Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

Tuk Tuk Driver

Before I headed to Siem Reap Alicia and I spent a day in Phnom Penh wandering about. I immediately liked the city, and most definitely preferred it over the insanely busy HCMC. It felt good to be "back" to the laid back lifestyle which I had experienced in Laos and Thailand.

The journey there from HCMC was relatively painless too, the Mekong Express Limousine service do an excellent job and make the trip smooth and effortless, even sorting out visas on the way.

Royal Palace

We visited the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda where the floor was made with 1000 silver tiles. The beloved King who had led Cambodia to independence from France had recently passed away so the city was in mourning with many people coming to show their respect at the palace where there was an altar dedicated to him.

We had the most amazing dinner on our last night at a French bistro down the road from our four star luxury hotel (in true backpacking style). I am going to have some serious adjustment issues after our cocktails-by-the-pool-beach-resort and this over the top fancy pants hotel life I have grown used to over the past ten days. Anyway, with our supreme T-bone steaks and copious amounts of Merlot it felt like we were back in London at our old local Sands End pub having our giggle-filled girl talks for hours just like we used to in the days we were flatmates! I can't wait to do it again soon. Might have to swing by Melbourne on my way home.

On my way to Siem Reap

I said goodbye to Alicia the next morning, shed a few tears of farewell, and jumped on a bus to Siem Reap. That's another 300 km to cover in over six hours, so that should give an indication of the condition the roads are in when you're averaging below 50km an hour... I sat next to a lovely 80 year old German gentleman Walter who didn't speak a word of English but we made it work with a combination of my broken German and his notepad we used for drawings! He was a professor and had first come to Cambodia in 1980 as part of a scholarship scheme, bringing young people to Germany for a three year education programme to learn the skills needed for a better future in their homeland. He told me lots of interesting anecdotes about Southeast Asia, like the fact that if you look at the houses on stilts, you can tell which ones belong to the rich and which to the poor just by the shape of the stilts. The poor people have houses sitting on stilts that are round like a pole, whereas the rich people's stilts are square. The difference in shape means snakes cannot slither up the stilts if it has corners but can easily manage their way up a round stilt. He very kindly invited me for dinner the next day which I agreed to do after a day spent exploring The Wats. Did I just agree to go on a date with a man 50 years my senior?

Sneaky Professor Walter

As it turned out the next evening no, it wasn't a date - at least not with Professor Walter. Professor Walter did however have something up his sleeve. Just as we were about to sit down for dinner the son of his old Cambodian friends conveniently showed up to join us for our evening meal. Also very conveniently, just as we finished dinner the professor felt very tired and wanted to retire but insisted it shouldn't stop us youngsters from continuing our evening - perhaps this charming young man could take me for a drive around town to give me a personal tour; wink wink! Sneaky old professor Walter...

I think health and safety would have had something to say about the hostel I stayed at in Siem Reap. My room was on the third floor but the last set of stairs, made of iron, were questionable in terms of stability and durability. They were extremely narrow, wobbled when used, and the railing was the height of my knees...nice one. It was a pleasant place though, had a clean fresh swimming pool too which was a real treat for body and soul after hours of getting covered in dust and sweat from playing archeologist at Angkor. I stayed in an eight people dorm and met a bunch of lovely people including two other Finnish girls to my surprise!

Amok

A typical Khmer dish which I tried is Amok, freshwater fish (although you can have it with chicken, prawn, or beef too) covered in herbs such as lemongrass, kaffir lime, garlic, and others I don't know, coconut milk, and egg. It is then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until it's very thoroughly cooked. Yum!

Cheeky old German professors, charming young Cambodian men, delicious food, $0.50 beer, naps by the pool and the amazing Angkor. Good times!

Pitstop on the way to Siem Reap

Train from Phan Thiet to Ho Chi Minh City

We had called the train station a couple of days earlier with the intention of buying tickets to HCMC but were told to just do it at the station when we get there as this would be easier and the would be plenty of space on the train. Well, not quite the case as we soon found out. We rocked up at the station, got to the ticket counter and casually asked for two train tickets to HCMC - and not just any seats, I specifically asked for the nicer softer seats in the air conditioned carriage. The response: "Train full."

Ah....pickle...

"Really? No seats at all?"
"Train full"
Looked like we weren't getting any seats, let alone the nice soft ones in the cool carriage. Dan had gotten his ticket a few days earlier, and even his wasn't in the cool van with the soft seats but in the non A/C section with hard wooden benches so it made sense now that it was sold out.
"Are there any buses?"
She makes a quick phone call and says "Bus full"

At the train station, Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Potential problem material here, as we really needed to get to HCMC because we were due to travel to Phnom Penh the next day (also tickets we had yet to sort out, so good luck with that) to keep our schedule. Alicia suggested we could rent a car and drive and I thought we could possibly take the night train - so we still had avenues we could explore - but before admitting defeat Alicia took one last shot at getting us on this train by pleading with the ticket lady to see if there was anything else she could do. In this one last desperate attempt to get on the train, as if by miracle a conductor who had heard us appeared behind me holding a little red plastic children's chair, pointing at it, then at me, and then at the train. SHE COULD GET US ON THE TRAIN! We may have to sit in the carriage with the chicken and cattle but we were getting on that train!

On the train - note foldup chair

Dan was with us this whole time, with his pre-purchased ticket feeling a bit sorry for us when it was looking more and more likely that we'd be driving around Vietnam in a rental trying to figure out which way was what.

We didn't have to sit with the chicken, nor did it look like we were the only ones who had gotten our tickets the illicit way. Along the corridors and stairs of the train there were people in all corners sitting on fold up or plastic chairs, stairs, or on the floor and in doorways. Another way for the conductor to make a dollar or two (or a hundred) for themselves. I was just happy to get on the train, but it sure was a big bonus to end up in the air conditioned carriage with our soft, padded, comfortable fold up chairs for a mere $7. We did feel a bit sorry for Dan and his $13 pre-purchased ticket sitting on his hard wooden bench at the back of the train in 30 degree heat.

Happy New Year! Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Ah, heat and humidity how I've missed you! Felt so good to step off the plane from Hanoi and sense the warm air. I may be from Finland but I'm built for a warmer climate for sure. In Ho Chi Minh City I parted ways with my travel buddy Aurea and met up with my beach buddy Alicia. Alicia had booked an amazing beach resort for us close to the town of Phan Thiet on the southeast coast of Vietnam, which was about a four hour train ride away from HCMC.

The Hotel
The resort where we were staying, Rock Water Bay, was relatively isolated in that there were no shops, bars, or restaurants anywhere in the area. There were other beach resorts along the beach, but well separated from each other. Anyone wanting some peace and quiet should consider heading this way. We had the most beautiful room right on the beach, with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beach and the rocks. At night we would fall asleep with the sound of the fierce waves exploding against the barrier just outside our window.
The minus points came from the ridiculously expensive prices of absolutely everything - but I suppose that is what they can charge when there is nothing else around! I wouldn't mind paying top dollar for good quality but unfortunately the quality of the overpriced products and services was very disappointing. The food especially was a let-down and for a foodie like me that's one huge minus. It was so bad that neither Alicia nor I could even finish our meals on the first night - the only time we ate at the hotel restaurant.
Negative feelings aside, lying by the pool all day drinking one cocktail after another reading my book and napping felt pretty damn good!

Scooter
We rented a scooter for a few days in order to explore the area around the hotel as well as Mui Ne, another 'resorty' area on the other side of Phan Thiet 50 km away which we heard was more happening in the sense that it had shops and restaurants. Driving in the city, in this case Phan Thiet, guarantees an adrenaline rush - it was certainly survival of the fittest that applied. The honking confused the hell out of me. The general idea seemed to be that like in Hanoi, everybody honked at everything, and most times I didn't know if it was to announce their presence in the traffic or a loud way to say "get the hell out of my way." Furthermore, it was just the way they drove in general, with no regard for anyone but themselves (if that).
Bicycles, mopeds and cars would suddenly appear from side streets left and right without first checking if they were getting in front of other vehicles; so at all times you had to keep a watchful eye out for surprise attacks from either side. Also people like to exit a lane with little to no signalling, and drive on the opposite side of the road in the wrong direction for long distances if it meant that was the side the exit was on. So on a two way street you actually ended up having four lanes; one going in one direction, another in the opposite direction; and then additionally on both of those lanes on the outside you would have vehicles going in the opposite direction to the traffic waiting for the exit lane. Oh, and traffic lights? Like they didn't exist. Actually... I guess that's not exactly true; most people slowed down and some even stopped at the lights, but if no one was coming from another direction why sit around and wait for the green light? But I'm not going to lie, I had loads of fun driving around. And so did Mr. Jenkins!

The Cutest Cow, Ever.

Driving on the country side was the exact opposite. It was relaxing, peaceful, and absolutely beautiful. The only disruption to the quietness was me yelling STOP STOP STOP to Alicia so I could jump off the scooter to take a picture (more often than not of a cutie cow). Throughout our expedition I remained in awe of the beauty of the scenery and the most polite and happy people who all waived at us and greeted with a friendly 'hello' every time we came across anyone.

Wifi issues
For the first time in over three weeks I experienced trouble with going online because the wifi at our resort wasn't the best. In fact, for me it didn't work at all! For an Internet junkie (ok, ok, Facebook junkie) it was a bit difficult to get used to not being able to email and stalk on all my friends but it soon became a blessing. I thoroughly enjoyed knowing that I couldn't get in touch with (or obliged to contact) anyone even if I wanted to, and it gave me an opportunity to really relax. But on the flip side I wasn't quite expecting not to have Internet, as we had our onward journeys to book as well as a few flights and accommodations I needed to sort out. Luckily the hotel let us use their computers at reception so we wouldn't have a meltdown.

The randoms
I wasn't sure if I should bring this up at all or not, but decided the Russians deserved a section of their own. So... What is it with Russians and southern Vietnam? Every hotel had signs, menus, and instructions written in Russian, every tourist shop had tags and prices in Russian, even some road signs were in Russian! Oh, and on top of this, there were a bunch of Russians everywhere.

So from one random topic to another. Crabs. On the beach, digging holes. So cute! Alicia and I sat having lunch by the beach just watching these rather big crabs dig enormous holes in the sand for hours. It's even funnier when we went for a walk on the beach with the crabs running around sideways left right and centre trying to get out of our way all the while looking straight at us - there were hundreds of them!

Ever so randomly Alicia found out one of her friends was in Ho Chi Minh City with nothing to do, so he jumped on a train and joined us for our last couple of days. How great is that, el mundo es un pañuelo!

Buddhist Grave

My final random section has to do with swastikas. Driving along the countryside we noticed a few cemeteries where the graves all had something eye-catching about them, and that was the fact that they all had swastika symbols on the gravestones. Next to one of these cemeteries was a temple which had big swastikas on its walls too. Having grown up in Europe, seeing the what to me are Nazi symbols displayed proudly on gravestones and churches startled me. It was only when I looked it up that I understood how common it is in the Buddhist culture to use them, after all, it is a sign that has been used by Buddhists for 3,000 years and is still commonly used.

Oh, and happy New Year!
On this glorious day we got up at 4.45 am (who would have thought) and drove to the countryside to watch the sunrise. Well worth getting up for, it was beautiful to watch the world awaken; cows calling out to be fed, roosters announcing it was time to get up, people coming out of their houses to start the day. And then there was me, half asleep sinking my foot (wearing flip-flops of course) in cow poo trying to cross a field to get the perfect sunrise shot.

Sunrise in the country side. Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Other than that it was a fairly uneventful day with lots of poolside action and champagne. You know, standard Monday stuff.

Reliving Vietnam
I have just looked through my pictures from my Vietnam album and if I ever had a doubt in my little blonde head that bringing my bigass camera with my bigass lens was a mistake.....well that grain of doubt was officially erased. The moments I have been able to capture on file are priceless. What fits in the frame of the picture is a beauty of a memory in itself, and the recollection of what was outside of the frame will stay in my mind forever. Well, there's hoping anyway.

It's night time and I am sitting on the terrace of our hotel in Phan Thiet typing up the events in Vietnam so far, and I can't think of a better place to be. The terrace is right on the beach front with the rising tide and breaking waves a touch away from my feet. There is a gentle breeze blowing in from the horizon bringing a distinct smell of the sea and I can almost taste the salt in the air. The sound of the waves is so loud it seems like there's a storm approaching but the skies are clear and the stars are so bright it looks like there are more of them tonight than I've ever seen before.

Dragon Fruit

Merry Christmas from Hà Nội!

Busy streets, Hanoi, Vietnam

Our very friendly and helpful hotel manager

Hanoi was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went there a day early so we had four days in total. It gave us an opportunity to have some downtime. For the first time we were able to sleep in one morning and it felt amazing, you'd think I was on holiday! The biggest contrast to Halong Bay was the difference in service. We got to our hotel but because we were a day early we didn't have a booking for the night and the hotel was fully booked. Instead of sending us back out on the street they went out of their way to find a solution, which ended up being putting us up in their more luxurious sister hotel for all 4 nights for the same price, paying for our taxi, and escorting us there!

It is actually not a very big city so the central touristy part including the French and old quarters of the city were easy to explore on foot which was nice, as long as you manage to avoid getting hit by the thousands and thousands of mopeds! The traffic was worse than anywhere I have seen before and they had no respect for pedestrians, none whatsoever. Don't expect them to stop to give you an opportunity to cross, you just have to take a leap of faith and do it. The way to avoid getting run over was to keep walking at a constant pace so the drivers could estimate where you'd be in order for them to drive around you - and not to suddenly stop, change direction or run! Also the honking was just as bad as on the drive to Halong Bay, so because I could hear it all around me near and far, left and right, I soon stopped reacting to any of it.

As you might expect from a city with this level of traffic, the air was extremely polluted. So much so that when it was sunny you couldn't actually see the sun through the cloud of pollution. As an ex-smoker I was very surprised at how much the bad air affected me; I actually felt I was running out of oxygen breathing in the exhaust fumes.

Christmas decoration in the Catholic Church, Hanoi, Vietnam

I am not going to lie, being away from home at Christmas did make me miss my family, the snow, the Christmas feel, and my mom's Christmas cooking a lot and I was quite sad to be so far away. Promised myself to make sure I'm home next year! Went to visit a Catholic Church, and they sure had made an effort for Christmas. Outside the church was a Belén in true Spanish style, but I think they had taken parts from different ones to make it as Baby Jesus was twice the size of the three wise men combined, and one of the sheep must have been a mutant as it was so big it didn't even fit in the shed. The church on the inside was full of Christmas props including several fully decorated Christmas trees! That was a first!

We met a couple of expats who explained that life in Hanoi wasn't very much fun. They said there wasn't much to do, bars closed early, nightlife was not exciting, and as a foreigner it was difficult to integrate so you end up feeling like an outsider. The only reason they stayed was because work paid well. One of them was working for a clothing manufacturer and at 26, he was earning more than double what he would have made in Germany. He was sent to Hanoi to run one of the factories in the countryside where the clothes were sewn and he was overseeing over 1,000 people most of them making about $100 a month. Apparently corruption is extremely widespread. The police will stop you on the road for no reason and make up a violation unless you pay them, and the same happens every month with businesses - they will revoke your business licence unless you pay the police when they do their routine visit.

I'm struggling ever so slightly with the various currencies and exchange rates. What's worse, I am actually finding it very difficult to get my zeros right. Having worked in finance for five years I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it but it's true, just the other day I offered to pay a ten-fold price for my coffee. Talking of which, gross coffee in Vietnam by the way and it is apparently one of the biggest exporters of coffee in the world! Who drinks it??

Street life, Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnam may be a poor country but people in Hà Nội look very happy to me. They seem to spend a lot of time socialising on the street. They sit on these small plastic chairs on the pavement (wherever they can fit between the parked mopeds) gathered around small tables nibbling on sunflower seeds, eating street food and having a seemingly good time. Seems like a good and comfortable lifestyle!

As much as I have loved the northern part of Southeast Asia, I am ready for my beach holiday now. Stay tuned, the pool and the cocktails are almost within reach.

Graduation ceremony, Hanoi, Vietnam

Scooby Dooby Doo, Where Are You?

Halong Bay

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Taxi to hotel

On the plane to Hanoi we did wonder whether or not the car we had attempted to book would be waiting for us to take us to Halong Bay. We had pre-booked a hotel in Halong Bay, and since it is a good three hours drive away we thought it would be a good idea to organise transportation to our hotel beforehand, as we only landed at 6 pm and didn't know, even after trying to research on the World Wide Web, how to get to the famous Halong Bay (where do buses leave from, how often, are there trains, where do you buy tickets, are they reliable...). Pressed for time, we decided to play it safe. So whilst still in Luang Prabang we called our hotel in Halong Bay to see if they could arrange a pick up from the airport. All I got in response was a series of numbers read to me which I presumed were a phone number I needed to call. The phone call that followed was both hilarious and frustrating. At first all was fine; here's a recap:
Me: hello please taxi from Hanoi airport to Halong Bay
Person on phone: yes please send hotel and flight details
Me: ok please give email

This is when it all goes wrong, and the next part of the call took a good 15 precious minutes.

Person on phone: V-I-N.....????
Me: sorry, can you repeat please?
Person on phone: V-E-M-....????
Me: sorry sorry, is it V-I-N or V-E-M, and then what?
Person on phone: V-I-N-?-T (or possibly R) - something- 1982@gmail.com
Me: I am really sorry but I don't understand, can you please repeat one more time? V for Vietnam, I for India, N for Nepal, and then what?

Person on phone: V-I-N-???- A-N-1982@gmail.com

At this point the only thing I am sure about is the V at the beginning and I realise I am never going to get the rest right, so I call Aurea for back up and put the phone on loudspeaker. The same scenario repeats itself until we think we got it - or rather, had two versions. One of them had to be right, right?

I put my email together and send it to the two addresses, only for both to bounce back, much to my dismay. After some swearing out loud I figured a had one last way to try to get the email address, and that was to text the number. After all, not knowing whether the number was a mobile or a landline, it had a 50-50 chance of working. Glass half full and all that.

When I got a reply from the number with the correct email address I have to admit I did a little celebratory dance! As it turns out, from the whole email address we only got about three letters right
Our final version: vineran1982@gmail.com
Correct spelling: behntran1982@gmail.com

Even the one we were so sure about, the first V (which we confirmed to be V for Vietnam, as in, the country you live in!) turned out to be a B!

This time I did get a response to my email (yay!) but not to the second one I sent asking about logistics - so there was only hoping it would all work out.

You can imagine the joy when, in the arrivals hall, a neatly dressed Vietnamese man was standing holding a sign with my name on it!

During the drive to the hotel there was a moment when we did stop and think "we just got into a stranger's car." At the end of the day, what did we know? We had called a random number, spoken to a person whose name we didn't know, had no idea if this was a company or a private person, or whether we are even going in the right direction. Our driver hadn't said a word since he picked us up, for all we know he could be a member of an organ harvest association and we could wake up with our kidneys missing!

So not only did I have to worry about having my organs go missing, but the driving was also a little disconcerting. Honking is used to signal anything:

- I'm changing lanes: honk

- get out of my way: honk

- I'm turning left: honk

- I'm turning right: honk
- I'm about to overtake you: honk
- I'm overtaking you: honk

- I have just overtaken you: honk

And when everyone does it at the same time it is quite the concert.

Three hours later we got to the hotel with our organs (fully) and our eardrums (somewhat) intact.

The Hidden Charm Hotel
From the get-go there was something off about the hotel. The Tuan Chau Island where our hotel was located is a 10 minute drive away from Halong City where all the boats leave to Halong Bay. The Island is relatively big with several high rise hotels (some of which are closed down) all scattered around the island with wild vegetation in between. Our hotel with the very hidden charm was right in the middle, surrounded by...well....nothing but overgrown out of control greenery. I got the feeling that it was once upon a time a popular tourist destination but nowadays didn't attract many travellers (most visits to Halong Bay are organised from Hanoi and a part of the experience is to sleep in the boat rather than hotel).

View from hotel

The staff were waiting for us with our room key in their hand - we didn't even need to give them our name. We were excited to be in a 'real' hotel as opposed to a guesthouse but this soon wore off and quickly wished we were back in Thailand or Laos. Our room was impressive - the views were stunning and the room was HUGE! But that is where the positives end.

Hungry as we were, we headed for dinner at the hotel restaurant on the top floor (going anywhere was not an option, and there wasn't anything anywhere in sight). It was only past 9 pm but the restaurant was empty, and during the time we sat having dinner we saw nobody - even the waiter vanished into thin air. There was no music, just the wind howling outside and it was starting to feel really spooky. Oh wait, I'm lying now, we did have company - Aurea spotted a big fat rat on the beams on the ceiling! Grossed and spooked out we returned back to the comfort of our room.

The food did not improve during our stay, it was instant noodles and questionable meat and vegetables all throughout, but with no other options around we had little choice. And yes, more rats joined us for dinner the next day, too, and still no signs of other guests. Ugh.

There's an episode of Scooby Doo where the gang spend a weekend at a haunted, rundown hotel after the bridge leading to the island collapses - and I could just see that happening to us! The surroundings were also just like from a Scooby Doo episode, as Halong Bay is nearly always wrapped in a grey mysterious mist, with the limestone cliffs dimly outlined in the distance. What made our stay at the hotel even weirder was that later we actually realised that we were the ONLY GUESTS IN THE HOTEL!

Halong Bay

Cave

We made it into Halong City and took a boat around Halong Bay, including a visit into one of the famous caves inside one of the cliffs and yes, it was all very impressive. In my personal opinion however, I do think it is overrated as there is literally nothing else to do around Halong Bay but to see the Bay. People were very unfriendly and quite frankly the buildings and the city were some of the ugliest I have seen in my life. To add to the negatives, for the first time during this trip we had difficulty in organising our day trip as people didn't seem to speak much English which I don't mind (when there's a will there's a way) but what is worse is their interest in helping us was close to non-existent. I do think that is a shame as due to the sheer amount of tourists who flock to the Bay I think it could be beneficial to clean up the place and there could be potential for attractive business opportunities.

With feeling creeped out, uncomfortable, hungry yet disgusted, and with nothing to do we decided to cut our stay in Halong Bay short and go to Hanoi a day early - the best decision we have made!

So long, Halong!

Ahoy, Hanoi!

Pearl of the Orient, aka Luang Prabang, aka I ain't leaving!

The moment I set my eyes on Luang Prabang I was sold! There is something about this town that makes you want to stay, and then stay a bit longer. Lonely Planet lists it as one of the must sees in Laos: "Luang Prabang is the pearl of the Orient and arguably Southeast Asia's most romantic city: mystical temples, tasty cuisine, and Indochinese architecture."

The name of the city literally translated means "Royal Buddha Image" and it is right on the Mekong river. It is a tiny town, with only one main street, and it is on this street where most important temples are, as well as the night market and the alms ceremony in the mornings. I think what makes this town so special compared to what I have seen up until now is the architecture - a mix of traditional Lao wooden houses and buddhist temples, and French colonial architecture. Next to a golden roofed Wat is a beautiful French style house with its balconies and 19th century shuttered windows. Being a UNESCO World Heritage City they have done a spectacular job at protecting and restoring the old buildings.

The Night Market

In terms of quality of products sold, the night market in Luang Prabang is the best, most impressive market I have ever been to! I wanted to buy everything! If only I did not have to carry it all around with me because let me tell you there isn't much free space in that backpack of mine, and between jumping on and off boats, trekking up the hills, and walking the streets in search of accommodation with one bag on your back, one on your front, and miscellaneous objects hanging from your shoulders, neck, and hands, the idea of adding to the load is anything but welcoming. Still....if only. I did give in to temptation and bought a few souvenirs; a couple of pure silk scarves and an impressive painting of Buddha which is just made for my living room wall (getting it all the way home in good shape will be another story)! I don't think there was anything I didn't want to buy from the selection of goods offered; exquisite textiles, ceramics, antiques, quilts, pillow cases, paintings, silver, bags, spices...

Night Market

When you buy anything at this market you are also contributing to helping the local community (see how you just can't resist..?). I improved my bargaining skills too, as the vendors apparently expect you to make a counter offer. It was all good fun and all interaction between vendors and tourists happened quietly and with kind smiles :)

Tamarind restaurant

In the afternoon we decided to climb the 328 steps to mount Phou Si (oh yes, indeed pronounced 'pussy') to watch the sun set behind the mountains whilst overlooking the town. As we were there admiring the view we bumped into a Scottish couple we met on our three day journey to Luang Prabang. We got to talking and they happened to mention this restaurant called Tamarind, which apparently does very good Lao food, and since we were looking for a place for dinner and are both big foodies decided to give it a go - a decision we didn't regret! Not only is it a restaurant but it is also a cooking school for tourists who want to learn about Lao cuisine. The restaurant offers a tasting menu for 120,000 kip (£12) where they explain the dishes to you (what spices were used, how it was cooked, origins, etc) as they serve them. At this restaurant I also had my first glass of wine of the trip! Sweet Baby Jesus it tasted good, I was starting to have withdrawal symptoms.

So here is a recap of what we ate, and an intro to Lao food! Our first dish was a bamboo soup, a dark green broth with baby bamboo, mushroom, pumpkin, bitter aubergine, holy basil, spring onion and local herbs. It was delicious but I am not crazy about the basil as it gives food a kind of 'anisey' taste...The second dish was my favourite. It was actually more tapas style several little plates of different dips and tasters. There was a roasted eggplant dip, a sweet tomato dip, a pork sausage Luang Prabang style (errr whatever that is), a garlic chilli powder paste, buffalo meat (aka paradise meat), and Mekong weed (nono not the kind you're thinking but actual river vegetable that apparently is only harvested once a year). Clear favourite of them all, Mekong weed! Everything was delicious but the weed took the points home. It always does. The third and I suppose main dish was lemongrass stuffed with chicken, slow roasted pumpkin salad, and fish in banana leaf. The fish was a winner of this round, anything steamed inside a banana leaf wins hands down.

Desert was a good one, for anyone who has a sweet tooth which I don't unfortunately. It was sweet purple sticky rice with shaved coconut and for someone who is not a dessert person it went down pretty nicely!

Amazing food, amazing experience.

I general Lao cuisine love using holy basil and dill in their food, and apparently rice is central to all meals - is what I have learned in the past 2 days!

Here's some more I have learned: burping isn't going out of fashion anytime soon! When we checked into our hotel (Liberty Guesthouse, deserves bonus points for the comfy beds and the peace and quiet), the family who run the hotel were having dinner and it was all I could do not to laugh, as mid sentence any one of them could belt the Lao alphabet with no warning! And seems it is a common habit everywhere else around town too - as is spitting. But spitting like you mean it! I have never, not even in the meanest gangsta' movies, seen anyone spit with such a passion or frequency as the Lao people. Watch your back, is all I say.

Street market

Let's finish this post with a funny one - you didn't expect me to leave Mount Phou Si jokes at that, did you? To be perfectly honest it is more of an anecdote, or a 'Terhidote.' As we were walking down the hundreds of steps I noticed there was a hole next to the steps going deep into the mountain (first of all- I want to know what's in there!! And also, could be dangerous, someone might trip and fall into it), so I took it as my duty to inform Aurea who was walking ahead of me that I LOVE HOLES AND THERE IS A BIG DEEP ONE IN THIS PHOU SI MOUNTAIN WHICH I'D LOVE TO EXPLORE.

As soon as I said it I heard myself, and the giggles that followed lasted all the way down, although having realised an elderly couple had heard me made me want to crawl into my Phou Si hole and hide.

Thank you, Luang Prabang, for the most fantastic memories. Merci beaucoup, until next time!

That's it, next stop Halong Bay - where we may or may not have arranged transport to, we will find out tomorrow!

Sunset view from Mount Phou Si

The Alms Ceremony, Luang Prabang, Laos

I had heard that one of the highlights of Luang Prabang was attending the alms ceremony, which is when hundreds of monks from over 30 monasteries walk down the streets collecting alms. It is an ancient, religious tradition and we heard a guide say those who give alms earn merit in the next life, especially significant for women as they are not allowed to become monks.

Seeing this ceremony was put on top of our to-see list, so we decided to get up bright and early on our first morning to experience it! We got to the main street close to one of the big monasteries at around 6 am when it was still dark outside and the only people on the streets were other tourists, locals lined up on the sidewalk preparing their foods baskets, and a handful of street vendors selling breakfast as well as sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf to give to the monks.

Once it got lighter people settled down and kneeled, taking their shoes off to wait for the monks. Shortly thereafter the monks appeared in the distance, all wearing their orange coloured robes (although there was a difference in the tone of the robes as well as the colour of the belts, depending on seniority I would think), and it seemed the oldest or most senior monks of each monastery were in the beginning of the line and the younger ones at the end. We were also kneeled down on the pavement next to the locals, and were lucky enough to get to hand out the rice we had purchased a moment earlier to the young monks who walked by.

There was a sign that asked people to stand at least three metres away from the procession and not to use flashes on their cameras - a request most people either didn't read or decided to ignore. Even though admittedly I was one of the many tourists there wanting a picture first hand (trying my best to be respectful of course), I again felt ashamed as it felt intrusive even being there, I felt as if we were disrupting something that is meant to be peaceful and sacred. In hindsight I wish I had not taken my camera with me and instead downloaded one from Google images where I am sure there will be plenty.

After their morning round the monks returned to their respective monasteries to begin their day.

I loved having seen and been part of this special ceremony, yet another memory to cherish for many years to come. With each new experience not only do I learn new things about other cultures and traditions, but I feel I can also learn to become a better, more respectful person. By observing others you become aware of certain behaviours which I hadn't thought of before but can be rude and disrespectful, not very positive characteristics to be associated with. Hopefully we can all live and learn - I know next time I won't be one of those annoying tourists showing a lens in your face. Illegal plagiarism of Google images is the way forward.