Welcome to Delhi, India

En Route to India
I opted in taking a shuttle bus to the air port to save some extra money. It left at 4:00 in the morning and it was about 15 minutes from my guest house so I was up VERY early. I ended up getting to the stop and noticed people were still out for the night just able to stumble on home after a night of drinking. I was propositioned by 3 prostitutes, one that I KNOW was a lady by her, hmm, his 'package'. I met a French girl who studies in Australia and is traveling for holiday and a local Thai boy who is traveling to Korea for 6 days while on the shuttle. We checked0in to our separate flights and said our goodbyes as we headed to our own gates. While in line at immigrations I met a girl who grew up in Carmel, California but has lived in Asia for the last 4 or 5 years teaching English, French, and Spanish. She's planning on teaching yoga for the next year on a Thai island. She gave me some tips for when traveling in India. She forewarned me that I will get diarrhea at some point, but just make sure to be prepared so I can get better asap. I walked to my gain, but before security I got a nice ice cream cone from DQ, since I didn't know how long it would be before I would be able to get one. Even thought it was vanilla I enjoyed every last lick. I was carefully searched and by bag thoroughly searched when I went through security, but was through in no time. I patiently waited until I was able to take my seat on the flight. I selected a window seat, but could have sat anywhere on the account that the airplane was largely under-booked. (just a side not, I had a mouse crawl across my toes just 5 seconds ago as I was typing the last sentence). I got a very heavy delightedly maroon blanket and was fast asleep before I even heard the pilot say anything about preparing for takeoff. I woke up and we were already in the air. I guess those noise-cancelling headphones can do magic. I had the meal on the plane which included some chicken, steamed rice and vegetables, and of course a roll. I ate then went back to sleep...the flight was only 4.5 hours and when I arrived in India I was slightly refreshed. I hadn't slept too well the previous night since I had to wake up sharply at 3:00 and probably wasn't fully asleep until well after 12:00.



Arriving In Delhi
I went to the bathroom in Delhi only to find squat toilets...yippie! After waiting in line and going through immigrations I got my luggage and exchanged the remaining 470 baht I had left in my pocket. I was largely ripped off, but what could I do, I probably only lost 3 dollars or so in converting my money to rupees. For the record there are ~50 Rs. to $1 US dollar. I walked down an ales where there must have been 50 people holding signs and waving their hands to get peoples' attention. I found my name and walked towards the young man holding the sign. He introduced himself and was the nephew of a Mr. Arora, who is a very close friend with my Uncle Marc. I followed him to a Toyota van and he introduced me to the driver, Mr. Kamal. He didn't speak English, but I guess I was OK with that at the time. Mr. Kamal dropped off the nephew and I was on my own with the driver. We drove around the city for a while and then pulled inside a gated housing community where we must have taking at least 6 or 7 turns before stopping. Another man met me and opened the door for me. He took my luggage upstairs and Mr. Kamal showed me upstairs to my room. I had passed a woman cleaning and said Namastay and continues past her. My room had a queen (or possibly even a king) sized bed, color TV with cable and a wooden entertainment system built around it. There were nicely carved wooden chairs with fine red velvet and an in-wall closet. There was also a nice bathroom with western-style toilet, a shower, as well as a separate tub. The entire time I was being asked what I wanted to eat/drink. I finally said coffee is fine. They came out with a tray of coffee, a light sandwich, and some biscuits. The sandwich had cheese and tomatoes on a light white bread, the biscuits were just crunchy vanilla type (and there must have been an entire plateful), but the coffee was aimed to impress. There was a very nice coffee cup, with gold painted fine china legs, such that the body of the cup rested half an inch above the fine china coffee plate. I must say that it was coffee, but not what I had expected. It was frothy and tasted like a cappuccino. The man who carried my bags in gave me the remote and kept coming to check in on me and asking if I needed anything. Mr. Arora called me and said that I may use Mr. Kamal to drive me anywhere I wanted to go, but I knew I would be seeing Delhi later and wanted to enjoy the nice relaxing bed. At one point the guy even placed the covers of the bed over my legs...wow was I being pampered. They had a tough time understanding why I wasn't going to stay the night. Again they asked what I wanted to eat for lunch...I thought I already just done that? I wasn't able to communicate well with them so I just went along with it, even though I was stuffed. I said I am fine with whatever and said I had no restrictions. Finally Mr. Kamal instructed me to follow him and we drove off. We pulled up to a restaurant and parked. He walked me inside but had to go back to re-park the car as a policeman was yelling at him. I took a seat in the restaurant, but wasn't sure if he was going to be joining me for lunch or not? I figured it was not. I was in a t-shirt and khaki shorts with sandals. I looked around to see everybody else in pants and mostly business formal ware. This was a upscale place and it was obvious. There where three younger people in the place next to me, but I could tell from one of their Mont Blonc shopping bags that they had some money. I ordered chicken in spiced chilli sauce and an order of nan and two diet cokes. I was soo impressed with the food. It may have been the best meal I've had in the last month? Before my meal came I was served some red small onion and a green salad dressing. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but just ate it up and it was very flavourful. I was prepared to pay for my meal, but Mr. Kamal came in from waiting outside the door and quickly paid before I was given the check. After Mr. Kamal had left I asked my waiter if he was tipped and he nodded that he hadn't so I left him 100 Rs. This is equivalent to 2 dollars, I think the meal was maybe 9 dollars or so. This was a very nice tip for him, and I wasn't even sure if he was telling me the truth, but I wanted to pay something, that and he looked just like an Indian version of Mario Lopez. Mr. Kamal drove me back to my room and I watched some Indian tv for a while while I wrote in my journal. I kept telling him that I wanted to be at the hotel at 5:00, but it was 4:30 and he hadn't come for me. I had someone get him and told him I wanted to leave, but he said, "no no 1 hour 30 minutes left". I don't think he understood, but I just told him I wanted to leave now. I was on my way to meet my new group.



Meeting My Group in India
I had to go to several ATMs in order to find one that would pay out the 20,000 Rp that I needed (18,000 Rp. just for a last payment for the trip). I went to drop off my bags and get freshened up when I met my roommate in the room. His name is Sam, is 19 years old, and is from Essex, England. I think we'll get along famously (very good thing). We went down to meet the other at 6:00 and for the group meeting. To my surprise many of the people on the trip were younger than I (very different that from my last trip). There are twins from London who at 19, a girl traveling on her own from London as well and she is 23.. ( ;)wink wink ;) )! Three girls traveling from Norway who are 19 years old, A Scottish girl who is studying in Australia came with her Aussie friend and their both 22 (but with boyfriends). There is a 26 year old German who just finished up her degree. There is one other boy, a 25 year old American who has been living and working outside the of the States for a couple years. Get this...he's from Ohio...YOUNGSTOWN OHIO! Quite coincidental since we've BOTH only come across a hand full of US travellers. So in total there are 9 girls and only 3 guys. We all went out to eat, but I only got some type of bread (other than nan) and a water since I was still quite full from my two lunches earlier. Afterwards we went on the top of our hotel where they served beer. I have been getting along amazingly with all of them and I can feel that we will be very close this next 3 weeks. We joked and and talked and just had a great time. I can definitely detect the younger ages in the group, but it's OK. It's not that they're not mature, it's that they lack a lot of experience. Most of them are on their GAP year. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's a year of traveling after high school and before starting university. Everyone on trip is traveling for at least 5 weeks, and some for several months. My roommate, Sam, traveled with a group to Egypt for the last two weeks, and will be traveling Thailand after this trip. Many of the girls here are a bit tall, but I don't think it will bother me after a while. And I mean tall...maybe 5'10", maybe taller. After having a couple drinks the majority of people went to bed, but Sam and I offered some to come down and play cards in our room. 4 girls came along and the 6 of us played cards for a little over an hour. We finally said our good nights at 12:30.


We got up at 8:00, washed up, and repacked for the day. We had breakfast, but then had to hurry down and check-out of the hotel since we'd be in the city all day. We walked to the metro (train station) and took a train several stops down and had to transfer onto another train line. We first went to India's largest Muslim Mosque, Jama Masjid (see photo on left), which was built by the same buy who built the Taj Mahal. We could see the Red Fort, which was beautiful, but I chose not to go in since it was $5 and I didn't think it was worth it. Next we walked to the Hindi Temple Guru Bhawra, where people from all over and all faiths came come for free food. Afterwards the group split up and I walked around with Sam and Lisa (the girl from Germany). We tried to find an Internet cafe, but finally gave up after over an hour. We hailed a tuk-tuk, or motorized rickshaw, and went to the metro station. The 4 km ride took more than 30 minutes. The traffic here is indescribable. Horns going off in every directions, people crossing at a whim. I have noticed the people here are not friendly. In Indochina they at least will walk around you. Here we have to walk around them, even time, they make no effort to move. I have been working on my 'stiff shoulder' because I will only move half way. If they want to be hit, that's up to them, all it takes is for them to move that other half way. I hope my opinion of the Indians gets better because I have very little respect for them. It may just be that in Delhi it is a different culture. They are not welcoming and not approachable. I was also under the impression that many of them speak English. This is completely wrong, some speak broken English, but that's about the best you can hope for. Maybe it's just that since 17 million people live in the city, the people tend to be colder...like how NYC is? One can only hope. On the way to the Internet cafe we were accosted by children and beggars alike. They were trying to sell us stuff and wouldn't leave us alone even though I asked politely 5 or 6 times (or many a hundred). Finally I put out my hand and said "Thou shall not pass". Surprisingly they stayed exactly where I placed my hand and finally stopped bothering us. Some of the older man showed us books, similar to journals, where people were supposedly commenting how great their 'services' were. They were trying to clean our ears. I couldn't get over the fact that someone would actually let this dirty person stick an even dirtier piece of metal and cotton into their ears and 'clean them'. They just would not leave us alone even though we pleaded. I noticed many swarming around us and I didn't like this so I placed my backpack in front of me and placed my hand in my pockets guarding my valuables. I told them they can do damage if they cleaned out all the wax, but it was useless. The German girl actually fell for it and got it done. It was because of this that Sam and I couldn't leave and had to wait around while being accosted. I was shocked that I never snapped at them and that I was able to keep my cool the entire time. I need to device another way to brush them off that doesn't involve me having to leave the area. I may get a spray bottle that one would use to scold a jumpy kitty and just spray them when they approached me. I mean no disrespect to many of the Indians, but they truthfully have no idea what it's like to be a tourist in their country. I have not seen many westerners AT ALL since I've been here since much of the tourism comes from within their own country. We are meeting at 4:00 back at the hotel and taking a taxi from there to our next stop--A 20 hour overnight sleeper train. We are taking a 3rd class train that sleeps 3 vertically and I am going to pick up food beforehand, since there is no food service on the train.

Also, shorts are not appropriate while walking in temples or any holy areas. It seems that it's even frowned upon to wear shorts on the street as well so I may have to buy a pair of light-weight linens. I am going to die of these heat. After the train ride (maybe a day after) we will be taking an overnight dessert trek on camels and will be camping out along the way. I'll do my best to keep you posted, but Internet access here is VERY spotty.

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Last Day in Bangkok

Evening of Day 3 in Bangkok
So last night I finally found a place to drop off my laundry. Afterwords I walked the streets for 45 minutes or say taking in the culture and some music, (though there isn't too much). I finally selected a nice restaurant and sat outside, despite the fact that there was a/c and fans inside and it was still a scorching 85+ and muggy. I have learned to accept that my clothing will be forever drenched. I hat alone and ordered a nice chicken cashew dish, a side of steamed rice, and a large Chang beer (see picture on right). As I was paying my bill a man sat down at the table next to me, alone. I introduced myself, as did he. I had noticed he had placed a baby monitor on the table as he ordered a large beer for himself. I inquired and it turns out his wife, his 2.5 yr old daughter, and he have been traveling for a littler shy of 4 weeks and fly home to Amsterdam [today]. He organizes papers for the city counsel, and we discussed a problem he was having concerning an environmental problem that has caused a huge project to be delayed for a long time. The projected 2010 completion date has been significantly pushed back. He seemed to have negative views about the developer, and I assured him the feeling was most definitely mutual. I turned in and went to sleep after watching some very disturbing movie on my TV.

Last Day (Day 4) in Bangkok
I enjoyed a nice sleep and did not get up for breakfast until a little after 10. I confirmed my flight out for tomorrow and it is still on schedule. I got dressed and put on my headphones and went outside to walk around. I was planning on going to china town maybe or possibly the grand palace. I ended up meeting a on the street who was visiting Bangkok. He himself was Thai but lived some 40km south of Chiang Mai. He told me to try Wat Theptidaram and make it there before 1:00 pm. He said there was a Buddhist ordination at that time. I hailed a tuk-tuk and told him where I wanted to go. We drove off a little, but I soon told him he could go **** himself when he demanded he take me to a tailor shop first. I quickly jumped off said smiling, "good to you" and walked away. The man who had given me the advise had seen me and ran over to me to ask what the problem was. He insisted on getting a tuk-tuk for me and talking to the driver, I complied. The tuk-tuk driver took me to the Wat, and it was huge (see photo on right). It was 5 or some stories high with one spiraling wooden staircase in the center. I took some photos and left about 15 minutes later and got back on the tuk-tuk, since he was waiting for me (I had not paid at this time). He then took me to two other places right by where we were and I watched some ceremony, which didn't impress. He then said he wanted to take me to an emerald store and that there was a special Bangkok promotion going on right now. Nonchalantly I told him, "Then you better hurry up and drop me off at the Grand Palace so that you can go there yourself". Apparently sarcasm isn't appreciated in this part of the world. Maybe in time they will be ready for me? I finally said I would go since I would have been happy to buy a knock off diamond earring. He dropped me off and I requested his key. He didn't understand so I reached over the back seat and turned off the ignition and pocketed the key and explained to him, "I take your key so you don't drive away". He didn't seem to like that too much, but I was having a ball. I found nothing inside the store and was in-and-out in a matter of 3 minutes. On the road again...not 2 minutes later he tells me, no asks me, that we go to one more stop on the way. I politely correct him and say I will not. We drive and argue for a good 5 minutes. I finally say, "If you take me to a tailor I will not leave this tuk-tuk". If you do not take me directly where I wish to go I will not pay you". He complies, but after another 5 minutes we have the same 'conversation'. I finally drop the politeness and stand ground while I treat him and talk to him like I'm scolding my own child. Hey, it worked. He dropped me off at the Grand Palace and I paid him a total of 60 baht (about $1.7 USD). He thanked me and drove off. I only had to pay him 20 baht, but I know we was banking on making many stops and I definitely had him drive me pretty damn far, typically I would need to hire a taxi and would pay 60 baht just one way.

The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha (see picture on left) looked amazing, but it cost 350 baht ($10 USD) just to get inside. I went to pay but was turned away because I was wearing shorts, even thought they were way past my knees. I walked to the front office again (about a 10 minute walk) in the 102 degree heat and paid a 100 baht deposit for pants. I bought the ticket and walked inside. First I went to see the Emerald Buddha. Cameras were not permitted inside, but I was able to take some shots just outside the entrance. There was an entire courtyard and everything was wonderfully landscaped, colorful, and just...well.... wonderful! When I walked inside to see the Emerald Buddha I remembered the Sistine Chapel--and this Green Buddha surely wins. I say that not really knowing the work that went into building this thing. One should always judge history by the standard of that time. I say this because if it turns out the sculptures were made from machined parts, I may find it less 'wonderful', though the aesthetics remain unaltered.

Next I walked to the Grand Palace (see video below in the center). I was given a handout with a map and some details, but I was too hot to stay there any longer than necessary. I took 10 or so pictures and left. I was inside the Emerald Buddha and Grand Palace for a little shy of 1 hour--I would have liked to stay longer, but the benefit of moving out of the heat won out the cost of leaving earlier than desired.

I walked back and picked up my laundry, which took another 45+ minutes. So much walking, and sweating. I have never drank so many water bottles in my life. I am going to try to get a massage today and book a shuttle to the airport that will leave tomorrow at 4:00 am. That means I have to wake up VERY early and leave my guest house by 3:40 and walk over the the pick-up location. How fun. See you all in India.

I am adding some other photos from today so check out my pictures.

!!! God damn it, after 1.5 hours of f*cking waiting for this video to load, I just got sick of this bu*llsh*t. UGH!

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Bangkok, Bangkok, and some more Bangkok

End of 1st Day
I still needed a place to stay for the next 3 nights so I walked around a bit. The places on/near Khao san Road were too expensive. True I found some guest houses for well under 3 dollars a night, but I want TV, A/C, a fridge, private bathroom/shower, and a private room. I figure I'll be sharing a room in India for almost 4 weeks, and will be in a dorm of 16 or so people for over a week when I'm in Ireland. I tried to walk to Silom Rd area, but got lost (of course). It was an 8 or so km walk (about 5.5 mile walk). I think I may have already posted this? The map that I have doesn't have all the roads and not all the roads I come across are labeled. Even fewer are in English. Well I finally found my way back to Khao san Road after 3+ hours of wandering. What a great exercises. I stopped for a Pepsi green, which was a greenish-clear Pepsi that tasted like a hybrid of Pepsi, 7-up, and cream soda. Quite good...and cheap. I finally chose this nice place that is a hostel, but is a very nice on at that. It's called the "Thai Cozy House", (pictures attaches). It is a restaurant, Tailor, tourist center and massage parlor all in this mini mall like structure that has one garage-sized entrance emptying into a street that is not 25 meters from Khao san Rd. I was able to talk them down to 600 baht (~$17 USD) per night for a private room, queen bed, writing desk, full sized mirror, fullsized closet, color cable TV, private shower and bathroom with hot/cold. I also have wireless in my room, which is a nice perc.

2nd Day in Bangkok
So my memory card for my camera is officially broken--it cannot be read and all the pictures on the card are lost. Good thing I obsesively backup my photos. I ended up only loosing pictures that I took while on the sleeper train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and all the photos I took while in Bangkok the first day, I think I'll live. I walk around a bit in the mornging and decide it's just too damn hot, >94 degrees F with VERY high humidity...no thank you. I catch a cab and go to the MBK, in the Siam Center, which cost me 80 baht (~2 USD) and way ~3 miles away. 3 Miles in Bangkok traffic took more than 20 minutes. I walk in and holy hell is this place huge. Here are just some of the facts about this Goliath:

• 8 stories high
• 2,500 shops
• 330 meters (1,000 ft long)
• 89,000 square meters (958,000,000 sq feet)

I walked the entirety, or as close at humanly possible, and bought myself a new memory card. I find the prices to be largely inflated, even for US standards. I finally found a smaller kiosk that I was able to bargain down the price to about half of that the others were asking (~$14 USD for a 4GB sony memory stick pro duo). I examined the product and tested it prior to buying it. Sure it worked, but I am sure it's bootleg. How could something like this bootleg you may ask. Well I noticed the gold platting of the contact pins were slightly matte, (NOT shiny at typical), and some specs of dust were visible. If this was a 'new' item this wouldn't be the case. They may have been used and sold as new, but must more plausible is that they took cheaper 3rd party 4GB memory stick ICs, that is integrated circuits, and inserted them into name brand Sony plastic cartridges. Ok enough of the computer science lesson...moving on! I was thinking about buying a phone to replace my last one... feel free to email me if you want to hear the story. I can't really write it since it involves my stay at Hanoi, Vietnam and since it's communist and GAP tours does business with it, I just want to be safe. I bargained one phone down to 500 baht that included the charger, which is only like $14.25 USD. This was pretty cheap when compared to her original offer of 900 baht + 50 baht for the charger ($25.75+ $1.5). I still passed. I got myself some coffee and doughnut holes at a Dunkin Doughnuts. Unfortunately NO ONE in Indochina has even heard of any type of artificial sugar, what a wake up call to me...my second case of culture shock...HAHA! When I walked in there was a hostess holding a paper-covered tray and she handed me a pair of tongs. I was to select what I wanted along the right hand wall and place it onto the tray, at which point I would then arrive at the cashier to pay for my order. Their selection of treats surpassed ours, but they did only have one size for all their beverages. The MBK Center had SEVERAL KFCs, Starbucks, Dairy Queens, etc. The point is, it's so large that they have the same food shops in multiple locations throughout the mall. But let me make clear that despite the mall's immensity in shop redundancy there was still an enormous variety to choose from. I saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", which was playing in the theater on the top floor I am not sure if traveling along does something to me, but I don't think there was a stretch of movie longer than 20 minutes where I did not find myself crying. One thing that stuck to me is 2 distinct forms of symbolism, quite different as they were. One was the name of the the tub boat, Caroline, but this was more of symbolic irony. The other was the name of his last name, Button...Unique as a button.

After the mall I tried to walk to Patpong Road. After an hour of getting myself lost and a kilogram of water weight accumulating on my shirt, in the form of sweat, I hailed a taxi. I like to walk and get lost mostly to just see the local scenery and not have to worry about getting to a destination, but soak in the experience of 'wandering' a foreign area. I had been debating whether or not to go to Patpong, but felt I would be more likely to regret going than regret having tried something and had a bad experience. I will not explain Patpong in detail for the sake of the younger readers, but I will be HAPPY to share with any of you that email me (biales@gmail.com). Suffice it to say, if it were not for me being a keen, witty, industrious, and a little cocky person I would have been ripped off to the nth power. I was able to talk my 1,300 baht extortion money down to 300 baht and a 650 bath taxi ride to a measly 100 bath. You ask for my technique, well here are some of the 'things' I used/used.

1. Persistence
2. Being on the offense, not defense
3. Patience
4. Confidence
5. Persistence
6. Threats (e.g. I said, "I'm going to see if this is correct, will you hold a minute while I phone the Tourist Police"? Man did that threat help, though I had no phone, when I reached into my pocket they had no idea, good thing they didn't call my bluff!)
7. Having a reasonable goal (i.e. reasonable to both parties).
8. Being well educated of the situation

After the "Ping Pong Show" I walked down the street and visited some kiosk selling bootleg LV, Gucci, ect. There were bootleg designer watches and ed hardy shirts. The place was marvelous with all the strip clubs, go-go bars, vendors, taxis... it was a free for all. Similar to Khao san Road, but w/ less drinking, more expensive and higher quality merchandise, and catered much less to the backpacker and MUCH more to the Japanese and Korean sex tourists.

As for today, I'll take it easy, perhaps buy my Lonely Planets for India and Ireland. I also need a cable lock to secure my luggage to my bunk while on the Indian sleeper train. I want another massage before I leave, at $8 it sure beats that $75+ I pay back home. I think I may go to the floating market tour tomorrow, but I'll let you know. This is Scottieb signing out...and please feel free to email me if you're intimidated by this posting blog system.

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Sleeper train in Bangkok

Sleeper Train
We got on to the sleeper train and were off the Bangkok by 5:55 pm. I ordered dinner at 6:10 and told the waiter that I wanted the food brought to my cabin at 7:15. These trains were very different than the ones in Vietnam. There were not cabin with locking doors. Each quarter was two booths facing each other. These booths turned into a large bed, while an upper bunk unfolded from the top. There were curtains that closed your quarters off from the train aisle. A nice looking girl sat across from me and I thought I was in heaven, but I soon discover she speaks no English. From what I am able to understand she has left Burma (now Myanmar) to come to Thailand, illegally. She says she's from India in order to play things safe though. My food comes and it's great, very spicy, just like I like it. The waiter is a jolly Thai man who is missing his two front teeth and has a nice round tummy. AJ says he works every day on the train and they don't pay him a salary or wage. He receives money from the commission and tips. He's also required to sleep on the train. AJ goes to scout the train and finds another tour, this one an Intrepid tour. Intrepid is the group in which I'm traveling when in India. He brings their tour leader back and we hang out. She's 25 and only tours in Thailand. We all go back to the end train carriage to the food cart and get some beers. We go to bed around 10:00 but none of us sleep well at all. It's loud and surprisingly bumpy. We arrive an hour and a half later in Bangkok at 7:30 am. We check-in to our hotel and I am on my own.

Bangkok

I am staying in the hotel booked for me tonight, but must find accommodations for the next three nights. I go out and get a map of the town. I just stepped inside an internet cafe and got myself a nice cold beer. I have been walking non-stop the streets of Bangkok for the last 3 hours and 15 minutes in the 94 degrees sunny heat. I am drenched. I've visited the standing buddah, the lucky buddah, two parks, the golden mount, and the independance monument. I tried to find the grand palace, but just got lost. I walked aimlessly for a good hour and found my way back. I typically use the sun and the time of day to navigate, but that's not as reliable since Bangkok is so close to the equator. When I was walking around I came across one ENTIRE street that was shops that sold firearms--all types. I am not sure how close I want to stay to Khaosan Road. It's a great place filled with western backpackers, but rooms are more expensive. I'll keep you posted when I figure out where the hell I'm going to stay tomorrow!

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Luang Prabang to Pakbeng to Chiang Chong and finally to Chiang Mai

Luang Prabang, Lao
Our last day in Luang Prabang and Steffen and I decided not to go to the Museum or the Phusy Mt. We went down the river and hired someone to take us across the Mekong River. We heard there were some small villages around and we wanted to explore something less touristy. When we got over to the other side we walked and walked until we got to a village. Boy was this place poor, and I mean poor. We found a 10yr old that spoke little English and we bought from his a ticket to a pagoda on top a mountain, or more like a hill. The temple was disappointing, but the kid could use the money. He had to go to school at 14:00 since he couldn't go earlier in the day because he couldn't afford to buy the books. Steffen and I met up with a 27 year old Aussie names Heather who was traveling on her own for 2 weeks. All three of us say a sign to a cave and an arrow pointing down some 'path'. We followed this path and sure enough we got to what looked like a monastery. We were approached by 3 or 4 monks and they asked us if we wanted to buy another ticket to see the cave. At this time we felt everything we did was costing us money, but not much. 5,000 kip for the boat ride, another 5,000 for the pagoda, and now another 5,000 for the cave. I mean it's only $1.75 USD in total, but it was a lot relativistically speaking. We paid for the ticket and followed 2 monks another 200 or so meters up a rocky hill. One of the monks was 13, and the other 16. The older was studying English and Computers. You see, many children train to become monks solely for family honour and to get a basic education. At the age of 20 each monk in training, coined a 'novice', can chose to become a monk or remain a novice. The cave was unbelievable hot and humid. I would never come to the conclusion that a cave (completely shut off to sunlight) would be hotter than the constant irradiated land. My theory is that since there was water in the cave this acted like a sauna and the humidity have the illusion that the cave was hotter. Also, there was no wind inside. We explored the cave and I got to use my flashlight for the first time all trip. It was very rocky and definitely was not 'set up' for tourists. We all slipped several times, the monks included. As we left the cave the monks locked a wooden door and then a metal gate, closing off the cave's only entrance. After this we walked back to the small village where Steffen ate some local Soup. I thought this was a bad idea since the water was likely from the Mekong and no bowls or utensils were washed. He has since been sick for two days, but it's inconclusive on what caused this... Afterwards I ate lunch and sat with some mid 40 year old woman who was traveling for 7 months doing volunteer work. I wasn't too found of who she spoke, like volunteer working is so much more important than other work. In my opinion it's quite the opposite. If you have a skill, a unique and valuable one, and you choose to dismiss this ability in order to pursue volunteer work, I ask why the hell would you do that? The type of volunteer work that most people do and that I'm talking about is unskilled work that can be done by any high school educated lad. It's more efficient and valuable to society and yourself if you either volunteer doing the SAME thing you are skilled or trained in, or not volunteering and working. The problem is that you cannot volunteer as an engineer, doctor, nurse, etc. because most people have loans to pay off, and why would you obtain such a hard to obtain skill, just to give it away as to sacrifice your ability for the benefit of others? Communism doesn't work...I can see this from what happened to Lao and Vietnam. Ok, enough ranting.

Pakbeng, Lao
We took a 10 hour boat ride to Pakbeng up the Mekong River. This boat was covered and had a TV on it (though none of us even bothered to turn it on). There was a v-10 or v-12 engine running the boat, with no cover or insulating. You can imagine how damn loud it was. We were starving by the time we got off the boat. We got off the boat and took a 15 minute walk to our hotel: up a sand hill, down a wet march, across an unpaved field, and finally up 25 stairs, all carrying our luggage. We discover that all rooms have TVs, but none of them work. You ask why? It's becuase the amount of electricity is too expensive. The city only has electricity from 6-10am and 6-10pm. Cold showers too. The next morning we leave early and are on the boat heading up the Mekong River by 6:30.

Chiang Khong, Thailand
Another 10 hours on the boat, well actually maybe 11 hours. This time we got breakfast made for us from the hotel, we carried it on the boat and ate it later. We also had the family on the boat cook us lunch for 20,000 kip. The family (man, woman, and daughter) lived on the boat as well as make Lao -> Thailand and Thailand -> Lao border crossing trips. We check out at the Lao immigration and exchange Lao money, since it's not worth anything outside of the country. We take a longboat across the river to Thailand and get another Visa on arrival. Welcome to Chaing Khong, Thailand. This is a sleepy town, but still much more lively than Lao. There are 7/11s and 'real' places again. We checked in our hotel and then went out to a nice dinner, where there was a man playing guitar and singing western songs. AJ, our group leader played and sang some songs, one being 'Tears in Heaven', after he'd had a little help with some alcohol. Kim, the Dutch girl that left our tour at Hanoi, was traveling to Lao and had been spending the night in Chiang Khong as well. She met us for dinner and we had a ball. It was hard to say goodbye to her again.

Chiang Mai, Thailand
After a 4-5 hour van trip (in a very nice van) we arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand a little before noon. We only have until 5:00 at which point we need to leave to catch a sleeper train to Bangkok. But this was ample time to get a thorough feeling of the town. Steffen, The Finnish Couple, and myself walked around the old city for 3 or so hours. I was looking in all the book stores for a lonely planet for India and Ireland. I ended up buying the book 'Lila' by Robert Pirsig. I am super stoked to read it, but may just wait until I get home since it's not what I would call 'easy reading'. I have finished up reading Sophacles, The Theban Plays and must say it was much better than when we were forced to read it in grade school. I have been considering staying in Chiang Mai for the next 3 nights and take a bus or train to Bangkok a day before my flight to India. Steffen and the Finnish Couple are staying in Chiang Mai and thus leaving the tour here. I think 4 days in Bangkok may be too much, but I think I'll do it anyways. I think I want some down time and Chiang Mai is all about trekking, and hiking, and extreme activities, etc. I may pay a little more and stay in a nice hotel for 1 or 2 nights and enjoy the pool in the humid 90+ degree F weather. I am off to catch my sleeper train with AJ and the Aussie Couple...and then there were 4. We arrive in Bangkok tomorrow around 6:00 am and we will be staying in the same hotel in which with we had stared the tour.

P.S. sorry for the typos and poor grammar. I am trying to get in as much as possible in such a short time. I've been writing for maybe 40 minutes while at the same time, updating my facebook, uploading and backing up my photos. So please understand why my writing mimics that of a 14 year old boy's.

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