Travelers Tales

Indie Manifesto

2012-02-08T08:59:00.003+13:00

A Dancer in Ubud, Bali

2012-01-19T10:59:00.001+13:00

Village live.

2012-01-16T20:08:00.000+13:00

A village near Kedgoan in India

Nepal 1987

2012-01-05T08:02:00.002+13:00

Rafting the Sun Kosi in 1987. Great trip, and after ten days rafting I hiked to Everest via the Arun valley.

Papua New Guinea 2004

2012-01-03T20:23:00.001+13:00

One more from the archive. A Hercules moth on my office window in Moran, PNG.

India 2007

2012-01-02T11:34:00.003+13:00

Street scene in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India
(Click on photo to enlarge)

My photo of the year!

2012-01-01T10:09:00.002+13:00

This is Gokyo village at the end of September 2011.

Most popular.

2011-12-31T11:48:00.003+13:00

Going through my stats the two most popular entries for this blog are my hike around the Annapurna Circuit and the fake Starbucks in Lukla.
See what you think.

A week in Wellsford.

2011-11-04T10:51:00.002+13:00

I am about to pack and drive to Wellsford a small rural town between Auckland and Whangarei. A friend of mine, Dave, has a small farm there and he and I will be looking after Daniel and his sister Laura for at least the next four days but it could quite possibly stretch into the rest of the week. I'll try to make some updates from live on the farm but as there are actually neither Internet nor cellphone connections out there it will probably be a haphazard affair.

Back home.

2011-10-28T19:06:00.003+13:00

On Tuesday morning I started my long track back to NZ. First stop Kathmandu airport and while check-in when smooth enough the immigration queue didn't move along at all. So I wandered up to the front of the line and fair enough there was no one actually there to stamp the passports, apparently he had gone for a cup of tea. Ten minutes later a duly refreshed immigration officer showed up and started stamping passports. I decided I could do with a drink myself and headed for the coffee shop. These guys actually have proper equipment and extract a nice cup.
As a last wave to the chaos in Kathmandu the plane left an hour late which gave me all of twenty minutes to run from one side of Bangkok airport to the other to make my connection but I got there, and when I arrived in Auckland to my even greater supprise my luggage had made it to. My backpack was the first piece of luggage on the belt.
I was less amused when I had to wait five hours for my connecting flight North but thems the breaks.
Great to see my parents again at the end of a long journey.

Fake Starbucks

2011-10-25T14:46:00.005+13:00

A few months ago I put up some pictures of a fake Apple store in Kunming but when I came through Lukla the other day I got reminded that they actually have their own claim to fake fame, a fake Starbucks. The signs and logo are there, it has wicker chairs inside and the coffee and cakes are nice.
I reckon they should start a franchise.

Everest Trek - Day 29 Lukla to Kathmandu

2011-10-24T19:02:00.002+13:00

The chaos was as per normal with tour guides and aggressive trekkers (me) fighting at the check in counter then having a good laugh about it afterwards. The planes came in on time and after a hectic thirty minutes of planes landing and taking off everybody was on their way to Kathmandu. The flight itself was uneventful with good views over all the hills that I had spend weeks walking over and at nine o'clock I was back in the Kathmandu Garden House.
Good to be back.

Everest Trek - Day 28 Phakding to Lukla

2011-10-24T18:27:00.006+13:00

What i thought was going to be an easy couple of hours walk turned into a bit of an adventure. The earthquake a few weeks ago has caused a number landslides on this section of the trail and has taken out someones house as well as badly damaged one of the main suspension bridges. To get across the ravine that the bridge spanned, caused by a previous landslide, you have to climb up steeply on one side then cross at the top of the slide on a path no wider then your boots while holding some tree roots and not trying to think of the two hundred meter drop below you.
All in all rather eventful.

Landslide in Phakding, most of the buildings on the photos are lodges rather then private dwellings.

A plea for help.

The main bridge to Lukla, or what's left of it.

Everest Trek - Day 27 Namche Bazaar to Phakding

2011-10-24T18:06:00.004+13:00

I took a leisurely stroll down Namche hill, cursing the yak trains under my breath. Then had lunch in Jorsale before walking down to Phakding. Not exactly a strenuous day.

A glimpse of Mount Everest from halfway up Namche hill.

Everest Trek - Day 26 Rest day in Namche Bazaar

2011-10-23T19:21:00.001+13:00

As the title says a rest day and I did sweet nothing all day long.

Everest Trek - Day 25 Phortse Thenga to Namche Bazaar

2011-10-23T18:55:00.002+13:00

I thought that I had gained a bit of fitness but the climb from Phortse Thenga up to Mong still takes a fair bit of effort. Never mind I get there and the walk back down goes quickly enough. Again there are a large number of trekking groups to contend with. In Namche I check back into the Khumbu lodge and arrange a ticket from Lukla to Kathmandu for 4 days from now.

Everest trek - Day 24 Machermo to Phortse Thenga

2011-10-23T18:49:00.000+13:00

I walked non stop from Machermo to Phortse Thenga without stopping for so much as a cup of tea. The fact that it's all down hill obviously helped. There is still plenty to see with nice mountain views and beautiful waterfalls, which are really hard to photograph because they are so high. What also is obvious is that the high season has started with lots of people on the trail and several large trekking groups making their way slowly uphill. Shortly after I arrive at my lodge a group from World Expeditions arrive they are tired but talkative and we have a pleasant afternoon together.

Another intermission

2011-10-23T01:46:00.003+13:00

I finally got a good night's sleep last night. After watching the Australia vs Wales match I went for a wander up the street and found a dusty hole in the wall drug seller that had Diazepam (Valium) for sale. I got a strip of ten 10 milligram tablets for a dollar and took one last night. Result, great night's sleep!
Tomorrow I will try to post some further updates on my Everest hike but today I am looking for souvenirs as I will be flying back home next Tuesday.

Everest Trek - Day 23 Gokyo to Machermo

2011-10-20T19:19:00.006+13:00

A glorious day of snow and sun.

Gokyo looking like a picture postcard alpine village.

Reflections in the second lake.

From the second lake looking towards Machermo.

After taking copious amounts of photos I decided to get out while the going is good, there is more snow forecast for the next week, and started breaking trail back towards Machermo. It's tough going and it actually takes me longer going down the mountain then it took me to get up.

Everest Trek - Day 22 Gokyo

2011-10-20T19:01:00.003+13:00

It was snowing this morning when I got up, snowing when I had breakfast, snowing when I had lunch and still snowing when I had dinner. At least thirty centimeters has fallen so far and the lodge staff have been busy most of the day clearing it away from the roof to avoid collapse. And while snow is hardly uncommon out here it is unusual for it to fall this heavy and at this time of the year.

Unhappy Yak in the snow.

Snow clearing Nepalese style.

Everest Trek - Day 21 Gokyo

2011-10-20T18:35:00.005+13:00

Slept a great deal better then last night and didn't get up till 7:30. That's downright late when you are hiking but as I will be staying for a few days in Gokyo that's OK.
Helen one of the doctors at the Machermo health post came in today she is doing the rounds of the lodges to spread the word on what's new for the season at the clinic and to hand out information packs that trekkers can read on the dangers of altitude sickness. You would have thought that after all these years of publication in guide books and general awareness amongst trekkers this wouldn't be necessary anymore but there isn't a single day that the rescue helicopter doesn't have to fly to pick up someone dying from going up to fast.
For exercise I walked up to the fourth lake but the weather has changed yet again and continuing rain and sleet eventually drove me back to the lodge. The outside temperature is just above freezing and that's around midday.

Gokyo as seen from the glacial moraine.

The Ngozumba glacier.

Everest Trek - Day 20 Gokyo

2011-10-19T19:38:00.004+13:00

I slept badly, most likely because of the altitude and got up at 6:00 am. The sky is clear and there is a light dusting of snow that I decide to climb up Gokyo Ri. At almost 5500 meters this is one of the highest peaks in the area that you can walk up without having to resort to climbing equipment. As expected the views are stunning but even while I slog my way to the top the clouds are moving in and by 9:00 am it's hard to even see the valley below me.

Everest Trek - Day 19 Machermo to Gokyo

2011-10-19T19:04:00.004+13:00

Another day, another change in the weather.
We all get up early and Michael, Werner and I are walking before seven in the morning. There are glorious views everywhere and I stop every few minutes to take photos.
It takes about three hours to walk up to Gokyo and we find rooms in the Gokyo Resort, the first lodge that was built here and probably the best of the bunch.

Yours truly at the first lake.

Some yaks parked up and ready to be unloaded. The shiny mirrors in the background are solar cookers.

Everest Trek - Day 18 Acclimatisation day in Machermo

2011-10-19T18:51:00.002+13:00

Didn't do a great deal, other then reading and eating, but did manage to climb the ridge behind the village to a string of prayer flags.

Slacking

2011-10-19T18:23:00.003+13:00

OK I admit I have been rather slack in updating the blog or doing much else for that matter!
After returning to Kathmandu I have spend most of my time hanging around the Kathmandu Garden House, eating curry, and drinking beer. Any weight I lost during my walking has probably been regained by now. Never mind I promise to do better from now on, or at least for today. So expect me to post the missing Everest Trek blog entries over the next few days and generally be a little more active.

Everest Trek - Day 17 Dole to Machermo

2011-10-04T03:29:00.002+13:00

What a difference a day makes. The weather has cleared and we got our first glimpses of the mountains. The walking was pleasant and we reached Machermo in under three hours including a stop for tea and plenty of stops for photos.
In the afternoon we all went over to get the altitude and AMS lecture and have our SATo2 measured, while far from definitive this gives a measure of how well you are acclimatised. I outscored everybody with 91%! Not that I was really surprised by this I have always done well at altitude but nice to know anyway.

Everest Trek - Day 16 Phortse Thenga to Dole

2011-10-04T03:22:00.002+13:00

I was greeted by a dull and grey morning but it was dry and around eight thirty I started my walk to Dole. After a few minutes I ran into the medical team that is going to Machermo to open up the Aid post there for the trekking season. One of them I had met last year and another one was a Dutchwoman living in New Zealand. Small world.
The trek itself was short, only two hours, and with the low clouds not much reason to stop and look at the scenery. So now I am in a lodge again chatting with all and sundry and entertaining the owners young son who is busy playing with the paper airplane I folded for him.

Everest Trek - Day 15 Namche Bazaar to Phortse Thenga

2011-10-04T03:16:00.003+13:00

I had only just gone to my room last night and was looking at some photos when everything started to shake. I've been in a few earthquakes before and this was obviously a big one so I jumped out of bed and braced myself under the doorway to the bathroom, The shaking seemed to go on for a long time but it was probably no more then a minute. In the aftermath everybody streamed outside not really a safe place either as all the buildings in Namche are two or three stories high, really close together, and made out of locally mined slate. We milled around a bit and even the elderly owner of the lodge said she had never experienced something like this before. The building was Ok although the kitchen and dining area were a mess and some of the water pipes had come apart. The only casualty of the quake that I could locate was an Englishman who had twisted his knee when he tried to run down the stairs. I gave him some of my Nurofen tablets which I carry around in bulk to treat my own knee problems. As there were no aftershocks we all went back inside after an hour or so but I did sleep fully clothed in case another tremor would hit.
In the morning after a not so good night's sleep I set out for Phortse Thenga and as everywhere in Nepal you start with climbing up. First to the top of Namche then to a small pass at Monjo just under 4000 meters in altitude. It was midday when I finally got there and had my usual lunch of vegetable noodle soup and a pot of tea. While I was having lunch the Danes came by, turned out they were suffering from knee problems as well and had decided to turn around from Dole and go back down probably all the way back to Kathmandu. They also wanted to get back to Namche to ring home and let their family know they were OK.
I dropped down the pass after lunch and an hour later was at my destination. Walking days are getting shorter now because of the altitude and tomorrow I expect to walk no more then three hours.

Everest Trek - Day 13 & 14 - Acclimitisation in Namche Bazaar

2011-09-18T23:18:00.000+12:00

They are known as acclimatisation days, time to get used to the altitude, but in reality for me they are rest days with much sitting around drinking tea and eating some of the nice food that they have here. Potato and egg salad as well as salami pizza are high on my list after twelve days of dal bhat.
Tomorrow I will start trekking again up the valley to Gokyo and if I feel up to it crossing the Renjo La to Thame before returning Namche for a few rest days. We'll see how it works out but I expect to be out of contact for between ten days and a fortnight.

Everest Trek - Day 12 - Phakding to Namche Bazaar

2011-09-18T23:13:00.001+12:00

The first part of the day is easy enough and the walk to the National Park entrance goes without a hitch and then it's the climb up the Namche hill. It's busy with lots of porters and it's bloody steep! I follow a porter who carries 8 cartons of beer or close enough to 96 kg and I can almost keep up with him. In the end it takes me several hours to get to the top of the hill but when I get there I find a room in the Khumbu Lodge have a nice hot shower and unleash my ravenous appetite on their menu. I'll be enjoying the next few days.

Everest Trek - Day 11 -Puiyan to Phakding

2011-09-18T23:08:00.001+12:00

The rain has stopped and it's another glorious day for mountain walking. Up until lunch I am the only trekker around then I come around a Mani stone and all of a sudden I am on the main trail from Lukla to Namche, there are yak trains, trekking groups and porters everywhere and I am stunned by all this activity after ten days of being largely on my own.
The trail now heads for Phakding and a second surprise, there is quite a bit of damage from land slides, non of the lodges has been taken out as far as I can see but some of the larges land slides have come uncomfortably close. I decide that I'll pick a lodge away from the canyon wall and settle on one across the river and away from the land slide area.

Everest Trek - Day 10 - Bupsa to Puiyan

2011-09-18T23:05:00.001+12:00

Turned out to be a pretty short walk today. The weather was nice enough when I set out but by the time I got to Puiyan, three hours later, it had started to rain and with no let up in sight I called it a day and spend the afternoon reading a book.

Everest Trek - Day 9 - Nuntala to Bupsa

2011-09-18T22:42:00.003+12:00

It's a nice clear morning and I am heading for the low point of the trek. In a few hours I get to the Dudh Kosi and at this point and after climbing as high as 3500 meter a few days ago I am lower then where I started in Jiri. From now on it's uphill all the way to Everest.
I start climbing from the river towards the village of Chaurikharka and after an hour or so see a trail leading of in the fields, I am pretty sure that this is a shortcut around the next ridge so I start following it.
Six hours later having descended back to the river, crossed tracks no wider then my boots and at one stage having slid on my bum down a set of rocks with no footholds at all before climbing almost a kilometer back up I arrive in Bupsa, not much of a shortcut but I am back on correct trail.

Everest Trek - Day 8 - Junbesi to Nunthala

2011-09-18T22:35:00.002+12:00

It rained all night but when I got up the weather was gorgeous. The trail largely follows the contours of a hillside and once you are out of the forest gives fantastic views of the valleys below. I am starting to feel a bit better about my hiking abilities each day and feel that I finally start to get in the swing of things. after an hour or two I get to the Everest view point that as the name indicates gives a view of the mountain. To see it however yo have to be there at sunrise and when I got there the monsoon clouds had well and truly covered the mountains. I also ran into the two Danish guys I ad met in Jiri and we followed each other down the hill to Ringmo where we had lunch. That was also the point where the weather turned and when we got going again it started first to drizzle and then to rain.
When I got to the top of the Trakshindo pass the sky cleared for me though and while here were no spectacular views at least I got to see the spectacle of a yak owner chasing his unwilling animal across the pass into the forest, back over the pass and finally down the trail. Not much you can do when half a tonne of angry animal doesn't want to listen to you. At hat moment the clouds rolled back in again and I spend the next few hours going down almost eight hundred meter to Nuntala. When I got there I was only fifteen minutes behind the Danes which pleased me greatly as they are less then half my age.

Everest Trek - Day 7 - Dagchu to Junbesi

2011-09-18T22:28:00.003+12:00

Not a very good nights sleep but at least it wasn't cold. By 7 am I am walking again the mountain is still covered in fog and there is a light drizzle coming down, a small dog has decided to keep me company and is very persistently following me uphill. The trail is steep and quite scrappy in places with lots of boulders and uneven stones When I walk through the village of Lamjura the village dogs spot my companion and lay into him their is lots of flying fur and he scoots into someones house To my surprise the owner doesn't chase him out. I continue uphill, it is getting a bit cooler now and the rain a bit heavier so I don my rain coat and keep on moving. Three hours after leaving Dagchu I reach the pass of Lamjura La, the view is non existent so I don't linger and start the decent.
The way down is like a rocky river with boulders everywhere and different streams splitting of and then rejoining the main flow. The forest adds abit of gloom to the whole affair but apart from sliding around on the wet stones I don't come to any major harm. Just when the trail levels out and I exit the forest a real heavy downpour begins funnily enough of in the distance I can see the valley Junbesi is in ahead in bright sun shine. I keep on walking and a few minutes later the rain abates, another thirty minutes and I put my raincoat away, another thirty minutes after that I am in Jubesi having a cup of tea. All in all I have walked for six hours non stop and my knees feel a bit iffy from the steep down hill hopefully they are OK again tomorrow.

Everest Trek - Day 6 - Kinja to Dagchu

2011-09-17T16:18:00.002+12:00

The only way is up!

I still have sore calf muscles but today is one of those days where there are no downhill stretches at all, It's cloudy but that makes for good walking weather and I set off with the intention of getting as close to the pass as I can. it takes me 4 hours of uphill scrambling and ever more frequent rest posts before I reach Sete.

This is a small vilage with a number of lodges and teashops. I spend almost an hour and a half here drinking tea, having lunch and resting up. Then I move on to Dagchu a series of lodges spread along the hillside around 2900 meters high. I have another cup of tea, look at all the clouds and decide to stay here. Good call its starts raining five minutes later.

Everest Trek - Day 5 - Rest day in Kinja

2011-09-17T16:12:00.002+12:00

Had a great view of the mountains beyond the green valley that Kinja is in and a great reluctance to walk uphill again today so I called it a rest day and stayed put.

She cooked lots of nice things for me while I was in Kinja

Everest Trek - Day 4 - Deorali to Kinja

2011-09-17T16:06:00.002+12:00

When I woke up it was dry and a beautifully clear sky with my first sight of a snow covvered peak in the distance. Time to get walking!

As expected the trail from the pass down to Bhandar was steep ans slippery but I got there without a hitch then after traversing the farms around this area and frequently asking for directions the trail dropped doen again crossed a river and stated contouring around the hills.

There are some really nice views here and the hillsides are dottedd with small villages. After a while the trail decends again and when I reach the valley floor I have come down over a kilometer from the top of the pass. From here on the trail is mostly level and five hours after leaving Deorali I enter Kinja.

Everest Trek - Day 3 - Shivalaya to Deorali

2011-09-17T16:03:00.001+12:00

Got stopped while leaving Shivalaya this morning by a lovely young lady who wanted 2000 rupees for a new permit the government has instigated to celebrate Visit Nepal Year. I told her flat out I wouldn't be paying and would rather be going back to Jiri then being ambushed with extra charges during my trek. I think she quickly understood that I wasn't going to budge on this one and let me go. I am still pissed off about it while I am writing this.

The trek itself went largely as planned with a steep upward path right from the start, I wasn't going fast but was reasonably satisfied with my progress until ten minutes before I got to the pass at Deorali it started to rain and by the time I found shelter in one of the tea houses it absolutely poured down.

It never stopped raining and as I know the downhill section on the otherside is pretty steep I wasn't keen on trekking on in the rain so it was an easy decision to call it a day, grab a room and roll out my sleeping bag.

Everest trek - Day 2 - Jiri to Shivalaya

2011-09-17T15:53:00.002+12:00

A goodnight's sleep the first really cool nights in over three months. The two Danish guys that were in the lodge last night were feeling a bit under the weather and decided to stay for another day in Jiri. Not an auspicious way to start their trek.

Just after eight I put my pack on and headed out of the gate it felt pretty good to be on the trail again. The route is quite indistinct in places but there are plenty of locals to ask and I make my way steadily upwards. After another hour I am still making my way upwards but less steadily and after three hours I am starting to really slow down and taking lots of rest breaks. Eventually I crest the ridge though and stride into Mali a village of five houses or so but most importantly a teashop!

After tea and a rest I get back on the trail it plunges down the side of the ridge on a jumble of rocks and slippery clay. I have never been a very comfortable downhill walker so I take it very easy indeed and after an hour and a half I reach the valley bottom and Shivalaya my destination for today. It has taken me almost 50% longer then the guidebook's recommended "slow" time. Never mind I am here and I made it in one piece and without any drama. Tomorrow I should be just that little bit fitter.

Everest trek - Day 1 - Kathmandu to Jiri

2011-09-17T15:48:00.002+12:00

I got up at six had a shower and headed for the bus station. The walk takes about twenty minutes and i was suprised how many people were already out and about. Admittingly that says more about me then about them but I figured I metion it anyway.

After the usual confusion at the bus station I found the "Micro Bus" or what we would call a Van that is to take me and sixteen others to Jiri. I am the only back packer.

After being serenanded by a duo of buskers we are off right on time. And while all seats are taken they dont try to fit any extras on board so we make good time and within half an hour we are going through Bhaktapur, heading for Dhuklikhel and the valley rim this is also where the first of many police checkpoints is but after a cursory glance we get waved on. The road deteriorates rapidly from this point onwards with large pot holes and land slides taking out whole sections at a time.

Two and a half hours into the trip we cross the Bhote Kosi and start heading up the switch backs to Jiri. This road is basically single lane with some pasing bays and for the next 110 kilometers we have to negotiate with traffic coming from the opposite direction on who has right of way.

Finally five and a half hours into the journey we reach the top of the pass andhere at over 2500 meters high we stop for lunch. Everybody heads for the Dal Bhat shop and has their fill then twenty minutes later we are on the move again. The us driver now has to negotiate a number of washed out bridges and while its a slow process all goes well until a rain storm suddenly hits us and the small creeks we were crossing turn into large muddy torrents. At one of them he hesitates has another look then plunges in and I can feel the water pushing the van, I have my hand on the door handle ready to bail out but he regains control and we continue on our way. Ten minutes later it is dry again.

And then finally we arrive in Jiri an old fellow gives me the card for his hotel and ten mintes later I have a room and a pot of lemon tea. Tomorrow the real hike starts.

Everest Trek

2011-09-04T18:23:00.001+12:00

(The Kathmandu to Namche Bazaar section)

Tomorrow I will be off to Jiri by local bus, a ride I am dreading, as even when I was twenty years younger it was one hell of an uncomfortable ride. It is however the only way, short of hiring a taxi for around $150, to get there.
Jiri is an alternative starting point for the Everest trek and used mainly by those with time on their hands as it adds about a week to the trek each way and is considered hard going. The road officially goes as far as Shivalaya but I have been reliably informed that a landslide has taken care of the section beyond Jiri so that's as far as the bus will go. From Jiri it will be shanks pony all the way.
The trail goes against the grain of the land so every day you are either going up a ridge or down one the other side. On day 4 you cross the Lamjura pass at 3530 meters before descending to the Ringmo Khola a thousand meters lower. The next day you go back up to 3071 mtrs at Trakshindo La. Then it's down a long way to 1400 mtrs at the Dudh Kosi. At that point you are 400 meters lower then at the start of the trek in Jiri! From here the trail is going more up then down and the next few days hover between 2000 and 3000 meter before the push up to Namche Bazaar at 3480 meter. By this time I should be well and truly fit enough to tackle the trail to Everest base camp and Kalar Patar.

I know it's a crappy picture but it gives a good overview of the ups and downs of the trek.

Swayambodnath

2011-09-04T18:11:00.002+12:00

A stay in Kathmandu is not complete if you haven't been to Swayambodnath. the monkey temple. One of the nice things about this place that there is always something new to see and of course there are the monkeys.

A resident monkey.

A resident Buddha.

Trekking permit and TIMS card

2011-09-01T20:53:00.003+12:00

I walked to the Tourism Office this morning to get my trekking permit (1000 rupees) and my TIMS card (1500 rupees). The cost for the trekking permit is meant to go to the maintenance of the Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park. The TIMS fee is just a rip off concocted by the Thamel Trekking Agencies to persuade you to go trekking with them rather then independently. Never mind I'll get over it.
On the way over to the Tourist Office I took some photos of the goings on along the road. Hope you like them.

Suspicious stall holder.

Sidewalk saleswoman.

Ambulant vegetable vendor.

Homeless woman sleeping in a doorway.

Visit Nepal Year

2011-09-01T20:48:00.002+12:00

From the moment you land it's clear that you are in Nepal. Kathmandu airport has no air-bridges so you have to come down the stairs. However since my last visit it has been decided by the powers that be that rather then walk from the aircraft to the terminal you have to go by bus. So the first thirty people get of the plane and on the bus, the bus drives fifty meters to the terminal building and unloads everyone again, then it drives back and picks up the next thirty people. It takes a while to disembark a plane load of passengers this way.
The next act gets underway when everyone lines up to buy their visa. The young Spanish couple behind me try to pay for their Nepali Visa in Nepali Rupees. No luck.
"Sorry we only accept Euros or US dollars"
"You don't accept your own currency?"
Embarrassed looking guy behind the counter,
"Please change your money at the bank over there"
he points at exchange window.
When I get down to the baggage collection area I still have to wait another ten minutes for my luggage. Luggage handling is done manually here.
The taxi to the hotel looks like it was recycled after the it got hit by bomb and the driver charges a premium because there is a festival and the direct road from the Airport to town is blocked by people going to the Pasupatinath temple.
When I finally sit down in the hotel and ask Yves what the government has done for Visit Nepal Year he deadpans "They raised the prices".

A day on the river

2011-08-30T14:42:00.006+12:00

I had a lovely day cruising on the ferries that ply the Chao Phraya river. The ferries run a long way and by combining them you get an almost three hour cruise for under two dollars. And while it isn't the Kerala back waters or the inland passage I do find all the life on and near the river fascinating.

The ferry at full speed.

A Cross river boat ready to depart.

Long tail boat passes Wat Arun.

Passengers packed in on one of the busier sections.

A stroll through Bangkok

2011-08-28T16:00:00.002+12:00

I decided to go and see the royal barges museum a place where the boats for processions by and for the Thai royal family are kept. To get there I had to take a ferry across the Chao Praya river and then walk it from there. It was a nice walk through an interesting set of alleys and back roads and when I came to the museum it was closed! So I continued my walk and eventually ended back up at my hotel where I bought a newspaper with a lovely picture of one of the barges on the front page.
It turns out the reason they are not on view is that they are being used to train the crew that has to take them out for a procession next month.

Back in Bangkok

2011-08-27T16:33:00.003+12:00

After three months traveling the highways and byways of South East Asia I got back to Bangkok. It seems busier then when I left and it is slightly cooler although that might well be because it rained during the night. I expect to be doing maintenance during the next few days, that is getting my laundry done sorting out my trekking gear and darning my socks, Ok not darning my socks, but you get my drift. Then all being well I will be flying to Kathmandu on Wednesday and getting ready for some serious trekking.

Added Twitter

2011-08-25T02:53:00.004+12:00

I have added a Twitter feed under my photo on the right hand side of the blog. Hopefully I can use it when I feel like just sending a five worded missive on my whereabouts.

Being idle.

2011-08-25T02:41:00.003+12:00

Contrary to last post I haven't been to Angkor Wat yet and have spend most of my days hanging around the hotel talking to people. While for most this would seem unthinkable I have actually been here twice before so it's not a if I am missing something.
Then again I should really go out there.

Another long ride.

2011-08-21T03:03:00.002+12:00

It's just after ten in the evening and I have arrived in Siem Reap. This morning I got up at 6:30 had a shower and got on the bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh. The border crossings went smoothly and the ride was quick enough that at two o'clock I found myself in the capital of Cambodia. A quick check on the timetable and another hour later I was back on a bus again this time bound for Siem Reap where I arrived at 9:30 in the evening. This is when familiarity helped out, I have been here a few times before and knew where I wanted to stay, and found myself in Front of the Red Lodge ten minutes later.
Time for a good nights sleep and off to the ruins tomorrow!

Quiet Day

2011-08-20T00:13:00.002+12:00

An altogether quieter day today. I managed to get a few blisters while walking yesterday because I wasn't wearing any socks in my shoes and today i was paying the price for it. Not that sitting in a cafe drinking coffee is that bad a price to pay.
Tomorrow I shall be on my way to Cambodia and all being well I should be in Phnom Penh around three in the afternoon. We'll see.

Another day wandering around Saigon

2011-08-19T13:02:00.002+12:00

I spend another day wandering the streets of Saigon visiting temples and taking in the sights. The complete collection of Vietnam photos can be found here but these are some of yesterdays highlights.

A family having breakfast just down from the hotel I am staying at.

These two cuties posed for a photo in a temple forecourt then promptly demanded payment! I declined.

Worshipers in the "Jade Emperor Pagoda"

A sobering tale.

2011-08-19T12:36:00.002+12:00

I visited the museum of War Remnants previously known as the museum of American War Crimes. Apart from a display of the usual collection of tanks and airplanes this museum lays out in gruesome detail some of the atrocities committed during the Vietnam war.
Display after display shows soldiers either torturing people or killing the innocent. Particularly bad are the photos of them posing with people that are blown up or that they have beheaded.
People that think Abu Ghraib was an isolated incident of a few deluded souls and these things normally don't happen should probably visit this museum.

Ambling through Saigon

2011-08-18T13:28:00.004+12:00

Saigon has quite a pleasant feel to it and if you don't get run over by the crazy traffic there iss plenty to see as well. So here are today's highlights.
First up the lovely looking town hall with a statue of uncle Ho in the foreground and lots of embellishments on its flanks.

From here I walked to the "Notre Dame de Saigon" a church that looks indeed similar to its namesake in Paris. Nearby is the central post office a gem of tropical colonial architecture that is beautifully restored on both the outside and inside.

From there I made it to the Reunification Palace. This is where the government of South Vietnam plotted their actions in the war and where the war effectively ended when a North Vietnamese tank drove through the gate and the crew raised their flag over the building. Now the palace is preserved as it was then and gives a fairly interesting look at how the government of the day lived and worked.

Saigon

2011-08-17T00:37:00.003+12:00

It took eleven and a half hours but the bus made it to Saigon where we arrived in a tropical downpour. Luckily I was prepared for that and had my umbrella handy. My backpack has a waterproof bag inside it so everything was dry as a bone.
Tomorrow we'll see what the city has to offer.

Another day another bus ride.

2011-08-16T12:18:00.000+12:00

All being well I should be on the bus to Saigon in the next hour or so. Estimated ride time ten hours.

Hoi An

2011-08-15T17:18:00.002+12:00

Hoi An is small town about half way between Hanoi and Saigon that has escaped more or less unscathed from the various wars. With the opening up of Vietnam for tourism it has been spruced up and is now a reminder of an older gentler time that probably never existed. Having said that, its interesting and well worth the day I spend out here.

Lovely tree covered streets and no traffic, cars are banned from the city center!

The "Japanese" bridge was built to connect the Japanese and Vietnamese parts of the village.

A Colorful temple entrance.

Arrived in Nha Trang

2011-08-11T17:59:00.003+12:00

As I expected the bus ride was a sleepless one. On the one hand the bus was nice and new, on the other so was the sound system, so the whole night Vietnamese pop songs blared out at full volume. Anyway I am in Nha Trang and expect to spend the next few days on the beach out here before heading of towards either Dalat or Saigon.

Here are two fuzzy pics of the bus interior. Basically in a sleeper bus there are three rows of bunk beds/sleeping chairs that fit the average westerner badly. I am relatively short so I just fit the Ducth guys that were on the bus were all over 1.9 meters tall and didn't fit at all.

Delayed already.

2011-08-10T22:26:00.001+12:00

I have just been told the bus is delayed and will now leave at 7:30 this evening. This is not making me cheerful.

Night bus to Nha Thrang

2011-08-10T21:43:00.000+12:00

In a few hours time I am supposed to take the overnight bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang and I am not looking forward to it. So far I have avoided taking night buses as in my opinion they are one of the most uncomfortable ways of getting fro A to B. First you don't sleep all night the when you arrive you sleep all day to make up for it. Never the less its the only feasible way to cover the distance, so a night bus it is. I'll update you tomorrow on how it went.

Cities of the dead.

2011-08-10T21:36:00.001+12:00

The emperors of Vietnam had a fair bit of time on their hands as the country was run by the French and their wives and concubines obviously didn't provide enough entertainment so they set about building magnificent mausoleums for themselves. In order to take a look at some of them I hired a motorbike and driver and cruised the byways of Hue.

First up is a pagoda rather then a tomb but this one has an unusual and unpleasant relic stored in its compound. In 1963 during the height of the Buddhist repression by the South Vietnamese government the venerable Thich Quang Duc was driven to the center of Saigon in the Austin motor car that is now on display here. When he got to his destination he got out of the car, sat down, another monk poured petrol over him and he burned himself to death.
Today the pagoda is a quiet and pleasant place along the river.

Next up the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc who had 104 wives and concubines but didn't father a single child. He did however build a rather nice tomb with a large number of ancillary palaces, temples and pavilions. Apparently the population thought it was rather to nice and to expensive and attempted a coup, they failed and today his extravagance makes for a popular tourist attraction.

Emperor Khai Dinh his tomb actually took longer to build then his reign a total of eleven years. It is a combination of Vietnamese and European design and looks like something you can expect in France. Built against a hillside it's a climb to get there but once you make it the Emperor awaits in effigy. A lifesize gilded statue sits on top of the actual grave.

Finally I visited the last resting place of emperor Minh Mang. This is considered the most harmoniously laid out tomb and indeed the courtyards and buildings blend beatifully with the landscape. Unlike the other ones the tomb itself is actually inaccessible but just wondering around the area is well worth it.

Scams

2011-08-09T18:18:00.003+12:00

I was warned by various people as well as by every guide book that honesty is not something that's high on Vietnamese their agenda. Now after ten days in the country I tend to agree. Not a day goes by that someone isn't trying to rip me off on something. Normally its small stuff like charging double for a cup of coffee or trying to get you to pay ten dollars for a taxi ride that costs only two. But sometimes its far worse then that, two Australians I spoke too had hired a rickshaw for the afternoon and presented with a bill for four million Dong afterwards, that's two hundred dollar! When you dispute any overcharges a lot of the locals get very aggressive indeed.
Not a problem for me I can give as good as I get but quite unsettling for a lot of people.

The Imperial City

2011-08-09T01:43:00.002+12:00

Hue's claim to fame apart from being bombed by every belligerent in Vietnam's wars over the last sixty years is that it was the seat of the Nguyen Emperors for close to two centuries.
Given the fact that the Americans actually used napalm on the imperial palaces it's remarkable how much is left standing and of course since those days a fair amount of restoration has taken place.
I had a fine but very hot day amongst the palaces both restored and ruined and have come to the weird conclusion that Chinese temples in Vietnam look more authentic then those in China. Go figure.

Entrance to the Imperial City

One of the rebuilt palaces.

One of the many gates,

Some in better nick then others.

No palace should be without a dragon.

To see a lot more photos of Hue, click on the 2011 Vietnam photo link.

Now how did this happen?

2011-08-08T15:09:00.003+12:00

It's 39 degrees outside and I am having a cold. Runny nose, watery eyes and a sore throat.
You think that couldn't happen out here.

I'll have another Strepsil now.

Night train to Hue

2011-08-06T19:01:00.004+12:00

It's 700 kilometers to Hue and the only half comfortable way of traveling there is the night train. The alternative a night bus is only for when you are really desperate.
We left exactly on time at 3.45 in the afternoon and arrived spot on at 6.15 the next morning. As you can see from the photos there are four berths per cabin and I shared mine with a Chinese couple. The big benefit of travel by train is that you can get up and walk around to stretch your legs and on a sleeper train like this you can stretch out and try to catch a rest. I still didn't sleep much but that has probably more to do with me then the train.

Maintenance

2011-08-05T17:31:00.000+12:00

I have uploaded the last of the China pictures and started an album for Vietnam

Hanoi

2011-08-05T13:19:00.003+12:00

Hanoi is quite a fascinating town with lots of old narrow streets, temples, churches and of course uncle Ho's last resting place. Over the last few days I have walked all over town, seen the sights and had some good coffee. While, or perhaps because off, Hanoi is nowhere near as modern as the places I visited in China it has a pleasant feel to it.

The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.

You don't get to many of these anymore. A statue for Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Entrance to the temple of learning.

The venerated teachers.

Off to Vietnam

2011-08-04T23:32:00.001+12:00

The trip from the Yuányáng Rice Terraces to Hanoi took me two days and started off with a misunderstanding on the first day of my travels. I had taken a small and bouncy van that passed my hotel to the bus station and attempted to buy a ticket for the bus to Hék?u when incomprehension ensued. The lady behind the ticket window said something to me and waved her hand. I tried again, same response, no ticket. I asked at another ticket window nothing to make me any wiser. So I walked through the bus station to see if there was anyone who could speak English, or Dutch, or German, or Spanish, French even. No luck I was obviously on my own. So I started to look for a bus with the script for Hékou, no bus. By this time I am considering walking to the border it's only 200 kilometers after all. Then a plan B pops up in my mind and I ring the owner of the lodge I stayed at and who speaks some English. Bingo! I talk to him then hand the telephone to the ticketing woman, she speaks to him and hands the phone back to me, I talk to him amd find out that the bus is yet to arrive at the station and I can buy my ticket on board of course at that point the Hék?u bus shows up.
Right on the bus and how long can 200 kilometers take? seven hours as it turns out. On the upside its a scenic trip and at one stage we do almost two hours on an unsealed road through the mountains. When we finally make it to Hékou I hit the same language barrier. I am at the busstation but where is the border post? I decide to take a short cut and hop in a taxi show him the script for border post and he drives me around the corner and charges a dollar for it. Almost there now. After the hassle of getting there the formalities on both sides of the border are few and three minutes later I am in Vietnam.
My first night in Vietnam is limited to finding out what time the train leaves for Hanoi and having a good meal.
The next morning I am at the railway station at 8.30 am for the 9.15 departure of the slow train to Hanoi needless to say it's delayed we finally chug out of the station at 10.30. The carriage has timber benches and seat alocation for eighty people. Add another eighty for good measure and a can of sardines starts looking spacious. Still the people are friendly and we are moving. Then we stop I had forgotten that this is the slow service. We stop and start for the next thirteen hours, vendors come around to keep us fed and watered, people come around to practice their English on me and a group of students sings and dances in the aisle. By the time we trundle into Hanoi I am knackered, just one more ride on the back of a motorcycle and I am in my hotel and ready to sleep yet again

Yuányáng Rice Terraces

2011-08-02T00:15:00.004+12:00

I spend two days walking the hills and dales of the Yuányáng Rice Terraces and am pleased to report that in spite of the brochures advising me that the development of rice paddy tourism was imminent it is still a quiet and laidback area of China with small villages dotting the hillsides and people just going about there business herding the water buffaloes and farming the rice.
It was quite pleasant to see a bit of China that didn't have thousands of people standing in front of each sight and indeed while I was walking about I never saw a single other tourist.
The rice fields are apperently being nominated for inclusion on the UNESCO world heritage list and I am not suprised. Starting at 200 meters altitude they go all the way up to 2600 meters with some paddies the size of a soccer field while others aren't much larger then a single square meter.

Fake iStore (part 2)

2011-08-01T14:45:00.002+12:00

A note on my earlier story on the fake iStore. Just before I left the city council in Kunming declared that they had closed down three fake Apple stores.
Unfortunately they somehow missed the two largest ones on Jinbi square and in the main shopping street leading off from there.
Ah well maybe their bribes were all in order.

Vietnam

2011-08-01T14:38:00.003+12:00

After two days of long and tiring travel I arrived late last night in Hanoi. I will try to update the blog on the time I spend in Yuang Jang as well as my trip down here later today but first I want to go and see some of the city.

Costs in Laos

2011-07-26T14:19:00.001+12:00

Better late then never. Here is a rundown of my expenses in Laos. It was definitely cheaper in Laos even as I started to add the odd cocktail and a few beers to my menu. I averaged 225,000 Kip or NZ$ 36 per day this includes the cost for my Laos visa at US$ 36

The breakdown of the major daily items was:

Accommodation 48,000 Kip/Day
Food 102,000 Kip/Day
Transport 42,000 Kip/Day

I spend almost no money on entrance fees but even if you were to visit every attraction around you still are unlikely to incur more then a dollar per day.

Accommodation: It rained a lot which kept the temperature down and all but once I stayed in fan cooled rooms. In Muang Ngoi Neua I got a bungalow with attached bathroom and a hammock out in front for 20,000 Kip per night!

Food: Three meals a day, plenty of coffee and some alcohol every now and then. One of my plans for this trip was to limit drinking in the hope that combined with a bit more exercise it would help me lose some weight. However when at the end of the day you are lying in your hammock and a woman half your age comes up to you and asks you to come for a drink you're fool to say no.

Transport: Lots of travel by boat including the two day trip from the Thai border to Luang Prabang. the rest a combination of mini and regular buses. The rest by Shanks Pony.

Miscellaneous: The usual Internet access, toiletries and two umbrellas, obviously quality wasn't their strong point.

Fake iStore

2011-07-25T19:45:00.004+12:00

The shop in this photo has become moderately famous over the last week. Together with a similar one, both in highly visible areas of the main Kunming shopping district they have turned out to be fakes.
Someone went to a real Apple store either in China, there are ones in Beijing and Shanghai, or the USA and copied them wholesale from the shop front and layout to the shirts their staff wear.
The merchandise in the one I had a look at appeared to be fake as well or perhaps factory seconds. I doubt Apple would normally let shoddy workmanship like that out of the door though.
Steve wont be pleased.

Now how did this happen?

2011-07-22T14:25:00.001+12:00

One of the young women running the guesthouse referred to me this morning as Uncle Coffee while she was talking to her friend behind the counter.
Surely my habit of ordering two cups at the same time for breakfast has nothing to do it.

Cooking

2011-07-21T15:25:00.001+12:00

Rice & Friends is a new cooking school set up by a lovely young lady named Luxi. She speaks perfect English and has set up her cooking school in the court yard of the house she lives

Jasper and Senne from Denmark were the other two aspiring cooks and we were taught how to make a tofu salad that dispelled my long held belief that tofu is tasteless and should be generally avoided. Then we did an eggplant and garlic dish that was something I will definitely have to add to my repertoire back home. To finish it off we cooked a stirfry chicken dish with chilly and a sesame oil sauce.

I will post some photos as soon as I can persuade my computer to talk to the Internet again. This message is send from my telephone.
Edit 22/07/2011 Fixed

Retreat to Dali

2011-07-20T20:15:00.001+12:00

After watching the rain and gray skies in Lijiang for four days I decided enough is enough and I have gone back to Dali where it's pleasant and sunny!
In the next few days I expect to continue south to Kunming and the Vietnamese border but first I have some cooking to do here in Dali.

Seen on he street

2011-07-17T18:50:00.001+12:00

Chinese

2011-07-17T18:46:00.000+12:00

I know it doesn't amount to much but while I was out shopping yesterday I managed several times to put my newly learned Mandarin to good use and was able to hear and understand prices as well as tell people what my shoe size was when buying a pair of sneakers.
I was rather pleased with that.

A rainy day in Lìjiāng

2011-07-15T18:15:00.003+12:00

The trip to Lìjiāng takes an hour by train or four hours by road. Needless to say the locals know this and make sure that they book their train ticket well in advance. The rest of us take the bus.
The trip is scenic enough going through forests, fields and mountains. Unfortunately the reason for the duration of the journey is that a large part of the road is unsealed while a new highway is under construction. As it had rained all night and still rained during our bus ride that meant large mud puddles everywhere.
Lìjiāng is a bit like Dali with ancient buildings under construction, lots of hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. It does look more genuine though. There are narrow cobble stone streets, little bridges and small streams everywhere. It looks like the set of a Chinese period movie.

Lìjiāng is 2400 meters above sea level and this is the first time during this trip that I am actually cold. I think I'll have to look for a jacket or a sweater tomorrow. As my sandals are beyond repair as well, a new pair of shoes is probably in order as well.

A walk through the hills.

2011-07-13T23:04:00.003+12:00

The Cang Shan range is right at the back of Dali and I decided like thousands of others that today would be a nice day for a stroll.
To get going you take a gondola from Dali to Zhōnghé Mountain and then just follow the path, which is the only fully paved mountain trail that I have ever come across.
There are only very gradual up and downs with seats and little shade shelters every few hundred meters.
Hiking for the seriously lazy!

On my way up I got talking to a chap with the somewhat unusual name of Forest, who was here on a holiday from Taiwan, and we decided to tackle the trail together. Like myself he liked to walk rather then amble and we covered the 11.5 kilometer distance to Zhōnghé Temple in just over two hours.
To get down the mountain is as easy as getting up only this time you take a chairlift.
Another nice days walking.

Dali

2011-07-11T20:44:00.003+12:00

I am currently in Dali which I was told was a quiet laid back town in the mountains. Well it's near the mountains alright. I's also the most touristy little town I have been into years. Sure most of the tourists are Chinese but they are tourists all the same. The old town is scenic but wall to wall souvenir shops and restaurants. I'll see if I can get up the mountain tomorrow. Apparently there is a nice walk along one of the ridges.

The photo is a pagoda that was build about eleven hundred years ago and one of the top attractions in town. The entry fee is over $20 so I just took some photos from the outside.

Update

2011-07-10T12:31:00.001+12:00

I have updated the photo albums with the last of the Laos photos and the China photos to date.

Another day in Kunming

2011-07-09T13:03:00.005+12:00

We walked and walked and walked. I have the blisters to prove it. Matt had to get some onward travel to sort out so we walked around to look for travel agents.

Instead we found a pagoda.

With a young skater in front of it.

And after a long day we had noodles and watched the lights go on in Jinmabiji square.

I am still really enjoying myself out here and hope to do some more sight seeing before heading to Dali on Sunday.

Chinglish

2011-07-08T22:21:00.003+12:00

Name of an ice cream shop

Kunming

2011-07-08T13:20:00.006+12:00

Matthew and I decided on an exploratory walk of Kunming today. We grabbed a map and walked off to Green Lake Park and immediately ended up in the major shopping mall area, more stores then Singapore.
A friendly and excellent English speaking student gave us a quick introduction to town and not much later we ended up in the park. Architecture as to be expected is Chinese with colorful entry gates and lots of lotus flowers on the pond.
The reason we came here other then a walk is to see a small water pump station that was originally built at the turn of the 19th century and is now a small museum. Interesting but I liked the park more then the museum

Then it was on to the Yuántōng Temple which was quite interesting and looked exactly as a you would expect a Chinese temple to look like. With multi colored buildings, people burning joss sticks and lots of old people milling about.

The place is stacked with Buddha statues and Chinese deities.

After we left the temple we wandered around town and came upon this lovely pavilion and discovered it was full of people playing Mahjong and drinking green tea.

A bit later we happened on a street full of sign writers.
It's been an interesting day.

First Impressions

2011-07-07T20:59:00.005+12:00

From the moment I crossed the border, one thing was clear, in China things are bigger and better. While the Laos border post is essentially a shed with a few people in it the Chinese border post is an architect designed marvel with lots of marble, immaculately dressed officers, and an electronic score board to rate their efficiency.
The trip to Jinghong my first stop in this country was on amazingly good highways with several large tunnels and huge viaducts to cross mountains and valleys. When we reached Jinghong, a sleepy country town according to the guide book, we were greeted by seemingly endless brand new apartment blocks and I counted over forty tower cranes on the way in. The journey ended at a bus station large enough to have it's own Hotel!
The warning that few people speak English is quite true but it hasn't proved much of an obstacle so far. I got a hotel in Jinghong by miming and pointing and I am trying to learn a few basic sentences in Mandarin. Food is normally on display so that's easy as well. It's cheap too.

And to kick the photos off, here is chairman Mao

The bus station in Jinghong

The main square in Kunming

China and Censorship

2011-07-07T13:46:00.002+12:00

I have arrived in China and so far it's quite amazing, before I get to that a rant about censorship though.
When I first tried to access my blog I found out that it was inaccessible, as seems most other information of interest. This is known as the great firewall of China and meant to stop the proletariat from being informed about the world at large. Before this happened I didn't realize how pissed off I could get about some faceless communist critter telling me what I can read and write. Anyway after talking to Matthew, an English programmer, he put me onto a VPN service and it looks, fingers crossed that this has solved my problem. The great computer gods in the sky think I am in the USA right now.

Rules and Regulations

2011-07-05T00:37:00.004+12:00

Rule 5
Do not.....bring both women and man which is not your own husband or wife in to the room for making love.

Click on the picture to get the full Accommodation Regulation

A walk through the rice fields

2011-07-04T00:26:00.006+12:00

At ten in the morning Nina, Julia and I set of for a trek through the forests and fields surrounding Muang Ngoi Neua the plan is more or less to visit a cave, walk through some rice fields and visit a village in te jungle about an hour away.

We were warned about the mud but didn't listen.

The first half an hour of the trek follows a well trodden path, muddy but not to bad, the cave is really just one big chamber with a small stream through it.Nice but nothing special. To go any further underground you will need to be a spelunker and know what you are doing.

The mud is getting heavier and my feet sink knee deep in the mud a big sucking sound then my sandal comes off. I retrieve it but the heel strap is broken. I take both sandals off and decide to go bare feet, we cross the first of a number of small rivers and irrigation channels.

The mud stays sticky and deep and we are going quite slow. Then suddenly we emerge fom the jungle and into the rice fields. There are rice terraces and little dikes to hold the water in, ducks waddling about and people working everywhere.

The fields stretches seemingly in all directions so we ask one of the locals how we can get to Ban Na he waves to the East so we start traversing the dikes between the paddy fields they are wet, muddy, unstable and made for Lao sized feet. We slide and stumble slowly from one to the other.
More asking, more vague answers , and after an hour we're completely lost. Then the girls who are further ahead of me, stumble on a group of women who are actually going to Ban Na, It turns out we were going in the exactly opposite direction and actually walking away from our intended destination. We double back on our trail and I tell Nina and Julia not to wait for me if I lag behind I'll just turn around and go back to Muang Ngoi Neua.

The trail now moves out of the fields and back into the forest and starts heading uphill I decide enough is enough and turn around. the forest trail to the rice fields present no problem but I feel seriously out of shape. so I sit down on the edge of one of the terraces and have a rest and a drink of water. No worries anymore about the mud, I am pretty much covered from head to toe anyway. eventually I get up take my best guess at where the point is that we entered the fields and start sliding my way towards it. Occaisionally I slip of the edge of a dike and into the paddy, at one stage I just wade right across two or three of them to get to a more likely looking trail.

A village appears on my left, Ban Hi, as it turns out, a few houses and a small temple nestled among the trees and edging the fields. Nice but nowhere near where I wanted to go. What to do?Askng the locals leadsto either blank stares or contradictory answers. Then I remember that my phone has a GPS unit on it and I put in the location of the river we crossed. Modern technologie to the rescue! I am a kilometer of course but heading for the right direction now. Ofcourse to cover that kilometer I must zigzag about double that through fields but eventually I am back where we entered the fields. I have been walking now for five hours with only a five minute sit down to rest up. Another break is in order. I haven'tsat down longer then a minute when the first drops of rain start to fall. I throw my phone and camera in a waterproof bag have another swig from my waterbottle and set off again.

It takes another hour in the pouring rain before I reach my guest house, shed my clothes have a shower and remove three leeches. Their bites look nasty and purple.

It's been a good trek.

Muang Ngoi Neua

2011-07-03T18:51:00.003+12:00

The minivan that was supposed to pick me up from the hotel wasn't there of course and after a while I got the hotel owner to ring him up another thirty minutes later he arrived, picked up some passengers and dropped us at the mini bus station where I got in a van with four others and we started for Nong Khiaw.

It's starting to rain again.

The four other passengers are a couple from Melbourne, Nina from Germany and Alex from Virginia. We have a chat and while the rain gets heavier we weave our way through the mountains, there are a few minor landslides but the road is generally in good nick and we arrive just after lunch.
The main street in Nong Kiaw is a slippery mud slide and we slip and slide our way across, most of the hotels look quite drab, cheap but no atmosphere, the continuing rain doesn't help either. The Australians eventually decide on a cottage with a river view and I suggest to Nina and Alex that we have a look and see if their is a boat to Muang Ngoi Neua. In spit of the weather it's a fantastic trip, green mountains on both sides of the boat, serious water flow and rapids to go against.
On Muang Ngoi Neua things move at the slowest pace possible, we have bungalows overlooking the Pak Ou river and a few hammocks strung out in front.
This place is well of the beaten track the only way in or out is by boat, there is no Internet and electricity from six to nine thirty in the evening.
I think I am going to like it here.

more photos.

2011-06-27T15:35:00.002+12:00

I have finished uploading the Thailand Photographs and have started a new album for the Laos photos which I will be steadily adding too.

Travel costs in Thailand

2011-06-27T15:19:00.002+12:00

I kept notes of all my expenses during the Thailand portion of the trip and averaged out spending 1200 Thai Baht or NZ $48 per day, this includes the cost of my visas for China and Vietnam which were 2600 Baht each.

The average cost for some of the major daily items is below.

Accommodation 495 Baht/Day

Food 305 Baht/Day

Transport 70 Baht/Day

Entry Fees 45 Baht/Day

Accommodation: I stayed mainly in air conditioned rooms some of them quite nice. If you stay in fan cooled rooms or bargain better then I do you can probably do it for half this price.

Food: Three meals a day and plenty of coffee but no alcohol. I normally ate in restaurants but you can save yourself a lot of money by eating in the food markets. Any alcoholic drinks will add significantly to the cost.

Transport: This is largely intercity transport as I tend to walk a great deal when I am at my destination. Preferring an hours walk over a five minute taxi ride.

Entry Fees: Depends really on the speed with which you visit museums, temples don't charge an entry fee but might ask for a donation.

Miscellaneous: I spend some money on Internet access, toiletries and a few post cards. The major expense were the two visas which I had arranged via a travel agent. You can get them a lot cheaper by going to the embassy and doing it yourself, but who wants to deal with embassy officials more than he has too?

Be careful what you wish for.

2011-06-27T15:11:00.002+12:00

A few days ago I wrote about the lack of rain so far on this trip. Well my message must have gotten through to the Buddha of the rain.

It started to rain the evening that I arrived in Luang Prabang and hasn't stopped since, 36 hours and counting. It is not your European drizzle or New Zealand squalls but torrential monsoon rain all day longs as if someone has opened up a fire hydrant and aimed it at the city.

The Mekong is a mass of floating debris and big churning water. it's also steadily rising. Last night just before dark I grabbed my umbrella and walked to the boat landing to see what the skippers of the long boats were doing. Quite tellingly they were all busy moving there mooring ropes as high up the bank as they could,and the water looks indeed like it's rising.

At least another ten vertical meters to go before it hits the road though and there is a hill in the middle of town that goes up another two hundred odd meters so now worries about washing away anytime soon.

Note: Just when I was about to post this the power failed. Now 24 hours later it rains again but it was dry for a while yesterday afternoon and I went for a walk. The places along the river bank have suffered quite a bit of erosion with banana plantations and vegetable gardens just slipping away in the river. The cause for the power outage became clear too. An enormous tree had lost it's footing on the hillside and crashed across the power lines leading to a small transformer. It was eight in the evening before the lights came back on.

Slow Boat to Luang Prabang

2011-06-25T15:20:00.006+12:00

It's early in the morning and I am up and ready to take the boat to Luang Prabang. This is a two day trip with an overnight stop in Pak Beng. Our scheduled departure time is 9am and I am ready well before then.

9am arrives and departs I ask the skipper when we are going to do the same. "maybe 10am" OK what's an hour amongst friends. Meanwhile people keep on trickling down and the boat starts to fill up, by 10am all seats are taken and still more people are arriving by 11am they have crammed every available space with people and there are still twenty or so back packers on the quay side.

Midday, after a lot more waving of arms and frantic phone calls, a number of the locals is unloaded and the tourists, who pay higher fares, are put on in their place. We are on our way!

The country side changes quickly to hills and jungle with the occasional open patch with a village in it.

From time to time we make a stop to let someone on or off but mostly we steadily travel down river. Most people gasp at the first large set of rapids but the captain negotiates them without a hitch, and after five and half hours we arrive in the Pak Beng a village whose only reason for existence seems to be to put travelers in rooms, sell them some food and get them on their way again.

A young man whispers "you want to buy opium?" I decline he goes off in search of other customers. It slowly starts to rain.

The next morning it's absolutely pouring down we get back on board. Three English guys who took the drug dealer up on his offer almost didn't make it in time and end up sitting all day in the engine compartment. the only space left on board. We do depart on time. it rains most of the morning and the pattern of yesterday repeats itself.

Two young monks sit stoically through it all and try not to touch any of the women, difficult given how crammed it is on board.

A young girl, initially shy ends up playing peek a boo with the tourists and is given plenty of attention, lots of sweets,and even a toy, funny what some people have in their backpacks.

The rain stops by midday we roll up the tarpaulins that have been keeping the worst out of the boat. It does stay quite overcast but that's all right with me, keeps it from getting hot. Then all of a sudden we are there it has taken almost nine hours today and my body feels sore from all the odd angles I have been sitting in. I stretch out, get my pack, avoid most of the touts and go in search of a hotel.

Laos

2011-06-23T00:33:00.002+12:00

After a mad dash across the countryside I made together with Kelly an American traveller. We got into Laos about a minute after they closed the border. Luckily the immigration officials were having a beer around the back of the place and processed our visas out there.
Tonight I have a room that overlooks the Mekong river and tomorrow Ill set off for a two day boat trip to Luang Prabang.
Any further news will have to wait until then.

Still in Chiang Mai

2011-06-20T15:23:00.003+12:00

In spite of all my good plans I am still in Chiang Mai. But I promise, really, perhaps, maybe that I will move on tomorrow.
In the meantime the number of photos in my Thailand album keeps increasing and I might even make a start with labeling them. So just have a look in there from time to time and you might see something new popping up.

Maintenance

2011-06-19T15:43:00.002+12:00

I am doing some maintenance to my blog and for starters have put a number of photos that I have taken on this trip on the web. You can access them by clicking on the link that says 2011 Thailand on the right hand side of the page. I'll be undoubtedly messing around with the settings a bit so you might want to check back from time to time.

Vietnam Visa

2011-06-18T20:37:00.001+12:00

My visa for Vietnam arrived this afternoon as promised and tomorrow I'll be moving on again.
Probably Chiang Rai tomorrow and the border with Laos on Monday. I anticipate to be about two weeks in Laos before going to China.

2011-06-17T22:24:00.004+12:00

The advertisement below was in this mornings Bangkok post, the sex change looks like a bargain to me. And although I could probably do with a tummy tuck I think I'll pass on that one as well.