Bangkok - Shanghai

After Myanmar, Bangkok this time was a bit of a disappointment. People fly hundreds of miles to come and sit at the bars on Khaosan Road just to spend their days and nights drinking and taking all sorts of other things. All the wierdest or i should say 'different' people from all over the world are found here covered in Tattoos, piercings, rasta hair and eyes that are glazed from all the places their minds have wondered too. Of course there are the lady boys too and the old men with their little Thai girls on their arms. It's kind of a sickening place, I suppose you see life being wasted here every minute of every day. There are the regulars who have been there for who knows how long, screaming crazy thoughts out loud to no one in particular or just sleeping on the pavements like they do every night....and these are the foreigners who have been trapped in this hell.
And so I went to Kanchanaburi and here I went on the death railway and walked on the bridge over River Kwai. After coming from Burma, it was nice to cover this bit of history. The railway is just a wonder. How it was built in such a landscape will i think forever amaze people. And now I am in Shanghai. Another big city. It's winter here but after the sweltering heat, it's refreshing being here in the cold. It's bearable weather and with a few layers it's also pleasant. But I have come unprepared. I was getting all sorts of concerned looks walking around in my open toed sandals and even got stopped and told to wear some shoes before I caught a cold. And so I went Shopping and bought some decent shoes. It's great to see people riding around in their folding bikes and I'm right in the centre of town and surrounded by all the beautiful skyscrappers so it was nice just walking around. But also I am reminded of the miserable and rude character of the chinese. In some ways it's almost like being in London. People are too busy to help or give directions, they walk by shoving you and no apology comes forth....but among them there are a few nice people. I met 'Mickey' and she helped me shop for some shoes. Now I await a friendly face from home.

Myanmar

I am back in Bangkok and ready to move on aain. I fly into Shanghai this evening and from now on, I guess it will be only big cities for the rest of my travels. Coming back into Bangkok was a bit of a shock....nice in some ways I guess. My last few days inYangon have made me appreciate so many of the things that we take for granted. Telephones, internet and even just basic electricity. It was impossible to make international calls from Yangon and therefore from the rest of the country too. Internet was extremely hard to find and was only available occasionaly, when central government hadn't cut off connection, in Yangon and Mandalay. In the big cities, everyone had generators for electricity whereas outside the cities people worked with candlelight. And running a Tv for some evening entertainment....I have pictures of at least 10 car batteries and twice as many cables all hooked up to make the Tv run. Arriving into Bangkok, there was just amazing releif in being able to keep communications with home open.
The 'saffron revolution' n September has left Myanmar worse off. There are no tourists. Gasoline prices have been hiked up so high and petrol is rationed so that there are huge queues at the very few gas stations that exsist. On the roadsides people sit with bottles filled with cheap petrol from China half mixed with water and even this is sold at unaffordalble prices. We met restaurant owners near the 'touristic areas' who have shut down restaurants for the year. Everywhere we went, people told us to pass the message on and tell people that it was safe to go to Myanmar and that the people there really need the business. We travelled from Yangon up to Mandalay, from there we spent a few stunning days at Inle Lake and then to the glorious temple filled landscape of Bagan. All along the way we kept an eye out and except for an odd french or german couple here and there we were the only tourists around. Back to Mandalay and from her we took the train up North to Mykthina. Being the only foreigners on board we had a whale of a time...everyone wanted to feed us something, everyone wanted their photo takes, they constantly kept pointing out to us all the sights we passed along the way...look cows, they would all shout and gently push our faces to the window...at times we faked our amazement but at others we were genuinely amazed at the sincere warmth and friendliness of these people.
In Mykthina, we checked in at the YMCA and as we were unpacking, I heard my name and went to check what was going on. The local police had rung up to find out what I, a'British foreigner' was doing there. The people at the YMCA reassured them that I was only a harmless tourist but they follwed our every move. From Mykthina we got the boat to Simbo, a tiny little riverside town of about 400 residents. The place was so small it did not even have a guesthouse so we had to sleep at the house of some of the girls we had made friends with on the boat. However there was an immigration office here and as soon as we set foot on the banks of the Irrawaddy river, there was an officer asking me where I came from and leading me his office to be registered. Next day they made sure we got on the boat and they knew exactly wher we were heading. Staying in Simbo was just amazing. We arrived on the day of the Shan new year and therefore were able to take part in the local festivities and watch the traditional dances. Being a small town, everyone knew who we were and where we came from and as always there we smiles, presents and the 'may i help you'
I fell in love with Myanmar and the people there. It's the safest place in the world because the people there would never let anything happen to you. Now more than ever they need us to go and see the lives they live and help in our own little way.

Myanmar - Yangon

Yesterday I picked up my Visa from the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok and this morning I flew into Yangon.Here we found out and are still registering the fact that Yangon is no longer the capital city of Burma and hasn't been for the last two years. The new capital, where we as foreigners are not allowed to go is a small place (not even a city), still under construction in central Myanmar and the population there consits only of the military working there. This was our introduction to Myanmar. The Inn we are staying at had an airport pick up for us and on the way to the hotel, already we felt the warm and friendly nature of the locals. Unlike other hotel pick ups, these guys talked aand laughed with us, pointed out all the famous sights along the way and were just so friendly. The MotherLand Inn 2 that we are staying at is a clean and welcoming place and here too the staff have smiles on their faces and always ready to answer the millions of questions we have. Breakfast is included, so after eggs and bread, cake and coffee (we once again have good coffee here, not as delicious as lao coffee but a much bigger improvement on the Thai coffee) orange juice and bananas we decided to go explore. We had been up since half past three this morning to catch the bus to the airport and then check in but just being here in Myanmar gave us the incentive to keep going. So we took a taxi to the downtown market and from there we just walked around the downtown are and saw some of the big buildings and pagodas around. But all day we have seen no other tourists. We have been the only two girls walking around and we still have to pinch ourselves to remind us that this is real. I don't even know how I can describe this place in the little time I have. Yangon is completely and absolutely untouched by tourism. There is no tourist infrastructure at all and after coming from Khosan road in Thailand this is just the best feeling being here. There are no restaurants or bars, no tourist areas dedicated to the needs of backpackers and package tourists. There is nothing here except for normal everday life as it has been for probably as long as the people here can remember. Men walking around in their longhys, everyone chewing beetle nut (pan), every pavement available covered on both sides with street vendors selling a huge variety of food andevery other thing imaginable from an old nintendo to Jane Austen books. But the best thing so far has to be the people. Everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone has smiles from us and warm hellos. We stand in a street corner looking at the map in the lonely planet and within seconds someone will stop and politely ask us if they can be of any help at all. We take photos of the food vendors and the children and no one wants any money in return for it. Someone stops to give us directions and we immediately assume it's a taxi driver looking for some double fare customers but it doesn't happen. We get our directions are wished a warm welcome and a good stay and then he continues walking. The rest of south east asia has made us so suspicious that people just being nice here and wanting nothing in return is a constant surprise to us but a very pleasant one. There are people who are vary of our cameras and then we just put them away but for the most part we have just been walking around taking a hundred photos. But this is not a rich country at all. It feels like an ancient city and at the same time a very poor city. The buildings are extremely old and not looked after at all. The big side streets are just dirt roads. There are shanty houses and people living in extremely poor conditions and yet out in the middle of all this, once in a while will appear a beautiful and big five star hotel. The contradictions of everyday life intertwined with richly decorated gold pagodas and big hotel is just amazing to see. After walking around downtown for a couple of hours we went back to the hotel for a much needed nap and now in the evening we decided to walk along the Yangon river thinking that we could sit in a cafe and watch the sunset and maybe have a proper dinner in one of the restaurants. We had imagined it to be like Cambodia and Laos with lots of little outdoor bars and cafes along the river but we were pleasantly surprised when we got to the river front and there were no bars and no cafes and no one but locals. There were men who had tied their longhys up into shorts and were playing football along the tarmaced river bank area as the monks sat and watched the game and families who had just come for an evening walk, fathers and mothers playing with their little babies, children flying kites, vendors selling steamed peanuts and other snacks. It was just great. There is no sing of tourism here at all. As we walk along the river bank, the locals smile and greet us. In a place like this I would normally feel threatened and wouldn't even dare to pull my camera out but here we feel completely safe. We get stared at a lot but we also get the smiles and the hellos and everyone is ready and willing to explain to us everythinhg that is new to us. They are warm and friendly and generous and for once we are not seen as walking money machines. It's a great feeling being here among the most friendliest people I have met so far in my travels. And then we went looking for a good dinner. But this place is so untouristic that there are not even any restaurants for us to go and eat it. The ones that are recommended in the lonely planet are just a few rare little places spread out in the side streets but they are all empty. There are no tourists here:) except us! We went to two of them and they didn't even look like restaurants but someones garage with a few tables and a cooker. So we ended up sitting on really low stools at one of the street corners on the pavement eating nan freshly baked in a clay oven and beans with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. And now we have found probably the only place in Yangon which has hotmail aavailable. Hotmail has been blocked by the government. This is just one of the most amazing places I have been too and I have to keep reminding myself that I am actually here.

In Burma

I leave for Burma very early in the morning and will be there till the 14th. There is no hotmail there and I doubt I will be able to get onto my blog page either. So I guess that means no emails. But if I can I promise to send postcards and update you all on my adventures when I get back to Bangkok.

Bangkok

We have now been to Bangkok for three days but the most exciting thing for me has been going to the Burmese embassy and trying to get my Visa. I am so excited about flying to Burma on Wednesday, I don't even mind the fact that what was supposed to be a completely overland trip has now been broken by a return flight from Bangkok to Yangon. I have heard nothing but beautiful things about Burma and though the politics weigh on my conscious I am sure I've made the right decision to go. There have to be ways in which I can spend my tourist dollar there and help the locals instead of lining the pockets of the military. I guess I will have to wait till I get there to find out.
In Bangkok we have seen some of the major sights, one of them being the majestic and magnificent complex of the Royal Palace. Every inch of it is covered in beautiful and detailed patterns. It was just so stunning, I didn't even know how to capture the beauty and grandeur of the place in my photos. And then we have been to the big golden stupa at the top of the hill and got amazing 360 degree views of the city. Yesterday the Thai people all over celebrated the festival of 'Loy Krathong' ...there were people all day, all over the city preparing small candle floats that they would later that evening take to the river. These were made all from natural materials, the base -a slice of the trunk of the banana tree surrounded with banana leaf shaped in triangles and then decorated with orchids and marigolds and candles in the middle. Everyone dressed up and in the evening with floats in hand went near the riverside where the local firemen had volunteered to lower the floats into the river for the locals. And then like stupid tourists we just expected and waited for a fireworks display but we were very pleasantly surprised when we saw instead of fireworks lighting the sky, huge boats beautifully decorated floated by. It was something completely different and looked so beautiful.
The rest of our time here so far has been spent hanging out around our cacooned tourist area of Khaosan Road. Some of the guest houses here play the movie, 'the beach' continuously and apart from restaurants, bars, guesthouses, dodgy massage parlours and people trying to sell us ping pong shows! and white smoke, there isn't that much here. All the tourists in Bangkok are in this area and I don't really like that whole atmosphere. If I wanted to sit in a 'Traditional British Pub' I wouldn't have bothered leaving Britain. I'd much rather find a local place which served local beers and food. We have spent three days here but thankfully now we are moving around outside of Bangkok. We're going to see the famous floating markets tomorrow and I think I'll just be glad to see something different. I pick up my Visa for Burma on Tuesday so until then we're stuck in Bangkok. The people here are nice, I have good company and there is plenty of good food and a huge variety of it..so it's not all so bad.

Lampang -Thailand

Suji offered Peter a bed at her place too so we all set off to her place. It was pure luxury being driven around and for the next few days we got very used to this. There was no need for maps, buses, haggling for fiar prices with tuk tuk drivers....we just got into the car and were taken to new and exciting experiences. We hadn't showered for two days so after a much awaited cold shower we were ready for some dinner. We went to pick up Suji's cousin and then we spent the evening tasting the local cousin at one of the local restaurants. We walked along the night markets and just exchanged gossip that had been long overdue. It was just the perfect way to end the day. And we were so happy to be here in Thailand. The next few days we experienced Thailand the way the Thai's experience it themselves. We spent the next morning at one of her cousin's graduation, taking photos and then the celebration lunch went on till late into the night. Bottles of whisky were emptied at an amazing pace and even the boys got on stage to sing and dance. We had a great time hanging out and celebrating the Thai way. With little sleep, the next morning we were exhausted but we were up early for Juan Mauels sports day. He was so excited, we had to go cheer him. But this was like no other sports day. There were children dressed in all sorts of beautiful and traditional dress and the whole thing began with a parade down the street to the sports ground. It was hot and the children had been up early and understandably with all the elaborate costumes and the layers of make up they were grumpy but they kept going. The parade was so formal and the children marched with one gloved hand behind on their back. At the sports ground there were speeches and then performances of Kung Fu and hula dancing...it was amazing how good the little girsl were at keeping the hula on their waists and then finally the relay race. Juan came forth but he ran like a champ. After lunch and a much needed haircut (my hair was down to my waist and now it's down to my shoulders and much easier to look after) we drove to Suji's grandmother's house. A small village outside town where she grew up and wher most of her family still lived as farmers. Everyone knew everyone and it was so small you just walked around for 20 minutes and you would have seen every house in the village. Surrounding it though were golden rice fields and we were meant to help harvest the rice and the mushrooms but we arrived too late and everyone was coming back home after a hard days work harvesting. We visited all the houses one by one and said hello to the aunts and uncles and grandparents that we had gotten to know the day before at the party. They were so warm and welcoming and being there watching the mist rise over the rice fileds as the sun set was just one of the best moments in these travels. Back at home we walked around the corner to the noodle stall and had some hot and fresh noodle soup for dinner. It had been a long but really nice day and we went to bed tired but happy. Sunday Anne drove us to a national park an hour away and we walked along a beautiful waterfalls and sat in cosy little housed pools with water in them from the hot springs nearby. It was a perfect way to end the weekend and we felt realxed and ready to move on again.Monday we got to the Mountains in Chiang Mai and managed to see some of the most famous sights in Chiang Mai. The queens winter residence, Wat Doi Suthep and the Hmong village. But the most interesting part was staying with Suji's aunt. Her place ws one of the rows of shops selling tourist gear opposite the royal palace. It was a shop selling traditional clothes, jewellery and food and drink. Behind the shop she had her kitchen and at the top in the small attic was where she and her sister lived. With so little space it was incredible that three quarters of the attic was turned into a big and beautiful shrine, not only for Buddha and Ganesh and other Buddhist important figures but also for the Royal family who here in Thailand are as revered as the gods themselves. She showed us photos that she was so proud of, of her meetings with various members of the roya family and then took us to one of the nearby stands for dinner. It was so strange, they had a community of their own here, lives that they had build here for many years and yet most tourists would only see the rows of shops selling all sorts of souveniers. As we sat there eating our freshly cooked noodles we listened to the local gossip, tried to learn a few phrases of Thai that they were so keen to teach us and just soaked in the friendly and hospitable nature of that little community of souvenier vendors. Next morning we took the tuk tuk and went down to central Chiang Mai and here we have spent the last two days sight seeing. I have been to see the various hill tribes and also some traditional thai long nail dancing. We've missed out on the elphant shows and the cookery schools....just seemed too touristic. And now we move on to Bangkok.

Along the Mekong and into Thailand

It was sad to leave Luang Prabang but it was also time to move on. We decided that getting the boat up to Northern Laos and from there crossing into the Thai border would be the best way to enter Thailand and also get to Lampang, near Chiang Mai, which is where my friend lives. It was time for a friendly face, and a home to unpack for a few days in. The fast speedboats seemed like the way to go, an adventurous ride along the Mekong but the prices were too high and being the budget travellers that we are we decided to settle on the two day slow boat option. We set off early in the morning from Luang Prabang and that night we would be spending in the small northern town of Pak Beng. The Mekong here is very different to the Mekong we spent three days crossing getting from Vietnam to cambodia. Here the Mekong is untouched. On bothe sides it is surrounded by mountain ranges covered in lush green forests, the banks (because the rainy season is over) have turned into beautiful beaches and in the river itself the dropping level of water means that there are huge rocks that just out of the water. There is no life along the river and it is extremely peaceful. Unlike Vietnam where there were rows of houses on stilts and a constant hub of activity in and around the river, here there is nothing but just the occasional boat gliding along. Tourism has yet not touched this part of the world. There were no tourist stops along the way, no stops for venders to come and sell snacks to tourists at exhorberent prices. It was a good thing that we had some bread and cheese with us. We watched the boat as it navigated the rocks in the river, listened to music as we watched the beautiful landscapes pass us by and only when it started getting dark and we had not yet reached Pak Beng did we start to worry about the pace of the slow boat. In the dark we sat praying and hoping that the flashlight the conducter was holding would spot the rocks in the river before the boat hit them. We slowed down even further and when we finally got to Pak Beng there was no spot for us to park the boat. Our asses hurt from sitting on hard wooden benches all day on the boat, we were hungry, tired and getting more and more worried. Finally a compromise was made and the boat was moored. We had to step across three other boats to get to the bank, walk up it's beach in the dark, up a steap hill and then into the restaurant balcony of a very posh hotel. All this we did in the dark. Getting to the hotel, we walked through it all dirty, tired and sweaty with, what seemed like, our huge packs, on our backs and tried to find a guest house for the night. Pak Beng, even though a small towm in the remoter part of Norther Laos is also a midpoint for those crossing either way between Laos and Thailand. Guesthouses are not in the abundance here so when we walked around, everything was full....we were the last boat to arrive into town. After walking around a bit we managed to find a room and also some hashish if we wanted it. We said thanks to the rooma nd no thanks to the fun stuff and after a quick dinner of friend rice ( we were on the last of our kips and didn't wanna change any more money) we had an early night. Next morning we were more prepared. With a few snacks and a packed sandwich for lunch we went to find the port and with tickets in our hand we boarded the boat a second time ready for our final leg of the journey along the Mekong. Here we met Peter, the American and chatting to him all the way made the day go quicker. But also this time we had food to keep us going and we knew exactly what to expect. We could just enjoy being on the river and watch the stunning landscapes pass us by. The only signs of life, an occasional bird, or small villages tucked away high in the forests or the bare patches where the hmong have been using the slash and burn form of agriculture. But the journey was shorter and we got to Hoy Xai, teh border town before dark. On the other side of the River was Thailand and we could see the royal yellow flags everywhere. But also we saw roads and signs of civilization that confirmed to us that on the opposite side of the river was Thailand. We celebrated with dark Lao beer and our final Lao meal of sticky rice and vegetables. After another early night, it was another early morning. We were up and ready for our delicious Lao coffee before we took the boat across and entered the gates of Siam. Before we knew it we had our exit stamp for Laos, we had crossed to the other side by boat and got our entry stamps for Thailand. And we didn't even shop at the duty free along the river bank:) It was all so quick and simple. Crossing borders by land is definitely much easier and simpler. No customs and waiting around for departure gates and the rest of it. From there we took a luxury Thai bus to Chiang Mai and from Chiang Mai a local bus to Lampang. We timed it so perfectly we didn't even have to waste time hanging around waiting for buses. we arrived in lampang at 6:00p.m and there Suji was waiting for us with all her work mates. It was such a nice feeling to see someone familiar, someone who I knew before my travels began and also knowing that for the next few days we wouldn't have to do anything but would just get looked after completely. Our minds and bodies could take a break.

Vientianne and Luang Prabang - Laos

The more time we spend here and the more we travel around Laos, the more we fall in love with this exquisite country. When we were in Tibet it felt like we were in another place and another time and that feeling has returned here in Laos. Time has stood still here in Laos and with it's stillness kept all it's beauty, tradition, culture and spirituality. Vientiane, the capital, is unlike any other capital city I have been in before. It is very calm and easy going and more of a provincial town than a capital city. We spent our days there walking around the beautiful Wats (Buddhist temples), sitting on the banks of the Mekong watching the sun set and drinking the most delicious Lao coffee. A small city, it was just nice to walk around and enjoy the quite calmess of the city (a contradiction in itself).
And then we took the bus to the UNESCO city of Luang Prabang. We had been told ever since we entered Asia that this was one of the most beautiful places to see and if the bus ride was anything to go by, it seemed that what we had been told was all true. The 8 hour bus ride through winding mountain roads was had breathtaking landscapes all the way. Green, lush mountains and valleys, small villages along the way and always in the background a beautiful vista of the lines formed by the mountain range. We have now been in Luang Prabang for 4 idyllic days and are in no rush to leave this beautiful untouched corner of the world. We feel extremely lucky and even more priviledged to be here. Times are moving very quickly for this country and especially for this city and I think a few more years and the magic of this place will be completely captured and lost in the tourism that is slowly creeping up. There are plans to extend the exsisting airport so that boeings can land. Need I say more. At the moment it is a cultural and religious place. A small city set surrounded by mountains and with the Mekong running through it. You sit at a roadside cafe and there a motorbike will pass by every 2 minutes instead of a continuos stream of hundreds of them. Bicycles are the nexy big form of transport. Cars are rare and the ones that we do see are brand new and very recently acquired. There are no buses or trucks or anything like that. We were told that 2 years ago even motorbikes were rare and if you sat at a local cafe you'd see one pass by every half an hour. It is a place where time stands still. Mornings start very early, we have been up at 5:30 in the mornings to give alms to the monks with the locals, and the city sleeps early too.
This is what life is like here for me....A day in Luang Prabang......
5:30a.m --- sit on the pavement with all the locals with a basket of sticky rice or a bag of sweets and wait as the monks leave all the wats and walk along in a line passing us and collecting their food for the day. We are blessed everyday and cannot think of a better way to start the day.
6:00 --- back to bed for a few hours...
8:30 ---breakfast at a local cafe.....as we sit there drinking delicious Lao coffee with freshly baked warm baguettes, we watch the monks walking by, with umbrellas to shade them from the sun, going to school, parents bringing their children, dressed in uniforms that keep with the traditional dress,to school, on motorbikes.
9:30 ----walk into town and we watch as people start the day setting up food stalls to sell noodle soup with fresh salad, lemon and red hot chillies, baguette with pate, sticky rice and chicken.......women steaming rice in big baskets on charcoal fires, boiling big pots of long, white noodles.....and then as we walk some more there are home industries.......women sitting at home with piles of steaming hot salty rice pressing it into bamboo rings and leaving there out to dry to make rice cakes......women sitting there gossiping and stitching detailed traditional patterns and landscapes on tapestries and bags and cushion covers to sell at the night market for the few tourists who are lucky enough to be here
11:00 ----- It's saturday and we have taken a tuk tuk to a suburb 10 minutes out of townto watch a cock fight. It's a small brick ring built in someone's backyard surrounded by men waiting for the fight to begin. The two cocks are being cleaned and prepared by their owners in one corner and then it is time to place them in the rink. slowly you can feel the tempo rising, the excitement and the testerone building up. We could stay and watch 6 more fights but noodle soup is calling and we will come back tomorrow for a bit more excitement.
12:30 ---- sit on low stools and eat the hot and freshly prepared noodle soup with a squeeze of lemon in it and a few red hot chillies t o give it an added kick. To calm our burning mouths.....a delicious fresh fruit shake made from mangoes, bananas, pineapples, dragon fruit, papaya.....
1:20 ---we catch the local bus to the Kuang-si waterfall...an hour later we are there enjoying the crystal clear waters. We sit under the falls surrounded by lush green vegetion and with only a few locals to keep us company and share their picnic with us.
5:00 -- It starts to get cold and we grab our scarves and jumpers from the hotel, walk around to the Wat, talk to a few monks who are always ready and willing....they like to practise their english, at times in the smaller wats we sit with them for the evening prayer and just get taken away by the sound of their beautiful voices singing and chanting..
7:30 --- a quick walk around the local market as the local sit there wrapped up from the cold selling silk scarves and bags and various other traditional items. As they wait for someone to come and spend a few kips, they sit there hand making the items they are selling......embroidering, carving....
8:00 --- a dinner of Lap...local soup ..at the Cafe's along the Mekong and after a few Lao beers...it's an early night as the city itself shuts down and everyones goes to bed early on these cold nights.

We drink Lao coffee, explore the Wats, talk to the monks, walk around, go outside town to explore the area around and generaly just fall into the pace of life that exsists here. Time stands still or passes slowly and with it we feel like we have entered another world that will very soon in a few years disappear.

Pakse - Southern Laos

My first day in Pakse, Laos. When I first arrived here yesterday evening, I walked around the tour agencies but to go anywhere or see anything of the area, it was an expensive business. I found out why Laos is not for the budget traveller. But there are always ways around and always local transport. So walking around I asked the various motorbikes and other forms of transport on three wheels if how much it would cost me to get to the nearby towns and the ruins of Wat Phou, an old monastery ruins. Luckily I found a guy who was ready to take me for $10, a bargain and so I decided to go with him. The next morning was an early rise and at 6:00am I was waiting outside the Great Wall hotel where I was staying. By the way for $3 I have a beautifully clean and spacious room at the very top with a huge balcony overlooking the whole of Pakxe. It's an absolute bargain, especially when the other hotels start at $12. Did I not already mention that everything in South East Asia works in dollars. Even though the currency is plummiting, here it is as strong as it ever was.
Anyway, so my guy was late turning up and so I made a deal with another motorbike driver and as we set off the guy from yesterday turned up, following us and chastising him for nicking his day's owrk. Anyway, I swopped back to my original driver, he rode the motorbike and I sat in the umbrella seat that was attatched to it. But he asked if I'd rather sit on the motorbike as a passenger and we could get rid of the umbrella seat and I was all YES. So on our way to the village of Champasak and War Phou we made a detour and stopped at his friends house. A local house on stilts, built in the middle of a forest clearing> I wasn't going to get these experiences sitting on a tour bus. And as the driver and his friends set about detatching the umbrella seat from the motorbike, I sat and watched the daily life. The grandfather and grandmother sat with the daughter-in-law and the grandchildren on the verandah watching from high up, all the excitement of a foreigner being in their compound. It was very early in teh morning. The kids were getting ready for school, sitting with mum eating their sticky rice for breakfast. The teenager who wasn't going to go to school till the afternoon, sat on a bed on under the shade of the house carving himself a spit bullet gun out of wood. And teh grandmother chewing bettle nut. It seems like a lazy life, but I guess the hard work comes when it's time to sow or harvest and not much to do in between.
So leaving the umbrella seat behind, we went on the motorbike, not a moped or anything like that, it was a proper motorbike, on our way to Champasak. It was just the best way to travel. As we got to the river we had to cross over and to do this the locals have built ferries for teh motorbikes. Two wooden canoes, joined together by a platform made of wooden planks and at the end of one of the canoes, a small motor to whizz us across. The same sort of system works for the big ferries that transport cars and buses across too, except instead of two canoes, they join together three.
On the other side we came to the small village of Champasak. Very quaint and very rural at the same time. Bufallos cooling off in water pools, children studying in open air classrooms (schools are just big huts with partitions and holes for windows and doors. beautiful Khmer houses, with ornately carved banisters and people, mostly women again, walking around with their vietnamese cone hats and their tools on their way for some hard work at the rice paddies. The ruins of Wat Phou, after having been to Angkor were just a big disappointment, but nothing is ever that disppointing. I sat down and talked to the local women there, using gestures and drawings of course, and they showed me how they made their banana leaf and flower decorations that they use in their prayers. And then I got blessed by one of the old women with some orange thread around my wrist. Why is orange such a symbolic colour?
And since the day was still young, I decided that we could go to the village of Ban Pha Pho. I had read somewhere that this was where they had working elephants and the ethnic Suay group of people. The driver had never been there before either and so thinking that it was just a few more kilometers away, he agreed to take me there. But we rode and rode and soon the tarmac road turned off onto narrow, jungle dirt trek and we kept going and going. I loved every second of it. It had rained heavily the day before so the dirt track in places had just turned to huge puddles of water, the small hills going up and down were covered in mud and in other places the trek was so narrow that we couldn't help but brush into all the flora and fauna. It was two hours and a water stop at one of the local forest dwellings before we got to Ban Pha Pho. The driver was exhausted, especially since we had been riding in the midday heat. I was exhausted but at the same time absolutely thrilled to have had the ride. The village itself was beautiful, set in the middle of a forest. Buy there were no elephants around and certainly the people did not look any different to the people in Pakse. We were directed to the elephant school where I was told that the war and the bombing had pushed the Suay further into the forest near to the border with Cambodia. The elephants....there used to be 90 of them.....loads for such a small village....but once again with the bombing, there were only 10 left now and they were in the forest. For a small fee, I could go trek and see them, and even though I was hot and tired and completely exhausted, I had come to see elephants and I was not about to leave without seeing them. So one of the trainers/keepers took me into the forest and there were two majestic looking beasts. The elephants were deep in the forest and got a little nervous as we entered their territoty. We could only stay for a short while without disturbing them too much and the leeches were getting to me anyway. So I had seen my elephants, not the way I had pictured in my head, walking around the village carrying wood, but instead in the forest.
After a lunch of sticky rice and vegetables, it was time to make our way back and this time we know the road, if I can call it that, that awaited us. Before we got to Pakxe, we had to pick up the umbrella seat and this time it was the end of the day. All the neighbours had come around for an end of the day gossip and to see what all the excitement was in the compound. The kids were all playing, boys football and the girls jumping rope, literally. Two of them would hold a string stretched out and the the others would jump over it to get to the other side. the string got higher and higher and the acrobati abilities of the girls more amazing, especially since they were jumping with bare feet on a dirt floor. With the umbrella seat back on, I was glad for a proper seat, having ridden on the motorbike from 7 in the morning till 6 in the evening meant that my ass was a little sore:) Not that I am complaining, every second of it was thrilling. Back to Pakxe and all I could think of was a shower and my bed.
Next day was going to be another early start. I had to be up before 6:00 am because that is when all the monks leave the monasteries to go and collect their alms from the local people. Dressed in their orange robes, with their vessels they walk in a line along the streets collecting stick rice and other food and blessing the locals. I walked along the street and found a group of women waiting with tehir baskets of sticky rice and water and a white scarf around their shoulders. I asked if I could wait with them and take a few photos and they were more than happy for me to sit with them. A minute or two later along the horizon we saw appear a line of orange, the women picked up their baskets and went to kneel along the roadside, and tehy asked me to join them. So I did and as one by one the monks walked past opening the lid of their vessels, I put a handful of sticky rice in it. Religious or not it was a very nice way to start the morning. I could take a few photos but at that moment I guess that wasn't so important. And then I spent the rest of the day just walking around town and taking it easy, catching up on my journal and getting ready to take the bus the next morning to the capital of Vientiane.
But this morning, I found out that I did not check my ticket properly and my bus left last night. So I have had to pay for another one and just hang around here a bit more. It's okay I guess, I would easily spend 7 quid on a few drinks back home and this way I get to catch up on my blog.

Southern Cambodia and entering into Laos.

A bus from Phnom Phen took me to the southern town of Stung Treng. The landscape changed as we entered the southern region of Cambodia. Less populated and a lot more forest area. But There is not much to do in Stung Treng, it's just a sleppy border town and so after an afternoon there, the next day I would take the bus into Laos. It is not as yet so easy to go by River and therefore very expensive but thebus journey was just as fascinating. First I had to cross the Mekong at Stung Treng by river and there on the other side a bus awaited me taking me through jungle trek through to the immigration post for exiting Cambodia. Here to get my exit stamp, they wanted a dollar but I stood firm and the pockets of the officials in this case remained unlined. But the office itself was a little wooden hut on the edge of the forest. Amazing. And then a change of bus and another twenty minutes in and another shack surrounded by forest. I was at the Laos immigration point. Here unfortunately he would not stamp my passport till I gave him the dollar and so I caved in. Both sides are corrupt but I guess on the Laos side they are more sassy and make you pay up first.
After that it was a long bumpy ride through more forest dirt treks and then I was in the southern most town of Laos, Pakse. And here Laos has come alive for me. It is almost an untouched place, mostly french tourists....i guess they have that sense of adventure....but also quite expensive. The Laos government, in order to get ways from the Thai model of cheap backpackers has kept their advertising to only certain coutries and with the prices high, attracts only a certain kind of tourist..in other words, no stingy backpackers I guess. But my first full day here in Laos has been a reminder of why I love Asia.....monks and motorbikes.

Angkor

Watching the sun rise over Angkor was just a breathtaking sight. As I stood there with all the other tourists who could be bothered to get up that early, we watched from across the pond as slowly the sun rose over the 5 towers of Angkor Wat. It was everything I had imagined it would be and more. I guess I hadn't imagined the local cafe owners shouting 'hot coffee' in the background as they touted for customers to serve them hot vietnamese coffee for breakfast. But otherwise it was calm and serene as we all watched the colours of the sky over Angkor change and as soon as the sun was up, the temple loomed majestically over us. Inside the temple, there walls all around were carved with the figures and stories from the myths of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Originally a complex of Hindu temples, it was then taken over by a Buddhist king and then once again returned to Hindu kings. After walking around Angkor Wat, the 'jamboh' a cambodian version of the tuk tuk, took us to Angkor Thom. And this was more stunning than Angkor. The towers of Bayon, the main temple in Angkor Thom are covered with 49 Buddha faces. One of the faces is the one used on the Cambodian currency notes. After walking around this complex we went to the temple of Prea Khan. Now this was what I had pictured in my head. This is how I had seen Angkor on a Tv documentary and decided that one day i had to see it. When I fist saw Angkor in a documentary, it was the French,always the adventurers, who were trekking through dense forest vegetation and they discovered all these boulders with carvings and slowly the whole sight of Angkor was discovered. Before i went into teh Angkor complex, I imagined I would be trekking through dense forest treks to find myself suddenly standing in front of towering temples thousands of years old. Instead it is all very civilized, there is an official entrance where you buy the 2 or 3 day pass which requires a photo. They even have a camera man on sight taking the photo for you if you don't already have one and then you travel via motorbikes or jamboh's or even cars along dirt roads and at some point even tarmaced roads to get to the Various temples. But Prea Khan is stunning because it's the jungle temple. It's where they shot tomb raider and the temple stands untouched. There are huge trees spurting out of the temple walls and roof, roots, hundreds of years old causing havoc to the structure of the temple. We spent the next two days walking around the various temples, always as we entered a temple, there would be a whole group of kids tring to sell us bracelets and water and other crafts that they had made. These kids are really sassy though. It's amazing how much they have absorbed from hanging around the tourists all day. extremely intelligent, they have an answer for every question and their ability to speak the basics in any major foreign language you asked them to, just amazed me.
Having fulfilled my dream and roamed around Angkor for 2 days I was ready to get back to Phnom Phen and them towards the south of CAmbodia from where I would enter Laos. But we deided to stay in Phnom Phen for a few days. We met a dane who had been staying there a while and knew the place well enough to show us around. And there is nothing better to have someone who knows the place show you around it. So we spend the weekend getting to know Phnom Phen. We walked along the riverside and spent the night sipping cocktails along the front which is lined with bars. We saw bats in the middle of the day, hanging from a tree right in the centre of town at one of it's main junctions, walked through the markets, and went to the backpacker area near the lake where we saw the sun set. But the time I was most grateful for having Jacob, the Dane, around was when we visited Tuol Sleng, a former Khmer rouge s-21 prison, not just for the history of it but just as moral support. The prison is actually on the sight of what used to be a secondary school and later also had a primary school next to it. From the outside it looks like all the other regular schools in Phnom Phen, except withhout the kids in white and blue uniforms and the playgrounds full of motorbikes and bicycles. This school houses photo upon photo of the millions, literally, of victims of Pol Pot and the Khmer rouge regime. They documented their crimes so well that these records now provide a light on the horrendous side of humanity. The classrooms with small cells built in them, and the chains still on the floor, are just a horrible place to be in. The graphic pictures and explanations of the torture carried out there is just emotionally scarring. And we were only there for half an hour. Imagine having to live through a regime like that....it's just unimaginable. And I guess still we don't learn and people carry on with wars all over the world. How can people be so greedy for power that they have no qualms about treating people worse than humans?
The prison is somewhere everyone should visit once in their lives.....seeing it in person just brings home the reality of human nature when it seeks power and control.

Cambodia

I entered Cambodia via the Mekong. Three days on a range of boats from small canoes to big luxurious boats .....tricky but the best way I have entered a country so far. We stopped along a few small towns, saw the hustle and bustle of the floating markets and local industries like where they made coconut candy and rice paper. We had breakfast on the river as the women rowed her canoe from boat to boat making a living selling delicious Vietnamese coffee and noodle soup. We went through a maze of small mangrove canals and through places where the river was so wide it seemed like a sea. It was fascinating to see how life along the river, with it's gentle pace, works, and how people who live near the river are so completely dependant on it for everything but also use it in the most creative ways to earn a living. The floating fish farms and teh floating markets were just amazing to see. And it seems all along these cultures the women work the hardest. We saw mostly women along the floating markets, rowing their canoes packed with fruits and vegetables. The men also do some of the hard work but apparently once again, they see themselves playing the role of the parent who teaches their child 'culture'.
On the third day we approached the Cambodian border. Leaving Vietnam was just walking past a wooden pole while a man in shorts and Tshirt had a quick glance at your passport. It was hilarious how easy it was. But funnier still was when the boat left us at the Cambodian immigration. We would have to leave the Vietnamese boat and take a Cambodian one. None of us had Visas so we walked into this compound where there were official looking personnel. No sign saying this was the immigration office...and I use the word very loosely. It was a beautiful open bamboo bungalow with hammocks at the sides, palm trees for shade and a view of the river. We saw the sign saying 'Visa here' and for a few minutes wondered whether this scenic location would be where we would actually get our Visa. As I sat across the table from the official...at least this time he had the uniform shirt on even if he was wearing shorts to go with it, I had the view of teh Mekong river infront of me, he checked my Visa form, wrote out the Visa in front of me and stuck it in my passport, I paid him the $20 and that was it. I was officially allowed to enter Cambodia. If only all Visa formalities and offices were this nice.
We got the cambodian boat and as we entered the mekong on the Cambodian side, we immediately noticed the difference. The houses were now distinctly Khmer houses. Beautiful
wooden houses built on very high stilts and with roof decorated in the traditional Khmer tyres. But the biggest difference was seeing all the cows and water buffallos. I was told that Vietnam gets all it's cheap meat from the Cambodian side. And then also along the river spots of orange, monks in their robes hanging out near the river...we were in Cambodia and I was that much closer to seeing Angkor Wat.
It was night time when we arrived to Phnom Pehn and we went for dinner in a local place near the guest house. The atmosphere was just something else. It was what we assume a beer and seafood place. There were tables full of men, and only men, with big jugs of Ancor beer next to each table and all sorts of plates filled with 'delicacies' The atmosphere was one of being jolly and just having a good old time. As we walked in, being the only woman there I first got stared at and then impecable service. The guys were jealous at how I got all my food and drink delivered first and always with a huge smile. Even with it thundering and pouring it down outside, it was just great being in Phnom Pehn.
The next day, I decided to go sight seeing, took a motorbike to the killing fields and it was the first rude awakening to the history of the Cambodians. How could one man, turn so many minds into pure evil and end up killing so many people in the most horrendous of ways. It was just incomprehensible. And after that I walked to the riverside and went to see the Royal Palace. What a contrast to my morning. The palace is architecturally Khmer style and absolutely beautiful. The grounds are really well maintained and walking around I got an insight into just how royal life would have been in there.
And then I couldn't wait any longer, I had to go see Angkor, I have been waiting so long to see it.
So the next day we took the bust to Siem Reap. Got there by lunchtime so we could explore the town a little. A much smaller and nicer town. Quieter and mainly in exsistence on the tourist trail because it is a perfect base for going into Angkor.
A 4:00 am rise the next morning meant that we would see the sun rise over Angkor wat.

Vietnam

For me Vietnam, came and went very quickly. Two reasons, I did not stick around there for a long time were the floods approached and it meant that there was a lot I could not do and then it seemed extremely touristic compared to all the other places i had been to so far. Two places, made Vietnam special to me....the two cities of Hanoi and Saigon. I guess I am a city girl at heart. But entering Hanoi to find all the thousands of motorbikes and a city so vibrant in Culture and also it was our first look into Vietnam, that was pretty special and arriving in the evening Rush hour meant that we saw a Hanoi in Rush hour traffic with hundreds of motorbikes racing through the streets, carrying anything between 2 to 4 passengers. And then it was the evening prayer time and people burning fake $100 bills in luck that the next days earning would bring them the real $100. It was dinner time too and time to catch up with friends at the end of the day and so on the pavements groups of young and old sat on tiny, low stools enjoying all sorts of local 'delicacies' and strong and delicious cups of cold Vietnamese coffee. In Hanoi we saw the water puppet show but it wasn't as impressive...it was more laid on for the tourists whereas I would have preffered to see the original thng in some little village, I guess. But I can't always have it all.
After Hanoi, my first Vietnamese train took me to teh coastal town of Hoi An. The train journey, hard sleeper again, showed me the warmth and friendly character of the Vietnamese. They are just lovely people. And because I was on the Hard sleeper, it meant i was sharing the cabin with the locals. It's really crap,excuse the language, that I cannot speak the language, but they old woman sharing the cabin with me was able to show her warmth and hospitality anyway. Big smiles and sharing food...just came so easily to her. But the trains themselves are the worst so far. They are comfortable and clean, especially with no spitting (unlike the chinese), but they are very old and the dining cart..well it was just a tiny space where I really would not want to spend any time or eat anything.
Anyway, Hoi An was flodded the day after I got there so I could not really do much. The 'My Son' temple complex, similar to Angkor, was flooded, and so I just sat near the riverside and watched as all sorts of vehicles and people wlaked through the floods. It was great to just sit there and take photos....a beautiful town.
Another train journey and with some more Vietnamese looking after me, I arrived in Saigon. I shared a cabin with a Caodai believer..which in itself was fascinating, two engineers, one who spoke very good english, a guy who was going to his fiance's town to get married and the saddest looking Vietnamese lady i think I will ever see. A funny mix, but so nice. Vietnamese trains have meals included and so as we sat all together, eating our sice and eggs, I found out more about Vietnam than I have staying in any of the cities. I knew about Caodai being a religion only found and having originated in Vietnam but actually coming in contact with a veliever was just enlightening. Both her, and the woman who was mourning because she had lost her son in a motorbike accident a month ago (more that 30 people die everyday from motorbike accidents in saigon) were on a vegetarian diet. Most caodaist were vegetarian but these women were just giving up meat and fish for a month. One to wash away her sins, the other because she was mourning her son, and I guess asking god to look after him. Arriving into Saigon, it was crazier that Hanoi. triple or even quadruple the number of motorbikes in Hanoi. I loved it, the constant roar of the motorbikes but also there was the constant hooting and once again crossing the road was an adventure everytime. You just walk slowly across, praying that you don't die any second soon but as you walk slowly across the traffic just goes around you..it is just a skill, an artform the way they ride their motorbikes in the city.
The lady on the train had given me an address of a Caodai temple I could visit. It was pretty far away from the backpacker area where I was staying and so I decided to take a long motorbike ride to it. But I guess the motorbike driver just thought I wanted to see any odd temple and since he didn't exactly know where the temple was he took me to what he thought was a temple in the nearby are. What he took me to, and I guess I will be forever grateful to him for this mistake, was a buddhist university at a time when classes were about to begin. I didn't want to just walk around so I grabbed a passing nun and asked her if I could walk around, thinking it was a temple and not knowing it was a university at all. She spoke very little English but she took my hand and walked me up the stairs. We passed monks and nuns in their grey and marroon robes sitting in the balconies, reading, talking to each other and smiling as we passed them by. She took me outside her classroom and we sat on the balcony exchanging names and other basic information. She shared her plastic bag coke with me and as we sat there soon other nuns came to greet us and before I knew it I was surrounded by nuns holding satchels waiting to go to class and begin their afternoon studies. One of the nuns, Nimh, who spoke quite good english invited me to spend the next day with her. I was more than willing and with the address in hand agreed to meet her at 8 in the morning the next day. I wished them a good class and as I walked back down to my waiting motortaxi, I beheld a sight, an image that i will hold in my head forever. The gate was filled with nuns in their gray habits and monks in their orange and marroon robes coming to afternoon classes in motorbikes and mopeds. They were all ridng in, filing the parking space, hanging out with fellow classmates and freinds for a few minutes before class began....it was just great standing there watching school begin, but for a different sort of student, I guess for the students of the highest order.
So next morning, I was up early and left for another long motorbike ride to District 12 of Saigon, a half an hour motorbike ride away from Disctrict 1, which is where my hotel was. The staff and the motorbike driver wondered why I wanted to go so far away, nothing there for you to see they told me, only how wrong they were. This time I was at a temple. Nimh had invited me to where she lived, a temple and a nunnery. She was waiting for me even though the rushhour traffic meant that I was a little late. That was the best motorbike ride I have had and everyone going to Saigon should at least one just ride around in the Saigion rush hour because it is an experience in itself. Hundred of motorbikes, going in all different directions and when they all get stuck at a roundabout, they move an inch at a time, slowly bumping into each other and inching their way into the direction they want to go to, out of the traffic.
Anyway, Nimh was waiting for me and I started the morning by helping her to clean one of the rooms in preparation for an unexpected visit from the monks. They she found me two young children who were learning to show me around. They were absolutely amazing. So intelligent and so outgong, I was amazed at their openness, their ability to welcome me so easily and put me completely at ease. I did a little maths and english with them while I waited for Nimh to finish preparing the room and they were quicker in their mental calculations that I was, my maths isn't that amazing but it is quick enough and these kids were only 8 and 9 years old. I halped prepare lunch, ate with the nuns and just hung around with them for the day. It amazed me and it was an experience that was just unrivaling. The strength of character, the strong sense of self identity, the complete lack of insecurities and the absolute focus on and thirst for knowledge. They knew, even the youngest of them all, with absolute certainty and no doubts at all, who they were as individuals, what they wanted out of life and a sureness that they were heading in the right direction. I was amazed and don't think I have ever come across before such a strong sense of self identity. They knew exactly who they were and were a hundred per cent content and happy with it. Another day with the nuns, and then a day visiting a couple of the sights around the city and I was ready to move on.
I was going to take a boat on the Mekong, for 3 days to enter Cambodia and finally fulfill my long standing dream of getting to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat.

Ok my last day in Vietnam, and from Saigon I go to Cambodia via boat for three days. Saigon has been amazing. First it's great to be in a city again and especially one where there are so many motorbikes and you can constantly hear the beautiful roar of the engines. For anyone who loves motorbikes, you must have gathered that I do, this is a perfect city. There are thousands of motorbikes everywhere and I suppose after a while the noise might get too much and with the pollution too...well i wouldn't want to live here long term but for a while it's a great city to spend time in and observe how Vietnam lives and breathes.

I spent a few days in the quieter and calmer city of Hoi An, near the coast and it was a great place to chill. Boat rides on the river and french cafes and beautiful french architecture to admire. Old traditional houses and pagodas but the main reason everyone goes there is to get a new wardrobe. I had a beautiful, red, made to measure, winter coat stitched for me in under 10 hours. there are shops everywher, selling the latest styles. You can sit with the latest next catalogue and choose from a range of material, vietnamese silk, thai silk to cotton and linel. This is the perfect place for a foreigner to rent a bike and go around town. the big cities are just to crazy to ride in by yourself. But unfotunately for me the rain and floods meant that I could neither rent a bike nor do much walking around. All I could do was sit in the cafe and watch school children, rubbish collectors and everone else walk, and drive through the floods.

With news of more flood, the town of Hue suffering as badly as the floods in 1999, and a typhoon too, I decided to get as far away from the coast as I could. Most foreigners here seem to travel by bus, cheaper and more convenient as the bus stops at different towns along the coast, but I'm told by the locals that the buses are dangerous bothe because of the crazy driving and also because of the people using them. So I decided for the safer and obviously the nicer option and take the train. Fortunately, my train was neither delayed nor cancelled. loads of other were because of the floods. I was on the hard sleeper again, sharing my cabin with 2 civil engineers travelling on work, a guy going to meet his way to get married, a woman who belonged to the caodai faith, indegenous to vietnam, and another who had just a month ago lost her son in a motorbike accident and me. It was interesting combination and i laernt alot especially as one of the engineers spoke English. It's amazing how sadness makes itself so visible. the woman mourning her son was on a special vegetarian diet. She had given up meat and fish and I'm told that this was quite common in Vietnam. When people wanted to ask god for something they abstained from meat and fish for a while. The train journeys are much more fun here in Vietnam, the people are so much nicer, friendlier and warm but the trains are pretty old. But I shouldn't be complaining, they look old but they are clean (or are they, there was a rat in our cabin) but at least there aren't people spitting all over the place. That is one habit that the chinese really need to ger rid off. I was thoroughly disgusted by it and am so pleased to have gotten away from it. Arriving in Saigon, I took a motorbike to the hotel:) There are no hostels in most of Vietnam, it's so touristic that they have hotels with varying price ranges but not many big hostels which i am so used to. I am staying at Madame Cuc's .."tea, coffee, juice" you get asked everytime you walk in and with breakfast and dinner included for $12 it's a great deal. i love being in the city again but the days here in Saigon have passed really quickly. I haven't done most of the touristic things that are recommended. haven't made it to the war museum or the pagodas but I have had a fascinating time here. I have been able to get out of the touristic area and move around bits of Saigon that few other tourists have experienced. I have spent my time with the Vietnamese buddhist nuns and they have shared their life with me. I have been amazed at their strength in character and a little sadenned by my own materialistic weaknesses. Yesterday I decided to take a motor taki and just ride around and I ended up at a Buddhist university. Here I met nuns and monks and they were happy to see me and one of them who spoke english really well invited me to her home/temple/nunnery the next day. So this morning I went from district 1 to district 12.....a half an hour motorbike ride away...very, very far the locals told me and wondered why I wanted to go there. But I left at 7:30 in the morning which meant I had a ride in the morning rush hour.......

Hanoi City

I ought to be dedicating whole sections to food, currency, language and transport. There are literally thousands of motorbikes on the roads here and to cross the road is an adventure in itself. Yesterday we went to Halong bay and the guide there told us that at least a 1000 people die every year from motorbike accidents. He said that motorbikes are so precious here that when lovers escape to the banks of the lake to kiss they kiss with one eye open. One eye to feel the kiss and the other to keep an eye on their bike.

Food is another huge deal here and there are once again thousands of things to try, taste and eat on the streets and in the markets. Everything is food, from delicious mangoes and paw paws to worms and creatures I can’t even imagine where they come from or what they are called. There is something for everyone’s taste buds I guess…..from the wonderful to the weird. And where and when and how they prepare it is also a whole culture on its own. All day long women walk around balancing on their shoulder baskets pots of hot water, noodles and vegetables; others set up with small little stools and everything else they will need, on pavements and in corners and everyone gathers on around on these to sit and gossip and eat.

Currency, wow, I think my mind has stopped working. I am not a millionaire. Everything here is American dollars!!! or in Vietnamese Don…$1 is 16,000 don and a pound is 30,000. There are 100,000 don notes and 5000don coins. After so many languages and so many different currencies and I know I still have more to go through….my mind feels like a big jumble …..but a nice jumble.

Vietnam.

I wonder how I got so lucky. A few nights ago I was dancing to Naxi music with the locals and tonight we watched the water puppets performing here in Hanoi. I can't imagine how I ever went day after day to school and followed the same routine....or how i'm going to adjust to it again. Here it's a new experience everyday and an unbelievable freedom. I am constantly amazed by the sights I see and the people I meet. Who would have ever thought that I would discover in China that the swiss are such gentleman and that I would end up walking into Vietnam from China. Sometimes I think I need a pinch because it's so hard to believe that this is my life at the moment. The last week in China was amazing. The southern province of Yunnan is absolutely stunning and the people I met along the way made it even more special.
And then we took the night sleeper bus to the border town of Hekou. The conductor was a little shit and as soon as he saw us with our backpacks, it was his chance to make a bit more money. He said we had to pay extra for the extra petrol that would be used up by carrying our luggage and tried to get lots of money out of us. He abused the Japanese guy travelling with us just because a long time ago the 'Japanese and chinese had a revolution' but we soon put him in his place and even managed to strangle an apology out of him. For a while this left a bad taste in our mouth and it felt like we were leaving China on a negative but the memories of the last few days soon erased all the bad experiences and we left China, feeling it's definitely a place to return to.
Our first night on a sleeper bus and actually it wasn't so bad. I had a bed next to the window and I think that helped a lot. Also being short and small is a huge advantage in China, the boys had their legs hanging out and i think not a very comfortable night. The sleeper buses have beds on eitherside, bunk beds, one on top of another and then another row of bunk beds in the middle. The beds are quite narrow and short so not as comfortable for the tall. Anyhow, we arrived in the border town of Hekou at 8:30 the next morning and once we walked out of the bus station we could see vietnamese hats and faces. Bicycles with huge woven baskets carrying goods across the border. We went through the chinese immigration, walked across the bridge into Vietnam, went through the Vietnamese immigration and we were in Vietnam! in a little town called Lao Cai. It was just amazing. One morning I wake up in a nice big bed in the hostel in Kunming and the next morning on a little narrow bed in a sleeper bus. That morning I am in Hekou in China and then within a matter of minutes, I am in Lao Cai in Vietnam and then that same evening I am in Hanoi. And here I am greeted with amazing sights, smells and sounds. Literally hundreds of motorbikes zooming all over the place, people gathered on small plastic stools on pavements gathered together to share a strong vietnamese coffee and some gossip, and then in another corner, a fire with the locals burning fake $100 bills and insence in prayer, holding beautifully decorated trays with flowers and candles. The sound of the motorbikes, the locals carrying fruits in baskets balanced on their shoulders, the smells of all different kinds of street food, a million different things being balanced and transported in these motorbikes...immediately Vietnam has left an amazing impression on me and the people here are just so warm and friendly and always smiling. It's a really nice place to be and once again there is just somuch to take in. Luzma, I see all these mopeds here and the vietnamese women dressed beautifully riding around and I think of how you would love Vietnam. It's a perfect place for you... a world fullof mopeds. Tomorrow we rent one and see if we can join in or do we disrupt the flow completely?

Kunming

From Shangri-la,we took the bus all the way back to Lijang and enjoyed a few days ofjust walking around the town and soaking up the idyllic atmosphere. We even made it to the snow mountain musicfestival in the nearby twin town of Sushe but instead of chinese rock we saw two french travellers earning their travelling money by juggling in the street and playing the accordian. It was just crazy to see the chinese tourists being so generous. In about 20 minutes the guys had earned 600 yuan. In one week they would save 400$ just performing in the squares and in 'La Petit Paris', a french restaurant in Lijang. What a way to travel.

And then it was time to get back to Kunming and on to Vietnam. A few days in Kunming and it was just what the doctor ordered. A few days to chill, late nights and even later mornings and being pampered by the swiss. Another bus ride which I'll not forget in a hurry.

Chengdu, Kunming, Dali, Lijang and Shangri-La

Chengdu is actually a beautiful city now that I look back on it. It was great walking in the parks and watching people dancing, singing opera and doing their daily exercises. This sort of a thing is such a big thing in China and the parks are beautiful and make it so easy for the locals to escape the city noise and get into a calm, peaceful and beautiful environment again. The chinese really love their flowers and their plants and the daily exercise whether it's in the form of dancing or Tai Chi is done in the parks which are nestled all over the cities. Chengdu also has streets with very old architecture and beautiful pagodas but like everywhere and everything in China, everything old gets a facelift and even though it looks gorgeous the old charm is lost. But it was nice to spend a day walking through these parks and old streets.
And then I was ready for Kunming. The capital of the southern state of Yunnan. I have been hearing loads about this southern state and it's beauty and it being so close to Tibet I was excited to mo move on. I think a night under the stars seemed like a great idea at the time but the train ride to Kunming was not a pleasant one. I was on hard sleeper all the way and trying to get rid of the cold i'd caught. Anyway, arriving in Kunming was like arriving in just another big chinese city. But it was nice because here I met some old friends that I had made in Beijing and Namtso. But there isnot much to see in Kunming itself and it would be a bad idea to get stuck here for a whole week so I decided to join the guys and go to Dali and Lijang. Every traveller I have met along the way has told me how beautiful these places are. On thebus ride to Dali I found Alex, Anthony, Matt and Oliver, who were to look after me for the rest of the week. It's great travelling with them because they all speak a bit of chinese. French students living and working in China. They have helped me to see the nicer side of China and I think I am finally starting to like it here. There are a lot of foreigners coming to China to work and study. Great opportunities here I'm told. But I still can't see myself living here for a long time. Anyway, the guys are great, funny and easy going and we had a great bus ride. Arriving in Dali I also met Irish Angela and so now we have a new team. Another great one.
Angela and I walked to the fields where we saw the harvest in full progress. The women here work really hard. A lot of the ethnic minorities we saw along the way to Shangri-la have the same lifestyle. The women work really hard on the fields, looking after the children and the men teach the children 'culture':) After the walk through the hills we went to the lake and had a boat ride in a little green canoe. It was great to be on the lake in the evening. The lake is surrounded by mountains and the scenery all around is just stunning. Dali is a beautiful little town. It's nice to be away from the big cities and in the countryside and there small little, beautiful places. The 1st was National day so we spent the monday walking around Dali and got to see lots of traditional dances which was great. Such colourful costumes. This week all the chinese are travelling and onMonday Dali was absolutely packed with chinese tourists and also people in traditional dress who had come from the nearby villages. It was just great to walk around and take it all in.
That evening we all took the bus to Lijang and when we arrived there it felt like we were in a fairytale city. It was just so pretty. And we all felt that we wanted to stay there forever. Red chinese lanterns lighting our paths, traditional chinese roofs everywhere and little canals with fishes and bridges all through the town. It was just idyllic in a setting in the hills among the trees and as we came into Lijang, the sight was just breathtaking. It gave us all such a high. Arriving in a beautiful city in China, we walked around, found beds, dumped our stuff and went to explore the town further. Dinner, a few beers and we had a great night. Next day, though the reality kicked in. This old part of Lijang, renovated and rebuilt after the earthquake is just a one image. When we walked out of the old walls and out of this fairytale part to go get bus tickets we saw that outside of the walls, it waslike any other chinese city, poor, dirty, and everyday life carrying on as normal.
We got our tickets...moving on to Tiger Leaping Gorge, walked around the market, had noodles at the local stall and got ready to leave on the evening bus. It's so much nicer travelling with the guys,not just coz they are funny and warm but also because they speak chinese. We see a different side of China,a nicer side.
Taking the bus that evening we got to a little ghost town that night, managed to get ourselves a really nice hotel for only 20 yuan, and get ready for the trek the next day. It was going to a very early start. We were up and ready to walking at 4 in the morning. We didn't wanna pay the entrance fee to the gorge and this early in the morning the ticket office would be closed and the people sleeping.
We were ready for a long 2 days of trekking in the gorge but instead Angela and I are in Shangri-la this evening. I love travelling this way. I never ever know what's coming next. The trek along the gorge was breathtaking and since we were up so early, we managed todo it all in a day.
Shangri-La however, was a bit of a dissapointment after being in Tibet. It's supposed to be a Tibetan city but really it's just a big specially built city to bring in more tourism and it's built by the chinese as their versionof Tibet.
But as night felt, there was a great atmosphere and everyone gathered in the main square. Suddenly there was Naxi (the localethnic minority in the region) music playing and all the locals started to form circles and dance. It was amazing to watch, each dance had a special choreography and it was the old dancing alongside the young, women in traditional dress alongside those in the latest western fashion. Everywhere in the world it seems somehow people manage to come together and create a sense of community. We joined in and the locals tried their best to teach us but I guess they had been dancing those dances all their lives and most of us foreigners had two left feet. But it was just warming to be there and share a few moves with the locals. It's so rare for us to find such an atmosphere back home.

photos

Some of my photos on flicker..... search for hinarm under people and they should come up.

Chengdu...PANDAS

I'm in the province of Sichuan and in the city of Chengdu. At first, and I guess even now, and especially coming from beautiful Tibet, this place seems so dull with the constant smog or low cloud, and the miserable, expressionless faces. But, I guess like any city in China, you observe what's on the surface, because there is absolutely so much to see and then slowly you begin to dig a little deeper and find beauty in small amounts. As soon as I enetered Chengdu, I was bombarded with the images that we all see on TV. But it's never the same in reality. What you see here is much more intense becasue I guess on some level you're there watching it or being a part of it and here in china it is really important to be here otherwise all the detail would be lost in the big picture. Traffic for example, there are separate lanes for cars and those for bicycles and mopeds and all other such vehicles which have less than 4 wheels (because there is a huge variation of such vehicles, used to transport not just people but absolutely everything). However when it's time to cross an intersection, even ones with traffic lights, it's a sight in itself. Literally hundreds of bicycles and mopeds and pedestrians all gather at the pedestrain crossing side, long, long queues of cars wait on the 3 or 4 lanes and in the opposite direction it's the same. And so the light changes and everyone goes everywhere and you've got to cross at least a minimum of 6 lanes dodging bicycles loaded with all sorts, mopeds at full speed, and cars zooming by. It's an absolute skill and I must have crossed at least 10 of these intersections today and even then i don't think I have yet mastered the skill of crossing the road here in chengdu. But it's a crazy experience and after this you walk along the pavement an you pass restaurants where they have frogs and pigs ears in basins outside...what would you choose?.....or friends just pulling up a few bamboo chairs outside the shop and lunching on noodles in the middle of the pavement. Lunch time is a sight, everywhere you look, outside restaurants, on pavements, in shops, outside shops, everywhere...everyone stops and there is rice and noodles and little white bowls and chopsticks everywhere. Being a veggie, most of the time I don't even wanna think what they are eating, but the smells are delicious and lunch from the women selling the noodles on the street with some really hot sichuan style sauce, was just as delicious.

Today we also saw the PANDAS. We saw giant pandas, baby pandas, and red pandas and they were just adorable, so cute and cuddly. Wanted to hold one and take a picture with it but it cost 1000yuan and that sort of money could keep me going for a few more weeks in china if not buy me a panda so we settled for just looking at them and taking photos of them without us. It was nice though, a bit different...animals instead of landscapes. And then we walked all around Chengdu for hours, found a great indian restaurant and a traditional street which has now been turned into a tourist bazaar..but it was pretty anyway.
One more day in Chengdu and then to Yunnan and near Tibet and the mountains again.

Back in China - Chengdu

I got a soft sleeper on the train this time, what luxury, even a TV with american movies, unfortunately all dubbed in Chinese. Anyway, arriving in Chengdu was just a huge shock. No more fresh air and clear blue skies, instead your eyes hurt because you cannot see clearly through the smog, it's constantly humid and occassionally raining and just plain depresssing. I have to wait day before I meet up with my spanish friend and since my Visa runs out in 2 days I thought I'd go get an extension. What a crazy day I had, but it just reminded me how much I can get done in a day. I got off the train at 8:30 in the morning, came to the hostel and left my bag, went to the bus station, took a 2 hour bus to Leshan and went to find the Entry and Exit office, waited for it to open, handed in my passport for a visa extension, went next door for a passport photo, went 2 doors down to pay the fee (location!location!location!) and then had to wait till 4p.m so I took another bus and then a boat ride to see the huge cliff Buddha of Leshan (Luzma, thought of you all the way), went back to pick up my passport, took the local bus to the bus station and got a bus back to chengdu, had a shower, finally after 3 days, ate dinner and booked our train tickets to the next destination....Kunming...near Tibet and in the mountais....all in a days' work. How did you guys spend your Monday?

Final days in Lhasa

In Lhasa we met up with Johnny again and along with Ingrid, me and the boys...all a big happy family now:) We went and ate a traditional chinese hot pot one night, spent another day just drinking coffee and writing postcards and recovering from alcohol with the local tibetans and then I went on one last adventure with the boys. We were told that we could not go to one of the oldest monasteries, Samye, without a permit, but we wanted to go there and see it. So we did. We were up, 5:30 in the morning, to take the local bus from Barkhor square. And the driver without any fuss took us on and drove us all the way to Samye without any mention of the magic word 'pemit'. Anyway, once again we had breathtaking landscapes all the way, this time huge sand dunes and beautiful turquoise rivers. At Samye we managed to catch the lunch time ceremony where all the monks gather in the main hall and chant and play the tibetan drums and horns and the atmosphere is just like being in another world. I could just have sat there for hours listening to the monks in the monastery and we did because we were able to stay at the monastery.
That afternoon we took a rough and very bumpy jeep ride up to the caves but instead of the meditational caves we found a nunnery and talked to the nuns there. We sat with the girls selling prayer flags, learnt a little tibetan, listened to their songs echo in the mountains and valley around us and learnt from them how to eat sunflower seeds properly.
Back at the monastery we sat on the roof, watching the sky filled with stars and making wishes at the shooting stars that crossed the sky every so often. Next day we were able to catch a ferry back and then a hitch a ride back to Lhasa. We could not take the bus back because this time it would stop at other monasteries where controls were tight and the drivers would not risk it.
I met the boys for one last dinner and wanted to cry when I said goodbye. It was so easy to travel with them. It's funny how when i'm travelling, and i guess it's the same for everyone, that a short amount of time spent with someone is so intense that it's very easy and quick to get attatched easily to people you only met a couple of days ago. We had so much fun with the boys and so many adventures and we spent so much time together, I really miss them.
After saying goodbye to Ingrid and then the boys, I went to the nunnery in Lhasa. I guess this was now the best time to spend in one place and theyhad mentioned before when I went with the boys that they would take me in and I could teach them english which they really were keen to learn. So I made my way there and spent 2 nights with them before the local police arrived and sent me back to the hostel. Once again I needed a permit! I guess it was time to leave Tibet and i was told that in no uncertain terms so i caught the first train I could find and am now back in China.

Back in Lhasa

Hey guys,
I have fallen so far behind on my blog, I don't even know where to start. So we managed to get to Everest Base Camp and back without a permit. It is still such a big deal for me. I think it was out highlighting moment in Tibet the minute we saw Everest in a cloudless, clear blue sky. Back in Shigatse, the boys wanted to try to see if they could get to Mt. Kailash next. Obviously too far to hitch in the limited time they had and talking to the local Tibetan guides at the FIT agency(Foreign and Independent travel), the reality of Tibet hit us once again. He talked about the anger and the frustration in his heart. How it was impossible for local Tibetans to show their own country off and work as guides until they learnt to speak Chinese. He told us of how money from tourism went straight out of Tibet and how everyday there were more and more chinese guides with tour groups and permits. The permits were a huge hassle not only to us as tourists and foreigners but also to the guides and drivers too. Even the chinese driver who gave us a lift back to Shigatse could not help but swear at the control posts and police checks every so often. It seems like just another money making scheme but also a way of controlling who sees what, I guess.
Anyway, once back in Shigatse we went to celebrate and ended up dancing to music outside a supermarket with some local chinese girls. It's funny how Tibet seems to go to sleep so early. After a couple of beers we went to bed, happy but exhausted from our adventures and all the emotions of the past few days.
Next morning, we went to see the beautiful mask ceremony at the monastery and since it was a weekend, every Tibetan in Shigatse had turned up with alcohol and a picnic. It was a stunning sight. We couldn't help but stare at all the amazing faces and costumes, return the warm beautiful smiles, share a glass or two of butter milk or fermented milk, whatever they offered us. It was a great way to end our stay in Shigatse after which Ingrid and I took the bus back to Lhasa.
We were tired and a little pissed off at all the chinese police checkpoints and the chinese in general so the bus ride back to Lhasa seemed to take forever. But wouldn't you know it. There is no need to feel hate in Tibet. We met Kiyoi on our bus. The friendliest, funniest and warmest chinese girl and we were staying at the same hostel. We decided to share a room at the Yak hostel and follow her to Drepung monastery the next day and spend her last day in Tibet with her.
After a shower we went looking for food and found the boys at our doorstep instead. Dinner and an early night and we said goodnight to the boys and next morning were off to Drepung monastery. Here we met a spanish couple who gave us a timed ticket into the Potala, so after a rushed visit at the monastery Ingrid and I decided to see if we could blag it into the Potala and we did. Normally, we'd have to get up at 7 in the morning, queue outside the potala ticket office till it opens and starts selling tickets at 9:30 a.m and then hope that we did get tickets before they got sold out. Luckily for us, all we did was be nice and friendly to the spanish couple and in return we got tickets into the Potala. Good Karma everywhere here:) Unfortunately, not as impressed with the very small area of the Potala we got to see and there was no history at all. All the labels were just that, labels of objects found in the Potala. Some beautiful objects like the 3D mandala but we were rushed along by the chinese guards, didn't even get to chat to the monks who looked more like cleaners, they're not allowed to wear their robes, and so we walked out of the Potala feeling we hadn't really got a picture in our head that we were expecting.

Back in Shigatse and the reality of TIbet..follow the link for a few photos

From Shegar we got a ride straight back to Shigatse. We wanted to stay in the town of old Tingri but our driver would not even consider going there because of the police and military presence.
In Shigatse we saw, along with all the local tibetan who had even brought a picnic along, the beautiful mask ceremony at the monastery. We went back to the agency as the boys wanted to find out how to get to Kailash, but it was impossible. 10 days to get a permit alone and here one of the guides poured his heart out to us. Before coming here and reading all about Tibet I thought maybe that it was all a bit exaggerated and the reality might not be so bad. BUT it is. The tibetans only get jobs as guides if they speak chinese, everyday more and more chinese guides come in leaving no jobs for the tibetans, the permits create endless amounts of hassle and as the guide said 'there is anger and frustration' in their hearts. We were so sad, and ready to kick the next chinese we saw but obvioulsy it is not the people. Most chinese people are very nice but the government needs a bick kick up the backside i guess.

Taking the bus back to Lhasa we met Kioyi, a lovely chinese girl which just reconfirmed our thoughts. She is absolutely wonderful, warm and friendly and we spent the day with her yesterday. We went to Drepung monastery and then into the Potala in the afternoon after Ingrid blaggged us a ticket. But once again, we were allowed to visit only a small section and even there there was no history, all the information that we read along the way was more like labels for what was in the different rooms. The chinese soldiers rushed us through and made sure that we did not secretly take any photos. It was impressive to see all the tombs of the previous Dalai lamas but disappointing to know that the reality and the history behind the Potala had just been washed away completely.

Hitching to EBC

The first part of the trip was easy. Michael, Benny, Ingrid and I took the local bus to Shigatse. This used to be the capital city, "the birmingham of Tibet'. As soon as we were near the buses that left for Shigatse, we were grabbed by our bags, by the arms and pushed around in lots of different directions... all the conductors wanted us on their bus (nothing to do with the money:)) but we decided to go to the empty, green bus across the street and it was a great decision. With our 3 new tibetan friends we had the whole back area to ourselves. We shared food, cigarrettes (for those that smoked...you can smoke on buses here, unlike London) and stories and so the bus ride to Shigatse was really fun. Benny and Michael are just great. They are so funny and friendly we felt like we had been travelling with them for ages and not just a few hours.
As soon as we got to Shigatse we saw Ian (from the train) at our hotel. He was travelling in a jeep with 2 other peopel and a guide who didn't speak English or couldn't be bothered to show them around. So instead he decided that he was gonna hang around with us and that was great.
First stop in Shigatse after lunch in a local restaurant was the travel agency. We wanted to get to the next town of Tingri but here is where things got tricky. We needed a permit but we didn't really wanna pay for one as we were pretty sure no one checked. Little did we know.
The tibetan guy at the FIT agency was great. He warned us that they would not sell us tickets at the bus station and our best bet was to ask the drivers themselves. Would they take the risk and take us all the way to Tingri?
So we went to the bus station but there were no buses and no bus drivers going to Tingri, so stupidly enough we went to the ticket office. The chinese guy there just looked at us and said no and when we insisted he wrote NO in big letters on our piece of paper that had Tingri written on it in Chinese and Tibetan. Instead we were sent to a local chinese travel agent who just pointed at cards of 4x4's and jeeps.
Back at the FIT agency we looked at the different options we had. We could take a taxi for 800 yuan o we could get up early and wait at a petrol station 1km outside of town and hope that someone would give us a ride to Tingri.
That's exactly what we did. We got up early and were outside town at the petrol station asking every vehicle that went buy and we did get lucky and a small bus going to Tingri was willing to take us. Ingrid, Benni and I got a seat at the back while Michael sat on a sack of potatoes in the aisle. Next to him on the seats were two chinese officials in full uniform:) It was a pretty easy rie till we got to the police checkpoint and then the local passengers started to draw curtains and the driver got a little nervous. Benni pretended to sleep on my lap and I tried to hide the blonde hair with his jumper but Michael was in full view in the aisle so it was hopeless. The police officer came on board, checked a few id cards, we had our passports ready but without looking at them, all of a sudden he was gone and we were driving on. The relief, our hearts could finally beat at a normal pace. It was a moment of pure joy.
But our adventures were not over yet. We were dropped off on a main junction in the county of Tingri and not the town itself. And from here no one, absolutely no one was willing to give us a lift and take us further on into the town. Like everything here, there is never any clear information and we didn't even know which direction tingri was in or which road went towards EBC. The only direction we knew was the one we came on. Once again we started stopping every vehicle that passed us by and the immediate answer we got every time was NO. Even a monk travelling on a truck, who lived at the Rongphu monastery near EBC apologised that he could not give us a lift as there were police around.
Finally Ingrid and Benni, after a four hour hopeless wait in the burning sun, at the roadside of a big junction, they managed to convinve a local with a traditionally decorated!! and run down small jeep to take us all the way to EBC and back. He'd try and get us there and if he couldn't we'd only pay half. Sounded reasonable so we set off. Only after driving for a few kilometers did we realise why we couldn't get a ride. There was a big, main checkpoint where there was a queue of trucks and 4x4's and inside another queue of foreigners with their guides and permits. We thought for sure we are f****d and the panic was clear on all our faces no matter how hard we tried to appear cool and in control. But it was like magic, we walked in with our drive who went staright to the desk, one by one handed in passports, visa numbers and etc were written down and then we were in the car again being asked to pass to the other side. As we left the queue's of tourists behing us wondering, we laughed and jumped for joy at passing the checkpoint without a guide or a permit.
Our luck continued as we had our first sight of Everest, majestically looming in a clear, cloudless blue sky. And as if the heavens hadn't finished smiling on us, we were given a big Tibetan tent with a stove in the middle and a cook to stay in for tne next two nights. Tears of joy flowed as we realised we had made it, seen Everest in a clear sky, had great company and a cozy place to stay in at the foot of Mt. Everest.
After sleeping under the entire galaxy of stars, the next morning we had pancakes for breakfast and began our walk to the foot of Everest. We were told that if we passed the official brick building of EBC, then we would have to pay $100 each, which just seemed ridiculous. So we walked around and over and had breathtaking views of Everest and when we came back down walked right past base camp not having to pay a single penny.
It was just an amazing day. We came back, slept from exhaustion, had a late lunch, played cards, sang and just enjoyed the fact that we were at Everest. As we were getting ready for bed, a local policeman paid us a visit and asked us for our permit and guide. We told him our driver was in another tent and he should ask him, so he promised to return the next morning to check our permit.
Next morning, we said goodbye to Nawa, who had kept us warm and cooked for us, and left early in the morningon our way back to Shegar (the junction where we had been dropped off and stranded). I wonder if the local policeman ever returned to check our permits:)

Lhasa and around

Unfortunately the internet here in China will not allow me to check my blog so I have no idea where I last left you guys. But I will go back to when we got to Lhasa. We have been so busy here and have seen and heard so much, I don't even know where to start.
When the train first pulled into the newly built Lhasa station, it was 8:30 at night, dark, rainy and very miserable. As we drove to the Yak hotel, I couldn't help but feel the disappointment. It wasn't the Tibet I was expecting.
But next morning as I walked around with my two new friends Amanda and Ingrid, I felt like I was on top of the world.....I was on the roof of the woorld:) The tibetan quarter outside just across the street from our hotel seemed like a whole different world and it felt that here time had stood still even though there are signs of 'civilization' creeping in. The are near the Jokhang and with all the pilgrims walking the kora or prostrating in front of the kora was just an absolutely inspiring sight. Why anyone woul want to modernise or change the rhythm of life in this place I just cannot understand.

The next day we ventured out of the tibetan area and went further out and we almost felt like crying. All our joy and amazement came crashing down as we rode throuh what looked like another suburb of beijing IN TIBET. We didn't want to believe it and went straight back to the tibetan area where we were blessed by a lama during morning prayers...but even his water could not wash away the anger we felt towards people who wanted to destroy such a beautiful culture and way of life.
In the next few days we visited the monasteries of Sera ,where we saw the monks debating, and we walked the Kora around Ganden monastery and got absolutely amazing views. Ganden stands at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) above sea level!
After our visits to Sera and Ganden we went on an organised tour for a night at Namtso Lake. In Tibetan it means 'Heavenly Lake' and the views there and all the way there were just stunning. It is on of the largest salt water lakes and sits at an altitude of 4720m above sea level. After 3:00pm the tourist buses left and we had the whole place to ourselves. Climbng up we had breathtaking views of the lake all around us. So beautiful is the scenery here that we even managed to catch on camera chineses crews and models come to shoot adverts here.

Coming back from Namtso we had to say good bye to Amanda the next day as Ingrid and I were going to try to hitch to Everest Base Camp and see how far we could get without a permit. It was great that we had Benny and Michael (2 of the warmest, funniest and friendliest swiss guys i've ever met) coming along with us.