2 different countries... 2 very different feels...

Sabay Dii!

This folks is the view from one of the 4 thousand islands of Laos, Don Det. We stayed here for 2 nights on our way to the Cambodian border...

I rented a bicycle and rode around the island, across the bridge to the larger island of Don Kong, caught a glimpse of what village life is like. Simple. The people seem very laid back and happy, for the most part. A smile is always shown for those who show their own. However, this island did something to me I think... it affected me in such a way that my façon de penser is different, altered.

The women of the island have this strange, far-out look in their eyes... they don't smile as often... and they do EVERYTHING from the cooking to the cleaning, from the serving to the money handling, from the child rearing to the arts & crafts. The men? They fish, they drink, they talk, and sometimes they build something. But this look in their eyes... I mean, I can't say I know what it is or what it stems from looking through my white western feminist lenses, but it is definitly something I would like to research possibly... obtain a better understanding, well, an understanding PERIOD. It's so weird...

And another thing Carly and I got to thinking about is the country's politics. We befriended a man named Mr. Boon; 27 years old, engaged to the Chief's daughter, educated in the hotel/restaurant industry, runs a bar and a trekking outfit. Very busy young man. Big heart. Has a complete imbecile named Martin running the trekking office; brittish, almost 40, alcoholic, big dreams, immature, unreliable, a bit of a story-teller if you know what I mean. Ya. Carly was supposed to help him take a group climbing - she's experienced so he'd have given her 1/2 price to help him out - but she showed up to meet him in the morning (8am) and he didn't pull up on a boat from the mainland til 9:30am or so, still drunk, cancelled the climbing. Mr. Boon is shafted, the climbers are too. He almost kept Carly's deposit to boot. Great dude eh? So we told Mr. Boon our thoughts on Martin... Mr. Boon told us a bit about how business works out there. It's very interesting being in a place where tourism is still so new. These people - in the more remote areas - want to make money cuz they are told this is what is good; but the guesthouses are the people's homes, opened up to the outsiders. The tourists come and expect to be served, expect to be cleaned up after, expect good service where ever they go. The locals aren't slaves, they go at their own pace. It's the tourists who don't understand, not the locals. So anyhow, Carly and I did what we could, in the short time we spent there, by bringing our dirty plates up ourselves, running food when it was busy, cleaning up after ourselves and spreading our smiles and talking with them. It was a very unique experience.

Laos overall is a wonderful country ---- in transition. I hope it doesn't end up like Mexico... I loved my time in this country and have every intention of coming back within the year and after that as well.

Border crossing fun...

Just so you know: it IS possible to get a Cambodian visa at the south border crossing - this is contrary what the travel agents will have you believe; not to mention the fact that you'll pay the proper price of $20 rather than the $35-$40 the agents will require for "service fees". You can even get visa photos taken there. Apparently the borders have been cleaned up after the numerous complaints of folks trying to get into Cambodia, especially through Thailand. See what can be achieved when people speak up about something??

I could just picture army dudes hiding in the thick jungles on either side of us, guns cocked and ready to fire, fear and determination in their eyes. The road was terrible. The feeling and energy was worse... especially in that "no man's land" between Laos and Cambodia. So many people have fought and died in these countries, more bombs were dropped on Laos than any other country, more landmines in Cambodia that still haven't all been uncovered - let alone found. People use the old american bombs as heanging bells! It's so strange... But we got through no problem and we made it to Ban Long AOK, albeit the most inertesting ride of my life. Picture this: a taxi with the driver, myself and Carly in the front, 3 women, 5 children, and1 infant in the back, for 3 hours from the border to Ban Long. The way it works is that tourists pay the whole cost of getting where they need to go and the driver goes and finds as many locals as he can to pile in the car with you... they ride for free. And the road we took to Ban Long is the same road that will take you to the Viet Nam border and this is the worst road of all time, I kid you not. We have footage, I will show you when I mean.

We spent 4 nights altogether here, one of which was at an eco lodge in the jungle mountains, near the hill tribes. Awesome place. Everything's organic, hand made by the tribe people, fair trade. Great place to stay and enjoy the nature... and not as dusty as the town!! We took a hike through the jungle with a guide who is from one of the hill tribes and so knows the language and the history and just that way of life. It was so interesting and informative! We learned about the different trees, the different uses for the leaves and the roots, the different fruits that grow from them, the cash crops, the rice harvesting... we visited a chicken farm! haha No avion flu here, no worries. ;-) (Getting into the US is going to be interesting...) We saw a 15 year old woman - married for 2 years, had a small child, pregnant with another - hunched over and hand weaving a wall hanging that would easily go for $200 back home that she is selling for $10. Crazy. We tried some homemade rice wine and sipped some crazy strong moonshine! Smoked real tobacco - straight from the tree - rolled up in a leaf to boot! Such beautiful people... We loved it. But I wouldn't recommend coming here if you're not a fan of extremely hot climates, dry, and a hit load of dust.

And now I'm in Kratie, got here by taxi this time filled with 4 grown men, 1 old lady, a driver, and of course Carly and I. haha Awesome. We'll probably stay here tonight and tomorrow night and head for Phnom Penh Sunday morning early. I will be volunteering there with the same organization Carly has been volunteering with: Rain Water Cambodia. I am looking forward to this very much as it's been far too long since I have done anything to help any community.

Until then, take care and keep reading me... I appreciate all your comments and I apologise if I don't respond to them. They really warm my heart though, truly. (Sahana, I responded to your comments from 3 posts ago, I believe.)

Even though the thought of Cambodia is a negative one, equipped with not-so-nice connotations and illustrations, but it's much different actually BEING here. Sketchy and dodgy, YES, but not all the time and not much different from back home. I'm being smart and I have a woman with me who's quite in tune with her intuition and is teaching me to tune into my own a little better. Please don't worry about me. I promise I'll be writing much more often now that I'm out of the remote jungles and islands.

I love you all.

alive and well

Uhm, can't write a lot now cuz the connection out here is terribly slow and we have to go, but I wanted to let everyone know that I am well. It's HOT. Much has happened in the last week since I wrote. I will write the full meal deal after settling in Phnom Penh this Sunday.


*muah*

TOP 10 LIST of shit to do before I die...

I can certainly cross one more off!! Yesturday I, Jacqueline Yvonne Boisvert, climbed a MOUNTAIN!! I - the girl who's petrified of heights -climbed her first mountain and it was in friggen Laos, S.E. Asia! Crazy! Carly is a certified instructor back home and she had been itching to go climbing, especially in this country that is known for it's awesome climbing possibilities, and so we rented some gear for like 25USD total for the day, rented a moto for 5USD, drove out a couple kms to a eerily deserted resort, parked the moto, called for the boat man across the San Song River to come get us and bring us to the other side... which, so you know, should cost about 3000 kip return but since we didn't negotiate a price by the time we got to the other side, we payed 5000 kip. A little tip from me to you should you ever go to Vang Vieng, in Laos, and you should TOTALLY go! Anyhoot, the mountain wasn't far from the river and so Carly taught me in about 15 mins how to belay and she climbed to the top of the one side to set the lead rope. I was a fast learner, I guess you have to be if someone's life is in your heands... I went up after a few mins of mind over matter business, not to mention I didn't want to look like a wuss for NOT going up. So i sucked it up and went up twice, neither time to the time... second time about 2/3 of the way up. Not too shabby for someone like me! The second mountain was right behind us (picture a canyon of sorts where a river once ran between them, both mountains face to face). Carly went up again to set the lead. This one was more difficult cuz it had a part where you feel like you're upside down cuz it jets out a bit... But this one I climbed to the very top!!! It was such an incredible feeling... I felt so proud of myself! So cool. I think I could get into it! Uh oh! I can hear my family worrying already! haha So ya. We did a bit of scrambling afterwards (trying toclimb upside down, an area right near the ground) but I am so out of shape that I didn't last long. Not to mention our hands were all cut up. But ya. What a great experience!!

After climbing, we drove out to an organic farm and had some super tasty organic beer by the river, watching the locals bath and the tubers tube! heehee Next time I'm in Laos, I'm gonna stay out there at the farm and volunteer by teaching english and maybe even working the fields. Awesome place.

Today we took a local "bus" to Vientiane. It wasn't a bus at all. It was a truck with it's cab covered with bench seats which we experienced for the 3.5 hours it took to get to our destination. Yes indeed. Quite uncomfortable, locals and us crammed in there, some people standing up and holding on to the back on the outside of the cab... When we arrived here, we weren't dropped off where we figured we should have been and so had to the play the "I'm not taking my bags off this ride until I get a straight answer as to how I'm gonna get from here to where I want to go" game... and it worked! Sort of. haha Carly suggested the driver pay the tuk tuk dude our way to our destination... he ended up paying 3000 of the 4000 kip required for that journey. Ah well. You live and learn. It's a language thing. Had we known the language we would have understood what was going on. It's also a lack of knowledge of the way things work around here... "same same, but different" as the saying goes around here. And I have never been touched so much by strangers! My hair, my skin, my piercings... it's weird, but not intrusive. And Carly is constantly mistaken for a dude, poor girl! haha This trip is only gonna get more interesting, I can feel it!

Until next time!!!

xoxoxox

more caves and more sun!!

This is pretty much my amazing view dudes... from my balcony in Vang Vieng, Laos. Beautiful, isn't it? What a laid-back town! Totally tourist oriented and dependent, a lot of drunk partiers, but very low key which is exactly my style...

Yesturday we met up with a couple fellow canadians and another woman living in Barcelona, for a trek to see a few of the legendary caves. The first one was called the elephant cave because there is a carving in the limestone of an elephant (go figure). The Buddhist monks from long ago carved that out... poeple have walked through this cave for 3 days without ever reaching the end of it. We only went in about 100m but we could have gone so much deeper, we were all very curious. We had lunch made by a few local villagers, we sat and chatted for a bit before leaving to check out 2 more caves... one of which we could only view by inner tube! That was so cool! I can't wait to have these photos uploaded! From this cave, we walked to a nearby village but on our way saw some things you would never see in North America. Women, men, and children bathing in the stream - water used for everything including washing fruit & vegetables and cooking. These people live in houses built by hand, on stilts, with hay rooves and wicker walls... no running water... no electricity... children from the age of 5 fishing and working in the fields, mothers working the fields with new borns and infants strapped to their fronts and backs... This life is simple. Even in the large town of Vang Vieng, this is so.

We were driven to the Song River, a confluent of the dirty Mekong River, where we borded our kayakes! That was pretty neat, something I'd never done before, and I was pretty damn good at it too! heehee There were folks on innertubes floating down as well, stopping here and there at the riverside bars... what a life! We had dinner with the Barcelona lady, played pool on shitty snicker table - I won - and passed out from the 2 for 1 Lao Lao Slings.

Today... today was a laid back day for sure. I laid out in the scorching hot sun and got some sweet color! Yay! My tan is returning! heehee There are these covered hut things set up that are 1/2 on the river's edge and 1/2 on the rocks where you can order beer and snacks, lay out in the sun, and just chill right out. I laid on a bamboo lounging chair in the river... Carly played guitar in the hut. Beautiful day.

And tomorrow we're going CLIMBING! My first climbing experience will be in Laos, that's awesome! I'll be sure to write about that! Don't worry about me though... Carly's a certified instructor back home so even though I've never even been up a wall, I'll be just fine. ;-) A la prochaine!