Elephants!

All over South East Asia, there are opportunities to spend time with elephants. We had been feeling reluctant about this because we were never sure how ethical it was; it says it's a sanctuary, but is it really? Why are these elephants not in the wild, is it because of us, the tourists? Is it even ok for an elephant to have a person riding on its back? It also made me question my own ethics when it comes to animals: why do I think it's ok to keep animals like horses, dogs, cows in captivity for our own benefit, but not elephants? We did a lot of research and reading into it because we really didn't want to support a business that is harmful to these beautiful, peaceful creatures in any way, and when we reached Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, we came to a conclusion: we would visit an elephant 'spa', but one that specified that there would be no elephant riding. Riding an elephant is harmful for the elephants for a number of reasons, mostly being that their spines are no way near as strong as a horse's - their strength is in their legs, and having people riding them all day long damages their backs and their handlers, while generally knowledgable about basic elephant healthcare, are not miracle workers able to fix a broken back. Also, because it goes against an elephant's instinct to let a person climb onto their back, it takes a lot of usually cruel training for them to submit to the rides, sometimes starting when they are babies and separated from their mothers. This is why we specifically decided against the riding. 

As for the other things, our research found that a lot of the 'non-riding' places took a lot more care of the elephants in general. The fact that they could charge a lot more to allow people to ride the poor creatures and chose not to speaks volumes in this part of the world, where tourists are seen (crude as this sounds) as walking ATMs. Yes, the elephants are in captivity instead of in the wild, but they are also safe against poaching (the ivory trade is still alive and kicking); they are fed and bred, boosting their endangered population numbers; they are cared for. This may sound like justification and plenty of people will still disagree with these organisations, but we went and spent a morning with elephants and it can't be undone so just enjoy the pictures and tell me I'm wrong later!

The day started with feeding the elephants. The camp we visited had three adults and a baby (his mother was one of the adults) and I just couldn't believe that we were right there with them! We fed them sugar cane, bananas complete with peel, and palm leaves. Their trunks took the food right out of our hands, it was so incredible. There were five mahouts or handlers, and only six tourists including Kim and me, so we really had a chance to interact with the elephants. I couldn't believe how much they ate, they just kept on going, no matter how much we gave them.

After feeding time, we just played with them. They baby got a bit possessive of his mother and charged at Kim at one point, but they were generally very passive and friendly. I got a kiss from one which essentially felt like a soggy Hoover was attached to my cheek. Another one lifted me up on her trunk which was rather terrifying until I was on solid ground again!

The baby elephant liked teething on one of the mahouts' heads

We then followed them down to the river nearby and gave them a bath. They absolutely loved being in the water and kept lolling around, falling sideways to immerse themselves, which could make for a hasty jump out of the way as an elephant came crashing through the water towards you. We scrubbed the dust off their backs with brushes and threw water over them with buckets while they sat in the water, enjoying the attention. 

The mahouts had taught them a trick where they would suck water up their trunks and spray it at you. And the water was not warm!

Our morning with the elephants was wonderful, I'm really glad that we did it but also that we took the time to find what felt like the right organisation to do it with. I wouldn't write it off altogether as a tourist but it is definitely worth the research.

Laos

Our introduction to Laos began with a 15 hour bus journey from Hue in central Vietnam, to Pakse in south Laos. The journey itself was supposed to take 12 hours but the company appeared to be more of a cargo transportation organisation than a normal passenger bus one, and at least an hour and a half was spent loading the bus up with cargo about 10km from where we started, while we sat inside and willed them to hurry up. The level of inefficiency in this part of the world drives me mad; why not load up the bus before picking up your few passengers, instead of telling them to wake up at 5am to then sit and wait until 8am before the journey really begins?! The staff were incredibly rude, clearly very scornful of tourists (yet willing to take our money). There were three westerners on our bus including myself and Kim, and when the staff stopped to buy food for all the passengers, we were left out because the meal was 'not for foreigners'. They didn't allow us to stop to buy our own food so it wasn't until 4.30pm that we ate, having been up since 5am. We were shouted at by the driver to hurry up at the border, yet he feigned deafness when I pointed out that we could only go as fast as the immigration process would allow and that we were in a queue. All in all, it was a very unpleasant end to our time in Vietnam/start to our journey in Laos.

So much cargo on our bus!

However, Laos improved from then onwards. We began in the very south at a place called Si Phan Don or 'the four thousand islands'; we stayed on the island of Don Det for a few days, soaking up the sun after our chilly time in central Vietnam and doing very little except taking in the view. We rented bikes one day and cycled around Don Det and across a bridge to Don Khon, the neighbouring island. We found some incredible waterfalls on the latter island and took in the amazing view for a while.

The sunsets in Don Det were beautiful, and many bars and restaurants were built on the river side so we could watch the sun go down over Cambodia, which was just on the other side of the river.

After reluctantly leaving the islands behind, we headed north to ths capital, Vientiane. We had heard mixed things about the city - mostly negative, that it was 'just another busy Asian city' - but we wanted to make our own minds up about it and personally, I'm glad we went. There's not a huge amount to do as a tourist, with some temples to visit and a mini, concrete version of Paris' Arc de Triomphe to climb, but the atmosphere is great: this city may not be visit able so much as liveable. It's very French, with cafes along every street, their chairs and tables spilling out onto the pavement and the smell of freshly baked croissants filling your nostrils: needless to say, we sampled a few!

Pha That Luang - Buddha's breastbone is rumoured to be buried inside

After a day or so in Vientiane, we headed to Vang Vieng, a tourist haven that's famous for its outdoor activities. Sadly it rained on our first day but then it brightened up and we went on a jungle hike, guided by a Lao man named La. Getting to where the hiking began involved wading across three stretches of river, which came up to our lower thigh and was quite fast flowing. Battling a current (the exit point was upstream from where we entered the water) in barefeet on a stony surface, while holding your trainers was an off-putting start to the day but it did get miles better. Once back on dry land, we walked along the base of some huge hills, trekking through tropical scenery. We reached a cave mouth and La told us this was a short-cut through the mountain; he broke up a piece of dried bamboo, lit it and led us down into the cave, holding the bamboo aloft to light our way. For ten-fifteen minutes we walked under/through the mountain, in complete darkness save for our bamboo torch: we heard bats flying above us, water dripped down onto our faces unexpectedly and I couldn't bear to think about the number of cobwebs I could see shimmering in the torch light. We emerged at the other end and set off through some more beautiful scenery, until we reached a hut on stilts with two elderly Lao men sitting underneath. Here we had lunch, sharing rice and barbecued meat with the men, who live in - and off - the jungle. One told us (through La's translation) that he planned to shoot a monkey the next morning and that monkey meat was very tasty. They also shared their grilled squirrel with us which had almost no meat on the bone but was marinaded in chilli and herbs so still tasted nice.

We left the men behind a walked up a hill too steep to be climbing with a belly full of rice. La cut off the path suddenly and led up through the trees to a waterfall, clambering over rocks to reach the bottom. There was a rock about two or three metres above the waterfall pool which we worked up the courage to jump off, into the water. The water was so cold that I could hardly breathe when I surfaced, I felt like I was being crushed. La climbed to the top of the waterfall and jumped from there, probably 15 metres up! Not only that, he held his lit cigarette inside his mouth and pulled it out, still lit, when he came up for air! 

Can you see him at the top there?!

Until a few years ago, Vang Vieng was synonymous with 'tubing' in the backpacker world, and 'tubing' really meant 'begin drinking at 11am while floating down a river in an inner tyre, stopping at multiple bars along the riverbank and getting blind drunk'. The number of tourist deaths rose and rose, unsurprisingly, and the police were reluctantly forced to get involved. You can still go tubing in Vang Vieng now, but it's much safer: only two bars are allowed to open along the river so there's less opportunity for people to drink themselves into a stupor before floating off down a river for 3km. They also no longer give out free drinks. There are little boys who work at the bars, waiting on the river side with ropes tied to plastic water bottles: they chuck the bottle beside you, you grab on and they drag you to the river bank. You then float downstream for a few kilometres, although the water level was quite low when we went so you had to paddle a bit to speed up. Kim hitched a ride on a passing kayak for a stretch! It was a fun day, although as soon as the went behind the mountains that line the river, it grew very cold and we just wanted to be out of the water but you have to get out at a certain place because that's where the trucks back to town wait.

Sunset over Vang Vieng

After Vang Vieng, we went north to Luang Prabang, a pretty city famous for its night market and some beautiful waterfalls outside town. We took advantage of both, spending an afternoon exploring and swimming at the waterfalls, and most evenings bartering at the market. Asians love to barter, I've become quite good at it, and try my luck with everything from taxi rides to street food!

Luang Prabang bear sanctuary

Our two weeks in Laos went too quickly and I wish we'd had more time. We were restricted by a flight booked from northern Thailand to Myanmar however, so it was time to go. I think I feel this way about most places I've been to: Laos, I'll be back.

Hoi An

Everyone I've met who has been to Vietnam, be it on this trip or friends from back home, has agreed that Hoi An is their favourite Vietnamese city. This is always a risky claim in my opinion, because in saying such a thing, you raise people's hopes and expectations so that by the time they see the place for themselves, it has been massively hyped up. Luckily for Kim and I, we were not disappointed. 

The city of Hoi An is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a well preserved example of a South East Asian trading port, dating back to the 15th century. There is a very obvious Chinese and Japanese influence on the architecture, having been considered by both nations as the most important trade post in the region for many centuries. 

The Japanese covered bridge

Unfortunately for us, there was a lot of rain in Hoi An while we were there which made sightseeing quite unpleasant, as most of the sites are outside! However, part of the draw to Hoi An is the fantastic array of restaurants, bars and coffee shops (Vietnamese coffee is a thing of wonder) so we made sure to eat and drink our fill, trying a lot of the local dishes. We hired bicycles to get around town, as the city is quite long and narrow so exploring on foot can take a while.

Hoi An is famous for its silk lanterns, which hang all over the city, particularly in the 'old town' where the ancient port is located. 

We celebrated New Year's Eve here, joining up with friends we'd met in other cities along the way as well as new people we'd met just that day. I always find New Year's Eve a little bit anticlimactic so to celebrate in a new city, surrounded by only recently acquired friends was quite fun as your expectations of how good a night it will be are a little lower. We had a great night because we had no idea of whether it would be good or not, if that makes any sense at all!

Kim and I seeing in the new year with awful Vietnamese wine

The day after new year's day, a group of ten of us hired motorbikes (I rode pillion) and drove north to the Marble Mountains, a cluster of marble and limestone hills that rise dramatically out of the ground and make quite a contrast to the relatively flat surroundings. All of the 'mountains' have caves and tunnels with Buddhist shrines and mini temples inside, some of which you can visit if you don't mind exploring underground a little. The Viet Cong hid a hospital inside some of the mountains during the Vietnam War because there was an American base nearby, and the VC rightly guessed that the US Army would never suspect an enemy encampment so close to their own, so never explored the mountains for intruders. There are also a few pagodas on the mountain tops, ornately decorated in the traditional Buddhist way and perched quite recklessly on juts of solid, slippery marble.

Climbing up the marble mountain 

Hoi An is also famous for getting clothes tailor-made at a very reasonable price, so we had to check it out. I had a skirt and kimono made, with the fabrics and design of my choosing, tailored to my measurements (I asked her to make the skirt's waistband a little larger because I've lost a bit of weight here and don't expect it to last once I'm back in London!). I looked around at the tailor's fabrics but I wanted something different to what they had in stock, so I got on the back of a lady's motorbike and she drove me across town to her sister's shop to see if I could find what I wanted in there. The level of service is incredible, and my two items (which included multiple fittings) came to £30 in total. 

Hoi An is the type of place where you could get stuck. It's beautiful, it's calm, there's plenty to see and do; unfortunately the Vietnamese government didn't think that was a good enough excuse though and we had to move on before our visas expired. I will come back though, I am not done with Vietnam...

We made a lot of friends in Vietnam and had to say some goodbyes in Hoi An

Christmas abroad

This Christmas was the third one I've been abroad for in six years: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in '09; Buenos Aires, Argentina in '12; and Mui Ne, Vietnam in '15. To those of you who know how close I am to my family, you might find it a strange time for me to spend away from home. However, to me it makes a lot of sense: after all, Christmas falls at an unfortunately cold time of year in England. I don't like winter so it's a perfect time to travel! In Cabo I had a massage on the beach, in Buenos Aires I walked around the city in the sunshine and in Mui Ne, I got a sun tan by the pool. It is sad to miss Christmas at home but it does happen every year.

Having said that, this year was by far the least Christmassy one I've ever experienced. Mexico and Argentina are both Catholic countries so the nation celebrates the holiday too, whereas Vietnam is predominantly Buddhist and while the restaurants did put up a tree and market stall holders pressured you into buying a santa's hat, there wasn't a feel of Christmas in the air.

Despite that, we had a lovely day. We woke up early to watch the sunrise over Mui Ne's famous rolling sand dunes, located about 40 minutes drive from where we were staying.  A group of us from our hostel went together in a jeep, driven by a local guide. The sunrise was spectacular, turning the sky all sorts of wonderful colours. The sand dunes themselves were also very impressive, stretching out as far as the eye could see, and not nearly as spoilt by visitors as most sights in South East Asia (there's normally a huge problem with litter across this region). We wandered around the dunes, running down and climbing up, for about an hour as dawn broke behind us. 

Sunrise is purple, who knew?!

We then headed to some different dunes, made of red sand, where for 60p you can rent a sled from one of the village children and slide down the dunes. 

Thanks to Kim for the picture

The next stop on our Christmas tour was to a place called Fairy Stream, which is a stream along a red clay riverbed, and so called because the limestone rocks that tower over the little, ankle-high stream make the place look magical. We waded upstream to climb up yet another dune to look down at the stream below. It really was very beautiful, with such a contrast of colours and landscaping.

After the tour, we were dropped back at our hostel and like the Germans are wont to do, we saved our seats by the pool with our towels to make sure we got the best spots! By this stage it was still only 9am and the majority of the other hostel dwellers were still sleeping off their Christmas Eve celebrations. 

We spent the day by the pool, soaking up the 28°c heat. When people did start to emerge and began wishing each other happy Christmas, it came as a shock each time because I'd never felt less like it was Christmas in all my 26 years (apart from probably my first few Christmasses as a baby because let's face it, I was probably just excited by the amount of food around me).

I was still on antibiotics from my intestinal parasite so didn't have a drop of alcohol all of Christmas day, a first for quite a few years. For lunch I had a chicken salad sandwich and for my Christmas dinner I had squid in sweet chilli sauce with plain steamed rice; it was hardly a day of culinary excitement but I was afraid of getting ill again. I am planning on making myself a Christmas-style roast with all the trimmings once I'm home though because it is a meal I'm particularly fond of, mostly because of stuffing. 

Boxing day was much of the same, although without such an early start. Played some volleyball, swam a few lengths, read my book and worked on my tan: no complaints here! The weather in Mui Ne couldn't have been better, it was wonderfully hot and clear but there was a definite breeze and less humidity than in the bigger cities we'd recently visited. I even allowed myself a drink or two on Boxing day because I'd finished my course of antibiotics. We walked to the sea front to watch a spectacular sunset and thus ended a lovely, albeit rather un-festive, Christmas abroad.