Life Guru: Mekong Road Trip (and end of computer saga)

The mini-computer that was blessed with milk is now out of the workshop with a new motherboard and reformatted hard-disk. To be honest, the engineers at the service center tried really hard to salvage the files and did actually manage to start-up the computer so I could retrieve my files. I brought the computer home and with good intentions, started transferring all the files to my Lacie hard drive. We had friends over that day though and I was so distracted that I thought I had transferred everything, but I had not. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I did not copy over my journal from the trip nor any of the photos! Fortunately, I had uploaded some photos onto facebook so at least we have a few low-res photos to look at........... SINGLE MOMENT SINGLE ACTIVITY. When will I learn?

We flew from Singapore to Bangkok and started our journey from here through Thailand, Laos, back to Thailand, to malaysia then Singapore. Trains, buses, pick-ups, taxis, boats....

The trains were by far the best mode of transportation. Clean and safe. We took 2nd class sleeper trains whenever possible and they were fabulous. The lower berths (marginally more expensive) are so huge that all 3 boys could sit and play cards on the bed! Trains in Thailand are definitely cleaner than in Malaysia. We could smell Malaysia once we crossed the border!
VIP buses in Thailand and Malaysia are pretty good too. (Try out the Green Coach from ChiangMai to ChiangRai!)

Buses in Laos are however a different story. They have VIP buses which are double decker buses and air-con buses which are slightly cheaper. We were going to do the 2 day slow boat down the mekong from HuayXai to LuangPrabaeng but were dissuaded by a tour agent who wanted to sell us VIP bus tickets instead. The bus ride was horrific. The VIP bus was NOT a VIP bus and was filled with village people puking away and spitting everywhere. The bus broke down after 1/2hr and it felt like the driver was on some sort of death mission to run us off the mountain. The bus from Luangprabaeng to Vientiane was not much better except this time we did it in the dark so we could not see the edges of the mountain..........

Crossing over from ChiangKong to HuayXai by sampan

Riding at the back of pick-ups and in jeeps....... much to the joy of the boys!

The most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. (LuangPrabang)

Temples galore........ I would normally be able to give you the names of all the temples we visited but they were in the journal; ya, the one that was erased! Well, the temple on the extreme left is a pretty famous one in Vientiane. I think there are 50,000 buddhas in the temple.

Our favourite past-time. Massages @ USD4/- were so irresistable; we had one everyday!

New found passion : Go-karting! "Almost as good as ski-ing"

Boys went to cooking class in Chiangmai and made the best curry I ever tasted!

Catfish in Nongkhe
Boys doing their bit for the environment by picking up rubbish along the streets in LuangPrabaeng! The "game" (who can pick up the most rubbish!) was introduced by Philippe from ThongBay and the boys quickly got into it!

Favourite places to stay : Baan Hannibah in ChiangMai. Beautiful teak house with gorgeous beds and fluffy duvets!

ThongBay in LuangPrabaeng with amazing views of the river and gorgeous gardens for the children to play.

Golden Triangle Thai-Laos Border

Remote villages in the mountains of Lao Akha Woman in Hilltribes of Thailand

LoyKrateong Water Festival in ChianRai (We released floats into the mekong and balloons into the air to wash away our sins and to ask for blessings.........)

Playing with tigers @ Tiger Kingdom in Chiangmai. (Don't go. It was very expensive and not worth the trip!)

We climbed up some hill in LuangPrabaeng (it was written in my journal.........) and saw Buddha's footprint. "Was Buddha a man? Why is his foot so big?" exclaimed the boys. haha

Waking up at 5.30am to see the monks collect alms in LuangPrabaeng. (It was horrific how the street vendors were hawking food and making the tourist buy stuff to "feed the monks". )

Our favourite cafe : Joma in Luangprabaeng. (Cinnamon buns, de-caff cappucino, warm sandwiches.......... yummy)