Laos – Huay Xai, Mekong River, Luang Prabang, Muang Ngoi, Sam Neua, Phonsavan, Vang Vieng

And then there was Laos. What an amazing county. I entered Laos crossing the Mekong at the northern most border crossing with Thailand – Chaing Kong on the Thai side and Huay Xai on the Lao side. Immediately one could perceive the differences between the two countries. Laos is similar to Thailand in many ways, but the pace is dialed way, way back. It is very quaint and simple, not many developed roads or modern infrastructure in place. The people live simple lives, but are quick to give you a saba-dee (hello) and a smile… Spent one night in Huay Xai – sampled some local cuisine saw a band playing traditional Lao music. Instruments included a hand drum, triangle, bamboo xylophone, a four string instrument played like a guitar and two string instrument with a skin covered resonating chamber and played with a bow. Very interesting…

The next morning Lorraine and I jumped on boat for two-day trip down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, with an overnight stay in Pakbeng. The boat was about sixty feet long and about eight feet wide, like all transport in Laos; it was short on elbowroom, but long in character. Up until recently, the Mekong was the key transport artery of the country, and between Huey Xai and Luang Prabang, it still is, as there is no direct road between the two. It was a fascinating trip, passing by lots of tall limestone rock formations, tiny little villages, men out fishing in homemade canoes, women doing laundry in the river, naked children playing along the bank. It was a unique glimpse into the heartland of Laos.

Luang Prabang sits right along the Mekong and has retained the 1920’s French colonial architecture mixed in with 500 year old monasteries – just named a world heritage site, local people are working to maintain and preserve the unique charm of this small town. The street markets here were interesting, with a wide mix of Lao food and local crafts. I was amazed by how inexpensive Laos is, deluxe rooms (with bathroom) – $3, dinner – $1, Beer Lao the local brew – very drinkable I might add – $.60 a liter – almost free! Spent four or five days here in Luang Prabang enjoying the atmosphere before Lorraine headed home, and I went north to the village of Muang Ngoi.

Muang Ngoi was possibly my favorite stop in Laos so far; it is a small village along the Nam Ou River an hour’s journey by boat from the nearest road. As yet there are no motorized vehicles in the village, just a couple of footpaths lined with coconut palms that take you from place to place. The guesthouse I stayed in was a simple bamboo hut with shared bathrooms. I spent most of my time sitting in a hammock, reading books and soaking up the river views. The village has a real south seas feel to it, men mending fishing nets, lots of children playing in the river, really quiet and laid back – a nice place to relax for a couple of days.

After relaxing for a few days, I decided to get off the beaten path and head east to Sam Nuea – very close to the Vietnam border. Not many tourist get out there as transportation is a little sketchy and they are not geared up for tourists, I had a hard time communicating with the guy at the transport hut, as he didn’t speak any English, so I just jumped in a truck heading the right way figuring I would get there eventually. My truck made it about two hours down the road and dropped me off in a small village – luckily there was a guesthouse there and the owner spoke some English. Found out that the bus came through at night, and I had 12 hours to kill – so we talked for hours about the war in Iraq and the Lao Government and drank plenty of Beer Lao. The bus ended up being late, around 10PM we were outside waiting when a couple of guys showed up with AK 47 assault rifles asking questions – the guesthouse owner talked to them, and they left without incident, but after that he suggested we go inside to wait. “Well, Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore.” I laid down on a makeshift bed to wait, and was soon fast asleep – I woke to sound of the bus roaring down the road, grabbed my backpack and ran out into the street flagging down the bus, jumped on and was whisked away. As I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and looked around, the bus was completely full, people sitting in seats, in the isles, on each other, I never saw so many people inside a bus before. I was the only foreigner and to top it all off the radio was blasting Lao pop music at a volume loud enough to make your ears bleed. I dropped my backpack on the floor inside the door, as people cleared a small spot for me and sat down on my bag, elbowing my way in and laughing as I knew this was my fate for the next twelve hours – maybe it was all just a dream…

Arrived in Sam Nuea the next day after the grueling bus journey – a dusty non-descript town that is closer to the capital of Vietnam then it is to that of Laos. Mix of Chinese, Laos and Vietnam culture – not much to speak of in the town itself, but there are two great sights nearby. The first is Suan Hin, an archeological sight that is called the Lao Stonehenge – spread out over five different sights – large stone monoliths at much as ten feet tall, are found sticking up out of ground surrounded by large stone discs eight feet in diameter, laying on the ground all around them. No one is really sure how old they are or why they were made – very mysterious and very cool. The second site was the caves in Vieng Xai – they were used to protect the revolutionary Pathet Lao (PL) government officials and thousands of troops during the secret war and bombing campaigns conducted by the American Government during and after the Vietnam war in Laos. An amazing collection of caves, rooms, and tunnels – a major stronghold virtually unassailable by air that was only recently declassified by the Lao government.

From Sam Neua, I headed south to Phonsavan where I visited another ancient site that may be related to Suin Hin. Plains de jars, is a collection of 54 sites where large stone jars carved from solid rock can be found on hilltops in the local countryside. Some of the jars are as large a seven feet tall and five feet across. I rented a motorbike and headed out into the hills to visit the three sites that are safe to see, as the local area and much of Laos is covered with UXO (unexploded ordinance) from American bombs. Seeing the jars was really amazing – there are hundreds at each site, and there is no explanation for what they were used for – another mystery. There were so many bomb craters in the area, some of them right beside the jars, it was surreal. The left-over six foot long casings of cluster bombs are so plentiful in the area that local people use them as building material, fence posts, pillars for buildings, even planters – you see thousands of them everywhere you look.

I am now in Vang Vieng relaxing for a couple of days – checking out some of the local caves – there are hundreds around – some of them quite large extending a mile or more underground, some you can even swim through. Next stop Vientiane – the capital of Laos. A great poet once asked the following question: “How does it feel, to be on your own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?” Well Bob, I have to say that it feels absolutely great!

Until next time…

Matt

PS – If you want to learn more about the UXO in Laos and the secret war conducted by the US, which the US has still not taken complete responsibility for, check out the following online article. It mentions the owner of the guesthouse where I stayed in Phonsavan who was nearly killed by UXO when he was a child. “Remnants of War”

Thailand – Suan Mokkh, Kanchanaburi, Chaing Mai, Chaing Rai

Well when we last heard from our hero, he was headed for a ten day meditation retreat at Suan Mokkh monastery near Chaiya. The retreat ended up being a great overall experience, although it was a little tough both mentally and physically. Conditions mirror that of the monks. You can’t speak – you can’t eat after lunch and before dawn – most of the time you are sitting around meditating – which can get very boring, causing your mind to wander and making meditation very difficult. Accommodations are sparse – a little 8×8 cell, a concrete bed, with a thin palm leaf mat to lay on, a wool blanket and a wooden pillow. The sleeping conditions certainly made getting up at 4AM every day a little easier. Meals where entirely vegetarian – with rice porage every morning some lettuce to chew on and tea. Lunch was about the same, but they would add some fruit and an extra vegetarian dish. After lunch no food – only tea for dinner. The first two days were the hardest – all I could think about was – how am I going to stay here for ten days. On the third day – I changed my thinking and asked myself if I needed to leave right this second, the answer was always no, so only by keeping my mind 100% in the present, did I make it through the whole ten days.

The retreat featured a lot of training on how to meditate and the basics philosophy of Buddhism – which is all about how to live life with more mindfulness – removing the unsatisfactory conditions that exist in our lives by reducing/eliminating ignorance, craving and clinging. Daily meditation practice that results in a calm mind is central to Buddhist way of life. A great opportunity to learn about other cultures and religions – definitely recommend this type of retreat to anyone who is interested and can take the time… Personally, I really enjoyed the deep look inside myself, and the retreat helped solidify a desire for me to simplify my life and to attempt to leave behind the frightening world of consumerism that I have been rolling around in for the past few years.

From the retreat, I headed back to Bangkok in the train with friends I made at the end of the retreat. After applying for visas to Laos and Vietnam, I went west to Kanchanaburi – a famous WW2 historic town where 16,000 allied POWs and 100,000 Asian laborers died building the Thai-Burmese railway during the war. Kanchanaburi was made famous by the 1957 movie – Bridge on the River Kwai – the bridge, now repaired still stands today. I met a fun gal from France on the train and we hung around together for a few days. Spent a day touring around town, seeing all the museums, POW cemeteries and walked the Bridge over the River Kwai. On the following day, we went up into the mountains to see some of the passes that were cut through the hills with picks and shovels and visited a couple of great local waterfalls. So strange to be reminded of the terrible loss of life and the brutal treatment of Allied POWs during WWII while we hung on the brink of war with Iraq – it just made our current situation feel all wrong in so many different ways. Now that we have fallen over the brink and are bombarded with daily news of senseless fighting and Americans being captured – I can only hope for a swift end to the war. I still believe there was a better way…

After Kanchanaburi, I headed back to Bangkok again to pick up visas and my friend Lorraine from SF who met up with me for a two week trip. We spent a few days in Bangkok doing temple runs and a few days on the island of Ko Samet working on the tan, then headed to Chaing Mai by overnight train. Chaing Mai located in the north, is the second largest city in Thailand, but much smaller then Bangkok which is forty times it’s size. It really has a nice laid back small town feel – definitly a nice place to relax for a couple of days – there are lots of great shops, street stalls, and markets displaying lots of local crafts – some really nice quality stuff. We did some shopping and checked out the local museums and temples. Visited the night market and sampled lots of different types of Thai food – still have not worked up the nerve to eat the grubs, beetles, or crickets yet, but maybe I will before I come home…

Today we headed north toward Chaing Rai, took a long tail boat up the river (saw a wild elephant grazing along the river!) – and did some trekking to local hill tribes in the area. There are five different tribes in northern Thailand and most have migrated to Thailand over the last 100 years from Burma, China, and Laos – they live very simply in bamboo huts, practice slash and burn farming, and sell handmade crafts for extra money. Great experience to get out of the city and into the hills and see their way of life. Enjoyed the hike, talking with our guide, and of course swimming at the ubiquitous end of hike waterfall. A very cool experience.

I am putting the finishing touches on this email in Chaing Rai and planning to leave Thailand behind tomorrow and head into Laos for a river journey down the Mekhong – stay tuned…

Love from the road,

Matt

Thailand – Ko Tao, Ko Phangan, Kho Suk National Park

Hello All,

Been on the ground here for about five weeks now and things are going just fine – I can’t believe how fast the time is going. When I last wrote, I was headed to Ko Tao – a small island in the gulf of Thailand for a few days of diving. Ko Tao was a great place – but the focus there is definitely diving with over 30 different dive companies on the island. I dove three separate days – the reefs were in pretty good shape and saw lots of marine and different types of coral – Blue Spotted Rays, Jenkins Wip Rays, Barracuda, Tuna, a pair of Moray Eels, Angle Fish, Parrot Fish, Butterfly Fish, Trigger Fish and lots of others – definitely a worthwhile stop – and cheep. A boat dive cost about $20 including all equipment compared to about $50+ in Monterey Bay and the rental equipment was in good shape.

From there I headed to Ko Phangan another island just to the south with really nice beaches, cool people and great night life. I stayed on Had Rin beach on the south part of the island – a nice wide stretch of fine white sand – bordered by mountains and palm trees, along with a long line of clubs right on the beach. Had Rin is home to the full moon party – considered to be one of the top ten parties in the world. Every month when the moon is full, about 10,000 people show up to celebrate the event and dance the night away on the beach. I got there about six days prior to the full moon, and it was interesting watching the excitement build for the big night with more and more people arriving everyday. The night of the full moon, the beach was packed, and all the clubs were pumping out all different kinds of music – very fun. I ended up staying out all night until the sun came up over the ocean at which point the party got a second wind, and continued well into the next day. I called it quits around 9AM and caught some sleep in my air-conditioned bungalow. I stayed on Ko Phangan about 12 days in total, a few days after the party, things quieted down and it was a very chilled out place. I am still not sure how all those days went by so quickly.

On Feb 22nd, I left the islands behind and went west back to the mainland for five days to check out Kho Suk one of the Thai National Parks located among tall limestone spires and tropical jungle. For once I didn’t show up to a new place all on my own – Sharon a friend I made in Ko Phangan is from London and also traveling on her own and she decided to come with me to check out the park. Did lots of hiking through lush tropical jungle – most of the hikes were three to five miles long and all ended at a swimming hole under a waterfall – I can’t describe in words how satisfying it is to leave the hot muggy jungle behind after a long hike, and dive into a cool pool of water – wonderful. Saw lots of lizards and monkeys, my fair share of spiders and snakes, and an unknown number of insects making all kinds of strange noises both day and night. Sharon even had her first leach experience, but held up pretty well considering she’s a city girl

Now I am off on my own again, cooling my heals for two days in Surat Thani at a hotel with a pool, getting my laundry done, and catching up on email. On the 28th, I am headed to Chaiya for a ten day meditation retreat at a forest temple – during this time, I will not have email access till about the March 11th, so feel free to email me, but you may not hear back from me until then.

Hope you all are well…

Matt

Thailand – Bangkok, Ko Si-Chang, Pattaya, Ko Samet

Hello All,

I have been on the ground here in Thailand for about two weeks now and find myself really starting to settle into my trip – it’s kind of funny to think that if this where one of my typical vacations – I would be getting ready to leave to go home now – but I am just getting warmed up.

I spent three days in Bangkok when I first arrived – the city is really busy, the air is really polluted, and there is just a constant drone of human activity no matter which way you turn. Generally I feel safe in Bangkok – with the biggest risks coming from trying to cross the street with all the traffic I hiked around and checked out various temples and sites. Ate some great food – interesting, but after a few days I was ready to move on.

I went to the coast south-east of Bangkok to a small island called Ko Si Chang where there is one nice beach, and not much else other then clean air – a welcome change from Bangkok. Spent a couple days there hiking the island and meeting the people that lived there. Mostly only Thai people come to this island and the owner of the guest house said that he only sees about 10 Americans a year.

Moved on from there to Pattaya by the sea – a strange place to say the least – the town itself feels like a mix between the seedy side of Las Vegas and the fun party atmosphere of New Orleans set in a location like Miami Beach. There are over 400 bars in this small beach town – all of which should make it a very cool place, but there is one problem – it’s overrun with package tourists on short vacations – mostly fat single men in there 50’s wearing speedos and hanging out with one of the 7,000 prostitutes who work in the city. So you spend your days and nights watching these old guys with their young Thai “girlfriends” who could be there grand-daughters and it makes the place feel wrong. Too bad – I think it could be a fun place if there were different people here.

No worries – there is always a better place down the road, you just need to keep moving till you find it. The next stop was Ko Samet, a small island off the south-east coast, just basically one long strip of sand with cool beach bungalows on the water and fun parties on the beach at night. Better yet – it’s mostly young people just looking to hang out for a few days and chill out. Met lots of great people mostly Dutch and Swedish and a few Kiwis. Days are spent sitting on the beach until the sun goes down, then they go into beach party mode, setting up sitting mats and little tables right on the beach with party lights above. People sit on the beach, meeting people and drinking cheep mixed drinks out of plastic buckets with straws. What a kick – it’s very social scene and before you know it, it’s 4AM – time to go to bed so you can get up the next day and do it again. The days kind of go on like that and before I knew it, I had been there a week.

I left friends behind yesterday, albeit with plans to meet up with some of them in a few weeks. Am back in Bangkok for a day, before heading south for a few days of diving and some more island action.

Peace to all… Write me when you can.

Matt

Hello,

I have been back in California for about two weeks now getting ready to head off to South East Asia. I had a great drive back across the southern part of the United States. I left North Carolina on December 31st and headed west on Interstate 40. I celebrated the new year in Memphis, Tennessee the birth place of rock and roll. Beale Street in Memphis is definitely a great place for a party – they close down the streets to cars and you can just go from bar to bar and check out all the live bands and the food is fantastic – a great way to start off the new year.

I continued my journey west through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and into New Mexico & Arizona stopping off at Petrified Forest National Park, Meteor Crater, and Sunset Crater National Park before heading to the Grand Canyon for a couple of days. I had a great time at the Canyon – hiking and camping around the south rim – such an amazing place –I had never been there before – but it is definitely a place I will return to…

Heading on from there, I decided to camp out in the Mojave Desert for a night under the stars, but when I tired to find the campground, I ended up getting lost for a couple of hours on dirt roads in the middle of the Mojave. I drove and drove, with no real idea of where I was. I figured that if I was ever going to be abducted by aliens – this was going to be the night – out there all alone in the desert – that’s when they get you. At one point I hit a cross roads and not knowing which way to go, I shut off the truck and headlights and stood on my roof looking for some clue as to which way to head. With the headlights off, I could see a faint glow on the horizon – figuring it was a town – I headed that way. After a few hours of driving, I finally ended up on the northern part if the desert near I15, having completely crossed the desert in an unknown direction. Go figure…

A few days later, I was home and feeling a little strange being back at my place after so long on the road. The trip was a great warm up for the one that lies ahead. Mostly I am packed and ready to head out, just trying to see my friends before I leave.

One final thought before I sign off – I am really concerned about the direction our government is heading in relation to war with Iraq. Despite building opposition at home and abroad – it feels like we are on a path to war despite how the people feel. If you are also concerned about this want to make sure your voice is heard, then join me in signing an online petition asking President Bush to let the weapons inspections work, rather than rushing to war. If we don’t act now, we could be at war by the end of the month. Go to the following site to sign the petition. http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/

Well that’s it for now… Monday I am off for Thailand.

Peace,

Matt

Hello to all you fine people. It’s been about a month since my last update and I figured I would get an update out before I hit the road again. For the past month, I have been visiting with family and friends all over Pennsylvania, New York and North Carolina. It has been great getting a chance to reconnect with all the people I love before I head out of the country.

I am finding that this adventure is as much an internal experience, as it is an external one. After more then a month on the road, I have begun to truly settle into myself in a way I have not known before. I am enjoying each passing moment for the pleasures that it has to offer and have left behind at least for the moment the mundane complexities of life that so often steal so much of our energy. I am very happy…

I have been researching my family history in an effort to eventually publish a book for all my relatives. As I peal away the layers of history, I am finding a certain kinship with some of my ancestors and the adventures that they undertook in their lives � one particular individual is my great-great grandfather Adam Exline, born in 1848. As a young man he quit his job in Pennsylvania, joined up with a wagon train and headed out west into the Indian territories in search of adventure. He found it. He narrowly avoided being killed by Indians after a face-to-face confrontation with a group of warriors, was nearly trampled by a stampeding herd of thousands of buffalo, and woke up one morning camping out on the prairie with a rattlesnake curled up next to him trying to stay warm. After a three year adventure, he eventually made it home safe and sound and settled in to start a family. Hopefully my adventure will be as exciting if not so life threatening.

In a letter that Adam Exline wrote to my grandmother (his granddaughter) late in his life, or as he put it, “the sunset of human existence”, he said, “You know that ones pen or thoughts largely follow his environments. My surroundings are peculiar to many of my fellow beings.” I think there is a lot of truth to the fact that we are greatly influenced by our environment, and I hope that the surroundings I am about to immerse myself in will have a direct positive impact on my thoughts – hopefully all of you will not find me too peculiar, but if you do I am ok with that.

I am going to sign off for now. I am planning to hit the road tomorrow morning, leaving my parent’s house in North Carolina and heading out west for California. I am taking the southern route home and plan to catch some of the sights along the way. Will be home in California for two weeks before I head out to Thailand on January 20th. Send me email – I love hearing from everyone!

Peace and love to all – Happy Holidays!

Matt

Hey!

After almost two weeks on the road, I made it back to PA in time to get together with my family for Thanksgiving on Saturday. Next two weeks will be spent visiting family and friends before I head down to North Carolina to visit my parents for Christmas.

After leaving Boulder, I headed north through Rocky Mountain National forest and into WY. The weather was great and driving was easy until I hit WY but about two minutes after crossing the CO/WY border the road was covered with ice and the wind was blowing across the road about 40-60mph. I was fine, but I figure this is how WY keeps its population down. Did a great hike around Devils Tower, but didn’t have any close encounters with aliens – I was very disappointed. Moved on from there into South Dakota and the Black Hills (leaving ice covered roads behind) – watched big white fluffy mountain goats at Mount Rushmore and went to the Crazy Horse memorial which is still being carved from the mountain. Spent Thanksgiving day in the Bad Lands where I made a delicious thanksgiving dinner of Turkey Chili on my small cook stove I brought along. The Bad Lands are cool – I was once again the only person in the park – saw lots of mule dear and big horn sheep. After that there wasn’t much else I wanted to see on the plains states, so I high tailed it back east in a couple of days.

It is great to be on the road – my spirits are high and I am enjoying each day as it comes – peace and happy holidays to all.

Matt

Wow! It sure feels great to be out on the open road. All cares and worries left behind nothing but fun and adventure in front of me. One realization – it’s a long way to drive across the country when after two and half days of driving and I had only made it to Utah – I figured it was going to take awhile – No worries, I am not on any schedule other then what I set for myself.November is a great time to be out and about – no one else on the road anywhere – hotels and parks are all empty. Visited with my cousin Shawn in Sacramento, went for a run by lake Tahoe, danced across Nevada – went caving in Great Basin National Park, and hiked around Arches National Park – soaked in a hot tub in Moab, Utah, explored the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verda, met up with friends in Telluride, watched the new Harry Potter movie in Pueblo, CO and am getting ready to head out for beers and the Bronco game in Bolder.

YES!!!

It’s snowing and life is great!!