Floating the Mekong

I've always thought river travel to be the most romantic way to travel. Train travel is a close second, especially when it comes along with old smokey stations, but nothing beats river travel. It might be that it conjures up nostalgic ideas of floating down the Mississippi back in the frontier days, Mark Twain, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Amazon rides all at the same time. 

Back when I was planning my big trip, I really thought about doing some Amazon exploration (see my post here), but South America got put on hold. I finally got a chance to get in some serious river travel in Laos.

It was long. It was hot. It was crowded. But it was also my favorite part of the entire trip.

Supy and I slept at a tiny hotel on the Thai side of the border where Grandma rented us a very basic room (super cheap, but we did decide to spray down our mattress with bug spray before sleeping). We woke up early and headed to the boarder crossing. After Thai immigration you walk down to the river... 

And hop a small boat across to Laos. It's one of the world's only border crossings by boat. 

From there we went through Lao immigration, which was a bit more involved, but still pretty easy. We bought ourselves a boat ticket and some sandwiches and fried rice for the long journey. (We also attracted an annoying and somewhat sketchy German traveler who was difficult to shake...) We sat on the boat until every single seat was filled and then headed out on our two day route. 

The boats were long and skinny. This is from the engine/storage room looking forward to the front of the boat. Their wooden benches had somewhat recently been refitted with old Thai bus seats. 

A closer look at the engine (with a few Buddhist offerings on and around it). This bad boy was loud.

Only one boat makes the trip each day. Families live on the boats when they aren't shuttling passengers and cargo down the Mekong.

The scenery was varied. Sometimes the river was narrow, sometimes extraordinarily wide. Sometimes the banks were sandy, sometimes there were rapids and massive rocks everywhere. 

We also saw lots of wild life--cows, goats, water buffalos, etc. 

Lots of local fishermen and women, and children swimming around too. I'm sure things have modernized considerably in the last few decades, but it seemed as if life was going on as usual as it had for centuries. 

The sunset on day one was pretty spectacular

This is Pak Beng, where we stayed the night. The boat pulled up to the dock and we were surrounded by people trying to get us to come to their hotels. Supy found a kid who gave us a good deal and some banter (and promised that the electricity would run all night), so we followed him to our home for the evening. 

It turned out that making sure our hotel had a generator was a good move because the electricity in town went out before we could even get back out the door. The electricity flickered on and off all evening (making it difficult for us to get our daily quota of fruit smoothies), but we eventually found food in the form of buffalo sausage hot dogs and strolled around town a bit. Finally we figured out the reason for the black outs--a storm was coming. Unfortunately we didn't make it back in time and got ourselves a soaking. 

Everything was clear the next morning though

This is the boat and family that ran the boat on day one. Day two we switched out to a different boat for the rest of the journey. 

 What is a long trip without some snacks? Supy was in love with seaweed flavored anything, but I will admit these seaweed flavored sunchip-type things were tasty. On the right is a ball of flavored sweet fried noodles. It wasn't bad but had a flavor I couldn't place. Finally I figured it out: it tasted like popcorn dipped in sweet and sour sauce.  

River pictures from day two: 

Day two was particularly scenic. These pictures can't do it justice. After two days on the boat though, we made it to Luang Prabang--which was laid back and lovely. 

A sneak peak of the Mekong from Luang Prabang: 

It was my longest water adventure to date, and my first real stab at river travel. The travel was slow--but that was probably just why I liked it. There was plenty of time to read a novel that's been passed along through 2 friends and 3 continents, listen to Joe Purdy sing about the Mississippi, nap, chat, and just enjoy the world floating by. 

Not a bad way to travel at all. 

Asia 2012: Narita, Japan

Because I was buying my flight with airline miles a week before I was wanting to fly to Bangkok, I ended up having to spend 20 hours in Japan. Life's rough sometimes, eh?

I came up with a few possible scenarios (nap away the time in the airport, go all the way into Tokyo for the night, or kick around in Narita--the smaller city the airport is in) and decided I would see how I was feeling when I landed. Once in Japan I decided I would grab a hostel in Narita and have a look at the town. It had the makings of an average workaday city, but Narita was foreign enough to make my head spin--which happens to be one of my favorite things about traveling. I just stood around smiling as the Japanese people went spinning around me and as I walked through a city of cartoons and spam-esque writing on all the walls. 

Japan, you are crazy. 

I saw quite a lot of the city as I got lost over and over again (Japan, you are not so good at giving directions). I saw the modern part of the city, the old town, and then (finally) the town's massive temple--complete with beautiful gardens. 

To complete the evening I had a stroll through a grocery store (one of my other favorite things about traveling) and picked out interesting bits and pieces with what was left of the $20 bill I exchanged at the airport for my dinner. Japan, you eat strange things. 

The next morning I was off. One day surely isn't enough to be able to say anything significant about such a complex culture--but wow. One day packed a punch!

 {And yes, it was as chilly as it looks! I was as bundled as possible with what little clothing I had.}

{I even caught the tail end of the cherry blossoms!} 

Starting The Year Right

Well, I had tucked my passport away--I zipped it up inside my backpack and put them both in my closet. It was calling out to me. I couldn't bear to hear it knowing I wouldn't be leaving the country anytime soon so I stashed it away and prepared myself to go travel free for a good little while.

It seems like 2012 refuses to live in the shadow of 2011 though. I am on my way home now to dig out both my passport and my travel pack--tomorrow I am headed to Spain!

My parents had vacation to use, found cheap last minute flights and offered to take me along as a tour guide. Deal!

So in a wonderful surprise I am headed off to Spain--one of my ultimate happy places. We will be going to the south--starting in Cordoba to see the Mezquita, then to Granada and the Alhambra. From there we'll head down to the coast and a day trip to Morocco (!), and finally come back through the hill towns on our way to Seville. I'll say goodbye to the parents and spend a little extra time in Madrid before flying home via Denver.

What a happy surprise! Well done, 2012.

Now off to pack!

Zagreb, By Chance

I forgot to hit the publish button on this a while back! Place this in your mind somewhere between the Camino and the present (yes, yes, I know, lots of time travel on my blog...sorry!)

What do you do when you miss your bus by three minutes?

I left my hostel in plenty of time, bought my ticket for the tram that would take me to the Sarajevo bus station and waited on the corner for it to come by. I had been told it was only supposed to take 15 minutes to get to the station from my hostel but unfortunately that didn’t take into account that the tram only came by every 20 minutes. I was lucky enough to get to wait 19 minutes for the tram.

By the time I got to the station and found the side where my bus to the Bosnian mountains was supposed to depart…it was gone. The next bus left 7 hours later and would drop me off in the small town at 2 AM.

Next idea.

There was also an overnight bus straight to Zagreb, Croatia. I hadn’t exactly planned on go to Zagreb, but I figured, why not? I flipped my itinerary for the next two months, had a couple of coffees in the cafés next door and was on my way.

After a long, windy night on the bus I staggered into town with no plans, dropped off my bag at a hostel (…maybe took a nap on a park bench), and found Zagreb to be delightful.

I gave my cherry binge a break and gave in to the strawberry section of the produce market

I followed the church bells to Zagreb's cathedral which was a packed house

I also happened upon what turned out to be the strangest and most elaborate changing of the guards ceremonies I've seen

Zagreb isn't a museum capital but it did have a couple of really interesting museums. One was the Croatian Museum of Naive Art which featured works all done by untrained artists and peasants. One of the most interesting features was that many of the paintings are painted onto glass instead of canvas. Glass was cheaper/more readily available, but using glass meant that things had to be painted in a different way--inside out almost. They started with the details first and then worked backwards until they finished and flipped the painting over. The glare off the glass was a little distracting, but it was fascinating to imagine them painting this way. 

I actually really loved all of Ivan Generalić's paintings. This is one of his self portraits, painted on glass

I have a weakness for cactus gardens

Zagreb is a good cafe town...which, of course, is my kind of town

The other museum of interest was the Museum of Broken Relationships. Fresh from Sarajevo I thought this was another museum over the 90's conflicts. Wrong. It's a traveling exhibit and as it goes around people donate an asortment of mementos from ended (mostly romantic) relationships. It was fascinating!

The text reads: 

It is said never to give anyone a pair of shoes

as a Christmas present because then the

shoes would make the person you gave them

to walk way from you. 

A few months after Christmas 2004, we call

it quits.

Superstitions? I dont believe in superstitions.

I just walked away. Today, I'm still walking, but

without the shoes. 

The lamps up on the old part of town are still gas lit--someone comes around and lights them every evening

Overall, the moral of the story is that sometimes missing your bus turns out to be a good thing!

Larnaka, Cyprus

So I thought I might catch up on blogging when I was in Texas for a few days. That obviously didn't happen. I also thought I might catch up a bit when I was here in Cyprus, taking it easy for a week or so. I've come to the realization that this is not going to happen. Not only have I not shown you most of Nicaragua, I now haven't shown you Sounio or Corinth from the Greece trip. 


I am also about to drop off of the grid again--the Camino is just around the corner. I'll be bare bones-ing it as I hoof it across Spain on foot, so starting April 1st or so, things will drop back down to only occasional updates from internet cafes along the way (if that). But for now...I'll just try to keep up with Cyprus!

Today I was reading through my guidebook in my room still in pjs when I realized the weekly walking tour started in 10 minutes. Too bad, I thought. And then I thought, well...I might could make it. What do you know, I did. I ended up with the worst tour guide ever, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. Afterwards I explored other parts of the city, finally broke down and bought an umbrella (it has poured every afternoon since I got here!), and walked through Lazarus' tomb in Agios Lazaros. To wrap up the afternoon I found myself a cafe with big windows (and wifi!) and have been planning my next step here in Cyprus.

I will admit it's been hard to keep in my self-imposed strict budget here in Cyprus (it's a lot more expensive than I originally thought it would be), but especially considering the camino is coming quickly, I caved when I saw a crazy deal for a fancy hotel on the coast. So, the plan for the next few days is to kick back! Because, sometimes you just need a vacation from your vacation. 


Pictures below!

I generally say that traveling is a continual exercise in problem solving skills (well...at least for me!). This is what you get when you want to make tea and don't have a kettle or cup: tea made with hot water from the sink in a water bottle. It works. 

More colonial archetecture

Carpentry shops

Chairmakers

Inside the fort/castle

A look at the sea: If my geography is correct (and it's probably not) I think we should be looking toward Palestine

Another shot of the castle

Some more pretty houses

Church of Agios Lazaros (St. Lazarus) From my relatively useless Lonely Planet:

Lazarus was expelled from Jerusalem and came to Larnaka, where he was ordained as a bishop by St. Barnabas. He reportedly remained a bishop for 30 years. After he died (for the second time) he was buried where the current church stands. His relics did not stay entombed for very long after their discovery in 890, as they were transported to Constantinople and subsequently removed to Marseille in 1204. 

A shot of some of the icons in the church

Sarcophagi where Lazarus was supposedly buried

Next stop: Agia Napa. It's supposed to have beautiful water but be incredibly touristy. It's only March though, so I'll hold my judgement until I see it for myself!