A Year In Motion

Maintenance of temples

We did not want to leave Vang Vieng, another tubing adventure was tempting. But Luang Prabang (LP) was at the top of my list from the start of the trip, so off we went in a minivan. The journey was only 230 km, but it took us almost 7 hours to get there. This time we had been warned plenty about the nauseating journey we would have through the narrow potholed roads of Laos that snake through its tall mountains. Being a perpetual sufferer of motion sickness I did not risk it and took plenty of medication that made me too drowsy the whole way, but it was worth it. If there is ever a journey where you need motion remedies, this is it.

Monks at full throttle the next to last day before lent

The daily night market

Luang Prabang was everything we wanted and more, it was the jewel of our Asian leg. The pace of life in LP is very relaxed, blending perfectly with the French Colonial architecture and innumerable Buddhist temples and monasteries. We were in awe by the richness of culture and heritage this small town had to offer. LP, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has about 100,000 inhabitants, including many many Buddhist monks.

Finding accommodation proved to be tricky. There is plenty of it, but the quality is not as good as we had hoped. In Vang Vieng we had easily found a great room for $10 (expensive for Vang Vieng) so we had arrived with preconceptions. LP gets a lot package tourists and not as many backpackers so it was different. We looked at probably all the guesthouses and small hotels in the town. We actually checked into three of them, we unpacked, and then we packed again and left a couple of hours later. When looking for a room, the first thing we ask is if the room has a bathroom inside. Secondly if it has air conditioning, and third if it has internet. In the first hotel they told us (and advertise big outside) there was free wifi. After unpacking and relaxing we decided to do some work on the blog. Surprise! No internet. We asked and they said it was not working these days. What!! We had clearly asked before checking in and they confirmed they did. Sometimes we take a room with no internet, but in this case it was the deceit which we did not appreciate, so we checked out.

Not where we ate...

Sunset on the Mekong

We checked into a second place, unpacked, went out for a walk, went for dinner and came back to sleep. Surprise! The air conditioning wasn’t working at all. 3 different men came in and tried to fix it. After an hour, around 10 pm, Tony told them that was enough, we could not wait anymore. They did not have any more rooms left with AC but did not want to lose our business so they offered to take us to another hotel. The other hotel was out of the town and they intended to charge us more. We checked out again! We walked through the town again checking all options we had not seen before. They were all booked or not good enough. It was getting very late so we ended up staying at a really nice place, but more expensive than all others in town. Tony had checked this place out from the beginning and it was tempting but it was too expensive. He went back 2 more times to ask for a discount but they wouldn’t nudge. In the end we had to take it, and when we checked in the receptionist asked me: “Is it true that my colleague is saying that this is the 4th time that he comes in?”. Yes it was, and this time we stayed there until we left LP.

Making merit

Not everyone is used to getting up at 6am

It turned out to be a real good move. In the end, all things happen for a reason. Our room had a balcony with chairs to sit in, from where we watched every morning before 6 am the Alms Ceremony. Basically we did not have to get out of bed to see the daily procession as our balcony was on the monks route. Everyday at sunrise the Buddhist monks make a single file procession to the temples. The devotees offer them food, which sustains the monks; but also the poorest people in the community, as the monks give some of it back to them. The offerings are mainly sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf, biscuits, candy and packed juices. The women have to kneel to present offerings to the monks, while the men may stand. Those differences between men and women I will never understand or appreciate. Anyway, the point of the ceremony is for the devotees to “make merit” according to Buddhism. We personally chose not to participate by giving offerings, but some tourists do. There are warnings all over town about how tourists should not interfere. First of all, if you take pictures, you should do it very discreetly. It was sickening how some tourists get in the monks way to get a snap. Secondly if you decide to give them an offering, you should not only follow the etiquette of dress, but should only offer fresh food (you should to buy the rice in the morning before 6 am). There were some women befriending tourists and giving them rice so they could participate in the ceremony. Then they demand money from you. We had seen the warnings so were not caught out, the monks end up throwing this rice as it is not fresh. We even read somewhere that some monks had gotten very sick from tourists offerings (provided by the touts) and that they wanted to stop doing the daily ceremony, but the authorities told them the tradition had to be continued to keep the tourists coming to LP. In any case, there is a very special feeling to witnessing this ceremony.

We continued our Laos gourmet tour in LP as there is an abundance of haute cuisine restaurants. It was a big change, as normally in SE Asia we have been struggling to find fine local food. We dii not even have time to try all the ones we wanted. One that is very worthy of a mention is Tamarind, a very small restaurant with awesome menus and tapas, as well as cooking classes. I was delighted that in Laos they use a lot of aubergine, cilantro, and fresh chili. We left Laos and for a change we had not had enough of the local cuisine. Laos did feel more expensive than Cambodia and Thailand, but maybe it was because of our taste in food… The night market does not have food, but it does have beautiful handwork from the natives. We said we would come back, especially to buy my father his Xmas present: giant scorpion in liquor. He is proud of his astrological sign Scorpion, and like Tony, is always willing to try crazy food and drink. Sorry papi!

Building the boats with energy drink bottles?

We could also not pass up the opportunity to try a Laotian massage at the Red Cross. Nothing like Thai massage, Lao massage is really soft. We also rented bikes and cycled through LP and its outskirts stopping at numerous temples. LP is full of Buddhist temples and you get a sense of their traditional customs. The days we were there were extra special as they were preparing for the End of the Buddhist Lent, during which the monks fast. All the locals were building paper boats that they will light on and place them on the Mekong River. Everyday we saw the progress done as they display them at the front of their houses. Every temple we passed by was being beautifully decorated by the monks, with paper stars and other artsy creations they made themselves. Some of the temples were spectacularly beautiful. The temples in LP are definitely the prettiest we have seen. On the last day of the lent, the Alms Ceremony was even more special as more than 300 monks marched through town, all with a fresh shaved head.

There were also boat races going on. Groups of men from different villages in different colored t shirts race against each other down the Mekong River. We saw them practicing daily and also saw several races. Tony hired a motorboat to race the boats, actually he wanted to film them as they raced so he went with them at their speed to see it side by side. It was a pity that we could not stay for the culmination of the festival, the night where the paper boats are lighted on the Mekong. We had no desire to travel by bus to Hanoi, Vietnam as it takes about 40 hours. We decided to go by plane, and since it was last minute there were no seats left for the day after the culmination of the festival. LP was just fantastic: beautiful and relaxing. Now on to something completely different: crazy Hanoi!

Luang Prabang is fantastic for photographing, some of our best pictures of the trip are here. Or check out a video diary, an introduction to a traditional Laotian meal, a few short videos of the alms ceremony, and Tony’s attempts at becoming a sports commentator on the boat racing in our videos below.

Every establishment in the 4000 islands sells the bus ticket to Vientiane, the capital of Laos; our next destination. The journey involves a 20 minute boat ride, a 2 hour bus ride to Pakse, a 6 hour wait in Pakse, and an overnight journey of 10 hours in a sleeper bus. We did not want to risk arriving in Pakse and not finding a seat on the bus so for the second time we bought the tickets from an intermediary. Most operators sell them for 200,000 Kip, but we managed to negotiate it down to 170,000. Once again, everything turned out fine. Either we have been lucky or smart, as there are plenty of scam stories going around.

The Sleeper Bus

We are no fans of overnight buses. The only one we have taken in the whole trip was in Turkey in the first week of the trip. We did not enjoy that, so we have avoided them like the plague since. Strangely enough, VIP buses only depart Pakse for Vientiane at night. We were surprised to see that the bus was quite nice, and all the places are beds, not reclining seats, but real proper beds. The whole bus was set as “double beds”, so 2 persons to one bed; a double bed that is smaller than a Western single bed though. In Asia it must not be a problem as everyone is tiny, but to Western guys…not comfortable. Our vendor, back in Don Khone, had done a good job of assuring us the best bed, the one with the longest leg space (as they all vary). Not only that, but we were so lucky that the bus was half empty; so we were allowed to take a double bed each. Service was good: two drivers, an attendant, and a goody bag for each of us. All this time we were worried about the comfort of the bus that we had forgotten about the state of Laos roads. It didn’t matter how nice the bus was, the ride was extremely bumpy, even though the drivers were quite good. Getting a good night’s sleep proved to be difficult.

That Dam Stupa

We arrived in the capital of Laos on a Sunday morning. Vientiane is situated on the left bank of the Mekong river, it’s divided into 9 districts, and has a population of about 650,000 people. It recently celebrated its 450 years of foundation. Yes it was a sleepy capital (as it is known), but it was a Sunday at 6 am. In my opinion, Vientiane is not sleepy, it’s relaxed, cultured and pleasant. We had no need of taking any transport, we walked everywhere and visited most of the important sites of the city.

All size Buddhas in Wat Sisaket

Vientiane has wide tree lined boulevards and avenues and an architecture reflecting its past, French colonialism. There is a long promenade bordering the Mekong, but at the time it was being reconstructed for the upcoming boat races and events to celebrate the End of the Rains Festival. There was carnival atmosphere at night, people out on the streets playing games for prizes, having drinks and street food, quite an ambience for a sleepy capital.

The 'Arc de Triomphe'

We strolled to Wat Si Saket, passing many other temples and the Presidential Palace en route. This temple is the only one in Vientiane to survive the Siamese invasion and destruction. It houses more than 10000 Buddha images of all shapes and sizes. Buddhist temples in Laos are notorious by displaying a big cobra and the coiled cobra head over Buddha, signifying protection.

Wat Sisaket

We then continued our walk to Patuxay, the Victory Monument. It was built in 1968 in memory of those who fought in the Independence War against France. Funny enough, it is a tacky version of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. There is even a plaque under it describing it in English as a “concrete monster”. We climbed the seven levels to get a view of the city from the top. We did not expect to find a souvenir market inside it.

Lao style Tuk Tuk

On the way back we stumbled upon the Official Tourism Office, and we were quite surprised to find it open on a Sunday, but not surprised to find out they had no information and hardly spoke any English. We visited the surroundings of the Morning Market, as the original one is being remodeled. We observed the Laotians on their daily Sunday activities. In Laos you will find more monks in their orange robes than in any other country, including child monks. They are supposed to keep away from women, but more than once we observed them innocently flirting with girls. After all, they are only young boys.

Vientiane city

On our way to That Dam Stupa we witnessed more corruption. A police officer was observing the traffic, then he stopped the fanciest looking car he could spot. We don’t know what infraction he committed, but we knew what was coming. 3 minutes later we saw the exchange, a folded bill; and without delay both of them were on their way. That Dam literally means Black Stupa, it was constructed in the 15th Century and legend says that it is the resting place of a seven headed dragon that failed to protect the city from invasions. Because it failed, it is not well preserved, it’s not even black anymore.

Kua Lao Royal Meal

Tony and I have always enjoyed experimenting with different cuisines, but to be honest we were quite tired of Asian food so we were quite happy to discover that Laos still retains much French influence, including its cuisine. There were so many cafes serving French fare, International restaurants and Lao Haute Cuisine. We had a dilemma, so many good restaurants, so little time. We had French style breakfast at Joma, a popular bakery and cafe. We like French food, but not French prices while in Asia. For lunch we went for gourmet Italian and for dinner we had our first taste of Royal Lao cuisine.

Kua Lao potions

Kau Lao is an upscale touristy restaurant, but it has maintained its quality standards, and locals still frequent it. Among others, one of its visitors is the Prime Minister of Japan. We seem to be on the right track of finding good restaurants as we have eaten in several restaurants visited by him. We had two different set menus to share and they were absolutely delicious. Lao food is served all at the same time in small bowls, starters and mains together. That is the only thing we dislike, as we like to savor course by course, as in Europe; without our food getting cold. Like in all SE Asia, all food is served with rice. Same same but different; in Laos, the rice is not steamed, but cooked sticky (white, purple, or black), and served in a bamboo closed container. You make little rice balls with your hands and then pick the food with it and put it in your mouth. Lime leaves, mint, chilies, bamboo, little ball aubergines, mushrooms and lemongrass are staple ingredients. Laos cuisine grabbed us by surprise, it is absolutely delicious and different from any other we have tasted. We thought we were going to be eating French all the time, but Laos cuisine was so good that we had to pass up on the French.

There was traditional Lao music and dance. As the language, the music and dance is very similar to Thailand’s. The highlight of the night came when Tony spotted some strange jars at the bar. He made his way up there, chatted with the barman and manager and before I knew it he was back with two small cups of Laotian specialties, saved for connoisseurs (not in the menu). The first one was a brandy of an exotic rare aged mushroom, apart from the strong smell, it was quite nice and sweet tasting. The second one was a strong aged liqueur with many big dead bees in it. Innocently enough, I thought it would taste like honey. Wrong, quite the opposite, very strong. The staff at the restaurant were quite friendly and explained to us about Lao culture. Tony then inquired about his new craving: snake blood. They told him that it’s now illegal, but maybe in the countryside he could find it. Stay tuned, watch this space!

A short pleasant stay in Vientiane, and on to our next destination, the infamous Vang Vieng. We bought a VIP bus ticket for $ 5 each. The distance between the two points is only 160 km, but took us almost 4 hours! Apart from the usual delays (bus driver stopping whenever he gets hungry), the road in Laos is the worst we’ve encountered so far and the speed limit is 80 kph, but the worst part is that it is very narrow, and very curvy as it goes up and down the mountains of the territory. Not a pleasant ride for those with delicate stomachs like myself.

Survived Tubing in Vang Vieng!

We arrived in Vang Vieng (VV) and it was very easy to find a decent place to stay. In Lao, there are not many touts, and the few are not very persistent. We started walking through the town with our bags and we were approached several times by hotel agents in tuk tuks, cars, motorcycles or walking. We took our time to see what they offered and we ended up scoring a nice quiet traditional AC ensuite cabin with wifi and cable tv for $10. There are so many hotel rooms in Vang Vieng that a good deal is easy to find. The rest of the day we walked around the town, as it was too late to go tubing. VV is nothing but a small town full of restaurants and bars all showing reruns of Friends, The Simpsons and Family Guy; as well as offering “Magic Menus”. If you don’t plan on tubing in VV then there is no point in going. There are caves and waterfalls to visit, but then again, where aren’t there any in SE Asia?

VV meals

Tubing is the star of the show in VV and that’s what we came for. Basically you rent a tube (inflated old tyre) from the cartel in town (owned by all the families in VV) and a tuk tuk takes you to the launching point about 10 km out of town. You float back to VV in your tube down the Nam Song River which is surrounded by impressive beautiful karst formation mountains. But it’s not only that, the peculiarity of it is the dozens of ”interesting” stops you end up making along the way.

We had heard and read mixed reports about VV from fellow travelers. From those that said it was so awesome they did it many days in a row, to those who thought it was not even worth visiting VV, to those who tell stories of others ending with serious injuries or death by drowning because of intoxication. For moments I thought we were too old for something like that and our time in Laos was limited anyway; but as I always say “I’d rather regret doing it, then never knowing what I missed”, so we went for it.

Leaving the tubes back after dark

By nightfall of our first day in VV the tubers started returning back. We saw many barefoot girls in bikinis walking through town, a guy carrying his passed out girlfriend over his shoulders (caveman style), excessively drunken loud guys, many with spray painting over their bodies. These are daily normal scenes in VV. Tubing looked promising.

Next day and our time had come. We rented the tube and signed a disclaimer form liberating them from accidental death or injuries, got a big number imprinted on our hand (with permanent black marker) which matched our disclaimer form. We asked where the return point was, but they couldn’t be bothered in explaining us anything else. Off we went in the tuk tuk to the launch point. Our first consolation was that the other people in the tuk tuk were even older than us.

VV Arts and Crafts program

We arrived and couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It was surreal! Right In the middle of the countryside in Laos were these bars playing really loud techno music, very old Laotian countrymen and women were dancing and singing to the music, sliding face down to the river, ziplining and offering us free shots of insect and reptile infused Laos alcohol, and to spray paint our bodies. What is this place? This is what tubing is all about.

Found a lost tuber

Unfortunately we don’t have photos to show as we didn’t want to risk our camera getting wet, but trust me Vang Vieng is one messed up place out of reality. Tubing? Most people don’t get to do any tubing at all, as they pass the time going into the many bars that are about 200 meters away from each other. As you pass by in your tube, the staff from each bar throws you a rope and pulls you back. It looks like everybody is having so much fun, that we couldn’t resist joining them and stopping at almost every bar. Personally we were in control of the situation the whole time, but so many were not. It is scary to think what could happen to them. Every bar has different activities to participate in such as water slides, zip lines, mud volleyball, mud wrestling, etc. We did all of them and it was a blast.

This is a place for adults and there are no rules. There is all kinds of alcohol on sale (plus free shots), free bananas and crackers, and a special menu (for those that know about it). Time goes by so quickly and everyone ends up paying the fine for not returning the tube before 6 pm. After the last bar you can return by tuk tuk. We still wanted to tube for real so we decided to continue on the river. It took us more than 90 minutes to get back, so night and rain had fallen on us. Honestly, it was a bit scary not knowing how much distance you had left, the night creatures, and the occasional men you would see in the river. A Spaniard guy caught up to us and asked if he could hang with until the end as he had the same concerns. In the end (as we supposed) the ending point is not marked and there is no one waiting for you. We ended tubing all the way back to our hotel (way past the point). The day before and that day we saw several tubers reappearing in the river really late way past the point and on their own, scary…

So do we regret tubing? Absolutely not! The only thing we regret is not renting our tubes early enough and having a longer day tubing. We had so much fun, probably the most fun filled day of all the trip. And there were many people our age and older. We recommend to anyone young at heart to do it, just start it no later than 12 p.m and be responsible for yourself and companions.

For the complete photo gallery, click here.

The waterfall, Don Khone

We left Cambodia and headed to Si Phan Don in Laos, literally meaning and better known as the 4000 Islands. We waved goodbye to Tony’s father and departed Kratie, Cambodia. We had come to Kratie to see the rare and endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins who live in the Mekong River. We drove about 15 km out of town and then took a boat. It seemed like an impossible task to spot one of the few specimens in the huge Mekong, especially at that time of year when it is at its mightiest. We had been looking for them for almost two hours, and losing hope by the minute. Just when we were about to turn back, Tony spotted one of them. We stayed for longer and caught a few glimpses of them. They are very cute, but only come up for a quick breath of air once in a while. We all had our cameras ready to snap, but it was impossible to catch them. Still we were really excited we spotted them.

4 hours after leaving Kratie we had arrived at our next destination, the island of Don Khone. We took a minivan from Kratie to Stung Treng with a journey time of 1.5 hours, then a one hour bus to the border, 30 minutes at the border, 15 minutes from the border to Ban Nakasan, and 20 minutes on a small boat to Don Khone. The journey did not go without incidents though. The border crossing from Cambodia (Dong Kralor) to Laos (Dong Kalaw) is notorious for its corrupt officials. On many occasions during our travels we have been warned about situations like this, but being very aware and informed we have been able to elude them, so far we had done all our travels without having to pay any bribes, or additional “fees”. That was until Laos. Lao visas are available at this border since this year, but to avoid being the prey of this infamous officials we applied for them in advance at the Lao Embassy; a very straightforward process that only took one day and $40 each, no additional charges.

At that window in the border you get asked for the bribe

This border crossing is quite rustic, simple and fast. Exiting Cambodia, I handed my passport to an official and he murmured “1 Dollar”. I replied very loudly: “1 Dollar! For What?”. He did not reply back. There were four other travelers with us and another official told one of them “1 Dollar for stamp” before returning his passport. He replied he didn’t have any money, and that was the end of the story; they gave all of us our passports back, stamped and with no further demands. Easy enough saying “no money”. 200 meters and we were in Lao territory. We filled the entry card and handed it in with our passport. “2 Dollars for entry stamp” said the official. The first traveler said he didn’t have any money. It didn’t work this time…To make the story short, after more than 30 minutes of arguments, begging, insults, threats, etc, the six of us had no choice than to pay the bribe. Every traveler had a different strategy to get out of it, and none worked. From the Japanese girl’s strategy of I am so innocent I don’t understand, to Tony’s tough guy attitude, nada; we all had to swallow our pride and cough up the bucks. Tony verbally expressed all his sentiments to the officer, but of course the only English he knew was “2 Dollars”, if not he would have been deported before getting the entry stamp. Needless to say it’s not about the $2, but about the principle. We all felt robbed, violated, impotent, it’s a horrible feeling. After venting out all our frustration, we were all quiet the rest of the way. Tony and I played with the idea of just entering Laos without the stamp (as you can easily walk in and out), but we didn’t risk it because our plan was to leave by air; if we were leaving by land, we would have called their bluff and not give in to the bribe. We all had our visas which are not cheap, we all were coming to spend money in a country that really needs it; Laos is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and it does not receive the tourism that its neighboring countries do. How can the central government allow this situation? They are very aware of it because it’s written in guidebooks, traveler blogs, etc. Welcome to Laos!

The mighty Mekong from Don Khone

Just a few kilometers into Laos and we realized how different than Cambodia it was. For starters, the roads are really bad, while in Cambodia they are in pretty good conditions. The farther we went into Laos, the better the weather, we had left the humidity of Cambodia behind as we headed North and up in the mountains. Surprisingly people were not as friendly, and they were not wearing pijamas (common in Cambodia). 18 km after the border we arrived in Ban Nakasan, the gateway to the islands. From there we were taken by boat to Don Khone, our selected island. 4000 islands is still not in most traveler’s itineraries as it is off the beaten path, except for those traveling overland between Cambodia and Laos. It makes a good stopover to break the long journey, considering especially the border crossing closes at 4 pm (or you can pay a big bribe and they will open it especially for you, but no transport at that time anyway). Out of the 4000 Islands, most travelers choose Don Dhet, as it is the most easily accessible, with the cheapest accommodation and food, and the party vibe. Don Khone is a bit more upscale, quieter and more beautiful, boasting 2 interesting waterfalls and more authenticity as it gets fewer tourists.

Traditional accommodation

Apart from the border incident, the travel went well. We were hesitant about buying the ticket from an agent in Kratie (called Mr. Cheat) all the way to Don Khone, as it involved 4 transfers. Usually we are very careful, purchasing always every segment personally and directly from the operator ourselves, but this time we gave it a shot. We paid $14 each from Kratie to Don Khone. Mr Cheat did not cheat us.

The 4000 Islands are in the province of Champasak, South Laos. They are a group of islands in a winding part of the mighty Mekong River. When the rainy season is over, the water levels drop dramatically and more islands appear. Apart from the muddy brown waters of the Mekong, the setting was postcard perfect. Lushness everywhere, tall palm trees and bamboo plants adorned the isolated rustic villages. We walked the main strip looking for accommodation. We couldn’t believe how cheap it was, we were offered waterfront AC ensuite rooms for 7 US Dollars. However we wanted something nicer, so we kept searching until we found a duplex hut with a private balcony directly on stilts over the water for $25. Our accommodation was brilliant, we could lay in the hammock and just watch life on the Mekong pass by, even from the bed you could hear and see the river. It was lovely hearing the rainstorms at night, the sounds of the wild, and looking at the stars and fireflies. I could have easily stayed a long time there doing nothing as in Gili Meno, but Tony was not impressed and the rest of Lao and Vietnam were waiting for us.

The infamous French Bridge

Our terrace on stilts

One of the few activities you can do is rent a bike and cycle the island, but because of the rain the terrain was too muddy. Instead we walked the island, which is very easy. Into the island you find the locals leading their daily life, planting the scenic rice fields, kids at school, etc. We were shocked and disgusted to find a gibbon trapped in a small cage and a macaque tied with a metallic chain to a tree. I felt like denouncing the situation, but to who, they would have laughed at me. We arrived at the Somphamit waterfalls, and although I have to admit they are more like rapids than waterfalls, they are quite impressive because of their width and the fast flowing huge amounts of water. You can walk up to them from the side and it’s scary to think about slipping falling into them. Another activity is to try your luck at spotting the rare Irrawady dolphins. We had already done it in Kratie, were chances are stronger, so we did not pursue them in Don Khone.

The waterfall

Then the second bad incident in our first 24 hours in Laos occurred. There is an old French bridge connecting Don Khone to Don Dhet. The local “authorities” (there are no formal authorities or police) of Don Khone have imposed a toll fee of 20000 Kip (about US $2.50) to foreigners crossing on foot or bike from Don Dhet to Don Khone. It’s their village and I suppose they can do whatever they please, but I still think it’s steep; especially considering that it only applies to foreign tourists on foot or bike; not to the hundreds of daily Thai tourists that come in package tours and cross the bridge in minibuses as they make a quick visit to the waterfalls. I witnessed how many tourists coming from Don Dhet had to turn back as they were unwilling to pay the fee or did not have money with them. We had no plans of visiting Don Dhet, even less if we had to pay that amount. As we were walking in Don Khone, Tony thought we should step over the bridge to cross a muddy bit. Immediately the man in charge demanded the toll. We explained to him we were not going to cross the bridge, we did not want to go to Don Dhet. He became unreasonable and as the border official, all he could say was “money money”. Tony told him a few things and got on the bridge. Tony is double the size of most men in Laos, so he did not dare stop him; but then he tried to stop me by blocking my path. I thought things would start getting ugly as other men appeared out of the booth, so I told Tony we should get out of there. For agriculture or whatever reason, most men there carry axes and machetes with them, it wasn’t a good idea to fight them. After a cross of English and Laotian insults between both parts, we left. We both felt disgusted, disappointed and angered with Lao attitudes towards foreigners. Further on, every time we passed by the “toll booth”, groups of men (that hang inside the booth all day and do nothing but put tourist money in their pockets) would come out of the booth, and harass us. It was intimidating.

Inland Don Khone

We stayed for only 48 hours and it was enough. Maybe in dry season when they say the Mekong is turquoise clear (hard to believe) and mot muddy brown the 4000 Islands are worth the trip. Laotian food was surprisingly delicious in Don Khone. I was really hoping Laos would start to look up and redeem itself because it was my idea to go there. Tony wanted to skip it, and divide the time between Cambodia and Vietnam. After reading from many travel blogs and hearing from travelers that Laos was so brilliant, I insisted we should come. Curiously enough just before arriving into Laos we heard and read traveler reports stating the opposite, how they disliked Laos. Let’s hope Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang will give Laos a good name.

For more pictures of the 4000 Islands click here.

“Same same…but different” is an expression we hear constantly in South East Asia. For example, I ask the waiter to describe for me two items on the menu and he gives me the exact same description for both. So I tell them how can it be the same food with different name, and he replies: same same but different. Bangkok is same same since last time I was here, but different…

On the quest for good street food

Back in January I was at home in Honduras looking through important documents and found a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifelong Guarantee for a precious stone white gold ring I had bought in Bangkok over 8 years ago. Most of the stones had fallen off the ring after a few months of use, but I thought I would never again be in that shop I bought it so threw away the documents. I was wrong.

Overloaded tuk tuk with students at Siam Square

We arrived in Bangkok and the traffic from the airport into our hotel in Sukhumvit was as bad as I remembered it, probably worse now. Same heat. There are many more high rise buildings now, much more malls, and a Starbuck’s in every corner. There are still hundreds of pictures of the Queen and King all over the city. One of the best things of Bangkok is that there is so much accommodation on offer that it is quite easy to find quality hotels at cheap prices.

Funny uniform big school boys wear!

The first thing we did was go to the Vietnamese Embassy to get our visas. Irish: no problem, come back tomorrow, Honduras: Where is that? No visa! No no no! Tony tried to reason with him, unsuccessfully. When we came in there was big queue of people, along with them we had to wait 30 minutes for the first official to come to the window, as they were all too busy watching tv. Their English was very poor, they were rude, and the visa was very expensive. Bangkok is not a good place to get a Vietnam Visa. (In Cambodia I got it with no questions asked, the same day and much cheaper.) So we headed to the Laos Embassy where I was successful at getting a visa. First impressions corresponded to the consensus of what we have been told by many: Vietnamese people are not nice, Laos people are really nice.

Beautiful Wat Pho

Our hotel (as all others) offered a “free tour” to see the most important temples. I don’t believe anything in life is free, and having been in Bangkok before I knew exactly the type of tour it was. The tour includes pick up and drop off to wherever you want in Bangkok, air conditioned car and guide to show you the temples (or canals) of Bangkok. If you are prepared for the catch, it’s a great idea to take it.

Reclining Buddha, NOT sleeping!

The first stop was Wat Trimit, the Temple of the Golden Buddha. This is a 700 year old image of Buddha, made of five and a half tons of gold. It is only in recent history that the gold was discovered. Originally it was a Buddha made of plaster, and by accident, as they were moving it, the gold was revealed. It had been covered in plaster to protect it from enemies. The second temple we visited was Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the largest temple in Bangkok. Buddha is reclining, not sleeping, as our guide stressed. He is 46 metres long and 15 metres high, gold plated and the feet inlaid with mother of pearl stones, and displaying the 108 auspicious characteristics of the Buddha. The last temple we visited was Wat Indharavihan, housing a 32 metre standing Buddha image, said to contain relics of Buddha gifted by Sri Lanka. The last temple, although the less impressive, was my favorite as it is rarely visited by tourists. Its entrance is free and you can observe the locals praying and making offerings. One of the most important offerings made at this temple is tuna fish, as they say it was the favorite food of the monk who built it. It is then fed to the many cat habitants of the temple. As well as cats, dogs are also taken care of in this temple by an old lady, which made me happy.

Wat Pho

After making an offering to Buddha, our guide told us that now we had to go to a gem factory. Surprise! No, not at all, we were expecting it. Since the start of the tour we mentioned to the guide how we had done all our shopping, and how we had no money left, and it was our last day in Asia. The guide was actually a really nice lady, who called herself A (we have another Thai friend who calls herself F). She told us that we didn’t have to buy anything, but asked to please pretend for 10 minutes to look at the stuff, because if not she would get in trouble with her boss. We told her not to worry, we would go along with it. Deja vu! We turned into a street, and I couldn’t believe where we were: Gems International, the same gem factory I had been brought on a tour 8 years ago.

Muay Thai

There were many minivans like ours with many tourists who had just visited the temples. If only I had known, I would have brought my ring and certificate back and demand my money back. I can’t believe 8 years later they are still doing the same! We had the welcome drink, saw the short film on how Thailand’s gems are the best and cheapest in the world, saw the workers making gems, and then did a walk through to the very big showroom. I remember the line from the salesman: “We have silver also at a very good price.” The silver is at the end of the showroom, its their last effort to sell. And if not silver, they have silk after the showroom, and then souvenirs before you exit. This time around, not even a postcard, they got me to buy. I felt like telling them off about my experience last time and the ring, but didn’t, just in case the nice guide got in trouble. The moral of the story is: if you are in Bangkok and are offered a free tour, go, as it is nice to be driven around Bangkok sightseeing for free, but be prepared and don’t buy.

Action filled Channel 7 stadium

Bangkok’s street food is well known, so Tony had intended to eat loads of it. We tried it again and again and couldn’t really find any great street food, except for some fried insects Tony found and this time I tried as well. Instead we followed a gourmet guide made to us by our Thai friend, Naruth. We ended up eating in excellent restaurants frequented mainly by locals and almost no farangs (foreigners). One of the most remarkable was Samboon which has an spectacular crab curry. We ate many curries and seafood of all sorts, and fresh fruit juices. One restaurant worth noting is Cabbages and Condoms in Sukumvit Soi 12. It is one of the projects of a non profit organization whose mission is to reduce the birth rate in Thailand. The food was good, the service outstanding and the concept fantastic. The organization recently won $ 1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their hard work. On the upper end of the scale, we had an excellent dinner at Baan Khanitha. At lunch they have excellent value menus.

Made of condoms, at Cabbages & Condoms resto

We went back to Wat Pho, for visiting Buddha again, but mainly for getting a traditional Thai massage. Wat Pho was the first center for public education in Thailand and it currently houses a massage school. We each paid for one hour of traditional Thai massage with herbs. Along with many others, in a mattress on the floor we were roughly beaten. Thai Massage is really rough, but that’s how we like it. They used their elbows and knees to massage us. We left quite satisfied by the massage, but not by the time, as they only administered 45 minutes. We hadn’t had enough of it so next day we went to Lavana Spa, also in Sukumvith Soi 12, where we booked a 90 minute massage. It’s almost the same price as in Wat Pho, but much fancier and better service. We both wrote on the questionnaire provided that we wanted hard massage, not soft or medium. Boy oh boy, we definitely are masochists. It was so rough, that I felt they could kill us, as they know how to manipulate every part of your body, including the neck. They even walked on our backs, massaging us with their feet. Tony couldn’t stop laughing because of the pain, and yelled at me “she wants to kill me”. But it was so good, we highly recommend it, if you can take it.

The champs!

We were surprised by the fact that in Bangkok its cheaper to take a metered taxi than the metro or skytrain. The metro or skytrain does not go everywhere, but taking a taxi can take very long if the traffic is bad, and most of the time it is. Tuk tuks have to bear the traffic as well, and when we did take one, it ended up being more expensive than a taxi, as they charge what they want because they have no taxi meter. One time we ventured and took the bus, which surprisingly wasn’t that cheap. It took long, but we arrived exactly where we wanted to. We didn’t take it more often because the routes are in Thai and it’s hard to find someone with good enough English to help you. The best ride was probably on the taxi boat which goes along the Chao Phraya River. As every evening in Bangkok, it had just started to rain, and by the time we arrived at our destination the boat was filling with water from all sides, the current was high and it was lashing rain. At the taxi boat stop you have to be attentive when the boat comes and jump in it as it only stops for a few seconds at the stop. The conductor whistles different signals to the captain and that’s how he knows where to stop and for how long. It was a good experience, rain and all.

We visited many markets in Bangkok which were all same same including the infamous Patpong. They all sell the same clothes, objects, souvenirs, etc. We were not interested in shopping, we were on the quest for good street food. We didn’t find it, but instead we found all the red light action around it. Many young girls dressed up in special outfits offering “massage”, lots of bars with strip shows and pole dancing, and innumerable offers to go to Ping Pong Show. Same same as 8 years ago so I had told Tony what to expect. Every time they offered him Ping Pong, he would reply by asking them if they had golf, as he was more into golf than ping pong.

Yes, I can!

The big highlight in Bangkok was attending an authentic Muai Thai (Thai Boxing) event. Our hotel and guidebooks said to go to Lumphini or Ratchadamnoen Stadiums which alternate dates for the fights. We got there and immediately realized it was more of a show put on for tourists than anything else. The cheapest tickets for foreigners were 30 Euros each, there were cheaper seats but they refused to sell them to us. No way we would pay that. By coincidence we found out that on Sunday afternoons Channel 7 hosts fights and transmits them live on tv. We went there and it was free of charge, don’t know why the guidebooks don’t mention this. It was an authentic Thai ambiance, besides a couple of other farangs who are studying Muai Thai in Bangkok, we were the only tourists. Thais really live every moment of the fight with great emotion. Half of the stadium was cheering for the reds and half for the blues. Spectators become so involved into it that during breaks they come up to the corner of their fighter and start telling him what to do, some are even so angry because he is losing that they hit him themselves. And the betting that goes on during the fight is incredible, all communicated by signs, the bookie taking down names and at the end the losers going out giving the money they owe. The fight itself gets pretty intense. One of the contenders had to be carried out in a stretcher. It was an amazing experience being there!

Thai massage outfit, ready for a beating?

Pierre and Tony

And another annoying phrase used in South East Asia: “Why Not?”. As in you tell the waiter “Can I please order an Orange Juice” and he replies “Why not?”. Same Same!

For our Bangkok photo gallery, click here

Sunset on the slow ferry

Bangsal, gateway to Gilis

Budget airlines in Asia are a completely different story than European ones. We took our first intra Asia flight with Air Asia, the most known budget airline in Asia. The service was excellent, even better than most non budget European and American airlines we have flown with. A short flight from Singapore and we had arrived in the mystic land of Bali. Tony was delighted from the start as he instantly became a millionaire when he withdrew millions of Rupiah from the airport ATM.

Scenery at arrival in G Meno

G Meno

Bali proved to be all that we expected and more, but that tale will come after this one. Shortly after arriving in Bali we traveled to the neighboring island of Lombok and famous for its Gili Islands. We boarded our big and slow ferry at Padangbai and 4 hours later we arrived in Lembar. Bali is the exception of Indonesia in terms of religion. Indonesia is the biggest Muslim country in the world, but Bali is a Hindu island. That day was the end of Ramadan, Eid ul Fitr, therefore transport was scarce in Lombok, no buses that day. Without a choice, we took an overpriced taxi all the way to Sengigi, our gateway to the Gili Islands.

Cidomo

Traditional fishers

Sengigi had not much to offer us so next morning we took a local small boat from Bangsal to Gili Meno, where we had planned to spend 3 days, instead we stayed 8. In local language gili means small and Lombok has many gili islands, but touristically speaking the Gili Islands are: Trawangan, Air and Meno. There is no motorized transportation in the Gilis. The way of getting around is by foot, bicycle, or by taxi (a horse carriage locally known as cidomo). Trawangan is the party island, Meno the quiet one, and Air the in between one in terms of size and action.

Sunset at G Meno

Chess battles

We wanted serenity so we chose Meno. We got off the small boat (getting our feet wet, no docks in Bali or Lombok) and I immediately thought it could very well be the paradise I was looking for. It was picture perfect: white sand and clear turquoise water, just a few tourists (almost all honeymooners), no touts and very cheap. The weather was perfect and remained like that all the time, sunny and hot and from our island we could see the daily thunderstorms over Bali and Lombok, but not in the Gilis! There is no road in Gili Meno, just a sandy path. This was the first and only time in more than 5 months that we have had to carry our bags in our backs, so far we have only been pulling them as they have handles and wheels. We have congratulated ourselves many times for buying this model, although more expensive than backpacks, worth every penny.

Naughty Cat and Coral Chimes

Our Beach BBQ

We thought that in the Gili Islands we would have time to catch up on our blog, budget, plans, pictures,etc, but we did absolutely nothing. The longer we stayed there, the more we were sucked into slow rhythm of the island. Gili Meno is very slow paced, power comes and goes, no internet, no AC, most places do not have fresh water and oddly enough most restaurants do not even serve fish.

Cycling in Gili T

Life in Gili Trawangan

Meno is very small with approximately 400 inhabitants. In my mind I thought it would be even smaller, about 20 locals, 3 tourists, and just a strip of beach and very far from any other land. It was only one kilometer from Trawangan, very tempting to swim to and from. The ride in the cidomo was quite expensive priced at about 5 Euro a ride, so we walked everywhere. We walked around the whole island once which took us about one hour and a half. Most of our days were occupied by having 3 hour meals (not 8 courses, just very slow service), watching the sunset and yes doing nothing. We made friends with other people, but mainly we hung out with John, a very nice Irish Art student from Dublin. Tony and him played Chess, Football, and did Yoga; while I did nothing. The first day we arrived we thought we would cut our stay to 2 days as there was nothing to do, but instead we kept extending our stay, doing nothing proved to be great. We were not the only ones, most travelers we met had experienced the same. The island sucked us all in. Tony and I are very hyperactive persons so moving at fast pace from one place to another is not a bother to us, but something in the Gilis got us. We easily got in the rhythm of lazing all day in the beachfront bamboo beruga (stilted open-air wooden hut) all places have. I was wondering when it would happen, and it happened in Gili Meno. It was the first time in the trip that I completely lost notion of time. Most of the time in the trip we have to think twice what day of the week and date it is, but it easily comes back; in Gili Meno, I did not know if it was Tuesday or Saturday, and neither did Tony, we had to ask. It doesn’t even matter when you are traveling for so long, except when you have flights booked. We are living 365 Saturdays!

On offer in Gili T

The only main activity we did in Meno was one dive. We went scuba diving to a site called Meno Slope and it was spectacular. If not the best, the second best dive we have ever done. The visibility was excellent, the quantity and variety of fish was abundant, and mainly I found the color and type of coral to be very different than all I have seen before. This dive is a drop into the channel between Gili Trawangan and Gili Meno and descends to the bottom of the sloping reef at 22m.It is the site of a Bounty pontoon wreck. The sunken pontoon is a large intact structure at 12m full of interesting marine life and schools of reef fish.

Gili T

There is one bad thing about the Gili Islands, its beaches are not good for swimming, although they are wonderfully very warm waters. Going in the water should only be done with shoes or your feet will get hurt. I ventured once and in one minute I hurt my foot badly, causing me to limp for 3 days. Dynamite fishing was practiced much, and on top of that, El Niño hit the islands very hard a couple of years ago, causing a big erosion of coral, which covers all the beaches now.

An hour of rain in Gili T

We were becoming too comfortable in Gili Meno and running out of money. No credit cards accepted, no banks, not even ATM’s. So we decided to migrate to Gili Trawangan (locally known as Gili T). The party scene there is not for us, but we discovered that Gili T has its quiet side also, and much more beautiful beaches. In Gili T there is everything you need to linger indefinitely: ATM’s, credit card facilities, clinic, cinemas, Internet, plenty of accommodation from dorms to high luxury, international cuisine, bars, discos, etc.

Boys!

In Gili T we fell out of the spell and took advantage of every second there. We hired bikes and cycled all around the island, we snorkeled until sundown, had a private beach barbecue, and for 2 full days we worked hard making plans for the next months as the internet was fast and free.

Island life - berugas

We had already changed our flights out of Bali once extending our stay 10 more days, so more days were out of the question. I could have stayed in the Gilis indefinitely, but our plan is to see as much as possible, so we waved a sad goodbye to the Gilis and booked tickets on the “fast boat” back to Bali. The price of a one way ticket on the fast boat from the Gilis to Kuta in Bali is about 50 Euros, the slow ferry is less than 3 Euros; but we couldn’t afford to lose one full day traveling, and the fast boat would have us in our hotel in Kuta in two and a half hours, without involving an early wake up.

Gili M

It was a nice modern boat that we left on. Along with 9 others, we decided to hop on the roof of the boat to feel the wind, get some sun and sight see. At the beginning it was so cool to feel the breeze in our faces and small splashes of refreshing water. Once we got into the open sea, the ride started getting bumpy, extremely hard core. Except for another couple and us, everybody went back in the boat. I am a serious fan of roller coasters and thrills, but this was out of this world. The grade 5 white water rafting we had done a couple of weeks earlier was a piece of cake compared to this ride. We had to hold on really tight to the bars as we were shaken from side to side, up and down, and getting completely soaked meanwhile. The boat crew kept sticking their heads out to see if were all still there. The sea was rough and some waves were so high that the captain had to turn off the motor as we approached them. One of the fast boats had sunk a few days earlier due to high waves. Tony was proud of me as I get seasick often and I was still all right. I almost made it all the way…before I got sick. I had to contain it in my hands, or it would have splashed all over the other couple who were behind me. The other guy seemed to be in a trance, concentrating hardly on enduring and not getting sick. We were masochist enough to last the whole ride at the top, and we made it to the end. We thought we earned at least a diploma for surviving. Next day we had to get serious massages as our muscles were complaining.

At the start of the hell ride back to Bali

Back in Bali! Check out our Gili Islands pics and more here.

Tony wanted to take my picture, it was impossible to get only me.

We stayed overnight in Agra to visit the Taj Mahal on our next to last day in India. We had not booked in advance a train so getting there and back proved to be a bit challenging. The previous day we had done the Jaipur – Delhi leg of our trip by bus, and although we did it in the best category of bus in India it was something we were not willing to do again. The comfort was ok, but the time in a bus from one place to another is too long, as the traffic jams in the highways are pretty bad, just getting into the center of Delhi takes up to two hours. Train is definitely a better option provided you have booked a decent class and there are no delays.

No Words

Embedded precious stones in the marble

Tony spent hours online trying to buy the train tickets, but the Indian Rail site is not so strightforward; so he went directly to the station, which was also quite a task in itself. He had to talk to six persons and none of them could explain to him why they could not sell us tickets for an air conditioned compartment even though they were available. We knew that most of the time you can get an “upgrade” from the conductor, so he purchased the regular class ticket. As expected once in the train we got the upgrade and we were once again in the best cabin in the train, the private spacious compartment for 2. Why you can’t buy a ticket at the window when there are seats available is beyond our comprehension. I have stopped trying to comprehend the Indian way because it is too consuming, you can’t change it, so it’s better to accept it from the start.

Maharaja

In 3 hours we were in Agra. The logical thing would have been to go see the sunset over the Taj Mahal, but the World Cup was being inaugurated at the same time. No brainer, we bought beer and pizza to watch it from our room, the World Cup that is. As a friend pointed out to Tony, “The Taj ain’t moving anywhere”.

Next day day we headed to the Taj amongst the crowds. I can’t imagine high season, because this is low season and the crowds are huge. We entered through the South Gate and took a guide. He recited the same facts we all know, plus the usual myths (the black Taj) and other stuff we will never know are true or not, but it was worth paying him as he showed us with his flashlight the colorful encrypted stones in the Taj that compose all the decoration, which are not obvious to the plain eye. Many colorful flowers adorn the Taj, and they are not painted as one would think, they are precious stones sculpted in the marble. Inside the Taj it is very dark, so without the guide pointing that to us we wouldn’t have appreciated them.

The resident goat at the Taj gate

The moment you enter through the gate and have the Taj in front of you is an unforgettable experience. Breathless. It is exactly as the pictures, but you have now been there, not everyone can say that. We have seen the most beautiful construction on earth, hard to top that. The areas inside which are accessible to the public are limited, dark and crowded, the highlight is definitely the view of its exterior from the front. We will never forget that precious moment when we first saw the Taj Mahal.

Friendly Indian hanging off train

It was time to go back to Delhi and conclude our India trip before moving on to South Africa for the World Cup. Of course we had no train ticket and had to buy a general class, the lowest class on Indian trains. Well this train was not only delayed for many hours but was packed beyond comprehension. No upgrades available, there was hardly any standing space on general class even. We had run out of luck this time. The only option we had was to squat outside the AC compartment next to the toilet. Two older German women on the same situation joined us. The conductor was a very unfriendly man and wanted us to move out of there and go to general class. We refused so he brought a heavily armed soldier to move us. We refused alleging the “Women Only” compartment was full of men, which was true; but Tony had to comply and move out. Fortunately this was only a four hour journey and boy for once was I glad to be back in Delhi, as it meant we were leaving India and World Cup bound!

Agra train station

Indian train

24 hours in Pushkar and we were ready to move on to the last city of our Rajasthani tour: Jaipur, better known as the the pink city. We hired another taxi and in less than three hours we were there. Definitely not as much as Delhi, but Jaipur was also very chaotic, it felt more like a city than the rest of the places we visited in Rajasthan.

Hawa Mahal

On our first night in Jaipur we met an overly friendly tuk-tuk driver (who called himself Mr. Hot Stuff) with comprehensible English who offered to take us to the best of Jaipur the next day. After hardly negotiating for a fair price and clearly telling him that there would be no shopping stops in the itinerary or other unplanned services we finally agreed to hire him for the day and told him to meet us at our hotel at 10 am next morning. He told us not to worry about any of that and even invited us to his sister’s traditional Indian Wedding next day.

Pink or Peach?

There are far too many taxis, tuk-tuks and rickshaws in India, which makes it hard for them to make a living in this occupation. We learned in Jaipur (and saw it with our own eyes after a late night out) that a lot of these drivers do not even have a house or possessions. They come from deep in the countryside to big towns or cities to work and only go back to their hometowns to their family a few times a year. They sleep (and live) in their taxis, which is not bad, compared to the tuk-tuk drivers who have to sleep in their tuk-tuks; and even worse to the poorest of all, the rickshaw driver (just a bike with no motor attached to a seat for a passenger) who sleeps in it. Their only possession is a bag with a few pieces of clothes. It touched me even more to see that some of them have dogs, who wait for them in the street during the day and at night sleep next to them. I was extremely moved by this scene when we saw it late at night all through Jaipur. There we were: a taxi had just dropped us at our fancy hotel guarded by high security, and just outside the hotel gates were many drivers of taxis, tuk-tuks and rickshaws sleeping and dreaming that tomorrow would be a better day, that tomorrow they would get some custom from the tourists in the hotel, from us.

Rajasthani Man

Next day came and Mr. Hot Stuff did not show up. He probably found other tourists more shopping material than us. So much for the Indian wedding… So we took an offer from one of the many tuk-tuk drivers that hang around the hotel. After having seen the previous night the conditions they live in, we agreed to pay him more than a fair price, we did not have the heart to haggle. I wanted to take rickshaws only (as they are the poorest), but it really wasn’t an option for long rides, especially in the heat and occasional rain. Our tuk-tuk driver was exactly the type we aim to avoid. Every 5 minutes he asked us if we wanted to go shopping, if we wanted to go to the government bazaar, if we wanted to go to the industrial zone, etc. etc. We kept saying no, then he started offering us other stuff: mushrooms to start, progressed to bhang, by the end of the day he had offered us heroine and opium. He tried to persuade us to other activities as massage, fortune teller, restaurants he knew, etc. He persevered at the end, as Tony agreed to visit a cloth/tailor shop in the industrial zone. As expected, it did not turn out well. Tony got two shirts made at a not so bargain price (10 Euro each). The cloth looked really nice, but the shirts did not fit him well, two sizes smaller, even though they took his measurements. He does sweat a lot in Indian heat, but not that much to lose 2 sizes in a day.

Jantar Mantar Observatory

At least the tuk-tuk driver got his commission. Even with that he started getting nastier, rushing us in and out of places, and increasing the fare price a couple of hours before the agreed hours of service, alleging the negotiated fare was for one person, not two, so we should pay him double. By then Tony’s long patience had been exhausted so he told him to get lost and we would only pay him proportional to the hours passed. Of course he didn’t, in fact we paid him so well that he would be waiting for us at the hotel every time we went out.

Indian style trucks

Back on the subject of Jaipur…we visited the main attractions in the city. I thought that the pink part of the city was not really pink, but tending more towards orange color, a peach shade; judge for yourself in our picture album. We visited the famous Hawa Mahal (Palace of Wind), which is a really beautiful building, and from its top you get a bird’s eye view of Jaipur. As most buildings in India, the Hawa Mahal, has a beautiful story behind it. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh as a continuation of the City Palace and dedicated to the Hindu god Krishna. The beautiful facade with countless small windows faces the street market. The legend says that it was constructed with so many windows so that the royal ladies or all the Maharaja’s wives could see the action in the street and in festivities which normally took place in that street, as they were subjects of purdah, the practice in which men are not allowed to see their faces.

At the origal Lassiwalla

One of the Jaipur palaces

I paid a visit to Dr. Vinod Shastri, a very well known Indian astrologer, to give me some insight of what to expect in the future. More than anything it entertains me, but to Indian culture, astrology is a very important part of their lives, and they live their lives according to it from the moment of birth. There was a big queue of people waiting to see him, locals and foreigners. You choose to learn about the next year in your life, the next 5 years, or your whole life; according to how much you are willing to pay. I chose the second option. He told me about my present and future life according to my exact birth moment, complemented with a reading of my palm. He was right about many things in my past and present and I hope he is right about the future. He said I would live a very long life, over 80 years old and I would be very rich. I laughed and told him that he probably told everyone that. He said I was the only person that day whose astrological cards showed richness. The reading also specifies lucky days, lucky numbers, gemstone, metals, liquids, colors, etc, and Indian people live by them.

Jaipur traffic

While I was there, Tony opted for looking at the stars himself, by visiting the Jantar Mantar (literally meaning calculation instrument) Observatory next door. It encompasses a collection of 14 astronomical instruments, and built by Maharaja Jai Singh II between 1727 and 1734. The instruments are used to tell time, predict eclipses, movement of stars, planets, celestial bodies, etc. It is the largest stone observatory in the world and it is inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

While Tony shopped

While in Jaipur we saw many elephants in the streets, always a highlight. No makkania lassies in Jaipur, but we couldn’t leave without paying a visit to the original “Lassiwalla” who has been making delicious fresh lassies served in disposable clay pots for decades. Besides food, we also enjoy tasting the different kinds of massage each culture offers. In India we tried Ayurvedic massage and we both which we hadn’t as it left us not only unsatisfied but with a big dent in our wallets. So far, it’s the only massage we have not enjoyed, Ayurvedic massage is too soft for us. It consisted of a sesame based oil which was poured on our foreheads for the whole duration of the massage and then rubbing softly your whole body with it. As you can imagine after 90 minutes we had sesame smelling shiny bodies. The taxi driver had to put plastic over the back seat before taking us back to the hotel.

Inside Hawa Mahal

The highlight while visiting Jaipur was probably going to the famous Raj Mandir Cinema. The last time we were at the cinema was more than 2 years ago as we are no fans of it; but Anne, Tony’s sister, had recommended us so much to go to this cinema that we did. And what a great tip that was! There are three classes of tickets, and not knowing what to expect we bought the best “Diamond Class” to see the much awaited and controversial (too similar to real people and situations in India) political thriller “Raajneeti”. The Raj Mandir Cinema, was more of a theater, it is a beautiful building built in 1976. We took our seats in the upper tier. 15 minutes after the movie started floods of people started coming in the lower tier. Maybe they sell at half price the tickets after 15 minutes? The big surprise for me was that the movie was in Hindu! I never thought about that, I thought it would be in English. It did have subtitles, in Hindu as well…Regardless, the movie was easy to follow. It was about violence and corruption in government, we don’t need to understand the language, as the political situations portrayed are universal. I thought it was quite interesting, but Tony differed, he was hoping to see some Bollywood dancing. What an experience the cinema is in India! The people in the low tier enjoy the film as it were a football match. They start yelling at the characters what to do, or what they think of them, they whistle and make funny noises in romantic scenes, and in violent scenes they cheer for their favorite character. There is an interval halfway as in theater, and Tony took advantage of it to ask the locals about the film, to see if we were on the right track.

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal

This time we decided to take the bus back to Delhi, in “Diamond Class”. If that was diamond, I can’t imagine what simple stone class would have been. They told us 4 hours, but it took 7. After seven sweaty hours of congestion in India’s highways we were once again in Delhi. We had to go back to Delhi to pick up my South Africa visa, then we would had to Agra, and back to Delhi for our South Africa bound flight.

Check out all our Jaipur photos here.

The famous Lake Palace hotel

First things first, we are not currently in India. In fact, it’s been four months since we were there. However, our India posts fell a little behind schedule, a little like the Commonwealth Games. So now that we are travelling through Asia again, we’re going to publish our India posts now.

People say India is a love or hate affair, for Tony it was love at first sight, for me the opposite. The good thing about visiting Delhi first in India is that once you leave it there is only looking up. Delhi couldn’t be more chaotic, hotter, and dustier than it was when we were there. I knew everything was going to be better from there, in fact I had such a positive attitude about leaving it that I was even looking forward to our overnight train from Delhi to Udaipur in Rajasthan, the Northwest of India. And it was great, we got the best compartment in the train. There are about 10 classes in Indian trains and you have to book in advance to get what you want. For Asian standards this is the best train we have taken so far. We were warned about heat, cockroaches, thieves, perverts, etc. and we got none of that. We got a locked compartment just for the two of us with closet, sink, and wide beds. It was so good that we even overslept and we got late off the train. It was not expensive either.

ummmm spices!

Our private pool and room behind!

I think we had good karma. I used “The Secret” attitude, I had no doubt in my mind that all would be positive after Delhi; but also I believe the universe conspired to celebrate Tony’s birthday in grandeur. He sure deserves it because of his optimistic attitude about everything. I really admire how even in our lowest points in this trip he always manages to be optimist in everything. Me, I have to admit I’m more of a cynic in these situations. Tony was able to bear the heat of Delhi (47 degrees C) and walk around all day sightseeing with a smile on his face, and he is not even a native of the tropics like I am, he comes from the land of mist and drizzle; I had to rest in air conditioning. Tony is able to eat all the street food and beverages he sees and never gets sick; I on the other hand since Mongolia, have been watching everything I eat, to the point of almost becoming a vegan and washing my teeth with mineral water, and I have still managed to get stomach problems more than once. So yes karma is on his side and he was going to have a well deserved perfect day. Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you!

We both see things through different eyes. I grew up in Honduras, a very poor country, so I am not as impressed by poverty elsewhere. I do know very well the struggle of the poor, making it hard for me to see these parts of the world as a tourist. In fact many people from my country cannot understand why most of our itinerary is through developing countries. When people from Honduras travel they choose the most developed countries as their destination, they wish to see something different: USA or Europe. I am extremely fortunate to have traveled extensively through Europe and North America already. For Tony all this is different and new and I understand his interest to see how the other part of the world lives, as Ireland became one of the richest countries in the world. He is Honduran now sometimes as he has learned that it is a better answer than being Irish when asked where he is from. When you say Ireland the Euro signs starts shining on the locals eyes and raise their price 10 times, when you say Honduras they completely lose interest in us.

Our humble birthday home

For his birthday he deserved a reward so we decided to splurge – big time! We stayed for 2 days in Udaipur, the city of romance, at the fantastic Udaivilas from the Oberoi Group. The landmark hotel of Udaipur and probably Rajasthan is the Taj Lake Palace, but the Udaivilas is even a step above in luxury and style. It was recently qualified as the best hotel in Asia and the 4th in the world. For that brief period we forgot we still had 10 more months of travel and no income, we pretended it was a luxury weekend getaway and on Monday we would be back at our paying jobs. It was well worth it! We are both lucky to have traveled before to other luxurious destinations and flashy resorts, but this experience was out of this world, tops our list as best ever. We highly recommend it to everyone, at least once in a lifetime you have to be treated as royalty.

Our Indian outfits

We were greeted at the train station by a member of the hotel and a chauffeur driven luxury car, welcoming us with refreshing natural spring water, cold towels and the morning paper. Minutes later we arrived in the magnificent palace in a fortress setting, sheltered from the outside to provide peace and quiet to its guests. There was a welcome committee awaiting us: more cold towels, rose mango iced tea and we were marked with a sandalwood dot in our foreheads, a traditional Indian welcome, and everyone congratulated Mr Byrne for his birthday. We were then given a tour of the property and escorted to our room to do the check in. What a room it was, almost 700 square feet, with a terrace and private entrance to our own semi private infinity pool that overlooks the city and the Lake Palace, in a lush green setting of abundant plant life, animals and many colorful birds.

Don't kill him!! Men and women work alike

Can you spot the lake?

Cooking lessons

Not only the settings of the hotel are majestic: traditional Indian palace architecture and immense gardens including a wildlife refuge, but the service is out of this world. Numerous staff all very knowledgeable and attentive to your every need; but most importantly every single one of them, no exceptions, with a big smile on their faces. Beautiful settings definitely, but in my opinion service is what makes all the difference, and in India this was the only place where we got it.

Blue Horns!

Our flower necklaces

We could not be there and not take advantage of the spa, and we are glad we did. We had the best treatment of our lives: a couples massage followed by a milk and rose bath. Not any rose bath, but a bath with literally thousands of fresh red rose petals. We also took part in a private complimentary yoga lesson. Tony enjoyed it so much that he will probably take yoga now, as it loosened a tight muscle in his back that no physiotherapist had been able to before. Although all the stretches were strenuous, probably the hardest thing was trying not to laugh out loud when our yogi was chanting “breathe deeply” in a heavily-accented and quite funny voice – lucky he had his eyes closed.

A happy chaiwallah selling milky, spicy Chai Masala

Rajasthan Traffic Jam

After a late breakfast in bed and a dip in our pool, against our wishes but using our better judgment we left paradise and ventured back again into the real India. The chauffeur drove us to our next appointment: Indian cooking lessons. Indian cuisine is actually really easy to make, it all revolves around the seven simple spices. We were disappointed with the lessons, nothing like our previous experience in Yangshuo, China. The concept here revolved around watching a lady cook and us taking notes only, although we did get to eat all the food too. It was all vegetarian as they were a Jain family who don’t use any animal products for food, dress or anything.

Udaipur market

Rajasthan highways

We visited several cities in Rajasthan, and they are all very colorful and interesting, but Udaipur was my favorite as it is by far the most tranquil and where we got the least hassle of all India. We did a walking tour through the town, especially its colorful markets and everyone was extremely welcoming and saying hello and other greetings in their language. Later we found out that it was because we were both wearing flower necklaces, which means you have just been married, and this is wedding season in India. Tony had gone previously into a temple and put a flower necklace on the goddess and one on me, then the girl selling them laughingly convinced him to wear one himself. Only hours later we realized her mischievous intentions, meaning “just married”. We also visited a tailor who made an Indian outfit for Tony to celebrate his birthday.

Monkey Road

From Udaipur we traveled to Ranakpur, a major site for the Jain division of the Hindu religion. They have a beautiful temple carved all out of white marble, a real piece of work. There is nothing else in Ranakpur to do, but the drive from Udaipur was really scenic. We went through colourful villages where the people wear dazzling bright colors daily, the women beautiful saris and the men hot pink turbans. The turban’s colour and the way it is worn reflects where they come from and their caste. As expected the way of driving in India is completely crazy, even more than in Tibet. We made it one piece amazingly. Apart from the usual cows that rule over India, we were delighted to see camels in the highway, oxen turning wheels at water wells, as well as wild boars and other creatures we can’t name. But the best of all were the hundreds of crazy monkeys in different sections of the road as we got closer to Ranakpur. Tony stopped to take pictures and if they had a camera they would have been flashing away at us, as they are extremely curious creatures. Every time we stopped, dozens of them appeared from the bushes and got close to us to watch us.

Jain Temple in Ranakpur

Indian boys wanted their picture with me

Visiting Udaipur definitely uplifted my spirits after 4 days in crazy Delhi. There is so much to see in Rajasthan, and I am sure that in not so extreme heat it is even more magical. After Ranakpur, we continued on our tour of the …purs and moved on to Jodhpur.

All our India photos are uploaded in our photo album here.

New York City is known to be the city that never sleeps. Having been in NYC and now in Cairo, we believe that Cairo deserves the title more. The Cairenes have it all figured out, they have swapped the day for the night and we don’t blame them. It completely makes sense to sleep and stay inside while it’s so hot and go out after dark when it’s not that hot.

9 pm when it all starts

Our plane arrived at midnight and we thought it would all be quiet and closed. Wrong! Everything was open and there were traffic jams everywhere. When we checked in at the hotel the receptionist told us it was a good time to go visit the Old Town as everything was open until 5 a.m. and most people would be out. We had to refuse as we had been traveling for 17 hours already. During our week long stay in Cairo we realized how nocturnal the city and its inhabitants are. I inquired if it was due to Ramadan their holy month, but they said Cairo is always alive at night, Ramadan or not.

Mezze...and healthy juices

The sphinx

Honestly I do not know much about the Islam religion so I had Ramadan figured out wrong. I thought it was all about sacrifice and worship. It certainly is, but I did not know how much of a celebration it becomes all night long, from the moment the sun sets until it rises. At 6:30 p.m. they have their “iftar”, in english they say it’s their breakfast, and it’s a big banquet. So big that we were turned away from restaurants when we wanted to have our dinner because the restaurants were all booked out for their big breakfast. Then they have their second meal around midnight, and their third around 5 am before the sun rises. Not bad! One day around 5 pm we went to the biggest and most modern mall in the Middle East. We wanted to see some shops and have dinner. We couldn’t do either. The shops would not open until 8 pm and we did not have bookings for iftar at the restaurants. We are no fans of fast food but our only option was the food court. That did not go well either. People show up early, order their meals, sit down (even the floor was crowded by the time we arrived) and then at 6:30 p.m. the outlets start dispensing the orders.

Small sin

Middle Eastern food is something Tony and I will never get tired of so we delighted ourselves while in Cairo eating the usual suspects of hummus, baba ganoush, kibbe, vine leaves, moutabal, tahini, etc. plus some interesting Egyptian dishes. The most remarkable is Koshari, a crazy Egyptian specialty. It is a dish made of spaghetti, small tubular pasta, brown noodles, rice, lentils, chickpeas, topped with fried caramelized onions and then tomato sauce. Actually it tastes really good. In Old Cairo you can find some famous outlets selling it, all disputing the title of the best. It costs a mere $0.50 and it is very filling. We had expected lots of fresh fruit juices in Africa, we were surprised not to find them in Sub-Saharan Africa but Cairo made up for it, our favorites were guava and strawberry.

Digged Galleon

Guards at the pyramids

We spent a week in Cairo and time flew. Since we left South Africa a month and a half ago we have had very little comforts and almost no time to rest, as most days involved some sort of traveling. We decided we should stay in a nice hotel in Cairo in order to rest and catch up on our blog. We did see all of the Cairo attractions but at a leisurely pace, the rest of the time we lazed by the pool and spa. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take much advantage of it as the doctor said I had to stay away from water due to the second degree burn on my leg caused by a motorcycle in Rwanda. Irresponsibly I did not seek immediate medical attention and by the time we arrived in Egypt it was looking bad and was infected. I wasn’t too convinced either about going to a hospital in Cairo but surprisingly I got immediate professional care at a very low cost. The doctor cleaned and treated the wound, prescribed antibiotics and ordered me to come back every 2nd day for checkup and to change the mummy dressing on my leg.

Walk like an Egyptian!

Khafre, the 2nd or Middle Pyramid

I instantly loved Cairo, the buzz in the city is spectacular, especially at night. It is a huge metropolis of more than 18 million people. It’s a crazy city, a concrete jungle in the middle of the desert, not a pretty sight during the hot hours of the day. It is mainly full of high rise 70′s style ugly buildings and everybody drives like a maniac in the never ending 24 hours traffic. It is chaotic, it thrives with energy, it’s great! It also has many modern constructions especially around the Nile area. It is old and new, not only the city but also its people, you can observe the very traditional Arabs and next to them the very modern with the latest Western fashions.

Khufu, the Great Pyramid

The Great Pyramid

We visited Khan el Khalili, the big traditional Arab bazaar in Old Cairo where you can find absolutely everything. We also visited one of the most modern and biggest malls in the Middle East, if not the biggest, the Star City Mall, where you find all the European and American shops and restaurants. A felucca ride at sunset on the wide Nile River could not be missed. We also met my friend Said and he took us around modern Cairo and for Egyptian dinner on the Nile.

In traffic

More Cairo traffic

The highlights at the huge Egyptian Museum were the Mummies Room and the collection of Tutankhamen. Some of the mummies were all bandaged up, but some were uncovered and very well preserved, displaying their fingernails and hair. Tut’s collection was impressive, he sure liked his jewelry and gold and good taste he had. The highlight was definitely his gold mask. Seeing that brought me back to elementary school as I perfectly remember studying about him, back then I already knew one day I would get to see the items up close. Sadly there was nothing about Cleopatra, but we did see a bit on Nefertiti, another very well remembered figure from my school studies. Tony put it well when he said this museum was more of a warehouse. The quantity of objects is innumerable that they are just lying everywhere. I was not surprised to read on some exhibits that some items had been stolen previously and were found later on Ebay or private auctions. Currently a new museum is being built.

Sunset in our felucca

Koshari

Ah the pyramids! We did not see them until our last day in Cairo, we saved the best for last. It is true, you can see them from the highway, from the road, at the traffic lights, they are just there! They are not in the middle of the desert, as I envisioned in my childhood. Modern constructions including housing units come almost to their foot. There are three pyramids in the site of Giza (suburb of Cairo) and the sphinx. We did not take a tour or hire a camel, donkey, horse, carriage or taxi to take us from one to the other. We were there at midday during Summer and it is perfectly acceptable to do it all walking on your own. We also went into the boat museum where they have a huge reconstructed Galleon, which they found buried as well, presumably so the pharaohs could travel in the afterlife. I can’t help but wonder about the new beliefs vs the old beliefs. The ancient civilization built this huge pyramids to be buried with all their belongings to rest in peace and enjoy the afterlife, and now a lot of it (including the mummies) have been dug up to be in a museum. Is it that the new Egyptians do not agree with their predecessors beliefs?

Ingredients of Koshari

Walking from the “Great Pyramid” built by Khufu in 2550 BC to the second or middle pyramid “Khafre” is a real experience. The magnitude of them is impressive. Just looking back on it and thinking about them leaves me in awe. We did go inside the second pyramid, through a very low and narrow tunnel that leads you to the site of an excavated tomb. It is very humid inside, after a few minutes we were both soaking in sweat. Last we visited the sphinx. It is so much bigger than we ever imagined and pretty well preserved. The pyramids of Giza, truly a wonder of the world, and the Great Pyramid, the only Ancient Wonder of the World out of 7 left

Deserted downtown Cairo at daytime

My friend Said

We had heard and read so much about the scams, the touts, and all the harassment we would get in Egypt. Having been in Morocco, the Middle East, the Gulf Estates, South East Asia, India and coming from East Africa I was ready for it. Tony even suggested (as he read in a blog) that I should take my earplugs to the pyramids as he know how much how it stresses me. Well, guess what? We received hardly any harassment in Egypt, not even in the pyramids! I don’t know if it was because of Ramadan, because of the hot Summer or simply because we are already immune to it, but Egypt was pretty mild in those terms. To be honest, the Egyptians directly demand tip (baksheesh) for everything, almost even for saying hi, but we didn’t feel harassed at any moment, it actually made us laugh.

Nile at night

Some strange Kool Aid type drink man queue for...

A taxi driver did try a scam on us but he hadn’t realized we are not the average amateur tourist. When we went to the pyramids from the center, the fare was about 25 Egyptian Pounds. On the way back I started hearing some strange beeping sounds, even though the driver had the music pretty loud. I thought the meter was going way too fast and I told Tony in Spanish to observe it. He did and I was right, the driver was manipulating the meter and taking the long way. We agreed not to say anything until we got off. By the time we arrived the meter read 120 Egyptian pounds, almost 500% the normal fare. We both got off and I immediately went to take a photo of his license plate. Tony told him we knew he was scamming us and he said “ok, how much you want to pay?”. We told him to wait there, that we would settle it in front of the Tourist Police, who are in almost every corner of Cairo. He immediately took off, so in the end our fare was free.

Feluccas down the Nile

A tip for those traveling to Cairo, the “white” taxis are the ones with meters. The “black” ones have no meters and locals do not even ask the fare, they already know the fair prices and just pay it at the end. There are Lada white taxis and nicer newer model white taxis. The Ladas are safer as the meter is in a visible place where the driver cannot manipulate it, while some of the new ones have the meter very close to the driver, where the passengers in the back can hardly see it.

Hummus and Moutabal... perfect breakfast in bed!

A week in Cairo and it went by so fast! Time sure flies when you are having a good time. Back to Asia again. Next stop: Singapore!

The main reason we came to Uganda was to see the magnificent Mountain Gorillas who share 98.4% of DNA with us, humans. They are a critically endangered species due to poaching, victims of wars, human diseases, and loss of habitat. Much effort has been made to ensure their conservation. There are only about 800 gorillas of these species and they are all located in the border area between Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda. They were studied by Dian Fossey and then made famous in the movie “Gorillas in the Mist”. Because of her involvement in this cause she was later brutally murdered. She was not in favor of the gorillas being in contact with humans, but years later after her death the “Dian Fossey Foundation” changed its opinion on the matter. Nowadays for US $ 500 humans can spend one hour with these amazing creatures and that’s why we were in Uganda.

The baby, exactly like a teddy bear I had!

There are two places in Uganda where you can experience this close encounter. The most famous is Bwindi Impenetrable Park where six families of gorillas are habituated. Per family of gorillas, 8 humans are allowed to visit them, making 48 permits per day. That is the fact, the truth is that getting one of those permits is not an easy task for an independent traveler. Since many months ago we had been trying to get our hands on 2 permits. We had called and we had emailed the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) but there was never a reply. Once in Kampala we made our way to their headquarters and we were immediately told there were no permits available. After much begging, persuasion and a second visit to their office they “found” some permits available but for weeks ahead. They said that if we wanted it for anytime soon we should get a “package” from a travel agency. They even gave us the names of the agencies. The package includes the permit, accommodation and transport, and costs more than US $ 1000 per person. We really wanted to see the gorillas but not at that elevated price. They proceeded to explain to us that the travel agencies have the right to buy as many permits as they wish and they can do it 3 years in advance. We told them we thought it was outrageous and it was a monopoly, and incredibly the employee replied: “we have to protect Ugandan businesses”. Silly of us to think that the mission of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) was to protect the wildlife with the US $24000 they get daily from tourists who purchase the gorilla permits for Bwindi only. We both were angry and disappointed that we might not get a chance to see the gorillas after all. What a coincidence, previously in the day I had a glimpse at a local newspaper, and it had an article of the corruption regarding gorilla permits and how some employees and senior officials had just been suspended from their posts pending an investigation as they were favoring certain businesses. Before leaving the UWA I did not waste the opportunity to mention the news article to the employee.

Big silverback giving us his back

We were not giving up! We knew that there was another habituated gorilla group that we had a shot at visiting. They are located in the Virunga Mountains a chain of volcanoes in between the three countries of DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. In the Ugandan side the park is called Mgahinga National Park. Travel agencies rarely have an interest in this permit as there is a catch: this gorilla family, the Nyakagezis, moves freely through the three countries so there is no guarantee it will be in Uganda. If gorillas are not seen, then most of the money has to be refunded to the client. Uganda is not a big country for African standards, but Mgahinga is in a remote corner and not easily accessible. We called the park’s office directly and they were very nice. They told us that the gorillas were currently in Uganda and that there were two permits available for 5 days later and that we did not have to pay until the actual day. Woohoo! All we had to do was cross our fingers and hope the gorillas were not interested in crossing borders this week and get ourselves to South West Uganda, or as Winston Churchill called it “the Pearl of Africa”.

I was hanging from the bus door

First we had to get from Kampale to Kabale. This would be our last long bus ride in Africa, and probably our most memorable one. They told us it would only take six hours, we knew better. The bus was not so nice but it was the only daytime bus we could find. For some reason 95% of the long distance buses in Uganda travel by night. For obvious reasons we refuse to take night buses in Africa. Boarding the bus was chaotic, much pushing and shoving. I could understand the conductor telling everyone not to take seats 17 and 18, and something about muzungus (whites). Those were our seats. It turned out we were the only ones with seat numbers and a seat per person. I can only guess that it was because we paid more than the locals. In this case I did not mind because we got our own seat, not half a seat or a third of a seat. The bus was fully loaded people even with many people standing up in the aisle. Even as we pulled out of the station and had gone several blocks people kept getting on the bus. I could see from the window how they were hanging from the bus, and even like that more people kept trying to get on. It was our last long bus journey in Africa so I didn’t mind. Tony was in the aisle and people were almost on top of him but he would protest and since we were “VIP” the conductor would tell them to move.

Local cows in South West Uganda are very horny

We had not gone far when a motorized police officer stopped the bus. How could he not with people flying out from the door? He made about 30 people get off and minutes later he came on the bus. He made a speech and said that the Government of Uganda cares for the security of its people and will not let them die in any more bus accidents, that no people were allowed to travel standing up and more importantly that this bus had two damaged tyres and he had ordered the bus driver to go change them before we continued the journey and that the passengers should make sure he did that. I was impressed! But the Ugandans were unimpressed, they starting giving out to the police officer and telling him that he was delaying our journey… I couldn’t believe it! Once the driver started the bus again I honestly thought we were going to a station to change the tyres. We did go to a station but only to get gas, the tyres were never changed. I told Tony we should insist to the bus driver to change them, but he thought we should just go with the flow. I agreed, the Ugandans would probably kick us off the bus and we would have to say goodbye to our shot of seeing the gorillas. All left to do was bless ourselves and pray.

Tony at a stop

We did arrive, 3 hours later but alive. The road was not in the best condition either and we did see a couple of accidents. We stopped at several towns to unload passengers and load more and the bus would be overflowing through the door. I had to take a toilet break in one of the towns and when I came back I was unable to go back to our seat, I was one of the passengers hanging from the door for some minutes. After much negotiating and brute force Tony standing in our seat was able to pull me by the arms as I climbed over people. We got stopped by the police at least 8 more times but nobody was taken off the bus or was the driver obliged to change the tyres. I guess his negotiating skills are very good…What a ride!

Countryside villages

One of the observations we have made during our innumerable bus rides in Africa is about the beauty of African babies. About half of the women in the buses have babies with them, that is a lot of babies. In the Western world this would mean a nightmare trip, there is nothing worse than going on a long plane ride with a baby nearby. Well in Africa it’s not like that, all babies are so well behaved. We do not understand how but they are all very quiet and don’t cry. The only time we had baby trouble was when Tony gave his seat to a German woman with an infant who did not have a seat. Not only did he cry all the way, but he threw tantrums, started kicking me in the face and I had to give him my cookies as he started yelling when he saw me eating. African women are doing something right and they should teach it in the West.

The Pearl of Africa

We thought the worse was over but it was far from that. It was too late to travel to Kisoro, the gateway to Mhaginga. We were told the next bus was at 3 am. No thanks! It was only 75 km from Kabale so we had no concerns about time. At that point we did not know how remote in Uganda we were. Besides the big bus at 3 am, there are minibuses that travel to Kisoro and “special hire taxis”. We learned that there is only one minibus and it takes about five hours to fill up with passengers each time and it had just left. We also learned that the taxis take seven passengers where only four fit, so we were not willing to go with them. We tried hard to negotiate a private taxi but they wanted too much money from us. Really, we were not being tight, but we refuse to be ripped off by so much. For the 75 km ride they wanted about 50 Euros, in Africa, in a very old beaten car…No way! Next day we would have to pay $1000 for the gorilla permits so we could not afford to just give money away. So we started hitchhiking. We have never ever done that as we know the risks implied but we were left without a choice. Many trucks were willing to take us, except no one was going to Kisoro, as it appears to be an even more remote location.

Mgahinga mountain behind us

Just when we had given up and were heading back into the town centre a driver in a new car asked us if we were going into Kisoro. I had my doubts as we did not know how he knew we were going there, we had stopped hitching by that point. He told Tony that it was his hometown and he was going to a wedding. He did have a suit hanging in the backseat and shiny shoes so Tony told me to get in. He agreed to take us for about 15 Euros. Just in case, I was prepared to fulminate him with 100% DEET insect repellent spry, the only weapon I had. The road out of Kabale was excellent, in top condition. I thought we would be there in less than an hour. Halfway the road stopped, there were barely dirt tracks the rest of the way. We had a dose of very strong “African Massage” as they call it. The trip did take more than two hours. When cars came the other way we would have to stop as we would be under a big cloud of dust unable to see anything around us. Locals in Kisoro told Tony that they have been neglected by the government and they have been asking for this road for 30 years and only now they have started it. They said that the rest of Uganda calls them “Rwandans” as they are incommunicated from Uganda and closer to Rwanda. Bosco turned out to be a very nice and intelligent guy. He really was going to a wedding, when we arrived his whole family was waiting for him in their suits and gowns outside their house. He told him he had to take us first into town, he did, and he did not want to leave us until we found a hotel that was suitable. We insisted he go and get ready for his brother’s wedding. A suitable hotel we never found. But no problem, hakuna matata, tomorrow was gorilla day and that was all that mattered.

Hello big boy!

The next day we would drive 10 km to Mhaginga Park for our gorilla adventure. As expected we took 45 minutes for 10 km as the way was very bad and same conditions to the Rwandan border, which we went to after seeing the gorillas. The border at Cyanika is very quiet as there is not much traffic through there being so inaccessible. The South West of Uganda is astoundingly beautiful. Many lakes, hills, mountains, volcanoes, and crops in terraces make it a delight for the eyes.

We visited the Nyakagezi Gorilla Family along with 5 other tourists. Because it is so hard to get to Mhaginga and because of the uncertainty about the location of the gorillas not many venture there. Basically anyone that shows up in the Kisoro office can get a permit within the next few days. However it is always better to call in advance first to inquire if the gorillas are in Uganda.

There was a guide and two armed guards that led our trek. Two trackers armed with machetes to clear the way had left before us to locate the gorillas and radio us. About an hour later we were with the Nyakagezis. The trek was a bit uphill and not so easy for a few, but Tony and I had no problems, except with the occasional nettles poking my nose. Fortunately that day the gorillas were at the middle of the mountain as sometimes they can be at altitudes of over 4100 meters. Once we got close to the gorillas there was no trail except for what the trackers had cleared off with their machetes. They were not gorillas in the mist, they were gorillas in the clear! They were just adorable, big, tall and fluffy! We saw at least 9 members of the family including the chief silverback and the babies. It was a humbling experience to see these giants so similar to us from a few meters away.

I am glad I saw them but I think Dian Fossey was right, they should not be in contact with humans. I would not do it again. Tony and I both came to the conclusion that invading them was probably not right. Although they are very pacific beings it was obvious we do cause them much distress. We would go after one and then he would hide, then we would turn around and follow the tracker who would cut our way to get to the other one and then he would hide also, and so on… When they were sleeping we would all surround him and take pictures, then he would turn around to sleep on the other side, and then we would move to the other side, until he got tired and angry and would go hide. One got really angry and made a big noise like a loud bark and charged us, but not intending any harm. They could easily crush us if they wanted.

Gentle Giant

Imagine if a group of 8 strangers came daily to your house and followed every move of the family members for an hour. Would you like it? I certainly would not! I just witnessed one of the most amazing creatures on earth and agree that everything has to be done to ensure their conservation and contact with humans is not one of them, as they are very susceptible to human diseases. We should have been wearing face masks at least, I am guilty as charged. I only know all this now after having the briefing, seeing them and post research. Gorillas are incredible noble and intelligent creatures. We should all learn form them.

All the photos are uploaded here