Last day on the lines today 🙁 and luckily it was not raining. Jonny was looking terrible – we all felt sorry for him as we attempted to eat breakfast. There was a definite pain when re-attaching to the lines – I miss my comfy harness. We left around 8:30 and enjoyed a few new lines (Jacob and I snuck in a quick loop while waiting for everyone to catch up) in between the now well known trails before sadly unclipping from the last one. All of us have improved our technique – getting your body parallel to the cable increases speed (and hence distance) dramatically. A short hike got us back to HQ followed by another hot and muddy hour down to the village where we cooled off in the stream before discovering that cold drinks (containing Sugar!!) were waiting just 50m away. Jacob has an impressive talent – managing to keep his sandles clean and dry while the rest of us were ankle deep in thick mud. I suspect it has something to do with the size of his feet – like having snow shoes 🙂

The dirt road ride back had it’s fair share of dramatic slipping and sliding but the road overall was in a better condition than when we arrived. Lunch at the well stocked cafe/restaurant was tasty (I thought) but having to eat more rice put most people off. Again we can’t get over the toilets here. A tin shack at a roadside cafe and the loo was pristine! In China it would have been a disgusting trough. The ride back to town and hot showers was subdued – everyone was pretty knackered.

In the evening we all met up for dinner at the restaurant attached to the Gibbon Exp office. It was almost difficult to recognize everyone looking so respectable. Rice was not on the books – most (including us) gorged themselves on excellent oven baked pizza. Life is once again (and as usual) very good 🙂

Tips for the Gibbon Experience (or some hints if the owners ever see this blog)
– Keep your pack small (we had a 10l daypack for the both of us). Zipping with a big one is a pain (or one with stuff hanging off). 1 clean set of clothes, one ‘dirty’ set and enough clean undies to get you through should be fine.
– Sandles worked fine for us but most were happy with old trainers.
– The gloves are not really necessary but will save your hands if you accidentally grab a cable.
– Don’t take anything that can start a fire. Tree house #1 burned down not long ago because some idiots left a candle burning.
– Soap, toilet paper, toothbrush and paste, mozzie repellent and a torch are essential. Towels are provided.
– iPod – maybe your group will suck (but you will need to carry it around all day)
– Camera (and charged batteries) with a backup cord to attach to your harness.
– Sunglasses could be useful. You may drop them.
– A little cash to buy stuff at the villages.
– Water for the walk in.
– Some found the bedding smelly – maybe a sleeping bag liner.
– The food was VERY dull. If you want to be popular/make some cash take;
– Salt, pepper, chillies and any other condiments you like.
– Loads of munchies. Chocolate, Chips, nuts, raisins etc
– Some kind of powdered cold drink. The free water gets very boring after 3 days.
– I would not recommend booze – drunk people 35m above the deck is a recipe for disaster.
– Remember you have to carry it all in.

Some More Notes for the Owners
– Medical kits ? Emergency radio ?
– Waste basket for loo paper rather than having to drop it into the forest.
– Mini map for your guests.
– Our guides were good, if a little lazy, but we think the whole enterprise could use a little sprucing up. Possibly a better manager on site to crack a whip.

Just our 2 cents. It was amazing but we felt a little overpriced and that feeling could have been addressed with only minor changes.

[Pictures: Sim about to drop off the house for the last time 🙁 ]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

One of our guides (22) zipped in at 6:30 just as V and I were waking up. We opted for some pre-breakfast zipping while Arna and Gerlinde chose to go on a walk in search of animals – the rest slept in. It took some coaxing to get the second guide out of bed and onto the trails but before long we were zipping through the early morning mist – brilliant. The dew ensured that being the first on a line meant a free shower. We didn’t go too far but got a chance to ride the longest (and I think highest) line in park a couple of times before heading back. The noise of the lines and people shouting “okay” to indicate that the line is clear is enough to scare away any animals. Arna and Gerlinde had more luck. They spotted a baby cobra munching a frog (to their guide’s surprise) and some gibbons (unfortunately a little obscured by mist).

Breakfast was to usher in an unwelcome trend. More rice and veg with a little egg on the side. In the end every meal consisted of the same set of ingredients presented in the same bland fashion. It was a little disappointing. Jessica and Christian joined us looking sweaty and muddy from their early morning hike and our guides explained the plan for the day. Zip and hike to a distant tree-house where we would stop for lunch before heading back. Anything with more zips sounded good to me.

Dropping off of our tree-house (#5) was probably the scariest one. Most of he others start on a platform and the ground gradually falls away before you pop out of the trees into open air but from the tree-house you are stepping straight off a ledge. The hiking between zips was tedious and our guides tried to entertain us by identifying plants and insects with a fair amount of horseplay in between. At least there were hardly any leeches but apparently there have been sightings of tigers and bears in the park (very rare).

Lunch at tree-house #7 was less of the same but the venue was good. Definitely the snazziest tree-house complete with bar-fridge. As we sat eating with ever longer teeth a bank of clouds rolled in and it started to pour down – wet roads could mean a very long hike out tomorrow. We met an American girl who was working in the park as an English teacher for the guides. She had hiked 9 hours to get in the week before. Thankfully the rain subsided and the sun came out to add some humidity to the mix as we backtracked to our tree-house. Arna, Gerlinde, Nick, Jacob and I stopped at the long zip line to loop around it a few (okay maybe 5) times. We had a ball on the two lines, one at least 20m above the other. I managed to stop in the middle of the higher line to take some photos and watch the others zip past underneath me at crazy speeds. Hanging in the open it doesn’t take long before you start to question the security of your position. It got ‘uncomfortable’ and I started to hand-over-hand my way to the far end. Back at base Gerlinde and I decided to do one of the shorter loops around the tree-house to finish off the day and burn some time while the others had a shower. A fantastic day of zipping through the jungle !

Dinner – oh dear – more of the same but without coffee and tea as Gerlinde’s shouts across the valley went unanswered. More great conversation, fun and distribution of the munchies we had been hoarding. Unfortunately one man down – Jonny was feeling terrible. It was a really early night for all. Its a great group of people. Mostly atheist, or non-religious, all with interesting stories and some with hillarious bug phobias. Another wonderful day in the jungle.

[Pictures: zipping in the mist. Breakfast delivery. Nick out on a wire]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

We met the rest of our group (10 in all) at The Gibbon Experience office at 8:30 ish for a brief video about the project and where the money goes. It’s a forest and gibbon conservation project funded by silly tourists on zip lines – so we have made a hefty donation to the Bokeo national protected area and I can now print as much as I like without the guilt 🙂 We were then all bundled (along with some guides and staff) into a converted double cab land cruiser for the 1.5 hour drive to a small shop on the side of the road incredibly well stocked with chocolate and munchies. A short walk over a rickety suspension bridge with broken boards and through some farmland and we were waiting for our next ride. If there is rain you stand a good chance of having to hike 6-9 hours to get to the zip lines but we had good weather and before long a mud splattered Toyota pulled up and we assumed our positions again. V and I joined the group on the back (4 other tourists and three guides hanging off the back). The road was a ball. Wet, thick and sticky red clay had us fish-tailing all over the place spewing mud as the driver battled to navigate the hacked-up roads. Steep hills proved interesting and twice we had to get out and push a little but thankfully we made it to the small village at the start of the trail after two hours of excellent off-road. It has to be said that the driver was brilliant.

From the village it was a 1 hour muddy (very) walk up to the Gibbon Exp’s HQ in the jungle. The terrain was far easier than our trek in Luang Namtha but the trail was in bad condition – no one cared – the zip lines weren’t far off ! The guides issued us our harnesses and divided the group (8 to one tree-house and the birthday couple to their own one) before leading us off again onto the muddy trails. A short climb uphill and we reached the first zip line. I could not resist being first – 300 odd meters of serious fun. The speed you get on a stretched steel cable is awesome (pretty high on the hotdog scale). The entire operation was setup by a French company in 2005(ish). The area was surveyed and zip paths planned before the steel cables were hauled into the jungle. The longest line is 500m and some look like they are over 100m off the deck at the highest point spanning huge valleys.

We took another 5 zip lines to get to our tree-house stopping en-route at a smaller tree-house to take in the impressive views. Jungle in all directions as far as we could see. One thing we did not expect were the long, sometimes steep, muddy and slippery walks between zip lines – but we admit they were worth it (Think more Indiana Jones, Less Medicine Man). We eventually zipped into our tree-house around 4. What a spot ! Around 35m up in a monster tree it had two floors (the top one just big enough for V and I), comfy sleeping mats, ‘kitchen area’, running water and a bathroom with an open shower (spectacular views across the jungle and straight down through the slatted floor). I have to admit the loo was cool – no plumbing, just a straight drop into the jungle 🙂 As we were dumping our gear we heard the unmistakable sound of a zip line as our cook (a very sweet middle-aged Lao lady) came flying through a side entrance carrying our dinner. Again just very cool – we felt like spoilt kids.

A small group of us decided to keep zipping and we managed a couple of loops on the four lines around the tree-house before heading back for a shower. Dinner was good if a little bland (rice and various veg dishes with tiny little bit of chewy meat). Done with dinner we were left with nothing to do but get to know our group. A great bunch of people and with the social glue of Nick (the Belgian) we enjoyed a great evening of games and laughter.

To introduce the group:
– Nick (Richard Dawkins) from Belgium
– Arna (Batman) from USA
– Gerlinde (The Queen of England) from Austria
– Liz (The Pope) from the UK
– Jonny (Homer Simpson) from the UK
– Jacob (Arnold Schwarzenegger) from Australia
– V (Bugs Bunny)
– Me (Hitler)
In the other tree-house (couple hours away)
– Jessica and Christian from Canada

The odd names above were from our first game of ‘guess the name stuck to your forehead’ which took ages without any alcohol. Gerlinde won. Nick did incredibly well to get the difficult one I gave him. V and I were both shocking. I think we lack a mis-spent youth ! In spite of the large and plentiful spiders on the roof (looked like rain spiders) we had a great time.

[Pictures: V on the bridge. V dropping out of our treehouse]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

We left Luang Namtha after a bit of confusion over our minibus booking. I really need to keep reminding myself that Laos is laid
back otherwise I’ll be getting stressed and annoyed for no reason. To his credit our driver left dead on time and even though there were only 3 of us in his luxurious Hyundai people carrier he didn’t spend ages trawling for more passengers. The roads were excellent but soon turned windy. Trying to type a post I started feeling sick and it wasn’t long before V got it too. Three motion sickness pills and hours later she was feeling better. We pulled into a taxi stop just outside Huay Xai after four hours and hopped a short tak-tak to town.

The town was deserted and our first stop was the understated Gibbon Experience office – it was closed for lunch so we did the same, but once open we were able to secure a spot on tomorrow’s expedition (We realized later how lucky we were to get on one without a booking). To pay for the trip we needed to go to the bank – a novelty to draw 4 million of something 🙂 This will be our ‘spoiling’ for Laos.

Our hotel is good stock standard (the Sabaai-dii) but no one in town seems to have WiFi. Odd. We had an excellent dinner overlooking the Mekong as the sunset lit the clouds over Thailand on the opposite river bank. So close, but at least a month away for us. Laos is incredibly easy for travel. English everywhere, tours conveniently geared to western travelers and cheap(ish). Maybe too easy. Hope we don’t get bored !

[Pictures: V in the Tak-tak. Sunset over Thailand and the Mekong]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

Technically traveling is hard work and today was our first chance to sleep in as late as we wanted and generally do nothing except let our blisters and leech bites heal. It really felt like a holiday. It was fantastic 🙂

So not much to report. Hot and sunny. Played at an Internet cafe and managed to get a virus onto our camera’s sd card ! Ate more amazingly good food – it’s just so much better than Chinese – for a change we are eagerly anticipating the next meal instead of dreading it. Managed to download a pile of podcasts thanks to the guest house WiFi. Got our muddy washing done…. FOR US 🙂 and made arrangements to move on tomorrow to Huay Xai. Life is good. Very good.

[Pictures: Another chilled out empty restaurant – Namtha in low season !]

[Gallery Update: Tibet photos tagged and sorted. Enjoy the Everest overload. Pics from Laos should be later today.]

[Update: Ok so I didn’t get to uploading more photos today. Will do tomorrow. But have updated the ‘Count de Monet’ page with figures to our exit from China. And yes I’m 3 days behind on posts. Today felt like a holiday for the first time in months. Back to ‘work’ tomorrow 🙂 ]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

The problem with farms… Roosters ! One of them was very confused waking us at 3am. We crawled out from under our mozzie net around 7 and after a quick breakfast (more sticky rice) said our goodbyes to the family (BTW. They are of the Thai Dam people).

Mr Phong was to be our local guide for the day and he led us 20 minutes to the closest village (Ban Nam Khon). The village was what you may expect with a population of 150. Less pristine than the farm (which had an immaculate loo) but still relatively unspoilt. The most impressive thing was that we were able to walk through without causing interruption to the lives of the locals. We were greeted politely and politely ignored (nobody begging or trying to sell us trinkets). At the primary school we were to hand over the books and pens. V and I did not really like the idea – we would have preferred to have remained anonymous but Alack insisted and I ended up in front of the class feeling decidedly uncomfortable – V cleverly hid outside 🙂

Then it was back into the jungle. Thicker and wetter than yesterday with persistent rain we climbed up down more hills. Without the benefit of rivers to wade through we ended up with a few kgs of clay under and around our strops. Wet clay should be used as an industrial lubricant – I ended up on my back in the mud a number of times as V managed to skate elegantly by in a state of partially controlled chaos. After climbing a large hill we arrived at the top to find Mr Phong laying out lunch for us. The plan was to forage for fruits and insects and cook a lunch on an open fire but again the rain meant we had a pack lunch prepared by Mr P’s wife and carried by this 50 something year old all morning (at least we would not have to try crickets and millipedes – phew !).

As we squatted eating lunch under our umbrellas we noticed the area was infested with leeches. Lunch was short. We said goodbye to Mr Phong and headed off. The trail got very steep and far more slippery making it slow going. We had to use our bamboo poles to control every step and that was only half the fun. The leeches were having an absolute feast on us. We felt like big buffet lunches for the parasites. Stopping every few minutes to pull off the latest guests of varying sizes was at first a novelty but soon became a pest. When they bite (which you can normally feel) they inject an anti-coagulant so the blood flows when you pull them off making it look much worse than it is. V ended up with one on her stomach somehow and I had a monster trying to drain me through my ankle in addition to the dozens on our feet over the afternoon. We did get skilled at removing them though. Forget squashing them, it’s like trying to squash a rubber band. Fun 🙂 And they are fast ! Fick one off and it seems to sprint back towards you at impressive speed.

It was a strenuous hike made harder by the wet. Six hours after starting off we arrived at a river which we crossed (and used to take a quick bath) before walking out to the road and a waiting minibus. The guest house with its hot water and shower never looked so good.

It was an incredible experience for us and we highly recommend it. What struck us most was the way we were received by the local people. We didn’t feel like we were the first westerners ever to visit the place but at the same time were not treated as an annoyance or a potential customer. It was the most perfectly executed example of ‘sustainable’ tourism we have seen. I think a lot of work has gone into setting these tours up and convincing the locals to play along – they are definitely worth the cost. The company we used was Luang Namtha Travel (www.luangnamthatravel.com) but Luang Namtha is lined with companies that offer similar packages.

Thank you LN Travel, Alack and the Phong Family for a truly unforgettable two days.

[Pictures: Leech !!! And the view as we left the jungle]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

A great breakfast to start the day and we were ready for our trip out to the jungle. No other travelers had signed on – but that didn’t bother us. Our Minibus driver was still having breakfast (Laos is so chilled out it’s great) so the manager in the tour office went through the plan. We started to feel concerned about the amount of time we were to spend with local families and in villages.

First stop was the local town market so that our guide (Alack) could buy a trail lunch for us. The manager in the office had said that if we wanted to ‘help’ we could buy books/pens for the village schools which V didn’t mind doing (next to backpacks it’s her next favorite shopping experience). The market was impressive and clean with wonderful smells. Fresh fruit, veg, spices, herbs etc. Nothing like a Chinese market. There were a few pots of live frogs, huge bull-frogs, frogs on sticks, deep-fried frogs, eels and roasted crickets – but in all it was a place I would not have minded shopping. A 30 minute hop in the minibus and we stopped to collect a local guide (we ended up with two) and headed into the jungle.

V and I have both been in the Amazon so we had some idea of what to expect. Travelers expecting to see animals or have a pleasant stroll in the woods will be disappointed. Jungles are about watching your feet, bearing the humidity and fighting off bugs. Any animals not hidden by thick bush will be scared off by the noise of traipsing tourists. That being said, there is nothing like bushwhacking your way through thick jungle – we had an absolute ball. Within 15 minutes our guide had hacked us a couple of sturdy bamboo walking poles (if we had know how useful they were to become we would have happily paid a fortune for them). The ‘trail’, more of a suggestion really, weaved it’s way along and up the river for the first few hours following our local guides. We gave up trying to stay clean and dry as often the easiest approach was to wade upstream. Lunch was great. Our guides gathered some banana leaves and laid out piles of food from the market. This along with sticky rice constituted a finger licking feast – when not chasing bugs off the leaves.

Our two ‘local guides, having carried water and food all morning, were to leave us at this point and return home. On packing up the food one of them tossed a piece of plastic into the bush. Alack immediately retrieved it and handed back to the guides to be carried out. We were very impressed and surprised, especially after China. After lunch we were guided past some huge trees, a tiny waterfall and up, way up, into a bamboo forest just as the rain started to pour down. The trail, already wet, muddy and slippery from yesterday’s rain, got even worse. We continued on using umbrellas (more suited to the urban jungle than the real jungle) where possible but in the thick growth it was often easier to just forge ahead. V managed to become the first leech victim. Aleck removed it quickly without a problem before any serious damage was done. For the rest of the afternoon the rains came and went in waves making sure we were thoroughly soaked, muddy and sweaty as we climbed and descended the hills eventually reaching the farm of Mr Phong :gps:(GPS)::20.918423::101.468117:gps:. Along the way Aleck had been instructing us, in his limited but reasonable English, about various fruits, nuts, plants and some of their medicinal properties. This seems to be a common thing to tell tourists while walking in a jungle and only mildly interesting. We tasted and tried a variety of things – not much took our fancy but we did enjoy chewing on some of Mr Phong’s sugar cane – haven’t done that for a very long time.

We arrived at Mr Phong’s home in the rain and were greeted warmly by the family as they went about their business. The farmhouses consist of a few traditional wooden buildings on stilts surrounded by hills and rolling fields of sticky rice (like normal rice but grows in regular soil to about shoulder height and is sticky – duh – when cooked). Alack was right at home with the family, immediately getting to work helping around the place and making sure we were sorted. He took us down to the river to have a quick bath where we noticed a small turbine behind a 1m high dam generating enough power for a TV and a few lights – we thought that was very cool. On our return we found that a couple of mats had been laid out for us in what we guessed was the ‘common’ building (TV room, lounge and dining area to you). The original idea was that we would cook dinner with the family outside, but the rain put an end to that plan. Alack insisted we take a little nap while he busied himself with preparing dinner (very fresh duck). We were not planning on it, but the sound of the rain on the palm leaf roof and the muted sounds of chickens, ducks, dogs and people outside had us both snoozing happily – besides it was nice to feel dry, warm and horizontal after 6 hours of reasonably difficult hiking in the rain and mud.

Dinner was brilliant and not just the food. We sat down in the common area around a small table with the family and Mr Phong pulled out his bottle of Lao-Lao (a strong rice wine/whiskey). Two neighbors promptly arrived to join in the meal. Before starting to eat we were the subjects of a small ritual involving eating broken hard boiled eggs and rice and having twine tied around our wrists by each member of the group while mumbling a kind of blessing (our guide explained it as something to do with good luck – must look it up some time). It was not at all posed or uncomfortable, and that is saying something for us. It felt like we were just guests at a friends dinner table – brilliant. The food consisted of the ever present (and yummy) sticky rice with bowls of pumpkin and a couple duck dishes, one of which was too deep in colour to be anything but duck blood, chili and spring onions (It tasted spicy but the thought what it could be had us avoiding that plate). As dinner wore on we chatted to our hosts via Alack as the bamboo shot glass of Lao-Lao made it rounds lubricating the proceedings. Hearing about Mr Phong’s life story was very interesting. He was a monk before military conflict left him homeless, then worked in an airport and lived in the city before selling up and moving to the country with his wife, daughter and her husband (and now a baby too).

Alack was on a mission to get the group singing – he succeeded partially. Mr Phong with his guitar sang for us followed by his wife and one of his friends – all were excellent. V and I can’t sing (or remember the words to any songs for that matter) and managed to wiggle out of embarrassing ourselves. Alack had mentioned earlier in the day that a lot of Aussies visit – I pondered how many times the family must have heard a slurred rendition of Waltzing Matilda. Keeping quite was the least we could do to thank our hosts for such a wonderful evening.

The table was moved, the guests departed with smiles and sleeping mats in a cozy corner appeared behind us. Laos is impressing!

[Pictures: In the Jungle and Lunch on a leaf ]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

We are in LAOS !!

In contrast to the Chinese border post the Laos one is a collection of shack-like buildings. The Visa on arrival guy was not yet at work (time zone change meant we were in Laos just before 8h30) but one of his associates provided us some forms to start filling in (well V fills in all the forms). The 30 day visa was a simple matter: 2 forms, 1 photo and around £28. On completing the immigration procedures were ushered into a full, but not packed, minibus for the ~2 hour (20 000 Kip) ride to Louang Nam Tha. I think the road was very good and the scenery was thick forest but can’t say for sure because I nodded off immediately and woke up as we pulled into our destination.

The driver conveniently dropped us outside the one guest house we were interested in (Thoulasith Guest house). What a win ! Double room with en suite, western toilet, wifi and all the trimmings for £2 each ! We like it here already. Not wanting to waste any time we booked a 2 day trek in the jungle starting tomorrow and after a shower we headed into ‘town’ (a few hundred meters up and down the street) to find a bank and food. The bank gave us a better rate on our remaining Yuan without the funny business and we we able to draw a fist full of cash at the ATM. It’s going to take a while to get used to a new currency.

The town, for some reason, feels like it should be on the Natal coast and it’s hard to spot the French influence. Quiet and laid back with palms trees and fine sand collecting in dents on the pavements. Hot, humid and sunny with buildings that vary from definitely Asian to decidedly Durban – odd, but that is how it feels to us. Lunch was absolutely brilliant – I had a fried rice dish the way fried rice is supposed to be done and we both enjoyed our first Lao Beer. We’re not sure if it was the slightly stronger beer or the anti-malarials but we got very tipsy and had no choice but to head back across the street for an afternoon nap.

In the evening we strolled around town. It’s low season at the moment so the place is almost deserted. The only visitors to the provincial courthouse were a few chickens loitering on the front steps. Unfortunately the lack of tourists meant that nobody else has signed up for the jungle trek so the price is a little high but we are still going.

So after just a few hours here we can say that we love it. Here’s hoping he leeches (yes, really) and mozzies don’t eat us alive in the jungle. We’ll be back in town the day after to tomorrow.

[Pictures: V with our Lao beers. Hangover to follow !]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

We arrived at Mengla at 6am. V and I really can’t handle lack of sleep ! It was still pitch dark but we had no trouble finding a minibus that would take us to Mohan (the border town) for £2 each. It was a large minibus and the driver started the usual ritual of driving up and down the main street in search of more passengers. We figured it would take hours so we just accepted our fate. To our surprise and with only four passengers on board he headed out of town just as dawn was breaking.

We are really in the jungle here. The hills all around are packed with dense forest. Heat, humidity and a little light rain sprinkled us as we headed to the Loas border along excellent roads bypassing the toll gate by detouring through some small villages for more passengers. We transferred to normal taxi who drove us into the pretty little town of Mohan and dropped us 1km from the border. We tried in vane to change Yuan to Kip at the two local banks and started walking up to the border checkpoint. As we arrived we were approached by money changers. The rate was good and we decided to change 500 Yuan to 550 000 Kip. Being tired we carefully checked the 500 000 Kip in strange new 20 000 notes and confirmed the amount but when it came to the 50 000 we missed a 0 and only realized much later that we had been sucked to the tune of 45 000 Kip. Cow !! Not to worry. It’s only R40. We decided to call it our tip for China (in Kip).

The Chinese border post is an imposing office block and stainless steel structure that towers out of the jungle. Clearing the border on the Chinese side was painless and we hopped onto a golf cart for the short ride through no-mans-land to Laos !

So long China. What a great experience ! 87 days of adventure in one monster country !! We have definately had enough though 🙂 We’ll post a pile of notes about China at some point in the next week. Roll on Laos !

[Pictures: Mohan main street. Looked like a pretty little town (if only just a single street)]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

Not much to do today except wait for our bus this evening to Mengla (50km or so from the Laos border). We got up as late as possible and spent 2 hours !! carefully packing our gear – the new supplies we purchased made it substantially more difficult. We spent the rest of the day in the hostel’s courtyard making plans and getting frustrated with their Internet connection.

We got a taxi to the southern bus station (20mins instead of 2 hours) and with even more time to kill ended up at the mall (with it’s 5000+ shops) across the road from the station. We found a decent camera case (£3.50) just as the entire place was shutting down for the day. The scale of the place is mind boggling.

The Kunming South bus station looks new, clean and tidy – Stainless steel and marble like most western airports, but we were once again shocked by the toilets. Gross I know, but the trough in the mens was blocked leaving the entire floor a half-inch deep in overflow. Eeuuuww.

Our overnight bus (which wasn’t bad) left the station a little late and half empty. A problem the driver tried to remedy once outside the station but his efforts only netted him one additional passenger. Just when I thought we were off we pulled into another back alley to load up with freight – we ended up leaving around an hour later than scheduled (20h30). The roads were very good, I managed to move from underneath the TV to a bunk above V’s, and we settled in for the night. With no toilet on board (good thing) the bus kept stopping throughout the night for loo breaks and to rotate drivers leading to a disrupted nights sleep. Around 1am we hit a bumpy and windy section of road that threatened to throw me out of my bunk but it did not last long. Tomorrow will be tough with the lack of sleep but we are both extremely excited to be leaving China and entering Laos. (Note: The GPS tag for this post is Mengla where we arrived at around 6am on 13/09).

[Pictures: A mega mall in Kunming – it just keeps going]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

Tibet was a good and worthwhile (if expensive) experience in the end. The highlight was obviously Mount Everest and the Himalayan landscape.

Some notes on Tibet (possibly will only mean something to us):
– A lot of stray dogs. Dogs seem to rule in Tibet. They are not harassed and you see them sleeping soundly in the middle of busy roads and on the pavements next to piles of raw meat in the markets.
– The cities were not at all charming or interesting to us.
– There are plenty of monasteries (mostly boring) but very few monks (possibly due to the Chinese?)
– Reportedly 20 Chinese to one Tibetan. Very obvious in Lhasa.
– Must be one of the highest Toyota Land Cruiser per capita rates in the world.
– Tonnes of tourist trinkets and curios. Unfortunately just about all fake and made in Nepal.
– Insanely beautiful and vast countryside. The Himalayas rule!
– Wonderfully friendly, hospitable and polite people (compared to the Chinese).
– Seemed to be a lot more English spoken but even better is that the Tibetan language sounds soft and quiet compared to the loud, crass Chinese.
– Hooters (not the fun kind) need to be banned in Lhasa
– Tibetan culture is endangered. Complicated and unfortunate situation.
– Hotels: The Banakshol is beyond basic and never take a street side room. The Tenzin in Shigatse was great. The Yak Hotel Lhasa is overpriced.
– Food: Namtso, Snowland and Summit were great. Dunya’s yak burger didn’t come close to the one we had in Shangrila.
– Potola is a cool looking and picturesque (from the outside) icon of Tibet but they really should silence the huge advertising screens near the entrance that you can still hear from the top.

If our comments sound negative; 1) You should know me by now. 2) The cities could have been a thousand times worse and it still would have been worth it to stand at EBC and look up at that marvelous outcrop (We’ll be back one day – but probably on the Nepal side).

Thank you to Bob, our travel companions and Tibet !

[Pictures: clip of the Alien travel permit required outside Lhasa ]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

Today has been all about getting organized for Laos, stocking up on odds and ends and sorting bits and pieces.

We have washed everything in our packs including our jackets. We don’t expect to be using any cold weather gear until we hit the mountains in New Zealand. I’m also chucking my old thick blue fleece away as I really don’t need it anymore (have not used it since Russia).

We went to the Southern bus station and bought our bus tickets for the first leg of getting to Laos. If we had known it would take us 2 hours to get to the station by city buses we would have taken a taxi. It only took us 20 minutes by taxi to get back.

The plan so far is to take a sleeper bus to Mengla. We should arrive in the early hours of Monday morning. From there we think (from what we have read on the Internet) that there are direct buses to various towns in Laos. We are hoping to get one to Luang Nam Tha. Failing that, there are apparently regular buses that go to the border town of Mohan. By all accounts the border crossing should be easy as they issue visas on arrival. Once in Luang Nam Tha we will try to organise maybe a 2 day hiking trip before moving SW either by bus or by boat to Houayxay near the Thai border to try get on the gibbon experience thing. Then SE to Luang Prabang by boat.

Across the road from the bus station was a humoungus shopping mall. We went in to look for an ATM and see if we could find some of the items on our shopping list. There were thousands upon thousands of really small shops inside the mall (no really at least 5000) and we eventually gave up and left as we were tired and hungry and the layout was confusing.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with a trip to Wallmart (we don’t think we will find the 3 in 1 Lipton tea sachets in Laos) and messing around on the internet when it was working.

Sim has been trying to sort out the graphs for our expenses. Though Tibet has put us over our original budget plan we still think we will be fine. SE Asia is expected to be cheaper than China and even with trekking and gibbon type excursions (which will be preicey) we will be ok.

Although we have not realy seen much of Kunming despite visiting it twice, we like it. It’s not too hot and not too cold and we feel like regulars at the local KFC. Walking home last night we noticed yet again that lots of people were out walking their dogs. We spotted a great Dane carrying his own leash and huge white dog that looked like he had been blow dried he was so fluffy. Pets seem to be common here and always look very well looked after. In Tibet, mangy packs of strays seemed to be everywhere. Maybe strays don’t last as long in Chinese cities.

[Pictures: Another very fancy looking bus station. The southern one in Kunming]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

An early start to an arbitrary day, off to the airport. We brought up the issue of the room rate with our guide who shrugged it off as a misunderstanding. We now regret having given him a tip. Anyway we were both very excited to be getting on a plane, our first since January. Lhasa airport is snazzy and looks brand new. It was very busy and slowed by the excruciating security checks. Oddly, once past security there is nowhere to buy nibbles. Food and water are marked up by around 300% – the worst price gouging we have seen in China (except for the Dadong duck restaurant water saga). Boarding the plane was a real novelty as it was the first time in a long while that we have see a queue in the English sense of the word – very civilized. The plane left on time at 11h25 and after exhibiting stunning mountain views below us and a short stop in Shangrila we arrived on time in Kunming at 15h30. Unfortunately the baggage handlers were slower than those at JNB and after a very long wait we said our goodbyes to Manouk (great to meet you Manouk and thanks for everything and especially for the Gibbon thing). We then spent another 30 minutes in a typical Chinese queue for a taxi fending off locals as they tried to push in and past. V was like the Great Wall. No one got past us, we must be getting good.

We have returned to the Camelia Hostel. It’s a really great feeling to be back somewhere that you know. Everything is familiar and easy. The Internet connection is still miserable and the public use laptop in reception (the only one we have seen in China with Windows and Office in English) still has the software and settings that I installed last month 🙂 . V had been dreading the rock solid beds at Camelia but we ended up with an unusually comfy one – what a relief. We will rest up here for two nights, stock up on supplies from WalMart and abuse the washing machine before heading off to Laos. We are incredibly excited about Loas and have been checking maps and plotting routes. Manouk sent us a link to ‘The Gibbon Experience’ which looks incredible and just up our street (if expensive). Laos… bring it on !

[Pictures: Home sweet home – Camelia Hostel]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

Our last full day in Lhasa (and Tibet). We took full advantage of the included breakfast at the hotel and spent the rest of the morning relaxing and strolling around the old part of town glancing periodically at the tourist trinkets and such on sale. At lunch time we said goodbye to Egle – great to meet and travel with you Egle ! We popped out to that wifi enabled coffee shop for another excellent milkshake and to upload all the Tibet posts (you may have noticed). We stopped at a clinic on the main road (Beijing Road) for a consult on my rash that has spread enthusiastically. The Doctor (we assume since he was wearing a white coat but could not speak English) inspected me and provided some cream. We got Dr. Manouk later to confirm it is just another cortisone cream so will give it a try and hope for the best. Our last errand was to upload photos at that Internet cafe full of gamers (you may have noticed that too) before heading back to the hotel and a bit of a shock.

Our room key was not working so I visited reception. They informed me that I needed to pay for the second night. Confusion reigned. Eventually we discovered that we had been billed £30 for the first night and needed to pay another £30 ! That’s double our most expensive accommodation anywhere else in China and about 10 nights for both of us in a dorm ! I was fuming. We had been told £20 by the hotel and our guide but the receipt I had had been urged to sign (while exhausted) the previous evening stated had £30 per night. My fault, I didn’t read it, but we are really annoyed with the hotel and guide – they pulled a fast one ! For that amount we would never have agreed to stay there. Live and learn. Tomorrow morning I’m going to empty the bacon tray at the buffet into a stuff sack for later ! Google searches on: The Yak Hotel, Lhasa, Tibet – Beware… The rooms are severely overpriced. We’ll be very happy to be moving on in the morning.

[Pictures: None from the phone]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

Before another full day on the road from Shigatse back to Lhasa we had one more monastery to visit but none of us wanted to go inside. Bob led us around the outside of the place with all the morning worshipers as they loop around spinning the endless prayer wheels and leaving offerings at shrines. If was far more interesting than touring the interior. We left Shigatse around 11 after a quick brunch.

I’m starting to feel bad for our driver. The roads are good but the speed limit is, well, limiting. We retraced our route from two days ago passing the lakes and then stopping for lunch. V and I started listening to Jon Krakauer’s ‘Into the wild’ – by the end of the trip we only had 40 minutes left to listen to. It’s a brilliant book.

The views were beautiful and the weather better than on the way out but the trip was uneventful until two hours outside Lhasa. Slow news day so I’ll explain. We stopped at a speed checkpoint and after having the time slip checked started off. A shiny new 4×4 behind us tried to pull in front of us on the inside and scraped his wheel arch against us. What ensued was a protracted argument between the drivers and discussion with the police. The driver of the other vehicle (clearly at fault from our viewpoint) was insisting that we had reversed into him ! The issue would have been easily resolved if the other driver wasn’t a friend of one of the policemen at the checkpoint. There was almost no damage – probably would have polished off – and in the end the police agreed with our camp. Ooo the excitement.

Arriving in Lhasa our guide informed us that the dive we had stayed at before had rooms and that the other options would either be full or expensive. We caved and were delivered to the Banakshol where we discovered that the only rooms available were on the road. I was not prepared to accept two nights without sleep and decided to keep looking for accommodation. Our guide was not happy (he must have a comm agreement with the hotel and/or he just wanted to go home – but we needed him and our permit to secure a room). Pissy and very tired from 4 days on the road we eventually settled on the Yak Hotel and the most expensive room so far in China (£20/night). The disorganization over accommodation soured the end of the trip for us. We were not given options or at least warned that we needed to book beds in advance in the more reasonable spots. If fact I was told that booking was not required. Oh well. At least we will be comfortable for our last two nights in Tibet.

[Pictures: None from the phone]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi

[UPDATE] Have uploaded a whole bunch of photos but they have not been tagged or categorized.