Boat building

IMGP7562
Originally uploaded by King Kieran.

Thanks Kieran!

So, like I had mentionned, when we were in Luang Prabeng it was the water festival. Throughout the town, they were building boats similar to this one. Believe it or not, this is one of the simpler designs. Other ones were much bigger and more elaborately decorated. They lit the boats (fuel in the Red Bull bottles), and floated them down the Mekong. It was spectacular!

Views along the Mekong river

IMGP7516
Originally uploaded by King Kieran.

This is also one of Kieran's photos.

Scenes such as this one would drift by us, in a totally surreal way. It's so beautiful...like a moving postcard.

Life in the slowboat lane

IMGP7511
Originally uploaded by King Kieran.

I can't take credit for taking this photo. I swiped it from my friend Kieran's Flickr site.

This is the interior of the slowboat, that took us for 2 days along the Mekong river. I must point out that this photo must have been taken at the beginning of the journey, as everyone is sitting in their seats and looking very orderly and quiet. A couple of hours in, and everyone was wandering around, sitting on the windowsills, drinking Beerlao and being much more sociable...Good grief were those seats ever uncomfortable. Thank goodness for Ashley's cushion/neck pillow...

If I only had a social security number...

The past couple of weeks since I have gotten back from Asia have been a bit of a blur. For a week and a half, I was homeless...camping out at Jesse's and wishing that I was still travelling. I didn't get a whole lot accomplished that week...basically watching a lot of Scrubs, waiting for my transcripts from U of T and UBC to arrive, collecting the rest of the documents I'd need to get my visa, exercising, and cooking for Jesse and Mark. In particular, I made a lot of salads. I really missed salad while I was in Thailand...shredded cabbage, red onions, tomato and cucumber does not a salad make...

Great (Jesse) Scott drove me (and a carload of my stuff) down to Seattle on Monday, waiting 45-minutes with me at the border for them to approve my application for a temporary working visa. After photocopying my documents and quizzing me on my job description, they let me in! We stopped at Walmart to ogle the cheap American deals (e.g. Banrock Shiraz for 4 dollars a bottle!) and at Jack in the Box for some yummy ciabattas and some not so yummy 2 for 99 cent tacos.

As I hadn't secured a place to live before leaving, the company paid to put me up in a hotel close to the area where I want to live (near the University of Washington). My suite is pretty decent: wireless internet, two televisions (not including my own) and a little kitchenette with a fridge, microwave, coffee maker and dishes. I set up my computer as soon as Jesse left and pretty much played on it all night...So nice to use my own computer again and to have access to all of my music!

Tuesday morning, I went to the social security office downtown to get my social security number. But, as I had only arrived the day before my visa information hadn't yet been updated in their database, so they couldn't/wouldn't issue me a social security. And this will not be issued for two weeks. Unfortunately a social security number is required to get a bank account. A bank account is required to get paid, and to establish credit. A bank account, pay and credit are required to get housing, and a cell phone. Basically, without a social security number I don't exist in the United States.

I spent the rest of Tuesday looking for a place to live, and even went to see a couple of (crappy) places out in Wallingford. I got lost trying to get back to my hotel, when the street I was following ended in a ravine. (I don't know which BRILLIANT city planner decided that Seattle should have a number street and avenue system that gets interrupted by ravines, waterways and cliffs...) I followed the cars, and found my way back to the hotel. Met up with Jen, one of my co-workers, for coffee. Went to bed. (Did I mention that I don't have to share my bed with anyone, I don't get jabbed in the ribs or kicked for snoring, and I have FIVE pillows on my bed!?)

Wednesday, I decided that if the US was going to treat me as a mere visitor, then I would act like one! So, I went to Pioneer Square and took the Underground Tour, an informative yet entertaining recount of Seattle's past. Went to see another (better) house in the evening.

Thursday was my first day of work. In my drowsy state, I climbed on the wrong bus, refound my way, went in the wrong direction, refound my way, got lost again, gave up and called Veritox only to find that I was in the right complex of buildings, just on the wrong level. Long story short, what took me one hour this morning took 2.5 yesterday...Today I brought my rollerblades reducing the 20 minute walk from the bus stop to work to a 7-minute spurt of early morning exercise (it's uphill).

I think I have found a place to live. It is a house located on Montlake Blvd E and the 520. This means: only one bus to work (approx 35 minutes)! This also means ready access to buses downtown and other neighbourhoods. There are 10 people living in the house but it seems most people keep to themselves. At least 2 of the girls seem nice; I spent nearly 2 hours there last night chatting with Allison, the head of the house. She also likes to cook and owns a KitchenAid mixer and a Cuisinart. I have filled out the rental application, leaving the SSN space blank and hoping that the landlord will check my Canadian credit. Hopefully I will hear back from him on Monday, and can move in on Tuesday. This weekend, I may go look at some beds and see what their delivery schedule is like. Furniture shopping should be fun!

Anywho...I am sleepy, and I'm meeting up with a friend of Frisbee Jon's for breakfast in the morning. Later this weekend I will post some more photos from my trip. I got my disposable camera photos digitally developped at Shopper's Drug Mart...

Last day in Laos...

Today is my last day in Laos, and I have to say...I really like it here. Staying in this laid-back town has been the perfect ending to my trip. Not such a touristy place which is a very good thing...

Yesterday was a really busy day, but absolutely amazing. We woke up before 6 am to give food to the monks who make a circuit around the block every day to collect their daily sustenance. It was a solemn and beautiful experience. Then we hired a tuk tuk to drive us out of town to see a beautiful waterfall. Hiked up to the top and swam in the little pools of water at the bottom. Because we got there so early there were no other tourists. On the way back we passed by at least ten other tuk tuks heading there. In the afternoon, the girls treated ourselves to a 3-hour spa package, including a 1-hour aromatherapy massage, 1-hour facial, and 1-hour pedicure. It was fantastic...and exactly what I needed after hiking up and down the waterfall in bare feet. Meanwhile, the boys got themselves goofy drunk on Beerlao. In the evening there was a fire festival in Luang Prabeng. For days everyone in the town has been building bamboo boats decorated with candles, flowers, tissue paper and fairy lights. Last night they lit them up and floated them down the Mekong. Also they were selling little floating bamboo baskets decorated with banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense. We lit these too and released them down the Mekong. Apparently this is supposed to bring us luck.

Today is my last day in Laos. I am still in Luang Prabeng with my friend Ashley, a lovely Englishman from Bristol. All of our other friends have moved on to Vang Vieng and left early this morning. No big plans for today...Just chilling out and enjoying this beautiful town, and my last day in Laos. Tomorrow I fly to Bangkok to spend the last of my baht. Then the next morning I leave on my 23 hr and 28 min journey back to Vancouver.

I'm sad that my trip is ending, but I am also looking forward to moving to Seattle to start my new job. If I had to return to the same ol thing, I probably would be even sadder to leave. I have met some amazing people on this trip and I have had some unforgettable experiences.

Laos-ing around

I have spent the last 3 days travelling including one day in a mini-bus to reach the Thailand-Laos border, and two days on a slow boat on the Mekong river, in order to reach my current location, Luang Prabeng, Laos. I met some lovely people on my bus, and we have been like six peas in a pod ever since. It's quite fun! Our first night we spent in Chiang Khong, not much happening there but we had a pleasant evening anyhow, drinking Leo beer in one of the rooms and getting to know each other. The seats on the boat were terribly uncomfortable, the motor on the boat broke down at one point, and the town where we stayed (Prakbeng) had no electricity so it was a long and sweaty night. But, the slow boat was safer than the speed boat option, where "fatalities are not uncommon" and the mood on the boat was sociable and relaxed. I taught them all how to play the card game Asshole and learned a new card trick.

So far, I quite like Laos. The people seem to be a little less pushy than they are in Thailand; we caught a couple of people snoozing at their market stalls today. Activities for today also included sleeping in (kind of), having a nice breakfast, visiting wats (including one at the top of a mountain), and just orienting ourselves around the town. Tonight we will return to one of the wats and attend a service. It should be a fabulous experience...

Tomorrow, we will maybe go to a waterfall and who knows what else...

Jungle Jadine

I have to say, that the last three days were the highlight of my trip thus far. Not only were we blessed with rain-free weather, but my trekking companions were fantastic. The first day we mostly hiked up, stopping to cool off in a little waterfall. That night we spent in a "bamboo hotel" in a Black Lahu (sp?) tribe village up in the mountains. The view was spectacular, and the people in the village were very sweet. Obviously they are very used to tourists spending the night there and taking their photos. My new friend Steven, from Rhode Island, was snapping photos of the local children with a Canon camera which had an enormous lens. The kids just ignored him and kept on playing. I can't imagine what it must be like to live solely off of the income generated by the occasional tour group. According to our guide, the people in this village are not allowed to have a Thai passport, and therefore cannot work outside of the village. So, basically they live off the land, and raise their own chickens and pigs.

The next day we mostly hiked down and had lunch while sitting on the rocks next to a larger waterfall. They served us noodles in makeshift bowls made from a bamboo stem. It was pretty cool...Then we continued on to our "jungle camp", yet another bamboo shack, but this one was more private and it was located next to a stream. We bathed in the stream...very Swiss Family Robinson! In the evening, we chatted by the fire while our guides sang faulty lyrics to English songs. Too funny...

The last day was relatively quick. We hiked the rest of the way down, ending up at an elephant camp, and we went for an elephant ride through the jungle. I got to ride on our elephant's neck and feed her bananas. We called her Sophie. She had prickly hair on her bumpy head. Then we went white water rafting down a river (name forgotten) and then a more relaxing float on bamboo rafts. They fed us lunch before driving us back to Chiang Mai. After showering and washing our clothes, Sarah and I treated ourselves to a much deserved Thai massage. It was lovely...my masseuse discovered areas of my body that I didn't even know were stiff and stepped on them and/or kneaded them with her hands, knees or forearms. Then we went to dinner at a Pakistani/Indian restaurant near the night market before meeting up with some other people from our trek at a new bar that was opening in Chiang Mai. The bar was full of Thai lady boys, and we were even treated to a show. The owner kept giving us free alcohol, and I'm still feeling the effects at 1:02 pm.

I will hopefully leave for Laos tomorrow. I think it's possible to get a package deal which includes transportation by bus to the border, a lazy ride on the Mekong river to Luang Prabeng, accomodation and some meals. Today my goal is to sort out the details.

Don't worry...I'm being safe! Only 8 days left...