The Silvermans
Thu 11/9/00 1:40 PM
Friends and colleagues, old and new:
I wanted to take this opportunity to say hello (it's probably been a while) and let you know about an exciting decision that Julie and I have made. On Friday November 24 we leave the country to go backpacking, mostly around Asia, for about six months. As it stands today our itinerary looks something like this:
[Edited on 3/19/01 to reflect true itinerary]
11/26-1/5 New Zealand (1/5-1/8 stopover in Sydney)
1/9-3/11 Thailand/Laos/Cambodia
1/9-3/11 Thailand/Laos/Cambodia
3/12-4/4 NW India/Rajasthan
4/5-5/10 Nepal (Katmandhu and Annapurna Circuit)
5/11-6/10 Western Turkey
6/11 Home (?)
4/5-5/10 Nepal (Katmandhu and Annapurna Circuit)
5/11-6/10 Western Turkey
6/11 Home (?)
In anticipation of your Frequently Asked Questions: Yes, we are quitting our jobs. No, we are not crazy. No, we did not win Lotto/Powerball. Yes, we gave up our apartment and put all our belongings minus two backpacks into storage. Yes, that means we are living with my parents in Scarsdale for a few weeks. Yes, I realize that I am a 32-year-old living with my parents. Yes, that is kind of pathetic lay off will you?
Anyway, we plan on being able to access e-mail via Internet cafes wherever possible. We promise to only provide interesting, grammatically correct updates of our adventures. If there is another e-mail address that you would like us to use let us know. And if you want to opt-out of our e-mail list altogether let us know that too, no offense taken. I remember back when I had a job and would get dozens of e-mails a day; what a pain that can be.
Either way we would love to get updates from the civilized world, like whom the Vikings beat in the Super Bowl. Did UCLA cover in winning the NCAA Championship? How many Oscars did Me, Myself, and Irene take home? You get the idea.
Wish us luck . . . my guess is that we'll need it!
Day 1 - Queenstown
Long day(s) of flying NYC-LA-Auckland-Queenstown, left Friday PM, arrived Sunday at noon. Business Class was great, last taste of luxury before taking on the life of a traveler. Ran into Jerry Lee from Amex in the United Red Carpet Lounge at LAX. Flight from Auckland to Queenstown was incredible, more mountainous than I imagined. Flew right over Mt. Cook where Edmund Hilary and other Everest climbers hone their skills.
Queenstown is a beautiful town situated on a clear blue lake (Lake Wakatipu) surrounded by hills and snow capped mountains. Checked into our first temporary home for the next four nights, the Alpine Lodge, at the bargain price of NZ$40 (about $US17). Small double bed that barely fits in the room, perfect backpackers feel to it, common room and bathroom down the hall. Walked into town, very ski-town like. Queenstown is known for its adrenaline-pumping activities, bungee jumping, hang-gliding, and others that they probably made up to take tourist money. But the town is beautiful; we lied down at the Mall, a grassy area right on the lake and almost fell asleep. Walked through Queenstown Gardens and ended up at Pug Mahomes, an "Irish" bar overlooking the lake, and right now (5PM) we are enjoying some Steinlagers on a sun soaked terrace. It hasn't really hit us what we have undertaken and will be experiencing, but for now it is perfect!
Day 2 - Doubtful Sound
Last night I was speaking with Darren, a young man from London who is staying at our lodge. He commented that there is a lot in Queenstown designed to separate you from your money. As I sit on a cruise of the Doubtful Sound headed out to the Tasman Sea, I can't decide yet whether this is one of those activities.
First, a bit more about our lodge. We share a separate upstairs with common kitchen and TV (think the Fonz in Happy Days) with one other shared room with four beds. One of the things I'm looking forward to is meeting people, travelers and natives, from all over the world. So you can imagine how excited I was to meet Darren's three early 20's bunkmates . . . from the Upper East Side of Manhattan. (Actual quote: "Dude, turn on The Simpsons!") No, I still like The Simpsons and I'm sure I will miss the comforts of home at some point, but if I wanted Brother Jimmy's I would have stayed home. Starting to feel a bit long in the tooth . . .
Back to today. We boarded our tour bus to the Doubtful Sound this morning. Now we feel young again, very young. And rather non-Asian. The bus took us through the Southland, beautiful hilly farms with sheep, deer, and hardly any people. Everything is very green, a harbinger of the rain we will soon experience. Stopped in Manapouri where we boarded a small boat (well, small enough to fit 80 tourists) across Lake Manapouri, another beautiful lake flanked by mountains. We now experience what SW New Zealand is known for, rain and sandflies. At the other end of the lake we boarded another bus taking us through the most Southern rainforest of the world, pretty but too foggy to see much.
Now we are cruising through the Doubtful Sound, which is actually a fjord formed by glaciers way back when. Out in the Tasman Sea we saw Fiordland crested penguins, among the rarest in the world. It's kind of a paradox, or ironical, as Fred Willard would say; I guess NZ felt it would best keep this area unspoiled by restricting passage and people. So even though we are on a "tour" we are really in the middle of nowhere, no other boats or people and as close to Antartica as I'll probably ever get. It's very peaceful despite the rain and the tourists; I don't know if Zen was included in the package price ($NZ220 each, but within our budget!) but I'll take it. But don't call me a tourist; based on my current scent I'm definitely a traveler.
Day 4 (11/29) - Queenstown
Yesterday was pretty uneventful, cold and rainy. We ran some errands, bought gear for our upcoming trek, and played cards in the lodge. Today was an absolutely beautiful day. We leave tomorrow for a 3-day trek so we wanted to do a day-hike to get our butts in shape. Climbed Ben Lomond, a mountain that overlooks the town. Didn't quite summit but got 4 hours of well needed exercise. Tomorrow we do the Routeburn Track, a 3-day hike going west (1.5 days up, 1.5 days down) that will leave us at the Milford Sound in the fiordland. We are sea kayaking the next day and then will be spending almost a day and a half straight on a bus to Christchurch. We will miss Queenstown, vowing to come back some day, but are looking forward to moving on to new and exciting destinations.
Days 5 and 6 - Routeburn Track
Set off in the morning to the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand's designated "Great Walks". Two beautifully spectacular days, I'm running out of appropriate adjectives. Took a coach ride to the beginning of the track, seeing it in the distance past Lake Wakatipu. Heard "Imagine" on the radio as we are taking this beautiful ride and imagining no possessions, "No Woman, No Cry" and everything is going to be all right! Chased some cows and sheep off the road, it was straight out of a movie.
The first two days of the hike were mostly a climb through a forest then above the tree line. Beautiful streams, lakes, waterfalls, very few people and almost no wildlife. Ate cheese and crackers for lunch, climbed about 2000 ft the first day, then another 1000ft the second before descending into a forest that seemed to come right out of The Hobbit (the film version is being shot in NZ), a dark forest with moss covered trees. We did about 20km total for both days, tiring but nothing too bad, starting to get used to the heavy packs.
The huts we stayed in both nights were pretty similar except one looked over the Routeburn Falls and one over Lake Mackensie. Both had two large, somewhat musty smelling bunkrooms with about 24 bunks each, a couple toilets and sinks with cold water only (no showers), and a common room with several stoves for cooking and benches to eat on. Some people were eating freeze-dried backpacker type food and others were putting on quite a production.
Before my last day of work, my boss Alice bought us some small pans to cook in, some freeze dried lasagna and freeze dried ice cream, all of which came in handy. The lasagna was quite good, the ice cream less so. (And for those curious, I can't yet figure out if it's true about the water flushing counterclockwise south of the equator, it seems to just flush straight down. Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer is in Australia and the American adjusted toilet in his hotel flushes clockwise and he tears up, singing "My country tis of thee".)
Up until the second night in the huts Julie and I had been a bit disappointed that we hadn't yet connected with other travelers we had met. Maybe we weren't friendly enough; maybe this whole traveling thing takes some getting used to. All this changed during the second night in the huts as we spent several hours sharing stories with the other twenty or so people in the hut that night. Grace from South Korea spoke little English but was holding court in the center of the room, making green tea for everyone. She brought a recorder with her during her year of travel because she wants to learn the flute when she returns to Korea. Right now her repertoire consists of Old McDonald and This Old Man, yet she is still better than me on the guitar. Rowan from Toronto had spent the last 18 months on the road and in sharing our future itineraries we figured out that we would probably run into him again in Cambodia and Nepal. A great guy with tons of good advice, kind of like Richard from The Beach without the attitude. Also met Nick from Bristol, England who was on holiday and will also be kayaking with us in a couple days. Doug and Hillary from London who own 3 smoothie shops in London and were on their honeymoon. And Yanai, a young Israeli traveling with his parents for two months, who spoke just enough English for us to teach him to play hearts with Julie, Rowan and I. Made me wish I had remembered more Hebrew from my 4 years of Hebrew School. A great two days!
Day 7 - Routeburn Track, Milford Sound
Rainy, cold and windy for the entire 13km, 4.5 hr trek. Nick, Julie and I then went to the Milford Lodge, which was panned in Lonely Planet but was surprisingly good, which may be indicative of our now low standards because this place was like a bad Motel 6, but with two pillows each and clean towels and we did have a chance to do much needed laundry and take a hot shower. Had some fish and chips in the cafe and played Rummy 500 with Nick when about 9:30 PM the rain stopped and the sun broke through. Since the hotel's generator was about to expire we went to bed after a long wet day.
Day 8 - Milford Sound
This was the first test of our "travel toughness"; one of those days we knew we would have but were unsure how we would handle it. I developed a case of "hikers toe" leaving the nail on my left big toe discolored and about to fall off. My prescription sunglasses broke and I won't have occasion to fix them for a couple days. Ditto for our camera, which apparently got wet while kayaking today and now does not work. Everything is still wet from the day before including my shoes. I have a slight case of sun poisoning on my right hand. Milford Sound is known for sand flies, most of which have apparently bitten and left welts all over Julie. And I made the mistake the night before of checking our dwindling Schwab account over the Internet, are we ever getting a president?
Still, we survived and had a fantastic day. The sun held out for our kayaking excursion in the Milford Sound, an area that gets 6-7 meters of rain a year! The kayaking was hard but worth it, we really felt tiny and insignificant and a kayak looking up at fjords that rise up to 4000 feet.
Got up close and personal with seals and penguins. Another picture perfect day, although we probably won't have any actual pictures from it.
Nick, Julie and I then took a bus called the Kiwi Experience back to Queenstown. The Kiwi Experience is a bus line designed for travelers who want to see a lot but have flexibility too. You can buy a multi-day pass on a set route and get off where you please (within reason) and in exactly 24 hours, 48 hours or whatever another bus will be by that you can get on. Sounds great, but it does have the reputation of being a "party on wheels" for the younger set. One person I met in Queenstown said that the Experience bus he was on had to make a few "puke breaks" for inebriated passengers. So we decided the 4-hour ride from Milford to Queenstown would be a good test run to see first hand what it was like.
We got a relatively mellow, very young crowd who were a little tired from the long day in Milford. Nick, Julie and I got on and rose the average age a wee bit (a little Kiwi-speak for you all) and headed off. It was like
a regular bus, maybe a bit smellier, but the bus driver, Doon, was playing some great music and 4 people from the Netherlands were "rocking out" to the tunes. About an hour into the trip we heard "Imagine" again. Then "No Woman, No Cry". Then several more songs in an order very familiar to us; I feel manipulated but I guess K-Tel New Zealand is alive, well, and thriving.
I looked through Doon's guest book and noted some entries indicating that indeed the Kiwi Experience is most of the time a little more livelily. Got into Queenstown, bid adieu to Nick, ate at Burger King (hey, it's cheap!) and checked into the Alpine Lodge again, this time in the more livable downstairs floor, where we unpacked and re-packed our pack for tomorrow's trip to Christchurch.
Day 9 - Mt. Cook, Christchurch
We boarded the Great Sights bus line in the morning, now we are back to the older and Asian set. Since there really isn't any national bus service a la Greyhound, you pretty much have to rely on independent bus lines and most are like those tourist buses you see pulling up to the Grand Canyon. So it's a crapshoot, but we can't seem to find our age demographic. Maybe our next business should be the "Thirtysomethings" bus line; we could pull Ken Olin and Timothy Busfield out of obscurity to promote it.
Got our first taste of anti-American attitude today. First we overheard some Belgian . . . um . . . bitch complain that because the US dollar is so strong that NZ is being overrun with American tourists. I resisted quoting
Kevin Kline from A Fish Called Wanda and picked up the Otago Penninsula newspaper. In it was a column bashing the US election process, some of it admittedly right on target, but rather unfairly berating Americans for wanting a "clueless frat boy" like GWB running our country. In comparing Gore to Bush, he wrote that while Gore might break into your house, take some money and rearrange your furniture, Bush couldn't find your house, "which is exactly what Americans want from their government". And your point would be . . . what? The variety section had a tongue in cheek item about John Travolta owing nearly a million $ in back taxes stemming from his setting up an S-Corporation, "a vehicle for rich Americans to avoid paying taxes". You mean S-Corporations like Microsoft, who word-processed your drivel? Anyway, I digress; actually 99% of the travelers and Kiwi we have met have been friendly and extremely helpful.
On our way to Christchurch we drove past a few recent rockslides and stopped at Mt. Cook, an incredible sight. We walked around for an hour or so, even for a "touristy" area it is amazing how few people we run into. To give you an idea, NZ is about the size, area-wise, of California, but with only 3.8 million people, a third of whom live in or near Auckland. No wonder there is so much unspoiled beauty. After Mt. Cook, we left the mountainous areas for the plains, which was equally as beautiful, reminding me of Minnesota and Wisconsin. We stopped for a late afternoon break in a little town called Geraldine. This is a town I could definitely spend some time in (golf green fees = $7NZ!) and I am wondering if we should slow down a bit but I would probably get bored if we spent too much time in towns like this. Our bus driver, Tom, was informative if not too much so about the areas we were going through and very folksy ("Wakey, wakey, we're in Geraldine"). Got into Christchurch, a city of about 300K people on the central East Coast (Pacific Ocean) of the South Island. It's sunny and 70 degrees with a breeze coming off the ocean.
Checked in to the Stonehurst Backpackers' Hotel, which we could not resist after seeing its phone number of 0508-STONED. Clean, large, and only $45NZ/$19US a night. Splurged on a huge meal at Ann's Thai where we stuffed our faces and drank beer for about $20US.
Day 10 - Christchurch
We are trying to adhere to a set weekly budget and I am happy to say that we ended our first week almost 10% under budget! Probably no such luck for Week 2 as we just found out that our camera is broken and not repairable. So we are deciding how much we want to spend on a new camera; we used one of those disposable ones for Mt. Cook and will use those from now on when near any water.
We spent most of the day running errands, which sounds worse than it is, it is refreshing to get stuff done when not hindered by a work day. Got the sunglasses fixed for free and planned our next few days' activities: Tomorrow we leave for Akaroa on the Banks Penninsula, a small sea-side town about 90km SE of here. Thu and Fri we do a 2-day, 35km trek around the Peninsula. Saturday we go swimming with dolphins in Akaroa and head back to Christchurch Sat PM. We then spent a lazy late summer day lying in a park updating our journals. We are extremely relaxed, happy, and not bothered by all the inconveniences. We hope to take some of this new relaxed attitude home with us, or at least to India!
Day 11 (12/6/00) - Akaroa
Slept in today until 8:15, which as Julie pointed out is when I used to get up for work. 6:30 seems to be the norm in communal living quarters. Took a short bus ride to Akaroa, a town of 1000 that sits on a bay leading to the Pacific. Just a gorgeous town, part Catalina, part Riviera. The French founded Akaroa in 1840 but by the time a significant number of French emigrated here the British had already taken over the country. So Akaroa is one of the few French settlements in NZ and there is a slight French influence. Another lazy day, swimming, lying in a park looking at green hills and blue water. At about 5:30 we met for the shuttle taking us to the Banks Peninsula track, our trek for the next two days. Originally we thought we were in the wrong place as most of the others were quite a bit older but they were part of a Tramping Club and this was one of their outings. The track can be walked in either two or four days with the option of having you’re packs transported for you. We had thought we were being quite hearty by choosing the 2-day, carry your own option, but now we're not so sure.
The shuttle took us to the Onuku Farm Hostel for our first night's stay. This track is unique in that you walk through the private land of ten farm owners and spend the nights in huts right on the farms. They limit the number of 4-day walkers to 12 a day and 2-day walkers to only 4 with separate the accommodations and we soon meet our bunkmates for the next 48 hours. Rob and Karen are a Kiwi couple from Franz Josef on the West Coast. As soon as they arrived at the hut they went off to attempt to fly a kite, which we would soon learn would be Rob's obsession over the next two days.
We couldn't have lucked out with two nicer people and it is good to finally spend some time with New Zealanders. The farm had this makeshift 18-hole putting course with spoons as flagsticks and Rob and I played the first annual Onuku Farm International Cup. The older 4-day walkers watched from their deck as USA beat NZ by two strokes. We sat on our deck as the sun went down, sheep baahing from up close and in the distance looking down at the harbor and gazing up at almost a full moon. I literally did not want this day to end so I brought my sleeping bag out on the deck to sleep outside. About 1:30 I hear Rob join me on the deck; apparently Karen had banished him for snoring. At about 3 Rob stopped snoring and the sheep stopped baaahing, as I enjoyed the silence of the lambs. Despite it all it was an incredibly peaceful night.
Day 12 - Banks Peninsula
Another warm sunny day! We climbed a steep hill in the first 90 minutes that gave us great views of Akaroa Bay and the Pacific Ocean as well as the beautiful farmland. It's a strange perspective to be looking at the Pacific essentially facing South America. The track took us through several coves and we lunched watching several pods of Hector dolphins playing, the same dolphins we hope to swim with in two days. We are also seeing first hand why NZ is known for sheep. I can't even estimate how many sheep I saw, I tried counting . . . and fell asleep right on the trail (last sheep joke, I promise). Other than dodging sheep dung the trail is great, a marked contrast from the mountains on the Routeburn but no less difficult. 19 km and 8 hrs later we arrive at the Stony Bay Cottage, a quirky place with a homemade pool table, a shower with a tree growing through it, and an unmanned "store" where you can buy cheese, beer, etc. on the honor system!
We're exhausted but all our pain ailments are getting better with the exception of my hand which is blistering, red, and causing me a bit of pain. Karen, who is a nurse, looked at it and thought it might be an allergic reaction to a certain poisonous plant indigenous to NZ but Rob, who works for the Department of Conservation here, said that plant does not grow as far south as when my symptoms started. So the jury is still out. Rob and Karen shared some of their NZ wine with us (that they carried all day!) and we talked into the night.
Day 13 - Banks Peninsula
The 4 of us headed out together in the AM and we were surprised to have kept up with them for the first 6km as they were both experienced trampers. They have both seen so much of the world, Rob worked in Papua New Guinea and has been to all 7 continents and Karen cycled through Europe and the Middle East for 18 months several years ago. Had lunch at and went swimming in Otanerito Bay. The final 10 km were painful as we let them go ahead of us but met up with them at the end to say goodbye, we may visit them in Franz Josef in ten days or so. Checked into the very quaint Chez La Mer Backpackers in Akaroa and splurged on a relatively fancy meal at Bully Hayes, where I had some very good lamb.
Day 14 - Akaroa
We were quite sore this morning and my first bout of travel weariness has set in. My hand is still sore, it looks like it may rain, and we could easily skip the dolphin swimming later today, but we did pay for it in advance. After a late leisurely breakfast at the Akaroa bakery we headed off to Dolphin Experience. We were fitted with wet suits and snorkels, first time for both of us, and headed off not to far from the harbor before spotting our first dolphins. Hector dolphins are small, about 4 feet long, and are reputed to be very friendly and curious. We went in the water on a few occasions and saw several dolphins swim within a foot of us. None of them actually approached us but it was quite amazing to be that close. We enjoyed the snorkeling aspect of it, maybe we will finally listen to all our friends telling us to take up scuba.
I can't quite explain it, maybe it was just being out in the sea, but a calm just came over my body on the boat and all the aches and pains went away. I feel completely rejuvenated although I am still looking forward to a day of doing nothing tomorrow back in Christchurch.
Day 16 - Kaikoura
After a slow lazy day in Christchurch we headed north today to Kaikoura, which may be the only place that has disappointed us thus far. Kaikoura is right on the Pacific and is known for dolphin swimming but someone in Christchurch recommended Akaroa over ChCh for this activity and I'm glad we listened. Nothing wrong with this place and we didn't get the greatest weather day (very windy) but nothing really struck us as special about Kaikoura. We have a train ticket for Picton and the Marlborough Sounds and needed to pass right through here anyway, nothing wrong with another slow day.
I got an interesting e-mail yesterday from a friend of mine who has done a bit of traveling. He suggested that I use this site/journal as a forum for my feelings about what I'm seeing and experiencing rather than just what I did. The thing is that so far this just feels like the best vacation I've ever taken. We're relaxed, happy, fit and I'm thinking a lot about the life changes I want to make when I return, mainly to live a more mentally and physically healthier life. But this is the same way I usually feel during any vacation and then it's back to the same old, same old. So I feel it's disingenuous at this point in the journey to talk too much about any epiphanies - I'm not working; I'm in a beautiful new country, who wouldn't be happy? Also, NZ isn't a huge cultural change from the US, maybe the epiphanies will come in Cambodia or India. I don't miss anything about home (wherever that is) except our friends and I'm not yet sick of my 3 outfits or communal toilets and showers . . . yet. All is good, but still don't quite feel like a traveler yet.
Day 17 - Picton
Picton is the primary town that people arrive in from the North Island via ferry. We were expecting a generic port town and boy were we wrong. Picton is a rather mellow town on a beautiful harbor, not unlike Akaroa. We experimented today with not making a room reservation in advance and were shut out of the first two places we wanted. The third time was definitely the charm, as the Sequoia Backpackers met all of our needs. We planned out a lot of our next several days' activities, including a visit to the Marlborough Sounds. We have a hut-to-hit trek planned for the first day and then I'm going to mountain bike the second day while Julie walks it. Nothing too strenuous. We also booked a rental car for our final 5 days on the South Island from a fine upstanding establishment called Rent a Dent. Cooked some ramen and made a cucumber salad for dinner and may hit the town tonight for a little fun.
Day 18 (13-Dec-00) Marlborough Sound – Written by Julie
Marlborough Sounds are at the top of the S. Island of New Zealand. They are a group of waterways, bays and islands. The scenery is great – clear blue water, palm trees mixed with pine and beech, low clouds floating into the valleys. The sun was shining as we took a boat from Picton to Torea Bay. From there we walked to the Portage Lodge. As the bunks in the lodge were booked, we were staying "above the store". This turned out to be a great location. We had our own room with shared cooking and bath. 3 Brits were staying in the other 2 rooms. The lodge was pretty interesting, not unlike Cragun's circa 1979 (Ash - it was just like Nisswa). Dark, tacky decor and an outdated game room. We went for a swim in the pool, had a nice lunch over looking the bay and rented a canoe. Although the canoe was difficult to maneuver, we made it to another bay where Mark had a swim. We later sat on the deck overlooking the blue, clear bay, had some beers, played cards (Nick's rummy 500) and watched the sunset. We didn't want this day to end. This trip has exceeded our expectations in so many ways. We have never been so relaxed.
Day 19 Marlborough Sounds – Written by Julie
Another beautiful day. We walked a leg of the Queen Charlotte Track to Te Mahia bay. The views were nice – bays on either side, water and hills as far as we could see. Our room had a view of the bay and we could hear the waves crashing - it seemed beautiful. On further inspection, we seemed to be staying in an old garage - cement floors, unfinished roof. Unfortunately, no restaurant or bar here. We dined on the NZ equivalent of Rice-A-Roni for lunch and Top Ramen for dinner. Reminds us of college. Beautiful location. Very relaxing day.
Day 20 (15-Dec-00) Marlborough Sounds – Written by Julie
Mark's bike arrived at our "hotel" early in the morning and we were off to do the last leg (12.5 km) of the track - Mark on mountain bike, I on foot. A boat picked up Mark's pack. There were some great views of the sounds and again nice weather (we hear its cold in MN this time of year). As Mark was way ahead on bike, he had time for a swim in the bay. We met up at the Blist'd Foot cafe, 1 km past the end of the trail. Unfortunately, this cafe is soon to be put out of business by a refreshment truck, which will set up right at the end of the trail. It was very sad talking to the owners as they had just opened this year and had invested in equipment and permits for the cafe. Save the Blist'd Foot!!! Later, a boat picked us up and took us back to Picton. We passed by the summerhouse of the 24-year-old NZ computer wiz kid (NZ's Michael Dell). The price? a whopping $703,000 (that's NZ dollars = $300,000 or so US). This country has been pretty inexpensive.
Day 21 - Kaiteriteri
Picked up our 1990 Nissan Primera (what?) from Rent a Dent in the AM. The woman at the rental counter apologized that she only could give the car a quick cleaning since it got returned late, so she knocked $5 a day off the price. The same thing happened to me in Manhattan once . . . yeah right! What a country! So began our 5-day Driving on the Left class. We stopped at a McDonalds in Nelson for the thrill of going clockwise through the drive thru. We truly are living on the edge.
Final destination was a beach town that Julie found in Lonely Planet. Kaiteriteri is a sleepy beach town on the Tasman Bay. We got a cabin, really a large motel room, at the Kaiteriteri Motor Park right across from the beach and hung out, did some swimming, and talked about our plans for the North Island and beyond. As much as I love New Zealand I am eager for more exotic locales. We plan on going to some beaches on the North Island but as Julie pointed out if we want beaches Thailand is half the price and probably at least as nice. So we are questioning our North Island strategy, if we can even change our flights that is. We feel in great shape from all the hiking and outdoor activities but that is only one of the reasons for the trip as a whole. Besides, between the tapeworms and the dysentery we'll get in India, our weight loss plan is set.
Had dinner in a neighboring town (Motueka) at Hot Mama's Cafe, kind of a hippie hangout, coffee shop, and bar all in one. Listened to some live music and enjoyed a rocking Saturday night in New Zealand.
Day 22 (12/17) - Punakaiki
A beautiful drive, a car is a great way to see some of the out of the way places in NZ. This country is like a condensed version of the best scenery of the U.S./Canada. Today we drove through Wisconsin-like farmland; an hour later we were in Montana-like mountains and streams and ended up on the Big Sur-like West Coast of New Zealand. Someone we met on the Routeburn recommended Punakaiki. She also recommended the lodging for the night, the Te Nicau Retreat, another hippieish hangout where it was hard to tell the guests from the workers since it seemed all the guests were long-term guests. Nice, but not quite our scene.
Punakaiki is known for it's sole attraction, the Pancake Rocks. It's barely a town, a couple places to stay and one tavern. But the Pancake Rocks were recommended and listed in Lonely Planet so we gave it a shot. Basically these rocks have been there for 25 million years and the pounding surf have formed these fissures that act as blowholes during high tides. It's Old Faithful combined with sunset at Key West as everyone seems to just wait for high tide to watch the blowholes. (Actually, I've never been to Old Faithful or Key West, and while we're on the subject of artistic license I couldn't get through more than the first 50 pages of The Hobbit. Now I feel better.) This was pretty much as boring as it sounds but we waited 45 minutes for high tide anyway; Julie says I'm learning patience, a scary thought. All things considered it was a good day though, bright sun, blue ocean, but for the record Punakaiki is missable.
Day 23 - Wanaka
Drove down the West Coast some more, a great journey but weak on destinations as this area is even low in population by New Zealand standards. We did stop in Franz Josef to try to find our new friends Rob and Karen from Banks Peninsula but to no avail so we pressed on another 4 hrs to Wanaka, which was described to us as Queenstown but less touristy.
Drove through Mt. Aspiring Park, home of the Routeburn Track, which essentially completed the circle we made around the South Island. We're spending our last 3 nights on the South Island here, hiking, maybe some golf, before flying to Auckland, where we are staying for a few days with our friend Guy's relatives before heading off to see more of the North Island.
Days 24,25 - Wanaka
Our final days on the South Island. We summitted a 4000ft mountain (mt. Roy) which gave us great views of Lake Wanaka and Mt. Aspiring. Played a round of golf at the Wanaka Golf Club, greens fees, rental clubs, pull cart and 3 golf balls for $60NZ (about $26US with our less and less attractive exchange rate). Wanaka is a very pretty town, similar to Queenstown, a little more laid back but actually a little more expensive.
Our final days on the South Island. We summitted a 4000ft mountain (mt. Roy) which gave us great views of Lake Wanaka and Mt. Aspiring. Played a round of golf at the Wanaka Golf Club, greens fees, rental clubs, pull cart and 3 golf balls for $60NZ (about $26US with our less and less attractive exchange rate). Wanaka is a very pretty town, similar to Queenstown, a little more laid back but actually a little more expensive.
Off to New Zealand – North Island
Day 26 (12/21) - Auckland
Drove to Queenstown and took an awfully turbulence-ridden flight to Auckland. We made a decision a few days ago to leave NZ a few days early to give us more time in SE Asia, so we changed our flights at Auckland Int'l Airport. We are now leaving Auckland for Sydney on 1/5 and Sydney for Bangkok on 1/8.
We are staying the next two nights in Howick, a suburb of Auckland, with cousins, Gavin and Elain, of our friend Guy Philips from the States/Amex. It is nice to be staying in an actual home and we were treated first class. After picking us up at the airport and cooking us dinner, Elain (Guy's cousin) and her boyfriend Richard took us driving around the Auckland area for a few hours (see pictures). Our first impression was of the size of Auckland and the number of people, we definitely are not on the South Island anymore. Beyond that it's a beautiful metropolitan city surrounded by lots of water. Elain asked us what American city Auckland reminded us of and it was a tough question, Julie said San Francisco and I offered Seattle or Vancouver, but none of those really captured it.
Day 27 - Auckland
Saw more of the city today in the afternoon after trying to plan our next several days of accommodations and activities. Reservations are starting to get more difficult, maybe it has to do with the holidays, and maybe it's just that the North Island has a lot more people. But perseverance paid off and our next two weeks are set.
I picked up the book The Killing Fields in a used bookstore in Wanaka and started reading it today. I saw the movie and have even heard Dith Pran, the Cambodian protagonist and journalist, speak before but his story has been really affecting me and making me even more interested in visiting Cambodia, a country that was more on Julie's wish list than mine. In all, this trip has been a great combination of enjoying the present and getting even more excited about what will come in the next several months.
Day 28 - Bay of Islands
We decided to take it easy and actually spend a week in the same place. The Bay of Islands, about 3 hrs north of Auckland, are listed as a must see in all the books and came highly recommended from our friend Carolyn. Got back on the Kiwi Experience (duuude!) and ended in Paihia, which is supposed to be the most touristy of the towns on the Bay of Islands, but as we have learned and as was confirmed when we arrived, touristy to NZ is quite a bit different than touristy in the US and it was much mellower than we expected and will be even more so when the Princess cruise ship leaves port this evening. We took a 20 minute ferry to Russell and walked 15 minutes to a relatively secluded beach and I'm sure this statement will need to be revised over the next few months but this may be the most beautiful beach I've been on. Crystal clear, greenish blue water in a cove surrounded by rocks, probably about 68 or so degrees, which feels great as the air is fairly hot. Russell is a charming smaller town where we originally were planning on staying but we wanted a bigger town that would have more open during the holidays. Paihia seems to be a bit of a party town, especially with most Kiwi beginning their summer holiday around now, and this kind of
fits our mood right now.
Drove to Queenstown and took an awfully turbulence-ridden flight to Auckland. We made a decision a few days ago to leave NZ a few days early to give us more time in SE Asia, so we changed our flights at Auckland Int'l Airport. We are now leaving Auckland for Sydney on 1/5 and Sydney for Bangkok on 1/8.
We are staying the next two nights in Howick, a suburb of Auckland, with cousins, Gavin and Elain, of our friend Guy Philips from the States/Amex. It is nice to be staying in an actual home and we were treated first class. After picking us up at the airport and cooking us dinner, Elain (Guy's cousin) and her boyfriend Richard took us driving around the Auckland area for a few hours (see pictures). Our first impression was of the size of Auckland and the number of people, we definitely are not on the South Island anymore. Beyond that it's a beautiful metropolitan city surrounded by lots of water. Elain asked us what American city Auckland reminded us of and it was a tough question, Julie said San Francisco and I offered Seattle or Vancouver, but none of those really captured it.
Day 27 - Auckland
Saw more of the city today in the afternoon after trying to plan our next several days of accommodations and activities. Reservations are starting to get more difficult, maybe it has to do with the holidays, and maybe it's just that the North Island has a lot more people. But perseverance paid off and our next two weeks are set.
I picked up the book The Killing Fields in a used bookstore in Wanaka and started reading it today. I saw the movie and have even heard Dith Pran, the Cambodian protagonist and journalist, speak before but his story has been really affecting me and making me even more interested in visiting Cambodia, a country that was more on Julie's wish list than mine. In all, this trip has been a great combination of enjoying the present and getting even more excited about what will come in the next several months.
Day 28 - Bay of Islands
We decided to take it easy and actually spend a week in the same place. The Bay of Islands, about 3 hrs north of Auckland, are listed as a must see in all the books and came highly recommended from our friend Carolyn. Got back on the Kiwi Experience (duuude!) and ended in Paihia, which is supposed to be the most touristy of the towns on the Bay of Islands, but as we have learned and as was confirmed when we arrived, touristy to NZ is quite a bit different than touristy in the US and it was much mellower than we expected and will be even more so when the Princess cruise ship leaves port this evening. We took a 20 minute ferry to Russell and walked 15 minutes to a relatively secluded beach and I'm sure this statement will need to be revised over the next few months but this may be the most beautiful beach I've been on. Crystal clear, greenish blue water in a cove surrounded by rocks, probably about 68 or so degrees, which feels great as the air is fairly hot. Russell is a charming smaller town where we originally were planning on staying but we wanted a bigger town that would have more open during the holidays. Paihia seems to be a bit of a party town, especially with most Kiwi beginning their summer holiday around now, and this kind of
fits our mood right now.
Day 29 - Bay of Islands
Headed out on a sailing trip on a "tall ship" called the R. Tucker Thompson, built in NZ in 1985 but patterned after schooners used in the 18th century for halibut fishing in the Pacific Northwest. So we decided on the particular ship just for the halibut. The whole day was great, the crew BBQd for lunch, we stopped for a swim at Roberton Island, one of the 144 islands in the Bay. I even helped the crew hoist a sail or two. The only negative was that there were about 40 others on the ship.
One of the crew was from Melbourne. He started backpacking 7 years ago and hasn't stopped since. He seemed to know his way around the boat like he had been sailing his whole life but he only started sailing a year ago, as a crewmember of one ship or another. Kind of makes you think about the potential of travel and all the options that are out there as far as work. I'm relatively sure the Tucker Thompson has no 401k plan, or at least do not match contributions, but he sure looked happy. As I'm sure do we, as we are having another great day on the water. A lot of time to think today, do we want to live in the mountains or near the beach upon our return, whenever that is.
Day 30 (Christmas Day) - Bay of Islands
I'm dreaming of a weird Christmas. It's the height of summer here, beautiful beach weather. To add to the weirdness our hostel hosted a Xmas dinner for all 25 guests, the staff and I'm guessing their friends. The Mousetrap is another of those strange hostels with a lot of long term guests, you kind of feel like a guest in someone's home rather than a guest in a lodge. The meal wasn't too bad but it was a bit uncomfortable considering Christmas is usually spent with family.
Day 31 - Bay of Islands
No worries! That's a popular expression here in NZ and is sort of their philosophy, but I can't help thinking that it's also a subtle dig at Americans who have the gall to come here and expect accuracy and value in the service industry. It's a very convenient expression. Got your order wrong? No worries! The lodge is a sty and no one cleans up after himself or herself? No worries! The guy who you prepaid for surf lessons never shows to pick you up? No worries! Hey, I think it's working! I mean the old vengeful Mark would make a point to mention MONIQUE from THE MOUSETRAP and TIM from ISOBAR SURF in the negative on his site and have his webmaster add them as metatags so that anyone searching for either of these establishments would read this first and take their money elsewhere. Thank god I've changed.
So we spent the morning looking for a place to stay but it wasn't easy. Finally, we got to Lodge Eleven, a nice looking youth hostel. The owner said they had no doubles available, "unless you want to stay in the caravan". The caravan was a trailer parked in the back parking lot. We looked at it, it was clean, and we can use the shower and toilet in the common TV room. Done! Our 4th wedding anniversary is in two days and we figure this will make a great story several years from now as we celebrate some future anniversary at the Mauna Kea, "Remember that anniversary in the caravan in the parking lot?
Headed out on a sailing trip on a "tall ship" called the R. Tucker Thompson, built in NZ in 1985 but patterned after schooners used in the 18th century for halibut fishing in the Pacific Northwest. So we decided on the particular ship just for the halibut. The whole day was great, the crew BBQd for lunch, we stopped for a swim at Roberton Island, one of the 144 islands in the Bay. I even helped the crew hoist a sail or two. The only negative was that there were about 40 others on the ship.
One of the crew was from Melbourne. He started backpacking 7 years ago and hasn't stopped since. He seemed to know his way around the boat like he had been sailing his whole life but he only started sailing a year ago, as a crewmember of one ship or another. Kind of makes you think about the potential of travel and all the options that are out there as far as work. I'm relatively sure the Tucker Thompson has no 401k plan, or at least do not match contributions, but he sure looked happy. As I'm sure do we, as we are having another great day on the water. A lot of time to think today, do we want to live in the mountains or near the beach upon our return, whenever that is.
Day 30 (Christmas Day) - Bay of Islands
I'm dreaming of a weird Christmas. It's the height of summer here, beautiful beach weather. To add to the weirdness our hostel hosted a Xmas dinner for all 25 guests, the staff and I'm guessing their friends. The Mousetrap is another of those strange hostels with a lot of long term guests, you kind of feel like a guest in someone's home rather than a guest in a lodge. The meal wasn't too bad but it was a bit uncomfortable considering Christmas is usually spent with family.
Day 31 - Bay of Islands
No worries! That's a popular expression here in NZ and is sort of their philosophy, but I can't help thinking that it's also a subtle dig at Americans who have the gall to come here and expect accuracy and value in the service industry. It's a very convenient expression. Got your order wrong? No worries! The lodge is a sty and no one cleans up after himself or herself? No worries! The guy who you prepaid for surf lessons never shows to pick you up? No worries! Hey, I think it's working! I mean the old vengeful Mark would make a point to mention MONIQUE from THE MOUSETRAP and TIM from ISOBAR SURF in the negative on his site and have his webmaster add them as metatags so that anyone searching for either of these establishments would read this first and take their money elsewhere. Thank god I've changed.
So we spent the morning looking for a place to stay but it wasn't easy. Finally, we got to Lodge Eleven, a nice looking youth hostel. The owner said they had no doubles available, "unless you want to stay in the caravan". The caravan was a trailer parked in the back parking lot. We looked at it, it was clean, and we can use the shower and toilet in the common TV room. Done! Our 4th wedding anniversary is in two days and we figure this will make a great story several years from now as we celebrate some future anniversary at the Mauna Kea, "Remember that anniversary in the caravan in the parking lot?
Our nightly routine here involves going to the Pipi Patch Bar down the street. Most of the "bars" in the lodges are lame but we like this one, it has a young but kind of mellow crowd and a very tropical feel to it. The card game making the rounds of all the backpackers is a game called Shithead and we finally learned it tonight and played with Craig, a schoolteacher from Ottawa and Nick from Iowa. It's pretty dumb; we'll stick to Hearts and Spades.
Day 32 - Bay of Islands
Took a highly recommended tour of Cape Reinga, the northernmost point in NZ. It was kind of disappointing but I think it might be because it was cloudy. Went boogie boarding down these massive sand dunes, a lot of work climbing sand for a 30 second thrill afterwards. It looked better on the promotional video. Some beautiful scenery along the way, some so-so. Part of the beach itself is considered a highway for card so the bus drove about 50 miles on the actual beach. I'm probably making it sound lamer than it was, it certainly beats going to meetings.
Day 32 - Bay of Islands
Took a highly recommended tour of Cape Reinga, the northernmost point in NZ. It was kind of disappointing but I think it might be because it was cloudy. Went boogie boarding down these massive sand dunes, a lot of work climbing sand for a 30 second thrill afterwards. It looked better on the promotional video. Some beautiful scenery along the way, some so-so. Part of the beach itself is considered a highway for card so the bus drove about 50 miles on the actual beach. I'm probably making it sound lamer than it was, it certainly beats going to meetings.
Day 36 - Auckland
I have to start asking for people's names. A common occurrence when meeting other travelers is to get their life story, where they are from, why they are traveling, without ever getting their name. Today in Auckland we ran into 3 people we had met in the past several days ("Hey it's that Swiss dude from the bar", "Hey, it's those Israeli girls from the Mousetrap")
Pretty uneventful last few days in the Bay of Islands, mostly rainy, lots of time for reading. Had a nice anniversary, and hey, how could we not in a caravan in a parking lot. Seriously though the new accommodations were an upgrade.
Day 37 (New Year's Day 2001) - Taupo
New Year's Eve was a lot of fun. After some very good Indian food for dinner we went to the bar at our backpackers, the Central City Backpackers (In case it was not intuitive, a "backpacker" is like a hostel but without the Youth Hostel Association affiliation) and people watched and talked with the inebriated clientele.
Got on an early bus to Taupo for the main reason of doing supposedly the greatest 1-day hike in the whole country. It's our last 4 days in NZ and we are excited to end it like we started it, in the mountains. Taupo is a lakeside village with scenery a little less dramatic than the mountains around Queenstown but pretty all the same. Found the best accommodations to date, in Burke's Backpackers. $50NZ a night got us our own bathroom and the most comfortable bed we have had yet.
I have to start asking for people's names. A common occurrence when meeting other travelers is to get their life story, where they are from, why they are traveling, without ever getting their name. Today in Auckland we ran into 3 people we had met in the past several days ("Hey it's that Swiss dude from the bar", "Hey, it's those Israeli girls from the Mousetrap")
Pretty uneventful last few days in the Bay of Islands, mostly rainy, lots of time for reading. Had a nice anniversary, and hey, how could we not in a caravan in a parking lot. Seriously though the new accommodations were an upgrade.
Day 37 (New Year's Day 2001) - Taupo
New Year's Eve was a lot of fun. After some very good Indian food for dinner we went to the bar at our backpackers, the Central City Backpackers (In case it was not intuitive, a "backpacker" is like a hostel but without the Youth Hostel Association affiliation) and people watched and talked with the inebriated clientele.
Got on an early bus to Taupo for the main reason of doing supposedly the greatest 1-day hike in the whole country. It's our last 4 days in NZ and we are excited to end it like we started it, in the mountains. Taupo is a lakeside village with scenery a little less dramatic than the mountains around Queenstown but pretty all the same. Found the best accommodations to date, in Burke's Backpackers. $50NZ a night got us our own bathroom and the most comfortable bed we have had yet.
Day 38 - Taupo
Two of the things I wanted to do while in New Zealand were see a rugby game and a cricket match. Rugby is played mostly in the fall and winter and the national team is in Europe. But I did have a chance today to see the New Zealand national cricket team, the Black Caps, play Zimbabwe in a one-day match (apparently under some rules cricket can go on for days but this match had the one-day restriction). I sat in general admission on a lawn and tried to figure out the rules, with a little help from a couple of Kiwi fans next to me. I found it interesting but 4 hrs later the game was still only half over so I left figuring I had my fill and reached my patience threshold. I caught the rest on TV as Zimbabwe pulled off the upset. If you see this match on tape delay on ESPN8 or something, look for me in the stands!
Day 39 - Tongariro
Our last true day in New Zealand. The main reason we went to Taupo is because of its proximity to the Tongariro Crossing, billed as the best 1-day hike in the country. Well apparently we weren't the only recipients of this information as we experienced probably the most crowded trail we'd ever seen, more so than the Grand Canyon. Julie and I were talking a few days ago about how much more we enjoyed the South Island than the North. Part of it may have to do with the crowds on the North but as we discussed, we ain't seen nothing yet as far as population density is concerned, as Thailand and India beckon. We are determined that the most enjoyable parts of the trip so far have been those where we have learned something new or have been challenged, whether it was a long hike or kayaking or sailing, etc., and most of those experiences have been on the South Island. We figure that even though the crowds will be worse, SE Asia will be a challenge within itself, Third World conditions, squat toilets, language barriers, somewhat of an element of danger (In the news in the past several days we have read about violence expected during the Thai elections, guerilla groups in Cambodia, and an explosion in Katmandhu near the Indian embassy, all stops on our itinerary!). As a result, or regardless depending on how you look at it, we decided to head north from Bangkok first when we arrive on 1/9, to Northern Thailand and Laos, before hitting the beaches in the South later when we will need the relaxation.
But back to the hike. Despite the crowds it truly was beautiful landscape. Tongariro is considered an active volcano so the scenery was unlike anything we had seen before, crater lakes, hot springs, and a malodorous sulfur smell. Well worth it.
Two of the things I wanted to do while in New Zealand were see a rugby game and a cricket match. Rugby is played mostly in the fall and winter and the national team is in Europe. But I did have a chance today to see the New Zealand national cricket team, the Black Caps, play Zimbabwe in a one-day match (apparently under some rules cricket can go on for days but this match had the one-day restriction). I sat in general admission on a lawn and tried to figure out the rules, with a little help from a couple of Kiwi fans next to me. I found it interesting but 4 hrs later the game was still only half over so I left figuring I had my fill and reached my patience threshold. I caught the rest on TV as Zimbabwe pulled off the upset. If you see this match on tape delay on ESPN8 or something, look for me in the stands!
Day 39 - Tongariro
Our last true day in New Zealand. The main reason we went to Taupo is because of its proximity to the Tongariro Crossing, billed as the best 1-day hike in the country. Well apparently we weren't the only recipients of this information as we experienced probably the most crowded trail we'd ever seen, more so than the Grand Canyon. Julie and I were talking a few days ago about how much more we enjoyed the South Island than the North. Part of it may have to do with the crowds on the North but as we discussed, we ain't seen nothing yet as far as population density is concerned, as Thailand and India beckon. We are determined that the most enjoyable parts of the trip so far have been those where we have learned something new or have been challenged, whether it was a long hike or kayaking or sailing, etc., and most of those experiences have been on the South Island. We figure that even though the crowds will be worse, SE Asia will be a challenge within itself, Third World conditions, squat toilets, language barriers, somewhat of an element of danger (In the news in the past several days we have read about violence expected during the Thai elections, guerilla groups in Cambodia, and an explosion in Katmandhu near the Indian embassy, all stops on our itinerary!). As a result, or regardless depending on how you look at it, we decided to head north from Bangkok first when we arrive on 1/9, to Northern Thailand and Laos, before hitting the beaches in the South later when we will need the relaxation.
But back to the hike. Despite the crowds it truly was beautiful landscape. Tongariro is considered an active volcano so the scenery was unlike anything we had seen before, crater lakes, hot springs, and a malodorous sulfur smell. Well worth it.
Off to Australia
Day 41 - Sydney
Travel day yesterday from Taupo to Auckland, early flight this morning to Sydney where we will spend four days before flying to Bangkok. Spent the day being a tourist, saw Chinatown, the Opera House, and the Rocks (a pretty Faneuil Hall-Ghiardelli Square-type area). It's a much prettier city than I expected and looks to be extremely livable. We will explore some beaches and the zoo (gotta see a 'roo) over the next few days.
Our accommodations are hilarious. We reserved a room at a backpackers several days ago. When we arrived today, the room was not made up and smelled of cigarette smoke even though the room was non-smoking. In a word, disgusting. The woman at the desk felt awful and said she had a nice, clean double available at their other location only five minutes away. The other location turned out to be an old hotel above a bar that they were in the middle of renovating. The room is old but big but the place is almost deserted, it's kind of like The Shining except on a loud busy street instead of in the woods. Redrum!
Travel day yesterday from Taupo to Auckland, early flight this morning to Sydney where we will spend four days before flying to Bangkok. Spent the day being a tourist, saw Chinatown, the Opera House, and the Rocks (a pretty Faneuil Hall-Ghiardelli Square-type area). It's a much prettier city than I expected and looks to be extremely livable. We will explore some beaches and the zoo (gotta see a 'roo) over the next few days.
Our accommodations are hilarious. We reserved a room at a backpackers several days ago. When we arrived today, the room was not made up and smelled of cigarette smoke even though the room was non-smoking. In a word, disgusting. The woman at the desk felt awful and said she had a nice, clean double available at their other location only five minutes away. The other location turned out to be an old hotel above a bar that they were in the middle of renovating. The room is old but big but the place is almost deserted, it's kind of like The Shining except on a loud busy street instead of in the woods. Redrum!
Day 44 - Sydney
More touristy stuff, which isn't bad because this is a great city. Spent some time at the beach, the beaches here are really nice, not just nice for city beaches. Bondi, about 8km from the city, is the most famous, mostly for surfing and it's where the Olympics volleyball was held. Nice, but slightly overrated, we preferred Coogee, just a few km to the south, and Manly, a 30 minute ferry ride away. The city's pretty expensive, on par with an average American city, but it's our last non-Third World destination for a while and we're glad we spent the four days here.
More touristy stuff, which isn't bad because this is a great city. Spent some time at the beach, the beaches here are really nice, not just nice for city beaches. Bondi, about 8km from the city, is the most famous, mostly for surfing and it's where the Olympics volleyball was held. Nice, but slightly overrated, we preferred Coogee, just a few km to the south, and Manly, a 30 minute ferry ride away. The city's pretty expensive, on par with an average American city, but it's our last non-Third World destination for a while and we're glad we spent the four days here.
Off to Thailand
Day 45 - Bangkok
Holy cow! Nothing could have possibly prepared us for this. Travelers talk up Bangkok as a great jumping off point for seeing the rest of SE Asia, a good place to make travel and visa arrangements, and I think we got a false sense that it would be more modern, Third World in a Manhattan sort of way. Wrong!
After an 8hr flight from Melbourne we took a bus to the New Siam Guest House, which was recommended by a friend of a friend who is a 30-something married ex-yuppie like myself. If you saw Brokedown Palace or The Beach, you'd get a sense of what it's like. It's in an area of the old city called Banglumphu, near the famous Kho San Road, where most of the guesthouses are located. Our guesthouse is on an alleyway. It has a courtyard out front where people congregate, you can eat, read, watch HBO, whatever your pleasure. There is also a small "travel agency" attached where we made our train arrangements for going north and arranged for our Laos visas. Our room is pretty basic. We opted for the most expensive room (550 Baht, about $13US), fan, air-con, and its own "Western" bathroom, for purposes of easing in to this whole experience. (It's nicer than Leo's room in The Beach, on par with Clare's in Brokedown Palace).
We dropped our bags off and headed to Kho San, which reminded me of Ave Revolution in Tijuana (yes, I have actually been there). It's a crowded street with lots of guesthouses and stands selling all sorts of food and clothing. You are supposed to barter at the clothing stands but I couldn't muster up the nerve to talk down the lady selling me two pair of flip-flops for $2 ("60 Baht or I take my business elsewhere!"). Had a great lunch, beef with green curry, also for about $2, our budget likes this country a lot! Lots of poverty, people sleeping on the streets, dogs everywhere, I still don't know who let the dogs out but I suspect he/she was Thai. The traffic is pretty bad which contributes to some pretty horrendous air pollution; many of the motorcycle riders and traffic cops wear masks for this reason. Bangkok is not quite as charming to the eye as I thought it would be, but the food's great, the people are very nice and did I mention how cheap it is here?
Day 46 - Bangkok
There's an interesting distinction between being a tourist and being a traveler and despite the desire to be a traveler I'm sure we have played both roles over the past 7 weeks. We spent most of the day touring the rest of the city, a lot of "can't miss" sights like the Grand Palace and Hat Pho, a huge gilded reclining Buddha. It seems like many travelers here just hang out on Kho San Rd. in a cafe reading, drinking, watching a pirated DVD and talking to the occasional other traveler or two. We were looking for something different than that but ended up just doing the same thing all the tourists do. Last night we stumbled upon what seemed to be an authentic Thai neighborhood but all the restaurants were American or European so we ended up going back to Kho San anyway for Thai food. Everyone wants something different I guess. I think back to my 2-month trip around the U.S. 8 years ago. My best memories aren't the Grand Canyon or the book depository in Dallas, but the random bars and restaurants in Lubbock, Wausau, and Lafayette, LA, which probably aren't in any guidebook. It's sort of what I'm looking for here, although I'm sure if a Thai person walked into some shitkicker bar in Lubbock he may not be as welcome as we were. Plus with the heat here (it's winter here although at a humid 95 degrees it's hard to tell) sitting in a Kho San cafe doesn't sound too bad and is pretty much our itinerary for tonight.
So for now we are exercising caution, perhaps too much (brushing our teeth with bottled water) but I'm sure our travel radar will get keener and we will venture more onto the proverbial road less traveled over the next several days. As an aside, I received a few e-mails lately indicating that our recent journal entries come off as if we seem weary. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Do I love Bangkok? I'm on the fence to be honest but I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be. Hopefully that makes sense. Maybe true adventure has no guarantees that everywhere you go will be amazing. Or maybe I just love being on vacation and not working. Who knows, maybe I'll turn to Buddha for some answers.
Holy cow! Nothing could have possibly prepared us for this. Travelers talk up Bangkok as a great jumping off point for seeing the rest of SE Asia, a good place to make travel and visa arrangements, and I think we got a false sense that it would be more modern, Third World in a Manhattan sort of way. Wrong!
After an 8hr flight from Melbourne we took a bus to the New Siam Guest House, which was recommended by a friend of a friend who is a 30-something married ex-yuppie like myself. If you saw Brokedown Palace or The Beach, you'd get a sense of what it's like. It's in an area of the old city called Banglumphu, near the famous Kho San Road, where most of the guesthouses are located. Our guesthouse is on an alleyway. It has a courtyard out front where people congregate, you can eat, read, watch HBO, whatever your pleasure. There is also a small "travel agency" attached where we made our train arrangements for going north and arranged for our Laos visas. Our room is pretty basic. We opted for the most expensive room (550 Baht, about $13US), fan, air-con, and its own "Western" bathroom, for purposes of easing in to this whole experience. (It's nicer than Leo's room in The Beach, on par with Clare's in Brokedown Palace).
We dropped our bags off and headed to Kho San, which reminded me of Ave Revolution in Tijuana (yes, I have actually been there). It's a crowded street with lots of guesthouses and stands selling all sorts of food and clothing. You are supposed to barter at the clothing stands but I couldn't muster up the nerve to talk down the lady selling me two pair of flip-flops for $2 ("60 Baht or I take my business elsewhere!"). Had a great lunch, beef with green curry, also for about $2, our budget likes this country a lot! Lots of poverty, people sleeping on the streets, dogs everywhere, I still don't know who let the dogs out but I suspect he/she was Thai. The traffic is pretty bad which contributes to some pretty horrendous air pollution; many of the motorcycle riders and traffic cops wear masks for this reason. Bangkok is not quite as charming to the eye as I thought it would be, but the food's great, the people are very nice and did I mention how cheap it is here?
Day 46 - Bangkok
There's an interesting distinction between being a tourist and being a traveler and despite the desire to be a traveler I'm sure we have played both roles over the past 7 weeks. We spent most of the day touring the rest of the city, a lot of "can't miss" sights like the Grand Palace and Hat Pho, a huge gilded reclining Buddha. It seems like many travelers here just hang out on Kho San Rd. in a cafe reading, drinking, watching a pirated DVD and talking to the occasional other traveler or two. We were looking for something different than that but ended up just doing the same thing all the tourists do. Last night we stumbled upon what seemed to be an authentic Thai neighborhood but all the restaurants were American or European so we ended up going back to Kho San anyway for Thai food. Everyone wants something different I guess. I think back to my 2-month trip around the U.S. 8 years ago. My best memories aren't the Grand Canyon or the book depository in Dallas, but the random bars and restaurants in Lubbock, Wausau, and Lafayette, LA, which probably aren't in any guidebook. It's sort of what I'm looking for here, although I'm sure if a Thai person walked into some shitkicker bar in Lubbock he may not be as welcome as we were. Plus with the heat here (it's winter here although at a humid 95 degrees it's hard to tell) sitting in a Kho San cafe doesn't sound too bad and is pretty much our itinerary for tonight.
So for now we are exercising caution, perhaps too much (brushing our teeth with bottled water) but I'm sure our travel radar will get keener and we will venture more onto the proverbial road less traveled over the next several days. As an aside, I received a few e-mails lately indicating that our recent journal entries come off as if we seem weary. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Do I love Bangkok? I'm on the fence to be honest but I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be. Hopefully that makes sense. Maybe true adventure has no guarantees that everywhere you go will be amazing. Or maybe I just love being on vacation and not working. Who knows, maybe I'll turn to Buddha for some answers.
Day 47 (Jan 11, 2001) - Phisanulok
Well, we found Thailand's Lubbock, and I mean that in a good way!
We took an early morning train north to Phisanulok, also known locally as Phi-Lok. Phi-Lok is on the way to Chiang Mai and we decided to stop there to see some ruins nearby and because the hostel there got rave reviews in Lonely Planet. We took what is known as a rapid train, albeit one that took 7 hours, and sat in 2nd class. 3rd class has basic benches and no seat assignments whereas second class has regular seats on a clean but rather old railcar. We were concerned about food options prior to leaving on the 7-hour ride but our concerns were for naught. At every stop several vendors would get on walk down the aisles and sell drinks or food presumably from one of their food stands, satay and the like. Then they would get off at the next stop when another group would get on. We literally had nearly 100 people try to sell us food over the trip. As an aside, the travel books caution travelers about the many touts in Thailand but mostly we have found people to be basically entrepreneurial with the occasional person trying to rip us off, yesterday in Bangkok a couple of taxi drivers and just ordinary people on the street tried to convince us that wherever we were going was closed but they could take us somewhere to go shopping etc. More humorous than annoying or threatening.
The ride up was mostly through plains and rice fields that looked as if they could use some rain. Phi-Lok itself is a city of about 100,000 people with what looked like a decent sized university. It's a relatively clean city except a bit dusty and with air quality similar to Bangkok. Very few signs were in English are even with Roman letters but we managed to find our hostel on foot form the train station, the Phisanulok Youth Hostel, which was great. It had to tropical feel to it, a small stream ran through the grounds and it had hammocks, palm-like trees and a restaurant that was formed from an old teak house. Our room was pretty nice with its own bathroom and cold shower for 300B, about $7US.
It is customary for hostels and backpackers to have a Comments book for guests to give their opinions on the place or the town on general. In flipping through the book here one American said to "have a beer across the street and sing your heart out". This was too much to pass up so that night we headed across the street and entered the restaurant in question, at least we think we did as all the signs were in Thai. The scene was pretty laid-back at first, about 10 Thai people watching TV, but then a group of about 20 Thai people, mostly women, sat at a large table to, and I'm guessing here, to celebrate one of their birthdays. All of a sudden the TV turned into a Karaoke screen and we knew we had found the right place. After an hour of trying to follow Thai words across a screen to songs being sung in Thai, I asked the waitress if there were any songs in English. Long story short, I ended up regaling the crowd with the soft crooning style of Mark Silverman singing Achy Breaky Heart. Apparently this was quite a hit for the crowd as the hostess kept picking English songs for me to sing and the people at the table then crowded Julie and tried to converse in English. 3 or 4 songs later we were all dancing as they were teaching us to dance some Thai version of swing. Their English was barely better than our Thai but we managed to make some good friends temporarily and had what I'm guessing was a normal middle class Thai Wednesday night in a medium-sized city. It was exactly what I was looking for.
Day 48 - Sukhothai
A very interesting day. We headed to Sukhothai as a day trip from Phi-Lok, about 60 km west. We experienced all sorts of types of transportation in one day. We walked to a city bus which took us to the inter-city bus to New Sukhothai, which didn't quite take us to the bus stop for Old Sukhothai so we had to rely on a tuk-tuk to take us barely 1 km (the bus driver and tuk-tuk driver were mostly likely in cahoots but we're getting smarter) to a songtheuw, a kind of pick-up truck with benches in the back, who dropped us off 500m before the Old City near a bicycle rental place (more cahoots but we passed on the bikes). All this time we were the only Westerners, or farang as Thai call us, on any of these modes of transport so while trying to follow our less than stellar maps (I don't think maps here are meant to be literal, we have yet to find a truly accurate one in Thailand) we were trusting we would get to our desired destination, which we did. Found a random food stand and had the best meal we have had yet for a total of 60B ($1.50) including Cokes. I think we are getting the hang of this.
The Sukhothai National Park has some of the most ancient ruins in SE Asia. It was a peaceful diversion from the normal crowds and we had the place almost to ourselves, very few visitors and only the occasional Japanese tour. The structures are from the 14th and 15th Centuries when Sukhothai was briefly the capital of Thailand. Some of the temples, or wats, still had the Buddhas there and intact, others were in a museum nearby. Did the above transport in reverse and met Anne from Ireland on the Sukhothai-Phi-Lok bus, which didn't have accommodations yet so we recommended the hostel, where we ended up sitting and talking with her for a few hours that night. It was a tiring day trying to get somewhere in a land where few speak our native tongue but when it was all over it was quite a satisfying feeling.
Day 49 - 13-Jan-01 – Written by Julie
We really enjoyed the city of Phitsanulok, although there wasn't anything particularly fascinating about it. As we walked from the hostel to the train station, we passed several pick-ups with kids in the back who would yell "hello", "hi" and wave at us then erupt into giggles as we waved and yelled back. The smiles and friendliness of the Thai people has amazed us. We stopped at 7-Eleven (yes, 7-Eleven and Swenson's Ice Cream Parlors live on in Thailand) to pick up some snacks for the train. A Thai girl saw Mark in the candy aisle and said "Good Afternoon". They had a short conversation - Mark using his 3 words of Thai and the girl using her 3 words of English. She then selected the same candy bar as her new American friend (Kit Kat). We saw her again outside and said "bye-bye".
We are definitely adjusting to Thailand. It is an exciting country, changing rapidly - for good and bad as it develops. There is an excitement in the people - an energetic work ethic mixed with laughing and fun. Thais are very enterprising selling goods to both Thais and "farang". I appreciate the convenience when I want cold water on a hot train and am slightly annoyed when I don't want to buy a rose while I eat dinner. We've only seen 2 people begging in this country. Most people are working hard to make a better life. While the overall standard of living is lower than in the West, there is a definite middle class here. The pollution is the biggest negative. I expect it in Bangkok (which isn't much worse than NYC or LA) but when I am choking from exhaust fumes in a city of 80,000 people, I think something needs to be done.
We took an air con train 6 hours north to Chiang Mai which is not too far from the Burmese or Lao borders. We met a nice couple from Portland, OR on the train that now happen to be staying at the same guesthouse. We found a nice, cheap ($8/night) guesthouse in the main area of western guesthouses. While we were ending the night with a beer, 3 Thai teens came by with their baby elephant - yes an elephant walked into our outdoor bar. They were selling watermelon, which could be fed to the elephant. This country is really charming us.
Day 50 - Chiang Mai
Kind of a lazy day but a good one nonetheless. We got great Thai massages (do we need to add here that they were of the legitimate kind?) for about $2.50 each. The Thai style of massage is slightly painful and they use their hands, elbows, and knees and focus primarily on your legs. We had a great Italian meal and then headed out with Lara and Ted, the couple we met on the train yesterday, to the Night Market, a somewhat touristy strip of hundreds of vendors but a good place for shopping for knick-knacks. Stayed out late (for us) and at 12:30AM local time caught the Vikings' loss at a pub.
Chiang Mai is an interesting city, a cooler (climate-wise), mellower version of Bangkok. Still, many of the bars have several Thai "hostesses" that cater to Western men, some of whom are quite old. It's a strange scene; some of these bars make it clear that Western women would not exactly be welcome. In this way and others, Thailand reminds me of how Vietnam is often depicted in War-era movies like Good Morning Vietnam and Full Metal Jacket. As it turns out, some scenes from both those movies were shot in Thailand.
Day 51 - Chiang Mai
We took a Thai cooking class today at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. It's one of the typical activities that backpackers do in Chiang Mai but we enjoyed it quite a bit. They took us to a Thai market to show us how to shop for the ingredients and then we went to the owner's beautiful house in the suburbs for 4 hours and cooked a six-course meal, including chicken with coconut soup, fish with red curry, and a banana cake. It was not all that cheap, about $20US each, but it was enough food to fill us for the whole day and we got a cookbook to take home with us. When we got back to the city we had drinks with a couple we met in our class, Jason and Denise, a Kiwi couple who are traveling for a few months and then moving to London. It was neat to talk with them about our experiences in New Zealand and we really started to realize how fortunate we were to be able to spend 6 weeks in such a beautiful country. We probably made them homesick in the process.
Day 52 - Chaing Mai
I'm finding that one of the subtleties of travel is figuring out how long to spend in one place, how to spend enough time to get a flavor for the place while staying mobile enough to see enough of a country you may never get back to. Typically we enter a new town after several hours on a train or bus and think "Let's just relax for a few days and get off the road for a while". What usually happens then is relaxation takes only a few hours, you get a feel for where you are and then you're eager to get on the road again. By design, we planned a much more detailed itinerary for NZ in advance than we did for Thailand, we wanted to just get here and decide then. But you don't want to waste time deciding either. We told ourselves before we left the States to just enjoy wherever we are and what we miss, we miss. Easier said than done though. There seems to be a lot of interesting diverse places to go here in the North but we want to leave enough time to enjoy the beaches of the South, let alone Cambodia, India, etc. Oh well, I'm probably over analyzing it, these are good problems to have, right? In any case, we decided to forego a trek near Chaing Mai, we hear they're a little too much traveled, and decided to take 3 or 4 days in heading over to Laos and do our trek there.
Did some leisurely walking around the city today. It's a trip, most of the architecture we've seen so far is nothing spectacular, but you walk down a street of undistinguished looking stores and homes and all of a sudden in the middle of it all there's a beautiful temple housing a 2500-year-old Buddha.
For those interested we found our guesthouse here kind of randomly, since it was not listed in any guidebook, and ended up liking it quite a bit.
Big ups to Pathara Guest House on Soi 2, Th Moon Muang.
Kind of a lazy day but a good one nonetheless. We got great Thai massages (do we need to add here that they were of the legitimate kind?) for about $2.50 each. The Thai style of massage is slightly painful and they use their hands, elbows, and knees and focus primarily on your legs. We had a great Italian meal and then headed out with Lara and Ted, the couple we met on the train yesterday, to the Night Market, a somewhat touristy strip of hundreds of vendors but a good place for shopping for knick-knacks. Stayed out late (for us) and at 12:30AM local time caught the Vikings' loss at a pub.
Chiang Mai is an interesting city, a cooler (climate-wise), mellower version of Bangkok. Still, many of the bars have several Thai "hostesses" that cater to Western men, some of whom are quite old. It's a strange scene; some of these bars make it clear that Western women would not exactly be welcome. In this way and others, Thailand reminds me of how Vietnam is often depicted in War-era movies like Good Morning Vietnam and Full Metal Jacket. As it turns out, some scenes from both those movies were shot in Thailand.
Day 51 - Chiang Mai
We took a Thai cooking class today at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. It's one of the typical activities that backpackers do in Chiang Mai but we enjoyed it quite a bit. They took us to a Thai market to show us how to shop for the ingredients and then we went to the owner's beautiful house in the suburbs for 4 hours and cooked a six-course meal, including chicken with coconut soup, fish with red curry, and a banana cake. It was not all that cheap, about $20US each, but it was enough food to fill us for the whole day and we got a cookbook to take home with us. When we got back to the city we had drinks with a couple we met in our class, Jason and Denise, a Kiwi couple who are traveling for a few months and then moving to London. It was neat to talk with them about our experiences in New Zealand and we really started to realize how fortunate we were to be able to spend 6 weeks in such a beautiful country. We probably made them homesick in the process.
Day 52 - Chaing Mai
I'm finding that one of the subtleties of travel is figuring out how long to spend in one place, how to spend enough time to get a flavor for the place while staying mobile enough to see enough of a country you may never get back to. Typically we enter a new town after several hours on a train or bus and think "Let's just relax for a few days and get off the road for a while". What usually happens then is relaxation takes only a few hours, you get a feel for where you are and then you're eager to get on the road again. By design, we planned a much more detailed itinerary for NZ in advance than we did for Thailand, we wanted to just get here and decide then. But you don't want to waste time deciding either. We told ourselves before we left the States to just enjoy wherever we are and what we miss, we miss. Easier said than done though. There seems to be a lot of interesting diverse places to go here in the North but we want to leave enough time to enjoy the beaches of the South, let alone Cambodia, India, etc. Oh well, I'm probably over analyzing it, these are good problems to have, right? In any case, we decided to forego a trek near Chaing Mai, we hear they're a little too much traveled, and decided to take 3 or 4 days in heading over to Laos and do our trek there.
Did some leisurely walking around the city today. It's a trip, most of the architecture we've seen so far is nothing spectacular, but you walk down a street of undistinguished looking stores and homes and all of a sudden in the middle of it all there's a beautiful temple housing a 2500-year-old Buddha.
For those interested we found our guesthouse here kind of randomly, since it was not listed in any guidebook, and ended up liking it quite a bit.
Big ups to Pathara Guest House on Soi 2, Th Moon Muang.
Day 53 - Tha Ton
Our favorite place and day in Thailand so far. Lonely Planet lists Tha Ton and a town called Fang together in the same breath, as if there wasn't much difference. We knew we were going to stay in one of the two towns tonight, so we got off the bus in Fang for lunch. Seemed like an OK town, kind of like a smaller Phi-Lok, but we decided to continue to Tha Ton via songtheuw and we are glad we did. Tha Ton is in a river valley (the Kok river) and surrounded by green hills, the best scenery we've seen since New Zealand and none of the (what seems to be) usual air pollution. We are 5km from the Burmese border. Burma and Thailand aren't exactly the best of buds and there is a bit of a military presence, we also have to register with the tourist police before heading down the Kok River tomorrow to supposedly protect us against river "bandits" but there hasn't been an incident in years. But overall it's a beautiful, peaceful, quiet town with friendly people, lots of random "Hello"s, and not too many farang. Checked into a bungalow at the very nice Garden House, 150 Baht for a room with a fan and its own bathroom/cold shower.
The original plan was to take a 3 hour river boat tomorrow straight to Chiang Rai but we decided on a combo raft/trek/elephant ride over two days/one night that takes you to various hill tribe villages along and just off the river. It's kind of a standard backpacker thing to do in Northern Thailand but it sounds like a good way to see more of this part of the country which as I said we like quite a bit. 1500 Baht each seems a bit much but it includes all food, transport and accomdation in aThai village.
We climbed up a hill on the outskirts of town to the Wat with a huge Buddha and saw Burma in a Chevy Chase/Vacation/Grand Canyon sort of way. Ate the best Thai meal we've had yet, and we've had some good ones, for dinner at the River View restaurant which was, you guessed it, right on the river. Played some cards outside at the common area of the guesthouse while the proprietors watched MTV, I guess we are so far from any major city that you need a satellite dish. Well, you don't exactly need one but you get the idea. A great day that we did not want to end.
Our favorite place and day in Thailand so far. Lonely Planet lists Tha Ton and a town called Fang together in the same breath, as if there wasn't much difference. We knew we were going to stay in one of the two towns tonight, so we got off the bus in Fang for lunch. Seemed like an OK town, kind of like a smaller Phi-Lok, but we decided to continue to Tha Ton via songtheuw and we are glad we did. Tha Ton is in a river valley (the Kok river) and surrounded by green hills, the best scenery we've seen since New Zealand and none of the (what seems to be) usual air pollution. We are 5km from the Burmese border. Burma and Thailand aren't exactly the best of buds and there is a bit of a military presence, we also have to register with the tourist police before heading down the Kok River tomorrow to supposedly protect us against river "bandits" but there hasn't been an incident in years. But overall it's a beautiful, peaceful, quiet town with friendly people, lots of random "Hello"s, and not too many farang. Checked into a bungalow at the very nice Garden House, 150 Baht for a room with a fan and its own bathroom/cold shower.
The original plan was to take a 3 hour river boat tomorrow straight to Chiang Rai but we decided on a combo raft/trek/elephant ride over two days/one night that takes you to various hill tribe villages along and just off the river. It's kind of a standard backpacker thing to do in Northern Thailand but it sounds like a good way to see more of this part of the country which as I said we like quite a bit. 1500 Baht each seems a bit much but it includes all food, transport and accomdation in aThai village.
We climbed up a hill on the outskirts of town to the Wat with a huge Buddha and saw Burma in a Chevy Chase/Vacation/Grand Canyon sort of way. Ate the best Thai meal we've had yet, and we've had some good ones, for dinner at the River View restaurant which was, you guessed it, right on the river. Played some cards outside at the common area of the guesthouse while the proprietors watched MTV, I guess we are so far from any major city that you need a satellite dish. Well, you don't exactly need one but you get the idea. A great day that we did not want to end.
Days 54-55 (January 18-19th) Maekok River – Written by Julie
We decided to take a 2-day, 1-night raft trip from Tha Ton to Chiang Rai with 3 other tourists and 2 guides. We lucked out sharing the raft with Iemke and Richard, a couple close to our age from Holland and P.J., a young guy from Cork (Ireland). Iemke and Richard are in the middle of traveling in India, Thailand and Laos while P.J. is on his way to work in Australia having traveled in China, Vietnam and Cambodia. We felt a little soft as they all agreed that traveling in Thailand is like traveling in the West (I guess it is compared to the other places they have been). In fact, we are finding it pretty easy to get around and communicate.
The raft wound slowly down the river as long tail boats raced by. The banks were rather flat at first becoming steeper with trees and hills in the background. The villages were growing garlic and peppers. This is more what we pictured rural Thailand looking like. The guides cooked all our meals on a stove on the boat. The food (fried rice, phat thai, and other dishes) was much better than we expected. It was very relaxing to be on the boat reading, relaxing and talking with the other passengers. However, the stops were sort of disappointing. We thought we would be trekking to villages off the beaten path and we were walking through villages right off the river. The "hill tribes" who live in these villages come from Tibet, China, Laos and Burma and speak their own dialects (although they learn some Thai and English in their schools).
The first village was actually a Thai village where they had satellite TV. As Mark says - it's a developing country, why shouldn't they enjoy Seinfeld and ESPN? The other villages were more primitive, no electricity or running water. They were living in bamboo huts. They had grasped the concept of capitalism as they were selling crafts and charging to use the squat toilet (washes into the river with water). We spent the night in a bamboo hut with a mosquito net in one of these villages. The children were curious and we played some peek-a-boo. The adults pretty much ignored us.
We awoke at about 3:30 to rooster crowing which continued non-stop for 3.5 hours. The guides whipped up some breakfast and we were off. Our first stop was to ride elephants. It was a little touristy but not bad (we were the only group at the time). We shared a 25-year-old female elephant for a half hour ride (plenty long) then we paid 10 baht to feed it pineapple. This was a fun stop.
At one of the villages, we entered a classroom where the children were learning English. The asked us some questions but they were really shy and embarrassed. The last village was a tourist trap with rows of shops selling crafts, cokes and elephant rides. They also had a big snake which you could pay to hold. The 3 men on our boat of course had to hold the snake. We left P.J. here as he was doing a 2-night trip.
The last stop was at a cave with a temple inside where some monks (and bats) actually lived. It was pretty weird. By late afternoon we were dropped off in Chiang Rai, a town of about 35,000 people. We stayed in the same guesthouse as Richard and Iemke. The four of us had some dinner and checked out the Night Market.
All in all the two days rafting were peaceful and relaxing, the villages a little disappointing. 5 years from now they will probably have casinos going.
Day 56 - Chaing Rai
Not much to say here, spent the day doing last minute errands before heading to Laos tomorrow. We have no idea what to expect, it's apparently a country that is changing rapidly and the most recent guidebook we have is two years old. At time of print, paved roads are the exception rather than the rule and the only ISP is for government use only. My guess is that they've paved a few more roads in the past two years but e-mail may be difficult. Our Visa is only good for 15 days so we know we have to be back in Thailand no later than Feb 4.
Not much to say here, spent the day doing last minute errands before heading to Laos tomorrow. We have no idea what to expect, it's apparently a country that is changing rapidly and the most recent guidebook we have is two years old. At time of print, paved roads are the exception rather than the rule and the only ISP is for government use only. My guess is that they've paved a few more roads in the past two years but e-mail may be difficult. Our Visa is only good for 15 days so we know we have to be back in Thailand no later than Feb 4.
Off to Laos
Day 57 - Houayxai, Laos
Richard and Iemke (from Rotterdam, Holland and our rafting trip) have decided to travel with us for a few days in Laos which is nice, they are good companions, like to play cards (we taught them Hearts and Spades) and it nice to have some safety in numbers as we enter a country we know a lot less about. Took a 3 hour bus to the Thai border town of Chiang Khong, had lunch, and crossed the Mekong River into Laos. It seems different than Thailand but I can't yet put my finger on how or why. Checked into the Manilat Hotel, recommended in both our guidebooks. Our worst accommodations to date, it's an old hotel, our room is big but the bathroom is moldy and ill-designed, the shower (no curtain) and toilet are in the same corner of the bathroom so everything gets wet, including the toilet paper, when you shower. If this is considered good accommodations in Laos we have some adjusting to do.
The four of us walked up to a hill to a wat overlooking the Mekong to watch the sunset. There was a lookout at the very top where the women were not allowed to go; it is Lao/Buddhist belief that a woman should never be physically above a man because they have the power to alter spirits. Or something like that. Walked around the town a bit. First impression is that Lao people are friendly but a little more aloof than Thais. I guess they have less exposure to Westerners and aren't yet sure what to make of us. The kids all greet us with "Sabai-di", which means hello/welcome, and play (Thai?) games like kataw, a combo of soccer and volleyball, basically volleyball with a wicker ball where you aren't allowed to use your hands. Had a good Chinese style dinner overlooking the river, which took about two hours, more indicative of Lao laid-back culture than bad service. It seems like Laos is a place to kick back and not worry about time and schedules because they don't seem to either.
Day 58 - Houayxai to Muang Sing
We were going to get up early anyway to catch a boat up the Mekong, but a little before 6, a speaker across the street starts blaring 10 minutes of Lao music followed by a sermon of sorts in a woman's voice ("People of the revolution, unite!"?, "Robin, what's in the news today?"? Who knows) Bought some bread and fruit for our 6-hour "fast" (their term) boat ride up the river. The 4 of us took a tuk-tuk to a boatman who we got to take us for 800 Baht apiece after my skillful negotiation got us down from 1000. There are no schedules, signs, and barely any English being spoken at this point so we are going with blind faith that this is indeed what we are buying.
We started off at 8AM. A fast boat is also known as a longtail in Thailand. It's a 30-40 foot wooden boat narrow enough so that 2 people can sit side-by-side facing front. They gave us crash helmets but we heard that this is mostly due to the noise of the engine, which sounds like a large lawn mower. The river was low and quite foggy as we took off, avoiding the many barely visible rocks along the way. It was a little (Julie would say a lot) scary going 30 mph or so down a river you can't really see but luckily the boatman had the wherewithal to pull over after 30 minutes until the fog lifted. The scene was surreal, we are on a foggy riverbank on the Lao-Thai border probably 10 miles from any person, except for this father and son who were probably camping there, and a bunch of oxen bathing themselves in the river.
When the fog lifted and the sun came out we continued and it turned out to be a great ride. Half way up, the river starts to share the border with Burma rather than Thailand and there were all these strange rock formations coming out of the water right out of The Flintstones. The riverbank was sandy and the water actually clear, it was almost like a beach. 6 hours later we ended up in the river town of Xiangkok, a village of 20 or so bamboo huts with no electricity. Our desired destination was a town called Muang Sing but we weren't sure about transportation so we accepted that we might have to spend the night in Xiangkok. Luckily there was a 2:00 bus leaving for Muang Sing so we had a quick beer and boarded the bus. On the bus were 6 other Westerners (4 Canadians and 2 from Luxembourg) that took another Houayxai-Xiangkok fast boat, a bunch of schoolchildren, some cargo, and a woman openly nursing her child next to me all jammed in a vehicle barely bigger than a VW minibus. One of the Canadians starting making balloon animals for the kids, which was cute, but what was cuter was when one of the kids got off at a stop he immediately gave the animal to a younger child in the village.
Halfway there, for some reason, we switched to a songtheuw (converted pickup with the bed covered so luggage can fit on top). This particular portion of the road was described in our guidebook as being hellish but it wasn't bad, it was a dirt road but with few potholes. When we arrived at Muang Sing we checked into a guesthouse recommended by our guidebooks. 10000 kip ($1.20) with it’s own bathroom and worth every penny. Went for dinner at a brand new Chinese/Lao restaurant with a transsexual waiter/waitress. So there we were, 10km from the Chinese border in Laos watching the sunset while eating dinner served by a transsexual. An appropriate ending to a wild day.
Day 59 - Muang Sing
Worst day of the trip by far, the only day I even remotely wished I was home. It started in the middle of the night as Julie woke up to hear some rustling in the room. We chose this particular guesthouse because of its quiet location, after the previous night quiet was a plus. But Muang Sing has no electricity except from 6-9 PM, which means no fan and therefore no sounds whatsoever. So the rustling could have been anything from a small mouse to a rat and it really could have been anywhere in the room or simply under the floorboards. Between that and the 3:30 wake-up call from the roosters it was not a good night sleep.
We chose Muang Sing for several reasons. First, it supposedly had some trekking opportunities and we decided it would be more interesting doing a trekking trip in Laos than the now well-traveled areas of Northern Thailand. Plus the person who recommended our GH in Bangkok loved Laos and Muang Sing in particular and he too is a 30-something married ex-yuppie like myself.
We left our room and were faced with a barrage of sights and sounds. Women in the village were constantly hawking homemade bracelets, waving them in our face. What we soon found out was that the bracelets were a front and they were really trying to sell us opium. Muang Sing is close to the infamous Golden Triangle where lots of opium is grown. Apparently, some intrepid Westerners figured this out a few years ago and now Muang Sing is known in some circles as a place where backpackers go to smoke opium. All around the village chickens, pigs, oxen, etc. wander aimlessly around. The scenery is nicer than most in Thailand as the mountains nearby are much more dramatic. We ventured onto find some trekking but either couldn't find an available guide or anyone who spoke enough English to tell us if guides were available. We then tried decided to explore the nearby villages by bike but by 9:00 or so all the bikes were gone. The same guy who recommended Muang Sing also recommended a particular guesthouse 8 km out of town near the Chinese border. We decided to get out of Dodge, packed up, said goodbye to Richard and Iemke and hired an expensive truck (ok, $4) to take us there only to find it was sold out.
Now it's becoming laughable, thank goodness. When the truck took us back to Muang Sing we ran into PJ from our rafting trip. After catching up he recommended the guesthouse he was staying at. We checked it out and it was a lot cleaner. It had no attached bathroom but we are learning that is an advantage as shared bathrooms get cleaned more often and have more light (remember no electricity) and therefore less mold. We met a nice Australian who had told us that a nearby town, Luang Namtha, which we were planning on possibly going to anyway had good trekking operations so our mood is improving. We found Richard and Iemke, had dinner and played cards. Still, the nights are weird here, when the sun goes down all the Lao opium addicts hit the dark streets hoping to find Westerners to get high with. Plus it was the night before Chinese New Year and firecrackers were going off all around us, which considering the environment was kind of freaky. An exhausting day but one that improved as the day went on.
Day 60 - Luang Namtha
There are no schedules for transportation, buses and songtheuws take off when they are full with either cargo or people, but it still pays to get to the truck stop early. Our songtheuw to Luang Namtha had some interesting guests. A live pig was hog tied (not trying to be punny) to the bumper and a live chicken was in a coop on the roof. Richard, Iemke, Julie and 10 or so others crammed in the truck for the 3-hour journey to Luang Namtha that, because of the bumpy roads, we think rendered the pig unconscious. The ride was beautiful, kind of like being in a jungle, very green with steep cliffs. The drivers here are pretty good, not like we hear they are in India.
We ran into Matthew and Lorraine from Luxembourg at lunch, Laos is a relatively small country with few Western travelers so I guess you tend to run into the same people over and over. Richard and Iemke wanted to only spend a day but we want to see a bit of the countryside tomorrow, as do Matthew and Lorraine. So the 4 of us went to this eco-tourism office that the UN has set up in Luang Namtha to help the locals promote tourism. It's a good cause although I would hate to see Laos become another over-run Thailand but Laos is a poor country and could use the capital. Unfortunately there is a UN delegation coming in tomorrow to check on things and they want to trek so all the guides will be taken. But they gave us a map to tour the villages by bike and that is what we will do.
Our guesthouse is pretty good, it's new so it's not in the guidebooks and we are learning that new is probably the way to go. 20000 kip with shared toilet and hot (between the electricity time of 6-9PM) shower called the Soulivong GH. The money situation is funny here, it's about 8200 kip to the dollar but their smallest bill is a 5000 kip note. So you end up getting a whole wad of bills even when you only change, say, $50. Laos is making Thailand look expensive; we are averaging less than $25 a day for the two of us inclusive of food, lodging, and transport. Had dinner at the Manysing restaurant, which is kind of a Westerner hangout, pretty avoidable when you consider that Lao probably don't go out to eat much. A cool scene, we are enjoying the company of other travelers more in Laos than in NZ or Thailand. The owner is a cantankerous but funny Chinese woman and that just adds to the great scene.
Day 61 (Jan 25) - Luang Namtha
Had breakfast with Richard and Iemke, said goodbye as they are leaving today but we will most likely see them in Luang Prabang in 3-4 days. We headed off on rickety bikes with bad brakes to see some of the outlying villages. Although I'm sure we are not the first Westerners these people have seen we're definitely one of the first. Everyone comes out to look at us as we cycle by and the kids greet us with Sabai-di and it's all very charming and the country is physically beautiful. Had dinner at Manychan's with Matthew and Lorraine and taught them Hearts, which is turning out to be our contribution to other travelers on this leg of the trip.
Day 62 - Oudomxai
I have never loved and disliked a place simultaneously so much as Laos.
There is absolutely beautiful green hilly scenery with clear rivers and the people, especially the kids, are friendly. And it feels great to be in a completely foreign place experiencing a life we may never experience again. The towns are mostly dirt roads with animals running everywhere and you rise and shine every day at 6 if not before to the sermon over the loudspeakers that all the towns seem wired for, probably left over from the Communists. The food is okay but you really don't want to think about how they are cleaning the dishes before putting your food on it. Everyday things are more difficult in general when traveling but even more so here; squeezing all your belongings into a backpack by candlelight in the morning, putting up and taking down the mosquito net, figuring out how to use yet another toilet (Squat or Western? Toilet paper, spray hose "bidet" or scoop of water to clean yourself?) or shower. Our standards of cleanliness have dropped dramatically. We were looking forward to a room with a hot shower tonight but the shower hose came undone right as my hair was full of suds. The whole experience has been a proverbial trip, smoking the opium in Muang Sing would be redundant.
We only stopped in Oudomxai because we basically had to, our destination tomorrow, Nong Khiaw, could not be done in a day. The town itself is not too nice, it's on a popular route to China so a lot of Chinese truck drivers stop here. Still, the scenery is fantastic. We climbed a hill to this stupa (Buddhist holy structure), read and watched the sunset as a group of baby goats started to run around the stupa. We had dinner with Matthew and
Lorraine and Matthew remarked that he likes Laos a lot but there wasn't much to do. I think that's part of the charm, ride in the back of a truck, bike to some villages and watch the sunset. It gives you plenty of time to think. We seem to be getting more "travel tough", neither of us has gotten sick yet, and the rough conditions are bothering us less and less.
Day 63 - Nong Khiaw
Best day in SE Asia so far. Our songtheuw this time had in with us a box with both a chicken and a puppy in it. Based on the smell I think the dog was scared. Nong Khiaw was described in our guidebook as having the most dramatic scenery in Indochina and we would concur, the mountains greener and more dramatic and the (Nam Ou) river the clearest yet. A few Westerners were swimming and lying out on the sandy banks pretty close to where villagers were bathing themselves. We walked to a nearby village and sat down at a bench. A 13 year old or so villager comes up to us to test his English ("Nice to meet you", "What is your name?) and we pulled out our Lao phrasebook to reciprocate. After a few minutes several more kids came over and seemed fascinated with us, touching Julie on the arm, we think amazed by her freckles. Pretty basic accommodations but we are looking forward to tomorrow, when we go to Luang Namtha, the cultural center and former capital of Laos.
Day 64, 28-Jan-01 Luang Phabang, Laos – Written by Julie
We decided to take a boat down the Nam Ou river from Nong Khiaw to Luang Phabang. We determined that the price was 520,000 Kip for the boat, which could hold up to 11 people. We rounded up 9 people and then of course the drivers change their story. Now they say only 4 can go in each boat for the same price. After 45 minutes of negotiations including all of us donning our packs and walking toward the bus stop, we were off down the river with all 9 passengers. There were 4 French, 1 Korean, 2 Canadians and us. The ride was beautiful, the rocky cliffs rose straight up from the river. There were large mountains in the background surrounded by clouds. It was fun to see the river life from the water - people bathing, washing clothes, and fishing, playing and transporting things. Kids at each village were waving to our boat. After about 2 hours we were becoming uncomfortable on the tiny boards we were seated on (only 4 hours left!) Finally, we arrived in Luang Phabang - it was neat to arrive right in the old city.
One interesting thing about Laos compared to the US is the lawlessness. Our boat had no life jackets, no one wears helmets on motorbikes, and they ride 3 people to a motorbike, including small kids. You see young kids on boats in the river - alone, with no life jackets. Kids play with knives and firecrackers. In a way it feels really free and it seems we are over protective but at the same time you have to wonder why the life expectancy here is only 50 years.
Transportation is also interesting. There are hardly any cars. People ride bikes and motorbikes. For travel between villages you ride on the back of a truck (it has padded benches and a roof). Occasionally, buses are available. People also attach carriages to the side of motorbikes. They also drive these Chinese tractors around on the roads. They will attach a motor to anything and drive it around. The Chinese tractors have long handlebars reaching to the front (looks like those chopper motorcycles).
As Mark has a cold and we have been really roughing it for 8 days, we decided to splurge on accommodations for the first time this trip. We spent $25/night on a hotel with clean white sheets and towels, chairs, refrigerator, hot shower, clean bathroom and balcony (our accommodations in Sydney actually cost more but was crap). We also splurged on pizza for dinner.
After dinner we went to find Iemke and Richard as they are now ahead of us. We said hello and found they were leaving the next day so we decided to meet up at Vang Vieng in a couple days. The night was beautiful. There is a big hill in the center of town with a stupa on it (ashes of Buddhist followers are kept in stupas). The stupa was lit up and looked golden from below. A sliver moon and a planet were also visible.
Day 65-66 Luang Phabang, Laos – Written by Julie
Luang Phabang is a mellow, relaxing small city where the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet. The old city is quite small; right across the river are fields of crops. Palm trees are everywhere, the days are warm, and nights are cool. The city is the most Lao we've seen as the north was heavily influenced by the Chinese and by hill tribes. There are many temples and therefore many monks in orange robes throughout the town. I saw 2 in an Internet cafe (no doubt downloading Amish porn). The most impressive temple is Wat Xiang Thong built in 1580. The Royal Palace Museum is also nice. It holds the gold Pha Bang Buddha image after which the town was named. I think a lot of artifacts were destroyed by the communists and stolen by the USSR. The Palace was built in 1904 in French/Lao styles. The royal family lived there until the 70s when the communists took power. The palace is quite modest except for the reception room with multi-colored glass mosaic.
The French influence is quite noticeable in the architecture and the food. Baguettes and pastries are available as are pizzas and steaks. French fries are available throughout Laos and had become one of our staples before coming here. For dinner we went to the most expensive hotel in town, the Villa Santi a former palace fo the princess. We had a gourmet 3-course dinner with drinks for $22 USD. Most entrees were around $4 but Mark had the Wild Boar in coconut milk (he's still alive) for a whopping $7. During dinner there was traditional Lao music and dancing. The costumes were beautiful with gold embroidery and bright colors. The dancers wore gold headpieces (women) and masks (men).
We went for a steam bath and massage the next evening. The massage style is similar to Thai massage where they use their feet and knees to massage. There is tea outside the steam room so you can cycle in then out for some tea and back in again. It was a relaxing experience.
On our last night, we went back to Potiron for pizzas again. Our 3 days of luxury are coming to an end and we feel ready to move on and see some more of the country. Luang Phabang is the most charming city we have been to on the trip. It is what we expected Chiang Mai to be but wasn't.
Day 69 - Vang Vieng
We're slowing down a bit, I'm just getting over my annual winter cold which
I just gave to Julie. We have spent the last 3 days in a town called Vang
Vieng, about half way between the current Lao capital of Vientiane and the cultural center of Laos, Luang Prabang.
Vang Viang is known for its caves, in which most Lao sought refuge during the Vietnam War as both the U.S. and Vietnam heavily bombed the country. The town has a Lao feel to it but is also relatively heavily visited by Westerners because of its location and the caves. Spent the last two days "spelunking" as it were. Yesterday’s excursion was a kayaking/caving trip. Caving is amazing, it's like bouldering in the dark and quite dangerous, if they had anything like this in the States you'd have to sign several pages of waivers before they'd let you do it. Our guide yesterday had a pretty good flashlight, but today Richard, Iemke and I rented bikes and rode to a cave and found a guide to take us in and we were armed with only candles and Richard's penlight. You're dripping with sweat part from climbing and part from fear, negotiating slippery boulders and muddy terrain in almost pitch-black darkness. Scary and fun.
Vang Vieng actually has pretty good nightlife. We were at the grand opening of a restaurant called Oasis, opened by a 24 year old Canadian who had visited Laos, loved it and decided to move here and open a business. A few days ago we met a French couple in their late 20's who had opened a French cafe in Kunming, China, and closed it down for two weeks during Chinese New Year to travel through Laos. It's amazing meeting people like this who have completely uprooted their lives to take risks like this.
We leave tomorrow for Vientaine where we need to cross the border back into Thailand before our 15 day visa expires. As much as I may have been originally disappointed with Thailand, I'm looking forward to a little more (relative) civilization. And the beaches!
Days 70-71 (Feb 3-4) Vientiane, Laos – Written by Julie
We took a 5:50am bus from Vang Vieng to the capital of Laos, Vientiane. The lodging here is a bit more expensive - we found a place for $10 with bath and our first TV since New Zealand. We actually had CNN and MTV.
Vientiane is much hotter than the cities we visited in the North. The city has many French colonial buildings, although most of them are in terrible need of repair, some are falling apart. We walked out to Patouxi - the Lao L'Arc de Triomphe. From afar it looks French, up close, the designs and detail are Lao. It is very pretty and from the top you can see the whole city (not without walking past the 2nd level of souvenir shops though). The city is not very big and is easy to walk around, unlike Bangkok.
We had the best pizza of the trip (maybe best meal) at Lo Stivale, an Italian restaurant (also had the best public bathroom of the trip).
We are traveling with Iemke and Richard again as we met up in Vang Vieng.
For our last dinner in Laos (Richard and Iemke continue to S. Laos), we went to a makeshift restaurant on the Mekong for Lao food and a last game of Spades. There is a row of these restaurants along the river looking across at Thailand. The four of us started our trip with lunch on the Mekong from the Thai side in the North so this was a fitting end. When we asked for the toilet, the waiter said "for men its easy" as he pointed to the river. I didn't bother looking for the women's room.
The next morning we had breakfast and bade farewell to Richard and Iemke. We may run into each other in Southern Thailand but more likely in Rotterdam or the States. After breakfast, we headed to the Lao National Museum (recently renamed from the Lao Revolutionary Museum). About 75% of the museum is dedicated to showing how the Lao people have risen up against oppressors (Siam, Burmese, French and Americans). It doesn't mention the USSR, China or Vietnam - I guess these are comrades. The captions under the pictures are ridiculous. A picture of a soldier making off with a pumpkin - "Lao soldiers contribute to important act of production". A picture of tanks cruising through town - "Tanks coming to liberate Laos from American Imperialists". They always use "American imperialists" and "French colonialists" The museum is room after room of these photos with titles.
After the museum, we crossed the friendship bridge (built 1994) into Thailand. Next to the Lao Flag at the bridge still waves the hammer and sickle flag. Apparently there was a bombing at the bridge a few days ago as Lao students are protesting Vietnam's power in Laos. It is so hard to get information here we didn't know what to believe.
Coming back to Thailand we immediately noticed that it is friendlier and more modern.
Back to Thailand
Day 73 (Feb 6, 2001)
Took a night train yesterday from the Thai border town of Nong Khai to Bangkok. The night train was actually okay. The people on the train make up the "beds" for you, with clean linen and everything. It is more the rule than exception that when we stay at a guesthouse we usually distrust the cleanliness of the sheets enough to sleep on our sleeping bags (too hot to sleep IN them). So even though the 11 hour train ride was a bit turbulent with clean linen it wasn't too bad.
We have a very different impression of Bangkok now than when we first arrived. It's still dirty and unbearably hot but we appreciate it more for what it is, namely a great place to get good cheap food and run errands, which is what we've done for the past 36 hours. We decided to go on a date last night. Took a taxi to the tourist area of Siam Square and went to the Hard Rock Cafe for our first burgers in well over 72 days. It may have been our most expensive meal in SE Asia but still cheaper than Hard Rock in the US. Then went to see Castaway, the perfect movie to see right before heading to the islands, at least we aren't flying!
Tonight we take another night train to a boat to an island called Ko Tao. Ko Tao is the island furthest out of the Samui archipelago, which include Ko Samui and Ko Pha Ngan, both of The Beach fame. Ko Tao is known for its scuba industry and we plan on getting PADI certified there. We plan on mostly relaxing over the next 3 weeks or so, taking in the beaches that
Thailand is known for.
Day 79 (Feb 12, 2001)
We've spent the last six days on the island of Ko Tao in the Gulf of
Thailand. On the 6th we took a 11 hour night train to the town of Chumphon, where we caught a 3 hour boat to Ko Tao. PJ from our rafting trip in Northern Thailand had recommended Big Blue Dive Resort as a great place to learn scuba diving; classes are small, English speaking instructors, etc.
During the entire boat ride, about five touts, all from different dive resorts, were trying to sell us on their resort but we stood firm and found
Big Blue when we hit the island. Like the other dive resorts, Big Blue's price for getting your open water certification (less than $200US!) included 4 nights of accommodations at the resort. Jason and Denise from New Zealand, whom we met in Chiang Mai, had recommended another resort to stay at, saying it was the nicest accommodations they had in all of Thailand. But Big Blue sold us on staying at their resort, more bonding with your classmates, proximity to the school, etc. We checked into one of their bungalows, not that nice but we were here to learn.
Anyway, the whole diving experience was for the most part incredible. We had a class of 5 people, 4 Americans and a woman from Ireland. Our instructor was Belgian but spoke perfect English and had a good combination of humor and seriousness. It was really like being back in school and was pretty exhausting, four days of a combination of classroom and underwater training, quizzes and homework, not much socializing at night during the four days. During our four open water dives we saw barracudas, a sea snake, sea urchins, and a bunch of colorful fish whose names escape me, it was like swimming and meditating in a crystal clear aquarium. We celebrated our graduation yesterday with our instructors over drinks and, believe it or not, some pretty good Mexican food.
The only negative was the accommodations. We stayed the first four nights at one of their bungalows, a bamboo hut about 100 yards from the beach but with no view. Our bunkmates over the first two days included the three biggest cockroaches I've ever seen. But that was nothing compared to our roommate on the third day, a gecko the size of a large rat that we saw when we went back to our room over a lunch break. The people at the resort kind of laughed at us when we mildly complained, saying that all the bungalows had geckos and they are your friends because they eat the cockroaches. She may have been right as we saw no cockroaches after seeing the gecko, only those in the form of the gecko droppings we found in our bathroom. Needless to say after our four days were up we moved down the beach about 500 meters to Seashell Bungalows, the ones Jason and Denise recommended and it was great, it was also a bamboo hut but of much better construction and with a better bathroom and view of the beach.
Today was our first free day on the island. Julie came down with ear infections in both ears and wanted to relax so I went exploring around the island. Ko Tao is not very big, just a few square kms. Tao means turtle in
Thai and the island is named so because the mountains in the middle of the island look like a turtle's shell from afar. Ko Tao is known for being a diver's island. The beaches have beautiful water but isn’t the greatest for swimming since the reefs and rocks are pretty close to shore. The beach we are on, Sairee, is pretty cool. The bungalows and resorts are close enough together to walk from bar to bar but without seeming too crowded together. The beach is sandy but small, during high tide the whole beach disappears and the water almost comes right up to the bungalows. The night scene is mellow enough to be relaxing but you can definitely find a party if you're so inclined. A lot of travelers seem to get here and just stay a while, log some dives, take instructor training, so it's a bit "diver cliquey" but not too bad.
Anyway, I went searching today on foot for a more secluded beach with more sand but only found the secluded part. So I went back to Sairee beach, which I have come to appreciate more. Especially today. It was about 90 degrees outside with about 85-degree water temperature. Sairee faces due West and during a late afternoon swim we were treated to probably the most striking sunset I've ever seen. It really started to hit us how incredible this whole trip has been, all the new things we've learned, the new cultures we've experienced, and, indirectly, all the fears we've conquered, including but not limited to foot-long geckos in our rooms!
Tomorrow we take a boat to Ko PhaNgan. It's the island from The Beach where Richard goes for the "rice run". From there we will go to the other coast of Thailand on the Andaman Sea.
Day 82 - Ko Pha Ngan
Left Ko Tao for Ko Pha Ngan two days ago. Ko Pha Ngan is known for being a backpacker’s island. Specifically, the beach of Hat Rin is known for having a lively scene, day and night. It is the host of a monthly Full Moon Party, an all night rave on the beach. The full moon was during our diving class so although there were boats going from Ko Tao to Ko Pha Ngan and back just for the party, we missed it. Not a big loss I figure; I enjoy the scene on Bourbon St in New Orleans a lot but really didn't enjoy Mardi Gras much the one time I went, too many people. But we are going in the direction of Ko Pha Ngan anyway and have had a relatively mellow time on Ko Tao so we figured Hat Rin was worth checking out for a few days.
Normally, both on this trip and on other vacations, my first reaction to a
beach I'm seeing for the first time is mild disappointment since I have an ideal in my mind that does not quite get reached. Knowing Hat Rin's reputation I wasn't expecting much and for once was pleasantly surprised. It's a 1 km long sandy beach with beautiful water with noticeable surf (2-3 ft waves) flanked by boulder fields. We picked a great bungalow (only 600
Baht=$14US) on the northernmost point of the beach, furthest from all the bars and restaurants but still within walking distance. Our deck faced the water about 50 ft away and provided great relief from the hot sun.
The scene at night is as follows. Most of the guesthouses off the beach show a few movies a night on a TV, some recent (e.g., Castaway, Bedazzled) ones off pirated DVDs and others off videotapes. You go from GH to GH checking out different movies, have some food and drink if you wish. At about 11 or so the movies stop and people head to the bars and dance clubs right on the beach. It's crowded but mellow, not at all like a South beach for example. You can sit out on these "Thai cushions" that recline and watch the stars or the surf. Or head to the louder bar area and listen to music, some dance but mostly house music.
Julie is still not feeling well from her ear infection so I headed out the first night to sample the nightlife first hand. I had a few Red Bulls (the ubiquitous energy drink du jour) and talked with some pretty cool travelers. Ultimately I ended up playing backgammon with this Thai bartender which was fun but I soon realized could have just as easily been done at 2:30 PM rather than AM. So I went home with the intention of sleeping but the house music, which continued until 6:00, carried very well off the boulders near our bungalow.
The daytime scene is kind of cool. It's a young crowd but more in the 25-30 range rather than Spring Breakers. Also, no screaming children or annoying families since there really are no upscale resorts on the island. But it's about as Thai as Cancun is Mexican. All the guidebooks tell travelers to respect Thai customs by dressing conservatively, women shouldn't wear tank tops, holding hands is considered offensive, etc. Some of this, as we have come to find out, is bull since Thai culture is becoming more Western by the minute. But Hat Rin was a bit over the top as it is essentially a topless beach. Now, I'm not complaining too loudly here, but I did noticed that the Thai weren't as friendly as on Ko Tao and I can't help but believe it's because of the behavior of some of my fellow travelers.
Day 83 - Ko Pha Ngan to Krabi
We liked Hat Rin less and less as the days went on. The beach wasn't full of garbage but enough so that the Indian from that commercial would have shed a tear or two. And we didn't get much sleep as the all night boom-boom-boom from the house music left us frazzled all day. We bought a surprisingly cheap combination night boat/bus ticket from a travel agent to take us from Ko Pha Ngan to Krabi, a town on the Andaman Sea/West Coast with supposedly great beaches. Our night boat left at 10PM and was supposed to arrive in a town called Surat Thani at 6AM where a 6:30 bus would take us to Krabi.
We must have been spoiled by the relative luxury of the night trains and expected the night boat to be similar. Instead it was a 40 ft boat with an upper and lower deck, each deck no higher than about 3 ft. We crawled into the lower deck with about 30 other people and staked out our bamboo mattress. There were 2 communal cushions running the length of both sides of the boat that served as our pillow. No blanket, no sheets. We tried to make the best of it by playing cards and talking to others, at least until
11 when the lights went out.
Actually, we didn't sleep too badly . . . until 3:30 when the boat docked, 2 1/2 hours early. We left the boat to a chaotic scene and tried to find our bus company for the Krabi bus over the din of several Thai tour operators yelling in the pitch-black darkness. We found what we believed to be our tour company and boarded a songtheuw for a 3 minute ride to the "office", which were a bunch of stools on a sidewalk outside a food stand selling tea and viewing distance from a TV playing an Italian soccer match. So there we were sitting catatonically waiting for our bus when at about 4:30, a Thai guy grabbed me and says something like "Krabi, Krabi, we leave now!" So Julie and I followed this guy to a minivan with 4 rows of 3 seats in the back and 2 people sharing the passenger seat up front. Julie and I were the last 2 to board so we had seats behind another, her behind me, rather than next to each other.
Now, needless to say we're all a bit frazzled and disoriented at this point which may explain what happened next. I should mention here that an important part of Thai culture, and many other Asian cultures, is the concept of "saving face". In this vein, about the most offensive thing you can do in the mind of a Thai is to lose your temper. Most of the time this is a very pleasant custom but can be annoying during a confrontation where you both have on your best "Fuck You" smiles. Sometimes you just want to have a good yell. Also, we learned in Laos that the passenger seat in a vehicle is somewhat of a seat of honor. I don't know if this is also true in Thailand, but it could also help explain the following incident, which resulted in one of the scariest hours in our lives.
In one of the front seats was a rather tall (6'3" or so) traveler. He had asked for the front seat, claiming that his knee injury prohibited him from sitting in the cramped back of the van. The motor was running but they were still packing our stuff and we weren't sure when we were leaving. The traveler was stretching out his leg with van door open when a young Thai guy, I'm guessing 18-20 years old, tried to slam the door, not seeing the guy's leg. In his probably tired state he lashed out at the Thai. The Thai tried to explain that he was shutting the door because the A/C was on but by that point they were both shouting at each other, even trading "Fuck You"s, which I've never seen from a Thai. They both seemed to realize at that point that their tempers had gotten the best of them but by then the Thai had already lost face.
To our chagrin, he was to be our driver for the trip. He peeled out like a maniac, took some tight turns, ran red lights, while continuing to hell at the other guy. The traveler tried apologizing but the Thai was on a rampage. About 5 minutes later he pulls over at a gas station and got out of the van, hopefully to cool off. A few minutes later he asked the traveler to leave, claiming that he was making him too upset and offering him his money back. Since we had no idea where we were (it was still dark) the traveler refused but apologized several times and said he'd keep quiet. (A running traveler joke is that most Americans who are asked where they are from reply "Canada" due to the occasional anti-American attitude. When the driver asked the traveler where he was from I was relieved to hear him say "Canada") This concession apparently was not enough for the driver, who got back in and continued his maniacal drive down the foggy two lane road, passing other vehicles without much discretion or care. Someone should have said something, including myself, but we were all too scared to speak. I can't be sure but I think someone in the van may have had an accident in their pants. After about 20 minutes the driver calmed himself down and started to drive normally for the remaining 2 hours to Krabi.
The experience was eye-opening on a couple different levels. First, it reminded me that as much as Thailand may be become more Western it is still a Third World country with a very distinct culture. Also, it's easy to become complacent when you get used to a new environment. Things that seem novel at first become more commonplace, whether it's smells, modes of transport, etc. Travelers tend to develop a sense of invincibility over time and that's when you can get into trouble. ("This food stand looks clean . . . I'll have the pork. And a tap water with that") Even for us, a lot of the reason we went to Laos was for a sense of adventure. Yet just a week ago there was mortar fire at an area of the Thai-Burma border that was potentially on our itinerary if we didn't go to Laos. Adventure is everywhere and it's not all-good adventure.
I'd like to say that the adventure ended here but I'm afraid that's not the case. As I mentioned Julie has an ear infection in both ears. Four days earlier she went to a nurse in Ko Tao who gave her an antibiotic that was supposed to start working in a few days, but it still is not working. When we got to Krabi Township we still had a 30-minute songtheuw ride to our final destination, the beach town of Ao Nang. We agreed that we should see a nurse in Ao Nang for a second opinion. We checked into a guesthouse and went to a pharmacist, who informed us that the closest doctor was back in Krabi Townnship at the Krabi Hospital. So we took a songtheuw back to
Krabi, went to the hospital and waited about 2 hours for a doctor. To help our mood we made a list of the things we would do when we got home, most of it revolving around food (see below). When we finally saw the admitting nurse we explained the whole situation and showed her the medication Julie was taking. In broken English she asked some follow up questions, all of which made sense, e.g., "Do you have a fever", etc. except when she asked how Julie's stomach was. We replied "fine" and didn't give it a second thought. When we saw the doctor he asked a lot of the same questions, including how her stomach was. We then asked why would he and the nurse ask how Julie's stomach was if the problem was in her ears. Because, he said, the antibiotic that she is taking (that we got in Ko Tao) is for DIARRHEA.
After some tears and laughter of relief and exhaustion, we got a new prescription and some eardrops; the total cost including the doctor visit was 300 Baht ($7!).
After all this we took a songtheuw back to our guest house and slept for 16 straight hours.
Our list of things we miss
Shrimp with Ponzu Sauce from Nobu
Pizza from Patsy's
Taco Flavored Doritos
Sitting on our leather couch eating said Doritos and watching golf or any sport where they use their HANDS
Sushi from Origami (Minneapolis)
Day 85 - Ao Nang
Our quest for the near-perfect beach is complete. Ao Nang is a little on the touristy side but not terribly so. The beaches are great, Ao Nang's sand is a bit coarse but that's splitting hairs, the water is again beautiful and these huge limestone cliffs, which have a lot of rock climbing, surround it. Today we took a 10-minute long tail boat to Railey's Beach, a beach that can only be reached by boat. Long tail boats are a bit of a necessary evil, they are loud and an eyesore on these gorgeous beaches but in this area you need them to reach otherwise inaccessible beaches.
Railey's is officially the nicest beach I've ever been to, like Ao Nang but with white sand and not quite as many people. There are about 4 or 5 outdoor cafes/restaurants in the shade but right off the beach, perfect for cooling off while still being able to look at the blue water. We rented a kayak to a few other coves and beaches you can't get to any other way. We need to be back in Bangkok in 11 days for our flight to Cambodia and we think we will spend all 11 days here, do some more diving when Julie's ears get better, maybe take a rock climbing class, and do a lot of relaxing.
Day 95 (Feb 28, 2001) - Ko Phi Phi
Relatively uneventful beaching and lounging. Julie's ears were getting better but not at the rate we thought it should so we thought it best for her to get it checked out in Phuket, the largest town in the South of Thailand and home to a few reputable hospitals. We used this time as a good opportunity to explore on our own for a few days. The day Julie left for Phuket I got 3 more dives in off Railey. I saw a ship wreck, a leopard shark that was thiiiiissss biiiigggg (actually about 4 feet) and a moray eel. The next day I left for Ko Phi Phi. We decided that whoever liked where they were better was where the other would go to meet up. Phuket also has beaches but rather crowded and touristy ones so we decided to meet up at Ko Phi Phi.
Ko Phi Phi is an island about 45km off the Krabi coast and about the same distance from Phuket. It's shaped like a dumbbell; the "handle" is the area where most of the accommodations and restaurants are. On one side is the bay where the boats dock and the other side has a pretty nice beach, with the prettiest clear green water we've seen yet. The rest of the island is hardly developed at all. There were a lot of people but not to the point where I would call it overcrowded. It was a good place to enjoy our last few days on the beach. It has been great and relaxing, sipping coconut shakes under the shade of palm trees, etc. but we are eager to move on to more culturally interesting environments, although Phi Phi was the most Thai environment on we've seen in several days, and to more of the road a little less travelled Right now we are back in Krabi Township awaiting our night bus back to Bangkok, where we will spend about 48 hrs before our flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Julie's ears are back to 100%!
Day 97 - Bangkok
Waiting for our overnight bus from Krabi to Bangkok a few days ago we ran into Richard and Iemke completely by coincidence. All 4 of us were slated to take a "VIP" bus back to Bangkok, although Richard and Iemke were booked with another bus company. When we had bought our bus tickets in Ko Phi Phi, the "travel agent" had showed us a picture of our supposed bus, air conditioned with lush seats that reclined all the way. For some reason that's exactly the bus Richard and Iemke got but our bus was less luxurious. First we had to travel 10 minutes on a different bus to get our ticket, the only reason I could see for doing this was to sell us overpriced Cokes and Pringles at the store there. Then the AC was either on full blast or off so we were either freezing or sweating for the 14-hour trip. The seats reclined about as much as an average coach airline and were not as comfortable. The bus was pretty empty so Julie and I each got our own row and we did get in on time for a change even though there was a bad accident half way through the trip and we had to take a detour. Luck has a way of evening out, I guess, because R&I's bus got lost during the detour and arrived 4 hours late.
Loaded up on guilty pleasures like McD's and our last authentic Thai food for a while over our two days back in Bangkok. We also had a nice last dinner our last night in Thailand with Richard and Iemke, our favorite travelling partners to date. Overall, I was a little disappointed with Thailand, although a lot of that was our own fault. We should have gotten off the proverbial well-travelled road more, but it seemed implausible when we were planning this trip that we would go to Thailand but skip Chiang Mai and hill-tribe trekking, even though that is exactly what I would recommend to others. Also, the less visited areas are near some not-so-stable borders with Burma and Cambodia. Still, as overdeveloped as the beaches may have been they were still among the nicest beaches I've seen and cost a small fraction of what a similar beach vacation would cost in Hawaii or the Caribbean, or even Mexico. But it is depressing seeing all the pollution that the growth in tourism has contributed to. I think it's only a matter of time until the budget travellers get squeezed out as the development goes more upscale and most of the islands become another Cancun and you see MTV televising Spring Break in a few years from Ko Phi Phi.
Off to Cambodia
Day 98 (Mar 3, 2001) - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
I've got a good feeling about Cambodia after our first day here. The flight to Phnom Penh went smoothly and customs, while a bit chaotic, was quick. We took a taxi (back to driving on the right, how do they decide?) to a guesthouse recommended by Matthew and Lorraine, the Luxembourg couple we met in Laos, the #10 Guesthouse, located right next to, yes, the #9 Guesthouse. Apparently, names get changed quite a bit here depending on who's in power, e.g. Cambodia-Kampuchea-and back to Cambodia, so many streets and stores are numbered, not named. $4 for a small, but clean room with own shower and Western toilet. It's on a dirt road a little far from the center of town but nicely located on one of the few lakes we've seen in SE Asia, Lake Boeng Kak.
Phnom Penh has a lot of traffic but most of it is from these 100cc scooters, or "moto"s as they are called here. The madness of the traffic takes a while to get used to but the air seems a lot cleaner than any other city we've seen and I think it's because of the prevalence of motos over tuk-tuks. We walked around the city for most of the day. Every few minutes we were approached by moto drivers offering to take us around, but for some reason it was in a friendlier fashion than most of the tuk-tuk drivers in Thailand and therefore not as annoying. Maybe it's just our mood. Also, the level of English spoken here is remarkable, much more so than Laos and even most of Thailand. We really like this city. The landscape is much greener than Laos or Thailand, probably because we are now in more of a jungle climate that gets more rain. The city has the first green grass we've seen in a while. It does seem grittier than the other Asian cities we've seen and I'm not sure how safe I would feel going out at night. Our guesthouse has a deck looking over the lake, facing West. We watched a great sunset and then watched Fight Club on DVD.
Day 99 - Siem Reap
Took an early AM boat to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The boat was 50ft or so and shaped like a submarine. Our guidebook recommended traveling on the top since chances for survival would be less if you were inside the boat if it were to sink (yes, it actually says this). A nice ride, albeit through probably the most impoverished areas we've seen yet, but all the kids still took time to wave and yell "Hello” to us. The 5-hour trip took us up the Tonle Sap river, which led into the Tonle Sap Lake about half way there. The engine was too loud to have any conversation so it was a great time to just sit back and think. The way we have the trip planned right now after re-working our budget, we were able to add two weeks to our travels, making today the exact half-way point of the trip, which feels about right to me, 3-31/2 more months sounds about perfect right now.
We bought our boat tickets from #10. Included in the price was transportation from the dock in Siem Reap to a guesthouse in Siem Reap that they were affiliated with, with no obligation to stay there if we didn't like it. Even though the guesthouse, Paradise GH, was not in our guidebook, we agreed. It's a good thing we did, for when we arrived at the pier there were literally 50 or so touts trying to get us to go to their guesthouse. But in the crowd we made out a sign for "Mark and Julie Selverman" and figuring that was close enough we followed the gentleman with the sign to a cramped mini-bus which took us 10km on a hellish road through a Vietnamese floating village and other Cambodian villages to Siem Reap. Paradise was not quite that, but it seemed good enough for us, $5 a night with free laundry. When you only have about 3 or 4 outfits in your bag, laundry tends to take up a bit of time and/or budget so the free laundry was a huge perk. We had lunch at the Guesthouse and all the moto drivers there were chatting us up. They were mostly trying to take us to Angkor Wat for sunset that day but they seemed genuinely interested in where we were from and in just talking with us to work on their English, which is funny since mine, in case you couldn't tell, is deteriorating rapidly. We opted instead to walk around town for our first day. Siem Reap is not as large as we imagined, much more laid back, mostly dirt roads, with tall palm trees that give it kind of a jungle feel. It does have a few, $300 a night hotels, to accommodate the tourism for Angkor but they do not take away from its charm. Spent the night talking for several hours with other travellers at the guesthouse, including two Americans who had just spent 3 months in Nepal and had some great tips for us.
Days 100-101 (5-Mar-01, 6-Mar-01) Siem Reap, Cambodia – Written by Julie
On the one-hundredth day of our trip, we hired 2 moto drivers at our guesthouse to take us to see the Ankor temples at dawn. At 5:30am we found ourselves riding through 1000 year old ruins and temples surrounded by palms and other dense foliage. We caught a glimpse of Ankor Wat as the sun was rising behind it on our way to see Ankor Thom. The temples are not crowded at dawn and it is a very peaceful experience to wander the grounds at this time.
There are over 100 temples in the area dating from the 9th-14th centuries when the Khmers ruled from Vietnam to Yunnan in China and west to Burma. Many of these temples are in good shape; even detailed carvings have remained intact. I won't bore you with the details of the temples we visited other than to say that Ankor Wat is incredible. The size of this temple built to honor Vishnu is staggering, as is the detail of the bas-reliefs on the exterior walls and the carvings on columns and doorways. Climbing to the 3rd level is not for the faint of heart as the stairs are very steep and small.
At each temple site, kids sell postcards, flutes, scarves (krama), t-shirts and rice paper rubbings from the temples. Something about this country and its recent war-torn past makes you want to support the economy.
At some of the temples, amputees play traditional musical instruments. There are more amputees per capita than any other nation and they don't have many opportunities to support themselves. There are 75 new amputees per month due to the remaining landmines.
At one of the temples, a kid decided he was going to be my tour guide (of course they want money at the end but since I hadn't been bothered yet, I allowed him). He was 9 years old and spoke English well. More kids have the opportunity to go to school now than in the past. He showed me where the Khmer Rouge had blown the heads off all of the buddhas inside the temple (religion was not allowed under their regime).
The moto drivers are great. They want to practice English as everyone is saying this will be the key to finding good jobs in the future. They speak English better than most people we encountered in Thailand and certainly in Laos. It is surprising how open they are about the Khmer Rouge atrocities. But, they are really optimistic about the future of Cambodia.
We had dinner with a group from the guesthouse, as it was Beth's birthday. While we were eating, some homeless kids came up to our table. We gave them some food and they thanked us, took it away, divided it among themselves and ate. They came back later to thank us again. I was surprised by their thankfulness and politeness. There are many kids here without parents and they live in the streets.
Cambodia seems to be poorer than Laos (definitely poorer than anywhere in Thailand) yet in many ways more modern. There is optimism about the future here that I didn't see in Laos (maybe because they are still communist).
I encourage you to see Ankor Wat soon, as there are increasing numbers of direct flights from Bangkok and Phuket. The Sofitel just built a huge complex where you can stay for $350 per night if you don't want to rough it in a guesthouse. There are plenty of options in between also.
Day 102 – Battambang – Written by Julie
When we originally were planning our Cambodia itinerary our only source of information were two or three year old guidebooks that led us to believe that most of the country would be either inaccessible due to bad roads or Khmer Rouge activity. So we planned on 8 days although in hindsight that does not seem to be enough time, as although the roads are still bad there has been no significant KR activity in a few years, opening up a lot more of the country. Still, we wanted to see more than just Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and decided we'd have time for one more city. Matthew and Lorraine said that Battambang was the highlight of their Cambodia trip so that's where we decided to go.
We went back to the Siem Reap dock along the same hellish road except this time on the back of a pick-up (actually, Julie got to sit in the cab). At the dock, about 25 of us were heading to Battambang and we split up into 4 speedboats, which were a bit old but roomier than we expected. We could have chosen to take a pick-up the whole way for $10 less each but taking twice as long. The boat rides we've taken have for the most part been a very nice way to travel so that's the choice we made.
Unfortunately, this was a particularly bad trip and I'm happy to day that by circumstance and choice this will be our last boat trip for a while. Our trip started off back along the northern part of the Tonle Sap Lake. We were following the boat ahead of us rather closely and for some reason our young driver decided to jump the other boat's wake, which almost tipped the boat, going about 30 knots or so, dousing Julie as she cut her hand (not badly) on the side of the boat as it was tipping. After about 30 minutes on the lake we headed SW down the very narrow, windy Sangker River for the rest of the journey, about 5 hours. Since it's the dry season here the river is very low and all the boats, including the ones coming from the other direction, were all hugging the middle of the river making for some interesting near-collisions. At one point we were almost decapitated by the "tail" of a longtail boat we got too close to. We passed by village after village, all seeming to make their living from fishing in the river and I felt horrible as our boat doused several bamboo fishing boats as we sped by. There was a Cambodian family on our boat with a 4-year-old boy who was throwing up and crying interchangeably throughout the last two hours. My sentiments exactly! Like the Tonle Sap, the villages consisted of bamboo huts in various state of repair, but full of friendly people who didn't hesitate to stop what they were doing to yell "Hello" as we passed by.
At the Battambang dock were the usual throng of touts and we allowed two of them to take us to the Royal Hotel. This was the best bargain of the trip lodging-wise: $5 for a huge clean room with a TV w/ CNN. Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia but has been relatively untouched by tourism so it comes off as an Anytown, Cambodia, which is usually a great way to experience a country. The people seem extremely friendly, but we did have a hard time finding good meals for lunch and dinner. Khmer food isn't much to write home about and after one attempt at a Khmer restaurant we had an early dinner at a passable Thai restaurant.
Day 103 - Battambang
Out moto drivers that took us to dinner last night were trying to sell us on a daylong trip in the countryside. In Thailand, right or wrong, we would have been skeptical of such an offer or at least expected to have to bargain the price in half. But $7 each seemed fair and the drivers seemed genuine and we decided it would be a great way to see more of this country in our limited time here. It ended up being one of the more positive and moving experiences of the entire trip so far.
Our first stop, about 25 km southwest of town, was a smaller version of the killing fields outside Phnom Penh. It was a pretty drive out there and our moto drivers were very friendly and informative about what we were driving by. We climbed a 300ft mountain (Cambodia is quite flat so 300ft qualifies as a mountain here) to a Buddhist monastery. Around the time of the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge took over the hill for purposes of genocide. They systematically killed all educated people or perceived opponents of Maoist Communism and dumped the bones in the caves on the top of the mountain. A few years ago, the monks got their monastery back but kept the caves as a reminder or museum of sort. Some of the hundreds of skulls and bones are preserved in glass cases but some are still on the floor of the caves. It's hard to believe all this took place in our lifetime. This country has gone through so much recent suffering and it is incredible that it hasn't broken their spirit. After lunch at a food stand we climbed another hill a few km away to see these structures that were built over 1000 years ago, even before Angkor Wat. The Cambodians used this hill up until a few years ago as a strategic post to fight off the KR from the west.
At about 4:00 we headed back to the city. My driver, Bo, recommended going back a different way through what he called a "friendly village". The village was along the banks of the Sangker River, but further South from where we travelled yesterday. All the village kids were giving us "high fives" as we passed by. It had been an indescribably wonderful day. There's something about this country that makes you just want to find a way to help, the poverty is extreme but everyone is working hard. Still, even these moto drivers, barely younger than us and taking around people like us travelling the world, will probably never ever see Thailand or Vietnam, let alone the rest of the world, and they are among the more educated. There's a lot of agriculture here but the weather is not too conducive to growing rice or vegetables, it's either dry season or monsoon season where it rains for several months straight. I will say that I've had the best beer I've had since New Zealand here so maybe there's an opportunity to help export their Angkor Pilsner or Stout (a very good stout). Just a thought, I do need a job when I get back.
Anyway, in talking to Bo throughout the day he told me that soccer and volleyball are the two most popular sports here. Sure enough, as we drove through the friendly village, we saw a couple volleyball games on dirt with makeshift nets. At one point I asked Bo if we could stop and play. He said possibly at the next part of the village, although I wasn't sure if he was humoring me. Sure enough, we stopped at the next game we saw. Between the road and the field where the game was taking place there was a 10 ft long or so tree limb with about a 3 inch diameter used as a foot bridge over a bog. Bo ran across, asked (I'm guessing here, my Khmer is rusty) the villagers if I could play and then waved me on. On the footbridge I tried to do my impression of Mary Lou Retton on the balance beam but I ended up falling butt first into a foot or so of thick mud. Hey, I'm sure this happened to Maverick or Iceman once or twice on the way to a volleyball game. Unlike in the U.S., where everyone would have laughed their asses off, the villagers all came over very concerned, either for my well being or loss of face. I smiled to let them know I was okay and this woman comes with a huge bucket of water to help me clean off. Very embarrassing, but I rallied and played a half hour or so of volleyball and it was a blast. No one seemed to speak much English but it was a great time, despite my falling in the mud. Just a great day.
Days 104-5 - Phnom Penh
To save time we decided to fly from Battambang back to Phnom Penh. We flew Royal Phnom Penh Airways, which despite its name is not the airline of the royal family here. I was very upset when they did not recognize my United Silver Elite status; I guess they are not in the Star Alliance yet. The plane was a Russian RN-24, kind of like a MD-80. The service was great, drinks and all, but the plane was, well, old, no oxygen masks and the floor had that contact paper you use for the bottom of cabinets.
Spent our last two days in Cambodia doing more sightseeing. We went to the main killing fields in Choeung Ek outside of Phnom Penh and the S-21 Museum, a former school that the Khmer Rouge used to imprison and torture their perceived enemies. On a lighter note we also spent some time at the Foreign Correspondents Club, a great, relaxing place to hang out on the Tonle Sap River, eat some good Western food and imagine what it was like being a journalist during the War. At the risk of being redundant, we really loved this country and definitely want to come back. We felt a little rushed, but I think we like to travel relatively fast so the 8-day timeframe suited us well. We are excited to leave SE Asia for India tomorrow and see yet another completely different part of the world.
Off to India
Day 107 - Agra, India
Crazy travel day(s). Our flight from Cambodia to India last night included an 8-hour layover in Bangkok's airport, where we spent our last Baht. At one point we had 7 Baht left - about 15 cents. We had just eaten at KFC, probably our last meat for 2 months. Being the resourceful travellers that we are, we asked the counterperson if we could have 7 Baht worth of Pepsi refilled in our cup. Confused, he asked his manager who agreed. I think we actually got about 15 Baht worth. We have no shame!
We arrived in Delhi and cleared customs at around midnight. We had decided that rather than try to find a hotel room in a new, huge city in a new country in the middle of the night; we would stay at the airport until early morning and go straight to the train station for a train for Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We read that trains from Delhi to Agra get quite crowded and usually require an advance reservation but we thought we'd take our chances anyway and if we couldn't get on a train we would just find a room in Delhi in the morning. We spent the 5 hours in the airport relatively un-harassed. India has a reputation among travellers for being a place where people are constantly starting conversations with you, some of whom are sincerely friendly and others who want you to buy something at a price you'll need to talk down to at least half. We figured SE Asia would be a good warm-up in the minors for this, but we definitely plan to be on our guard for a few days until we get the lay of the land, much like we did when we first got to Bangkok. We don't want to miss out on interacting with what we have heard are great people, but we don't want to be naive either.
We left the terminal a little before 5:00 AM to catch the 5:00 city bus to the train station. In the pitch black darkness a taxi driver approached us and politely tried to get us to take a taxi for 200 . . . no 150 . . . no 120 Rupees, the same price, he said, as the bus would be: 50 R per person, plus 10 R per piece of baggage. We refused and he pointed us in the direction of the buses . . . the wrong way. We found the bus just before it left, 50 Rupees (45R = $1), but no charge for the baggage. Silvermans 1, India taxi drivers 0.
30 minutes later we got to the main New Delhi train station. Chaos would be understating the scene, thousands of people, lots of noise, and it's still dark. We found one information booth but there was no semblance of a line, several Indians jostling their way to the front to yell out their question above the din of the others. With the heft of my pack, I boxed out in a way that would have made Charles Barkley proud, and asked when and where the next train to Agra was and where I could get a ticket. I couldn't make out the answer but a nice middle-aged man and his daughter overheard me and pointed me in the direction of the platform of a 6:00 train.
The platform was a little calmer of a scene and we found an empty information booth and asked the same question. The guy jumped out of his booth and starting running and asked us to follow. We did, and somehow ended up behind a ticket counter booth where a guy wrote a ticket for our train, now leaving in 5 minutes. We paid, thanked our new friend, and ran for our train with about 2 minutes to spare. We read that there are all sorts of types of trains and 2nd class on one is not the same as 2nd class on others, you may or may not get a reserved seat. I had asked for reserved seats but could not understand from the ticket guy exactly what we were getting, the level of English spoken here seems very good but the accents are hard to make out. As it turns out we got an express train with reserved seats and even got meal service (which we did not eat) like you would on a plane. The two-hour trip cost us about $8 each, expensive for here but considering everything we were quite happy.
Same hectic scene at Agra. Took a 50R taxi to the Taj Ganj area (we met a guy today who got the trip for 25R: Silvermans and Indian taxi drivers tied at 1 apiece.). We got a great tip from a couple we met in Phnom Penh who spent 4 months in India. The taxi drivers and auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) drivers make most of their money from commissions from guesthouses and the like, they drop you off at a guesthouse and even if it's one of your choosing they will take you in and demand commission from the GH owner, which then essentially gets added on to your room cost. The key is to get dropped off at a cafe or restaurant, and while one waits with the bags the other goes looking for a place. Without the weight of your packs you'll be less desperate to take a place you wouldn't otherwise and you'll conceivably get a better price without the tout/taxi driver. We found a highly recommended (by Lonely planet) cafe in the Taj Ganj area. It seems we again need to lower our standards as to what defines clean, or we will starve here. We got adventurous and ordered the toast with tea and then Julie did a great job finding us a pretty nice 250R room at the Hotel Sidhartha. The Taj Ganj area is a bit of a slum but is loaded with cheap hotels right next to the Taj Mahal. This hotel, among others, has a rooftop with a great view of the Taj.
We took a well-needed nap and then ventured out. The streets are nuts, everyone either trying to take you for a ride or get you to come into their store. The narrow streets are full of flies, cows, goats, pigs, bicycles, auto rickshaws, and food stands; you name it. Our first mission was to get Rupees. We have been relying on our ATM card for cash on the trip, although we also have a limited supply of US dollars as well, for actually changing money. Naively we thought, hey, Agra's a city of 1.5 million people, no problem finding an ATM. Not only were we told there were no ATMs but also when we had a driver take us around to some banks we were told that they only do cash advances (our ATM card is a MasterCard debit card) from 10 until 2 (it is now 4:00). Things are definitely going to be more difficult here. We have enough Rupees to last us until tomorrow, barely.
Lunch and dinner at our guesthouse was pretty good. Vegetable curries, vegetable biryanis and lots of naan (flat bread). An Australian we met told us there where the one ATM in town was, after the Taj for sunrise tomorrow it will be our first stop. Just an overwhelming day we were happy to have ended. I can see why people love it here, it has such a distinct culture, but I can see why it frustrates others. We'll reserve judgment until we get used to things.
Day 108 - Agra
We intended to catch sunrise at the Taj Mahal but ended up sleeping in a bit. We walked over to the Taj around 7:00. The big controversy around the Taj is that we heard 3 months ago they raised the admission price for foreigners from $10 to $20. All over the Internet chat rooms there is a movement among some travellers to boycott the Taj, not only because of the price increase but also because Indians only pay 25 Rupees, less than $1. We decided not to boycott but when we got to the ticket counter the guy wanted $40 PLUS 80 Rupees. I just about had a fit, we only had 70 Rupees left and since I'm not a monument guy anyway I was about to abort the mission. I ended up bargaining the guy down to 50 extra Rupees. As we tried to walk in the security guy looked in Julie's bag and said she couldn't bring in her Swiss Army knife, which can barely cut cheese, or our playing cards! The guy said to leave it at the ticket counter and the same ticket guy had the gall to ask for 2 Rupees as a storage fee. We opted to bring the dangerous items back to our room just a couple minutes walk away.
Despite all this I really did like the Taj Mahal and it was worth the $20 in the larger scheme of things. And even the 40 extra Rupees per which I found out later is because the real admission price is 960 Rupees but because the dollar is becoming weaker against the Rupee (how bad IS our economy?) they ask for the extra 40. Makes sense and I felt bad for assuming this was another ploy for Indians to rip off Americans. After all, Angkor, which albeit was much bigger, was $20 and Cambodians get in for free and I didn't have a problem with that.
So trying to give this country a fair shake we walked 2km to the Agra Fort, which, as stated on our ticket, was included in our Taj admission ticket. The ticket even had a picture of the fort on it. The walk was somewhat nice along the edge of a park, kind of smelly of refuse and other waste but not too bad. A bicycle rickshaw guy rode along side of us and started to make conversation. He told us that the Fort would be an extra $10 but we figured that to be a ploy for us to come with him. Sure enough, when we got to that ticket counter we were advised of the Hindi fine print on our ticket, which apparently indicated that the Fort was an extra $10. We said forget it and left.
Now off to our most important errand of the day, finding an ATM. The Australian yesterday specifically said he saw a 24-hour ATM at the main branch of the State Bank of India. We found an autorickshaw and gave him those specific instructions but instead he took us to a different bank, without an ATM. We said, no, STATE BANK OF INDIA, MAIN BRANCH. He did take us there and sure enough there was a sign for a 24 hour ATM but apparently the sign was Phase I of the construction of this bank for it had no ATM and the inside still had the look of an abandoned warehouse. So we went back to the first bank and did end up getting a cash advance on our debit card. We then got taken back to our hotel but not before giving our driver 120 Rupees. When we hired him, told him where we wanted to go, and asked for the fare he said, "Whatever you think is fair". Based on what other rides had cost I thought 60R was fair and the 100R I was going to give him was beyond fair but he seemed upset and Silverman gets taken again for another ride. I'm getting sick of feeling stupid. Granted $3 for 3 stops, about 8 km, and 30 minutes of wait time is a great deal but I know I could have got it for less and I'm sick of getting ripped off.
Exhausted we opted for the solace of our hotel, which had a nice courtyard and a pretty good restaurant, for the rest of the day, not wanting to go out and be hassled. "Postcard?" "You need ride?" "Where you going?" "Go shopping?" literally every 15 seconds. We did venture out in Taj Ganj for an hour and saw a wedding procession in the streets, with a band playing, people yelling, and one guy throwing money up in the air in a crowd of children. It was quite charming. As we sat on our rooftop watching the Taj as the sun was setting I thought, I really want to like this country but so far, no bid.
Day 109 - Orchha
It's funny how things work out. Matthew and Lorraine recommended the guesthouse we stayed at in Phnom Penh. On our last night there I was sitting in the deck when I heard behind me, "Fifteen two, fifteen four", the unmistakable sounds of a Cribbage game. I turned around and asked if I could join and Julie and I ended up talking to them for hours. They had just travelled for four months in India and loved it. We discussed our itinerary and they gave us good advice about Rajasthan. The man, John, then said that although it's a bit out of our way, one of their highlights was a "gem of a town" (they were British) called Orchha. Since Orchha was about 5 hrs by train SE of Agra, on their recommendation we decided to go there next.
As we waited for our train at the Agra station, about 90 minutes late, I made a mental Francis Sawyer hit list of everyone who had recommended India to us. Again, I blame us here. People seem to either hate India, the dirt, bureaucracy, people ripping you off, or love it, saying it's magical and gets under your skin and they spent 6 months here and wish it could have been more. But even most of those who love it say it took them a month or so to get used to it. So logic would dictate that spending a month here, and only a month, would be a bad idea.
But if India has more towns like Orchha I can definitely see the allure and I am grateful once again for the information we got from the "travellers network". Orchha is captivating, a small town surrounded by beautiful rolling hills for miles and miles. We completely lucked out with accommodations, getting into our first choice of hotels, the Sheesh Mahal, a (somewhat) refurbished palace built in the 1600's. The palace/hotel is set on a hill with great views of old temples and beautiful countryside. There are only 10 rooms here; ours actually has a small foyer, a room with a vanity and a bathroom with a separate room for the toilet. All in all, about the same size as our Manhattan apartment for less than $15 a day. The whole scene is incredibly peaceful and we definitely plan on spending a few days here.
Day 111 - Orchha
Spent yesterday and today walking around the former palatial grounds that the hotel is on. Emperor Jehangir actually ruled India from here for 22 years in the early 1600's before being conquered by Shah Jehan, the guy that commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal. A wall surrounds the palace and the whole thing is on an island in the very pretty Betwa River. Today, we walked through the small town, easily manageable by foot. India just upset Australia in a pivotal 5-day cricket match that every TV and radio had been tuned to. We came across some kids playing cricket in the street and I jumped in, without falling in mud, and showed off my bowling skills (that's like pitching in baseball to you Yanks!). Another group of kids were pulling buckets of water out of a deep well and asked for my help, presumably so they could rest, and seemed to get a kick out of watching me do 15 minutes of hard labor, the only 15 minutes of work I've done in 4 months. Weird.
It was one of those special days, but it still is a bit strange here. Most people just stare at you rather rudely, especially at Julie, who either gets ogled or completely ignored; it definitely seems to be quite a sexist culture. It also makes us want to fit in less. Usually we have a "When in Rome . . ." attitude when visiting a country. Here, a man or a woman wearing shorts will draw stares and giggles but since I only have one pair of long pants other than rain pants I guess I'll have to deal with it on laundry days. I haven't really liked the other travellers we’ve met here so far, they're of that "Duude, India" mold and look like they're dressed up for some costume party, overdoing it with saris, scarves, piercing, braids, etc. One such traveller from Boston that we met insists he gets treated better dressed that way but it seems fake to me. I say, respect the culture but as Sting says, "Be yourself, no matter what they say".
It probably seems like we hate India more than we actually do; there have been some pleasant surprises. First, the food has been excellent. Granted we have eaten all our meals here at the hotel but even in cheaper places in Agra we really liked it and that had been one of our worries prior to coming here. They use a great variety of spices, good mixes of sweet and spicy and although I've been cheating and having a little chicken here and there going vegetarian hasn't been bad. Second, it's the least expensive country we've been to yet, even after splurging on this hotel we will finish the week way under budget. We've been eating really big meals and have been averaging about $8 for meals for the day for both of us combined. The only exception is beer, about $2.50 for a 22oz bottle of Kingfisher, a great lager.
It's also much more physically beautiful than I expected. You'd think with over a billion people in an area smaller than the U.S. it would be very dense and it is in the cities, but this countryside looks a lot like how I picture Africa or Provence, colored trees on rolling hills, quite a contrast from the relative flatness of SE Asia. The American in me is thinking that this area would be ripe for a golf course or some mountain bike tracks. I asked the guy at the hotel if it was possible to walk around in the countryside beyond town and he said no and that it was dangerous. When I asked why it was dangerous he said, "Just dangerous". We're in the heartland of India in a province called Madhya Pradesh that is known for wildlife, tigers and such, so maybe that is what he meant.
This may be obvious to those reading but I think we're getting a bit tired. Things that seemed charming in Cambodia seem annoying if not threatening here in India. We tend to sleep about 9-10 hours a day. I still enjoy travelling and seeing new places and don't miss home but the little things are starting to piss me off and I don't want to lose the sense of relaxation I've had over the past 4 months, hoping I could even take it home with me. India's a difficult place to travel; it's not geared for tourists or travellers at all. Buying train tickets or going to an ATM is a chore, it's part of the reason we are headed to Delhi tomorrow, that and it makes most logistic sense in getting to Rajasthan. Granted I thought Thailand was too tourist friendly, so I hope I can start to appreciate a culture that doesn't kowtow to tourist dollars, despite the inconveniences.
Day 112 - Delhi
Started the day, what else, haggling with transportation. We needed a taxi from Orchha to the train station in Jhansi, 20 km away. Coming here we paid one taxi 25R to go from the Jhansi train station to the bus station and 10R for a tempo from there to Orchha. A tempo is basically a big taxi/autorickshaw/tuk-tuk, with seats for 6 but ours coming to Orchha was packed with 14 people. For today, we found a tempo driver in Orchha who said he'd charge us 10R to go to the bus station but if we wanted he would take us, and only us, straight to the train station for 100R, thus bypassing the second taxi and an overcrowded tempo. I offered 80R and the tout agreed. The driver seemed to understand both the arrangement and English a lot better than he did as he attempted first to pick up other passengers, when he tried to drop us off at the bus station and yet again when he tried to get 100R from me. I yelled, he yelled, and I won the battle but feel like I am losing the war.
The train station was a mess. Our train was to leave in an hour, conceivably enough time to buy the ticket we did not yet have. There were a number of ticket counters open with a huge sign saying that tickets could be bought at any window. Of course, the first window we tried he pointed to another, much longer line, where we could buy the ticket. We had read in
Lonely Planet that as a sometimes-unwritten rule, women can go to the front of any line. So Julie tried this tack and it actually worked, but the ticket guy said the train was full except for the unreserved cars. We had seen these cars before and they did not look fun for a 7-minute ride, let alone for the 7-hour ride we had in front of us. So when the train came we found a conductor and asked if he could find us 2 seats. He did and charged us the difference in the tickets using some very fuzzy math that resulted in a 150R baksheesh, or tip, for him automatically. I would have tipped him anyway but the fact that he just took it bothered me on principle but that's the way it is here. And he still owes me my 32R change! The ride was actually nice; we sat next to a young Captain in the Indian Air Force. We talked for a few hours as he taught me the nuances of cricket (I'm almost getting it) and I returned the favor with my knowledge of baseball.
Aside from the slums we saw south of the city along the tracks, we found Delhi to be a very nice city, seemed cleaner than Bangkok with less pollution, lots of parks and trees, no more beggars than you'd see in any major North American city. Our highlight of the day came when we went into McDonalds and found they had the "old" kind of hot apple pies, the deep fried kind instead of the baked kind they have now in the States. Yes, I said highlight of our day.
Day 113 (Mar 18, 2001) - Delhi
I think we made either the best or worst decision of the trip today.
I won't bore you with details of the hell we've been in today, the Royal Nepal office that said it was open at 9:30 but people strolling in at 10:30, hassling us about taking American Express, wanting to charge us more than twice as much as an Indian. Going to the train station to buy a ticket for tomorrow, Julie waiting an hour on the "Women" line because the "Men" line was twice as long, being told the daily train we want for tomorrow doesn't run on Mondays. Being besieged by taxi drivers wanting to overcharge us, trinket sellers, beggars, and not knowing whom to trust. Just wanting to scream, my country gives billions in aid to yours, coming out of my tax dollars, just leave me alone and stop trying to take advantage of me!
Pathetically, we regrouped in the Western asylum of Pizza Hut to make a plan. We had come across a helpful travel agent earlier and went back to him to book our air tickets for Nepal. He gave us the runaround on American Express, we thought because he didn't want to pay the fee, and then at one point a guy behind us grabbed our passports to make a copy. Not knowing why, we freaked and starting yelling, not knowing whether to trust this person we had sized up earlier as being okay or just run out. He calmed us down, showed us a book of hundreds of passport copies he had made (we still don't know why he needed copies) and references from other Westerners that used his travel agency. We apologized and then he made an interesting suggestion. Travel around Rajasthan is not easy, trains don't run everywhere, buses get overcrowded, and both require reservations a few days in advance and even if you know when and where you want to go that far in advance (we don't) we're going to waste time everyday getting a driver to take us to the station, after talking him down, and standing on line to buy a ticket, missing valuable time in the city we are in. All of this we knew already and expected just be one of the hassles we would put up with.
To make a long story short we decided to hire a car and driver from this agency for the next 12 days to take us around Rajasthan. Our driver took us around on a "test drive" around Delhi this afternoon and speaks pretty good English, had more Westerner references, and drives pretty safely, for here. The car is like one of those old Packards, big and in good shape, albeit no AC. Yes, it's expensive, and yes we feel a bit pathetic and feel like we failed and India beat us into submission and how can other travellers deal with all this bullshit and actually love this country. But it is within our budget provided we go cheap on meals and lodging and we get to see more of the country than we would by bus/train and our driver can seemingly act as a guide, he seems to know the area well.
Day 114 - Mandawar
We arranged with the travel agency for the car to pick us up at our hotel at 7AM. We were told that the driver might not be the same as yesterdays but the car would be similar - the Indian-made Ambassador we rode around in yesterday, not unlike the old school NYC cabs. At 7:00 a different driver shows up and takes us down to the car, basically a Geo Metro sized hatchback that would have had all 3 of us in the fetal position for 12 days. Now I've definitely reached my limit, thinking through how to change our tickets for Nepal and get the hell out of this country. I tell the driver this wasn't the type of car promised and he said that Ambassadors are not allowed in Rajasthan. Furious, I call up the travel agent to cancel the whole thing. He profusely apologized, saying he thought we'd appreciate a newer model car but he'd have an Ambassador with a new driver at our hotel in 30 minutes. Apparently, Ambassadors are allowed in Rajasthan. I swear people lie here for sport, I don't know if they even call it lying for how commonplace it seems. For some reason I trust this guy and decide not to cancel and a new Ambassador and driver show up in the promised 30 minutes and we took off West for Rajasthan.
The roads are interesting in India; they're in very good shape but scary and seemingly dangerous just the same. Yet there's a flow that seems to make sense, not unlike Manhattan, which come to think of it is full of Indian cabbies. There is no waiting behind slower vehicles; you just pass wherever you can, even into an oncoming lane of traffic. It's an interesting system, you approach the vehicle you wish to pass, usually a larger and slower one, get on its tail and honk. The honk tells the other vehicle, hey, I will be passing you. The vehicle in front then either moves over to make room, or moves more into the center of traffic not to be rude but to say, "I would not advise passing for there is a car, that I can see that you cannot, and it would hit you head-on". Repeat once a minute and you get the idea.
Our driver, Fulsing, seems competent and I think we are in good hands, although I wish his English were a bit better. He had the incense burning from the start and started playing a tape of Indian music, which sounds good but I wonder how I'll feel on Day 12. But then about an hour into the trip he changed tapes and we hear, "One man come in the name of love . . ." as he played some U2 mix he had. A little bit for everyone's taste I guess. Since we missed breakfast we asked to stop for lunch and he stopped at some very overpriced roadside restaurant. When Julie ordered her dish the waiter said that that particular dish was no good and recommended a dish twice as expensive. It just never stops. As a mild revolt we then changed our order to the two cheapest items on the menu. The travel agent said our driver would not be taking commissions but I wonder . . .
After riding through some nondescript towns the ride got nicer and nicer as the day went on and the car is indeed a comfortable way to travel, although Julie has difficulty reading in cars so I hope this will be good for her. We still feel a bit soft; our car actually has an emblem on the side that says Tourist. The last hour was in the desert and we ended in the small town of Mandawa. We found a hotel in our book that was great, the Hotel Heritage Mandawa, and we actually got it for less than the book said. It is the shoulder season in Rajasthan and there are fewer travellers than I expected, so maybe prices drop for this time of year. We walked around town for a bit, back to being hassled, "Taxi!” "Come in my store, just look, one minute!” We sought refuge in this textile store where a nice older man bought us some Pepsis and talked with us a while. We asked him about the whole commission thing and he said that everyone takes commissions, including our driver, but we will learn over time whether it's coming out of our pockets or the merchants and to just relax because that's the way it is. Sounds like good advice. Mandawa is known for its havelis, murals of Hindu significance painted in the 19th century on older buildings. We toured a little bit and had a great dinner at the hotel; we have not had a bad meal here yet! I'm starting to feel good about it all, although I cannot 100% distinguish true pleasure from the absence of pain right now.
Day 115 - Bikaner
A rather uneventful day, thank goodness. The long car rides give a lot time for thought. I want to give India a fair shake but I think it's just not the right country for my tastes. There's really not that much to actually do. I can take a fort here and a temple there, but I'm just not that big of a history buff. As Julie and I have talked about, the things that we thought we'd be bothered by here have turned out okay, the food is great, we haven't gotten sick, and accommodations are no less clean than SE Asia. It's really just the people you deal with for any financial transaction, which are 90% of the people you meet on a daily basis. It makes you want to shut yourself off from everyone, but then you truly miss out on the great things about travelling. And we have met great people, the Air Force guy on the Delhi train, the textile guy yesterday, but the negative experiences overshadow it all. The bureaucracy is incredible, as an example there are no phone booths here, you actually need to go in a government-approved store to make a phone call where the merchant undoubtedly gets his cut at your expense. And don't get me started on Indian Railways.
More interesting desert scenery on the way to Bikaner including our first camel sightings! As a side trip from Bikaner we went to Deshnok, home of the famous "rat temple" (we saw this on Lonely Planet on the Travel Channel.) Hindi that frequents this temple believe that the thousands of rats that inhabit the temple carry spirits and it is good luck if a rat crawls over your feet (no shoes allowed). Luckily, we were unlucky. Bikaner itself is a rather basic city of a million people with not much charm, although Fulsing found us a great 200R hotel. Lonely Planet said rooms should cost 450R at this hotel, so commission or no commission Fulsing seems to be helping us out. Tomorrow we go further West into the desert to the town of Jaisalmer. (I'll let Julie do the journal for the next few days for a different point of view.)
Day 116-118 Jaisalmer/Jodhpur (21 March - 23 March) – Written by Julie
On the 6-hour trip from Bikaner to Jaisalmer we passed through more barren desert where somehow people manage to live off the land. We saw gazelle and peacocks and of course camels, dogs, donkeys, sheep and goats. As you approach Jaisalmer you see this huge golden fort rising from the sand. Jaisalmer is at the edge of the Thar Desert, about 100km from Pakistan. The military presence here is strong. The town was once an important trading center and the wealthy merchants built beautiful mansions. Now, with the existence of Pakistan and shipping, tourism is the main industry.
Jaisalmer is really interesting. Part of the city is inside the walled fort. People live inside on the narrow alleyways (cows too). We found a room inside with a little window looking out the fort wall at the rest of the city. It is nice to wander the alleyways. There are some temples and a palace as well as shops and restaurants. It has a nice feel and the people don't hassle you so much. Although Mark may have a different impression as he was hit by an autorickshaw in these alleyways. The guy was passing us in a narrow road and banged Mark's arm with his vehicle (Mark is fine).
At sunset on our first night we drove outside the city to see some cenotaphs (one of the many benefits of having a driver is doing trips like this). The cenotaphs were for princes and their wive(s). The tombstones show a prince on a horse and next to him, 1,2, 3 . . . the number of wives he had. It was a nice place to watch the sunset. Of course there were kids asking for the usual pens, chocolate, gum, rupees and a new one - "coins from your country for my coin collection". Then they try to sell the collection to other people. They were kind of sweet kids though.
The next day we wandered the fort and in the late afternoon took a trip out to the Sam Sand Dunes to do a camel ride in the desert. This was a major production most of which we did not understand. Our driver told us he could get us the camels for 100Rs each so he was negotiating on our behalf. Apparently he agreed to a deal and we were deposited in a tent where we had to buy expensive water and watch someone play a double flute (this was great and well worth the expected tip). Then our driver walked away and one of the men tells us we have to pay 350Rs to go out. We got the driver back and major discussions began. We were standing in the middle of a group of 15-20 Indian men (I was the only woman for miles) yelling at each other. It was a little bit scary for me. Finally after much discussion, we left and drove about a km back down the road where camel drivers were waiting for customers on the side of the road. Here we got 2 camels with camel drivers for us, and a camel for our driver who joined us. I thought he was joining us for fun or maybe even to protect us. In fact, he wanted us to meet someone who had a camp in the desert where for 1500 rupees we could spend the night. There is always another angle in India (who knows how this had impacted the previous deal). Anyway, we had our hotel and nothing with us so we refused.
In the end, the camel ride was sensational and will definitely go down as a highlight of the trip. We rode about 45 minutes out into the desert to the Mataya sand dunes that were right out of a movie. The dunes were rippled and we could see our footprints in the sand. We were the only people in the area. Here we watched the sunset and rode back. When we drove back to Jaisalmer, the fort was lit up and looked beautiful.
On our way from Jaisalmer to Mt. Abu we had to stop in Jodhpur for the night (yes the pants were named here), which turned out to be a nice city. We spent the evening sitting at a rooftop cafe taking in the views of the fort, 2 palaces and the clock tower. Many of the houses are painted blue giving the city a nice clean look from the rooftop. Here we met several travelers including a Dutch couple who were basically doing our trip in reverse. We stayed with a family and actually got to speak with a woman (the second since we've been in India!)
India is a fascinating country with very beautiful and historical sites to see. We have found some of the nicest accommodations and have eaten some great food. However, it is very frustrating and exhausting place to travel. Everyone is looking for their angle and they are not very polite when you don't do what they want. It is tough to see kids always asking for something (I am speaking of middle class kids, not the beggars who really need money). In other countries, most kids were just happy to wave and say hello. The other thing is that the women are not treated well (unless they are rich). I have not seen one woman driving a car (I have seen a couple on scooters). I haven't seen any girls playing sports. Many more boys go to school than girls (except rich). Except for the family we stayed with, I have not seen a woman running a business or working in a business. It is really strange - I have only spoken to 3 women in 3 weeks, because the women are not out. When you walk the streets its like 85% men.
Days 119-121 Mt. Abu (24-26 March) – Written by Julie
Prior to Mt. Abu, we had been driving on flat, straight roads that are frightening enough but the road up to Mt. Abu was a curving mountain road and it was terrifying (I am very happy we are flying to Nepal). On the way up the hill we passed one of the more humorous signs in India (and there are many) - "Trees are the dumb citizens of the world. Help save them."
Mt. Abu spans a 1200-meter high plateau and is a popular resort with Indians, especially honeymooners. It is a place to escape the summer heat and since we arrived a couple weeks before the season we were able to get very inexpensive accommodations. The edge of town is located on a small lake and the center of town is a polo field where kids play basketball, soccer and of course cricket. Mark had a game of basketball with some kids. While he was playing a dozen pre-pubescent boys who wanted to talk about WWF and The Terminator mobbed me.
There is not much to see here but it is nice to walk around town, even at night and the cool temperature feels great. There are many Indians on vacation, which is nice to see. We decided to stay 3 nights because the town has a nice feel and is easy on the budget. Typical of other Indian towns, as we walk around the town or even into a restaurant or hotel, the men working there only address Mark "Good Morning Sir", "Hello Sir". They almost never acknowledge my presence. As a woman, I feel kind of invisible.
The main attractions here are the Dilwari Temples, built between 1000-1400. The inside of the temples are carved out of marble. The carvings are amazingly intricate and delicate - you can almost see through the marble in places. A sign on the way in warns, "Women on their monthly cycle may not enter. Bad things may happen".
We got some exercise climbing to another temple built into the rocks. Then we decided to visit the Wildlife Reserve where they promised panthers, sloth bears, etc., etc. We saw a chipmunk and a butterfly. This is the anti-wildlife reserve although there were nice views of the surrounding hills. Of course, if you want animals you can just go into town where they have cows, goats, pigs, dogs, sheep, monkeys and horses roaming the streets.
Days 122-4 Udaipur
This is our favorite town in India so far. It's got a bit of everything, a town with a lot of character, a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, and two spectacular palaces facing each other, one on a hill and one on an island in the middle of the lake. Apparently, much of the James Bond film Octopussy was filmed here and a lot of the cafes and guesthouses show the film daily. John and Tracey, the British couple who recommended Orchha to us, again made a great call by recommending the Hotel Mahendra Prakash, 350R a night for one of the nicest rooms we've had on the trip. And it had a pool, our first since New Zealand, although the weather in India has been much better than I expected, a little cooler and much less humid than SE Asia, who would have thought we would come to India to cool off? We met some really nice travellers here, many of whom were staying in Udaipur for several days to chill out. One night we went to the Lotus Cafe, very reminiscent of coffee shops at home, comfortable couches, lots of games, a great place to spend a couple hours over a meal and a lassi. The next night we splurged and ate at the Lake Palace Hotel (the one on the island in the middle of the lake).
We got our first taste of Life After Fulsing as we went to the train station to make some advance ticket reservations. Hiring the car was a great choice. When talking to other travellers at first we mumbled under our breath out of embarrassment that we had a car but nearly all the other travellers we have shared this with were envious. Trains take a lot of planning and the buses seem like a nightmare based on the ones we've seen navigating the same roads we have but a lot of them crowded beyond belief, even people hanging out on the roofs. The car is dropping us off at our next destination, Pushkar, and then we are taking trains to Jaipur, Varanasi, and then flying to Nepal on April 5.
In case you were having "India negative story withdrawal", we did have one very unfortunate incident in Udaipur. The hotel advertised that they had their own photo studio. We wanted to get some of our Cambodia and India pictures developed so one morning we gave the manager of the hotel one roll of film to develop as a test. We were promised the pictures that day but did not get them until 10 the next morning, and they were definitely sent out, not done in-house. The color was good but the pictures were on some very flimsy paper that said Kodak, but seemed counterfeit, and we told the guy that we were disappointed in the paper. He then promised a thicker paper for any future rolls we wanted to develop, so we gave him 3 of our remaining 6 rolls. That afternoon we went to him to ask if our pictures had come back. He went into a drawer and pulled out several developed rolls. We found ours, 2 of which came back on the same crappy paper and one that came out completely ruined. No apology, no proactively a la "Excuse me, I'm afraid we have a problem" when he received the pictures back from the studio. He actually said, "What kind of film did you buy, did you buy it in India?", basically admitting what we had already heard, that most film you buy in India is expired and of dubious quality, rather than take blame. We start screaming at him, for ruining our memories, for lying about the paper, to which he said, "No, all paper Kodak paper, all paper same in India". I reminded him about what he said about the thicker paper, called him a liar, asked him if he had any concept of what lying was, but to no avail. Conveniently, he wasn't there when we checked out the next morning. He didn't charge us for the fucked up roll but he did unsuccessfully try to pad the room bill.
Believe me, I am tired of writing down all these horrible interactions with the people here and I'm guessing from a few e-mails I've gotten lately that a lot of others are too. But we have experiences like this EVERY day. We've seen a lot of empty hotel rooms seen we've been here, and although it is shoulder season here I can't help think that a lot of travellers are starting to speak with their wallets and are skipping India. There's an undercurrent of racism here that is built right into the culture; The Hindus believe in a caste system where non-Indians are considered lower than the lowest caste. Foreigners pay 40 TIMES what Indians pay to enter the Taj and Americans pay more than other nationalities for their Indian Visas. Can you imagine if we tried this in the States? And before any "uncompassionate" labels start flying my way, I would say to save your compassion for countries like Cambodia and Laos, which are much poorer and whose poverty we (Americans) actually contributed to (Vietnam War). And ironically we got treated with much more respect there. The problem with writing your experiences in journal format is that you do not have the editorial luxury of hindsight or ability to alter what you are feeling at the time, but I will put a stake down now and say that I will never come back to this country and would encourage anyone thinking about travelling here to think twice. The world is a big, wonderful place and although India has some great sights and is the least expensive place we've been in, there are so many other places that would welcome your presence more.
Day 126 - Pushkar
We had heard mixed things about Pushkar prior to coming here. It's known as a backpacker's hangout, which can be good, but that a lot of the backpackers are hippie wannabes, wearing tanktops, midriffs, and despite their peace and love ridden intentions are very disrespectful to the native culture. We did find a lot of the other travellers annoying in a "Hey, the 60's called, they want their look back", but we overall enjoyed Pushkar, a mellow small town in a great setting. We hooked up with a couple we met in Udaipur and hung out with them for a few days. They too are heading to Nepal soon so we decided to get ourselves in shape by climbing up to a temple at the top of a nearby mountain. Suffice it to say we all have our work cut out for us in Nepal, but we made it. We had great views of the small town, surrounded by mountains on one side and desert on the other. Yes, we are having a better time here as the days go on, but we are still looking forward to Nepal in just 5 days.
Days 127-30 Jaipur/Varanasi – Written by Julie
We spent a day in Jaipur visiting the most popular tourist attractions - Pizza Hut AND Dominos. We were unimpressed with Jaipur; it is supposed to be the "pink city" but we only saw a few orange buildings. Good pizza.
We took a 20-hour train from Jaipur to Varanasi on the holy river Ganges. We shared our compartment with a nice Indian family for the first 7 hours and with another Indian couple for the last 13 hours. People on the trains are very friendly; they usually offer you the food they have brought.
After arriving in Varanasi and dealing with the usual hassle, we checked into our hotel where we hid for the rest of the day, having had enough interaction for the day. This is typical behavior for travelers in India.
We got up before sunrise to take a boat trip on the river Ganges. Varanasi is the city of Shiva and the river is one of the holiest places in India. The city has existed for over 2000 years making it one of the oldest living cities. People come here to die and be cremated on the ghats (stairs to the river). If you die in Varanasi you will be released from the cycle of rebirth and go straight to heaven. There are places along the river for people who come here to die to stay.
The riverside is bustling at dawn. People are bathing, doing their wash, praying, and swimming in the river. The cremations usually start a little later. The bodies of holy men, small children, smallpox and snakebite victims are not cremated but are dumped in the river. In the early light, the river took on a magical feel. It was the first time in India I have felt the spirituality people talk about.
The old city is a winding maze of filthy, narrow streets. It was quite claustrophobic. We looked at the golden temple (Hindu), which is right next to a mosque. The mosque was built over the sight of a former Hindu temple, which was destroyed by the Muslims. Now wire and guards surround the mosque because Hindus threaten to destroy it, especially during festival times.
All over India you can see the swastika symbol which stands for "spiritual power". It is kind of disturbing for Westerners but looking at the symbol gives you spiritual power and the symbol is often on cars and houses as well as temples. We went to a temple on the University campus and our guide was comparing "Om" (which according to our guide means "everything") to swastika. A passing student didn't like his comparison so he started a big religious discussion with our guide. For about 5 minutes they yelled at each other as we and the other 3 people from our hotel eased away. It was strange to see this discussion erupt in the middle of a temple. As we left the complex, there was an eating establishment called "Om Burger". Of course Mark has to ask the guide if this means everything burger. I don't think he was too happy after this.
We learned a bit about Hinduism in Varanasi (I am sure I have it all wrong here). It was an interesting last stop before we head to Nepal!!!!
Off to Nepal
Day 138 (April 12) - Kathmandu, Nepal
We arrived in Nepal exactly a week ago . . . but first one last India story! We flew out of Varanasi's airport, which made the one in Battambang, Cambodia look like O'Hare. To get rid of my last Indian Rupees I purchased a 20R Pepsi at a stand outside the airport. I gave the guy a 50R note that was slightly ripped and he refused it at first. I told him I wasn't a bank and that I received it that way. So he accepts it and gives me 25R in change. I said that I thought the soda (pop to you CST folks) cost 20 and he said "20R for the Pepsi, 5R for the ripped bill". I asked if that was the law here, and he reluctantly gave me my extra 5R, for what I thought would be my last Indian transaction.
Two years ago there was a hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane on this exact route so the so-called security was, well, not exactly tight but I think they meant it to be. Julie counted 13 people that we had to interact with to check-in, go through security, immigration, etc. At one of the last checkpoint they searched our carry-ons. Like an idiot I had my Swiss Army knife on me so that was a big no-no, but other travellers, including Julie, had their batteries taken. Somehow in their exhaustive search they missed mine, as well as those in my pen light and headlamp. We then signed some tattered log book with what they were taking, presumably so that we and they knew what we would get back in Kathmandu. One traveller behind us had 2 batteries taken and asked for a receipt. This apparently was not standard operating procedure and when she became adamant the Indian security guard starting yelling at her. Most of the backpackers were watching this and cheering her on, like us most travellers we met that day were all too happy to be leaving India. There was also this Abercrombie and Kent tour leaving on our flight, and they seemed to think the girl was being ridiculous, which she probably was, but it was obvious by their reaction that they had a very sheltered time in India
Anyway, enough about India. Nepal so far has been fantastic. We spent our first 72 hours here decompressing, strategically using Julie's Hyatt points for 3 free nights at the Hyatt Kathmandu. Our routine included lying by the pool, going to the gym, watching TV, eating, sleeping - and repeating as often as necessary. Our last 4 nights we have spent in an area of Kathmandu called Thamel and we are feeling right at home. It's a charming, jam-packed area of stores, restaurants and guesthouses all in a maze of narrow crowded streets and alleyways. There are lots of backpackers here either beginning or ending their treks (it is basically the middle of the Spring trekking season here).
From the small world department, we had been trading e-mails with a couple people we had met over the past five months whom we thought we'd be able to catch up with in Kathmandu. A few days ago we got e-mail from Mary, an Irish gal we got our diving certification with in Ko Tao. We were to meet her at her guesthouse in Kathmandu and when we got to her room, her roommate answered the door and said to me, "Didn't we meet in Laos". Sure enough, we had stayed at the same guesthouse in Vang Vieng as Beth, who coincidentally just trekked the Annapurna Circuit with Mary, the same trek we are doing in just a couple of days. We've spent the last few nights catching up with both of them and picking their brains about the trek; they both said it might have been the best three weeks of their lives.
Day 139 - Besi Sahar (590m/2000ft vertical)
7 hrs of bus rides today to get to the unofficial beginning of the Annapurna Circuit, Besi Sahar. The town itself is charm less, looks like a truck stop. It's also dreary and raining and I'm having some trouble with my stomach so I'm maybe not as excited for what's to come, as I should be. 80R ($1) for our room, and barely worth it.
A little about our upcoming trek. The Annapurna Circuit goes counterclockwise in a circle around Annapurna and several other 7000+m (23000ft) peaks in West-Central Nepal. The circuit is defined today by where the roads stop. The beginning and the end of the trek used to be the lakeside town of Pokhara but with recent development of the roads most people take buses to/from Pokhara and/or Kathmandu to where the roads stop on either end of the circuit, which takes 16-21 days to complete. Picture Besi Sahar at 5:00 on a imaginary clock. We will walk for several days, uphill, to the Thorung La mountain pass, at 12:00 and at nearly 18000ft vertical, before making our way down to one of a few towns at about 7:30 or so before busing it to Pokhara, at roughly 6:00.
Our packs weigh about 15kg/33lbs each. Most people say that's a bit heavy for this trek, but give or take a T-shirt or two I can't see how we could have gotten the weight down. The sleeping bags we rented, rated to negative 15C/+5F, are quite heavy but we have been assured that we will need them for the higher elevations. We have a water filter rather than iodine tablets but better to be safe than sorry; we're supposed to drink 3-4 liters of water a day and we want to make sure it's treated well. One of the options for this trek is to hire a porter to carry your bags. We decided against this, mostly because we have met so many people who've "done the pass" without them. Still, hiring a porter is a great way to give back to the local economy and apparently if we change our mind along the way, or just want a porter for the day, we will meet plenty of people looking for work.
Day 140 - Besi Sahar to Ngadi (910m/3000ft)
Started off around 8:30, a little later than the early risers staying at our hotel. Even though it's cloudy and drizzly, within 15 minutes of walking you get a sense of being in or near the Himalayas. The first 2 1/2 hours of walking are along a dirt road that will eventually shorten the circuit even more; jeeps are stopping to ask us if we need a ride and we see other backpackers taking advantage. Pack feels heavy but not too bad. The trail goes through rice and cornfields before paralleling the Marsyangdi River, the river we will be following almost to the top (the pass). Lunch in the village of Bhulbhule, stopped for the day an hour later in Ngadi at the Season's Lodge. The books break out the trek into Day 1, Day 2, etc. but the great thing about this trek is that there are villages every 30-60 minutes so when you get tired there will usually be a place to crash nearby. Everyone has been encouraging us to take our time, take in the local scenery and culture, and we will definitely be following that advice. Season's Lodge is a small family-run motel type looking place except the walls are more canvas than wood or stone so we already will be putting those warmer sleeping bags to good use. 60R for the room but the bathroom involves a trip outdoors to an outhouse-type structure.
Day 141 - Ngadi to Ghermu (1300m/4300ft)
A tough day, over 4 hours of walking but I'm sore from the day before. The views are getting even nicer, more huge snow-capped peaks coming into view, but the walking is harder than I imagined and I'm not enjoying it all as much during the trek as I am afterwards, when I can just take off the pack and stare at the beauty. Crystal GH for 60R, nothing special.
Day 142 - Ghermu to Tal (1650m/5500ft)
We heard that Day 3 of the trek is one of the toughest, long with lots of ups and downs. As a result of this fact, and our general fatigue, Julie decided to hire a porter for the day. Manish, a 17-yr old from the village of Syanje, was very nice albeit a little persistent that we utilize his services to get over the pass. 5 1/2 hours of tough walking today but our energy is high despite some mid-afternoon rain. Our destination for the day is Tal, the nicest village we've seen yet, built right into the river valley. It's the first village we've encountered with a noticeable Tibetan Buddhist influence, monasteries visible up in the hills, prayer wheels as you enter the town. The villagers are starting to look more Tibetan/Chinese than Indian as well. We picked the last lodge in town, Paradise Lodge, thinking it would be the least crowded, but it was quite full. Turns out at least half of the people staying there were coming down from the direction of the pass, most because of altitude sickness. The food was actually good and at 50R a night it was our cheapest accommodation yet. The sky cleared sometime during our dinner and when we walked out of the dining area to go back to our room, we looked up at the most brilliant sky, shining with more stars than I've ever seen. We sat out there and stared at the sky until it became too cold for us and went to bed. A great day!
Day 143 - Tal to Bagarchap (2150m/7000ft)
A little about the general routine we are following. Daylight breaks at about 5:30, at which point many of the early risers are getting up and getting ready to go, which we can hear quite clearly through the non-insulated walls of our lodge room. We usually venture out of the warmth of our sleeping bags around 6:30. At that point, for some reason, it takes us about 2 hours until we are ready to leave, after re-packing, filtering our water, ordering and eating our breakfast. The breakfast menu usually has eggs and porridge on it, as well as Tibetan bread, our usual breakfast order. It's a fried, sometimes a little sweet, piece of bread, very filling. Julie brought some Skippy from Kathmandu and we spread it on the bread for some extra protein. The mornings are usually very clear and our lodge inevitably has some amazing view of a huge snow capped peak that helps motivate us for our tough day ahead. So at 8:30 or so we venture off.
The first 90 minutes are great, the sun is shining, and the sky is an incredible shade of blue, but it's about at that time when the pack starts to hurt our backs and shoulders. Luckily, every 30 minutes or so we pass through a village, where a proprietor will ask us to stop and have some tea, which is hard to refuse. Apparently, tea counts towards the 3-4 liters of water you are supposed to consume daily while trekking so we have a rather large pot, talk with the locals or other trekkers. More walking and then it's time for lunch. The lunches and dinners are rather bland, the menu usually contains some mixture of rice, potatoes, and/or eggs, as in fried potato with egg, or egg fried rice. There are also a few choices of soup, the noodle soup being Top Ramen. Then more walking. Along the trail during the day you'll usually have to cross the river once or twice on a scary suspension bridge. You'll also pass a few mule trains going up and down the trail, carrying up Cokes and food and carrying down rubbish. At about 1:30 or so the skies start to cloud up and it gets a bit cooler, sometimes it rains. So at that point depending on our energy and desire to walk through the drizzle we'll usually stop for the day around 2:30-3:00 at whatever village we happen to be in. If we are motivated enough we will take a cold shower, or a barely warm one from solar heating, and change into warmer clothes (we are trekking at this point in T-shirts and shorts). Exhausted, we stare at a nearby mountain, hang out in the lodge, play cards, read a book, and talk to others. After dinner, at about 8:00, we usually go to bed after maybe a little reading by candlelight or headlamp (no electricity for the most part). At around midnight, I wake up to make the cold, unenviable trip outside to the toilet to expel some of the 3-4 liters of water. Then at 5:30AM it starts all over again.
This circuit is rather popular and critics call it the Annapurna Circus because of all the people. But we haven't seen that aspect yet, most of the time during the day we are alone and with the exception of the lodge in Tal the lodges have been relatively quiet and empty. There is some trash on the trail but not nearly as bad as, say, Yosemite, it's just a bit depressing considering how beautiful it is here. We do feel a bit guilty every time we see a Top Ramen wrapper, but we are trying to be good eco-tourists, no Cokes (okay, very few Cokes), no beer, and absolutely no bottled water.
Today we knew we would have a short day so we got a 9:00 start. Unfortunately, Julie's blisters are really starting to hurt; they look painful to me, enough so that if I had them I would not be handling it as well as her. The trail continues to follow the river valley, which is very deceiving; you wouldn't think we've made any headway in altitude when we've actually gone up about 5000ft. We stopped one village earlier than we expected to because of the blisters and are considering either taking a rest day or a very short day tomorrow to help Julie heal. Also, I've been having trouble "keeping things down" (use your imagination) which has been sapping my energy so I think an easy day will do us good.
Day 144 - Bagarchap
It rained most of the day and we really like our lodge so rather than walk 30 minutes to the next village we decided to stay here. We actually had a great day. The owner of our lodge, Lama, took us to a monastery perched up on a hill. Bagarchap has had a very unlucky recent history. In 1994 a landslide took out most of the town and most people decided to relocate rather than rebuild in Bagarchap. Then in 1995 a fire burned down the aforementioned monastery, which was just recently rebuilt. After the monastery we walked up a steep hill to a tiny village called Gsalengchowk, which was not even listed on our map. As soon as we walked in to the village you could tell that they don't get many foreign visitors. Everyone came out to greet us. We spoke with a few people (their English was amazing) who explained that theirs was a farming village, they grow potatoes, wheat, and apples and the children go to a school in Bagarchap, just 15 minutes downhill. At this point we got a true sense of where we are. We're at least a couple days walk from any real road, we haven't seen a motorized vehicle in 4 days, and these villagers are making what seems to be a decent living, just going about their business. A real eye opening experience for us; I'm glad we are taking our time.
The rain came down all day and you can see snow at levels just barely above us. We read and played cards, teaching the cook how to play Gin. Lama seems to think this snow has spread all the way to the pass, which can be impassable after a major snowstorm because of avalanche danger. The pass seems so far away to us right now and I am wondering if we will make it.
Day 145 - Bagarchap to Chame (2630m/8700ft)
The best day of the trek so far and one of my favorite days of the whole trip. We had two options of trails to take to Chame and we chose the harder and longer one. Part of this decision had to do with acclimatization; one of the golden rules to avoiding altitude sickness is "Climb high, sleep low", which means to never sleep at the highest altitude you have been to that day. After breakfast at a cute town called Danaque, we made a steep climb to much higher than the 2630m elevation of Chame, our destination for the night. We were rewarded with an almost empty trail (3 other Westerners), great views of Annapurna II, and more villages less affected by tourism.
Before we left on our trip, our friend Mike, who has done a bit of mountaineering, took a look at our packs that we would be taking and basically laughed, saying there's no way our packs would make it around Annapurna, not enough support, etc. I do admit our backs seem to be causing us more discomfort than other people seem to be having (who do seem to have better packs), but so far so good. Until today. Right before a tea break in a town called Temang my shoulder strap broke. Over tea I used my limited MacGyver abilities to tie it back together using a pathetically frayed piece of string that we had been using in SE Asia for our mosquito nets. And it held the rest of the day, although I can't tighten the shoulder strap as much as I want to which is causing me a little more incremental pain in that area.
Someone we met in Tal recommended our lodge in Chame, the Himalayan Lodge, saying that they had TV and a stove in the dining room. Both were true although the TV was conspicuously turned off the whole night. Chame itself was kind of charm less, a major stop on the trek for some reason. Our lodge was full but the scene inside the dining room was fun as we all huddled around the stove. For the first time this trek the temperature dropped below freezing, as ice formed in my water bottle. Had dinner and hung out with Gail and Graham, an Irish couple we met in our lodge in Bagarchap the night before.
Day 146 - Chame to Pisang (3150m/10500ft)
Not a great day. The first 3 hrs of walking took us through a monotonous pine forest that did not give us the best views. Also, we passed through a few scary landslides that were not very comforting. Had lunch with Pat, a Canadian, and her trekking partner Andrew, an Australian that had been throwing up non-stop for the past 6 days. It's amazing what people will go through and endure on this trek, usually it's inspiring but on so-so days like this you wonder if it's all worth it. The afternoon was better; a steep climb through the forest took us down into a pretty, wide-open valley. Hooked up with Gail and Graham along the way and made our way to Pisang, another dreary village, just as the rains started.
Day 147 - Pisang to Braga (3475m/11500ft)
A tough morning after an uninspiring day yesterday; one of those days you wake up and say, "Shit, I have to walk again today?!?" But even though the morning was cold, it was crystal clear; the sky just gets bluer and bluer as we rise in altitude. And we ended up having a great day, is this a roller coaster or what?
We had lunch in a town called Hongde at one of those roof top restaurants you would see in a ski-town. I put my backpack unknowingly next to a small "chimney" leading from the stove in the kitchen below. After about 10 minutes I smell something similar to burning plastic and sure enough, the smoke from the kitchen burned about half way through my right hip strap. It still works but the strap is digging in a bit into my right hip. My shoulders and back have been killing me more these last few days, probably because of the left shoulder strap I now cannot completely tighten. I would say about 50%, if not more, of the people we have run into have had porters, and since I want to make it over the pass I think this is the route we will go after today. It feels a bit like copping out but I don't know if my pack in its current state will make it over the pass.
Most people stop for the day on this leg in a town called Manang but we had heard great things about a smaller, mellower village called Braga from our friend Gil. Our friend Beth (Laos) recommended our lodge, Hotel Buddha, and it was a great choice. We took the first hot showers we've had in a week and hung out on the windowed deck, enjoying the fireplace, and watching the first snow flurries of the trek outside.
Day 148 - Braga
We are now at 11500ft and most experts recommend taking an "acclimatization day" at this altitude, as well as rising no more than 500m/day from this point on. We spent a nice sunny day checking out the Braga Monastery, which is over 500 years old, and went up to Manang for a while. We also hired our porter, Mila, for the next four days, just enough to make it over the pass. Except for brief headaches in Pisang and maybe a little more difficulty sleeping we seem to be handling the altitude fine.
Day 149 - Braga to Gunsang (3930m/13000ft)
A fantastic, albeit short day. Because of the recommended maximum altitude gain we only walked for a little over two hours today. We stopped for lunch, and for the day, at the most spectacular village yet. Gunsang is a tiny village with only two hotels and probably around 50 people total. But the village, and our hotel, the Chulu West Lodge, has the most incredible views of Annapurna III, at 7550m/25000ft! The mountain looks like it's right outside your door but in reality it's about 8km away. Watching where we put our packs we hung out on the upper deck just transfixed on the mountains. We'd read a page from our books and then go back to just staring at the scenery. When it got too cold we went back to our room, which had the same view. Julie's blisters are still bad, I think I strained my shoulder from carrying my defective pack the last 4 days, but for the first time I am completely confident we are making it over the pass . . . with a little help from Mila of course!
Day 150 - Gunsang to Letdar (4200m/14000ft)
The first day where we really have felt the altitude while walking. This shouldn't have been that hard of a day on paper (2 1/2 hrs walking), but when above 13000ft, the highest we have ever been, everything is just that much more difficult. Letdar was a total dump, save for the "hot bucket shower" at our lodge. It's starting to get more and more crowded as everyone is readying himself or herself for the pass, just 2 days away!
Day 151 - Letdar to Thorung Phedi (4450m/14500ft)
Not the greatest day. About an hour into the trail we were faced with an option to take a lower or higher route. Now, we knew in general that the higher routes help for better acclimatization but we didn't know much else about the upper route. So when Mila recommended the lower route we acquiesced. Big mistake, I think he was just trying to make his job easier. Hiring the porter was a great move, except that you do sometime lose a bit of independence, e.g., he wants to stay at lodges where his friends are. And in instances like this.
Turns out the lower route were the scariest bit of trail yet. Several landslides reduced the trail in parts to about the width of one's shoe, with a large drop over one side. And the winds were really whipping. As a result we went faster through this part of the trail than we should have, resulting in more exhaustion (in me) that was necessary. They measure the trail segments here in hrs rather than miles or km which is a bit annoying, how do they know how fast I walk, at least kms are quantitative. This segment was supposed to take 3 hrs but we did it in 1:45. And we are pretty slow in general. I was too exhausted to "climb high, sleep low" that afternoon and sure enough in the mid-afternoon I got a splitting headache and a case of fatigue, the main symptoms of mild AMS, Acute Mountain Sickness. They recommend not to any higher until the symptoms go away, and to descend if they get worse. Either way, it doesn't look likely we'll go over the pass tomorrow.
Day 152 - Thorung Phedi
Since we need to get up at 4AM for the day of the pass, I made the decision the night before that I would need an extra day here. My head feels much better but I still don't have my appetite back. We've been eating a lot over the past several days as a result of all the exercise but today I just don't feel hungry, forcing myself to have the occasional bowl of soup or candy bar. My morale is pretty low too. Julie is doing great, no problems at all, and most of the people we started the trek with went over the pass in the past few days and everyone in our lodge today started a few days after us. I feel exhausted. Over the past 5 months I have lost 20lbs but I deluded myself into thinking that made me in better shape when in fact I haven't had any real exercise since New Zealand. Julie says I'm being too hard on myself and that it's merely the altitude that is affecting my energy. I took an anti-AMS pill called Diamox and it seems to be working. The main side effect I've heard about is that since Diamox is a diuretic it makes you pee a lot but I haven't noticed any change to my usual "pee every few hours" schedule.
The lodge here is pretty nice, not a bad place to spend a sick day. Letdar and Phedi aren't really villages, there just areas where lodges for trekkers were built. So it doesn't have the charm of many of the other villages. But the lodge is good. None of the lodges coming up had any insulation but at least the walls had thicker wood as we ascended. This lodge is no exception as far as insulation and the walls are made of mud. I'm like the three little pigs here! But the views, as usual, are spectacular, and the crowd is pretty cool as well. I'm determined to make it tomorrow.
Day 153 - Thorung Phedi to Thorung La (5410m/17900ft) to Muktinath (3610m/12000ft) - April 27, Day 14 of the trek
A wild day, in a lot of ways a microcosm of the whole trek. Woke up at 4:00 and started trekking at about 5:10AM. Word has it that the first hour is the worst. It's a steep 450m climb that you can easily see from Phedi, and at first glance it doesn't look too bad. But at 5:10, with barely any light and the wind blowing right through all your wind proofing, it's pretty tough. Add in the thin air at 15000ft and it's even tougher. At the end of the first hour there is a conveniently placed teashop that I dragged myself into to warm up and catch my breath. People who saw me there later told me that they didn't think I would make it to the pass based on the way I looked. The lack of food in the past day and a half is catching up and I still am not hungry. A large pot of tea and an hour rest gave me the energy to continue the climb.
The rest of the climb to the pass wasn't too bad and was the prettiest part of the day, maybe the whole trek. Immediately surrounding the trail were all these snowfields and right behind them were the Himalayas. It's amazing, as we climbed to 16000ft and then to almost 18000ft that we are still looking up at mountains!
The rest of the climb involved walking for spans of 15 minutes or so and then stopping for a minute to catch our breath. We were almost walking in slow motion but seemed to be making good progress. Sure enough at 10:40AM, we reach the pass at 5410m. High fives all around, some tears, and the obligatory pictures. But it was bitterly cold so after 10 minutes Julie and I decided to head down the other side.
This was probably a mistake, as we should have rested longer. They say the descent is in some ways harder than the ascent, mostly hard on the knees. We rented trekking poles and they seem to be taking the pressure off our knees. No problems there. We are also getting new "downhill" blisters to complement our "uphill" ones but nothing too bad. The problem was that about 45 minutes into our descent I hit the figurative wall. My legs just stopped wanting to walk. At a rest stop I laid down right by the side of the trail, hoping to get a miraculous burst of energy. Everyone that passed us was so nice, "Do you need a Snickers?” "Can I carry your day pack"? No thanks, and by the way, WHY AREN'T YOU EXHAUSTED?! The rest of the descent was my personal hell, shoulders killing even from the day pack, still walking in 15 minute spans but then resting for 10 minutes. The scenery got a lot drier and hotter and I removed my gloves for the last two hours. The whole trek I had been putting SPF 50 on my face and hands, to protect against the sun poisoning I got in New Zealand, which has caused my hands to still, be somewhat sensitive to the sun. But today I forgot the sunscreen, which resulted in some nice blisters on both hands.
We had no choice but to make it to Muktinath, the next village, so I sucked it up and continued . . . while bitching of course. At a teashop at 4100m I forced down more soup and tea, which gave me the energy for the last 90 minutes. At 5:10PM, exactly 12 hours after we started the day, we arrived in Muktinath. Gail and Graham, who crossed the pass yesterday but took the day off, were at the edge of town to greet us, which was nice. We took great hot showers, had a nice meal, and slept for 12 hours.
Day 154 - Muktinath to Kagbeni (2800m/9300ft)
The West side of the pass is pretty different from the East. Most of the difference is that it is much more travelled. There are more frequent flights go up and down from Pokhara on this side so a lot of people will go up to a town called Jomsom and fly back to Pokhara. Or fly to Jomsom and walk down to Pokhara. The flip side to this is that the towns and lodges are a little more modern to account for the extra, and different, tourism. I'm not sure this is a good thing, although last night it was nice to hear some Western music for the first time in over two weeks.
This region is called the Mustang region and it does remind me of Wyoming or somewhere in the Western U.S. As I said yesterday it's drier, dustier, and windier. The snow-capped mountains are less visible because of the haze caused by the wind and dust.
We said good-bye to Mila last night. Mila is 41 years old and has two children and was a very nice man, we may not have made the pass without him. Portering is one of the better jobs a Nepali can have in these areas. He will spend the next two days (Two days!) walking back to Braga on the same trail we just did and then hope to pick up more work, but since the spring trekking season is almost over and the monsoon season is just beginning, there may not be more portering work until fall. For our five days we paid him the agreed upon price plus a nice tip, as well as an extra pair of gloves and sunglasses we no longer needed. All in all, we paid him about $US55. $55 for a week's work, and relatively speaking that is good for a week's wage here. Really makes you think about wealth in a different way.
So it's back to carrying our own bags again. First few hours weren't so bad, but by early afternoon both of our backs and shoulders are killing us and we are realizing how bad our packs really are for this sort of trek. Also, the wind is really gusting with lots of dirt flying in our face. Not an enjoyable day overall. Stopped for the night in a very quaint village called Kagbeni, which borders on the Upper Mustang region, for which you need a special permit to enter because of its proximity to Tibet.
Day 155 - Kagbeni to Jomsom (2700m/9000ft)
Well, we made an important decision last night. We're not enjoying the journey as much as we'd like to right now, and it has been a long 16 days. So we are going to pony up $US50 each tomorrow and fly from Jomsom to Pokhara, skipping the last 3 days of walking. Our spirits have risen immensely at the thought of being in a somewhat civilized town in about 24 hours, which helped us cope with another dusty, windy boring stretch of trail to Jomsom. We are noticing the tourism aspect of this side of the pass, more tour groups, some on horseback.
Day 158 - Pokhara
Took a Royal Nepal flight from Jomsom "Airport" to Pokhara two days ago. Pokhara is nothing special, it's a town on a very nice lake, Phewa Tal, but does not have any other reason for existing other than it is the jumping off point for several treks in Nepal. The Lakeside area is jam packed with gear shops, restaurants, and bars, but without the charm of Thamel. Still, we're not expecting much from our environment other than providing a place to relax. Spent a couple hours walking around the lake one day but other than that we just read and hung out at our very nice Guesthouse, The Sacred Valley Inn.
I feel the dichotomy of being in the best shape of my life yet being too tired to do anything about it. The trek was very, very worth doing but I wish I'd enjoyed it more along the way. Several people have described the Annapurna Circuit as the best 3 weeks of their lives. I wouldn't go that far but I did experience some of the best moments of my life, looking at the mountains in Gunsang, feeling the accomplishment of reaching the pass. And I imagine the experience will get rosier in my mind and memory once our pictures get developed, I truly believe I saw some of the greatest mountain scenery this world has to offer. But it was hard! The Circuit, I think, is like travelling in general, you get a false sense of security about it because so many people do it. But it's much harder than advertised.
Day 163 (May 7) - Bhaktapur
Got back into Kathmandu/Thamel a few days ago, a much mellower scene than the one we left. Merchants are getting more aggressive as they realize the spring trekking season is about to end. There has been a lot of rain here lately which has really cleared up the views of the mountains.
Today, Julie, Beth, and I headed to Bhaktapur, a town about 12km west, and a few centuries behind, Kathmandu. It's a wonderful town made up of a maze of cobblestone streets that you can just get lost in for the day. Although there is no lack of stores selling the usual wares and handicrafts, it has much less of a touristy feel than Thamel. It is a popular day trip from Kathmandu but we have also decided to spend the night here. Today is Buddha's Birthday, a big holiday in Nepal. The quiet street scene was sporadically interrupted by the occasional parade making its way through the town. It was one of those days where we really appreciated being Nepal.
And yet that night reminded us why we are feeling like we are ready to leave the so-called Third World. The three of us went out to dinner at a nice looking restaurant with a garden in the back. Nothing on the menu inspired us as we longed for an environment where we don't have to worry about what we eat. Aside from the usual bland choices you get in a Nepali restaurant, Beth noticed that iced tea was on the menu and decided to order it. Julie and I were rather surprised since ice is a big no-no in Nepal but we also understood the desire to have something, anything, different. Beth asked the waiter if the ice was made from purified water and he said yes, but we don't know if he understood the adjective "purified".
So Beth gets her iced tea, mixes in some sugar from the sugar bowl, takes a few sips, and then begins to have second thoughts, thinking this wasn't such a bright idea. So she takes the spoon from the sugar bowl to scoop the ice out when she notices several small ants in the bowl. Then she looks in her iced tea and sure enough a few ants made their way into the iced tea, presumably when she originally scooped the sugar in. The conversation then revolved around what would be more of a health risk, ingesting ants or non-purified water. Then, in a phenomenon only to be understood by those travelling in developing countries, three relatively intelligent people spent the next twenty minutes or so discussing their respective bouts, in graphic detail, of diarrhea. Inevitably, at some point all conversations in India and Nepal eventually get to bowel movements and this one was no exception. A great day but we can't wait for more modern environments . . . like Turkey.
Day 166 - Kathmandu
Speaking of bowel movements . . . Two nights ago I woke up at 1AM with a wave of nausea and stomach pains and forced to make an instant decision as to out of which orifice one of my recent meals (I still don't know which one) would be expelled. After throwing up once, I spent the next 24 hours tethered to the toilet in our room, experiencing more gas and diarrhea than I had thought humanly possible. So this morning I made my way to the travel clinic to have a stool sample analyzed and it turns out I have dysentery. There are actually some silver linings to this. First, we correctly self-diagnosed the problem the night before and started the correct course of antibiotics, officially using, I believe, every item in our First Aid kit. Second, we were actually getting a bit bored in Thamel and what better way to spice up your day than a good case of the trots. Anyway, the doctor said the diarrhea will continue for several days but I'm curing the problem with the antibiotics and as long as I can put up with some discomfort I should be able to eat what I want. This is a good thing because tomorrow we fly into Vienna for a few days before heading to Istanbul (our flight is on Austrian Airways, hence the out of the way layover) and I am dying for a good schnitzel. Okay, and McDonalds.
This is not the way I would have liked my last Nepal entry to read, we have enjoyed our time here immensely, but we are ready to leave, knowing we will return at some point in our lives. Being wedged in between India, Tibet and China, Nepal is in a geographically tenuous position. While we have been here there have been Maoist rebellions against Nepali police in the Western part of the country. Like Cambodia, the people here, despite the poverty, have an incredible spirit and it's a country that is easy to root for, but the political situation here is shaky. We hope to return here in the next several years, doing another (easier) trek, maybe with our kid(s).
Off to Austria
Day 169 (May 13) - Vienna, Austria
Since we would only be in Austria for 3 days (on an Austrian Airlines layover on our way to Turkey) I didn't anticipate doing an entry for Vienna but arriving here has had more of an impact on us than I had thought it would.
First off, Julie came down with dysentery the night before our flight. Luckily I was getting better and well enough to take care of her help her pack, etc, but I can't imagine having to go through it on the day of a flight. All turned out well and we would like to thank the makers of Cipro and Immodium for making incredible medicines.
The 10-hour flight was uneventful and as pleasant as it could have been under the circumstances. We got off the plane to the most immaculate airport I can remember seeing. The floors looked cleaner than most of the plates we have eaten off of for the past two months. It was truly bizarre; I'm not sure if our perspective is off from being in Asia for so long or if Austrians are really that clean. Probably a bit of both. Customs was a breeze, and then we found a pre-paid taxi stand where a sport jacket wearing taxi driver, without haggling on a price (probably because it was about $25), took us in his Mercedes for the 30-minute ride to our hotel. Our Star Alliance round-the-world plane ticket dictated that we fly Austrian Air from Kathamndu to Istanbul via Vienna, despite Vienna being very much out of the way. Since we figured we'd want a taste of Western civilization after so long in Asia we decided to stay here a few days and use Hilton points I had earned over the years when I actually worked for a few free nights.
The second we stepped in the lobby I felt completely out of place. Only 5 days earlier we moved from a $12/night hotel in Kathmandu to a $9/night one to save money. Now we're in a $200 (or so) a night hotel, wearing probably the nicest outfits from our backpacks but still looking like the homeless, jobless slobs that we are. To boot, they couldn't find the certificates for the free nights we had sent there and as they are assuring us that they will clear up the situation with the Hilton HHonors desk I'm wondering if they are noticing how bad I smell and making any assumptions about how I could have possibly earned the free nights to begin with, let alone the Gold status that allowed us to receive an upgraded room. It was very weird; the hotel was nice but not too different from one we would have frequented in our previous life. But as I stood there, I was hoping they didn't kick us out for bringing Third World afflictions like dysentery into their fine establishment.
The next two days we spent walking around the city and generally having an incredible time. Julie and I were here in 1989 during the Winter and my memories of Vienna were of a dark, dreary city. But now it's May, the grass is an incredible shade of green, and the air so clean you can't take enough deep breaths. The differences between here and Asia really started to hit home. No cows, goats or other unleashed animals. No one bothering you on the streets. Kathmandu was a dream compared to India but even there the merchants would get persistent. There was this one kid who we would walk by frequently during our several days in Thamel who was selling Tiger Balm (I still don't know what it does but for some reason many people try to sell it to Westerners) and mini-figurines of Buddha. As we'd walk by, he'd approach us and quickly say "TigerBalm?Buddha?Yes?", while thrusting both items in our face. But I'm guessing no one will approach us with "Struedel?Christ?Ya?" while we are here.
We are having a great time here but it is bittersweet because of some my feelings right now. I didn't do a trip like this so I could reassure myself of the superiority of Western culture, yet I'm appreciating a city like Vienna so much more than I would than if I hadn't spent 6 months in Asia and feeling a bit guilty for doing so. But the traffic patterns are logical. People, while aloof, are polite and courteous. I can safely eat anything I want without any serious concerns of getting sick. As I sat in that Mercedes taxi, still with that new car smell, my first thought was that I want to find a job that will eventually allow me to afford a car like this. Yet, for less than half the cost of that car, Julie and I will have travelled the world for seven months, an experience much more valuable in the long run than any possession. I really don't want to fall into, well; most of the trappings of my old materialistic life when I return but maybe it's somewhat inevitable.
I wonder how Mila, our porter from the Annapurna Circuit, would react to this environment. Would he miss the constant interaction with others and the warmth of his people? Would he relish the relative cleanliness, logic, and order to life here? Probably, he'd look at the Alps and go, "10,000 feet? You call that a mountain?"
Maybe it's too early, and Asia too recent, to draw conclusions right now. Or more likely they shouldn't be drawn at all. I've never been short of opinions and that probably won't change but I hope I'm able to appreciate the differences in the environments I've experienced more in retrospect than I do right now.
Off to Turkey
Day 174 - Istanbul, Turkey – Written by Julie
Arrived in Istanbul from Vienna, the airport here is the nicest we have been in. The weather is beautiful; spring turning to summer, perfect for walking around. We are staying at a hotel in the old part of the city, recommended by my brother who was here 3 weeks ago.
We have spent most of the last 4 days walking around the city. Istanbul surprised us as a modern, European city. It is a spectacular city, a mix of east and west, old and new. Istanbul is located on the Bosphorus, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and separates Europe from Asia. We took a cruise up the Bosphorus toward the Black Sea and stopped at a fishing village for fresh sole and baklava.
There are so many things to see here, including Aya Sophia, built in 537, the largest church in Christendom until 1453 when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) and turned it into a mosque. The Blue Mosque with its incredible tile work, the Topkapi Palace where the sultans kept harems of 300 women guarded by Eunuchs. The nicest thing to do is just to walk around, looking at the water and the sights all around.
Our guidebook is a bit annoying; it talks about the sights in ridiculous detail but hardly gives any information on restaurants. Here is an example "Take 3 steps toward the mosaic and imagine yourself surrounded by people chanting. . ." We were hoping for descriptions like "Step under the golden arches and picture Mayor McCheese capturing the Hamburglar” At least these people have been to Turkey, which is more than I can say for some of the other guidebooks we have had.
The people here are incredibly friendly and outgoing. Yes, they want you to buy carpets, or eat in their restaurants but they are still friendly when you don’t. I found that without Mark I met a lot more Turkish men. But, they were harmless and just wanted to sell something.
The food here is also great. The restaurants are clean and we have enjoyed eating meat for the first time in a while. Kebabs are popular but there are lots of choices.
When we arrived in New Zealand 6 months ago, we felt like we were on vacation and it feels that way again being here. That will probably change once we leave Istanbul but for now we are enjoying it. Our friend Gil is meeting us tonight and we have rented a car for 10 days as we head to Cappadocia and the coast.
Day 178 - Goreme
For New Zealand we traveled around mostly by bus except for a 5 day period when we rented a car. During those 5 days we saw much more of the country than we would have by bus. Since Turkey has a similar transportation infrastructure, few trains and many sterile buses, we decided to rent a car for 10 days, which is even more cost effective for us than it would have been now that Gil is here. I figured this would be a breeze, the steering wheel is back on the left where it belongs, but the Turks are pretty aggressive on the road. But after a couple days of driving, and one very undeserved 25-dollar speeding ticket, I think I have the hang of it.
Stopped in the capital city of Ankara two nights ago, a very different feel from Istanbul, not as old or tourist friendly but it was nice to see perhaps a more typical Turkish city. As Julie said the people here are incredibly nice; the pressure from carpet salesmen and other merchants is tepid at best. Julie and Gil did the requisite stop at the mausoleum of Ataturk, probably the most important figure of recent Turkish history and most likely the reason why Turkey, for a Muslim country, is very progressive. Still, any mention of politics here that is considered inappropriate is deemed to be in very bad taste, if not illegal!
Our first two days of driving took us through some very nondescript countryside, not unlike the middle of Canada. But then all of a sudden we entered the Capaddoccia Valley, which is in more or less the center of the country. Much of the valley was formed 10 million years ago by a series of volcanic eruptions, the result of which is a landscape of many caves that remind many from the TV generation of a real-life Bedrock (from the Flintstones). Surrounding the caves is more or less a desert environment reminiscent of eastern Arizona, and in the not so far distance you can make out snow-capped peaks of less than 4000 meters, which is odd because it is pretty hot here (almost 80 degrees). All in all some very impressive scenery.
We are staying in the town of Goreme, a backpacker’s hangout but certainly one of the more picturesque towns in the valley. We are spending the night in an actual cave, which is kind of the thing to do here but pretty cool nonetheless. There are lots of backpackers, the majority of whom appear to be Aussie or Kiwi traveling through the Middle East. Last night we went to a bar that Julie's brother, Eric, was in just five weeks ago, jamming on guitar with the local saz (a kind of Turkish guitar) player. The owner remembered Eric fondly. Today we took advantage of our time with the car to see more of the valley, including an 8 story underground city that was supposedly built and inhabited 4000 years ago. There is a lot to see and appreciate, even for a guy who is museum’ed and ruin’ed out like me.
Like Julie said in the last entry, this part of the journey is starting to feel like a vacation again, much like we felt in New Zealand. The culture here is certainly distinct but perhaps less so than some of the Asian countries we've spent time in over the last few months. Like in New Zealand we are staying in more backpacker hangouts and the nightlife scene is surprisingly vibrant. Not that we're complaining, it's appropriate that we feel relaxed as we enter the last 3 weeks (!) of the trip and prepare for the so-called real world once again.
Day 180 - Side
Took two days to drive South to the Mediterranean Coast. The first day was rather boring, both the drive and our destination for the night, Beysihir, which was incorrectly billed as a charming lakeside town. The second day's drive was beautiful, through pine forests and mountains before arriving in the seaside town of Side. Side was a much bigger town than we had expected. The beaches were pretty nice, clear water, somewhat brownish sand. I think Thailand spoiled us for beaches for a while. But it was neat to see ruins over 2000 years old from the beach.
The town itself was mostly geared to package, and ostensibly German, tourists. Prices were often quoted in Deutsch Marks and shop owners would more often than not greet us with "Guten Tag". But because it is still off season here we got a great deal on our hotel room; Julie and my double was on the fourth floor with a balcony overlooking the sea and only cost about $18. It must be a lot more crowded in the summer in these beach towns because the shoreline was pretty packed with restaurants and clubs but most were dead if not empty.
Day 181 (May 24) - Olimpos
Probably my favorite Turkish town so far. Drove West mostly along the Mediterranean up until getting to Olimpos, not so much a town as a backpackers' destination in the Bey Mountains National Park. We stayed at the Kadir's Treehouse and our room was literally a tree house. It felt more like we were in the middle of the woods than being only a few km from a beach.
The scene at Kadir's was a lot like summer camp; "coordinators" would try to sell us on various activities like white water rafting. We opted for nighttime "torch tour" at The Chimera. At about 10:00 at night we took our flashlights and climbed up a mountain for about twenty minutes. At or near the top, several flames were burning, supposedly spontaneously from gas that is constantly emitted that bursts into flames when contacting the air. There is also some mythological context to The Chimera, something related to Zeus. That night we headed to a beach party at a bar near Kadir's that was still going strong when we left at 3:30. The dichotomy of life here is hard to miss. On one hand most women beyond a certain age that you see are wearing at least some sort of head covering. Yet the nightlife, at bars and clubs which Turks and backpackers alike frequent, is pretty wild or at least lasts until quite late.
Day 184 - Oludeniz
Heading West along the Mediterranean coast; more beaches and ancient ruins. Spent the night, two nights ago, in Patara, a town with a really nice sandy beach but unfortunately the rainy and windy weather was not agreeable. Yesterday and today we have been in Oludeniz, which is where the lagoon scenes of The Blue Lagoon were filmed. The water is somewhat choppy for swimming and the beach rather rocky but it is all very nice nonetheless and the weather today is beautiful, 85 degrees and sunny.
What else can I say about Turkey? The food is very good, albeit a bit redundant. Typical fare is a kebab of some sort on a plate with rice and a salad, usually running about $2-3. The prices here are about the only thing that reminds us of the rest of Asia, traveling here is rather easy, you can eat about anything safely and everything is quite clean and beautiful. No complaints at all. There are a lot of tourists here, which seems a bit strange since there is so much to do and see in this relatively large country. A month seems tight to see the country, let alone the couple of weeks that most people get for vacation.
Tomorrow we head to Bodrum, which is on the southwestern tip of the country, only 20 minutes by boat to the Greek island of Rhodes. Two friends from home, Mike and Ed, are meeting us there and we will be spending 5 days relaxing, diving, etc. It may not be as adventurous as some of our other destinations have been but it is a good warm down so to speak to the whole trip I think, as we try not to count down the days (15!) until we have to return home.
Day 190 Pamukkale – Written by Julie
We spent 5 days in Bodrum with 3 friends (Gil, Mike and Ed) who came to Turkey to travel with us and to make sure we hadn't turned into hippies. Bodrum is on the Southwest coast of Turkey where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Aegean. It attracts a lot of package tourists but also lots of young people and Turkish people. We spent 5 days sunning ourselves, diving, eating doner sandwiches and going out to the discos which rock to the wee hours. It was great to see friends again.
Took a 5 hour bus ride east to Pamukkale, which is known for it's white, cotton-like calcium formations formed from calcium-rich water flowing over the cliff edges and forming white shelves and pools which fill with water. There are pictures of this throughout Turkey and it looks beautiful. In reality, it was quite disappointing, smaller, dirtier and more crowded than I had expected. However, above the pools is the ancient city of Hierapolis founded in 190 B.C. The ruins were interesting and well preserved. In particular the necropolis (cemetery) and the Roman theatre were spectacular.
In the evening I attended a performance at the Roman theatre. The performance included traditional Islamic singing, dancing and music complete with whirling dervishes! I finally learned that the dervishes were once Islamic monastic orders with significant political power (conservative, xenophobic), which were outlawed by Ataturk in his separation of church and state. The dance of the whirling dervishes is performed by men in white hats, shirts, skirts and pants and represents the union with God. Basically they twirl in circles to a chant from the Koran with their skirts flying. Although the dervishes no longer exist, the dances are still performed at cultural events. It was very strange to watch an Islamic arts performance in a Roman theatre.
Day 192 Selcuk (Ephesus) – Written by Julie
Headed back west to Selcuk, the town next to the ancient city of Ephesus, one of the best-preserved Roman cities. We stayed at a fun pension where we were able to try apple tobacco out of a gigantic water pipe.
The ruins were fantastic and very well preserved. We were able to get the feel of what a Roman city looked like. It was interesting for us to compare some of the historical places we have seen on our trip (Angkor Wat, Sukhothai, Kathmandu, Rajasthan).
After leaving Selcuk we headed north with the hopes of checking out the Aegean coast, finding a nice beach and hanging out for a few days before we headed back to Istanbul. After 5 hours on 3 buses, we landed in Ayvalik, a fishing village surrounded by olive groves. It sounded quaint and was recommended by some people in Selcuk. After seeing the unimpressive beach, we decided to leave immediately and head back south to Oludeniz (the "Blue Lagoon" beach we had stayed at 9 days ago). So after a night on 2 buses and a morning minibus, we are back in Oludeniz in a brand new hotel a block from the beach with a pool and breakfast for $22. We will spend 4 days here before we head back to Istanbul to fly home. Part of traveling for us is making decisions on when to bail out of a place. We did that for the last time yesterday, spending 15 hours on buses with the reward of being at a beautiful place instead of staying in a mediocre town.
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