Returning to the road after a break like Luang Prabang is cathartic. I think that period has been the best bit of the trip by a long way. I have memories that will last my life and stories that will carry on for some long time (thanks again Angels). But like everything one must move onto the next day. One can't live in the past no matter how much one would like to. Just like I can't live in the future. It is the here and now for me, one moment after the next. A rich tapestry with me slinging the weft and the waft or whatever that weaving term is. I am in control of my life at the moment and from the driving seat it looks pretty bloody good mate!
I left Luang Prabang at what turned out to be a respectable hour (at least an hour late). We loaded up our Minivan and I assumed the position in the front seat. Oh Caloo Calay frabjous joy. Comfort plus. A concept usually not known on South East Asian transport but found in spades here. Note to any traveller... Get the front seat in the minibus it's a gas!
Because of the comfort I immediately fell asleep and missed the first bit of the journey. This was Ok because when I did wake up I was confronted with views of very steep mountainsides that we seemed to be on top of. This went on for some time so I fell asleep again. When I rewoke I experienced a severe bout of Deja Vue. The country was so like the New Engalnd tablelands I had to pinch myself to proove that I was not dreaming. They have planted quite a lot of Eucalypt species and also cypress pine as well. The hills were rolling just like that around Armidale at home. The only difference was that instead of wheatfields there were rice paddys and instead of hereford cattle there was the local breed and water buffalo. This continued all the way to Phonsavan. The journey ended at the Minivan station in downtown Phonsavan surrounded by eager hustlers touting thier special hotels. I ended up staying in the first we visited. I was exhausted and did not want to argue. The room was clean cheap and had a TV .. bloody luxury.
The morning forced its way into my conciousness by rubbing the sun in my eyes. I staggered from bed and drew the curtain across the insistent glare. Breakfast was taken at the resteraunt across the street because the one in my hotel had no baguettes. I had a nice omelette sandwich and a lovely restorative coffee. I then bought my minivan ticket to Vientianne for the next day and hired a motorbike complete with helmet and not so helpful map. After an abortive try (bloody map) I managed to find my way out of Phonsavan and off to the Jars site #1.
The Jars are truely a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a mystery. There is no visible evidence that gives one any idea why or what they are for. The stone comes from a mountain about 40 to 50 Kms away. Some jars weigh up to 6 tonnes so they would have had a big time getting them to any of the 27 sites so far identified. There is no consistency in size, shape or arrangement. They lie there higgdy piggildy like some giant had got carried away with a wierd craft display. Site1 was my first expereince. One had to be careful where one walked. You had to stay between the MAG markers for want of being blown to pieces by UXO. Times like these make me really happy to see the demise of the US empire these days. I cheer when I hear of dead Americans in some foriegn war. One back for the good guys I say. Hey George, I don't support you you fucking prick so I must be the enemy mate. Come on you fucker I'll have you. Stand up and have a go ya mug!
Back to the Jars boy, calm down go back to green. Site 2 and 3 were just as interesting but a little different. Still hill top sites but not so many jars. Site 2 had a few more lids which was interesting as were the patterns on their tops. What was stunning though was the views. Tree clad hills and stunning paddy lined valleys. Beautiful.
The trip was fulfilled by a visit to a waterfall. An unexpected addition to the tour that I found. It was so like the falls at the Blue Holes outside of Armidale that I started to look for the turn off to Dorrigo. The run back to town was uneventful but the stop at the MAG offices in town was very interesting. I finished with a massage at the place next door for the people who have suffered from the UXO. It was painful but great.
Now for dinner and a good lie down in preparation for the trip to Vientianne tomorrow.
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
DBP
Photos from the day in the battlefield. Starting with the French and finishing with the Viet Minh.
Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.3
Monday, 16 January 2012
Lionel's Angels
What an interesting thing the nature of friendship is. I have been traveling for the last few days with three of the nicest people you could possibly want to bump into anywhere in the world not the least here in Laos.They make my day, they lift my spirits and they make me feel that life is truly beautiful. They are fun to be with and they seem to value my company. Yeeha!!!
Yesterday I and my three Angels hired 2 motorbikes and rode out to a set of waterfalls.Tat Kuang Si. They were about 35 Km out of Luang Prabang. Erica and Emilly on one bike and Sandra and I on the other. It took about 40 minutes to get there and was a very pleasant run up and down gentle hills with great vistas of paddy fields and tailored forests. At the falls we came first to the " Free the bears " sanctuary. We were lucky ( or maybe it was just Kismet) to arrive just as the bears were dutifully strolling back to their cages while the staff and some volunteers distributed food around the enclosures. The food was carefully hidden so to give the bears some stimulation and to simulate their foraging in the forest. After a while the bears were let out and it was real fun to watch them scrabbling about finding the sweetest morsels. While we were standing there looking at the scene we started talking to the bloke who manages the facility. He is from Cairns Australia and his name is Luke. The organisation is an NGO funded and organised through Australia. The upshot of this was that we got an invite to go and have a look at some bears at close hand. It was great. In one pen there was a very forlorn female who had been born with Hydro-encephalitis. She was now blind and possibly deaf. She was undersized for her age and very slow poor thing. We were allowed in her cage to give her a pat. While we were changing places Sandra got a bit close to the cage next door containing 4 very boisterous young boys (1 year Old). Next thing she is fighting with the bears for the possession of her very nice fleecy jacket. It was a loosing battle. Those bears had such fun with the jacket. We watched for about 5 minutes as they pulled and stretched and tore at the jacket. It was fantastic to watch, that is if you weren't Sandra who I have to say looked a little nonplussed. I really have to take my hat off to her she was very good about loosing a very nice jacket.After all this drama we started off to the waterfalls with assurances from Luke the bloke in charge to meet us that night at the Utopia bar with a replacement "hoody" from the center.
The falls themselves were stunning. They formed a staircase of little falls almost like rice paddies down through copses of trees. The water was crystal clear or a vivid blue which we were assured by a fellow traveler was the result of copper in the water. Several of the pools were set up for swimming and I kicked my self for not bringing my togs. Later however I was rather glad I had not taken the opportunity as a mob of rather unpleasant people turned up, each with a beer Lao in hand and proceeded to wreck the ambient atmosphere for the more sensitive of us. I was secretly hoping one of them in particular would injure himself seriously even terminally but alas there is no justice in the world at that time. They have already been to Vang Vieng so I can't even hope that he will break his neck there! Such is life.
Returning to Luang Prabang we stopped off in a little village on the way and had a very pleasant (for me Lunch). I was thinking to myself "Lionel you lucky old bugger how to you get into these situations?" Here I was sitting at a roadside in a very nice quiet little village watching school kids riding home on their tredders with three absolutely stunning young women who were great conversationalists, funny, witty and very interesting. Sharing life stories and enjoying each others company. It can't get better than that. Peel me a grape Scotty I've found nirvana!
When we got back to Luang Prabang we still had a lot of fuel. So we carried on through LP and rode for another 10 -15Km the other side until we found a bar on the banks of the Mekong. Low and behold we got there right on the most spectacular sunset I have seen yet in SEA The colors went from a light peach to the most rich purples and reds and deep deep gold. It was better than fantastic, more than amazing. We took photos and had a Beer Lao to celebrate. We started taking photos of each other and that"s where "Lionel's Angels" were born. Thank you to the gods that don't exist. Thank you to the forces of whatever that created that moment. I will cherish that time for a long time. As long as my memory lasts that will be right up there with the best of them.
I came to Laos to put to bed the ghosts of the past. I have done that adequately. But I now have the best dreams for the future. Thank you girls from the depths of my heart.
Yesterday I and my three Angels hired 2 motorbikes and rode out to a set of waterfalls.Tat Kuang Si. They were about 35 Km out of Luang Prabang. Erica and Emilly on one bike and Sandra and I on the other. It took about 40 minutes to get there and was a very pleasant run up and down gentle hills with great vistas of paddy fields and tailored forests. At the falls we came first to the " Free the bears " sanctuary. We were lucky ( or maybe it was just Kismet) to arrive just as the bears were dutifully strolling back to their cages while the staff and some volunteers distributed food around the enclosures. The food was carefully hidden so to give the bears some stimulation and to simulate their foraging in the forest. After a while the bears were let out and it was real fun to watch them scrabbling about finding the sweetest morsels. While we were standing there looking at the scene we started talking to the bloke who manages the facility. He is from Cairns Australia and his name is Luke. The organisation is an NGO funded and organised through Australia. The upshot of this was that we got an invite to go and have a look at some bears at close hand. It was great. In one pen there was a very forlorn female who had been born with Hydro-encephalitis. She was now blind and possibly deaf. She was undersized for her age and very slow poor thing. We were allowed in her cage to give her a pat. While we were changing places Sandra got a bit close to the cage next door containing 4 very boisterous young boys (1 year Old). Next thing she is fighting with the bears for the possession of her very nice fleecy jacket. It was a loosing battle. Those bears had such fun with the jacket. We watched for about 5 minutes as they pulled and stretched and tore at the jacket. It was fantastic to watch, that is if you weren't Sandra who I have to say looked a little nonplussed. I really have to take my hat off to her she was very good about loosing a very nice jacket.After all this drama we started off to the waterfalls with assurances from Luke the bloke in charge to meet us that night at the Utopia bar with a replacement "hoody" from the center.
The falls themselves were stunning. They formed a staircase of little falls almost like rice paddies down through copses of trees. The water was crystal clear or a vivid blue which we were assured by a fellow traveler was the result of copper in the water. Several of the pools were set up for swimming and I kicked my self for not bringing my togs. Later however I was rather glad I had not taken the opportunity as a mob of rather unpleasant people turned up, each with a beer Lao in hand and proceeded to wreck the ambient atmosphere for the more sensitive of us. I was secretly hoping one of them in particular would injure himself seriously even terminally but alas there is no justice in the world at that time. They have already been to Vang Vieng so I can't even hope that he will break his neck there! Such is life.
Returning to Luang Prabang we stopped off in a little village on the way and had a very pleasant (for me Lunch). I was thinking to myself "Lionel you lucky old bugger how to you get into these situations?" Here I was sitting at a roadside in a very nice quiet little village watching school kids riding home on their tredders with three absolutely stunning young women who were great conversationalists, funny, witty and very interesting. Sharing life stories and enjoying each others company. It can't get better than that. Peel me a grape Scotty I've found nirvana!
When we got back to Luang Prabang we still had a lot of fuel. So we carried on through LP and rode for another 10 -15Km the other side until we found a bar on the banks of the Mekong. Low and behold we got there right on the most spectacular sunset I have seen yet in SEA The colors went from a light peach to the most rich purples and reds and deep deep gold. It was better than fantastic, more than amazing. We took photos and had a Beer Lao to celebrate. We started taking photos of each other and that"s where "Lionel's Angels" were born. Thank you to the gods that don't exist. Thank you to the forces of whatever that created that moment. I will cherish that time for a long time. As long as my memory lasts that will be right up there with the best of them.
I came to Laos to put to bed the ghosts of the past. I have done that adequately. But I now have the best dreams for the future. Thank you girls from the depths of my heart.
Nong Khiaw
What can you say about Nong Khiaw that doesn't sound as if you are on some very good drugs? Wonderful. amazing, fantastic, gorgeous. These are all true but they don't quite capture the essence. There is a tranquility that pervades the senses, a peace that blankets the observer in a warm glow. You feel kindly thoughts for your fellow man and complete strangers, You wander around with a bueatific smile like some demented wanderer.
You may be able to guess from all this that I was very taken with the place and this is a simple truth. Sharing the place with my new friends, sardines all, we had two glorious nights eating and talking together. I went with two sardines to see the caves 3 Km out of town and up a dizzingly steep set of stairs. The caves were truely awesome with helpful signs showing where the provincial governer had his desk and where people sat for entertainment. We then followed another path past suspicious water buffalo to another cave. I barked my shin on a style and bled like a stuck pig. Ho Hum. I was not going to let that stop me however and plunged on ahead after some hurried minor repairs. After the cave it was back to the bikes, the girls going on further into the country and I limping back to town. That night another sardine (Anne Marie the Irish lass who runs a tour company with her Spanish partner Gorki -please forgive the spelling) very kindly gave me some iodine to bathe the wounds and all was good.
The next day 4 of us headed of to Luang Prabang in a very uncomfortable and drafty "swang thou" ( again please excuse the spelling). Herin begins the tale of "Lionel's Angels!!!!!!! - eat your heart out Charlie.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Spawning of the sardines
Travelling is definitely an inspiring experience, Just when you think life is shit and you may as well just go and buy your ticket home something happens to lift you from the depths to the hieghts of enthusiasm. The funny thing is that the catalyst is usually something very stressful, difficult or down right painful. In this case it was a touch of it all.
I fronted up at 5:30am for the bus from DBP to Muang Khua, the start of the trek to Luang Prabang. Into the heart of darkness as it were. To say the Bus was packed would be to lie flat out. It was more than packed it was ridiculous. There were about 30,000 locals and 10 westerners squeezed like sardines into the back shelf of a very tight bus. We travelled like siamese sardine fish for 8 hours to Muang Khua. We had a respite at the border where the Laotian Border people fleeced us of whatever US dollars we had and another respite for lunch in a very small and strangely picturesque village somewhere in the depths of Northern Laos.
Muang Khua was small and border like. The Bus left us stiff and sore on the other side of the river to the town and we had to negotiate a crossing with the ferryman who had a very long and thin boat for the purpose. The 10 of us then distributed ourselves around town in various guesthouses. Several of the female persuation were able to share to reduce costs. I of course avoided any suggestions of sharing with my fellow travellers being painfully aware of my capacity to shake the walls with my snoring. We all agreed to meet up at the town crossroads and share a meal at 6pm. A wonderful night of tales and stories followed with us sharing life experiences and whatnot.
It is amazing how these shared experiences creates the strongest bonds of friendship in such a short time. I am constantly amazed by this and of course a little inspired. All the people I had met were young enough to be my children! The eldest I think is in their thirties. They were great. They lifted me up and put me firmly on my feet. I felt once again that I knew exactly what I was doing and why. I had focus and direction again and I was back in the world!
The next day we shared a boat down the river to Nong Khiaw. Some got off at a place called Muang Ngoi Neua. It was so sad to see them standing on the river bank as we moved back into the current waving wistfully with sad smiles and wondering of will we see them again. It was like loosing a family member. Taking a step back, the river trip was fantasic, the views of the bank ever changing in aspect and detail. Tiny villages, clusters of very small bamboo huts would peer shyly from river hieghts surrounded by bamboo groves and flanked by patches of vegetables. Every once in a while the excitement lifted as we thrust into a rapid. The boat would lurch around and water would splash everywhere. Very exciting and very safe. Good fun. What interested me was that the front of the boat would wiggle about in an independent way from the rear. I decided that this was what was meant to happen so I relaxed and enjoyed the time.
Follow will be a description of our time in Nong Khiaw.
I fronted up at 5:30am for the bus from DBP to Muang Khua, the start of the trek to Luang Prabang. Into the heart of darkness as it were. To say the Bus was packed would be to lie flat out. It was more than packed it was ridiculous. There were about 30,000 locals and 10 westerners squeezed like sardines into the back shelf of a very tight bus. We travelled like siamese sardine fish for 8 hours to Muang Khua. We had a respite at the border where the Laotian Border people fleeced us of whatever US dollars we had and another respite for lunch in a very small and strangely picturesque village somewhere in the depths of Northern Laos.
Muang Khua was small and border like. The Bus left us stiff and sore on the other side of the river to the town and we had to negotiate a crossing with the ferryman who had a very long and thin boat for the purpose. The 10 of us then distributed ourselves around town in various guesthouses. Several of the female persuation were able to share to reduce costs. I of course avoided any suggestions of sharing with my fellow travellers being painfully aware of my capacity to shake the walls with my snoring. We all agreed to meet up at the town crossroads and share a meal at 6pm. A wonderful night of tales and stories followed with us sharing life experiences and whatnot.
It is amazing how these shared experiences creates the strongest bonds of friendship in such a short time. I am constantly amazed by this and of course a little inspired. All the people I had met were young enough to be my children! The eldest I think is in their thirties. They were great. They lifted me up and put me firmly on my feet. I felt once again that I knew exactly what I was doing and why. I had focus and direction again and I was back in the world!
The next day we shared a boat down the river to Nong Khiaw. Some got off at a place called Muang Ngoi Neua. It was so sad to see them standing on the river bank as we moved back into the current waving wistfully with sad smiles and wondering of will we see them again. It was like loosing a family member. Taking a step back, the river trip was fantasic, the views of the bank ever changing in aspect and detail. Tiny villages, clusters of very small bamboo huts would peer shyly from river hieghts surrounded by bamboo groves and flanked by patches of vegetables. Every once in a while the excitement lifted as we thrust into a rapid. The boat would lurch around and water would splash everywhere. Very exciting and very safe. Good fun. What interested me was that the front of the boat would wiggle about in an independent way from the rear. I decided that this was what was meant to happen so I relaxed and enjoyed the time.
Follow will be a description of our time in Nong Khiaw.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Friday, 13 January 2012
Sapa to Diem Bien Phu
At 7:30 on a very cold, damp and foggy morning I began what turned out to be a very interesting bus trip to DBP. Not only because the scenery was as usual spectacular in that North Vietnam way but also because I got talking to the person next to me who turned out to be a very nice 68 year old french woman who is an artist who travels around the world when she sells her paintings. She was on a 3 month trip to SEA. We had a lovely conversation over the next 8 hours of the trip.
It is a funny sensation talking to someone new while experiencing the most awesome scenery all around you. We first went around Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam. astounding views; valleys, strangely shaped peaks and hanging valleys peering secretly from behind imposing mountains. The whole thing had a Lord of the Rings feel to it. I expected to see Bilbo strolling down the road arm in arm with Gandalf. At least the weather as right. Wet cold and not foggy any more.
Coming into DBP was an anticlimax. It is not a pretty town. You get a strong frontier feel as if they are just hanging in there. Not quite believing that they could make much more of a go of it. People did not seem very friendly and the hotel staff positively weren't. I did not care though as I was excited to get into the battlefield and see where General Giap fought the battle from. This I did the next day.
A little man had latched onto me at the bus station and the next day there he was outside my hotel. I figured I might as well engage him as a guide as I had no idea where anything was. This turned out to be an inspired move as he took me to all the French hill emplacements still there. We also called in at one of the three Vietnamese cemeteries to the fallen. For me it was a heart rending experience to see grave after grave after grave. We also visited the French monument which was tasteful but very small. Each time we stopped whether it was at the French generals bunker or Hill A1 (Ariadne) I got this overwhelming feeling that the French never stood a chance. They may have been able to kill an inordinate amount of Viet Minh but they were never going to win. The best part of the day was the trip to general Giap's headquarters high up on the tallest mountain hidden away from French view by mountain and jungle. It was over 40 Kms from the town by road. Well I'll call it a road if we can agree that Wallace road at the Channon is a major highway. Up and up we went bouncing from pothole to crater. We passed through several Thai (not from Thailand but a separate ethnic group) villages with heaps of kids out playing in the dust. We went across at least two hanging valleys with rice paddies drying away in the after harvest fallow. Finally we arrived at the base of a hill covered in jungle. A path made its way into the interior. We walked along it for about 1 Km. Finally we came not to a jungle clearing but to a number of bamboo huts hidden in the jungle. Here was GG's house and here was the tunnel he used to plan the battle and to communicate with his 2 iC.The French really never had a chance. The complex here was sophisticated and very well hidden. From here they controlled the bombardment of the town.
I returned to the town exhausted. I realised that I had assaulted most of the hill forts in one day when it had taken the Viet Minh 3 months. OK so no one was shooting at me and there were no barbed wire emplacements to deter access but I still felt exhausted and strangely fulfilled. The next day was the beginning of a new saga with the first leg of the trip down river to Luang Prabang.
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