Week 12 to 15: Indochina encompassed! Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong

We arrive at Bangkok and straight away it is hot, hot, hot. And believe us this is not the nice sunny hot with a gentle breeze, it’s sticky, grimy, polluted, stifling hot! We avoid all the taxi touts at Bangkok airport and find a licensed taxi which races its way across town and to our hotel just in time for our pre-tour briefing with our guide for the next four weeks ‘Pokk’ and fellow travellers ‘Jen and Fred’. We are extremely pleased to discover that our 29-day tour (which has a maximum of 15 people) only has the four of us booked on for the first 12 days! After a quick freshen up (though why we bothered in this heat I don’t know) we head out on to Koh San road to celebrate the start of our tour with cashew nut and green curries and plenty of Chang Beer. Starting as we mean to carry on! We get on immediately with our new friends, which is lucky given the amount of time we’ll be spending with them, and have a great evening swapping stories, thinking about the adventure ahead and cooling ourselves with ice cold beer. 

Bangkok is not much to write home about. It’s a polluted, dirty, city with sleaze around every corner but a slow boat through the canals and a visit to a temple is just enough before we head off to the train station to catch our overnight train to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand.

Chiang Mai is not greatly different from Bangkok with plenty of westerners hanging out in sleazy bars, up to no good and looking for fun/mischief. However, on a much more respectable note, we manage to have a fabulous afternoon in a Thai cooking class. Four dishes under our belts later, we are convinced that we are the best Thai cooks ever so expect Thai on the menu when we get home.

The next day we head on by bus to Chiang Rai and make a brief stop at an amazing white temple before making our final stop in Thailand, the border town of Chiang Khong. Now we’re talking. Our small guesthouse has an amazing outlook on to the Mekong river with Laos on the opposite side. Children are playing and locals are washing or fishing in the river and at last we feel that we are seeing what we hoped for on this trip. Sinking a few beers with our travel companions on our balcony watching the sun go down over the Mekong. Very simple but very, very cool. Apart from still being very hot of course!! ;-)

Laos: Pak Beng, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane

The next morning we head down to border control (a small hut by the river) to exit Thailand, cross the Mekong and enter Laos on the other side. Formalities complete we head down to the river again and board our private slow boat, which will be our transport for the next few days. And that’s it. We settle down on the boat and spend the next eight hours sailing down the Mekong, taking in the beautiful remote scenery, reading, playing cards and enjoying a sumptuous lunch freshly cooked by the owners. Delightful! 

We stop overnight at Pak Beng a small remote village where we first experience the delights of Lao Beer, water-buffalo steak and a dramatic Laos thunderstorm which takes out the towns electricity until after we leave the next morning. Pak Beng is by far the largest town around here, and it is tiny. The electricity is imported from China and is unreliable, the economy is extremely rural with a market for real local farmers to come and sell their produce. It gives you a real window on the lives of people that live here – both the hardships and the beautiful simplicity. Although some of the delights of the market leave us feeling a little squeamish. Pigs trotters or buffalo feet anyone??

Our second day on the Mekong is even more enjoyable than the first. The intermittent storms continue, which brings a delightful lull in the hot weather, and the scenery becomes even more lush, green and beautiful. We witness the locals making full use of the river, fishing, washing, playing and travelling. 

After a brief stop at some caves famous for having 4000 Buddha images inside we finally conclude our river cruise at the town of Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang is the old capital of Laos and is filled with temples and street markets. We spend some time looking at all the lamps, silks, paintings and wooden gifts before settling down for the night in an outdoor restaurant where we switch our water-buffalo steaks to water-buffalo burgers! A few cocktails, beers and glasses of bubbles later (it was Jem’s birthday after all) we feel like we are truly acclimatising to the laid back ambience of Laos.

Luang Prabang is altogether different in that it is geared-up for tourists with lots of bars, restaurants and a ‘night market’. So we settle into being tourists, drinking local coffee, browsing the handicraft stalls and trying to stay as cool as possible. The temperature is in the high 30s or low 40s, the humidity high but not extreme. We pay a visit to the local waterfalls, a 40-minute minibus ride from town and swim in the refreshing pools at the top. There is also a bear rescue centre that rescues Asiatic Bears from the ridiculously cruel ‘bile farms’ that feed the demand for ‘traditional medicine’ in China and parts of northern Laos. These creatures are great and it’s nice to see them enjoying themselves in the hammocks and trees and hunting for the food the staff hide for them in order that they can keep some semblance of their natural bear behaviour.

Also in Luang Prabang we visit the palace of the last king. The monarchy was abolished following the uprising in 1975 but the treasures of the monarchy and the history is maintained for all to see.

Next stop is Vang Vieng a six-hour bus ride through stunning scenery. Where Luang Prabang wears its tourist facilities with dignity Vang Vieng has grown from a tiny riverside village into a noisy, rowdy and brash backpacker haven. We avoid the ‘pile backpackers into van and do an activity’ stuff and decide to do our own little hike to a nearby village and up into the caves located in one of the limestone karsts. The scenery is breathtaking. The heat and humidity are not conducive to a dignified hike, we are soon soaked. We climb on of the limestone karsts and admire the view over the landscape of paddy fields and tiny houses. Despite the discomforts and effort this was well worth making.   

Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is our final stop before heading into Vietnam. It’s still hot hot hot and our sight seeing walk is a killer, but it’s worth looking around. We visit one of the few historic temples in this area, which provides a real contrast to the glitzy temples in Thailand. We climb up the ‘unfinished’ national monument, which is a little like the Arc De Triumph but on a very, very low scale and was never completed. We shop in the ‘show-piece’ Mall, full of designer fakes and flawless ‘factory seconds’. All in all we’ve thoroughly enjoyed Laos. It’s a laid back and beautiful country with lovely people, good food and great beer!  It is a country very rich in potential – we just hope they ‘develop’ with care!

Vietnam: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City

Oh my God – what a difference from Laos. Hanoi is a crazy, crazy place. First night we are thrown in at the deep end. This city has very narrow streets, six million people and four million motor bikes – and we’ve arrived on May public holiday weekend. We now have a different definition of the word CHAOS. Gridlock is a well known concept; occasionally brought to reality on roads and motorways by cars and trucks. The residents of Hanoi can conjure gridlock with their motorbikes without a second thought – literally!!

First night is a water puppet show followed by dinner; the next morning we head off early to go and see Uncle Ho at the Ho Chi Min mausoleum in central Hanoi. Last night the folk of Hanoi had filled the roads on bikes, this morning they all seem have come to pay respects to Uncle Ho. The usual queuing system has failed, we walk an hour to get to the end of the queue and spend another two hours ten minutes in the queue before spending 40 seconds in the presence of Uncle Ho before being roughly ejected by the starched white guards! A fascinating experience seeing such a cult figure from the 20^th century, but also spending so much time with Vietnamese as Europeans were very thin on the ground. 

For the past two weeks of this tour it’s been four plus Pokk our tour leader – tonight we become 14 for the journey though Vietnam then down to 11 for Cambodia.

We drive four hours to Ha Long City and board our boat for the Ha Long Bay overnight trip. Remember we are here on May public holiday weekend – this is another place of complete CHAOS (sorry but the word chaos must be capitalised when referring to Vietnam). People and boats everywhere, coach loads of tourists leaving, arriving, milling around, looking as lost and confused as the rest of us. Then there is the number and variety of boats. Don’t get me wrong, Ha Long bay is a naturally beautiful place. But we are one boat in an armada heading towards a small area of limestone karsts. We hadn’t expected to be queuing to see the sights and moor for the night. To make up for all this the boat crew manage to make amazing delicious food, and lots of it. We see the sights, enjoy the boat, stuff ourselves and have a great night before sailing back on our Vietnamese Junk to Ha Long Bay and Hanoi.

Tonight we have an overnight train to Hue (pronounced ‘Way’). The train journey goes very quickly. It’s birthday time for one of our new travel companions, Katy, and we make sure she has a party, whether she wants to or not.    

Hue is a pretty little city. Quiet, ordered, polite and clean. If you had only visited Hanoi you would not believe this side of Vietnam existed. We take the opportunity to get laundry done, relax and eat in the quiet local restaurants. Where Hanoi was rude and frenetic, Hue is serene and polite. We spend a day visiting areas of the city and local countryside with the ruins and relics of the past kings of what was once a fantastic kingdom. These palaces and temples are being restored for both national pride and tourism – but there is also a long way to go in re-educating people about the importance of a heritage that was once so politically unpopular! 

After a drive through the maintain passes close to the coast, past the famous China Beach area we get to Hoi An. Again Hoi An is a pleasure. Sitting on a river close to the coast the town is very pretty and feels completely a holiday destination. Shopping and sunbathing are what we need to do here and neither disappoints. Many of our party, including Jemima, have dresses and other things made by the army of local tailors. Very light clothing is required – it’s very hot. Hoi An has a distinctly French Colonial feel with small houses, hotels and restaurants in narrow pretty streets. Attractive by day the city is beautiful by night lit by thousands of red lanterns hanging in the windows and doorways of the quaint buildings. We rent some bicycles and head for the beach – the place is stunning. Soft white sand, gently sloping into the sea, no surf or current and clear blue water. Not only is this a great change and perfect way to escape the heat, by any measure it’s a beautiful beach. Two days on the beach relaxing and our batteries are recharged ready for Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City! 

We arrive at Ho Chi Minh city which is once again a frenetic and chaotic city. During our time in Vietnam there has, unsurprisingly, been repeated references to what the West calls the Vietnam War and what the Vietnamese, equally unsurprisingly, call the American War. As Saigon was the theatre for the end of the war, and the goal of the Ho Chi Minh Trail you cannot visit without seeing a lot of things about ‘the war’. We visit the Cu Chi Tunnels – one of the complexes of the famous underground hiding places north of Saigon. We see all the evidence of this peculiar conflict and the aftermath of chemical weapons etc. An unforgettable experience, and fascinating to see this through Vietnamese eyes. We feel sorry for the young American’s in our party as no punch is pulled through the harrowing tales of fighting, hiding and suffering.

In the afternoon a few of us head to the water park in central Saigon. We have a great time and see the Vietnamese at play. Again there are very few westerners here as it’s not on the standard tourist itinerary, all the better for us as we throw ourselves into every ride and pool cheered-on by the bemused local kids looking on.

Next day we go to the Mekong Delta. An early start, and long bus ride and a stop at a ‘local crafts made by Agent Orange victims’ market and we are there. We had expected something else!! We are at a spot on the river – there are by now nine major branches of this huge river. We are still 50 miles from the sea, and whilst it took hours to drive here, technically still in a suburb of Saigon! The floating market we have come to see has largely packed-up and gone home and we cruise around the side tributaries for a while looking at how people live in this watery landscape. It’s blisteringly hot and humid. The area is interesting but not nearly as remarkable as we had hoped. Back in the City with its CHAOS we organise ourselves to go to Cambodia.

Cambodia: Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

You cannot mention the name Cambodia without invoking the images of genocide – the country lost fifty percent of its population to the utterly mad era of Pol Pot. However, this is only a part of the story. The capital Phnom Penh is a nice compact city on the river banks. In many ways a true capital with palaces, temples and fine building. Pol Pot in his Marxist extremism tried to remove much of what stands today. The general population only know a limited amount of detail about the atrocities. The Pol Pot aim seems to have been to drive the entire nation back to a peasant rural life by killing anyone with any form of education. So Doctors, Teachers/lecturers etc were all targeted and their families ruthlessly wiped-out. We visit one of the torture centres, a killing field and get a guided tour that tries to explain what happened thirty years before. No description can explain what happened to this country and its people as it defies logic – there are still so many unanswered questions and unexplained events. Many of the missing are just that. The records of the dead, meticulous and detailed for some are just not enough to explain how and where so many ordinary citizens disappeared. This was truly a black period in history, and the people of this country were disastrously let down by the rest of the world. The death of 3.5Million people is incomprehensible. 

Back in the capital and we are invited to go and see a local project run by a friend of our tour guide Pokk. The project is an informal and volunteer staffed evening school teaching English to local children. Education here is expensive and not compulsory so these children have a great opportunity to learn a vital language skill. We chat for an hour or so with the kids, look at their workbooks and do what we can to engage with them. Some are just starting and naturally shy, some are confident and eloquent – so much so that they are way better than their teachers. The invitation was to talk to the children and then stay for dinner! Us paying for dinner helps fund the schools efforts. So after we chat we chomp on the delicious local dishes. Food keeps coming until there are hushed whispers of a special treat for us – a special ‘course’. The eating area is cleared and the local delicacy brought out. As we stare in horror at our dessert we have it explained to us. This is whole deep-fried tarantula spider; especially procured for us, one spider per person obviously, from the market that day. After a lot of noise and fuss we eat our spiders – hairy legs and bodies, washed down with tarantula rice wine. I’ll leave you to make you own conclusions but we all lived to tell the tale.    

Angkor Wat is by far the most famous place in Cambodia; everyone has seen the pictures of trees ‘eating’ walls and temples. Siem Reap is the little town that has grown to house the thousands of visitors to what is the largest religious building complex the world has ever seen. It is rightly famous – amazing. There are two issues in exploring Angkor 1. It is truly huge covering tens of square kilometres and nearly 300 temples and 2. The weather - the heat is in the mid 40s and humidity so high you are dripping wet all the time. Good our hotel has a swimming pool, as I’m not sure we’d have survived otherwise. After two days of guided tours we have seen much but know it’s a tiny percentage of what is here, or indeed in other parts of Cambodia. We also get to understand more of the ebb and flow of the great kingdoms of Indochina through the centuries before the 20^th century. These were truly amazing civilisations.

Back to Bangkok – the end of our tour

We arrive in Bangkok at the height of the unrest, passing burning tyre barricades on our way. Bangkok is deserted and we don’t want to be here either. After a ‘farewell’ meal with our travel companions and a night in the hotel we catch the train south to the islands of the gulf of Thailand for some well earned rest.