Hello again,
This time from northern Laos. The rest of my trip in Sri Lanka was
fantastic. The hike I took to Horton Plains, Worlds End, took me
across the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. Absolutely
stunning. On the way into the national park, at 6 in the morning, a
blanket of mist covered these rolling green hills and stags grazed in
the grass as the sun rose through the haze... and... I saw a leapard!
We were very, very lucky to see one completely in the wild, and a huge
one at that.. very cool.
I flew to Bangkok where I stayed in a VERY fancy hotel (what can one
expect when recommended by Thomas Hayo?!). It was very nice to sleep
in a soft bed and take a long bath and order room service.
I was there for one day before taking a 12 hour train to the Thai/
Laos border where I stayed in a lovely Thai town called Nong Khai. I
decided while I was there that I must visit one thai monument before
crossing the border.. so... I rented a bicycle and ventured off at 7
am (I am getting very good at early mornings) to go to a Buddhist
Sculpture park, which was fantastic, but that's not why I tell this
story..
On the way there I got a little lost, looked at my map, and
saw a little track that went off the road and looked as if it would
take me in the right direction. So I peddled down this track and
passed a huge, nasty looking, manky german shepherd. He was not
pleased that I was treading on what was apparently his territory, and
was barking rather aggressively at me. So I peddled a little faster
to get past him, but a few meters later came to wire fenced dead end!
I turned around to see the dog standing in my path now looking ready
for attack. I didn't give myself time to think.. the only way was
back. I just started cycling as fast as I could back down the lane
towards the scary dog... it ran along side my bike barking and
snarling and pushed me to one side of the track.. still cycling, I
managed to kick it in the shoulder just as it was going to take a bite
out of my damn leg! It was FUCKING terrifying! He subsided just
enough for me to get away, but it was a pretty close call, and I will
NOT be going off the yellow brick road any more on my own (well, not
without a big stick!)!
I have to say that the stray dogs in Asia are the one and only thing I
have found scary about traveling alone. The german shepherd was the
worst experience, but he was only one of FOUR dogs altogether that
have threatened me completely unprovoked. I must have a funny western
smell that they don't like, or perhaps its my height coupled with blonde hair, a very unusual sight in this part of the world. Whatever the reason, they remind me that I am an alien over here, and while its great to be discovering a new world, I must remember it is not mine to wonder around without an appreciative manner of respect and care!
I got stuck in Vientiene with a passport problem for a few days which
was really boring, but then on tuesday I was finally ready to move on
and continue my travels.. went to Vang Vieng for 2 nights, a bit of a
backpacker hell hole.. lots of spotty english gap year students
getting drunk all over the place, so not a great scene, although I did
visit an INCREDIBLE cave, hidden half way up a small mountain, 7 km
outside the city. I've never seen anything like it.. it was so vast
inside, and so dark. You could get completely lost in there..
couldn't see a thing without a head torch.. the walls of the cave were
all sparkly and huge deep holes came out from nowhere.. was really
spooky and amazing.
Now in Luang Probang - its been cold and overcast for a week now.. the
cold front has come in from China which has been a little depressing
and I've had to buy sweaters, hat, jacket, warm socks etc.. serves me
right I know for being smug in my last e-mail about missing the NY
winter.. hummm..
Anyway, have visited a few temples and had a few nice moments with
monks but still not feeling like I've seen the real Laos in its full
glory yet.. so far everywhere has been rather catered for the tourist.
80% of Laos's population is rural so tomorrow I'm heading north to
Phongsali, a remote town as north as you can get, to go trekking and
stay in little villages along the way, which should be really
interesting..
Jax xxxx
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