Around the world in 80 Raves Chapter 12

Images in reverse order
1. School dinners, no complaints
2. The smallest first
3. Art project, the banner
4. Art project, the Lesotho picture
5. Dance performance
6. The movie makers
7. More dancers
8. Malealea herd boy band
9. Apartheid museum, the words of Steven Biko

7th January 2008 Cairns, Australia
Well it’s been a long long time since I wrote in this blog and there are 4 weeks and 3 countries of information to retrieve from my brain’s memory cells. Looking back I think the last that I wrote was about my initial impressions of South Africa and Lesotho and my first times in with the group of sewing ladies in Chonapasse. Mapotsoe village itself, at first so strange, so colourful, so different, in some ways so shockingly run down soon became normal life to me. At first to be the extremely rare white face on the street attracting so much attention from everyone was a little intimidating, albeit the attention was friendly smiles and “Demela Mae” (Hello missus). But soon people got to recognise me, word would have gone round as to what we were doing in town and a fair few even knew my name and so I got a “Demela Mae Mary”. Maputsoe lies just over the border from South Africa’s Ficksburg. The contrast in level of prosperity when you cross the bridge from one to the other is huge. Fairly smart shops and modern houses with gardens, and smart places to eat and made up roads in Ficksburg give way to a bustling street of street vendors, shanty like tin shack shops, some stalls made of holey plastic bags a bits of scrap, and once off the main road, rutted dirt track roads. Maputsoe has a fair few shops, supermarkets with basic foodstuffs and a couple of furniture/hardware shops and definitely not the designer label clothes shops along the main street, but all of these seemed to run by Asian or Chinese owners with Basotho (Lesotho people) workers. The housing behind this main street trading area was very basic, concrete block small (one or two roomed) rectangular buildings with tin roofs. No insulation, no chimneys and very little plumbing. Winter’s can be extremely cold in Lesotho and an uninsulated tin roof is not the best for comfort. The traditional rondavel style houses, circular stone structures with thatched roofs would be better insulation and loads more attractive were few and far between. Progress? When I asked a young man about the winter and keeping warm he told me that they would light a fire in the house and sit down because the smoke rises to the top. Many houses had small vegetable gardens with a fine variety of healthy looking veg growing; pumpkins, chard, cabbage and carrots would be common. Lesotho is certainly a place of contrasts, some aspects of life seem so hard and cruel, but so many of the people that I met seem wonderful vibrant generous spirited joyful characters.
Week two was the holiday play scheme week. Colleen, Fionna, Paddy and myself went in with some ideas of art and drama that we wanted to try out but really in the dark as to what to expect. Space and materials were pretty limited, and we’d no idea of numbers of kids that would turn up. Day 1 we went to Pheila u Pheilise (live and let live) community centre early to get ourselves organised to find around 100 kids waiting expectantly for us so we were straight in there with a bang. Some skipping games got going with a long length of rope from the back of the project pickup van, felt tip pens and coloured pencils were found in the cupboard and many of the kids did what they could in the way of artistic expression resting their papers on the bare earth or their knees. Name badges were created with the help of some of the older kids who knew the young ones' names. Other games were played. The “Man from Mars landing in Lesotho” drama/ film project idea that Paddy wanted to do was communicated to the kids and the older participants who were to be the main actors and film crew were chosen. It was all totally chaotic. Peanut butter sandwiches and bananas were issued. There were around 100 children fed and entertained and we all went home exhausted. Day 2 we were a little more prepared and would have the help of some of the centre’s volunteers to cook a lunch and feed the kids. I gathered some cardboard to make some kind of work surfaces for kids to work on and to maybe make masks with. But even more children attended; I think that day we fed 150 mouths, cleared up, washed up, swept up etc. I staggered home shattered with my back in bits and had to go straight to bed for a few hours to recover. I wanted to try doing a large group picture of the Lesotho landscape and then paste on the smaller kids pictures of Lesotho people, herd boys, animals, cows, horses and sheep, houses, peach trees etc. Large sheets of paper were not available but I found cheap rolls of paper type interfacing fabric used in dressmaking, and powder paints and brushes in a stationer’s shop in Ficksburg. We made it through the week. The drama got played out, traditional dances were danced, stories were told, songs were sung and the film got made. I can’t wait to see it. It was the hardest week’s work for me in a long time, rather a shock to the system but I survived, just. I wasn’t feeling the greatest anyway. I found the food after healthy S.E. Asia did not especially agree with me and the climate of either baking hot sun or torrential downpours with crashing thunderstorms extremely uncomfortable especially on days when there was no indoor space for the kids. Our fairly crowded small electric fenced living space with no privacy in which we were all imprisoned after dark on account of the violent crime dangers outside was not the ideal place to gather strength for the next day. I found it tough going.
The following weekend we were all invited to have supper (Christmas Dinner) at the Irish ambassador’s residence in Maseru on Saturday night with the Chinese ambassador for Lesotho and his wife. Now that’s another funny story. Dee Fey (Irish ambassador’s wife) was cooking herself and wanted so much to put on a fine traditional Irish spread for us all but….. unfortunately had gone out to another function that afternoon switching only the fan and not the oven on, so… everything ready but raw bacon. Well a scene from Fawlty Tower’s could be compared to that in the kitchen that night. Paddy the “I can’t cook” chef saved the day by cutting up the joint and boiling it in bits, but still it was 10.30pm before we ate and by then we were all rather past it. Paddy, Fionna and I went back to the austere Anglican Mission hostel, our budget accommodation for a rather “overfull stomach” restless night. Next day we organised a driver to take us up to a place called Malealea lodge, high in the mountains and one of Lesotho’s few together tourist destinations for a well earned rest and relax and time to take in some of this dramatically beautiful country. For me it was such a relief to have my own room again, and a bit of privacy. I’m so spoilt and soft! We could go out on treks, horse rides, just sit around and read. I was delighted to be able to hear the Malealea herd boy band with their incredible homemade instruments. Guitars and violins made from old oil cans and bits of wood, and drums from old junk were played with such skill and rhythm. This band were spotted and taken to the WOMAD festival a few years ago but though it must have been an amazing experience for the lads in the band it has not made a big impact on their lives. They obviously still lived a very simple life, earning a few pennies from their open-air evening performances for the lodge tourists. Also performing was the local choir with their awesome rhythmic harmony singing. Out on my guided trek I was wondering why I was struggling along so puffing and panting, but later I realised that I was probably being affected by the altitude being more than 1800m above sea level. Maybe that would have been a problem all along and the cause of my lack of energy even back in Maputsoe. After 3 days at the lodge I found myself a lift back to Joburg with a young couple. A Joburg visitor to the lodge recommended a more pleasant area of Joburg to stay and I found myself a rather nice guesthouse to stay in. There was still wall-to-wall security but the environment was a lot better and the landlady was a pleasant woman. But to keep reality in mind, one of my fellow guests, a young German voluntary worker had had her bank account emptied by an ATM card scam. Watch your back at all times! I visited the Apartheid museum, which was so interesting and well presented. It was a crash course in the complicated history of South Africa. But soon enough it was time to leave, back to laid-back Thailand where I had decided to spend yet another week over Christmas rather than fly straight on to Australia. I headed straight back to my lovely Bai Lan huts in the sun on the island of Ko Chang and felt like I was arriving home. Some of the people there when I left were still around including my young friend Tristran with his guitar. My second day there I bumped into Silke from Germany who I had met previously on a bus in Southern China. Yet another small world phenomenon. So we met up and hung out together a bit. The family at the Bai Lan huts called Tik (mum), Lat (dad), teenager Dam and 3 small kids, Plai, Pet and Pat gave me a warm welcome back. We had a delicious Thai style dinner on the eve of the 24th.Dec prepared by Tik. I chilled out, went swimming and kayaking lots, and revived. Another 8 days passed in a flash and yet again it was time to go, back to Bangkok on New Year’s eve and then to Australia. My Thai cycling friends from the Vietnam to Laos bus trip had been in touch with me by email. Nue and Rat came out to the airport on New Year’s day to have a coffee with me and to say goodbye. So nice. We’ll meet again I hope maybe next year for a cycle trip around Laos. I fancy that. I will get myself a really good bike when I get back and start training. Bikes are the way to go.
So I'm here in Oz now with my mate Sarah and it's mega hot and humid. There’s amazing landscape, trees, plants and birdies. But on the down side there’s loads of hazards like killer jellyfish and crocodiles in the sea making sea off limits. We went for a day trek in an incredible rainforest inland from Cairns where I experienced my first encounter with leeches. They are so disgusting and so fast and as quick as you pull them off they go flip flop and latch back on. They suck blood and at the same time inject some anti-coagulant so that when you pull them off you bleed profusely. It's lovely to see Sarah but this would not be my spot on the planet, I think it's much more user friendly further south where I will go in 10 days or so. Meanwhile I'm getting lots of exercise, cycling, walking, swimming in fresh water pools up the creek and meeting some lovely folk. Now the rainy season has come with a vengeance and last night there was a mighty thunderstorm but at least it’s cooled down a bit and is much more comfortable. Today I was out cycling in it and it felt wonderful to be soaked by this lovely warm water. We are planning a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel while I am here; it has to be done! So that’s it up to date again….to be continued

Around the world in 80 Raves Chapter 11

Images in reverse order
1. The Singer Ladies see themselves on film with Paddy
2. Singer sewers sing
3. More singer sewers
4. Me giving a sewing lesson
5. Fruit and veg shop,
6. Chemist shop! Wierd roots and dead rats.
7. Lesotho lady seed seller
8. Farewell Ko Chang. Sheila Malone and Fiona
9. Ko Chang. Home sweet home
10. Ko Chang. Bliss
11. Ko Chang. My favorite beach

Saturday 8th December 2007 Maputsoe Lesotho.

Time to catch up on the blog, after about a 2 week interval and many eventful happenings. Here I am in Lesotho and it's a million worlds away from S.E. Asia. The people are a different colour and shape, hair so curly instead of so straight, women so big and buzom instead of so tiny and slim; the food, culture,customs and music all completely new and contrasting. But there is also the common thread of humanity that makes us all so similar too, that recognition of each other, the smile that connects us when we make eye contact. We are all people,creatures with the possiblity of being shining extraordinary creative stars or absolute monsters. Here life is hard in different ways and enduring poverty is made even harder by the Aids epidemic which is killing so many here. It's a vicious circle, the disease increasing the poverty and suffering which in turn adds to the level of ignorance and fear and allows it to spread so wildly. In S. E. Asia I was disturbed by sex tourism and prostitution; exploitation of women, young girls and young men and boys; poor, vunerable, disempowered people who sell themselves for sex in a vain attempt to improve their lives. Many of the young women truely believe that to find a Western man will solve all their problems, some just try to earn money to support families. Aids is certainly becoming a huge problem especially in Thailand where prostitution is so established as an accepted part of life. But even more disturbing here in Africa is the fact that the number of rapes and assaults of women and girls are enormous and this is a significant factor spreading Aids. Some believe a story started by traditional (witch) doctors that having sex with a virgin will cure the disease and so rapes of very young girls, even babies have increased. Ignorance of how the Aids is spread and the social stigma attached a disease which is passed on by sex so that people will not even talk about it and try to pretend that other things have killed their loved ones. Many Lesotho men work away in the mines of S. Africa and bring Aids back from prostitutes there and so pass it on to their wives and communities. It's a sorry story in a country that already has so many problems to overcome. On the other side of all this are so many absolutely lovely people with such potential.Back to Ko Chang in Thailand now. It was quite a paradise and I felt very relaxed and at peace with myself there. The days passed so quickly and I wanted to stay longer but before I knew it the time had come to leave. Swimming, kayaking, walking, pottering about the place exploring on a moped, eating yummy food in the little restaurant at the place I was staying overlooking the sea, spectacular sunsets, chatting to people who passed in and out of the place, playing the odd bit of music with Franz, my German flute playing neighbour and young Tristan from England with his backpackers guitar. Good memories now. But time to leave for this venture to Africa finally came and so I had to pack my bag and head away again.Early morning on the 30th November I took the communal taxi from Bai Lan to the port and so to the mainland for the bus back to Bangkok. In the taxi that morning were 2 young women from Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare and so we started to chat about Willy Clancy week, the trad. music festival that happens in that small town every summer. One of the women says "I think I know you, did you do face painting and sell donuts there years ago?" I told yes and so it unfolded that she as a young 6yr old had brought her younger brother Joseph to me each day of the festival to have his face painted. I remembered them well, the little fella being so cute and even still had their names. "You're Sheila Malone, I have a photo of Joseph at home somewhere." How's that for a mad small world happening. So Sheila and her friend Fiona and myself travelled together to Bangkok and spent a very enjoyable evening there before going off our seperate ways next day.My way was a long long uncomfortable flight to Johannesburg via Kuala Lumpar, arriving at 5am in the morning. Joburg was somewhat of a shock even though I had read about how awful it was. Suddenly to be in such a heavy atmosphere after friendly easy going Thailand took some adjusting to. I had booked a place in a guesthouse and arranged to be picked up at the airport because I had heard that it was just not safe at all to walk about the place. But I had no idea how much. The guesthouse sounded wonderful from the Lonely Planet Guide and also Hostel Bookers website but it turned out to be a bit of a pit, but ok as a place to sleep for one night and recover from the flight. The area of Joburg was one of the heavily guarded white suburbs where all the houses are fenced in by razor wire and electric fences with signs threatening armed response to intruders. White people just don't go about downtown which is a complete no go area, word has it if you do you will almost certainly be attacted and robbed. All shopping is done in guarded suburban shopping malls. Most of the white people I saw were not at all appealing specimens, overweight, unintelligent looking piggy eyed beings with years of attitude towards black people behind them. Next day I was to take the bus up to Lesotho and arranged to be dropped off at the bus station by my hosts. They told me the bus would be fine as the bus stations had lots of security and guards keeping an eye on things, and also that I had no need to book a seat and would be fine to buy a ticket when I got there. But they were wrong, the bus was full. So I phoned Colleen who is coordinating volunteer of this "Twinning of Co. Kerry and Lesotho" project in Maputsoe who told me of a minibus taxi station where I'd find a minibus taxi to bring me up here. I found the place on the Lonely Planet map and then went to one of the security guys to see how I should get there. He said "It's 5 mins walk, but you cann't walk there because it's too dangerous.You have to take a porter with you" What to do? I wandered about the bus station looking for one of these porters, then asked a couple of ok looking white fellas on a bookstall. One of them who turned out to be a really interesting chap who lived in that no-go area said "Right you cann't walk there alone, you will be robbed immediately, you will be fine with me because I live here and I'm known and I speak zulu." I'll walk you there. And so I was delivered safely to the minibus, squeezed aboard, the only lekhooa (whitey) to be seen amongst large bottomed Lesotho ladies, old men, kids, luggage and all and off we set to Ficksburg just over the border from Maputsoe. A very fine friendly lady sat next to me took me under her wing, shared her homemade cakes with me, chatted away about Lesotho and life and read with interest what the Lonely Planet had to say about her country. When we arrived she shepherded me out from the crowded bus park up to the road where she said I would be safe. I saw her a couple of days later in Maputsoe and she greeted me like an old friend, Marietta is her name. I'm here with Colleen and a young guy called Brian who is voluteering with the project as a builder. They have both been here for several months and have done an impressive amount in that time. Brian has built an extension on to a small community centre, has got the walls up on a house belonging to a local family which burnt down and now has moved on to be putting a small extension, wheelchair ramp and paved path on the house of a handicapped fella who has been house bound for years on account of not being able to get in and out with the chair. It will transform his life. Colleen oversees all the projects that have been set up here. There are 2 other volunteers here just for a short term like myself, Paddy and Fiona from Waterville in Kerry, who have raised money in their community to build a vocational classroom to be used for things like woodwork training at a Secondary school here.We stay in a comfy little house in a secure compound with big electric gates, electric fencing and nobody goes out wandering after dark because again it's not safe. I find that very unpleasant. But the town in daytime is friendly and quite vibrant. There's lots of street vendors selling all manner of wierd and wonderful stuff, traditional African cures in the form of strange bits of root and dead rats and things, decorated sticks for herding animals, charcoal cooked maize, traditional Lesotho sun hats and produce. All the shops seem to be run by Asian shopkeepers, either Indian or Chinese looking in origin. They all look quite wealthy. The workers are the local Basotho people most of whom do not look at all well heeled. There's lots of very obvious poverty, people dressed in rags and living in appauling shanty housing.This week I've been having a great time teaching sewing to a women's sewing group. They have been given a couple of sewing machines by this project but so far have had little training in how to use them. They are a group of about 10 women between the ages of 37 and 75. They meet in the house of one of the women and she has a fairly good level of English, so we can communicate. They are trying to make school uniforms for some of the orphan children that this project supports. I've been showing them how to use all the controls on the electric machine like the zig-zagger and how to do button holes and things like making a paper pattern and put a trouser zip in.They are so keen to learn and it's been a delightful experience for me to work with them. What a bunch of amazing characters they are! They burst into song while they work, wonderful harmony acapello singing and their faces come alive as they sing and dance. Paddy has a good quality camcorder with him, and yesterday came up to video them singing and sewing. The Sosetho sewing singer sisters..... maybe we can send a copy to Singer sewing machines and get some more machines and equipment donated...they are surely a deserving group of women. Next week we will be busy running a summer camp for some of the orphaned kids. That's it for this chapter folks. A long one! Photos to be added later, no time just now.

Around the world in 80 raves Chapter 10

Images in reverse order

1. My Ko Chang home

2. Paradise beach

3. Jungle

4. The nearest port/village Bang Bao

5. Bang Bao Beach

6. Bai Lan Bay

7. Mary with the lucky white elephants Bangkok

8. Blurry Bangkok biking experience

24th November 2007, Full moon festival, Bai Lan Bay, Ko Chang, Thailand.

So here I am having a real proper holiday for a bit. I arrived in Bangkok from Chang Mai after a night on the train and my first reaction was, "yuk! a big busy city, get out quick". But then just as I was about to check out a bus ticket to a beachy island at the train tourist service place, my phone rang and it was Charoon one of my new found Thai friends as of the Vietnam to Laos bus journey. So he invited me to spend a night at his house in the suburbs of Bangkok with himself and the wife and to have dinner out with the other 2 cyclists, Rat and Nue. So I couldn't turn down an invite like that so I said "yes please". Half an hour later I was collected from the station, ferried back to the house and then immediately set out again, this time on a fancy mountain bikes to see the sights of Bangkok. Not an experience I would be in a hurry to repeat but certainly one to remember. We were approx 25km out of town and the traffic was pretty mad, and the fumes unpleasant. But I just pedalled like mad, following my host in a blur, (that's why the photo is blurry). Once we got to the city centre things improved but it was still pretty hairy zooming from lane to lane in the traffic. Still it was a great way to get a quick understanding of the city layout, and to cram in a few sights. After all that I had had enough of cycling and Charoon called his son to come and pick us up in a van thank god. That night we were out for a great traditional Thai dinner, delicious fishes, rice, vegies and other yummy unidentified objects.

Next morning I was up bright and early, still keen to get out of the city. I caught a taxi to the centre and by 9am was on a bus bound for this island which I had picked pretty randomly on account of the fact that it was not too far from Bangkok and sounded like it might be quite nice from the guide book. And it certainly is very nice. I have a great little bamboo bungalow with ensuite loo and shower, overlooking the sea in the quietest bay on the island. A little sandy, almost deserted beach is 2 mins walk away. My hosts are a delightful Thai family with 3 small sweetie pie children. They run a restaurant, seating on platforms over the sea, food gorgeous and very cheap, (example, stir fried scallops, veg and rice costs 2 euro). My room costs around a fiver a night. It would be tempting to stay for ever. They have kayaks to borrow and I've bought a snorkle and mask. So I had a shot at that today. The sea is crystal clear. There's a place 5 mins away offering a herbal sauna followed by a Thai massage for about a tenner so I might treat myself to one of those tonight. Tomorrow I'm going jungle trekking. So I've been here 5 days and it seems like 5 mins and in only 6 days time I have to return to Bangkok to fly to Africa which will certainly not be idyllic. So I will stay here until then and enjoy it.

Around the world in 80 raves Chapter 9

Images in reverse order

1. Laos view from the bus on the road to Luang Prabang

2. Art school in Luang Prabang

3. Temple art, history in mosaic pictures

4. Making crispbread

5. Weary trekkers

6. Thai toy boys dot com

7. Bamboo rafting

8. Trekkers go home

9. At the waterfall
10. Trekkers

11. waterfall swimming, hi everyone

12. Chris and me in the Rare Earth shop

Chang Mai, Thailand, 12th November 2007

Time is flying, I only have about 2.5 weeks left here in S. E. Asia and it just isn't enough to visit all the places I'd like to see. I will certainly come back again. But that is the future, back to the past again.

I eventually managed to leave Vang Vieng and get on a bus to Luang Prabang, the former capital of Laos, and a small ancient place on the Mekong river, from which I was to catch the slow boat into Thailand. But.... all did not go strictly according to plan.

The road from V V to L P wound up, up, up into the mountains, the views got better and better and better. We stopped for a break at a small village around lunchtime and I tucked into a bread roll. A moment later a large chunk of filling fell from my tooth and with the next bite the rest of the tooth snapped at gum level. No pain as the nerve had been removed long ago, but even so treatment was required. Arriving at L P, I emailed Chris Kausman, my old friend, ex-partner from long ago, Dan's dad, and long term resident of Chang Mai, to make me a dentist appointment. Then I booked myself on a flight from L P to C M for the next day. I was sorry to be missing the boat trip but was very fortunate that such a thing should happen so near a place with a good dentistry reputation, infact many come here on dental treatment holidays and according to Chris even dentists come here to get their teeth done. So I was straightaway the next day to the Dental Hospital, delighted to hear that it was possible to crown the tooth, and am now fitted with a temporary crown awaiting the real thing next Friday. And all for less than 200 euro. Thanks again Angels. Chang Mai is an OK place to be for a few days, I've found a good place to stay with a fantastic swimming pool which I'm making good use of every day. And tomorrow I'm off on a 3 day trek out into the wilds, walking in the jungle, staying in a tribal village, swimming under a waterfall, riding elephants and rafting... sounds like a bit of fun.

Chris Kausman has a very attractive and interesting shop in the night bazaar here called Rare Earth. He deals in antique and old tribal textiles, clothing, silver jewelery and other arts and crafts. It's all very beautiful stuff, awe inspiring in its craft(wo)manship and for collectors of antiquities it's very collectable. I guess it's important that these things are preserved as these crafts along with the lifestyle that they represent are fast changing in our modern world. Some of the work is still produced in the hill tribe villages, but generally the quality and work is not so good or detailed as in years gone by. Some designs are copied for mass production for sale to tourists and of course these sell for a fraction of the price of the geniune items. Generally the young village people now have access to education, and then with exposure to modern communication systems want a "modern" life, many working in cities or in the tourist industry and returning to villages only for highdays and holidays. Most of them do not want to spend hours and hours laboriously making these intricate beautiful things and choose another path and other diversions. Sad it seems that these tribal people are selling off their heritage probably to buy things like motor bikes and other desirables but that seems to be the way it is going in every area. It's much the same reason that all the small little businesses in the villages of Ireland are closing down as we all drive to Lidl andf Tescos and Woodies DIY and Pennys for our shopping and the young people do not want to take on work with no money in it. Wild animals and sensitive plant species, ecosystems, along with minority cultures and languages are all disappearing at speed despite the conservation efforts of concerned academics. Soon these cultures will only exist as show pieces for tourists like rare animals in a zoo, rare plants in botanical gardens. What strange times we live in........a roller coaster to destruction? But as Chris rightly says, we from the developed world have so much, millions of people are still in line for even a light bulb. Who are we to make judgement? I could go on and on but I won't....enough is enough.

16th November 2007

Back from my 3 day trek and feeling very fit and relaxed. What a wonderful time it was. We set off with our guide who called himself Tarzan, 9 kms the first day into the jungle, stopping at waterful number 1 for lunch along the way. It was a tough enough climb up into the mountains to arrive at a Karen hill tribe village where we were to sleep the night in a hut. All along the way there were fascinating examples of jungle nature, anthills like modern architectural structures, wierd and wonderful plants, fruits and flowers. When we stopped Tarzan cooked us a delicous supper of rice and Thai curry and mixed vegetables which certainly hit the spot, and we then sat around a bonfire singing campfire songs and drinking beer and some hot Hungarian liquor courtesy of our 2 Hungarian trekkers, Tom and Magi. Then a sound sleep on the hard floor, well needed rest to prepare for the next day. Day 2 was a much easier walk, through more jungle, another fine lunch at the small farm with a chilled out tribal family and then downhill to arrive at a powerful waterfall for swimming, power shower, more food, drink, song, tunes on my whistle and sleep this time in a cute bamboo room. I slept like a log again and awoke refreshed and ready for more adventures. Day 3 was a shortish walk, to a river, white water bamboo rafting for an hour or so and then elephant riding. The elephant riding people certainly have it sussed on how to earn money from bananas. They sell you bunches of bananas which the elephants have been trained to demand by raising their trunks over their heads. If you don't keep feeding them they just refuse to move. There were raised platforms at intervals along the route which the banana sales lady rushed between on her moped and there was no choice but to keep buying more bananas to fuel the elephant. But it was all fun, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and wanted to go again. But the dentist calls and I must return to have my crown fitted this afternoon. Meanwhile another filling has fallen out of another tooth which is rather convenient really since I'll be at the dentist anyway. If tooth trouble is to happen this is the place.

I was having an interesting chat with Tarzan our trusty guide; a truely nice young man from one of the Karen hill tribe villages, with intelligence and good sense of humour. I asked him what Thai young men felt about all the seedy old white men that you see around the place with beautiful young Thai girlfriends. He said that the Thai men don't like it but just accept it and understand that the girls just want the money. The Thai culture is very unaggressive and accepting at least on the surface. Chris assures me there's more if you scratch that surface and I guess they wouldn't be human if there wasn't. You hardly ever hear a raised voice, everyone seems very calm and laid back and even the dogs are placid and don't bark. Tarzan and came I up with a scheme which certainly tickled him. In the name of equal opportunities and balance between the sexes in the world we decided we should start a business called Thai toy boys dot com. I said I could find plenty of beautiful older women and he said some of his friends would be more than happy to offer their services. After this, from time to time while walking along he would break out into a great chuckle and mumble to himself "Thai toy boys dot com. Ha ha ha" So is there any interest out there girls? Nothing is too expensive here, and the lad's a great cook too.

Around the world in 80 raves Chapter 8

Images in reverse order

1. Me again Hello everybody

2. Local transport

3. Organic farm walk

4. Lao temple

5. On the bus

6. East meets west

4th October 2007 Vang Vieng Laos
Well it's been a while and a lot has happened since the last chapter. I took the bus as planned to Vientiane, arrived late at night and woke up next morning to rain. The rain seems to be following me for some reason. Vientiane, the capital city of Laos was a very quiet and easy place but still a city, and it was raining, so what to do. I had breakfast in a riverside cafe and decided not to hang around so I quickly packed the bag and took a tuk tuk to the bus station and got on the local bus heading north to this place called Vang Vieng which I knew nothing about. Another fun and interesting trip on the local bus full of Lao people and boxes and bags of supplies with the coolest looking driver wearing Ray Bans. We wound up and up into the forested hills through brilliant villages and spectacular scenery. Then eventually we arrived at Vang Vieng. Tuk tuk to town again to find a place to stay. What a strange place this is. Some years ago some bright spark had the bright idea of driving people about 10km upstream on the river Nam Song and letting them float back down to town; it's called tubing. Well it's now become one of the number one "Must Dos" on the gap year backpacker trail and the market has responded accordingly. There's now more than 10 tour outfits offering tubing, kayaking, caving and trekking and loads of guesthouses, restaurants, internet cafes, bike rentals and "all the support that the backpacker needs" suppliers have sprung up. Everyone wants a bit of the action. It's a meeting of the corrupted and the innocent. There's young smiley Buddhist monks wandering about amongst bed bars where you can lounge about on cushions and watch movies or Friends all day while drinking and eating; and other restaurants where you can order a spliff or a happy pizza or a cup of mushroom tea even though those things are highly illegal and subject to big fines. But it's more than pleasant here despite all that and I've now been here for 5 days and feel mighty relaxed for it. I had to do the tubing experience having heard it was great fun and so signed myself up on day 2, finding myself with a gang of 20 something year olds. But what a great day it was, I so enjoyed myself. Half the lads on the trip were from Ireland, and it has to be said that as a nation the Irish are just the best fun. They were of course going for it with the booze but they were straight in there with the wisecracks and jokes and slagging and song. I was the granny of the group and felt I was viewed with a little trepidation at first but that didn't last. I just loved the trip, mostly floating lazily downstream, but every now and then hitting a bit of rapid exitement. Then after an hour and a half or so we stopped at the first of the riverside bars, plus 3 really high ariel swings for jumping into the river. All the youngies were going for it and I climbed up to get a look at the drop on the lowest one and bottled out. Fear got the better of me and I chickened out even though I did jump off one of those yokes years ago. A very concerned looking young Lao guy came up to me and said I shouldn't do it, I was as old as his mother and his mother wouldn't jump. Anyway I was kind of pissed off with myself for being a wimp and knew I'd regret it if I didn't have a go, so....... we floated down to the next bar where there was a last chance even higher swing and one of the fellas said he'd talk me through it so up I climbed again. Meanwhile the Irish lads had gathered everyone together on the riverside and they all started chanting and by then there was just no choice so I JUMPED AHHHHHH, and it was just great. I really enjoyed flying. According to our guide I've got the prize for the oldest woman to jump but that's probably not true.
There's been lots of other experiences here, today I rented a mountain bike and went out into the countryside to see a cave and do some swimming at a place called the blue lagoon. It's stunning landscape here, a wide fertile river valley full of rice and bananas surrounded by these craggy forested limestone peaks. There's a very low population in Laos, only 6.5 million people. There's hardly any traffic and that makes it very pleasant. Life here seems to be easy and simple and the people don't seem at all stressed.
Yesterday I met this guy called Andrew from Trinidad who is an English teacher at a local school. His card lists his fields of expertise as English Teaching, Storytelling and Folklore. Tomorrow I get to visit his school as guest Falang (that's what the locals call us whiteys) so the kids can chat to me. Next to the school is an organic farm which I also get to visit, organic mulberry for silk production is the main line but they grow other stuff too and also have a restaurant. So that's it for tonight...to be continued

Around the world in 80 raves Chapter 7

List of images in reverse order.

1. Mai at Cafe 43 Hoi An, 2.Choose you Lingham, My Son, 3.Thank you America My Son, 4.The beach Hoi An, 5.My new Thai friends Dong Hoi, 6.Laos border crossing, 7.The next bus to Savannakhet, Taxi! 8.View from bus window, 9.Garden shrine

Savananakhet Laos 29th October 2007

I was sorry to leave dear Hoi An, it was really starting to feel like home there and my last two days were especially fun. I discovered a beautiful beach at a small fishing village whilst I was out and about cycling around on a wild stormy day. There were guys far out to sea, fishing from these tiny round corracle type boats, battling with the waves with such skill. As they started to make their way ashore the villagers gathered on the beach. As they got nearer even greater skill was required to negotiate the breaking waves, incredible, they watched and waited and then at the right moment surfed the waves. But at the last moment one of them came a cropper and over went the boat. But all was not lost as the fish were secure in a basket and the boatman held fast to the rope which joined to the boat and the fish basket. Everyone went to the rescue and soon the catch was being distributed to all... That night back in town it was the full moon festival. No bikes or cars were allowed near the river and there were lanterns everywhere and people floated candles in paper lanterns on the river. So beautiful to see. Next day, my last in the town I went on a trip to a holy place called My Son, site of 70 ancient Cham temples of which only 20 remain after the bombings inflicted on the area by the Yanks in the Vietnam war. The temples are Hindu, dedicated to Shiva and Rama with a lot of tantric lingams and yonis sculpture scattered about the place. In one temple they had some US shells displayed alongside the sacred carvings which I overheard one of the guides describing as American Lingams. Such a crime to bomb such places, some of the temples were just heaps of rubble. Later that day I plucked up the courage to rent a motorbike and took myself up the coast road to take a look at the famous China beach and then a place called Marble Mountain which is literally what it is. All around its base are marble carvers, sculpting amazing artifacts, but now they use marble imported from China as they realised that there would be no more Marble Mountain if they continued to hack away at it. On the mountain are numerous temples and shrines inside caves and pagodas of both the Buddist and Hindu ilk. I climbed right to the top, met a couple of young Swedish girls being escorted by 2 Vietnamese lads who were really sweet and friendly, but I realised it was getting dark very fast and didn't want to drive back in the dark, so I rushed away only to run out of petrol half way back to town...oooh errr. Slight panic, but then my new friends came along the road stopped, went off to get me petrol (in a plastic bag!) and then escorted me back in convoy. My trusty angels strike again. Then my last day, I awoke to bright sunshine, gorgeous day, oh so sad to leave but the bus was not till afternoon so I cycled to the beach again and at least got a swim and a little sunbathe in before departure. And then a last lunch at my home away from home, the Cafe 43, run by a beautiful family and selling the most delicious and cheap food in town and right next door to my swish hotel. I've become almost one of the family so there were sad farewells to be said before I departed.

The next leg of the journey, a 6hr bus ride back north to a town called Dong Ho followed by a sleep over till 5 the next morning at a simple guesthouse followed by a 3hr minibus ride to the Laos border, and then another couple of hours on a local Laos bus to this town. Total price including the sleepover around 15 euro. At the night stop I was told that 3 other people were coming and that I would have to share a room with one of them. They turned out to be 3 Thai cyclists returning from a bike tour of Vietnam, residents of Bangkok and again, thank you angels, great people, great company. A woman called Nue, her partner Rat and their friend Charoon who runs a coffee shop and travel club in Bangkok city. I now have an invitation to look them up in Bangkok when I get there, lucky me. So we spent the night and following day together on our low in luxury but high in interest value journey. The bikes were packed in the back of the minibus and then to our surprise so were mountains of packages of produce and a big gang of women heading to sell their wares at market. And then packed in like sardines off we set only to stop numerous times along the way to squeeze in yet more and yet more people. We sped inland, into tropical mountain landscape, white water river rushing alongside, past simple wooden/bamboo palm thatched dwellings on stilts, swerving to avoid the occasional goat, water buffalo, cow, dog, child on oversized bike, rat, overturned lorryload of bananas and much more all making their way on this road. And so we arrived at last at the Laos border where we all got off and walked (or rode) through the checkpoint for visa checks etc. Then a ride on a motorbike for 3km to the bus station. Its amazing how crossing a line marked on a map changes everything, new language, new food, completetly different lifestyle. My Thai friends could communicate as Lao and Thai languages are very similar. The Lao people are famous for their laid back attitude to life, they like to take things easy and slowly. Nobody here tries to sell you anything, whereas in Vietnam everyone is selling eagerly and try very hard not to take no for an answer. Savannakhet is a bit run down but it's an attractive French colonial style town with wide tree lined boulavards, ornate Buddist temples and a fine well preserved Catholic church, and everyone has these neat little shrines in their gardens. It's spacious and airy, situated alongside the Mekong river, and you can clearly see Thailand on the other side. There's little traffic and it's very bike friendly so again I've hired a bike and cruised about a bit to get to know the lie of the land. I was going to head on north today but my day progressed well and I decided to stay another night. I took lunch in a vegetarian restaurant where I met a young woman called Bai who runs the nextdoor traditional Lao massage therapy shop. She told me that she was a great Enya fan and had all her albums. We chatted about music for a bit and I let her hear some of the stuff I had recorded on my mp3 yoke and she loved Kate Rusby, and Kathryn Tickell and Lunasa and a few other things, so we went into a computer place and got them copied onto CD for her. Then I decided to go for the traditional Lao massage which was a bit like Shiatsu and excellent (cost about 2.50 euro for 1 hr) and then I cycled around some more and ate a delicious dinner in a floating restaurant on the Mekong river as the sun set. And now I will leave in the morning for Vientiane which is the capital city of Laos, a 9hr bus ride away.