2011 - NZ To SF - Day 80

Day 80: (1 August 2011):
- Breakfast, internet, wait for departure. Relieved to see boat guy already here.
- Worried when 10:30 departure time come & boat guy in nowhere to be found.
- Boat guy arrive. Slow walk to boat. Stop to talk, buy (red) fuel, etc.
- Drop us off, then leave & brought 2 guests from out guesthouse. Then leave, more people arrive, fill 2 boats then go. Leave a bit after 11am. Hope 11am departure time is from island, not bus.
- See a few boats with tourists on way to dock.
- Wait for bus. Minivans come. Looks like some rough prioritisation system: we are not booked into a specific vehicle.
- A bus arrive & we get on. No rainwipers in pouring rain.
- Excruciatingly slow. Potholes, cows. Stop every once in a while to pick up people, refuel, toilet, shops. Ppl come on bus to sell. Some get off a bit later. Get to Pakse ~3pm.
- Change bus @ Pakse. Rice cake snack. Old grease on it. Agent buy our tickets. Look like wo would have same trip if we just showed up & got tickets.
- Even slower. 1st 2hrs, progress maybe 20km. Ridiculously slow speed. Now 8am seems possible, didn’t even consider it before as is ridiculous. Bus carry vegetables, etc. too.
- When get dark, ask passenger. Still 4hrs. to Savannakhet & 8 to Thakek.
- Along with 2 tourist pairs (one pair was already going to Sav.), we decide get off at Sav.
- Arrive ~10-11pm at Seno, 30km from Sav. Told to get jumbo/shared taxi. 5k each.
- Pouring rain just before get on. Overfull. Felix & I squeeze / hang off back. Dark drive. Rain. Realise should have looked to stay in Seno. Dinosaur sculpture & some light decorations.
- Take us to guesthouse. Open. 60k/room. Ours small like bathroom.
- Bowl of foe at bus station. Closing store. Meat on sticks stored in hanging plastic bags. Pastries: mostly stale. Store looks like small home for family.

2011 - NZ To SF - Day 79

Day 79: (31 July 2011):
- Breakfast & decide take walk. 20k fee past a point. Don Khone visit fee.
- Small wat. Walk by pretty rice paddies & nursing cows to waterfall.
- Wide rapids & falls. Lots of water, even though this is a small segment of Mekong. Not the biggest falls. Charge for parking if come by bike. Series of bridges lead past houses & souvenier stores. Felix pick up rubbish, I don’t think will have any long term effect. Walk around. Some villages fishing, reparing fish nets in store. Surprising amount of tourists (mainstream).
- Continue walk to a “beach” where dolphin-watching boats go. Beach is muddy, water murkey. Fast-flowing, wonder haw a group of kayakers will return.
- Decide leave Si Phan Don tomorrow, didn’t realy need to relax & zone out here.
- Walk over to railroad - turns out is now a road. Decided not to get bicycles due to not sure if can bike down railroad.
- Long walk down track to south tip of Don Khone. Rain. Help person fix fallen off bicycle chain. Felix get in and hands covered in grease, I direct a bit. Everyone else on bikes. Kids. Eventually walk along river, then docks. Beautiful forest. Multi-level docks (built by French). Restaurant on side.
- No boat to waterfalls, even though on sign. Decide to go see dolpuins. Wait for boat driver to arrive on scooter: ~10 min. Lifejackets. (Req. of tour companies? Surprised they wanted us to wear them).
- 60k for boat + 20k / each for visit fee to Cambodia. Sign: $2 for visitors, & visitors from Laos.
- Can see Cambodian & building across, nice mountains.
- Very short boat ride across. Tell us to watch dolphins from building/benches.
- Me; “lamest dolphin-watching trip ever.”
- Sit by shore (chairs ppl bring out) then a bench on a floating dock.
- See dolphins breaching from time to time. Some barrel rolling, etc. Models of dolphins around.
- Start rain, sit in the snack shop/observation deck. Winter melon juice. Angkor beer available but decide not have. Charged in kip, even when ppl. beside us charged in $.
- Boat driver join others in watching boxing.
- Head back in small break in rain. Downpour after arrive. Beautiful view of mountains & rain approaching from there.
- See the tuktuk / tour cart, ask: say leave in 10 min. Ride offered on scooter, but we say prefer covered vehicle. Wait in lifejacket shed.
- Tourists return on boat with French guide. Ask for ride in French. Turns out is a family on package tour, give us free ride. Joked first in French it depends on how much we pay.
- Chat to them, Duck wet branches hitting roof. Get dropped off before bridge. Decide get lunch at LP rec’ed place: “since we have tickets to this side of town.”
- Restaurant with precariously leaning platform over river. Slow service. Scoop flush toilets. Laap & sticky rice for 1st time. Very good. LP rec’ed not on menu. Rain.
- Stop by hotel & ask about bus to Thakek. Say leave 11am & arrive 1am. Can also leave 6:30am, local buses, can arrive earlier. We’ll think about it.
- Decide explore Don Det since leave tomorrow.
- Walk across bridge. Muddy. Nice view. River & guesthouses lining it.
- More idyllic vilages. Reach the French loading dock. Entire path used to be rail line. Small stupas in fields from time to time.
- Village is muddy. Higher concentration of tourists. Lots of bars & stores with snacks (for the munchies?). Monkey on chain. Seemed to be playing with it & swinging.
- Booked bus ticket: leave 11am, arrive 8. Notice the ticket had 8am arrival on it later on, not sure what happened.
- Nice atmosphere. Must be very nice in dry season. Rain.
- Walk back in dark. Frog sounds & fireflies. Cars/trucks with broken headlights are a bit surprising when passing. Nice lights by river. ->short clothes line on deck. Hammock, but not very comfortable.
- Dinner, chat with french girls.
- Talking in room before bed: possible “shut up (old French guy?)” from neighbour, although couldn’t tell if it was of directed at us as there were talking sounds there too, sounds like they were having a conversation or something. The lady started asking us if we were staying tonight the next morning when we use internet, but went away when we say we leaving, so maybe the “shut up” was directed at us.
- Lots of cats with mangled tails: common in Laos. Why?

2011 - NZ To SF - Day 78

Day 78: (30 July 2011):
- Wake up, duck foe from LP rec’ed place just across the rad. First time fish sauce didn’t make something better. Made it worse.
- Tuktuk to bus station. Lots of people swarm & ask where we go. & for us to go with them. Do they make commission or something?
- Find a truck bus going to dock at Si Phan Don.
- Pouring rain on way. Even with (Slightly ripped) tarp rain covers down, everyone got a bit wet. Maltese person living in Bangkok with Thai GF.
- Truck slow suddenly (to pick someone up?) & a scooter (w/  bad brakes?) crash into back of truck. Last second swerve didn’t work. Went to side, so at least did not flip into truck. Piece of plastic light cover hid my head. See smashed scooter & 2 lying on ground motionless. Afraid they dead or need CPR, etc. After shock & initial hesitation, join people. Woman unconcious. Man broken leg, see bone moving inside. He play with leg to examine it. Woman no helmit, being mostly ignored. I look at chest to make sure she breathing.
- Pick up & place on sacs of fertiliser in truck & woman on bench.
- Wet, pee? Blood on clothing.
- Stop to let someone off. Someone claim sac being used as pillow. Hold woman’s foot from metal edge.
- When guy beside man leave, I sit down. Man reach out hand, so I hold it. Can only comfort by squeeze hand & smile.
- He go into shock, shake. I wrap his clothes around & comfort him. Felix used one of his jackets? I dissappointed I didn’t volunteer my stuff.
- Woman wrist broken, keep touching it. Ankel may also be broken. Seems disoriented. Worried about brain injury. Felix said when he first walked over, he was afraid of seeing grey matter seeing she did not have a helmet.
- Remember feel horrified when realise we were the ambulance, probably not easy to get one there.
- Smashed scooter.
- Ferry. Nice calm ride across. Barge attatched to swivelling joint & tugboat.
- Stop at simple clinic. Unload people on stretchers. Doctor arrive on scooter to join nurses. Injection. Clinic has sign: Funded by Canada. Don Khong.
- Long stop @ police station. I wash a bit. Finally decide to sit for beer. Told to start going after order, so quickly downed the beer. Eat fruit (logan) that we thought a lady left. Turns out we met with her again and she took the logan.
- See the 2 in van on ferry. IV. Man sitting up. Woman still lying. Smile & small thumbs up.
- Unload fertiliser to other truck (flatbed). We get in & sit on mound of fertiliser bags. Pay driver the 40k fare. Woman get fruit back after all.
- Drive through pretty farmland. Down highway again, all a bit anxious. Guy and kid on scooter at some point, ride close and talk a bit. Notice lack of helmets. Stop at a small town before ferry.
- Expensive ferry. Fast flowing river. Ferry into islands. First Don Det then Don Khone. Heavy rain hit. Lots of guesthouses & white people.
- Wait out rain a bit then found a guesthouse suggested in LP. Very muddy, turns out is a common problem in Laos. Guess this is what we get for coming during wet season. Remember had discussion about it before trip.
- Cute raised rooms. Between river & street.
- Dinner & much-needed beer. Meet the 2 girls (French).
- Lots of frog sounds at night. Strange bullfrog(?) sound. Joke there are lots of women with wood frogs around.

2011 - NZ To SF - Day 77

Day 77: (29 July 2011):
- Morning bathroom: straight on tracks. “Helped fertilise rice.”
- Wake up, arrive Ubon, tuktuk drivers waiting at train door.
- Walk around centre. Tourist centre not yet open. Try find toilet for Felix.
- Breakfast @ random noodle place. Language & pay confusion. Like the Thai way of saying thank you. Will miss. Old lady say thank you to us.
- Tourist info open, tell us bus is at 9am to Pakse. Else will be next day. we leave ~8:40, surprisingly difficult to find tuktuk. In hurry, get ripped off. Driver didn’t really respond to our ask price then offer, as if he’s bad at english, then at station he ask for 2x what we offered.
- Turns out bus leaves at 9:30, so made it in good time.
- Stop @ border. Stamp out. Long walk to immigration. Feels like walking through town.
- Didn’t get visa application forms from bus. Asked, get directed around, no form. Get form by standing in line. 10 min warning from bus. Hope is not true.
- Need photos: Felix directed to booth, but no electricity (?) so no puotos taken.
- See lotus on table. Women selling lotus. Baskets on pole on shoulders.
- Very slow. Canada most expensive visa. Finally continue on bus.
- Change after border. Dusty, more run down, etc. Rice fields.
- After a large bridge, arrive Pakse. Bus stations always outside of town in Laos for some reason. Drove through town to bus station.
- Get bus info, seems like can make to Si Phan Don today.
- Walk to ANZ ATM. 2 Million: max. Get change at ANZ: smaller notes. Difficult to spend largest note: 50K, but lots of prices in that range!
- Tuktuk to town. Offer 10k each: this is the amt offered at station. I complain but we agree & go to get on truck. Due to poor English misunderstanding, driver stop us & offer 5k each.
- Stop at tourist centre. Driver wait. Hourly buses: 9-3:30.
- Pay driver 10k to drive us a few blocks to Internet. Driver stop to find translator: a common practise in Laos.
- After Internet, stop at a guesthouse restaurant for quick meal before go to bus. Noodles take 40 min. Looks like one woman work as receptionist, server, cook, etc. Realise won’t make the bus, so beer, then decide get the 100k room (AC). Shared bathroom: But generally clean.
- Shared balconey on main drag. Laos & communist flag.
- Walk around. See wat, monks, river. Lots of lottery stands (ask and find out). Strange.
- Nice place by river: Decks for drinking, eating. Surprisingly few foreigners here. Try Namkhong. Decide Beerlao is really the best SE Asian beer.
- People selling snacks came into restaurant. Women with dried squid & charcoal grill.
- Walk to large bridge. Many things funded by Japan, etc. Large hotel there. Didn’t get to see new market, as got sidecar tuktuk back due to Felix’s starting stomach problems. Even after looking for translator, didn’t figure out exactly where we were going. Laos ppl. not good at reading maps.
- Decide not book VIP bus, just get up & leave whenever the next day.
- Look for dinner, local restaurant district not as exciting as expected.
- Felix just have crepe due to problems. I get rice & Mekong fish (spicy). Came in a bag for takeaway. Surprisingly, one of the best meals I’ve had. Fish is very fatty. Beerlao dark from store across way. Felix on internet.

2011 - NZ To SF - Day 76

Day 76: (28 July 2011):
- Breakfast. Rice soup. Untasty iced cocoa. Felix have untasty iced coffee.
- Pick up train tickets. News that a princess died. Not sure if palace open, as there is event at palace.
- Store bags. Felix work problem. He deal with while I get post card. Say thank you, maybe used girl ending. Nice walk. See simple ice coffee cart. Ice coffee bag later. (Is this here?) A bit lost, then find ferry. Old fort & large bridge. Take to close to Wat Arun. Then small ferry 3B across river. <1min crossing. Longer board / wait.
- Boats full. Like a big bus. Blue vs. orange flag.
- Monks around. Wats much more well maintained than in Cambodia.
- Beautiful large wats. Buddha figures.
- Wat Arun very tall & impressive. Many wats covered in pieces of china/porcelin.
- Donate before. when in blessing: spray water. Some surprised & cover camera. If know there is admission, would not have donated.
- Steep steps up Wat Arun. Nice view of Bangkok. Wats & skyscrapers & river.
- Fish at ferry dock. Sell food to feed fish.
- Nearly lose wallet when fall out. Stopped by pole, else fall in river.
- Next: wat with humongous reclining Buddha. Beautiful paintings. Mother of pearl feet bottoms & pillow. 20B of ¼ B coins to drop in series of bowls. Considered getting to get a ¼ B coin. Maybe good thing I didn’t, so temple can keep its coins. Felix thought it was great way to get money. “Pay to get the experience of giving.”
- Beautiful fields of stupas.
- Buddha statues, one of Buddha under Bodhi tree.
- Gold leaf put on statues by worshippers?
- A few beautiful tall stupas covered in ceramics. Something about massage inscriptions?
- Some new tiles are very shiny. As some people told us in Cambodia, parts of palace & temples look like it belongs in Vegas.
- Coconuts for thirst throughout day. Smaller than in Cambodia.
- Ticket for Reclining Buddha includes other sites, but decide no time to visit, as quite far away.
- Decide walk to Palace. Large complex & wall. Have to hold coconut for long time. No rubbish bins this side.
- See entrance. Open & tourists. Place to get “decent” clothing for refundable deposit. We have shoes, long pants & collared shirts, as told people dress up for palace.
- 15 min left for the temple (close 3:15), but palace open until 4:15.
- Room of armed guards at entrance. Machine guns.
- Palace temple is the pictures seen frequently of Bangkok. Impressive. Cool statues. Mini Angkor Wat model. Bunch of guards touring, pics. Their machine guns piled up. Costume almost like British guards.
- Beautiful paintings guilded with gold. Wish knew story in pics. Same stories as ones in National Museum of Phnom Penh?
- Large shiny fancy main wat. Statues & huge “throne” with Emerald Buddha on it. Robes on Emerald Buddha. Size of temple & “throne” really validates its importance. Sign: no photo, no video, no pointing feet @ Buddha. People sit with tucked feet. I just sit cross legged.
- Turns out a spontaneous photo I took outside through the door captured an image of the Emerald Buddha.
- Go to palace. A French-looking bld. Some small blds. A large impressive Thai-style roof bld. Throne room. Throne with levels & the “umbrellas” above. Throne in picture has extra section than one in real life. Fans in room are gold-coloured.
- Apparently can visit more of palace, but parts closed due to event.
- Fancy cars arrive frequently, we told to move out of the way. Car with Indian flags & Indian-looking driver.
- As walk out palace, a few processions happen. Scouts (?) line road, & people stand around. Thought would wait for king. Looks like he’s coming.
- Long wait. A woman faint. Directors position people. Tell people where they cannot stand. No sitting, no shades, no umbrellas, etc. A woman pass out, could be heatstroke. No photos/videos.
- See people outside, & guards chase cars. Sometimes no cars (road closed).
- Some important people arrive & scouts all told to salute.
- Next time this happened, see cars then van with king. I quite excited.
- Stunned reaction from crowd, Felix: “can feel the reverence.” Murmurs, some bowing as King slowly drive by. French tourists ahead not sure if is King. Thai woman 30s-40s, very excited, hands to mouth, tell french tourists (gush): “oh, you saw the King, you’ll be lucky, you’ll be lucky! etc..” Head back after. Quite happy.
- Walk by amulet market & uni. Lots of tasty-looking street food. Piles of amulets. Rock, metal, etc. Cases & gem-looking things in cases.
- Minor confusion of how to cross road.
- Quick dinner at street stalls.
- Internet. Big problem with Felix’s work starts getting serious.
- Tuktuk to train less than expected. I wave one down on road.
- Sit on floor to wait. Small supermarket, get drink, etc. Consider beer.
- Corn drink.
- See on TV the King’s van turning into palace, which we saw earlier.
- Easy to find train. Find bunks. Beds made by person going around. Talk to Thai living in Syd.
- Chen bunks down, Felix & I sit in restaurant car drinking & chatting. Drunk Thai trying to talk to me. People can’t tell if I’m Thai or not. Shaky, other’s soup splash around. Difficult pour beer. make feel more drunk. Nice atmosphere.
- Brush teeth, etc. Sleep. Narrow, cozy behind curtain. Wish had lower bunk.
- Poor night of sleep, as opposite to expected. Too bumpy?

2011 - NZ To SF - Day 75

Day 75: (27 July 2011):
- Picked up by bus with only reclining seats. “only one setting: relax” according to one backpacker.
- Wait at another hostel, eventually put into 2 buses by a stressed person directing.
- A few stops. Rice crisp cake.
- Stop at border. Get luggage. Stamp out. Large complex with casinos between. Stamp in at Thailand. All get stickers, when enough stickers together, led to small minibus. Stop close at a restaurant. 30 min lunch. Pad Thai: 50 Bhat, $1 = 28B at restaurant. Not accept Felix’s $5 bill. Story about counterfeit stacks for sale.
- Minibus with ridiculously many lights.
- Huge change after border. Good roads. More cars & big vehicles, less scooters & more ordered. Buildings & grounds neater. Much faster.
- Stop, then in Bangkok. Tall blds, look like developed city with 3rd world slum pockets.
- Drop by Khaosan Rd. Ladies with wood frogs.
- Khaosan Rd: many tourists. Street food. Shop stalls. Busy. Get cash.
- American (kind of crazy) lead us to a close guesthouse on a quieter street with small bars & restaurants. Cautious of him.
- OK guesthouse, 400B for room. American ask to use our shower, etc.
- Eat at a street stall. 30B green curry for me.
- Book train ticket. Sold out lower bunk. 850B vs 900B.
- Walk around Khaosan Rd. Clubs, bars. Loud music. Section where offered girls. The Hilarious tuktuk: dressed up & playing “Move Bitch Get out the way.”
- Hang out at a small bar out of a moded truck. Friend of American. Give free rice wine shot when interested to try it. Lots of crazy stories, not sure if is true. Stories of people fighting Khmer Rouge. Heroin addiction. Volunteer at orphanage is current job. Rich parents / friends. Know the tattoo artist I met in Samoa. Cigarette ash & tape recorder tattoo in prison. Story of him playing with Red Hot Chilli Peppers? Story of him having sex with the singer’s wife & vice versa. Etc. Drug dealer for stars, etc.
- He leave for airport @ 10:30 after shower in our room. Mistake giving him my e-mail? Update: haven’t heard from him yet.
- Walk around Kharsan road ~11-11:30, midnight. Not much change. Busy. Grab pad thai as a snack. Realise should have added condiments later.
- The sketchy far side of the road.
- Sleep. A bit strange bathroom is a wall with gap at top.
- Steep uneven steps. Very loud bird.

2011 - NZ To SF - Day 74

Day 74: (26 July 2011):
- Wake up before 5am for sunrise.
- Lots of sellers give us advice then tell us go to their stall for breakfast.
- Cloudy, so decide not do sunrise at the pond location for view of wat & sun reflection. Outside scaffolding, so prob. not good view anyway.
- Explore empty dark temple until brighter & people show up. Atmospheric. Some fog patches around the vegetation outside temple.
- After negotiate & for extra charge, we got driver to take us to an interesting large temple we saw yesterday. Driver seemed net too happy, even though we think we paid more than fair price.
- Temple was not the one we expected, but is on map, so decide to check out. On hill. Can’t see temple from bottom.
- Surprisingly long walk up. See why driver is not convinced we’ll only take 30 min. “Safe way” “Danger way” (no entry) & “Elephant way” -> $20 w/ elephant.
- Pretty impressive wall & tiered temple at top. This is the temple for sunset?
- View of jungle, hills & fog patches. Rice paddies & Angkor Wat. Must be very impressive with city & hundreds of years ago. See baray.
- Back to hotel for nap. Arrange bus to Bangkok as Felix didn’t want to risk border. Only $8.
- Get tuktuk for rest of the day for $10. Ask him for suggestion in addition to Rulous group. Suggested floating village & forest.
- Lots of funny English in SE Asia. “Hump a head” sign.
- Long drive past temples. Find out boat price $20 each + $2 admission. No price signs around, so decide pay the amount. Wonder if driver gets commission.
- Long, very bumpy dirt track. “Tuktuk off roading.”
- Busy boat area. Tour buses. Got boat to ourselves.
- First, some houseboats & platforms tied to oil drums. Then the houses on tall stilts.
- Try dock at temple, but construction. Boats (some loaded with dirt) in way.
- Dock lower down. Street between 2 rows of houses. Metres under water in wet season floods, according to driver, who is from the village.
- Eat at restaurant. Someone’s house, as with many restaurants in Laos. See below through floorboard gaps. Surprisingly few & thin support beams. Forest behind house. Toilet pipes go straight into river? Swim & fish in river.
- Driver eat & talk. $1/day rent in Siem Reap. $4 petrol rt trip. Didn’t take offer of me pay for lunch.
- Big bowl of curry.
- Pigs & storage on lower levels, move to top in floods. Some old machinery chugging, remind me of steam punk anime.
- Visit temple. People sell books & pencils for children. Teacher was working on temple. Felix ask validating Q’s. Ask for & talk to teacher. Buy: $5/$4 for me since I only have $4. Then Felix give books to kids. I give pencil. Monk angry at all for not supporting temple. Felix ask teacher to show us classroom after. Long time for lunch to come.
- Rain. Drum with “do not hit” on it.
- Kids run towards a Korean group, who brought snacks for kids.
- Continue on boat to floating forest centre, where we can rent a canoe for $8. Driver advise we do not have time.
- Cool flooded forest. Calm. People, kids, villagers paddle through. Rain.
- Boat get to lake. Water as far as can see. Tea(with milk)-coloured brown. Waves & splashes look velvety. Large clouds. Cruise a bit & head back due to time constraints. “Battle” with larger boat on way back.
- Hectic dock. Ride back even worse due to rain & wet mud.
- 1st temple of Rulous: ~5min. Very small. A few ruined red/brown brick temples. Sell scarf: “I don’t need one.” “You don’t need one, you need two!” Rulous is older complex before Angkor.
- 2nd: bigger, series of small temples, no tiers. Text carvings. Nice forest setting & calm.
- 3rd: Bigger. Monastery beside. Aggressive child beggars. Tiers, central tall temple. Series of nice but ruined statues. Large complex with multiple blds. Take a quick look at chanting monks in monastery when leaving.
- Pay driver confusion. Decide tip. Felix: $12. Me: $ & riel, = $7. Almost 2x agreed price.
- Quick stop @ market. Tintin shirt (was that today?).
- Dinner at a place Mick Jager likes according to LP. Curry & dish with prahoc.
- Night market. Lots of Tintin posters. The Tintin amputee poster. Terrible but funny. Nice market: pretty much all souveniers.