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‹ Previous (23/03/2009) MONTH Next (2009-05-22)› ‹ Previous (2009-04-01 - Thailand) COUNTRY Next (2009-05-13 - Cambodja)› Laos Luang Prabang (see on map) 24/04/2009:
Laos, before being bombarded massively by the United States and of definitely falling in the hands of the communists, had been a French colony, and in Luang Prabang it is evident with its European architecture and the baguettes that they are bandaged through the calm streets. Really, Luang Prabang is a little town that enchants, in spite of the hundreds of tourists who strolled for our side sharing the same feelings and in spite of the prosperous business of hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, coffees of Internet and outdoor shops. For luck, many tourists are locked up in the bars to drink beer or hire excursions to some caves and cascades and have still been able to walk with relative calmness through Luang Prabang. from the 14th century to the XVI, Luang Prabang was the capital of the Kingdom of the Million Elefants (Lan Xang), converting later in the main religious centre of the kingdom. Proof of that are the crowd of Buddhist temples that spread out through the town, some of which I visited (those that were not of payment), with an architecture and decoration simpler than the Thai temples, but with some reliefs and interesting paints in the entries. In one of these temples, resting under the shadow of a flowery tree I found a youngster who studied English with a dictionary. Immediately he established conversation with me, explaining to me that for many youngsters, to enter a Buddhist monastery was the best way of studying, for the economic easiness and for the few distractions that they had. In any case, as he explained me, many monks give up the habits once the studies finished, even if they always preserve the spiritual calmness thanks to the innumerable hours of meditation carried out. It was this young monk in the temple that informed me about an interesting attraction in Luang Prabang, although there were no tourists because it was happening at 6 of the dawn. It was also difficult for me to wake up, but it was worthed. Before going out the sun (and after some hours of meditation) the monks of all the temples come out in a row walking in silence through the streets. The people of the town wait them seated in the pavements and provided with pots of food (in general rice), that go distributing solemnly in the containers that carry the monks. The ceremony is fast but captivating. The people, it seems to worship the monks as if they were saint, without touching them in any moment, while they walk to long walks and in meditative state. It was well to wake me up early because after the ceremony, I ran into a traditional market that they only set up in the morning (to the night they set up another market exclusively for tourists, with many shops with exquisite craftsmanship). This traditional market was impressive for the variety of unimaginable products that could be sold, apart from the plants: amulets, larvae and insects, lizards, eggs, snakes... Anyway, the most extraordinary animal that I saw was coming out of the market: two enormous fish from the river, similar to tuna, that weighed 30 kilos each. On the other hand, the previous journey of two days for Mekong and the great presence of tourists in Luang Prabang, did allow us to know some Spanish that travelled for little time and a very nice Argentine to whom we committed ourselves to visiting when we will travel through his country. It was a good occasion to share some beers with them, a drink that we did not try since some months ago. On the other hand it seemed impossible to avoid this cool drink due to the heat that it makes and due to the tens of tourists that they walk through your surroundings all the day with the bottle in the hand, disregarded for the money spent, because their journey will not last beyond a few weeks, before submerging themselves again to the stress of the work world. Vang Vieng (see on map) 27/04/2009:
The journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng lasted about eight hours in bus, circulating through a road of continuous curves, that was winding up and down through different mountains. The mountainous landscape was pretty, although it would have been much more if it had not been hidden in the mist. On the other hand, it also damaged the sight to observe on many occasions, the pending of the mountains completely deforested and peeled, probably to market with the wood, but also, in some cases, to cultivate coffee. On the other hand, most of the houses of the small villages that we crossed were made of wood and straw. Really, the life in Laos had not changed too much in the last century apart from the villages considered touristic. It should be interesting to visit some villages lost in the north of Laos, but we have (only 5 months through southeast asia) little time and so we have stopped in another village full of tourists: Vam Vieng. Anyway, unlike Luang Prabang, Vam Vieng is a horrible place, full of hotels of low category, travel agencies , coffee shops ,Internet and restaurants. The restaurants are a show, for the majority have a big television turned on broadcasting series of Friends or Simpsons, with tens of tourists dumbfounded in front of the screen. For luck, the touristic incentive is not in the village, but in the landscape and in some caves that are found close. Anyway, most of the tourists do not seem too interested in the landscape, instead of walking through the surroundings, prefer doing tubing. The tubing is a sport that the tourist agencies promote , in which the tourist are left on the side of a calm river with a camera inflated from a lorry tyre and generally with beer at hand. Without interest for doing tubing (I admit that the price was not too attractive for me), I decided to dedicate these two days in Vam Vieng to lose myself on the other side of the river, where there were some meadows and behind different mountains of rocks and vegetation that were raised vertically, offering a landscape that reminded me of some postcards of Asia. At the foot of these mountains there were different caves that were indicated with a wavy rag in a stick and with children who charged a minimum entry. I was also offered to get one of them as guide, with a higher price that I did not accept. But it was a good decision, because the emotions of entering in a deep cave are unforgettable. The first cave that I visited, called Phadeng, basically was a passage (sometimes of a metre of height) that introduced you about five hundred meters in the mountain, with different wooden stairs to get down and to raise differences and footbridges to cross fissures. In the end, the corridor finished in a small pool of brownish water, where in theory you could bathe and where in theory there were some big fish. That of the fish I did not finish believing it myself, anyway, it was also incredible to observe at the bottom of the cave some insects with antennas of about twenty centimetres. When returning, after having been all the time worried about the reliability of my torch, I decided to lose the fear and to turn it off. I had entered with a stick, and as if i was blind I was knocking the ground, rocks and ceiling to keep advancing without danger to fall. I advanced about fifty meters in the total darkness and feeling my surroundings with the stick, until I was in an incomprehensible environment and turned the light on, frightful of falling in a crack. The second cave, that of Goldjar, was much bigger, with different stalactites that resounded when knocking them softly. All the white walls of the cave were full of drawings made with mud by the different cavemen who had visited the cave the last years, and deep down there was a statue of budha with some offerings. When i was visiting a corner, I heard some tourists entering. I turned off the torch not to frighten them, and immediately after i realised this would frighten them more, but now i already had it dull and I waited, until it was unavoidable that their torches discovered me, and turned on mine, causing them a good fright, naturally. The day after, today, I have left towards the mountains more in the south ready to visit other caves, walking a small road with cobwebs and snakes that hid when passing. But as i arrived at the first cave, I realised a man and a boy of suspicious pints, with dirty cloths and with a dagger had followed me. Alexandra had told me that in the caves thefts took place, so i situated myself in a high point in the entry and I started to make tip in the stick with my knife. The man and the boy stayed in the entry, talking between them and without daring to approach, while I kept making tip to my stick as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Until the man and the boy decided to leave without showing interest of entering the cave. But I did, encouraged by my experiences of Indiana Jones, even then I did arrive too far, because in some wooden stairs along the cave I found a small spider that was concealed, and when lowering myself to observe it and to take a photo i found an enormous spider, of about ten centimetres, that made me lose all the desires of continuing with my adventures. Vientiane (see on map) 05/05/2009:
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is a very calm city only of half a million people without too much of appeal (or without any appeal, said our hosts Michel and Christine). Anyway, it has an avenue parallel to the Mekong river, with some simple restaurants, a much more modern and more expensive centre and a couple of monuments to which taking a glance is worth. Good, in fact, the Patuxai is ever the most horrible monument designing, a triumphal arch built in 1969 with cement given by the United States stationed in the construction of an airport. However, the stupa of Pha That Luang, started to build in 1566, was quite more seductive, with a high dome painted of golden colour, symbol of the Buddhist religion and of the sovereignty of Laos. One or two days would have been sufficient to know Vientiane, however, we have passed a fabulous week. For the first time (travelling without autocaravan) we have been hosted by a couple of Couchsurfing, Michel and Christine, which have presented us with a hospitality comparable to the Iranian or Egyptian. Michel and Christine are a Canadian couple that work in Laos as teachers for an international school (where the children of ambassadors, directors of ONGs and members of the government go). Anyway, 3 years before they worked in Nepal, and three more in Laos, they now start to pack to change continent, and to initiate a new adventure in Tunis. Michel and Christine were quite a lot tied up and stressed out with the end of course of the school and left us most of the time alone (even left three days to Vam Vieng to relaxed), insisting to take anything that we wanted from the fridge, offering us their bicycles to move through the city or to go to the embassies of Thailand and Vietnam to make the visas. Alexandra immediately felt at home, laughing thrilled while she walked the magnificent house and appropriating the command of the telly and the best sofa. Meanwhile, I made use of the calmness to keep writing my novel, that I finished about three days ago(i only have to revise it). Anyway, yesterday and today, we have also had more time to share and to converse with Michel and Christine, which have arrived more relaxed from Vam Vieng. We have been conversing a lot on education, on their next journey to Turkey, on the religions, and much more. It has been very interesting to know them and really we expect some day them to be able to do a visit to Barcelona to us to return them part of the hospitality. Si Phan Don (see on map) 10/05/2009:
In Laos, the public transportation seems quite expensive, therefore, inevitably we see ourselves obliged to copy the rest of the tourists and buy the tickets through travel agencies. Likewise, we made it to Si Phan Don to move from Vientiane, buying a night bus ticket. We thought that it would be a bus with the adjustable seats, but instead of that we were surprised in seeing that it was a bus with beds with capacity of about 30 people. It does not have to be said that the space of the beds was not so wide, even so the journey was nice, especially because the roads were straight and well asphalted. Very near to the border of Cambodia, Si Phan Don (translated as 4000 islands) is a marvel of the nature formed in the course of the Mekong river, when this is diverged bordering on crowd of islands, many of them existing only during the dry period, when Mekong is lower. I do not know whether really there are 4000 islands; what yes there is, its an island Don, where most of the tourists go. In spite of everything, the island preserves a rural and traditional air that i had not observed in any other touristic point of Laos yet. We occupy a bungalow big and clean (there were prettier other ones next to the river but Alexandra preferred this) and immediately start to make friendship with other tourists who lived in other next bungalows. While we made the journey with autocaravan, i often thought that without the car we would be nearer to the cultures and knowing more local people, but in Laos it is really not like this: we travel with tourists and live with tourists. Possibly, it is not our fault, for often we hear say that the Asian cultures are usually quite a lot closed and hermetic. Anyway, it does not stop being nice to relate to other travellers or people of the same tribe as us. On the other hand, travelling without autocaravan we visit less places but we entertain ourselves more in every place, having more opportunities of relaxing and more time to write. And it does not have to be said that, travelling with autocaravan, we would possibly not have visited Si Phan Don, or only have made it during a day. At the same time, already does weeks that we do not have the stress of having an accident, of being waken during the night, of finding the adhesives torn... Apart from the calmness of Don Det, one of these days we have done an excursion with bicycle to the adjacent island, Don Khon , where there are the attractive cascades of Somphamit to see. Both islands are connected by an old bridge of stone built by the Frenchmen and for where passed a small train that maintained the fluvial trade (and mining) interrupted by the cascades. After visiting the cascades, we direct more in the south of the island, passing of long small tropical forests, small fields and some isolated wooden homes, until arriving to a beach where I had swim and from where a small boat could be caught to observe some dolphins in the river, but the passage was too costly, and after the bath we returned to Don Det. Cambodja Phnom Phen (see on map) 13/05/2009:
When leaving Laos and entering Cambodia, immediately was evident that we had entered a new country and a new political system. We made the visa in the border, but they asked two dollars extra at the time of getting passport. I asked them for a receipt to make sure it was not for corruption and indeed, not wanting to make us any type of receipt they did not want to deliver our passports if we did not pay. I did not get too angry verbally, for i was in a queue with many other tourists ready to pay, so, I paid. The road of the north was very good, but it very soon started to get bad and during quite a lot of kilometres we found ourselves circulating through dirt tracks. The road was quite deserted, but from time to time we crossed with some car of luxury (among these a Hummer), a signal of being in a corrupt country. And, afterwards indeed, looking Internet I have discovered that Cambodia is one of the 20 most corrupt countries in the world. But the political problems are not finished here, for even if Cambodia is considered democratic, it seems quite dictatorial, with the same president governing from the fall of the regime of Pol Pot or of the Red Khmers in 1979, and with big metallic plaques along the road with publicity of the Popular party of Cambodia. Phnom Phen, the capital of Cambodia seems much more developed than Vientiane, favoured by the capitalism in front of the communism, but inevitably, there was also a lot of more misery. The bus left us next to the lake Boeng Kak, where there are different relatively economic hotels and relatively expensive restaurants. In the bus we had known a couple of Catalans, Jordi from Olot and Anna from Gerona, and all together, chose a hotel next to the lake that by night seemed pretty. Anyway, the following two days we have convinced ourselves of the bad choice, our room continuously creaked giving us the sensation that would be sunk in the lake and later Alexandra has discovered a rat in the toilet that today has eaten up the bar of soap that we buy. Perhaps, unfortunately, this pretty place will stop existing because as some owners of the area complained, a foreign company has bought the lake and plans on drying it to build a luxury hotel. Naturally, the corrupt government seems ready to help and is at the moment unaware of the complaints of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. In any case, even if the brownish lake is not attractive, the area was nice, with an alley full of shops that offered prices double or triple of expensive that the ones in a lateral shop, empty bars with young cambogian girls that waited the occasion to hunt a tourist, different ranks of tuc-tucs (tricycles) or taxi motorcycles that waited customers, and many girls and women that dressed pyjamas. In fact, the image of the women already dressing pyjamas had surprised us on the way. I had already assumed that the traditional dress of the women was very similar to the occidental pyjamas (fine cloth, of light and bright colours, and with infantile drawings), but, reading an article I found out afterwards about these clothes being really pyjamas that were sold together with the lingerie. Anyway, to dress pyjamas had become popular in Cambodia because it is one of the freshest clothes that can wear. In any case, I also have to say that we have not observed any man in pyjamas. Yesterday, the day after arriving, we went out to walk through the centre, arriving to the central market, where they sold everything: fruits, jewellery, fish, meat, shells, insects and fried spiders... Afterwards we kept returning for the side of the river Tonlé Sap, which joines with the Mekong river in front of the city but does not have any attractiveness. We also went up to the Buddhist temple of Wat Sampao Meas, which contained some interesting paints, and I found a repetitive image with Laos outside: different men sold small birds caged so that you could release them. One more irony that it is considered a good work to release the birds when in fact you are encouraging that they are put into a cage, because the business is profitable Finally, today on Wednesday in the morning we have caught a taxi motorcycle and we have gone towards the south of the city up to the China embassy, where we have started to carry out the visa (in theory we will have it on Monday). Afterwards we have walked to the next museum, one that exposes one of the most regrettable episodes of the history of Cambodia and of the recent history of the world. Formerly, the buildings of the museum had been the classrooms of a secondary school, but during the regime of the Red Khmers, the building was converted in one of the most infamous prisons of the 20th century. From 1975 to 1979, between 17000 and 20000 people passed for the prison of Tuol Sleng or S21, of which only 7 people went out with life. The rest suffered endless hours of systematic torture with the aim of obtaining confessions and being able to be later broken the neck and slaughtered to the outskirts, in the infamous fields of the death (death fields). It is curious to know that some of the guards of the prison, and different leaders of the Red Khmers, also ended up suffering the tortures and the death in prison, because they had shown too much empathy with the victims. The terror which Pol Pot (the leader of the Red Khmers) managed to establish in Cambodia was held by itself because, if you did not manage to behave with sufficient cruelty against the victims, you ended up becoming one. Besides, you could never question yourself on the innocence of the victims, then according to the Red Khmers, it was better to trap ten innocents than to leave one guilty in freedom. However, who were at first the victims? Naturally the political dissidents, but also any person that showed signs of having education (for example to wear glasses) or of to have belonged to the middle social class. Pol Pot was a communist leader who thought that the peasants were the only representatives of the working class and that the cities constituted focus where it was very difficult to eliminate the activities of free market. So, when Pol Pot gained the revolution in 1975, he eliminated the monetary system and emptyed all the cities (more than 2 million people in Phnom Phen) and sent all the people to different regions to cut the forest and to cultivate rice, working with conditions of slavery. Many people died, and a lot more in the destination, the production of rice did then not obtain the goals yearned for by Pol Pot and the hunger extended to all the country. In the end, with a paralyzed industry (one of the 7 people that were saved from the prison Tuol Sleng was a mechanic that could fix machines) and a terrified population, was quite simple for the communists of Vietnam and deserters of Cambodia to conquer in 1979 most of the country, where they restored the symbolic figure of a king and a corrupt democracy. Unfortunately, these 4 years of Pol Pot to the power were terrible, for during the regime 2 million Cambodians (20% of the population) died, some of the most terrifying numbers in the history of the humanity. Pol Pot died exiled in the mountains in 1998 and since then, they have started to arrest and to judge some leaders of the regime, as the director of the prison Tuol Sleng, even though these (and all the other repressors) are justified arguing if they had not acted like this would have been converted in victims. Sihanoukville (see on map) 17/05/2009:
We felt likegoing to the beach and, having heard the beaches of Thailand are too developed and full of tourists,we decide of trying the only city in Cambodia that lives looking to the sea, Sihanoukville, a city that started to exist from 1955 when the only port of deep waters in the country (all the trade was developed before by earth or by the rivers) was built. The Catalans Jordi and Anna also came with us and together we went to the beach called Serendipity, the most popular and full of tourists. For luck, we found a quite economic hotel with compared to the prices of the area: five dollars for a quite big and clean room, with television and toilet. It does not have to be said that Alexandra was delighted with the room, in spite of the visit that we had by night from a huge insect of about five centimetres long that it insisted on going on the shoulder of Alexandra, while she screamed very hysterical that i killed it or took it out. The truth, it disgusted me to kill it and finally I managed to throw it out of the room. It was a day of luck for the insect, because if it had fallen in the hands of a Cambodian for sure he would have captured it, fried it and eat it. Jordi and Anna did not find room in our hotel and had to catch a room for double the money in a pretty bungalow on the beach. I noticed that they did not have the same budgetary restrictions as we and for example, with the same money that they spent to travel a year for all the world, our friends David and Maria could travel 4 or 5 years. Anyway, the quality in the way of travelling was noticed because, while we tried to imitate the way of travelling of our friends, Jordi and Anna they did not restrict from eating in the expensive restaurants of the beach. The problem was that apart from the restaurants of the beach there was almost nothing, besides, all the shops of the area had the products about four times more expensive than in Phnom Phen. Alexandra despaired immediately, commenting that she was dying of hunger all times, then we only found to the outskirts some shops that sold soups and some quite mediocre sandwiches. The second day in Sihanoukville, I went out to walk above the rocks in the west of the beach of Serendipity up to the beach of Sokha, where there was a couple of big hotels that took up almost all the extension of the coast. In spite of everything, the beach was pretty because at the end of this there was a fishermen. I arrived up to there and walked among its wooden homes, in the face of the surprise of the inhabitants that continuously greeted me with friendliness. There I found a local restaurant and with hunger from the previous day I ate up a couple of delicious soups and I bought some fruits to the local price. Afterwards I returned under the scorching sun up to the hotel. In the afternoon i had thought to bathe, but we met with Jordi and Anna and it became dark while we conversed. But, I didnt bath the day after, because at night I started to feel bad and the following day I passed it entirely in bed. I felt like vomiting, indicating to me that i had eaten something bad, although at times i thought that it could be malaria or some come back of the one that I had in Africa. Also Alexandra was feeling bad, some symptoms different to mine. So, when today we have already felt a little better we have decided to jump the budget and to do a good meal in a restaurant of the beach, Alexandra eating chicken and I fish, accompanied by a large jar of beer (which only cost 0,25 dollars, a promotion to recruit tourists). It has been a nice evening party, observing as the light it was turned off behind some clouds of torments and listening to the demands for the children that asked for charity or bracelets. Phnom Phen (see on map) 19/05/2009:
On Monday, we returned to Phnom Phen a day later from what we had foreseen . We returned to the area of the hotels of the lake Boeng Kak and stopped again to the same hotel where we had lodged ourselves previously. For luck in the new room there was not any hole for where the rats could enter, although the runs that these did through the ceiling were terrifying. It was also impressive as all our room rattled when the foreign girl of the room next to us invited the Cambodian young owner of the hotel to share it with her. We had to wait to today on Tuesday in the morning to collect the passport in the China embassy but we were still a little tired and ill and yesterday afternoon we did not do anything. In the morning we have collected the passports and have paid the Chinese visas (inexplicably the Alexandra had to pay 70 $ and I only 30 $). Afterwards, we passed through the area of the central market, returned to the area of the lake and passed the afternoon between the hotel and the small outdoor restaurant occupied by Veasna. Veasna was a very nice man that on the contrary to all the hotels of the area has a shop very simple but that does the best sandwiches (David and Maria: when you are through the area try the sandwich of omlet!). Yesterday in the afternoon I asked him how the repression of the regime of Khmers Rouges was lived and without any type of reluctance he started to explain to us that since small, his family lived in Phnom Phen. When the Khemers Rouges entered the city, these obliged the people to leave towards the fields ( about two million people), including the ten members of his family. Through the path they killed his father, who had been welded and once arrived to the destination killed his brother, who had been military police. After a month they divided up all the families displaced according to sex and ages and Veasna, which was 8 years, was sent to work to dig channels, beside another group of 30 boys of ages between 6 and 15 years. During the four years that he was working as slave for the Khmeres Rouges he passed a lot of hunger, for they only gave a bowl of rice every day. Even then, Veasna commented that he was lucky, because in other areas the food was still more scarce and the mortality due to malnutrition was sky-high. On the other hand, the group of Veasna changed of location every ten days, once a canalisation finished to take water to the new fields of rice, and when passing through the forest they could collect hidden roots or to hunt insects that ate with delight. When finally finished the regime of Pol Pot they could be brought together with the other two surviving relatives (of a family of 10 people) and returned to Phnom Phen. His home was occupied by vietnameses soldiers, but these told him that the family could occupy any other home empty of the city and keep it (the majority of the people that died during the regime originated from the cities). They occupied a good home for some years, but in the face of theneed formoney, in 1995 he sold it and bought one more humble near the lake. For luck, in 1999 the first tourists started to appear through the area and he opened the first restaurant, with quite a lot of success, even though he has always maintained it and has a very humble aspect. Now, Veasna seems a happy man, even if he looks with worry at the next drying of the lake Boeng Kak and the possible repercussion on the tourism. ‹ Previous (23/03/2009) MONTH Next (2009-05-22)› ‹ Previous (2009-04-01 - Thailand) COUNTRY Next (2009-05-13 - Cambodja)› |
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