Springer's final thought

Back in the UK after a pretty epic adventure, trying to figure out what the heck just happened...! Looking back at the journey a few thoughts come to mind:

Benefits of travelling

Living with what we could carry on our backs was a liberating experience. Coming home to all this stuff - i question if it's really necessary. Deceiving ourselves into thinking our possessions are an embellishment of self; it may be that they weigh us down. Psychological baggage sticking us to the world preventing the free flight of soulful expression. There are no possessions in the moment, only the experience of now. Possessions cling like they don't want to be let go, but they are not conscious, so we must be the clingy ones! Steeped in sense perception, afraid of the non-sensual we refuse to let go - because we can't see the other side - we can't see what we'd become. But that's the whole point! There is nothing to see there... the highest reality is non-physical.

Alone in a strange place, not knowing the local language or customs, we tread softly to avoid causing offence. Whenever I observed rude behavior from other tourists it was when they were in a group supported by other friends. Creating a comfort zone in a community of supportive individuals they gained the confidence to project negativity on others, knowing they won't be shamed by their fellow 'groupthink'ers. The solo travelers, even when wronged, didn't cause a fuss as they knew they weren't going to remain for long and they were powerless in this strange place. Coming home, I realise that i'm still in a strange place. One day I woke up and saw that I am alive and on this Earth. I didn't create it, so it doesn't belong to me. Therefore I must tread softly upon it to avoid causing offence. Our communities may support our negativities, so let's look at the world and ourselves with the eyes of a solo traveller.

Living day to day was nice - not planning too far ahead. Everyday waking up and thinking 'how can we make the most of today?' It is easy to get bogged down with the past or future, losing today in the process.

Issues with travelling

Some things played on my mind whilst we were away and i'm still not sure what to make of 'travelling'. It is certainly a modern western priveledge, the ability to go to 6 countries in 9 weeks and then get back to our UK lives. Some incidents made me question the value of doing such a thing and consider the overall impact we have on our surroundings. We met many people who would talk about how they have 'done' Cambodia or 'done' Vietnam. What kind of mentality is that - which feels a complete sense of accomplishment for having skimmed over a massive country in a matter of a few weeks without learning the language? By about week 8 of our trip we were bumping into people we met in week 4... in a completely different country! We were all on the same route - is that 'travelling'? I suspect that some feel gratified from the accumulation of passport stamps, from listing all the countries they have been to. How one may have grown, what one may have learnt seldom gets discussed. Then there are the voluntourism issues - some call it savior syndrome - going abroad to save the world for a few weeks. Many travel overseas with good intentions to help local communities. It has become more apparent to me since being away that some may go for their own self gratification as much as any help they offer. Teaching English is often advertised as a need in many overseas schools. So what happens is completely unskilled, unqualified young westerners head over to teach English for a few weeks and then head on to some other place. The thing that bugged us when when a girl asked us, 'how long do you think I need to teach in Cambodia to make a difference? 1 week or 2?' And we couldn't help but think she was going to feel good about herself above actually helping the kids. Then you have issues like Cambodian orphanages springing up to meet the demand of western teenagers wishing to volunteer - filled with kids who aren't really orphans! Yes it happens... Tourism Concern are campaigning to stop orphanage tourism and Al Jazeera have a few programs about the issue on their documentary page.

Most things are not black and white and travelling is the same. There are benefits and drawbacks, good and bad ways of doing it. The same trip might be a great idea for one person and a bad idea for someone else. I hope you have all benefitted from our experiences! We have certainly seen some amazing things, like volcanos, stunning scenery and nice locals. We're going on a package tour around cultural sites in Turkey, leaving tomorrow. Will publish our exploits on here for anyone who's interested!

Thailand Godfather

Our last few days were spent in Thailand and in order to wind down for our impending journey home we decided to have a pretty chilled out time. In Bangkok we bagged ourselves some tailored apparel, while I was getting my crotch measured Mandeep overheard an amusing conversation between a large American-African man and a tailor:

Tailor - Are you interested in a slim fit suit? They are in fashion...
AA man - No... i'm real traditional you know... hmm... have you seen The Godfather...?

Needless to say he looked like a mafia don in his new suit! Wide pinstripes, 3 pieces...

Moving on to Phuket we managed to find a beach that wasn't too touristy (Kammala beach). Sun shining, warm sea, clear water. Have a look at the pictures..

Above: the tailor insisted on having this photo taken!

Below: kamala beach 

The organic farm, Vang Vieng

The journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng was stunning. We were adamant that the scenery of Bac Ha couldn't be beaten but by this journey gave it a serious run for its money. Laos is 80% rural with a high proportion being mountainous. It's scenary is almost mythical, like something you'd see in Lord Of The Rings.

Unfortunately our destination didn't have a great reputation. Vang Vieng is known as a testosterone fuelled 20 somethings paradise where drunken extreme sports and partys are rife. Following complaints from the locals, the Laos govenrnment closed many riverside bars and the town has since quientened. Amidst this town-sized identity struggle lies a sanctuary - Mr T's Organic Farm. Since 1996 he has established a farm on sustainable and organic principles. Guests can stay in private mud houses or dorms, helping out in the mornings. For the past few days me and Mandeep have been cleaning goat pens, feeding and have had a go milking them. We really like the goats' faces, always carrying a sweet smile. They're such gentle animals - really friendly and non confrontational.

We hadn't planned any activities here, but when we were informed of a nearby youth centre we decided to join in. Sewing club was nice, local Hmong girls showed us how to make some of their tribal patterns and helped us to make wrist bands. We gained an appreciation of how much work goes into a seemingly simple accessory, took us over 3 hours to make one wrist band! To ease our neck strain we joined in on dance club, learning a few traditional Laos moves with some modern classics like gangnam style thrown into the mix.

Situated by a river in the countryside, the organic farm is a great place to unwind. Watch out for the bugs.. I have seen a spider the size of a dinner plate! Didn't get any pictures of it - I didn't want to get anywhere near that beast.

Below: organic farm restaurant by the river

Luang Prabang, mahout training, elephants, canadian Michael

Luang Prabang is a popular city in northern Laos, but it us no city by western standards.  It is a lovely, quaint town with friendly people and a thriving night market.  It has a distinct character about it - all the buildings and street signs having the same architectural style.  The pace of life is chilled and you can't help but feel relaxed there.

Below: the style of all the buildings in LP

Below below: the streets are transformed into a handicrafts market by night

below: Mandeep with Mama Sandwich

Walking into Tiger Trails we were expecting the usual language barriers with the staff, so it was really refreshing to hear a strong canadian accent from a local looking person.  Michael was instantly loveable, just camp enough to be endearing without being annoying.  At 63 he could easily be mistaken for a 50 year old.  Everybody seemed to know him and his cheerful vibe was infectious.  At one point he asked Mandeep if she is from "the poonjab".  When she affirmed he proceeded to recite word for word the Mool Mantar (the main prayer in Sikhism)!  Turns out he practised kundalini yoga in the 70s with yogi Bhajan himself - the same type of yoga that Mandeep practises.  Looking into the distance he reminisced of his days and experiences with spirituality and wondered why he doesn't practise anymore. It was great to meet a spiritually minded person - a rare occurrence in our SE Asia tour.  Michael arranged for us to spend a day learning how to ride elephants (to become a 'mahout'), and even came to our hotel to see us off the morning we left for the training. 

We were driven to an elephant sanctuary where 10 elephants are kept and used for tourism a half a day at a time, this gives them plenty of rest time and we were happy to see that they are treated well, even having their own doctor.  They are BIG, and as we were mahout training we had to sit on their necks rather than on a bench on their backs.  There are no reigns and no saddle - elephants  being too smart and too chilled out for them to be necessary.  They understand a variety of verbal commands and will even lift their knee up for a mahout to climb up their leg onto their neck.  The cartilage at the top of their ears easily fills a fist and their ear lobes completely covered my legs. It felt weird at first having giant ear lobes slapping all over my legs but i got used to it! They are dignified creatures, majestic in their stride. As large and strong as they are, they respond well to the mahout. Their trunks are incredibly strong and dextrous, snapping thick branches with ease. Eating 250 kg a day, they are constantly looking for food - our guide explaining to us that they don't have stomachs! Their skin is wrinkled and soft, except on their forehead where it feels like dry thick leather. During our time we rode them for several hours, fed and bathed them. We got pretty soaked by them spraying water through their trunks at us but it was a lot of fun! Overall it was a fantastic experience which we'd recommend.

Below: general mahouting around

World's longest bus journey part 2

Arriving in Sa Pa, we waved goodbye to Gary and Caroline and had an hour before our next bus. On our way we heard a voice calling us from over the street... Cho Cho! What a sweet lady, giving Mandeep motherly affection while wishing us well on our travels.

The next bus was a night bus, more cramped than the last one we took. Mandeep slept through this one but i can tell you the ride was ROUGH. There were times when I looked out the window to see the dirt track we were on, large rocks and potholes scattered all over it and a dark abyss beyond the edge of the road - maybe a cliff edge or a river? I didn't indulge too much in the sight, preferring to keep my eyes shut to try and ignore the ride.

Above: trying to get comfortable on the night bus 

During a rest break in the middle of the night a few passengers needed the loo. It was situated down a dark alley, so Mandeep went in a group of 3 girls. There was a sign saying 'personal hygiene' pointing to a door, when Mandeep knocked a group of men answered telling her to come in. She wisely declined... At 5am the driver decided to put some really loud music on to wake everyone up! Arriving at 6.30 am, we had a half hour transit time before our next bus.

From 7am to 7pm it was another rough sleeper bus ride. We were lieing down the entire journey and many times we were 'power slammed' in our beds when the bus went over a pothole. Our bodies literally completely cleared the beds for a split second! Stopping for border controlls we had to pay admin and visa fees and couldn't help feeling cheated... and they didn't accept our dollars! We're yet to have a positive border experience over land! On the bus the woman next to us was sick on and off for her entire journey. I'm going to make a general announcement here to the world: leaving a bag of sick on a bus is not cool. It doesn't matter what country you're in - some things are acceptable in Asia that are not in Europe... but leaving a bag of sick next to some passengers who still have a couple hours journey time is not acceptable in any culture. Glad we've got that cleared, so it shouldn't happen again.

Arriving in Oudomxay, Laos we had a 2 hour wait before our final bus to Luang Prabang which arrived at 11pm. The final leg was scenic enough, but there is no denying that we were totally knackered by this point! The following day we'd learnt of a plane crash between Bangkok and Laos, a plane which the person who told us nearly took... we shared in their moment of realisation. Never forget the imminence of death.

The world's longest bus journey part 1 - permaculture Gary and Caroline

We had looked at the options:
- take a series of buses over 3-4 days, crossing the border at Dien Bien Phu into northern Laos
- take a continuous bus that stops for rest breaks and transit, total journey time 24 hours (if it goes to plan!)
- take a 12h night train back to Hanoi and fly into Laos.

We decided against option 3 as we didn't want to go back on ourselves and it's not the most ethical choice, not to mention the expense. Most people go for option 1 as northern Laos is very beautiful so taking your time travelling through it isn't a chore. Time for us was becoming a factor - reaching the last couple of weeks of our trip and hoping to visit Thailand before flying home we opted for option 2 - the worlds longest bus ride...

The journey began at 2pm in Bac Ha, Vietnam on Sunday and ended at 11pm in Luang Prabang, Laos on Monday...!

The first leg of Bac Ha to Sa Pa was easy enough, we were relatively fresh and got chatting to an Aussie couple about their home farm. Gary and Caroline really inspired us and I genuinely believe that we were meant to meet them. Time for an 'arabian night'... what is an arabian night you ask? It is when you go off on a huge tangent in a conversation, a tangent that may eclipse the initial subject of conversation. This is the distinct writing style of the '1001 Arabian Nights' stories, so here goes...

Our outer journey has been fairly well chronicled, but I have only given you glimpses of our inner journey. The inner journey is experiential and the outer descriptive, so transmitting the inner journey cannot be done via description alone. I can tell you how I feel but I can't make you feel the same, I can describe the taste of honey but to really know what I mean you must taste it. But it is possible, if I transmit from my heart you will see something of our experience between these lines on the page. As the wisdom goes, 'what is transmitted from the heart will reach the heart, what is transmitted from the tongue won't go beyond the ears.'

For quite a few years now i've been realising to a greater extent large scale injustices in the world and since getting married Mandeep has been teaching me a lot more. Ethical Consumer and New Internationalist magazines are 2 great sources of knowledge of such things - we highly recommend them both. Things like the global financial system, corporations and consumerism, the destruction of our ecosystems, the depletion of non-renewable energy sources and freshwater. The aformentined factors lead to an unsustainable lifestyle which trashes the planet. When money is the bottom line we undermine our higher characteristics - what truly makes us human. We recently watched a relevent documentary called 'Home' which is available free on you tube and another good one is 'Money as Debt' - also on you tube. Also watch 'The Corporation' - really good. Spiritually too we're becoming more aware of the dangers of an ever increasing desire for more material. This movement away from material has naturally led to a movement toward the Ultimate Immaterial - God.

The more we learn the more we must change, so taking small steps we're trying to buy more ethical produce and started growing veg. Mandeep has been learning how to make her own clothes, we switched to an energy supplier that only uses renewable energy ('Good Energy'), boycotting Nestle, Coca Cola, Amazon etc. I have learnt on this trip that the pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle has a name - 'permaculture' and we are currently staying in an organic permaculture farm in Vang Vieng, Laos. We have spent a lot of time in rural areas around SE Asia. The lifestyle in such places is sustainable, evident in the fact that it has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. We may ask, what is wrong with this lifestyle? No WIFI? No TV? We can live without these things but can we live without food and water? What do you think of a people divorced from the world that sustains them? Unable to grow the food they eat, unaware of the processes involved in it's production, how it got to the plate? People served by unsustainable corporations. We are such people, realising this we had to ask, what will we do when the supermarkets are empty? When the oil party is over? It has become apparent to us that we have been denied our human heritage. The basic knowledge of living that we must never forget. Our travels have only enforced that senensation.

Remember Gary and Caroline on the bus? Yeah I know it's been a while since I've mentioned them... but i think the arabian night might give some useful background to appreciate our meeting. See Gary and Caroline realised what we are beginning to realise 25 years ago. Married at 22 they took a drastic move, buying a piece of land and living on it in a tent for 4 months while they built their house. Raised as city kids with no farming experience, the one advantage Gary had was that he could build. Over time, they began growing their own food, building their home and collecting their own rain water. Once children were on the scene they opted for home schooling as they weren't completely comfortable with public school. "It's the only place where everyone is grouped according to their age - no where else do you get that". We shared our feelings on the school grading system and on how school creates a social class of not-children not-adults, a class not present in home school societies. They decided with their children that the accumulation of facts and grades would not be the focus of their education, "we wanted character to be the main objective of schooling. Our children didn't have any teenage issues, they were comfortable with their surroundings - never needy for toys". It sounds crazy, their peers mocked them along their way but they went with their heart. "You have to go for it, can't live in a shadow". We were awe struck and inspired by them, giving us a new zeal for sustainable living.

Bac Ha

Bac Ha is a small town north east of Sa pa, North Vietnam. It is 200km south of China. We decided to visit as it has a reputation for being like Sa pa except less spoilt - more authentic. We had an awesome meal at a local Tay family and after a night's rest at their homestay we were ready for a trek. Trang, our guide took us on a 6 hour hike through the surrounding mountains and villages, telling us about the local culture and customs along the way.

Looking at the Hmong tribes we'd noticed that they had really distinct facial features and skin colours - different to your average vietnamese. Trang explained - they migrated to Vietnam following tensions in China 200 years ago, setting up farming villages. Their languages are similar to Chinese and so is their script, but due to french influence latin script is the most visible in Vietnam today. Men and women both share the workload beginning at about 10 years old. No one owns a particular piece of land - everyone shares. The relationship between man and animal is really cool to see. As we walked through a village, a hen with 10 chicks paraded up a nearby mound. Cats and dogs foraged whilst piglets ran their little legs away at the sight of us. We might find a pest-spider in our bathtub in the UK, in Bac Ha we found a horse cheekily nibbling on a spread of dry corn put out for chickens, only to be chased away by a little girl with a stick! Across an open expanse a couple of buffalos peeked out to see what was going on, scuttling away as we approached.

The various Hmong tribes are identified by their clothing. You have the black Hmong like Cho Cho in Sa pa, but there are very few in Bac Ha. The most visible Hmong tribe in Bac ha is the flower Hmong who wear really bright colourful clothing. You also get red Hmong and white Hmong.

We were really happy to see how animals were treated there. Everything roams free, beasts of burden are burdened within their capacity and animals eat what is natural for them. The village life is symbiotic and harmonious, streams of life flowing through and around each other without clashing, everything fitting effortlessly. Wastage is kept to a minimum, for example rice straw makes good buffalo feed, rice and corn husks are burnt for cooking. This is not the mathematical perfection of the city, where perfection is geometric equality, the movement of heavenly bodies replaced by mechanical clocks and human worth measured as efficiency in the workplace. It is a natural perfection where everything fits seamlessly and sustainably and has stood the test of time, for only an illusory perfection can be short lived.

Unfortunately as is the case throughout the world the peaceful villagers of Bac ha are facing the demands of large corporations with no choice but to conform. The lush hills of Bac ha are being mined for stone, dynamite blasts 11 times a day leaving an ugly open wound in the countryside. Farm land is taken by force for the relentless pursuit of stone and no compensation is offered to the villagers.

The morning before we left Bac Ha we visited the local sunday market.  Thus is where once a week various hill tribes of Bac Ha come together to sell their produce.  It is a rich cultural experience as the various hmong women come out in full force with their dress, selling everything from clothing to livestock.  Have a look at these pictures:

Below: dining with a local family in Bac Ha homestay 

Below: the beautiful hills of Bac Ha

above: some flower Hmong girls at the Sunday market

Cho Cho and the Black Hmong people

Since arriving in Sa pa we had been approached by many Black Hmong tribal women. They come to the city from their mountain villages everyday, selling their distinct local produce, offering home stays and trekking trips. They are savvy business women, capitalising on the fact that every hotel offers tours to local villages and undercutting their prices. As you may be aware we have had enough of tour companies, so when we were approached by Cho Cho and invited to her house for lunch in her village we took the opportunity to try and get a more authentic experience.

Getting to Cho Cho's house took a good 4 hours. 12km from Sa pa city, she led us on a hike through the mountains through postcard-perfect surroundings under an immaculate blue dome. In her 50s with 5 kids, she knurdled through narrow passes, skipped over ravines and hopped across makeshift log-bridges in her flip flops, exposing our ungraceful stumbling gait. Early in the walk she quickly scuttled off ahead leaving us wondering, turned out she found a huge beetle.... and then attached it to the stalk of a plant making some sort of toy, merrily swinging it around for most of the walk!

Above: epic views walking through the mountains

Below: panoramic shot 

Below below: the rice paddies up close- we had to walk along the ridges on several occasions

Through Cho Cho we gained an insight into the Hmong culture. The men farm and the women do all sorts of crafts, knitting, weaving, sewing, printing. Their efforts are aimed at producing clothes and accessories, giving them a distinct appearance. She lives in a 150 year old village on the mountain side in a simple bamboo house surrounding by rice paddies. The village is home to a 120 year old man. 'People live long time in the village - very healthy'. There are 11 people living in the 3 bedroom house including a 3 day old baby who Cho Cho delivered along with the rest of her grandchildren! Taught by her mother, she delivers exactly how Mandeep has been taught.

Below: Cho Cho with her bamboo beetle toy 

Below: Cho Cho demonstrating the printing process using honeycomb, later dyed with indigo

For generations life was fairly consistent among the Hmong, but in the last 25 years tourism has become prominent enough to drive the village women into the cities, selling hand made clothing and offering tours as Cho Cho did with us. Times are changing, and Cho Cho became visibly agitated when we asked her about how and why things have changed, 'before the men work on the farm, now they work in the city and wear vietnamese clothes. Before the women work very hard, now they go to school and become lazy. No learn how to do anything.' When asked about the future of her people, she commented 'maybe 10 years Hmong culture finish!' I couldn't help but feel I was part of the problem, tourism skewing in 25 years a culture established for hundreds of years. What is it that has made people lose the value of their traditional customs the world over. How have the last 200 years been the most rapidly changing period in all human history, leading us into an anthropological unknown? It is a vicious cycle. The young Hmong girls, seeing the speed of the modern world will increasingly lose patience working on a hand stitched pattern for a week.. The higher order beauty of traditional art unaccessibe to the mind of the one gripped by sensuality. We share our senses with animals, but the higher facuties of intellect, creativity and language make us human. To quote Neil Postman, we are 'amusing ourselves to death' (good book). Is it progress or is it a tragedy? Cho Cho says unequivocally, 'old way better'.. Time will tell, We personally think Cho Cho is onto something..

Night bus to Sa pa, Tam Tron mountain pass

Look online and you'll find a lot of bad reviews about the notorious Vietnamese night bus... but alas, it's the most cost effective and environmentally friendly way of inter-city transport. We could have taken the much comfier sleeper train but were put off by reports of groups of youths operating scams for connecting buses from the destination train station.... so we took the bus to Sa pa. This thing is a the size of a normal bus but has bunk beds inside with a central isle. Seats are arranged in pairs with a total of 30 seats to a bus. The seats recline almost horizontally with your feet going under the person in front's head. They cannot be put in a completely upright position - so sleeping is encouraged. There are no seatbelts, just a small arm rest for the isle sleepers to stop them falling off the bed during excessive turbulance - which is most of the time!

We only had 3 hours sleep the previous night and we brought eye masks and ear plugs so we were prepared. It was an 11 hour ride including stops and it was well bumpy! At one point a huge bump in the road nearly sent me flying off the bed, fortunately Mandeep grabbed me in time! We were on the top bunk and i had an isle bed, you've got to position yourself just right to jam your arse in the arm rest, a position which can easily be lost when extremely tired. Mandeep reckons she would have fallen off due to her shapely differences but I think she's just being a woman. We arrived in one piece, managed a few hours sleep each and liked it enough to do it again in a few days time..

Below: sleeper bus, each aisle has space for two people at the top and two at the bottom; blankets and cushion provided making for a reasonably comfortable ride (if you're less than 5'10)

Sa pa is all about the scenary and the local tribes. We decided to take a motorbike along the tam tron pass - a stunning route carved through the undulating mountains surrounding Sa pa. Rice has just been harvested giving a yellow appearance to the paddy fields, looking like staircases for giants who may have once walked up the mountain side.. they were planting rice in Indonesia, it was maturing in Cambodia and we have seen the harvest in Vietnam. The Divine time piece keeps on ticking, day blends into night, plants grow to fruition, seasons change. The Prophet, peace and blessings upon him advised: “Take benefit of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you are preoccupied and your life before your death”.

Below: mountain views along the pass, super beut the entire way

above: the rice paddies forming ridges up the mountain

Cat ba island

We had 3 nights on Cat Ba island off the north east coast of Vietnam. The approach to the island leads you through ha long bay, which is home to a really unique set of limestone rock formations jutting out of the water. Most of these islands are too small to live on but are still covered in trees. Some even have private beaches, which we had the pleasure to explore on a rock climbing trip....

Unsure of how to spend our 3rd day on the island, we sat down over a tasty tuna burger - really tasty - to discuss our options. Coincidentally, an American mother-daughter travelling combo who we'd previously met on the boat to Cat Ba were on the table next to us. They were tall and slim, with an excitement for daily events that seemed almost insincere - like their lives were a sitcom, very animated but very nice people nonetheless. 'Hey guuuuyyyys how's it goin?' (You'll have to ask me to do the accent it's practically half of the story). Asking the usual questions of how we had spent our day, we told them about our motorbike journey through the national park and they told us about their day out climbing. They really loved it and ultimately convinced us to try it. Lighting a cigarette, the mum crossed her legs and looked into the distance... 'You know what happens....?' Taking a puff at this point, 'you're entire...life...becomes about taking that next step...'

Needless to say I spent the rest of the night doing impressions of her! The following day we found that we couldn't quite endorse her view of what happens while climbing but we did have an exhilarating experience. The physical demands, overcoming fears, the beauty of our surroundings.

The organization who took us climbing are called Asia Outdoors. This company makes a refreshing break from the swath of rubbish deceptive tour companies Vietnam usually offers. It was kinda surreal being with the Asia Outdoors crew. They're all young, good looking, physically fit boys and girls who love the outdoors. They're from all over the world, they have a hang out called 'The Good Bar' which is where you'll find them on a night. There's one guy who works for them who just annoys them all the time and has a REALLY squeaky voice, but everyone loves him deep down. Basically they're like the power rangers in their off duty state... I was kinda half expecting to hear someone howl 'cut!' and then a camera crew appear out of nowhere...

That night we journeyed out to the beach hoping to find it empty, and we did! Lovely still weather with just enough breeze to keep us cool, the sound of the relentless waves greeting the shore, the sight of a solitary island centered in the sea - an apt focal point. All our senses were given relaxing stimuli and we were well content until tiredness took over. The following day we caught a bus full of Irish and a couple of Welsh people back to mainland. It was so endearing hearing those local accents (big shout out to Aoife!) and we chatted about Father Ted and pies n gravy all the way back to Hanoi!

Above: sunset on halong bay

Below: the motorcycle diaries

Below below: Mandeep getting her climb on

Ban Gioc waterfalls

After babe national park we headed up to the village of Ban Gioc, literally on the border of China (on google maps it's actually in China). Ban Gioc has 2 magnificent waterfalls separated by a river, one waterfall is on Chinese territory and the other on Vietnamese. It was curious to see Chinese tourists visiting the waterfall from the other side of the river, in their slightly different boats to the Vietnamese tourists on our side. Both sets of tourists respected the border, neither stepping off the boat onto the other side of the river, both sharing the same water space. We were filled with awe looking out onto China, stood on the frontier of this huge civilization, both ancient and modern - have you seen the size of the China Lonely Planet??!

The waterfalls were truly stunning. We could have easily spent all day there, listening to the crashing, contemplating the power of the movement. Big waterfalls are very cool things to visit, especially when you can get close. The grandeur silences you, the power humbles you.

Below: the waterfall (china)

Below: the waterfall (vietnam) - proper massive!

above: Vietnam on left, china on right; really close to together - so easy to step into China... full on China.

Tourism concern

Tourism concern

Unfortunately Vietnam doesn't have the most responsible tourism.  We have encountered a few instances where we have plain been lied to and meeting others we find it is all too common here.  For example, we had booked tickets to take a particular route and find ourselves on a different route, with a bunch of different people who have bought different tickets of varying prices.  Particularly frustrating is the inaccessibility of local public transport to foreigners.  Everything pushes you towards using a travel agent who then arranges tourist transport via a third party company.  I still haven't figured out quite how it works with so many middle men, but the most obvious problem with this set up is the breakdown in communication between the agents and the tour companies.  We had been promised a direct route from hanoi to cat ba island but ended up on a tour boat which made several stops delaying our arrival time by four hours... And when we tried to get an explanation we got short responses, incredibly rude, telling us, 'sit down, we know what we're doing'.   You can almost guarantee on every trip with a tour company there will be hidden charges along the way - tourist charges, foreigners fees etc - with no possibility of an explanation and the threat of being left in the middle of nowhere if you don't comply... And people really do get left in the middle of a town for not complying! That concept of customer service simply isn't there.  However prices are cheap and if you're willing to splash out on a pricier tour, you do get a much better service.  So be aware!!  But don't let that put you off visiting a beautiful country.

Its not just the tour companies that do our heads in, we have come across some really insensitive tourists on our travels.... there are a tribe of people in central and south Vietnam called Cham people. They are Muslim and so have particular Muslim sensibilities regarding modesty and shyness. Walking through a Cham village, we were really miffed at a particular woman who went as far as to poke her camera through a family home window to take pictures of the children playing inside... despite the parents being sat outside!!! No permission was asked.... Muslim or not, I don't think any of us would like a camera poked through our windows by tourist paparazzi! Another man tried to take a picture of a local Cham woman - again without permission - who simply ran behind a wall as soon as she saw the camera. It isn't a museum or a zoo where we go round looking at exhibits, these are real people getting about their daily lives!! Grr. Snarl.

P.s., there is a really cool charity called tourism concern - look them up!

No blogs for a while

No blogs for a while.... why? Partly due to busy-ness, partly because of the nature of inspiration. Maybe this poem will help to illustrate the point:

Inspiration comes like a butterfly landing in my palm,
As I see it's charming intricate delicate pattern it starts to flutter,
My mind utters, trying to grasp what I beheld,
Asking questions and analyzing...
Maybe it was 'this or 'that'...
And while I look for description it takes flight and passes to a less inquisitive soul than I,
Who doesn't try to posess beauty with his eye,
Or trap the butterfly with his words no sir,
You miss so much when you disturb the butterfly with your mind words.

The last 2 weeks in Vietnam have seen several visits from inspiration's butterfly, but how to transmit that to you? You are not here and the nature of experience is largely non-verbal! But words do carry something, so I try. As Ronan Keating said, 'it's only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away' (remember boyzone - BOYZONE. the zone of boys. BOYZONE........ boyzone).

Riiiiiggghhhht.... where was i...?

We travelled into south Vietnam from Cambodia along the Mekong Delta and caught a flight to north Vietnam. Last week we were in Ba Be national park, a place so beautiful that for about an hour straight during a walk through the park I thought entirely in poetry. Effortlessly. Would have loved to have shared it with you, but by the time we reached a point where I could write we were on a very bumpy car journey which made writing impossible. I contented myself with the realisation that the experience would forever dwell within me, through me. Interestingly, while we were driving through the same national park it seemed far less beautiful than when we walked through it. So much detail was missed through increasing our speed of movement. The sound of chirping chicks by a gentle stream replaced with the cacophany of a roaring engine and slamming suspension. The uglyness of my immediate surroundings juxtaposed with the beauty of the natural world, like when you're sat in the Lake District and a military plane rips through the sky, defiling the sound-world. No longer was I thinking in poetry, my mind seemed to reflect the uglyness of my surroundings, becoming metal and pollution such that the delicate flower of poetry could not blossom... observing this phenomenon within myself, some realisations occurred.

The faster you move, the further away you are from the moment.

There can be no presence without stillness.

We must maintain pure surroundings to keep a pure mind.

Only those who are liberated from the material world can have an immaculate mind in an ugly environment. Think lotus flower (are there any Buddhists in the hiz-ouse?)

It is very easy to destroy something beautiful and very diificult to maintain something beautiful.

And finally, self evaluation is proof of the existence of a higher self.

Please tell me what you feel. God willing, when we meet in person i'd love to learn from your experience.

Below: the lake in Ba Be national park;

Us in a boat enjoying the scenery

Tol Sieng Genocide Museum

Stepping into the room was eerie enough, thinking of how many people had been killed in the same space, brutally tortured. The fact that the place was once a children's school only confounded the emotion, the same place being a centre of joy and learning until Pol Pot had his way. How can anyone be so cruel? I cannot imagine meeting anyone like him. I struggle to believe such people could exist, them being so far away from my frame of reference. Even the nastiest people could never be so cruel, surely not...

Ascending through a power struggle in Cambodia, Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea party (also known as the Khmer Rouge) brought radical communist reform with immediate effect. In 1975 he assumed office and quickly began to displace people from the big cities into the countryside, so that the Cambodian economy could be completely independant - running on its own natural resources. Many died from not knowing how to survive out of the city. He split up families to increase efficiency, forced marriages and had many intellectuals and learned people killed as they were a threat to his new system. Anyone who didn't agree with his policies could easily be imprisoned, tortured and killed so centers were set up - enter S-21 (now tol sieng genocide museum). At least 17000 people were killed there between 1975 and 1979, initially members of opposing political movements but eventually high ranking members of Pol Pot's own political party - on suspicion of dissidence. Once his regime had collapsed a few reporters discovered the place and it has since been preserved as a reminder to future generations. Dead bodies were found in many of the classrooms, now in each room you will find a picture of the last dead body to have occupied it complete with graphic torture wounds. To really bring it home, the torture 'bed' and shackles remain in each room to this day. 

The Khmer Rouge were meticulous in keeping records. In the museum you will find photographs of many of those killed under the regime. Entire walls filled with pictures, separated into men, women and children. God knows how many children he had killed, some of them looked as young as 5 years old. My heart sank when I saw those innocent faces, for what crime could they possibly have committed?

It was a solemn occasion, but it was heart warming to see the positive exhibits in the final exhibition hall. Messages of peace and healing, moving on from the hellish past and growing toward a brighter future.

The people at Baray homestay

David

David is an orphan who Esther took under her wing. He works as a tuktuk driver and translator at the homestay. The oldest of 8, he ended up at the homestay after his father was murdered. The rest of his siblings are in an orphanage. David is a really key part of the operation, whatever is going on he helps out, makes things run nice and smooth. Being a bit of a class clown you can't help but feel cheerful in his company. We found him particularly helpful at the medical clinics as his frequent attendance of them have given him the skill to translate many specialist medical terms into Khmer.

Pholem (pronounced po-lerm) and Samuel

Pholem does a lot of maintenance work and cooking at the homestay. She is the assistant manager of the place. Pholem came to Esther during her prgnancy as her ex-husband was having an affair. He had decided to leave her with money to abort the yet unborn Samuel. Esther took them both in becoming a grandmother figure to Samuel, who is now a beautiful, spritely 5 year old boy. It was amazing watching him play, knowing how forces were acting to prevent his little life from coming into the world.

Uncle

Uncle is an elderly Chinese gentleman, we grew very fond of him during our stay. He once spontaneously cooked us up some delicious fish. When we sat down to eat he would serve everyone's rice and insisted that he serve himself last. Once finished he would be the first to stack all our plates and tidy up. While verbal communication was sparse between us, his fine character spoke volumes.

It was great to see Uncle's refusal to sit idle during his stay. With the manual labour tasks being inappropriate for him and teaching English out of the question, he came up with his own novel idea - to raise chicks to maturity and donate them to local villages. Really lovely man.

Ivan

Ivan is a young man who currently lives in Perth, but is ethnically Malay-Chinese. He came to the homestay to teach the local kids guitar, holding intensive daily courses from morning to evening. He has such a calm aura and gentle disposition, with an open mind and a refreshing willingness to explore new ideas. If it wasn't for his schedule being so packed at the homestay we could easily have spent a lot more time with Ivan. Just before we parted he shared his Christian faith with me and invited me to believe the same. I was really touched that he wanted to share what he loved the most. I really hope to meet him again one day.

Left to right: Fiz, Mandeep, Esther, pholem, Samuel, David 

Ivan and Uncle:

Teera (teacher from previous blog) and David:

One night there was an unexpected delivery of chicks for Uncle, the coop had not been built yet and it was raining with nowhere to put them. The chicks had been bought on Uncle's behalf by a local (though the bill was left with Uncle) and the guy delivering had come from two hours away and was refusing to cycle back with the chicks!

A remarkable woman, an incredible story

Esther is the architect behind Khmer Village Homestay. A short, stout and jolly Chinese lady with a charismatic presence, she has built a safe haven in a once war torn location. Fond of reminiscing, we sat together one evening as she reclined on her chair and told us a few stories about her journey.

It was a strong sense of divine guidance that initially spurred her move from Malaysia to Cambodia as a missionary. When she first arrived nearly 20 years ago there were no NGOs in the Baray region. The now well-surfaced road outside her house was a dirt track. Two tyres burst on her first trip to her new home and on a subsequent trip a door flew open mid drive with Esther nearly falling out of the car! That might sound bad enough but it was just the beginning of her rollercoaster adventure.... little wonder she is in the process of finishing a book about her move containing tales such as the following...

She was sent to Baray, the 'black hole' of Cambodia, why? Being the centre of the main road linking the 2 major cities of Cambodia it was a major travelling route for the Khmer Rouge. Many ex-fighters and gangsters still lived in the Baray district which gave it a high incidence of crime and social issues - hence Esther's mission to help was most suited to that region. In helping the locals she had to deal directly with gangsters. Not the kind that get asbos for stealing the odd pack of fags, I mean real killers - ex Khmer Rouge.... from the same Khmer Rouge that killed at least 2 million people in the 70s under Pol Pot. This was serious stuff. 18 years ago a series of incidents reached a critical point when a man arrived at Esther's house with an iron rod intent on killing her....

Fortunately Esther was out of town at the time. She was not meant to die on that day. But what drives a man to kill someone who has come to help? It all started with Esther arranging for a well to be dug in a local village. The deal was she would employ the locals for labour but only pay them if the well gave water. They dug and dug some more but unfortunately the Earth did not give that life-sustaining fluid we all take for granted, leaving the villagers disgruntled for having done so much work. One man demanded Esther to pay the villagers in contravention of their initial contract but she understandably refused. Who knows what went through his head resulting in that blinding rage which can bring death, but his scheme failed and he had time to cool down afterwards. Esther returned to Baray once she felt it was safe enough to continue her work, and so it went for a while.

Destiny would have their paths cross again when a man was seriously beaten to within an inch of his life but was left to die outside the hospital as he couldn't afford treatment. Esther stepped in and financed his medical care such that he made a full recovery. Sounds great, except that he happened to be an enemy of the original disgruntled villager from the well-gate scandal. Things became a little more tense for Esther.

The final straw in this cumulative dispute started with a local marital coflict. An incident occurred where a man came home drunk and stabbed his wife. By now Esther had a reputation as a local go to person, so our original disgruntled villager approached her to help this couple. As it was a marital dispute Esther decided not to intervene, it was a strong and bold decision but she felt that it wasn't her place to interfere in marriage issues. Our disgruntled villager had to return to his village empty handed, breaking the villagers hopes for Esther's help. I imagine this left him feeling de-faced and ashamed, leading to a consuming rage toward Esther.

This time he wasn't taking any chances. He arrived once again at Esther's door with 2 ex Khmer Rouge armed with AK-47s. It was too dark for her to see completely but Esther saw enough to see that they were there. Imagine how she felt... these could have been her last moments if it wasn't for the miraculous events which were to follow.

Stood in a cloak of darkness, AK in hand, intent to kill, the man heard a voice. 'Do not kill Esther, everybody loves her and I love her.' Esther told us he had heard the gospel, he knew this voice could not be ignored. His hands became paralysed and he dropped his gun, his evil design was aborted. Her time had not come.

As the man reached old age he repented for his previous wrongs and when he breathed his last it was Esther who financed his final arrangements. The same favor was extended to his wife and daughter when they passed away. Kindness in life and in death, such is the nature of the one who truly gives. May we all settle our grudges before death visits us.

Esther left missionary work about 6 years ago and set up Khmer Village Homestay to do purely humanitarian work. Thanks to her contunied efforts many of the villages have wells, several schools have been built and toilets provided. It has been very humbling and a great honour to work alongside her and see first hand the difference we can make with simple things that we take for granted in the west - clean water and education. Baray is blessed to have her. Me and Mandeep certainly endorse her work and would recommend anyone planning on going to that part of the world to drop by. Get out of the city and see the authentic traditional Cambodia, where your money contributes toward enriching the locals at a grass-roots level.

Village Life

When not building a toilet we had some time to hang out with the village locals.  The village is called Pum Thumay and is home to 710 people (130 families). The toilet we helped with is the first one in the entire village!!

This little boy did not like wearing clothes so we nicknamed him 'loin cloth'

This man is head of the village:

The following group of people stared at us the whole time we were having our lunch.  When we asked why we were told  they have never seen foreigners eat before!

On another occasion where we were being stared at, it turned out they just couldn't understand why Fiz is so much darker than I am!  When i explained that we are from different parts of India, we got a huge 'ah riiight' sigh of understanding.

Whilst at the village, Village Head asked us to examine a couple of the locals, including a lady with a large fibroid and a man who had given himself a huge cataract with a swinging branch, he had also incidentally developed severe muscle wasting in his hand and arm following a poisonous fish bite.

During the consultation with the fibroid lady, Fiz got acquainted with another local:

Below are some pictures of the village, including another remote clinic:

Another clinic:

The lead doctor:

How to build a toilet

First dig out the toilet cubicle foundation and the waste disposal area:

Lay the foundation of stones and cement:

Lay down some bricks:

Position the door:

More bricks:

And rest...

We left before the completion. It needs a roof, some plumbing and a facelift... We have been promised pictures of the finished product!