the road to thailand...

I got up at 5.30 in the morning, to make sure I would be on the first public bus out of Luang Prabang which left at 6.30am. I am not sure what was more irritating- the crying baby in the seat next to me, or the Thai pop music blaring from the speakers above. Both quientened down after a while though. All was fine, until the bus began to go very slow, making weird clunking noises... We broke down, and had to wait about 45 min for another bus to pick us up. I was getting quite worried, as it was already late in the day, and I really wanted to make the connecting bus from Vientiane to Bangkok. The people who lived in the tiny village where we stopped seemed quite intrigued by all the commotion. Finally I was on my way again, all the time staring at the clock. We got to Vientiane at 5.10pm, with my Bangkok bus leaving at 5.30pm from a station on the opposite side of town. I found a tuk tuk driver to take me there, but I had to wait for him to search for more passengers to fill all the seats (and his wallet) up. I made it to the bus with 5 minutes to spare- very relieved! I passed into Thailand on my fancy, air-conditioned bus, and slept on and off, before arriving in Bangkok at 5.30am... 23hrs of straight bus travel!

luang prabang

Helena & I decided to get the public bus to Luang Prabang, so I farewelled Mika & Roman. There weren't many free seats left, so I sat next to a Lao girl. Was kinda funny, cos the people who had raced on to get the front seats, actually had to deal with the wind & rain coming through the open bus door! Also, when the bus began to get very crowded, a French couple kindly moved their backpacks which were taking up 2 whole extra seats, so they wouldn't get dirty on the floor! What wankers. Was very beautful looking out the window- very misty & green. We even passed an elephant on the roadside (with a trainer). You know you are in Laos, when the toilet stop involves everybody squatting on the roadside behind the bus! After the lunch stop, a Lao man came back on with 2 live ferret-guinea pig looking animals in a cane basket, possibly for his dinner. We finally arrived in Luang Prabang after a long trip, and checked into aguest house. We headed out for cheap vegetarian food stall, and got talking to some people next to us at the table. They had just done a 2 day elephant mahout (driver) trip, which they said was amazing & fun! My plan was to leave straight for Vientiane in the morning, but I loved being in Luang Prabang, and the elephants sounded fun... so, after a drink & discussion, I decided to stay! Helena & I booked the elephant trip for the following day. In the morning I got up early to call home before leaving, but there was a blackout in the whole town so no internet! We got a minibus out to the Elephant Camp, and we were able to ride the elephants straight away. We put on some dorky safari hats, sat on the wooden bench seat & set off into the jungle! Was lots of fun, but thought we would fall out going down the hills. We followed a creek into the river, where the elphants had a drink, before heading back to camp. We had lunch, and then we were taught the phrases the mahouts use to lead the elephants. We studied & quizzed each other for a while (the most my brain has been used in the past few months) and then went & got changed into our sexy, baggy denim 'mahout suits'. This was necessary so the elephants would take notice of us! The elephants were brought over to us, and we mounted them, taking our place on their necks, on an extremely uncomfortable mass of chains. It did stop us from falling off, but it brought many bruises! We had a practice session around the camp, calling out How (stop), Bai (go) and Ya (bad elephant), among other Lao commands. We then headed back into the trees for a very fun ride. My elephant kept making hectic growling noises, but it was only beacuse she wanted to be close to her sister (Helena's elephant). We left the elephants in the jungle, where they would stay overnight, mainly eating (they only sleep for 1 or 2 hours!). Our guide then took us for a walk through the local village. We passed a game of soccer at the school, and watching a family playing by the river. The kids were loving the cameras. Every time we showed them the screen, they squealed so loudly at seeing themselves! Was so cute. We wandered back to the camp, had an early dinner, and spent the night relaxing and playing cards. Had a pretty early night, falling asleep in our cool wooden bungalows. We had a very early start in the morning, to collect our elpephants from the jungle. The second time around was much more comfortable! We headed down to the river and attempted to wash the elephants (quite difficult while trying to balance on its neck at the same time!). Afterwards, we said goodbye to our elpehants & had breakfast at the lodge. We then changed in to our swimsuits and headed down to the river. Luckily, the clouds from the previous day had turned into beautiful sunshine! We kayaked a short way, until we arrived at Tad Sae waterfall. Although I had been here already a few weeks ago, it was still easy to enjoy the lovely clear, fesh water. We had a picnic lunch, then continued to kayak down the river. Helena & I took it nice and slow, was very relaxing. We passed tiny shacks every now & then, with very neat little crops. It felt like we were paddling for ages, when in fact it was only about 4km! After heading back into town, we relaxed a bit, then had vegie food stall for dinner again, and some happy hour cocktails. I also did a little bit of shopping!

bit of a disaster... but a bit of Laos!

My plan was to get the 24hr train from Kunming to Guangzhou, where I had booked a cheap flight from there to Bangkok. All was fine, I boarded the train and put my bags in the cabin (where a guy was smoking on his bed- not good for my lungs!). About 10min before the train was going to leave, I a had arandom thought that I should check my plane ticket once more, even though I had looked at it loads of times already... I must have known deep down, because I had booked the flight for 2nd Dec, not 2nd Nov! I had to quickly get my stuff together and run off the train, before I ended up 24hrs in the wrong direction! I was able to explain to an English speaking guard, and get most of my money back off the ticket. So, I went back to the booking office & had a think, and decided the cheapest way to get to Thailand was to get buses through Laos. Luckily, I was able to get a ticket for one heading to the border that afternoon. I had a very rushed arvo- cancelling flight, getting passport photos for a visa, etc, so was a relief to get on the sleeper bus. It consisted of VERY short bunks (made for Chinese height). There was a Russian guy, Roman, in the bed next to me, so got talking to him. He had hitch hiked from Russia, through Central Asia, and was heading to Bangkok. Probably not the safest idea to join him on his path! The bus ride was smooth, until we stopped for 2hrs at the station at about 4am. It meant I could get some sleep in though! We then had to change onto a minibus, as we headed through very tropical vegetation. The windy roads didn't agree with 2 Chinese women who got car sick (one out the window, one in a plastic bag). A Chinese guy stopped the minibus and tried to get our driver to take a small box across the border for him, but the driver didn't want a part of it! (Drug deal, anybody?) Roman & I met with a Japanese girl, Mika, who was also heading to Bangkok. We finally reached the last Chinese town of Mengla, and had one last Chinese meal. The 3 of us began walking the 2km to the Laos border (we didn't want to pay for an overpriced tuk tuk), but luckily a truck stopped for us & we climbed in the back. At the Laos border town of Boten, I payed for my visa with no trouble (just lousy exchange rates), then we got a taxi truck to the nearest big town, Luang Nam Tha. It was really beautiful being back in Laos- everything is so green & lush! We passed lots of tiney villages & lots of children. Once in the town, we checked into a basic guesthouse, and I actually ran into Helena, from my China group! I knew she was in Laos, but didn't expect to see her! Had dinner at the food market, then met with Helena for a drink afterwards.

back to kunming

After breakfast, we headed off to Kunming again. At our hotel the lift was broken- my 20kg backpack was a pain to lug up the stairs! The group met in the lobby for a drink, then we headed out for a last Chinese banquet meal. The food was really really good, and only about $3.20 each, including beer & bad red wine! We had a farewell drink and said our goodbyes, before heading to bed (Kunming is not excatly party town). I enjoyed my free buffet brekky in the morning, then stocked up on supplies at WalMart. Emma & I explored the Bird & Flower markets, then lazed around at the French Cafe. Had cheap noodle soup at a local restaurant for dinner, then packed my bags to finally leave this boring town.

dali

The driver decided to take the windy, backroads to Dali, so although it was beautiful we didn't arive till 8.30pm. We checked into our cute family-run hotel (free internet & laundry, yay), then went out for a meal to celebrate the birthday girl. We had organised a humungous cake (even though the surprise got spoilt!). We had a bit of a dance to the terrible music chosen by the DJ, with Alan (the 80yr old) getting right into it! In the morning Emma, Helena & I hired bicycles and headed out into the countryside, to the Shaping Markets (apparently a 2hr trip). We passed through some very small towns and saw lots of workers in the fields. It was quite a nice trip, but had some tough parts going uphill! We passed a couple on a motorbike, who informed us the markets were 35km from town! At that point we were about halfway, so we continued on. With no road signs, we reached a very industrial town & asked for directions... somehow we had passed the bloody markets. So we headed back (added another 10km onto the trip), then FINALLY found the place 4hrs after leaving town! We were buggered, so we ate lunch at a food stall & had a wander around. Considering how far we had come, I was expecting a pretty amazing market- was a bit disappointing. There was no way I was riding back into town, so we flagged down a bus, payed them way too much money, got our bikes tied to the roof and headed back to Dali. It was so far, I even had time to nap on the bus! Had a lazy afternoon, heard the adventures of other people in the group. We had a group dinner at a Tibetan restaurant, which was really delicious! Had a drink afterwards,and hobbled home in pain. I was sad because we had such a short time here, and there seemed to be heaps to do.

Zhongdian (aka Shangri-La)

The bus ran out of petrol on our way to Zhongdian, and we watched as the driver syphoned some out of his mate's bus! The scenery turned into very barren and flat grasslands, with Tibetan houses, prayer flags and lots of yaks. It was very beautiful. We arrived in the town of Shangri-La, which was 3340m above sea level! The town was actually in Tibet before the Chinese changed the official borders, so most people who live there are Tibetan. Was really interesting to see the different architecture, language and people. We walked around and took some photos, and had some BBQ food. Jackie then took us out of the town, into the plateau area. We were able to visit the summer home of a family of Tibetan yak herders. I was a very simple wooden shack. The little old lady & man made us lunch... green barley bread, yak butter tea (OK when eaten together), 'squeaky' yak cheese (bad), pig fat (bad, but a good lipbalm!), and vegie noodle soup (yummy). Everyone was struggling not to appear rude by not eating much! We were then taken to their proper home, whch housed 5 generations. It was huge, with beautiful ornate decorations inside, painted by a lama. They were very religious- they had a whole room used as a shrine to the 2 monks in the family. After returning to the herd, we helped feed the yaks (nearly lost my fingers!). We were then able to visit the neighbouring school. It had been set up by an Australian NGO, to help young people learn skills to help find employment- English speaking, tourism training, business kills, etc. We chatted to the students, they were really lovely. Played some ping pong, and listened to some Chinese & Tibetan singing (they have really strong voices!). When it was our turn to sing, we did Happy Birthday for one of the girls (her birthday was the next day), then she got a Chinese rendition as well! It was such a fun and amazing afternoon. That night, we watched some Tibetan dancing in the square, and tried some Tibetan food (wasn't great), before heading to bed. In the morning most of us went to Songzhalin Monastery. It was a huge complex built on a hill,housing about 700 monks, many who live there for practial reasons (food, shelter, education). It had really beautiful architecture,and with all the moks and the bright blue sky, I went a bit photo mad! I struggled a bit to walk up the huge set of stairs (hopefully due to the altitude, not the lack of fitness!). Was nice wandering around there. We got organised back in town, for our bus ride to Dali.

tiger leaping gorge

On our drive out to the gorge, we passed a big group of Chinese people in matching red jackets & backpacks, running around stopping cars. Apparently they were in a local version of the Amazing Race! I wanted to help them so I got on TV! (Later on we saw them being lectured by the cops!) We briefly stopped to view the first bend of the Yangtze River (not very exciting though), then met our guide Margot (an Aussie) who was accompanying us on our trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge. She also had 2 gorgeous puppies with her who walked with us the whole way! We had absolutely perfect weather- blue skies & sun (I even wore shorts!). The first part of the walk was quite easy, passing through beautiful surroundings, with the snow capped mountains visible at each step. After a massive, delicious lunch at a guest house halfway, I was unkeen for the next, difficult part of the trek. The "28 Bends" was a rocky, uphill section, with 28 changes of direction on the path. For about an hour I was really struggling through this part, but then it was thankfully over! The next section was an easy, downhill stroll in the forest, very relaxing. We reached our guest house for the night, and freshened up before a beer & a huge dinner. We watched the full moon rise into a very starry sky, then I was so exhausted I had to go to bed! Enjoyed a sleep in & a big breakfast, before heading off for Day 2 of the trek. It started off nice & flat, overlooking the gorge, and passing some pretty little waterfalls. We saw a mini avalanche in the distance. The final section was dowhill, rocky & bendy, so took a bit of effort and concentration. As we walked along the road towards our guest house, we spat off the bridge into the river- we were so high up, it took AGES to land! Bummed around in the arvo, going for a tiny walk down the street and back. Had another amazing banquet dinner, then watched Babel (in Chinese) on DVD. The Tibetan family who ran the place brought us yak butter cheese & yak butter tea... interesting to say the least! We left in the morning for Zhongdian.