DOUBLE POST!! Hue to Mui Ne (That Rhymes)

Lucky lucky, two posts to read in one day.

Hue is a great city and after having my knees in my nostrils for twenty hours on the red bull express I was excited to do some exploring. I broke out my skateboard and went to check out the citadel which houses the purple forbidden city. I was there for about an hour and it's huge, I think one could spend five hours there, but I was feeling a bit sick. That was the end of my sight seeing in Hue, I stayed in my hotel room the rest of the time and punished my toilet. I just want to say that although being sick was a bummer (I've been really lucky not to be so far), it was nice to be sick in a hotel that had satellite TV (the glass is half full!).

When I was feeling better I took a bus to Mui Ne a beach in the south of Vietnam which is close to Saigon so I can catch my flight to Singapore on June 30th, but I was mostly excited for the possibility of surfing. Surf is not up. And this is one of the saddest beaches in the world I think. The water at the horizon is a deep blue, then about fifteen meters from shore turns that nice green colour of tripical waters. Unfortunately the beach is spoiled by the first five meters of water which is a brownish-blackish colour, and the beach is covered in trash.

I did find a area with little trash (but there was a dead rat) and nearly no mucky water to swim. I was just dissapointed on arrival to find a beach in this state after being on buses (in total from Laos) for nearly fourty-eight hours. Tomorrow I continue on to Saigon.

Riding the Bull to Vietnam

The last place I visited in Laos was an area called the Bolaven plateau. It was secluded and beautiful, the area has many waterfalls and nearby to the village I was staying there is an Elephant Sanctuary. Since I haven't done any elephant riding while in Asia (or ever for that matter) it was really excited to see the elephants. The best part was watching them bathe with the trainers. It's almost like a dance, the elephant leads - dunking it's head then its lower back - and the trainer follows the elephant's movements trying not to get dunked in the water, all the while scurbbing the elephant (even behind there paper ears) with a flip-flop (whattaya know flip-flop do have a use after all).

Then after spending a little longer than I would have liked in a town called Pak Se I hopped on a bus to Hue, Vietnam. This bus ride, as I mentioned to my friends, 'is one for the blogs', nearly comparing with my long trip with my deaf/dumb/gay pal to Bangkok.

The only problem on this bus was leg room, these seats were not 'Westerner-sized'. My legs were literally being pressed against from the seat in front of me and my own seat from behind. My knees still hurt now.

We got off the bus for a few hours at the border to Vietnam to wait for the border to open. I slept the whole time because I was having some difficulties sleeping on the bus. I was surprised when I got on the bus and the floor had risen thirty centimeters everywhere, including the place where my feet used to go. The floor was level to some peoples seats! They had shoved cases of Red Bull everywhere on the bus, taking up seats, precious leg room, the cargo space under the bus, and (as I discovered when we were delayed while crossing the border while the border guard counted the number of red bull cases) inside the air vents for the engine.

This bus ride was 20 hours. I'm getting sick of buses.

Rope Swing Paradise

Vang Vieng puts all other rope swings to shame. There must be eight or so wings, the tallest of which is so high that when I stood on the platform my knees were shaking and I thought I would vomit. I was pleased when I conquered my fear and dropped from the platform, swung through the air, and plunged into the Nam Song River.

I left Vang Vieng briefly to visit the Plain of Jars in Phonsavan. The jars were a cool site to see with lots of rolling hills around but I'm questioning if it was worth the amount of money I had to spend and the seven hour bus ride each way to get here.

The buses in Laos are amazing for their views as long as you don't get car sick (thank goodness for Gravol). The roads bend and turn as they attempt to cling to the impossibly steep mountains, and the bus itself has to always be ready to weave around a water buffalo or a stray dog, tourists sit with their noses pressed to the glass in awe of the scenery.

Last night the gentleman in the seat in front of me was carrying some interesting cargo on the bus; an AK-47. I noticed it when I was getting back on the bus after eating dinner and he got on behind me, as I was sitting down I saw him lay the weapon against the wall. I wasn't scared because I read that it's fairly common here but it was startling at first to see the barrel of that gun. Though I was surprised that later on he got off the bus for a smoke break and left his weapon unattended.

Tonight I brave the buses again back to Vang Vieng.

Doin' Things the Long Way

I left the Highlands and proceeded to Pattaya, Thailand, to visit my old friend, Jen, from camp.  After some initial missed messages me have met up and I've been having a great time here since.

The bus was my chosen mode of transportation to Pattaya.  I have decided that planes are necessary sometimes, but should be avoided since they release a enormous amount of greenhouse gasses.  Google Maps conservatively estimated the trip to be 20 hours and 34 minutes.  I think Google is incredibly reliable however it was mistaken, the true time on the road was over 25 hours, not counting all the time between the separate buses I had to take.

Generally the buses were quite comfortable and I was able to sleep a lot.  Except for my longest trip (the 13 hour drive from Hat Yai to Bangkok) where I was being pressed against from all sides; the seat in front of me tilted back while mine was stuck completely upright, and a suitcase stored just below my feet kept my knees against my chin for most of the ride.  I was angry that somehow the tallest person in the whole vehicle got stuck in the seat with no leg room.

By far what frustrated me most was the man beside me.  He was deaf, dumb and gay, and apparently interested in me.  He initially came on quite strong, trying to hold my hand, and asking if "I wanted him to suck my penis" (translated by his friends), but finally his advances were much more subtle, like falling asleep with his head on my shoulder and so on.

I really started kicking myself for my stupidity for not visiting Jen when she was back in Canada since she only lives a mere two hour drive from my house in London.  End of Rant.