With a hint of nerves mixed with bags full of fatigue, we finally land in the country that we have been led to believe to be the most challenging of our entire journey ... India. We only have a month here and have chosen to visit the South. This decision came as a result of many conversations we had with people throughout our journey who have already visited India, where most advised that if it’s the first time we are visiting India, we should start with the South as it will be less intense, less gruelling. The last 10 months of travelling are starting to take their toll now; we’re tired and are starting to look forward to our return to ‘normal’ life. Despite this, it is not without a certain degree of emotion that we land here, this is after all Renu’s mother country, where her heritage lies, and it is also our last country of discovery.
Chennai is everything we expected, and more! Busy, crazily so, smelly, polluted, piled under dirt and rubbish, poverty struck families in every nook and cranny of the city ... more than anywhere else we’ve visited in the world, do we feel that we truly live in different worlds to these people.
We don’t have plans to stay in Chennai, but were hoping to see some classical Indian music and dance here, but unfortunately there were no shows on that evening. It was still an experience though to take a tuk-tuk through the streets of Chennai in the evening...and our first curry in India was also quite an exciting moment :-). We decide to leave the very next day, and so take a 4 hour bus to Pondicherry.
Puducherry (Pondicherry), 16th – 19th March
So proof that we are starting to miss Europe, we’ve come to this town to take in the remnants of the French presence in this part of India. We spend our time walking around the French quarter admiring the lovely architecture, strolling along the beachfront, visiting the badly maintained local museum and eating at fancy restaurants. Renu attempts to get some ‘made to measure’ trousers at the crazy bazaar ... but they end up not really being made to measure, just very, very badly tailored, so no new clothes for Renu :-(.
Despite the French influence, there is no mistaking that you are in India ... colourful clothes, spicy curries, piles of rubbish and honking cars! An interesting mix!
We’re getting very lazy in the last leg of our trip now, and given that we’ve been really careful until now and have generally always taken public transport, we’ve decided to treat ourselves from herein. We take a private taxi to Madurai, arriving around 4pm. Upon arrival, there’s a familiar thought running through our minds; ‘oh oh, think we’re not going to enjoy this...’, but after a little rest at the hotel we venture out into the town as the sun goes down. It turns out to have a very pleasant vibe, even for us as non-lovers of the big city. Despite the ground being covered in rubbish, we notice as we walk through the streets that there is a lovely smell in the air, a burst of incense and spices all mixed together, covering the usual smell of exhaust and piss. A city that was once famous for spice trade, it is one of the oldest cities in India that exemplifies Tamil culture more than most places in the state, as it has no European influence. So far we are impressed. We finish the evening off with one of the best curries ever, bursting with flavours of millions of different spices, on the fabulous rooftop restaurant of our hotel.
It’s an early Saturday morning start for us, eyes open at 7.30 am. We have a busy day planned. First visit is to Sri Meenakshi Temple, the Tamil equivalent of the Taj Mahal apparently! It’s a massive temple complex, with very weird but wonderful looking sculptures. We didn’t go in, but it was enough to admire the architecture from the outside.
Next stop was our main reason for coming here, to visit the Gandhi Memorial Museum, a chance to learn a little more about and pay tribute to one of Renu’s greatest heroes. Madurai is where Gandhi first took up wearing the dhoti (long loincloth), as a symbol of unity with his people, and it is here where they exhibit the last dhoti he was wearing (still blood stained) when he was assassinated in Delhi. There is also an exhibit of some of his other belongings, like his famous glasses. The museum explains India’s fight for independence over many centuries, and how Mahatma Gandhi moved his people to fight (non-violently) for this until success. Though the history is fascinating, we were disappointed with the museum itself, the exhibitions were not well done, and the history was badly explained, but still, it was important to make the visit.
The afternoon was spent walking around the bazaars taking in the ‘trade vibe’ of the place. There are thousands of merchants, each specialising in their own produce, be that spices, textiles, fruit and vegetables ... you name it. We discover a little market-warehouse that seems to be a converted temple ... it is quite magnificent. Religious statues and carving fill the place, and we’re mesmerised by the architecture. After walking around and admiring the place, Nico finds himself ordering three very lovely Indian shirts, made-to-measure:-)
That evening we go back to our rooftop restaurant and enjoy another curry exploding with spicy savours. Though, we realise a little later that it’s a little too much of an explosion, the spices are so heavy on the stomach that we find it very hard to digest and end up having a crappy night’s sleep. Which is a shame, cause we have another long day of driving tomorrow, destination Cochin, in the Kerala district.
Tissamaharama; Yala National Park, 8th – 9th March
Thanks to the taxi decision, we arrive around midday at our guesthouse, Vikum Lodge, a lot earlier than previously expected. The guesthouse is pretty, but unfortunately, badly run and not as clean as it should be. We spend the entire day in the outdoor communal area of the guesthouse, reading, drinking beer, engaging in philosophical discussion with a very sweet English couple and dining with a lovely French couple, Carole and Luc, from Marseille.
It’s a 5am start on Tuesday morning and we’re in a jeep heading to Yala National Park ... the whole reason why we have come here to Tissa. We have organised a morning safari around the park. Despite a disorganised start, it turns out to be amongst one of the best things we’ve done on our trip. Luck was on our side today, big time!
Yala National Park, is a wildlife protection zone of spanning over 120,000 hectares in size ... made up of forest, scrub, grass plains and lagoons. Heaven for animal lovers. We see all sorts of wonderful birds, crocodiles, monitor lizards, wild boars, funky faced monkeys, dear, peacocks, buffalo, mongoose, the jungle fowl (Sri Lanka’s national bird) ... we feel truly blessed already. But this is only the beginning. In this massive piece of land, there are about 30-35 leopards inhabiting the space. Of course, being shy animals, and being so few in number, we are warned that the likeliness of seeing one is very slim ... if we’re lucky we may see one very far and high up in the trees. Well nobody could have been luckier than we were today.
We approach another jeep (that turned out to be Carole and Luc’s jeep), and they signal to us to slow down and keep quiet. We turn off the engines and peer through the bush, eventually spotting this majestic cat. What a moment, it was so amazing to see that we found ourselves holding our breath longer than we should! It disappears, we wait a while, and we see it coming out of the bush right in front of us. It moves with such grace and finesse. This cat defines elegance. It’s crouched down hunting the young buffalo a bit further up the road. What a treat to this cat in its natural habitat! The master of camouflage is out in the open and has seen us, but he doesn’t care, he’s more concerned about his next meal! Even the guides and trackers were intrigued ... this is a rare occasion even for them. How lucky to get such a clear, close-up view, and for such a long time! That is until another jeep comes screeching up behind us, with two English tourists screaming their heads off ... of cause the leopard got scared away! Did they think they were in a zoo or something? So irritating!
Our luck didn’t stop there ... 10 minutes later we spotted some wild elephants, and then a black bear running through the bush and on to a massive rock, and then, just before leaving, we get a quick glimpse of yet another leopard! A female one this time, but she was scared of us and ran off into the bush. What a wonderful morning, the chance to see all these wondrous beasts in their natural habitat! There’s not much in life that can compare to that.
We got back to the guesthouse around 10.30am. Luc and Carole did a full day in the reserve, but offered us a lift to Mirissa (our next destination) as they had hired a private driver and were going there too. We couldn’t face the bus again. So we hung around at the guesthouse waiting for them to finish their day of animal spotting and tell us more about it.
In the car at 6.30 and in Mirissa by 9pm. Sri Lankans go to bed early, everything seems to be closed, but luckily we manage to get some dinner with Carole and Luc at their guesthouse ... fresh grilled fish with fries and salad, perfect.
The next day we decide to change our guesthouse for one on the other side of the road for a quarter of the price, but still with the most perfect view of the sea. We’re pleasantly surprised by just how idyllic Mirissa is ... we thought that we were all beached out, but it’s so lovely here that we consider staying a little longer than planned. You’re almost in paradise here.
Our main reason for coming to Mirissa is to go Blue Whale spotting, as you can apparently see them not far from the south coast of Sri Lanka. We take a scorching hot walk to the port to find out a little more about it ... it turns out to be ridiculously expensive, so unfortunately no whale spotting for us this time. The next two days are spent with Luc and Carole; hanging around on the beach, lunching and dining on some mean rice and curry dishes, drinking cocktails and battling the playful waves.
Friday morning, we’re up early and have breakfast at a little food hut right in front of the guesthouse ... Roti (Indian bread) and Dhal (lentils) curry ... a classic breakfast for any Sri Lankan. A short trot down the road and we’re back on another bus to Unawatuna, where we will spend the night and use as base to visit the city of Galle.
Once we find an appropriate place to lay our head and dump our bags, we’re back on another local bus to Galle. A very impressive city, where the Dutch influence is incredibly pleasant. Now being a mainly Muslim populated town, we thought that we had come to visit at the worst time ... Friday afternoon, when most of the town is closed for prayers. It actually turned out to be the most peaceful time to visit, and meant that we didn’t get suffer as much from tourist harassment ... just a continuation of the long hard stares at Renu ... presumably wondering what a ‘Sri Lankan girl’ is doing in Western dress, walking around with a white man! Ignoring the stares, Renu indulges in watching a little part of a cricket game, while Nico comments on the futility of the game:-)
Back in Unawatuna, we change into our swimming gear for a late afternoon dip at the beach, mainly to cool down from the heat of the day. The beach is nowhere near the idyllic place the guide book describes it to be, but we make do:-). As we come out of the water, we turn and see unexpectedly our friends Carole and Luc that we’d left in Mirissa. It’s really nice to see them, we’ve known them barely a week, but have got quite close and it feels like with known them for a lot longer! We have a few drinks at a beach bar as the sun goes down, and then head off for probably the best Italian food in all of Sri Lanka, this is once Luc and Carole has bought almost an entire shop’s worth of hard carved wooden objects!
Another bus to Hikkaduwa, we didn’t originally plan on coming here, but as it’s Saturday night, we thought it might be a good place to do a little partying, especially as Carole and Luc plan to join us here. It turns out to be a wonderful surprise ... a fabulous beach with perfect ways for surfing ... we decide immediately that we will definitely be back here for a future holiday of surfing, tea and curry! We spend the afternoon playing in the waves, while a thunder storm breaks out above us. Fabulous. Unfortunately that night, we’re unable to find Carole and Luc, so the party ends up being a quite one between the two of us. We’re just sad that we don’t have more time to spend here. Back to Negombo tomorrow.
We need to head to Colombo where we’ll change buses to get to Negombo as we get our plane to Chennai tomorrow. Its long painful journey on a local, rusty tin-bucket city bus, not enough room for us and our bags ... jam packed, crazy driving, constant beeping and sweaty bodies falling all over you. We arrive at the same guesthouse we stayed in two weeks ago, Ocean View ... in a state of disrepair. The evening is spent recuperating before possibly the hardest part of our long journey ... our visit to Incredible India!
We land in the city of Colombo at around half past midnight, we’re now +5.30 GMT ... yes, it took Renu a while to get her head around that half hour business too! Renu is already starting to feel closer to her homeland, Mauritius, when she sees how much luggage the Sri Lankans try to pass through the plane! Upon arrival, all this excess baggage delays us getting back our bags. We’d arranged for our guesthouse to pick us up given how late we were landing. We’d decided to stay in Negombo, a little seaside province just outside of Columbo. We’re in bed by 3 am, but actually 4.30 am according to our body clocks as we’d come from Thailand.
That morning Nico breaks his sunglasses and blames it all on Renu. We take a tuk-tuk into Negombo town centre to check our buses for the next day. We get stopped by some guy running an English class, who thought that Renu was Sri Lankan and that Nico was going to marry her and so he thought that we’d want to buy his three bedroom house on the lake...we thought that he is hugely imaginative too, but still, a very lovely man. The highlight of the morning of course is when we stop at a sweet little tea house for our first cup of real Sri Lankan tea, with a chocolate muffin. Bliss. We spend that afternoon and evening walking along the rather polluted beach and dining in the touristy area where we were staying.
The most incredible thing that hit us on our first day in Sri Lanka is just how friendly and how kind the people are here. Of course, like anywhere else, they won’t miss a business opportunity, but it is done in such a way that you do not mind too much parting with your cash. But in any case, most of the time the people are sincerely interested in talking to you and genuinely want to help you.
Tuesday morning, we’re back in a tuk-tuk to Negombo bus station to catch our bus to Kandy, the hill country.
After a friendly negotiation about how much we should pay to take our bags on the bus, we start our 4 hour ride to Kandy. When we arrive, our tuk-tuk has some trouble finding our guesthouse, Forest Glen, as it’s outside of the city, in the county, but it was well worth the search. It’s a lovely family house, with very cosy rooms surrounded by exquisite views.
Straight into town for our first rice and curry, and sublimely delicious it was too! We discover that the city is actually very relaxed, for a city, and is even quite pretty with the lake in the middle. It is still however, far too hot to walk around between 11am and 4pm. So we spend the afternoon at our snug little guesthouse, having dinner there, made by Indra herself; the owner of Forest Glen.
After breakfast, we come back to our room to pick up our bags and shoes. Just as we go to shut the door, we see something remarkable. There are hundreds of monkeys, swinging from try to tree, sliding down the telephone wire, climbing onto the house, perched on the balcony, stealing fruit from garden trees ... right before our eyes, in front of our bedroom door on the balcony! They were hilarious to watch, they’re little rascals, causing havoc everywhere they go! The scary part is that when in large groups, they are super confident. Shooing them away is virtually impossible, they’ll just pretend to plunge at you to make you scared ... and it works!
We walk into town watching the monkeys all the way. It’s a quick morning trip to the train station to check our tickets for tomorrow, a glass of coke in a fancy hotel and then lunch in a very crappy restaurant. Renu gets mistaken for a Sri Lankan, and feels embarrassed to have to explain over and again that she does not speak Sinhala. Once again, it’s too hot to be out, so we back at our guesthouse again for an afternoon nap. We had the privilege of changing rooms to the one next door where the windows give you panoramic view of the surroundings! We make the most of this just before the sun sets, watching the monkeys who are back in force again as well as spying on the enormous bats! Dinner again at the guesthouse, but today it’s a rather unimpressive take-away biriyani ... never mind, you can’t have a good food day every day. Early night as we’re to get the train at 8am tomorrow.
At Kandy train station early on Thursday morning, we buy ourselves two second class tickets for Nanu Oya, where we’ll get picked up and taken to our hotel in Nuwara Eliya. Though second class is twice the price of third class (there was no first class), it was still only 1 Euro, so we thought ‘what the hell’ ... a bit of comfort for the 4-5 hour journey will be nice.
We get on a train, and then change trains about half an hour later at Peradeniya junction. This is where the fun starts ... we get on the train looking for a seat in second class; of course there are none available! So we end up spending most of the journey stood at the door, next to the smelly toilets (along with a fair few other tourists) for a few hours until some seats in third class became available! The tickets are basically pointless! A sense of humour is essential to get through those situations J
Nuwara Eliya is in no way the little heaven in the hills that we expected it to be ... though there were some interesting colonial buildings. We were hoping to do a trek through Horton Plains National Park to Worlds End, where it is said to have a spectacular viewpoint, but unfortunately Nico’s back problems came back at full throttle, so he was unable to walk anywhere. We ended up doing very little but walk around the unimpressive town, send some bits and pieces by post, and doing a quick visit to Pedro’s tea plantation ... which was very interesting to see the whole process, and of course the surroundings were very pretty.
Saturday morning, we make our way very early to the bus station, so we can be sure to get a seat on our bus to Ella. The bus leaves at just gone 7am, and as the driver conducts the bus like a nutcase through the wonderful hill lands, we realise that we’re in for yet another eventful journey in Sri Lanka. Sure enough, after an hour of the drivers heavy right foot, we start to smell a strange odour in the packed out bus ... the engine was starting to overheat ... and our bags were sat right on top of the engine. Nico is really starting to stress out ... the engine is smoking, and the smell is getting stronger and stronger. He’s not being overcautious in thinking that the engine could possible catch fire at this rate ... the driver continues to push the bus up the hills despite the state of its engine. Eventually, the driver pulls up and feeds the radiator with some water in an attempt to cool it down. Nico grabs our bags and signals Renu to get out of the bus quickly. We try to flag another bus down, but it won’t stop. Our driver calls us back into the bus after 10 minutes, and we reluctantly get back on. A few kilometres down the line, and it’s a blessing in disguise, the bus clonks out completely ... engine smoking like hell and the radiator spewing out water, but not on fire! It was that bus’s last day on the roads, for sure. Everyone gets out, gets their refund from the driver and tries to catch another bus. We’re still in the hills, a fair few kilometres away from the next town, Bandarawela ... basically in the middle of nowhere. Tired now, we decide to cut our losses and catch a tuk-tuk that takes us to Banarwela, where we catch another bus to Ella, and again another tuk-tuk to our guesthouse, The Hilltop. What a journey! The owners take us for alcoholics as we order a refreshing beer on arrival ... we feel like it’s about 3pm, when in actual fact it’s only 10.30am! The guesthouse is perfect, just what we needed after a journey like that. Serene, with blissful views of Ella gap.
We go for lunch and then take a walk around the pretty little village before heading back to the guesthouse to chill out for the afternoon. We climb the outdoor steps to our room ... Renu goes straight in to take a shower, while Nico hangs around outside to take a picture of a squirrel in the tree just two meters from our bedroom window. Renu gets out of the shower and hears Nico’s trembling voice calling her name. He then shouts out a very strange question, “do you want to be scared to death”, to which Renu naturally answers “er, no, not really”. It turned out that there were two ‘big’ snakes curled around the tree ... just outside our window J We watch them nervously with fascination. They were two rat snakes (so not venomous) mating; the female was around a meter and a half long, while the male was a good two meters long! It was a very beautiful site, if not also quite terrifying!
We have dinner at the guesthouse that night, home-made by the owner. Quite delicious it was too. More wildlife treats that evening as we watch bats flying around and spot some crazy looking insects.
Sunday is a lazy day hanging around the guesthouse. We do leave for a few hours that afternoon to treat ourselves to a full two hour Ayurveda treatment; full body and head massage, steam bath, 50 herb sauna and shiro dhara (warm oil dripped soothingly on the forehead). Although vaguely relaxing, we found the massages to be pretty crap, and all a bit of a rip-off. That evening we eat a Rawana’s Holiday Resort restaurant ... it had excellent reviews, so we thought we’d give it a try. The food was not bad at all, though the service was terrible considering the price tag attached (warm beer, warm water, part of our order missing and not at all spicy as we had requested).
Monday morning, we decide to get our arses in gear and finally explore the area a little. We leave at 7am and take a two hour walk up to ‘Little Adam’s Peak’. It’s a very pleasant walk through some tea fields, with a stunning panoramic view from the top. We stop for a yummy Sri Lankan breakfast at a cafe in the village before heading back up to our guesthouse to take a shower, pack and move on to our next destination. Of course we plan to catch a bus, cause we’re on a bit of a budget, but temptation comes knocking on the door. Another couple had hired a taxi and were passing by Tissa, where we were going next ... if we shared with them, the price would be halved. Feeling lazy after our last two eventful journeys we decided to accept. A pleasant, stress free journey ... where we even got to pass Rawana Falls and we got to see the most enormous Monitor Lizard crossing the road in front of us!
It’s a quick and efficient bus journey to cross the Friendship bridge border to Nong Khai, Thailand. It takes only an hour and a half end to end, and we have the privilege of seeing the custom guards asleep at their desks :-)
We’re in Nong Khai to take a night train to Bangkok, where we’ll eventually take our plane to Colombo, Sri-Lanka. The problem is that the Friday we arrive in this little town, we end up having to waste the day away at a grotty restaurant opposite the train station, playing cards, waiting for our train. The train leaves at 6.20pm, dead on time, and is surprisingly clean ... other than for the small cockroaches running about! :-) We had decided to treat ourselves to a 1st class private cabin, but that doesn’t stop the journey from being extremely bumpy for its twelve hour duration. As we are rocked back and forth throughout the night, we can’t help but wondering if the train has been fitted with square wheels!
We pull up into Bangkok train station on Saturday morning at 6.30am, wrecked. It’s unbearably hot and humid already. We jump in a taxi that takes us to Khoa San Road, as we’re meeting Jean-Noelle and Sarah at their hotel (D&D), where they have very kindly booked us a room. They are up and ready waiting for us for breakfast, and so we spend the day hanging out with them until they go to the airport at 2am to get their flight back to La Reunion. It’s was really lovely to see them again, such a lovely couple. The rest of our time in Bangkok is spent shopping, getting massages, getting bored and eating a last pad thai ... yummy! Saturday night we also meet up with Heather again for dinner and drinks.
Sunday evening, we bid goodbye to South East Asia, as we make our way to the airport to catch our plane to Sri-Lanka at 10pm. Our time in this continent has felt like a series of contradictions. We enjoyed our time here, but are pleased to be leaving. It’s been a constant battle between love and hate ... we’ll be glad to get away from that feeling of being a wallet on legs, from people that only seem to talk to you cause they want to sell you something, from that annoying smile, pretending incomprehension when you ‘complain’ about something, the difficulty in getting around alone and un-noticed unless you speak the language, the bad smells and mounds of rubbish everywhere you go ... but yet on the other hand, you can only admire the pride with which they hold on to their cultural diversity, the love they show for their families, the strength they can show when they come together as one in the face of adversary, their quiet and polite demeanour, their ability to keep calm, the spice in their food and the absolute splendour of their lands. If your character is low on patience and open-mindedness ... this continent will soon show you how to grasp more of it.
Thaïlande, Nong Khai-Bangkok, 26 au 28 février 2010.
Le trajet en bus de Vientiane à Nong Khai en passant par le pont au dessus du Mékong est rapide et efficace. Seulement 1h30 au total et nous avons même la chance d’apercevoir des gardes frontières endormis dans leur box ou jouant au solitaire sur leur pc.
Nous sommes Nong Khai pour prendre un train de nuit jusqu'à Bangkok d’où nous prendrons un avion jusqu'à Colombo au Sri Lanka. Nous arrivons en début d’après midi à la gare de Nong Khai et passons donc le reste de notre temps dans un restau en face de la gare à jouer aux cartes et boire des bières. Le train part a 18h20, pile a l’heure, et est étonnamment propre, a part pour les quelques minuscules cafards qui se baladent dans notre compartiment. Nous avons décidé de faire les riches et avons opte pour une cabine en première classe, ce qui n’empêche pas le wagon de secouer et sauter sur les rails pendant les 12h qui nous séparent de Bangkok.
Nous arrivons à Bangkok le lendemain matin à 6h30, casses. Il fait déjà affreusement chaud et humide. Nous sautons dans un taxi qui nous amène à Kao San Road ou nous avons rdv avec Jean-Noël et Sarah. Ils nous ont gentiment propose de nous réserver une chambre dans un bon hôtel ou ils ont l'habitude de descendre (le D&D). Ils sont déjà debout et prêts à 7h30. Nous passons le reste de la matinée avec eux jusqu'à leur départ pour l’aéroport, retour à La Réunion. C’était vraiment bien de les revoir et on espère que ce n’était qu’un au-revoir vu que l’ile Maurice et la Réunion ne sont séparées que par une heure d’avion. Nous passons le reste de l’après midi à faire du shopping et le soir nous retrouvons Heather avec qui nous passons un bon moment.
Dimanche soir, nous disons au revoir à l’Asie du Sud Est. Notre avion pour le Sri Lanka décolle à 22h. Ces quelques mois dans cette région du globe nous ont semble être une série de contradictions. Nous avons adore mais sommes contents de passer a autre chose. Ce fut une guerre constante entre l’amour et la haine… nous sommes heureux de nous débarrasser de ce sentiment d’être des portefeuilles sur pattes, de ces gens qui ne vous parlent que car ils ont quelque chose a vous vendre, de ce sourire a la con qui feint l’incompréhension lorsque vous voulez vous plaindre de quelque chose, de la difficulté d’organiser son voyage seul, de le vue et des odeurs des montagnes d’immondices qui jonchent les rues, les villes, les campagnes, les rivières. Mais d’un autre cote, on ne peut être qu’admiratifs devant la fierté avec laquelle ils conservent leur diversité culturelle, l’amour qu’il montrent envers leur famille, la force dont ils font preuve dans l’adversité, leur humilité et leur politesse, leur capacité a rester calmes, leur nourriture épicée et la beauté de leurs pays. Si vous êtes impatients et peu ouvert d’esprit, ce continent vous apprendra très vite changer…
We arrive in Huay Xai around 2.30 pm and decide to stay here for the night. This is our first taste of Laos, and despite being a border town, we’re happy to be here ... it’s pretty, the food is good and the people seem really lovely ... even if they don’t have the best organisation skills. The next day we paid a little more for a minibus to take us to Luang Nam Tha, and we were told it would be 2 hours quicker. In the end we waited one hour for them to find more clients to fill up the bus, the bus driver stopped to get petrol, then again to recharge his phone, then again to make a phone call, then again to buy something or other, and then drove like a nut case so we all felt like we were going to vomit, and then stopped again for an hour so he could have lunch, and then continued to drive like a nutcase on very bad roads, nearly crashing into a goat and a truck, twice. Hard on our nerves, even with the spectacular scenery along the way. The upside of the journey, we meet Jean-Noel and Sarah, and French couple living in La Reunion Island.
Luang Nam Tha is fairly boring. We hang around town until Saturday morning, eating at the night market and hanging around with Jean-Noel and Sarah ... who are nothing less than excellent company.
We’re really here for the apparently amazing treks you can do; either to visit the local tribes or to observe the abundance of wildlife in the jungle, where roams apparently 37 species of large mammals including leopards, elephants and tigers and there are also all sorts of snakes, spiders, birds and a world of other weird and wonderful creatures.
Saturday morning we meet in front of the tour agency to start our two day trek. We decide on a jungle trek to observe wildlife as we already met some ethnic minorities in other parts of Asia and did not enjoy the experience as much as we thought we would. We jump into the mini-bus around 10am, stop off at the market to pick up some food, take a lovely drive to a little village where we start our trek. We start to walk, and after 20 minutes realise that it won’t be as leisurely as we thought, as it’s all uphill for 4 hours, but that’s fine, we’re happy to be out in the open. We stop half way for lunch that’s spread out on banana leafs ... and around 4pm arrive at the camp where we will spend the night. It’s just a wooden open hut with no separate rooms, no electricity, and we sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. It’s rough, especially as Renu is not feeling too well, but its fine, we’ve done worse...even with two sleeping bags missing! We couldn’t believe it, you pay $45, and they don’t even have enough covers, but never mind, luckily Renu and Nico brought their own so the situation is saved. The only really, really annoying part is that we walked for four hours and saw nothing but a leaves, trees and a little spider. As lovely as our guide was, he was not at all trained to spot any of the wildlife we were hoping to see ... not even a bird!
The next day of trekking is a similar story, except the last 20 minutes before we arrive at a little village, where we walk through some rice paddies and there is some really lovely scenery. Upon arrival we spend some time with the people at the village and then take a walk down to the pretty river before getting in our minivan back to town. Once in town, we discover that the double room we had booked had been taken and so we had to get a crappy twin room instead. Nico restrains himself from strangling the people at the hotel. All in all, not the most successful of treks! We have a good night at least, as we have dinner at a yummy Indian restaurant with Jean-Noel, Sarah, Julie (a Franco-Swiss girl we met on the trek), and with everyone else that did the trek with us. We finish the night off with drinks at our hotel restaurant with Jean-Noel and Sarah and lots of laughs.
The next day is another early morning as we take a bus to Udom Xai, where we plan to get a connecting bus to Nong Kiaw.
We get on a crappy little bus, packed out like sardines, arriving in Udom Xai around 12.30. Once again, the scenery along the way is stunning. The town is an ugly hole with nothing to do. We want to get a bus as quickly as possible to Nong Kiaw, an enchanting little village a little further west. The only problem is that there are no buses leaving today! We have to spend the night in this hell hole! We stay in a guesthouse 15 minutes down the road from the bus station and wait for the time to pass.
We’re at the bus station an hour and a half before the bus is due to leave, to be sure we get a seat and don’t have to stay another night in this place. Noodle soup for breakfast and hang around waiting for the bus to leave. It’s late to leave, of course. Another journey with striking views along the way. We arrive in Nong Kiaw, and we’re breath taken ... it really is as beautiful as everyone says it is! It magical, everything that we dreamed for in Asia, a very quiet, small, laid back village, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by majestic scenery ... it’s just a shame that we only took out enough from the cash-point for a few days ... we could have stayed here for a good while if we had the cash on us.
We spend the afternoon soaking in the exquisite setting ... we order a lunch that takes more than an hour to get to our tables (that’s how laid back it is here!), walk through the village a little more and finish off having dinner at a fine Indian restaurant, wondering all the while how this Indian man found himself settling here.
Wednesday morning we get ourselves up early with big plans for the day. It’s cloudy today and a little fresher than usual, so perfect for walking. We walk two and half kilometres outside the village feeling like we’re centre stage of some scenic painting, to the Tham Pha Tok cave. We arrive at the makeshift entrance office, where we are greeted by a bunch of very sweet kids collecting the fee...apparently there’s some special reason why they were not at school that day, but our Lao was not quite up to scratch to understand what they were trying to explain to us. One of them offers to be our guide around the cave (for a small fee of course) ... we had to accept looking at his cheeky face as he offers. It is incredible walking around the cave, not so much for its aesthetic beauty ... we’ve seen more impressive caves ... but more for the knowledge that this cave was used as a hide out for the villages during bombing throughout the second Indochina war. We hope to keep on going to see a waterfall a little further on, but Nico gets lazy when he’s told that it’s another two kilometres away :-)
Back at the village, we bump into Julie again. After lunch together, we hire some bikes and decide to go back in search of the waterfall. Of course the road is not flat ... climbing the hills in the scorching heat with a town bike with no gears, is quite honestly gruelling ... to say the least. Admiring the scenery along the way eased the pain a little, but in the end the heat got too much and about seven kilometres down the line, we decided to abandon our search for this nonexistent waterfall. It turned out in the end that we’d taken the wrong path anyway. Too bad.
Back in the village, we’d hoped to console ourselves with a traditional Lao massage, but then heard word that the lady in the village that did them was a bit of a crook and gave crap massages ... so we decided to go for beers instead ... you’d have done the same! We ended spending a superb night with two middle aged Aussie guys, and an American art professor retiree. Fresh beer, good food, stimulating conversation and wonderful company, all that in a quite perfect location ... what more can you ask out of life.
The next morning we meet Julie for breakfast, as we will get a boat one hour up river to Muang Ngoi ... apparently a little village even more remote than where we are now, with no cars ... as it can only be accessed by boat. It’s still very cloudy and a little cooler today. It’s a shivery boat ride, but yet we imagine that if the weather had been as it was two days previously it could be one of the most beautiful boat rides known to man.
Okay, so the village is not as secluded and traditional as we thought it may be, but still it’s lovely. There are seemingly some beautiful walks that can be done in the area, but we decide to take it easy for the day and go the day after for the weather may brighten up then. We go for lunch and have a little nap before we hope to discover the village a little more. While snoozing, a storm breaks out, a big one. It lets up for just enough time that evening for us to have a quick dinner and buy a bottle of Lao-Lao (local rice wine) to accompany us though a game of cards back in the room. The storm continues on through the night along with some vicious cat fights and the guys next door that snores very loudly! We wake up exhausted, to another cold(ish) cloudy day, and decide that we’ve had enough ... we take the boat back to Nong Kiaw, and get straight on a bus to Luang Prabang. It’s a shame, we’d hoped to take the seven hour boat ride down, but it was far too cold for that...
Friday afternoon we arrive in Luang Prabang, and start our two hour search for a guesthouse ... the prices are verging on ridiculous in this town. Carrying our backpacks for that long was starting to get too much, until we bump into our saviours Jean-Noelle and Sarah again (from Luang Nam Tha)! It’s really great to see them again. They also take us to their hotel, the only cheap place in the area, though it is a dump!
Cool, we’ve found a room. We settle in, have a beer downstairs with J-N and Sarah, then meet up with Julie who suggests we have a glass of wine with a very lovely person from Canada whom she’d met a few days previous. Heather has quite an extraordinary passion ... she spends 3 months of the year working in Thai prison giving support to all prisoners that have been sentenced to life (mainly foreign) for being caught with drugs ... here it has to be made clear that in Thailand, if you’re in possession of more than one joint, it’s considered trafficking ... thus, a life sentence, and there is nothing that your country can do to help you. This is the case for a lot of people she works with, guys on holiday that get caught with a bit of weed. Anyway, you can make what you want of that, but it’s a pretty crazy situation. She advised that we read ‘The damage done’ by Warren Fellows to understand a little more, and follow this link for her website. Of course, we haven’t had a chance to read the book ourselves, so could vouch for it just yet. The evening finishes with us stuffing our faces at one of the food stalls at the night market!
We spend the rest of our time in Luang Prabang visiting the town, admiring the temples and the beautiful French colonial architecture, drinking red wine and eating the yummy food that the mass array of restaurants have on offer. Red wine always stimulates the mind and so we also get talking about our return back to Europe and start to prepare our CV’s – arrrgggg!!! Renu also discovers her first grey hair, not cool! :-(
Our first instinct is to skip this place, as we here it’s where all young travellers go to go tubing in the river and stop at bars with loud crappy music along the way. It’s not really our scene, but it’s on the way to Vientiane, and so we decide to break up the journey and of course there must be some great scenery and walks in the surrounding area. We arrive Monday afternoon, and sure enough the scenery is quite superb, but that night we are kept awake in our little bungalow by loud thumping music and shouting until 3am. Sleep deprived (second night running now), Nico has a fit in the morning and declares that we are leaving this “hell-hole” immediately. Sure enough, we’re back on a bus to Vientiane at 9.30am!
Okay, so we’ve been to Marrakesh, we’re yet to visit India ... but surely, Vientiane has got to be one of the hottest cities in the world! We step out of the tuk-tuk, and before even picking up our bags, we’ve broken out into a sweat. We decide that it’s best Renu stays in a cafe with the bags while Nico goes in search of a hotel, rather than both of us running around with our bags in the heat. The rest of the day is spent recuperating from the heat and lack of sleep.
Wednesday, we hire a scooter again and visit the area a little, we soon realise that Vientiane is also probably the quietest, smallest and most-laid back capital city in all Asia. Like Luang Prabang, it boasts some very beautiful French colonial architecture, as well as some lovely temples. We make the most of the place, getting massages drinking red wine and Ricard pastis, and eating some much missed French food. We also found a beautiful place overlooking the Mekong River, where we had a drink and watched the sun go down.
So that’s it, our short time in Loas is over. Friday we take a bus to Nong Khai in Thailand, where we’ll take a train to Bangkok. This country has been phenomenal, we’ve loved every minute of it and wished that we’d spent more time here compared to some of the other countries we visited in Asia ... but we’ll be back for sure. It has a beauty incomparable to anywhere else, and the beauty doesn’t stop at the places you visit ... every bus we took, we were in breath taken by the magnificent scenery around us all the way. The people are splendidly kind and friendly, a relaxed mentality compared to everywhere else we’ve been ... no tourist harassment!!! We really hope it stays as it is, rather than selling its soul to tourism as the other countries in the region have done.
Nord Laos: mercredi 10 au vendredi 26 février 2010.
Huay Xai, mercredi 10 au jeudi 11 février 2010.
Nous passons le poste frontière situe en bordure du Mékong vers 14h30 et décidons de faire un halte pour la nuit car nous sommes levés depuis 5h et venons de faire 7h de bus. Huay Xai est une toute petite ville ou les voyageurs ne s’attardent en général que quelques jours pour organiser leur prochaine étape.
Nous réservons deux sièges dans un mini van pour aller à Lunag Nam Tha le lendemain. Le lendemain matin nous partirons avec une heure retard car le chauffeur ne voulait pas faire le trajet tant que le mini van n’était pas plein. Il a conduit comme un demeure et nous avons fait une pause dejeuner inutile à une heure de notre destination. Voila pour les compétences organisationnelles Lao. Ceci dit, les paysages de montagne et de foret sont superbes et la nourriture jusqu'à présent n’a pas été mauvaise. Dans le bus nous faisons la connaissance de Jean-Noël et Sarah (de La Réunion) avec qui nous sympathiserons au cours des jours suivants.
Petite ville assez ennuyeuse, nous tournons un peu, dinons au marche de nuit et passons du bon temps en compagnie de Jean-Noël et Sarah.
Nous avons opte pour ce village a cause des fabuleux treks qu’il est possible de faire dans la région. Soit a la découverte des différentes communautés ethniques ou pour observer l’abondance d’animaux sauvages dont léopards, éléphants et tigres (pour ne citer que quelques unes des 37 espèces de mammifères présents) et autres reptiles, oiseaux et insectes…
Samedi matin, nous avons rendez-vous devant l’agence qui organise notre trek de 2 jours dans la jungle, (espérant voir des animaux) car nous avions déjà choisi un trek à la rencontre des ethnies locales dans le nord du Vietnam et l’expérience nous a laisse un gout amer. Nous parons vers 10h et faisons une halte au marche local pour faire des provisions. Encore 40 minutes de route et nous arrivons dans le petit village à flanc de montagne d’où nous commençons à marcher. Nous réalisons au bout de 20 minutes de marche que les 4 prochaines heures ne vont pas être de tout repos. Nous ne faisons que monter et nos jambes et nos poumons souffrent après ces dernières semaines d’inactivité. Nous stoppons a mi-chemin pour un dejeuner local dans des feuilles de bananiers et repartons pour arriver au camp vers 16h. Il s’agit d’une grande cabane en bois avec des ouvertures sur tout le contour (pas de fenêtres ni porte), sans électricité, les toilettes se trouvent dans une petite cabane séparée a l’extérieur. Le soir nous dormirons sur des matelas de fortune et heureusement que nous avions pris nos sacs de couchage « au cas où » car il n’y en a pas suffisamment pour tout le monde. Et dire que nous avons paye l’équivalent d’une fortune pour les locaux pour faire ce trek et ils ne sont même pas capables de prévoir ces petits détails. Bref, nous avons vu pire, ce qui nous embête le plus c’est que Renu ne sent pas bien et qu’en 4h de marches nous n’avons absolument rien vu. Notre guide a beau être très gentil il n’est pas du tout forme à débusquer quoi que ce soit. Même pas un petit oiseau…
Le jour suivant nous redescendons par un autre chemin et nous ne voyons toujours rien. Vers la fin, nous traversons des rizières et pouvons au moins dire que nous avons vu de beaux paysages pendant au moins 20 minutes. Nous passons quelques instants avec les villageois et descendons vers la rivière suivis par les enfants du village avant de reprendre le minibus pour Luang Nam Tha. Arrives en ville, la chambre que nous avions réservée n’est plus dispo (merci Sara et Jean-Noël !!! ;-)) et a la place nous avons une chambre avec des lits séparés. Nico parvient à ne pas étrangler le staff de l’hôtel. Nous nous vengeons par un bon repas avec Sarah, Jean-Noël et le groupe qui nous a accompagne pendant le trek. Nous finissons la soirée au bar de notre hôtel avec Sarah et Jean-Noël autour de quelques bières.
Le lendemain nous nous levons encore assez tôt et prenons un bus pour Udom Xai ou nous espérons avoir une connexion pour Nong Kiaw.
Nous prenons un bus minuscule et bonde jusqu'à cette ville médiocre ou nous arrivons vers 12 :30. Le paysage en route est magnifique, la ville a l’arrivée est un trou poussiéreux. Malheureusement il n’y a plus de bus pour Nong Kiaw ce jour est devons passer la nuit sur place dans un B&B a 10 minutes a pied de la gare routière.
Nous sommes a la gare routière d’Udom Xai 1h30 avant le départ du bus pour être certains d’avoir une place et ne pas avoir à passer un autre jour et une autre nuit dans ce trou. Soupe de nouilles au petit dej (le dejeuner local…. Nico adore !!!) et nous passons le temps tant bien que mal avant le départ tardif de notre bus, qui est en fait un mini van ou 12 personnes vont s’entasser Les paysages en route sont encore une fois sublimes. Arrives a Nong Kiaw, nouvelle surprise, c’est aussi beau que ce que l’on nous a raconte ! Tout ce dont nous avions pu rêver en Asie : une petit village calme, au milieu de nulle part, entoure de paysages de rêve. Dommage que nous n’ayons pas retiré plus d’argent a Udom Xai pour y passer plus de temps car il n’ya a pas de distributeur sur place.
Nous passons l’après midi à nous imprégner de l’atmosphère du village, commandons un dejeuner qui mettra plus d’une heure à arriver (c’est vous dire a quel point tout le monde est relax), marchons a travers le village et le soir dinons dans un tres bon petit restaurant indien en essayant de comprendre comment cet indien a bien pu arriver jusqu’ici et s’y installer…
Mercredi matin, nous essayons de nous lever assez tôt. Le ciel est nuageux et il fait un peu plus frais que la veille, un temps parfait pour marcher les 2km et demi hors du village dans une campagne superbe jusqu'aux grottes de Tham Pha Tok. Arrives a la petite cabane de fortune qui sert de guichet, nous sommes accueillis par un groupe de jeunes garçons qui sont la pour encaisser le droit d’entrée et dont un se propose pour nous accompagner dans les grottes. Les grottes sont immenses. Assez grandes pour toute la population locale s’y soit refugiée lors des bombardements de la seconde guerre d’Indochine. Le guide nous dit qu’il est possible de voir une tres belle cascade a 2 km de la mais Nico n’a pas envie de marcher plus loin et nous rentrons donc au village.
De retour au village, nous tombons sur Julie, qui était dans notre groupe lors du trek à Luang Nam Tha. Après dejeuner nous louons des vélos et décidons d’aller à la cascade. La route est malheureusement pleine de cotes et les vélos n’ont qu’une vitesse. En plus, les nuages qui le matin nous protégeaient du soleil ont disparu et laisse place au soleil et a une chaleur infernale. Le paysage nous fait quelque peu oublier la chaleur et la difficulté de la tache mais au bout de 7 km nous n’en pouvons plus et décidons de faire demi-tour. De toute façon, nous n’étions pas sur le bon chemin pour les chutes d’eau… dommage.
De retour au village, nous voulions nous consoler avec un massage traditionnel Lao mais on entend dire que la masseuse n’est pas géniale. Comme n’importe qui aurait fait, nous nous rabattons sur des bières. Ce soir la nous faisons la rencontre de deux Australiens et d’une Américaine, prof d’histoire de l’art a la retraite, tous les trois super sympas et intéressants. Nous passons une agréable soirée à discuter dans un cadre idyllique.
Le matin suivant, nous rejoignons Julie pour le petit dejeuner car nous prenons le même bateau pour remonter la rivière jusqu'à Muong Ngoi Neua, un village encore plus petit que celui ou nous nous trouvons et accessible uniquement par bateau, a une de Nong Kiaw. Le ciel est tres gris et il fait plus frais encore que la veille. La remontée secoue un peu car la rivière est très basse et le fond du bateau tape souvent sur les galets. Le paysage qui nous entoure est cependant un des plus beaux que nous ayons vu en Asie du Sud Est.
Le village n’est pas si isole et traditionnel que ce que nous pensions. Il y a apparemment beaucoup de marches à faire a partir du village mais nous décidons de remettre ca au lendemain. Nous allons dejeuner, marchons un peu dans le village et faisons une sieste. C’est la pluie torrentielle qui va nous réveiller. Nous sommes assez heureux d’être surpris pas la pluie dans notre sommeil et pas sur un sentier à 3 kilomètres du village. Le soir nous dinons dans le seul restaurant qui est encore ouvert après 20h ! La, nous achetons une bouteille de Lao-Lao, l’alcool de riz fait maison, et rentrons a la chambre pour quelques verres et une partie de cartes. Cette nuit la, entre la pluie, le voisin qui ronfle fort et les bagarres de chats, nous ne dormirons pas beaucoup. Nous nous levons le matin extenués et décidons de prendre le bateau jusqu'à Nong Kiaw et de la un bus direct jusqu'à Luang Prabang. S’il avait fait beau, nous aurions certainement pris les 7 heures de descente en bateau.
Vendredi après midi, nous arrivons donc à Luang Prabang et entamons nos 2 heures de recherche pour un hôtel qui rentre dans notre budget. Les prix sont ridiculement élevés depuis que le site a été classe par L’UNESCO. Les hôteliers en profitent un maximum, ce qui fait fuir les habitants de Luang Prabang a l’extérieur de la ville car beaucoup moins cher. Nous avons la chance de tomber sur Sarah et Jean-Noël (rencontres dans le bus de Luang Nam Tha) qui nous indique leur hôtel, peu cher mais il faut voir la gueule de l’hôtel.
Nous avons enfin une chambre. Nous prenons une bière en bas avec Sarah et Jean-Noël et partons rejoindre Julie pour quelques verres de vin. La nous faisons la rencontre d’une canadienne Heather que Julie avait rencontre quelques jours plus tôt a Nong Kiaw. Heather est une personne assez extraordinaire. Elle passe trois mois par an à visiter les prisonniers étrangers dans l’énorme prison de Bangkok. Souvent c’est uniquement pour discuter avec eux, essayer de leur faire garder en tête qu’ils sont encore des êtres humains. En Thaïlande, la possession de drogue (a peine plus d’un joint) est considérée comme du trafic et passible de la prison a vie ou de la peine de mort. A part le gouvernement américain qui a un accord avec le gouvernement thaï pour le rapatriement de ces ressortissants, les gouvernements des autres pays ne peuvent rien faire pour vous si vous vous faites arrêter. Heather nous a donne le lien vers son site internet : http://luna-rose-ca qui explique en détails sa démarche et nous a aussi conseille de lire « The Damage Done » de Warren Fellows. Nous n’avons pas encore eu le temps de le lire donc nous ne pouvons pas vraiment vous en dire plus sur le bouquin.
Ce soir la, nous finissons la soirée avec Sarah, Jean-Noël et Heather à nous en mettre plein la panse dans un marche de nuit.
Nous passons le reste de notre séjour a Luang Prabang a visiter, admirer les innombrables temples ainsi que les maisons coloniales en tres bon état, a boire du vin rouge et a manger dans des bons petits restaurants. Nous en profitons aussi pour commencer à mettre à nous jour nos CV car le retour en Europe se rapproche. Renu découvre aussi son premier cheveu blanc. Pas cool…
Notre instinct nous dit de ne même pas perdre de temps à s’arrêter dans ce village car c’est la que tous les ados en voyage s’arrêtent pour descendre poser leurs fesses dans des chambre a air et descendre la rivière ou des bars de fortunes avec de la mauvaise musique sont aménagés sur les berges… Pas vraiment notre tasse de the mais sur notre chemin pour Vientiane et nous décidons donc de couper le trajet. Il doit surement y avoir autres chose à faire que du tubing. Nous arrivons le lundi après midi. Les alentours ont l’air superbes mais la nuit la musique à fond jusqu'à 3h va nous empêcher de dormir dans notre petite cabane en bambou. Prives de sommeil (deux nuits d’affile), Nico tape une crise et décide que nous partirons sur le champ. Nous sommes dans le bus pour Vientiane à 9h30.
Donc, nous sommes déjà allés a Marrakech et plus tard nous serons en Inde, mais Vientiane doit certainement être une des villes dans le monde ou il fait le plus chaud. Nous descendons du touk-touk qui nous a pris a la gare routière et avant même d’avoir nos sacs sur le dos nous sommes en sueur. Nous décidons que Renu restera dans un café avec les sacs pendant que Nico ira chercher une chambre. Le reste de la journée, nous nous camouflons au frais dans la chambre pour récupérer des deux dernières nuits sans sommeil.
Mercredi, nous louons un scooter pour visiter les alentours et réalisons tres vite que Vientiane est aussi certainement la plus calme, petite et détendue de toutes les capitales d’Asie. Tout comme Luang Prabang, les rues sont pleines de magnifiques bâtiments et maisons datant de l’ère coloniale française. Nous profitons au maximum de Vientiane : massage, nourriture française, vin rouge et Ricard. Nous trouvons également un super petit bar en dehors de la ville, perche sur des pilotis au dessus du Mékong ou nous allons prendre une bière en admirant le coucher de soleil. Nous rencontrons deux français expatries dans ce petit bar qui nous conseille un restaurant local a 1 minute en scooter du bar. Excellent recommandation…
Ca y est, notre séjour au Laos touche à sa fin. Vendredi, nous prenons un bus jusqu'à Nong Khai en Thaïlande, juste à la frontière. De la nous prenons un train de nuit jusqu'à Bangkok. Ce pays fut tout simplement « le pays » que nous avons préféré en Asie du Sud Est. Peut être ex-æquo avec le nord de la Thaïlande. Nous aurions aime y passer plus de temps mais nous y retournerons surement. Les habitants sont probablement les plus sympathiques que nous ayons rencontres en Asie et le pays est tout simplement magnifique… Nous espérons que tout reste dans cet état et que le tourisme ne pourrira pas les gens et l’environnement comme c’est le cas dans les pays voisins.
