was no special visitor walkway. In fact, I could have picked a bottle right off the conveyor belt. I was a cool experience but sadly no photos were allowed inside.
BeerLao is available in some parts of the U.S. but I have never seen it anywhere but Asia. If you do happen to see it, give it a try. I would prefer it to any macrobrew in the U.S. any day.
There are more interesting things to say about BeerLao and Vientiane for that matter but its time for supper and undoubtedly another cool refreshing BeerLao. [2]
[1] Source: Williams, China & et al. Lonely Planet: Southeast Asia. 12th Ed. 2004.
[2] This has not been paid for by the PDR of Lao, Beerlao, or its affiliates.
Yesterday I was able to visit the Beerlao Brewery. I got a free sample (two, really, since Jes always gives hers to me and that alone is reason to be married) and went on the 15 minute tour of the brewery. We were only walked through the bottling and packaging area and only got to see the outside of the building where the brewing actually takes place. However this tour was unlike any other brewery tour I have ever been on and I've been on a few (Coors, Miller, Anheiser Busch, Schells). For this tour we were able to walk through the actual factory. Nothing was behind glass. There was no special visitor walkway. In fact, I could have picked a bottle right off the conveyor belt. I was a cool experience but sadly no photos were allowed inside.
BeerLao is available in some parts of the U.S. but I have never seen it anywhere but Asia. If you do happen to see it, give it a try. I would prefer it to any macrobrew in the U.S. any day.
There are more interesting things to say about BeerLao and Vientiane for that matter but its time for supper and undoubtedly another cool refreshing BeerLao. [2]
[1] Source: Williams, China & et al. Lonely Planet: Southeast Asia. 12th Ed. 2004.
[2] This has not been paid for by the PDR of Lao, Beerlao, or its affiliates.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
We Have 5 Different Currencies Currently
So we're in Laos now...
I kind of skimmed over Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was really quite fascinating. We went for sunset one night and then woke up for sunrise the next. Unfortunately we accidentally set the alarm clock for 4am China time to be at our tuk tuk by 5am, and therefore sat an extra hour out on the street. Other than that, it was pretty awesome.
The next day we went out to our tuk tuk driver's home out in the Cambodian country a little bit. He has twin 3 year olds, a 4 year old, and a 12-year old girl who teaches English to 6 students in the neighborhood aged 3-8. His kids are beautiful, but picking up the little kids and playing with them sure made us miss a few kids back home.
We got in a shared taxi to the border of Cambodia/Thailand where we hitchhiked in the back of two pick up trucks to a bigger city in Thailand. Eventually we got on 2 more buses to the Laos border, and stayed in Laos for the night near the bus station. (3 countries in less than 12 hours) In the morning we got an early bus to the 4,000 Islands along the Mekong River near Si Phan Don and slept in a bungalow on Don Khon Island. We rented bicycles for the rest of that day and saw a really great waterfall. We climbed down inside and went swimming a bit. We were on our way to another beach and they were really old bikes with no brakes... and I fell off my bike. I'm an adult and I fell off my bicycle. So... I feel like a moron. A very nice pregnant lady helped me clean up afterwards though.
After that we went to the southern part of the Island and we took a long boat with one of the locals our to see the freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins. There are apparently only about a hundred or so left, and this area in Laos is their last habitat. They were a little ways away, but we did see quite a few. It was pretty cool.
We took a long boat off the island and got a bus back to Pakse, the big city where most buses go through. Tonight we're headed to the capital city. Should be fun.
We're doing so much so fast. The boys are having a great time going, going, going. Me... I'm tired. I'm loving this trip, but I wish we could stay somewhere more than 1 or 2 nights and just rest.
One month down, about 2 weeks to go.
We miss you all... a lot!
I kind of skimmed over Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was really quite fascinating. We went for sunset one night and then woke up for sunrise the next. Unfortunately we accidentally set the alarm clock for 4am China time to be at our tuk tuk by 5am, and therefore sat an extra hour out on the street. Other than that, it was pretty awesome.
The next day we went out to our tuk tuk driver's home out in the Cambodian country a little bit. He has twin 3 year olds, a 4 year old, and a 12-year old girl who teaches English to 6 students in the neighborhood aged 3-8. His kids are beautiful, but picking up the little kids and playing with them sure made us miss a few kids back home.
We got in a shared taxi to the border of Cambodia/Thailand where we hitchhiked in the back of two pick up trucks to a bigger city in Thailand. Eventually we got on 2 more buses to the Laos border, and stayed in Laos for the night near the bus station. (3 countries in less than 12 hours) In the morning we got an early bus to the 4,000 Islands along the Mekong River near Si Phan Don and slept in a bungalow on Don Khon Island. We rented bicycles for the rest of that day and saw a really great waterfall. We climbed down inside and went swimming a bit. We were on our way to another beach and they were really old bikes with no brakes... and I fell off my bike. I'm an adult and I fell off my bicycle. So... I feel like a moron. A very nice pregnant lady helped me clean up afterwards though.
After that we went to the southern part of the Island and we took a long boat with one of the locals our to see the freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins. There are apparently only about a hundred or so left, and this area in Laos is their last habitat. They were a little ways away, but we did see quite a few. It was pretty cool.
We took a long boat off the island and got a bus back to Pakse, the big city where most buses go through. Tonight we're headed to the capital city. Should be fun.
We're doing so much so fast. The boys are having a great time going, going, going. Me... I'm tired. I'm loving this trip, but I wish we could stay somewhere more than 1 or 2 nights and just rest.
One month down, about 2 weeks to go.
We miss you all... a lot!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
We're on a Holiday in Cambodia!
We ended up spending 2 nights in the abandoned bungalow.
My subconscious must have a been a little more nervous about the whole thing than I was admitting to myself because the first night I woke up screaming bloody murder while Shawn tried to calm me down and convince me I wasn't actually being abducted by Thai criminals in the middle of the night. It was a good 30 seconds of awake screaming... and it was loud. My voice hurt afterwards. All because Shawn was holding my hand in my sleep and I honestly thought it was someone else grabbing onto me trying to pull me out of the bungalow. We spent another night there anyway. We didn't get much rest that night either.
The last night on Koh Chang Island we spent at a real guest house so we could shower before we headed to Cambodia early the next morning.
We caught a series of buses to the border town, and met a fantastic young couple from Slovania. We've stayed with them from that night, stayed together, crossed the border together (20usd each, Eric D., although it took us a good 45 minutes of back and forth and confusion to find the legit place), getting to Siem Reap, renting a tuk tuk to Angkor Wat for 2 days, etc. Changing all this money has been extremely confusing. 7 (+ a British couple) of us rode in the back of a pick up truck for 2 hours, which was fun. Cambodia is very confusing and a bit stressful, but now that we're actually here I think we'll be able to enjoy it a bit more.
We're planning to head north to Laos next and probably skip Vietnam altogether.... FYI.
It's been a ton of fun, but I have to tell ya.... we're getting tired.
My subconscious must have a been a little more nervous about the whole thing than I was admitting to myself because the first night I woke up screaming bloody murder while Shawn tried to calm me down and convince me I wasn't actually being abducted by Thai criminals in the middle of the night. It was a good 30 seconds of awake screaming... and it was loud. My voice hurt afterwards. All because Shawn was holding my hand in my sleep and I honestly thought it was someone else grabbing onto me trying to pull me out of the bungalow. We spent another night there anyway. We didn't get much rest that night either.
The last night on Koh Chang Island we spent at a real guest house so we could shower before we headed to Cambodia early the next morning.
We caught a series of buses to the border town, and met a fantastic young couple from Slovania. We've stayed with them from that night, stayed together, crossed the border together (20usd each, Eric D., although it took us a good 45 minutes of back and forth and confusion to find the legit place), getting to Siem Reap, renting a tuk tuk to Angkor Wat for 2 days, etc. Changing all this money has been extremely confusing. 7 (+ a British couple) of us rode in the back of a pick up truck for 2 hours, which was fun. Cambodia is very confusing and a bit stressful, but now that we're actually here I think we'll be able to enjoy it a bit more.
We're planning to head north to Laos next and probably skip Vietnam altogether.... FYI.
It's been a ton of fun, but I have to tell ya.... we're getting tired.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thailand: Take 3
We're currently on Koh Chang Island in Thailand! The beach is gorgeous!! The mountains, palm trees, blue skies, etc. are definitely the stuff of posters and paradise resort ads.
The day we got here we picked up another traveller who was alone. So we turned into 4 and found ourselves a bungalow. Last night we had 3 different mosquito nets up in the tiny hut! Mike went exploring and found a half built bungalow, so we all went to go find it to see if we could camp in it comfortably enough. On our way to find it we discovered a deserted resort!! So... we explored a bit, found an empty hut that was to our liking and checked out of the other bungalow. So now we're camping in an abandoned resort! For free!! We took a bunch of palm leaves and put them down, sort of weaved the edges together, and threw a tarp over them for a bed. We're literally 10 feet from the white sand beach when the tide is in. I think it's pretty awesome.
The weather of course is amazing. The only downside of that is that the bananas around here are pretty much useless except as food. (Although, I'm sure Eric could come up with something else).
Our Australian roomie (temporary #4) didn't feel up to the camping, so we're back to three.
Next on the itinerary is Cambodia, so stay tuned!!
The day we got here we picked up another traveller who was alone. So we turned into 4 and found ourselves a bungalow. Last night we had 3 different mosquito nets up in the tiny hut! Mike went exploring and found a half built bungalow, so we all went to go find it to see if we could camp in it comfortably enough. On our way to find it we discovered a deserted resort!! So... we explored a bit, found an empty hut that was to our liking and checked out of the other bungalow. So now we're camping in an abandoned resort! For free!! We took a bunch of palm leaves and put them down, sort of weaved the edges together, and threw a tarp over them for a bed. We're literally 10 feet from the white sand beach when the tide is in. I think it's pretty awesome.
The weather of course is amazing. The only downside of that is that the bananas around here are pretty much useless except as food. (Although, I'm sure Eric could come up with something else).
Our Australian roomie (temporary #4) didn't feel up to the camping, so we're back to three.
Next on the itinerary is Cambodia, so stay tuned!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thailand: Take 2
We rented motorbikes on the 13th and headed to Northern Thailand.
We spent the first night in Chiang Rai, but the next day headed to the Golden Triangle, which is where Laos, Thailand, and Burma (Myanmar) meet. It was pretty cool.
That night we headed to Mai Sai so that we could cross the border into Burma (Myanmar) the next day. It was expensive, but we got the Visa and the stamp to go in and visited a little village and did a little hiking. It was cooler than we expected. We talked to a lot of people. Burmese children = adorable.
We snagged a hitchhiker (friend of a friend of the KW's in Chiang Mai) and headed to Mae Salong, where some of the the Chinese Nationalists settled after the Communist take over. It almost felt like home again. We drove though soe moutains and found some fun hill tribes off the beaten path along the way.
After Mae Salong we dropped our hitchhiker off in a place called Fang and saw a neat little agricultural camp run by some fun "save the world" types. We just missed a pig being killed, but we watched them cut it up and ate some of the intestine.
We couldn't find the hot springs we were looking for that night, but stayed in Chiang Dao.
The next day we went to the elephant camp, where we saw a show and then ended up taking an hour and half elephant ride though the jungle and a river. It was wicked expensive, but pretty cool.
We found a waterfall in the afternoon and drove through some more mountains all the way back to Chiang Mai. We'll go to service again this morning, maybe get a Thai massage this afternoon, and then head out for another trip to check out some more hill tribes.
We spent the first night in Chiang Rai, but the next day headed to the Golden Triangle, which is where Laos, Thailand, and Burma (Myanmar) meet. It was pretty cool.
That night we headed to Mai Sai so that we could cross the border into Burma (Myanmar) the next day. It was expensive, but we got the Visa and the stamp to go in and visited a little village and did a little hiking. It was cooler than we expected. We talked to a lot of people. Burmese children = adorable.
We snagged a hitchhiker (friend of a friend of the KW's in Chiang Mai) and headed to Mae Salong, where some of the the Chinese Nationalists settled after the Communist take over. It almost felt like home again. We drove though soe moutains and found some fun hill tribes off the beaten path along the way.
After Mae Salong we dropped our hitchhiker off in a place called Fang and saw a neat little agricultural camp run by some fun "save the world" types. We just missed a pig being killed, but we watched them cut it up and ate some of the intestine.
We couldn't find the hot springs we were looking for that night, but stayed in Chiang Dao.
The next day we went to the elephant camp, where we saw a show and then ended up taking an hour and half elephant ride though the jungle and a river. It was wicked expensive, but pretty cool.
We found a waterfall in the afternoon and drove through some more mountains all the way back to Chiang Mai. We'll go to service again this morning, maybe get a Thai massage this afternoon, and then head out for another trip to check out some more hill tribes.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Thailand Update!
I should really be sending this out in an e-mail instead of posting, but this is just so much easier...
So...
We arrived in Bangkok on Thursday night. We weren't sure where to stay since our travel book was at least 7 years outdated. We got in a taxi and pointed to the address for a hostel which may or may not have still existed...
It did exist, but it was full. There were probably a few dozen hostels in the area, but almost all of them were full and the rest were more expensive than we were shooting for. Also, we're pretty sure the area of town was for a certain kind of traveller. There were quite a few rainbows on doormats, and people reflecting that.... lifestyle. The guys were glad to have me along.
We got out of Bangkok as quickly as we could. It was expensive, confusing, not walker-friendly, etc.
We could only get seats on the overnight train to Chiang Mai, so we were a bit nervous. But, the seats reclined, the train had a ton of character, and we met a fun couple from England and played cards! The train was 2+ hours late. When Mike asked a guy about it he said, "Welcome to Thailand!"
Our hostel in Chiang Mai is AMAZING! Very comfortable, colorful, cheap, etc. There are iced ovaltines across the street for only 15 baht!
We met the Kingdom Workers and went to the Sunday morning service despite the fact that it was all in the Thai language (Thailandese?). We hung out with the K.W.'s there, had lunch, went to the walking street market, played games, shared ice cream. It was all a very good time.
The boys stayed up until 5am watching the Eagles game last night since Mike (who we are travelling with) is a huge fan. I finally caught up on sleep. Now you are caught up!
So...
We arrived in Bangkok on Thursday night. We weren't sure where to stay since our travel book was at least 7 years outdated. We got in a taxi and pointed to the address for a hostel which may or may not have still existed...
It did exist, but it was full. There were probably a few dozen hostels in the area, but almost all of them were full and the rest were more expensive than we were shooting for. Also, we're pretty sure the area of town was for a certain kind of traveller. There were quite a few rainbows on doormats, and people reflecting that.... lifestyle. The guys were glad to have me along.
We got out of Bangkok as quickly as we could. It was expensive, confusing, not walker-friendly, etc.
We could only get seats on the overnight train to Chiang Mai, so we were a bit nervous. But, the seats reclined, the train had a ton of character, and we met a fun couple from England and played cards! The train was 2+ hours late. When Mike asked a guy about it he said, "Welcome to Thailand!"
Our hostel in Chiang Mai is AMAZING! Very comfortable, colorful, cheap, etc. There are iced ovaltines across the street for only 15 baht!
We met the Kingdom Workers and went to the Sunday morning service despite the fact that it was all in the Thai language (Thailandese?). We hung out with the K.W.'s there, had lunch, went to the walking street market, played games, shared ice cream. It was all a very good time.
The boys stayed up until 5am watching the Eagles game last night since Mike (who we are travelling with) is a huge fan. I finally caught up on sleep. Now you are caught up!
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