Tuesday 28 December 2010

Part 2/2: Dolphin-Spotting and Becoming Fisherman's Friends (Not the Mints)...

   So here we go, folks…Biking Story #3! And I know I say this every time, but this time was actually the most successful trip! The journey just seemed a lot, lot easier, helped both by the smoother paths and better bikes- we had brakes and everything! Novelty!





Before we knew it, we’d reached the lovely Long Beach, from where we intended to take a boat trip to see the rare Irrawaddy dolphins in the turquoise Mekong river waters. First, though, we had the pleasure to meet the man who organized our dolphin boat and would later become our friend: Mr. Bounsom. Immediately likable with his baggy white t-shirt and HUGE white smile, Mr. Bounsom ran one of the two restaurants on the beach, and had a pretty good command of English. I’ve also never met anybody else who laughs so much- although everybody laughs with him, because his laugh is so contagious!
   Anyway, more on Mr. Bounsom later! As I sported a very fetching SE Asian-style conical straw hat, we set off with one of his friends in a wooden canoe-style motor-boat along the sparkling river: as much of a highlight as actually seeing the dolphins. So close to the water that you almost feel you’re zipping along on your bottom, we dodged trees rising out of the river that would be swamped in the wet season, whilst looking at the forested borders of Laos to our left, and Cambodia to our right. Just as we were really enjoying the ride, we were taken to a rock for some dolphin-spotting, and came across a bizarre sight: some sheepish looking tourists in one boat, and gun wielding Cambodian border police in another. We found out that the former had been chased all the way back to this rock by the police after trying to see the dolphins up close! Obviously enjoying the flirtation with danger, they soon zipped back to the border; hopefully they were more successful the second time! Though we were standing atop the rock in the baking midday sun, we caught a few glimpses of the elegant creatures, rolling around in the water- though they were too far away for a decent look. Still, it was an experience to see Mekong dolphins, swimming just in front of Cambodia…











   Now, we thought our fun was over in Don Khon, and we were ready to cycle back to Don Det to try and track the elusive Mr. Hoy. However, as we once again got chatting to the affable Mr. Bounsom about his family, and shared an eggcup (?) of LaoLao whiskey with him, I casually mentioned that Patrick wanted to go fishing later that afternoon. He didn’t take much persuading, immediately saying that he’d take us out for a few hours fishing at 4pm, coming back just in time for sunset. Perfect, we thought, just enough time to try his wife’s delicious fish laap and fresh spring rolls, and to go for a quick swim. Aside from the slightly chilling sight of a 4 year old Lao girl playing with a big meat cleaver (bursting into tears when she had to leave her precious toy behind as she was heaved onto the back of her mother’s scooter), we had a very chilled few hours.
   Before we knew it, it was fishing time! Grabbing the fishing essentials- some scales and three Beer Laos- we set off on the river once more. Mr. Bounsom stopped every time he saw a fisherman to ask his verdict on the fish situation, but it was always the same: ‘no fish’. So we zipped further into the Mekong, with big, angular boulders rising out of the water instead of trees. Suddenly the boat stopped, and Mr. Bounsom was telling us to get out and walk up the sandbank. So we obeyed, and were greeted by seven or eight crudely made wooden huts on stilts, as well as the same number of Lao men, women and babies looking at us curiously. One little boy looked almost possessed in his shock! Mr. Bounsom explained that this is a fishing village, where the fishermen and their families stay for ten days every month before selling their goods in the nearby villages. A very interesting, and unexpected insight into a Lao fisherman’s life, as well as a good place to pick up LaoLao whiskey in a BeerLao bottle, apparently!
   With sunset gradually descending into night, it was time to get back…but not without a quick stop at a giant wooden fish trap, onto Mr. Bounsom quickly clambered to throw a HUGE fish right in front of me! If I’d shuffled forward one centimetre, it would have slapped me in the face! I don’t know who looked more shell-shocked, me or the fish! Anyway, after a quick phone call from his wife (because of course, you can get signal in the outer reaches of the Mekong), we zoomed home in the semi-darkness, with a few swigs of that LaoLao whiskey on the way for luck.











  By pure instinct, Mr. Bounsom picked out our starting point of Long Beach in the darkness, and quickly banked on the shores. The only people left in his restaurant were the dolphin-trip boatmen, all eagerly counting their wages from that day. They were all very smiley; one boatman in particular was keen to chat, and had pretty good English. He told us that we should come back for Lao New Year’s in mid-April- ‘no work!’ he said, with the biggest smile on his face! In the meantime, Mr. Bounsom’s wife had fried us up some of those fish her husband had caught from the fish trap- delicious!
  But then it was time for the really fun part- riding home- made even more fun by the dark night…Mr. Bounsom was at front, Pat and I were in the middle, and Mrs. Bounsom and her adorable kiddies brought up the rear; we had quite the convoy going on. Thank God it was a smooth ride- the headlight that they gave me didn’t stretch so far! They took us as far as the Don Khon-Don Det bridge, before bidding us goodbye. Only a fool would have tried to ride from that moment on, armed with only the lamps at the ends of two lighters for a light source. As we crossed the bridge, Pat told me to look up into the sky; I lifted my head, and the two of us just stood there for a few seconds, mesmerised. Millions of stars were clustered together, almost more stars than night, just like they had been near Thorong-La in Nepal; there’s something beautifully comforting about having a blanket of stars above you.
   If we had been anywhere else in the world, the walk back would be terrifying- walking through wooded areas, unable to see immediately behind you…but Don Det feels so unbelievably safe that I only had one minor freak-out on the half-hour walk back. They’re so laid back and friendly here, I doubt they even have a police officer on the island. Once in a while we reached a lit house, where the people inside would shout out a big ‘Sabai Dee!’ in that warm, drawn out manner with which Lao’s greet you. Anyway, no need to panic: we made it back safe and sound, slyly depositing our bikes back and hoping they wouldn’t charge us for the late arrival. Who were we kidding- they probably didn’t even realize it was past the designated time of 6pm!
So, we can’t really think of a better way to have ended our time in the lovely, laid-back Don Det. All I can say is that, despite its slightly touristy side, there were still many moments, apart our crazy fishing experience, where I managed to find the real Laos that I was hankering after in Vang Vieng. I even found it at breakfast, at the great restaurant we went to; all they serve is noodle soup, their only advertisement was a board nailed to a pole that had ‘noodle soup’ painted onto it. Definitely the best noodle soup I’ve had in a long time- they could give China a lesson or two about flavourful, non-spicy soup- but it wasn’t just that. It was the grandmother doing the laundry a few feet away, the cows chewing on big hay bundles in the garden whilst cats, dogs, ducks and chickens stepped over their feet, the adorable little girl who was pleased as punch to help her family by clearing our plates, the whole family’s friendliness without being overbearing…just their general generosity, both with their smiles and portions!
We’re back in Pakse at the moment, after running out of money- no ATMs on Don Det! We leave for Bangkok today on the sleeper train- it’s going to be a VERY different experience from the last week, but I still can’t wait! New currency, new food (mmmm-Thai green curry)… it’s always fun to cross to another country! Goodbye Laos, and do me a favour- keep up your laid-back attitude, your flavourful laap and noodle soup, and your open smiles, and you won’t fail to win people’s hearts as much as your more famous neighbours. I’ll be back, I’m sure!

Part 1/2: 'Tis the Season To Drink BeerLao...


Both of us woke up Christmas morning, sun streaming onto our balcony, feeling exactly the way you should feel- with a monstrous hangover (and appetite!). I was hoping Santa might bestow us with clear heads whilst he was on his nightly rounds, but it seems he wasn’t able to find our bungalow…
   Back in the Western world, Christmas Eve is probably THE most exciting, energy-packed day of the year, sorting everything out for the big day to follow. Christmas Eve in Don Det: probably the quietest day on the island. Aside for a few banners and Christmas trees standing here and there in ‘fa-rang’ (foreigner) run bars, you’d never think it was the holidays. You know the film ’28 Days Later’?…OK, it wasn’t quite as bad as that, but it still felt pretty deserted!
   When we returned to our bungalow, we soon saw where a few backpackers were lingering…A few hundred metres from our balcony, we spied people sitting on a sandbank in big rubber tubes, drinking a few beers…This image looked too inviting to ignore, so we went and got our own tubes (no deposit, only advice to not fall down the waterfall, conveyed by mime), and headed down to the river. In hindsight, if we’d know we would stay on the sandbank for a few hours, we probably would have just swam across; the Mekong river current made tubing more than a little tricky! Still, we made it (just), and soon made friends with those people who had made us so jealous!  We ended up floating back in our tubes (very, very slowly) at sunset, following the flaming path that the sun’s orange streaks created on the river. 











Pretty nice way to end Christmas Eve, right? Oh, but the night was just beginning…Whilst on the sandbank, we’d heard about a private party happening in our bungalows that we didn’t even know about; we’re obviously not in with the cool kids. This turned out to be a campfire that we ended up joining later on…and being the last ones to leave, along with some sound French guys and a lovely Brit named Naomi. Good times that night…bad times the next morning.
   Anyway, for obvious reasons, not a lot occurred on Christmas Day…but the plan for Boxing Day was to try a spot of fishing Lao style- maybe even with those huge nets they throw into the river. We thought we’d found the perfect place with the perfect price in Mr. Hoy…the only problem was his disappearing act. Three times we returned to Mr. Hoy’s hut, but he was just nowhere to be seen. No matter, we thought, retreating to our hammocks…we’ll try again the next day, after a spot of dolphin spotting in the morning. See the next blog entry for more!



Thursday 23 December 2010

Baguettes, Bumpy Buses and Biking (Yes, Again!)...

So, today is Christmas Eve...how did that come around so quickly??! It seems like only yesterday that we were arriving in Mumbai- nervous, confused, intimidated and bloody excited- ready to start our rollercoaster ride through Asia...now four months, one camel ride, one mountain trek, and many, MANY tuk-tuk rides later- here we are!
   Listen to my festive sentimentality- I haven't even had a BeerLao yet! I'll shush for a second and tell you about our visit to the Laos capital of Vientiane. Now, it's a clean, approachable city, don't get me wrong, but our lasting memory of Vientiane will be getting our Thai Tourist Visa (with every other backpacker, apparently), and the FOOD. Somehow, we've managed to pick up three food obsessions whilst in the capital; the first, thanks to Vientiane's French influence, is that crusty bread of dreams, the baguette. We now can't get enough; Patrick seems to have at least two baguettes a day. The second and third are, more fittingly, Lao dishes- 'laap', a very spicy minced meat salad, and the even spicier raw shredded papaya salad.
   I don't want to bore you with yet another sleeper bus story- let's face it, they're not that exciting. But I have to quickly mention our cosy encounter at the bumpy back-end of the bus (where we were placed AGAIN- why us? Why?) It was actually quite a decent bus, except for our beds...the lack of headroom was a little annoying, but sharing the bed with two other ladies was something else. The tasty free wafer we were given did help to soften the blow (I'm easily pleased). Lucky neither of them were snorers either!
   As I write, we're in Don Det, an island in the far south of Laos. Within minutes of alighting, as we were shown to our riverside bungalow with sunset views, complete with hammock, we knew this was going to be our kinda place. It's a great place to relax, but yesterday we decided to embark on another biking venture- always a semi-ordeal for me. As usual, for the first half an hour, I was riding like a five-year-old (though five year olds barely able to reach mountain bike handles were overtaking me). But, as we rode past sleepy water buffaloes (and around a particularly stubborn one) through the wheat field, I soon got into my stride, and we rode all the way to the adjoining island, Don Khon. We'd cleverly chosen to ride in the midday heat, on bikes with no brakes, so at points the biking was hot, edgy work- teeth-chattering at times with the rocks on the road! It was still a lot of fun though, and we rode through a fair few villages (complete with slightly intimidating children playing basketball and badminton).
   Anyway, I think you've heard enough from me- I'm off to drink a BeerLao or five in the hammock to keep cool, whilst wearing a Santa hat to look cool (ahem). I'll force Patrick to wear one as well; we WILL be festive, dammit! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! Love to you all!

P.S Thank you so much for keeping up with my blog so far; I really appreciate your support! I really hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Sunday 19 December 2010

Butts Stuck on Rocks, and Avoiding the Strong? Mushroom Bucket...

Well, it's difficult to know what to say about tubing when the title of this blog pretty much sums it up! And that was a deliberate typo after 'Strong'...let me explain...
   We started off on our tubing adventure pretty late in the day; the clouds didn't make for inviting river-floating weather. But as soon as the sun came out, we put on our swimsuits, I excitedly put on a thigh-length dress without feeling inappropriate or indecent (I was positively covered up compared to some girls...), and we set off for the river!
  Ignoring the complaints of one unhappy tuber- 'We only passed one bar, and we're NOT happy!' (get over it, love!)- we shared a tuk tuk with an American guy and two English girls. We ended up sharing our tubing experience with the latter lasses, Pippa and Helen; it was so nice to meet two people who were completely on our wavelength about travelling! We had a whale of a time tubing down the river with them; Helen and I tended to lag at the back, with our bottoms constantly getting stuck on the rocks! Our entry point to the river was pretty interesting; on one side, crazy Lao's on a makeshift zip-wire flinging themselves into the river (we did not attempt this- fair play to all my fellow travelers who did!), on the other side, a Lao group attempting to run across the river current (I somehow ended up in the middle of the group; they pushed me in the right direction!), up above stood a crowd of revelry hecklers, and then generally people getting wasted all around.
   A little way down, we stopped in a riverside bar, lured by the painted sign that promised '1 Bucket + Free Food!'. When we stumbled out of our rubber rings, we saw another crudely painted sign- 'Strong? Mushroom Bucket'. We were not tempted by this- it's not good news when the bar doesn't even know how strong it is!- four Beerlaos did the job very nicely, thank you! Or were they just advertising mushroom buckets to strong people? Who knows! Anyway, instead of doing the bar crawl thing, we just took the very chilled approach of just drinking in one bar. After many chats and laughs, and a quick toilet-visit through a garden full of cockerels(!), we plopped back into our rings and set off down the river once more. I was continuing with the afternoon's relaxed attitude, just cruising down the picturesque river at my own pace, luscious, misty mountains either side of me. However, just when I was getting into a faster current, I suddenly saw that Patrick and Pippa had banked on the left, when Helen and I were somewhere middle-right. Desperately paddling with my left hand only (the other hand was occupied with a Beerlao can), I eventually made it to the bank- though a couple of Lao guys had to help me out of my tube! Poor Helen, swept with the river's fast current, ended up falling into the river, consequently losing her flip-flops! No time to worry about that- it was 5.55p.m, and we had to return our tubes by 6p.m if we didn't want to lose 20,000 kip each! (To put it into perspective, that's about 1.50 pounds, $2.50 CAD, so probably wouldn't have been a big deal...but shush! It was crucial at the time!). After telling our tuk-tuk driver to step on it, we raced back towards town, and made it back to the shop by the skin of our teeth. You know us- always living life on the edge!
   So tubing in summary?...Well, I've already done that with the title. We're in Laos' capital at the moment, Vientiane, enjoying a litre of Beerlao- or three.. Tomorrow we're headed to another embassy to get a visa...this time, we'll make sure we have the right bloody name on the bloody cheque! Or expect to see blood shed...Off down south on Wednesday!

Bye Bye China- Sabai Dee, Laos...


We weren’t expecting much of our last night in China; we’d travelled it to a tiny town called Mengla to easily take the bus into Laos.  Though the town itself was unmemorable, there were a few memorable moments, with a few China must-do’s ticked off the list for good measure. First, we went into a humble little restaurant to get our last fix of noodles Chinese-style. I’d noticed the chef kneading and twisting dough at the restaurant doorway, but didn’t think much of it. Then I saw him place thin dough drips into a huge bubbling vat of water…he was making homemade noodles! For the Martz family: very similar process to how we made pasta in Italy, except he wasn’t getting as messy as I did! Patrick and I agreed that they were probably the best noodles yet; the already delicious taste and gooey-crunchy texture were only enhanced by seeing them made in front of our eyes.
     As we searched for a decent watering hole to toast our time in China, avoiding the dubious brothel-esque places, we suddenly came across a local park. While in the UK, parks at night tend to attract underage teenagers drinking Barcardi Breezers, China pulls a very different sort of crowd. On one side were about 30 people practicing a Tai-Chi routine to slow music; they just all seemed to know the moves instinctively. I particularly enjoyed the shocking karate-chop move in amongst the slow waving arms and bending legs, even if it did make me jump! In the middle of the park, a few couples were playing badminton, though they could barely see the shuttlecock in the semi-darkness. On the other side, another group of around 30 were practicing something very different from Tai Chi; the music was slightly jazzier, with dance-moves that I can only describe as a mix between country-dancing with salsa. Imagine that, if you will! No pictures, unfortunately- I didn’t have my camera! As we people-watched with a kind of curious delight, an old man came and spoke Chinese to us: after a few minutes, he said something like ‘You don’t understand, do you?’, gave us a beaming, slightly gappy smile, and sat next to us silently, enjoying the evening entertainment alongside us.
   So, that was one China must-do out of the way- watch a park-based Tai Chi session. Another thing we’ve been searching for since we’ve been in China is the karaoke bars, that have proved more elusive than you’d think. But lo and behold, we passed about 6 or 7 on the way home; I can’t think of any better soundtrack to end my night, and indeed our time in China, then Chinese twentysomethings wailing their favourite Chinese pop songs with all their heart and soul.
   The next morning was an early start; our bus left at 8am! Well, it was scheduled to leave then- it actually left around 9am, after stuffing seemingly endless supplies of flower bouquets, long bamboo sticks and melons under the bus. The fairly uneventful journey took about 12 hours, with a few long stops either side of the border to sort out immigration stuff. Being the only foreigners on our bus, we were always holding everyone up; all the passengers seemed good-natured about it, though! Everything went without a hitch; we were stamped out of China, and given a visa to Laos with no troubles (and no extra rip-off extra payments!).  The only thing we were worried about was knowing where to get off; it was going to be dark when we arrived in Luang Prabang. But, as ever, it was much simpler than we thought, and we stepped off the bus to the chorus of many tuk-tuk invitations. Ah, it was like being in India again (especially when the tuk-tuk we chose became piled up with 4 extra people, a big white box, and a baby balanced precariously on his father’s lap).
We’d only travelled a short way over the China border, but it soon clear that we were in a very different world.  Everybody was very smiley, approachable and spoke a little English. The latter especially is going to take some getting used to- no more exaggerated mimes and wild pointing! We even managed a little cheeky haggle for our room with a very sweet Lao guy, even if he did take a LOT of persuading…
   As I write, we are in Vang Vieng, home of tubing craziness, after taking a minibus from Luang Prabang yesterday. If I had to personify both of these places…Luang Prabang would be a classy, pristinely dressed lady in sparkling white, eager to please travelers and obsessed with cleanliness, yet with a slightly wild, luscious side on the outskirts…Vang Vieng would be a crazy raver, obsessed with Friends, Family Guy and Simpsons. There's a potential mellow side to Vang Vieng- the riverside mountain scenery is truly serene and mystical- but even this part of her is permeated by an eternal partying spirit...(more on our tubing bar crawl experience in the next blog entry...)
   The Luang Prabang- Vang Vieng journey (despite the vomit-inducing windy roads) was probably the highlight so far: the green undulating hills were stunning, but it was observing everyday life happening in the roadside wooden village huts that really interested me. A little kid running to his grandfather, a man sitting outside his hut writing his diary, women huddled around a leaping fire to keep warm, little girls carrying man-sized wood planks on their head at dusk, little boys rolling down construction site sand dunes…this is what I came to Laos to see. Ordinary people living their lives.  I just hope I can meet some of these people first-hand in the next few weeks…

XieXie for the Memories, China...

A few poems I wrote when reflecting on my time in China, and while entering Laos…

On The Street

Perfectly poised
between your teeth,
your paintbrush tells your story,

of how you lost those hands of yours
how you're betrayed by this land of yours
of how you're here, on the street.

Crowds stoop and stare
at your hard work 
to read your tragic story.
I cannot read these words of yours,
I cannot live these hurts of yours
as I stand here, on the street.

To me, your words are like an art,
To you, my words set us apart
as we lock eyes, on the street.

To you, my white face brings a buck,
To me, your poor fate's brought bad luck
to bring you here, on the street.

I'm just happy we got to meet.

Blind To My Gestures

Blind to my gestures,
deaf to my words-
how does a Westerner get to be heard?
I can't read Chinese
nor understand
when you speak, though I try- this is your land.

It's the opposite
to what I know-
to you, I probably seem very slow.

Give me a minute,
I'll get my book
to translate this word- let me have a look.

I know that it's lazy
and wrong of me
to expect English spoken easily.

When I try to speak
your Mandarin,
I really don't know where I should begin!

Always feeling lost,
nowhere to turn;
I guess this provides a lesson to learn-

You should help others
Though you can't speak
Their language- it will make their day less bleak!

Next time I come back, 
One thing's for sure,
I will have studied my phrasebook much more!

Borders

Funny how when you cross one border,
Things can suddenly lose all order,
Time stands still, and so does the bus,
And for once, everybody's not waiting for us!
Here we are in Laos, let the good times roll,
Where biking will be good for the soul.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

No Cycling, But Lots Of Photo Uploading...

...As the title suggests, we've updated the blog with pics from the Terracotta Warrior entry to the most recent Jinghong entry; hope you enjoy them! Sorry they've taken a while!
  As the title also suggests, the cycling tour that I excitedly spoke of in the last blog post...didn't happen so much. It wasn't our fault; we fully intended to cycle round local villages once we'd bussed it to Damenglong. However, we were faced with 3 major things stopping us. One, we weren't totally sure we were in Damenglong until the day after we arrived. Two, it was BLOODY HOT. And three, there were no bicycle rental places. So...yeah, failure on the biking tour front. It was still an interesting place to visit though, even if it was a little challenging- we wandered around for an hour trying to find a hotel in the completely non-English speaking dusty little town. We were even able to find a little peace under a faux-Bodhi tree, complete with tiny Buddha, whilst overlooking the gorgeous surrounding countryside: luscious fields and banana plantations stretching to the Myanmar border.
   So, back in Jinghong, the plan now is to leave for Mengla tomorrow, then hopefully Laos the next day! Although who knows- our plans seem to change everyday...

Saturday 11 December 2010

Fake Chinese Gangsters, and Me? On a Bike? Hilarious...

...but true! More on that in a mo...
   First, Jinghong...or maybe I should start with the semi-dramatic journey to the Kunming bus station...That day had been a slow one, mostly because we were too lazy and wimpish to venture out into the cold weather sans jackets. We seriously need to man up. Always seeking some sort of adventure, that evening we decided to catch two public buses to the bus station, rather than the much easier taxi option. Little did we know what an adventure it would be!...The first bus was a breeze; only 10 minutes long and fairly roomy. The second bus, however, was to last about an hour and a half, and was barely bigger than the average minibus. Add to this half of Jinghong piling on, and no windows open, and you've got yourself a pretty claustrophobic atompshere...About an hour in, I started getting the wave of nausea, the white spots, the momentary blindness, all the fainting cliches...and I was standing in possibly the worst place: by the exit. I soon stumbled into Patrick and a random Chinese lady and was pushed into a seat, where everything became clear again. Pretty scary moment, I'm not gonna lie. Completely due to the bus's heat though- please don't worry! I blame it on the awesome guy who was singing along to the 'Backstreet Boys Greatest Hits' playing on his Ipod. While he was on there, I was feeling fine and singing along with him to my heart's content, especially enjoying his interpretation of that lesser known Backstreet classic, 'The Call'. It was when he left that I started to feel queasy. Co-incidence?...
   Anyway, enough of self-pity...onto Jinghong! We really have become tangled in this town's laid-back atmosphere...we just can't seem to escape! Of course, the tropical vibe helps, with temperatures edging into the 20s and palm trees lining the streets. Our awesomely cheap hotel has also brought incentive to stay longer- 50 Yuan a night! That's 5 pounds, 8 Canadian bucks! Ensuite too- a novelty we haven't enjoyed in a while! It's fair to say that our best experience so far has probably come when we were at our most intoxicated states!...We were enjoying a few bevvies in Mekong Cafe, as you do, and then enjoying a few more back in our hotel room. Of course, the inevitable munchies came, so we headed out to the local vicinity to pick up some noodles. After trying (and failing miserably) to convey our food needs to one Chinese bar, we eventually stopped at an outdoor place we'd visited the day before, where we'd enjoyed a noodle breakfast for a bargain 4 Yuan. As we sat at the modest plastic table and low stools, the owners of the restaurant suddenly invited us over to finish the leftovers of the Dai barbecue they'd been cooking. Even though it soon became clear that neither spoke the other's language, it was truly a thrill to be eating in their company. Despite their true kindness and unfaltering hospitality- we were given beer-filled paper cups without a word- it was a fellow Chinese customer that made the evening truly memorable. Throughout our feast of barbecued snail, sauteed spinach and Dai-fired fish, he kept coming over to talk to us in excited Mandarin. His main focus was on the Nepalese Buddhist necklaces that Patrick was wearing on his wrist, as he kept showing us his own, presumably Buddhist necklace. He looked like a Chinese gangster with his suave suit and trilby; he even conveyed as much with joking, albeit slightly disturbing, 'cut-throat' and 'head-twist' gestures to us. Our hosts found his presence hilarious; whether it was our misunderstanding, or his genuine comedic words, who can say! Anyway, the whole meal was an amazing experience, and one which really made us realize how introductions are unnecessary to the sheer enjoyment of another person's company.
   Now, onto our most recent ventures- biking! For those of you who know me, this sounds like a fairly unbelievable concept- me, on a bike, actually managing to ride it. I can't remember the last time I rode a bike. My own mother tells me of how my face was crestfallen the day I received a bike as a child, being the scardey-cat that I was. But, now is the time to try new things, so we headed to the bike shop yesterday to rent two bikes for the day. Our intention was to make it to the Gasa Hot Springs- natural hot springs that appear in the Dai village of Gasa, just outside Jinghong. However, our slightly dodgy map took us to the equivalent of a dual-carriageway type road, and due to my shaky (at best) riding skills, we had to abort the mission. However, last night we discovered a much better map that suggested a much less scary and dangerous route to the Hot Springs. So, today we returned to the Bike Shop, determined not to return in the same three-hour slot as the day before!
    And, I'm pleased to announce...it was a semi success! Well, we actually made it to the Springs today- and I actually managed to ride a bike for most of it! Of course, I still had my nervous moments on the roads, but for most of the predominantly-countryside ride, I was carefree and loving it! Clouds have been hanging over us ominously all day, but they must have sensed the magnitude of my fear, because all we got was a light breeze and a few sunny tidbits. Once we finally managed to find them, the Hot Springs were not dissimilar to a swimming pool. The only difference was the slight eggy whiff of sulphur, and the pleasantly warm temperature of the water. At first it was just us and two other Chinese guys in hilariously tight and matching navy swimsuits; however, a family of 8 soon joined us as well, with their slightly (OK, very) annoying child. We still spent a few great, relaxing hours there before cycling back triumphantly to Jinghong. I was a little shaky again on the way back, but it was a HUGE improvement on the first day, when I considered cycling 10 metres a huge achievement! I'm definitely more stable now, and I was able to ride in the bike lanes of Jinghong today without too much panic or faltering...











   Our Xishuangbanna adventure is not over yet! Tomorrow, we head out of Jinghong for a few days, cycling around the surrounding villages- exciting times! Not long left in China- we head to Laos in less than a week. Christmas there, then New Year's in Bangkok! Can't believe its so close to Christmas- am feeling even less Christmassy than last year in Australia, if that's even possible. We're both missing you all lots! See you after our cycling tour!