Wish us luck ...

map and altitude chart of the Annapurna Circuit
(source: exodus)
Where we'll be for the next three weeks ... the Annapurna Circuit covers more than 300km and reaches a maximum altitude of more than 5400m (the Thorung La Pass). Wish us luck!

Out of Touch

If you're wondering where we are over the next couple of weeks (29 July to 10 August), please know that we are not ignoring you. We'll be in Myanmar! And, from what we've heard, there isn't a lot of internet access in the country. So ... we'll talk to you when we get back to Bangkok!

The Joys of Northern Thailand

Relaxing in Pai
Our first stop back in Thailand was the small town of Pai in the northern part of the country. Pai is a backpacker haven. Surrounded by a beautiful natural setting, it's totally laid back and offers lots of cheap accommodations and tasty restaurants. It was just what we needed after our recent trek through the muck and leeches in Laos.

Although we spent only a few days in Pai, we managed to enjoy some good coffee (filter not instant) and what is probably the best pizza in Southeast Asia (finally a recommendation from LP that actually has some basis in reality!).

Next up was Chiang Mai, which is known as Thailand's 'second city.' But Lee quickly tired of the sophisticated city life, and started mumbling something about wanting to get her hands dirty and get back to nature. Before I knew it, I found myself in the back of a small truck, hemmed in on all sides by vegetables, meat, and live fish(!) on the way to something called the Panya Project. The Panya Project was created a number of years ago after one guy from Seattle had an epiphany while traveling in Thailand. He returned home and managed to convince a handful of his friends to buy a piece of land in Thailand where they would build some houses and turn it into an organic farm; they would invite others to join in the work and learn about organic farming and permaculture. Somehow Lee thought this would be fun ...

Ulrik next to the hut he helped build
Actually, our time on the farm was very enjoyable. We spent five days hanging out with Chris, his Thai girlfriend Tuey, and Kai and Ping (a Thai lady and her two-year-old daughter). We helped with planting seeds, making a hut out of clay and straw (a very dirty business), collecting fire wood, baking bread and cooking, pulling weeds, and cutting grass (with a blade on the end of a stick!). The best part, for me, was all the wonderful fresh food we made, especially the brown rice. The rice was a staple so a big pot would be made each day for all the meals. Lee quickly realized that she could take a spoonful of it, mix it with some hot water and sweet milk, add some cinnamon, and have instant rice pudding! What a mind that girl has.

Finally we said our goodbyes, and made our way back to the big city. Not having had enough of cooking for ourselves at the farm, we enrolled in a cooking class at The Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School. Our course included a visit to a local market, a tour of school's organic farm, learning to cook seven dishes -- tom yum soup, spring rolls, red curry, mussaman curry, phad krapow kai (minced chicken with basil), banana coconut 'soup,' and mango with sticky rice) -- and, of course, the consumption of said dishes. And the best part (other than the eating) was that we didn't have to do any clean up!

Making spring rolls
We were joined by a colorful cast of characters: a guy from Palestine, who unfortunately got sick (it happened before the eating, so at least it wasn’t food poisoning) and had to leave; a French girl who insisted on "airing out" her freshly acquired, palm-sized, festering wound from a motorcycle accident (nice); an Italian girl who couldn't speak any English; an older American and his Thai girl friend (can you say "cliché"?); a very friendly Dutch couple; and a nice Dutch family (is anyone actually back in Holland?). The course was led by the charismatic Mrs. Nice, who was, really, very nice, although she did have to reprimand the group a couple of times with a, "More cooking, less talking!"

All of the food was very tasty, and we ended up eating far too much of it. My favorite was definitely Lee's red curry (I made the mussaman), and we're pretty excited about making more Thai food at home.

Lee's yummy red curry
After all that food, it was time to burn some calories so we signed up for mountain biking with a company imaginatively called Mountain Biking Chiang Mai. Since we've been on a bike before we decided to throw caution to the wind and sign up for one of their intermediate level tours. We were teamed up with a British girl named Nicky, and later joined by two Israeli guys, one who seemed a bit timid and one who kept saying that this (mountain biking) would be a good way to die. The latter also opted for the full-body amour. Okay then ...

Off our eclectic little group went. And man was it was fun! Most of the route was a dirt track wide enough for a car, but it was full of groves, ruts, and rocks. Very early in the day it started to drizzle which turned the dirt track into a slippery mucky track and made for a white-knuckled nerve-wracking ride. We each fell more than once -- Lee even went over her handle bars! -- but there were no serious injuries and, yes, the Israeli guy did survive the ordeal.

Go Lee go!
The most challenging part of the day was a short section on a very narrow trail over rocks and roots. There was even a small jump, which I managed to clear, although it almost made me crash headlong into a very solid looking tree.

Covered in mud and sporting a few bruises, we finished the day with a simple meal of rice and chicken and a swim in a local lake. All in all a great day, and something we will definitely do more of.

For more photos, see our Northern Thailand photo album.

Trekking in Laos

Akha kids and the spirit swing
After touring just about every small town in Northwestern Laos for some trekking (please don't ask), we finally ended up in the small village of Vieng Phouka.

Trekking from Vieng Phouka is handled by Laos’ Department of Tourism, and it has only slowly been developed over the last two years. This is what attracted us to trekking in this area -- we hoped the surrounding jungles and hill tribes would be less trafficked and more authentic (and the villagers perhaps less cynical to the idea of tourists traipsing through their villages and ogling them).

Our guides turned out to be the friendly and chatty Bouaila and the quiet but capable Mr. Kam Pen. Our first day started with a short drive with a few stops to visit some local villages (Lahu and Hmong) and a brief exploration of a nearby cave (the Prasat Cave). At the end of the road we stopped to enjoy a basic but tasty lunch. But just as we were finishing up, our peace was disrupted by the arrival of several trucks which offloaded no less then 21 (yes, 21!) Dutch package tourists. Disaster! Are we really to be tailed by (or tailing) this huge group? What happened to our quiet and little-known trekking region? Possibly seeing the concern on our faces, Bouaila quickly assured us that we would be going on a different route. Relieved, we were able to sit back and watch the entertainment that was unfolding … 21 older, rounder white people taking great care to traverse a 10m long rickety bamboo bridge while most of the local villagers stood by looking on with obvious amusement.

Locals enjoying the day's entertainment
True to his word, Bouaila lead us off the road, across the bridge (I hope we were less entertaining than the Dutchies), down a tiny path, and into the steaming jungle. We crossed more rickety bamboo bridges, slipped along muddy trails, and were attacked by legions of blood-sucking leeches -- now we know why the rainy season is also the low season! After a couple of hours, a few falls, and the loss of about a pint of blood, we arrived at the Khmu village where we would stay for the first night. We were introduced to the head man and his family (we would stay in his home as per custom), and then we were shown where we could bathe (in the nearby river) and where the toilet facilities were (there weren’t any; you had to find a quiet spot at the edge of the village!). After a quick ‘bath,’ we played with the local children, and then enjoyed a traditional Khmu dinner of sticky rice, soup, and assorted vegetable dishes. Finally, it was time for bed.

A very cute and tempting souvenir
Although we had a later start than we would have liked (9:30am) on Day 2, we still managed to get a good long walk in, mostly uphill. The area is very beautiful, very green and very lush. And still very leech-filled! Fortunately, Ulrik got fewer bites today thanks to the incredibly sharp eyes of our guides and their special leech-repellant concoction. At around 3:30pm we arrived at the Akha village where we would spend the night. Located on a hill top, it had absolutely stunning views of the surrounding mountains. The village was quite a bit larger than the Khmu village; there was a spirit gate, a school, a meeting area, two giant spirit swings (used to celebrate the rice harvest), and a large population of children and domestic animals. When we arrived most adults where still in the rice field, but all the kids ran to greet us, singing a little song which Bouaila explained was about being happy to see us. The kids are just so adorable, but very, very dirty (water has to be carried uphill for 30min). After playing with the children, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on our ‘front porch.’

The view from our 'porch'
The adults returned to the village around 5:00pm, but they were either shy, busy, or uninterested, and most just took a look at us and wandered off. After dinner (and after darkness had fallen), we heard a strange and haunting singing coming from some huts on the outskirts of the village. Bouaila told us that Akha women and men don't sleep in the same room, and that the young unmarried women stay in huts outside the village (something to do with an ancient story about an Akha man finding the first Akha women as a spirit in forest). When they want to get the attention of the young men, the women sing songs to make them come to them. Whatever the reason, the singing was incredibly beautiful.

Our last day was a long one, or, at least, it felt like it with the rain, the mud, and all the leeches! Although Lee somehow managed to avoid getting any bites (which she smugly credits to her gaiters and bug spray), I, on the other hand, was dying a death by a thousand sharp and pointy teeth. Staggering back onto the sealed road, we were tired, wet, and above all, mighty dirty. The driver for our lift back to town (the same who drove us out on the first day), made us put our muddy shoes in the back, and, after making us roll all the windows down, told Lee that we "no smell good". No kidding.

Mr. Kam Pen and our mucky trail
Despite the mud and leeches, we enjoyed our trek in Laos. We would have enjoyed it a bit more, however, if we’d spent more time walking, and had more meaningful interaction with the villagers. It would have been great to see more of their daily lives and to, perhaps, even participate in some of their daily activities (e.g. food preparation, washing, etc.). But I suppose it's a fine balance between observation, participation, and disruption.

For more photos, see our Trekking in Northern Laos photo album.

Plain of Jars

Of course we had to look!
After festering in Vientiane for too long (we had some business to take care of, including getting our visa to Myanmar!), we headed off to Phonsavan and the infamous Plain of Jars. There are actually hundreds of different jar sites throughout Laos, but only the three sites around Phonsavan are currently open to tourists.

In addition to being the home of the Plain of Jars, Phonsavan and the surrounding Xieng Khuan province also has the dubious honour of receiving most of the more than 580,000 bombing missions during the US's secret war in Laos between 1964 and 1973. It was a secret war because the US bombed Laos in direct contravention to the Geneva Accords the country signed in 1954 agreeing to stay out of Laos. It was also a secret because it was kept from both the US Congress and the American people. Not only did the US drop millions of cluster bombs in Laos, but it's estimated that almost a third of these little bombs -- or 'bombies' as the locals call them -- malfunctioned and didn't detonate. Which means that Laos is literally littered with unexploded ordnance (UXO) just waiting for some unsuspecting farmer to hit it with his hoe while plowing his fields, or some child to pick it up out of curiosity (or thinking it's a piece of fruit which, in the muck, it looks remarkably similar to), or some desperate scrap metal worker to pick it up to sell. A British organization called the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is working directly with the Laos people to clear the UXO (they also work in Cambodia, Vietnam, Kosovo, Angola, etc.) but, as you can imagine, it's going to take many, many years.

Note the Clearance Statistics
Okay, enough soap-boxing; back to the Plain of Jars ...

There were six of us (Ulrik and I, two Irish girls, an English guy, and a guy from the US) on the tour, not including our guide and driver. We met just after 9:00am and all piled into the minivan. The first stop was the local market to get some provisions for the road and, if necessary, our lunch. (As our guide said, "You like Laos noodle, you eat at Site 3; you no like Laos noodle, you buy something now." Since we like Laos noodles, we just bought a bit of fruit to munch on.)

After the market we headed off to Site 2. It was a bit strange being greeted by a sign telling you how much UXO had been cleared from the area, but, just in case, to stay between the markers. You don't have to tell us twice!

Site 2 and Site 3 have only a few jars each; the main draw is the view of the surrounding countryside. The landscape, which is dotted with vibrant green rice paddies, tiny grass huts, and the occasional water buffalo seems to stretch endlessly in all directions.

The magnificant view from Site 2
We walked from Site 2 to Site 3, a distance of about 5km. No great distance, but when you think of all the UXO still in the area, it wasn't the most relaxing of walks.

After a lunch of -- you guessed it -- Laos noodles at Site 3, we jumped back in the minivan and headed for Site 1. Along the way we stopped to see an old Russian tank and to learn how the locals make their moonshine (a type of rice wine called lao lao). The Russian tank was a rusted-out and stripped-down carcass, and no one in the village we stopped at was actually making any rice wine -- so both stops were a bit of a non-starter.

Site 1 was, however, rather impressive. There were many more jars, many were significantly bigger than any other we had seen thus far, and they were spread out over a much larger area (a "plain" if you will).

After touring the countryside, and seeing firsthand the result of MAG's efforts, we headed to their local office to make a donation. It wasn't much, but apparently it's enough to pay the cost of clearing 10m2 of land. Laos is a small country, but it still covers 236,800km2 ... so if you're interested in contributing to MAG's valuable work, please contact MAG.

For more photos, see our Plain of Jars photo album.

Guess who's going to Myanmar!

source: Greenwich Mean Time
We've got our visa (valid for 28 days), and we've booked our flight (Bangkok/Yangon/Bangkok). Looks like we're going to Myanmar!

Happy Belated Canada Day!!

Entering Laos
We hope everyone had a great Canada Day and an enjoyable long weekend!

We 'celebrated' Canada Day by crossing the Vietnam/Laos border, and spending a total of 22+ hours on buses. We travelled from Hué, Vietnam to Vientiane, Laos. And just as a special Canada Day treat for me, I got reamed at the border ... I had to pay US$45 for my visa as opposed to US$40 for Ulrik (Danish) or US$35 for the Australian girls or US$38 for the South African guy we crossed the border with. Happy Canada Day to me, indeed!

Oh well. Guess I shouldn't complain too much ... I did get a new visa in my passport!

For more photos, see our Laos photo album.