Howdy folks. How you doin?
As you may have noticed, it’s been a while since I blogged anything. Why? I’ll get to that. There’s plenty of stories to tell, but there is enough space on this site to write about half of them even. So, here’s the important stuff:
I’m still alive. I’m in Vietnam. Since I last wrote, I have travelled out of Laos, back to Thailand, through Cambodia, and am now striding north. What’s the plan? There is no plan!
Andy and I are no longer two halves of the dynamic travelling duo of the past. Why? I’ll get to that. I think he is in Australia now, but I can’t be sure.
When I last wrote I was heading to Louamphrabang in Laos. That’s exactly what I did. I hung around there for a few days, had a few beers with some good Irish friends Sarah and Rachael (heya guys). We paddled in some simply stunning waterfalls and lagoons. I ate some great food, and marvelled at the French colonial architecture. I attended a wedding party and drank Mekong whiskey with the locals (before a fight broke out, that is). Oh, and I managed to find a copy of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. All in all a successful few days. After Louamphrabang things begin to move pretty quickly.
We all head south to Vang Vieng. This town functions entirely as a resting place for all those who want to go Tubing. The principle behind tubing is simple. Take a huge inner tube from a lorry. Sit in the afformentioned inner tube and float down a river. Drink beer whilst floating. Easy. The river is lined with bamboo bars with rope swings and zip-lines. People are jumpin in and out of the river with bottles of Beer Lao in hand, and trying to avoid any serious injuries. I sustained slight injuries to my feet when using them to hang from the largest swing along the river. Everyone thought it was awesome though, so it was completely worth it.
After Vang Vieng we went to the capital, Vientiene. There is nothing to say about the place. There is nothing to do. Normally when you hit a city, it’s time to start drinking in the bars, hitting the clubs and making friends with the locals (including all those lovely ladies). But, Laos has a damned cerfew. You can’t party when the bars start closing their doors at 10:30! Sorry Laos, but you need a better capital!
Here’s where the story gets interesting (at least I think so). What I haven’t mentioned is that upon leaving Thailand I caught an infection in my gums surrounding my wisdom teeth. It hurt. The Ibuprofen given to me before leaving was making me feel pretty rough and I was starting to have pains in my stomach. I decided that Laos wasn’t the best place to get all of these things sorted out and decided to fly back to Thailand where the medical services are much better.
So, I flew to Chiang Mai which had become my second home in Asia pretty much. My old friend from Koh Tao, Junia, was ready and waiting to take care of me. I gave myself a week to recover. My gums had improved no end by this point, but I still went to the clinic for a solid M.O.T. Turns out that the gums were fine. The antibiotics had done the trick. The stomach on the other hand wasn’t so good. A peptic ulser. Nasty. And for good measure I had contracted another, miscellaneous, virus that was adding to my general funk.
So, I lay back, ralaxed and let the week pass by. I got drunk a few times (against doctors orders of course) and met some pretty cool people. In the same guest house were Shota and Toshi, two hilarious Japanese dudes passing through on their own tour of Asia. In all there time in Thailand they hadn’t sampled the delights of a bucket (a huge bucket of vodka redbull essentially). You’re simply not allowed to come to Thailand and not have a bucket…I think it’s against the law. I’m proud to have remedied that situation for them. Whilst out on the lash I bumped into the screen actor Paul Schulze. For those that don’t know him, he played Ryan Chappelle in 24 and Father Phil Intintola in The Sopranos. He was in town filming the new Rambo movie. I didn’t meet Sly though. Then, I left Chiang Mai. And Thailand.
I headed south through Bangkok and across to the Cambodian border. Andy meanwhile was flying and I was in a race to catch up. I travelled non-stop for 30 hours or more without any sleep along some of the worst roads, scratch that, dirt tracks and arrived in Siam Riep, north Cambodia.
I’d hate to summarise Cambodia, because it rocks. But, looking at the length of this blog is boring me already. Nutshell: Angkor Wat can be found in Siam Riep. It is by far the most impressive and beautiful thin I have ever seen (with the exception of some of the local women). It is simply stunning and the photos do it more justice than my ramblings. I watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat with my new friends, Lars, Christian, Phil, and Jacob. I was blown away!
After Siem Riep I slid down the Mekong river to Phnom Penh. Now this is a capital city that I could get used to. Lying in a hammock overlooking the river by day, tarted up and hitting the clubs by night. Awesome.
Then it was off to Sihanouk Ville on the coast. This place was really quiet and rife with prostitutes. Not so good. But it was going to be my birthday that week so we made our own entertainment. I partied hard. Maybe too hard. I was damaged but proud of my efforts. Suffice it to say, I won’t ever have a birthday quite like that again!
Right. That’s it. I’m bored beyond belief writing all of this stuff. Since Sihanouk Ville, the new team headed through Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Cue 11 days of city debauchery. Then we hit the beach in Nha Trang. Now I’m in Hoi An and about to leave for Danang.
It’s not a very interesting story I know. Sorry for rushing it, but when you’re in Vietnam surrounded by friends and relaxing in the sun, this blog stuff is very very tedious.
Until next time. Fin.
Oh, and a couple of days ago Phil and I were hit by a car in Hanoi. Ouch. I’m okay though…always am.
