Travels Chapter 4. Biker Jax. March 22nd 08

Dear All,

Finally in Vietnam; about bloody time..! 5 weeks in Laos I think was
just starting to chill me out a little too much, although my last two
weeks there with Alex was a LOT of fun. I read and wrote less and
smoked more.. she was a bad influence on me (well, ok, we both were on
eachother).. in a brilliant way. I even got drunk one night for the
first time in 5 weeks.. We had some great experiences...

It started with the overnight bus to Pakse from Vientiane. We'd asked
the travel agent to give us the best seats, which he did.. We'd
smoked a joint just before boarding, and were so stoned and so smug
about our seats that we couldn't stop giggling.. we were right at the
front with a huge ledge in front of us on which we could spread out
our legs, while every other tourist on the bus (it was a 'VIP' bus -
ie - very touristy bus)was squashed into a very average seat. We
giggled away in our stond euphoria, took half a sleeping pill (which
Alex cunningly brought with her from UK) and woke up in Pakse.. of
course neither of us had any idea where we were going when we got
there - we'd forgotten to make a plan before the sleeping pill.. so
there was about 20 minutes of bleary eye'd panick as we skimmed
through our Lonely Planet while buses to various locations loaded and
threatened to leave us stranded.

We ended up jumping on the last one to "4 thousand Islands" just
before it left, sat on it for 5 minutes, realized we were part of a
herd of western backpackers all going the same way, and so jumped off
again after about 30 minutes and took a tuk tuk, a boat, a 2km walk,
and then another boat and ended up on a beautiful island called Dong
Deang on the Mekong River. It was very rewarding and we felt very
proud of ourselves.. The island was lined the whole way round by a
vast white sand beach on which hundreds of water buffalo sunbathed
while they weren't cooling themselves off bathing in river. I must
say.. THAT is what I'd like to be in my next life.. a water buffulo on
Dong Deang Island. I mean they really have it easy.. sunbathe, graze,
cool off, sunbathe, graze, cool off.. There were no other tourists on
the island and we cycled around having wonderful little moments with
the villagers, who were the loveliest I'd come across in Laos so far,
and that is saying a lot (because the people there are ALL LOVELY).
Every single one that caught our eye greeted us with a "Sabaii Di!"
and a huge smile. We stayed in a little 'Eco Lodge' hut and were
cooked for by a very sweet family for two nights.

Next day visited Wat Phu.. amazing temple ruins near Champasak.. a bit
like a mini Ankor Wat.. mysterious and beautiful.

Then off to 4 thousand Islands - We had one rather messy night. On Don
Det we sipped 'Happy Shakes' and sat round a fire on a beach with a
mass of all the people we'd run away from three days before. Suddenly
it was very dark and late and we had no way of getting back to Don
Khon (the quieter, much more sophisticated island we were actually
staying on). We were drunk and stranded. A sweet Laos guy who worked
at the bar that we'd been drinking at all night, and who'd witnessd
our 5 hours of transforming from reasonably sober sweet girls to two
drunk western messes, told us we could sleep in his bed: he was happy
to sleep outside... we gratefully accepted.. but then got to the bed -
it was in a shed, STANK of petrol and general grubbiness.. had no
mattress, and we could hear the rustling of rats running around the
place. humm. We had no torch, just a lighter which we used to guide us
down a narrow track towards the sound of late night after partying
tourists coming from a bunch of bunglalows.. luckily, one of the
bungalows was open and empty and had a beautiful clean bed in it on
which we passed out until it was light enough the next morning to take
a 'boat of shame' back to Don Khon.

Ok, from then on we were sophisticated again. After discovering more
little beaches and an amazng waterfall, we got off the Islands and
headed to an Eco Lodge surrounded by marsh lands where we rode an
elephant into the jungle for a couple of hours. The lodge served red
wine which was so excitng, and good pasta dishes. I only realized
then how sick I was of rice which I'd basically been eating for every
meal for a month, and enjoyed that meal very much indeed. YUM. I
wasn't Bar Piti but it was pretty dam good.

Then to Tha Keck, central Laos.. now here was the real highlight of
the Jax/Alex Laos Adventure. The two of us rented a motorbike each,
spent an hour spinning up and down a dirt track teaching ourselves how
the ride them, and then went on a 400km road trip! Oh yes.. biker
Jax. It was definitely up there in one of the top 5 things I have
ever experienced in my life. We sped along empty roads for miles and
miles, and wound our way round jungly mountains and gauped at stunning
scenery that passed us by. I was grinning the whole way.. it was SO
FUN!!! We were as free as the wind on our bikes.. I am hooked.. I want
to tour the world on one...
Our final destination was an oasis if there ever was one. We arrived
at this huge turquiose water rock pool that was empty and just sitting
there in the jungle waiting for us. We stripped off our biker gear
and took a dip before finding somewhere to say for the night.. a hut
next to a river flanked by enormous limestone karsts tht jutted out of
the otherwise very flat landscape.

The next day we took a boat through a 7km cave which was absolutely
astounding. So dark you couldn't see your hand in front of you..
vast, eery and mysterious.

On the way back I got a puncture which was easily resolved by some
lovely boys in the nearest village who repaired it for $1.. we were in
the middle of nowhere but somehow they had all the equipment and know
how to fix the thing in 20 minutes.. everything about that trip just
sort of 'worked.'

We went on a two day trek with a funny little man, our guide, called
Mr Mee.. who thouroughly enjoyed finding red ants nests along the way,
ripping them off the tree, scrunching them up in his hands before
putting the wriggling half dead little cretures into his mouth and
eating them. He also very much liked beetles, all differet kinds..
they were all good for something - head aches, tummy aches etc.. I
was tempted, but only because I wanted to be able to tell you all I'd
tried one, Alas, I couldn't do it. And besides, my head and my tummy
were fine thanks very much Mr Mee.

Alex flew back to England and here I am now in Vietnam. I arrived in
Hanoi 4 days ago and was a deer in headlights, trying not to get run
over by the thousands of motorbikes which rush along the narrow
streets of the 'Old Quarter,' a district buzzing with various
activities.. street vendors, shoe markets, silk markets... I couldn't
quite deal with it to be honest.. I mean I thought I might actually
get run over.. so I immediately booked a boat trip to Halong Bay.

You can't do Halong Bay on your own.. you have to book a trip through
a tour agency.. and its a 3 day trip on a boat.. so you can imagine
how apprehensive i was as to who the hell I might be stuck on a boat
with for 3 days.. well I was lucky.. Within the group of 12 people,
there were two punchy irish lads (Greg and Martin), a native new yorker
chick, called Tamar, and her gay best friend from London called Robi.
The five of us had a blast. We sat on our deck drinking wine and
playing poker while sailing through the bay's extordinary scenery..
limestone karsts again but this time sticking out from the turquoise
ocean.

I got on very well with all of them, but especially my fellow new
yorker! She knew how to party and that we did on Cat Be Island where
we stopped for one night. Now - I hadn't danced for 3 months, and we
were both determined, on this strange little island, that we would
find somewhere to get our dancing shoes on. The five of us heard some
thumping music and followed our ears.. and found a big club which was
empty apart from about 10 Vietnamese boys dancing their little socks
off.. when I say little.. they were TINY.. They were about 17 years
old and very little indeed, and were jumping up and down doing some
very groovy dance moves I have never seen before. The strobe lights
were on in full force, the music was cheesy house, and Tamar and I
found ourselves having the time of our lives dancing, surrounded,
quite literally, by midgets. I will never forget it, and the boys
(from the boat) say the same thing.. the image of us (and Tamar is
tall as well) raving with 10 tiny boys bouncing up and down on the
dancefloor... was quite a spectacle. Well what can I say? A good
boogie is a good boogie. That was the night of Dancing with Midgets.

OK if you have reached the end of this e-mail.. respect. Sorry they
are so long.. just so much to tell and so little to leave out!

I'm back in Hanoi now.. a very charismatic and wonderful city of
what I've seen so far.. And I'm a little more together and adapted to
the traffic! Will NOT get run over..
Will be visiting 'Uncle Ho's' dead body in a few days.. first though
I'm heading to the mountains in the north to a place called Sapa to
visit some tribal villages there (and maybe rent a motorbike and have a
little spin.. hee hee).. .Taking an overnight train tonight.. I love
trains, and apparently they are amazing here.. I've booked a seat in
the first class sleeper cabin.. plush!

xxx Jax