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.

Around the world in 80 raves Chapters 1, 2 and 3

25th September 2007

Hello lovely friends,
Just sending you all a first installment of the big trip. Flew out of London on the 18th September on a flight to Moscow feeling slightly nervous but very excited. It was strange waiting to get on the plane surrounded by severe looking Russians as if I was about to enter an old spy movie. Arriving in Moscow was pretty much the same; on the whole Russian people don't smile much and the place is all rather stark and crumbling and run down looking. There's lots of cracked and broken concrete, ugly buildings, functional no frills vehicles, rusty metal etc.etc.However with the help of a friendly woman on the train from the airport I found a taxi and eventually arrived at Sweet Moscow Hostel, a little haven in the big bad world. Very basic it was, just someone's tiny appartment converted to a hostel, bunk beds in every room, one shower and loo for 18 people, wires hanging out of the walls in the stair well and one of those cranky old lifts that you wondered if it was safe to enter; but full of friendly interesting folk so I instantly felt at ease. Next day the weather was fine, the sun was shining bright and warm so I set out on the big Moscow walkabout. All I can say is amazing!...The buildings of the Kremlin, St Basils cathedral with the bright coloured onion domes, the Red Square and the Lenin museum are just stunning. I met a gang of young Russian bagpipe players on the street and started chatting, they gathered some of their mates together and sang a beautiful Russian harmony song for me, shared their beer and just hung out for a while. Had a great day..back to Sweet Moscow for sleep. A young couple from Leeds at the hostel happened to be on the same train as me so next evening we set out together on the Metro to find the train station. The Moscow Metro is another story, each station lavishly decorated each in a different style and some as if you could hold a grand ball inside with mosiac work or frescos or ornate plasterwork. We emerged to find we had 4 railway stations to choose from with trains leaving for all parts of this vaste country, all signs in Russian script and none of us knew which one we should be at. We all had a minor panic while we trudged from station to station trying to find someone with a language in common to ask but eventually we found the right one and train number 6 to Mongolia. There starts a new chapter, a timeless 5 days in the world of the vodka train. It was fantastic fun, much partying, laughing, chatting, hanging out, reading, sleeping, eating, card, dice and Russian backgammon playing, taking exercise treking up and down the train to and from the restaurant car. Stopping at various stations along the way to buy yummie goodies to munch from old peasant ladies. So we travelled 4hrs time difference towards the sun from Moscow (7hrs from home), the days passed incredibably fast and now I'm in Ulaan Battar in Mongolia. Thanks Maud for the hostel tip, I'm very happy with my room with Mr Temujiin, I have a front room with a balcony overlooking the main street from which I can watch the world go by. Tomorrow I'm off out on the horse riding and staying overnight in a traditional ger (yert). Then it's back on the train to Beijing in 4 days time....the next episode. There's loads of photos on my new magic phone mp3 camera yoke which I'm delighted with.

Monday 1st October 2007

I can hardly believe it. I'm in Beijing already, city of 28,000,000 people, enormous skyscrapers of extraordinary modern architecture as far as the eye can see, seas of traffic, with pockets of old style hutong China in between. There's a cloud of pollution hanging over the city which I'm told the sun sometimes manages to break through but at the moment its's raining and grey. But on many levels it does seem to work; it feels safe here, it's easy to get around, the infra structure is in place, there's no hassel on the streets, the police do not seem to carry weapons, people smile. I have an excellent room in the Saga Youth Hostel with a huge super kingsize comfortable bed and the hostel is just brilliant. But all that is only a very first impression as I only arrived yesterday afternoon and as yet have not been exploring the city. Stepping back a bit in time....On the train from Ulaan Bataar to Beijing I met a lovely young Mongolian woman with her beautiful 2 yr old daughter Elizabeth, who lives in Canada and therefore speaks excellent English. She was studying agricultural economics and also working for an NGO which promoted Mongolian Culture abroad particularly through the publication of tradition children's folk stories. She was being met at the train station by one of her NGO colleagues, a man called Dahli who was from Mongolian China and therefore a Mongolian and Chinese speaker. She invited me to join her later that afternoon for a sight seeing trip and so we planned to meet after one hour to head out of town as quickly as possible and put our feet on the Great Wall of China. Dahli the driver brought his father along because he was also very keen to visit the Wall again. It was around 6 pm before we finally managed to get away from town and begin the 67km journey. It was already getting dark, the traffic was extremely heavy because by then it was rush hour and we were wondering if we would still be able to get onto the Wall at tht late hour or even see anything in the dark if we could. But we were all in great spirits and headed on regardless... arriving to find the entrance gates closing. But our guide persuaded the attendants to let us in anyway and Tuyana, her wee daughter and myself were allowed onto the wall for half an hour. It was floodlit on account of this being a big festival week in Beijing (and of course because I was there) and we had the wall to ourselves, not another tourist in sight. It was just brilliant. After we went to a small little restaurant where I ate the best Chinese food ever, nothing like anything I ever got in a western Chinese restaurant. So that was my first night in Beijing. But now I need to step back another 4 days to relate the tale of my night out in the wilderness of beautiful Mongolia. I was driven out to the National Park about 60 Kms from Ulaan Bataar by my driver Bodr to a small settlement of Gers or Yurts as the Russians call them set in a forest now golden with autumn colour beside a gushing river. There I was greeted by beautiful Natsagaa and her handsome husband Tsogoo and settled in my warm comfortable ger where I was served tea and lunch. The sun was shining bright and the weather fairly warm. Fed and watered, Natsagaa and I set of for a walk which included visiting her friends and relations around and about. First stop was her parents'place, a tiny wooden shed the size of a garden shed. Inside her parents aged 75ish, looking 85ish by our standards, toothless and wrinkled, smiling and beautiful. Their tiny home which was warm and cosy and heated by a woodburner with a Buddhist altar opposite the door, was basic but very attractive. I was given homemade yogourt and soft cheese to taste and vodka to drink. Next stop, a tiny ger which housed Lemar, aged 78, her daughter and three granddaughters, extremely poor, no man in the house and absolutely no luxuries. But again the welcome was huge; a loaf of dry bread was cut and shared and tea was served. There were so many other characters that I was introduced to, old folk, children, the local mechanic etc. I was sung songs by the oldies and children which are recorded on the amazing phone/camera mp3 yoke for the audio Round the World in 80 raves CDtobe released next year.

Wed 3rd October

There's too much detail going into this, I have to start being more brief as so much happens every day that I'm getting further and further behind. So back to now and Beijing. I am gob-smacked by this place, it is a totally unbelievable experience. So vaste, the most astonishing huge new architectural constructions as far as the eye can see, and then the old buildings from the days of the empire, so beautiful and well maintained, and so many people especially this week which is National holiday week. But people smile, give way and respect each other, it feels completely safe nd organised and it works. Bicycles have complete priority on the roads and are definitely the best way to get about. The food is fantastic, and so cheap, had more than we could eat of delicious vegetarian food for 2 people with a bottle of beer for less than a couple of euro. I have had the lovely Lily to show me around Beijing and show me the ropes. Lily is a young ex-student of Lisa Citarelli, my friend who was teaching in China a few years ago (thanks Lisa for putting her in touch with me). So have been seeing the sights by bike, by subway, by bus and by walking. Last night, surprise surprise, when I returned to the hostel there was a note in my door from Dan Hummel (of West Cork Sheeps Head and famous for the Japanese hot tub for those who don't know him) who had just arrived back from Japan. He was out at a bar across the city a way where Ato (last seen at the Ballydehob busking competition 2005 playing with Fiona and Ruti) had a gig. Lily and I jumped in a taxi and went off to find him. Mad or what? I will truely never be the same again after this trip.

Tuesday 9th October 2007

Dali, Yunnan Province S. China. So here I am in the ancient city of Dali, and still raving. Beijing was amazing to experience but a relief to leave. Big cities have never really been my thing and Beijing is bigger than anything you can imagine. Getting down here involved yet another train experience, this time only 39hrs and a Chinese train. Beijing train station, enormous, absolutely state of the art modern and so easy to use despite the millions of passengers. For the first day on the train I thought I was the only Euopean, and was sharing what they call a hard sleeper with 5 Chinese ladies aged between 18 and 75yrs. All very smiley and welcoming but communication was very limited until one of them got the bright idea of texting messages off to her English speaking friend for translating and then handing me the phone to do the same. On day 2 I met a mad bunch of French and Ozzy people, 11 of them also on their way to Dali so I tagged along. Aurianne was a Chinese French woman who could speak Chinese, newly wed back in her parent's village trad. Chinese style, to a mad Irish/Ozzy. They were off to do some trecking down here with all their Parisien and Oz friends and relations. I trailed along after them off the train at Kunming and straight onto a bedbus for Dali. The bus actually got called back for us, having just set off, because we were such a big gang. Another, first, a Chinese smelly bedbus, no seats just bunk beds, duvets aand pillows. Gazed out the windows for a while at the Chinese rural landscape, what a difference to Beijing. Total low tech agriculture, small handtilled patches of rice paddies, and every spare space filled with other kinds of veg, spinach, pakchow, pumpkins, maize, cabbage and all those exotic Chinese greens we love to grow back there in West Cork. And in between masses of wild Cosmos flowers. It's all pretty impressive on the food production front, lots of peasant farmers beavering away in their old style coolie hats. There's no wasted cultivatable land anywhere. If there's a space grow veg on it but I don't suppose any of it is very organic! After a while I dozed off and awoke in Dali new town, an ugly, bustly sprawling mess off a place, and we were then straight onto another small bus to bring us the 10kms or so to the old town. I tagged along again with my new found travelling companions to their hostel where I booked myself in for the night, a really nice comfortable place to recover from the journey. Being with a Chinese speaker certainly made that epic journey run very smooth for me. Dali is a very beautiful and historically interesting place though rather on the touristy side, and particularly so because it was still the National holiday week and all historic places are swarming with prosperous Chinese Holiday makers. This is the place where Dan Hummel has a house and also an interest in a mountain guesthouse venture. So on his instruction next day I found my way to the mountain chairlift (another first for me) and trundled up the steep mountainside looking down on the tree tops and Buddhist graves, wondering if they were people who fell off their chairs. Then arriving at the terminal I heaved myself up numerous steep steps, past a couple of beautifull Buddhist/Tao temples to arrive at the Higherlands guesthouse. What a wonderful sanctuary of peace after all my travels. Ah Ping and Li Peng, gave me a first class welcome, another couple of hikers from France turned up for the night, really nice and then Chris from Bremen in Germany who owns a bar in the town, taking a break for a few days. Excellent food and company followed by a sound night's sleep and then I awoke to find myself in the clouds, rain pouring down just like West Cork. But it was lovely there anyway, went for an 11km walk in the rain to stretch the legs. Today I came back down to the sunshine. Dan had phoned from where ever it is that he's trecked off to, to arrange that I could sleep in his house down on the outskirts of town. There is a lovely young Chinese family who live there and look after it for him and it's just really nice and comfortable. Today I borrowed a bike and cycled off out of town and then down through a village to the enormous lake that Dali sits beside. The people are just so smiley and friendly, "Ni Ha" they all say. It's rice harvest time and they are all working away cutting, stacking to dry in neat rows of little hat things and hand threshing it in any available flat space, the village square, the living room, the courtyard. All the doors are open and you gaze in to a game of Majong, or to my delight a bunch of women with their babies getting their hair done. They all beamed at me as I passed and beckoned me in, so we passed a while exchanging names and ages and the children trying to say "hello in English". hen I shook hands with each of them "pleez ta meet yo, Bye Bye". I haven't mentioned the food yet. I really like the Chinese style of eating, nothing like anything ever tasted in a Western style Chinese restaurant. You choose your dishes to be prepared from an amazing array of different vegetables, live sea and freshwater foods, meats and all sorts of plants that I don't recognise at all. The individual dishes are then wokked up while you wait, you communally pick away with your chopsticks and it all tastes incredibly fresh and healthy. Yummy. However I must be on my way soon, have booked a train ticket from Kunming to Nanning for Thursday and then hopefully can get on another train to Hanoi in Vietnem on Friday night. Tempus fugit and I'm really keen to spend time in Vietnam. I'm looking forward to doing some seaside stuff like swimming and snorkellng for a while. So that's it for episode 3.

Around the world in 80 raves Chapter 6

Hoi An 23rd October 2007

I love Vietnam. I arrived here at this relaxed little town 5 days ago and seem to have entered a kind of timeless zone, the days drift by and by now I'm feeling quite at home here. Hoi An, a dyslexic Hanoi and the complete antidote the latter's hectic pace, is a market town half way down Vietnam, beside a lazy river and only 5km from a long sandy beach.

The market here is the best I've ever come across, so colourful and selling all things imaginable. Fresh fish come in straight from the boats on the river alongside, and the fruit and vegetables are piled high. Hoi An is also the textile centre of the universe, there's a huge fabric market selling silks, taffetas, cottons and linens and the town has in excess of 500 tailor shops where you can get anything from a suit to a wedding dress made in less than 24hrs. A belly dancer's paradise! There are also numerous shoe makers offering the same kind of service with leathers of every colour. Although everything is dirt cheap by western standards it's very easy to get swept along and spend loads of dosh on stuff which you then have to post home because you cann't possibly carry it all. I met an Australian woman with a bit of a shoe fettish who had purshased 15 pairs of handmade shoes in all manner of colours and styles and a Canadian guy who went into a shop for 2 shirts and came away with 10 shirts and 2 suits. I keep telling myself that I just don't need anything but I must admit I have indulged a little.

The town is also famous for it's artists who use laquers of red and gold and yellow and many of the paintings are stunning. And then there are the wood carvers....the list goes on and on. Such talented focused people. It makes us westerners seem pathetic by comparison.

I spent a couple of nights in a hotel overlooking the river with a young German woman that I met on the bus travelling down here. Then I had 3 nights in a budget place that didn't have a lot to recommend it apart from its cheapness. Today I moved to a rather plush place with a swimming pool and lots of perks like free internet and bike loan because I felt I was due a bit of a treat and anyway it's only about 10 euro a night for luxury. I've now got a little routine going biking to the beach with a break for a beer at this beautiful riverside bar half way there.

It's very monsoony here at the moment, with intermittant torrential downpours which I don't find at all unpleasant because the rain is so warm. It's actually quite refreshing and then after a bit the sun comes out again and you get dry. Another one just started now and it's a humdinger, as if god is up there with a ginormous bucket of water. There's lots of girld shrieking and the noise on the roof is so load it's deafening.

Most people here ride bikes though there's loads of small motor bikes too. Many of the kids ride two up on a bike, one on the saddle and one on the luggage rack and they have this great co-operative pedaling technique with both pairs of feet on the pedals. The young girls look fabulous riding to school in the traditional Vietnemese white silk dresses which are their school uniforms.

On the beach today I met a tiny stick of an old lady who was 90 years old selling coconuts and pineapples to the tourists. Her face told a thousand stories and her toothless grin was captivating. What a history she must have lived through. I've been reading a brilliant book here called "When Heaven and Earth changed places" by Ly Le Haslip; a true story of a young woman who lived through the war here and eventually escaped to America. It's a great story of pain, suffering and cruelty but also hope, courage and forgiveness. It's highly recommended reading. I find being in these faraway places really makes me want to find out about history.

So guys, you get the message, come to Vietnam, it's brilliant.