arewethereyet

The day that Shona & Kaia went elephant riding, Kai went for a 7 hour trek with a guide to see some Khamu and Hmong villages near Luang Phrabang…

Harvesting produce from the land

After a half hour drive by pick-up truck to the elephant village, we crossed by a river in a small boat to start the trek to begin the march up to a mid-mountain Theung village (Khamu). As we crossed the river we saw teak logs waiting to be transported to the other side.

Today's trek presented some great scenery

My guide was from a village 1 hour south of Luang Phrabang, his family being farmers. His parents used to grow opium until it was phased out in Laos, according to my guide this happened 10 years ago. Officially Laos declared itself opium free in 2005, there are now over 1,500 hectares of land still under opium cultivation, and Laos’ highest ranking drug official acknowledges that former opium growers have gone back to growing opium because of poverty and lack of alternative way of making a living.

The rice!

Family consisting of husband, wife and 3 daughters harvesting the rice

The rice is carried out once dry, and separated later

Kids skip school to help their family with harvest each year.

Head of the family

On the way to the first village we saw villagers working the land, including a family (husband, wife, 3 daughters), harvesting the rice. It’s an entirely manual process in these parts, including separating the rice kernel from the hull, unlike some of the more prosperous parts of Laos where villagers have access to machines. I learnt that villagers share the workload, multiple families taking turns helping each other harvesting their respective crops.

My favourite group of kids this day

Head lice is, uhm, common

Red peppers

Freshly installed electricity mast

Smaller village hut with metal roof

The first village consisted of about 25 families, with plenty of young kids running around. Their teeth appeared to be in only slightly better condition then those of the village kids in Cambodia, still with plenty of decay visible here and there. Electricity had only come to the village in recent months, which meant that power tools could now be used in the fabrication of new houses, but most houses remain without power, as it costs US$600 per house to connect to the grid, an absolute fortune for the villagers. Metal roofs are a sign of relative wealth, and are preferred as they are maintenance free, in spite of the fact that it gets much hotter inside. The traditional roofs need to be replaced every 2 to 3 years, which is a very time consuming process.

Washing clothes - no adult supervision

Also the smallest kid needs to know about washing

On the way out of the village, I came across some young kids washing their own clothes in the stream, a stark reminder as to how easy our kids have it when it comes to house hold chores!

Stone is removed from the quarry by hand to be taken to this processing facility

Grandma with grand daughter, doing the 35 min walk to this same village as we were going

We also passed a stone quarry, and again, the process of removing the rock from the quarry was a very manual process.

The trek leading down to one of the villages

As we climbed higher and higher, past the first village, at a point where we were a 1 hour trek from the second village, we met a farmer sitting in a make shift hut. He was waiting for his son to return, whilst watching over the rice crop that had been harvested by his family over the previous few days. The crop had to be watched to prevent other villagers from steeling it. The only way to get to the rice to the village was by carrying it down a narrow track on your back, 50 kilos a time, another 30 trips to go! Carrying it by horse back would make the process a lot quicker, but that wasn’t something the farmer could afford.

Teak takes 30-35 years to mature

On the way we passed many new teak saplings, taking around 30-35 years to mature.

The gate to one of the villages, serves to keep the live stock in

Drying rice

Mother and son hanging out - spot child number two...

Village life

Kids displaying the merchandise for the farang (me).

Anyone have some spare clothes?

Cheeky girl

More clothes with holes

First kid I saw with hair that's not black!

Is she really posing for me?

Miss Laos 2015

The second village was situated near a small lake, with lots of fruit and vegetables growing amongst the huts. Here we sat down for some lunch, and a few kids sat down around us and proceeded to present some tourist merchandise to me – I bought bracelets off all 3 kids…

In Laos cooking is done exclusively on wood fires

Kitchen is either attached to the main hut or cooking is done in the main hut itself

Village hut

Spot the chillies drying on the roof

Learning about the sling shot from an early age

We visited a family in the village, the cooking was done, as per usual, in a room attached to the main hut. In the most basic of huts the cooking is done in the same space as everything else, health problems due to smoke inhalation are common. The main hut contained sleeping platforms with mosquito nets, the older generation were all having their afternoon nap. Grandma came out to meet the falang (me). Beautiful weathered old face, wearing the traditional clothing, but with private parts not quite hidden I felt too embarrassed to ask for permission to take photos of her.

This snail has a 'soft' shell, that opens in the middle, on the top

Mushrooms

Mamma pig

We then made our way down to the third village, on the way we spotted a cute snail, and some nice mushrooms. I learnt that most banana trees growing in this area were wild bananas, and not suitable for human consumption, they’re green and sour. The flower from the banana tree is edible however, and quite a delicacy. People here get there meat from the local pigs and chicken, as well as hunt for bush rat and bear, deer and – i think – wild boar.

The village shop, no refridgeration, only snacks available

After school duties

When we got to the third village we stopped for a drink at the local ‘shop’, on the
The coke I bought was luke warm, refrigeration is non existent in these parts, but a sugary drink after all that walking tasted good nevertheless. Note to self: Pepsi in a bottle costs half of coke in a can…

Sticky rice in preparation

The sons of the sticky rice man

Great smile!

2 y.o looked after by the 5 y.o, whilst the grown ups are working the land

In this village too we visited a family, this time a man was cooking sticky rice on the wood fire, a time consuming process that involves steaming the rice in a woven basket on a pot of boiling water.

Bomb shells put to good use: A bellow for the fire

My guide demonstrates a bellow fabricated – ingeniously – from 2 old american bomb shells.

Lao whiskey!

The local 'pub' - males only

Highlight of the day was joining the locals in a session of lao rice wine/whiskey, most of them were quite merry by the time we joined them, and there was lots of singing and playing a local instrument as seen in the photo, the name has escaped me for the moment. I’ve read reports of this local brew being ‘disgusting’, I thought it didn’t really taste like anything in particular, but it was certainly strong!

These tractors are the main form of transport in Laos

From the tractor onto the boat. Note the teak logs in the background waiting for transport.

The boat back to the elephant camp

This village had a road going back to the river, where our trek ended. The villagers had made this road themselves, by hand, and it was just wide enough for their tractors. A great day!

Next: The brethouwers fly through the tree tops…

22 October – 3 November 2009

Laos customs cubby house

Although officially not recognised, the carnet for the car was stamped anyway

Locals cross the Mekong by peddle power

Bike ferry consists of 2 canoes strapped together with a platform

And (our) car ferry...

Once we crossed the border into Laos, which was a completely painless affair in-spite of the fact that our visa wasn’t valid for another month, we headed for Don Khong – the main island of the ’4000 Island’ group on the Mekong, just over the border. A vehicle ferry took us across to a very laid back island – just in time for Laos National Day. Don Khong has much ceremony as the current Prime Minister of Laos was born here. The very loud practice session lasted well into the night and started rehearsing again at 4.30am in the morning. The same 2 songs over and over and over… I can still hear them now.

Detail of the largest waterfall in Laos in terms of volume

Locals offer us bananas as we pass down the Mekong...

National Day was spent chugging down to Don Kon (smaller island) checking out the waterfall and local life. It was fun for a couple of nights – but the call of Northern Laos was strong so we headed north for Savannakhet.

Patrick gives us a ride

We reached Vientiane the following day – tiny capital of Laos. We stayed just out of the centre and explored by foot. We had dinner with Patrick, an expat teaching maths at the International School – loving the lifestyle of Laos and telling us some insider stories you don’t read about in the guide books. Let’s say it’s definitely still a communist country.

An Australian couple with a 10 y.o. son were living at the guest house we were staying at. Their son pointed us in the direction of Joma: Bakery Café, with excellent coffee and western café comfort food, and – most importantly – wifi.

After Joma, Kai went to get the van cleaned down the road, and it was here that he popped the bonnet for the first time since we left Bangkok to give the engine compartment a good clean out, only to discover that the battery was missing. Our theory is that this happened in Phnom Penn, which is well known for it’s street kids that have a habit of removing side mirrors and anything else they can get money for… it was also one of the few places where we couldn’t find off street parking with 24 hr security. (In Bangkok we were parked on the road, but conveniently opposite the 24 hour security of the United Nations building). Kai left to go find a new battery and returned half an hour later with a new battery imported from Thailand, 3500 baht poorer, which is less then what we paid for a similar battery in Melbourne.  The next morning he went to another mechanic to get a securing brace fitted to keep the battery in place, as the exsisting bracket didn’t fit.

View from our hotel in Viang Veng - for the price of a camping down under - we splashed out

Sunset from our hotel room

Next stop north was the beautiful Vang Vieng. Amazing amazing scenery which inspired a day of caving and kayaking. The caves were beautiful, water clean and the forest incredibly dramatic. Just as we were getting lost in the beauty of it all – we turned a corner in the river to witness over a hundred inebriated backpackers looking very white and stupid in a few of the makeshift river bars. They were all drinking up the courage to jump off a swing 10 metres into the river. We must getting old…

Kayaking in Vang Vieng

Kayaking in Vang Vieng

We stopped at one of the quieter cafes along the river to give the people in our group the chance of doing a jump from 10 meters into the river, and for the guides to play some pool. Apart from the usual drink offerings there was also a ‘special menu’. If anyone needs the translation for happy shake, let us know!

Magic mushrooms and other herbal delights...

Café with the jumping platform

We offered Vinay and Poonima (fellow travellers from India) a lift to Luang Prabang the next day and enjoyed their company on the 7 hr journey round many many many windy roads. Kaia managed to hold her lunch in and the brake pads did us proud.

Local market in Phou Khoun

Local market in Phou Khoun

Local kids in Phou Khoun

Half way through the journey, we stopped at Phou Khoun, where highway 13 intersect with highway 7 to Phonsavan (near the plain of jars). There was a great little market along the main road, with lots of trade in local produce.

One of the Melbournians on an off-road bike

We also met a couple of Melburnians on off road bikes, doing the journey from Luang Prabang to Vientiane. They were recovering after an accident on a wet road – there had been some rain early in the morning leaving Luang Prabang, and the wet road had taken it’s toll.

Photography gallery in Luang Phrabang

Luang Prabang - slice of heaven

Luang Prabang is an incredibly beautiful town. A slice of revived french colonialism set in gorgeous countryside in Laos. Easy to see why it is a UNESCO world heritage city. The town was much more touristy than I thought – many foreigners now living and setting up businesses there. The above photo shows the gallery of a french photographer selling black & white prints of hill tribe villagers etc to the tourists.

Monks chant daily in all 35 temples in Luang Prabang

Most of these businesses benefit locals with jobs etc – but with so many foreigners, it is hard to get a taste of what then town must have been like 10 years ago, and you wonder how much of the money tourists spend ends up with the locals.

Some kids in Luang Prahbang selling crafts

Joma, Luang Prabang

We met the manager at the LP branch of Joma Bakery Café, and her story was very inspiring. A devout Christian, 10 years ago, back in the US, an image of a child in a cage had come to her in a vision after which she sold up everything and came to Laos. After a couple of months (on the day her money ran out) she met the owners of Joma, who were looking for a manager. Since then she has been rehabilitating, educating and training women in the hospitality industry. She employs them on a fair wage (read: double what most get paid in hospitality), for a maximum of 40 hours a week, again a new concept. These women come from forced labour, prostitution or otherwise challenging backgrounds, and yes, children do spend time in cages when sold by poor villagers in pure desperation.

E for Elephant

No fear...

At our favourite breakfast spot, Luang Prabang

During our time there, Kaia and I took an elephant ride at the conservation centre – I was pretty disappointed with the tour as we were told nothing about the elephant camp, the elephants themselves or any other part of the journey. Despite this, we swam in a beautiful waterfall pool and met a fantastic Tasmanian (Maz). Kai headed up into the forest to visit the hill tribes for the day. Unlike our tour, Kai got a full 7 hr run down of the tribes, customs, history and sat down with the locals to drink rice whisky.

Billboard promoting tribal harmony

Time pressure pushed us north to Luang Nam Tha and then onto Houay Xai to catch the vehicle ferry back to Thailand. The drive through the north was again breathtaking – with many hut villages around the main road. Life doesn’t seem to have changed much in modern times for these guys. The Laos govt. has made poppy growing illegal in this area – so many of the villages are reinventing themselves with new crops and the govt. is also supporting the rehabilitation of opium addicts. The money for poppy crops far exceeds rice or corn crops – so the people also have to contend with a major drop in income from their land.

One of the many makeshift camps for the road workers

The roads through this part of Laos were unpredictable. The sealed road would suddenly end for no apparent reason and then reappear a few hundred metres later. This pattern repeated itself for much of the journey. The road works that were taking place were all manual – rocks shaped by many hands – concrete mixed in hand mixers with the sand sieved beside the machines. The workers were all living in a number of makeshift camps along side the road – despite the incredibly hard work there were lots of smiles, waves and hellos.

Waiting for the car ferry from Laos to Thailand

The car ferry from Laos to Thailand

Houay Xai was very typical border town – again the customs and immigration was a very smooth process, if rather time consuming, with immigration situated 2km away from the car ferry (but near the passenger ferry). After paying our 1000 baht and waiting for the crew to finish their afternoon rest we were on the vehicle ferry headed for Chiang Khong, Thailand.

More photos to come, so please check back soon!

Shortcut to Kratie, a bit of mud...

We picked up a local character (brother of cafe owner’s girlfriend) in Kompong Cham and made our way north to Kratie. The owner of the cafe (Lazy Mekong Daze) is worth a mention. A frenchman, who true to the name of his business – had  no idea why he decided to lie on the couch all day in a particularly slow paced town. His typical answer to our questions was “I don’t know because I don’t care”. He did show great enthusiasm for computer ping pong though – oh the life!

A truck get's stuck on the soft road side

And another one bites the dust...

Our local passenger was able to show us the shortcut to Kratie (which the Frenchman had strongly advised us against: “It’s very muddy and you don’t want to get stuck there”). The short cut veered off the main highway onto a secondary road, then a dirt road for 25 km, at the worst points, the locals had their shovels out trying to make it passable. The passing traffic pay a voluntary fee for this service – an unofficial toll for the back roads. The van had no trouble with the mud, however some 2wd vans did get bogged down a few times and had to get pulled out by an oncoming truck.

No pics of dolphins but this was pretty too...

We booked into a hotel on the Mekong River in Kratie for the night and then drove a few kms north to try and spot the Irawaddy dolphins. Reports have the dolphins only numbering 100 and decreasing every year. We headed out in one of the official longboats for viewing. The area where the dolphins hang out has been closed off to local boat traffic. We waited a short time before seeing our first dolphin come up for air. It was brief but great to see the wee river dwellers up close. Let’s hope they have a burst of breeding and we see more !

The Cambodian trucks can be pretty basic...

Crockery is sold by mobile shops like this

The road to the border with Laos was well signposted and we arrived at some surprisingly small wooden sheds on either side of the barrier poles (weighted down with a few rocks). US$1 secured our passage through to the next hut where the officials were snoozing in hammocks out the back. The right fellow was found to stamp the Carnet and we were through, this in-spite of the fact that the carnet isn’t officially recognised by Laos.

And that ended our journey through Cambodia – where the locals either live in makeshift huts or drive a Lexus. There doesn’t seem to be much in between.

Floating houses on the Mekong

Now we have a better internet connection, some more photos from Battambang and beyond…

More rotten teeth - a close-up this time

Needless to say that bringing tooth brushes and tooth paste to these villages is a great thing to do… Anyone working for Colgate please get in touch!

Preparing for the cock fight

Kai was allowed to photograph the cleaning pre-fight, but not the clean-up post-fight, there are limits…

The hair dresser where Kai is about to get a hair cut

Kai gets a $1 hair cut near Battambang, manual clippers, quite good end result actually!

Kaia on the longboat near Battambang

Ox and cart

Road side vendor, Battambang

Worm gathering for fishing

You guessed it - fishing near Battambang

School kids, Battambang

Whiteboard at school near Battambang

School boy, Battambang

Villagers near Battambang

Orkiday Angkor Hotel - so gaudy it's almost beautiful!

Saturday October 10th

We arrived at the Cambodia border at 6.30pm. The passports were stamped and we were directed to customs in Poipet. On arrival, we were in informed the customs official was off playing Badminton and would be returning in an hour. We wandered down the main street of Poipet – it was heartbreaking to see such widespread poverty. After a dinner of roadside pancakes we headed back to customs to then be told by a man in his pajamas that the office was closed for the night.

Kaia makes friends with the security card from the casino - next door to Orkiday Angkor Hotel

We crashed out next door (Orkiday Angkor Hotel) after a meal at the downstairs restaurant – 2 meals on offer – fried noodles or rice, complete with small stones and sticky flying things. Kaia’s meal was interrupted by a number of photo sessions and was happy to escape to the room after a short time. I turned on the shower only to see a big cockroach come scurrying out of the drainpipe – executive decision made to save showers for the morning.

Poipet traffic police observes local transport

8.15am we were back at customs -the Carnet de Passage was stamped even though it isn’t recognised in Cambodia – we were free to roam in Cambodia. There had been a lot of flooding in the East so we passed by many flooded paddy fields. As a result, most people had moved their houses and livestock onto the main road. We maintained a pretty slow pace as we dodged children, cows, pedestrians, roadside stalls and erratic drivers. Welcome to Cambodian roads !!!!

Kaia with the daughters of a landmine victim - they are 7 and 8 y.o. - no kidding!

We drove into Siam Reap and booked into the Golden Banana. In our 5 night stay we’ve had to move rooms 3 times due flood related issues. The whole town was underwater only a couple of weeks ago. We bumped into our chums from Singapore at the guest house – very nice to hang out in the evening with familiar and new faces beside the pool.

Angkor

Angkor

Angkor

Angkor

Angkor

Temples are Kaia's ultimate playground

And fun for the grown ups too!

Yes, the van fitted through the arc - just...

Need we say more?

Bayon head

OK, one jungly shot then...

We drove out to Angkor on Monday morning and were instantly in love with what must have been the most beautiful, serene and spiritual centre for the Khmer people. The whole complex stretches out over 80 kms – life goes on around the ruins much as it would have been hundreds of years ago. The buddhas are still acknowledged, new temples and monks have taken residence around the old, thatched huts, rice paddies, cow herds and families still fishing in the moats and living a traditional life. It takes once glance to be transported back in time. Aaaahhh…to fall in love with the land. It’s such a wonderful feeling.

We met this girl at one of the temples - doing some selling after school

Every temple is different making every visit a unique experience. The touts are fairly aggressive and persistent at every stop – but amongst these people there are still kids wanting to chat and share a bit about their lives. We could have stayed wandering for a couple of weeks – but after 5 days we were ready for a new adventure.

Battambang was a real eye opener. We arrived around 5.30pm and booked into the Hotel Royal with plenty of parking outside for the van. The next morning we hired Thon & his Tuk Tuk for a day and headed out to a local fishing village. The villages are small and impoverished – kids & adults with rotting teeth, tiny frames, skin diseases, dirty water to drink, no electricity and the most basic living structures. A couple of locals took us up river on their fishing boat. The river has been overfished using electric currents – fish that used to be as thick as an arm are now as small as sprats. The fish are few in number so the fisherman no longer have good stock to live from. In the dry season, the farmers can plant crops along the river bed – in the wet land disappears as the trees have been removed for building houses.

Our guide and tuk tuk driver Thon with Shona

Cock fight!

Thon spotted a cock fight gathering, so we pulled up and witnessed a traditional sport. A winning rooster can be worth a lot of money if it wins. If it loses it becomes supper for the family. Not really our cup of tea – however, the Khmer are very proud of it.

Thon introduces Kaia to the local kids - note the pyjamas!

Note the rotten teeth of the boy in the middle - most kids in this village had similar teeth

After giving out some treats for the kids – we drove to a Primary School. We were able to visit a classroom and chat with some of the kids. One 11 yr old boy was pretty embarrassed after it was revealed that 4 yr old Kaia was exactly the same height as he was. We left the school and stopped in village that uses a bamboo rail train to transport goods to town. Kai got a haircut with manual clippers and then we headed back to the hotel for a snooze.

The Circus "Phare Ponleu Selpak", Battambang

The Circus "Phare Ponleu Selpak", Battambang

We were picked up by Thon at 6pm and taken out to the local Cambodian circus at Phare Ponleu Selpak. The show was top notch – very funny with super flexible performers. We all loved it! After the show we were invited to visit Thon’s house to meet his family and were treated to a yummy Cambodian dessert. Nice way to end the evening.

The next morning we made our way to Phnom Penh. The roads were well maintained but the traffic unpredictable. There was more flooding close to PP – more houses set up on the roadside and some heartbreaking slums on the edge of the city. Once again we managed to navigate our way to the guest house (Boddhi Tree Umma). For supper we headed out to a contemporary gallery and cafe (Java Coffee) – bizarre exhibition but fantastic to see so much great contemporary Khmer art after suppression under the Khmer Rouge. A number of NGO’s are supporting and promoting the arts here.

Phnom Penh is a clean, well organised city – compared to Battambang. There are fewer cars than Bangkok so the air seems cleaner and the traffic less scary. Bicycles and motos are the vehicle of choice. The food is amazing and the global support for Cambodians evident through a number of ventures to get the country on it’s feet again.

S-21 Torture Camp

I visited the S-21 torture camp (located directly opposite the guest house) – it was very confronting and humbling. Any killing fields, torture camps or other evidence of the Khmer Rouge devastation must be left untouched by law. This law is in place to remind people of what has taken place as a lesson for the future. I doubt the Khmer will forget in a hurry – members of the Khmer Rouge and their families are still entrenched in the fabric of governing the country. There has never been any justice for families affected – that includes every family in Cambodia!

We spent a day visiting the National Museum, Royal Palace, Russian Market and various cafes.

Tonight we are camped out in Kompong Cham – in the morning we will check out the pre-Angkor Wat and the site of another killing field before driving to Kratie.

Pyjamas are very comfortable in this climate, and fashionable daytime wear according to the Cambodians

Coffee and free WiFi at road side petrol stations, Thailand

October 7th – 10th

As mentioned in our previous post, we had to spend 3 days doing a 1900 km round trip from Bangkok to Songklah – and back…  It was a looong road to the border in Songklah starting at 5am in Bangkok the day we planned to leave (Oct 7th). The van had been wheel clamped and during a moment of temporary insanity, Kai decided to pull out the angle grinder and take the law into his own hands. At the very moment that Kai cut the padlock on the wheel clamp, a couple of traffic police on a moto passed by at 4.30am – so he was whisked away to the police station. Kai returned a couple of hours later after paying a 10,000 BHT fine/bribe, and we were on the road again by 7.30am – slightly shaken and very relieved! We got somewhat lost trying to leave Bangkok, but finally found the road south (thanks to some friendly locals) and we were away again – 900 kms of familiar road ahead of us. Travelling on the opposite side offered many new sights along with the familiar journey into the beautiful South.

Roadside accident in Thailand

The accidents on the roads were pretty mind blowing – one container had slipped off a truck, over the rail of an overpass onto the road below. The impact was so great the container had split in half. Another few cars had seemingly flown in an odd angle into the middle drain and the hold of a petrol tanker had come loose and slipped up onto the cab. The last accident we saw, before slipping across the border, involved a hilux that had done a summer sault.  After this, we became pretty conscious about the overloaded utes that zipped past us at great speeds. There were only a total of about 8 speed limit signs during the 1900 km round trip.

That first night we stayed in Surat Thani and headed for the local market for dinner. Kaia loved the banana fritters and we found a good vege snack. The hotel we stayed at was Chinese. The staff spoke absolutely minimal English but were still able to rustle up some marmalade & bread for Kaia.

Nothing's too big to fit on a small truck!

Extended family travels by truck, living & sleeping quarters on 2 levels, fridge on roof, moto's in the back - Nomads?

The next day (8th) we made it to the border at about 3pm. We spent time with immigration at checkpoint 2 – who then directed us to the border control to chat with the Captain on duty. She was an incredibly grumpy character who had just turned a guy away with a suspected false passport before we were seen. We pushed Kaia to the front to see if she could charm an ice queen. It seemed to work – after a small lecture, we had our stamps and we able to head north again. For those wishing to sneak into Thailand – it seems the Songklah border is your best bet. We noticed that very few characters regulate who walks through meaning you can waltz in as long as you don’t try and leave by land or air.

Cabins in Phattalung

We headed north and camped out in Phattalung that night – gate crashing a Thai wedding taking place at the ‘resort’ – (set of cabins slowly sinking into the sea). Kaia made a few friends amongst the guests before we all fell asleep to the very out-of-tune wedding karaoke that went on well into the early hours.

Kai on horse back in Hua Hin

Unloading fish at the fisherman's warf, Hua Hin

The ice truck making a delivery at fisherman's wharf

Kaia fishing at fisherman's wharf, Hua Hin

October 9th
The next night we stopped in Hua Hin at the Sofitel (old Railway Hotel) – the first beach resort in Thailand. The king has his beach house in Hua Hin – it was another indulgent night. Kaia loved the pool and the horse ride on the beach. We visited the wharf to watch the catches being sorted. Kaia was given a fishing rod to try her luck – we left with the fishing rod in 2 pieces stuck on something unforgiving in the harbour. In her mind she had caught a big fish that she couldn’t pull out of the water. I’m sure the owner of the rod had something else going through his mind!

Cambodians carting their goods across the border

October 10th
The next morning we drove through Bangkok and headed north east for the border with Cambodia. It was an easy drive – again great signposting and well maintained Thai roads. Poipet, the border town was predictably filthy and chaotic. We passed through customs, got our passports stamped and we just about to drive through border control when we were informed that once again did not have the right immigration papers for the van. My heart sank – I could see the sweat forming on Kai’s brow – once again we were in discussions with immigration about missing paper work. It turns out that Songklah had failed to provide us with the correct paperwork. A group of 26 rally cars had also arrived at the  Cambodian border without these papers the day before – a big headache for the border officials. To cut a long story short – a very helpful if somewhat frustrated senior immigration official asked us to lodge a complaint about Songklah with our embassy, hoping that this might somehow help improve procedures at the Songklah border, and also informed us that they would have let us into Cambodia without our Thai entry stamps. If we had only know that before our 3 day odyssey back to the south – we live and learn!

The best car air freshner we've had!

27 September – 7 October 2009

Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayama
hadilokphop nopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesma
hasatharn amornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit.

The above is the official Thai name for Bangkok, the longest place name in the world, which translates as: The great city of angels, the supreme unconquerable land of the great immortal divinity (Indra), the royal capital of nine noble gems, the pleasant city, ?with plenty of grand royal palaces, and divine paradises for the reincarnated deity (Vishnu), given by Indra and created by the god of crafting (Visnukarma).

Bull transport

The beginning and end of the first leg of our Thai journey are inextricably linked as we cannot travel to Cambodia without returning to our first border crossing to obtain entry stamps immigration officials failed to put in our passports. We look forward to a 1900 km round trip as there is no one with authority in Bangkok to stamp passports that have not passed through the airport. No surprises from an immigration department that still uses floppy discs and typewriters – the joy of dated bureaucracy.

Monkeys are employed to retrieve the coconuts

We crossed over from Malaysia in Songklah on September 26th. The border town was pretty chaotic, but the calm and simplicity of Southern Thailand soon emerged. A refreshing landscape free of any shopping centres, global chains, and billboards (other than pictures of the King and Queen). Lots of roadside stalls, palm trees, rice paddies, green forests and beautiful wats. We saw utes carrying huge loads of rubberwood, palm oil fruit, coconuts (complete with monkeys) and lots of friendly faces.

Roadside prayer stop

Our first stop was Pak Meng Beach in Trang province. We stayed at Pak Meng Resort for the first night and indulged ourselves the second at Anantara Si Kao. Anantara was a real treat for everyone – huge pool, sea views, beautiful room, kids area & a yummy buffet for the morning. We reluctantly checked out and headed north.

The van had been making a funny noise Singapore – Kai suspected it was another bearing falling apart – so we decided to make a dash for the Mercedes garage in Bangkok and do the Southern provinces properly on our way back to Singapore in January.

We left Pak Meng Beach and headed north – trying to drive as far as possible before sunset. We managed to find a roadside hotel 60 kms north of Surat Thani.

It was here that we watched a documentary about the Thai king – we started to understand why there were pictures of the King and Queen plastered up in every town, on almost every shop as well as bumper transfers ‘Long Live the King’. The King is a bit of a superstar here for all the right reasons. He has devoted his life to improving the livelihood of Thai people through sustainable work and life practices.

We arrived in Bangkok the following night and after turning the map up the right way, managed to navigate peak hour traffic to find our hotel. The porta potti got it’s first test by Kaia en route through the city. We set up camp at New Siam 2 – complete with pool for sweaty girls and boys. Kai and I stayed at New Siam when we were here together 10 years ago – it was here that I felt Lulu move in my tummy for the first time. A special memory.

Bangkok is a fantastic city to hang out in for a while. We have spent the last week visiting the Grand Palace, taking various boat rides along rivers and canals, visiting Chatachuk market – a weekend market with 8,000 stalls and chatting to an inspiring group of women – www.gendercc.net – participants in the Global Climate Forum currently taking place here at the UN.

Market icy pole stand

Lulu getting hair braids

Boat decoration

Market pet division

Kai took the van to the Mercedes Garage in Bangkok, where they took apart the pulley belt assembly to analyse the problem with the noisy bearing. It turned out to be the magnetic clutch on one of the compressors for the secondary air conditioning unit – not critical. They also had a go at re-seating one of the injectors which was leaking some diesel, and identified some cracks in a hose for the turbo manifold which has been ordered in from Germany. After 3 hours of 4 guys giving the van some TLC and no charge for any of the labour, Kai left the garage a happy camper!

Express Boat

Local bus

Lulu

Downsides of a busy city is the usual dose of stomach turning diseases apparent on the beggars, pollution, rubbish, diseased animals, open sewers and tourist touts. It is getting harder to glimpse the original Bangkok through the filth and haze. A shame considering it has only been about 150 years since roads were introduced here. Bangkok was built around the river & canal system with boats servicing all of the houses. There are still stilt houses opening up to canals in some parts of the city – but they look like they only have a few years life before disappearing under the water. It wasn’t until we were horribly lost on the outskirts of the city that we were able to transport ourselves back into the past with clean(er) rivers and stilt houses along the rivers.

We also took an interesting trip to Jim Thompson’s house. An American entrepreneur who introduced Thai silk to the global market and then disappeared without trace in Malaysia. The mystery has been a hot topic since 1967 – there are still numerous theories floating around and our guide also had a definite opinion that he was either eaten by wild animals or kidnapped by the CIA. He was a great collector of Asian Art and his houses are traditional stilt houses that were constructed by master craftsmen without any nails or bindings. Well worth checking out if you’re in town.

touts

Lulu shopping - Khaosan Road

Local character

Last night we said goodbye to our darling Lulu as she winged her way back to New Zealand to spend a few months with her grandparents. Lulu had mentioned a few times that she wanted a break from traveling and also to go back to school. We fully respect her decision but we miss her already. She has called from New Zealand, weary but happy to be having a cup of tea with nana.

THANK YOU ULA FOR TAKING GREAT CARE OF LU ON THE JOURNEY HOME !!

The airport was the place we discovered the absence of entry stamps in our passports. As a result, there was a possibility that Lulu would not be able to travel. Luckily we had a fantastic Thai Air rep. who allowed Lulu to travel as a transit passenger so stamps weren’t an issue. We had conflicting opinions on how to solve the issue. One immigration official told us to return to the Malaysian border. Another woman told us that the immigration official should have been a cleaner, not an official – and that someone in Bangkok could stamp our passports.

Yesterday we spent the day heading to one immigration department (where we were directed by the airport official), to find out it had moved to the other side of town. We shared a cab with another misdirected character and ended up at the new Immigration facility where signposts stating that it only serviced residents of Bangkok. My heart was sinking at this stage. We were directed from Level 1 to Level 2 – then back down to Level 1 – to be told that we definitely had to drive back to the border. A waste of a day. We are hoping not to have the same trouble at the border.

Our first waffles in Malaysia, choice of peanut butter or chocolate...

(Sept. 24th – 26th)

We had mixed feelings driving into Malaysia. Neither of us had enjoyed visiting Malaysia in previous years due to the pollution and rampant destruction of the environment that was so obvious in many parts of Malaysia. I had also been quite sick here 10 years ago with food poisoning whilst pregnant with Lulu.

Johor Bahru seemed to have expanded in size with a new expressway that made our exit from town fast and easy. The E2 stretches up through the middle of Malaysia – the roads are clean and well maintained with roadside assistance on hand every km of the way. There are rest stops on both sides – some of these were only a few kms apart. The rest stops always had clean toilets (with caretakers) and more often than not food halls, prayer rooms, playground, fresh fruit stalls and waffles. As with Sumatra, we seemed to be a curiosity on the road. We wondered how Malaysia supported such brilliant roads until we hit the first toll booth. All up we must have paid about AUD$40 to drive through the country. This was offset by very cheap diesel.

First sunset in Malaysia

Lulu and Kaia were pretty exhausted but refused to close their eyes. The sun was setting as we drove through to Melaka. 14 years ago, my memory was a dusty town with an interesting fort near the waterfront. It has changed dramatically with megamalls, fun parks on the water and new developments left, right and centre. Even the beautiful beaches on the way into the city are being reclaimed for a big tourist theme park. At the other end of the city the huge new development reclaiming more seafront is the ‘Arab City’ – a big pull for tourists from Arab nations. We stayed at Harbour Inn for one night and the next morning tried to find the right road out of the city.

Moving mountains

On the way to Penang clear felling for palm plantations and the removal of entire large tree covered rock formations were happening at the roadside. We couldn’t imagine what lay beyond the public eye.

We reached Butterworth by late afternoon and drove across the bridge into Penang. We stayed for 2 nights at the Cathay Hotel which featured in the movie Beyond Rangoon (1995). Gorgeous old colonial hotel which was very cheap considering the size of the room. The girls enjoyed the big deep bath and t.v. Downside was that the airconditioner remote had to be kept at the front desk – there was no adjusting function on the unit at 2am.

Cathay Hotel

Cathay interior

Cathay interior

We met Pravin and family who were travelling in Malaysia for 3 months. Lulu and Kaia were pretty excited to find 2 other kids in the hotel. Pravin and his youngest daughter had been held up a few weeks earlier in Kuala Lumpur at machete point outside his grandmothers gate in an inner city suburb. His story reminded us to stay alert in our travels.

Penang chums

Tri-shaws

Kaia

Lulu, Kaia and I took a 2 hr tri-shaw ride around Georgetown taking in a few sights. It was a hot day but the girls lasted the distance. We visited a Chinese Mansion and Chew Jetty – the biggest of the waterfront settlements in Georgetown created in the middle of the 19th Century. I read later that it’s existence is being threatened by development. Probably the most obvious sign was the sludgy, rubbish strangled water that wraps around the island. The rubbish litters the sea for kms – very sad for the environment. Georgetown is full of UNESCO protected sites. It has a lot of character and a fascinating history. Well worth a visit.

Chew Jetty signage

Traditional Chinese honeymoon suite

We left Penang on Sunday and headed north again for the Thai border. Again the crossing was particularly easy on both Malaysian and Thai sides.

Leaving Malaysia

Singapore!

16 – 24 September 2009
Singapore. It has changed since we last spent time in the city. That was almost 10 years ago. The buildings have multiplied and grown taller. Orchard Road seems to have more glitz and glamour. One thing that hasn’t changed is the manicured, disciplined order that makes Singapore unique amongst the disorder of greater Asia.

Festival of Light in Little India, Singapore

The entire ceiling is one big moving - aquatic - projection

As with other places, it is always the people we meet that give us the greatest insight into each town, country, culture.

We met Malay workers traveling between countries to set up the F1 circuits and Abbott from the Phillipines who creates illustrations for the gaming industry. Incredibly talented guy – we are thinking of him as floods have just hit his hometown of Manila. Thank you to Mr Wong for connecting us with another overlanding family www.cape2cape.co.za. We hope to see you in Chiang Mai later in the year.

Kirsten & family host us for the night - thanks guys!

We also met our first expat family in Singapore – Kirsten, Peter, Hesper, Indigo & Daisy – thank you for your hospitality !

Apparently Singapore is the 3rd most expensive city for expats to set up camp. Their costs backed up our research. House rental $6,500 – 26,000 per month. School for 3 children $30,000 per year. Certificate of entitlement to own a car $20,000. A car purchased for $70,000 had $40,000 worth of government taxes. These costs only took a dip late last year when at least 40,000 expats lost their jobs in the recession. During this time the COE dropped to $200. On Wednesday we need to purchase a temporary vehicle permit and 3rd party insurance for the van just to drive from the wharf to the causeway which links to Malaysia. Every car on the road must be officially accounted for.

The school costs relate to International Schools – this is by no means the most expensive. There aren’t enough state schools to handle the number of children in Singapore. As a result, the average class size is 40-45 students and kids often go to school for 1/2 day to enable all children to have access to a classroom. It’s no surprise that Singapore has so many out of school tutorial/education centres. The kids get minimal 1 to 1 contact, if any.

Mmmmmm...

Yes, REAL frog soup!

Singapore must be another food capital of the world. Pig organ soup, frog porridge, fantastic Indian fare, durian & mushroom ice cream, chicken, duck, pork & seafood prepared in every possible way. One of our taxi drivers said the food can get so hot here that it burns your stomach. We stopped at one Indian food stall and asked for our meal without hot spice. “No hot, no worries” came the reply. After one bite I felt as if my tongue was about to catch fire.

Singapore Zoo: World class

Over the last week we have indulged in a city with a non stop pace – the zoo, the amazing Science Centre, movies, pools, museum, Chinese relexology, Ayurvedic massage and shopping shopping shopping. Consumerism at its best.

The van has arrived at the Port in Singapore - yay!

On Wednesday (23rd) we picked up the van from the wharf. The front of the van had been looted. Unfortunately, we must have forgotten to put one of the bags behind the locked door and a computer & ipod disappeared. The girls bits and pieces were also taken including Kaia’s teddy & Lulu’s keyrings she had started collecting. Big lesson for the rest of the trip – check once, twice and check again. Good to see the grills and locks worked for the back section. Kai drove the van straight off the wharf without any customs checks or delays. It was 6pm before Kai was back so we decided to stay one more night at Fernloft Lavender for departure early in the morning.

We didn’t get out of the city until afternoon. Clearing border control took a matter of minutes as did our clearance through through to Malaysia. During my first ever trip to Singapore, I remember walking between border controls with a heavy pack. An experience I was happy not to repeat.

Beautiful old facade combined with yet another global chain store

The girls in front of the mosque, Medan

We almost missed our flight out of Australia due to the girls leaving using their Dutch passports. There was some confusion over the absence of visas and how we could have been living in Australia without them – we heard our names called and the words ‘will be offloaded’ – and within 30 seconds we had the issue resolved and rushed through the closing door.

After a 6 hour sleepover in Singapore, we boarded a Silk Air flight to Medan at 7.30am. Brilliant airline – can’t think of the last time we had a meal during a 1 hr flight. Our arrival in Medan was definitely another unique experience. The staff outnumbered passengers as we filed into the arrival ‘shed’. We lined up to pay our US$10 pp for a 7 day tourist visa. Immigration happily chugging away on their cigarettes whilst we learnt our first Indonesian word ‘Terima Kasih’ (thankyou).

Lulu on a Becak

After picking up the bags we asked one of the many airport officials what the best way into the city was. Instead of guiding us to one of the many becak and taxis waiting outside, he rang his friend who soon arrived in another taxi to take us in. We let the Lonely Planet guide us to Hotel Zakia – behind the grand mosque. 130,000 IDR for a good room, toilet with bucket and scoop and many hours of Indonesian soap operas on offer. It was a good start – until the Ramadan prayer sessions began out of 4 loud speakers. As a special treat, we were enlightened by 2 x 1 hour sessions of prayer.

Wedding at the mosque

Wedding at the mosque

We felt inspired to visit the mosque and after being covered, walked in on a Muslim wedding. Kai was given permission to photograph the wedding and was also introduced to the bride and groom. After the girls and I left the space, we found ourselves surrounded by some women guests who wanted to squeeze Kaia and take numerous photos with the girls.

Squeeze and click!

3 amigos

It was beginning of many ‘squeeze and click’ sessions – a novelty for the girls on the 1st day – an annoyance by the 7th. It seems as though western children are rarely seen in Northern Sumatra. Whenever we stopped, the crowds gathered to stare or ‘squeeze’ or practice their English. We saw very few other tourists in Medan and felt rather oversized as the Indonesians have such wee frames. Lulu is the same size an average 14 year old Indonesian girl and Kaia’s age was too hard to get their head around.

Serviette folding at Tip Top

Again we let the Lonely Planet guide us to ‘Tip Top’ – a cafe that has been in existence since 1929. The oldest cafe in Indonesia. They are still using the woodfire oven that was installed in 1934. The meals ranged in price from $1 – $3.

Pemb. Semesta bus, so slooooooow!

The next day we took a Becak to the bus station to board one of the local buses bound for Bukit Lawang. The tourist office had told us it would cost 25,000 IDR ($2.50) each for the 3.5 hr journey (70 kms). The locals informed us it was 10,000 IDR. After mistaking the Islamic donation envelope for the fare collection we ended up handing over 15,000 IDR to Indonesia’s version of Elvis. Confusing start. The bus ride was a mixture of smoking, squeezing (Kaia – the whole way), bumping in/out and around major potholes and waiting for the driver to disappear and reappear at various points along the route. 10 mins before Bukit Lawang, a local struck up a conversation with us. We were being hooked and reeled in by a jungle guide going by the name of ‘Jusuf’.

He took us to the ‘Eco-Lodge’ and sat with us to ‘encourage’ us to take a 3 hr trek into the Gunung Leuser National Park to look for Orangutans. It was going to cost us $2 each to view them at the feeding platform vs US$100 for the trek. We had a think over dinner and agreed to set off at 1pm the next day. The next morning we visited the weekly market to find Lulu some shoes. A $5 purchase to cover her feet and we set off after lunch into the jungle.

Baby orangutan

Orangutan

Orangutan

Lulu & Kaia feeding an Orangutan

We came across 5 Orangutans which the guides had coaxed down out of the trees to be fed bananas and pineapples. It wasn’t until after the trek that we read we shouldn’t have fed or touched them due to disease and their unpredictable natures. The guides seem to make up their own rules amongst the trees.

Kaia connects with nature

It was incredibly special as there are so few Orangutans left in the world. Due to the continued threat to their environment (illegal logging) and the limited breeding cycle of the females (3-4 children per lifetime – once every six years after the age of 10), their future is somewhat uncertain. It is incredibly sad as they are such intelligent, beautiful creatures.

The rest of our time in Bukit Lawang was spent in a different hotel (Wisma Bukit Lawang Indah), rafting down the river and hanging out with the locals. Lulu made friends with 3 local girls and Kaia made herself at home in the hotel kitchen and with 2 kids onsite. Most Indonesian children learn English at school so there wasn’t a major language barrier. I don’t think it would have mattered if there was. The town is beautiful – however, it is still recovering after flooding caused by natural dams bursting due to illegal logging leaving mountains bare of plant cover. 300 houses were swept away and around 170 people died. A big impact in a small village (1000 people).

Rafting!

Rafting!

Rafting!

Lulu with her new friends in Bukit Lewang

Lulu with her new friends, Colby, Maya, Bowie

Kaia & Kai crossing the rapid

Lulu with some locals, brother and sister

Spot the frog!

Group shot

Bukit Lawang

The restaurant at our hotel, Bukit Lawang

Our $5 room in Bukit Lawang

Orang: Indonesian for Person!

It was hard to leave, but our short visa forced us back into the CHAOS of Medan for one more night before heading out. We found an amusement park on the 4th floor of the shopping centre opposite our hotel which the girls were stoked about. Lulu spent her time on the bumper cars and Lulu on the ‘Mery Go Around’. We were approached by a Chinese guy – John – who developed a product called ‘Agricola’ – a fertiliser that helped produce oversized crops. His formula was developed through God speaking to him. It turns out he is a Christian who uses his fertiliser to try and convert Muslims to Christianity. It is illegal for Christians to share their religion with Muslims in Sumatra. If they are caught, they face 20 years to life in prison because of the threat to Islam. However, it is no problem for a Muslim to approach a Christian – and so he waits for Muslims to approach him about the fertiliser. He will quite happily give it away for free if they convert.

?

Medan departure hall must be one of the shabbiest. Duty Free shops in a predominantly cash only society, customs officials more interested in Facebook and playing patience on their computers than checking passports. Maybe an increase of the AUS$7.50 departure fee would improve facilities. We almost had our first run in with the Indonesian legal system on departure as the ‘arrival officials’ had forgotten to stamp Kai’s passport. The ‘departure official’ couldn’t figure this one out – so pulled out his stamp and backdated an arrival date in Kai’s passport. No worries eh?!