I couldn't wait to see it, knew that I arrived in the dry season, yet was almost a bit disappointed: the mighty Mekong is not much more than a shallow, small river. Its bed must be almost one kilometer wide, but most of it is dry land at the moment. On the bank where Vientiane lies, there's practically no water, on the other side it's maybe 150 mts wide, hard to estimate. There's a floating restaurant that has fallen dry... it's still open, but I imagine the impressive feeling that a full-sized Mekong offers, can't be beaten...
Anyway, the monsoon should arrive around middle or end of may, so on my way back through southern Vietnam and Cambodia I should be able to get a glimpse of what the Mekong looks like in better days...
In spite of the pitiful appearance (only for me, though, after all it's the normal rhythm of this river's seasons) the banks of the Mekong are full of life: open-air food-stalls and restaurants, one after the other, in an endless row, are seaming the bank from Vientiane's center until the outskirts. As night falls early at around 7 pm, you can see the lights glowing on the other side, belonging to Thailand. When you wander around it's hard to make a decision, but the choice is definitely to stay here and enjoy the atmosphere. Why sit in any of the regular travellers restaurants somewhere in the city, if a light breeze, the setting sun, smells of charcoal fires and the local's gentle and soft-spoken voices make this the unforgettable ambience I came here for?
sábado, 31 de marzo de 2007
Millionaire again
A hidden dream has come true, although only for a couple of weeks. I'm running around with a lot of money. Everyone knowing me for at least a while, if not many years, knows that this is something very unusual... but don't worry, reality still holds me in its tight grip.
The reason is nothing more but the Laotian currency: 1 US-$ equals 9615 kip. As the exchange rate is stable and does not fluctuate very much, I decided to exchange 150 $. Count yourself, how much that is...
The last time of being a millionaire was in Argentina many years ago: 1$ equalled 80.000 pesos...
The nice thing about travelling in Indochina is that you don't have to worry too much about thieves and robbery. With a rational sense of cautiousness you won't run into any problems... This is even more pleasant if one lives in Barcelona. It's not that you get beaten up or stolen at every other corner, but there are a lot of behaviours that maybe don't reach the state of paranoia, but come close to extreme cautiousness.
So here it's: relax, man, and take it easy...
The reason is nothing more but the Laotian currency: 1 US-$ equals 9615 kip. As the exchange rate is stable and does not fluctuate very much, I decided to exchange 150 $. Count yourself, how much that is...
The last time of being a millionaire was in Argentina many years ago: 1$ equalled 80.000 pesos...
The nice thing about travelling in Indochina is that you don't have to worry too much about thieves and robbery. With a rational sense of cautiousness you won't run into any problems... This is even more pleasant if one lives in Barcelona. It's not that you get beaten up or stolen at every other corner, but there are a lot of behaviours that maybe don't reach the state of paranoia, but come close to extreme cautiousness.
So here it's: relax, man, and take it easy...
Vientiane, 31/03
Second day in Vientiane, Laos' capital. If there are a handful of capital cities in this world that do not have the appearance to be exactly this - political and economical center of a country - then Viantiane definitely belongs to them. With about 200.000 inhabitants (compare this to Bangkok's 6 or 7 million) it's even smaller than the city I was living in for almost 20 years, Kiel. Yet even Kiel has more of "sprawling life" to it. Vientiane reminds me a little bit of Managua, or let's say the Managua I got to know around 1990 ( at least one of the readers of this blog knows what I'm talking about - I got to know him there). A city stretched out, with a very small center that does not ressemble to be a center, 6 or 7 blocks long and maybe 5 blocks deep... some streets are "under construction", which means that they were still dirt roads, being asphalted now. Add to this the complete absence of skyscrapers and the almost complete absence of high-story-buildings...
I didn't venture so far into the more distant parts of the city - it's hot, I'm here to relax (I don't have to "do" something every other minute), and I enjoy strolling around in this small center anyway...
By the way, I don't know whether I will be able to mount some photos. I would have to buy a cheap digital camera, which would screw completely my already screwed budget. But maybe it would be worth it, heaven knows whether there will be "another time"... in the meanwhile, if you would like to see a little bit of the places I mention, you only would have to introduce the corresponding words in your search engine... "Vientiane", "photos", something like that... internet is full of information about everything imaginable, I don't have to tell you...
I didn't venture so far into the more distant parts of the city - it's hot, I'm here to relax (I don't have to "do" something every other minute), and I enjoy strolling around in this small center anyway...
By the way, I don't know whether I will be able to mount some photos. I would have to buy a cheap digital camera, which would screw completely my already screwed budget. But maybe it would be worth it, heaven knows whether there will be "another time"... in the meanwhile, if you would like to see a little bit of the places I mention, you only would have to introduce the corresponding words in your search engine... "Vientiane", "photos", something like that... internet is full of information about everything imaginable, I don't have to tell you...
Waterbottles
I remember two moments in Bangkok...
We're here in the middle of the hot season, and I did not expect the amount of water I would be drinking. Fortunately you can buy water bottles not only at every street corner, but almost at every other store. Plastic bottles, as to say, half a liter or one liter, and I have no idea what's going to happen to this hugh amount of plastic, I'm sure there's nothing what we call recycling on a larger scale. As I was wandering through a park, I was looking around for a litter bin where I could get rid of my empty bottle. I passed some public fountains (or is "well" the better word in english?) where someone was washing his face and watching me. He probably sensed what I was looking for and asked me for that bottle, which I readily gave him... thin plastic, which I had crushed already...
Later in the evening, sitting next to the train and waiting for departure, a man with a black plastic bag was going from one litter bin to the next, searching for whatever could be useful (a familiar sight not only in the so-called second and third world, but also for example in Barcelona). I hadn't finished yet my water bottle and almost "regretted" it, hoping for this guy to come back... five minutes later he really showed up again and pointed to my now empty bottle. I was almost happy to not have to throw it away...
I know, the ecological impact of this incident is not "next to nothing", it's "nothing"... still...
We're here in the middle of the hot season, and I did not expect the amount of water I would be drinking. Fortunately you can buy water bottles not only at every street corner, but almost at every other store. Plastic bottles, as to say, half a liter or one liter, and I have no idea what's going to happen to this hugh amount of plastic, I'm sure there's nothing what we call recycling on a larger scale. As I was wandering through a park, I was looking around for a litter bin where I could get rid of my empty bottle. I passed some public fountains (or is "well" the better word in english?) where someone was washing his face and watching me. He probably sensed what I was looking for and asked me for that bottle, which I readily gave him... thin plastic, which I had crushed already...
Later in the evening, sitting next to the train and waiting for departure, a man with a black plastic bag was going from one litter bin to the next, searching for whatever could be useful (a familiar sight not only in the so-called second and third world, but also for example in Barcelona). I hadn't finished yet my water bottle and almost "regretted" it, hoping for this guy to come back... five minutes later he really showed up again and pointed to my now empty bottle. I was almost happy to not have to throw it away...
I know, the ecological impact of this incident is not "next to nothing", it's "nothing"... still...
Ways to travel
I enjoyed already several of the means of transport which make travelling different in these countries. In a former post I mentioned the chaos on Bangkok's streets, but there are alternatives, as long as you don't depend for various reasons on buses or tuk-tuks (motorcycle rickshaws). One point is to try to find a guest house close to Chao Phraya, the wide river flowing through Bangkok. I managed to do so: first of all the guest house was really away from any larger street, in a totally quiet neighbourhood, and second, it was a 5-minutes-walk to the next pier of the "river taxis"... These boats serve as ferries, and it's simply fun to see the city from the waterway (the exotics behind... it's a simple everyday transport for many people, yet I enjoyed it like a little kid). Besides that you are exposed to a refreshing breeze, which is in the middle of the hot season something incredibly precious...
One of the piers is less than a kilometre away from the main railway station. To get there means a walk through narrow streets, again mostly away from the traffic noise. At Hua Lamphong station I hopped on the night train to Nong Khai, the border town from where I would cross into Laos. I like travelling by train, and Thailand's trains are a perfect way to see the country ( they are fairly slow) and yet go somewhere without paying a lot. I booked a sleeper 2nd class, without air condition. Sleeper 2nd class means a bunk bed which is fully prepared for you (pillow, bed sheet, everything), no air con means that it is possible to open the windows... that means that the hot humid air is streaming through the car, that the smells of food kitchens are coming in, that you can even hear the noises of the streets and neighbourhood quartiers where you pass through...
This train left Bangkok at 20.45 h in the evening, we arrived in Nong Khai at 10 h the next morning. I have to go back to Bangkok, because my return flight is originating there, and I know already that it will be by train... there's nothing comparable to it...
One of the piers is less than a kilometre away from the main railway station. To get there means a walk through narrow streets, again mostly away from the traffic noise. At Hua Lamphong station I hopped on the night train to Nong Khai, the border town from where I would cross into Laos. I like travelling by train, and Thailand's trains are a perfect way to see the country ( they are fairly slow) and yet go somewhere without paying a lot. I booked a sleeper 2nd class, without air condition. Sleeper 2nd class means a bunk bed which is fully prepared for you (pillow, bed sheet, everything), no air con means that it is possible to open the windows... that means that the hot humid air is streaming through the car, that the smells of food kitchens are coming in, that you can even hear the noises of the streets and neighbourhood quartiers where you pass through...
This train left Bangkok at 20.45 h in the evening, we arrived in Nong Khai at 10 h the next morning. I have to go back to Bangkok, because my return flight is originating there, and I know already that it will be by train... there's nothing comparable to it...
jueves, 29 de marzo de 2007
Bangkok
Just a short one...
Tonight I quit Bangkok, heading by train north, to Nong Khai. From there I'll cross into Laos, going first to Vientiane, Laos' capital city.
For those who never have been to Bangkok:
the express bus from the new airport took two and a half hours to the centre (the airport is 20 or 25 kms away) ... want to know more (here should be a question mark, but I don't find it)
but I found a a guest house in a very calm and interesting neifgbourhood...
ok, the next message from Laos...
Tonight I quit Bangkok, heading by train north, to Nong Khai. From there I'll cross into Laos, going first to Vientiane, Laos' capital city.
For those who never have been to Bangkok:
the express bus from the new airport took two and a half hours to the centre (the airport is 20 or 25 kms away) ... want to know more (here should be a question mark, but I don't find it)
but I found a a guest house in a very calm and interesting neifgbourhood...
ok, the next message from Laos...
miércoles, 28 de marzo de 2007
looking back
the stiff structure of a blog is not the right one if you want to prove a little bit of fantasy, as there are no more possibilities than posting one message after the other... looking back (as writer) once in a while makes it too confusing, as you (the readers) are starting from the top, that means in opposite direction of how it all happened...
I wanted to look back to the last night in Barcelona. One of these little stories...
At 2 o'clock in the morning (yes, I was still awake) someone tested his congas. After a few minutes someone started shouting, that he wanted to sleep. He didn't leave it with shouting, but kept on bragging and bragging and bragging... then another one started shouting, then a dog started barking, then ...
After a few minutes probably the whole street was awake. I was glad to get away for a while...
I wanted to look back to the last night in Barcelona. One of these little stories...
At 2 o'clock in the morning (yes, I was still awake) someone tested his congas. After a few minutes someone started shouting, that he wanted to sleep. He didn't leave it with shouting, but kept on bragging and bragging and bragging... then another one started shouting, then a dog started barking, then ...
After a few minutes probably the whole street was awake. I was glad to get away for a while...
Heat
Finally arrived in Bangkok. And if I ever had the slightest dream of getting to settle somewhere in SE Asia, it's definitely disappeared. The notion what was waiting for me emerged when the plane started to descend. From the -60 degrees (celsius) at the flight altitude of 11000 mts. the temperature started to recover and reached 6 degrees at 4000 mts. At 3800 mts. it had gone up to 8 degrees, at 6.45 h in the morning. Then the screen went dark...
I don't know exactly what the temperatures are during the day, I don't want it to know exactly... probably aroud 40 or more, with a suffocating humidity. We're only at the end of march, that means that the temperature will go up for anoyher four or six weeks...
how nice and chilly it was in Barcelona...
a propos...
I don't know exactly what the temperatures are during the day, I don't want it to know exactly... probably aroud 40 or more, with a suffocating humidity. We're only at the end of march, that means that the temperature will go up for anoyher four or six weeks...
how nice and chilly it was in Barcelona...
a propos...
lunes, 26 de marzo de 2007
Barcelona, 26/03
it's afternoon and I'm almost done... almost incredible... never finished preparations for a journey so early!
tomorrow at this hour I'll be on my way toBangkok. The plan is to stay there only one or two nights, to recover from jet lag and general tiredness, moving then north and crossing into Laos... but let's wait and see...
One important thing: don't expect me to write something new every other day. After staring at a screen for eleven months I need a break... so if you take a look twice a month it should be sufficient, okay? Thanks for understanding...
This also means that I won't write personal emails. It would be too much, and I prefer filing the blog with some stories than typing 35 or 40 adresses with just a few words to say. Nevertheless I definitely enjoy hearing from you... so keep me up date or just send a short hello...
tomorrow at this hour I'll be on my way toBangkok. The plan is to stay there only one or two nights, to recover from jet lag and general tiredness, moving then north and crossing into Laos... but let's wait and see...
One important thing: don't expect me to write something new every other day. After staring at a screen for eleven months I need a break... so if you take a look twice a month it should be sufficient, okay? Thanks for understanding...
This also means that I won't write personal emails. It would be too much, and I prefer filing the blog with some stories than typing 35 or 40 adresses with just a few words to say. Nevertheless I definitely enjoy hearing from you... so keep me up date or just send a short hello...
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