So....I think I'm a little bit behind. We've been in some pretty tiny places lately. The towns at times were small enough that they only had 4 hours of power at night, which was run by a town generator, let alone internet. (Although that was really only the case last week. The truth is that we've been so busy exploring that we just haven't had time, sorry). We're currently in Vietnam but let's go back a week or so to our time in Laos.

I'm not too sure what I expected of Laos, but it wasn't what I got. Every day in the country is like a day at the spa for your eyeballs. The place is gorgeous and has people to match. I'm not too sure why, possibly because Laos is so new to tourism, but there is a very common route that people do through Laos. You basically move as a pack on the same buses to the same places to see the same things. After about 10 days of this madness Jenn and I made one of the best decisions we've made on this trip. We decided not to take the suggested route of flying out of Laos but rather went by what ever kind of transport we could find. We started doing some research into the border crossing in the North of Laos. Crossing in the North meant somehow getting the 24hour distance to the border, crossing the border which may or may not be open to tourists, and then getting the 16 hours up the Hanoi by transport which was rumoured to be non-existent. All these variables are what make most people fly but it's exactly what told Jenn and I we had to try. Luckily we met four people who had the same crazy idea as us so off we went. The first day started by jumping on a local bus and taking it to a random town. We basically jumped on and asked the bus driver to let us off half way. (we did this just to get out of the tourist bubble for a day before starting the trek to the border). When I got into this tiny town, I realized that what we'd been seeing wasn't really Laos. The Laos markets and food we'd been going to were more of a Laos-tourist market and food. The market in Phou Khoum (the random tiny town) went like this. On one side were tables lined with the most random fruits I've ever seen. Weird colors, shapes and sizes. We acted like Noah, took two of each and kept walking. The next station was the everything station. This means the store that carries everything from a drill to kids toys to shoes to camouflage clothing. It looks the exact same as every other store in the town yet has totallly different assortement of randomness. The next and best row is the meat row(or wild game row). These are tables with dead animals (supposedly hunted that day but looking like last weeks road kill) lying in fixed positions with the proud hunter stroking it like it was an alive house pet. Jenn and I walked through ans didn't recognize a single animal. The next stall was the game from the previous table but it was cut up and cooked. We have a rule that we try a new unknown piece of food every day. Not too sure why, but the cooked wild game table drew us in. We ate something (we have it written down in Laos so that we can check it when we get home) and we're excited to one day find out what it was.

The next day we made it by hired mini-bus to Vieng Xai stopping in many minority villages that clearly don't have tourist. It was fascinating to stop in places where the whole village would come out to stare at us staring at them. We stayed in Vieng Xai for two nights and then left for the border on the very special day, Nov. 25th. My Birthday!

Jenn made sure to make it a day I will not forget. I woke up at 6am to a room decorated with toilet paper and balloons (we have to go on a toilet paper hunt soon cause she had a little too much fun with our two rolls). We then sang me happy birthday and set off on our adventure to get to Vietnam from Laos. We had talked to a few more people and the average of people who said the border crossing was open was looking a little more promising. Things weren't lookign good when the daily "bus", a small pick up truck, to the town near the border was full (with locals) and could'nt fit anymore people. Somehow we managed to score a sweet mini van to take us for only 3$ instead. It was a gorgeous two hour comfy ride. There were whole waterbuffalos nicely chopped up for sale on the side of the road (Jenn was going to buy me the head but we ddn't know how we'd carry it), kids getting ready for school in the nearby stream and men hacking away at bamboo to fix their house. It really was something else. We got to the border and whoopee, it was open! Crossed with no problems and to our luck, there was a bus waiting at the border from Na Meow to Hanoi! No joke! It comes Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and we just happened to pick the right day. Super lucky because Na Meow is not the best town to be stranded in. There's no food, no rooms, and some not so nice people. The 8 hour bus ride turned into a 12 hour bus ride with crazy, and I mean crazy, local Vietnamese people with their chickens, ducks, rice bags, barf bags and plants all squished on the bus with us. Locals pushed in beside us, over us and shoved their bags underneath us. Others slept in the aisle and all of them made sure they were yelling to each other as loudly as possible. The last 4 hours were spent on the thrid bus of the trip speeding down the freeqway listening to the drivers choice of techno music. With my birthday balloons on my bag and a giddy Jen, it was the perfect ending to possibly the longest day ever! By the time we arrived in Hanoi we'd been travelling and eating roadside food for 19 hours. With our bags off our backs we went straight to the first bar we saw (half man, half noodle)for a birthday drink.

We've now been in the North for about a week and are heading down south just on time to catch the hurricane. The weather here has turned very cool and cloudy in the past few days and we're hoping it'll pick up a little before Jenn heads home. Like Laos, Vietnam isn't quite as I expected either. There's a strong presence of their history here and the people seem quite hardened because of it. Of all the countries we've been to, this is the first that couldn't care less for tourist. They short change you at every opportunity they get and instead of responding when you say hi to them, they either sneer, laugh or say nothign at all. Of course there is an exception to every rule and we have met a few gems too. The country however is just as beautiful as I had hoped. We've spent a lot of time in the hills bush wacking, crossing muddy rice fields, climbing up and down, running away from territorial dogs, chasing pigs, scrambling through thick forest, dodging waterbuffalo on our motorbikes and dreaming of Christmas. These last two weeks of exploring are going to go by all to quick. Onto Hoi An tonight and then back to finish up in Halong Bay.

Time sure flies when you're having fun.

Picture time

Right now we're having one heck of a time in Laos. This place is an outdoor paradise! Less toursits in some places we've been and we've spent the past week outdoors for at least 6 hours a day. Tuesday was a 54 km bike ride, Wednesday involved a run for Jenn and a beautiful swim for me (25m pool!!), Thursday was a 15km hike and today we kayaked around town for the day. I'll write about this place later but for now, here are a few pics as promised from Burma. I'm not quite the photographer that Jenn is but I've posted a few of my favs that will hopefully do the place justice.









Jenn and I after a dip in Innle Lake

The Bug.

Getting ready to chow down on the bug.

Floating Market

Goofing around with some hats. Don't worry, we didn't actually buy these.

Young kids paddling even younger kids to school.

Relaxing under the sun as we motored through the villages.

Men fishing. They use their feet to paddle while their hands work the net. They make it look easy as Jenn and I found out when we took our own canoe for a paddle.

Touched a cow in Switzerland and a water buffalo in Myanmar. I was quite proud and I think Jenn was too.

When was the last time you saw one of these? Used to crush peanuts for the peanut oil.

Going to town town

We're back. There was a point when we thought we might be a little stranded (We missed our flight out) but a friendly smile got us out the next night. Myanmar (Burma) was something else, I'll try and give the best description I can and I'll post pictures soon.

From the second that Jenn and I landed, I knew we had made the right choice to go. We were greeted with warm smiles all around. People took no time to tell us how much tourism helps them and how desperate they are for more to come. What is a measly one dollar to us can go a long way for them. Had I not known about the violent totalitarian government holding the country, I never would have guessed; The people are absolutely stunning.

Like most countries, the first way you see them is from the air. Usually you fly over and see the common grid system where the farmers fields are square and city blocks and buildings are all square and organized. Not this place. It looked like the place was drawn by a kid with a thick crayon. Farmers fields were as crazy as European border lines, houses were sparse and the city we were flying into was no where to be seen. Due to advice given by others, we travelled for the week with a guide. I've never travelled with one before but I'm glad we did. It meant that we never had to look for a taxi or hotel and since it was just the 2 of us and a guide we had the same kind of freedom as being on our own. We became really close with our guide too so it was more like travelling with a great friend who knew the answers to everything. As for Burma being unsafe, it couldn't be more opposite. Comapred to the Thailand and definitely India, this place is a haven for females. The kids all waved at us, the women flashed us their warm smiles and offered food that they couldn't afford to offer and the men leant a helping hand with our packs whenever possible. Like I said earlier, the people are just stunning both inside and out.

Our first stop was Bagan. Bagan rivals Ankor Wat in Cambodia for it's multitude of Pagodas and temples. There are gold covered peaks as far as the eye can see. You couldn't help but feel a little spiritual in that kind of landscape. Sadly I was feeling a little less Zen and a little more of the bathroom floor still so you're going to have to switch to Jenn's blog for the details on this one.

However, I was up and kicking for Innle Lake. This is a whole city that is built on water. Like the gorgeous backwaters of the Everglades and Venice rolled into one, but 10 times more beautiful than either. It seemed pretty silly and almost dumb at first to build your house on the water but after being there for four days it made so much sense. They're right on their main resource, water. They use it to bathe, clean, cook and travel. They're so environmentally friendly though that the water is still beautiful. Jenn and I even took a fully clothed swim one day as our boat spead across to bring us back to the hotel. We spent the days travelling to different houses, meeting different people and watching them work at their different trades. It was like we were in some sort of upper canada village from 50 years ago. Factories of weaving looms where the silk is dyed next door, using the lotus flower growing in the lake to make rope, people beating pulp to make paper and then umbrellas, Ox driving around a wooden contraption to crush peanuts for peanut oil. I realized that we really had no idea where anything came from and how it was made. All I knew was that it somehow, conveniently, ended up on a shelf at Loblaws.

Like always, we spent a lot of time eating. Have you ever tried a real apple? I mean real, no chemicals, no gene modification, growing wildly out in the bush. What about a real egg or tomatoe? They taste INCREDIBLE! Like nothing I have ever eaten before. Jenn and I gobbled up fruit at every place possible including the floating morning market which as you can imagine was a sight. It's scary to realize what kind of food-non-food we eat back home.

We had many interesting conversations with the guide. We definitely dove into politics and religion often. There were times when she'd quiet down and we'd know that there was a government official around. In general they were very eager to share about their country and also hear about others. Turns out that while we thought that we flew into the capital city, it had actually been moved a year earlier. It is currently out in the bush somewhere but the people aren't too sure where. The new general has an obsession with the number 9 so he threw out the old currency and brought in a new one with his face on it and denominations of 45 and 90. He also closed all universities for the years of 1990-1999 so now they have a "lost age" group of students who couldn't be educated. The newspapers are run by the government and are full of random B.S. and the tax system is done by an official who turns up at your house, guesses how much you make in the year and taxes you accordingly. The power they have is ridiculous.

It was weird to try and explain to them what living in North America is like. Try to explain to someone who is grateful for each meal they get that there are people back home having their stomachs stapeled. Liposuction, not sitting down for coffee, bracing hours of traffic, chosing to live in an apartment on your own and eating milk that has been processed to death suddenly made no sense when I started to describe them. The Burmese people have it right on so many levels. Home has never seemed so strange and confusing.


The last days were spent eating more Burmese food and even trying their delicasy, fried bug. It was a fat and juicy cricket to be exact. Hit them on the head with a stick, a dash of salt and oil, put them in the pan and then enjoy. First you break off the legs, then the wings, bite off the head and save the thorax for last. You save it for last because if you pick a female they have eggs inside which makes for a sweet and tasty finale.

Myanmar has taught me and showed me a lot. We saw a lot during the 8 days there but the thing that I'll remember the most were the words of our guide and new friend on the last day of the trip. She looked at Jenn and I, gave us a hug and said "Please, never forget. Never forget."

Trust me, I won't.

We are now back in Bangkok for just one night. We spent last night enjoying a few drinks at a small Jazz pub and tonight jump on an overnighter to Laos. Nothing like curling up to Jenn for 16 hours on a long and bumpy bus ride. Should be good. :o)

Who wants the "American Breakfast" when they're in Thailand?

It's been tough trying adjust to this place. I dare say even tougher than adjusting to India. We look for a bus, we find a bus. It comes and it's nicer, cleaner and more comfortable than we'd imagine. It arrives on time and drops us off on time AND it even has a bathroom on the bus. BOR-ING! We spent one day in Bangkok, gave our passports to some sketchy Visa place and took off to try and find the real Thailand. We got on a bus and went up north and then got on another Thai run city bus and went up north even more. We then rented bikes and went a little further north. After a lot of travel we finally found the true Thailand and we definetly enjoyed what we saw. After spending the morning biking on some wobbly make shift bikes we found ourselves at a huge pond surrounded by little restaurants. We walked down to the water, plopped ourselves on the ground which was a hovering bamboo rafts and tried to order off the non-english menu. We were out of the city enough that no one spoke English and we were back to being starred at quizzically. Who thought I'd ever miss that? After a game of sherades trying to explain to the chef that we didn't want pig or cow or chicken (Jenn does a great chicken squak) we pointed at a random thing on the menu and hoped for the best. Delicious! A very successful day in real Thailand.

Just when we thought we'd gotten in our share of adventure in Thailand, a litte extra came our way. I came down with a fun case of food poisoning and spent the night on our bathroom floor (which lucky for me was shared with the rest of the guest house.) Mommy Jenn took good care of me during the day and basically carried me and all our stuff onto the 12 hour overnight bus back to Bangkok. Boy was that a ride! I made to Bangkok barely in one piece and woke up this morning to sad whimpers of Jenn in the bathroom coming down with possibly the same thing. Who have thought we'd live through India without a wobble and come crashing down the first days in Thailand.

Next, we're dragging our sick bodies over the border to Myanmar (Burma). We've been having a lot of discussion amoung ourselves and with others about going to this place. Burma is a totalitarian state and has been cited as one of the world's six "outposts of tyranny" by Condoleezza Rice. Part of us feels that in going there we are supporting this government and another part feels that the tourism industry helps by creating much needed jobs. We have planned a 10 day route where we will not be staying in any government run institutions and will be travelling and buying from as many local people as possible. While undoubtedly some of our money will go to the government we've been trying to plan a trip which can limit it as much as possible. Through the reading we've done, we've decided that we are going to Burma more as a witness than anything else. We'll let you know what we see and how we feel when we get back.

Till then.