Week 93: Full Blown Tourism. Thailand/Laos/Vietnam

So with as much time, and issues that I had trying to book trips to the Philippines, I got lazy and decided to go via a booking tour group for my next trip.  I was very glad to do this, as you could basically turn your brain off, follow the guide, and not worry about connecting flights, delays, bad weather, people getting lost, etc...  Probably was a little more expensive, but peace of mind is nice every once in a while.

So the trip started out with going to Abu Dhabi to meet my teacher friend Dehra.  Awesome person, and she was off of work, so we could hang out and do touristy stuff.  On the itinerary was Ferrari World, the Grand Mosque, and some kayaking.  It was a great time, we got some good pictures in, and got into some pretty heated debates.  As I get older, I'm starting to side with the conservatives, and am not as easy swayed to pay out tax dollars for every public spending opportunity, unless for good reason.  Oh, did I mention Dehra's quite liberal?  We had a good time vying our positions, of course to no avail.  I may have used the phrase "Amish Death Squads" a few times.  Apparently, that's not appropriate at Olive Garden.

"The Amish Outlaws," 

Ferrari world was less busy than I was expecting, again, and I think just the anticipation of going on the world's fastest ride was a thrill in itself.  And then they give you goggles.  And tell you that you must wear them.  This country doesn't require seatbelts, overlooks speed limits in most rural places.  If they say you need to wear goggles, you should listen.  And man is it fast.  A skydiver's free fall terminal velocity is about 122 mph.  This thing takes you to about 150 mph.  Fast.  Furious.  Awesome!  And only a 45 minute wait.  Once again, thank you random week day.

The Grand Mosque was also beautiful, a testament to what can be done when you're blessed with resources.  Rihanna had just been there a week before, so that area was cordoned off to keep people from trying to replicate her photos.  Remarkably white, in a country where everything becomes sand colored over time.

 Kayaking was nice, a kind reminder that I should work out more often.  Forearms were as tired as I thought.  I guess those muscles get used quite often.  Rock climbing and stuff you know.  After some hubbley bubbley for the night, a visit to a friend in Dubai, and some actual work stuff, it was on to Bangkok.

I arrived in Bangkok about 3 days prior to the tour trip, as a few friends had wanted a tour of Bangkok.  I had been there once before, so I could at least show them a couple places in which we got in trouble last time.  Due to timing, I was going to be in Bangkok by myself for about 8 hours.  Well, there were one of two things to do, and I figured there would be much more drinking to do for the evening.  I opted instead to sign up for a cooking class.  It was awesome!  The class was very small, and thus pretty intimate, and relaxed, we spent the day learning what every good chef should know, is the closer you can get to the source of the food, i.e. freshness, everything else just falls in place.  I did learn how to make 3 dishes.

I didn't make the rice though.  

I have yet to do as well in Saudi with these dishes, but hey, it's better than swarma wraps every day.  One of the guys I met did some of the filming for "Duck Dynasty," and the other two were from Singapore on vacation.  Both were big Muay Thai Kickboxing enthusiasts.  Don't let the looks deceive you.

After the cooking class, I took a 3 day nap.  Or that's the story I'm sticking to.  Not too much details surfaced from those 3 days, we got lost a lot, ate a bunch of random street food, and I got a sports jacket and some dress shirts made.  I was happy.  They were pretty nicely made, and kinda shiny.  In retrospect, I don't know if shiny was the best choice, but the initials on the cuffs just ooze smugness.  Eh, at least I have high definition initials.

Something like that

It's interesting to see how much the locals actually get paid, compared to how much we were spending on beer, shirts, etc...  One of my buddies got a haircut while he was there, and I think the hair salon lady made something like 2 bucks an hour, after subtracting out the money she had to pay for the train to take.  But hey, everyone's friendly, and genuinely happy.  It's always a matter of perspective.  Plus beer from 7-11 is cheap, and a good way to get a better haircut apparently.  I didn't get a chance to try.  One of the coolest things that I saw there was the way they did lunch at the fast food court.  You pre-pay for a charge card, and you walk around and the money is subtracted from the pre-pay card.  It saves on the number of cash registers floating around, and eliminates cashiers at all stations except the main entrance.  It also pulls people to come back, especially if they put too much money on the card, and have a left over balance.  I think there might be some concerns in case you order food, but didn't have enough money, but for 1-2 dollar dishes, I didn't find there to be too big of an issue.  Plus, all you have to do is ask for the person to swipe their card before you start making the meal. I ate a bunch of pad thai over there, but the one the stood out to me the most was the pad thai omlette looking thing.  I don't think they serve that over here.  Probably for good reason, I prefer the egg in my pad thai, not pad thai in my egg.

Oh, I also had a bunch of fresh coconuts.  It's interesting, I can't eat them in the US, but I crave them overseas.  I guess freshness has a lot to do with it I think.

Most of the time is spent scooping the meat in the coconut, but it's absolutely rewarding, especially when it's hot and sweaty outside.

The major touristy spots in Bangkok include the King's Place, the Temple of the Laying Buddha.  Absolutely stunning.  The one thing that caught my eye more than anything was the detail of every structure, drawing, or statue.  People took time to do this.  Alot of time.  

It starts in my toes, makes me wrinkle my nose....

We met up with our tour group in Bangkok, and it was a much more varied group than I had thought, which was great in many ways.  My original thought was a bunch of hippie backpackers, or older retirees.  We were the most hippie of the group actually.  I don't know how I feel about that.  A good mix of some friends from Germany, a few folks from the US, someone from Switzerland, and a couple of Canadian couples.  All had good jobs, and were pretty open to doing whatever, including drinking.  Which was awesome!  I really couldn't have asked for a better group, everyone got along very well, and it was going to be a good trip.

We did a repeat of the touristy items mentioned above, which was fine for me.  It's always nice to be able to see different perspectives, and to get a better understanding of the palace and temple, with a guide.  I took a friend to go see some Muay Thai fighting the night before.  It's as brutal live as it looks on TV.  You hear alot more of the bone crunching though.  These guys were young, all below 21, and were hungry for the wins. Absolutely brutal.

VIP seats 20 bucks

In order to negate the brutality, we decided to go to a jazz bar.  Full of expats, and good live music.  You can't ask for more than that, especially in a random bar, in a busy city.

The next stop was Chang Mai, which we were happily upgraded to flights, as the train may have had issues due to flooding earlier.

Chang Mai

I liked Chang Mai, it reminded me of Boulder Colorado.  A bit trendy, a lot of hippies, quite a bit of things to do outdoors, and a tiger park.  Close enough.  A friend that went with me, Christina was good enough to show me that the best light is during sunrise and sunset.  What that implied is that you have to get up that early to take those pictures.  A bit groggy, but the pictures did turn out pretty nice.

The tiger park was an absolute tourist trap, but where else can you cuddle, and lay on tigers, without having to sign any waivers?  Over here!  You hear a lot that tigers are like big cats.  You don't appreciate that until you get a tiger to purr.  Key point:  Tigers have thicker skin than cats.  And they do like getting petted and rubbed, but you have to ensure that you do it more firmly.  The last thing you want to do is tickle a tiger.  They react just like you would think, only with claws, and bone crushing jaws.  Other than than, adorable!

That night, we headed up to the Doi Suthep temple, and were able to witness the chanting of the monks, and were able to see a beautiful sunset.  There was just something really spiritual about that place, a feeling of serenity, and calmness in a day that was pretty hectic otherwise.

Next step was beginning the route over to Laos.  This was by bus, and it took a little while, nothing a little dramamine couldn't help.  I ended up groggy for most of the ride, and it was a gorgeous one, lots of rolling hills and vegetation.  Or so I was told.  One of the most interesting sites we saw was the Wat Rong Khun temple.  It is a modern interpretation of what a temple might be.  And he has his own interpretation for sure.

Where else can you find this on a temple grounds?  

We spent the night in a small transit town called Chang Khong.  Very small, we went to sleep early, which meant another early morning excursion for photos.  This time, I enjoyed it a little better.  We then proceed to take the arduous 15 minute boat ride across the river to enter into Laos.

I usually feel like that, this early in the morning too.  

Laos:  I'm on a Boat!

The first two days in Laos were to be on a large boat, to allow us some time to chill, see some of the untouched scenery, and to adjust from the hustle and bustle of a major city down to the chill pace of small rural towns.  It was a chance to nap, read books, drink beer, you know, normal boat stuff.

The first town we spent the night in was called Pak Beng, a small transit town, with nice accomodations, but after being on a boat for a while, we were all ready to walk around.  Unfortunately it's a bit small, so we ran out of tourist stuff to do pretty quickly.

The night time was amazing.  Without any of the lights of a big city, the star lights were beautiful. Well except for whoever had the porch light on at the end of the hall, you suck. There were odd howling noises all night, which apparently were the elephants.  I've never heard that sound before.  Maybe the porch light wasn't such a bad idea.

The next day was more of the same, leisurely day, starting off a bit chilly, and ending on a warmer note.  We visited a very rural village, that was about to "move" and consolidate with another town.  I wasn't sure if the town gets visits all the time or not.  Our guide said to not give them any money or gifts, as it generates a tourist economy that is unsustainable, and bad for the village.  He said it's better to go through a reputable company who can disperse the money properly.  I never really thought of that, but it makes sense.  Poor kids.

The last stop before getting off the boat was the Pak Ou caves, a natural cave in which approximately 4000 Buddhist statues are located, in two different locations, one near the entrance, and one a little bit in.  Once again, a tribute to what people will do, and where they will go to mediate.  A bit touristy now, but the point's still well taken.

We finally made it to Luang Prabang, and it was gorgeous.  Same slow feel, with a huge amount of outdoorsy things to do.  It originally was a big party town, but it was scaled down significantly, for decency sake.  You could tell where the old hot spots were, basically where there was loud electronic music, and giant signs saying cheap beer.

There were alot of little knick-knack things to do, we ended up having some wine, and watching some traditional Laotian dancing, we found a vegetarian buffet, and listened in on a traditional Laos Wedding.  It was pretty traditional until we heard more "Gangnam Style" music.

The next day was Elephant / Kuang Si waterfall day.  The elephant was kinda cheesy, a pretty fast 20 minute tour around the jungle, but then we walked through the water.  It was quite cold.  Fun in its own way, I couldn't find a comfortable way to sit on the elephant though.

The waterfall was pretty epic, there was a walking path that took you to the top, and after getting lost a little bit, we were able to find our way back down, and relax for the night.

We ended up going to an Irish Pub, which was kinda strange to find all the way out there, but I think some people were tired of the traditional Laotian food of sticky rice, and eggs.

During the day, we went geocaching, for the first time, found a random temple up on the hill, and went to a red-cross sponsored massage place.  Very relaxing.  Christina got a massage from a mom, whose daughter was in the room too, and helped with the massage.  Very real, very cute.  For the evening, Christina found a place to do yoga with views on the Mekong.

You can't say no to that, it was spectacular, and sweaty.  I feel bad for whoever has that yoga mat next.  With our hunger poised, we were invited to a home cooked meal in the area, where we were given good luck bracelets, and got to eat, surprise more sticky rice.  Pretty tasty, I remember our guide loves river weed, and was eating it non stop.

It was a pretty gorgeous bar at night too, so we went back for some drinks, and preparation for the next "free day."  We decided to do rock climbing in the morning, and kayaking in the afternoon.  Not a bad selection of work, especially if you're fit.  I'm not.  It was an exhausting day, but I'm glad I did it.  It's one of those things you can see your own progress, and makes you think that you're in that Cliffhanger movie.  I didn't bring any electronics.  I figured it'd either break, or fall in the water.  Good call actually.

We had dinner at a pretty nice place across the way, a bit scary to get on a boat single file in the dark, but it was hot pot style.  A little different in that the broth and the grill were on the same pot.  A neat concept for sure.

Next stop was a family stay on the way to Vientiane.  The home stay took about half a day to reach via bus.  It was another dramamine day, but something in the hot pot from the night before wasn't sitting right.  I still was able to get some photos off though during the trip down.

I was feeling fine by the time we got to the home stay, which was the important part.  The homestay was a way for the village to make some additional money, while imparting some culture on us tourists.  We stayed in the home of one of the teachers, so her English was quite good.  For the night, they gave us a tour around, and then the kids did a cute show, taught us some Laotian two step, bamboo stick jumping, and we all danced around again, for the third time to "Gangnam style."  That was soo 3 months ago.  Fun times though, you always forget how much energy kids have, until you try to keep up with them.

 

Vientiane was only an hour or so away from the home stay, with not much to discuss.  We had to leave early, so most people slept in the van.  When we arrived at Vientiane, it was almost odd to be in a major city again.  Things seemed to be faster paced, and in a hurry, compared to what we had been doing for the last week or so.  We did another temple run, took some pictures, nothing too different.  The girls weren't allowed in, as they needed long dresses, which were available for rental, but no one was that adamant to go. We spent the afternoon at a "Hope" area, and learned about how extensive land mines had destroyed much of the countryside of Laos.  Quite somber.

We checked out the outdoor market, saw some government funded outdoor exercising, went to an ok dinner place (food wasn't very fresh) and found a great Belgium beer bar.  I was so excited!  Something other than Beer Lao.  It was a decent city, and a transition to the busy city that is Hanoi.

Hanoi

Hanoi is a major city.  Busy, dirty, crowded, everything you'd think of, only I can understand their accent, sort of.  This was finally a place that I could blend in as a national, rather than a tourist.  And I played that card alot.  It was kinda funny, people would ask me the normal stereo type questions, such as, how many in the group today, how long has you been here, and questions such as that.  It took me a while, as well as a while for the operators to realize I was answering as a tourist, not as a guide.  Kinda funny.  We really rushed through most of Hanoi, with the only touristy things planned were a food tour, a visit to the Ho Chi Minh museum, and a water puppet show.  My favorite of the three was the food tour.  A very well spoken Vietnamese woman walked us around, and fed us until we were stuffed, every one of my childhood favorite foods were served, albeit in a different method of cooking (north versus south cooking).  For example, grilled pork and noodles, had the grilled pork placed into the dipping sauce, and then noodles placed in the dipping sauce, almost like eating fish sauce soup.  It's great if you like fish sauce, but maybe not for the noobs.

One of the most interesting things for me was the proper way to cross the street.  Our guide stated that the safest way to cross the street was to probably just close your eyes and cross.  Vehicles do not yield to pedestrians, they will swerve around you.  This means that you need to walk consistently and predictably.  If you flinch, or walk erratically, you'll probably get hit.  Kinda hard to get used to that.  I loved the relaxed attitude of the city.  Everything was super cheap, especially the beer.  Beers were 25 cents per cup, and you just drank in the streets in plastic cups.  When the keg was empty, they would close up.  What a great business model.

This was the premium stuff at 1USD per beer

Ho Chi Minh Museum painted a very interesting perspective of how they saw the war effort, the water puppet show was neat, but I couldn't understand the singing, ha.  I stayed an extra day coincidentally with one of the other travellers, and got to see the Hanoi Hilton,

saw a cultural museum, had some durian ice cream, and some authentic north vietnamese pho.

We walked in on a graduation celebration for one of the high schools, which was very interesting. A lot more girls than boys.  I wonder where all the boys were.  Just curious is all.  I hope they didn't all drop out.

I heard the plight of one of the women selling propaganda copies to my fellow traveller, I wasn't going to pity increase the price for the goods, and I'm glad that she got a good price from it.  It was an interesting ending to an awesome trip.

I did go back to Thailand on transit back to Saudi, and did a trip to the Jim Thompson house.  Jim Thompson is credited with bringing Thai silk to the western world.  He accumulated a bunch of old antiques around Asia, and then disappeared.  His estate was handed over to make a free museum, which was very beautifully made.  It was interesting, provided great photo ops, and gave me some time to reflect on a great 3 week trip.