Diving is AWESOME

Yesterday I have just finished my Padi, the diving certifcate that allows me to do recreational diving down to 18 meters. I remember talking about it a few years ago with some divers and they were really enthusiastic about it and I understand why.

Diving is really really nice, you have so much freedom to go up and down simply using your breathing (ok, the good divers do like that, me as a baby diver I bum a couple of meters up and down each time) look at the fish, feel the streams or simply enjoy being underwater. Somehow it is like flying under the water. And breating under water is not that difficult, you get used to it after 20 minutes, it is funny how we adapt quickly.

I did it in Koh Tao, the learning center for most divers in Thailand. My padi family was made up of Sam and Pia (Padi uncle and aunt) and Erica my great buddy (100% at the test!!) because you always dive in pairs and look after each other.

Tomorrow I will dive again to 30 meters and I really look forward to diving again and again in the other countries I will visit (Cairns to start with in July).

Laos is cool

It's been a while I did not write anything but it is not because I did not like Laos. On the contrary my time there has probably been the best I had so far and the five posts below are meant to split all the things I really enjoyed in it (and avoid you getting completely bored with one super long post).

I really hope I can share a bit of what I have lived and that it will convince you that it is high time to put Laos on the map, especially while it is not too touristy and pretty "untouched".

I have put all the picture in just one album, it's mostly scenery so if it's not your cup of tea, just skip the pictures and read the posts.

Bangkok straight thereafter has been quite a shock after Laos and I will write a specific post about it. I realised that I went to South East Asia only because it was easy and I took it as a training for the countries that make me more excited (Japan, NZ and Argentina) but I love it so much that I look forward to the other destinations even more. I've already bought my Japanese phrase book and I also have my self-teaching book for Spanish.
Before that is the time of the PADI and then Flo and Greg with whom somehow everything started last year at the canyonineering week (where I realised that many people were traveling by themselves, so shy not me?) will join me in Thailand and we'll probably head for the islands and some beach activities.

Laos I love your nature

I guess you all know by now that I am a fan of nature, this is not by chance that I dream to go to Mongolia one day.
I have been spoiled in Laos because the landscapes are really beautiful and as long as not all the forests are cut we can still enjoy them.
There are three places where I could have easily stayed a week:
Dondet along the Mekong with the bungalow one the river, the hammock and the kids playing in the water

Tad Lo for its quietness, its green everywhere, the porch in front of the bungalow perfect to play cards or read

and Nong Khiaw just because it was stunningly beautiful.

From Nong Khiaw I took a couple of boats northwards to Phongsali and they have been more than worth the hard sitting on the wood.

When I thought I had seen already enough and just started my way out of the country the road from Phongsali showed some amazing landscapes with morning clouds in the valley

And that reminds me the unusual lights and rainbows from Champasak on the Mekong valley that followed two impressive waterfalls on the same day.

Finally I want to mention two special places:
The waterfall near Luang Prabang is simply the most beautiful I have seen so far

the lake in ?? (sorry forgot the name) had such an amazing colour that it was worth all the motorbikes scares I had to go there.

All in all, this sums up probably to 20 out of the 28 days I have spent in Laos, just to explain why I am was so happy to wake up early everyday (ok, my cokerel friends helped me also) and simply be outside.

Just before finishing you will tell me why don't you mention the famous Luang Prabang? Well, simply because that is true LP is nice (check picstures x to x in album) but this is too touristy for me and also to clean, and finally because I have been templed out after Angkor.

My last day in Laos, a perfect example

I could not have wished a different day for my last day in Laos simply because it filled up the few holes of the things I wished I had done and had not so far.

I was with some very good friends (Geraldine Max) with whom we had decided to enjoy our last day before new challenges (them: China and me Bangkok). The day started with some motorbike in the countryside. We cruised the whole morning in the beautiful surroundings of Luang Nam Tha and had a bit of "adventure" with a bamboo bridge on the way.

But that is when lunch time approached that things turned out to be great. We stopped in a small village on the road where there was a kind of eating place filled with army men obviously having some good time considering the number of beer Laos on the table (and later on considering the eyes of one of them for whom the afternoon must have been VERY long). Because there was no menu we asked the same (the famous same same that everybody understands in the region even when they do not speak one world of English) as the armymen and this is what we got:

Luckily I was not alone and we could laugh about it the three of us but that was really disgutting. If you do not recognise the pictures, these are buffalo liver and buffalo intestine. The first piece latter gave me a (haut de coeur) and luckily there was a hole in the wooden floor where I could discreetly leave the piece without offending our hosts. Then one of them came to speak with us and he happened to speak French and we could feel he was very happy he could practice his French (he studied medicine in France a couple of years back). We then proposed him to play petanque against us but he was too serious and said he had some work and he (as most of the officers) left. But it was not difficult to convince the other ones who happily played two games that we won (but I highly suspect them to have let us won even considering the Lao beer factor). That was really nice and they were so friendly I think they were pleased that we asked them to play.

After the (long) lunch break we took the motos again and rode under the blue sky and the sun more in the contryside before having a break and a fruit shake, going on a hill to see the view of the surrounding (in a setting light) and finally having diner with a French-Japanese couple we had met the day before.

Yes, this is a typical Laos day and I would not have wanted to finish better.

What makes Laos special

Here we go, why did I love so much this country whereas I just went there because it was part of the South east Asia package?

Some things I've already mentioned, the country is really laid-back and it has gorgeous scenery.

But Laos is also:

Being awaken every morning by cockerels. Actually these lovely stupid animals do not start to sing when the sun rise but well before as some of them started as early as 2.30 am.

Starting to believe in Buddha as the drivers of buses do when they take over cars without any sight what is coming after the curve. Almost all my bus drives have a funny story attached to it: I got a flat tire when the bus was overtaking a truck with the flashlight of a car coming in opposite direction it is time to be back on your lane; one day our bus was cruising so slowing that I thought it would take me 10 hours to do 300 kms when two buses overtook it and it started to drive like crazy (80 kms even in curves) because he feared the other buses would steal its customers on the way, all locals were looking anxious and I was not so comfortable as well; another one the driver damages so much the cooling system of the engine that we had to change bus.

Asking for some food and getting something else (for instance once I ordered noodles with vegetables and I got them but I also had sticky rice (it must be my English pronunciation). By the way this is not so typical Laos since I've had similar experiences in Holland.

The smile of the people when you tell them sabai-dii. Some children are just so funny they keep saying sabai-dii and laughing when you reply to them. Playing the catapult with children in the Mekong. They never stop and that's when you realise you are not so fit anymore

Having a haircut with a hairdresser who does not speak a word of English (not even the word short!!!) and who decided to cut just the front so I looked like a 1980's rocker after the cut (and I just realised later on)

Paying everyday 5,000 chicken for a bottle of water (the Laos currency is the kip which means chicken in Dutch)

The lousy and loud music in the buses that they import from Thailand. And they never stop it, even at 4.am in the morning!!!! (by the way, this music is worse than Celine Dion!!)

All of this contributes to make Laos special and explain why it is my favourite country so far.

Travel mates and food

Before I always said my trip would depend mostly on people I would meet and these four weeks in Laos have just been that.
In Vietnam and Cambodia I followed my own plan and although I met great people there as well I preferred to follow my own route than to change and go with them (especially in Cambodia when I headed Eastwards by myself but the time I had there proved me right to do so).

In Laos I did not really have any plan and the people I met were in line with Laos: Relaxed and flexible. Our favourite activity (next to the bikes) was to get a bungalow with a nice view and a hammock, swim in the Mekong or the Nam Ou and have a good lunch/diner.
Actually outside Ventiane and Luang Prabang the food has been quite a challenge. It seems that the locals prefer the intestine and that kind of things than the meat we are used to. They also like lizards, and all sorts of nice rodents and fertilised eggs (I have never been so happy to be allergic to eggs, that was my best excuse not to taste).

Overall I had quite some dodgy meals (see my last day) and this is the least good food i had since I started the trip. But funny enough if Laos is the place where bread is not as good as Cambodia and especially Vietnam (best food so far) the bakeries in Luang Prabang and Ventiane are really good good: I remember the chocolate cake of LP as well as the pain of chocolat and chausson aux pommes from Ventiane, DELICIOUS. One side story, I saw also Scandinavian and Australian bakeries and I have to say that if they are not as bad as I assumed they would be, they are really not as good as ours (I know, I am so French sometimes :-).
Two more specialties of Laos are the Lao Beer than you cannot miss with its big yellow signs and the Lao Lao, the local "whisky" which is a pretty certain way to get a hangover.


I've noticed that if you cross a border with a group of people you keep following them in the country. You usually end up bumping into them by chance and I was lucky. Overall I did not spend a day by myself in Laos. I's like to introduce them to you:
Sergi y Rebeca (left hand pic) are not only among the most laid back persons I've ever met, they helped me to learn my first basics of Spanish; I still have a bit more than 6 months to learn the rest before practicing in South America. I already had jokes on my accent since it seems the French are usually unable to do the Spanish r (rouler les r),
Thanks to Max & Geraldine (pic in middle) I know could go by myself in some remote places (Tha Kaek or Udomxai) and still bump into them and really have a great time (see last day in Laos),
With Catherine and Hariet we traded bug fighting against chicken protection and had really nice time in quiet Nong Khiaw,
The Dutchies of the Cambodia-Laos border crossing team advised me to go to the amazing waterfall near Luang Prabang and girls I cannot thnak you enough for that that was sooooo nice,
Thanks to Emma and Philip (right hand pic, in the bus) I had these two intense motorbike days to the pure saphir lake and the Kong Lo cave through the magnificent karts limestone of Central Laos.

Thanks to you all, if I enjoyed Laos so much I owe it a lot to you and I hope our travel/life paths will cross again.

Laos: Motorbike chronicles

Laos is a full of stunning scenery and the best to enjoy them is by motorcycle. Although I was an absolute novice I had a fast learning curve because I rented a bike 3 days and rode 400 kms (much more than the 120 kms in my whole life before).

For me, the difficulties on the bike are many:
first the bike itself, when it is not Japanese, can be dodgy. It seems that each time I rent one, the quality is going down. The one before last had barely any brakes, the mirrors would swing inside as soon as I had speed and the "tenue de route" was more than questionable (maman, quand tu liras ca, ne t inquiete pas car j adapte ma conduite et je fais tres attention).

The roads: honestly they are on average good and definitively better than what is written in travel guides. But as soon as you leave the main roads the quality drops: so far I have ridden on good roads, average roads with small stones (graviers), dirt road, dirt road full of wholes and stony roads.
the driver is not experienced; and that shows when I took my first real curve the day I had decided to start a big loop of 350 kms by myself, I tried to gear down when I was already in the curve and the bike decided to lie. Nothing serious, a good warning and some scratches on both palms. I then changed my plans and stayed instead with Emma and Philip with who we rode the following two days.

The animals; well, I really wonder why they cannot do it in another way but many animals (dogs, chickens, cows, goats and even pigs) try to commit suicide by running at the last minute in front of my bike; actually one chicken even hit my bike and luckily I did not see it coming (otherwise I would probably have felt trying to avoid it) and just hit my bike instead of me over running it. Beginner's luck I guess. Anyway I elect the chicken the most stupid animals on earth, here they are even more ridiculous because they miss many feathers.
all unforeseen events like: riding by night when we came out too late of the 7kms long cave (which we went through on a boat, that was really cool and kind of mystic); the funny thing in here is that animals stay outside and sometimes they decide to sleep on the road and when it is combined with poor lights on the bikes (actually the one of the Swedish couple was not even working they used my lamp fiets to be seen) the 10 kms we had to do in the dark felt much more to us than 10 kms. another foreseen even is a flat tyre (still with the Swedish couple) so I rode the bike a couple of kms on a dirt rode with my back tyre flat


But overall I really love it, this is both thrilling and fun and the locals are really helpful when the bike breaks down (the flat tyre was a good example, we were surrounded by the local kids of the small village and workers on the way stopped to help us). If I go back to Laos (I want to but if I say it for each country I go to, I also have so many more to visit) I will go through it on a bike.

Anniversaire avant l heure

Today is labor day but traveling is not really about resting especially when we (Sergi y Rebeca that I travel with since a week) had decided to ride 180 kms with the motorbike so we were outside at 7 am.
The menu of the day was a waterfalls in the morning and then temples for the afternoon. I was not really so comfortable to ride so much since it is only the second time that I ride a motorbike. Even was super-ego agreed with me since I dreamt last night that I arrived at a scene of a car crash where 7 people died (don't ask me why my brain produced this I have no idea except that it meant be careful) last but luckily roads in Laos are "good" quality. What was not welcome were the showers that confirm that we have entered the rainy seasons. I got soaked a couple of time today and sometimes the rain felt like hail and slapped the face.
Despite this I had a fantastic day, I saw some stunning waterfalls, some wonderful views of the Mekong...

I really enjoyed riding and cherry on the cake I had a birthday cake from Sergi y Rebeca before they took off to Ventiane in the VIP night bus.

This day sums up pretty well what I live for almost two months now:
1) Do unusual things that I would probably not dare to try at home,
2) Visit some beautiful sites and soak beautiful sceneries,
3) Meet some great people from all over the world and knowing I will see them again.

This was my birthday one day in advance.

Tomorrow, I will be in a bus most of the day to go to Tha Khaek, where few travelers go but where a I expect to trek a couple of days and probably ride a motorbike again.