Arriving in Pakxe at 6am after an interesting sleep on board the bus we got to our hotel and watched Shawshank Redemption, what a way to start the day. We were only here as a break from travelling down toward the 4000 Islands - NAME - and specifically Don Det; the only thing we really found in the city was ourselves getting lost.. A lot. There was a bridge, a few wats, restaurants and a shopping mall only envied by The Pentagon Centre.. We ate a few times and otherwise spent our time trying to find some more information about the islands - no ATM machines there, an uncertain number and quality of guesthouses.. A trip into the unknown. Well it began bright and early the next morning, we woke up late got ready in 10 minutes then waited three quarters of an hour to be picked up.
Arriving in Ban Nagasak we unloaded and headed down to the shore, loading our bags onto a thin fishing style boat it set off for the island. There in about 5 minutes it was time to go room-hunting, we settled in the first place we found planning instead to room hunt the next day.
Where we had pulled up on the boat was a cool little beach, with sun and shade for most of the day - it led straight up to the main 'strip' running all the way along the East of the Island. This was the sunrise side, the sunset side was on the West where some incredible views were to be had. We spent a whole week on the island, taking in Christmas day when we had fried fish and chicken red curry instead of a roast.. There were a few other places we enjoyed eating and having a few drinks, overall very much a lazy little island - although this being contradicted by the amount of new buildings going up more or less across the whole 7km sq.
One day we rented out bikes and zipped off down the path towards the old French bridge and the island of Don Khon. Twice the size of Don Det it took a fair while to cycle round but with a few stops thrown in it was a cool journey. Khone Pa Soi was on the East, a small set of waterfalls and man made dams accessed by a wobbly rope and plank bridge; in the South the harbour for viewing Mekong dolphins - opposite Cambodia and not a dolphin in sight - it was incredible to think French boats could have once docked here having avoided the hazard laden maze of trees and rocks; further round to the West was a lovely big hill of a beach, not so good for swimming in though I thought; finally another set of waterfalls - Somphamit - apparently the largest in volume in the country.. These were more of a sight than the last, great channels being cut by protruding rocks and all eventually pouring into one great sound of crashing. Heading back we came along the sunset side and finally arriving back feeling just about exhausted. Other than watching a few films, reading a book and drinking or eating the rest probably isn't that interesting - skip on and we're now on our way to Savannakhet, our stop off town on the way to Vietnam come the New Year.

We set off earlier than intended this morning - as did our driver when our tuk to the bus station pulled away before i'd even put my bags down and got on - though once underway wasn't too bad a journey overall. We arrived quite early in the afternoon for a change so had a chance to get to the hotel and head into town to investigate.. Having a good stroll round we weren't really too sure of our bearings though managed to find the river front. At sunset it's quite a sight, a tiled promenade stretching more or less the width of the city; the Mekong river sprawls across your peripheral with Thailand a stones throw (by the hand of a grand stone thrower) away. A small night market was in place here opposite the main strip of restaurants and further along a towering statue of Chao Anou - King Anouvong.
Managing to find out a few things we wanted to see next morning we visited the Cope centre - a small foundation helping people with prosthetics across the country. It was another of those hard hitters. If you didn't know, as I didnt, basically Laos is the most bombed country. Ever. Apparently post-Vietnam the cost of shipping the munitions back was too vast so having already carpeted the area in an attempt to halt the supply line of the Ho Chi Minh trail the remaining armed weapons were dropped - around 30% not detonating . It has left its legacy, with unexploded ordinance (UXO) being either found by locals hunting scrap metal or any passing person or wildlife unfortunate enough to activate the damned things. Demonstrating the effect on the daily life of these subsistence areas was entriguing, with all arrangement of articles being forged from the casings of cluster bombs, engine fuselage and bombs or grenades - making house stilts, fishing boats, machetes, cooking stoves... Basically this place helps people in genuine need, also assisting people with the effects of polio and club foot. Quite an extraordinary place, plus they had free bikes to ride. So setting off into town on to wheels - with a nice 2ft sign on the back advertising the centre we took in the sights heading back to the beach then up to the arch called Patuxai. It's slightly taller than the Arc de Triomphe and was made from US supplied concrete, intended for building a new runway at the airport. Two snubs in one, brilliant. Just up from here was a fountain and a bit further the World Peace Gong, a gift from Indonesia. Smashing.
Next day we headed out to Xieng Khuan - the Buddha Park about 30km away, a pretty cold journey by tuk!! It seemed quite cool, various figures from Buddhist and Indian religions and a long tall reclined Buddha dominating one side. At the rear was an obelisk with a statue of a man seated for meditation in front. I assume this to be the creator of the park, originating around 40 years ago - the obelisk being for his parents. Nearer the entrance was a spherical building, inside stairs to access the roof for a whole view - and inside hundreds more statues and creations.. These seemed far more appropriate to what i'd expected to see so wasn't sure afterwards whether the park had been 'sterilised' for visiting tourists.. Still, it made for an interesting morning. That night we set off again, this time on a sleeper bus for 9 hours down toward Pakxe an important trading town..!!

After Luang Prabang we headed down to Vang Vieng; a bouncey ride on a VIP coach featuring 'cave' toilet didn't really make for the best entrance though finding the hotel was easy enough.. Sadly the promised wi-fi was lacking and some important work back home was due - fortunately they had a second hotel further into town with th'internet so we moved there the next day.
Vang Vieng is known for a few things; the kayaking and tubing down the Nam Song river, the blue lagoon at Tham Phoukham cave - amongst other cave systems - and numerous bars, especially on the river by the starting point of the tubing.. Offering free shots, rope swings and slides, all with a health and safety standard of nil. Rumours abound of 8-18 people dying per year through intoxication or injury, it made for interesting conversation on the tuk to the start point!! We had a cool day floating downriver, taking around 4 hours not including stops. Though slightly cold water it made for a nice medium with the afternoon sun beating down.
On the first night we were unsure about the 'party' reputation of the town, it seemed quite quiet and the sunset by the river could not have been more serene.. Then though, around 8 after the tubers had finished their stint and returned from an alcohol fuelled water fest you understood. Loud music, dubstep, Wham! and Family Guy or Friends being pumped out of all most all of the bars or cafes.. Like i've said elsewhere, this was hedon.
The day after tubing down river and receiving a much needed massage instead of drinking, we rented some bicycles and headed out toward the Tham Phoukham cave and blue lagoon - around 7km away with multiple copies along the way to fool. On the path we got caught up by these 2 Israeli guys we'd trekked the waterfalls in Nong Khiaw with, so having a chat about our comparative journeys certainly took our minds off cycling!! We finally arrived and after taking some time to cool we headed up to the cave. A small 'guide service' was on offer, as were head-torches.. We didn't bother with either but maybe should have taken the torch. After conquering the rustic staircase to the entrance we entered. This first part was finely lit, a buddha shrine taking up a portion of the space but then entering the actual cave was yes, pretty dark. Pitch black in fact. Fortunately i had a light on my phone and this *just* lasted the hour or so we were inside. Some quite cool stalagmites and tites took our attention, though the darkness from having such little light prevented any further braving of its depths.. The lagoon was nice to come back to with a much safer swing available and wonderfully clear aqua blue waters to swim in. Bloody cold though.
We headed back and sorted out our next days travel to the capital of Laos, Vientiane. We hadn't heard too much about it so had no idea what to expect..

Inner City Life

Back to Luang Prabang and a solid hotel room. I had two days ahead to find things to do so after a fun saturday night Skype'ing the fam then drinking more while watching 'football' I woke hungover and set about pounding the streets.. The National Games are being hosted in Luang Prabang at the moment, after seeing a few games of Rakkan ball (an athletic cross between beach football and netball) I set about heading to the National Stadium to check out the other sports. Sadly I took the long route which didn't suite my head and belly but that's hard luck. Arriving there I walked into the stadium and took a seat in the stands.. Though nothing was on, so after 5 minutes recovering I walked to where cheering was coming from. Finding badminton taking place in a side-hall I watched for a small time but then set off back to town. Bumping into a few friends made over the past few days and weeks I went shopping looking for various items though avoiding buying til I'd seen every shop and market in town. Got my coffee in though.
Next day i rolled around checking the rates for travel to Vang Vieng, about 5-7 hours away by bus.. Booked for the day after the opening ceremony of the games gave us another day to try and fit in things we'd missed or otherwise.
The opening ceremony of the games was pretty interesting, we arrived just before 2 but for whatever reason it didn't start til 3.. An hour of parachuting followed by an hour of singers - we think one group from each province - then finally the parade began, led by a marching band and followed by flag bearers and athletes or coaches from the separate districts. The whole place was packed this time, at first we couldn't even enter the stadium though this seemed to relax after a certain time for an uncertain reason.. I've been stitching together this video of some highlights, excuse the sideways footage and questionable camera-wielding/editing etc.. Enjoy!!

www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=X1_R2JHn6lA

The walls are alive with the sound of insects

Another 7 hour boat trek underway, this time a much smaller boat - only 11 tourists and 4 locals travelled onboard.. This time no cafe or toilet though so our snack bag finally began to diminish and toilet breaks were reserved for beach stop offs and finding a good bush.
Arriving before sunset for a change we all set off in different directions for hotels, choosing ourselves to settle into a simple looking place with bamboo thatch walls and a decent enough looking bathroom. Heading back to town we visited Delilahs - a restaurant we'd heard good things about - we had some wonderful food and a good chance to find out about the area from the english couple managing it.
Nong Khiaw has only really been a tourist destination for around 5-8 years and it shows; Hat Sao is the villages name, dirt track roads form a dissected triangle home to 2 schools, several family trades and convenience shops plus a couple of cafes then a few more restaurants and hotels on the opposing bank of the river in the village of Ban Hat Sao. Three large mountain sides surround the villages - from certain angles they appear to be a sleeping woman, sleeping man and an elephant.. Though this was hard to see..There is the Laos village life side by side with the relatively smaller tourist trade at its most reserved, almost unspoilt.. It's known for its trekking so we booked in for a trip down river the next day to see more waterfalls..
Settling in that night, we heard some odd sounds, nothing to really worry about, just scratching or clicking.. Strange but not worth losing sleep over. Next morning I heard it again, routing out the source I tapped one of the bamboo beams to hopefully scare it off.. Dust issued from a small hole.. And again.. Clearly the bamboo on every side was being eaten inside out by some bug or another. Infact i can hear them at work now, but since they won't be bothering this individual i'll carry on ignoring them.

Next morning we set off 40minutes down stream, jumping out at the village of Ban Don Khoun to then walk for an hour til we began the 100 Waterfalls Trek. It's in the name. Treading carefully up or leaping from rock to rock we made our ascent, through the falls and pools, grabbing at trees or bamboo and each other when necessary.. It was a brilliant experience, some awe-inspiring sights at times, though you spent most of this double checking your foothold or next step pausing only a few seconds to gaze in wonderment.. The night before when we'd asked about the trek it was explained as was, a fairly easy trek, a need to be happy in wet clothes.. And leeches. That was saved til last, just as we were putting pen to paper. True to form guess who got the most blood-suckers attached to their feet and legs? Yup.
At first i thought i'd had an allergic reaction to something or was coming down ill.. My fingertips had begun to tingle and my head felt either hot from dehydration or generally woozy.. Stopping soon after noticing these feelings i checked my feet finding a small or elongated black blob on either ankle and foot.. Leeches!! Fortunately i'd been advised to take salt, so a small pinch left them writhing and the pains soon abated. Another was spotted on my calf but instead of putting an end to it since I felt no ill effects I thought I'd let it enjoy its meal. Once we reached the top of the falls we enjoyed a good meal and we all finished fairly satisfied - as did my little blood-sucker, dropping off soon after.

Next day in the village there was a marquee, tables, and a sound system set up to celebrate a baby Basii - welcoming a boy to the family. It seemed a brilliant party, going on for 7 hours, plently of food and beer flowing, the music, singing, speeches et al blasted out at a volume loud enough to probably deafen the front tables.. Shame we weren't invited!!
We have two days to relax here, a plan to head another hour up river was abandoned in favour of doing nothing so we've been enjoying more good food, cake, coffee, beer and even films playing at another local cafe. All in all it's a cool place and will be missed once back in the city, 7 hours back down river.

Luang Prabang - Royal Buddha Image

Edging our way slowly over the bridge the wood bowed moved or creaked, the metal railing wobbled in areas not properly fixed.. Then two monks came in the opposite direction, kindly waiting for us to edge past them.. And we made it, fortunately the hotel was just around a small corner so we booked in and sighed in relief - then went out and crossed the bridge again to go for dinner. With less weight it certainly felt easier and slightly faster.
Next day we ventured out, renting bikes so we could ride around town - going over the bridge via the car crossing certainly seemed much safer. The city is a cultural UNESCO World Heritage site and no wonder, with French-era architecture in the old city and numerous Wat temples. The Phosy Mountain in the centre of town hosts one such temple, a tourist hotspot for sunset, we headed up that evening but only halfway as the stairs conquered us more than we they, still it was a beautiful image; apparently crossing the Mekong to another temple affords the same view with no tourist flock to contend with.. Maybe somewhere to visit after we head north to Nong Khiaw.
Riding out of town the next stop was Ock Pop Tok a craft centre supporting locals and outside tribes in the sale and production of traditional silk and cotton wares. A free tour of the site explained how the silk was produced and the dying process - with mating butterflys, hungry caterpillars munching on Mulberry leaves and finally cocoons of silk on view awaiting their inevitable fate.. Moving into the manufacture there were 3 ladies working on looms creating varying degrees of design, plain coloured sheets, complex weaves of pattern it was fascinating to watch and a real appreciation for the fabrics is inevitable when you see the labour involved - see link below!!
Elsewhere another lady was working on Hmong patterns, a method of staining Hemp cloth with a steaming mix of magnolia and wax which when complete is washed, dying the material blue and leaving the pattern scored a clear white. Absolutely brilliant but a bit smelly.

Next day we headed out the Kuang Si waterfalls, a 30 minute ride from town. Walking up there is a small area where rescued Asianic Black Bears were resident in numbers, all lazing about and with an understandable desire to sleep. Heading further up you start to meet the different pools and falls, some a brilliant blue hue. Each level impressed upon the last til finally you reached the top, a large draught of water ploughing down into the pool below feeding a small water wheel which could be attached to a rice pounder and then into the lower falls. Two wooden and metal 'bridges' crossed over the pool allowing central views for tourists and a dangerously fun crosspath when people intended on going different directions. After having a few dips in the lower pools (cold!!) we got back to the minivan and were whisked off to an unexpected stop - a Tourist Hmong village - quite what was touristy about this except the tourists I do not know. In fact it was heart rending, rows of children more or less begging you in parrot fashion '5,000 for you please' and so it continued, both sets of people - locals and tourists - being paraded for one anothers entertainment serving no purpose except a hopeful sale of reproduction goods which our 'guide' explained would be better discounted at the night market in town.. Depressing. If they want to call it a tourist village then something more than a sign calling it so would benefit the community.
Arriving back in town we caught a few minutes of various films showing at the film festival currently in town then set about booking our boat to go 7 hours north along the Nam Ou river to Nong Khiaw advised us by an expat at the Ock Pop Tok craftshop.. Promising to be a much smaller rural town not quiet so involved with tourist paraphernalia..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en_US&client=mv-google&v=cqZkdAGgzno

Slow boat down th' Mekong River

Setting off early so as to get into Laos with visa in place and onto the boat by 10.30 we were up and enjoying breakfast at Bamboo mexican house in Chiang Khong with plenty of time. This was a lovely wee place, we ate there at lunch and the night before when i'd sat with the owner playing blues guitar for a bit. His wife is the cook and they understand food to a T! Best pumpkin soup in Thailand and we made sure to buy some sourdough bread for the journey ahead..
Crossing was fairly easy, getting the visa was slightly more chaotic with groups of US and Italian tourists and other odd-bodies competing for service at the two desks. Soon enough we were in and on our way to the pier.. A game of patonc was underway outside the ticket office which i wish i'd joined. As with all things Lao we had a long wait between the official time and when the boat was actually leaving. Setting off it seemed like a pretty exciting journey; with toilets, a small shop providing food and drink on board and although fairly full it could definitely be worse.. Heading downstream it seemed like it would take no time. Six hours later we pulled in to Pak Beng and the sharks were out for feeding - by this I mean that everybody rushed for their bags and all friendships or allegiances made on the trip seemed in the distant past.. 'Me first' culture rearing its ugly head.. Once the bags were retrieved we had to scramble up a jagged rock face while being touted for hotels cafes and bars which is understandable given this is a place few people stay for more than a night. Finding a decent enough venue we chucked off our weights and had a good bit of grub before settling into an uncomfortable bed.
Morning comes and off on part two, setting off was typically late and some passengers neglected to understand that their apparent discomfort was at the cost of Lao schoolchildren and families sitting in the rear - the engine room quarter of the boat.. Effing ingreats. As we travelled down more stops were made, more passenger got on and trades were carried out. By the time we were there i reckon a good 170+ people were on a 80x8ft boat. Eat your heart out Easyjet. The whole trip was long but made for an altogether pleasant time, you can get uncomfortable but compared with the perils of car-sickness on a 10hour time frame i think it was a good choice. It gives a good chance to see the hilltops surrounding every straight and the floodplain farms entering new phases of crops, fisherman throwing or reeling nets, burning or cutting of trees and other boats to race downstream..

Arriving in Luang Prabang was much less chaotic though took longer due to the vast number of people and a slightly more chivalrous attitude to baggage. We tuk-tuk'd it toward our hotel and came to the wooden bridge that gave us the first sign we knew we were heading in the right direction. Then he stopped. "cannot cross" er... But there's other tuks going over?! "police!! New bridge 40,000 kip" - an extra mile and ten thousand more.. No sorry, not up for this, why say you can take us somewhere then renege! So we unloaded our bags and started to cross the wooden planks on wood struts - no more - over the River Chan 40ft below us to our hotel....

White Temple, Golden Triangle
After a relatively simple 3 hour trip to Chiang Rai we arrived at
night and booked in - moving room a few times because of invading ant
colonies we settled in and went out for dinner. It's an interesting
place historically but now seems to have the feel of a post goldrush
ghost.. This improved in the day time but overall it wasn't our kind
of place. We visited a hilltribe museum which made for some
interesting reading having met the Kayans before. We visited Suriwun
tea shop to and sampled a few varieties and learnt a fair bit thanks
to Meow - it was all grown at their farm only a few km away so we
asked if she could help sort out our transfer to Chang Khong, visiting
the farm, the White Temple and the so called Golden Triangle.
Next morning we set off from Chiang Rai with our driver Chai. First
the White Temple - Wat Rong Khun - the Thai equivalent of the Segrada
de Familia.. Aiming to be finished by 2070 it's an incredible
building, eventually 9, and is very different from others around. With
artistry put into every inch of the place and the artwork inside
drawing on classic as well as very modern imagery (Harry Potter,
mobile phones, Neo spacecraft, the WTC) it was beautiful whilst
bizarre.. Moving on to the Suriwun tea farm, it was pretty cool to
see. We were taken round the fields by Ning - Meows sister - where
Akha tribesfolk did the picking, and then around the processing
factory. Taking from 1-3 days to process after around 60 days growing
this place puts out a fair bit. If you ever wondered about some of the
process i've put a short video up, link at the bottom..
Next we headed way North to the 'Golden Triangle' so called as it was
the heroine growing empire before the rises of Afghanistan and Mexico
- and the US 'war on drugs' took its focus to the area it had helped
create. The region is a crossroads between Laos, Burma / Myanmar and
Thailand. It has since dramatically changed its agricultural outlook
with government assistance - instead tobacco has taken the drugs place
as a cash crop. We visited the Opium Museum there, taking in over 2000
years of trade routes, wars and troubles.. Fascinating stuff but it
felt strange for a tourist area to have been made of what caused the
focus on the land in the first place..
Around 6 or so months ago a 7.9 richter earthquake hit the area and
its effects can be seen at the museum and especially at the next stop
Wat Phrasing where the main Pacoda had lost its top 7m and was coated
in scaffolding instead of grass.. It was interesting as in this town
there were so many broken and worn old Wats that it seemed like a
fairly natural process being undertaken.
After a long day travelling we arrived in Chiang Khong feeling much
more at home than in Chiang Rai. After a small bit of confusion about
which hotel we were staying at on the one street there, we settled and
finally had a day to do nothing before catching the boat into Laos and
down to Luang Prabang.. An early start friday was our only chance and
even then we would be riding our luck..
Www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en_US&client=mv-google&v=qjwnSaxztpU

Elephant Market

So our two days rest turned into 2 days of shopping. The lure of incredible Thai craft and ingenuitive recycling made it quite enjoyable, from beer-can baseball caps to soap bar flowers it was like a bootfair dreamland. On the sunday night there's a weekly market that brings the city more or less to its knees - when it started setting up we had the luxury of space to browse, then making the mistake of stopping at a small gallery we'd found for a drink upon re-entering it was a fervourous scene, with little room to scan and walking slowed to a huddled penguin waddle. The most interesting point was that just before going for a drink, the public announcement system streamed the National Anthem.. Suddenly everything drew to a standstill, some singing along others mouthing the words silently - quite surreal when unexpected but completely understandable when you realise the faith placed in the King. His image appears in almost every bar, hotel, cafe and likely home, and since he has made it his life ambition to see the country provided with electric power in some form he can very much be said to be a man of the people.. Back to the frenzied market scene and with music, dance and bazaars continuing we escaped into the backstreets and the night.

Next morning we woke early to set off for a week volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park and Foundation to the north of the city.. It promised to be a week of hands on work and some play with the elephants, but only so much - the premise of the park being to help reform the treatment of these animals after lives of certain hardship. Within a few minutes of arriving we were already mucking in, helping in chain-lines to unload around 2500kg of pumpkins for the ele's bellys.. A sign of things to come? Sort of. There were two shifts a day, the rest filled with either edutainment or free(beer)time. The amount of knowledge and caring put into the place was evident, workers, animals, locals and volunteers all felt the benefit of the ethics in place and it made for a thoroughly enjoyable time. I found it hard myself to 'connect' with any particular one of the 36 elephants at the park, something others seemed to do with relative ease. The closest i came was visiting the hospital for the ones needing antibiotics or general care - when you are standing directly in front of one, eyes locked upon one another and you know that if it willed you could be flung a good twenty feet with ease, there was a calm - it wasn't easy to feel, but knowing the pains suffered and holding the utmost respect for it . . I think that's where it lies.
We met the park founder Lek one of the days and had a good opportunity to talk with her - which when she's currently helping co-ordinate a rescue effort for animals abandoned in Bangkok by owners unwilling or unable to extend the safety they guaranteed themselves was pretty lucky considering. Seeing her perspective was wonderful, a true passion is what moves her actions and it is this that has made this place seemingly so different and more appropriate to our own expectation than other options from the many others available. With hope if the movement to a positive environment for elephants can prosper we can continue to enjoy the view of, or company of all Asian elephants safe in the knowledge that they are living contently and safely.
A couple of other memorable moments included a local shaman hosting an opening ceremony, going to a local school, hacking down corn with machetes, tubing down the river, and meeting a brilliant group of people - so much as to say we even all managed to meet in town the night we left and enjoy a big meal together on the riverfront - although the food at the park had been wonderful and a varied buffet it was funny for us all to have a bill for a change.

So after a week in another incredible destination it was time to head back to Chiang Mai again, though this time no going back. Next morning we booked up our bus to set off for Chiang Rai and the beginning of our end in Thailand..

4x4 = 2

Taking a firm grip on our basket fronted 2 wheelers we set off again in the morning to town, reassured that the packs of dogs on the road didn't bite.. The aim was to rent either a car or mopeds to get around and see some distant 'attractions.' After a small lunch we bumped into the hotel owner who took us to his friends who would let out a Suzuki jeep to us for much cheaper than the rental we'd just checked out - apart from one missing doorhandle this seemed like a snip. Leaving our hotel owned bikes at the shop - for further rental - we took off in the jeep, at a slow pace to start although in fairness this thing was hard work and power steering was our job as driver, not a standard feature. We set off for the Padeung Karen (Kayan) village of Ban Huai Seau Tao about 20km out of town, to our fortune the roads were straight forward so fears of getting lost soon got lost in the contours of fields, trees and shallow river crossings. The Kayan are a refugee tribe having left Burma to settle here around 10 years ago, they practice elongation of the neck through the use of bronze hoops increased over time or alternately the extending of the ear - flesh tunnels comes close in our understanding although the size and weights used here wouldn't suit all tastes..
The tribe in part follow their ancient religion dating back to before the days when they segregated from tribes in Mongolia to live in Burma, though Christianity has become popular due to the belief that Catholic white men were the younger brother (themselves being the eldest brother of all the tribes) bringing them the words of their own religious book; a rustic church sits atop a steep hill overlooking the village - we're unsure as to the religious importance of the neck or ear distortions but i doubt that this shift will affect the practice as it seems culturally important as well as providing a level of tourist intrigue [article from local paper in Hilltribe Museum, Chiang Rai filled in more. Link below.]
Selling crafts including fine hand made silk and cotton scarves, tops and bags, small figurines of animals and the villagers, plus postcards. As we arrived later in the day soon before we left this all seemed to take a step back as priorities changed and the village returned to normal; children, dogs and chickens running erratically about and food being prepared for dinner.

After enjoying that night probably the best seafood i've ever had the next day we set off early on a longer trip - 140km or so to Mae Surin for the Mexican Sunflower hill only in bloom around this time of year and also the National Park hosting Surin Waterfall. This was a simple path again but much more exhaustive in its distance. What a beautiful drive, roads should be like this everywhere to hell with convenience this was fun. Many tourists had come from the world over and more than usual from Bangkok holidaying to avoid the floods still affecting vast areas. The sunflowers cover patches of hillside but one in particular is coated, more for beauty than any real purpose - but it is a beautiful sight with forest and farmland eroded hills as far as the eye can see. We then carried on through the valley to the Mae Surin park, managing to bargain our entrance to one ticket for the car rather than 200 baht each. Although we couldn't get right down to the falls there were two viewing platforms cut out of the hillside opposite. It was around 180m in height and coming from what seemed a small stream made a wonder in freefall..
After having to call up and rent the car til the evening to prevent a panicked bit of speeding back to town we headed back and had another enormous fish meal for only a few pounds we settled down to our last night knowing we'd sorely miss the area in heading back to the city. Next morning we set off in a 10 seater jet - the pilot had a rear view mirror it was that small - with incredible views with the fresh morning air it made you wonder over the vastness how ever people claimed to be king and conqueror?! Touching down we had two days to shop and rest up before a week volunteering with elephants to the north.

Karen interview:
Www.Asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/7588 1160621207886634
This was a shock to read but i feel that the village we visited was better tended and accomodating..

The long and winding road..

Setting off to the North from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son we were up and on our way by 7.30 with 5 roughly hours of steep winding road ahead.. Hearing the roads were bad we were ready for bumpy dusty tracks and sheer cliff faces, got to say I did feel uneasy about the idea.. In fact, other than occasional military check-points along the way the scariest thing was probably the bugs in one of the roadside toilets and on average the roads were better than our own potholed pavings people are up in arms about after a heavy winter. It was a brilliant ride, bit on the speedy side but we were getting a discount as our driver had an afternoon pick up from Pai, a main town we passed by on the way. Slowly winding and creeping upward - an automatic car can be a bit of a bain on this terrain - passing the cloud level and ear pressure needing to be equalized the heat picked up as ever going into the afternoon but a much cooler wind replaced the cities warmer climes.
We arrived around 2 in the end and found ourselves in a true paradise... Red/purple dragonflies?! Gims Resort has been running for three years and was set up by the land owner Koh Ho (sp?) originally from Bangkok. When i say land owner, when a guy has rice fields being harvested outside your window i think you get the picture. You could smell it, so fresh.. With free bicycles available the 10minute ride to town was great fun and gave a great feeling of liberty after the madness of the streets in Phuket and Chiang Mai; since it was a small town - made up of two villages and overlooked by a mountain top Wat - there was less pressure to feel obligated by rights of way and traffic lights had a slight roulette feel to them!!
We only had two days to make the most of this place so plans started to form that night over the first full meal i had managed in 3 days - this stomach was back in business.

Chiang MaiTranslated meaning 'many elephants' though there aren't any
to be seen inside the Old City walls.. It's an up and coming place
where old meets new, inside the city walls - surrounded by a fish
filled moat and with partially rebuilt city gates - there are numerous
Buddhist Wat temples of varying design and age, the oldest being the
700 year old Wat Chao Phraya once home to the Emerald Buddha now to be
found at the Grand Palace in Bangkok (check out its apparent tale,
pretty incredible..!!)As former Thai PM was from the area it
apparently is the focus of a certain amount of regeneration, tourism
is certainly a booming trade and high rise hotels can be found nearer
the Chao Phraya river outside the central city..Around the town you
have tour operators for visiting the many elephant parks,
tree-adventure trails, waterfalls, tiger parks and local long-neck
Karen villages. We arrived last friday with a bump, quicky followed by
a bout of food poisoning from a mystery meat club sandwich for myself,
by wednesday we set off West to the province of Mae Hong Son - only a
5 hour drive away . . .

Loy Krathong

While in Phuket it was full moon, the chance in Thailand to celebrate on the island of Kho Phangan with pretty much the biggest rave imaginable - but we were two boats a train ride and far too much money and hassle away from there.. Fortunately this full moon was the national celebration of Loy Krathong.. Loy being water and Krathong being the banana tree 'boat' you either buy or in our case make and cast off into the water. It's a celebration of light and water, with tourists and locals alike celebrating with sky lanterns, fireworks, krathongs and more or less the usual party atmosphere you could expect worldwide.. It was like star gazing - seeing so many lanterns going up was... Well i couldn't help but thinking of Tie Fighters from Star Wars..

We moved up to Chiang Mai the next day - and it was carrying on there still, with even more Tie Fighters!!! With some beautiful silky statuettes illuminating the night time streets and more fireworks it made this usually docile city explode with more than one bang.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN KRATHONG
- Get a floating circular base
- Using same size strips fold as if making a paper aeroplane, staple and trim into diamond like triangles; attach flat to base evenly
- Repeat but instead of trimming fold bottom edges in to force pointed end up.. Attach to base between last pieces
- Continue process until adequately elaborate
- Decorate with candles, josticks and flowers
- Sell to tourists for roughly £1.50-10 or
- Put money, hair and nail clipping aboard, light, pray and float away!!!!!!

Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai

Looking at the peaches:

Scuba-doobie-do!!

Today's been about one thing. Fish. Managed to book up a dive today, had to be ready for 7 so as to guarantee our space on the boat to head out to Racha-Yai island to the south of Phuket where we had two 50 minute dives. Wow.
I had to start from scratch but luckily we found an incredibly good rate and an American instructor Joe who you trusted - with your life, being no joke. It took around an hour and a half to get there but by the time you arrived and strapped all the gear on it was so hot that diving in to the water held none of the reserve that usually comes with jumping in. Once dunked and a few basics reviewed we headed down, reaching around 12m at times. It wasn't the most spectacular of areas but i'd be lying if i said it wasn't beautiful.
Various small corals were dotted around on the bed and rocks hiding fish and crustaceans such as... sea urchins/cucumbers, puffer/box/angel/pretty fish, flounder, moray eels, boxer shrimp AND an octopus right before we finished. That was amazing and being able to see these animals in a natural environment was a privilege - one that some boat owners didn't come close to understanding; at one point a loaded fishing line from a private boat was well worth cutting/un-hooking, however a tug tricked them and likely spared an exquisite large fish that was showing some interest..
Some good food and a beer on board afterward topped it off, though the sway of the boat returning didn't suit all.
Sooner or later we'll get some pictures up as words have no chance of doing the amount of colour and shapes justice.

Bangtao, Patong, Karon, full on!

Sawadee!! Time to explain what's happening here.. Started off in Bangtao and to be fair it's going to be hard to beat there. Genuinely beautiful little village although the prices did reflect on the lack of competition.. Or the vast number of "drink too much whiskey" Russian tourists. We were staying at a dainty little 'bangalaw' chalet just a minute away from the beach. Two days there and an early morning at the beach with fresh coconut before heading to the city of Patong, a much vaster complex of towers, markets, discos and massage shops.
The heat is unforgiving, so afternoons can be almost ruled out on hotter days unless you get to the breezy beach - which we didn't and our hotel was a good ten minute walk from town, with a fair sized grove inbetween it and the sea guaranteeing no cooling wind. I took a stroll up a steep hill one day to get a good view and my bearings - one local laughing at me saying "just homes and forest!" Well, i liked the homes and the view was something to behold..
Some good food was on offer but you had to shop around, being an overly tourist orientated area you aren't saving even a penny some places. Despite the many hundred offers we haven't got a suit, dvd, bags, watches or ladyboys - but we did have a massage.. Oh my days, I have never been contorted and cracked so much and felt so good after.. Definitely worth the £6/hour we paid including a tip.
Overall Patong is an interesting place and it's easy to get the flavour of the region but i didn't think another day there would do us any favours as it's not somewhere you would find much peace..

We've just moved to a new hotel down the coast in Karon, a much smaller town and hopefully somewhere we can feel less crowded.

Sense & Ostensibility

Here we are, Phuket!! After a few more days spent deciding what to do, woke up to find Qantas 'locked out' so the whole plan was resting on hope alone - and some angry diplomats no less.

Fortunately all fell into place as these things do, we somehow managed to pack and clean in time and get to the airport.. To cut a long story short as i'm now very tired, two flights later we're in Bangtao on the west of the island and very glad to be so..

This is a public information announcement.. Travelling is a journey best undertaken with caution! We're one week away from setting off on an 8 month adventure taking in 8-9 countries over 3 continents.. This figure is vague, partly as i'm including the US of A despite us only stopping there for 4 hours as part of our return, but also we're currently deciding how best to navigate the floods affecting Thailand, specifically regarding Bangkok.

We're due to arrive on Thursday next week, and the city is preparing for a major wash-out. So, do we avoid Bangkok altogether? Go to Singapore instead? Heading to Phuket seems on the cards, but where should we come from? It's a tough call as already we're spending money on internal transfers instead of land transport as planned, and if the airport floods then we're looking at further additional fees..

If you can't beat them, join them?