The Dalat Easyriders

So last night I was with Jen and two elderly Vietnamese men drunk and eating dinner of beef salad, rice and chicken wings. To order three beers in Vietnamese you say "ba, bababa", the novelty of this new and important linguistic phrase is probably why we kept ordering more beer.

The night before last we also had dinner with the same Vietnamese men and one of them had purchased rice wine. If I thought the bababa was dangerous then the rice wine was lethal.

The two men are called Wing and Thai.

Wing has offered me to return to Vietnam to marry his daughter, Thai has offered his son to Jenny as an option. This arranged marriage would mean that Wing and Thai would become our "ba ba", which as well as being the word for beer is also the word for father. Wing and Thai are both quite big on jokes.

For the past three days I have been shooting over green mountains and zipping past rice fields on the back of a motorbike driven by Thai. Jen has been with Wing and I can safely say that it has been the highlight of our entire trip so far.

Wing and Thai are part of an increasingly famous motorcycle tour group called the Easyriders which is based in the city of Dalat in Vietnam. As a country Vietnam is well known for making fake copies of good designer products and the Easyriders are no exception. As soon as Jen and I stepped off the bus we were approached by a man claiming to be an Easyrider, we were offered Easyrider tours from our hotel and were starting to wonder how we could find the real Easyriders. We eventually went on the internet and found that whilst they do not have an office, the motorcycle men all like to hang out at a cafe in town.

It was at this cafe that we met Wing who Jen later described as being "exactly how I imagined an Easyrider would look like". He seemed like a walking history book and not just because his skin was leathery and he looked a little worn round the edges. He was clearly full of some stories and his English was excellent, we both decided immediately that we had found our Easyrider.

And he really did have some stories. His military base was attacked and out of 200 soldiers who fled the base only 7 made it to the nearest town, and he was one of them. More amazing still is that I recall learning about this event during my history lessons at school.

Wing and Thai were both brilliant tour guides and through them we got to see the Vietnamese countryside, its people and their different ways of life. Some memorable stops were to the rice wine, silk and chopstick making factories, waterfalls, and coffee plantations to name just some. The best part though was the countryside itself. No pictures I took will do the changing landscape justice, it felt like I was continuously in a car commercial where the vehicle is twisting and turning through curves and valleys...

...Except I was on a bike, which is now in my opinion far more fun than any car could ever be.

I now want to buy a motorbike and go touring round the world.



bx

Sand Dunes of Mui Ne

After more than a month of travel we are finally back near the sea!

We have pushed up north to the fishing village of Mui Ne which is famous for its long beach and clumps of sand dunes.

The beach was kind of average, it had a fair bit of litter on it and the beachfront is full of resorts and posh hotels so you can't easily get to the beach from the road. I think what this has shown me is that i'm not a two weeks by the beach holiday person. It was still nice to go swimming and watch the sunset though.

The sand dunes were lots more fun!

bx

Ben Tre

I love Vietnam.

I have only been here for about a week but I have already decided to admit it. It was staying in the southern town of Ben Tre that has tipped me over the edge.

What tourist attractions are in Ben Tre?
Nothing at all.

It was the friendly people in the town that made Ben Tre so unbelievable and I would advise anyone in the area to spend a day walking around its streets.

Everywhere you walk people would shout "hello"! And wave at you. It got to the point that I felt like a local celebrity. Jen and I must have replied hello at least 150 times in one day walking around.

Other friendly examples:

• I was waiting for Jen to come out of the hotel and this little old lady beckoned me over to her bench and gestured me to sit down. She waved at me but could not speak English, she just wanted to offer me a seat.
  
• A man and his daughter came up and started having a chat with me about where I was from and why I was in Vietnam. He offered advice on where was good to eat and then went on his way.
  
• Jen and I were walking in a side street and a man stopped to talk to us. Within ten minutes we were walking with some of his family to the rooftop of a posh local hotel overlooking the Mekong River. The family purchased drinks for us and chatted about travel, family and what we thought about Vietnam.
  
• I was on the bus and a man on the seat in front offered me some local cherries in a bag. I tried one and showed my satisfaction. He then purchased a whole bag from our next stop and gave them all to me!

These are just a few stories that have helped me to already decide that Vietnam is awesome.

The following day we journeyed further south to Can Tho where we went to visit the floating markets with some pictures below!



The floating market with ladies selling all sorts of different stuff.



My feet and river








This kid would sell all the fruit in the boat before he would give up his kitten. Spoilsport.



And finally this brings a whole new meaning to the word playing with your food. Our river guide came out of the kitchens with it at a restaraunt we docked at.

bx

Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh city is the type of city where you check your change carefully after paying the bill. It's loud, it's busy and there is always a price to barter for. We stayed for a couple of nights and explored a few different city districts and a couple of museums.

The morning we were leaving we were eating some breakfast in a cafe and began talking to an American guy on a different table. He had been living in Vietnam for ten years and could speak the language. He told us two things of interest.

1. Locals in Vietnam do not trust the banks because they lost money in the Vietnam war. All significant transactions are subsequently organized through suitcases full of gold and black bin liners stuffed with US Dollars. He told a story of buying a house with his wife and meeting the family at the door, handing over a suitcase full of gold and only then did the family leave and hand over the keys.
   
2. If you take motorbikes using the highways that connect the cities you are risking your life. And will likely see a fair few deadly crashes along the way.

The first information was amusing. The second was priceless as we had just been discussing taking a motorbike from Ho Chi Minh to our next destination. We quickly decided to take the bus instead.

We ran into a slight problem leaving the city when the guy operating the bus tried to charge us five times more than the ticket price. He got threatening and was not letting us off when we said we would not pay that much. Eventually all was resolved and he later pushed a local girl and made her cry, so it seemed he was a tosser to everyone, not just tourists.

Our first destination was My Tho, two hours south of Ho Chi Minh city. I seriously needed some proof that all people in Vietnam were not like the bus operator and was still a little frustrated at our experience. We eventually checked into a hotel that might have once been quite grand and impressive but now looked like it had taken a holiday in Baghdad. It was the view across the river that sold it to me though.

The owner of the hotel did not speak any English but an elderly Vietnamese friend he was with at the time did. It was this old man who turned out to be the start of my proof that Vietnam is not full of con artists.



The man was called Lee and he could speak English and French. French because as a child France controlled Vietnam, English because he said he studied it at school. Lee was a Cyclo driver which means he bikes people around town on a pedal bike whilst they sit in a chair on the front. He mentioned that he does tours around town and that we can pay him whatever we feel the tour is worth at the end of the day. He was not pushy or trying to make a strong sales pitch which was nice. We decided to take him up on his offer.

It took Lee some time to warm up to us and disclose that he was good at English because he worked as an interpreter for the Americans during the Vietnam war for three years. He was full of too many incredible stories to write down here, his bunker was bombed with him inside once, another time he took a helicopter with the American troops just to go swimming for a day. As he was telling us these stories it was clear he was acutely aware of anyone in the surrounding area being able to hear him speaking such fluent English. There has not been enough time since the Vietnam war for him to feel totally secure in speaking about his past occupation.

The tour that we went on was incredible and we got to see the countryside and meet people going about their daily lives that we would not have been able to otherwise. With Lee as our interpreter we even got invited to have lunch with a local priest! but unfortunatley time was against us.

Later that same day we were sad to say goodbye to Lee after he made sure that we got on the right bus and were given the local rate. Our next stop was the nearby town of Ben Tre, another small town that sits near the end of the Mekong river, the same river that we used to cross the border between Thailand and Laos earlier on our trip. I leave you with a picture of me and Mr Ho Chi Minh. ( I'm having some picture uploading issues at the moment and the two on this post are the only ones that worked)

bx

Crossings and survival

Question: What defies all logic and survival instincts?

Answer: Crossing the road in Vietnam

You stand on one side of the road and see a streaming mass of hundreds of motorbikes and the occasional car flowing down the road that you need to cross. You are not even safe on the pavement because the motorbikes also consider this to be a road too. You can't see a gap in the traffic, but you hold your breath, pray that your health insurance covers mad motorbikes and step directly into the mass of oncoming speeding metal.

And somehow I still have all my limbs.

The trick is to keep moving at a slow and steady pace into the traffic and the motorbikes simply speed round you like Moses parting the red sea. You can't bottle it and pause or stop in the road though because the drivers don't expect that to happen. They predict your journey as if you are a moving object and not a stationary obstacle. On the couple of times I have stopped in the road I have caused a bit of rage.

If crossing the road was as an experience then climbing onto the back of a motorbike taxi to get through town proved to be a near death one.

You know those Hollywood movies when they are speeding up to an intersection of traffic and the lights go red, traffic crosses into the path of the vehicle but the driver plows through anyway? That is exactly what happened to me today. This wave of traffic cut in front of us and somehow my maniac driver managed to just squeeze through before we were wiped out.

Another moment came on my return motorbike journey. I jumped on the back of the bike and we shot off into oncoming traffic! The driver weaved and sped through the honking oncoming vehicles because it was easier than going round the one way system. Easier for him maybe but not for my nerves.

I think this is something I'm going to get used to.

bx

PS. Currently in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Phnom Penh

We ended our first full day in the capital city of Cambodia drunk on a boat in the river. It was a converted club and full of some very obvious prostitutes, some obviously prostitute seeking men, enough marijuana to start a cartel and a wide mix of other colorful characters.

But our day began with a walk around the city of Phnom Penh.

Cambodia is an interesting country because of what it has been through so recently. One in five Cambodians were killed as a result of the Khmer Rouge, a political party that abolished money, killed people who wore glasses for being intellectual and set up notorious interrogation camps. The most brutal was S21. 14,000 people went through the camp, were violently interrogated and then eventually killed by being clubbed to death in the infamous killing fields.



The interrogations all usually started with the same line from the abusers. "Why do you think you are here"? This was asked because the interrogators had no idea why they were torturing the Cambodian before them and often the Cambodian did not know either. This was the insanity of the system, under pressure of torture a victim would be forced to write a "confession" and also strings of names who were additionally conspiring against the Khmer Rouge regime. Under torture these names were either made up or people the victim knew from everyday life. These people would then be rounded up and the killing machine would work on a loop. The confessions themselves were the saddest part of all, often lasting hundreds of pages because the victim knew that as soon as they stopped their confession it would mean their death. All this happened in recent history. I visited the killing fields where some mass graves contained up to 450 bodies.


So walking around Phnom Penh it's surprising to find a city full of so many people smiling. The place has character and life and a real sense of people looking forward to things to come. We ate at a local restaurant on the street where the lady could only point and tell us we were consuming "cow". A rat was scurrying around under her table and I have seen some stalls selling cooked spiders, frogs and cockroaches so I was pleased at her bovine confirmation. Tuk Tuk drivers harass you by the hundreds for a ride but are quick to smile an laugh if you explain that walking is better for your health. Kids come up and ask for money or try to sell you fake DVDs, books or bracelets but will still chat even if you don't buy anything, some have even imparted the occasional gem of tourist advice.

I like this city but it is quite an intense place. Everyone is living for the moment.

So how did we end up on a boat drunk?

Martha is the name of the girl that we are travelling with at the moment and she turned twenty years of age on our first full day in Phnom Penh. She is the ultimate backpacker, travelling with nothing more than a rucksack sized satchel for two years that puts my massive bag to shame. We needed so celebrate the end of her teenage years and so found a bar, found some locals for advice and then found a club on a boat in the river. We returned home to our hostel on a Tuk Tuk at 4am that broke down once on the way. Upon arrival we were offered opium, weed and an assortment of drugs. We declined and the dealers just smiled and went on their way. Just like everyone else in this crazy little contrasted city.



bx

The Temples of Angkor Wat

The ancient temples of Angkor Wat were so huge and detailed they left me sometimes walking around with my jaw open looking slightly confused and stupid.











You can't explore all the ruins in one day or even one week. If you approached a builder now and requested a similar complex to be built they would probably be seriously daunted at the idea. That it was started in 802AD then is impressive to say the least. Most incredible though is the carving that went onto nearly every brick and stone, the decoration and skill was what I never appreciated in pictures till I was exploring the alcoves and halls of the temples myself.

Other than the temples my other lasting image of Siem Reap will be riding a bike through traffic and seeing a baby of around 2 years old on the back of a moped with its mother. The toddler was staring at me so I waved and pulled a face. The baby then scowled and stuck out a small pudgy outstretched palm with the expectation of money.

The temples are incredible, the endless harassment and begging is a sad and often frustrating part that comes with them.

bx

PS. the third person in the pictures is a girl called Martha who we have been travelling with recently. She is an artist and if Jen or I are still for more than 10 minutes we get sketched!

From bad to good

We were in Pakxe which is South of the Laos capital and towards the border of Cambodia. I had just walked 40 minutes in the rain to a bank machine that would accept my Hong Kong bank card and I was wet and filthy because the main road out of the town was made of mud.

After I returned we walked to the local district museum which is in our guide books. It should have been open but it was closed. We then decided to walk to the local temple with a big sign outside saying visitors welcome. It was also closed. Dripping wet, feet covered in mud and looking at the closed doors of yet another temple Jen made the observation that Pakxe is shit. And I have to agree.

We were only in Pakxe because it is a town that breaks up the journey to Cambodia and we did not stay long. Not wanting Pakxe to be our last memory of Laos we journeyed a little further almost to the Cambodian border to an area known as the 4000 islands. Laos is landlocked but the islands have been formed as a result of the river creating small islands all concentrated round one particular area. We got a boat to one of the small islands and found a cabin for 15,000 kip a night (less than 1.50 quid between us). It had a hammock and a balcony overlooking the river and it was here that we relaxed and explored. We only stayed one night but it was really worthwhile seeing and the islands were fun to explore.

I have now left Laos and I am writing this from Siem Reap in Cambodia. We are staying in a really nice hotel and I will update with photos soon!

bx

Vang Vieng to Vientiane

Mental.

This is one word that can be used to describe the town of Vang Vieng. It is an odd little place between Lurang Prabang and the Laos capital and it is mad.

It is mad because it is in the middle of nowhere but somehow has become a place where all gap year people, university students and backpackers go for some hedonistic activity called tubing.

Sitting in an inflatable tube and floating down a dirty looking river might not seem like the most exciting of activities, but when you combine it with bar hopping things change very quickly.

Add into the equasion drinks being sold in buckets with whiskey and a type of red bull that has been made illegal in most western nations and tubing suddenly turns into an extreme sport. I say extreme because each bar you float into has the most incredible rope swings, pulley systems and other human firing contraptions to make it quite dangerous and also very fun.

We left Vang Vieng feeling slightly sore and caught a bus to Vientiane which is where I am now writing this. One thing that takes some getting used to in Laos is that they have a curfew. We have to be in our guesthouse by 11.30pm and the streets pretty much are dead by about 10.30pm. Not sure what happens if we stay out later but not in the mood to find out!

Jen and I are leaving in the next day or so to travel further south down Laos and will be arriving on the border of Cambodia soon.



Jen getting in the way of my picture across Lurang Prabang.



River kids showing off for the camera.

bx

Dead Body

Jen and I were in a tuk tuk last night and found ourselves in the same vehicle as a guy who took our two day boat from Thailand into Laos.

He said: "Did you see the dead body"
We said: "Dead body"?!

After talking to him it turns out that a dead body had floated past our boat face down and bloated in the water.

Because we were in the back of the boat, facing the other side of the river and reading we luckily missed the gruesome sight. No one made an attempt to grab the body and the guy said the locals just held their noses and let it float right on past.

bx

Useful links

On the right hand side of this blog I have put links to the blogs of Jen and Nikki.

Jen is doing the same trip as me, she takes some amazing photographs (she is now an award winning photogapher) and you can see the trip from a different point of view.

Nikki is meeting us later to do China, Russia and Europe.

bx

Timber trucks

We returned to Luang Prabang on the same type of Tuk Tuk bus that took us out of the city. I was happy to stretch my legs after the long journey.

The happy feeling did not last long though because we had to get into the town center and then get another public bus/shack with wheels for 8 hours to Vang Vieng. When we arrived in town though we realised that all public bus services left in the morning, and we had missed them. Such a shame, I was really looking forward to being treated like transported cattle :)

Not wanting to spend another day in Luang Prabang we found a private minibus company that would take us in the afternoon for just under 10 quid. It was faster too, which meant that we would arrive in about 5 hours. I felt like I was cheating a little by taking this option but the feeling did not last long once I clambered into an ultra posh minibus with leather seats, air conditioning and more space than some hostels we have stayed in.

But the smug feeling did not last long when the bus broke down 1.5 hours away from Vang Vieng.

As we stood in the mountains watching the sun begin to set our driver opened the front of the smoking minibus and said in a very sure tone "overheated, we wait three hours". Our fast and speedy minibus suddenly did not seem like a very good idea.

Our driver did not want to give up on us yet though. He spotted a few passing trucks and waved them down till he eventually found an old man and his daughter driving this.



Which is how we found ourselves hurtling through the dark mountains of Lao on the back edge of a timber truck, in a storm, holding on for dear life and laughing quite a bit on the way.


bx

The Lao Royal Family

After spending three nights in Lurang Prabang Jen and I felt that it was time to move on. During our three days we rented bikes, visited some incredible temples and been educated about Lau Royalty after visiting the palace museum. When we finished walking round the museum we could not discover what happened to the Royal family of Lau as it was not mentioned in any of the displays that we could see. This was a mystery that would be solved later.






A few months ago Jen was reading a magazine published by Lonely Planet. In this magazine the founder of the travel guide empire always writes an article about somewhere he has visited. In the article that Jen read Mr Lonely Planet had visited a small village called Nong Kiaw which was a four hour drive North East of Lurang Prabang. Whilst in this small village Mr Lonely Planet took part in a hike which had only been discovered in October 2008 called the 100 Waterfalls. He raved about it in the article so we had to go and visit, even though we really should be heading south through Laos to reach Cambodia.


The journey to get there was a mission and adventure in itself. We arrived at the bus station and got hassled by locals straight away, we waded though them though and made our way directly to the ticket counter. We were pleased that a ticket to get to Nong Kiaw cost only 35,000 kip (3.20p) but then turned to see the bus we would be riding in, at that moment the price totally made sense because...

...we were to make our way in a Tuk Tuk.

The same type of bus that does short journeys through Lurang Prabang was going to take us through the bumpy and sometimes dirt track roads to our destination. Not only this, we were to be packed in the back like sardines in a can. I did not even have room to allow my arms to hang by my sides because there were too many people on our hard seated bench.

Spatial awareness is not something the Lao people have gotten to grips with yet, which is why I had a 75 year old man to my left on the bus resting his hand on my leg and often asleep on my shoulder. At the start of the journey I got out my MP3 music player and he gave it a curious glance, I offered him an ear piece and he was soon listening to all my music for they entire journey. He liked Jack Johnson, he did not seem to care for Justin Timberlake and he fell asleep whilst I played songs from the classic chillout album. The journey might have been uncomfortable but I did make a new friend


When we finally arrived at Nong Kiaw we found a hostel that had small wooden huts overlooking the impressive Mekong River and limestone mountains.





The village was basic, families would wash in the streams from the sides of the road and electricity was only for set periods of the day when the generators kicked in. We booked a guide to take us on the 100 waterfall hike and the next day we set off bright and early to begin our journey.





It turned out that the 100 Waterfall Hike is not a journey looking at 100 waterfalls but a hike UP 100 Waterfalls as water hits you and you get totally soaked. It rates in my top 3 experiences so far on this trip because the scenery was stunning and in case I forgot to mention. WE WERE CLIMBING UP WATERFALLS! It was at the top of the waterfalls that our guide then made us local food on palm leaves and Jen managed to direct the conversation towards the Lao Royal Family and what happened to them. "We kill them!" Our guide proclaimed, whilst making a quick cutting motion along his throat with his index finger.


Mystery solved then.


bx