Back in Thailand

Made it from 4000 Islands in Laos to Khorat Thailand in one day. It was one heck of a 'travel day'. 1 boat trip, 4 Sawngthaews, 2 tuk tuks and a bus. We pulled in a little after 11pm and were happy to get there. In the end, we were glad we made it to Khorat when we did, because we only had the weekend to see the sites and we needed all of it. Our first stop was Phimai, some of the Khmer ruins Thailand has to offer. Spent 2 nights taking in the festivities of Chinese New year, which they have been celebrating in Thailand for a couple weeks now. Not sure of the significance in Thailand, or even when it really started, but the streets of Khorat were as below at night. We even took in a Thai rock concert. No idea whom was playing. In the imeadiate front we were watching bunch of Thai teen break-dancers. Some impressive stuff...
The next day we headed to Phanong Rung for an Angkor Temple built on top of a inactive volcano. We were counting on/expecting a little bit of a hike. But it sounds much worse than it actually is. Our motor bike taxis basically drove us right to the top. No exercise for us...

And finally back to Bangkok, where we've been for the past 4 days. We've spent the time here getting reconnected with whats happening in the rest of the world, even took in a couple movies, and visited a few of the sites we hadn't seen. The main reason for coming here was to arrange our visas for Myanmar before our flight tomorrow (23rd). Other fringe benefits of course is the street food as seen below.

... okay not this food (grubs, crickets, ants, beatles, etc). But other street food!

Did a day trip out to Ayathaya, the old capital of Thailand. One thing SE Asia never runs out of, old Wats/Temples. But you can't help but be impressed every time you see them knowing that they were built thousands of years ago.

That's all for now. We fly to Myanmar (Burma) tomorrow. Hope everyone is well back home.

4000 Islands and out...

Wrapped up our trip in Laos at Don Khong and Don Det. 2 of the many islands right smack in the middle of the Mekong in southern Laos. They call the area 4000 islands, but I'm not sure if that is exactly how many! This is a picture from Dong Khong.Took a boat from Don Khong to Don Det. This is a conveniently located restaurant enroute to Don Det.The name of the game in Don Det is: Make friends with your hammock, and spend a lot of time together. We did just that. But took a break one day and did a little pedal bike trip to some - you guessed it - waterfalls. A few of the pics along the way. Yup, working on one heck of a fro...

That's me... a little tubing in the Mekong. Jillene grabbing a picture of me while she relaxes in a hammock on our bungalow balcony.Sadly on our way out of Laos. It ended perfectly though, as we made it to the border in the back of this Sawngthaew. We had 30+ people crammed into the back, and on the roof. It took us about 1.5 hrs to go about 29Km because we kept stopping to let people off AND pick more people up. I stood on the back step, and held onto the roof rack. There were more people on there than this, but I didn't dare get off in fear that I would loose my spot!
Our last Laos meal... We'll my last meal ~ Jillene couldn't bring herself to try them. On the journey to the Laos border the typically friendly Laos ladies wanted to share with us their 'special treat'. All I could tell was the bucket was full of some sort of grub (looked like maggots) and a few ants as well. How could you refuse?! Tastes a bit like coconut...
Good bye Laos, a truly memorable country!

Bike trip continued...

Wrapped up our bike trip at Champasak before returning to Pakse. Had to cross a ferry (below) to get there. Was a fun/interesting ride across the river!
Main reason we came here was the Khmer ruins. Below are a few pics. Built by the same people whom constructed Angkor Wats.

We didn't really get to enjoy the sites to the full extent though, as we were both a little ill. Enjoyed a few beers the night before (the local way) 'on ice'. Unfortunately we think the ice was made straight out of the Mekong, as that night both Jillene and I got really 'sick' and were in competition for a little quality time with Mr. Toilet. I knocked my belly ache off in a day, Jillene's lasted 5. And yes, that is because she drank 5 times the amount of beer...


And our last night in Pakse. Managed to hook up with two of our good friends whom we travelled northern Laos with for a bit. Devin (from Canada) and Hendric (from Belgium). A couple good guys...

Bike Trip in Laos

Wrapped up our tour of Laos in the south, and we LOVED it! Same as the north, very relaxed place to travel and the people were super friendly. We arrived in Pakse in the south and wasted little time there renting 2 motor bikes for 5 days and heading out on the road. We hit 6 towns, 6 water falls, and put on just under 800km in our action packed 5 day journey. Travelling by motor bike was a great way to travel, and we only wish we could do it more often. Here is us at our first waterfall. Stopped for a night in Tadlo. Spent an afternoon seeing the sites on a back of an elephant. Trekked through a river, up to some falls and through a village. Our elephant was female 65 years old, and her name was Boonma! We were very impressed on some of the terrain she could walk across. We didn't expect her to make it through some of the terrain we ended up crossing...Our 2 motorbikes. Got to love the 100cc Honda Waves!A little of the scenery along our route...Another waterfall. Apparently over 100m tall.

Made it to Attapeu, and we enjoyed seeing this bus as we pulled into town. Check out the roof... We got the feeling locals think only fools would drive here on motorbikes!Some of the scenery on our nice sealed road to/from Attapeu.Paksong is a town of coffee. This is the locals drying out the coffee beans. You have to love seeing them walk through it with their bare feet and raking/spreading it out.More falls just after Paksong. These falls were awesome, even larger than the last ones, and it looked like they fell into a giant whole in the ground.
Were rewarded with seeing this snake at these falls. This is apparently a very poisonous snake, but not aggressive. As long as you leave it alone, it will leave you alone.And yes... More falls. To get an idea how big they are, that is me standing at the top.

Luang Nam Tha to Phansovan

Luang Nam Tha. We didn't spend too much time in the town itself. We rented motorbike making a day trip to Muang Sing and scoured it's surroundings. Below is a guy whom was preparing dinner. I had him show me what he was cleaning... Not sure how it tastes. I won't tell you what I also saw him clean before the lizard. Okay, one hint... ruff ruff. Farmer Derrick!
A village enroute to Meung Sing.
This is a hospital in Meung Sing. Jillene put in her application, we're hoping she gets shortlisted for an interview.
And then to Phansovan. The highlight here is the Plain of Jars. Nobody really knows how old they are (guessing 2-3 thousand years), or even what they were used for. They think maybe to store dead bodies which they then cremate, but it could really be as simple as rice. There are hundreds of jars spread over 3 sites which we visited. Apparently there are more covered with earth, but they can't uncover them. The place is still crawling with unexploded bombs dropped from 1960-1970 as it falls on the Ho Chi Mingh Trail. The place is littered with bomb craters. Hennce why they call it the 'Plain' of jars.And this is worth mentioning becuase this guy is just plain amazing. All these pillars (along with the walls and roof) have been hand carved by the man shown here. No idea how long it has take him (didn't speak a word of english ~ and our lao isn't so good), but saw him working away with his chisel and hammer in this place being built. We were blown away.

Hat Sa to Muang Ngoi

From Phongsali we jumped on a bus for a short ride to Hat Sa. There would be no return 10hr bus trip for us. This time we're going by boat. First class for 2 days through white water in a wooden boat on hard wood seats. Should have brought our dry suits... got a bit chilly.Stopped for a leg stretch on the first day and made a friend. Have tried this with numerous other water buffalo, but haven't been able to get the same reaction. I scatched this guy on the nose and I had a friend for life. Followed me on the beach and came right up to the boat when we're leaving... I've never seen a water buffalo look so sad as we motored away.Muang KhiawStayed in Muang Khiaw after 1 day on the boat. Have some pictures of the town, but the worlds fattest pig is more interesting.Back on the boat...Made it to Muang Ngoi unscathed. A town only accesible by boat. Stayed here for a few days and enjoyed a trek to some nearby villages. Belows a pic of the landscape and myself with a fellow traveller (Devin from Victoria).May be tough to see, but that is a village at the base of that hill. Their bamboo thatch huts. You can stay here over night if you like. They'll set you up with your own bungalow for the wopping price of $0.60 CDN.
This is one of the lucky villages that actually has a school. From one village we visited kids have to hike one and a half hours (one way) just to get to school.
The entrance to a cave (enroute to the villages). And here I am trying to help a bunch of Loas kids get their kite out a tree. Which they promptly returned back into the tree imeadiately after.
And our first encounter with a 100+ year old person. This lady is 107 years old! And trust us, she doesn't just sit around. She just finished covering firewood with a tarp here... and later we saw her in town shopping for supplies.