luang prabang

safe again in luang prabang in laos. spent a few awesome days with colin and charlie, jamie and naomi and runnign into a few others from huay xai to luang nam that, to muang khua and then muang ngoi. arrived today in the prab, and am looking forward to travelling more and exploring this awesome, if not touritsy city. will write more abput the adventures and of course the gibbon experience

alive

now in luang nam tha, after gibbon expereince, which was fantastic. thanks anthea and nathan. will be in touch, but busy right now. thanks for the messages.

abba tour

this morning i did head out ont eh tour, with an eco group called pooh;s treks. i now feel really mislead because when i read trek i thought walk - and the write up about ti suggested there was quite abit of walking however it was like any other crappy tourist tour where you get dropped off at each waterfall, wat or view spot and then walk around for a buit. with me on teh tour was 3 couples each representing one fo teh scandinavian countries. the swedish couple introduced them as we swedish - abba? it was great that there wasn't more walkign actualyl because we could haev had a few heart attacks, the bus was like a pant fest after teh longest walk along a boardwalk (200m). i knew i'd done the wrong thing, when on that same walk which was my favourite bit, the norwegian woman lit up and then later discarded her butt int eh forest, and the guide did nothing - soem eco tour.
anyway, the money i paid for it goes towards some eco stuff, and also the local school. among the other interesting things we did was go to a tribal village (low impact, i think not!), and then to teh tallest mounitain in thailand where we got otu and took photos and also to teh His Majesties Project. this was actually pretty interesting. 36 years ago they started this project to stop small tribes growing opium for income, so the government invested in 3o research centres and farms managed by governemnt but worked by teh tribes people. they are paid a steady income, and they produce fruit, flowers, coffee, tea and vegetables, which in turn makes thigns cheaper for the tribes. still they work very ahrd - the women stay home and weave cloth to sell to tourists (like me - i bought something bcause i feel the tour companies need tog ive something abck to the villages. i aske the guide about how they help teh villages, apart from bringing people to buy their wares, and he replied 'we eco tour' and smiled. then again, the scarf did cost 200B which is about 7 dolars, but that is very expensive for here, so possibly by bringing tourists to the village they make more money and save on travel, but also ups demand and makes them work harder. one scarf takes 3 days work).
anyway, while we were driving from place to place i was feelign a bit downa dn thinking of home and wishing people were here to travel with me. but ti great to do what i want
anyway. i'll sign off now, sorry tehre are no photos yet, one fo my memory cards conked out, and i want to make sure teh other doesnt die as well before the gibbon thing.
tomorrow is a 5 hour drive to chiang kong, and onto laos and gibbons (hopefulyl without rabies). :)

monk chat

firstly, sorry about the typing and spelling in this entry - the keyboard is sticky and there is no word - oh how i miss it!. secondly, thanks to everyone for emails and comments, it makes me feel very loved and missing home a lot, especially on a day like today when my mind was on other things besides abba. but you'll have to read through to hear about them.

on teh efternoon after i wrote that last entry, i headed dpwn to the haev a'get lost ' walk, where i just go random places and end up in interesting houses, wats ans shops. today i ended up in a wat (temple) which is basically a small fancy building with gardens and a few extra shrines (there are 100 in chiang mai central old town). anyway, as i was havign a legal stickybeak, this monk piped up and we talked for about 2 hours, mostly him saying things, giving me little pearls of bugghist wisdoma nd telling me of his travels. i found it hard to understand him initially and then ended up being ok ont eh communication level. he showed me the wat and his stampa dn coin collections, got em to move some heavy pots, and bring out the texts for teasching the little kids. he also gacve me his address to send him a letter, which i will do. he was so unnassuming and gentle, he gestured a lot and in my opinion was very... wise? he also had a wonderful laugh.
that night, i had a bit too much to drinkw ith some random irisha nd brazilian guys, and then headed to the night market with the aussie gals. which was touristy and dissapointing.

i did end up doing that cooking school, which was treally entertaining and with lots to learn, mostly to do with ingrediants (if too hot add sugar, if too lime add fish sauce and vice versa - just writing that down so i dont forget!). we were picked up (about 10 of us) and then drove tot the market where he showed us the millions of typeds of vegetables, fruits, curry pastes, rice, fish and meat. we spent about an hour there and then drove out tot eh school which was in an outdoor shelter with a station for everyone. we basically followed his instructions which were very directive (hes been doing this school for 10 years) making 7 dishes in total. there were a cou[ple of curries, tom yum goong, sticky rice w mango, pad thai in an omelette, papaya salad and... ummm, stir fry vegetables. he was very enthusuasitic towards the beginning, making small jokes and little laughs, but got a bit tired at the end and we more or less just went through the steps. he does it everyday of the week from 930-9 pm. ptretty full on. i also got a souvineer book with an ingrediant glossry and reciupes, so i will bring that home.

later that evening, i hired a bike and rode out of town to wat u mong, which i heard had 'monk chat' sessions, so that teh monks can practice their english and english speakign people can learn about buddhism. it was a hairy ride, especially seeing as one of the pedals spuna round so that they were no longer opposite but pointing the same direction. fortunately i broke down in front of a motor bike repair shop, where they kindly knocked the pedal back on, with considerable violence, and then welded (yes welded) the pedal to teh crank. it was pretty funny. and later when i returned teh bike i was conscious to leave before they inspected it, lest they ask me to pay damages? it wasnt my fault anyway! hoever i continued onto wat u mong, which ended up being a verys secluded and lush oasis in the outskirts of CM old city (so still quite central). there were some old wats, and new library buildings, with no-one but monks walking around. it was so beautiful. and on a lot fo teh trees there were tacked words of wisdom - when love arrives - reason departs!

it was nice to spend an hour relaxing at the wat, however, the monk talk was not on as i got there too late (i thought ti was 5-7 but tit was 3-5). anyway, i had my fair share of monk chatting and it was nice to get out as well...

CM

now in chiang mai. headed down last night (this morning on the 14 hr over night train, on which i had a sleeper bed.). met 2 americans on the train, one was ultra cool – planning on doing a tai chi course in chiang mai, and had spent 3 months in India. The other was ex army and had millions of irrelavent army facts (like did you know army slang for marching close is nuts to butts? I think he misses it frankly, or maybe he’s looking for something else in Thailand??? And he also greeted our food vendor with ‘konichiwa!”) anyway, he was a bit annoying, but I did borrow his travel boible to find out which wats I should visit - what you ask? They’re temples, but I’m feeling a bit templed out, so I’m happy to email and blog for a bit.
I slept really well on the train, apart from being woken up buy more Americans at 4:30 and then 6 am again. Maybe they’re just excited about being away from america? But I met some groovy Sydney girls em and clare, who are heading on an eco tour tomorrow. They are more aware and are both well traveled. Clare even works for sta! so I’m staying in a peaceful hostel off the main strip but not too far from where I want to be. I’m organizing trekking for just one day and doing the touristy thing, with hopefully few Americans – it sounds bad but typically they get on my nerves. I’ve also booked a cooking class tomorrow where I will visit markets and pick some fruit from their garden. Then head into their school and make about 5 dishes I think.
Its really hard to take recommendations from people because everyone is on the take, but anyway, I’ve been trying to get the best trips.
I haven’t actually booked my trek, because I feel the place I want to buy ti from is too expensive, even though its only $40 for the day – which when you think about it is expensive for here but cheap for home. I really should stop worrying about the money and just do it!
I also have my bus booked for the 5 hour journey to Huayxai and the gibbon adventure is not far away.
i\m missing family and friends but also exploring and enjoying my time alone.
We’ll have to see what delights the cooking and elephants bring. (do not read cooking elephants - i'm not that hungry)

bkk2

I’m bloggin now from sam;s place. I will leave tonight to go to chiang mai in the north by over night train.
Yesterday was again hot (surprise surprise) and I went out and about and did more touristy things, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. I went to the huge reclining buddha (travelling by sky train and river boat) which is 46m long *wat po). Then I walked to the grand palace which is over run by tourists and not rightly so. It was pretty amazing, but I guess it all gets the same after a while. I figured I should get a guide so I got one, but couldn’t understand a word she said! Anyway, it was good I left early (because I got to go have some more food!!!) . actually I had a curry with rice and a pork noodle soup and a lassi kind of thing and huge beer,and it came to $3. which is cheap! But it was worth it no matter how much money it was. Then I walked a lot more around the teak furniture area and caught a tuk tuk to the station, got on the train home. At the station I went into the wat po massage school which I’d noticed the other day, and had a great (but tough!) massage for $6 – it was an hour long. I thought of mum a bit! As I winced…
Then headed home to go for a swim with sam, and then we went out. We were going to find an area which we’dspotted on the map but got sidetracked and ended up in a tiny restaurant pcked with locals at the end of an alley. I think they were surprised to see us and we ate and ate and ate. Sams parents reckon its ok to eat chicken as long a its properly cooked,so we had fried chicken (maybe don’t tell mum – or mum,if you’re reading this, ignore ‘chicken’ and read ‘ben never ate chicken’). And satay chicken and beef broth and ‘pork larb’ whatever that is. As well as lots of rice and lots more beer and coke. Then we headed to khao san to meet up with the frenchies I met the other day. Drank there for a while untilthey shut, and then sat on the street, then taxied home.
This morning I felt a little worse for wear (hung over) and sam was a bit tummy sick, but apparently this is a regular occurrence for him. So I headed out to lumpini park which is fulled withlocals. I went n one of those pedal boats and sat in the shade and watched the fish jump while locals had a great family da. Then walked around a lot and then headed to siam square which is a huge shopping complex. But like markets with really interesting fahion.
A yoghurt company was lauching a new product at the shpping centre so they’d set up a fun park calle ‘yoghurt paradise’. Awesome. I;ve never eten so much free yoghurt in my life. I’d hate to know how many little thai kids spewed on those rides.
I’ll head down to the station in a couple of hours and spend the night on the train, finally away from my comfort zone and into the wilderness.

bkk

a common misconception of tourists arriving in bangkok is that everyne is mad. this may be so, but it is unlikely. the tuk-tuks and the taxis, motorbikes and peddle carts jostle for position on the roads, and i'm sure no-ones really sure of which side they;re meant to drive on. rules? ha! dont get hit would be my first rule. evryone, and i mean everyone is in a rush and trying to sell yo something. often they;ll tell you a little pearl, some valuable information, like secret entrances to wats etc, but then they;ll ask you to buy something or to go for a ride in their tuk tuk, so i say thankyou for the info and walk off! some fo the wats, temples and monuments are beautiful, but i ahev no lonely planets goide - travl boible to let me know when where and why they were built etc. so i end up climbing to the top of one monument, working out where the closest coolest looking monument is, workign out how to get there (i have no map) and finding the way. its challenging, and i'm trying to find more back roads. i want to try more food (so far just fruits and things i can read or identify) because i dont want to point at something and not know what ti is, at least approximately. my spirit of adventure prefers not to have the runs.

anyway, i'll probabyl have a look around the touristy are of khao san rd and then head back to sam's place for a swim. it is after all, perishingly hot.

apprehension

well, tomorrow i jet off to se asia - thailand briefly, then laos and vietnam. it will be a trip of a life time and one i will try and record here on the blog, depening on how much fun i'm having (and whether that permits me time to tell you all!!!). i'm feeling a little nervous mostly because i am alone, even though i am sure that i'll meet a horde of people over there. some of it is organised, and some is not so organised, which is great cos i get to be flexible...
it will be great fun, and i cant wait to be taking off on that plane, talk to you soon....