Thailand - First Encounter (December 17 - 27)

After crossing the border by longboat into Thailand from Lao, it was like we had taken a boat to a completely different world. All of a sudden all the roads were well paved and the town on the Thai side, Chiang Khong, was so clean and developed. It was a small culture shock... a Seven-Eleven!!

Right away we booked our busride to Bangkok and decided to treat ourselves to firstclass for the extra 3 dollars each. The overnight busride to Bangkok was absolutely heavenly, seeing as there was no chunk-blowing children nor animals wedged between the seats. Their was even a steward who offered us snacks and drinks and coffee!

We arrived in Bangkok before the sun came up and got into a taxi for the infamous Khao San Road. For those of you who have been, you know nuts that area can be. For those who haven't been, it's a nuts area. It's kind of similar to a plane full of hippies crashing into an Asian cosmopolitan city. The people watching is fantastic. You find yourself thinking things like "I didn't know that you could pierce that" and "is that his real hair?" and "I wonder what drugs she is on...or what drugs she should be on?"

We booked flights to Mumbai as soon as a reputable looking travel agency opened and decided that we couldn't stay in Bankok any longer. We later found out how nice Bangkok can be, but felt way too overwhelmed with the big city on that particular day. We decided that since our flight to Mumbai was on December 27th, that we should find a nice beach to spend the week before christmas on. That beach turned out to be Ao Thian on Koh Samet (Samet Island).


Our home away from home over Christmas.

We a small boat over to Koh Samet and in a short time found a beautiful little cottage right on the beach. The beach was pristine with 'white as snow' sand and some of the bluest water either of us had ever seen.


Koh Samet is heaven!

We spent the next 9 days and nights swimming, walking, snorkelling, eating and doing pretty much anything we pleased. We also befriended the owner of the restaurant on the little resort we were staying on and he spoiled us with beautiful Thai dishes and took us to other beaches on two of the evenings to go dancing.


Ready for an underwater adventure!

Due to the fact that the island was incredibly thin at the southern end where we were staying, we had our own little tradition of waking up to watch sunrise from the beach in front of our bungalow and in the evenings, taking a small path to the other side of the island to watch sunset, often with no one else around at all. We really felt that this was our honeymoon.


A beautiful sunrise from our doorstep.

Christmas came and went without any presents, or snow, or extended family, or anything else we grew to associating with the holiday season. Needless to say, we missed our families and extended families more on christmas than on any other day prior, but we were on a beach in Thailand, so we got over it (hahaha).


"Sandy the sandman, was a very happy soul, with a string and a hat and a twiggy nose and two eyes made out of sand..."

We did however want to do something special for Christmas. So we did two things special: 1) Got a real, Canadian style breakfast. (This was a special treat because we normally ate a rice or noodle dish for breakfast to save money). 2) We got Thai massages (very nice except for the hurting bits).


Christmas morning breakfast.

When the time came, we hiked the several kilometers up island to catch a ferry back to the mainland. We got a minibus to the airport where we shared a beer and played cards on the floor in the middle of one of the departure terminals, eagerly awaiting our flight to our next adventure: Incredible India.



One of our last days in Thailand...that is...until we return!!

Luang Nam Tha (December 13 - 16)

When we first entered Laos, we knew we were in for a treat.

When we got to the border we applied for our Visas and exchanged some money, for about $100USD we got 1,250,000 kip. The largest denomination being 20,000. So we pocketed our 4 inch stack of bills and headed for the northern town of Luang Nam Tha.

We expected a city with a population of 25,000 or so but were suprised to see a very small town of about 2,000 with dirt roads, one bank, a few stores and restaurants.


Young Laotians making friends with us.

The thing about Laos is that it leads a very different lifestyle than countries in the rest of the area. First of all, there is an extremely low population density, I don't know why. Second, it's communist so their is no poverty, but everyone is poor. It is in fact one of the poorest countries in the world. Finally, it is easily the most relaxed place on the whole earth. Everyone (and even the animals) are incredibly chilled out. If you aren't sleeping, then you are in between naps. You may even be troubled by the fact you have to raise the baguette to your mouth in order to eat it.
In Luang Nam Tha, we were still with our good friends Ben and Kate, but we also met Juan and Orillia and fascinating Chilean couple and a lovely dutch girl named Anna. This group of seven new friends took one of the most amazing and bizarre adventures of our trip up until that date.

What we did was go on a two day eco tour into the heart of the Laotian jungles. The first day consisted of a 6 hour hike through amazing jungles following little paths used only by tribal locals for gathering stuff like fruit and wood, and for this new eco tour. Due to the fact that our particular group happened to be only the second group on this tour, everything was original and untrammeled by foreign feet.


Mark, king of the jungle




Fine dining in the forest. Rice, chicken, banana flower, curries, exotic fruits, etc...




Taking a break with Juan, Ben, Kate, Anna, Oriana and our two tour guides.

In the evening we arrived at our village of residence for the evening and were absolutely shocked. It was a true blue tribal village, with cultural, kinship, economic and political systems completely different from anything any of us had ever come across. We must have been equally shocking to them seeing as this was probably only the second time a group of foreigners had ever found themselves in their village.


Val and Mark in the village.

The village consisted of about 15 houses, about 40 people, 30 pigs, 30 dogs, and 60 birds of a variety of species. Most interesting was that they all mingled without a fuss on the same 6 acre plot of land. No boundaries or separations. We spent a while getting acquainted to the village, then I (Mark) helped them kill a pig for supper.


Cutting up fresh pig!

By the evening, we were drinking homemade liquor with the village chiefs and our guides and taking turns with the town guitar, singing Laotian, English, and Spanish music until late at night. Because of all the singing and wild laughing and talking, we were eventually joined by most of the village who came and watched and laughed with us. We slept on the floor of one of the chiefs' houses that night.


Swimming in the freezing cold base waters of a waterfall.

The next day we played rattan ball with the locals and visited the tiny little three room school in the village. Eventually we moved on and treked for 3 more hours and swam at the base of a waterfall before riding back into Luang Nam Tha.


Mark is back in the school house.

The evening after the eco tour, we drank some ultra cheap Laotian whisky and liquor and walked 2km to the only night club. As we walked along the dark highway, we started to dis-believe that a night club actually existed in the middle of no where Laos. But it turned out to be one of the largest and fullest clubs any of us had ever been in. Funnely enough, kids from Laos love to breakdance and put on an amazing show in doing so.




The whole gang minus Val who was taking the picture: (left to right) Juan, Oriana, Anna, Ben, Kate and Mark.

Jinghong and Mengla (December 11 - 13)

The evening of December the 10th we got onto our first overnight bus ever. This was not just any bus though, it was a bus with about 40 tiny beds! We had never seen anything like it. The ride was actually not too bad, except for the bathroom breaks at 11pm and 2am.

We arrived in Jinghong at 9 in the morning and spent the early part of the day walking through the city. This was very exciting for us because it was our first time in a sub-tropical climate so far on the trip. The palm trees lining the road were humongous and we felt as if we had been freed from the oppressive cold of the Tibetan plateau.


Ahhhh...warmth and palm trees...finally!

Unfortunately though, Valerie got a bit of a bug in Jinghong and we therefore spent the whole afternoon in our guesthouse room.

Val felt better the next day so we took a bus to Mengla, the town just prior to the Laotian border. Mengla turned out to be another one of those great Chinese market towns, where the clothes and food are cheap and plentiful. During our time in Mengla we also met a wonderful American couple, Ben and Kate. It was wonderful to meet them and we hit it off right away.

The next day the four of us headed even farther south into the heart of southeast Asia, Laos.

Dali (December 8 - 10)

It was difficult, but we said goodbye to our friends Anne, Bobby and Ofir and continued on to the city of Dali.

Streams running right through the middle of town.

Gardens on rooftops

Dali was similar to Lijiang in that they were both old style Chinese towns. Dali, though, was larger and more of a tourist destination for Chinese. We took some long and wonderful walks through the alleys and up the surrounding hills. It was another great destination to just wander and discover great little restaurants and shops.

The surrounding hills offered great views and fun walks

Old Lijiang (December 6 - 8)

From Qiatou after leaving the Tiger Leaping Gorge we chartered a minibus to Lijiang. This city has been kept frozen in time by municipal bylaws and is enjoying the fruits of its labour. This was probably the first stop in our travels where we were almost shocked by the number of foreign tourists. But on the other hand, we were not all that shocked due to the absolute beauty of this ancient city.

One of the numerous beautiful spots in Lijiang

With flowing canals along all of the little winding paths and some of the cutest and most affordable shops in all of China, Lijiang was a highpoint of China. Along with the rest of our posse and a few other people we met, we strolled through the streets for hours and ended up staying two nights at the soon to be famous "Mama Naxi Guesthouse" where we got a great little private room for $5 a night, all you can eat homemade suppers for $1.15 and breakfasts of banana pancakes or egg, tomato and baba bread (fried flatbread) for 30 cents.

Val would make a great national hero!

An interesting point about the Naxi people of this area: they are, and always have been, a matriarchal society. In other words, family clans run along the women's side (children get their mother's last names) and the women basically run the show. They own the property, run the businesses, are the political leaders, etc...

The Naxi matriarchs would dance in the town square everyday to the delight of tourists.

We would also spend our evenings there at the Sexy Tractor, the only Irish pub we had ever seen in China run by an awesome guy named John.

Val and Anne at the Sexy Tractor Pub

Lijiang was a great place to unwind and chill out after a very hard week and a half of traveling.

The whole gang, just hanging around (Bobby, Ofir, Valerie, Anne and Mark on top)

Tiger Leaping Gorge (December 5 - 6)

Our next trip would take us through Zhongdian (otherwise known as Shangri-la) to Qiatou, at the base of Tiger Leaping Gorge. The trip was once again an amazing one, full of beautiful scenery into the southern more sub-tropical province of Yunnan.

After transferring buses in Zhongdian and making our way into the "village" of Qiatou (no such thing as a village in China), we were at the base of one of the deepest gorges in the world, Tiger Leaping Gorge.

That night we stayed at a great cottage style guesthouse run by a lady-boy named Jane. It was one of the friendliest and most comfortable guesthouses we had stayed at up until that point. That evening we had a large supper and got to bed early in preparation for a big hike the next day.


Valerie near the base of the Gorge



One of the lovely (and unusually strong) villagers of the Gorge

The next day's hike was an 8 hour affair, mostly uphill. It was challenging for all five of us but it was also one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives. The path you walk along is about a foot and a half wide and is usually abutting the edge of a cliff that falls hundreds of meters down to the river below. It was nerve racking for the first hour or so but we all quickly adjusted. As for the view, it is impossible to describe the sheer size, depth or beauty of the gorge and no photo could ever do it justice.


View at the beginning of the trek



Massive rock structures all along the gorge



One of the many waterfalls you have to get across along the gorge trek

We spent one night on the gorge at a stunning cottage-like guesthouse called Halfway House and then finished the gorge the next day, crossing many waterfalls and humble abodes, and caught a minibus back from the other end. All in all, it was an unforgettable two days which we will highly recommend to anyone and everyone with the opportunity to venture into this part of the world.



One of the best times in our lives!

Xiancheng (December 3 - 4)

Our next stop was Xiancheng, another picturesque little Tibetan town. There we went to the most pleasant monastery where we were invited to visit for free by the monks. We sat with them under the scorching midday sun trading English handwriting for Tibetan and Chinese. The monastery was in the midst of being restored and will surely be breathtaking when it is finally
completed.


Friendly monk, as opposed to the unfriendly ones...


A beautiful city with...


...lots of charcter!



Later in the day all five of us went for a delicious supper of traditional Tibetan food (very spicy, oily and fatty, but with wonderful noodles and vegetables), and went to shoot pool at one of the many billiard places along the main strip. This was one of the other highlights of our trip along the plateau. As soon as we began to play, we had an audience of about 20 to 30 young Tibetan boys watching our every movement. Most were about 13 or 14 year old chain smokers who obviously spent much of their time in the evenings playing pool, seeing as they we all magnificent players despite the rather shabby cues and tables.


And as she lines up her shot, the crowd watches in awe.

We had lots of fun in Xiancheng but were excited for the next stop on our journey. So we said goodbye to the little town the next morning.

Litang - The highest town in the world!... (December 2-3)

We woke up at 5am and caught a cab to the bus station with our new posse. We sat in an absolutely frigid and dilapidated bus for 8 hours, driving over very high, unpaved and curvy cliffside roads. Throughout the course of the ride, we climbed over 1500 meters! We started from about 2500 meters above sea level in Khanding and ended up at a grand total of 4016 meters above sea level by the time we were in Litang, with passes at even higher altitudes along the way.


Road to Litang

Despite being about as uncomfortable as any time either of us could ever imagine, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery! High jagged snow capped peaks, rolling mountains covered with light drab bushes and yaks. This was our first true peek into the lives of everyday Tibetans. Their houses were humongous affairs which we could only imagine many families would live in. Despite the relative simplicity of their lives, every house was ordained with complex architectural portions and brightly coloured window frames. Other Tibetans were actually nomadic yak herders living in large black tents or yurts.

Our final destination was a town called Litang, an entirely Tibetan town very close to the Tibetan border. At 4016 meters asl, Mark felt fine for about 4 hours until the altitude began to catch up with him.

Starting to feel sick but not wanting to miss out on the fun, they all went to a little Tibetan disco. This was probably one of the most interesting experiences of either of our lives. About 30 Tibetans of ages between 15 and 20 crowded into a tiny little room drinking Coke and beer and dancing to techno versions of Tibetan songs in their yak fur winter coats. It was a blast until Mark started to feel very sick and we rushed back to our guesthouse so that Mark could vomit in peace.

For anyone who is interested, altitude sickness feels like a stomach flu except with a bad headache that ibuprofen/acetaminophen don't help. I had to stay up all night, sitting upward, to keep fluid from building up in my brain (which usually ends up being fatal).

Due to Mark's illness we booked a ticket that same night to leave Litang first thing in the morning... a very sad way to leave such an interesting little town.

Kangding - the beginning of Tibet (November 30 - December 2)

From Chengdu we caught a bus westward to the city of Kangding. On the ride there we met Peter, a Tibetan from the town of Batang who had only a few years prior started an NGO with some friends of his from university. His NGO was involved with poverty reduction and the betterment of lives for Tibetans living just outside of Tibet. Many of his projects had been funded by western countries, including two projects funded by the government of Canada.

Sight from the side of the road on the way to Kangding

Kangding was an absolutely stunning city. Built within a deep valley and surrounded by jagged mountains and with a rather large river running through the middle, if it wasn't in China then I would have thought that it was a little slice of the Swiss alps.


Kangding's Central River

The City of Kangding

During our stay in Kangding we went and visited one of the only Tibetan schools outside of Tibet in China on the suggestion of Peter. The walk to the school, about 3km outside of the town was beautiful. As we walked by the little farms along the river we were joined by a large number of school children who had just finished school for the day. Kids all over China are always amazed and intrigued to see a caucasian face, especially in these more remote towns. But as children all over the world are, they easily befriended us and all waved goodbye to us one by one as the went to their respective homes.

Mark walking with the kids

At the school we visited Derek, another one of the guys who started the NGO with Peter and spent a lovely afternoon chatting about the trials and tribulations of running an NGO in China.

After leaving the school we walked back to town and climbed a holy mountain to the east of the town. It was a beautiful walk up the prayer flag covered mountain and we made it to one of the lower peaks just in time to watch the sunset.


At the base of the flag covered mountain

Near the top!

Later that evening, after strolling around the lovely little town we met Anne (Ireland), Bobby (England) and Ofir (Isreal) who (little did we know) would soon become our posse for about a week through the Tibetan plateau. We all hit it off very quickly and enjoyed a few beers and games of cards before hitting the sack in preparation for what would be our most trying portion of the trip to date...