Cambodia Smiles

I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of smiles greeted by the cambodian. They are not sulking in pain from the sad history at all. This place is thriving with prosperity with each increasing day. I may not be watching a tragedy film afterall.

Tomorrow, i will head down to Phnom Pehn. Looking forward to a change of scene.

Civilization

Sometimes i wonder do we progress with civilization? Is today's world a more civilized compare to 1000 years ago? If work of art is a mark of civilization, then we have certainly deterioriate over time. The vandalism of Love signs found on Angkor Wat are so much pale to the old civilizations.

On the other hand, there are tones of reconstruction works in progress to help restore the much eroded architecture. Quite a number of them are supported by the Japanese. No wonder i heard a rumor (while travelling) that the Japanese have bought over Angkor Wat!

Bayon

Bayon temple was built by King Jayavaman VII. The enigmatic smiles was believed to be a copy of the king's face. He probably was one of the richest king as many of the temples in siam reap were bulit by him. 2 of the many were dedicated to his mother & father.

Apsara

These celestial angels marked on walls of Angkor Wats. There are about 3000 of them! All in different poses, costumes & hairstyles. It is the biggest fashion show i've ever seen. Certainly a feast for the eyes.

Khmer Heat

@ Siam Reap

I arrived in Siam Reap with a huge storm. The road was flooded till knee cap. Surprisingly, all water was cleared by next day. For the 2 days out in the temple. I was greeted with blaring sun. The last time i remembered myself so tan was more than 20 years ago.

This is the first time i feel like a solo traveller. For almost the entire trip in lao, i was constantly blessed with good company of fellow travellers or the locals or the half locals (foreigners who stayed in lao). Initially, i was with 2 women from England when i arrived in Siam Reap, however, i realized that we don't really share much common interest. So i decided to visit the temples by myself. With the luxury of my own schedule, i really take the time to absorb in the wonders of carvings. They are utterly divine. i simply went crazy with the number of photos i took. I guess its about 100 shots or more.

To all my friends & readers, thank you for leaving comments on the blog. its good to know that there are people reading my blog. sorry that i did not reply or response to it coz sometimes i'm in a hurry or trying to maximize the time use online. it can get a little into the budget. :P

Last Day in Lao

@ Pakse

My last day in lao. Wrapping up nicely with a relaxing afternoon in Pakse. Nothing much to do, but i was having a good time with myself. listening to music, writing journals & recording some audio diary (on my ipod)

While i was having my dinner, i ran into the french guy who took the 2 days trekking trip with us in muang sing!! This is backpacking, you keep running into fellow travellers.

Will be heading to Siam Reap tomorrow.

If lao is a family movie (heartwarming & easy to digest) , i'm anticipating a tragic film when visiting cambodia. Hopefully not too tear jerking for me. :P

Foreigners in Champasak

@ Champasak

A trip down to southern part of lao prove to be a surprise treat for me. This is really the most laid back place of the whole of lao. It is also the least touristy one i have been to.

I met 4 very interesting foreigners in champasak.

A french lady who simply just fall in love with this little town & stayed for 2 years. she has an amazing house with a romantic decor.

An Australian Archaelogist who is researching on Wat Phou (a khmer temple that is older than Angkor Wat)

A Spanish couple who decide to volunteer in the school of champasak when they walk into the school & realized that the teachers were taking their naps while the kids were playing by themselves.

i was invited to the teacher's gathering dinner on my last night stay in champasak. i hsd both spanish & lao food. a fusion of both east & west. best of both worlds.

No 4

It's bizzare. i have been staying in room No. 4 for almost all my entire trip.
if its not room 4. it will be something like 304, 284. i'm all surrounded by 4. hope this is not a bad omen as what it is for chinese.

A wild encounter

The wildest encounter i had in lao comes from an australian traveller. This lady name claire is a trainee nurse. while a bunch of us were having candle light dinners at a restaurant, she spotted a small cocroach on the table & started to use her fork on it. the guys was asking why is she doing this & she claimed that she would like to eat it. so an american guy help to hunt the croach for her & she put it up to the candle flame for barbaque. the guys were challenging her to eat the croach & finally she ATE IT!!!

i have the whole incident on video. will upload this little thriller online when i get home.

A river of Teh Si

From Huay Xai to Luang Prabang,

My most intimate encounter with Mekong River. Its the 1st time I see such majestic view of Mekong. It has the familiar colour of Teh Si (tea with milk) back home.

This is a river of life - supplying daily livelihood to people of indochina across lao, thailand, vietnam & cambodia.

Lao Interior Design

@huay xai,

i was looking forward to do a gibbon experience adventure trip while visit this border town between thailand & lao. unfortunately, it was all fully booked. i spent a night at the town before taking a 2 days boat trip back to luang prabang.

while walking along the town, i chance upon an amazingly contemporary minimalistic lao residential home. the couple were kind & warm, they allow me to take photo of their home while going about their normal activity. the wife was folding her clothes (half naked in her sarong) while the husband was smiling warmingly to me & showed me pictures of them in their younger days. Such a lovely couple.

Trekking to Akha

@ Muang Sing (north of lao)

side track a little from woman issue. guess gotta show u once in a while myself in the photos.

This is a 2 days trek we take to visit some remote Akha Village in muang sing. oh man...i really had a hard time trying to catch up with 4 huge caucasian man & the guide. i was panting like a dog when climbing to a attitude of 1200m in search for this tribe.

the lunch serve was so amazingly layout & it probably was one of the best lao rice with simple dish i had.

Chinese everywhere

The ride from luang namtha to muang sing. 2 foreigners (me & another traveller friend) seat among a group of "locals" in a mini truck. shortly we realized that majority on this load are chinese from yunan instead. many of them bought some land in lao to start some planation business. these young men (about 25 yrs old) have a banana planation!!

my lao guide was telling us (a group of travellers) that chinese is everywhere in lao! i told them that it goes the same for singapore. & then the rest of the european all says that chinese can be found everywhere in their country too!! amazingly! this is indeed chinese globalization.

Zero Point

@ Muang Ngoi
This is the game i played when i was growing up. very nostaglic to see that the villagers kids are playing this game too. however, i find my version more acrobatic than theirs. i actually wanted to join in...unfortuantely they end the game & went home for dinner.

Out of touch

I am currently in Luang Namtha. Finally found an internet place that is fast enough for me to blog & a afternoon that has nothing much to do. therefore a series of uploads in one go.

i spent 4 days in a remote town, muang ngoi where there is no mobile & internet service & electricity is scare. only hv it from 6-9pm. this photo is taken right outside a "bungalow" that i stayed in. it cost me US$1.50!!!! can you believe it. i spent 4 nights in this village & really do nothing in one of the day. so far this is the best treat for me! highly recommended!!

i don't know when will i get a chance to blog again. may be a long time. hope u guys enjoy the blog. write me!

Phasith, the monk

i met a monk on a raining afternoon in luang prabang. spotted his lonely figure from afar & i decided to approach him.

His name is Phasith, 16 yrs old. He came from Phongsali (a mountainous province in lao) Phasith is a bright young boy who choose to be a monk so that he can study english. & he hopes to work in a NGO one day. i was pleasantly surprised to recieve an email from him yesterday. he promised to show me his hometown one day. :)

local playhouse

Saw a group of local kids hving a after rain fun. they picked the flies from the soil and trapped them in a container with water. it may sound a little cruel, but i think its a great game to pest control too.

Party at Phonsavan

Last night at phonsavan. i partied with a bunch of fellow travellers. everyone of us take turns to ask the waitress to take a shot for us & she even frame some of the cameras on the bar in the shot. that was funny.

Backpacking travelling is seldom a real solo trip. there are so many people i meet on the road & i'm hardly on my own.

Plain of Jars

At phonsavan, there is the famous plain of jars. u'll see hundreds & hundreds of jars scattered all on the plain. there are many versions to the comeabout of this mysterious jars of 3000 years old. the lao people believe that it was a gift from god. the hmong people believe that it was created by giant villagers who use the jars for different storage purpose (like a bank to store the villagers money, a food storage or even as a prison) the archaeologist believed that it was a urn or tomb.
personally, i prefer the local myth version. more fun for imagination isn't it?

Beauty Queen

i took this shot in Phonsavan while walking down the main road. this is a province that had been most bombed during the vietnamese war. todate, there are still many unexploded mines in the region. its the 1st time i see poor, homeless lao roaming the street. its an interesting contrast between the beauty queen poster & the young poor girl. however, they are both as attractive to me.