Le 3 aout 2008 - Vietnam

Oh la, la, que dire du Vietnam. C'etait un pays ou j'avais hate d'aller, mais c'est malheureusement le pays qu'on a le moins aime du voyage. Il y a d'incroyables beautes naturelles, ils ont les montagnes et les plages, les champs de riz et les dames aux chapeaux coniques, etc. Mais les gens sont tellement pas gentils avec nous, nous mentent la plupart du temps et partout c'est la pollution de l'aire et le bruit etroudissant des claxons des motos, autos et autobus. C'est juste un endroit tellement stressant ou il est impossible de relaxer. Meme sur les belles plages, on y entend les claxons et la circulations des routes derrieres. Je suis habituee a marchander, surtout depuis que je suis allee au Maroc il y a quelques annees, mais quand on s'entend sur un prix et qu'apres coup ils essaient de charger plus, ca je n'accepte pas. La bouffe m'a decue, j'crois que les restos Vietnamien a Montreal sont meilleurs. Je n'ai meme pas reussi a suivre un vrai cours de cuisine. Les gens sont racistes au point de ne pas nous laisser entrer dans certain restaurants, bars, etc. Les seules personnes qui sont gentilles, ce sont les adolescents, mais ils n'ont pas le droit de nous parler. Par example, dans un musee, je discutais avec des etudiants qui voulaient ameliorer leur anglais et la securite les ont expulses du musee. Le musee etait rien de plus que de la propagande contre les americains, donc pas moyen d'apprendre sur leur histoire. Bref, les habitants ont eu la vie dure pendant les differentes guerres et avec leur gouvernement communiste. Aujourd'hui ils n'ont pas oublie, ils n'aiment pas les touristes et ne pense qu'a faire le plus d'argent possible au moment present, sans penser au futur. La plupart des voyageurs qu'on a rencontre se sentaient comme nous, on doit toujours etre sur nos gardes, on ne peut faire confiance a personne, ce qui est stressant, c'est cher comparativement aux autres pays autours, et les gens ne nous donnent pas du tout envie de revenir. Non seulement ils essaient toujours de nous avoir d'une facon ou d'une autre, mais pire, ils adoptent souvent une attitude agressive. On a vu de beaux paysages, mais on est content d'etre sorti du pays, a plusieurs reprises on a pense quitter le pays d'avance, mais l'escalade a reussi a nous y garder pour un peu plus de 2 semaines. Mais bon, j'vous epargne les details des problemes et voici le recit des quelques beaux moments qu'on a vecu au Vietnam... ainsi que la stressante sorti du pays!

On est arrive a Ho Chi Ming City (HCMC/Saigon) dans le sud. A l'aeroport on a rencontre un groupe d'americains et un groupe de Canadienne. On a passe 2-3 jours ensemble. Les 4 americains etaient tellement typiques. Habitent a Los Angeles, ont plein d'argent, que 2 semaines de vacances, decident d'aller faire un tour du sud-est de l'Asie, soit 5 pays en 2 semaines, d'une capitale a l'autre, et le peu de temps qu'ils ne passent pas dans les aeroports, ils le passent a manger des hamburgers, boire de la biere et se souler dans les bars!!! Mais ils nous ont fait bien rire. Les 3 canadiennes etaient classiques aussi, viennent de Calgary et etaient en voyage entre leur etudes. Je m'entendais bien avec Laara qui etait plutot comme nous. Ca fait toujours du bien de rencontrer d'autres voyageurs qui vivent les memes bonheurs et problemes que nous. A part les musees qu'on aurait pu eviter, on est aller 2 jours dans la region de la riviere Mekong. La on a vu les champs de riz, visite une fabrique de bonbons au coconut, fait un tour de bateau sur la riviere, passe le marche sur l'eau, etc. Bref, il faisait bon d'etre sorti de la ville, mais ca n'en valait pas le detour vers le sud du pays.

Pour couper le long trajet d'autobus, on est arrete a Nha Trang 2 jours ou on a fait de la plongee. C'etait bien, pas cher pour plonger, mais plutot de la vase que des coraux, donc rien de spectaculaire. Puis on est arrive a Hoi An, une charmante petite ville qui a garde son ancienne architecture. On a visite d'interessants edifices, vu un spectacle de danse/chant traditionnel, on s'est repose et on a bien mange. Y'a les restos d'influence francaise qui sont bons, et on a finalement trouve une bonne place locale ou les rouleaux de printemps, les wontons frits et les nouilles au porc etaient delicieux. On y est retourne 3 fois de suite, enfin des Vietnamiens content de nous voir!! On a pris un cours de cuisine, c'etait une belle journee, mais on a malheureusment pas appris beaucoup. Hoi An est aussi reconnu pour ses tailleurs. Les rues sont remplies de boutiques. Ce qui etait suppose etre un reve (se faire faire une robe ou une chemise sur mesure pour pas cher) c'est transforme en stress, ils ont fait des erreurs dans les mesures, nous ont charges plus que le prix entendus, les vendeuses etaient de plus en plus impatientes, decidement le moins d'interactions possibles avec les gens ici, le mieux c'est.

Apres Hoi An, on planifiait aller visiter le nord de Vietnam qu'on croyait qu'on aimerait mieux. Mais c'est le temps des pluies et il y avait un ouragant. Dans les montagnes, les touristes etaient evacues par helicopteres et les compagnies continuaient de vendre des tickets malgre que le train etait ferme. On a pense quitter le pays pour aller au Laos plus tot. Mais Josh etait en contact avec un americain qui habite a l'ile Cat Ba et qui a une compagnie d'escalade. L'ouragan est termine a cet endroit et la temperature c'est replacee. On est tellement tanne du pays qu'on decide de s'y rendre avec le moins d'arret possible. On prend donc un premier bus de 8am a 1pm pour se rendre a Hue ou on a laisse nos bagages a la gare et visite la ville ancienne en quelques heures avant de reprendre un autobus de nuit de 5pm a 7am. Par chance ils ont les meilleurs autobus de nuit avec des couchettes, j'comprends pas pourquoi y'a pas ca dans d'autres pays! On a entendu tellement d'histoire d'horreur a propos de Hanoi qu'on decide de ne pas y rester. Les autres voyageurs n'ont pas aime cette ville, apparemment pire que HCMC/Saigon et ou les gens sont apparemment mechants avec les touristes. On passe donc une couple d'heures a acheter notre billet et a marcher vers l'autre station d'autobus. On a prefere marcher 3-4 km avec nos sac a dos plutot que de risquer de prendre un taxi qui ne nous amenerait pas au bon endroit, nous chargerait beaucoup plus qu'entendu ou essayerait de nous voler. Une fois a l'arret d'autobus, c'etait assez d'interactions pour nous avec les gens de cette ville qui essayaient tous de nous faire monter dans le mauvais autobus. Par chance Eric, le gars de Cat Ba, nous avait recommende une compagnie pour se rendre sans probleme. Donc apres deux autres bus, un bateau et un autre bus, on est arrive a Cat Ba vers 6h du soir, environ 36h de voyagement!

Mais qu'il faisait bon d'etre sur une ile plus relax et d'interagir avec des "non-vietnamiens"! A notre arrivee a Cat Ba, on passe pas Slopony, la compagnie d'escalade d'Eric, ou une de ses employee, Jessica, nous accueille chaleureusement. On lui a pose tout plein de questions et elle nous a beaucoup aidee. Jessica est asiatique, mais me semble beaucoup trop gentille, aimable et souriante pour etre vietnamienne. Curieuse, je lui demande d'ou elle vient. Lorsqu'elle nous repond qu'elle est Malaysienne, Josh et moi on se regarde et on ne peut s'empecher de partir a rire. Decidement les gens de la Malaysie sont les meilleurs gens qu'on a rencontre pendant ce voyage :) Et juste pour vous dire comment la vie peut etre difficile au Vietnam, Jessica qui est merveilleuse, parle malaysien, anglais, vietnamien et chinois, ainsi que Eric qui a une compagnie ici, se voient refuse la location d'un appartement puisqu'ils ne sont pas vietnamien et doivent vivre a l'hotel. Jessica qui est asiatique, ce fait souvent regarder de travers et les locaux lui demandent sans cesse d'un air meprisant: "mais qu'est-ce que tu fais?" lorsqu'elle parle ou est en compagnie "d'etrangers''. Enfin, on a eu une super semaine a Cat Ba ou on a fait de l'escalade, sur l'ile, sur une plage, et sur l'eau (Deep Water Soloing), et ou on s'est fait de nouveaux amis avec qui on partageait de copieux repas le soir. "Hoang Y" etait mon restaurant prefere, des vietnamiens gentils et souriants, des fruits mers super bons et des prix resonnables. Mais meme la, j'ai commende un milkshake a la mangue et j'ai vu le serveur boire directement dans la pinte de lait et manger des bouchees de ma mangue avant de les mettre dans le blender!!! C'est tellemnet decourageant des fois, ils se fouent tellement de nous, qu'il n'y a juste rien a dire... On a aussi eu droit a un party vietnamien sur une plage privee ou ils ont cuit une chevre sur le BBQ pour la fete de la fiancee d'Eric qui est vietnamienne. Eric est tres gentil et a invite tous les grimpeurs. Mais apres une semaine, on avait grimpe la plupart des voies et la temperature commencait a se gacher. Il y a un ouragant presentement en Chine qui pourrait s'en venir par ici. On ne va donc pas a Sapa puisqu'on est pas trop certain de la situation dans les montagnes et qu'on a pas envie d'aller dans un endroit touristiques ou ils en ont qu'a l'argent des touristes.

On decide donc d'aller a Ninh Binh, une ville au sud de Hanoi, qui est moins touristique et ou on peut y faire de l'escalade. Chris et Jess, un couple d'ami americains qui vivent et travaillent en Coree du Sud, viennent avec nous. Bien que les gens sont supposes etre plus gentils puisque la ville est moins touristiques, ils sont aussi plus racistes. Y'a pas de restaurant ou on est invite, on doit manger a l'hotel, et meme la ils essaient d'augmenter les prix sur notre facture. On fait de l'escalade une journee, c'etait tres beau, des rochers juste au dessus des plantations de riz. On observait les dames qui travaillent dans les champs, et elles nous observaient a leur tour se demandant pourquoi on grimpe, ils ne voient pas souvent de personne faire de l'escalade ici. C'est tellement triste, y'a un potentiel incroyable pour l'escalade dans ce pays, mais a cause du gouvernement, c'est impossible de le developper. Eric est tres courageux, il doit payer pour installer les voies d'escalade, payer le gouverment pour "louer" les rochers et le gouvernement augmente les prix sans raison et peut decider de lui couper son permit sans pre-avis. Mais par chance Eric etait la pour nous permettre une belle semaine passee a l'ile Cat Ba au Vietnam. Le lendemain a Ninh Binh, Chris et Jess repartent. Josh et moi allons visiter Tam Cac, trois grottes au dessus de l'eau qu'on visite dans une petite chaloupe. C'etait tres beau et relaxant, a part que sur le bateau ils essaient de nous vendrent toutes sortes de breuvages et souvenirs. Le soir meme on prend un autobus pour traverser vers le Laos. On a encore quelques jours sur notre visa, mais on en peut plus de ce pays...

Notre derniere et pire nuit au Vietnam! Il n'y a qu'un endroit ou on peut facilement traverser les douanes entre le Vietnam et le Laos. C'est plus au sud, environ a la hauteur de Hue. Bien qu'on est dans le nord du Vietnam et qu'on veut aller dans le nord du Laos, on doit passer par le sud. Pres de 24h, les gens disent et encore une fois les histoires d'horreurs sont incroyables. Tous ces touristes qui ont du payer beaucoup plus cher une fois rendu au milieu de nulle part sous la menace que l'autobus va continuer en les droppant la sinon. Avoir a payer aux douanes pour recevoir l'etampe qui nous laisse sortir du pays. Les compagnies qui disent continuer au Laos, mais qui en fait s'arrete aux douanes et vous laisse la. etc. Comme on est pas a Hanoi et qu'on est dans une plus petite ville, on a pas d'options de differentes compagnies. Les seuls a organiser un autobus sont notre hotel. On prend la chance. C'est epeurant, on paye, on a pas de billets, pas de nom de compagnie, mais evidemment ils nous disent de ne pas s'en faire que tout va bien aller. On se prepare pour le pire. On passe par le guichet automatique pour retirer le maximum d'argent qu'on peut. On acheter de la bouffe et de l'eau pour survire 24h en cas qu'on soit pris seuls au milieu de nulle part. On prend nos objets importants avec nous, on est completement stresse, mais y'a rien de plus qu'on peut faire, on part pour l'aventure... L'autobus devait arrete a notre hotel, mais il n'y est pas. Ils nous embarquent sur deux taxi-mobillette avec tous nos bagages. Ca commence mal, la plus dangereuse ballade en moto de ma vie. On a toujours pas de billets, on ne sait meme pas ou on s'en va. Environ 1 km plus loin l'autobus nous attendait. On embarque, c'est bonde, mais pas trop. Toute la nuit on fait des arrets (ces autobus transportent toutes sortes de marchandises pour faire plus d'argent) a chaque fois on se reveille et on jette un coup d'oeil a nos sacs dans la soute, ca arrivent que les bagages "disparaissent". On arrive a dormir sur une oreille. Je fais des cauchemars que tout va mal, mais je me reveille et par chance tout va bien! Aux petites heures du matin on est arrive aux douanes sans soucis. Ils ne nous reste qu'a traverser. Encore une fois ca va bien. Ils ont charge qu'un dollar a tout le monde pour l'etampe, on a facilement obtenus notre visa pour la Laos et le bus etait la. On a reembarque et tout s'est relativement bien passe. Vers la fin les gens dans l'autobus commencaient a nous sourire. Surtout les dames, puisque les arrets pipi etaient au bord de la route, elles allaient toutes ensemble dans un petit sentier alors que les hommes restaient sur le bord de la route, moi sans trop de gene je suivait les dames et ca les faisaient sourire que je fasse pipi avec elles dans les champs! La route au Laos etait tres longue, le bus a surchauffe et ils ont du arreter l'air climatise, mais les paysages et villages qu'on traversaient me redonnaient le sourire. A ma grande surprise, apres 18h on etait arrive a Vientiane au Laos. On est VRAIMENT contents d'etre sorti du pays. Ca fait qu'une journee qu'on est au Laos, on adore ca ici et je decompresse deja. Me faire mentir tout le temps et devoir etre toujours sur mes gardes a eu un plus gros impact sur moi que je le croyais. Pour moi le Maroc bien que plus difficile a ete mieux que le Vietnam parce qu'on moins les gens y sont 'honnete' d'une certaine facon. Je sais que l'Inde sera difficile, j'espere juste que ca sera plus comme le Maroc que comme le Vietnam...

Vietnam: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

What to say? We should have gone to Vietnam first. It's like eating dessert before dinner, but dinner turns out to be terrible. There were a few good moments, but overall Nath and I were both desperate to get out of the country and left early. The countryside can be absolutely beautiful in places, but the huge majority of people in Vietnam we interacted with were just plain terrible. They lied, cheated, and we were actively told we couldn't enter restaurants because we were white (there were quite a few occurrences along this line). At one museum, some of the few nice locals we met were kicked out by government security for talking to us. We had cigarettes flicked at us, cars and motor bikes swerve at us, and taxi drivers yell at us because we only wanted to pay the agreed amount. The museums were full of anti-American propaganda to the point where I learned nothing and I just laughed at them (as did many other tourists). For the record, we've been traveling for over seven and a half months now, most of that in various South East Asian countries and we've encountered nothing even close to what we've found in Vietnam. Most other travelers we met agreed with our opinion. I would never recommend anyone to travel to Vietnam, unless they wanted to go climbing in Ha Long Bay... there's a very nice American running a climbing company so you don't have to deal with the Vietnamese much. From here on out, I'll try to focus on the positive in this post. I just wanted to make it clear it wasn't all fun and games in Vietnam.

We flew into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in southern Vietnam, met some Canadians and Americans along the way, and wandered the streets looking for dinner. We played with a few of the kids in the street who weren't being forced by their parents to sell us stuff. Me and some of the other guys tried some dried squid jerky from a street vendor. We ate our first Pho Bo in Vietnam (a classic soup dish), and tried the only local Communist wine in the country which I can safely say is NOT wine and was undrinkable sludge (no exaggeration).

The next day, Nath and I went for a walk. I've never been anywhere with more motor bikes. It was absolute chaos. It's hard to even explain, and they all honk, all the time. The rules of the road are completely ignored, people driving when a light is red, turning into lanes without looking first, and even driving on the wrong side of the road! To cross the road was a leap of faith as you step out into a phlanax of 400 motor bike whizzing by, and you can't hestitate or stop because they might hit you. You just have to walk. It was all amuzing at first, until after a few hours the honking becomes unbearably annoying. I didn't realize how annoying it was, until we found a park and walked around it for about 10 minutes. When we headed back to the street I realized just how overwhelming the constant noise was. On the plus side, we found some amazingly good street vendors selling fresh spring rolls, fresh squeezed sugar cane with sweetened condensed milk, and the white pork buns found all over SE Asia. Near the end of the day, we visited the stupidest museum I've ever been to (this is the one the locals were kicked out of for talking to us), and then we headed back to our guest house.

We spent two days on a Mekong River tour. There were some cool parts, like seeing floating markets where people literally live on, and do business from, their boats. We wandered down the small back canals in local row boats, and saw many people living off the river in various ways. There was more that we saw, but nothing spectacular.

After this, we happily left Saigon and headed north to Nha Trang on a sleeper bus. The sleeper buses were great! They literally had bunk beds filling the entire bus! They were so comfortable, it was awesome! I don't know why this hasn't caught on in many other countries. There were many long bus rides between bigger or popular cities in Vietnam, which is 1600km long, and you could do essentially all of them overnight while sleeping! The travel was much more pleasant, and we could avoid the cost of paying for a hotel!

Nha Trang is a coastal beach town with scuba diving opportunities. The scuba was the cheapest I've seen it anywhere in the world, at about $50 for two boat dives. The diving was almost bad relative to the places we've been, and we had medium to poor visibility relative to what it can be (up to 30m) so we just dove one day. We spent some time on the beach and then caught another sleeper bus to Hoi An.

Hoi An is known for two things, the food and the tailors. We stayed there for a few days, during which we ate wonderful food and took a cooking class. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good cooking class, and we didn't learn much in the way of Vietnamese classic dishes. Hoi An specialties included "white rose," a shrimp dumpling shaped like a rose, wontons with meat, which were mouth watering with the sweet and sour sauce, a fried noodle dish which was delicious, and a unique crepe. The food in Hoi An was definitely the best we had in the country and it lived up to its reputation. We biked to the beach one day, which was a beautiful white sand beach, and Nath talked me into getting some clothes at the tailors (she bought two silk dresses) since it was pretty damn cheap.

After Hoi An, we took another sleeper bus which stopped at two cool places on the way to Hanoi, Marble Mountain and some unknown beach. Marble Mountain had an enormous cave/temple carved into it which we explored, and the beach was long and very picturesque with very few people.

By this time, we had experienced a big city (Saigon) and enough Vietnamese (lack of) hospitality and we planned to go straight to Cat Ba island in Ha Long Bay. Our time in Hanoi was spent walking to and waiting for a bus. With the level of sheer harassment and lying we experienced from people working for bus companies, I'm glad we bypassed Hanoi almost completely. After over 30 hours of bus - bus - bus - boat - bus we arrived happily on Cat Ba Island and walked into Slopony Adventures for some good old American hospitality!

Actually, the person behind the desk, was Asian, but spoke excellent English. Jessica was extremely patient and helpful while we literally assaulted her with logistics questions. We asked everything from where to stay and eat, to how do we actually get on the rock when it's out in the bay. She smiled, laughed, and was quite refreshing to talk to. I really felt there was something "off" about the interaction. She was just too damn friendly and helpful. Finally, in the end Nath must have felt the same way because she asked her where she was from. "Malaysia," was her reply! Nath and I both started laughing because we were both thinking, "THAT'S why she's so nice!" Remember from our blog that we found Malaysian's were the most friendly of any people we've met on our travels. After checking out a few hotels for prices, we found the one that Jessica recommended was definitely the best since there wasn't mold actively growing on the walls...

The next day found us Deep Water Soloing (DWS). There weren't many DWS trips since there aren't a lot of climbers passing through and hiring a boat was expensive. It just turned out that the tides were good, and there were 4 other climbers already going out so if we went with them it would bring the cost per person down even more. We met Eric, the super friendly co-owner of Slopony Adventures from the US, and he set us up with a guide and a chartered boat in the morning. We headed off to see the wonders of Ha Long Bay!!!

Ha Long Bay is an amazing place. It consists of roughly 3000 limestone "karst" islands roughly vertically from the water. Many of them have that beautiful overhung white to orange limestone with tufas, stalagtites, and pockets making the area a mostly unexplored climber's paradise. We headed over two hours out into the bay in our ancient boat which had engine troubles and travelled roughly walking speed through the beautiful scenery. Not only is the scenery amazing (there's a push for Ha Long Bay to be on the 7 natural wonders of the world) but seeing the floating fishing villages nestled among the islands is really special.

Eventually, we found our way to one of the established climbing walls and pulled out the kayak and "basket boat." Victor, our Vietnamese guide showed us the routes and paddled the basket boat with skill getting us onto the rock with at least dry hands. You stand up off the basket boat or kayak to get on the rock, both to keep your hands hopefully somewhat dry and because the ocean has worn the bottom of the karst formations away so that they are wickedly steep (overhung) and horribly sharp. Once on the rock, the boatman's job is to get out of the way as quick as possible so that you don't land on the boat if you slip off. From there, it's up to you to climb as high as you can/want before falling/jumping off.

We went to three walls throughout the day, and did some very high-quality routes. I hadn't lost too much strength since Chiang Mai (we hadn't climbed on rock since before our massage class) and managed to onsight a possibly soft 7a+ which had an amusing sit start off of the front of the basket boat for added challenge. The 7c was too much though, and spit me off almost instantly after trying the first move. The 2nd wall we went to was very steep, with huge pockets and cracks running about 15m up the wall. The climbing was very high quality to that height, and then we jumped off before the rock quality became worse. We all enjoyed the last all the most, it had the most routes and most variety, and there was even room for at least one new route! Yes, that's right, I have my first documented first ascent!!! I onsighted it (first try) and since it is my first documented FA I decided to call it, "First time's a charm," and rated it around mid 5.11. It's already seen at least two repeats, and it's apparently good quality rock. One person told me it was the best route they did all day! We all climbed until we were exhausted. I was cramping up, and we all had too much sun exposure so we were happy when we started to head back.

That night, we had a unique experience. On the way back to Cat Ba, Victor told us there was a change of plans and that we were going to be dropped off at Tiger Beach, an island 30 minutes from "home." At first we were wary about what was going on, but soon found out that Eric would be joining us and we were invited to a "goat party." It was a birthday party was for Eric's fiancee, who is Vietnamese, and her family and friends slaughtered a goat. We had BBQ goat, vegetables, rice wine, beer, and even goat's blood "pudding." Quite the fun experience! All the climbers were invited to the party so we ended up with people to talk to since we don't speak Vietnamese. Around 10-11pm we all jumped on another boat and headed back to Cat Ba.

The next two days saw us renting a motorbike and climbing at Ninh Binh with two Americans Kris and Jess who live and teach English in Korea. Ninh Binh is a crag located on Cat Ba, so access is easier than hiring a boat. However, since a typhoon had just crossed (and recrossed) the area prior to our arrival, we had to wade through a swamp to get there. Even trying to get to certain parts of the crag involved a tyrolean traverse over water that was tricky to keep the gear out of the water. The climbing was great, and Nath and I were both climbing strong. She was leading pretty well as long as it wasn't too overhung or reachy, and I mananged to onsight up to 7a and redpoint a wickedly overhung 7b+ endurance fest in two tries.

It rained the next day, which luckily coincided with our need for a rest day and we wandered around Cat Ba a little. The day after was more good weather so we took a boat out to Tiger Beach again, where Eric takes groups of backpackers out top roping, and Nath and I did some wonderful routes. Nath managed to redpoint a 7a on her second try and was climbing very well, and I somehow managed to onsight a pair of amazing 7b routes, both of which were seeping water but were still of amazing quality. The 2nd was a multipitch out of the water. Nath lead the slabby first pitch, and I did the 2nd pitch which started about 20 degrees overhung on gorgeous stalagtites and tufas and ended on more near-vertical crack and flake climbing. We rappelled back into the basket boat two hours later when Eric returned to pick us up and we headed back to Cat Ba again.

Our last day on the island, we rented a motorbike again and did some hiking in a national park. The highlight was scaling an old rusted lookout tower about 25m tall for great views of the surrounding landscape.

Next stop was Ninh Binh, the supposed "Ha Long Bay on land." Kris, Jess, Nath and I caught a bus - boat - bus - taxi (that turned around and ended with the driver having a screaming match with the bus company we booked with and we had to get out) - new taxi - bus and we rolled in about 5 hours later.

Eric had given us some information on some climbing in the area that had rather vague directions along the lines of (go west 20 minutes out of town and turn on the dike). There were a lot of dikes... it was located in the middle of rice paddies! After spending about 30 minutes lost in beautiful scenery, we asked a local where Nui Vang (Golden Mountain) was and he pointed us in the right direction. We pulled out the climbing gear, I scraped my way up a few climbs from 10b to 11d of mostly vary poor dirty quality before trying the "king line" of the area. Unfortunately, I popped a tendon in my left elbow finishing the 11d, but since it didn't hurt too much I still had to have a go at "Gangalicious" (7b). It was a slightly overhung almost 30m line of clean immaculate beautiful grey limestone with pockets and cracks forever rated 7b. I managed to onsight it, which made me immensely happy since it was some of the best climbing I'd done in a while, and Nath and Kris top roped it before we headed back to town. We took a "short cut" trying to get back, got lost and Ninh Binh turned out to bigger than we expected. Luckily, after turning around only twice and having a crazy lady in the street point us in the wrong direction when we didn't even ask for directions, we recognized the BP where we'd put gas in the bikes at and found our way home. It was wickedly hot in Ninh Binh, and Kris and Jess wanted to get back to Cat Ba for some DWS (they hadn't had the chance yet since Jess had a 3rd degree burn on her leg from the motorbike exhaust a few weeks earlier). They took off in the morning, and Nath and I got on a motorbike again to head to Tam Coc where you can take a boat ride through the karst formations and go through caves. We were lost for about 2 hours, but saw some spectacular views of the surrounding country side before we found Tam Coc. We got there at the perfect time since most of the hundreds of tourists were finishing up their boat rides and we had most of the area to ourselves for the 2 hour trip out and back through caves that pass through the huge karst formations.

When we got back to the hotel, we prepared for the potentially disasterous next leg of our journey. We were going to take a bus to Vientiane, in Laos. We were done with Vietnam on so many levels that we decided to skip some of the sights and just leave early. We booked the 18+ hour bus ride through the hotel and it picked us up at 9pm that night.

We'd heard MANY horror stories of this trip from Lonely Planet and internet posts where the bus just kicks you out along side the road in the country side at 2am in the morning. If you're lucky, they let you back on the bus for exhorbitant fees and your bag isn't stolen. If you're unlucky, things can get much worse... At 9pm, some motor bikes showed up to whisk us off to the bus and off we went. Once we hit the first dinner break, I actually felt better about the bus in general. The sign in the window said the correct destination AND we were the only westerners on the bus. That meant it was at least going to our destination. Now we just had to make it to the border and get back on after obtaining our visa. Amazingly, everything went smoothly. There were few people on the bus, so many people had two seats to sleep across, including us. At the border, the bus driver took our passports and helped us with the process, and we only lost about $4 USD to bribes to the Vietnamese and in Laos. We even beat a lot of the Vietnamese getting back to the bus before it took for Vientiane on the Laos side! We slept quite comfortably most of the trip, and the farther we got from Vietnam, the more our spirits went up. We laughed with the locals when the bus broke down twice and the did some quick fixes to get us going. I think one of the quick fixed was just cutting the belts that ran the air conditioning since there was some sort of problem but it never got unbearably hot (possibly since we'd experienced the SE Asia heat in buses many times already). Eventually, around 3pm our bus rolled into the bus station roughly right on time!

Now we're sitting in Vientiane eating good food, surrounded by much more friendly people, our stress levels have dropped significantly, and life is good.

Back to Thailand! - Chiang Mai

We kept hearing of places that just suck people into staying longer than planned for various reasons. Everyone is travelling for different reasons, and so we hadn't been found our spot until Chiang Mai. The plan was to fly from Phenom Penh to Chiang Mai and spend a week or so climbing before heading off to explore the rest of N. Thailand and then eventually busing to Laos and Vietnam. However, for a myriad of reasons, we didn't leave Chiang Mai for three solid weeks and we're still planning on returning.

We only had three main objectives in Chiang Mai, climb, work on visas to China/India, and take a cooking class. I'm sure most of you have been to a good Thai restaurant at some point. Why not learn how to do that at home? Also, we hadn't been climbing consistently for a while and a crag near CM offered more of that muscle bursting overhung limestone climbing that I've started learning to yearn for. Also, CM was one of the few places we'd planned on spending some time in that had consulates to both China and India

After we figured out the crags location, we rented a motor bike for 80 baht (about $2.50) for the day and cruised into the country side. The climbing area is 35km east of town on the "superhighway." Personally, I don't think it was that super since I was passing everyone with the throttle maxed out and us cruising at a very non-blistering 85 km/hr. Not that I was driving like a mad man, mind you. The road was mostly empty outside of town, and it seems like a lot of locals drive slow. I'd guess it's to keep gas consumption down.

When we rolled up, luckily the local climbing school was already there and there were people to ask about route information. We hit the "main" crag and realized that the crag was much smaller than expected and the quality didn't match hopes. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good place to climb! However, it by no means is another Krabi (Railey/Tonsai). We climbed for the day, getting the muscles back into shape, and then headed back to town zipping down the side of the road on our little scooter.

Next up, cooking class! Unfortunately, much of the cuisines here in SE Asia are based on each other. While we learned a few new dishes, Nath had already learned 5/7 of the dishes in previous classes. We did still learn "khow soi" a wonderful spicy noodle soup with coconut milk in the broth/curry found only in N. Thailand. It's sooooo good!

Returning to the crag, we paid for luxury. A ride in the back of one of the "red truck" taxis with the local climbing school. A return trip including water and hot fresh food brought to the crag from a local restaurant was a lofty 200 baht each ($6)! Life is good....

We'd been hearing rumors through the backpacker grapevine that getting a visa to China was rather difficult due to the Olympics. Somewhere in there, we managed to take a day off of climbing and run to the Chinese Consulate. Unfortunately, despite being during the week, they were closed due to Thai holidays. We should have just taken the hint.

More climbing lead to us both improving. We were regaining some of our strength. The routes still weren't anything super, but there were definitely some climbs that brought huge grins to our faces. Most of the rock is more vertical than overhung, I found out, but there was one wickedly overhung 7b that I decided to work on. I eventually worked out the moves, and on my 3rd lead attempt I redpointed the route by a desperate direct finish that I later found out locals don't do. Our last day of climbing rolled around, and while I spent some time working on a 7c that won that battle, Nath worked on and redpointed a bouldery 7a route nearby. Earlier in the day she managed to onsight a gently overhung beautiful 6c pitch that was one of the better pitches we climbed. We definitely had some strength back by the time we left.

Somewhere in there, we headed back to the Chinese consulate for some punishment. We made it through the gate easily enough, but upon entering the room where we apply for visas we had more foreshadowing. There was a white guy arguing with the Chinese guy behind the glass quite loudly in very fluent Chinese. After about 10 minutes, he left. As he left, we asked him what was wrong and he said that even though he had lived and worked in China for 15 years and was planning on taking a bus into the country through Laos they were requiring him to show them a plane ticket into the country. This boded poorly since we were busing in ourselves! When we reached the window, we luckily talked to a different person. While she seemed helpful at first, she turned out to be completely the opposite. She told us that we could bus in since we had written out a detailed itinerary and had a letter from the English school we wanted to teach at in Yangshuo. Despite our obtaining this letter in good faith (it's not required at all and it contained what address, phone number, and even what room number we'd be at for our entire stay in China) the woman behind the glass arbitrarily told us that we couldn't get into the country unless we had an original copy of the letter, as well as a copy of the school's business license! We would also be required to show a ticket of departure from the country, which I didn't think was too unreasonable. Before leaving, I asked "what if the next person we talk to requires us to have a ticket into the country?" I thought it was a good question, but she either didn't understand it or pretended not to. We had to leave without an answer. More foreshadowing...

We contacted the English school first thing via e-mail. Our contact informed us that it was not possible for him to send us an original copy of the letter within a week. He also informed us that the requirements for entering the country seemed to be changing daily. Since the visa application takes a week itself, we didn't want to be stuck in Chiang Mai forever waiting for a visa we might not get. Still foolishly hopeful, we returned to the consulate a few days later to see if we could work something out. When we got to the gate, the guards immediately stopped us. They new only two words of English. "Air Ticket!!!" Without showing a flight ticket in and out of the country, we couldn't even talk to consulate representatives! At this point, I gave up. It was obvious they just didn't want us in the country and really were keeping people out. Why? Because they don't want protesters at the Olympics. As soon as the Olympic games end, they plan to ease the requirements for entering the country again. Note, we were planning on applying for a visa for AFTER the Olympics. Who decided to let China host the Olympics anyways!?! Oh well, there goes a once in a lifetime opportunity to climb in Yangshuo and meet locals while teaching English.

We would have climbed more, but after taking the cooking class and talking to some others staying in our guesthouse taking classes I realized that while climbing is fun, I can't take it home and share with anyone. Nath and I both loved the Thai massages that we were getting for the bargain price of about $3.50/hr, so we decided to spend around $100 each and learn how to do it ourselves! We signed up for "Level 1," a full week 30 hour class of Nuad Bo-Rarn, Ancient Northern Thai Massage. After the class started, it became very apparent that we would have to take level 2 if we really wanted a more complete knowledge of the very technical and difficult form of massage. We didn't have time, so instead we changed around our itinerary and now we're planning on swinging back through at the end of September to finish our schooling. By the time we finish the next class, we should be proficient to give up to a 4 hour amazing massage that bases itself in Indian yoga and medicine. Most of the people in the class were professional masseuses, and to say the least they half-assed the class. I'd go as far as to say that I actively wouldn't want a massage from any of them. Nath and I however stayed after class almost every day asking questions until they kicked us out, then practicing back at the guesthouse. We're not perfect yet, but I like to think that we're pretty good and getting better! If you're our friends or family, life is good!

Chiang Mai is a great town too. It's much cheaper than southern Thailand, with meals as cheap as $0.50! The people don't hassle the tourists nearly as much, and everyone we dealt with was extra friendly. This was the Thailand we'd heard about... Bangkok, and even Krabi hadn't lived up to expectations as far as all that went. Chiang Mai even has multiple amazing markets. Day markets, night markets, even a Sunday night market! The Sunday night market is something to look forward too. Food flowing freely from the street vendors, crafts, clothing and wares of all kinds for sale at dirt cheap, and thousands of people roaming the street looking for the best deals. Are you feet tired from all the walking up and down the 2km market? Stop for a foot massage at about $3/hour! We had a wonderful cafe we ate breakfast at every day, and the rainy season never really kept us from doing anything we wanted at any point. It was great fun, and a town that shouldn't be missed if you're in Thailand for a while. We never even did the legendary trekking in the mountains or any of the other myriad of tours offered, but we'll be back in late September for "Level 2!"

Le 16 juillet 2008: Chiang Mai, Thailande (et changement de plan!)

De retour en Thailande, mais cette fois-ci dans le nord. On a change d'avion a Bangkok, une quatrieme fois deja a cet aeroport, et ce n'est pas fini.... on y retournera encore bientot! Mais d'abord j'aimerais vous dire que les gens ici sont beaucoup plus gentils que dans le sud de la Thailande.

Le premier soir on est donc arrive tard, vers 11h. On a partage un taxi avec deux autres personnes rencontrees a l'aeroport. On n'avait pas reussi a faire de reservation par internet pour une chambre. Il fallait donc trouver un endroit ou dormir, mais tous les hotels mentionnees dans notre guide de voyage etaient pleins. Fatigues, on a pris la premiere chambre libre qu'on a trouve se disant qu'on cherchera pour mieux le lendemain matin. Un vrai taudis j'vous dis. Les murs tout croches, sale, des coquerelles un peu partout, j'ai exige a Josh d'installer notre moustiquaire pour le lit et on a mit nos matelas de sol par dessus le matelas fourni! J'ai un peu peur maintenant depuis que j'ai entendu en Malaysie des histoires a propos des bebites de lit qui vivent dans les matelas et sortent la nuit pour nous piquer, yeurk. Disons qu'on a pas trop bien dormi, mais le lendemain matin apres 30 minutes de recherche, on avait trouve l'endroit parfait ou rester. L'hotel est super propre, la chambre la moins chere qu'on a trouve, on a notre propre salle de bain aussi super propre... et meme une douche avec eau chaude! La dame qui s'occupe de l'hotel est vraiment gentille (et super cute!) et elle nous aide beaucoup avec toutes nos questions. L'ironie: cet endroit reve est a environ 10m du taudis ou l'on est reste la nuit derniere. Si on avait continue a marche 1 minute, on l'aurait trouve, mais ce n'est pas toujours evident quand il fait noir, et probablement que c'etait deja ferme.

On est bien content de s'installer ici. La temperature est encore clemente avec nous. Il pleut souvent, mais surtout la nuit et parfois en fin de journee. Donc ca ne nous gene pas dans nos activites. En plus, le fait que le ciel est generalement ennuage nous avantage puisqu'il fait beaucoup trop chaud lorsque le soleil sort! On en a donc profite pour aller faire un peu d'escalade. Il y a des parois rocheuses a environ 40km de la ville. Il faut soit prendre un autobus qui y organise des tours ou louer une mobilette. C'est plus rapide et moins cher en mobilette, mais c'est une longue route, on a les fesses pas mal raquee apres ca! Donc on alterne.

Mais le but qu'on avait en restant a Chiang Mai est d'obtenir nos visas. On voulait demander notre visa pour l'Inde, mais ils ne peuvent pas nous assurer qu'on obtiendra un visa de 6 mois puisqu'on fait la demande a l'etranger ca se peut qu'ils nous donnent que 3 mois. Donc on doit attendre puisqu'on prevoit y aller en novembre. Puis on a entendu toutes sortes d'histoires de personnes ayant des problemes a obtenir leur visa pour la Chine. On prevoyait faire la demande une fois rendu au Vietnam, mais on decide de s'y prendre d'avance et d'aller faire un tour au consulat. En arrivant la-bas, y'a devant nous un europeen qui s'obstine en chinois avec eux! Ca ne regarde pas bien. On lui demande ce qu'il en est, il nous dit qu'il travaille la-bas depuis 15 ans et qu'ils ne veulent pas lui donner un visa parce qu'il n'a pas de billet d'avion puisqu'il ira en China en autobus. Ce qu'on prevoit faire aussi. Mais bon, a notre tour, on montre notre lettre envoyee par notre personne contact en chine (avec qui on est tout organise pour enseigner l'anglais benevolement a l'ecole en echange d'un endroit ou rester). La dame est surprenamment gentille avec nous, nous dit que y'a pas de probleme qu'on a pas besoin du billet d'avion, mais qu'on doit obtenir la version originale de la lettre puisque celle-ci nous a envoye par e-mail. On retourne donc a l'hotel et on communique avec la personne en Chine. Malheureusement ca prendrait des semaines a obtenir la lettre par la poste. Deux jours plus tard on retourne au consulat avec notre application complete mis a part la lettre originale. Bien cette fois-ci il ne nous on meme pas permis d'entrer dans le consulat, disant qu'on doit avoir un billet d'avion! On a recommunique avec la personne en Chine qui nous dit qu'ils changent effectivement les regles a chaque jour. Bref, on pourrait retourner autant de fois qu'on veut, ils vont toujours nous demander quelque chose de different et on obtiendra probablement jamais un visa. On est pas non plus pret a acheter un billet d'avion qu'on ne va pas utiliser et sans etre certains qu'on aura un visa pour y aller. Ils sont vraiment stupides! Tout ca a cause qu'ils ont decider de ne laisser entrer personne dans le pays pendant les jeux olympiques. Quelle idee d'avoir un evenement international si personne ne peut y assister?!! Tout pays normal serait heureux de profiter du surplus d'argent apporte par l'industrie touristique. Et nous on voulait y aller qu'apres les jeux olympiques pour eviter cette folie, mais malgre tout on a du se rendre a l'evidence qu'on ira malheureusement pas en Chine cette annee. On aurait adorer aller a Yangshuo. On y serait reste 1 mois, faire de l'escale a chaque jour, et enseigner l'anglais 4 soirs/semaine. Ca aurait super interessant culturellement d'avoir l'opportunite de discuter avec nos eleves. Yangshuo est un autre des meilleurs endroit au monde pour l'escalade (comme le sud de la Thailande et de l'Australie). Cette region est tellement belle, elle est sur toute les photos/carte postale de paysage chinois. Loge et nourrit, un mois sans depenser et sans soucis....

Eh, c'est la vie. On doit donc changer nos plans. On decide de passer plus de temps ici, au Laos et au Vietnam. L'itineraire etait de traverser par autobus dans le nord de Laos, puis le nord du Vietnam pour ensuite se rendre en Chine. Mais on doit maintenant tout faire a l'envers. Puisqu'on a deja notre visa pour le Vietnam qui est valide que pour 30 jours, on doit y aller maintenant et visiter le Laos apres. On se retrouve donc a acheter des billets d'avion a la derniere minute pour retourner pratiquement d'ou on vient! Ho Chi Ming City (HCMC) au Vietnam est a seulement quelques heures d'autobus de Phnom Penh au Cambodge. On vient de payer pour aller de Phnom Penh a Bangkok a Chiang Mai et la on doit tout refaire le trajet a l'inverse de Chiang Mai a Bangkok a HCMC, quelle perte de temps et d'argent!

Mais la bonne nouvelle c'est qu'on a decide de rester une semaine de plus a Chiang Mai pour prendre des cours. Un cours de cuisine bien sur, Josh encore une fois m'a accompagne, il s'en vient pas mal bon avec les currys!! Et surtout un cours de massage Thailandais. On y avait deja pense, mais on avait pas assez de temps et on ne connaissait pas de bonne ecole ou aller (il y a des tonnes d'endroits offrant des cours de pietre qualite). Mais comme les hazards font bien les choses, on a rencontrer trois massotherapeutes habitant au meme hotel que nous, venant de different pays Europeens, et qui etaient tous ici pour suivre une formation a la meme ecole! Et voila, on s'inscrit pour le cours de niveau 1, soit 5 jours de classe. Ca faisait tout drole de se coucher le dimanche soir en mettant le reveil-mation pour aller a l'ecole le lundi matin :) Depuis janvier on avait perdu la notion du temps et des journees. C'etait la solution parfaite puisqu'on n'arrive plus a se passer des massages Thailandais! On a vraiment adore le cours. Vous auriez du nous voir etudier et pratiquer a chaque soir. On est tous les deux de type plutot perfectionniste et on aime vraiment ca. Pendant la journee on est jumele a differentes personnes dans le cours pour pratiquer durant les demonstrations. On en revenait pas comment certaines personnes (incluant des massotherapeutes) n'avaient juste aucune idee de ce qu'elles faisait. Bref, on a decider de s'inscrire au cours de niveau 2 qu'on fera quand on reviendra a la fin septembre, apres avoir visite le Vietnam et le Laos. Oui, oui, je sais, on va avoir toute une longue liste de cobails pour pratiquer nos massages a Noel... !!!!! :)

Cambodia

We flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia, the town that is the staging ground for visiting Ankor Wat. We had read a the Lonely Planet, and one of the guest houses stood out to us as a potential place to stay. When we arrived, we caught a taxi into town and of course he tried to take us somewhere else telling us that our choice was "dirty and expensive." We said no, luckily, and ended up staying in the nicest room of the year (outside of NZ and Oz) for a measly $6/night with all day bread, bananas, and tea and free bike rental!

We spent the next 3 days wandering around Ankor Wat. It rained sometimes, but we never got it too bad, and the experience was amazing. We saved the best for last, finishing with Ankor Wat itself (there are probably hundreds of temples spread over hundreds of square kilometers of jungle) and Ta Phrom (probably misspelled) the temple used for shooting Tomb Raider. The temples were amazing, and we were very glad to have a camera again. Some of them were enormous! Ankor Wat, built around 1200 AD is actually the largest religious building in the world! All of the buildings were covered in amazing sculptures, carvings and reliefs, and when the jungle had started to reclaim some of the temples it just looked magical. Our pictures don't do it justice at all, it's a must go! Two of the three days we biked which was great exercise and good fun. Another day so see a temple farther away we booked a tuk tuk for $20/for the day. Other exploring options are by horseback, and there is one temple on a hill that you can ride an elephant to!

At night in Siem Reap we went to see a free traditional dance show which was fascinating and excellent. The teens who were dancing were very good and you could tell they enjoyed what they were doing and their playfulness made it all the better. We found more great food, like fish amok. It's a baked fish curry in a banana leaf that's wonderful.

In Siem Reap we saw that there were drastic differences in poverty levels between Cambodia and the countries we had visited before. It was interesting to learn about the history through museums and reading various books, and learn that the entire country was devastated by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. They turned it into an idealistic communist "agrarian cooperative" with absolutely no industry or cities until 1979. All things industrial or "western" were decried evil and immoral. More than a quarter of all Cambodians were either starved to death or blatantly murdered during this brutal regime. Despite the poverty, it was impressive to see how far they had progressed in returning to "normality" in under 30 years.

After Siem Reap we headed to southern Cambodia to relax in Kampot. We wanted to visit the Bokor Hill station in a nearby NP, and relax in the area. We caught the first bus out of Siem Reap, but missed a connection in Phenom Penh and ended up taking our most classic "shared taxi" yet. After being gouged for the cost, we had our bags tied onto the back of the mini bus (we have a great picture), and then 23 people were loaded into the bus meant for roughly 11. For the first hour or so I thought there were only 22, but then looking out the window at the endless workers in rice paddies and other unique sights, I realized that there was a shadow of someone sitting on top of our minivan!

Kampot turned out to be OK. The Bokor Hill station was closed due to road construction. A massive resort is going to be built up there so they need a better road. As a result, we caught a bus, motorcycle ride, and boat combo to get to the remote Rabbit Island where we spent the day relaxing in the sun on a very secluded beach. The only other people on the beach were other travellers we had planned to go there with to keep the boat costs down. We played chess, read, and relaxed. Upon returning to Kampot, we found a little street stall selling drinks so we stopped and had two fresh fruit shakes for under $0.50 each and stared at the yummy looking desserts. We were trying to figure out which of the many desserts we wanted to try until we realized the locals were ordering a mixture of ALL of them covered in sweetened condensed milk, coconut milk and more! Needless to say, we ordered two! The lady laughed when she saw us smile with realization then happily point at what she was holding and hold up two fingers! We never did figure out what that was called...

After Kampot, we caught a more proper bus back to Phenom Penh, the capital, and again watched the country side slide by. I've realized that SE Asia is just covered in limestone walls. It's just logistics that keep them from being climbed. This time, I saw many many mini buses like the one we rode in that made our shared taxi experience seem empty. Once, I estimated there were up to 40 people in/on a single minibus with almost 20 of them on the roof! It's been fascinating to see the world and realize how much I take for granted living in the US.

We didn't have much time in Phenom Penh, but we managed to see a beautiful fountain/light/music show in a park, take a cooking class, and visit the museum at Tuol Sleng. The cooking class was amazing, filled with wonderful friendly people and we learned to make everything from various curries to fish amok. I hope that we can find good enough ingredients back home so that we can make some of these spectacular dishes for our friends and family back home.

Tuol Sleng was a somber place, to say the least. There were actually signs that said no smiling or laughing. The subject matter was definitely not funny. Tuol Sleng was a children's school until the Khmer Rouge victoriously marched into Phenom Penh in 1975. From that day forward, it was used as a detention center for the remainder of their control. Of the tens of thousands of people who passed through Tuol Sleng, essentially every single one was horribly tortured and executed. Only 7 people survived. The people executed were Khmer (ethnic Cambodians) who had lived in cities before the Khmer Rouge, previous government officials, people who wore glasses (they looked too intelligent), Chinese, anyone suspected of anything, and much, much more. The prisoners of Tuol Sleng were executed in the "Killing Fields" south of the city. We heard we should pass on visiting that one since the ground you walk on to this day is still a mixture of the remnants of bones and clothes of those killed. It was a somber way to finish Cambodia, but we both read the book First They Killed My Father, about a survivor of the Khmer Rouge reign and we were curious to learn more. We've learned much about world history on this trip, which has been another unique aspect I didn't expect.

After we left Tuol Sleng, it was time to head to the airport. We were headed back to Northern Thailand! Chiang Mai to be exact.

Le 7 juillet 2008: Cambodge

Le Cambodge c'est un pays beaucoup plus pauvre et qui a une bien triste histoire. On a lu le touchant livre "D'abord ils ont tue mon pere" qui nous a permi d'apprendre et de mieux comprendre leur situation. L'auteure avait 5 ans lorsque les Khmer Rouges ont pris le pouvoir. L'histoire est racontee au present et du point de vue d'un enfant, j'en avais les larmes aux yeux et l'appetit coupee en lisant. C'est difficile de realiser comment les Khmer Rouges ont reussi a tuer 2 millions de personnes, soit le quart de la population du pays, principalement en creant la famine de 1975 a 1980. Aujourd'hui, quelques annees plus tard, les douleurs s'en ressentent toujours. Il y a des endroits ou il est dangereux de marcher car il y a encore des mines non decouvertes et dont l'emplacement exact demeure inconnu. Des gens amputes a cause de ces mines, de blessures de guerres et la population est plutot jeune. Les enfants sont tres pauvres, mais tres souriants et polis. Dans les endroits touristiques ils travaillent a vendre des livres, cartes postales, etc.

Nous avons bien sur commence par visiter les fameux temples d'Ankor ("Angkor Wat"), l'une des 7 merveilles du monde. On y a passe 3 jours et on s'est surtout promene a velo. On a beaucoup apprecie, c'etait aussi beau sinon plus que ce a quoi on s'attendait. L'hotel ou on habitait a Siem Reap est la plus belle et la moins chere des chambres qu'on a eu. Vous verrez quelques photos plus tard. On est aussi alle voir un spectacle de danse traditionnelle. Les danseurs etaient des ados super bons et qui souriaient et s'amusaient vraiment sur scene. On s'est bien divertis. Par contre, ca me faisait un peu mal au coeur de voir qu'encore aujourd'hui les jeunes danseurs doivent forcer leurs doigts a courber vers l'exterieur.

Puis, nous avons pris un long autobus suivi d'un "taxi partage" pour se rendre a Kampot dans le sud du Cambodge. L'autobus ca allait, c'etait plutot amusant avec leur tele diffusant un dvd de karaoke cambodgien! Mais le taxi-partage ca ca m'a rappele le Maroc. Nous etions 22 personnes a l'interieur d'une caravan, soit 1/2 siege chacun pour 3h de route. Moi j'etais assise entre 2 sieges, une fesse sur une barre de metal. On etait bien content une fois arrives. On voulait aller visiter Bokor, mais malheureusement la route est fermee car ils vont la paver. A la place nous somme alles a l'ile "Rabbit". C'est la derniere ile ici sur laquelle ils n'ont pas encore bati de gros hotels. Que les bons vieux petits bungalows en bamboo, quelques familles, poules, poulets et cochons sauvages. On a du se battre pour marchander le bateau pour nous y rendre et une fois la-bas c'etait une journee bien relaxante, pas grand chose a faire et pas une super plage. Par contre, le soir de retour a Kampot, on a trouve le meilleur kiosque a dessert. On y est alle pour boire un jus de fruits frais presses et on y a vu tout l'etalage de desserts qu'on ne connaissait pas. Pendant quelques minutes on s'est tourmente a se demander lesquels essayer, puis on a vu des locaux commander un bol contenant un morceau de chacun recouvert de lait de coco! Vous auriez du nous voir la face, les yeux et le sourire quand on a compris qu'on pouvait tous les essayer en meme temps et qu'on a reussi a se faire comprendre que c'est ce que l'on voulait (ils ne parlaient pas anglais). Qu'on s'est encore une fois bien regales!!! Depuis qu'on est revenu en Asie, on mange presqu'exclusivement dans la rue ou au marche, jamais dans les restos, on a mange toutes sortes de bonnes choses, c'est vraiment pas cher et le plus drole c'est qu'on a encore eu aucun maux d'estomacs, contrairement a notre arrivee en janvier ou nous faisions attention a tout ce que l'on mangeait et que Josh a ete tellement malade....

On a donc termine notre tour a Phnom Penh, la capitale. Cette fois-ci on a pris l'autobus. Mais avec la route de terre tres cahotique et on etait assis a l'arriere, j'vous dis que ca rebondissait. Josh c'est meme cogne la tete au plafond lorsque le chauffeur est passe dans un trou a toute vitesse! A Phnom Penh on a pris ca plutot relax. J'ai pris un deuxieme cours de cuisine, cette fois-ci Josh est venu avec moi. Il a adore, surtout qu'on mange toute la journee dans les cours :) Il y avait 3 autres quebecois dans le cours. Ca faisait du bien d'entendre des jokes en francais et de rire aux larmes. On a passe la soiree avec eux. J'ai compris pendant ce voyage et l'an dernier passe en Californie que de dire des niaiseries sur n'importe quel sujet et de rire a s'en rouler par terre, y'a que les bons-vivants de quebecois pour faire ca!!! La derniere journee nous avons visite le triste musee "Tuol Sleng", originalement une ecole qui a ete transformee en prison pendant le regne des khmers rouges ou ils battaient a mort les gens de la ville. Le but khmer rouges etait de former un pays "pure" ou tout le monde serait egal, ils ont donc evacue les villes, forces tous les gens a travailler dans les champs, tues plusieurs de personnes qui avaient trop de connaissances (docteurs, professeurs, ceux faisant parti de l'ancien gouvernement, soit ceux qui auraient pu creer une revolte) et tuer plusieurs autres rationnant la nourriture en trop petite portion, puisque la nourriture cultivee etait donne a la Chine en echange d'armements pour la guerre. Les habitants mouraient de faim, travaillent a cultiver riz, mais, etc. mais ne pouvaient pas en manger pour survivre, car ils risquaient d'etre battus a mort. D'autres sont morts empoisonnes a essayer de manger, par exemple, des champignons sauvages. Ce qui explique un peu pourquoi ici ils mangent toutes sortes d'insectes. Mes nouveaux amis quebecois du cours de cuisine ont essaye la tarentule (frite deux fois!), mais moi il n'est pas question que je me mette une bibite dans la bouche!

Malaysia Part 2

After we left Mukut and hit the mainland, we made a B-line for Taman Negara, the famous national park near the center of the country. We stayed a two nights there, and did some hiking, walked a jungle canopy rope bridge system almost 2 km long, and saw the Orang Osli, the native people. Lonely Planet warned us of the leeches, and of course it rained while we were there and by the end of our first day hiking they were out in force. They were little, but just scary. After not getting any and seeing the guides running around in shorts and flip flops, I figured they were overhyped and did the same since it was brutally hot. Nath, of course, was in shoes and pants and got the first leech. I got it off with a match and then, unfortunately, I got one on my toe inside my sandals and the resulting hole wouldn't stop bleeding for over a day if left uncovered. We did a night safari where you ride around in the back of a truck and they point out animals with a spot light. That guy was just amazing at finding wildlife, a true expert.

From the Taman Negara area, we took the "Jungle Train north east to Kota Bahru. It heads off into the jungle and stops at endless little villages. The Lonely Planet described like an adventure, so we did it. It was hot, and amusing to see hundreds of school kids pile on and off, and it was definitely an experience. If you got hot, you could just walk to the opening between cars and hang out in the open air. No safety measures there! It was a nice change. There were quite a few amazing limestone walls along the way that I saw that called out to be climbed, but with a schedule and no ability to place a bolt that just wasn't going to happen.

Kota Bahru has a famed night market. We gorged ourselves on everything from Roti Murtabak, an unhealthy egg filled version of the roti canai, to blue mango sticky rice. We ate and drank from as many stands as possible for about an hour and a half. The total cost for amazing quality dinner, drinks, and dessert was about $5 for both of us. In Kota Bahru we had our first taste of sugar cane juice. There was a guy along the street who was shoving what looked similar to bamboo into a press and the juice was falling into a container. I stopped to watch and when I realized what it was, we immediately went over to give it a try. Damn is that good on a hot day! Now I stop anytime I see it, which isn't often unfortunately.

From Kota Bahru we headed to the Perhentian Islands, the large one specifically. A friend who is a dive master recommended a dive school and we headed there for our Advanced scuba certification. After two days of great diving and some fun learning, we had our new certification! The whole time we were staying there, I was just waiting for the opportunity to play on some boulders on the east side of the beautiful white sand beach. They were granite, and there looked like there were some promising features, dikes, and cracks! Our last day there, I wandered through with shoes and chalkbag, and climbed as much as possible. It was really fun and I found some nice hard dihedrals, slabs, and dikes to climb.

From the Perhentian Islands we headed to Cameron Highlands, a higher elevation jungle area known for its tea plantations. We did the mandatory 1/2 day tour of the area and were shuttled around to many different stops of varying interest for about 5 hours. My favorite was the "Butterfly Farm" where they had much more than butterflies! There were endless fascinating insects, snakes, and flowers. We liked the insects the most. They had rhinosceros beetles, beautiful preying mantis', and we'll never forget the scorpions. Again, no camera, but Nath and I each "held" one which they put on our arms. The scorpions were the enormous black ones about 5-6" long!

Kuala Lumpur was the next stop! We managed to get in a few climbing workouts. We made it to the climbing gym once, to the Bathu Caves once. We went to a few other places, but the mass transport which criss crossed the city was pathetic to say the least, and getting around as a backpacker was a nightmare. It was a minimum of 2 hours of mass transit, sometimes changing between 3 different types to get somewhere 10-20 miles away. Quite frustrating, really. We did find more good food though, and the climbing gym Camp 5 was the best I've ever climbed at. They had immaculately clean walls, loose chalk was banned, friction was perfect, and they had an entire wall of natural cracks of ranging sizes and types that included a 7a+ (5.12a) roof crack. Unfortunately, since it took us so long to get there we didn't get to climb for long, and part of that time we had to spend flipping through the guidebook trying to figure out if we could climb at the Bathu Caves for a day without buying a guide. The Bathu Caves are an area of mountains with one main limestone cave that serves as a very important Hindu temple but as a result has no routes. The surrounding hills are dotted with limestone faces. We took another obscenely long bus trip out there, and after a quick stop at the temple for some sight seeing and picture taking we wandered off toward the suspected direction of climbing. Eventually, we saw a few climbers doing their thing and joined in. We found a few routes of medium quality, and I ended the day trying to onsight a very bizarre 7a+ slab route with strange knob like features. I felt like i was in Tuolumne or Yosemite! I blew the crux, felt tired, and we had to start figuring out how to catch the bus back. It was a good day of getting the muscles working again.

If you noticed above, yes we took some pictures. We bought our 2nd IXUS 860 in KL. We're getting this bargaining thing down... Hopefully our 4th camera can go the distance!

Nath took a cooking class one day, and while she was preparing food, I was eating food on the street. Her class didn't take long, and she brought me the leftovers, which were great! From KL, we caught a flight to Cambodia. It was finally time to see the ancient Ankor Wat!