Monthly Archive for March, 2009

Mar
29

The Gibbon Experience

This was an absolutely awesome experience!

Scary as hell mind, but an absolutely amazing experience. If you ever find yourself in Northern Laos, in Huay Xia, you just have to try this out.

We were given a tip about this place from Larissa and Frank, the dutch couple we met in Vilankulos (Mozambique) at the start of our trip. Although we watched their video footage and saw their photos, nothing could prepare us for the real thing. It wasnt until we were strapped into our harnesses and hooked onto the zip line that it dawned on us what we had actually signed up to do.

Three hours previously we had left Huay Xia by truck, driven for an hour and a half to a remote village where we stopped for a spot of lunch. Then we trekked for an hour into the Bokeo nature reserve to our first zip line platform that would take us even deeper into this wonderful jungle via a network of cables and treehouses.

Here it was reality hit. We were, or rather we had to make the first leap off a wooden platform that would take us high over the canopy of trees and land us in the first treehouse. One by one the other members in the group hooked themselves onto the cable, cautiously walked to the edge of the platform then slowly let themselves fall off the edge that carried them off along the cable. Soon it was our turn, Sandra stepped up, hooked herself up to the cable, looked around to me, and all I could muster was a mumbled “Goodluck Sandy, see you on the other side” before she too, cautiously, let her self fall off the ledge and zipline away.

My turn.

By the time I had shakenly hooked myself to the cable a que had formed that was full of other groups and what seemed like locals waiting/wanting to zipline off to another part of the reserve or maybe their village.

Three times I had to walk to the edge, some how I kept stumbling, before a voice said “It’s best to put your hand on the other side of the cable if your head is on the right of the cable…” This was getting ridicuous, I stepped up, closed my eyes and let myself fall off the platform and get carrried away by the cable! I darent look down but I was zipping! Slowly I came to a halt. I opened my eyes and to my horror I hadnt quite made it to the first platform. I started to roll backwards, towards the middle of the zipline.

Momentarily I had forgotten the instructions about breaking, and let myself roll back before the guide shouted the instructions to me. I pulled the break on top of the roller then grabbed the cable, turned myself around and with one hand over the other began to nervously pull myself near the platform. Just like the movies!!

Safe in the first treehouse I looked around for the others, but they werent there. Before I could focus and comprehend, the guide had unhooked my harness from the cable, hooked me to a second cable and said go… GO?!  I’d just arrived!! But before I knew it I was once again above the canopy, not looking down and clinging on for dear life. I soon arrived at the second platform, not a treehouse this time, and when I saw the others I desperately tried to look cool… I’m not sure I convinced!

We had three more cables and an hours hike to go before we reached Treehouse No. 6, home!

The entrance to our treehouse home for the night was via a 350 metre long and very high cable. I guess we were getting used to it by now but it still didnt feel quite right when you reached the middle of the zipline to be so high above the canopy dangling from a cable! Finally safe inside the treehouse we unhooked our harnesses and checked out our beds for the night. The views were stunning. If you booked a room with a view this is what you’d want.

View-from-Treehouse6
We had some coffee and snacks and then dinner turned up, brought to us by the guides. You know when someones coming to the treehouse as the first thing you hear is the zipline, then all eyes are on the two entrance cables to see who it is . Dinner was sticky rice, sweet cabbage with vegetables with some Lao sweet sausage. We werent ready yet though. The boys wanted to go off zipping some more and all I wanted to do was chill. I think all the adrenaline that had been pumping around me all day had now made me tired and I just couldnt bring myself to take a leap out of the treehouse, that could wait for tomorrow!

Sandy-in-Treehouse

Later when everyone had returned and dinner was eaten, we were just chatting about the events so far and where we’ve all come from and travelled to so far. The other members in the group were Brad, Gregg and Tosh, all of whom were Canadian. It was a great group and these boys were mad for the zipping!
When it was really dark we suddenly heard the zipline go… who was coming to our treehouse at night?? We were told not to zip at night, no worries on my part!

We opened the hatch to the platfom and waited. Eventually two guys from another treehouse turned up wide eyed and in a sweat. I couldnt blame them as I’m not sure what state I’d be in if I’d been hiking around and zipping at night?!
It turned out that while one of them was in their bathroom he noticed a big green snake staring right at him! and they were on their way to seek help from the guides. With that, we all started checking our treehouse - everywhere! Fortunately nothing to be seen in ours but it didnt help provide the right environment for a good nights sleep!

See some more pictures in the gallery »

Next up: Sleepless nights in a treehouse and more good old adrenaline pumped fear!

Published
by
lion
on Mar 29 2009
in Lao
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Mar
28

Happy Birthday Nicki!!

It was lovely to spk to you earlier, and little Feilx, though he’s sounds like a big boy now! Enjoy your day and have fun… thinking of you all from Luang Prabang xxx

my-buddah.jpg

Published
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lion
on Mar 28 2009
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Mar
20

Hill Trekking in Chiang Mai

Finally we booked onto a trek, there’s so many to choose from but they all seem pretty much the same. We opted for a 2 day and one night trek where you visit a tribal village modeled on the real thing. This village was home to 3 different tribes, The Palang (big pierced eared tribe), The Karen and the Paduang tribe (long neck tribe) and you could see it was set up for tourists. We bought 3 scarves (they’re on the way Mum and Nicki, look out for a big parcel soon!), hand made at the village and you could see the women weaving them. Very nice fabric and colours.

Next up we drove to have some lunch and ride on some Elephants. They basically control the Elephants with food and let you buy some bananas to feed them. They go crazy for these and anyone who had a bunch on them was getting lots of attention with trunks going everywhere!

Elephants are huge beasts, and not having the pleasure to ride on one before, it was actually quite unnerving. Safety seems to take a back seat on most activities, maybe this is just magnified what with us coming from the sanitized west with all the rules and regulations that exist there. Once on the Elephants, we were pretty much left alone to wander down a set path which was guided very casually by the guides. Mind you, the Elephants must do the same trek day in day out and there were Papaya trees, Coconuts and Banana tree branches at each section waiting for them so I guess we were as safe as could be. And it was kind of fun, especially when they took a bathe in the river, with us still on top! Needless to say we all got soaked… especially by the cheeky baby Elephant!!

After this it was a two hour trek uphill to the Karen tribe village where we were staying overnight. After 3 months of minimal exercise this was quite hard going, but we really enjoyed it. There were two groups and I think we had the wrong guides. Ours was very fit and we were kind of jogging to keep up, whereas the other groups guide was doubled up, panting for breathe when we finally caught up!

The village was great to see. It was all bamboo huts, kids playing with hoops and sticks, animals wandering around (pigs, chickens, goats, cows and dogs). It felt like a Utopia, like a really safe haven full of innocent playful fun. And they had sit down toilets in a special bamboo hut! Along with power shower, depending on how hard you could throw the bucket of water over yourself! We were cooked food by the village and it was all good. Green curry with sticky rice, just what we’d been searching for ;).

After dinner in the evening we were treated to some tunes on the guitar from the tour guides friend. He started off with some Thai love songs and just when he was losing us he hit us with some good old rock n’ roll! A sing-athon ensued and we went to bed really late. First time for us in a bamboo hut and we slept like pandas!

In the morning it was up at dawn for a 2 hour trek, all downhill to the waterfall. We had a welcome dip in the pool when we finally made it, my knees were gone and I was sweating like a beast, so it was very refreshing! Then it was a final trek to do some white water rafting down the big mama river, it was exciting to meet locals down the river, children swimming in the clear waters, parents getting the catch of the day ready for lunch, while we hit few rocks and waves, just fantastic.

To complement the day we couldn’t have gone without getting our feet wet on a traditional bamboo raft,very slow compared to the white water rafting guided by el capitain Lion! hurrah!

Next on the list…the Gibbon Experience. Can’t wait!
Till next time, take care of yourselves and each other ;)

Published
by
lion
on Mar 20 2009
in Chiang Mai and Thailand
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Mar
18

You Wat?

We’re in Chiang Mai now, northern Thailand. We took another overnight train from Bangkok and I think we were lucky again as there were no delays. Apparently the train is normally delayed for hours for some reason or other.

Chiang Mai is an old walled city and although the walls no longer stand the moat is still present and surrounds the whole city. It really is quite something, and the whole place has a lovely feel to it. It’s so chilled, very different from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok! Check out some new pictures in the gallery.

A temple is called a “Wat” and there’s a lot of Wats here! You end up in a temple without planning a visit. Some are really stunning, some quite kitsch, but we’re trying not to get too templed out before we visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia next month! Buddah at Wat Chiang ManWe met a monk at the Wat Suan Dok the other day when we went to see what the “Monk Chat” was all about and we are now invited to stay with him and his family in Cambodia. He also said he’ll be our personal tour guide! so we will keep you posted.

It’s been really great to kick back in this old walled city and it would be all too easy to kill a few months more in this lovely place. We hired a couple of bikes the other day and cycled around the city. It’s not that big really and we just cycled around the perimeter, somehow avoiding all the mad local drivers and followed the moat all the way. It was a great way to see the whole of the old city. Sandy on a bike

We enrolled on a cookery course which was a very entertaining affair, again check out the pictures in the Chiang Mai gallery here for some extreme cooking action! We learnt how to do a basic Tom Yum soup, the traditional Pad Thai fried noodle, a chicken and cashew nut stir fry and of course a Thai Green Curry. We’ve eaten some very nice food here but I have to say nothing could touch my Green Curry or Sandras Pad Thai, absolutely delicious!

We’ve finally booked up on a trek and will be going off into the hills for a few days to visit some of the Tribes, mainly a Long neck tribe and a big eared tribe, sounds a bit of a Tolkien novel to me but it should be interesting! This will be our last adventure in Chiang Mai as we’ll be off to Laos next week. We’re going to book up on The Gibbon Experience which was recommended to us by a couple we met on our travels. It does look an amazing experience where you trek into the Bokeo Nature Reserve and stay in a tree house at canopy level. You zip across the tree tops by a web of cables and a network of rope bridges. We are really looking forward to it. Expect to see some photos and footage of me screaming like a banshee next week!

Published
by
lion
on Mar 18 2009
in Chiang Mai and Thailand
. 0 Comments
 
Mar
05

We got pictures baby!

In light of our plight at various stages over the course of the trip so far it seems fitting to celebrate our first picture upload with a couple of signs seen on the train from Malaysia to Singapore. Use your imagination with the sitting toilet sign!

How to use a Asian Style squat toilet

How to use a western style sitting toilet

We have updated the gallery… Finally we hear you cry! so go check it out, just click on the gallery link on the main menu above. More to follow soon!

Published
by
lion
on Mar 5 2009
in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand
. 0 Comments
 
Mar
03

Back in the Bkk

We arrived back in Bangkok on the 3rd March and booked in at the M Place hotel, just out of town, as we wanted to see a different side of the city. We had a real fun time finding it in a taxi from the Airport. We planned to take the train for 16baht but soon found out that the train from the international airport isnt actually built yet. When we realised the bus would be 150baht each we decided to take a taxi. Not one of the expensive Limo taxis all the touts try to get you in but the public taxis from level 2. Unfortunately for us the old taxi guy couldnt speak english and we couldnt really explain where we were going. In the end we told him to take us to Mo chit which was supposed to be the nearest train station. We didnt realise there were two mo chits and of course we went to the wrong one! He had to stop a few times to ask people but they couldnt really help much, at least they worked out we were in the wrong Mo chit! I showed him on the map but this only made things worse. I looked at a map written only in thai after this and realised when the guy was looking at the map in English it must have been exactly the same as me looking at the Thai one, I had no idea what the roads were!. As I’ve said before we are just stoopid tourists! Anyway, by the grace of God, or Buddah in these parts, we eventually got there with the help of a concierge from another hotel. The trip should have been around 250-300baht but on our scenic tour of the suburbs it was 500. Still a lesson was learnt and it makes for a good tale to tell later.

The room turned out to be great, floor tiled with a fridge, TV, western style bathroom and shower combo so all good for the next few days! The only real downside is that it is a bit far into town but at least it has a lot of places to eat. There are some great food stalls along the main road here, and for even better prices. We quite like it that no one here really speaks much English. At the food market we’ve been eating at, they now call a small boy when they see us so he can translate! Still, when you’re hungry you can always find a way to order food and we’ve had some real fun with sign language. We’re never really sure exactly what we’ve ordered until it arrives on the plate!

The first night was strange, after a while I felt the bed kind of shake, it was a gentle shake but very noticeable. After the 3rd time I looked at Sandra, who was already looking at me… turns out we have a bed that rocks gently from side to side every few minutes, but only after 9pm. Very odd, I’d ask the manager about it but he doesnt really speak any english and it may cause a bit of confusion! So long as we don’t have to pay for a vibrating bed ;)

This place has the largest and longest towels we’ve ever experienced. They cover you from head to toe and leave a kind of bridal tail (???) flowing on the floor behind you. Paradise for some!

We’re going back to the Atlanta hotel tomorrow until Monday when we are thinking of resuming our initial plans and heading up North to Chang Mai, which is supposed to be the cultural hub of Thailand. We’re hoping to do a short cooking course up there. I really want to learn the art of cooking noodles Thai style and Sandra wants to do the sticky rice.

Published
by
lion
on Mar 3 2009
in Bangkok and Thailand
. 0 Comments
 
Mar
01

Singapore, and following spurs abroad

We took the overnight train from Kuala Lumpur and arrived in Singapore at 8am. We decided to walk across town to our hotel. stopping for some breakie on the way . We had some nice dim sum from a food court, all the locals seemed to be eating there so we thought it was a good bet. It didn’t disappoint, I tried the “apparently” special local dim sum which was a large white dumpling with BBQ pork in the middle… Delicious! I’d been looking out for some bbq pork buns that I get back home in London’s China town but havent found any so far. These dumplings are the closest thing yet.

It was about another 20 minutes walk to the Hotel but it was a pleasant walk through a good cross section of town. From China town to the CBD followed by some market streets. On the way we saw lots of groups practicing yoga and Tai-Chi, a good way to start the day but looking at some of the postures they were getting into we started to feel our stiff limbs from the overnight train.

The hotel (Empire Residence) was quite nice, friendly staff but the room was tiny, the smallest room we’ve had so far. The decor was straight from a Ikea catalogue, but the only one with orthopedic mattress. Clean and comfortable, just what you want when away from home. Anways, after settling in, we hit the road, checking out the temples and not to forget…The mighty hotspurs are playing tonight, so we are on a mission to find a bar/pub that will show the game. After consulting the guys at our hotel and also a few locals we eventually found a hot spot with big screen telly not far from Sim Lim Square. Lionel was all geared up with his brand spanking new Spurs top that I had spotted in Kuala Lumpur. Yes, it was an original item and because it had Pavlyuchencko’s name on it, it was the most expensive (costing 4 Ringgit per letter, you do the maths…) anyway it was the only Tottenham shirt that we have seen anywhere on our journeys so Lionel had to have it. It was an early Birthday present so! - [eh? I wasnt told that at the time! - Lion].

Spurs V Man Utd in the Carling Cup

So the place we found was called KopiTiam and as it goes it turned out to be a great venue. Not only was the place open 24hrs and serving some nice food and drink, but because I was wearing The Spurs shirt I met “KlinsWan“!
I only found this out afterwards but he wasnt going to watch the game here until he saw a guy wearing a Spurs shirt!
He quickly sat down, said cheers, and we immediately got to talking about The mighty Spurs! And yes his nickname is inspired by the legend that is Jurgen Klinsman, nutter*!! It made for a really special evening, or night what with the GMT+8. And yes we were the only Spurs fans there, surrounded by Man Utd fans. I was certain we would have the last word and I must say all the Man Utd fans did seem nervous, and very quiet as usual, and rightly so as we put in a good performance (Spurs, not me and “KlinsWan“, although we gave it our best) that should have won the game. As usual though Utd rode their luck and had the edge in the penalty shootout and we lost the Carling Cup.

*They really are mad for their footy here, and mostly the English Premiership. Most shirts you see are Man Utd followed by Liverpool then Chelsea and the odd gooner shirt. Glory hunters the lot of them! So, Klinswan son I salute you, you made the right choice. The righteous path, the path of light, not darkness. You havent sold your soul to win at all costs, to applaud players like Ronaldo in all their gamesmanship… End rant ;)

I can’t explain it but whenever I see another Spurs shirt in these foreign lands I’m like a hunting dog whose just got the scent of a trail. My ears prick up, my heartbeat increases and I run towards them and embrace them. You know what, they love it - that’s what it’s all about to support Spurs, especially on these foreign shores!

Singapore has a slightly different vibe than both Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. It doesnt seem to have the seedy underbelly that both those places have and it’s very very clean. People are so friendly here and they seem genuinely so. A few times we have stopped to look at a map and every-time someone has said hello and offered their help. In KL and Thailand you get the impression that most of the politeness is superficial. Waiter’s and waitress’s say “Thank you so much” and all you’ve done is sit down! Its been great to experience the differences and subtleties of all the cultures and day to day life. Singapore has been great but it’s back to Bangkok in the morning to get back to our orginal schedule.

Published
by
lion
on Mar 1 2009
in Uncategorized
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