Ko Samuai, or Living it Up (mournfully) in Freakin Paradise

As per Adina's instructions, I begin this post by mentioning the fact that I am a heathen and should not be blogging right after hearing Eicha (the reading of Lamentations, or the saddest point of the Jewish calendar.) 

Last you heard from us, we were stuck in an airport praying to make it out on time.  Thanks to the help of the fastest taxi driver we've ever seen (and the only Thai person I've noticed rushing anywhere) we got from the airport to the bus in record time.  Then, since our bus was late we even had time to stop in and get some dinner while we waited (again.)  Then it was an overnight bus and a high speed catamaran hop, skip, and 15 hour jump to the shores of Ko Samuai.  We got there Monday a bit after noon.  On the way we caught a gorgeous sunrise and a few hour of off and on napping.  Guess which we appreciated more. 

When our taxi (no tuk tuks on the island!!  Not that that means there's no peddling or constant requests, but it's a start) dropped us off in front of our 'resort' we got a little worried.  It was on some loose gravel on the side of the road nowhere near any of the other fancy looking resorts.  It also was just a few trees covering up a shabby entrance to a restaurant with a broken sign that even in its best day would never have attracted much attention.  Uh oh.  BUT, when we walked through the shabby entrance and small little restaurant we were greeted by a tiny, isolated little beach on a secluded bay with turquoise blue waters, gentle waves crashing on the white sand shores, and picturesque rocks dotting the horizon beside the cliff of a penninsula to our left.  Un-effing-believable.  After setting our eyes on this place, I'm not sure we're even allowed to refer to Margate as a beach anymore.  Lucy the Elephant be damned.  To our right was the neon lights of the Samuai Yacht Club, but its pretty easy to just face the other direction.  About eighty seconds later we were in our bathing suits and up to our waists in warm ocean water.  We probably should have taken off the backpacks first, but whatever.  They'll dry eventually. 

That night we explored a bit on foot (despite every pickup driver on the island honking the hell out of their horn at us as they drove by) and came across a few great little finds.  One was an ice cream store with an overly friendly scooper that insisted on giving us free tastes.  Of everything.  We had 16 little plastic spoons each by the time we walked out of there with our $1 scoop of sorbet (made out of some fruit i've never heard of).  Then, in the shopping center attached to a ritzy new boutiqe hotel we found a western grocery store with dozens of things that belong nowhere near this country.  Like Amy's frozen dinners.  (for $9 each).  Or a propane grill, or Athenos Hummous (though I do feel dirty spelling it that way, I've got to go with the label).  It was weird.  Our favorite stop was some beachside bar where a bunch of kids were setting of fireworks, including a whole box at once.  That was one hell of a grand finale, which we really appreciated since we mostly missed them on the fourth of July.

Tuesday we spent on a tour of Angthong National Park, a little archipelago of 42 of the prettiest limestone cliff islands jutting out of sparkling blue waters you can find.  It reminded me of the scene in The Incredibles when Flash discovers he can run on water.  Our guide fashioned himself as quite the comedian, though jokes about leaving people stranded in the middle of the ocean do get old after a while.  I do feel a little bad for him having to make the same jokes every day of his life.  We really only made two stops on the tour.  The first was at one of the islands with an emerald grean saltwater lagoon in the middle of it, completely surrounded by limestone cliffs.  Apparently there are underground caves linking the lagoon with the ocean and feeding it salt water.  Quite pretty, especially the part before the little British boy in front of us started whining about how steep the steps were.  The same boy later cut his foot a little and very unappreciatively used one of our plasters.  (Bandaid.  One more Britishism we've picked up.)  Ingrate.

The main stop of the day was at another island whose name I don't remember but translates to "Sleeping Cow Island", though there were no cows to be found.  Instead there was a 500 meter climb up to a platform perched atop the jagged (and hot) stone with a birds eye view of all 42 islands (though I only counted about 18) and one frightened wife.  Though to her credit she did a great job climbing up the last 20 meters using just a rope on the rock and did not have a freak out on top like she did on Huayna Picchu last year.  We also hiked up with two of the nicest people we've met anywhere on this trip, which was fun.  We were lucky enough to be the first ones of the boat and up the trail so it was just the four of us all the way up.  Until the top when the Operation Magic Carpet reunion tour seemed to drop off about 25 Israelis on our little platform.  Though it was nice when the one we asked to photograph us used his Israeli personality to clear away about 10 others to free up some space for us.  It took us a lot longer to get down and we barely had time to snorkel at the bottom.  Luckily that was fne because there was no visibility, the "reef" was rubbish, and Adina got stung by something about 35 seconds in.  Don't worry, she pulled through.  Such a trooper. 

When we got back we were pretty tired so we rested a bit and caught most of what I'm pretty sure is the best movie ever.  Has any one ever seen Hot Fuzz?  I vaguely remember dismissing it after about six seconds of the trailer, but I promise it is worth your time.  Even Adina decided it was more important than dinner, though her rumbling stomach felt otherwise.  It is British humor at its best, every little detail was priceless.  Thankfully the restaurant at the 'resort' was still able to give us some plain rice and ice cream for dinner. 

Today we woke up for sunrise, but ended up at a beach facing the wrong direction.  Maybe we'll try again tomorrow, since as it turns out our beach faces the perfect spot.  Oops.  After napping we spent the day on Chaweng beach, the main touristy spot on the island.  Even though it is sort of in our nature to avoid crowds when we can, we've also found that there is usually a reason that one spot becomes the favorite, and this beach definitely earns it.  We sat, we swam, we played paddle ball (though not nearly as well as the other guys playing nearby), and we had some corn.  Without a doubt the recipe for perfection. 

Tonight was Tish'a B'av, so we headed to the madhouse that was pre-fast Chabbad.  It's amazing how rude some of those people were to the staff.  Argh.  Tomorrow should be another lazy day of air-conditioning as we fast, then we're off to Ko Toa on Friday to start the classroom part of the diving course.  yay!!! 

Hopefully photos of the last few days will comoe tomorrow, this computer is being stubborn and I'm being kicked out of the computer room.

Have an easy fast!  (To whom it may concern.)

Phnom Phen

Our Saturdays are all starting to sound the same.  We arrived in town a bit earlier on Friday, so we were able to walk the scorching streets a bit and visit the National Palace and Silver Pagoda (though why any one would have a temple covered with 5000 silver tiles and decide to keep them covered all the time is beyond me).  Then we got some food and hid out in our bunker for most of the next 25 hours (ok, 24, we may have gotten a bit of a late start.  We really should start checking sunset times.)   In between reading a napping a lot we did trek out during the afternoon where we found what we've been looking for all week.  I'm not so sure why it took until yesterday to find, but we came across some fresh copies of the new Harry Potter on DVD!  I mean come on people, what took so long??  Sadly it was Shabbat still so we could not actually buy it.  Foiled again.  After dinner and a quick look at the way overpriced menu at the apparently famous Foriegn Correspondents Club on the river (damn those fellas at the freakin FCC), we decided to call it a night.  Luckily our hotel got some great TV channels, so we got to watch an English movie with (didn't get the name) with English subtitles.  That provided loads of entertainment, my favorite mistranslation being when they turned "my business associates" into "the business of no shit."

 

Today we went through the usual T'sha B'av activities - just a few days too early and kind of focused on a different group of people.  We visited the Killing Fields and the museum of Tuol Sleng on the site of the former torture/prison camp on the site of a former high school.  Parts of it were well done, parts were sort of falling apart, but we did learn a bit about what went on here in the 70's (and afterwards for about 20 years, which is the part that I still don't understand.)  Adina was struck by how stupid/ignorant some of the people signing the guest book came off as, as if they had never heard of any of this, or as if this type of thing doesn't go on in the world.  We also liked how several of them compared George Bush to Pol Pot.  Seemed a bit harsh.  I'm not sure Adina should be so judgemental, after all it was her who actually laughed as we walked through one of the prison cells.  What kind of person does that?  My joke wasn't even that funny! 

 

I suppose I'm glad we did this today, though it really served to reinforce my determination never to visit Poland, especially the camps and ghetto sites. 

 

Phnom Phen in general neither of us were such big fans of.  It's a vibrant, growing city, it just doesn't have a particularily pleasant atmosphere.  Perhaps if the rivers it was built around actually looked blue every once in a while.  It's also a bit too chaotic for our tastes, though you have to admire how easy it is for locals to drive a motorcycle into two lanes of intersecting traffic knowing that somehow they'll make it through.  That's courage.  And a good portion of the tuk tuk drivers were less persistant than the ones in Siem Reap, which I appreciated (for the record I still say "No, thank you" instead of  ""Really?  You think I'm going to get into your tuk tuk right after you saw me say no to three other guys?  Do you have some sort of magic tuk tuk that I should know about?  Get out of my face!" So I think I should be commended for that). 

 

Right now we're waiting for our delayed flight back to Thailand and hoping we still make our night bus to the islands later tonight.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.  We'd hate to have to delay paradise for another day, I know you'd all feel very sad for us.  After traveling for four and a half weeks, we're definitely ready for the vacation part of our vacation to start. 

 

 

 

Around Siem Reap, Where the Mud just Keeps on Flying

I didn't really expect to be back on the blog for a few days, but our room is being cleaned now and the internet is free.  Who am I to say no? 

For a while today I thought I had finally gotten used to the heat (whoever said it takes two weeks was so full of crap), but it turns out it was just surprisingly cool this morning.  By the time the sun came out in the afternoon, I was again dripping in sweat.  So it turns out we are not, in fact, used to the heat.  Or the bugs crawling on us all the time (red ants really sting when they walk on you.)  Though on the bright side we are totally used to the giant geckos climbing on the walls, so that's something.

Having finished off our three day pass to the temples yesterday with another non-sunset (what is with the clouds?) at ruins atop a large hill (Phnom Krom, right on the enormous brown, murky lake called Tonle Sap), today we decided to branch out a bit.  We woke up early for a change and spent the morning driving ATV's (actually one ATV, and only one of us drove) through the countryside.  Since it poured for most of the night, the country side was extra muddy, special just for us.  We were warned by the French expat owner that we may get a little dirty, but I think he underestimated just how puddle happy I tend to be.  Adina said I had to stop saying "oops" when I drove through a mini lake of mud when I took deliberate aim and sped up right through it.  It's ok, they happily hosed us off once we got back.  By the end of the morning we were completely coated in multicolor mud and were laughed at by most villagers we passed, though I'm sure they were laughing with us, not at us.  Before we left the manager explained we didn't have to worry about other moto drivers or bikers, since the basic rule of the roads in Cambodia is to always yield to anything bigger than you.  Which explains why the dogs all scurried out of our way but the cows were more likely to stay put and stare us down.  We did have a couple of good runs of cow slalom out there, which was new for me. 

On the trip we visited the orphanage school partially funded by the company's manager where we were warmly greeted in chorus by each class.  "OH HELLO!  GOOD MORNING, VISITORS.  HOW ARE YOU TODAY?"  They sort of didn't know what to do with it when I said "Fine, thank you.  How are you today?"  I got a lot of mumbling and looking at their shoes from the younger classes(which was nice and familiar to me), but the older kids were able to keep up the show a bit longer.  Then they taught us how to say "How are you today?" in Japanese, which we have since forgotten. I was shown more respect and appreciation in 25 minutes there than an entire month back home.  I made sure to tell them to listen to their teacher before we left.  One English class told us they were learning about General Hospital, which I'm pretty sure meant medical English vocabulary.  Word like doctor, operation, please stop the bleeding, etc.  Our guide told us that at most schools here students had to bribe the teacher each day to be able to come into class, the type of thing I could really get used to.  On the way back we drove through several little villages and were enthusiastically waved at by dozens of little kids, most in various stages of naked.  One was in a very specific stage of squatting.

There's something drastically different about the attitude towards life here as compared with Laos.  There things and people were very laid back, which we loved.  Here there is such a drive towards development and success, though it is funded entirely by foriegn donors and NGO's, not the Cambodian government.  Perhaps this is why it is much more common for people in this region to know English than it was in Laos.  We've heard a lot of people in our generation say their parents (or other caretakers) instilled a strong sense of duty to advance in the world, especially to overcome everything that was lost to the Khmer Rouge starting in the 70's.  To me it felt a lot like what I know of our grandparents and great grandparents- both the generation of survivors from the Holocaust and the children of turn of the century immigrants. 

Back in town we took a short cooking class.  Since we were the only people working with the cook, we tailored it to exactly what we needed.  We didn't know how to explain that we ate no fish except for some kinds (and I'm not sure how to say fins and scales in Cambodian), so we stuck to only vegan.  We'll adapt it to actual food when we get back.  This stuff was similar in style but featured totally different flavors from what we learned in Thailand.  It was nice to learn some new things and we'll try to adapt them to what we can find in America, but I did like the Thai food much better. 

The plan is still to head to Phnom Phen tomorrow for Shabbat, then make our way the the Thai islands in the beginning of next week.  We get to fly again, which was especially fun the other day because we had some one waiting for us with my name on a sign for the first time in my life.  I wouldn't say it was a limo that we climbed into, but the cushions of the tuk tuk were soft enough to absorb the shocks of the dirt road, which is about all you can hope for.  We'll let those of you in NY figure out who gets to be there waiting for us at JFK when we get back.  Just let us know and we'll send you our flight details.

Four weeks down, three (plus two) to go! 

Disney Wat Day 2 - Epcot and MGM Studios

Photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/AngkorTemples#

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/Vientiane#

 

We spent Tuesday at some of the more far flung temples of Angkor.  We began the day with our horn happy tuk tuk driver, Mr. Nyen.  Seriously, he honked at everything, all day long.  Every single tuk tuk, moto, and biker we passed, a good half of the cars that passed us, every truck he felt was taking up too much space, dogs lying in the road, dogs standing too close to our side of the road, dogs standing too close to the other side of the road, naked babies playing on the curb, naked toddlers playing on the curb, and even a good handful of naked 6 year olds playing on the curb.  He honked every once in a while when no one was around just for fun, and I'm pretty sure he honked once at a bushel of bananas. 

 

Our first stop was at the pharmacy, shortly after we left.  Though we've managed to keep on our feet for several days in a row now without falling once, health issues still plague us at every turn.  At the moment, our problems have taken an opthamalogical turn.  My glasses lost a screw yesterday, then today Adina developed some (wikipedia-diagnosed) bacterial conjunctivitis.  That's right, she's got her first ever pink eye.  Ew.

 

Our first real stop was Banteay Srei, a temple known not for its splendor so much as its detailed carvings in the walls, floors, doors, etc.  It was very impressive, but we weren't enthralled.  Perhaps we were bothered by the crowds too much, or maybe it was too early in the morning.  It also could have been the musicians playing (sounded like damn Peruvian pan flutes all over again - no wonder we haven't seen any guinea pigs) wretched sounds that carried through the entire place.  Neither of us really got into this place so much, but don't worry, that didn't stop us from taking a buttload of pictures.  We again were able to wade through the throngs of peddling kids, but I did almost buy an Angkor guide book for $1.  Then the kid tried to change the price to 1000 Baht ($30), so I didn't like him much anymore and kept on moving.

 

After a bit of negotiating with our driver (turns out there was some miscommunication with bizarro Ari last night at the guest house), he agreed to take us a bit farther down the road to the river carvings and waterfall of Kbal Spean.  Here we had a nice hike up a rocky hillside (no mud!  woo hoo!) to the river carvings on the top.  What are river carvings, you ask?  We had the same question.  They are very similar to all the other stone carvings of various gods (mostly Hindu) that are found all over the temples of Angkor on doorways, walls, stairs, etc.  Only these were carved out of giant stones that were still in the river, some of them completely submerged.  Sort of like they paved a cobble stone street for the water to flow over.  The waterfall was less impressive, though it was nice to cool down a bit in the spray.  After following a very slow but giggly Korean family down the slopes, we eventually made it back to our driver.  He of course had to be sitting in the very last food stall in the long string of stalls, so we again had to ward off many women trying to get us to eat.  We didn't really know how to explain that pig on a stick really wasn't going to work for us. 

 

Then our trip got interesting.  The next place we wanted to visit was pretty far out of the way, but that was no problem for our super-driver.  He said "Some tuk tuk no take, but I bring you.  Not impossible."  Not impossible isn't exactly the ringing endorsement you want to hear, but whatever.  So we started driving pretty fast to get there in time, but that didn't seem too bad.  Then, about 50 km before we got to the temple, we hit the end of the road.  I shouldn't say that, there was still a road.  It just wasn't pavement.  It was one third dirt, one third rocks (we still don't know which is better), and one third pothole.  Giant potholes.  Everywhere.  Luckily, our dirt bike racing expert of a driver was pretty good at stearing his bike around them.  Less luckily, the two wheels of the carriage were spaced wider than the single wheel of the bike he was driving, so all those narrow misses for him were straight on hits for us.  After Adina's first ride on a bike in three years yesterday, her ass was in no position for such a bumpy ride.  Especially one that lasted 45 minutes.  Other than almost being run off the road a few times, and being whipped by branches of the trees we narrowly missed, we had a blast. 

 

This was all to get to our third stop of the day, Bang Maelea, which we were told was the crown jewel of Angkor temples.  And $5 extra.  It really was fantastic.  A lot like the jungle temples we went to yesterday, but bigger and far less crowded.  This was the first place we've been to where we weren't overrun with other tourists, and only a couple of peddling 7 year olds.  There were even a small gaggle of cute NON-peddling kids, which is always a fun surprise.  They had fun sliding their way down the staircase that Adina was barely comfortable walking up.  Her sasquatch feet were not meant for the narrow stairs of khmer life.  This temple was dark, green, and crumbling all over the place.  To view it, you need to scramble of large piles of boulders that used to be towers, crawl through small openings that are all that's left of doorways, and trip over roots of giant trees that are choking the ruins and taking over everything.  We were certainly not alone in the place, but we were able to walk through it without feeling like we were constantly in some one else's picture.  Not stumbling over other people definitely adds the the mystique of the place, or as stupid Lonely Planet likes to say, it was very atmospheric. 

 

For dinner we went to yet another too expensive (but actual khmer food) veggie place, where we got our last meal before giving up fake meat for the nine days. It's gonna be rough. 

 

Wednesday was a bit of a lazy day, having sort of run out of desire to see the temples.  We considered sunrise, but decided it would be too cloudy.  Which it was.  Instead we got out of bed a bit later to try and see the eclipse, though we were worried it would be too cloudy.  Which it was.  There will be another one just like it in a century or so, so no big deal.  We've spent most of the day wondering around Siem Reap itself - the market, the artist colony, a butterfly garden (which turned out to be a restaurant with butterflies in it.  They didn't seem too upset that we just took pictures and left.)  The market was filled with more types of seafood (some of it fresh enough to still be moving) than I've ever seen, but we were again forced out by the smell pretty quickly.  Most of the things we've thought about doing today and tomorrow are too pricey ($100 dollars to go to another temple??!!), but we'll figure something out.  Later today we're planning on seeing the sunset over the lake, and maybe tomorrow we'll try another cooking course if we can find one veggie enough for us.

 

Then Friday we're off to Phnom Phen for Shabbat and a nice downer of a day at the killing fields Sunday before heading back to Thailand and the islands. 

 

 

 

Disney Wat, Day 1

Yesterday we loaded into our tuk-tuk and headed out to Angkor Wat for sunset.  Though we didn't actually go to Angkor Wat, instead we went to Phnom Bakheng, a smaller hilltop temple where every one and their mother goes for sunset.  It was a little absurd to see the number of people on the top, (including what appeared to be a Korean boy band) and we also didn't get much of a sunset as the dastardly clouds got in the way.  They weren't kidding about the whole rainy season.  We did see some nice colors in the clouds, though not until we got down from the temple mount.  Or am I not supposed to use that phrase?  The Norwegians we've been running into everywhere since Chiang Kong and I decided to blame Adina for making us come down a bit early, but she blames the guy in uniform who told us the site was closing.  It's always about finding the scapegoat with her.  On our way up (and down, for that matter) we were hounded by locals selling various pieces of crud beyond belief.  Even more than what we got in Bangkok, though at least here they do take no for an answer eventually and you don't get the feeling that they are trying to trick you into something.  They also speak WAY more English here than any other place we've been, so they understand when you explain that you don't want a magnet because you've already bought two on the day.  They just don't care. 

 

Back in town we were pleasantly surprised by the veggie options, and had some more Indian food.  3 days in a row turned out to be not a great idea, but it was definitely delicious.  We then went to the night market (after warding off about 80 guys trying to get us in their tuk tuk) and browsed through some of the same old stuff we've seen everywhere.  The downside of their increased English is they are able to call after you much more emphatically.  And frequently.  And loudly.  "Buy something Madam!"  "You want to buy something?"     "You think, maybe change your mind later."  "BUY A SCARF!!" One guy even managed to sneeze, raise his arms at us, start hacking and coughing, then, while keeling over and almost dying manage to eke out in a weak voice,  "tuk tuk sir?"   At least he was polite.  One guy actually jumped off the sidewalk right in front of us and yelled "TUK TUK?"  Scared the bejesus out of Adina, but he was nice enough to apologize.  One crazy thing we saw in a few places at the market was a fish massage - dip your feet in a pool with little tiny fishes inside and let them nibble away at your toes.  Apparently it tickles therapeutically, or at least the handful of very white people we found actually doing it seemed to believe.  We did stumble upon some guys playing a form of Khmer chess.  Apparently there are two different kinds, and this one is the version that is less like international chess.  They were playing pretty fast so it took a while to catch on, but the rules are, as it turns out, actually pretty simple.  I'd be happy to play with you, Josh, as long as you don't get crabby if I win. 

 

Today we slowly got out of bed a bit later than we wanted to (noticing a trend here) and rented bikes to head out to the main circuit of temples.  We rode around and didn't fall all day!!!  Slightly less impressive considering they were actually bicycles this time, but Adina hasn't been on one since our honeymoon, so we're proud of her all the same.  And we did get to use our fist aid kit (of course we bring it along on the days we stay healthy) when a little Cambodian girl got her foot stuck in her moms bike.  The bikes were our 20th different mode of transportation on this trip.  I'd be happy to share the full list with any one curious enough to ask.  (You have a lot of time to think when Adina is in the shower, you smell too badly to leave the room until you've showered, and the only thing on TV is 13 going on 30  (on three channels).)

 

We jumped right in and started the day at Angkor Wat itself, the so called "Mother of all temples."  We were again accosted in the parking lot "Buy cold drink?"  "Buy my postcards?"  "I watch your bike, you buy my bracelet?"  We had a nice little chat with a few Cambodian boys, one of whom claimed to be named Spider Boy.  The men sitting around nearby got a kick out of that, but the kid wouldn't tell us his real name.  Instead he said, "When you come back, maybe you buy my book?" 

 

The temple itself manages to be simultaneously more and less impressive than I had expected.  The most impressive part is the detail work and intricate carvings that are absolutely everywhere.  When something is absolutely everywhere in a ginormous complex, there must have been a lot of work put in.  Nearly every visible stone is etched or carved in some way.  The sheer scale of the place is also a bit numbing.  The temple is in the middle of a huge walled area surrounded by a very large moat.  There are pools all around, along with smaller structures dotted here and there.  Then you get to the actual temple (after walking half a km up the causeway), and it is both larger and taller than anything else we've seen here.  On the other hand, in a lot of ways it's quite ugly.  Perhaps it was because we were there at the wrong time of day in bad light, but the coloring of the stone isn't as pretty (and it looked more scorched) as I had expected.  But as it turns out, I think the size, scale, and detail work are kind of the point.

 

We then got back on our bikes (Spider Boy did come running after us when he saw us heading through the parking lot.  He said we promised we'd buy something when we came back, we tried to gently remind him that it was, in fact, he who said those things.  At first I was impressed that he remembered us, but then I realized he probably says the same thing to every one who locks up their bike, which saves the trouble of having to remember who he tried his little pitch on) and headed out towards the next temple area.  We did stop along the way to have lunch on the banks of the moat, where we thought we could be left alone for a while.  That was silly.  About two minutes into our delicious lunch of Tuna B'Sakit (our bread went moldy overnight - I hate humidity) two more local boys rode over and started chatting us up.  On the bright side they did not try to sell anything (they even gave us their real names), but they did kind of ruin our nice quiet lunch.  Even the Oreos we gave them weren't enough to shoo them away.  Though I suppose the goodbye hug he gave us made it all better.

 

Our next stops were Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm, two jungle wats that have been pretty much left to the elements.  Aside from all the restoration work, that is.  Ta Prohm is the one some of you may think of when you picture Angkor Wat, it's got loads of trees growing out of the ruins, with the roots wrapping around whole buildings and moss covering most of the stones.  It's also the site where they filmed part of Tomb Raider, as Lonely Planet loves to point out.  It was dark, eerie, and beautiful, though still overrun with people.  I think they need to start charging higher admission.  I also don't understand how whole families come here - there is no way kids can appreciate this.  I say put them all in pop-up trailers in the Adirondacks, let them learn what a family vacation really is.  The crowds aside, these two were our favorites of the day and both exactly as we imagined and incomparable to anything we've seen before. 

 

We also rode through Angkor Thom, the huge city which they say housed up to a million people over 600 years ago.  All that's left standing are more temples and fragments of the royal palace. The highlight of that leg of the day was the Bayon temple, which has a few dozen towers scattered around the grounds, each with four giant faces looking down over you.  We rode back to town just in time to catch a gorgeous sunset along the way.  Unfortunately, we saw it from the street, right over a dirty construction sight.  It was a little sad that we didn't get to see the pretty sunset from our hilltop wat yesterday, but no worries.  Or, as Adina said, "That was BULLSHIT!"  You can take the girl out of the Steins (sorry, Gary), but you can't take the Stein out of the girl.  Dinner tonight was in a fancy veggie place which was delicious but out of our price range- our meal cost $13!!!!  We could have bought 110 meals (plus five extra spring rolls) at our vegan buffet in Luang Prabang with that kind of money.  This town is expensive. 

 

Tomorrow we're headed farther afield to some of the other more isolated temples, which should be a nice break after the hordes today.  We've booked a tuktuk with our guest house's receptionist who, by the way, is Ari Moskowitz's long lost Cambodian twin.  It's uncanny.  Well, only a little in appearance (same shaped head), it's more of a demeanor/attitude/hand gesture thing.  I'm still waiting for ideas for something to do on Thursday.  (Wednesday should be more temples in the area, including a sunrise at Angkor Wat at what is apparently the exact time of a nearly complete solar eclipse.  What are the odds?) 

 

Pictures from today will have to come some other time, I don't think the free computer at our guest house can handle that.  It's already shut itself down once tonight, though that may have been because I kicked the plug.  Whatever.  Till then, keep watching the skis.

Vientiane. Sort Of

Our stay in Vientiane consisted of arriving, dropping off our laundry, veggie Indian food, sleeping, waking up, napping, reading, napping, back to the same veggie Indian place, picking up our laundry, sleeping, and leaving.  The funny part is I'm pretty sure we did manage to see everything worth seeing in town.  I now understand what they mean by "charmless".  Oh, and we saw Bourne Ultimatum on HBO.  Twice. 

I suppose the highlight of the trip was our ride to town, which was four hours on the back of a pickup.  Way cheaper than a bus, and who needs AC when you're being rained on, anyway?

Today we flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia, right on the doorstep of Angkor Wat.  We're heading there for a "free" sunset at the temple (by free they mean the $40 entrance fee for three days doesn't start counting until morning) in a bit.  Our faces are set to stunned.  We're here for a few more days to see more temples, but we were sad to learn today that the famous temple sweeper in the jungle has retired.  Sad for us.  We'll let you know how it all goes. 

Luang Prabang Photos

This is a bit out of order, but here are our photos from earlier this week in Luang Prabang.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/LuangPrabang#

Trekking the slippery slopes of Vang Vieng

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/VangVieng02# (Once they are done uploading)



After our short stroll through town Tuesday night (by the way it turns out I was wrong about those all night Friends TV bars. It turns out they are in fact all DAY Friends bars, as well), we emphatically decided we did not want to go tubing with all the drunk 19 year old backpackers (my earlier estimate of 22 was way off.) Instead we signed up for a two day trek/kayak adventure to a self billed "secret Eden." Before signing up I looked through the forms of the four people who had already signed up. They were all between 27 and 29, so I knew we were good to go.

The people in our group were certainly great to trek with (mostly) but nowhere near as bizarre as the last group. There was a pair of very friendly Canadians, two Brits on their way home from Australia, and two American girls from San Fran. Most of them were great, though one of the Americans left something to be desired in the ways of friendliness. What can you do. We hung out most with the Canadians, Rob and Laura. Rob is sort of a cross between more subdued Alon Cohen and less talkative Jonah Lowenfeld. Though since not a whole lot of you know both of them, I'm not sure how much that helps. Our guides were of course a bit on the crazy side, though thoroughly entertaining. One of the things I like most about the people here is how playful they can be all the time, even when sitting on their asses after falling down a muddy hill inside a cave. Though I'm not sure why Yong (the main guide) decided that Adina and I were two "researchers." I think it was his way of calling us dorks.

Day one of the trek was a long hike up and down a couple of very slippery limestone karsts. Which is apparently what one calls a cliff when they want to sound different. We got lucky and saw almost no rain, but the path was still a giant mudbowl from start to finish. Our trek in Chiang Mai was squeaky clean compared to this. It turns out it's pretty fun to slide your way down muddy boulders on the side of the mountain. This time, though, we were well prepared and did not forget our first aid kit. Which was good, because neither of us could stay on our feet for very long. Plus it's nice to put on a bandaid after the leech is removed. Those suckers really make you bleed. In the middle of the morning hike we explored a very cool cave in the side of the mountain, which is what this area is most known for. It went on forever inside the mountain and had some pretty spectacular stalactites/mites and really cool wavy rock formations all over the place. And bats. Lots of bats.

After our second big climb/descent we were carted off to our 'resort' for the night. Now, considering I was expecting to sleep on a mat on the floor like our last trek I shouldn't complain, but Adina was right to point out that having massive bugs crawling over the place is ok when you're outside, but the same bugs inside just feel gross. We were especially unhappy when our gigantic spider friend that had been parked on our ceiling was suddenly not there anymore when we got back to the room. And when we discovered the ant colony - though probably better described as an ant civilization it was so big - inside our shower. Cool thing about ants, though. When you try to rinsed them down the drain, they cling to each other in some sort of death grip and become too big to get rid of. I was impressed. Unlike our last trek, the food situation wasn't great. Vegetarianism doesn't mean quite the same here. Our guide was pleased to bring us out a dish described as "vegetarian, with a little pork." So, after a less than satisfying dinner of sticky rice dipped in soy sauce, we played some cards (I tried teaching asshole, but we ended up with too many people and played shithead instead), had some Lao-lao (rice whiskey/moonshine) and headed off to bed.

Today we very lazily awoke and headed out to spend a day kayaking on the river. Considering neither of us have kayaked in a long time, it was nice to be on a river that could really do all the work for us when we needed a break. We made a few stops, including another terrific cave. This one flows with water all the time, so we had to swim through before climbing up some more mud (because Adina's ass wasn't muddy enough already). It was around this point in the river that we started running into the tubing bars. The kids who tube here get in the river, then maybe 50 meters later they are pulled into a bar on the banks where they order their beers and their buckets, zipline/trapeze into the river, and head on their way. Until they are pulled into another bar 50 meters after that. Then about 7 more before the trip is done. It was still early, so not too many drunks were out, but that didn't stop the nonstop soundtrack of American rock (with lots of bass) from blaring itself though the beautiful scenery. We did stop at the last one of these bars to use their swing and jump into the river (even Adina did it, from about 30 feet above the water! I of course had fun, though I learned I may need to improve my backflip technique a bit. Don't worry, making it halfway around and getting the wind knocked out of you on impact with the water isn't so bad. It's trying to keep up with the current dragging you downstream with said lack of wind that gets tricky)

All in all, it was a terrific trek, one of our favorite things so far (though Angkor Wat, tropical paradise, and diving are still to come!). For any one thinking of coming through here any time soon, Green Discovery is worth using. They are a bit more expensive, but the guides are terrific and the company really knows what they are doing. Oh, and they claim to help local people or something like that.

It looks like we're heading out of town tomorrow to Vientiane for Shabbat, then flying to Siem Reap on Sunday. Our time in Laos is winding down, but we both totally see why every one is so crazy about this place. Aside from the natural beauty, (which frankly is not better than anywhere else **Adina disagrees**), you can't help but feeling good when every one around you is relaxed and laid back all the time.

Next update will probably be next week from Siem Reap, unless something noteworthy happens in Vientiane. But I wouldn't count on that.

So no one told me Laos was gonna be this way

After one more trip to the market and contributing our own little stimulus package to the Laos economy, we left beautiful Luang Prabang this morning.  We got to Vang Vieng this afternoon after a looong minivan ride.  When they advertise as AC, they should probably try to remind the driver to turn the AC on.  Oh well, no worries.

This place is stunningly beautiful, but absolutely crawling with idiot 22 year old backpackers.  They get drunk in an inner tube on the river all day, then come back to town to get high on pot, shrooms, etc., and drink happy shakes while sitting in a TV bar watching nothing but old episodes of Friends all night.  At least some of the bars have recently wised up and started showing Family Guy instead.  Apparently Stewie is hysterical after a little bit of E.  I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you about that, though.

On the other hand the valley is gorgeous and it looks like Adina and I will be doing two days of trekking/kayaking before heading out of town.  Though we may not.  It appears we have commitment issues.  We'll let you know when we get back.

For those of you keeping count at home, Adina is winning Zitch dog, but I have the lead in Zitch Wat (Buddhist temple).  The score is 7532 to 5672. 

Luang Prabang

Sorry, no photos today.  In what you'll soon see is a running theme on the day, we forgot to pack the USB cable.  Our bad.

 

We got to town Friday before Shabbat and headed to our guest house.  We had decided to splurge a bit and get the nice place, even though it cost three times as much ($25 instead of $8).  We figured we were only in town for a couple of days, and we knew we'd be spending a lot of time lying around over Shabbat, so what the hell.  The problem is we didn't count on liking the place so much that we stayed for an extra few days.  Since we're both too lazy to pack up and switch guest houses just to save a bit of cash, we're still paying the exorbitant rate.  I wonder if we can get a discount because of the loud sex our upstairs neighbors had all afternoon on Saturday.

 

Luang Prabang is a great town, I can see why so many people find themselves here longer than they expected.  Their town marketing slogan is "Stay Another Day."  I don't think I've ever seen a more successful campaign, though people would probably be lingering with or without the posters all over the place.  The town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which, in addition to making everything a wee bit more expensive, forces the character of the place to be preserved as much as possible.  Which is remarkable considering how much construction is going on all over town.  The tourist part of town is pretty much three long, parallel streets along a peninsula in between two rivers.  One street runs along the Mekong and is lined with cute little outdoor cafes and bars on the banks of the river.  The middle street is the main tourist center, with tour agencies, shops, guest houses, etc. everywhere.  Some of them are super fancy, and we've been amazed by how much older the crowd is here than anywhere else we've been.  There certainly are plenty of backpackers (though not in our posh little neighborhood) but there are also families, elderly couples (like our parents age), and the never before encountered elderly lone traveler.  The third street is mostly filled with private homes and the fancier guest houses (like ours) and hotels (significantly more expensive than ours).  Most of the buildings in town are survivors/remakes from the French colonial time, so everything is very pretty.  And we're told the wine and cheese bars are very good.

 

We got to town with just enough time to buy some essentials and get food ready before Shabbat started (we assume - there was no magnet with candle-lighting times on the fridge).  We had our take-out vegan buffet dinner (the only one in town, so they're quite familiar with us by now) accented with some challah and dirty Israeli kiddush wine we picked up in some random store in Chiang Mai.  (Chabbad).  We relaxed and were in bed by ten, which is all the more impressive due to the fact that I didn't get out of bed until 12:30.  That felt nice.  I think Adina got out of bed to get some fruit salad from breakfast or something, but I'm not sure.  We took a walk around town in the afternoon, but the oppressive heat brought us back to our AC pretty quickly.  The locals were saying that the heat was quite unusual, but people in Chiang Mai said the same thing about the two solid days of rain we had there.  Either we bring freak weather everywhere we go, or locals here really have no concept of what happens here on a regular basis.  I suppose a third option is they had no idea what I was saying when we were discussing it, or vice versa.  One of these days we'll vacation in an English speaking country.  Like Israel.  In the evening we made it to the market where we didn't spend any money (hooray!) and then stayed out until the wee hours of the night drinking in a bar.  Except bars here close around 11 by law.  And we had one beer and a lemon shake.  I told Adina she didn't need the shake, but she's been pretty wild and out of control lately.

 

Today we had a busy, exciting, and memorable day.  I certainly won't be able to forget about it at least until my wounds heal.  We woke up super early to watch the monks make their rounds collecting alms.  A lot of sticky rice in a bowl is pretty much what it comes down to.  ***Adina would like to add that it is also beautiful display of the generosity of the common man, and a testament to the reverence in which the Monks here are held.  Even if they are twelve year old boys.***  It's a whole line of orange gowns walking down the street receiving donations, sort of like a mobile version of the gates.  Perhaps tomorrow we'll wait in the line and donate something, also.  Since Adina convinced me it would probably be a bad idea to try and collect the rice.  Even though I reminded her my REI super absorbant towel was orange, she correctly pointed out that it wouldn't cover much of me and would probably be pretty conspicuous.  After a nap and a quick packing job (you'll see why that was a problem later on) we headed to town to rent a nice smooth riding automatic motor scooter like we did in Sukhothai.  Shame they don't rent those here.  Instead we got on a very overpriced (which we later learned from some backpackers that was due largely to increased insurance rates after a recent spate of tourist accidents) manual motorcycle.  We even had to keep our feet on the side!  Given, it was on the small side, but since my gear changing instructions were not in any language I could decipher, we had a bumpy start.  The ride was only an hour, and as we got close we got to some pretty steep hills.  In retrospect I'm pretty sure she did say something about hills before we got on the bike, but who bothers to pay attention to details like that?  On the bright side, I learned how to pop a wheelie going uphill on a bike (having a passenger with a heavy backpack helps).  Unfortunately, I have not yet discovered how to land a wheelie going uphill on a bike yet.  Some nicks and scrapes later, with the help of a passing Lao biker (they really are as nice as every one says) we were VERY slowly back on our way.  We did make it to the waterfall park we were headed to and had a great day there.  It's the first time we've seen blue water on this continent, a pleasant change from the mudbowl that is the Mekong we have grown accustomed to.  Though I'm pretty sure the blue is some kind of algae which probably shouldn't have been allowed into my cuts, but whatever.  That's what neosporin is for.  Which is why it would have been helpful to have packed the first aid kit today.  We've brought it absolutely everywhere else we've gone, I'm not sure why motorcycle to a waterfall park did strike us as another appropriate time to bring it.  Some nice Americans on their way out helped us a bit and shared their generic neosporin with us (Duane Reade brand baby!  They are both Math teachers in NY, live on the upper west side, having just finished teaching fellows, and even did their masters at CCNY.  Small world) so we were fine.  Actually, Adina was fine already, since she managed to land on me in the fall she had barely a scratch. 

 

The park was terrific.  We hiked up the mountain, feasted on peanut butter sandwiches, swam in the pools, jumped off the waterfalls (well, one of us) and headed back home.  Gingerly.  The problem with gingerly is you kind of run out of steam heading back uphill.  which is when one may find themselves teetering off the side of the road.  Technically we only fell once on the day, since I don't think you can call it a fall if you remain upright the whole time.  But we were certainly not on the road anymore.  Kind of in a ditch, actually.  Adina is going to say that this reaggravated her hip, but I know it's really because she hasn't been doing her stretches lately. (Dana, can you scold her about this?)  Again, though, a whole team of Lao drivers pulled off the road and helped us out of the ditch and back on our feet.  They also were kind enough to bang our basket back into shape.  Once we popped the mirror back into place, the rental place didn't even notice.  Back in town, despite AGAIN forgetting to pack something - this time our handy little calendar and notes, we managed to plan out the next two weeks of our trip (sadly, Pakse and the rest of Southern Laos had to be cut because neither of us wants to spend the extra 30 hours on a bus.  That's what airplanes are for.)  So if any one has good ideas for what to do with our extra couple of days in Cambodia (preferrably between Siem Reap and Phnom Phen), please let us know. 

 

Meanwhile, we'll be heading out of Luang Prabang on Tuesday (another slow day of this unbelievably peaceful town is too tempting to resist).  From there the plan is Van Vieng for tubing and/or caving, then Vientiane for Shabbat, then a Sunday flight into Cambodia.  We hope.  We'll let you know how all of that turns out.  Stay tuned!

 

Journey to Luang Prabang, or Mutiny on the Muddy Seas

Photos:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/SlowBoattoLuangPrabang#

 

 

 

Heading out of Chiang Mai on Wednesday morning, we began a three day journey to Luang Prabang.  It featured 6 different vehicles in two countries, spanning 53 hours and included three beds, both the best and worst showers of the trip, and some psychadelic mozzie nets.

 

First up was a minibus ride to Chiang Kong on the Thai/Laos border.  We pulled into a very nice looking guest house complex with spacious AC rooms spread about a very pretty courtyard.  Then we were sent to the back of the place to our much smaller sleeping quarters.  It was our first shared bathroom of the trip, but the truth is it was just fine, and any discomfort was more than made up for by the most fantastic shower I've had in a long time (America included).  Giant head, great pressure, hot water.  The type of thing you really learn to appreciate.  We also slept that night under very lacy, swirly mozzie nets which, when blown by the spinning fan in the room, gave the feel of being trapped inside a jellyfish.  Quite cool, but only appreciated for about 80 seconds until we fell asleep. 

 

Day two we boarded a bus to the river, a "ferry" across the border, a tuk-tuk to the pier, then the first of two slow boats that would take us down the Mekong.  This two day trip is a highlight for many who trek though this part of the world.  Given, there was absolutely gorgeous scenery.  And it's a good chance to meet and chat with travelers from all over the world.  Or at least all over the western world.  I'm just not sure I see what all the fuss is about.  Day one was quite nice.  They spread us out over two boats, which was a relief because the "book" mentioned that the rides are often quite cramped.  There were about 50 people on a boat meant for 70, which meant we had plenty of legroom (Adina and I also managed to be the first on the boat and snagged the comfy seats) and we were able to spread out and play some cards with some other people.  It was a great game I had learned from some Brits last year in Peru, but could not remember the name or rules.  It's called Shithead and it's a sort of combination of Asshole and Uno.  Kinda.  The day was a bit less fun than it could have been because it was a fast day so one of us was fasting and neither of us were drinking the copious amounts of beer that makes the journey more fun.  That night we spent in a cheap ($3 for the room) guest house with a boring old rectangle net and a cold, muddy shower.  But a stunning view of the river, so it's all good.

 

The next day we got up and headed down to the pier, expecting a second relaxing day on the river, full of chatting, cards, and this time some beer to help pass the time.  Well, the boat is made for 70 people and we were about the 80th and 81st to get there.  We tried convincing them to take the second boat.  Then we tried getting the others who were coming to hold out for a while and demand a second boat.  This planned mutiny seemed to be going well, as the crowd of people on the banks got close to 30.  Unfortunately my first attempt at group rabble rousing turned into a bust when some of the group caved and got on, meaning others followed suit because "we don't want to be the ones without seats."  Eventually we were two of about four people left on shore, at which point we had no choice.  It turned out relatively fine, as a German guy we had met a couple of nights earlier had saved a seat for us anyway, and our slow boat buddy Esther (which is apparently a common name in Holland, even for non-Jews) got a comfy chair next to a friendly guy, too.  Problem was we were at about 110 people (and the numbers grew along the trip as we picked up local Lao people at small villages along the river) in a boat made for 70, so all the seats (movable benches) were crammed together with as little leg room as possible.  Once we got going the breeze cooled us off a bit, but it was nowhere near as enjoyable as the first day.  We did chat with some more people (I got a job offer out of the day, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to teach in a middle school in Oakland) and played some Uno with weird German rules.  We got to Luang Prabang in time to find our guest house and get ready for Shabbat. 

 

That's where we'll pick up next time, kids.

Chiang Mai, Land of a Million Raindrops

Chiang Mai photos -

 

http://picasaweb.google.co.th/adina.alpert/ChiangMai#

 

Here's an update on what we've been up to in Chiang Mai.

 

We got back from the trek Friday in time to take LONG showers and scrub the crap out of our feet before Shabbat.  Mine would have been nicer had I found the switch to turn on the hot water.  Where's a dud chashmal when you need one?  Though I suppose that wouldn't help much in the rainy season.

 

Shabbat was nice but VERY different from Bangkok.  Much smaller, and far less sparkling of a facility.  Perhaps this was even  unusual for Chiang Mai chabbad, but most people were families or young couples.  Almost no backpackers.  The Rabbi and his wife kept talking about how nice it was to see so many zuggim tzi'irim, so maybe they aren't used to seeing so many.  At the oneg a very nice lady gave her words of wisdom for a long happy marriage.  Let's say Sharon Freundel would have been pleased.  We of course found the other Americans, this time a couple from Boston heading out to Chicago to start MBA's.  Together.  I guess it's just like when Adina and I did her homework together, but this time they both get a diploma.  After checking out the ritzy hotel where we SO didn't belong, we went back and slept all day.  We then had a drink and said goodbye to a couple of our trek buddies that were leaving town.  It was a very patriotic Independence Day celebration and a romantic anniversary, too.  I shouldn't say that, we did manage to both catch a glimpse of fireworks through the trees (thank Buddha for the American Consulate) and have a really nice dinner at a vegan buffet.  I don't know which is weirder for us, eating at non-kosher restaurants (only 100% veggie, Abba) or pretending to be vegetarian.  The latter certainly gives us bigger lumps in our throats. 

 

Sunday we headed out into the old city to walk around and tour some more Wats.  I'm sure they are all very different from eachother, but I'm still having a bit of trouble figuring out how.  I did particularily like one that was all teak on the inside - much plainer but somehow more unique than most of the others.  There was another with a giant Chedi (tall monument) that was only partially reconstructed a few years ago by UNESCO.  If the whole point of the chedi was how ginormous it was, I'm not sure why they didn't finish the tower.  It was around this time that it started raining, so we headed indoors to a suprising well done little museum with some of the best dioramas I've ever seen.  We figured it would keep us busy until the rain stopped, but we weren't quite prepared for it to keep raining for two whole days.  Even the locals explained that it was very unusual, even for the rainy season.  At least we weren't out on the trek.  Then. while I stopped to type up our last update, Adina went and got a massage at the women's prison.  Seriously.  Part of the inmate rehabilitation program is job training, and they have a pretty good and very cheap spa set up.  Though the handcuffs did limit their mobility a bit.  We were assured by Lonely Planet that these were not hardened criminals, so I'm assuming they were just busted prostitutes.  Adina showered well when she was done.  The little gift shop also had a LOT of needlepoints for sale.  No license plates, though.  To finish off a very long day in the ir ha'atikah, we stopped at the Sunday market and spent way more than we intended.  Oops.  Rain clouds your judgement, I suppose.  It was amazing to see how the rain didn't put a damper on the market at all, all the vendors are out touting away.  We did appreciate that they were much more patient than the people in Bangkok.

 

Sunday we planned to rent a scooter and head up to the hillside Wat overlooking the city but were thwarted by the rain.  So we waited for it to stop.  It didn't.  So we waited some more.  It still didn't.  So we went shopping again.  I think the rainy season is a scam to sell more souvenirs and artwork.  We went to a more boutique-ey part of town with some fantastic galleries that are well out of our league.  Since we'd like to own a house someday, we decided not to buy anything.  Well, almost nothing.  We then found the fanciest vegetarian restaurant in town - the meal almost cost a whole $10!  After dinner we went to a Muay Thai (Thai kick boxing - the only rule is you can't use your head as a weapon) match, having heard that it was fun and excitement not to be missed.  Sadly, I think they were talking about the Muay Thai in Bangkok, the one we went to was very touristy (complete with the middle age white dude and very young Thai lady-friend seated beside us) and somewhat of a little league Muay Thai event.  There were seven or eight bouts, two of which featured kids that couldn't have been more than 11.  They went down pretty easy.  The main even featured full grown boxers, but the one self dubbed 'superman" lasted about 85 seconds.  I don't believe they give refunds for that.  The "special fight" was actually pretty interesting.  Put three chubby 16 year olds in a ring.  Blindfold them.  Let them feel their way around the ring on wail on eachother whenever possible for 4 minutes.  Since none of them were hitting very hard, no one gets hurt, but the ref did find himself in a spot of trouble when he got in the middle.  Lucky for him, I suppose, the rules seem to allow him to kick back.  Adina got a nice action shot of that one. 

 

Today was the highlight of our Chiang Mai leg, a five hour Thai cooking class, complete with a guided stroll through the market and more food than even the fattest of fat little buddhas could ever eat.  Two soups, two stir fried veggie dishes,  pad thai, spring rolls, two kinds of curries, and sticky rice with mango.  The very friendly and fun instructor we had told us to pace ourselves from the start.  We probably would have been in less pain afterwards had we listened.  Now we are experts in Thai cuisine.  Though Buddha knows where we'll be able to find kafir lime leaves, thai chili peppers, and some type of ginger root whose name I can't even remember right now.  But when we do find it, look out.  We'll cook up a storm.  Apparently today was some kind of Buddhist festival - the new crop of monks are shaved and initiated.  We tried finding some festivities to go with it, but I think most of it happened while we were in the cooking class.  Maybe we'll catch some in the morning.

 

Tonight we head to chabbad to try and pick up challah rolls and grape juice for shabbat, then to market to hemorrhage more money.  Tomorrow we say goodbye to Chiang Mai (that rhymes) and head to the Laos border.  Then it's a two day slow boat trip to Luang Prabong and shabbat on our own - Chabbad has been kicked out by the government.  We'll fill you in on all the details next time.  Same bat channel, but probably a very different bat time.

 

p.s. - today, while we were indoors, it was dry and sunny. 

 

 

PHOTOS!

At least the rain is good for something - we've had time to upload a few albums to Picasa.  Captions to follow.  Eventually.

 

Bangkok

http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/Bangkok#

 

Sukhoti and Sri Satchanalai

http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/SukhotiAndSriSatchanalai#

 

Hill Tribe Trek

http://picasaweb.google.com/lapert/HillTribeTrek#

 

 

Alperts in the Jungle - 3 day "Hill Tribe" Trek

We last left you waiting out a mini squall in the Chabbad in Chaing Mai (yes, I do know I spelled that differently last time, I'm starting to get used to being able to spell words any damn way I want like they do here.  My favourite is when spaces in between words are completely omitted sometimes.  It can take a couple of minutes of staring at a map before figuring out that Kampaengin and Cam Pai Ngin are the same place).  This post may be a bit long, (or more than just a bit) but I'm trying to make sure I don't forget too many details.  Sorry in advance.

 

Wednesday morning we headed out on our poorly billed "Hill Tribe" trek.  Which was simply awesome.  Though they certainly did not deliver on the authentic hill tribe experience (unless 5 year olds selling junky bracelets is a centuries old tradition that the guide book failed to mention), we had a fantastic time.  It all comes down to the group you're with, and we could not have asked for a better collection of people.

 

Cast of Characters:

 

Dan, our Thai/Burmese guide.  Dan has just started leading trekking tours a couple of months ago after a couple of years driving Israelis around in Jeeps.  He kept surprising us through the trip with random Hebrew phrases, at least he picked up language from the Israelis instead of personality.  He was really great to us, especially about food prep. 

 

Eddy, our second guide who claimed to be 19 but could easily pass as a regular old 12 year old first-in-his-class-to-puberty-doesn't-quite-know-what-to-do-with-the-mini-'stache preteen.  Eddy filled our days with entertainment, as he was particularly fond of jumping off the walls yelling "happy happy happy!!!".  He also spoke words of wisdom beyond his years, including such gems as "Eddy no like beer, but beer like Eddy" and "No joke ... no fun.  No fun ... no baby.  Fun, no baby ... you with ladyboy."  He spent most of the first day munching on a wild mushroom we found in the woods, which made him all the more fun that first night.

 

Ffi and Aneirin, a pair of Welsh friends traveling for a couple of months.  Though we didn't know his name was Aneirin until day three, he had been going by John, a fake name he's been using to avoid people butchering his real name.  Apparently, he came up with John when a Tuk Tuk driver in Bangkok decided to start calling him that.  They were both fascinated to learn about American sports, though repeatedly reminded me how much more exciting rugby is than baseball, and how American football is a stupid name for a game that barely involves your feet. 

 

Flo, a Frenchman who lives in Brighton because, I'm pretty sure, it is the party capital of the world.  He knows more than any one I've ever met about every type of party there is.  In fact, he is currently on his way south to the islands to make it in time for the full moon party in a couple of days.  I think Flo was my favorite trekker, with an easy going attitude, he was totally interested in really learning about other people, and he spoke with a fantastic half French half Irish accent.

 

Tom and Greg, friends traveling around the world for a year and a half.  Tom was the epitome of chill, though his pride in not wearing deodorant may have been misguided on a three day trek.  Greg was also a great guy, though it was a little too evident that he hadn't been around real civilization in a while. 

 

Evan, the only other American.  Who of course went to camp with people from our high school. (Galil) 

 

Bjorn and Torben, German brothers who absolutely love to get high.  Less friendly, though equally nice as every one else in the group, I'm having a hard time remembering any time when something lit was not in their mouths. 

 

Us, the grandparents of the group.  We tried to keep up, though we usually hiked the slowest, were the only ones not to smoke anything, and drank FAR less beer than the rest of the group.  Every one was quite nice to indulge us and still be friends.   

 

Anyway, our trek starts with a ride in the back of a pickup truck to the police station to register for our trip to the national park.  My favorite part of the security and bureaucracy involved was a bit later when our guide simply left the list of trekkers (complete with passport #s) under a rock on an abandoned table in front of an empty building.  Then we headed to market for some essentials, like toilet paper, shades, and of course ice cream.  I thought I had to go to the bathroom, but after taking a quick look I decided I'd be better off with a hole in the jungle.  Our first real destination was elephant riding, which was far more dangerous than it was supposed to be when it turned out our seat was on wrong.  After a quick dangle of the side of an elephant, they fixed it for us and we were ready to go.  Every 40 meters or so they had a little tree house set up to sell you some more bananas to feed to the elephants, but we found one dose of elephant trunk flying in our face sniffing for food to be enough.  We had some very well trained elephants (ours was full grown, its baby was walking along side us) as they clearly knew exactly where each banana stand was and were prepared to stop and grope for food after each one. 

 

After the elephants we drove a short bit more, then started on our trek.  We saw some pretty cool things, including a plant you can use to blow bubbles and the biggest damn caterpillars, spiders, and butterflies we've ever seen.  That first day we walked for a couple of hours, mostly uphill, largely in the rain, and totally in the mud.  It was absolutely gorgeous, albeit a wee bit messy.  We walked through small villages (very underdeveloped - their satelite dishes only receive BBC World, not BBC Sport), thick jungle, and quiet hillside rice paddies.  The rainy season has just started, so the paddies were all freshly planted pools, bordered by VERY slippery mud dividers.  That was fall number one.  By far the muddiest fall.  We rested and swam for a while at a waterfall which would have been refreshing had we not just been rained on for half an hour.  After a bit of scenic fun we finished the last 45 minutes or so of hiking and spent the night at the edge of yet another village.  Only we didn't realize we were at the edge of a village until morning and didn't really get the chance to meet or speak to any local residents.  Oh well.  After resting and dinner (Adina and I got specially prepared veggie curries.  We're told it was a green curry, but there wasn't enough light for me to be sure) they brought out a cooler of beer, and the party started.  We stayed up drinking, playing games, having fun, watching the Eddy show (he likes to yell "ching a ling ling ling!!! before each sip of beer", and generally getting to know every one for a couple of hours.  This is when being with a great group really made a difference.  Even Adina managed to stay up almost as long as everybody else.  Then we went up to our cabin chock full of sleeping pads and mosquito nets (though I shall no longer be calling them mosquitos.  First on a long list of Britishisms I intend to pick up is 'mozzies'.  As in 'those mozzies really had a go up Adina's knickers')  The group was nice enough to let us sleep in the slightly separate room of the cabin, decorated with a hot pink mozzie net and some barbie posters.  

 

After a quick shower (ice cold water dribbling out of a hand held shower head in a roofless wooden shack) we were off for another full day of hiking through the village we stayed in (right past the villages church and school.  As the village children called out from their classroom and waved at us, I began to wish I had learned to say "pay attention to your teacher" in Thai.  Sadly, it was nowhere to be found in Lonely Planet), more jungle, more paddies, more rain, and a lot more mud.  By the time we stopped for lunch our beautiful new Keens were no longer beautiful, new, or anywhere close to their original colors.  After some very good meals on day one, lunch on day two was a bit of a letdown.  We had plain rice noodles in lightly cabbaged ho water prepared specially for us.  Though that is a lot less insulting than every one else's food, which was a large supply of freshly prepared Thai ramen noodle packets.  Though I think they were glad to not be eating Dan's squirrel stew.  Then we slipped back into our blocks of mud and hiked some more until we arrived at our waterfall camp.  I think the hiking on day two was the best.  Adina and I fell back a bit with Aneirin, which was actually really nice because once the group turned a bend in front of us all we had was the peaceful quiet of the jungle.  The greens of the jungle get extra deep after the rain, which totally makes up for the rocky path getting more slippery.  That was fall number two.  Not as muddy, but I did come out of it with a nice gash on my arm.  This time around the waterfall provided a much needed cool down, and a chance to clean up a bit, too.  Though I didn't bring a shampoo bottle to lather up before doing backflips off the rocks like Eddy did, I was going to borrow his soap for a bit.  That is until he stuck it down his pants and 'cleaned' for a while.  I decided I could wait. 

 

The second night was much more subdued than the first, possible because we were tired, more probably because they were all smoking a LOT and kind of lost the ability to move around much.  Than night is when we learned that it only takes a tiny hole in your net before those mozzies really go to town.  Cheeky buggers.

 

Day three we hiked some more, of course,  and once again stopping at a waterfall.  The prospect of again slipping into a wet bathing suit was enough to make us sit this one out, so instead we chatted with Flo for a bit who told me a bit about some more kinds of parties I've never heard of.  He then described the first raves they had in Britain (where they were apparently invented) where you had to know a secret code, get directions from the right guy in the right little town, walk through what seem to be abandoned woods before stumbling upon an abandoned barn with loud music and tons of people.  I was like, "Dude, I know!  I've seen 90210.  That's when Emily Valentine spiked Brandon's drink!"  Though Flo was too young to know what I was talking about.  We then finished up our hike and went bamboo rafting down a lazy little river.  Which was slightly less fun than it sounds. 

 

That pretty  much concludes the story of our trek.  We absolutely recommend it to any one who comes out here, though I'd say find a different company to do it with and hope for as good a group as we had.  We did not learn the deep secrets of the Hmon tribe, nor did we rediscover ourselves in the solitude of the jungle.  We did some beautiful hiking and got to know some fantastic people.  With some beer thrown in for good measure. 

 

Right now we're back in Chang Mai where we'll spend a couple of days touring, relaxing, and learning to cook Thai vegetarian food.  For more on that stay tuned to our next episode.