Travelogue 2011

OK, I have no plan at this new year eve night. So, I've decided to 'document' my travel itinerary for the year.

15 Jan - 25 Jan ~ Laos

Sabaidee! In the middle of the 1st month of the year, I started a backpack journey to Laos, the only country in Southeast Asia without any coastlines, just by myself. Don't be surprised, it's not my 1st time on the road alone. Try yourself once before making any comments to it.

Luang Prabang was my 1st stop. You can read about the 12 hours bus journey from Vientiane here. I fell in love with this UNESCO World Heritage city. I stayed 4 nights there and should have stayed longer. A beautiful city with mountains in sight and sandwiched by rivers.

Besides, joining a day trip to both Pak Ou Cave & Khuang Xi Waterfall, visiting the Ex-Palace cum Musuem, famous Wat Xieng Thong and different Wats (Temples), what I did there was mostly walking aimlessly around the town. When tired, just sat down and grabbed something to eat to drink. I felt great about it - observing the locals' activities and sharing stories with other travelers.

Khuang Xi Waterfall

Next stop at Vang Vieng, where it's famous for the tubing along the river. I have nothing much to talk about as it's just a town full of drunk foreigners from 5pm onwards. Quite a 'polluted' scene in this nice and supposed quiet mountain town. If you are not into trying the tubing, like it, you can most likely skip this town.

I spent the last few days of my trip to Laos in the capital, Vientiane. It's probably the least busy capital among the others in this region. As all the main sights in the city are within walking distance, one can visit them within half a day; like Patuxai - Arc de Triomphe alike, and the golden Phat Tha Luang.

Phat Tha Luang

Out of the capital, somewhere close to the Thai border, there's Buddha Park, where one can find different Buddha sculptures there. It can easily be reached by taking local bus from the Talat Sao bus station. Oh yeah, you can buy very cheap baguette at the Talat Sao market.

I did many things for the 1st time during this trip - taking the 12 hours bus, accommodation hunting (no pre-booked), no camera just an iPhone 3GS, wearing only slipper cause shoe worn out, walking to the airport, not bringing jumper (din check weather forecast beforehand) and bringing along kain pelikat (extremely useful, multitasking).

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4 Mar - 7 Mar ~ Bangkok, Thailand

At very last minute, I decided to go to Bangkok to have a small gathering with fellow Warwickian buddies - Vidya, Felicia, Mun Hou & Hong Choy. As Vidya was working there, she was our host and let us camped at her small apartment unit. Tasting great food, some shopping, a visit to Wat Arun, meeting up with our Thai uni-mate Chaiwat and of course, catching with each other life. That's all we did for the few days in Bangkok.

Warwickian buddies in Bangkok

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3 Aug - 9 Aug ~ Sri Lanka

This was a very satisfying trip for me! Great companions - xueji mates - Khuan & Syuen, plus my sis. It was a trip without much planning. We just got advices from the locals along the way and itinerary was made spontaneously.

We spent the first 3 nights in Kandy. It's located in the Central Sri Lanka and we were there during its famous Esala Perahera festival, right timing to watch the parade. Kandy also houses the The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the main sight in the city.

I would recommend visitors to stay at Majestic Tourist Hotel, which is run by Mr Jospeh and his family. They can make the arrangement for airport transfer and day trips.

During the stay in Kandy, we made a day trip to Nuwara Eliya. It's an amazing hill town like Fraser Hill and Cameron Highland back in Malaysia. All of us liked it so much and wished we could spend a night there. Don't forget to visit the tea plantations and of course, to stock up some tea supplies for own consumption or as souvenir.

Blue Field Plantation, Nuwara Eliya

Then, we headed to Dambulla. We visited Golden Temple of Dambulla (cave temples) and nearby Sigiriya (Lion Rock) site. Both of these sights are listed as UNESCO World Heritage site. The only downside was that the entrance fee to Sigiriya was quite expensive, USD30 per person.

After that, we were planning to Colombo. But, the locals suggested to us to travel to Kurunegala instead. So, we followed their advice and Kurunegala was the next destination. It's more like a relaxing pit stop for us - taking afternoon nap, walking around the quiet town, had Lion - the local brewed beer, sarees shopping... etc

LION - street tasting, Kurunegala

We never went to Colombo at the end. Negambo was the final stop before bidding farewell to Sri Lanka. This coastal town's where the airport located and we need to catch early flight the next day, so it's better to be there. Oh, we were attacked by mosquitos on the last night; bad ending.

It was quite an surprise to come across a few Sri Lanka born Malays during the trip. I didn't know there's a handful population of them in Sri Lanka. Besides, we met some locals who had worked in Malaysia and Singapore before. They gave us very helpful travel tips.

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29 Oct - 1 Nov ~ Chiang Mai, Thailand

Another Warwickian buddies gathering for the year. This time, more people made it to the trip, but too bad, Vidya couldn't join at last as the Bangkok flood had affected the plan.

Besides Chiang Mai, we did a day trip to Chiang Rai and the famous Golden Triangle. It's a tiring trip for me, probably due to the age factor and the lack of sleep.

otw to Chiang Rai

比翼连枝

堂姐结婚了！恭喜恭喜！
Happy Newly-Wed to cousin Pooi Yan & Sam!

12 hours bus journey to Luang Prabang

Once I arrived at the Vientiane airport, I took a cab (cost USD7) to the Northern Bus Terminal. My plan was to start the trip from the North - the UNESCO world heritage town of Luang Prabang. Then, to Vang Vieng and end my trip to Laos in the capital - Vientiane (Viang Chan).

the ticket counter inside the bus terminal

The bus terminal seemed quite new, probably just renovated not long ago. But, there was this funny urine-alike smell in the terminal area; really not sure whether it was the sanitation system malfunctioning or other thing. Also, I discovered something interesting in the washroom. The cubicles in the gents and ladies were 'connected' - only separated by glass blocks; blurry effect, of course. Weird huh?

The express bus ticket from Vientiane to Luang Prabang cost 95,000 Lao Kip (around RM36-38). Besides getting sales from passenger service, the bus itself too function as a 'cargo' bus. That's why it took almost 2 hours to load all goods to the top of the bus. I'm telling you, there're 2 motorcycles up there!

workers loading goods up to the bus - bus no: 9888

There were only 3 foreigners: me, a French lady and a German lad. I think the bus was 'donated' (read 'dumped') by the Korean to this country, as I found quite a few labels in Korean inside the bus. Could it be a sign of reusability and durability of Korean products? Or a positive sign of bilateral relation?

One thing I did find out: the odometer wasn't working - meaning the driver (or at least me, since I was just sitting behind the driver seat) wouldn't know the speed of the bus. Anyway, he was a steady driver. Moreover, speeding was quite impossible. The roads was like those in Malaysia, before elections - badly maintained. On top of that, not to mention the windy mountain roads. So, the main reason why the bus journey took roughly 12 hours was due to the road condition.

I would add in one more - it had too many 'pee-stops' during the bus journey. Yes, the bus was stopped in the middle of no way for people to relieve themselves at the bushes. Not only men, women did that too. The latter part was really a culture shock to me. Don't ask me how they did that, I didn't check them out. Well, come to think about it: it's human nature after all, right? Luckily, there were a few proper toilet stops, no need to fertilise the Lao soil.

stopped here for proper toilet and buying snacks

Another few discoveries that I found to be fascinating: the driver, his girlfriend and the bus assistants were having dinner picnic in the bus, right in front of me; a few passengers were picked up by the roadside along the way and their seats were just plastic stools on the aisle; one of the assistants slept on the mat placed on the aisle, right next to me; another one slept in the luggage compartment (yes, the part underneath the bus; wouldn't he be breathing in the dust?)

The weirdest: a long hunter sniper with kept in the bus, With or without bullets, I has no idea! What's that for? To kill wild boars or any other animals found on the mountain area? Or to defend against robbers? But, all of these didn't bother me much, other than the non-stop blasting of Lao music. That would be my only complaint for which I found it very much irritating.

Overall, it was a positive experience and quite a pleasant bus journey. However, I doubt that I would take such a long bus journey again in the near future. For your information, later on, I took minivan / minibus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng (6 hours), then to Vientiane (5 hours). They cost a little bit more, but faster and slightly more comfortable.

【鄉音 回家】

祝大家：辛卯年，事事顺心、身心愉快！Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing everyone has a great year ahead and dreams come true!