I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Internet connections in Laos are not spectacular and I apoligize for the long time in-between posts. I spent Christmas in Vientiane, Laos, and was there when the massive tsunamis hit South East Asia. The majority of travelers I have talked to in the past two months told me they were spending their holidays on the beach in Thailand so you can imagine how packed those beaches were. Laos is totally land locked and felt no effects of the earthquake or tsunamis. I am currently spending some time in Luang Prabang, making friends with monks and drawing the ornate architecture. I will soon head North farther into the mountains near the borders of China and Myanamar. My next stop is Thailand but I’m not sure if I will stay in the north or try an island on the opposite side of the country where the tsunami didn’t hit.

The road between Vientiane and Luang Prabang is now paved but the trip still takes ten hours on a winding path through the mountains. To break up the trip I stopped in Vang Vieng, a town with little to do besides look at the steep, rock-faced mountains. There are a lot of caves in the area to explore but I soon discovered that they aren’t very interesting as far as caves go–they have only become attractions because there’s nothing else to see in Vang Vieng. I spent my time walking around town, wading in the river and eating dinner. The town could be a lot of fun if I wasn’t alone. Every restaurant has raised eating platforms with pillows and a large TV showing DVDs. Strangely, one of the restaurants only showed Friends. Every time I walked down the street I heard Monica yelling at Chandler or the irritating laugh track. Of course, this isn’t what people come to Laos for but it’s hard to blame the residents for wanting to make money or the tourists for using the facilities offered.

You can see the photos from Vang Vieng here.

Wanting to be near civilization, or atleast a town with electricity, I hurried up to Vientiane on a night bus from Pakse. Arriving at 4:30am I only had to walk away from three taxis before I found one that would take me, for a reasonable price, to the hotel I hoped to stay at. Seeing as it was well before daybreak when the taxi dropped me off on the wrong corner, nothing was open. I walked around the neighborhood, confirmed that my hotel was shut tight and went back to the main street to wait for daybreak with the two drunk Swiss guys locked out of their hotel who were sitting on the curb.

Although Vientiane is the capital of Laos, it has little more to offer the tourist than a few Wats and Western food. I did manage to make good use of Laos’ first ATM–installed only few weeks prior. My goal for the two days I intended to stay in town was to have a nice, expensive Christmas dinner and stay in a hotel room with a shower floor I could walk on with my bare feet. Considering my dinner cost only one dollar less than my relatively expensive hotel room I feel I was successful on both counts.

You can see the photos from Vientiane here.

On the way to Pakse from the islands I met up with a girl who convinced me to go with her to a little town with a waterfall in the East named Tad Lo. We had to stop for the night in a transit town name Pakse anyway, so we decided to make a quick stopover at an old Khmer-era temple on the way. What we thought would be a quick stopover turned into quite an ordeal. A few of us picked up a tuk tuk form the main highway to take us to the edge of the Mekong River. The town, Champasak, is on the other side of the river so we had to hire what turned out to be two canoes lashed together with a board across the top and a motor attached to the back. Once on the other side of the river we had to hire another tuk tuk to take us to to town and then on to the temple. After seeing so many temples in Cambodia this one was a bit of a let down, full of crumbling walls and deteriorated carvings. After getting back to the river and hiring a boat we found ourselves stuck. The only tuk tuk driver near the river asked for $5 to the highway, one mile away, or $15 (each) for the one hour ride to Pakse. Considering that a three hour trip was only $3 I refused to pay $15, no matter how much I was stuck. The three of us trying to get to Pakse started walking toward the highway. I guess we thought that another (more reasonable) tuk tuk might come along–I usually assume things will just work out in the end. After only ten minutes of walking (with our large backpacks while the sun beat down on us) a nice local in his very nice pickup let us hop in. He only took us as far as the highway but in five minutes we’d flagged down a truck carrying bamboo for the rest of the journey North. I can attest that sitting on bamboo next to a man carrying roosters does not make for the most comfortable journey.

Like usual, the next morning, the 8am bus did not exist so we walked around the dirt patch until the next bus was beginning to fill up. In Laos, like many other poor countries, the buses do not run on schedules even if there are schedules posted. A 8am bus may leave at 7:30 if it’s already full and a 9am bus may leave at 2pm if there’s not enough paying fares–you never know. There isn’t actually a town called Tad Lo, but a resort named after one of the waterfalls took the name and it stuck. I didn’t find the still pools on top of the waterfalls as enticing as the other tourists but I did enjoy myself in the local villages.

The first day I walked up along the three waterfalls and stumbled upon women bathing in the river, children playing in trees and sleepy villages full of curious children. The second day six of us, who had met over dinner the night before, hired a local to guide us around the area. He took us to villages on the other side of the highway, where they only see foreigners a few times a year (as opposed to the closer villages which see tourists every day). As we walked into a village we would often pass the school–a stilt house with open sides and a blackboard. The children, in their white shirts and blue sarongs or trousers, would stop listening to the teacher and crowd to the edge to wave to us. The villages were usually quiet as we approached, most people stay out of the harsh sun during the middle of the day. Soon a few children would peek out of a house and quickly we would be surrounded by all of the village children and a lot of the women. Our guide translated for us if we asked but the children were mostly interested in crowding into a picture and then running over to see it on our camera’s LCD screen. Because they all wanted to be in the image it was hard to take photographs of individuals or of anything but the children. When I broke away from the kids in one village to take photos of the drying crops and animals they followed, watching and talking to each other. After the large photo sessions we would leave town with as many as 40 kids running after us.

At the last village we visited a woman asked to have the photo I took of her. Fortunately, our guide was able to translate and explained that I didn’t actually have the photo and would have to make a print for her. When I explained how long it would take me to get home and print a copy the woman was a bit upset. Another girl our group took a photo to send to her because she was heading home much sooner. This happened to me a number of times–it always amazes me that some people don’t understand how a camera works.

My last day I took an elephant ride. It sounded better that it was, the jungle was dried up and elephants walk very slow! Even so, we walked up steep hills and through streams and rivers I could never cross on my own. A local dog followed us the entire way and walked up and down the shore of each river before attempting to cross. He wouldn’t dive in unless he absolutely had to and not without a lot of encouragement from the man steering my elephant. Considering how much the elephant is used in the iconography of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, this is the only elephant I’ve come across in those three countries so I’m glad I took the opportunity while I had it.

You can see the photos from Tad Lohere.

The Southern part of Laos is often neglected by tourists as it’s much easier to enter from Thailand near Vientiane. But I found the area where the Mekong widens and makes way for 4,000 islands quite beautiful. I decided to stay on one of the smaller islands, Don Det, to relax and start my journey into Laos culture. The area has been overtaken by bungalows built for tourists and restaurants serving Beer Lao and fried rice. The locals were friendly, shouting “saibidee” in greeting as I walked along the path between guesthouses and the large empty fields of the interior. Because I splurged for the $1.50 bungalow I was able to stay on the “sunset side” of the island and spent four evenings sitting in the hammock on my porch, watching the sun melt into the Mekong. Days were spent reading and watching my guesthouse’s pet monkey try to untie it’s leash. It was a peaceful four days, without electricity or hot water.

You can see the photos from Don Det here.

Cambodia is not a country of many roads. In fact, every time I left Phnom Penh I ended up having to come back to get somewhere else. And although Siam Reap is North of the capital, I still needed to come back to town in order to head north to Laos. My route to Laos followed the Mekong River North. Because of the long distances, bad roads and limited bus schedules I had to spend my first night in the town of Kratie. Known for it’s proximity to the rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins, Kratie is a bit of a frontier town. There’s not much there besides a market and a lot of barber shops. Another girl and I decided to make the best of the situation and hire a motorbike out to see the dolphins. The boat was very peaceful as the sun set across the Mekong. We watched five dolphins play in the current, turning on their backs and jumping around.

The next morning, while waiting for the boat North I walked around town, amusing the local residents by taking photos of barber shop signs. An old man was selling flavored ice from the back of his bicycle and I my camera quickly attracted the attention of the small children buying treats. One girl in particular was enamored with my camera. She wore a pink princess dress and wouldn’t let me take a photo that she was not the focal point of. She desperately wanted to keep my camera and kissed the LCD screen with her sticky mouth each time she saw herself on screen. After our photo session she started the ‘pick me up’ game. It was very simple–a child would walk up to me and I would pick them up and then put them back down. This last a good ten minutes before it progressed into the ‘twirl me around’ game where I lifted each child up and twirled them around. Although I was stuck in this town on the road to Laos with nothing to do I still managed to have a good time playing with the locals. You can see a progression of the photoshoot in the image below.

The road North of Kratie is in terrible condition so I opted to take the fast boat upriver to the town of Stung Treng. Once again, I was stuck for the night only an hour south of the Laos border. This town had even less than Kratie, not even cute children to play games with. I watched from my hotel as irritated Westerners tried to bargain with drivers for rides to the Eastern provinces. The town felt like one big rip off. Because the locals know people are only in transit they try to get as much money as possible for the smallest things. I had arranged a slow boat to the Laos border but in the morning was told that my fellow passengers had overslept and I would need to take a speed boat instead. The speed boat was a tiny fiberglass shell which didn’t seem to touch the water at all. The fact that my driver was wearing a helmet didn’t ease my mind at all. For the entire hour’s journey I sat, wind stinging my face, devising a plan for when the boat stuck a rock and tipped over. Would I hold my small bag with my camera above my head or would I try to rescue my heavy backpack from sinking to the bottom of the Mekong? Thankfully, the boat arrived to the deserted bank where the Cambodian official waited to take $1 from me (for the stamp–wink wink) in one piece. My fellow passengers weren’t so lucky, as I was the only person out of six granted an exit stamp. The driver continued to the opposite bank to drop me off at the Laos border where the officials asked for another dollar and arranged a moto driver to the islands. Most tourists travel through Thailand to get to Laos because the roads are better and travel is easy. In the end I’m glad that I spent the extra effort to make it up the Mekong.

You can see the photos from Northern Cambodia here.

There is nothing that defines Cambodia more than Angkor Wat. Although Angkor Wat is one of the best preserved Khmer temples near the town of Siam Reap, there are more than fifty temple complexes in the immediate area. Being my ever-ambitious self I decided that I needed to see as many temples as possible–no temple was too obscure. Cambodia can be very inexpensive to travel in but the visitor fees to the temple area is comparable to Western attractions. Passes cost $20 (1 day), $40 (3 days) or $60 (7 days).

I woke up my first morning in Siam Reap, rented a bicycle and made my way to Angkor Wat with my 7-day pass. I was determined to conquer any temple I could find. I got off to a slow start, spending my first day at only two temples–Angkor Wat and The Bayon. As I first approached Angkor Wat I saw a number of elaborately dressed Cambodians. It turned out to be a large wedding party taking photos. The bride, groom and bridesmaids had atleast four costume changes. Some were western wedding costumes but the majority were brightly colored traditional clothes made of silk. The temple itself is well preserved and is covered in amazingly detailed relief carvings. I decided to climb to the top story of the structure, up steps that were narrow and steep even for Westerners. Reaching the level of the gods is not supposed to be an easy task. Getting down was another challenge.

After my my first two days of bicycle riding around temples and their grounds I was completely worn out. I woke up on the morning of day 3 nearly unable to move. Forfeiting a day of my pass I spent the day sleeping, getting massaged and hanging out at a wonderfully Western cafe providing free wireless internet access.

After my day of relaxation I was ready to tackle a few of the more out of the way temples. I hired a moto driver to take me to a river two hours outside of town. The journey took us down a mud road full of potholes and broken bridges. My white shirt was covered in red dirt but was not the only casualty of the day. As we were riding I noticed my driver checking the tire every once in a while. After a while we drove by two young men on bicycles and stopped for repairs–apparently we had a flat. The bicycle repairmen pumped air into the tire and we arrived at the riverbed in one piece. I was careful on the path to the river because this attraction was one of the few Angkor-area attractions that hand’t been cleared of land mines. Because I hand’t seen one other tourist on the two hour journey I was convinced that I would be the only tourist at the river. There turned out to be More than one German tour group and a good sampling of Koreans. Although the riverbed was covered in carved stone I’m not sure that the arduous journey was worth the effort. On the way back to town we stopped at another far-flung temple known for it’s exemplary relief carvings. At this point I was starting to get a bit weary of the temples but my moto driver and I drove on, stopping at every temple on the way back to town. My driver turned out to be an amateur–he was only trying to supplement his regular teacher’s income on the weekend by taking me around. We ran into each other the rest of the week, he felt bad oversleeping on the morning we were supposed to see the sunrise so he gave me a number of free rides into town. I spent two more days seeing temples, mostly by motorbike. Most foreigners only spend 1-2 days at the temples but I was glad to spend my week in Siam Reap, these kind of ruins can’t be seen anywhere else.

You can see the photos from Siam Reap here.

This morning I woke up at 4:15am and hired a moto driver to take me to a hilltop temple named Phnom Bakheng to see the sunrise. As I climbed up the hill over crumbling rocks and misplaced boulders it became obvious that I was a bit early for sunrise. I was the first person on top of the temple which was very exciting and very scary. Although I brought my small flashlight with me the site is not lighted and I was not aware of it’s layout. Assuming the temple faced East I walked down what appeared to be a causeway until I came to steps. Gathering my courage, I scaled the narrow, steep steps until I could go no further. Looking up I came face to face with a large lion. It obviously turned out to be a statue but I was so surprised I nearly fell back down the stairs. At the top of the temple I could only hear the rustling of wind in the trees and tried not to look too closely at the decapitated Buddha statues. I sat alone, watching the moon and stars for another twenty minutes before a few other people arrived. The sky turned to a gray and then a light blue so gradually that I hardly noticed. Because of the clouds the sunrise wasn’t as glorious as one would expect, getting up at 4:15, but it was certainly worth doing once.

The rest of my photos from Vietnam are up in the gallery for your enjoyment. I think you will agree that the design photos are especially fabulous. Vietnamese posters were much more prevailent in the South and used a style that the Russian Constructivists would have used if they were working in the 1970’s.

After nearly three months of travel it was time to hit the beach. I am not a beach-lover really, but I decided the southern town of Sihanoukville would be a nice place to relax from traveling for a few days. I arrived in the late afternoon after a five hour bus ride and decided to stay near Serendipity Beach. Walking around I was approached by a nice woman who asked me to sit at her beach shack. I told her I would come the next day and stuck to my promise. She seemed surprised that I came back but I had my reasons. Her shack was on the far side of the beach, nearly 20 minutes walk away from my hotel in a very quiet area. I was willing to walk down the beach, past the Western tourists and past the Cambodian tourists to have a bit of peace and quiet. I refused all attempts to get me on a motorbike to see waterfalls or on a boat to see islands. I sat at the Dolphin Shack for five days, drank fresh pineapple shakes and read two books–it was amazing.