Kathmandu

In most airports I feel like a minor celebrity after clearing customs walking into a mass of taxi drivers staring, watching your every movement. In Kathmandu I felt like someone had tatooed dollar signs on my forehead, and given me a t-shirt saying PERSONAL SPACE IS FOR LOSERS. Sarah and I have never been to such an airport with quite such a bussle - although we have heard about Indian airports. Every man woman and child seemed to want a tip for anything from opening the taxi door, to getting in the way of you getting anywhere near the taxi door, to advising us that David Beckham will help England win the world cup.

Central Kathmandu is similar but has a lot more charm and masses of colour everywhere you look. The food is similar to Indian, but milder and less varied (or indeed nice, from what we've seen so far). We expect this won't improve as we spend the next 10 days trekking the Annapurna Santuary region of the Himalayas, staying in simple lodges. Annapurna I is around 8000m high and the 10th highest mountain in the world and we will spend around 6 hours a day trekking to its base camp around 4500m. Its not as high as Everest base camp, but there's more walking as you don't have to build in so many spare days for acclimatisation. Here goes!

Political disaster paves their way...

I am writing this from Bangkok airport where not a stones [grenades] throw away red-shirt/military violence is escalating, and as the foreign office upped its warning to avoid both Chang Rai and Chang Mai on Friday... Rich and i were crossing over the border from Laos and boarding a bus for a scenic tour through Rai and concluding in Mai. However our path of politcal strife does not end there. Sitting in a cafe in Vientiane a couple of weeks ago we read of the longest plan strike/protests by Nepalese Maoists in recent history, enough of a scare to begin bussing tourists out of Kathmandu and off the Sanctuary trail... we have been assured all is well now, but have been told we risk being stuck there if strikes are re-ignited after the constitutional reform deadline on 28th may.. something to look forward to!! The latest was the recent news of hightened tension between Argentina and the UK over the Fauklands.... only Kenya and Ecuador left, lets hope for their and our sakes nothing erupts..political or otherwise in the case of the latter! We now understand we should expect some strikes at the end of our Nepal trip (end of May) which may make headlines but we will be safely out of mobile reception and harm’s way around Himalaya’s Annapurna range and it will mean nothing more serious than travel delays...

Fishy Feet - 15th May

What would normally follow relaxed open air dinner in Chang Mai’s atmospheric night market? A cocktail (yep, a couple of those went down smoothly).... Perhaps a coffee and a stroll... or indeed 15 mins of submerging your feet into a tank of flesh-eating fish to nibble away at your corns?? Not the natural choice but under the influence of the aformentioned cocktails it seemed the sensible thing to do. After a bit of yelping and fits of tickle-induced giggles it was actually really lovely (although still some work to do). Not sure the person after me will get much of a service....after chewing on my knarly extremities those fish will probably not need to eat for a week!!!

Chang Mai - 14th & 15th May

A couple of productive days in Chang Mai allowed me to pick up a couple of outfits for my new job, and a brave soul at a local cookery school taught Rich and I how to prepare a few local dishes. We managed to produce some pretty tasty Panang Curry, Cocount Soup, Spring rolls and Thai Fish cakes. Brace yourself, we will distribute invites to sample these delights when we return... your only hope is that you are late on the list and we improve as we go along :-).

Up The Mekong - 12th & 13th May

The trip up the muddied Mekong was very relaxing. 8-10 hours each day reading trashy novels, listening to music, drinking cups of tea and taking in the scenery, including the frequent fishermen and women we passed on route. We did not manage to get a glimpse of the 3-4m catfish that are said to inhabit the waters, nor the soft shelled tortoise. We spent the night between the 2 voyages in a guest house in Pak Beng where their dog had just given birth to 4 very cute puppies... the landlady looked on confused as we all coo-ed and tickled the puppies as any self-respecting westerner would... it seems her confusion arose as we were showing a disproportionate amount of affection to nothing more than the contents of a future stir-fry (sad but true!).

The border crossing into Chiang Khong, Thailand was uneventful. We spent the night there enjoying our 1st real Thai curry and a few bottles of Singha Beer.

Laos sights

Its all about presentation in Laos food markets.

A monk at one of the 42 wats (temples) in Luang Prabang.

Laos cities (from Vientiane to Luang Prabang)

Hello, sorry we have been off the radar for a few days (how many exactly? I have no idea, what day is it ??). We are now in the UNESCO world heritage site, Luang Prabang in northern Laos, littered with Temples, this stunning (and decidedly French-colonial) city is stunning. Nestled between the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers there is an abundance of fresh fish on which we are feasting (fish on a stick and fish steamed in Banana leaves with mint and coriander were particular favourites). We have been setting the alarm for 5,30am to try and give alms (food, not weapons) to the multitude of monks (31 temples housing 100's of monks clad in bright orange robes), we made the 1st day, but sadly plans were halted by a huge storm, we slept through this morning but are confident of success tomorrow before we depart on a 2-day boat journey up the Mekong. Hopefully the monks don't go hungry in the meantime...

We spent yesterday lazing in cobalt blue waters under a waterfall deep in the jungle. It really was as blissful as it sounds, although if it makes you feel any better this was sandwiched between 1 hour tuk-tuk trips - mode of transport definitely not designed for the comfort of it's 7 passengers, especially if you are nearly double the height of the average local.

Other than that our time in Luang Prabang has been very relaxed, soaking in the atmosphere, chatting to our increasing circle of travel-buddies in the numerous cafes / bars around the 1.2km sq former capital city.

We came here from the decidely less-relaxed Vang Vieng, a mecca for 19 year-olds looking to pull and/or get wasted/high all day in bars or even tubing in the river (floating down on tractor inner tubes). Rich and I automaticaly assumed the roles of over-protective; can't-dance-at-weddings; can-i-tell you another bad-joke / reminices-about when-i-was-19 faux-parents, and hence found our own little niche amoungst the hedonism (Am i too old for this??). Luang Prabang is also an ideal spot if you had an overwhelming urge to watch EVERY episode of Friends ever produced on continuous loop in cafes. Is that really fun, even if you are stoned out of your mind? I am being overly critical, the place was gorgeous, and like most of Laos, punctuated by enourmous limestone, jungle-covered mountains with fantastic caves and sparkling lagoons (see photo) which we decided we would cycle to (an obvious choice at midday in the 43degree heat... English.... us??). Thankfully, given the steel frame and spare seat.... they had cut down the weight on the bike by rendering them devoid of gears, oil, and indeed air in the tyres had been kept to a minimum, but for the equivalent of 80p a day hire, you can't complain!

For variety from tomorrow we spend 2-days on a boat on the Mekong travelling towards the Thai border, assuming the Chinese decide to keep the water flowing out of their dams further up the Mekong. And then on to Chiang Mai (not spending any time in Bangkok).

Hanoi (Vietnam) to Vientiane (Laos) overland...

...over lots of land. Having spent the past 4 days nearly solidly travelling from London (flights to Hanoi then 19 hours of minibus) we are relaxing in what is officially the most laid back capital in the world, Vientiane the capital of Laos. The official inscription on the highest profile landmark in the city (a copy of the Arc de Triumphe) admits that "up close it looks like a concrete monster", and was made from concrete donated by the US to build a new airport. Perhaps they were trying to help rebuild after droping a bomb in Laos on average every 8 minutes for 9 years during the Vietnam war. Our brief stop in Hanoi (see photo) was long enough to appreciate the incredible skill and chaos of the mopeds interweaving at crossroads where the traffic lights really only serve as decoration. In contrast on Vientiane roads its all about going as slowly and quietly as you can, and even the smiley tuk-tuk drivers seem much happier when you turn down their reluctant offer to drive you somewhere.

Today we're taking in the sites and wats of Vientiane, building up to a meal of crickets (translated generously as deep fried underground singers) and frog kebabs tonight.... maybe. Although breakfast was less adventurous, gently easing ourselves into this backpacker lifestyle with croissants and lattes in a Scandinavian bakery!