vendredi 27 février 2009

Parenthese Thailandaise

Thailand


La Thailande, pays du sourire, mais aussi pays de la vie facile pour le voyageur! Partout ou le regard se pose, ce ne sont que salons de massages, magasins regorgeant de produits occidentaux, directions et panneaux d'affichage en anglais, et thailandais affables et accueillants.
Tout ici est delicieusement confortable, depuis les bus VIP jusqu'aux hotels entoures de luxuriants jardins, en passant par les immenses centres commerciaux climatises de Bangkok. C'est avec plaisir que nous nous abandonnons a cette parenthese thailandaise, mais l'espace de quelques jours seulement! car demain il sera deja temps de nous envoler pour Yangon. A suivre.

Our initial plan was to visit the Northern Hills of Thailand, ie. the cities and countryside north of Chiang Mai. However the difficulty to travel to Myanmar forced us to change the itinerary, and here we are in Bangkok, exhausted but happy after a day spent shopping in some of BBK's huge, air condiionned malls. Between the Lao border and Bangkok, we stopped at Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Sukhothai. In each of these places we saw dozens of beautiful temples or "Wat", with Sukhothai being the ultimate place for Wat lovers, as an ancient capital of Siam. Tonight we'll be savouring our last Tom Ka, Pad Thai and other Singha Beers, as we're flying tomorrow to Yangon... Another country, another world no doubt!

Bonus time! The Chilli Cooking Club

Click here to view our COOKING pics

Amis gourmets, ces photos bonus vous sont dediees: elles retracent en images le cours de cuisine que nous avons suivi, l'espace d'une journee, a l'excellent Chilli Cooking Club de Chiang Mai.

Thailand is a great place to take a course in massages, meditation... or cooking. Of course we opted for the latter option, and we had so much fun that we decided to upload all the pics in a special, bonus photo album.
PS: people who live in London - we'll take bookings as soon as we are back for an authentic thai dinner at home ;)

vendredi 20 février 2009

Trekking or not Trekking, that is the question

Northern Laos

Luang Nam Tha, Udomxai, Muang Sing et Houei Xai: ces noms aux consonnances exotiques sont ceux des lieux ou nous nous sommes arretes sur la derniere portion de notre periple Laotien. De Udomxai et Houei Xai, nous retiendrons surtout quelques repas memorables ou nous avons touche du doigt la perfection gastronomique version Laotienne. Peu de choses a raconter sinon sur ces deux villes, considerees essentiellement comme des villes de passage; nous n'avons pas regrette de nous y etre arretes un peu plus longtemps que la moyenne. Luang Nam Tha et Muang Sing sont quant a elles renommees pour les villages environnants, qui hebergent les diverses ethnies minoritaires du nord du pays: Akha, Hmong, Lanten, Khmu pour n'en citer que quelques unes. Plutot que de nous embarquer dans un trek organise, nous avons decide de faire nos originaux une fois de plus et d'organiser notre propre trek de VTT, sur les 60km de montagne qui relient Luang Nam Tha a Muang Sing. Une experience rendue d'autant plus eprouvante par le fait que nous avions oublie d'emporter de l'argent et qu'il n'y avait bien entendu pas de distributeur a Muang Sing ou nous sommes arrives epuises et affames... Heureusement les talents de negociation d'Alexis nous ont sortis de la.
De retour sains et saufs a Nam Tha, nous nous dirigeames ensuite vers la ville frontiere de Houei Xai, pour y traverser le Mekong et atteindre Chiang Kong en Thailande. Tout comme entre le Vietnam et le Laos, la difference entre les deux pays se fait sentir immediatement, et nous sommes encore en train de nous adapter au monde beaucoup plus developpe et consumeriste de la Thailande... Plus de details dans le prochain post.

"Have you been on a trek" or "Would you like to join our trek, we're missing 2 people": this is what you would typically hear in northern Laos, particularly around Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing. We opted for a mountain bike trip between the 2 cities, but a quick enquiry about prices convinced us to go for the DIY way. It certainly was an adventure, a painful one at times. This was the opportunity for me to demonstrate my physical endurance on a mountain bike (cycling upwards in the moutain for 40 kms out of 60 without complaining), while Alexis proved a natural born negotiator (or charmer?), talking a fellow traveller into lending us some money when we realized we were broke. On this particular occasion, we also both learnt that I have a very low tolerance to being penniless. But it all ended well, and our trip to Muang Sing gave Alexis the opportunity to take some of the best market pictures so far.
Unfortunately we had no time left to explore the other villages up north, as our Lao visas were about to expire. So we crossed the river towards Chiang Khong in Thailand, which is by the way the easiest and quickest border crossing ever! As we crossed the border we said goodbye to the peace and quiet of Laos, its comparative lack of tourism and consumerism; and we embraced instead Thailand's night bazars and its abundance of all commodities: one of the direct consequences of this is that you'll get to see a freshly shaved Alexis in our next set of pictures. As for me, I spent a couple of delightful hours in second-hand bookstores - books are scarce in Laos and I had to live on only 2 of them during the past month. Talking of books: a stranger has just made my day by walking in the internet cafe and giving me one as a present: I'm starting to really enjoy Thailand... Life is made of small joys, isn't it?

vendredi 13 février 2009

Moutains, Caves and a Sleeping Beauty

Mountains, caves and a sleeping beauty

Tels des chevaliers dans un conte de fee, nous franchissons grottes et montagnes pour finalement atteindre notre Belle endormie, Luang Prabang, ainsi surnommee par les agences touristiques...
En effet a partir de Vang Vieng, nous penetrons dans la partie montagneuse du Laos, comme en temoigne la serie de photos ci-jointe. Vang Vieng ne faisait pas a l'origine partie de notre parcours, mais nous avons finalement decide de nous y arreter pour couper la route - bien nous en a pris, car nous sommes tombes presque immediatement sur un groupe de Laotiens et d'etrangers absolument adorables qui nous ont invites a nous joindre a leur diner, un BBQ dont nous nous souviendrons longtemps. Le reste de la ville en revanche ne merite pas que l'on s'y attarde. Apres avoir visite tout de meme l'une des celebres grottes de la region, nous avons donc poursuivi notre chemin jusqu'a Luang Prabang. A l'arrivee, des reactions diverses: d'un cote, nous sommes admiratifs de la beaute de la ville, enregistrée au Patrimoine Mondial de l'Humanité par l'UNESCO a juste titre; de l'autre, nous sommes decus par l'invasion de touristes et par l'abondance de sites exclusivement touristiques: marches, restaurants, hotels etc. A l'evidence, tout le monde a lu dans les Routard, Lonely Planet et autres Rough Guide que Luang Prabang est LA ville a voir au Laos, et on y converge allegrement de tous les points du pays. L'enthousiasme est comprehensible, mais nous ne le partageons qu'a moitie, et apres avoir visite le palais et quelques-uns des plus beaux temples du pays, nous reprenons la route, toujours plus au nord, toujours plus dans les montagnes.

Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang are a good reminder that you should not believe the hype, but should rather get a first-hand opinion whenever possible. Against all advice, we stopped at Vang Vieng, much criticized for its party atmosphere with happy this and happy that, pizza instead of noodles and burgers in lieu of laap, and pirate copies of Friends playing everywhere. We did see all of this, but as soon as we escaped the main street we discovered a totally different Vang Vieng, with fabulous mountain scenery, bewildering caves where you can explore stalactites and swim in dark, mysterious waters, and very friendly locals. Fresh from the bus, we were invited by an Aussie reporter, his Lao girlfriend and a group of their friends to a gigantic barbecue and a very friendly chat about Laos, Bali and the world in general.
First-hand opinion is also needed when it comes to Luang Prabang, aka the Sleeping Beauty. Presented in Lonely Planet, Le Routard and the likes as THE highlight of Laos, we personally find that it's already lost part of its soul to massive tourism. The city, a Unesco World Heritage Site, is beautiful, and it's definitely worth stopping there to visit the royal palace, temples or just take a stroll along the peaceful alleys. But in general sites are overcrowded and too often you get overcharged for the most basic stuff. In a nutshell, it won't be our highlight, although we are once again very proud of some of Alexis' pics - you have to say the city is photogenic. Our trip continues further north, and the next post will cover Udomxai, Luang Namtha and Muang Sing. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

vendredi 6 février 2009

D'Iles en Capitale - Si Phan Don and Vientiane

4000 Mekong Islands, Vientiane


D'iles en capitale, notre parcours se poursuit. Les iles du Mekong nous ont tour a tour decus puis enchantes: decus, nous le fumes par Don Khone, ou l'on voit trop de tourisme de groupe et un tres mauvais rapport qualite prix. Quelques petits incidents causes par ma maladresse legendaire (dont je garde le recit pour la version anglaise, teasing oblige) ont en outre pimente quelque peu la situation. Bref moins de 24h apres notre arrivee, nous traversons le pont francais qui relie Don Khone a Don Det - un bon 5km avec les sacs a dos sous 40 degres, je m'etais dopee au cafe Lao en prevision! Et la c'est l'enchantement. Depuis le confort d'un hamac sur notre bungalow riverview, nous passons des heures a observer le spectacle sans cesse renouvele du Mekong: ici des femmes qui lavent le linge, la un pecheur solitaire qui jette ses filets sous le soleil couchant, et partout des dizaines d'enfants qui s'amusent. Tres apaisant.
Il nous faut malgre tout quitter ce havre de paix et poursuivre le voyage direction Vientiane, la capitale du Laos. Et la tenez-vous bien: chers parents, chers amis, nous songeons serieusement a nous installer a vie ici. On y trouve en effet le meilleur de deux mondes: l'esprit francais avec les croissants au petit dej, les menus degustations dans des restaurants huppes, et meme le Monument a la Victoire, reponse orientale a l'Arc de Triomphe. On y cotoie aussi l'esprit Lao avec le rythme de vie au ralenti, la gentillesse, l'absence de circulation meme aux heures de pointe et les milliers de bouddhas dans des temples majestueux. Cela dit nous realisons qu'un arret definitif a Vientiane signifierait a terme la lente mort de ce blog, alors pour eviter un tel sacrilege, nous poursuivrons sans doute notre chemin d'ici peu, direction Luang Prabang... Stay tuned!

From a myriad of islands to a Capital city, every day we go a little bit deeper into Lao culture and we learn to enjoy every bit of this wonderful country. It's not always been a bed of roses though - and I feel I have to share with you all, especially with you Asim, a couple of anecdotes where my legendary clumsiness almost ruined our trip. In less than 24 hours:
- I managed to break Alexis' brand new camera screen, by deliberately throwing a Maglite at it. Obviously I did not initally mean to hit the screen, but rather the cushion which lay next to the camera, but somehow it got diverted. Anyway, Alexis' pictures' admirers, and there seem to be many, will be happy to know that the camera DOES work perfectly well, albeit with a slightly broken screen. We went to Canon Vientiane who told us we could only get it repaired in Bangkok - which is bad news as we do not intend to travel to BKK.
But moving on to my second, unrivaled so far, achievement,

- Oblivious to my own strength, I managed to break the sink in our bungalow on the very first morning: I simply leaned on the sink and it fell and broke into dozens of pieces on the floor. The guesthouse manager, although initially not very understanding ("sink very solid, made in China. me don't know what you did with sink" - well, neither do I) eventually accepted to grant us a significant discount, my guess is he was only too happy to see us leave immediately.
Anyway, the latter accident proved a benediction, as indeed it forced us to move from Don Khone to Don Det, where we found much better vibes, a basic but fantastic bungalow complete with hammock and riverview, and amazing food.
We are now in Vientiane, staying at another great guesthouse which is also home to 8 cats and 3 dogs (you do have to love animals to like the place). We find Vientiane to be extremely relaxing and easy going, so much so that we decided to celebrate and blow the budget with a 5 course, matching wines meal in a French restaurant... well worth it!