Long time, no write

Holy Smokes . . . . my publisher (wife) has been riding my ass for the last few weeks, need to get the next update finished. Here we go. I’ll try to touch on the highlights from the last couple of months . . . since we last left off, we’ve been in Vang Vien and Vientienne (Laos), the islands in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea (Thailand), and onto Macau, Hong Kong, and our current location, Beijing.

Beerlao, Buckets, and Ropeswings

Our next stop after the culturally steeped town of Luang Prabang was Vang Vien. A stark contrast to Luang Prabang, Vang Vien is the cultural armpit of Southeast Asia. It is known for drunken tubing trips down the local river and tacky restaurant bars which feature continuous episodes of Friends (sequentially by season) 24/7. We loved it!!!! The Vang Vien River has been exploited to its fullest potential by the local population. Every 100 to 200 meters along this beautiful cliff-lined river, there is a rocking bar serving up ice cold 24 oz Beerlaos and Buckets (coke, half pint of Laos Loas Whiskey, and red bull) at ridiculously low prices. Each bar has constructed a rope swing for its intoxicated patrons. These swings are not of the YMCA summer camp variety. They are of the Sears Tower variety, built of the finest Laos construction materials (bamboo, reused 2x4’s and nails, duct tape, bailing wire, and a makeshift trapeze bar).

We jumped in the tubes about 3 miles upstream of town. After a brief 2 minute float downriver, we arrived at the first bar. We stopped, had a beverage, and swung. The platform for the first swing was a mere 7 or 8 feets above the river . . . a couple deep breaths, superman grip, and slight jump and off you go . . . splash. Good fun.

We repeated this stop at a bar, drink, swing routine many, many times. By the end of the day, we had graduated to the biggest swing on the river. The platform on this guy was a good 20 feet above the river, with the boom for the cable extended out to the middle of the river, raised about 40 feet vertically. It was awesome . . . . . we swung, covering about 60 feet horizontally, before releasing at the highest point of the swing and floating down to the waiting river. Very good fun.

We were amazed by the local bar workers who pulled off Cirque de Soleil style moves (double back flips, you name it). There was no way to rival them, but I did my best. Remember that beer commercial from the early 90’s where several guys are out on the dance floor trying to impress an attractive group of ladies . . . one of the guys grabs his right foot with his right hand, and starts jerking it behind his back in beat with the music. This move has been patronized many times over the years by mediocre dancers (like myself) to get a good laugh out on the hardwood. Shamelessly, I used this timeless classic once again, midair off the big swing . . . and although it was no double back flip, the crowd reaction to my act of idiocy was every bit as boisterous.

24 hours in Vientienne

After 4 days of tubing and Friends, we couldn’t stand another minute in Vang Vien (I was beginning to hear Phoebe sing her cafe songs, Smelly Cat specifically, in my sleep). We booked a kayaking trip down the Nam Lik River, en route to the nation’s capital, Vientienne. The kayaking trip turned out to be great. We paddled for a couple hours through class I, II, and III rapids before stopping for a delicous barbecue lunch. Afterwards, we floated the last couple miles down to the takeout, where transportation to Vientienne awaited.

The kayaking was a blast as the river was rocking pretty good in places. Megan and I handled our inflated 2 person kayak with 2 parts grace / 1 part chaos through the swift sections. Our guide was fairly surprised we didn’t roll (so were we).

Upon arrival in Vientienne, we found the city lived up to other traveller reviews . . . it’s okay. We found a nice hotel and splurged out for a delicous French dinner. The next day, we bought a couple pieces of art, checked out the sights, did a couple errands, and booked an overnight bus trip to Bangkok.

Operation Unwind

My wonderful, incredible, amazing, patient (most of the time) wife had endured 4 months of backpacking throughout Northern Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. It was great . . . good places, good people, good food. But, both of us were getting tired, so our arrival back into Thailand couldn’t have come at a better time . . . . 30 days of island life was exactly what the doctor ordered. We got into Bangkok around 5:00 am, caught a quick nap and shower, did a bit of shopping, saw Ocean’s 13 at the cinema, then jumped on another overnight bus/boat trip to Koh Tao, our first destination in the Gulf of Thailand.

We landed on Koh Tao around 9:30 am, then caught a short ferry ride to Nan Yuan Islands (national park reserve) about 1 km off the west coast of Koh Tao. Once we got into our bungalow, dropped our packs, and returned to a deserted strip of beach, we began a four week course of intense relaxation.

We spent a total of 6 days between Nan Yuan and Koh Tao. When the sun was shining, we laid on the beach. When it rained (which it did a couple hours a day), we lazed away the day on our bungalow balconies, peeling our eyes off our novels occasionally to take in the endless landscape of turquiose water. It was great. I’m becoming relaxed just thinking about it.

Our next stop in Operation Unwind, was Koh Phangan, the legendary backpacker island tucked between Koh Tao and Koh Samui. After getting off the ferry, we caught a sangthaw (Thai word for truck with benches in the back) to Chalok Lam, a beach on the north side of the island. It was there we stumbled across our good friend Tom. We stayed a couple nights in Chalok Lam, saying a long goodbye before Tom headed off the island en route to England and we caught a quick longtail boat ride to Bottle Beach, our new favorite place in the universe.

The secluded 400 meter strip of white sand known as Bottle Beach is only accessible by boat, keeping the crowds very small. Four tidy bungalow resorts provide accomodation and dining along this blissful bit of beach. The next week was a wonderful combination of beach/water by day, party by night.

We met a terrific group of Irishmen, late twenty-somethings who also had “real” jobs before setting off on a similar journey. We spent a great deal of time swapping stories over beers . . . many good laughs. Each evening, around 9 o’clock, the small resort on the west end of the beach cranked up pretty good . . . the music and dancing carried on late into the night (4 or 5 am for most, later for others) before the beach’s rowdy inhabitants crawled back to the quiet comfort of their bungalows. Bottle Beach was great, for both of us . . . . terrific fun in a spectacular setting, like a tamed down spring break for post grads.

2 1/2 weeks into the relaxapalooza, we caught a boat/bus combo to Krabie, situated on the west side of the Thai peninsula, surrounded by the Andaman Sea. From there, we caught another longtail boat to Rai Lay Beach. We found a comfy cabin room in one of the resorts on East Rai Lay beach. We spent a majority of the 3 days there wasting space by the resort pool . . . tough life.

After Rai Lay, we headed to Koh Phi Phi Don. 4 more days of beach/pool time in paradise. Our big burst of activity came on our third day when we took a boat tour of Phi Phi Lei, including a stop in Maya Bay (from the movie The Beach) and several snorkeling stops (lots of pretty fishies). I think our heart rates got over 70 bpm at a couple points during the boat tour.

With a few days left on our 30 day visas, we caught a boat over to Phuket to spend our final few days on Karon Beach, still our favorite beach in Thailand for sitting on a beach chair and rotating between reading and napping.

It was a great month . . . we consumed lots of tasty Thai food (chicken for Megan, seafood for Rob), terrific books (about 10 novels each), enough sun to keep an army of dermatoligists employed in about 30 to 50 years, countless hours of sleep (we haven’t taken that many naps since kindergarten), and enough beer and boat drinks to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Bright Lights, Big Cities

On the 19th of July, we boarded an Air Asia flight to Macau, “Vegas of the Orient”. We spent our first day in Macau recovering from our last night in Bangkok (we ran into the Bottle Beach Irishmen on Khao San Road, wound up staying out until around 3 am). The next day, we took in the historic sights of this old Portuguese colony. Macau reminded me a lot of Lisbon (no surprise) . . . similar architecture spread out over a hilly, seaside setting . . . but with lots of Asian people instead. We really enjoyed touring around the town.

That evening, we put our finest clothes on (cargo pants, clean shirts, and low cut hiking boots) and headed off for the casinos. Our first stop was the Macau Sands. We wound up spending around 3 hours between the blackjack tables and entertainment lounge (mostly at the bar). The place really picked up around 11 pm. Around 12:30, we caught a cab to the new Wynn casino to check things out there. The Wynn is stunningly beautiful. Unfortunatetly, it was even more boring than pretty. We walked across the street to the Galaxy Casino to see what things were like there, but nothing was measuring up to the Sands. Therefore, we jumped in the next cab and headed back to the Sands where we finished off the night. Over the course of the night, I cobbled together a grand total of $400 HK in winnings ($50 US), which paid for our dining, drinks, and cabs for the evening.

The next day, we boarded a ferry for Hong Kong. We landed in Kowloon, Hong Kong around 2:00 pm and found a room in the Chungking Mansions (which would be more suitably named the Chungking Projects). The Chungking Mansions is unlike any place Megan and I had ever been. I’m guessing there are around 150 guesthouses spread out over 16 floors of the massive highrise on the main drag, Nathan Road, in Kowloon. We found a small room in the Park Guest House, located on the 15th floor. Our room was about 70 sq ft total, including the 10 sq ft bathroom (i.e. enclosed toilet with showerhead above) . . . fortunately, it was clean. As a whole, the Chungking Mansions was a third travellers, a third relocated Indian watch and suit hawkers, and a third African personal electronics exporters . . . quite an ecclectic blend.

We spent the next three days touring around Hong Kong . . . it was a blast. The Kowloon/Hong Kong area is incredibly modern, a nice break from the last five months. We consumed salads, vegetable soup, and deli sandwiches at astounding rates and even treated ourselves to Starbucks Coffee. The sights were great . . . getting from Point A to B is half the adventure in Kowloon and Hong Kong. There’s the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour, the subway system, the street trams, and the world’s largest escalator (800 meters long) to shuttle you around the picturesque blend of hills and water.

Our highlights were the trip up to Victoria Peak and our night at the dance hall. Victoria Peak rises up behind Hong Kong proper, providing spectacular city and country views for 360 degrees. We did a nice 3 km walk around the peak, which provided numerous peaceful vistas of the surrounding area. Back at the main viewing station, we dined at one of the world’s favorite culinary institutions, McDonald’s (Big Mac for me, grilled chicken salad for Megan). I’m quite certain that we will never eat at another McDonald’s affording such a beautiful view from its elevated, outside seating area. The previous evening, we had gone to the Hong Kong Cultural Center to see the QingMing Riverside performance by the Hong Kong Dance Company. We scored some great seats last minute for the show, which the two of us knew nothing about. The show turned out to be really impressive . . . . a very cool combination of dancing, acrobatics, costumes, and props. Our final night in Hong Kong, we were treated to an incredible night at the Sheraton, a one year anniversay present form Mark and Weedy. We felt like Little Orphan Annie moving into Daddy Warbucks Mansion. We picked up a bottle of wine, some takeout, and chocolate and enjoyed a quiet dinner from our room with a view across Victoria Harbor towards Hong Kong. It was ggggggggggrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttt.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah . . . Our other highlight was the semi-chance encounter of our good friend Laura Quigg Fisher. We got an e-mail from Laura the day we arrived in Hong Kong informing us that she was going to be in Hong Kong for work in a couple of days. Were we around? We spent a few hours with Laura her first afternoon in town before jet lag caught up with her. The next night, we went out for dinner and drinks. It was great seeing Laura, catching up on everything back in Washington.

doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi, doi

After checking out of the Sheraton, we headed to Hung Lom station . . . . we caught the 24 hour overnight express train to Beijing. We had the top bunks in a sleeper cart, which actually turned out to be a really comfortable hideout for the 2,500 kilometer journey. My only complaint was the little old lady in one of the bottom bunks . . . she needed to 1) turn up the hearing aids (can you say LOUD talker) and 2) put a cork in it. She talked non-stop 16 of the 24 hours. Fortunately, the 8 hours she took off were from 11 pm to 7 am. I bet I heard her say the word “doi” 18,000 times. Whatever the hell that means?

Okay, I think I’m getting carpal tunnel syndrome (I don’t think our traveller’s insurance covers that) so I’m gonna break it off shorty.

Beijing’s been nice so far. We apply for our India visas tomorrow. In the next couple of days, we’re going to visit the must sees (Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc.) before heading west.