Road Trip!

It was the ultimate road trip, our own version of The Motorcycle Diaries.

One of my favourite things to do in the world is ride a motorcycle. In Sarnia, you get the slightest thrill from tackling the “s” curves on the Indian reserve, or the curves by the airport. The ramp to an overpass is always a cheap thrill as well. And that's it, much to the chagrin of me and my riding buddies.

But driving through the Annamite Mountains more than made up for my deprivation. It was a blast to zip along on the bike, singing my heart out with my iPod, grinning like a fool, because I knew the day was one of those life moments that I knew would be permanently etched in my brain. Plus, biking with other people is always a riot, and to be doing this with 4 terrific friends...it was something I couldn’t have even fathomed in my dreams.


We went up and down, winded through roads, tackled hairpin turns, climbed up up up to be delivered to a cliff with a view so stunning I was certain I was watching a movie like “Lord of the Rings”. Then we would descend into valleys and be completely surrounded by mountains with rock formations and greenery you only see in picture books. Yesterday I surely witnessed the most beautiful scenery of my life- even more beautiful than South Africa or the south shores of Thailand.

I should pause momentarily to give credit where credit is due. An honorable mention goes to Dana, whose motorcycle debut was on these windy roads. The poor thing was a little apprehensive when we originally rented bikes. During her first lesson on her 110 scooter, she somehow hit the throttle with the brake, and when she released the brake, she was propelled into traffic on a busy street. Reduced to tears, she asked if there was a bus she could take to meet us there. But she valiantly tried again and did wonderfully (Ann, no worries- she has improved dramatically).

While the views were spectacular, equally memorable was the culture of the villages we passed through. The cattle did not pepper the road like they did on the early part of our journeys. Only once an obnoxious cow stubbornly planted herself in the middle of the street and stared at us defiantly while we drove around her. The further north we went, the more stray dogs and pigs we saw. We saw dogs fighting, pigs fighting, and even a new litter of piglet feeding off their mama on the side of the road. There was a family of chickens that crossed the road in front of me (Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. It’s actually true! I saw it with my own eyes!), but the chicks were so little and cute that one couldn’t be annoyed. The one time I was annoyed is when the sun was long gone and it was black as asphalt, and a stray dog ran in front of me. That was definitely alarming.


But the villagers were amongst the most interesting that day. I fear we gave the poor Lao people whiplash! I was surprised that they noticed that we were white people driving through their villages, but they all noticed. Perhaps it was the blonde hair peeking from under our helmets, billowing around our heads. Perhaps it was the cargo loaded on all the bikes. Maybe it was the 2 Honda Bajas in the pack, when you don’t see real motorbikes here too often. Maybe it was a girl on one of these bikes, and granted, my bike is ridiculously loud. But they stared and stared, their round heads following our every move through the town. Naked children lost interest in the games they were playing by the side of the road to giggle and wave. Men stopped working the fields to stare. Women paused while hanging clothes to dry, and adolescents doubling on decrepit bicycles hit the brakes, stared and waved. This happened in every one of the numerous towns we drove through. It was almost hard to operate the clutch, because my hand was waving around to all the children in the villages that were grinning at us and fervently waving, as if we had just made their day a little brighter.

They live primitively in these towns. Their grass huts all look the same, and it wasn’t uncommon to see children toting sticks and wood on their backs, or even carrying their tinier siblings on their backs. There seems to be a community shower, because in every one of these villages, there was a shower like contraption by the side of the road, sputtering water, while people wrapped in towels gathered around. I saw one old man get right down to his skivvies, but Kevin topped that one by seeing an old women in nothing but her birthday suit. He says he was traumatized. Later on a little detour off-roading, he ended up at the community shower and the half naked Lao people laughed and laughed at the white person who was so clearly lost.

We left at 11am and didn’t arrive until 8:30pm, but granted, we had some liberal stops. It was a very long day. It’s cold driving through the mountains at night, not to mention a little treacherous. It was definitely a road trip to be proud of! The funny thing is that kilometre-wise, it’s not that far, but going through the mountains is a slow process.

But we made it to Luang Prabang safe and sound. Most of the guesthouses were sold out, which we didn’t need after a long day like ours. But ironically enough we found a room that sleeps exactly 5, so we had a giant sleepover. I slept quite well, but all I could hear was the rumble of my bike and I swore I was still weaving in and out of windy roads through the mountains.

Backstory

After an 8 hour motorcycle ride through the mountains, I am so freakin' tired (but a good kind of tired, like after a day of skiing) that I don't have energy to do anything more than check my email. I'll update on that tomorrow.

Here's the post that I missed- I was able to upload it finally. It's the backstory of our group's reunion in Bangkok on Saturday, and our trek to Laos. Here goes:

There were squealish girly giggles of glee at the Bangkok train station the Dana, Meaghan and I saw each other. Finally we meet again, and in Bangkok of all places!

We bummed around Bangkok for the day, basically doing what we do best: eating and shopping. We had until 8pm that night to catch the overnight train to Laos. The good news: it was only 13 hours, not the original 21. The bad news: We had a choice to make. Do we select 3rd class for less than $8 and chance it? Or 2nd class sleeper for double the price?

They chose 3rd class (though in fairness to Meaghan, her vote was for the sleeper). I wanted to be part of the group, but jet lag has been tough on me and I simply couldn’t do it. I figured $8 was a small price to pay for 13 hours for an overnight bed on a train, even if I had to forego the promised “camaraderie” and “view of the countryside” that Meaghan had promised me.

It was a rough night for me. The train was a rickety old bone shaker if I ever saw one and the mattress was anything but comfortable. And strangest of all, it was cold that night! I tied my hoodie tied up over my head and put on a pair of socks, which helped, but not enough. I finally stuck my head under the covers; even then I was only marginally warm.

The next morning I felt pretty bad. But after one look at the rest of the posse after I got off the train, I almost laughed. Some random comments were, “the worst 13 hours of my life!” “I froze my ass off!” “I finally just slept on the grimy train floor!” I just laughed. Serves the cheapskates right! All they had were individual upright plastic seats, and the car was packed.

So anyway, we arrived in Laos yesterday morning, completely exhausted from basically no sleep, but happy at the new stamps and VISAs that decorated our passports. We took up at a guesthouse (hostel) for less than $2 a night each. The only problem was that they only had 2 available bedrooms with 2 twin beds apiece. So Dana, Ben and I took one room, squashed the twins together and slept horizontally. Not bad, considering. (Though I do have a sore back, but it’s no wonder as I haven’t slept in a proper bed since last Tuesday night, when I was still in Canada…)

We’re in the capital city of Vientiane (pronounced “Vin-chin” by the locals). It has a very charming, peaceful feel, unlike Bangkok. It’s a similar feel to Thailand, but a little more laid back. We’re close to the Mekong river, which actually isn’t as picturesque as you might imagine. Mostly this is because the water levels seem really low, so you can see a lot of the brown shore. Vientiane actually reminds me of the Phuket because there’s a lot of shore and view of the water (though the Mekong river is not near as nice as the Indian ocean) and there’s just a quaint, lazy feel in the air, like no one’s in much of a hurry.


We ate lunch on the river, sitting Indian style. Dreadfully tired, we flaked out on the ground and napped while we waited for our food. The rest of the afternoon was nice; we strolled around searching for places to rent motorcycles for the week (unsuccessful so far), crammed 5 of us on tuk-tuks to get around, and had Indian food for dinner.

By 7:00am we all flaked out on 2 of the twin beds, crowded around a laptop and watched a couple episodes of “The Office”. I was asleep by 8:00pm.

Today we leave Vientiane, hopefully on motorbikes, and start exploring the countryside of Laos!

P.S. Here's a pic I forgot to post taken in Bangkok.

Exploring Caves and Tubing through the Mountains...

What a beautiful country!

Today was another action packed day. It started off well because the cheap hostel bed did not disappoint! Mind you, it was my first real bed in almost a week, so perhaps anything would have been good. But I got a good night of sleep without Gravol and finally feel half normal today.

And what a good day to feel normal it was!

We went for a lazy tube ride down a river. The mountains and lush greenery were simply breathtaking. The tropical terrain is always a treat to us Canadians, I suspect. There were some stops along the river such as zip lining and rope swings. I did a couple, but that sort of thing doesn’t do it for me. Dana was having a heyday. When I did the rope swing (which is just grabbing onto a rope on a high platform and swinging over the river, Tarzan style, then letting go to splash into the water), and being the brilliant person I am, kept my shades on. Needless to say, they didn’t surface with me. To add insult to injury, I left my shoes at one of the stops. And I was just laughing at Meaghan the other day for being scatterbrained...I blame my father's genes for this!

There was a 100ft rope swing that I took a pass on. I’ll jump from high places, provided it doesn’t give me that “whoosh” in my stomach. That feeling makes me want to vomit, and I'd rather keep my delicious Lao food down, thank you very much. Meaghan, Dana, and Ben did the jumps with screams of glee. Kevin was jealous; he would have loved to, but couldn’t get his knee wet.

After lazily floating down the river, we took our scooters and bikes and drove to explore a large cave. This was pretty cool; only pictures can describe it. I won’t even try. I’ll try to post some pics soon.

On the way back from the cave, we had to cross a suspension bridge. We thought it might be fun to rock the bridge, and didn’t really notice all the Asians crossing the bridge in front of us. Well, rock it we did, and couldn’t help but laugh as the scared Asians scampered off the bridge like lemmings over a cliff. But we felt bad when a toothless monk clung to the side for dear life, so decided that perhaps we shouldn’t try to get our kicks if it involved scaring poor Asians. They did seem somewhat amused, though, because once they took refuge on solid ground, they whipped out their video cameras to hopefully catch the crazy White people swaying the bridge.

I tried a bit of off-roading on my motorbike which was quite fun. I've never been dirt biking before. I did get stuck. I did take a tumble. I am a little sore. But hey, isn’t that what a Honda 250 is all about? It was a blast; I think I need a dirtbike now.

We’re moving at a keen pace around Laos, but loving it. The scenery here is just breath taking. It feels rural in a lot of ways- primitive almost. The English here is very broken, much more so than in Thailand. But it’s what makes it fun. We are really enjoying the food. The French colonized here, so it's like Thai food with a French twist. Deeelicious! Plus, they make a mean mojito here.

Tomorrow we move on to Luang Prabang. Oh yeah, I finally learned the name of the city we've been staying in- Vang Vieng. (Now can you see why I can't get these names straight?)

PS I’m posting some pics to yesterday’s blog. I don’t always have access to upload pictures, and most of today’s pictures were taken by Meaghan and Dana’s camera. I promise I'll post them when I can!

Honda Baja 250

I skipped an entry, but hopefully I'll be able to post it soon. On to today...

We woke up in Vientienne (the capital of Laos) with a stiff back thanks to the ever-so-uncomfortable hostel beds. But, at $1.50 a night, who would dare complain? Besides, they were short a room/bed, so I bunked up with Dana and Ben. We made do by squashing two twin beds next to each other and sleeping horizontally. Yes, we're slummin' it! I think they only way I slept was to pop a couple Gravol before bed. Jetlag has been kicking my ass...

But our dream of motorcycling through Southeast Asia materialized today. Of course, these sort of dreams are never quite as exotic as in your mind. For instance, it's expensive to do so. I coughed up the extra dough for a Honda Baja 250 instead of a scooter. I would have paid even more just to let loose on the throttle in the heat. For those of you who know me, you know it's one of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world. I couldn't have been happier.

Trekking through the countryside was amazing. There were grass huts everywhere, barefooted children playing on the side of the street, ladies walking with dozens of baskets, and palm trees swaying. It's very peaceful here.

One minor challenge was that there are all kinds of animals running around the countryside, from ox to cows to stray dogs to goats to chickens. I even saw a pig running around! Never mind the crazy Asian drivers- the animals are what you have to watch for. The first time I saw a cow lazily cross the street way ahead of me, I thought it was funny. The second time a cow crossed the street and I had to slam on my brakes and swerve to miss him, I didn't find it as funny. There was also a cute little boy on the side of the road cleaning something with a bucket of water. Well, the cuteness wore off quickly when he chucked the bucket of water at me as I was driving by!

But the drive was beautiful. We trekked through the mountains, up and down, swerving around, hitting the brakes for the hairpin turns. Night came quickly and when the sun disappears, so does the heat. We were still an hour from our destination and this is when the romance of driving a motorcycle through the countryside started to wear off. I was leading the pack and since the sun had disappeared, it was black as coal. The headlight of my bike cast a milky glow which enabled me to see, oh, 2 feet in front of me. On curvey roads with hairpin turns in the mountains when you're shivering, this is challenging. Add the memories of stray cows and it's downright dreadful. But we made it.

Now we're in some city (I can't even remember the name...how bad is that? Some odd combination of lots of vowels and few constanants) but we're happy to be here because we're now warm and alive. And this city is cool- it has a real pulse and some nightlife. Plus, we each got our own room in a hostel with our own little bathroom for 2 nights for $16US for all 5 of us (for both nights). No word of a lie. Mind you, if some of you saw these rooms, you might choke, but hey, we're a travelling caravan on a budget! We just ate some local food and drank a local beer and are feeling full and happy. Here in Laos you sit on the ground on cushions to eat your meals, so we lazed around while we waited for our food. Like I said, it's peaceful here.

Now it's time for me to crash. Hopefully I can sleep peacefully, kick my jetlag, and have no nightmares about smoking a cow on my motorcycle. Steak, anyone?

Laos

Sorry, but this entry will be terrily quick. I had a whole entry whipped up on my laptop, complete with pictures, as they told me yesterday I could plug my laptop into their Internet connection. Langugage barriers and IP address changes just don't go well together.

Anyway, we made it here in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. It's been very nice so far! Laid back, calm, clean- what you expect captital cities NOT to be.

I have to meet up with the crew for breakfast and then go on a mission to rent motorcycles to explore the countryside. I will try to give a proper entry tonight.

But we are safe, alive, and Laos is wonderful!

A Random Day in Bangkok

One full (and unexpected) day in Bangkok and I am reminded of how much I love this place.

First of all, it's not hard to love any place with 25 degree weather and sunshine. Secondly, I just like the chaos and lack of rules on the road. (That is, provided I'm not a victim of these lack of rules.)



Plus, it's just different. People, cars, scooters, tuk-tuks, and motorcycles are in excess. A lot of the roads are 6 lanes, and the dotted lines that mark the lanes are completely disregarded. Gaudy memorabilia is everywhere- bling bling decorates cell phones, trinkets are dangling from rearview mirrors, and pictures of the king are all over the streets. The vendors sell funny things such as t-shirts that read outrageous things that I can't actually type on here, for fear of my grandmother reading it (a lot of four letter words that start with "F" which are so misplaced, it's clear these Asians have no idea what they are marketing). The traffic puts LA to shame and the language barrier is always a mix of amusing, frustrating, and humorous (such as commenting on the cab driver's ears: "Man, that guy's ears are HUGE!" "Poor guy, he looks like Dumbo." Then we start to giggle at the ears, feeling slightly bad for it, and he sees us laughing and starts laughing with us, so we are all sharing a hearty chuckle and he has no idea that we are laughing at him!)


We travelled the city by tuk-tuk, cab and on foot. There are two options you have when getting trucked around Bangkok: 1. Close your eyes and cross your fingers and say your prayers. 2. Keep your eyes open, tell your travel companion that he/she may have your [insert prized possession here] and sit back and think that getting smucked in Bangkok would be an exciting way to go. For all the close calls it's amazing there aren't carcasses and smashed up vehicles littering the streets.


We mostly just shopped the markets yesterday. Everything is so cheap here. I indulged in fresh fruit from local vendors ($.30) and refreshing coconut milk from the shell ($1.00). Of course I did a bit of shopping. I got a pair of Pumas for $15.00 (authentic, I swear) and a necklace for $.67. I won't bore you with the rest of my purchases, but you get a lot for a little here. The bartering system is fun for a bit, but tiresome after a while.
We got back to the hospital in the early evening (after being stuck in a tuk-tuk for an hour in traffic jams, inhaling the fumes. Man, I'd hate to see the score on an emissions test for those things). I adorned a fresh pair of hospital clothes and ate some Thai hospital food, which was remarkably good. We squeezed on Kev's bed and watched "Blades of Glory", but I could barely keep my eyes open (jet lag had finally hit me, as you probably surmised after seeing that horrible picture of me above). I was sleeping in 1/2 hour. I had a full night of sleep last night, and this morning a hot shower (possibly the last one of the trip) and eggs and bacon for breakfast. All for free!

Being in the hospital is a riot! Only hours from now we take the 21 hour train ride to Laos...

Hospital!

I spent my first night in Asia in a hospital.

Okay, so I am being dramatic, but entirely truthful. My layover in Bangkok en route to Laos was almost 24 hours. By some stroke of fate (I would never call it luck, for reasons which you will soon understand), my brother-in-law Kevin (meet him below- he’s part of my travelling group) has been in a Bangkok hospital for almost 2 weeks. Of course it only makes sense to visit him here.

Being the con artist that he is, coupled with a remarkable capability for getting anything he wants from the Asians who adore him, he decided to take advantage of his hospitalization. He was released from the nice, clean, comfortable hospital on Tuesday, which was paid for by his medical insurance. So he convinced the doctor to let him stay for a few more days, just for a place to crash. Nicer than a hostel, and cheaper too. He comes and goes as he pleases and is guaranteed a clean bed.

“By the way, Doc, my sister-in-law has an overnight layover in Bangkok. Can she crash here too?”

He assured me I would have accommodations.

My cab pulled up to the hospital at 11:30pm and I was a little nervous. Would they let me in? What about visiting hours? My cab door was opened for me by a couple Thai guys; they retrieved my luggage, put it on a luggage rack and escorted me to Kevin’s room. It was like having a personal bellhop! I gave Kevin a hug and complimented his hospital garb.

“Saves me from doing laundry,” was his reply (later I spotted a spare pair and threw it on myself. Hospital wear is comfy!).

I eyed some bottled water on the counter, and he told me to help myself to as much as I wanted. He walked out the room to a linen closet and helped himself to some bedding for me. He told me to use the private shower in his room (which was hot and had pressure- for those of you familiar with Asia, you know this is rare. Especially when you slum it in hostels). So my adventure started with free accommodations in a hospital, having a cozy sleep over with my brother-in-law, and munching on the chocolate his mother weighed me down with. As if that wasn't enough, Kevin ordered double the food for dinner that night and it was quite delicious! What more could a Dutch girl ask for? I’m so into this scheme that I think I could make a full time travel career out of it.

If Kevin is a con artist, Meaghan has been taking lessons from him. Originally we were all going to meet in Laos, but with my long layover and Kevin’s hospitalization, the crew is coming to Bangkok. So I have somehow been swindled to forego my quick connecting flight to Vientiane in lieu of a 21 hour train ride to Laos with the travelling posse, all for the sake of “seeing the countryside” and “the camaraderie of the road trip with your favourite people” (reference: Meaghan, email sent Nov. 29). First wine, then obscenely long train rides...what I won’t do for my sister.

In truth I am so anxious to see them again I could trek to Jerusalem on the back of a freaking donkey and be happy if they were with me. At the risk of sounding dreadfully sappy (my friends who call me a hard ass, take note) I have to admit that amidst all the looming excitement of a trek around Asia, time off work, gallivanting across the world, seeing new things, life changing experiences...right now it all seems so meaningless and insignificant next to my anticipation of seeing Meaghan again. Only one more sleep! Yes, that means another tremendous sleepover in the hospital. Now this is Bangkok on a budget!