Month: October 2016

Ko Kham – two

An hour after we arrived, some of the family that owned the island arrived.

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They bought along their own cooking team

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Wakeup view in my slightly deteriorated bungalow

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Breakfast was a chicken and rice porridge with pepper on it, it was great.

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Giza kept away from eating people’s footwear

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Fresh from the tree

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The Chao Leh seemed to like the shelter that Ko Kham offered.

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Ko Kham, from towards Ko Phayam at low tide

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Some fine Thai dining.

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Below the island, looking back after we walked off at low tide.

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Was a great weekend and authentic people generously hosting us. Thanks.

Ko Phayam – more

 

Here some more Ko Phayam.

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Boat trip out to Ko Phayam in a speedboat, flat smooth ride.

Then moved into Sabai Sabai for a couple of nights. Bungalow below.

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A Chao  Leh  (sea gypsy) boat.

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Looked around Ko Phayam, lounged and read, then went to the neighboring Ko Kham, will write a bit about that and upload pix later. Have just hot back to civilization wifi and all that.

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A late plane out of Luang  Prabang, delays at immigration,  the Kings funeral on. We only just made it from the airport to the bus depot with maybe 2 minutes to spare.

Then driven through the night trying to sleep, good recliner and all that , but still. At 00:30 we stopped at the roadside somewhere for a refreshment break, and there I feel I have eaten the riskiest food so far! But so far so good.

Got into Runong at about 6am, tuktuk to the bank and the pier then speedboat out to the island.

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Staying in a bungalow by the beach, my bungalow is in the pic below,  it has a green towel hanging over the decks rail.

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Along the road.

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Going g to be pretty relaxing here I think.

Riders in the dawn

Sitting down with my latte this morning and these motorbikes turned up.

Now back in the day, a long time ago I did have an XR250, as did Martin I think,  so you know ….

Anyway it turns out this is a guy who got his science degree and decided the better option was running trail rides around the world,  So he and his companions on this occasion were checking the logistics of a future ride they will be offering.

Day 1 involved trees across the trail, getting dark, headlight failing on 1 bike, radiator blowing on 1, 13 hours out on the saddle that day.

In ways I am envious. They are riding these bikes further north then picking up others in Vietnam Nam,  customs …, you can check them out at www.rideexpeditions.com

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More Luang Prabang

We went for a drive, I wanted to go and see where Kevin, my brother had helped build a lodge in a Hmong village, communication difficulties got us to another Hmong village, and to a waterfall. So nice enough an outing still, guess I will not see the fruits of his labours though.

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Walking through the Hmong village, they have not very much at all and lots of crafts to sell to try to earn something.

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Next stop the bear rescue place.

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Then the Kuang Si waterfall and a swim.

Looking around the place below some more street shots.

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Some traditional medicine

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And some more temples

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Luang Prabang

The slow boat gets in at about 5 pm, and they drop you off by the post office where they are setting up the night market.

That runs until about 2100 or 2200.

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All sorts of clothes and handcrafted things there. And fruit smoothies, mango and passion fruit,  yum!

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Was up early the first day to see the monks collecting food, there were plenty of them.

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Then went up the hill, was trying to check out the sunrise, but it wasn’t until 10 or so until the sun got through the mists and cloud.

Luang Prabang has great french colonial architecture in lots of places

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And my guesthouse

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It is a great place and run by very nice people. 100,000 kip a night. Which is about NZD  $17.50.

With air conditioning …

Huay Xai and some boating

Got to Laos, got my visa, they paid 1/4 of what we paid for the bus trip from Chiang Mai to get into town,  but I guess that is how tourism works.

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This from the rooftop bar of the guesthouse.

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Looking the other way to Thailand.

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Main Street Huay Xai

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The boat the ticket and fellow travellers.

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The bridge from Thailand to Laos, we only went under 2 bridges in the 2 days travel.

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I am now in Luang Prabang waiting for Martin.

Had a good wander around and checked out the monks parade at 5:30 this morning, then went up the hill to the Stupa to see the sunrise.

Saw all sorts of mist but the sun didn’t make an appearance for a while.

Will try to catch up a bit more later.