jail

we can't gain access to the blog right now, we won't even know if this posts, but merry christmas, and happy new year to all!

gavin and emily

fast at typing slow at posting

thanks for crediting my sweet bus-station locating skills Gav. Anyways the true story is if I ever leave you lost and wandering at the bus station, I better steal your guide book, because your book definitely tromps mine when it comes to info on Laos (For those who keep track, it's an LP....i'm burning my Rough Guide book tomorrow)....which is fine, except that now Gavin likes to make up ways to compare our 2 books....which naturally reminds us of a little Mickey Avalon number we used to sing back at home. MY BOOK....

Last week when we ferried across the river to Laos, we were a little sad to leave mother Thailand. She has been good to us, especially the last few days in the town of Nan, where there are a few less tourists (excepting female German Mick Jagger), tasty treats like papaya salad, beautiful mountains, and a scooter to explore on. I think we've become pretty comfortable in Thailand, and being there feels friendly. Even the dogs are friendly in Thailand; they hardly ever bark at you, even though somebody put a sweater on them in 80-degree weather. In the first week or so of our trip, I started to have the feeling that everything in Thailand was about tourism. Of course there's so much beyond the tourist industry here, but everyone we came in contact with made their living from tourism, or had some connection with it. When we finally got out to Umpang (where we "trekked" from on the Burmese border), I definitely started feeling more like a person and less like a walking ATM. aaah, I like that.

Something else I liked - while were were our riding bikes in northern Laos, a 20-year-old kid from one of the villages in the area drove by us on his motor scooter and invited us to lunch at his house. It is amazing the lengths people go to to practice their English - at the same time it was also so cool for us to be able to visit his house. We sat on the floor and shared bowls of soup with lots of unidentified meats, and what may or may not have been raw pork. It was magenta. Hopefully the homemade booze that accompanied the meal killed off all parasites. Gavs and I learned a few words of Lao, which we promptly forgot.

Travelling on and along the Mekong in Laos has been amazing. The towns and river banks are crawling with people, but the Mekong is so immense that once out on the water you feel free of it all. I will probably have to start my own geology blog after all the pictures I have taken of river banks, limestone cliffs and the mountains that form this rolling, mellowed-out end of the Himalayas.

Okay, pictures now. And for those of you who have asked, I know it is Christmastime, but I do not take requests for Filson socks while in SE Asia, and it far too hot for me to think about these things.

service

There are many examples but i just had to take this picture. I feel bad posting this because these folks are flippin nice. they are willing to do anything for you, even your raundry. The one thing that the lao have not done for either of us is give us spicy enough food. like every honky before us has almost keeled over when some flavor smacked their lips. last night the waiter seemed to understand when we asked for spicy, but then just gave us a small bowl of hot sauce each which we both finished. I only know how to say chili, and not spicy, so I took the empty bowl to the cook, pointed at it and said chili, she looked at me gave me a worried look, then dumped some chili peppers into the bowl. I finished off that allowance of spice without a bead of sweat forming, all the while emily and I watched the suspicious pairings of hot lao ladies with dorky white guys. To be continued...

ready, set, stop

the two bloggers sit side-by-side.

on your marks, get set, blog!

emily is in the lead with faster typing skills, but here's gavin! he's got his own stategy! he'll write a short one!

Emily and I have been following the mekong river from the north to luang nam tha (which is a bit away from the river if you are checking your facts, which you should, because we are really in nebraska at my favorite 2-month-long swap meat) then down to laos' jewel, luang prabang, and nowhave put ourselves up in a room in vinetiene (pronounced vin-chen) that has it's own toilet that flushes and hot water.

travlelling is not my favorite part of travelling. emily always makes it easier by actually knowing where the bus station is and which one we need to go to, which, i guess, actually makes travel possible.

our first venture from the border to luang nam tha was much as the travel book suggested. we were supposed to take the normal big bus but got hurried onto a mini-bus aka van, which left earlier. after traveling next to a bag of rice, sleeping with my head against the seat in front of me, comparing the lao lady wearing a hat, sweater, and puffy jacket to the anorexic german who had o a tank top, and watching the bamboo huts pass by. The Hi-way which has been greatly improved, still has patches that are unpaved so our driver would swerve deftly to remain on as much pavement as possible with out hitting any livestock.
here's a picture of what happens when your masterful driver doesnt change his timing belt at 100,000 km and drives till 147,000km. note the lady in the hat and puffy coat? yeah,it's about 70 in the shade at this moment.

word

gavin

we are alive

If anyone has seen the rolling stones in the last week, you had better go down and strangle the guy you scalped the ticket from because for the last couple of days we have seen mick in all his glory, hiding out in the same town as us. with blonde hair. and a german accent. dressed as a complaining german woman. but it's him.

last update we were about to embark on a trip to umphang which is right by the burmese border. The 4.5 hour took us through dense green mountainous landscapes in the back of a truck. The truck has two benches that run allong the inside of the payload area and have a metal cage with a roof. We got on first and as e drove down the street and out on the highway, we would stop and pick locals up or drop them off. Sometimes there isn't enough room inside the songtaew-literaly translates to two rows- so they ride on top with the luggage, and their kids. but this is thailand, and that makes it safe.

after a very rural journey, we met up witha nice guy named victor who knew more english than anyone around and wanted to take us on a tour. we were more focussed on finding a good deal and just wanted to rent a motorbike for the next day. Victor graciously helped us with this errand. As there were no real places that rent scooters un umphang, he just rented it for us from the local crossdresser which he called a "ladyboy". Emily and I went up to the top o a peak on our trusty 100cc honda scooter then emily drove us down. then we travelled out to some caves which were cool too.
on our way back into town we met up with a couple from portland who were enterested in trekking, and they decided to stay where we were staying and come on the same tour.
let me tell you something I have figured out. I slightly more than emily, am a magnet for friendly , but totally WASTED dudes. they smile, they speak enough english to invite me over for a drink, then I realize that they are shaking my hand because they're too wasted to be around anyone other than some goofy forigner.

another thing: to try and make you understand how much these folks love their king is very hard. On mondays, because the king was born on a monday, they wear yellow shirts, with the royal emblem. There are pictures of this guy, at all ages- he just turned 80- everywhere. there are shrines with his full body image, there are calendars, there are framed pictures in almost every business, he's on bridges, welcoming you into towns, next to the pin-up girl in the local scooter garage. He's evrywhere. emily and I started saying "king me" when we saw him, but it actually grew old, even when we were on the bus to nan from mae sot. remember the flag waving after 9/11? it's like that, but more.
so we have walked in the woods, floated town the tamest river either of us have been on, seen the most enchanting waterfall ever, figured out the bus schedule, which can only be found on the wall of the bus station, ridden on said bus, and now we prepare to leave our beloved thailand for laos tomorrow am. probably won't be able to use the interweb for a week or so.

gavin

honkys: one, immigration: zero

I watched a movie once that was all about the true story of a climbing crew who through a series of terrible circumstances becomes separated. one of the men falls 80 or so feet, lands down an ice cave and has to pull himself up and out, then find his way back to camp which of corse is very far away through quite formitable terrain for a guy witha broken leg. As he drags himself through a field of rocks, when he is halucinating due to the pain and lack of food and water, he hears some terrible song that he never liked, repeating in his head over and over.
I'm over here, having the time of my life, and micheal bolton's "how am I supposed to live with out you?" or rod stewart's cover of "down town train" just keep coming back as loud as the sun is hot.
Luckily I've got emily's easy laugh to break up the terrible din. I also have been enjoying all the songs that sound like crappy american pop 93.3 etc, but with words that I will never discern, which is nice, so I don't have to understand the sappy sentiment.
tonight after our glorious escape from bangkok, and our 9 hour bus ride, we made it to mae sot. I almost got left by the driver at a rest stop, but em intervened as he pulled away. I guess they don't believe in giving you time to wash after you use the public rest room. ten minutes out of mae sot, atop a high mountain pass where the bus driver had been passing gasoline tankers going up hill, in the middle of lush, huge banana leaf trees, we stop. A few people get off and then an official man in an olive drab uniform wearing a dust mask over his face, boards the bus. I look out side in time to see a former passenger lose her lunch, then pan back to see the gruff officer walk back towards us. my malaria pill or the constant reading over a winding mountain pass or both combined with the sun and not enough water for fear of being left behind again has left me feeling a similar way. but there are things to pay attention to here, get your head in the game before this guy cracks your skull. He is an imigration officer. He wants passports. the guys behind us get the hassel first then he walks back up toward us, I panic and start digging for my passport, but before i can open a zipper, he just passes his hand over emily and i. Oh yeah, we are near the thai/burma border. our (still pale but not for long) skin tone is a dead give away. Honkys one, imigration zero!
yeah yeah, no photosagain but this computer is less than optimal and our time is about up. lets hope i remember to charge my camera before we go trekking.

I just tried to comment on carlee and jake's blog and realized that it is no easy feat without an account. so sorry for the crass-ness but c'mon, aren't we worth the 45 seconds?

Carlee and jake: you should write books and warn people not to drink anything while reading due to the high probability of liquid jetting out the nose. enjoy the long train ride in the cold middle of nowhere while emily and I try to say hello and thank you in this tonal language.

hugs and kisses in big fluffy pink bows,

Gavin

weekly wrap up

okay, here's what we got:
we tried to take the train to Kanchanaburi, but missed our river ferry, or more like, our river ferry just never came, so we took a taxi that was supposed to take us to the bus station, instead, he took us to his friend's bus station. It's not like we were trying to buy diamonds and got burned alive, but we were a bit 'miffed' if you will. so we took the slow bus to Kanchanaburi-the normal bus takes 1.5 hours, this one took 3.5. but we made it there. Kanchanaburi is where allied forces were forced, as POW's, to build a bridge over the river kwai to allow japanesee to have a rail system that reached Burma and then India. We'll be renting "the bridge over the river kwai" when we get back, don't go and spoil the end if you've seen it.
Em and I enjoyed a bike ride around town and out into the country where we saw an allied cemetary, and further in, we saw our first karaoke barge. here's how it goes: there's a 15 foot long wooden boat sruggling to tug 2 barges. The first is the karaoke part and the second is the double decker chilling spot. Add some drunk japanese on vacation or some thai's celebrating the full moon, and you have yourself one noise making machine. we took our bikes(6 speeds) up to a wat (word for temple) and also went into some caves that were used as a hospital during WWII. now buddah hangs out in there. it was neat, but some of the spaces were a bit tight for you know who. this was not a perfect place for the average overweight american to go. Nine chambers of the sacred buddah later we emerged, sweatier than before, but pleased. We watched the town celebrate the full moon, which only happens once a year over here I guess, whch was cool.. they fold banana leaves and flowers and banana trunks all together and float them down the river to apease the river god for polluting it and to thank it for all that it gives. inscence and candles adorn the tops of these little floating islands of joy and from the bridge above the river we had an excellent vantage point. we actually got to see this super-cute teenage couple pull up on the brige(on a scooter of course), put together a dry-cleaning bag and a candle, and make and successfully launch one of the many lanterns floating in the breeze.
the next day we ran into some great folks from jolly old england in the back of a truck on our way to Erawan falls. there are 7 tiers to the falls and they are the most famously picturesque in thailand. at the top though we came upon a scene like we had never encountered: eastern europeans having a serious photo shoot at the falls. Everywhere you looked some flat top having , banana hammock wearing dude was flexing and spreading his legs whilst leaning into a waterfall. SNL writers dream of this but the only punchline was that it was all serious.
did I mention that Em booked us a floating room? yeah bamboo room floating on the river. beat that disneyland.
we took the train back to bangkok today, which accomodated us much better than the bus. at almost every stop a person would walk by with refreshments, rice and meat, or just plain old fried chicken. yee-haw! the train rulzz.
So, tomorrow we are planning on taking a trip up to mae sot, which is a 8 hour bus ride north of bangkok. From there it's a 2 or 4 hour ride to umphong where we will go a hiking, so we won't be able to write for a bit. getting nervous is not allowed parents!
much love goes out to those special folks who visit our page and write to us, or in this case, to emily hen to me. Yo fam and folks! where you at? holla! anyway I honestly love writing from afar. it's like I'm a freelance writer whose stories never get bought.

hugs and kisses wrapped in pink lacey bows,


Gavin

P.S. sorry about the lack of photos this time and the misspellings thoughout. Maybe I'll post some more with emily's help.

bangkok

don't worry, em and I aren't always atop this camode.
okay, here's em and I standing on a bridge about1 km south of our guesthouse. It's hot but nice. 'how is your trip so far?' you say, and I say back, like a dream, almost real, but not.
We slept on the plane, me with my head against the window and emily sleeping a bit more solidly, on my sholder. The food was funny and I got to see some throw away films that I decided were produced to be resold to airlines so they could have images that weren't any spicier than the food. The highlight was watching transformers, not only for the childhood nastalgia, but in retrospect, it helped prepare me mentally for what was to come.
It's tough to describe this place. many things here transform. the mid 80's scooter that you might see in the paper for $350 is turned into a taxi, or a 100 cc motorcycle turns into a truck, carying three large propane tanks on the back. the flagship of the streets out here, in my humble opinion is the tuk-tuk. imagine a motorized garden cart- a 3 wheeler, and add some rails, a vinyl top and a tired looking, fear-inducing-machine-of-a-man who floats effortlessly between a bus and an oncoming taxi, and there you have a tuk-tuk. 6 million people and there ain't much traffic, maybe due to fear of getting hit or maybe everyone rides the bus.
our hotel has made a great comand post and the ladies at the front desk are encyclopedic with knowledge of trains, busses, and english. the food is fantasyic, although only one dish so far has lived up to my expectations of spiciness. you can walk down the sidewalk, which every thai vendor has a right to use, and they use it, smell the most amazing dish, and in the middle of your inhale, get a big whomping by the rotting green canal.
we leave tomorrow for kanchanaburi which is west of bagkok, and will take about 2 hours. It's a smaller town with a 7 tiered waterfall which is about 1 hour from kanchanaburi and then few km hike will take us to the top to go swimming. we will return to bangkok on monday and get our visas for viet nam. then we will be heading north to mae sot and a little town south of there known for it's excellent hiking.
let it be known that there are a few things here that differ from the U.S. the best example of this is in this picture that I will spend the rest of my time on this computer loading. Yes, this is a toilet. the wider spots are for your feet. the hose and spray nozzle that you might use to cleen off dishes cleans off your undercarrage. Point of irony: this product is made by none other than AMERICAN STANDARD toilet company.
special props go out to jeremy foust for hookin up the travel boxers, and I wish I brought the visine you sent-the exaust is thick.

word to the bird


gavin

welcome friends and family

ahem,

thank you all for helping us on our way. So right now we haven't left yet but we are about to embark. The 20 hour flight sounds like so much fun! pictures will come soon, we first have to take them. and we can't take any pictures if I'm blogging instead of getting on the plane, so thanks and come back soon.


hugs and kisses wrapped in pretty bows and ribbons,



Gavin