Northern Laos & Thailand

Sometimes life just treats you right. Vang Vieng was a fun little town. We lucked out on our room. It was gorgeous, new, and only $5 a night. It is a very interesting little town full of restaurants playing Friends re-runs, Simpson's, or movies; all while relaxing at a table on stilts with cushions so you are completely comfortable and really don't want to leave.

However, during the day who wants to sit around and watch Friends when you could be out tubing down the river, with some English guys who were nothing short of fun times. You not only float down on a tire tube, but you swing on these flying foxes, and have a few bevi's along the way too. Recipe for a good time!

The following day I rented a scooter and went exploring some nearby caves. It is low season for water here so a guide and I hiked 16km in a pitch black cave. I thought my headlamp would be enough, but it barely lit up the ground beneath my feet. What an experience. I kept exploring on the scooter and started to get a little to comfortable, and might have encountered some gravel followed by a little wipe out...ending in a free Southeast Asia ta too. The common norm here.

Another bus trip, but this one curved up and down mountain ridges, and again the scenery was something else. How little towns were situated along a steeply winding road, with horns blazing as we round a corner, is something I will never grasp. Ending up in Luang Prabang was a treat. This french colonial town situated along the Mekong has to be one of my favorite place. So quiet, good food, and a great bakery where I actually met many people who I would travel with or who I had previously shared adventures with. Joma soon turned out to be a favourite hang out!

While travelling I have had numerous people ask me if I am really from Canada or if the flag on my pack is just there for looks?!! It has shocked my how many people actually ask me this, so one night I decided to ask another fellow with a flag on his pack. Sure enough he was, and he was from Manitoba. To top it all off Mike and Steve were actually from Dauphin and were fellow ukies!! We had a great time together biking in the rain, exploring the numerous temples(Wat's), visiting the night market, and of course sharing in some typical Ukrainian evening events.

On the day of my photo's being lost I met Mike from the States who had a liquidation sale of everything, 'cleaning out my life,' as he put it, to come travelling. Him and his buddy had both quit their teaching jobs to go adventure seeking. I still love hearing stories like that from people. It makes you feel better about not knowing exactly which road to take in life, or more so that there is no right or wrong road to take. He nicely offered to send me some pictures of Laos that he had taken, and somehow in the process convinced me flying to Thailand was a much better option than the 2/3 day boat/bus trip. I toyed with the idea, and just before the travel agent shut her doors booked my flight to Thailand. Definitely a great idea. One hour of painless travel, what a change.

Chiang Mai was great. I ended up meeting 2 girls from Norway, Siri and Helena, and a Mexican fellow, Tyrone, who I shared a the next few days with. We explored the city, took in some more Wat's, the famous night Bazaar, visited a club where this Thai band was playing cover songs (so crazy), and enjoyed each others company. The girls and I went on a day hike; consisting of elephant rides, bamboo rafting where the water ate my sunglasses, hiked to different tribal villages, and saw a small waterfall. I also took a cooking course for a day and leaned to make some of my new favourite recipes!!

But I might have to say the most exciting event, besides the recovery of most of my photos!!, was BUNGEE JUMPING!! I had tossed the idea around in my head, but didn't want to do it alone. So in passing one day I mentioned it to Mike to see if he was interested and he was game! Crap no backing out now. So away we went. We had a great chat all the way there, signed our lives away, rock paper scissors to see who jumped first and I won. Away I went, jumped to the edge and all of a sudden it hit me! What on earth am I doing!!! Ahhhhhh. I remember watching Brett and Kirby's video's when they both did it but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do it. But having Mike at the bottom laughing at me somehow made me realize it can't be all bad, and besides I came all the way out here so 3...2...1...

What am amazing feeling! It was great. We had a great day, followed my some nachos and beer before catching the night bus to Bangkok to continue my journey south to start my diving!!! I can't wait

Southern Laos

One single word can encompass Laos...

.....QUIET........Peace and quiet......

After our wreck less private car ride, numerous boat/bus/car transfers we arrived in Southern Laos in an area called 4000 Islands. Here we shacked up in these cute bungalows on the small island of Don Det where a generator runs from 6-10pm providing the whole island with electricity for only those hours of the evening. This couldn't have been a more relaxing place to come to, especially after our car ride from hell and all I we experienced in Cambodia.

Here all I wanted to do was relax, and maybe explore a little, oh and maybe kayak, oh and... well I just wanted to go with the wind. There was something sooo relaxing about Laos. The people were more mellow, not as in your face and we were out of a city which was a great change. The first day we were befriended by a group of travellers renting a boat and going exploring around some of the islands...sure why not?! It was great fun meeting a whole new group of travellers full of new stories and many laughs.

The next day I embarked on a little 13km kayak adventure where I saw; two sets of waterfalls, one which was the largest in all of Southeast Asia; paddled through some small sets of rapids, still enough to get the adrenaline pumping; and while eating lunch on a rock in the middle of the Mekong River Delta (the 2nd largest river system originating in China and ending in Vietnam), Laos on my left side and Cambodia on my right, watched the rare species of Irawaddy dolphins jumping in the water around us. Could it really get any better??

Somehow there is always another adventure ahead of you. Galit, a new travel friend from Israel, and I decided to make the trip to Northern Laos. Well the boat from Don Det to the mainland was fun as we bailed water out of the old wooden longtail boat only to reach land, transfer into a pickup truck with 3 benches in the back, and me at the end of the middle bench pretty much out of the truck. By the end of the 3 hour trip, not only was I covered in a film of red dust, I had wished I could have rode on the top of the truck like the locals did!

Stop over for a day in Paksay, just long enough to walk around and go for a massage before catching another night bus to the capital city Vientiane. Night buses might become the death of me if I keep having snoring machines behind me!! The capital city is a very small and yet very quiet and relaxing, with numerous delicious bakeries with real bread not just white baguettes!!! Oh and how can I forget, good coffee too!! A day and half of walking around meeting more travellers to swap stories with, and it is off to the next city Vang Vieng for some tubing and cave exploration.

Laos is proving to be an amazing country, so beautiful and at much slower pace. The people are friendly, always greeting you, I feel very safe as far as cleanliness and safety, and the country side absolutely takes your breath away.

New Post

Hey everyone.

I made a post for Cambodia, but it is just below the one about my picture dilemma, which has been slightly resolved..yeah!!

Check out Cambodia and its' pictures!

Picture dilemma

Hey everyone

Just a really quick note to let you know I am in Thailand right now. I have been really behind on my blogs and I apologize. There has been a little tragedy in my blogger plans. Most of my pictures from the last 3 weeks were deleted from my memory card on my camera...bummer....making my blog ideas vanish! I need a couple days to re-work things and new stories will soon be at your viewing pleasure.

Cambodia and Laos were amazing! I can't believe where I have been already, and what the great waters in Thailand will bring!

Hope everyone is doing well. Thinking of you.

Angkor Wow!

Alright I know I am a million years behind on this blog, but better late than never!

Welcome to Cambodia!! A new country, new people, new smells, new exciting sights. From what I had read, and from what people had told me about Cambodia, I was bracing myself for something completely different than what I experienced. Cambodians have a different personality than the Vietnamese. Their eyes sparkle, and they have smiles from ear to ear. This is not something I would have expected from a country who's recent history is nothing to smile about. And yet somehow they are able to look forward, and wish you 'good luck' instead of good-bye. It leaves you with a warm feeling inside and how can you not smile.

Angkor Wat is something I have trouble explaining to people. To me it might be one of the most spectacular sights I will ever see in my life. The temples date back to the Khmer empire and are an absolute eyesore. A group of us explored the temples for 2 days, catching a sunrise and sunset at the famous Angkor Wat, and another sunset at another temple. I went a little picture crazy, but the pictures don't really do much justice. The town of Siem Riep was also a really interesting town with lots of character and a fun street, "Bar St." for evening gatherings.

Here are a few pictures of the amazing temples, and us girls with our driver Fee....oh Feeee.
Some places were very overcrowded with tourist, while others were quiet and allowed for more enjoyment. I spent over 2 hours in one temple exploring all the detail carved in the stones and trying to imagine how they looked before they began eroding. Many groups had tour guides and sometimes it would have been interesting to know why so many temples we created in such an area. Looking out into the vast area from on top of the temples only left me to ponder how many more temples might be out there from the days of Angkor rule and not be discovered yet.

Back in Phnom Penh, we visited the Killing Fields, as well as the S21 Genocide Museum. It was a very hard day for me to take in. The recent Cambodian history only really dates back to 1998, and to imagine where these people have come from and how hard they have had to work to regain where they were, and to move forward at the same time is a huge feat. S-21 Genocide Museum was an old Prison during the day of the Khmer Rouge, where people were sentenced to death for looking the wrong way. The Killing fields were a mass grave sight where the Khmer Rouge would place the bodies, well that is a very huge generalization. Here the skulls and clothing recovered from the mass burials were on display. A hard sight to see, and to think what went on here in the late 1970's. I would highly recommend everyone to look into a little of Cambodia's history. It is very fascinating to know how one man and his power can change the face of its people and country.

The kids here are something else. Sure it is very sad to see them working at a young age but like I said earlier they have these smiles that really tear at your heart strings. If you take the time to talk to them, hear what they have to say, ask them questions, and play with them, you really just want to take them home with you. At least I did. But I have enough students back home to call my own.

Cambodia was really great. If I could do it again, I would and I would stay longer and explore more places off the beaten track. I am so glad I came to discover what this country has to offer before tourism changes into something else.

Bye-bye Viet-CRAZY-nam

After all the 'fun' in Hoi An it was time to head to the beach. Nha Trang for a day, well enough said, off to Mui Ne for some real relaxation time. I found a nice little bungalow right off the ocean to call home for the next couple of days. Mui Ne is a 11km stretch of beach, and the people here are more relaxed then anywhere else I have travelled so far in Vietnam. I decided to take in the usual tourist sites of the Red Sand Dunes, where I tried the sand-sledding and managed to get sand in every oarface (sp?) of my body! When you arrive you get attacked by little kids asking your name and wanting to sell you a ride on their crazy carpet because it is the best one, and for a fee of course. For the day my name was sugar and I lived on banana island and the kids couldn't get enough of me...they laughed and laughed and so did I really. I also walked walked up the Fairy Stream which was relaxing and fun before taking the last bus trip for me in Vietnam.

In Mui Ne I also decided to put an end to my life of no lobster. I met Toby from Australia and to my surprise we shared our first lobster dinner together, and really I would love to know why I held out for so long cause I was in HEAVEN!!! I also had to treat myself because I was missing Baba's perogies on Christmas Eve, and I had to try something new even though I know nothing can beat your perogies Baba!!!

If it wasn't for my lovely french girl, I could have stayed in Mui Ne for at least a week. The people and the scenery are at a much better pace then the rest of Vietnam. But alas, Ho Chi Min City/Saigon awaits my arrival. And what a city it is!!! The traffic here is nuts. I saw 3 accidents just coming into the city...eeeeee. Hanoi and HCMC are similar and dissimilar in their own ways. It is too bad it is at the end of Vietnam, because at this point I am a little tired of the way of life here and am ready for new faces and places.

In sticking with traditional Caroline and Jen tradition, a bottle of wine and a lot of laughs were shared before parting ways in Vietnam. Jusqu'à ce que nous rencontrons encore mon ami! But just when you say good bye to someone you meet someone else, or my Pinza family again. We spent our last day visiting the War Remnants Museum (which demonstrated the aftermath of the war on the Vietnamese people), eating at local restaurant (where I made the mistake of ordering squid and was given the whole squid on a pan to cook in front of us!), and just walking around the city before taking in a 2 day tour of the Mekong River and entering Cambodia. Here we saw the amazing river side of both countries and it was a perfect ending to Vietnam. We visited local markets where they made rice paper, popcorn type desserts, maybe ate the best coconut candy ever, and took an amazing paddle boat ride before having to cross the border to Cambodia....what a different experience. We literally checked out of Vietnam into no-man's land and then walked maybe 20m into Cambodia.

More interesting was viewing the difference in the river banks in each country. Vietnam had much more development compared to the desolate banks of Cambodia. Vietnam was a huge history lesson for me and real life changing place. I met amazing people and experienced so many wonderful things. I am so excited to see what Cambodia has in store for me!

(Vietnam) (Cambodia)

History Lesson

A packed bus from Hanoi to Hue was something to be desired! There was something under every seat, people sitting on top of luggage, and even people sleeping in the isles. Thank goodness for my window seat. Hue was a nice little city along a river. Here I decided to take a cyclo and have the driver take me around to explore the Citadel as well as a 21m high Pagoda. Let me tell you, I sure felt like some kind of princess being driven around the city. There is more history to Vietnam then I ever imagined. I feel almost a little ashamed coming here and not really knowing what Vietnamese people have been through, but I guess i am learning.

The next day was a tour to the demineralized zone (DMZ). The DMZ consists of an area 5km on either side of the Ben Hai River which severed as the demarcation line between South and North Vietnam during the Vietnam War...oh wait they call it the American War. It is also one of the most militarized zones in the world! We walked through the Vin Moc Tunnels where people seeked shelter during the war. I am still amazed at how they lived in a stretch of 2.8 km underground. The rest of the day was spent exploring other various sights around the area before heading back to the pouring rain in Hue.



Next was off to Hoi An a.k.a Tailor Town. I met a fantastic girl, Caroline, from Montreal and we instantly hit it off. It was New Years Eve and the hotel we stayed at had a party for all its' guests. It was really something else. The Pinza family which I met in Halong Bay also joined in the evenings crazy festivities of dancing, trivia games, caroling, and the ol' count down. What a hilarious night. The Vietnamese never cease to surprise me.

Between fittings for cloths and shoes (which was not the most pleasant experience) Caroline and I managed to rent some bikes and visit a near by beach, drink some wine, and laugh till the sun came up. I might have gone a little crazy with a pair of boots,a suit, 2 pairs of pants, 3 skirts, 2 dresses, 2 shirts, and 3 jackets! Heck you only live once, and really what other time are you going to get clothes made fitting your body exactly. The lady where I got my suit and numerous other items was soo sweet and maybe half the size of me. She made us feel really great about being in Hoi An.



Already my time in Vietnam is coming to an end and there are so many places left to experience. The hard part is going to be deciding what to see and what to leave behind.