A little light exercise

Luang Prabang, among other things, most of them to do with drinking, is also famous for its waterfalls. One of which is called ' Kuang Si', where the water cascades over limestone formations into ' menthol' green pools. (Yeah right!!!)
Only as it had been raining in the mountain's a lot of mud was washed into the tributaries that feed the falls, turning the water a brown, sludge like colour.
However, did this stop Yvonne and Mike from climbing to the top of the falls. Indeed not!!

I say climb, more like a  a slither up a very steep, slippery, muddy slope, through the jungle, up a distance of about 800 metres. Mike was told that a little light exercise every day would be good for him, post operation, lol.
We then cross the upper falls using a bamboo ferry made of 5 bamboo poles and a couple of planks, and use bamboo bridges for the less wide sections. Where these are not available you wade. Mike found one of the few plunge pools, lol.

Then you have to find the path down the other side of the falls. No sign posts, just pot luck. We asked a fellow traveller about a path we thought was promising, she told us it led to some steps but not accessible because they were submerged.
The only other way down was a hike through the jungle down very muddy paths .... We took the stairs, which were quite safe. Then down a further 500 metres of muddy, slippery slopes.

Went to the UXO museum, (unexploded ordnance), after the second indo-china war (USA, China and Russia) there are millions of the things about....

Tomorrow off to Vang Viang, slowly moving south towards the boarder with Cambodia. Going by VIP bus. We think this means Very Improbable passage. In fact its just a normal(?) bus, the VIP appended to get a few more thousand kip from the tourist trade. 

Lao

Arrived in Luang Prabang. Staying at the Jaliya Guest House.  An old French colonial style building. Big room with a balcony. Costs 60,000 kip a night (1000 kip = 0.0765 pence). So room costs £4.60 a night. Has a hot shower in a big bathroom.

It is more expensive than Thailand, but £10-£15 a day gets the room, breakfast, dinner and drinks, plus entrance to a couple of sites, for both of us. So no complaints!!

Quite hot at midday into the afternoon at 35°C, but feels warmer in the still air. Just right for a little light exercise. Mike is well pleased that most temples are built on top of high hills!!

Luang Prabang has a large night market, which sells lots of hand made stuff. We can't get too much because of the weight we have to carry. Decided to do the bulk of any shopping in the last couple of weeks of our trip.
Quite a lot of jewellery, bottle openers, spoons etc, made out of the recovered uxb and other ordnance that the Americans 'didn't' drop on Lao during the Vietnam war.
There are still many places dangerous to go to because of unexploded bombs!! A bit like Pembrokeshire!

There is a part of the market devoted to food. You pay 10,000 kip, 75 pence, fill your plate form a large selection of vegetarian dishes, and eat your fill. If you want chicken, pork, or fish then that is an extra 5,000 kip.
A large beer cost 10,000 kip, and is very tasty.

Close by the market are stalls that specialise in selling baguettes with all kinds of fillings, Part of the French influence. Makes a nice change from rice, and noodles!

Most of the work seems to be done by the women. So Yvonne decided to get a new job!!!

Painting Elephant's

Moved to another part of the city to be closer to the airport where we will catch a flight to Laos tomorrow.

Decided to have coffee and cake at the 'Catmosphere'. A coffee shop full of cats. Yvonne thought it was purrfect!!  Mike had fun chasing a ball of string.

Gone upmarket, we are now living in a shipping container, lol.

There is a place where you can paint elephants. Its called elephant parade. Lucky they are only 4 inches tall. The profits go towards the welfare of elephants.

Lots of rain today, and feeling chilly at 26 °C. Good job we brought some thicker tops with us...

Leave you with some photos, painting elephants, our shipping container, some cats.

Interlude

762 vomit inducing bends later, and Yvonne and Mike find themselves back in Chiang Mai. Thought about getting the 'slow boat' to Laos, but rivers a little swollen, and boats very over packed. Also, on the theme of vomit, Mike was not overly keen on a two day river boat journey!! Will use the rivers when in Laos as they are an efficient and possibly less bile inducing than the roads!

Staying away from the tourist area and more where the Thai's live and work. Cuts the cost to almost India prices, with no decrease in quality, in fact is a little bit better.

Defiantly an advantage being older here as the Thai's respect older people, so tend not to rip off!!

Another temple with lots of stairs to climb. Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara (Doi Suthep, for short). Right on the top of a large and high hill 12 km out of Chiang Mai. Taxi 2000 bhat, or 100 bhat with local buses.... Great views. Well worth the effort.

See if you can spot the buhdda from Vulcan.

While Thai food is good, both wanted a change. Mexican burritos and chips, yum yum.

In Chiang Mai for three days, then a dash for the boarder and into Laos for a while.

Some travelled tips.. Take a washing line. Best ones are a kind of twisted bungy with hooks on either end. No pegs needed because the twists, when pulled open, hold the washed items. Also a universal plug for wash basins. Have to thank Aimee for these items, so thanks Aimee...

Pai

Left Chiang Mai bound for Pai, a/c mini bus. Interestingly it takes 

3.1459 hours, an hour less than the bigger bus, and not much difference in cost. Must be something to do with the diameter of the wheels!!

Pai is north west of Chiang Mai, a distance of 130 km. A steep and winding drive, with 762 curves, not gentle ones, rather gut wrenching switchbacks, out of one and directly into the next.

Luckily no one was sick or I'm sure we would have been ankle deep in vomit. There were some very green looking faces...

Pai is a laid back, ex hippy kind of place. Has a nice night market, lots of eating houses and bars. Its still the low season, but starting to gear up for the high season, so prices are competitive. For example our riverside bamboo bungalow costs 1200 bhat in the high season (£24) per night, and in the low 400 bhat (£8), including breakfast and free bike hire.

Quite a number of Chinese tourists, many of whom hire mopeds and scooters. Its fun to watch them as they have absolutely no road sense, apparently no riding experience, and a lot don't bother with helmets. They now have the highest accident rates of any group in Thailand. Thankfully most accidents are low speed and just result in a bit of road rash.

Not a great deal to see here, but a nice place to chill out for a few days.

Another interesting coincidence is the fact that it is exactly 3.1459 metres from the bamboo bungalow to the fridge that contains the beer!!

Part two

Chiang Mai has a different flavour. Lots more bars and small interconnected streets in the old city. Very easy to navigate. Most things within walking distance.

The place we are staying is in the old city. Called 'Thailand Guest House'. Very clean, good food, and a fiver a night...

Big old night market, full of colour, sounds and smells. Brought a tuk tuk, only 3.5 cm long, made out of an old beer can.

Was interested to see what provision was made for special needs pupils after state school. In a word none. A few self sustaining establishments, the one in Chiang Mai by a parent. A craft based enterprise where quite high functioning SLD/Downs artists produce weaved items which were then turned into products; cards; t-shirts; bookmarks, etc.. So Yvonne brought a lot of Christmas presents, you lucky people.

We both like Thai food, so decided to go on a cooking course. We made six different dishes each. After cooking each one we ate it. It was good fun and we meet some interesting and nice people. One guy was a retired police officer from Hull.
Needless to say we did not need to eat again until breakfast the next day.

Went to the 3 D/illusion art gallery, where Mike stood on his lead, and Yvonne surfed the waves. Leave you with the photos.

Chiang Mai

Train was good and clean. One of the attendants sorts out your bed. Clean sheets and a blanket. About the only problem is the number of bloody tourists, some of whom behave like adolescent school kids on their first trip.
Having said that, we were the oldest backpackers on the train..

We had the 'fidget', who spent almost an hour blocking the gangway pulling stuff out of her rucksack, then putting it back, while acting surprised when people wanted to pass.

Mike was forced to ask a group of them to 'keep the noise down' when the rest of the carriage was trying to sleep. He was very polite, but did growl a bit...

Then we had the 'grazers'. Two people who should have known better!!
How many zips and crunchy packets are there in the world/universe that contain food/munching items? Not kidding this went on for 2 hours!!!

To top it all the lights didn't go out till 0230 to be then back on at 0515 with the tea/coffee lady selling her drinks walking up and down the aisle, shouting, nay screaming her wares.  Oh and I forgot to mention the automatic doors opening and shutting every time the loo was used.

Apart from that saw a great sunrise over the jungle.

Found a gem of a place to stay. More of that later...

Not going to put any photos on till next post. So there......

Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya was Thailand's old capital. Its packed with Buddhist temples, and other archeological sites.
We caught a local bus from Kanchanaburi bus depot,then a mini bus the rest of the way.
We are staying in a traditional Thai house which has been converted into a guesthouse. It is called Tamarind. A little more expensive with air conditioning and a bed with sheets and duvet. What luxury!! 

Spent the weekend exploring. Place is jam packed with Buddhist temples. After visiting a few was all templed out. 

The old city is enclosed by river's. While there are bridges it is so much more fun to cross by ferry, isn't it Michael!!

Thousands of cockerels or roosters are on display at a monument dedicated to King Naresuan, who was heavely into cock fighting. Yvonne has never seen so many cocks......

We catch an overnight train to Chiang Mai later, Monday 15th. Takes 12 hours. Got sleeping berths in an ac carriage. Will be able to see the sun rise. It's an economical way to travel and it cuts a nights accommodation costs. 

Leave you with some pictures. 

Monsoon

One last place to see, the infamous Bridge over the river Kwai. Actually two were built at about the same time. The wooden one, famed in the film of the same name, and one made with concrete pillars, and steel. Both were completed within months of each other. Only one survived. 

Got there by using song thaew, which are converted pick up trucks. They have a fixed fee of 10 bhat per person. Asked the driver to drop us off by the road that leads to the bridge. It's about 1 km to walk along this road. To the amusement of the other passengers, who were all local Thai's, and our surprise he turned off his route and took us all the way. Naturally we tipped  him. The Thai's are such nice people.

Decided to walk back to our floating platform. About 2 hours. It's best to walk slowly when its 35 C, and quite humid.

Just in time because it started to RAIN, biblical style!! Mike was pleased we were on floating accommodation. Its monsoon season in Thailand until the end of September.

Tomorrow we catch a couple of buses to the old capital city, Ayutthaya.

Leave you with a few photos.

Erawan Waterfalls

Up early to catch the 9 am bus from the bus station. Off for a bit of light exercise, and a swim at the 7 tier waterfalls at Erawan national park. It's about 90 km, 50 bhat (£1), plus the entrance fee to the park.

Unlike the buses in India, Thai buses are very clean, run on time on good roads, with drivers who have a calm, Zen like approach to driving. Yvonne has no problem dozing, Mike is not constantly looking out for sudden death situations,white knuckling the seat in front... It feels less like dodge-em-cars, and more like slick choreography.

When we arrive the 'little light exercise' begins. We decide to get to the 7th tier in one go, or should I say slog, yomp, forced march!!
The water falls 1500 metres (1.5 km), cascading down these 7 falls. Well, that means going up, and up, and up. The first 6 falls have steps and steep jungle paths, the last one is a scramble. When we arrive Mike has melted, and even Yvonne has worked up a sweat.

We jump in the pool and get swarmed by fish all wanting the hard skin from our feet.
Now some of these fish are 8 - 9 inches long and have very sharp teeth. Feet have never felt so hard skin free. We thought skin free at one point!!!

Leave you with some photos.