Heading north

Just a quick one before I leave Manila to hit the mountains in the north, where I don't think there's any internet.

Have had a great few days in Manila. This city is bonkers. I'm used to hectic Asian cities and after a bit they all become one but Manila feels totally different. There are none of the street food vendors that other cities have, but I've never seen so many fast-food joints in my life. It's as if that's the only places Filipinos eat. Having just seen 'Supersize Me' it turns my stomach a bit and has made eating a little tricky, but have survived on a diet of dim sum and shawamas. (is that fast food?) Lovely.

There are also a ridiculous number of shopping malls. When not eating fast food the Filipinos clearly love to shop. Not being particularly interested in shopping myself this didn't really excite me until I quickly realised that these places are all airconditioned and airconditioning is something you need in this place. So I've spent the last few days shopping mall hopping, travelling between them by jeepney, which are like elongated jeeps that ply set routes round the city.

Had quite an interesting experience last night. I managed to get in touch with a Filipino guy I'd met at the Oxford Summer School course I went on last year. He lives here and isn't short of cash so showed me a very unbackpacker side of Manila. Having bought myself a shirt, trousers and shoes (I don't think he'd have been very impressed with shorts and flip-flops) I met him for dinner with a few of his work colleagues. A fantastic Japanese meal later (tried very hard not to pig out too much but god it was hard) we hit the town. After a couple of quite tame girly bars the troops were restless so we headed to 'Air Force One'. This was possibly the most surreal place I've ever been in. Apparently it used to be a shopping mall, was unsuccessful, so has been converted into this extraordinary place - really nicely done up, like a huge smart hotel, all the staff wear airline uniforms but the place is devoted to one thing and one thing only. Girls. Girls behind glass screens, girls on stage, girls singing kareoke, girls everywhere. And beautiful ones too. But, and here's the thing. It wasn't a brothel. "All good clean fun" as Richard kept assuring me. I don't really know how true that was, and I suspect the lower floors were a little more seedy than where we were, but the part I saw was all very tasteful. No stripping, no hassle from the girls, just a bizarre place to have a few drinks and admire the view! Certainly not somewhere I would ever have gone if I hadn't met up with Richard but was a fantastic evening, and one that will keep me in stories to other backpackers for a weeks yet.

So, got to go and catch my bus. Back in Manila next Thurs so will post again then.

more photos

finally managed to get the songkran photos on the website. Hope this gives some idea of the madness of the festival. And yes, I do appear to be dancing in one of them. Not sure what happened there.

Photos

some new photos attached. Realised there are very few of me so far, so these are incase you've forgotten what I look like! Unfortunately the one's of songkram are on CD (taking a digital camera out would have been madness so we bought disposable waterproof cameras) and this internet cafe won't let me upload them. Will try another one later.

To the Philippines and beyond!

Oh dear, my blogging rate seems to be dropping and dropping. I think the number of posts are in inverse proportion to how much fun I'm having. If I don't post for a few weeks be assured it's not because I'm lost somewhere in a jungle, it's because crazy things like water festivals get in the way.

I think the last thing I said was about going to Pai and then coming back to Chiang Mai for Songkran, the Thai new year. Well, for once I stuck to a plan and that's exactly what I did. Didn't manage to trek, but Pai was lovely - beautiful little town in the hills, bungalows by the river, nice bars and restaurants and really friendly people. Coming back to Chiang Mai was something of a shock.

The festival was in full swing and all sanity had been suspended. I really mean that. Imagine a city absolutely gridlocked with pickups all with a dustbin of iced water in the back and at least 5 people scooping buckets of it over anyone and everyone. Add to this every pavement packed with drenched people all either throwing buckets or firing huge water pistols, mix in thumping music and not a small amount of booze....and you're not even close to the mayhem that was songkram. And this went on for 4 days. I'd love to be able to decribe it better but there is absolutely no way to capture the atmosphere. It was like being 8 again, but this time being allowed to be as badly behaved as you wanted to be. If I say that at one point I asked a german friend whether it was actually possible to die from laughing too much, maybe that gives you an idea as to how much fun it was. Nothing in the world is like that and everyone should see it with their own eyes at least once. (Me, you'd have to nail me to the floor to stop me being there next year, so get your holidays booked!)

I met so many lovely, amazing people over songkran, during the day and in the bars afterwards and I think that's what made it even more special. Sleep was pretty much not an option but everyone was on such a (natural!) high the whole time it didn't seem to matter. Once it was all over though, my tired 31 year old bones needed a bit of R and R so a whole group of us decamped back to Pai. A few days off the source put me back on the straight and narrow, although my voice still belongs to someone else who smokes far more than I ever would! Pai was even more lovely this time round and I could have stayed there much longer but for the first time on this trip I had to move on before I was ready. I'd booked a flight to the Philippines and although I did come very close to just chucking it in the end I dragged myself back to Bangkok and arrived in Manila last night.

So here I am, finally in the country I first set out to come to nearly 3 months ago! Haven't had much of a chance to get a feel for it yet but have a rough idea of where I want to go and what I want to do. That urge for diving is getting greater and greater but I'm going to spend a week up in the mountains in the north first and then at last settle on a beach somewhere to do my Divemaster. I expect to be here for at least 2 months, maybe 3 so if anyone fancies a holiday then come join me!

Will attach some photos later, but now have to dash to a wine and cheese party. Surreal? Mmm, just a bit!

Back in Thailand...eventually

OK, first of all apologies for the radio silence over the last few weeks. Combination of beer, IT illiteracy, Hamish and travelling have prevented me blogging for a while. So this is a quick catch up of what's been going on.

Stayed in Vang Vieng for about a week (managing to avoid all episoides of 'Friends'). Hooked up with a lovely bunch of Canadians who completely led me astray and caused me to believe I was 21 again and able to drink heavily 5 nights in a row. Did manage to get some other activities in too - caving, kayacking, more tubing and lots of swimming. Great week but felt pretty rundown by too much booze and not enough sleep by the end. Managed to escape north to Luang Prabang eventually.

Pretty scary journey, complete with motorbike strapped to my seat (see photos) and an armed guard finally got me to LP. It's a beautiful, heavily french influenced, laid back (OK, everywhere in Laos is laid back) city. The perfect place to recuperate. Stayed with a lovely family who took all their guests under their wing. One day we were invited to accompany them to a remote village where they were going to make offerings to the temple (basically to ensure they didn't come back as cockroachs in the next life). It was a fantastic day and a real glimpse at Lao life, away from the tourist trail. Once all the ceremonies were complete a huge lunch was served and then all the men got stuck into the local brew, Lao-Lao, while we sneaked off for a cooling swim. The journey home was perked up by, I think, a further 6 bottles of Lao-Lao between about 10 of us. By this stage the Lao men were practically falling out of the truck and we were stuffing our faces with crickets (which really aren't that bad, a bit like ready salted crisps with eyes). Much clapping and singing later we finally made it back to collapse in a heap and begin the alcohol recovery programme all over again.

Other highlights of LP were the beautiful waterfalls, which did scare me slightly after the Don Det incident but just about managed a swim, great food and another Lao party at the guest house which involved speed drinking Beer Lao in honour of their son who was going to study in Switzerland. If Tony Blair is worried about the English binge drinking he should come to Laos for a month!

Delaying my departure by a day just to take in the Bahrain Grand Prix, I finally left on Monday morning. Having followed the course of the Mekong through Cambodia and Laos but having never actually taken a boat trip I decided now was the time. Bad decision. 2 days on the 'Slow Boat' from LP to the Thai border was not really much fun. For the first time in 2 months it was cold and it rained. I finished my book on the first afternoon and I've listened to the music in my MP3 player too many times. Having said that the scenery was magnificant - totally isolated villages on the banks of the river backed by impenetrable jungle but 2 days was enough.

So now I'm back in Thailand, in Chiang Mai. It feels so civilised after 2 months in Cambodia and Laos, and almost like coming home. The last 2 months have been incredible. The things I've seen and done and the people I've met are enough to fill a lifetime of memories. My one regret is to have not got off the beaten track enough but it's impossible to fit everything in. This part of the world is so full of amazing places it's mind-boggling. Highlights have been Angkor (I still dream of the beauty of that place), Don Det for it's chilledness and Vang Viang for it's parties. Anyone thinking of coming to Laos, put aside at least 2 months and really see it all.

The plan now is to head a bit further north, to Pai, and maybe do a bit of trekking then back to Chiang Mai for the 3 day water festival to celebrate Thai New Year. Then finally onto the Philippines. Am really missing my diving and can't wait.

damn and blast

last blog didn't post properly - will rewrite another time. There are some new photos though but hey might make more sense with the stories behind them!

last word from Laos