Seth and Claire

Wow, so this is it…5 months of posts and we are at the end of our trip!  Since the last time that we posted we have basically been on a holiday from backpacking.  After travelling from Laos through Chiang Rai, we spent two days in Bangkok seeing a movie and shopping at the fun, but exhausting, weekend market.  We then took a 22 hour trip to the south of Thailand and have spent the last five days relaxing on Koh Lanta.

Actaully, in all honesty we were more ‘adventuring’ than relaxing.  Our first day on Koh Lanta we were both so excited about the nice resort we managed to find that we felt compelled to work on some very nasty sun burns (oops).  That was our only down time.  The second day we took a boat to Koh Phi Phi (pronounced ‘Pea Pea’) and went snorkeling in the very scenic Maya Bay (the beach from the movie ‘The Beach’).  This was my first time in tropical water and all that I can really say is holy frigging crap!  This is a huge, colourful, and easily accesible world that I have only ever seen on film.  The fish were incredibly friendly (especially when you hold a banana in your hand) and the coral seemed to be competing for the most ‘brilliantly coloured living thing’ award.  Truly amazing.

We also checked out the part of Phi Phi island where all of the bungalows are.  This is likely the most expensive island in the area, and one of the main attractions?  The piles of grabage that are rarely shipped to the mainland.

The next day we rented a scooter and spent the day buzzing around Lanta looking at the multitude of beaches and exploring a large, multi-chambered, and hot(!) cave.  Lanta is about 35km long and has many beaches and also a number of stunning view points that look out over the rest of the 57 islands in the Lanta group.  There is also a lot of rubber grown here, a very smelly and gooey process…

On our final full day on Lanta we took another snorkeling trip to Koh Rok.  This trip had a very exclusive feel.  We were picked up on the beach by a 12 person speed boat and were whisked off on the 1 hour, high speed ride to the uninhabited, nature park islands of Koh Rok.  Here we went to two dedicated snorkeling sights, with depths of only about 2 meters and visibility of about 20m, and one beach with flour-fine sand and snorkeling within 20 meters.  What a treat.

The only drawback to the snorkeling here is the searing pain of the local water!  There is some sort of plankton in the water that, on contact, illicits a burning sensation akin to a branding (or really bad Thai massage).  While it isn’t actually dangerous, it is quite destracting from the otherwise unparalleled beauty.

We are now in Ao Nang for our last three nights before starting the arduous journey back to Canada.  All told it will entail about 4 full days of travel in cars, on buses, airplanes and boats.  Before that we will try and get rested and mentally prepared for our glorious arrival back in Vancouver after a 19 hour flight…

For the last four days Claire and I have been doing our best to get off the tracks of the tourist roller coaster. We thought that it would be difficult, but in the end we found that it was actually quite easy! Our plan was to head out from Luang Prabng and take a dirt road that started 21km out of town to a town called Pak Xeng.

After enlisting the help of the locals to find the road, we started the long, 64km climb to our destination. This is when we found out that if you are not on the tourist trail, you are in the middle of nowhere! For the next 16km we climbed up a dusty dirt road with large trucks trundling by going from one impossibly small village to the next.

The villagers along this road apparently had not seen a tourist for many weeks if not months. The children would come running out of the houses yelling “Sahbadi!!!” (hello/goodbye in Lao) and their parents would rise to their feet and wave as we passed. Most were probably looking at us with our small backpacks thinking “What the hell are they doing?!?”

So, as I was saying before, the road was perpetually uphill and the traffic, although light, was of a particularly unsavory size. After a steep, 2km climb Claire and I sat down and considered our options. 1) Continue up this road to a destination that we know nothing about for another 48km, and probably have to beg a local family to take us in for the night. or 2) head back to the paved road that had light traffic, no dust and a sizable towns every 10km or so… Humm…

So back on the main road we road about 10 more kms and started looking for a guest house. As luck would have it we happened to be in Hatgna, a riverside town that had a resort which was basically abandoned! Claire and I settled in for a night in our own cottage on the river and both had nightmares about the crazy caretaker breaking into the room! Ha! We end up in one of the nicest places that we have seen in weeks and neither of us slept! Always on guard…

(Hanna, yes that is your sister wearing socks with her shorts. She was horrified that I might post this photo, but I just couldn’t help myself…he he he)

The next morning we got up early. We had talked to the crazy caretaker the night before and discovered that the next guest house was 80km away! Good thing we stopped when we did. The mornings here are cool, about 10 deg C, and misty. Slowly the fog rises and reveals what would be stunning scenery. Unfortunately, the local farmers practice yearly field burning and this season is particularly hazy from it. Still, the landscape (even in the near ground) is amazing. Emerald green rice paddies as far as the eye can see rise into steep mountains with the jungle spilling into the slow rivers like green glaciers.

The towns on the main road were also small and rural. Most of the tourists bus from one destination to the next, never stopping to see the locations between. These small town are composed of bamboo huts that create an incredible sense of community. As you ride through town you can hear each villager’s music and see the families gathered around fires in front of their houses. Men, women, girls and boys all sitting and eating together – a sight you would never see in India (women and girls didn’t eat until the men and boys did, so they never really sat together).

It was along this section of the trip that Claire began to have knee problems. I know that many of you reading this have suffered joint ailments before and know how frustrating they can be. I’m not quite sure if it was a high pain threshold or stubbornness that kept her going, but she refused to even look at all the passing passenger trucks and just kept going without complaint.

We arrived in our destination town, Pak Mong, about 4pm and started looking for a guest house. To our surprise and horror the only options were VERY dirty (one of the worst we’ve seen) with a hot shower, or clean with NO running water at all! We ended up going with the clean one and, after a day of biking and no shower, were sure to leave it pretty dirty!

The last day of the trip took us down hill (thankfully – especially for Claire) for 30km. Nong Khiaw, the town at the end of our road, was a delightful find. Back on the tourist roller coaster, this town was filled with guest houses and bungalows on the river. We found one with hot showers and took a walk to watch the sunset over the river. After two trying nights we had finally arrived in a place that we could craw into bed clean and sleep soundly – for 11 hours straight.

Today we were faced with another decision. We could take the slow boat for 7 hours down the river for US$10/each plus extra for the bikes, or take the passenger truck for 2.5hours for US$5/each including the bikes… Having already endured one slow boat ride we decided to go with the truck. When we got to the truck they proceeded to cram about 20 people into the back of a compact pickup and we sat cramped and cold for the entire ride. Three days of biking covered in only 3 hours of driving…

Back in Luang Prabang we helped ourselves to americano coffees and are looking forward to stuffing ourselves at the all you can eat buffet… Ah, the impact of tourists!

In addition to the last post that we put up earlier today I wanted to show some videos of the total elephant mayhem in Thailand.

This one is of the elephants playing harmonicas and dancing:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2392178091227141357

And this is one of them shooting penalties:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7115079165824462564

Pretty fun stuff!

Claire and I arrived in Bangkok after a pretty grueling journy.  We left Pushkar and took the bus to Jaipur, spent the night there then got an early (~7:30) bus to Delhi, thinking that the bus would be late and we’d end up just making our 9pm flight.  Not so!  For once everything went right on time and we were at the airport for 1pm.  At this point India decided to give us one last kick in the ass – because we were too early for our flight we were told that we couldn’t go into the terminal, and not only that, but to use the seperate waiting area outside we were going to have to pay!  Paying to wait at the airport was just too funny.  We tried our hand at bargaining our way in, but in the end just went to an expensive restaurant and spent our money there. 

After waiting 8 hours in Delhi we took our Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore and commensed our next session of waiting.  We got in at 4am and our next flight was at 1pm, so another 9 hours of waiting and we were on our last flight – a budget airline that didn’t even serve water, much less coffee.  By the time we landed in Bangkok it had been about 34 hours with only 2 hours of sleep in the Singapore airport chairs.  Ugh. 

Thankfully we weren’t without help in Bangkok.  A friend of the family, Brent Smith, had very kindly offered to let us stay at his house while we in town.  On our way there we immediately started learning about our new surroundings.  First thing is that there is almost no spoken English here.  In India, just about everybody speaks Engish, so after all the traveling we got in a fight with the 1st Thai cabbie and ended up having to change taxis.  

When we finally got dropped off at the end of Brent’s block we proceeded to walk, pretty much aimlessly, around the neighborhood thinking that Brent’s house was this way and that way.  Finally ending our 1 hour search only 15 meters from the start!  Exhaustion can do some funny things to your brain!

When we fianlly made it to Brent’s house it was like we had arrived in the holy land after a long pilgrimage.  Brent was at work, but his friendly maid was home and let us in, gave us slippers, showed us our room, gave us towels for the shower and pool, and directed us to the freshly baked beef lasagna in the fridge!  We ate, showered and collapsed in our beds at 5:30pm and slept straight through until nine the next morning.

After being welcomed like royalty, we learned that we were living not far off.  Brent’s beautiful condo in the center of Bangkok is located right next door to Thai and Indian royalty!  We even got to play in the pool with the young princes and their flock of nannies and friends.

After a bit of R&R we were ready to tackle Bangkok!  The first day we were in town we went out to the JJ weekend market and shopped till we dropped, literally!  We both bought new outfits to replace the ones that we wore out in India – or in Claire’s case, just to look pretty.  We knew that we were becoming more dangerous travelers because we decided, after 18 hours in Thailand, that it was time to try the street meat…and it was delicious!

The next day we went to the Siam Paragon mall, apperently the largest in all of Southeast Asia, and visited the flagship Barbara Barry store.  My aunt Barbara is an interior designer in Los Angeles and her first store opened in Bangkok right next to the Marth Stewart Living store.  And if I do say so myself, her work looks frigging great when displayed next to Martha’s!  We were treated like royalty there too!  Served her signature tea (from the shop “T” located at Grandville and Broadway in Vancouver) and given the full attention of the staff.  Especially when I was doing acrobatics infront of the store before introducing myself.  The highlight for me (sorry aunt BB) was admiring the painting by my mom, hung in prime position, right by the front door!

The next couple of days went by in a flash.  We spent one day finding and figuring out the buses in Thailand, and capped off the day with just about the best dinner of my life!  Brent took us to a teppenyaki steak house where our personal chef juggled his spatula, skewer and even the egg for the fried rice!  Soooo good!

After that we were ready to head north and anxious to see the rest of this cool country!

So, Claire and I have finally come to the end of the India/Nepal section of our trip.  As these things go, there were times that I thought that the trip would never end, then all of the sudden I look at my journal and realize that our flight out of Delhi is tomorrow!  So as a final post from India I thought that I would give you some preliminary thoughts on the place and the people.  I have to warn you that I am still processing much of what I have learned here so don’t expect too much ground breaking insight.

To start with, how about a description of a typical day in India?  Generally I wake up at about eight o’clock.  Lying in bed I try to think if we had any plans for the day.  It’s likely that Claire had something in mind, but I can’t remember what, and her plans are probably going to change about three times before breakfast anyway.

Getting up I wander to the bathroom and hope that the power has been on long enough that there’s hot water.  Regardless of what I find, Claire and I are both ready for the day at nine and we head out the door. 

The hotels are usually planning on making the majority of their money off of the food you buy, so as we pass through the lobby it takes considerable effort to rebuff the offers of tea, coffee and toast with jam – Claire and I tend to prefer the company of the locals and also find that the street food (omelets, tea and coffee) are frequently better than hotel food anyway.  We step out of the safety of our hotel into the streets.  Before we are 5 steps from the door trail of ‘Hello!’s, and ‘Good morning!’s follow us like a shock wave.  During the first few weeks in India, you feel obligated to reply to all of these advances, however, it doesn’t take long to realize that you will never get anywhere in town when you have to stop and talk to every second person on the road.

Part of the day is spent searching for an acceptable coffee and embarking on whatever we have planned for the afternoon.  There is also a part of the day that is spent looking for a local food vendor that makes thali (a bottomless Indian dish that consists of dal, curry, rice and chipati) and can understand ‘Little salt, little oil, but spicy.’  We tried learning the Hindi for this, but that confused them more than our English…

The evenings are bonding time.  We almost never have TV, even more rarely TV and power together, and when the stars do align, Hindi CNN is never enough to keep our attention anyway.  There is very little in the way of a tourist night life in India.  Claire and I have speculated long and hard about this, and believe that there are a few factors.

1) If you go to a local place, you are the entertainment.  Indians have no qualms about outright staring, and will readily stop what they are doing to watch our funny Western ways and to laugh if Claire is showing more than her neck.

2) Drinking is sacrilege, making bars and hard to find.  And coffee and tea all night just doesn’t do it.

3) The travelers in India are generally older and seeking enlightenment.  Very few people under 30 come here and as a result many are content with just reading, meditating and going to bed.

So what this means is that Claire and I have had about 90 nights of one on one bonding time.  Some might say that that’s too much, and I times I agree with them.  But we have found ways to entertain ourselves and have actually bonded through it all.  And it makes the social life of Vancouver all that much more special.

So that just about wraps up a normal day here.  I also want to comment on the culture and people, as this has been asked about on this blog before.  It is hard to know where to begin.  The couture here is really beyond description.  I have seen it called a ‘functional anarchy’ and think that that’s reasonably accurate.  In public ways I couldn’t imagine a more live and let live environment.  You can spit, throw trash and pee wherever you like and can drive on the wrong side of the road if you like.  Nobody will look twice.  However, in private ways this culture will judge you and damn you before you even know what you did.  They also have very little modesty when talking to travelers, asking questions like ‘Do you have sex together?’ and once, when Claire had her hat in her front hoodie pocket and her money belt below that, she was asked ‘Are you pregnant?’ – always without the slightest look embarrassment or guilt!

Work conditions and poverty are another issue altogether.  It seems that most of the country is self sufficient.  Neither paying taxes or taking advantage of the taxes others pay.  In small towns, those who cannot, or do not farm are generally destitute, and most of those who farm are heavily in debt.  However, they make a living, own their own home, and smile at you as you pass.  The workers who see the hardest work conditions seem to be the ones without property.  You see them hauling cement rail ties from the train, or moving dirt for new roads from the bus.  These people are normally doing long days in dangerous conditions wearing sandals and torn cloths.  They do not smile.

I really can’t get into the poverty issue right now as my feelings are not solidified.  I will say that it is more extreme that I ever planned to see and – to make it ever worse – includes many, many children.  To some extent you really have to keep it at an arms length while here, for when I let my guard down, I am struck with such remorse that India loses all appeal and adventure and takes on the visage of an open air prison.  This is one aspect that will impact me over the course of my life in ways that I cannot even speculate on.

As a final note, I must not leave out the beauty of the culture and customs.  The desire of the people to know everything about you.  The hustle and bustle in streets, the open markets in the shadow of the Himalayas.  The men and women selling coconuts from baskets on their heads and the joy and majesty of beholding wonders like the Taj Mahal make India an all round positive and unforgettable experience.

Now to find out about Southeast Asia!

FYI: We added pictures to the last couple of posts so check it out (and Chloe you can ID our monkey)!

Well, for the last few days Claire and I have been living easy! We went on a trek just outside of Chamba and were waited on hand and foot for 5 days and 5 nights! On our first day in Chamba we talked to a trekking agency and were convinced to blow our budget for a few days and get out of the hustle, bustle and litter of the Indian cities.

We started the trek at a charming lodge called the Orchard Hut and after Claire got her measurements taken by a local seamstress in the small village (for her “lady suit”) we were off on the first day of our adventure. For the benefit of those who have not “trekked” before it is more akin to hiking than anything else.

Our porter and guide loaded up their 1980’s, cheap Jansport backpacks with 5 days of food, four sleeping bags, our tent and everything they needed (which was nothing), donned their casual shoes (guide) and rubber slippers (porter) and we headed off up the steep 1100m climb to our first night’s destination.
Things started out a bit rough, our guide came down with the flu on day one (typical, eh) and was taking frequent forays into the forest and returning looking feverish and distant. Still, with the mind set of a pack animal, he hefted his rucksack and gritted through the day without one complaint! The people here have the most incredible work ethic, it must get done, and whining will not be tolerated!

That evening we stayed the night at a hut owned by the company. A couple of important things happened here, for one, we discovered what it is like to be rich! Within minutes of arriving our bed was made and we were relaxing to the view with hot tea and the sounds of dinner preparation coming from the kitchen! The other was that we gained a companion…later named Jackie, a farm dog came out of nowhere and decided that we were far better companions than any of the animals in the area. He was with us everyday (even though we threw sicks and stones to ward him off) until we eventually had to abandoned him two days walk from his home when we caught the bus at the end of the ride :(

The next few days were spent hiking and being pampered. The days were spent enjoying the high meadows and grazing lands of the area. Sitting in fields, listening to shepherd boys play the flute, and hiking to temples built by hand surrounded cliffs, all the while carrying only our clothes and a sleeping mat. Every night we were served a minimum 2 course meal, with home made bread!

Once the trek was finished we spent one more night at the Orchard Hut and arranged to bus to Dharamshala the next day. Leaving at 9am we rode 4 public buses for a total of 9 hours, getting to our destination in the dark.

Dharamshala is the home of the Dali Lama and pretty much every Westerner in India! We had more of them around us last night in our restaurant than we have seen in the entire first two weeks of our trip… But more on that later.

So this is post #1! I have moved out of my house and am living in comfort with Claire for three days… Then the trip starts. Destination 1 is Portland.