Roughing It - Cruising Halong Bay, GAP style

You all know that the reason I like GAP is that they so not do high-end tours. We stay in small scale family run guesthouses, travel by overnight train and local buses, and eat in local restaurants. But sometimes, as I have experienced several times in the past, they have a surprise for you.

We took a three hour drive out from Hanoi to Halong Bay, probably Northern Vietnam's most famous site (if you don't count a dead body sitting in an air conditioned tomb). I knew we had an overnight stay with cabins, and that all meals included, so I was looking forward to a little rustic relaxation.

There were tons of boats and people waiting, seemingly everyone doing something similar to us. We were shown to our boat by our local guide, it was about noon, and were greeted by the following sight:
















"Ummm, before you sit down to a sumptuous seafood lunch" said Erin, our GAP leader, "you should each check into your cabins". Because the composition of the new group is odd numbers, I now find myself with a private room for the rest of the trip, without paying a single suppliment.

And the cabin looked like this, complete with nice linens, silk bathrobes, an immaculate PRIVATE bathroom (huge surprise), complete with little shampoos, toothpastes, razors etc...














After settling in, we headed up to the main deck for our lunch. It was a total feast of seafood, so a Chilian Sauvignon Blanc was in order (it wasn't just me, practically everyone ordered wine!). Then out came order after order of food. We started with jumbo prawns with butter and garlic, which was quickly followed by fresh local crab. The fantastic waiters gave us a quick lesson in crab cracking, and assured us the finger bowls were not some lemon and flower soup. This was followed by calamari, a fresh fish dish, rice (of course), beautiful veggies and a dessert of fresh local fruits.














As you can see, the table was set immaculately, and as we were dining, we were also cruising through some of the most stunning scenery imaginable.

As I said, sometimes GAP really surprises you!

A New Country to check off the list

Just a quick update to let you all know I have arrived in yet another new country - Vietnam. We flew from Vientiane to Hanoi yesterday, and are settled into a city most people do not associate with vacation travel.

Hanoi is an interesting city, steeped in history, with fascinating architecture, and crazy traffic. I call it India Lite. We went to Ho Chi Mihn's tomb today, rather somber and creepy, but a must on the travel list for this city.















We also have toured around the old quarter getting completely lost. When I tried to walk back to the hotel this afternoon, I got close, then completely twisted around, and ended up right back where I started. It was then that I realized that this trip is affecting me, when one of the motorcycle cabs said "where to?", I showed him my hotel card and asked for a price. I hopped on the back and off we went weaving and twisting through some of the craziest traffic you have ever seen. Death wish, I don't think so, just realized it was not as dangerous as it appeared, and I must admit, a lot of fun.

Some people are leaving this phase of the tour, and others are joining us. The GAP trip "Indochina Encompassed" is actually three trips linked together.

We are off to beautiful Halong Bay tomorrow and we sleep under the stars (or in a cabin) in our boat tomorrow night. More updates when I am back in town.

A Nice Capital in a Lovely Country

I have described Laos as a wonderful country with friendly people and lots of interesting things to do. So it seems fit that it has such a nice little capital city - Vientiane. Like the country, Vientiane is laid back, peaceful and friendly. Our group was discussing it, and we all agree if you want to see the real Laos, you better get there soon; this country is on the verge of being discovered.

First of all, I mentioned that Ollie and I did a day of tubing down the river. Actually we swam and didn't bother with tubes. It was absolutely insane, with 6 bars you travel to, lots of very dangerous swings. We just had drinks and took it all in. I am old enough to be most of the customer's fathers, but they didn't seem to care (or notice). It was actually kind of fun, in a Spring Break kind of way. We did not bring our cameras, so the only way I can convey what it was like is a youtube video. Please try the attached link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KSv8SxKeBM

After Vang Vieng, we took a nice little 3 hour bus ride to the capital, checked into our guesthouse, and spent 2 days exploring the city. The only drawback was that it was insanely hot, about 34 degrees, the sun just scorching and fairly high humidity. But we made the best of it, walking around checking out the sites, eating out in some very nice restaurants (there are many French ones in the capital), and just generally enjoying South East Asia's nicest little capital city.

"Friends" in Laos

Aw, how nice, you must have said when you read the title. Neil must have made some wonderful new friends in Laos..... well, not quite....

Hum, where to start? I am in the very scenic little town of Vang Vieng, Laos. It sits on a lovely river in a valley surrounded by spectacular jagged mountains - breathtaking. The town itself has kind of a seedy "wild west" feel to it. It is very much a travellers town, with thousands of 20 something backpackers hanging out for weeks on end.

And there is lots to do here - biking, rock climbing, caving, kayaking, but the most popular activity is floating down the river in inner tubes. Everyone does it to keep cool in the 35 degree (95 F) heat, but mostly they do it to travel to the six different bars catering to the tubers on the riverbanks. Once you get very drunk, you may want to try the ziplines or other dangerous activities set up for you. The town has a very busy hospital, several people have died recently, and many people in town are walking around with casts, bandages, or other injuries!

By evening, everyone in town is walking around in board shorts and bikinis blitzed out of their minds, if they have managed to survive the day.

And if that was not enough, the most popular drink in town is a "happy shake" which might go quite nicely with a "happy pizza". Our guide warned us, so we are all being careful. So, now you are drunk and stoned, what to do next?

Well, some time ago, one of the bar owners discovered that drunk and stoned Westerners really like to watch reruns of the show "Friends". His bar soon became the most popular in town, so now EVERY other bar has copied him.

There are dozens (no I am not exaggerating) of bars all playing Friends reruns in this town. If not Friends, a few have branched out into the Simpsons and one even shows Family Guy. It is almost impossible to go to a bar or restaurant and avoid it (we tried).

They also play the Friends DVD's on a three episode loop, so even when you are really stoned, you at some point realize that you have already seen this Friends, and get up and finally leave.

The bars are packed, the patrons all look like vegetables, and it is just so weird... you know I could not make stuff like this up!

That being said, Ollie and I are going tubing this afternoon, with instructions to behave ourselves... should be fun. And with GAP's stringent no drugs policy, we will not be consuming "happy" anything.

More soon from Vietnam, my "friends".

Luang Prabang, Laos

Well, this is it, perhaps the most perfect little town on Earth. How do I describe such a place. Why after all of my travels, has this place made such an impression on me?

Well, to start with, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Not just a building, not a complex, but the whole town has that designation! It was given it for it's unique combination of Lao and French Colonial Architecture that is so well preserved. Everything in the town is on a small scale, with no ugly billboards or signs to mar its beauty.

It is definitely a travellers town. Streets and alleyways are overflowing with cute little guesthouses, and there are great bars and restaurants to eat in everywhere. The town sits where a small river meets the Mekong, and many of the bars and restaurants are on stilts at the top of the riverbanks, with fabulous views.

This is Laos, afterall, so everything is absurdly cheap. You know when you go into a rather fancy restaurant and comment that $3.50 seems a little steep for dinner, that you are getting used to Lao prices. You decide to eat there anyway, because the atmosphere is so nice, and the food is great.

It is just the kind of place you could hang out in for weeks, probably not accomplishing anything, and not really caring. The whole country of Laos is sort of that way - very laid back.















We did manage a trip to a beautiful set of waterfalls, which you can see more of on my flickr account. Some of the group went elephant riding, but I have been there/done that in Bali and Thailand. I just wandered around town with a big smile on my face, drinking it all in.

If you get a chance, come to this wonderful little gem of a town!

Slow Boat down the Mekong

Yes, I think the name almost says it all - slow boat down the Mekong, an amazing way to pass two days. I have seen many of the world's great rivers - the Amazon, the Nile, the Ganges, the Orinocco... now the mighty Mekong.

We took 2 very luxurious minivans (yah GAP) from Chiang Mai, up to Chiang Rai, then on to Chiang Khong on the Thai - Burma - Laos border. Yes, this is the area, check it out on a map... the Golden Triangle! Even China is quite close, making this an amazing strategic area of the world.

We stayed in a nice little guesthouse right on the river, and went out for a wonderful Thai dinner. The town is really small, but has a certain charm to it.

Next morning we were up early to breakfast, the guesthouse packed lunches for us, and we headed over to the river, and Thai exit formalities. It was fairly well organized, and before you know it, we were on narrow little riverboats with our luggage zipping across the river into Laos.

Luckily, our guide had taken our passports and arranged for Lao visas in Bangkok, so we breezed through compared to most people. First impressions of Laos, nice, quiet, peaceful, some French and they drive on the right side of the road!!! Weird after so many months, kind of confusing - I know I will crash into someone when I first start driving at home.

We find our Slow Boat among the many, pack in our bags, take off our shoes (it is someone's house) and away we go motoring down the river. A couple of points - slow boat, in that there are fast boats flying by us, passengers wearing helmuts, flying down the Mekong - does not look comfortable. Also, our captain and his wife and two kids live on board the boat - very cool.














If you are ever stressed out to the max and want to really relax, this is the way to do it. The Mekong is quiet, just a few villages on the banks, it flows smooth and fast, and the scenery is just fabulous. There is not much to do but read, catch up on your journal, play cards, eat and drink beer Lao.














We stopped overnight in the sleepy Lao village of Pak Beng, chock a block full of nice restaurants, bars and guesthouses. We had a wonderful Indian dinner (memories!) and great early morning breakfast, then we were back on our boat heading down to Luang Prabang.

The captain's wife served us up a wonderful traditional Lao home cooked lunch on the second day, which just added to the absolute charm of the experience.


















We stopped at the Buddha caves later on the second day, then at a village where the made Lao-Lao, the local firewater. It was vile and disgusting, and we all had two glasses! We then had the opportunity to buy some local crafts - the weaving and fabrics in Laos are just fantastic, plus it helps a local village.

Late afternoon we arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos, where I sit now in an internet cafe. I am trying to figure out how to describe this place, it is absolutely fantastic. It is probably the nicest little town in the world, and we are spending three days here.

Alas, more to come, but its time to go down by the Mekong River for sunset and have a cold Lao beer.

Chiang Mai Cooking School

It was quite wonderful to be back in Chiang Mai again. Robert, Laurie, Glenn and I were there way back in 1990, my first big trip across the globe. We liked it, and it still has all the charm it did back then.

Many of you know that I read a wonderful book before I left called "First Trip Around the World" a Planning Guide to the Ultimate Adventure. It had all kinds of great advice, including taking only one carry-on sized bag - an excellent tip.

One of the many things it recommended was taking cooking classes as you travel. I took and enjoyed a class in Udaipur, India, plus we had an informal one in Kerala. When the opportunity came up for one in Chiang Mai, I jumped at it, as did 3 others in my GAP group.

We were joined by quite a few others from other guest houses, and a total of 20 of us took the course. They were well organized and had several instructors. We each got to cook 6 courses, with about 5 choices in each course - amazing.

We started at a local market, shopping for ingreadients, and being taught about the spices and vegetables we did not know about. We hopped into our tuk-tuks and headed for the school.

We each wore a name tag, with our name written phonetically in Thai for our instructor to understand. She in turn, wrote her name phonetically in English - Meow (like cat, as she said).

She was absolutely hilarious, and a good cooking teacher to boot. My second favourite line of the day (spoken in a high sing song Thai accent)... "you put lots of chilis in... very good, taste good, but next day your ass sore..." Best line of the day.... "wash your hands after touching chillis, don't touch your eyes... gentlemen, wash hands before going to the bathroom, otherwise you get chilli-willy". She had us in stiches most of the day.














I got a cookbook, and learned to make -

Breakfast chicken curry garnished with crispy noodles
Tom Yan Soup
Green Chicken Curry
Chicken Stir Fry with Cashews
Mango with Sticky Rice

And yes, I will have you all over for a fabulous Thai (and Indian) dinner when I return!