Moving on to Vietnam

I am finally leaving Vang Vieng and a great group of friends and students behind. I have had a great time here and I will never forget the friends that I have made here and the kids that I taught. It has really been a wonderfull experience to say the least but now its time to move on. A group of 35 singapore students has come in so the students will not be without teachers that is for sure.
I am about 30 min away from leaving for a 15 hour bus ride to Bangkok and then a flight to Hanoi. Which was better than the alternative of a 24 hour bus ride. The difference was $50 which I felt was well worth it.
"Tomorrow I will finally be able to say "GOOD MORNING VIETNAM" I have been wanting to say that since I saw Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietanam. I might get some strange looks but what the hell.

Staying in Vang Vieng

I have decided to skip going to the 4000 islands on the Mekong Island in favor of staying here and moving out to the Organic Mulberry Farm and helping out there. As you can see from the pitcure how could I say no to these kids and the other 70 or more just like them. The kids every night after class say "are you comming tomorrow?" Then when you say yes they give you the biggest smiles and say "see you tomorrow sweet dream." Its just so hard to say no.

Helping out at the farm and the community center has been a wonderfull experience and I feel that my time is better spent here helping out these wonderful kids in learing english and telling them about the world. It is far more rewarding than any hammock could be on one of the 4000 islands. I think that I am going to stay here for maybe 1 more week and then I really have to get moving on to Vietnam and Cambodia.

I finally have my flight booked for Nepal so now (Oct. 27) I have a timeline to keep to. Its weird actually having a timeline again after a month of traviling by the seat of my pants.

Tubing, 30ft Rope Swings, Teaching English Again and Learning to Dance Lao Style

Yesterday was an evenfull day filled with I tubing down the river with a hodgepodge group consisting of 3 Americans, 2 Aussies, 1 German and 1 French. We were such an international group of tubers.
Tubing in Vang Vienge mostly constist of stoping at the first riverside bar that you come to and then you spend most of the day there either drinking, playing this cross breed between volleyball and soccor or swinging from this 30ft rope swing. As my sore arms and body could attest too I spent most of my day trying high flying arobatics off the rope swing. I think I even managed a double flip in there somewhere....or maybe not.
After our hodgepodge group of tubers were done 5 of us minus the aussies went out to this local communty center which teaches english among other things to the local kids. You would of been amazed as I was at how many kids actually showed up on a sat. at 5:30 to learn english. There were 2 classes the first consisted of about 30-40 little kids. Which spent some of there time singing songs in english it was so heart warming to see. After this group the older kids came in which ranged from 13-20. We broke the kids up into 5 groups with each of us taking a group. Then we just sat down and helped them with their grammer and sentance structure. Most of the kids had only been in the program for 1-2 years but there english was already getting good. They like the last class were full of questions about America and the world. For most of the kids who come from really poor backgrounds their only outlet to the rest of the world is through people like us who come through and the internet which is catching on like crazy here. The only problem is that it cost them $.30 min which puts the price out of most of there reach.
When we were finished with the teaching they invited us to stay and watch/join their dance. Me and Peter the German guy jumped right in. After we struggled through the first take of the dance we were given a personal instructor to teach us and to follow. It was such a great time dancing with those kids who just never seemed to be able to stop laughing at the crazy westerners who were trying to dance this traditonal Lao dance.
After this was all done the french girl who used to choreograph hip hop dance got out on the floor and began to teach one of the lao teenages. The kid was about as helpless as peter and I were at trying to dance the lao dance. At one point the teach said "ok only you dance by yourself and silvi began to dance a very good and sultry hip hop dance which when she was finished had all the Lao kids jumping up and down and screaming. I felt like I was at a rock concert they absolutly loved the dance. On the was back to town to eat we saw one of the kids on his front porch trying to do the dance it was absolutly hilarious.
Well all thats it for now I am planning on staying here 1-2 more days and then I am going to head off for the Mekong Islands in southern Laos. I hope you all are doing great.....miss you all.

Vang Vieng and The Amazing Drive to Get Here

I finally made it out of Luang Prabang but I almost ended up staying there for another day. It was hard to leave but I did it. I am currently in Vang Vieng which is a backpackers paradise. The thing to do in this town is tube down the river with copious amounts of alcohol. I think that I will go tubing but maybe skip the copious amounts of alcohol.
The other thing to do here is go to one of the many bars and watch episode after episode of Friends or if you lucky The Simpson's. Normaly I wouldn't be into doing this but to be honest after traviling for a month now just sitting down with a beer lao and watching a little tv sounds good.
Now onto one of, if not the, best drives I have ever been on. Up until yesterday I thought that the drive throgh the Brenner pass was my favorite drive but I think that this might have it beat. I took a mini-bus down from Luang Probang south to Vang Vieng. This was the same drive that I skipped on the way up. The drive takes your right through the mountains of northern lao and also through all these lao villages. Everything was so green and beautiful it was absolutly stunning as you can see by the pitcure. the drive of maybe 150-200 km took about 6 hours but it was a beautiful 6 hours. I put in earphones from my ipod and played the classical meditation cd that Bob and Susan burned for me. it was the perfect accompnyment for the drive. thanks again bob and susan for that. It made everything come alive it really was wonderful.
The lao villages were also a sight to be sceen. some of the houses were built right along the road with drop offs into green green valleys that seem to go on forever. and when I say houses i mean houses that were built out of bamboo, palm leaves and other pieces of wood. they were very simple houses which were full of smiling lao people. who were outside cooking, mending there fishing nets, drying out tree bark and a varriety of other things. I felt like i was transported back 100 years in time and was watching a movie from the bus window.
If any of you ever get the chance take this drive and bring a little music with you.....simply a beautiful and amazing drive that you will never forget. My only piece of advice would be to only do the drive once because it is a very curvy drive. If any of you have ever taken the back road to hana it is alomost exactly like that but 5 hours longer. but still well worth the time and effort.

Bears, TIgers, Change of Plans and Literaly Hanging Out Above a Waterfall

So I was going to leave Luang Prabang yesterday but I wokeup to a very big monsoon rainstorm and thought that it was better to go the next day. So today I actually made it out of my guesthouse and down to the boat dock to catch the boat north. The only problem was that there were only 3 of us and at $35 each it was a little more than I wanted to spend.
There was a bus leaving that I could of caught but one of the main reasons for going north was to take the boat ride which was supposed to be amazing. So left with the decision to go north or head back south towards vanviange I decided to let fate, in the way of a 5 baht coin, choose its course. The king I would go south the wat I would go north. I gave it 2 out of 3 and the south won. So I will stay one more day here and then its to vanviange tomorrow.
Now onto the bears, tiger and waterfall. Since I stayed in Luang Prabang yesterday I finally decided to go to the Kunasi waterfall. I got a tuk tuk with an american guy and his vietnamise girlfriend. the ride was bumpy but full of beautiful sceenary with rice fields and traditional lao houses set against backdrop of lush green mountains. The whole ride out there and hiking around the waterfall remided me so much of hiking around mt. hood. the funny thing was that the amrican guy was from portland.....small world.
When we got to the waterfall or I should say the parking lot we made our way to the trail after paying $1.50 entrance fee. The first stop along the way was a bear and tiger rescue center. There was about 8-10 black bears in a enclosure and there was a separate enclosure with a 5 month old tiger which was already quite large and dangerus looking. There was not much barrier between you and the animals which was really cool. After hanging out at the enclosures for a little bit we made are way up a beautiful but muddy path over small wooden bridges. After spending about 30 min waiting out another monsoons rain storm we finally made our way to the waterfall which was impressive to say the least. it was a 3 tiered waterfall and was probably about 300-500 feet tall. there was 2 trails leading up either side of the waterfall so we choose the trail to the right. it was about a 10 min walk to the end of the trail which was about halfway up the waterfall. the trail itself was impressive because you had to make your way over carved out stone steps which had water flowing down them. when you finally got to the end of the trail you were at a little piece of land right infront of the second tier. it was quite impressive.
We made our way back down and luckly decided to take the trail to the left which put you at the top of the waterfall. and when i say the top I mean you are litteraly walking at one point next to a wooden fence along the top edge of the waterfall. I have never been standing in the middle of a river just before it decends over the edge and let me tell you it was a experience to say the least. and if that wasn't enough there is this tree which was toppled over long ago which is still alive and lays over the waterfall. so I made my way out on the tree and i was sitting out over the waterfall which I can't even beging to describe the feelings that I was having. I think I almost gave the poor vietnamise girl a heat attack. I would recomend this hike to anyone.
So I think that I am now going to go to vietnam now. the ameican and his girlfriend have convinced me. plus they have shown me some really cool out of the way places to go. so off to vietnam I go.....after I go to southern laos and cambodia first.

Waking Up Before 6, English Guest at Lao English College and Cooking School

Hello all and greetings from Luang Prabang still. I am still having a great time here in laos. i am really starting to fall in love with this country. with the exception of the kids selling bracelets and other trinkets. no for some reason always mean yes please stay for a while until I say yes :) I have this one little girl that comes up to me almost every day and says "ohhhh I remember you handsome mister....you want to buy something today" I have to try and not laugh everytime. On another side note I had one of the best meals the other night. Everything was cooked to perfections from the water buffalo which I couldn't of gotten a better MR, to the french fries, to the crunch veggies to the lemongrass pepper fruit dessert. and the wine ohhh the wine which is so expensive in most of southeast asia but thanks to the french influence the wine is pleantiful hear in lao and slightly cheaper than in the rest of asia but only slightly.
I have already had an action packed day and its only 9:40 and there is still so much that lies ahead. this morning I woke up at 5:30 to go see the saffron circit. which is when all the monks, and there is alot of them, come out from there wats to get food donations from all of the people. but in a sadly commercialized way most of the food is comming from the tourist and is sold by the people who come running at you when you stumble onto the street at 5:30. I still can't believe how many monks there was it was really a site to be seen. I bought some sticky rice and handed it out. it was a good experience but I wish that I had more to give out because I ran out so quickly. and the way that they form the line is the oldest monks go first so I naturally just gave out all my rice to them. it wasn't until later that I found out that the youngest ones go last. and the little monks are so cute but since they go last they don't have that much food. I was amazed though and my heart was warmed by the sight of these little monks who would take out some of there food and give it to the poor kids who would sit on the sidewalk. you would look into there bowls and there would not be much in there yet still they would pull out some and give it to the kids.
after that I went to this lao school that teaches english with this lao guy that I met the night before. he ask if I could come to his school to have a visit....his words. since I was going to be up at 5:30 and class was from 8-10 I said sure. what a funny experience that was. I was put in the front of the room with about 16 students. this teacher a hilarious total flamming lao guy then ask me to introduce myself. I first went around the room and introduced myself. the whole time this hilarious lao guy kept saying ok who wants to speak to the very handsome actor. then he would whisper in my ear..."very good looking girl for you.....or boy then he would laugh like crazy."
The students were all great and most of them were so nervous. this one girl was practically shaking when she was talking to me. I tryed to calm here down but I think that I just made here even more nervous. after i introduced myself to everyone (with the lao guy whispering in my ear every time it was a girls turn or a handsome boy as he put it) and each on ask me one question which 60% of the time was where are you from or are you married or single....not kidding at all. it was then there turn. I wish I had a video of it really was a great experience. after they were done the lao teacher kept saying the most odd things about everything again I wish I could of had a video of it.........it was absolutly classic.
I then took a lao cooking class which consisted of me and 3 lao instructors it was really great. in the morning they took me to the market I was able to ask questions about everything it was really great. I am not sure if I wanted to know what all the stuff really was sometimes ignorance is bliss. after the market we came back and started cooking. I know can add lao dishes to my menus.
Well that is about all for my updates. sorry if it was long again but it was a eventfully day to say the least. I trying to make my next move. I think that I am going to head north on the river to this town that is 7 hours a way and then loop my way back down to Luang Probang via the road. then I am going to head down to the mekong islands and then into cambodia. I have decided to put of china for now and possible vietnam. I am really starting to want to be in nepal.

Luang Prabang

I made it to Luang Prabang safe and sound and I am loving it here so far. I have a great room for $5 dollars a night with its own bathroom and hot shower. I met some israel's tonight and something interesting happened that I would not have thought of if I wasn't with them.
What happened was I was sitting there with 3 israle's just talking about traviling when a firecraker went off and they all came to instant attention and started looking around. One of them appoligized for there actions which I didn't find anything wrong with. She said that they are just so on edge now that even when they are on holiday they still jump at noises like that.
I am glad that I have not yet had to experience this side of life. It has made me once again appreciate where I get to live. Its amazing how it takes going aways to another country to once again appreciate your own country. Now if we can just get Bush out of the white house I might just want to come back again.

Lao Dinner Invitation, Odd Food, Lao Wedding?

I met this lao guy when i was dropping off my laundry. we hit it off and he invited me to have dinner with his wife and 2 kids that night. so after spending a very relaxing day at the herbal sauna followed by a $3 1 hour massage I met up with Pat. We went to pick up his son and after dropping him off we went to this market where I was the only westerner and probably the only westerner ever by the looks on peoples faces. I was tryiing to pay for some of the food but at first pat said he had it but earlier he had told me that he only makes 50 baht a day so after some convincing he allowed me to pay. I think the total for all the stuff wasn't much more than $5 and we got a huge duck.
After this we went to stop at this hole in the wall restaraunt where his brother-in-law was. and he was pretty wasted on some type of lao moonshine. we sat down and ordered some beer and the brother-in-law offered me some moonshine which I quickly drank down much to their and my surprise. then they offered me some food. now I am not sure if I should go any further on the food because of what it was but I will. It just so happened to be dog. I tried to explain that I wasn't into eating dog but I finally agreed to try it because I was getting the feeling that it would of been rude not to. apparently the restaraunt which was full of laos was famous for its dog. so with some salty pungent sauce and some basil down it went. and I have to say it was not that bad but that will probably be my first and last time trying it.
While we were there I introduced pat and his friends to a american drinking game (quarters). The only problem was when we finally started playing for real pat was kicking my butt and I was drinking, drinking, drinking....but at least it was only beer. which for some reason the laos put ice in. I ask them if they had any lao drinking games at first he said no but then he said they drink when playing cards.
After a while there we made it back for the house where I ended up playing with his son (6) and his daughter (3-4). they were having a field day with my camera or I should say with me taking pictures of them while they did the craziest things. then they would quickly rush over to see the photo. they would laugh and then run back to strike another post it was hilarious. after a while pat says that he needs to go to tell one of his wifes friends to come over. and he wanted me to come along. it was at this moment that he told me about his wifes friend who had a daughter and when she found out that an american was comming for dinner she ask if her daughter could come. so I could have a look as he said. I told him that I wasn't interested in a girlfriend or a wife which is what they were really going for. but still he said "no problem she just come and you take a look...maybe you like." How could I say no right. I was trying hard just to not bust out laughing I think all I could manage was a nod of my head. You couldn't book this kind of tour if you wanted to. so off we went to get this girl. oh I forgot to mention that we were in a all lao community west of the city and again I was the only westerener there and the people who really are so nice would be doing there normal thing when around the corner I would come on the back of pat's moped. then they would stop everything and look. I got some of the funniest looks but I would always smile back at them and I was always rewarded with a smile in return.
anyways when we arrived at the girls house I think the whole surronding neighborhood was there. all the old, middle aged and young ladies were out and boy were they looking and talking. I think I was the feature movie that night. oh and of course they were smiling and laughing usually in my direction.
Finally she came out dressed to the 9's and off we went to pat's house. on the way back pat tells me that his wife told him that he should make a party so he invited his brother-in-law, this girl, her older sister and another friend of his wifes. when we arrived at the house pat sent the girl off to buy more beer and we came inside. he then told me that we were going to have pot soup that night which his wife had made special for me. I had read that they use pot as a herb in there cooking but I thought that was more in Cambodia but apparently they do it here to. so the girl comes back with the beer and dinner is served. it was 2 big bowl of this soup, rice, hard boiled eggs and some spicy side condiment that his wife made that was so tasty.
On the way back to the house we stopped to tell his wife.....actually I am wrong it was before we went to the market. he stopped to tell his wife that I was comming for dinner. after I finished my beer that I was drinking pat told me that his wife wanted to drink lao style which remember when I ask pat and his friends about drinking game? well I think that this would qualify just that there was no game about it...it was just drink. Drinking lao style consists of glass with ice in it and beer of course. so while you are eating and the food has a kick to it to say the least you have no drink until the person who is ahead of you finishes then they fill it for you and pass it to you. If you don't drink it fast enough the person, in my case pat, would let you know that you were taking to long. and if you spilled you beer which i did then they filled it to the rim and you had to finish the whole thing.
Most of the night was spent talking to pat because he was the only one that could speak english. as dinner was winding down pat ask if I wanted to go to a party to play cards. apparently one of his wifes friends had a baby and they were having a party which consisted of playing cards. when we got there it was in this house with only a couple of chairs and a be in a big open room. on the ground on rugs and pillows was about 15 laos split into 2 groups playin this card game. now I never really learned how to play the game I guess it was that damm soup but I couldn't consintrate...just kidding. pat couldn't really explain the game that well because he didn't play it that much. but basicly the game consisted of the players who were each delt 9 cards....i think maybe 8 damm soup remember. then one card is turned over which lets say is a 10 of clubs then if anyone has a 10 of clubs they can put it down and each person after that who can not owes them money. but this rarely happens. if no one has the same card then they put down any suit and then the game starts. I am going to leave my explinaton at that because I am not sure of the rest of the game. just when I thought I got it I realized that I still had no clue.
We hung out there for a while until i realized that it was almost 12 which is when my hotel closes the doors. but pat said don't worry that we would just sleep there at the party lao style. so when i was finally tired of the game I just layed down on a pad on the floor. someone gave me a pillow and at some point someone covered me up. such nice people i tell you . when I woke up guess what they were still playing. and the crazy thing about it was it was not the men it was all the ladies including the girl. they had been playing all night. useally its always the men that play all night but not in lao it is the women who are the gamblers.
Whewwww that is the end of the story after that we went back to his house picked up his son and he dropped me off at my hotel. sorry for the long winded blog. but i thought that you would enjoy my almost lao marriage :) story.

Made It To Laos Finaly

So yes I am finally out of Thailand and it was an adventure to say the least....but the whole trip has been one adventure after another and I wouldn't have it any other way.
My amazing experience happened on my way to the cambodian emabassy to pick up my passport that I had left there earlier that day for my visa stamp and one that renewed my trust in people. I picked up a taxi outside of khosan rd. i thought that I had more than enough time to get to the embassy before it closed at 6. I left at 4:50 and was actually making good time when we hit the biggest traffic jam that I have seen. when we stoped it was just after 5:30 and we were only 2 blocks away from the embassy but by 5:45 we had only moved 20 meters or less. Then at alomost the same time the taxi driver and i said that maybe I should grab a motorcycle taxi and he would just meet me there when he could. so he flagged down a moto taxi for me and told them where I need to go and I jumped on the back. it was only after I was taking of that I remembered that my big backpack was still in his trunk.
The moto taxi weaved in and out of traffic and got me there with 5 min to spare. I made a run for the embassy only to be confronted by a guard that wanted to see my visa pickup receipt. I started a frantic search for it and just when I thought for sure that it was still in the taxi (i was looking at it just before I got out) I found it and was admited into the embassy. Then thinking that the taxi driver would take at least another 10-20 min to get there I went to brown sugar a very famous jazz club in Bangkok. it was right on the corner on the side street to the emabassy. it was really cool inside but the drink prices were outrages for thailand. I ordered a tiger beer...a small one and it cost 140 baht. but I thought that the taxi driver would be a long time but much to my surprise just seconds after the bartender opened it he drove by outside. But it was all good because I had my passport so I could finally leave on the night train to Laos. it was the best 140 baht beer I ever had.
I am curently in Vientiane but I am going to leave tomorrow to Luang Prabang via plane. I know that I said I was going to start my budget traviling but when I looked at the time it would take the bus to get there 9 hours and then I looked at the time for the flight 30 min I decided that the $50 was well within my budget.
I am thinking of changing my travel plans slightly. I think that i am going to skip vietnam now in favor of china. I have been hearing some bad things about vietnam and I can't really be bothered to go now. I have always wanted to go to China so I guess now is my chance.

Seeing the Monk Again, Hitlers Clock And A Embarrassing But So Funny Tail

So I am currently back in bangkok but I am leaving for Laos tonight on the night train. Yesterday I went to see the monk again Chaiyawat. I went because my friends that I was traviling with wanted to meet him and get blessed for there journey home.
So we made our way out there and it of course was as always an amazing and very zen like experience. Along with a funny story involving Hitlers clock but I will get to that in a second. I took them down into the cave like entrance to meet Chaiyawat and much to my surprise he regognized me and motioned for us to sit down. I introduced my friends and told Chaiyawat that they would liked to get blessed for there trip home. We sat there talking to him for about 30 min and again like last time when my cab driver Noppon said something that touched my soul something was said again. This time though it was Chaiyawat who said it. He told my friends that I had a very good heart and honestly I could feel a couple of tears welling up. I have been told before that I have a good heart but to be told by a buddist monk that I have only met 3 times to say that meant alot.
We continued to talk after this and it was durring this time that the story about Hitlers clock came to light. Now I am not sure if Jaqui and Larry (ps congradulations Jaqui and Larry I wish I could of been there) remember this but he was pointing around to his clocks when he mentioned again that his favorite one was giving to him by a German couple. I had heard this story on each of my previous visits but then he continued the story. He went on to say that is used to be Hitlers clock. I find it so ironic that Hitlers clock would end up in a Buddist Temple in Thailand with a monk that loves clocks. I guess the clock like Hitler has alot of bad karma to work off.
Now on to the embarrassing but so funny tail. Now I am sure all of you have seen a bird that has flown into a glass window or door well that was me last night when I was trying to enter a photo shope to get some passport photos done. But unlike the bird which is often heard but not seen I had the pleasure of having both happen. And it happened in front of a restaraunt full of people on Khasan Rd. I am not sure who laughed more me or the people sitting in the restaraunt. Then when I went into the shop the thais that were working in there were trying to figure out what the noise was from and when I explained that it was me walking into their glass wall the laughter started all over again and if you don't know thais love to laugh. I think that we all laughed for about 5 min until tears were rolling down our faces. It was truely a hilarious experience.
Well that is about all the updates for now. I am heading off to Laos tonight via the night train so I am finally going to get out of Thailand and I am not planning on being back here for a while. I am planning on being in Laos for a month and then 2-3 days in the mountains of northern vietanam and then down to Ankor Wat for a couple of days and then its off to Nepal.

Budda Charm Update

So I have some new news on the budda charm. since I have left Ko Tao I have had interesting experiences with my budda charm. I have been stopped no more than 5 times a day by thais who either want to inpect my charm or to tell me that it is really good. It has been really crazy the way this charm draws people towards it.
Yesterday I was told some more information by a thai at my bungalow. He told me that my charm had 7 steps in it which is a lucky number in thailand. apparently these charms come in 3, 7 and 9 steps associated with it. I am not sure if there is any significance in the number of steps I couldn't get that out of him but I know that its good either way.
In other news I am still in Railay beach and having a great time. I will be returning to Bangkok on Friday and then its on to Laos. I will update more later i have to go now though.....food is calling.

Change of Plans 3?

So I have changed plans again. I missed my boat/plane today but it was on purpose I promise. Now I am going to go back to Krabi for a couple of days with some friends and then its back to Bangkok and then its off to Laos for real this time. But at least I will finally be leaving Ko Tao. This will be my 3rd or 4th attempt but this time I really think that I am going to make it :).


tim

Change of Plans Two

Change of plans again the boat trip got cancled, not enough people, but it is probably for the best. I got my first travel injury 2 days ago. I cracked my toe comming out of a bar. the thais have this thing about putting a small barrier about 2 -3 inches tall down some of the walkways. I supposed to keep the water out or something like that. the problem is if you are not looking wham there goes your toe and normaly this would not be that bad but since most people including me where flip flops it can really hurt. This was the 3rd time that I have done it but this time unlike the last times there was alot of blood. The doctor said that I still could go diving but i think that its for the best that I don't go. She also wanted to take off half of my toe nail. I told her no way. My toe nail was cracked at the top but the nailbed was still alive and healthy.
I thought about staying around here for a couple if more days to let it heal but I know that if I do I will end up here another 2 weeks for sure. Plus my toes does not hurt that bad unless I bump it. So its off to laos tomorrow. I should be there by monday morning.