Unanswered

Like when entering a chicken farm, Fred and I felt slightly amused when we boarded our Lhasa bound train in Chengdu. All the passengers had a ticket with a designated place and bed and the train was only about to leave in some 45 minutes – still, loud and intense arguments arouse all around us (as if there were fewer places than passengers or a free seating with only one window-seat). Anyhow, we found our coach and our beds, made ourselves comfortable and kept watching the chickens with great amusement.

The World is Flat - tss..!

Oxygen outlet

Noodles? Rice? 

The Qinghai Express left on time, we were about to spend two nights on it, travelling from west-central China towards its western province Tibet (in my Blog I will refer to Tibet as a province of China, more about this topic later in this post). The time on the train was not too hard to kill, some sleep here, some noodles there, a breathtaking look outside the window or a few pages of a book made the time pass easily. Ironically I am currently reading Thomas Friedmans 'The World is Flat' – while climbing up to 5072 meters.

As scheduled, we arrived in Lhasa on the 12. of June (exactly one month left for my Asia-Trip). With only little acclimatization problems, it felt good to finally be in the famous capital and biggest town of Tibet. Although we were recommended to stay in the hotel for the rest of the first day on 3650 meters, we could not stop ourselves and started exploring the town by feet. Our goal was clear; we needed to see the Potala Palace!

We found it – like hundreds of Chinese tourists. For some, I was the greater attraction, like in other countries in Asia, they were very surprised by the tall, white and long-nosed fellow. In extreme cases, they dropped everything and ran straight to me, just to get a picture. Feeling like a star, I fulfilled all the wishes and continued replying 'no' to the question whether I knew Yao Ming – the Chinese basketball superstar.

Hello, my name is George and I DO NOT play basketball!

We spent three days in Lhasa, exploring the surrounding sights, including not only the Potala Palace, but also various monasteries and temples. Our very competent and friendly guide Sonam helped us to understand the meaning and importance of all the places. He also brought us closer to the Tibetan Buddhism, a religion very different to the other types of Buddhism which I encountered so far.

Debating Monks and Lamas

Is the hand a hand - or something else?

As a little desert, we decided to go for a boat trip in Lhasa. The day before we left towards western Tibet we rode a speed boat on 3650 meters – an experience for its own. Then we (group of 8 individuals, as travelling alone is prohibited) drove to Shigatse and kept on exploring monasteries, high mountain passes and unique landscapes on the way. As there were plenty of all the mentioned, I will not even try to upload a justifying amount of pictures, otherwise Nepal might suffer a total breakdown of  all their internet connections.

Then our tour guide Sonam had the brilliant idea to leave one day earlier for the Everest Base Camp (EBC), since weather forecasts promised a higher chance to actually see the mountain one day earlier. So we jumped in our Landcruisers and drove up to 5000 meters, to the ETC (Everest Tourist Camp). The real base camp is not accessible without an 'Expedition Permit' which is issued only in exchange to a vast amount of money. The ETC welcomed us with oxygen supply and a cozy Yak tent. We both had little issues with the altitude and kept wandering around for some shots. As the moon came out, also the clouds disappeared, and we could spot the great Everest for a first time.

Yak tent

If you look like this, take some oxygen...

Yak + Everest + Light Art Tibet

What do you mean - ''the tallest''?

Not all the group members adapted this well to the altitude. Two girls from Malaysia suffered badly; one could not get rid of horrible headaches, the other had to vomit overnight. Also I did not feel too well the day after, as we climbed even higher, towards the real base camp. On 5250 meters I encountered a pulsating pain in the back of my head, it did not get any better for the rest of the day. Only a ginger tea in the lower Tingri helped. The tea helped this much that Fred and I spontaneously decided to climb a nearby mountain for some sunset shots. While climbing from 4500 meters to 4900 meters, we realized what the thin air meant under sportive exertion. First you don't even realize the difference, but once your heart rate is on running mode, your lungs have difficulties to keep up with the pace. Also simple things like having a sip of water from your bottle will lead to a shortage of air right after. Still, we reached the mountain top and took some good shots. Equipped with plentiful prayer flags and a stone pile used for sky burials, the setting was perfect for some intense moments.

You know the song from the 'Becks Experience' commercials?

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

 Further bumpy hours in our hyper reliable Toyotas (I am not sponsored, its just a fact) brought us to the Nepali boarder in Kodari. The day we left Tibet, we encountered one of the most strict exit controls I have ever seen. As mentioned on several internet pages, my Lonely Planet guide for Tibet was indeed confiscated. The over motivated Chinese official took my entire backpack apart, happily removed the guide book, stuffed all in the bag again, smiled at me and mentioned that I look alike with Gerard Pique. I smiled back and told him the book was a special present for him (As I was leaving Tibet, I did not really need it anymore and was not too upset about the situation).

Leaving Tibet means leaving China - according to the situation as of today. However, I did feel like leaving China already when I boarded the Qinghai Express in Chengdu. The provinces of Sichuan and Tibet are immensely different, be it for its culture, its geography or its people. The Chinese conquered Tibet in 1950 and are investing in the province intensely ever since. They did build a train and an international airport, paved hundreds of kilometers of roads and support local families and farmers with money. They also built many schools for the local children. This may sound very positive, nevertheless, it has its downsides too; the schools teach only in Mandarin (no Tibetan language), the roads lead to the spots which are now exploited by Chinese enterprises, lots of the local culture are getting lost between the intense police and military presence. The Tibetans are not even allowed anymore to hoist their original flag or to have a picture of the Dalai Lama in their houses. Controls and spot checks in homes can lead to 2-3 years in jail, should they find any picture of flag. A real punch in the face of any Tibetan is the huge Chinese flag on top of the Potala Palace... All these measurements lead to the fact that some young Tibetans don't even know anymore who his holiness the Dalai Lama is. 

As we traveled through Tibet, I had the chance to talk to many Tibetans, Chines and tourists. The Tibet question definitely remains unanswered and is not that easy to close. A 'free Tibet' with an individual nation would probably lead to chain reactions in entire China. There are minorities of Uighurs and Muslims in many corner of China - all of them would raise their voices should Tibet be freed. What might be a good solution is the one which is asked for by the current, 14. Dalai Lama (living in exile in India, not even allowed to be buried in Tibet). He is asking for a free Tibet in a cultural sense, that Tibetans would be allowed to climb mountains when ever they want, that they could live out their cultural habits as they did in the past, and that they would be granted a passport just as a normal Chinese citizen. Then, he and also all the Tibetans I spoke to, would not even mind the fact of belonging to China. To all the demonstrators with 'free Tibet' flags I must reply: go and visit this beautiful place, talk to the people and learn. The situation is not as easy as you think. Also a glimpse in history books reveals that even in the past, the situation was never really clear. Also Great Britain and the CIA played some unexpected roles...

Enough about this political situation. We are now in Pokhara, Nepal. Tomorrow we embark for a 8 days trekking to the Annapurna Base Camp and back. We hope that the current weather situation will not destroy our plans...

Until then, try to stand as still and motionless as this Chinese solider - vis a vis the Potala in Lhasa.

GH

'Oh, that tall guy, I would love to get a picture of him - but I  cannot. Might he know Yao Ming?'

Contrasts

Dear readers, it has been an unusual amount of days since my last post. I hope you did not quit the feed meanwhile and started following any other hobby to waste your precious time..? Funny facts: 1) ''The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted'' 2) 1'000 blogs are created every hour 3) Chinese Government does not only strictly control Google, also it blocks pages like Facebook or Blogspot. The latter is the reason why this post was so far only on my Skydrive, waiting to reach you. To somewhat compensate, there will be two posts at once (now please a big 'hurray')! This will keep you posted in the usual bite size. So here is the first one: 'Contrasts' (referring to the vastly different worlds in Myanmar and China).PLUS, I am encountering some issues with the formatting on this Nepali-style computer here, some parts of the blog just won't get posted... hope that you can still enjoy the reading.

The overwhelming Myanmar embraced us with its friendly people and breathtaking scenery for two of the most beautiful weeks of the entire trip so far. Furthermore, Myanmar certainly was an easy start for Fred, who was totally new to Asia. Filled with welcoming places, historical sites and diverse landscapes, time went by even faster than an occasi(a)onal attack of the runs.   Our night bus to Nyaungshwe greeted us with the daily evening prayer, which sprinkled on us through the dusty speakers. In contrast to the well intended words, our following ride was definitely less peaceful; we could hardly sleep a minute, especially after the tail pipe fell off - which resulted in our bus sounding like a monster truck. What should I complain, we are backpacking through Asia, episodes like such are definitely an enrichment to our trip.The four days around lake Inle were a pure delight. We spent our time riding bicycles, ferries and fisher boats, we explored floating gardens, local temples and monasteries. Highlights included a wine tasting in Myanmar's biggest winery (see picture), or me ending up in a show-fight against seven young novice monks. Usually our days ended with one or more glasses of either Beer Myanmar or Beer Mandalay, which are both to be recommended. Going hand in hand with the Burmese beers are the local cigars. These contain Tamarind and Banana-grass, which is making them taste deliciously sweet. Already wearing the Myanmar-style long skirt ''Longshi'' like every man, plus consuming healthy doses of local drugs - our way in to any bar conversation was a breeze. As a sort of cultural highlight, we were invited to attend a baptism ceremony of a local girl; music and dancing, until our ears and feet were numb. 

The four days around lake Inle were a pure delight. We spent our time riding bicycles, ferries and fisher boats, we explored floating gardens, local temples and monasteries. Highlights included a wine tasting in Myanmar's biggest winery (see picture), or me ending up in a show-fight against seven young novice monks. Usually our days ended with one or more glasses of either Beer Myanmar or Beer Mandalay, which are both to be recommended. Going hand in hand with the Burmese beers are the local cigars. These contain Tamarind and Banana-grass, which is making them taste deliciously sweet. Already wearing the Myanmar-style long skirt ''Longshi'' like every man, plus consuming healthy doses of local drugs - our way in to any bar conversation was a breeze. As a sort of cultural highlight, we were invited to attend a baptism ceremony of a local girl; music and dancing, until our ears and feet were numb. 

Could it get any better? Why not, our next stop was Bagan and its ca. 4'000 temples, pagodas and stupas - yet another milestone of my Asia trip.  However, our enthusiasm was slowed down soon after arriving in Bagan. We found out that the long awaited sunrise flight with a balloon over Bagan could not take place, operations were shut down due to the low season... That was bad news of course, but we immediately started looking for alternatives, locations offering similarly jaw-dropping views. We found 2: (1) The Aureum Resort Hotel, a crazy, not-from-this-world, who da f* is Burj Al Arab, Hotel-tower and (2) Tant Kyi Taug Pagoda, which is a beautiful golden pagoda, located opposite the river, vis-à-vis old Bagan, offering an incredible view over the entire plateau. These two spots more than compensated for the balloon flight.  

The current low season also had its benefits, on most of the temples and locations which we visited we were on our own, something unthinkable during the highly frequented months of January and February. Tired of endless hours in night buses built for short Asians, tall Fred and even taller me decided to take a plane for our last domestic leg in Myanmar. Air Mandalay flew us within 20min from Bagan to Mandalay for only a little more money compared to the bus alternative. An elderly fellow passenger with a strong French accent in his English was apparently not too comfortable with the entire flight; fully confused he kept on asking ground personnel after our landing, whether this is  Mandalay now? As if the heavily oversized 'MANDALAY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT' sign was not big enough. We were convinced to be in Mandalay and hence left the plane and hopped in  a cab heading towards central Mandalay. Our time in the former capital was limited, so we focused on the main sights: Royal Palace and Mandalay Hill. 

Only one day after, we left Myanmar with bottles of water and knifes in our bags, by plane towards China, Chengdu. Already the transit stop in Kunming delivered us a massive cultural shock, right into our Swiss rookie faces. Yes we were still in Asia, but we felt like teleported some 50-100 years into the future. Top notch facilities and highest standards of everything awaited us, China has arrived, long ago. All I knew about Chengdu was its 3 letter IATA code (CTU) and that it is famous for Pandas. However, I had not a single clue about the city's beauty and it's high standard. Coming along with a easy-going lifestyle, one could quickly feel home in CTU. In contrast to this stand the facts that barely anyone speaks English (even in such a metropolis) and that lots of online content are still blocked by the Chinese government. I am accessing the blogspot homepage with the kind assistance of a foreign proxy server, provided by our Tibet tour organizer. 

Now, our backpacks are packed yet again, in a few hours an incredible train journey towards Lhasa will start. With oxygen masks provided in the train, we will climb over 5072 meters of altitude, on our way to the Tibetan capital.  The next post will probably follow from Kathmandu, Nepal. Until then, 在這裡，我想在中國寫我的名字，但我不知道怎麼   

Mind the gap

Night train Nong Khai - Bangkok

 It was a funny way, the one I choose to exit sleepy Laos… The pick-up brought me and some fellow travelers way too early to Thanaleng station, where we were supposed to take the connecting train over the border, to Thailand – Nong Khai station. What to do with one hour to spend at a remote and desperately empty railway station outside Vientiane? Ok, first pay the USD 10 for the 1 day overstay but then – then kill two bottles of whisky with the local station staff and the crew of the train you are about to board. Yes, that’s what happened, my little knowledge of Lao vocabulary flattened the way into the funny round at the only table of the station. The 6 of us really killed the two bottles within one hour (felt like 10min). The driver of the train was a responsible guy, he only had a few glasses, instead of several. Then it was time to go, ciao Laos, welcome Thailand, country no. 4.

Bangkok - from Bayoke Tower

The night train brought me to Bangkok, where we arrived in the early morning hours. The vibrations and noises of the train kept me easily awake, even though the early morning times. Looking out of the windows, I could see how we slowly but surely arrived in a bigger town. The tracks took us through slums, school areas, Don Muang airport and Porsche garages. All those environments were overlapping and seemed to sort of coexist, without much interaction. As we finally made it to the station and as we all managed to squeeze ourselves out of the tiny doors, we had to stop on the platform for another little while. Everyone dropped his bags and stood still, in order to listen to the Thai national anthem (and I thought we had left areas of Vietnam-like nation pride).

It did not take me long to arrive in the ‘’Big Mango’’. On the first day I managed to figure out how; (1) to ride for free in all the Tuktuks (just tell them to stop at their friend’s tailor- or jewelleryshop, the driver will get a coupon for food if he brings customers), (2) to end any conversation with aggressive street vendors who intend to sell you ‘’bumbum with young lady’’ (just ask them about their daughter) and (3), to find a drumset! After not having hit any snare or tom for almost two months, my hands started to abuse any pair of chopsticks available. To find a true set and rent it for one hour was a true relief – for an addict like me. Two days after, my drummers heart experienced even greater joy, after playing jazz in Paris and seeing Jojo Mayer live in Bern, another milestone was achieved, I joined a late night blues session in the heart of Bangkok. Should you ever be in Bangkok and tired of all the lady boys, hookers and street vendors of Khao San road (the most famous backpacker and tourist spot), I strongly recommend to walk to Samsen road 13 and enter ‘Adhere the 13^th’, where you can enjoy high quality Lao beer and live blues at its best. Should you be a musician yourself, you would be more than welcome to jam along – a great place.

BKK China Town

During the 5 days in Thailand’s capital city, I also figured out that the best way to travel around the city is the boat-busses, which circulate on the many rivers and canals with high frequency. For a fraction of what a Tuktuk or taxi driver would charge you and with a lot more atmosphere than the subway or the sky metro the boat busses bring you around town in no time. They also bring you to Bangkok Chinatown:

Maybe together with the Chatuchack weekend market, Chinatown and the surrounding Little India and Arab Corner made it to my favourite places in Bangkok. And guess what, with the aid of funny gestures and ‘miiaaoo’ noises, I found a place where I could finally satisfy my cat-hunger (Bangkok has it all, from drumsets to lady boys to cat soups)! The soup was delicious (no kidding here), although the meet was very well boiled and maybe I did not experience the true flesh taste due to the quite spicy soup. I shall go for another one in Chengdu therefore, one without a soup around it. Plus, I don’t know, maybe it’s the cat, but somehow I feel like I could go for a rat right now…
Apart from the food experiences in China Town, I was also fascinated by the network and cluster effects that perfectly played their power in those areas. All Hindus, all Chinese and all Muslims somehow managed to live together and to create their very own Bangkok around them. I could even pull out my few words of Arab, in order to communicate with locals at a mosque.

Hello? - Anyone? - Minglaba?

Then it was time to leave vibrant Bangkok, country no. 5, Myanmar and my friend Fred were waiting in Yangon for me. My previous position at Panalpina Airfreight allowed me to travel for free from Yangon International Airport to Yangon down town. After riding on the back of a local pick-up to the main bus station, I quickly made friends with a Qatar Airways airfreight staff, who paid for me the bus ride downtown. I never imagined that my internship in Basel would one day allow me to ride a bus for free in Yangon Myanmar… Once Fred and I met up, we wanted to arrange a short call home, in order to confirm our arrival (see picture) – our efforts were not honored with success.

In Myanmar were welcomed by the friendliest people I have met so far on the entire trip. People are happy to see foreigners, have a short talk with them and maybe show them their business. We came to see a local printing office (where my little knowledge about Heidelberg machines was a good deal of help), as well as a local movie production office. The latter also inspired us to go to a local cinema – which was a great deal of fun too. Other than being impressed by the locals and their friendliness, we visited various pagodas in Yangon. Dressed up like locals (with a long skirt) we visited also the Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the most important buildings in Buddhism. Unlike in Mecca, anyone is allowed to visit the pagoda, even a nonbeliever like me. We visited this mighty place a sunset time and stayed until the night arrived. Impressed by this much gold and the sound of 3154 little bells in the wind, we could not leave. We circled the pagoda twice and hat good talks with monks who came to this place from near and far. Later that evening we explored another local custom and chewed some tobacco nuts. All the men are doing this here, all day long. Once they are done with a nut, they spit it out on the street – which is fun to watch and irritating at first for sure.

Shwedagon Pagoda

Yesterday we spontaneously entered a local train which took us during three hours around entire Yangon. On the way we saw beautiful places, had funny conversations with locals and witnessed how Buddhism is not able to deal with family violence. In brief, take the local train should you ever come to Yangon, it will make your day. At the time we were back, the daily rains as well as darkness have arrived – mystical. 

Fred vs. Asia

Next destination: Inle Lake.

Stay tuned, GH.

Chaos in Laos

The floor is even! No its not, its definitely not flat! - or is it?
We never really figured out, whether the floor of the Moon Pub in Vang Vieng is now actually flat or uneven. In spite of the floor question, the place anyhow made us wonder, its strangeness is hard to be topped - maybe on the same level as an unique party I once attended in ancient soviet buildings, in the middle of Estonia. To give you a hint of what was happening there; first of all, to get there you needed to cross an ancient airbase, built by the Americans some 40 years ago (mostly to support the operations in Vietnam, also to export tons of opium, which was growing happily on the fields around Vang Vieng). Bewildered by this historical place, you would then arrive at the Pub, located in a sort of hangar/barrack, filled with 1.50 tall hookers standing on beer cases to appear taller - that's why the floor question came in. Then when looking around, checking the crowd, you could not tell whether people were on alcohol, weed, mushrooms or sober. Some of them might also been bitten by the giant spider that was crawling on the entrance door. In brief: Chaos in Laos.

Sunset view over Luang Prabang, Phousi Pagoda

Before we eventually ended up in the chaos of Vang Vieng, we took some pace out of our journey and travelled during two days on a slow boat from Huay Xai via Packbeng to Luang Prabang. The boat ride took two full days on the Mekong, driving us through breathtaking scenery and manouvering us through razor-sharp rocks that stick out of the river, due to the current dry season. The captains were skilled enough to ensure a very confortable ride, on which we had time to become friends with some great people. With some Canadians, Americans and Germans who we met on the boat, we decided to kick off our swimming season at the Kuang Si waterfalls near Luang Prabang. Quite some monks shared our intentions:

How much Laos can one get into 1 picture?

The falls were absolutely amazing, one of the most beautiful places of the entire trip so far. We met a guy from Brazil over there, he was close to tears, telling us that he had never been to a more beautiful place in his entire life before. Since the water was surprisingly fresh, we could finally also cool down from the 40 degrees Celsius, that made the last days to a permanent bath of sweat.
Luang Prabang itself was by far smaller than we expected. With some 60'000 inhabitants, it barley is a town. However, with lots of French influence remaining, and a well preserved Lao culture, the place is tempting to stay for more than just a few days. Also in Luang Prabang, we found a bbq-restaurant which is run by two guys from California, US. So it came that one night we skipped our fried rice and noodle soup diet and went for a huge and delicious piece of meat. Similar to the wine experience we had in Hoi An Vietnam, as we did not have a proper piece of meat for quite some time, it felt as the best meat we ever tasted.
In a mini-van, driven by a pirate, we squeaked around the curves on the way further south to Vang Vieng. This very beautiful piece of road (Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng), with mountains high enough and valleys deep enough to scare some of the passengers, made us feel a bit like home. Again our wish to still be on the bikes came up, maybe only because we did not really trust our pirate behind the steering wheel. An even better idea would be to conquer the country by para glider - this would allow one to get more out of the beautiful mountains and to get rid of those endless hours in tiny Lao buses.
Vang Vieng is famous for the 'tubing' which means that you get a tube and a tuktuk, drive some 5km upstream and then let yourself float back again, with the one of the other stop a one of the bars along the river. As we stopped more than once, we did not make it back before a huge thunderstorm broke out. The strong winds coming along with it made us float upstream (!) at times. Apart from the tubing, there is not too much to see in Vang Vieng. Too many restaurants and bars, no true Lao culture and more western than Asian food on the menus. Far different from places like Oudomxay or Huay Xai.

Kiridara resort? approved!

Now we are in Vientiane, the capital of Lao. Still we are travelling with Josh (US), Daniel and Thiemo (DE), who shared with us a great time since we met on the slow boat. Vientiane is also the place of splitting up, the three will head for Ha Noi Vietnam, Flo took the bus this morning towards Udon Thani Thailand, from where he will take a flight to Chang Mai Thailand. He intends to spend a week or ten days in a monastery, with no talking, no drugs of any kind, hoping to learn proper meditation. I wish him good luck for this, although, knowing him well, I doubt that he will endure the full week... . Flo and I had an absolutely great time and unique moments, like back then when we:
- were arguing with an entire lobby filled with Vietnamese officials and neighbours
- had a swim in a bay famous for shark attacks
- threw baby powder at strangers in order to celebrate Khmer New Year
- nearly died on our way from Saigon to Ha Noi
- tasted snakes, krickets, ants, dogs, French wine or Californian bbq

The above picture is showing the two of us, chilling in a pool of a five star resort in Luang Prabang. Of course, we sneaked in for free, because we can. My time in Laos is also coming to a halt. Tomorrow I will enter a train bound for Bangkok. After a short stay of a few days in busy BKK, I will fly to Yangon, Myanmar where I will meet up with Fred, another great friend from back home.

Congrats to the Swiss Hockey team for a) the silver medal and b) demolishing the Yankees in the semi final, that earned me some good money ;-)

until then, GH, living the life.

To finish this time a bit different (not talking about my hunger for a cat), here is some wisdom that I would like to share with you dear readers. Its a quote coming from the Bertrand Russell book, which has been me travel companion since the very first day:

"In action, in desire, we must submit perpetually to the tyranny of outside forces; but in thought, in aspiration, we are free, free from our fellow men, free from the petty planet on which our bodies impotently crawl, free even, while we live, from the tyranny of death." - Bertrand Russell

New World

Success! After talking to various backpackers and local scalpers, we managed to find buyers for both of our bikes. ''Claudette'' and ''Du Hung'' were sold for a total of $600, the exact same price as we paid for them initially in Ho Chi Minh City. Given the fact that Ha Noi and Saigon are two totally different markets, we were pretty lucky. Overall the journey on the Honda Wins cost us about $150 for both (all included, repairs, fuel etc), which is still less compared to bus prices from south to north. To sum it up, travelling through Vietnam on a bike with zero bike experience and a fake licence is just great, its the only way to discover the true Vietnam.

Enough about bikes, we sold them and took the night bus up to Sa Pa, a mountain village in the very north-western corner of Vietnam. It is always a battle of pros and cons, when its about night busses; yes, you somehow save time as you travel while you sleep vs. no, you will not sleep anyway in these shitty 160cm long beds with all the Asian-Karaoke-Sound coming along with it.
We arrived after few minutes/hours of sleep in the early morning hours. Sa Pa and its neighbouring villages are known for the different tribes that live up there. Most popular and biggest tribe are the 'Mong', others are the 'Zai' or the 'Dsou'. All of them have their very own language plus they speak a crushed Vietnamese to communicate with each other. To fully get into this new world, we decided to do a home stay instead of an overpriced hotel booking. A French couple which we met in Cat Ba recommended us this option, and also told us about 'Shosho', the lady at whoms place they were staying. So it came that Flo and I were wandering through Sa Pa market at 7am, looking for a certain 'Shosho', who supposedly has her right hand cut off (now think of the gestures and conversations we had this morning). Eventually we sat on the back of two scooters who brought us to Ta Van, a village some 15km below Sa Pa. 'Shosho' was no where around, instead a certain 'Sausai' who was offering home stays as well. However, here place was nothing like a home-stay, it was more like a Ho-Tel. We waved her off and started to talk with two local Mong women. After some talks, they started to walk up mountain with us and brought us to 'Xu's place. Xu is also a Mong and we were told that we could stay at her place, if we wanted. Of course we wanted, since the house was in the middle of all the rice terraces and since it was truly a Mong home, nothing artificial.
We spent the day walking through the rice fields, talking to Mongs, playing with locla children. Xu and her family were absolutely genius, we had a great time. She told us that together with her husband, she would like to get into the home stay-business. We, being her first guests ever, told her to please not transform her lovely house into another fake home stay that will sooner or later appear in the Lonely Planet, she should rather keep it as real and simple as it is now. Should any of you readers be interested in this option, I have name, address and phone number of Xu.

Monastery in Houay Xay

After having seen a totally different Vietnam in Sa Pa and Ta Van, our days in the communist country were numbered, we headed off towards Laos. In busses and banana cases with wheels we drove into the interior in Southeast Asia. Again, a totally new world awaited us. With Dvorak's New World Symphony in the ears, we kept on climbing up and down the endless jungle mountains of northern Laos. In between we saw rural villages, huge areas of deforestation, bomb craters from one of the two Indochina wars and over and over again, beautiful views. At times, the wish of still sitting on the bikes came up, since the streets in Laos seem to be much saver and much calmer. However, with only very few mechanics on the way, it would not really be ''Claudette-Land'' here.
We arrived in Houay Xay and directly went to the booking office of 'The Gibbon Experience', which is a local tour operator, offering trekkings into the Lao jungle, with the possibility to see Gibbon monkeys in wild life. So it came that we spent the last three days far from any civilization, deep in the jungle. We slept in tree houses, we zip-lined through the bushes and we swam in remote jungle waterfalls. It was an amazing experience, mother nature at its best. This morning we got up at 4am, zip-lined through the darkness and walked to a viewpoint, from where we could follow the breathtaking sunrise

We were lucky to have an experienced guide, he knew exactly where to be at which time, in order to actually see a Gibbon. There is unfortunately no foto-proof of it, but we did see one, rushing from one tree to another, too fast for any camera. I do have pictures however, from all the spiders, rats and praying mantis, with whom we shared the tree houses at nights.

Yes, the guys were huge and not for all of our six group members...
I shall however terminate this post with nicer pictures, showing our main activity of the past days,  ziplining through Lao jungle mountains:

stay tuned, GH

(p.s. no cat could be found in Ha Noi :-(