South of Thailand – Phuket

Chiang Mai to Phuket by plane, Thailand Day 45 (March-15)

two hour flight

We arrive at the Phuket International Airport, and take mini-bus to the Lucky Guesthouse in Kata beach. The minibus stops at a travel agent on the way to town, which is an annoyance for some, and tremendous convenience for others. We are happy to collect information and do some price comparison. We check in to the Lucky Guest house, and choose a nice basic clean and comfortable bungalow for $14; no AC, and no hot water. The cold shower feels great before bed, and the evenings are cool. We chat some Mandarin with a shy grade schooler in the lobby who is just learning.

The first thing we notice in Phuket is that our fellow travelers have suddenly put on an extra 50 pounds. The average age also go up from 20’s to 50’s. The sun crusted glory is hanging out in full force after dinner, with shirts unbuttoned or pulled up, allowing additional digesting room. Phuket has many large hotels catering to package tourists, who venture only a few mouse clicks from home. The public beach in north Kata is almost completely dominated by Club Med. Our hotel is on the main street right behind Cluc Med, only 10 minutes walk to the beach. Oddly enough we never make it to the beach, even for a look.

The T-shirt says it all about Phuket culture:

Phuket is a party town, also a popular place for lady boy to hang out. Be careful who you wake up the next morning 🙂

Phuket, Thailand Day 46 (March-16)

It’s an early 7:30AM mini-bus pickup for our full day trip to visit Ao Phang-Nga National Marine park, and it’s easy to pronounce “James Bond Island”. On the way we pick up two groups of Israelis. We wait while the first group finishes their breakfast. It’s a small family of three, and we can’t understand how anyone who is staying in a fancy 5-star resort with 24 hour AC and hot water can possible smell so bad. At first, I thought they must be French. Later on the boat, and Egyptian fellow Vana befriended points them out. As a passport agent in Egypt, he is an expert in these matters. Next the mini-bus heads up to Patong beach which is the party capital of southern Thailand; known for its Go-Go bars. We wait for a group of six Israelis to get out of bed. From their thick language, I thought they were Russian. (Vana: they smell pretty bad too)

These days I don’t think the Man with the Golden Gun would choose this National Park for his hide out, because day trippers now arrive by the boat load. We arrive in a dock in northern Phuket where we are stickered, and loaded on to one of three large boats, each holding 50 to 100 people. The tour company does an excellent job of moving people through, and making the trip very enjoyable, despite the volume of people.

Day trip to Ao Phrang-Nga National Marine park

After about an hour boat ride, we get into canoes, and our guide paddles through a cave in Hong Kong Island to a hidden lagoon. We have to lie down in the boat to get through several spots, and depending on the tide, the lagoon is not always accessible. The geography is similar to Halong Bay, Vietnam with large limestone cliff Islands, which are recessed at the water line, allowing shady spots to paddle and observe stalagmites and caves.

off the boat

onto the canoe

paddle into the hidden lagoon

watch for your head

lagoon

inside the lagoon

We run into a small fishing boat with full of horseshoe crabs in the boat

The next stop is James Bond Island. It’s very beautiful, although with a few hundred people, and a beach overrun with vendors selling tourist junk; 30 minutes is plenty of time to stop, take a picture, and return to the boat. After lunch on the boat, we stop in a bay, and take a canoe for our own paddling, and a swim. The water is a pretty emerald green color, which turns into a cool looking Jade later at sunset. The recess in the cliffs at the water line is really nice place to hang out in the heat of mid-day. The final stop is at bat cave. Our guide paddles us into the dark, and we use flashlight to see bats sleeping on the roof of the cave. Deep in the cave is are on our backs again in the boat, and I am glad there are no bats above my head.

Ao Phang-Nga National Marine parkbetter known as ‘James Bond Island’

vendors selling tourist junk upon arriving James Bond Island

green color water

KR enjoys the swim

final stop – bat cave

cave bat

There are thousands of them hanging on the wall (it’s hard to see in the pic, but they are these black dots)

stalagmites in the cave

On the way back, they whistle to eagles and throw chicken skin in the water. I am not so happy about the wildlife feeding, but the Eagles are cool looking.

A final bonus is a Lady Boy show, with one of the Thai staff sporting a blue wig, make up, and tissue stuffed bra. The show makes for some embarrassed husbands, and great pictures. We really enjoyed this day trip.

Happy Ending

Loas – Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang, Laos – Day 27 (Feb-25)

Luang Prabang is a really cool place to chill out. This is great, because we are tired of moving around so much. Two weeks was too short for Vietnam, and the last week was a cram fest.

Luang Prabang is one of the most pleasant cities that I’ve ever visited (except for the poor air quality). The old town center area is in a Y shape, where the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet. There is a road along each river, and one in the middle. These roads join where the rivers come together. Side streets and walk ways cross the three roads, and are lined with small guest houses. The guest houses are in French Colonial style. That said, they seem like normal two story buildings to me, with wood shutter windows.

Mekong River

The city is UNESCO protected, and no buses are allowed in town. Within 10 minutes walk from the city center you can find; bars, Laos and western restaurants, guest houses, ATM, travel agent, bakery, crepes, street food, night market, Tuk Tuks, and 15 different Watts (temples). Bright orange robed monks walk between Watts with ocean blue shoulder bags. Even the monks have cameras and visit the internet cafes!

young monks walking to monk school

The average age of western travelers seems to have dropped significantly. I think cheap bus tickets are available from Bangkok, bringing in the backpacker crowd. Perhaps, Luang Prabang is on the party tour as a rest stop from Bangkok madness.

We rent bicycles and spend the days riding around town and visit a few Wats, including Wat Xieng Thong, the most famous Wat in the area. We take some great pictures around town; along the river, in the Wats, kids on the street, and monks during evening prayers.

our bikes parked together

Wat Xieng Thong

Wat Xieng Thong temple roof

Wat Xieng Thong

Wat Xieng Thong – temple wall decoration

KR find the perfect lunch – Bratwurst (at a small German restaurant)

Kids hanging out in the Mekong

sunset on Mekong River

monks chant during evening prayers

Over the last few days Vana has broken out in hives. She is in extreme discomfort, and wakes up in the morning with an empty jar of tiger balm next to her pillow. Between the hives and her Bali sunburn (which is still peeling), Vana is in tears from too much Vana-damage.

A nice local fellow from the restaurant next to our guest house takes Vana on his motorbike to a clinic. With no forms to fill out or payments to make, Vana is back quickly. The doctor thinks it might be fleas or hives, and prescribes some medicine to relieve the symptoms. Fortunately, the doctor speaks a little Mandarin and can communicate with Vana. Kevin does some research online and thinks Vana is having a reaction to the Doxy antibiotic medicine we are taking for malaria prevention.

CLICK HERE to see picture from Day 1

Luang Prabang, Laos – Day 28, 29 (Feb-26, 27)

For these days, we rent bikes and go through our new routine; cruising the morning, napping the afternoon heat, and cruising again in the evening. We take it easy, relax, catch up on our blogging, and do some laundry. We bike the rest of the town. We visit a large market a bit out of town, and run into one of the cooking classes. We follow them on their tour of the produce, fish, herbs, and tobacco. The cooking classes are more expensive here, so we decide the tag along tour is sufficient.

Market

We eat at a BBQ Hot Pot restaurant for dinner. It is very similar to a Korean style, with thin BBQ meats cooked in the circular raised middle of the pot, and soup with veggies and noodles in the lower edge of the pot. Dinner is cooked on the dinner table over charcoal fire. As a bonus, the soup is a lemon grass flavored chicken stock; a distant departure from the Korean style. We meet a couple from the UK and swap information, since we are heading in opposite directions.

Lao style BBQ Hot Pot – charcoal fire

Grilling the meat

Noodles and vegetable in the soup

Sauces and sides

Kevin farts in the quiet riverside restaurant, dinner must be GOOD!

We hire a boat to take us a short distance up the Mekong river, and visit a village famous for making Sa paper and silk products. On arrival, I am completely mesmerized by the women on their front porches working their looms. One porch has three women on looms side by side, with two younger women spinning silk into thread. They smile for our pictures, and seem proud of their beautiful work. Since I have trouble with basic knots, I am amazed how they use the loom to weave complicated patterns. Their work takes between three days and two weeks for each piece; depending on the size, and design.

our hired boat and driver (the small boat)

spinning silk into thread

working on their looms in the front porches

woven wall piece

silk scarfs produced in this village

In another shop, they are making Sa paper. They use the paper to create colorful lamps, umbrellas, and wall art. We buy a few table lamps, and later ship them home with some stuff we bought in Vietnam.

making Sa paper

drying Sa paper

Sa paper lamps

Later, in the night market, a hand woven wall piece catches my eye, while an American guy is bargaining hard for it. He walks away and returns several times trying to get a lower price. I can’t resist and offer a few bucks less than her price, and a few bucks more than his price. Vana buys a few other misc textiles. We heard from other travelers that the quality of the fabrics in Laos is much better than other places in South East Asia.

night market

hand woven wall piece

In these days, the foreigners in town are in a bit of panic. The ATMs and credit cards are out for the past two days. There is a post on the two ATMs in town saying the telephone lines are down. Also, the internet in the cafes seems to go in and out of service randomly. It is pretty stupid to rely on ATM machines as your only source of travel funds. We are travelling with two ATM cards, US cash, traveler’s checks, and three credit cards. We use our traveler’s checks for the first time this trip, and pay the hotel with US cash.

CLICK HERE to see pictures from Day 2
CLICK HERE to see pictures from Day 3

Luang Prabang, Laos fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia – Day 30 (Feb-28)

I had a few thoughts about Laos before leaving today. Despite the poor air quality (in this season) the people here make the visit very pleasant. They are quiet, pleasant, friendly, easy going people. They don’t speak much English, and they don’t move too fast, but it’s all good.

I think the Lao men have it made. First, the Lao women are attractive, and well dressed; although for being short and petite, their feet seem proportionally large. Second, you can see the Lao women working everywhere; in the markets, shops, restaurant, food stalls, and even on the loom on their porch. In contrast, you can see the Lao men sleeping everywhere; in the back of their Tuk Tuk, on hammocks on the boat dock, and in the lobby of guesthouses. Perhaps they are tired from the ass kicking they get at home from their big feet Lao women.

We fly from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap Cambodia without incident. The only trouble was confirming our flight ahead. Our Guest house didn’t know how to confirm a flight, and didn’t have any airline telephone numbers. The travel agents wanted $4 per ticket. We biked to the airport the day before, but Vietnam airlines office was closed at 4PM. I Skype called from the internet café to Vietnam (closed after 5PM), Singapore (closed after 5PM), and San Francisco (woke up some poor women in her sleep). We gave up, and luckily had to trouble.

(2 hour flight)

On arrival, our Tuk Tuk hotel pick-up is sweet. The Tuk Tuk in Cambodia is a motorcycle pulled trailer. The ride is like sitting on a couch and watching the world go by in 360. We like it better than the Tuk Tuk in Laos. We stay at the Green Village Palace Guesthouse, which is off a dirt road a few minutes bike ride across the river from the town center. The hotel is like a mini-resort, with pool and bar/restaurant. The air quality in Siem Reap is much better, like a hot moist towel with slight touch of burnage.

our Tuk Tuk

our hotel with a swimming pool in the front yard

Siem Reap is all set up for tourism. The Temples of Angkor are the main sight, and is what everyone talks about. Coming from the modern airport (better than most in the US, it’s like a museum), we pass ten new modern hotels with tour busses parked outside. We pass restaurants and KTV buildings with signs in Korean and Chinese. The ATMs here dispense only US cash. Everything is paid with US cash. The only Reil (Cambodian money) we see is if something is priced to $0.50.

We bike to town and try Kymer food (local food). We find it same, same as Thai, Chinese, or Vietnamese; depending on the dish.

Lao spring rolls and dumplings (I love the dumpling, it’s definitely different from Chinese dumpling)