Almost Home

Has it really already been an entire month since my last update? Maybe longer... Oh well you guys can't complain!

 

Alright so I left you in Kanchanaburi, there I saw the Death railway, and the Brige over the river Kwai and stuff like that. From there we made our way to Ayutthaya which is the former capital of Thailand (or should I say Siam?) It was a cool place, alot of older ruins and stuff like that, it was definately nice to be in some ruins different from those I saw so much of in Europe.

 

From Ayutthaya we headed towards the "beautiful" Thai islands, we tryed to make it all in one go but we got waylaid at a city inbetween where we were happy to get out of the next day. The Island we made it to was Ko Samut, one of the smaller ones, and the closest to Bangkok, definately a nice little escape before maude had to head home. We spent our days reading on the beach and Maude desperately tried to get her last good tan in before heading back to Canada.

 

After a few day on the Island we grudgingly(sp?) made our way to Bangkok. Once there we found a little Guest House on an out of the way street right close to the Infamous Khao San Road. Our day in Bangkok were spent preparing maude for her flight and seeing the sights. Neither were very exciting, with the highlight being when we found an A&W in downtown Bangkok and treated ourselves to rootbeer floats. Actually we did have a good time wandering around and seeing stuff like the Grand Palace, which is the Buddhist counterpart to Vatican city. 

 

Maude flew out on the 17th, later in the evening and that left me free to sample all of the meaty street food I could think of. (Maude is vegitarian.) Sure I missed her, but thats life eh? I was now on my way to Laos.

 

Well the first day after she left I went to the train  station and headed to the city of Nakhon Ratchasima, where I speant a couple days hanging out and on sunday was able to go to the first Catholic Mass since Poland, it was interesting, but good. From there I made my way to the boreder city of Mukdahan and spent a night preparing myself for Laos (I also just arrived a little too late to make it accross the river.)

 

The next day I crossed over to the Lao city of Savannakhet where I stayed for a night and spent a good bit of time at an amazing restaurant called "Mamas Home" It's run by three sisters, and they treat you very nice, they watched my bad for me and took me to the bus station when it came time. They also thretened to steal me if I didn't bring Maude next time!

 

From Savannakhet I took a night bus up to Vientien where I had my first dorm experience since Malaysia. It was actually much appriciated since I was now traveling alone, and within the first day I met a pretty cool Canadian guy who's been on the road for 11 or 12 years now. He spent alot of time in China and had been getting to know Loas for a little while and had alot of stuff to talk about. We hung out for the few days I was there and I met some other guys, really nothing to do in Vientien if you're alone so it was nice.

 

From there I caught a bus to Vang Vieng, on the bus ride I met a pretty cool American guy, we got along pretty well and ended up sharing a room when we arrived. Vang Vieng however, is an absolute pit of scum... well maybe not that bad but for an example, you can go into a bar which no longer has booths, but kinda reclined seats, and while you lay there you can watch Friends, and order a joint, opium, or even mushrooms off of the menu. Sadly that's normal there. Me and Josh (The American) spent one day inner-tubing, down the river, pretty good way to relax and get away from the hardships of traveling, but you still have to put up with the hell the place has become. (I'm sorry if I sound so negative about the place, and would like to comment that the use of any such narcotics is ones own choice, and I have nothing against that. But seriously, Friends?)

 

We made it out of Vang Vieng just intime to keep my sanity and headed up to Luang Prabang. A pretty cool town, laid back like the rest of Laos, and not touristy to the point of sickness. They had a pretty cool night market there with quite a bit of Hmong handicrafts, definately cool. One day me and Josh rented bikes, and even though they were one-speed-wonders that did not stop me from taking it through mud bits and down rocky paths, We made it out to some small villages where they kids were playing with thier flip-flops and all they wanted from us was to shake my hand and touch my hair.

 

I left Luang Prabang and headed off towards the lacking town of Luang Nam Tha. The bus ride there was 8 hours, and consisted of going over the mountains and through several small villages where the modern world seems to have passed them a centry or two ago. On the trip I had a Lao girl claiming my shoulder as a pillow, but who can complain, thats the way life goes out there. Once I actually made it to luand Nam Tha I discovered that I didn't want to be there, but as luck would have it I met an old Aussie who told me he met some people who were chartering a truck to the Thai Border, earlier that evening I found out that the b us to the border is much more of a "maybe" thing everyday. So I met these people who were chartering the truck and they were happy to have me tag along, along with two other Solvanian girls.

 

The next morning we all met up and loaded up the truck. Four people up front (An American couple and Brit and a Kiwi that was a couple too.) And three of us in the back with the bags (Me and the two Solvanian girls.) The ride wasn't too bad for the first 10 minutes, then we realized why we needed the truck. The road was much more of a deforested mud path with pleanty of puddles pushing 7 or 8 inches, and many more places where the 4 wheel drive was what was getting us through. There was also a number of times where the giant bulldozers would have to clear a clean path for us as we got there. After about 8 hours of this (sunburned and muddy) the steering broke. We piled out of the truck and got to see how one of the front wheels detached itself from the steering column. To out luck we were at a place where they were working on the road with diggers, and they were able to pull us out of the way while our driver fixed it. And in a few minutes we found out why the diggers were there. They literally had to pull cars and truck over the mountain since it was too muddy and too steep to drive. Apparently the company that hired out the truck and driver promised the two couples that they would be there before 6 so they could get over the border. we didn't arrive until after 6 and they couples were more then a little upset. We stayed in the border city of Huay Xai, I shared a room with the Solvanian girls, (Had my own bed of course!) and the next day we made the crossing.

 

On the other side we me and the Couples made our way to Chaing Mai, where we hung out for a few days, it was a nice place to just hang out, much smaller and alot more enjoyable then Bangkok in my opinion.

 

From Chaing Mai I headed down to Sokoathai, a nifty little town with some of the largest ancient Thai ruins close by, I spent a day doing the ruins. That evening I was feeling rather lonely, so I decided to head out and go watch the sunset over some rice paddies. As I walked out into the middle of nowhere I was intercepted by some Thai villagers wanting me to come and have a drink of their Whiskey with them. I decided there wasn't any harm, so I went over. There was a good size family of them over there (now that I think back between 12 and 15 people!) They laughed at me when  I tried to say some Thai words, and touched my beard and hair and looked at my large feet. It was very entertaining, and as the night got later (and I missed the sunset) they offered me dinner, I accepted and had some of the best (and most authentic) Thai food I've had yet. After that they drove me on a motor bike back to my Guest House, and I was left blinking, trying to figure out what happened.

 

The next day I went back to Bangkok, I was dreading Bangkok, but really looking forward to flying. And when I arrived at the bus station I was disliking Bangkok more then ever. They have almost no cheap way of getting into town from any of their transport hubs, and this forced me to hire a motorbike and driver to take me back to Khao San Road. It was an experiance, me with my bags, and such on the back of this motorbike weaving in and out of traffic while cars narrowly avoid clipping me and my bags. But yeah, it was fun.

 

So hear I have been, waiting, and making my final preperation before I fly tonight, well actually tomorrow, but at 2 in the morning whos counting, eh? But yes it is hard to imagine that I'll be flying back to north America after so much time abroad. Even when I think of it I get emotional, for some reason or another, it seems so strange, almost like it can't really be happening. Alright, but all that mish-mush aside, I'm flying at 2 to Korea (South) and wait there for a long 8 hours before contin ueing on my way to Seattle and then  finally Vancouver, BC. From there I'll hitch or maybe Buy a car and drive to Northern Canada to visit Maude in Regina. I'll be there for two or three weeks and then somehow I'll make my way home. I can hardly wait!

 

When many of you read this e-mail I'll probably be in an Airplane or waiting in an airport somewhere. So yeah... I miss all of you guys and can't wait to see you!

 

=Logan, Thailand

 

P.S. In the Korean Airport they have free internet, so send me an e-mail to keep me busy while I'm there!