Lovely Laos

I like Laos. This may be why I decided that it would be good to pop back and see it again! Being in Thailand made it irresistibly close and therefore it would have been wrong not to!

Our first stop was Luang Prabang, a very cool little town which seems to be a bit more laid back than our last few destinations. We spent a couple days here and between coffees ( JoMa ) we enjoyed exploring a few temples, strolling by the Mekong and generally hanging out!

From Luang Prabang it was time to head south to the capital Vientienne. 5 years ago I celebrated Songkran (New Year) here. It is celebrated mainly by having a giant water fight !! - Can't imagine how much I loved that!! Anyways, I met some great local people whilst I was there and decided it would be very cool to go and try to find them! Armed with some photos I headed back to roughly where I remembered they lived and then randomly asked people if they recognised them!! This was quite entertaining, especially as quite a number couldn't speak any English but recognised one of the guys ..."Arhhh Beau, Beau" they repeated and then waved a hand out in one direction or another!

Eventually we tracked down the house and discovered that classically no one was home! In a last ditch effort I asked a few people at the top of the street if they recognised either of the girls. They did! But success was short lived as we were informed that they were now in fact in Thailand and not back until March! Mr Phet, agreed to give them the photos when they returned and insisted we stay and have a chat and a drink with him and his family before we left! Who was I to argue!

I think this is one of the things I really like about Laos - the people!! Generous, friendly and helpful...I don't think this will be my last visit here!

Banana Pancakes

Although, the title of this post may be somewhat misleading one of the things I love about Bangkok is walking up Rambutri or one of the surrounding roads and finding the streetside vendor who with great skill and for just 20 Baht will whip up a very tasty banana Pancake.. picture below!



The very delicious Banana Pancakes!!

Anyways, I am currently in Thailand! We arrive on the 3rd and spent several days in Bangkok, enjoying the Thai Green curry, Pad Thai and the latest Bond film! We took the water taxi down the Chao Phraya river, explored a few temples and were impressed by the Grand Palace...which really is quite grand!

Some of my new friends!

From Bangkok we took the train to Ayutthaya and explored a few more of the temples here! We were however only here for a day as we were heading to Chiang Mai to meet up with one of Sharon's friends. So back on the train and northwards to the slightly cooler and more relaxed Chiang Mai.
It was nice to spend a few days here, to wander around the city, enjoy a coffee and head up to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. This is infact another temple, (as you may have gathered there are quite a few here!) however, it is worth the ride up out of the city to enjoy the cool air, views of the city and to see the temple itself. 

On Sunday I went to church with Sharon's friend Amy, which was great! Fortunately they had an interpreter as the whole thing was in Thai.. and given I only really know hello and thank you I would have struggled somewhat! In the evening we took on the night market, an impressive event that has stalls which seem to cover the streets of at least half of Chiang Mai! After a lot of looking and a little haggling I found a few items to purchase! (Can't get much more in the bag, so cant get too carried away!)

Sharon and Amy

Tomorrow we are off Laos, possibly via Chiang Rai...depends on the buses really! But I'm looking forward to Laos and heading south to 4000 Islands and then Cambodia!

Indian times - Darjeeling To Kolkata

So, after our epic 27hr journey from Kathmandu we arrived in Darjeeling. We were plesantly surprised with how chilled things were in Darjeeling! We stayed a few days and ventured out on the Toy Train (My dad would definitely have approved/enjoyed this!) Went to the tea plantations - although as I don't drink tea  and neither does Sharon, it wasn't an opportunity to sample a fine brew...although we have heard that it was!

We were also very impressed with the mountains we could see from our guesthouse rooftop - Mt Kanchenjunga - the worlds 3rd tallest mountain, definitely worth getting up just after 5am to watch it appear at sunrise.

After finding ourselves a good coffee we took the bus south to Kolkata. Now, I know what you are thinking...surely after the last bus you would have learned? But this night bus (although not the VIP Volvo bus) was much better, in fact, we had sleeping berths which enabled you to lie down and enjoy whizzing along in the darkness...no screeching breaks, no broken bones, obviously I'd be lying if I said it was a completely smooth road, and there was one railway track that we appeared to sit midway across for  longer than I'd liked.. but on the whole it was great...I even slept!

 

Kolkata was completely different to Darjeeling, which is what we had expected. It was much warmer, much more humid and there were considerably more people! We found a place to stay, which after a slight aircon disaster is not somewhere we would chose to stay again .. and had just a couple of days to take in this new realm. We visited St Paul's Cathedral, the Victoria Monument (Built in honor of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.. but not finished until 20yrs after her death) and a few other most colonial establishments, relics of the Imperial age. They were amazing, although a very stark contrast to the poverty that we saw in other areas of the city.

Although we weren't in India long we definitely enjoy our two stops and perhaps one day will go back to see a little more.

The long road to India...

Taking the bus from Kathmandu to the border with India and on to Darjeeling had initially seemed like a cracking idea. We could see some more of the country, avoid paying lots for a plane (not sure I fancy flying in Nepal really) and it just seemed like a bit more of an adventure!

Speed Control.. Yeah right?!

Unfortunately we managed to find ourselves in Kathmandu slap bang in the middle of a festival...our visas were running out and finding a bus was proving to be just a little bit tricky. Having eventually conceded we got a ticket for a local bus...overnight...to the border. Now the Tourist buses are a bit nicer and a bit more money..but the roads are the same and we figured it would probably work out ok...

The bus seemed to find every pothole there was and if there were any particularly viscous looking ones I am fairly certain the bus driver put his foot down! We were near the back of the bus.. not the best place to be positioned, although slightly better than the back row who may now be suffering with concussion!

Then around midnight the efforts of our driver paid off as a loud metallic crunching/breaking sound was heard and the bus ground to a halt... Sometime later a small committee went to inspect the now cooled underside of the bus and the tinkering began... 

Erm...yeah, it's broke...

Several hours later the bus limped away from the side of the road and we edged closer to the Indian border.

As dawn broke we made it to a little town where further repairs were to be made...the time ticked on and the supplies ran low. Hobnobs and water.. not really enough for the 17+ hrs.

At last we were on our way, the roads seemed a little smoother and the driving a little calmer. We had avoided a little rooftop bus ride (which I think looks like quite a lot of fun - but not sure my mum would agree!)

One day maybe?

We crossed the border in to Siliguri, India around 1pm, sad to leave Nepal but looking forward to seeing a tiny part of India. We only have a week here, first to sample some tea in Darjeeling and then on to the big city - Kolkata before flying on.