First Impressions ... Laos

Leaving Cambodia Boarder ... we came in to Laos on a mini bus.

We really like Laos. It is a small country and not very populated so seems quiet to us after Cambodia and Thailand. English is not spoken very much so communicating can be difficult at times. Especially when ordering food. We point to what we want and most menus are in Laotian and English. But there can be complications ... for example, I ordered a Vegetarian Burger at a restaurant and when I cut into it there was deep fried chicken. I sent it back and showed our waiter what I wanted again, he was most apologetic,  out came my replacement vegetarian burger, this time it was deep fried fish. I gave up at this point, took the fish out and had a lettuce and tomato burger instead, still vegetarian. I felt sorry for our waiter he could not read English and had no idea what I was trying to order.

I guess you could say Laos is a developing country, it is growing very fast economically. It is very rural, lots of small villages and the main towns seem very quiet to us. I think the population is around 7 million and the average wage is about $US2000PA, which is very, very low. Being poor seems to mean different things in different parts of the world. We see a lot of very late model pickup trucks, vans and some expensive European cars like BMWs and Mercedes. Nearly everyone has a cell phone and there is excellent cell phone coverage here and internet. We have seen a lot of satellite dishes linked up to bamboo huts by wire. I guess what we think as necessary to a healthy and happy life has changed a lot over the years. Cell phones, internet and late model cars seem to be essentials. When I was growing up my Grandmother used to say ... 'warm home and food in the cupboard and life could be a lot worse'. I think that definition might be outdated now. 

Here is an example of a modest home in a rural area, with full satellite service! 

Tourism is still fairly new. It brings money into Laos which goes directly to the people, but it also brings expectations, such as hot water, wifi, food, comfortable beds, etc. We have noticed this all through Asia. I think that tourists often have better sleeping and living conditions than some of the locals, which I feel very uncomfortable about. One thing that is common in most of the countries we have visited in SE Asia is their struggle with plumbing. Nearly all their attempts to duplicate Western plumbing systems that we have seen leak badly, in some cases there are pipes under sinks that run water right onto the floor, funny.

We are noticing a cooling in the weather as we move further north, but it's still quite humid. We have met some really nice people here in Laos. A Canadian couple come to mind that Pete has interviewed. We will probably meet up with them again in Luang Probang.

Here are some photos ... our first impressions of Laos.

The Laotian side of the border. There is an 'official scam' of $US2 per visa application over and above the visa fee that all people have to pay. Everyone knows that it is a scam but pay it anyway. I don't know where the $2 goes, I am assuming that it does not go to the Government. When we arrived at the Laotian customs to get our Visa on Arrival there was a group of Chinese tourists who were refusing to pay the $US2, so the customs people were holding their passports. Feelings were getting rather heated on the Chinese side and one of the women was taking photos of the Customs Officers and trying to force the window open to get her passport. It was very entertaining. I couldn't see the sense in it, $US2 is not much to them but a lot to the customs officers. I wanted to hang around and see who won, we heard later that the Chinese gave in and paid the scam money, of course.

We stayed on the island of Don Det as our first stop in Laos, which is part of the 4,000 Islands and right on the Mekong Delta. This was the view from our room. The Mekong is beautiful ... so wide and wild. We did not enjoy Don Det village very much ... I think they were over tourists and had had enough of drunken partys and stoners. We really enjoyed cycling round the island and visiting Don Khon that is joined to Don Det by a French Bridge, as it is called.

We never got sick of sitting on the steps outside our room and watching the sun set. Each night was different. We had some great conversations with other travellers on there. This is where we met the Canadian couple, Kurt and Krystal and we met two travellers from South America both named Matheus. They are currently living in Hamilton and attending Waikato University for a year. Pete is going to meet up with them in August when he is doing some teaching up there. 

This is what having millions of dollars looks like. We are millionaires here. We are carrying so much money it is a little overwhelming. A little goes a long way though. By the time we get used to a new currency it is time to move on.

Getting ready for our kayaking trip on the Mekong. We had a great day. They pack as many people on kayaks as they do on bus seats. There were 3 of us on our kayak, one of the guides got on with us. Pete was annoyed, he thought it was agism, he said, 'the guide took one look at us and saw that we were the oldest in the group and would need looking after'. He was wrong about the looking after part! The kayaks are more like skiffs. There was no debriefing, we did have life jackets but no helmets. We had 2 guides to about 20 people and only one of the guides spoke English. One of the kayaks cracked open and started to sink, an English woman nearly drowned when their kayak overturned and one of the guides tried to lift it off them and knocked the woman down and she sunk further under the water.  She got an awful fright but it was funny really. There was probably one person too many on their kayak, they had 3 people, none of whom had ever been in a kayak before.

Water Buffalo look like any ordinary bull on land, a lot like a dirty cow. In the water this beast looked magnificent to me, elegant and completely at home.

One of the places we stopped at on our kayak trip ... I really liked the countryside on Don Det.

The purpose of our kayak trip was to see fresh water dolphins. Our guide said that sometimes there can be a very long wait. We only had to wait about 10 minutes. They came in really close to our group. I was so excited. They looked wonderful. There are only about 6 left in this area ... they are becoming very rare. They look different to ocean dolphins, their nose is very short almost like a pug dogs face.

Our kayaking trip was only about 2 hours on the water. Part of the day was on land visiting water falls. We were taken around on what looked like cattle trucks and Pete and I decided to sit on the top, along with some others. We did not take into account low lying power lines or tree tops. There were some near misses but no fatalities!

By the time we got back to our kayaks it was getting dark. The truck was late picking us up from the waterfall. Some of our fellow kayakers refused to paddle back to Don Det in the dark but a few of the more adventurous ones in the group were not put of. We got in and paddled like crazy to catch the last of the light and as it got darker we used the lights on the island as our guide. We had fun. Pete wanted to mark the occasion with this photo. Yep we may be old, but we are not done yet!

The French Bridge that joins Don Det and Don Khon ... I enjoyed our day of cycling a lot. I was quite sick on Don Det, I think I had a reaction to the Melarone tablets that we are taking. They are meant to prevent malaria. 

A change of scenery. We left Don Det and caught a mini bus to Pakse. We stayed here about 3 days and did a scooter tour. I was still feeling sick here. I had just been boasting in a previous blog about how well we have done with no real bowel problems and I get sick.

We stopped off at this swimming hole. I had to take a photo of the closed sign. I am not sure how a water hole closes or opens, but this one closes at 5pm.

I really wish we had worn our swimmers so we could have gone underneath the waterfall. But this was fun. 

We thought we would buy a few bananas on the way home ... this was the only way we could buy them. A bunch or none. Tiny but Mighty bananas.

We caught a local bus from Pakse to Thakhek. Next time we will get a VIP bus. There are 3 people to a seat, and spare stools for people to sit on when the bus gets too full. It is about 333Kms or 4 hours driving. It took us nearly 10 hours. We found it pretty amusing for the first 8-9 hours but then Pete got a little frustrated. None of the locals seemed to mind the stops and delays. The Lao people seem very  nice. They are very easy going and relaxed. They are not particularly emotionally expressive we haven't seen anyone shouting or losing their temper. Apparently its very poor form to show anger or  make a fuss.  

One of our fellow passengers was wearing this t-shirt and I had to take a photo of it. I thought of Emma when I saw this. Emma is our niece and she posts really great quotes on her FB page. I am not sure she would agree with this statement or post it, but I thought it had a bit of meaning.

When ever our bus stopped at a village or bus station, vendors would hop on selling sticks of barbecued meat, chicken I think and boiled eggs on a stick. Some of the sticks have whole bodies of meat for sale. Not for us.

Yes the inevitable happened. The brakes went on the bus. Here is the bus driver, under the bus, fixing them. He used a piece of tyre tube that he cut down the middle. I didn't like to think how secure or safe the repair was. We used this opportunity as a toilet stop ... traipsing of into the jungle to relieve ourselves.

February 2011 A Tribute

Robert Hugh Cammock ... a signature look

Four years have passed since Rob died in February 2011. Sometimes it still feels like yesterday. There are some gaps that are never filled and Rob leaving us is one of those gaps. I am not sure that we will ever get used to not having him around, I guess we have learnt to adapt over these last four years but it would have been so much better if we didn't have to.

I remember when Rob told us he had cancer, it seemed impossible to think of him not being around. We all assumed he would get better and life would carry on as normal, I think he knew from the beginning he would not. One of his biggest sadnesses was not seeing his grandchildren grow up and the possibility that they would never know him. That will never happen. Even though Rob is not with us his energy and stories continue within all of us and are shared often with laughter and tears.

I met Rob when I started coming to church, he was the young single adult leader and he was great. There was always something happening, if not exciting certainly adventurous and there always seemed to be an element of risk to his activities. Lake Tennyson, for example, where Rob backed a Land Rover into the lake, Penny Mcleod and Aynsley McLeod, (not related to Penny), nearly drowned. We had a lot of fun in YSAs when Rob was in charge. He always had so much energy. Things happened.

Our families have been very close over the years and our children have grown up together. Rob, Viv and their children felt like home for us, like an extension of our own family. We did tramps together, Christmas', birthdays, family dinners, weekends at Lake Lyndon in the middle of winter. Every time we go past Brown's Stream, just outside of  Hamner, we stop to look, our last time there was with Rob. Brown's Stream was a regular stop of spot for a swim if we were with Rob. Our children were more friends than cousins. Each one of them has their own story of Uncle Rob. Now we live in their family home ... the house that Rob built! He loved 29a! We love it too.   

Rob was generous with himself and his means. If Rob had been travelling with us through Asia he would have given to every beggar we have come across. He hated injustice like the demolition of CCNZ and authority, like the Police or Traffic Police (a Cammock gene I think). He loved the outdoors, he loved his children and had pet names for all of them 'Rose Bud' comes to mind. When he was excited about something or extra happy he did this high pitched squeal, like Pete. He enjoyed reading biographies and history books. He and Pete would talk for hours about people or historical events he had read about. He would always support a local business, like a car mechanic, builder or electrician. No matter what time of day or night we arrived at the Auckland airport he was always there to pick us up. He would park his car and come and meet us off the plane. There is something really welcoming about being met off your plane. He would get excited seeing his children go off and do things, like travelling or tramping. I remember one time some of the family were getting ready to go and do a tramp or something and he came up to me and said, 'isn't this exciting?' 

He coached a girls soccer team for Temple View for a couple of years. He really wanted those girls to do well, he was plugging for them. He would talk to us about some of his worries and concerns for them. I think he felt like he was really making a difference in their lives. He was so pleased when he saw them do well. 

These 2 brothers have been the very, very best of friends. Pete misses Rob deeply and the possibility of what they might have done together. Spending long evenings sitting on the deck with Rob at Temple View and chatting as they always did about life, politics and the injustices of the world. They could talk non-stop! Listening to them watch a funny movie together was almost funnier than the movie they were watching. Rob was always Pete's go to person when he needed to talk to someone about something important. His passing has left a huge gap in Pete's life. We are both pretty sure that Rob, (no doubt with Viv or one of the children), would have met up with us at some point on our trip ... that would have been a blast. Rob was always fun to travel with and he would have loved to hear about our adventures. 

I love this photo of Rob & Viv ... I cannot even begin to imagine how much Viv must miss Rob. I don't know how she has done it. How do you pick up your life as a single person after you have spent nearly 40 years with the same person? I have watched Viv over the last four years as she stepped into the place of being 'it', the sole provider, the problem solver, the only parent. I watched as she moved out of the master bedroom and the marital bed to a smaller room and a smaller bed. All outward signs of no Rob. I've watched as she has tried to carry on as normally as possible but there has always been a sense that someone is missing, Rob.

These amazing, charismatic, funny, well read, educated and travelled people are Rob & Viv's legacy to the world. Rob lives on in each of these amazing people in some way. We know they miss him deeply. Time marches on relentlessly, even though in moments like Rob's death we want it to stop, births, deaths and marriages still happen, they would be more complete if Rob was still here. Rob left this world a much loved man and he is missed deeply by all of us.

Angkor Wat ... Rain and Tears

We had the best day at Angkor Wat with Tom and Michelle, who we met on our 5 day retreat. We met some great people on the retreat, many of them looking for meaning or some new purpose in their lives. Tom and Michelle really stood out to us and we spent time chatting with them and getting to know them. They are from the UK and had not long quit their day jobs to commit full-time to their music. Michelle is going to return to the UK and buy a van and live in it while she travels round playing gigs or busking. Tom is going full-time composing and performing. They said they had got to a place where they did not want their music to be secondary any longer and they were committing into it.  They are frightened and excited at the same time. A very courageous and inspiring step. Their story was really interesting and Pete enjoyed interviewing them for his next book on calling. 

Their plan was to go to Angkor Wat and do some filming for the cover of a song they are going to do by Aprhodites Child, Rain and Tears. They are fans of Demis Roussos who was one of the members of the band before he went solo in the 70s and they wanted to do a tribute to him. I remember the song ... some of the best music and musicians came out of the 60s and 70s. Some of you might be familiar with the band and their music. We were going to Angkor Wat on the same day and suggested we meet up. The idea evolved that Pete would be their camera man and do some of their filming. He did a great job and they said that he had the steadiest hands they had ever seen. All the filming was done on Tom's iPhone 5C. We are looking forward to seeing the final cut. While everyone around us was taking photos of Angkor Wat and enjoying the splendour of the ruin, we were focused on picking spots that would make a good film setting for Tom & Michelle's music video.

While Pete was filming Tom & Michelle I was photographing everything else... here are some photos of our day at Angkor Wat with our new friends.

These photos of Tom & Michelle are taken with Pete's iPhone, our camera battery died. I was so mad, but the iPhone did ok.

Behind the scenes. Michelle helping Tom with his hair in preparation for filming.

Action ... Pete lying on the ground filming. They were so pleased with their footage and Pete really got into it and was such a good camera man. He was helping pick locations and suggesting ideas to them, it was a lot of fun. None of our other photos of our day seemed as interesting as the ones we took of Tom and Michelle. They are so talented. We wish them well on their big adventure.

Here is a link to Izzy's Daughter, which is the stage name for Michelle. I do not know how to download the actual clip so I hope you will look these up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-hzPmgf_uE

Here is the link to Art Penley which is the stage name of Tom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKd_Yr9Om6s

Pete was sick with a stomach issue after we spent the day with Tom and Michelle so ended up spending the next few days stuck in our hotel room, which was small and dark. We have done so well with illness on this trip. We have had the odd off day but nothing serious, so Pete having to stay indoors was a first for us. I ventured out on my own with our tuktuk driver to visit the rest of the Angkor sites. I had a great day by myself. I really enjoyed the sites I visited and had a great time wandering round the ruins. It was such a hot day! Here are  photos from my visit to the Angkor sites.

 

A lot of the ruins have moats around them and some of the bridges that we walked across have these kind of statues on either side. They are very impressive and foreboding.   

One of the gateways that had to be walked through. There were lots of tourists in parts of the park. I really admire the stamina of the Chinese. They go for hours. I don't know where they get their energy from, I am guessing they might sleep on their tour buses between destinations.

These buildings are really impressive. The stone work is beautiful, some of these ruins are majestic in scale. I am so glad that we made this one of our destinations even if it was only a brief visit.

I love the stone carvings that we have seen on many of the ruins we have visited. So detailed and delicate.

Beauty can be found anywhere ... even in a dangerous looking swamp.

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The country side round these ruins is jungle. I thought this photo gave a bit of an idea of the landscape and I really loved the dead boat that is sticking out.

There are alot of these trees that are growing round the ruins. They are huge and I am sure they help keep some of the buildings standing by providing support. I think Hobbit here.

While I was wandering round by myself I met a very nice Korean family and we took photos for each other. It was soooo hot! I was much more outgoing with people while I was wandering around these ruins by myself.

Happy face. Some of these carvings look a little intimidating. Think Tomb Raider.

 This tree is huge and they seem to grow over anything!! I love the evening light. These photos are left over from our day with Tom and Michelle.

The original stone steps up to these buildings are very steep and narrow. Almost life threatening walking up or down them. I don't know how they managed to climb them without hurting themselves.  These are not the original steps, they are replacements for tourists so they don't kill themselves.

Our tuktuk driver having some fee time. He was quite young and a real flirt. When a group of young women went past on scooters or bikes he would toot and wave at them. Not all of these women responded with the same enthusiasm as our driver.

I stopped of at a butterfly sanctuary on my way back to our hotel. These two are mating ... I love the design and colour of them. I learnt quite a bit about butterflies here.

Meet David ... I was so relieved to discover him, I was desperate for a haircut and he came to my rescue. I was a little nervous about making an appointment, my haircut in Nepal was a disaster, but I was desperate. David is a professional hairdresser from Brisbane. He moved to Siem Reap with his partner about 3 years ago. He told me that Cambodia sung to him when he came here on holiday and so they quit their jobs and moved here. I am not sure they will ever go back to Aussie. He is such a lovely man. Below his salon is their cafe The Little Red Fox, his partner is a Barista there. They do a lot to support their Cambodian staff by training them in their cafe and also helping them get into university. University fees are about $US300 per year but it is almost impossible for them to get the money. He gave me a great cut and I felt so much better. Pete interviewed him as well and really enjoyed recording his story.

A Sunday evening stroll along the river in Siem Reap. While driving back into Siem Reap from our retreat we stumbled across church so I rented a bike and cycled there. Those of you who have scootered, driven or cycled in Asia will have some idea of the kind of danger I placed myself in. I felt really proud that I had the confidence to venture out on my own here in Siem Reap. We heard that most people who ride scooters in Cambodia do not have drivers licenses which might explain some of the strange riding habits of the scooter riders. 

Pol Pot Regime reminder ... I found this very chilling. The memory of Pol Pot is still very much alive for the people here and land mines from that period are still a serious problem. There are people with lost limbs all over the place. There was a woman at church that had lost both her legs. It is still not advisable to go of the beaten track because of land mines. A man was killed while we were there accidentally digging up a land mine and his wife was badly injured. Neither Pete nor I wanted to visit the killing fields, but Pete would have liked to have attended the War Crimes Tribunal, but it was in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go. 

The sun setting on a Hindu Temple in Siem Reap.

Boys love to do the same thing all over the world ... jumping into the river in Siem Reap These boys were having so much fun. 

This is where all the action and night life happens in Siem Reap ... Pub Street. We have noticed a lot of young travellers from all over the world here and they do seem to do a lot of drinking.  

Cambodia, OOOMMM

We have been in Siem Reap, Cambodia  for a couple of weeks. We leave Monday for Laos. We came to Cambodia mainly because the flight from Phuket to Laos was much more expensive than flying to Siem Reap, so that decided it for us. We were not at all sure what we were going to do here and I certainly did not want to visit the Killing Fields but Pete, who is a master at research found a 5 day Yoga and Meditation retreat that fitted in with our arrival perfectly and was situated just out of Siem Reap, so it was perfect timing. We've really enjoyed Cambodia.

We are back in Christchurch in 2 months. Prior to Christmas we felt like we had plenty of time left, but now that we are on the other side of December time seems to be running short. We have been talking a lot about 'going back' home. When we left we were both pretty exhausted and worn down from the last 3/4 years and a year seemed like a good chunk of time. Now I feel like we are rushing. There are certainly some things that we are looking forward to, family, friends, The Matthews children, a cheese roll from the Cheese Mongers and a She hot chocolate. We also have a baby arriving not long after we get back and that will be very exciting and busy for us. We both feel a little nervous, we really want to be different and do things differently. Travelling really strips things away. There is no where to hide from stuff ... we can't blame work commitments, or get absorbed in work to hide from things, or make excuses like we don't have time or  too busy. Stuff comes up and we have to deal with it ... personal stuff and stuff between us. We have found it very enlightening.

Life has been pretty basic and simple over the last few months ... is this item of clothing clean enough to wear for another day, where are we sleeping, where will eat and are we in budget. Having a comfortable bed is a treat and wifi is essential. The rest is gravy. I think I have mentioned that we have learnt to shower in lukewarm or even cold water and toilet paper is over rated. Our appetite has shifted ... we have been completely vegetarian since leaving Steve and Tanya in Bulgaria and we will never eat chicken again! We do fine without movies, but every so often we crave watching a movie on a big screen. I am doing surprisingly well with no cheese or yoghurt, I thought I would really struggle, I am used to it now. Pete has been quite adventurous with his food, given he is a conservative foodie. We do like the French flavour here in Cambodia ... we have baguettes for breakfast which are yummy, the bread here in general is pretty good.

Any way I will continue with our photos ...

Flying to Cambodia from Phuket, Thailand. Stickers seem to be used a lot in the tourist industry in Thailand ... we used them when we took our ferry to Koh Lanta and this is the sticker we got when flying from Phuket via Bangkok to Siem Reap Cambodia.

We had a rather long wait in Bangkok for our flight so used the time to recharge. Our technology has been one of the most important pieces of luggage we packed. Keeping in touch with our children has been really important to us as well as keeping our blog up to date. Pete's MacBook Air has been brilliant for blogging and internet and my iPad has been great for downloading books ... keeps my luggage weight down.

Pete has been very excited about all the Toyota Camry's that are on the roads here in Siem Reap ... there are hundreds of them. He was taking photos of them all day, here are Twins.

We took this photo for Mike ... Bamboo Bikes ... they are heavy. I wonder what they are like to ride. They also had a Bamboo helmet in the shop. It does seem to be a wonder wood.

Look what we stumbled on here in Siem Reap ... 

Of to meet the pick up for Hariharalaya Meditation Centre. Our tuktuk, they are bigger here.

Welcome to Hariharalaya, which is set in a rural setting and about 30/40 minutes out of Siem Reap. We met some really great people, we were 2 of the oldest on the retreat. We really enjoyed ourselves and of course I loved the yoga, Pete surprised himself by liking it as well.

Our chalet, which we shared with frogs, lizards and mosquitoes.

One of the outdoor communal showers. There were some toilets inside and some outside. Back to basics here.

Pete and I went on a bike ride in our free time. I love how Cambodians ride bikes here as their primary form of transport, it gives me the sense of not being in a hurry. That is something I am looking forward to ... riding my bike again.

A country road.

The kitchen staff at Hariharalaya. They worked really hard cooking three meals a day for us. All meals were vegan ... the food was superb, they made a yummy hummus, I love hummus. The women sit on the floor preparing all the food. There is only one oven and they cook for about 30 people on it.

No this is not Pumpkin Soup, although we did have a very yummy one while here. This is a very yummy, sugary, caramelised topping made from pure sugar cane. We had it on our rice porridge and also on gluten free waffles. It reminds me of lucy's Russian Fudge that she makes when she gets a sweet attack.

Free time.

We went for a walk to the local village and I saw this lilly ... beautiful colours.

These geese had just had babies and were vicious. They would hiss, honk and run at you if you got anywhere near them. Most of us would run past them. It is also wedding season here in Cambodia so there was very loud music going until very late at night and would start up again between 4 and 5 am. So between the honking and hissing of the geese and the late night and early starts with wedding music and celebrations it was not a quiet retreat.

I love the warmth that sunset brings out in colours. This was our yoga and meditation hall.  We started yoga at 7 am and the gong went of loudly at 6.30am. 

Here is our group. There were 5 yoga teachers from all over the world, also the participants were from all over as well. Quite a few Aussies.