water buffalos chilling

Bens sandcastle

Vietnam

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Ben' s happy!!

After a relatively simple border crossing which including a bizarre $1 bribe to the immigration official we travelled into Vietnam.  Immediately it was busier and more densely populated than Laos.  We arrived in Hue along the east coast mid afternoon and explored the city.  Scooters rule and you take your life in your hands trying to cross the road.  Basically take a deep breath and leg it!  All the traffic didn't stop a few of us hiring bikes though and cycling to the nearest beach 15k away.  It's a great ride through villages and lagoons to arrive at a scenic beach, which we had all to ourselves.  Ben was very excited and reverted back to his childhood, which for him wasn't long ago, and spent most of the day careering wildly between swimming in the sea, building sandcastles and making the sand squeak!! Actually so did I and my childhood was long ago. A great few hours were passed relaxing in the warm water before cycling back.  This was followed by a lively evening in the DMZ bar celebrating the safe return of our leader Pete with everyone in party mood.  Many cocktails and beers were consumed and lots of dodgy dancing followed.  Somehow Ben lost his shoes! Next day I managed to persuade a few poor souls to accompany me again to the beach, although James looked terrified as we weaved in and out of the traffic  and Simon apparently could only cycle slowly because he kept losing his hat!!  Not convinced about that one.  Hue overall is a very nice place, busy and vibrant, bit too noisy at peak times when the scooters all use their horns to excess but never the less interesting.  A short trip along the coast has bought us to Hoi An.  Arriving at a hotel, where they have put a welcome banner up, provided free cocktails and a swimming pool can't be bad.  A quick dash into town to get a few clothes made up by the local tailors provided plenty of amusement.  Maggs was not amused however to be charged more for her clothes than mine due to size issues, made me giggle though.  The good news is bikes are cheap to hire so whilst most people are taking the cultural option today I shall go exploring on my bike.  I'm sure I can find a beach.

Who needs gameboys!!

Ben and Kaye enjoying the longboat.

Goodbye to Laos

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Bens gets muddy.

We're loving it honestly!!

                                          

A great couple of days back to basics in bamboo huts in the Phu Hin Bun national park and a brief ovenight stop at Savannakhet heralded the end of our time in Laos.  The scenery in this part of the world is amazingly beautiful, lush mountains enclosing fast flowing rivers, rice paddy fields galore amongst the bamboo huts.  It sounds a bit overdramatic but at times it really does take your breath away. I've loved everything about Laos.  The people, though obviously poor, are happy with the whole village working together.  All the children play together, without the need for electronic toys, and you can feel the community spirit.  Even the animals get on with water buffalo, dogs, pigs, chickens and cats all sharing homes.  It truely is a great country very chilled and I was sad to leave.  Oh and the food is great as well!

Vientiane

Currently in Vientiane, capital of Laos.  We arrived here after a couple of days at Viang Vang, a young, very young backpackers paradise, full of bars offering cheap cocktails, spliffs and bags of opium!!  I declined these offers in favour of the Lao beer but it's definitely not my sort of place.  I did get a cheap pair of Billabong shorts though so not all bad.  The main focus of Viang Vang is the tubing on the river passing lots of bars on the way.  I opted for the safe option of a stroll with the Barry., Pauline and Dennis, whilst many of the other ( younger) guys took the tubing option.  They all came back in good spirits especially Ben and thankfully in one piece. 
Vientiane is relatively small for a capital city but quite chilled and quaint.  A group of us hired bikes and cycled to the Buddha sculpture museum 25k out of town. Nice and flat cycling which was lucky on bikes with no gears and we only got lost once( apparently my fault!). Bit hot in places, at one point my legs started to sizzle, but good fun. Buddha sculptures were bizarre to say the least, but then I'm not very cultural.  Next couple of days will see us travel to the national park for hopefully even more great scenery.

The end of camping

Oh dear Dennis!

My escape route!

After a fairly easy border crossing I was pleased to be in Laos. Immediately the atmosphere seemed to change, everyone including ourselves are more relaxed and looking forward to the days ahead. We spent four nights at Luang Namtha. A small chilled out town in the north. A few of us hired bikes and biked to the local waterfalls. As I was in control of the only map and wanted to go a bit further we I used my old running tricks and added in a 20k detour. The rest only realised when it was too late although I think Dennis cottoned on. We did finally make the waterfall after a bit of grumbling from Simon, who now hasn't be able to sit down for a week! The next couple of days saw a group of us take on a trek up a rather steep hill, stay overnight in a local village and kayak 20k the next day. This also included being forced to drink Lao whisky by the guide! An excellent experience ( not the whisky) to get away and sample local life. A two day stop in the next town saw me hire a bike again, this might be a recurring theme, and wizz past some of the local villages. This part of the world is amazing scenic, stunning mountains, fast flowing rivers, it's got the lot. It's also an adventure playground where you can cycle or trek to your hearts content, suits me!




Currently in Luang Prabang via a 6 hour longboat ride. It's full of westerners but again the bike has come to my rescue and I've escaped into the hills. Wish I'd had some brakes though, some of those down hills are a bit scary! It's a very cool, funky place as they say. Full of Wats and sights to see and again very scenic. It does keep raining though.  It's Kays birthday tonight so a cheese and wine party is in order, very civilised!

Me and my mates!!

Just let me sleep.

Everest and beyond

We bushcamped in Everest national park to get an early start the next morning enroute to Everest base camp. So the next morning, or middle of the night it seemed, a very early start saw us make the long and treacherous drive to base camp. Luckily for us it was dark and we did not realise quite how many sheer drops off cliff edges were on the route. It was only on our return journey in daylight the truth was reaveled. So well done to Pete for driving us safely. My first ever view of Everest is one which will live me with forever. It towered majestically above it's fellow mountains and looked amazing. It's one of the best sights in the world and I looked at it in awe. I could have stayed for hours just watching that mountain. It didn't make me want to climb it though, I'm not that daft!! Well maybe a little!!


We arrived at the tented yurk village which was to be our home for the night and some of us walked the remaining few kilometers to base camp. For me base camp was a bit disappointing. It didn't add anything to the mountain and was very strictly controlled by the Chinese. Woe betide anyone who ventured past the control barrier. We had an amusing night in our yurt tent, which including being force fed endless cups of yak butter tea and being tucked in bed at night, which Roberta and Heather loved. Maggs had some particularry interesting 'herbal' tea after which she seemed remarkably mellow and kept asking for snacks! The only trouble is she keeps craving more. We'll wean her off slowly.



Getting away from Everest base camp and Tibet has proved to be difficult. I'm sure the Odyssey blog will go into more detail, but a combination of floods, road closures, bridge collapses and the constant presence of the not so secret Chinese police has made it very tough.  Unfortunately we have had to leave the truck along with Pete in Lhasa and will now use a variety of transport.  As I write this Pete seems as if he will be stuck in Tibet for some time, trapped by a yoghurt festival!  The problem appears to me to be that the Chinese government are not set up for Western tourists.  As we only make up 3% of the total tourism they just don't know what to do with us and seem to panic somewhat.  Having said that on the whole the Chinese and Tibetans people are very friendly. 

We made a detour to Chengdu, the home of the Giant Pandas.  A very busy city full of parks with pensioners practising ballroom dancing and Tai Chi.  Badminton is also very popular with very high standards from the games I saw.  The visit to the Pandas was amazing.  I was a bit unsure about going as I did not know the conditions these gorgeous creatures are kept in, but I was reassured.  The Pandas are obviously well looked after in a good enviroment and even seemed to play to the crowds.  We all tried to smuggle one out to no avail.  It was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.

A few more cities, which for me was a few too many saw us arrive at the border with Laos.  On the whole I have enjoyed China, it's certainly fascinating, extremely frustrating, but I have to say I'm glad I've been.  One thing I won't miss is the Chinese toilets which have to be seen to be believed.  Suffice to say I had a panic attack in one where I thought the pyramid of poo was reaching up to grab me.  I was one poo away from disaster!!  I got out of there smartish!

Lhasa - 20th July 2010

Currently in Lhasa, the holy city of Tibet. We drove in to Tibet via the highest road in the world with the highest point being 5237 meters. After a few nights bushcamping, one of which involved us being threatened and chased off by the friendly locals! it's good to be in a hotel. Aptly named the yak hotel. It's quite hard to describe Lhasa. It's big, busy and vibrant with lots of westerners. There are Chinese soldiers on every street corner in what seems to be a show of force against any dissenters. The soldiers are mixed in with the pilgrims on the way to the holy sites and even march amongst them. To me it all seems wrong that a holy city should have soldiers everywhere, but what do I know! We went arond the Jokhang temple, but again I felt uneasy and as if I was intruding on the pilgrims lives. Some of the pilgrims travel thousands of kilometers to get to the temple, prostrating all the way. It's incredible. To me it seems wrong that something which means so much to people should be reduced to a tourist attraction, but as I was one of the tourists I cannot complain really.


On a lighter note there are dozens of outdoor shops here selling fake top brands such as North Face and I've spent plenty of time and money in those. Helping the local economy and all that. I've successfully avoided yak meat but the general consensus is that it is very good. I'll stick to my chicken.

So far China is a strange but fascinating place. We've crossed vast deserts, seen snow covered mountains, camped at high altitude and are soon to visit Everest Base camp. The Chinese bureaucracy make up there own rules and it seems one day you can do something the next day not. Very frustrating I'm sure for Pete and Kirsten, but they're coping well. We've had road works where they just shut the road for hours and it's a matter of waiting. Quite a problem when you are on the only road across the mountains. Anyway enough moaning, onwards and upwards to Everest base camp.