Shoshin-Zazen

Ok, time to get this thing over and done with before i plunge right into the madness of the semester.

Those two maps show my routes. I started off in Chiang Mai, traveled to Laos then returned to Thailand via Udon Thani. The top map is a map of Northern thailand. The second one is a (partial) map of Laos.

I embarked on a backpacking trip on the 27th of July till the 4th of August to Northern Thailand and Lao - countries that I have already visited and stayed for a few weeks but ironically never had the chance to backpack. It lasted only nine days, I wished it had gotten longer, but we all have to wake up from dancing in dreamland; school starts in less than a week.

It was a highly anticipated trip with friends saying that they want to go and then some time later say the opposite thing. About a month before the trip, my friends suddenly pulled out sighting valid reasons and were contrite about it. With a bit of ambivalence, I thought of traveling alone and the uproar I am going get when I explain my plan to my parents. I don’t like to be alone. My idea is: What is the greatest sight in the world if there isn’t anyone to share it with? With a fortuitous chance, Ton from Thailand managed to get leave from his company (A local NGO Mirror Art Foundation which deals with Hill Tribes and their associated problems) and agreed to do the trip with me. I worked with Ton before in a Youth Expedition Project to Chiang Rai last December. He’s a very nice guy.

As a result of this confusion I booked the air tickets a little late and also pricier, but better than never. Then there was the pernicious dengue to worry about. That’s the reason for the tubes of insect repellent. On hindsight, I didn’t even use them at all; it looks like the mosquitoes were giving me a break.

All right, so with a little preparation, I arrived at Chiang Mai on the morning of the 27th of July. Finally, my eyes can see the horizon peppered with mountains and hills. No high-rise buildings to worry about, fewer cars, more green (my favourite colour) and the feeling of fresh, cool breeze through my hair.

Day ONE

I visited Doi Suthep (1685m) in the afternoon and took in the first sight of the day. The weather was cool, since it was the start of the rainy monsoon. I took a vehicle up to the mountain, climbed the 309 steps to the Buddhist temple Wat Doi Suthep which is the setting for the white elephant legend.

I met Ton at night, rather by pure fate. I was on the back of a vehicle searching for a guesthouse and was getting lost when I saw this figure coming towards me. I was just glad to see him. We immediately found a guesthouse (the first one we saw) and went out to fill our hungry stomachs.

After a satisfying 15฿ (70 cents) meal, we went looking for my Singaporean friends who were staying nearby. They were a group of girls, brave enough to be away from home for almost a month. I guess they love Thailand a lot. We had a hearty talk, while fussing with the dog sitting lazily at the neighbouring table. After a couple of hours, Ton and I bid farewell to them and returned to the guesthouse to have an early night.

Day TWO

A bright, sunny day with blue skies all around is a perfect backpackers day. Ton and I traveled to Doi Ithanon National Park, in which resides the highest mountain (2596m) in Thailand. There was a road all the way up, so no worries about trekking, although I would prefer some legwork. The beautiful day and mountain gave several breathtaking views; it was just too bad the vehicle was traveling too fast to get some really nice shots off my camera. We visited two waterfalls - simply supreme is the beauty of nature.

Those stairs (top left) reminded the agonising Kinabalu climb just one year earlier…

Day THREE

Moving out of Chiang Mai, we traveled for 2 hours to reach Chiang Rai bus interchange. After a brief transit and lunch, we went off by bus to Chiang Khong, the border town of Thailand and just next to the Mekong river. It was one of the nicest bus rides I had ever taken. Mountains form the backdrop while green padi fields spread out as far till it could reach. Anyone would have felt at peace with this world.

We checked in at a BoomMe guesthouse in Chiang Khong and wasted no time in finding an agent to book us the tickets for the slow boat down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang. It costs us about 800B inclusive of lunch on the boat and bicycle rental. So in the evening, Ton and I went around cycling the sleepy town of Chiang Khong, more known amongst the traveling community as a transit pad for one to enter Lao. Oh, I watched Mulan in Thai.

Once you are somewhere close to Lao, you find yourself in a great chasm, as if crossing to another world. Embracing the truly carefree lifestyle of the Lao people is the new me, which you will read about in the next paragraph.

Day FOUR

It’s down the Mekong River on the slow boat today, six hours of pure nothing. When I checked online travel diaries about this “slow boat”, one was titled “Pain in the ass slow boat” and now I couldn’t agree further. There are only two responses to this kind of travel, one is the super duper relaxed traveler - “I enjoyed the slow travel and beautiful scenery”. The other is, “I went for the experience. Only going to do this once.” I was torn between the two…until this bug landed on my arm…nah its just stopping for a rest.

Besides, the boat was so filled with farangs (Lao for foreigner) that Ton and I probably stood out as one of the few yellow skins on the boat. The legroom was terrible and the human minds wandered off in search of entertainment. While the other farangs were ripping out their Harry Potter and mp3 players, I just stared at the murky water, thinking of what lies underneath. Of course, the scenery was majestic. I just lulled, like never before.

After 6 hours of slow travel, we arrived at Pak Beng, a quaint rustic looking village where electricity switches off at 10pm and cockroaches run freely about after that. I got so frustrated that I killed one. It was a regrettable action, but I wasn’t about to let it run up my leg up and down for the entire night. So much for being compassionate.

Day FIVE

I woke up to cold start in the morning. Clouds hang low over the hills and the incoming mist meant the inception of rain. Ton got up early to visit the market at Pak Beng, but we cannot linger, we got a slow boat to catch.

Before going down the Mekong River again, we had to wait 2 hours for the boat to fill up. Two long hours inside that stuffy boat, this was really a good way to train my patience.


Eventually the 6-hour journey started, with our packet of fried rice (our lunch) and museli bars as a small gastronomy consolation. It was raining and the canvas sheets on the side of the boats were pulled down. My only source of entertainment, the scenery of the Mekong River, was gone.

I almost went mad. Immediately, I left my seat to go to the back of the boat in search of a space where I can see outside. Yet, I find no solace in the noisy, chattering engine. I heard once that the engines failed on one the slow boats traveling up river and the crew had to fasten the boat to shore in case it run aground the precarious rocks.

As you can see, Ton was already going baloney. I was almost there; my mind on another planet thinking about how did Harry Potter die in the 6th dimension while conjuring up a spell to solve a 4th order non linear differential equation. After a few agonizing hours, I decide to be my own hero and pulled up the canvas sheet. I didn’t give a hoot whether that old Japanese couple two seats away from me were feeling cold. I lulled like never before.

We FINALLY arrived at UNESCO designated world hertitage site of Luang Prabang at 5pm. I concluded from this slow odyssey that I will never feel bored at a Linear Alegbra lecture ever again. This boat trip was the ultimatum.

Fate allowed us to stay cheaply in Luang Prabang, because we met a local who was keen to bring us to this new guesthouse just down the road. True to his word, the guesthouse was new and it was cheap. 140฿ for one night was really a great bargain. The bathroom facilities were excellent too. I remembered the name of the guesthouse as inaccurately as “Lomchampass” (a game we kids play in those old days.)

Ton and I went out in search of food. We walked a pretty long way before getting lost and ended up eating at a road side stall which sold noodle soup with duck’s meat and blood. We proceeded to enjoy the spectacular ambience of the Luang Prabang night market. In all, this old french colonial town, sited within the moutain ranges and right in the middle of a communist country, is so rustic and quaint that it makes it romantic and dreamy.

Day SIX

We woke up early at six with a mission to change our Baht to kip. We had breakfast at Joma’s bakery, which sells excellent sandwiches. After soaking into the smells and atmosphere of the morning market, we exchanged for a few hundred thousand kip and went around to book a bus to Vientiane. In addition, we got ourselves coecrced into a trip to the nearby Kuang Si waterfall. We had initially thought that we had no time for that. In the meantime, we visited the Royal Palace Museum (supposedly haunted by the members of the royal family), Wat Pousi and its stupendous views of Luang Prabang.

After a bowl of Lao tom yam soup, fried Lao noodles and some salad, we were on a minivan with some other farangs to the famed Kuang Si waterfalls. It was another amazing waterfall. This time we trekked up a steep slope to the top of the waterfalls and I had fun soaking my feet in the deliciously cool water. We went down to the smaller pools and Ton took a dip in the water.

After we got back from Kuang Si, we did a last minute cycling tour of Luang Prabang. As a farewell gift to Luang Prabang, we did some extensive shopping in the night markets.

Day SEVEN

Day seven was always remembered as a memorable day of traveling. We sat on this “SUPER VIP Coach” to Vientiane for eight hours. We had the completely opposite experience to the slow boat travel just a couple of days ago. The road (Highway 13) ran like a snake up and down the ravines and hills. It was crazy. I was even crazier to eat a sandwich (Joma’s) while on the bus. I tried to position my dizzy head at the best position possible. I remember seeing Ton happily taking pictures through the bus window and then 30 minutes later excusing himself to go to the toilet to purge some fluid. Luckily he didn’t have any breakfast.

When we reached Vientiane, I remarked to Ton, “No more slow boat and VIP bus!” At least we reached safe and sound, because highway 13 used to be rather dangerous and prone to terrorist attacks.

We reached Vientiane at around 5pm and I was in familiar ground (read my post on YEP Laos) as we checked into Dragon Lodge. We were warmly welcomed by Peter (the boss) and had a good chat with him, about updates of Nong Duang School and his lodge. I met Wei Lin from Singapore who is traveling with her dad and friend. As ardent supporters and participants of overseas community projects, we immediately found common ground and we had a nice conversation. We decided to sightsee Vientiane together tomorrow.

Ton and I had dinner and then had an early night.

Day Eight

Five of us went around Vientiane, and visited Patouxay, Tat Salao, Army Museum which showcased Lao’s sad war-scarred past. We gloated (moaned) at Tat Salao’s new sore thumb shopping center containing Lao’s first escalator and a Singapore styled food court. If you are looking for a piece of westernization in Lao, this is it. So to all those who have not caught Lao, you better do it soon before it goes to the way of Bangkok and Beijing.

In the evening, we visited Nong Duang secondary school, which had brought back certain memories left over from my 2nd project a few months ago. It was already completed, though the interior still needed some more work. Next we visited another school, this time a (almost) tearful reunion between school’s principal and Wei Lin. She did a project at the school about four years ago. It was pretty heart-warming stuff. Then we met up with Chin Guan (from my previous project) and his friends and the group of us went for dinner, with Peter being the ever friendly host.

Dinner was at the good ol’ beer garden next to the padi fields. After this meal and a 3 hour flight, its back to the “four cornered dwelling as embodied in the archetypal HDB skyline of life in Singapore.

Day NINE

Chin Guan and friends, Ton and I traveled to Udon Thani. We flew back to Singapore while Ton flew to Chiang Mai.

So long Lao, for now.

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