Monday, October 28, 2013
Epic Adventure Day 8: OUCH! That was expensive!!
On Oct 8th I woke up and snagged the free breakfast offered at the hostel. There was a French guy in my room and we had talked about going to the nearby waterfalls that day. He snagged a songtaew and negotiated 75000kip and we were off. I knew that was a bit expensive, because a group had gone the day before and only paid about 30000kip each, but I figured splitting 75k wasn't that much more, so whatever.
We rode in the back of the songtaew along the bumpy road for about 45 minutes to the waterfall place. We each paid the 20000kip entrance fee and headed into the park to explore. We quickly came upon the small
bear rescue they have. Cutest little bears ever, some were probably only as tall as me.
As we continued through the park we found many waterfalls and pools for taking a dip.
We continued up up up on what was a somewhat challenging trail, especially considering I was still fighting that stupid cold. In the end it was worth it. At the top you could walk though a large pool and stand right at the top of a giant waterfall and look down.
After enjoying the view and snapping some pics we headed back down for a swim.
It was clearly marked which pools you could swim in and which you couldn't. We saw one with a rope swing on the way up and that's where the French guy wanted to go. We didn't last too long swimming as the water was quite cold.
When we arrived back at the hostel I discovered I should never let a Frenchman do my negotiating as the 75,000kip was actually PER PERSON!!! Ridiculous!! Too hungry to care, I headed out to find lunch. A delicious sandwich on baguette bread with a mango smoothie. Sandwiches aren't really a thing in Thailand so when I saw chicken, bacon, cheese and avocado on the side of the street for just a couple bucks, I was all over it. So good.
A bit later the hostel owner called me a songtaew and I headed to the airport. There I found a Laos flag for Uncle Ralphy and discovered that playing cards with famous things on them, aren't really a thing here. Sorry dad!
I ended up chatting with an guy from the US who had been working in Thailand for a while and was now traveling. As we walked to the plane I had to snap a pic because I've never actually been on this type of plane before....
It was clearly marked which pools you could swim in and which you couldn't. We saw one with a rope swing on the way up and that's where the French guy wanted to go. We didn't last too long swimming as the water was quite cold.
When we arrived back at the hostel I discovered I should never let a Frenchman do my negotiating as the 75,000kip was actually PER PERSON!!! Ridiculous!! Too hungry to care, I headed out to find lunch. A delicious sandwich on baguette bread with a mango smoothie. Sandwiches aren't really a thing in Thailand so when I saw chicken, bacon, cheese and avocado on the side of the street for just a couple bucks, I was all over it. So good.
A bit later the hostel owner called me a songtaew and I headed to the airport. There I found a Laos flag for Uncle Ralphy and discovered that playing cards with famous things on them, aren't really a thing here. Sorry dad!
I ended up chatting with an guy from the US who had been working in Thailand for a while and was now traveling. As we walked to the plane I had to snap a pic because I've never actually been on this type of plane before....
I was a bit nervous arriving in Vietnam as I had applied for Visa on Arrival. Until recently you had apply for a Vietnam visa in advance which for me would have meant going to Bangkok waiting and doing whatever paperwork etc was necessary, leaving my passport with the Vietnam embassy and making the journey back to Bangkok a few days later to pick it up... Assuming it was approved.
Recently Visa on Arrival has been made available for people flying into Vietnam via HaNoi or Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). You fill out an online form and pay about a $15-20 USD fee. The company submits your info to immigration and in about 2-3 business days emails you a letter that you present on arrival, pay he visa fee and they give you your visa there. Much more convenient, but if I've learned anything in travelling, it's don't trust that these things will work until they actually do.
Lucky for me, everything went very smoothly. There was a window marked Visa on Arrival and I presented my letter, passport and of course an additional passport photo (they really love having photos of people in this part of the world) and a few minutes later my passport had a new giant sticker and stamp.
My friend Matteo had arranged for a driver to pick me up at the airport and pretty soon I was off the his apartment. En route, I discovered that while in Thailand a moto is considered a family vehicle (I've seen 5 people on one), in Vietnam, it's a moving company...
Matteo lives with his girlfriend Rachael (yes those are nicknames and it's funnier if you knew their actual names) and when I arrived he came down to meet me.
There was a bit of confusion and the guard seemed VERY angry and didn't want to let me in. Rachael, who speaks a bit more Vietnamese than Matteo came down to try to figure out what was going on. Eventually we got everything sorted out, but later discovered that the guard didn't think Rachael was home... And Matteo was bringing some random girl up to the apartment. Pretty funny.
We had a few drinks and chatted about life since we'd last seen each other (when Matteo and I were both working at a language center in Costa Rica) and then called it a night.
Pricey day!!: 183,000kip + 500baht + 215USD ~ $254.59 (includes visa and "on arrival" service, flight to Laos, most expensive flag I've ever bought Uncle Ralphy, grossly overpriced songtaew to the waterfalls, and a fairly pricey cab ride from the airport.... OUCH!!)
There was a bit of confusion and the guard seemed VERY angry and didn't want to let me in. Rachael, who speaks a bit more Vietnamese than Matteo came down to try to figure out what was going on. Eventually we got everything sorted out, but later discovered that the guard didn't think Rachael was home... And Matteo was bringing some random girl up to the apartment. Pretty funny.
We had a few drinks and chatted about life since we'd last seen each other (when Matteo and I were both working at a language center in Costa Rica) and then called it a night.
Pricey day!!: 183,000kip + 500baht + 215USD ~ $254.59 (includes visa and "on arrival" service, flight to Laos, most expensive flag I've ever bought Uncle Ralphy, grossly overpriced songtaew to the waterfalls, and a fairly pricey cab ride from the airport.... OUCH!!)
Labels: bears, Laos, Luang Prabang, Vietnam, visa on arrival, waterfall
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Epic Adventure Day 7: Not so Epic, but there was kayaking!
On the morning of the 7th, I got ready and waited for the bus to come pick me up to take me to the kayaking tour. (It was late, of course!) The trip started in an only about half full 15 passenger van, but we were quickly transferred to a songtaew that had kayaks loaded on top. There were only five of us in the group so it wasn't too bad.
When we arrived at the river, the kayaks were unloaded and I realized that since I was alone, and the others were couples, I'd be sharing the two person sea kayak with our guide. He was a pretty muscular guy, so I decided this wasn't a bad thing.
After working at Outward Bound I'm accustomed to a safety first approach and found it quite odd that there was no safety kayaker and no helmets. Then again, the river was flat enough that we were in sea kayaks, not river kayaks, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal.
With no instruction about how to paddle or what to do if you fell out, we hopped in and started paddling our way down the Nam Ou river and eventually meeting the Mekong. After two days on the slow boat, you'd think I would have seen enough countryside views from the river, but it was really nice to be out in the sun and actually doing something physical instead of just sitting. We passed a couple tiny villages where half clothed (or sometimes not) children shouted greetings to us as they jumped and splashed in the water.
We pulled off to the side at one point for a break and enjoyed a little beach time before heading on to the caves. (I got some pretty good pics along the way, but they're on the waterproof comer and will have to wait til I get back to a computer to be posted.) Once there, we hauled our kayaks out of the water, found a place to sit and have our lunch and then headed in to check out the Pak Ou Cave.
Perhaps it's because I've actually been caving before, or that I've been to a lot of temples and seen A LOT of Buddhas, but I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by the cave. I probably could have seen everything in about 10-20 and frankly none of the Buddhas were terribly impressive.
There was a pretty sweet view of the river, but apart from that, kind of a let down.
One of the other girls expressed the same sentiment saying, "I wish you could see how I pictured this in my head. We were going to kayak into the cave where there would be an island with a giant temple in the middle and all around would be the Buddha statues." Yep! That's the tour I wanted to go on.
We returned to the kayaks and kept paddling towards the Whiskey Village. At a certain point I put my paddle down to get some water and the guide asked if I was tired. I told him it wasn't that my arms or shoulders were tired from paddling, but my hands were sore and fairly close to getting blistered. He told me to sit back and sing a song and that he would do the work and then started ferociously paddling. When one of the other girls shouted, "you're so lucky!" I told her she should have booked the luxury cruise, it was MUCH nicer.
At the Whiskey Village I was once again, underwhelmed. When we arrived the locals had already made the whiskey for the day. Our guide showed us the giant clay pots they use and tried to explain the distilling process but it obviously just wasn't the same. We did get to sample a couple things. One was a sweet tasting pink liquor that you could pour over ice and enjoy alone.
The 100 proof whiskey on the other hand, was the worst tasting thing I've ever had. Worse than Costa Rica's guaro, worse than Peruvian Pisco. Awful!!
And of course they had stuff with snakes, scorpions, etc in it, all of which claimed to have extra abilities beyond getting you wasted.
I thought the trip would be redeemed by the shopping, but the shops offered very little and everything was the same. We returned to town and I went back to my hostel mostly disappointed, but glad to have gotten a little workout in on the kayak at least.
I decided to treat myself to a pedicure (worst pedi ever) and picked up a couple small things for myself in the market before calling it a night.
Cost: 190,000kip + 90 baht ~ $27.26USD (not including the tour which was included in yesterday's sum)
Labels: kayaking, Laos, Makong, Pak Ou cave, whiskey village
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Epic Adventure days 4-6: I'm on a boat.... STILL!!
After sleeping for 15 hours straight and waking up not really feeling any better, I decided to take it easy on the 4th. Other than heading out for food, I pretty much stayed in bed and blogged and caught up on other stuff. Not exactly epic, but I thought it might help (it didn't). I had booked a service to get me to Luang Prabang, because I decided I was too lazy to work out all the logistics myself. They picked me up an hour and fifteen minutes later than originally planned. After several other stops and bouncing around in a songtaew for over an hour, we finally loaded into the minivan to take us to the border.
The van wasn't full so it was a pretty comfortable ride. We arrived at 2am (the website said we'd get there at midnight) and were shown to "dorm" style rooms that seemed reminiscent of summer camp. Crappy beds, dirty bathrooms with only cold water, and only one outlet (because we clearly don't need to charge any devices before getting on a boat for two days) in the room which was for the fan... no air con. In the morning we had a fairly decent breakfast of scrambled eggs with toast and coffee. After some scrambling around to make sure everyone had what they needed for the border crossing (they require a passport photo for the immigration form), we did the stamping out of Thailand, hopped on a ferry and crossed the river to Laos where we went through the immigration process. It was all very easy and super quick in comparison to other countries I've been to.
We were then corralled onto another songtaew and taken to a little shop where we could buy food and drinks for the boat. Finally we were on the boat!! (There should be a video embedded, but I'm not convinced it actually worked, so just in case.... http://youtu.be/yyLKVZVZyhk)
We arrived at our stopping point for the night a little earlier than expected and were immediately bombarded by people offering rooms at various guesthouses around town. Another girl and I had already booked a place with the guide who got us on the boat. I'd read that you can get a better deal if you wait and do it there, and I think that's true, but the other girl wanted to book it and I wasn't sure I could get a better deal if I had to pay for a single. It worked out and the place was alright.
The town itself obviously survives strictly on the fact that the slow boat stops there on the way. Beyond the places to stay, you get tons of people telling you that their restaurant is the best etc. We ended up eating at a cute place with good food and a free whiskey sample (okay!). There was also the super adorable little girl who I wanted to stuff in my backpack and bring home.
Most people were tired from a long day on the boat and called it an early night. I used the free wifi to skype with some people before turning in myself.
The next day was pretty much the same. Floating down the river on a boat.... For 8 hours!!! Once we got to Luang Prabang, a group of us shared a songtaew to the hostel that one guy had actually booked in advance. We got lucky and they were able to accommodate the other 7 of us who just showed up! We got settled in, found a nice place for dinner and called it a night.
Day 4 - 1996 baht ~ $64.38USD (includes hotel pick up, slow boat ticket and 1night shitty hostel)
Day 5 - 360baht + 143,000kip + $36USD ~ $66.58USD (includes visa to Laos, $35USD + 1 for weekend overtime - no joke, hotel at slow boat stopping point, beer for the boat - very necessary, meals and all the other normal crap)
Day 6 - 275,000kip + 540baht ~ $52.67USD (includes next day's tour, and all the other normal stuff)
Labels: Laos, Luang Prabang, slow boat