Mammoth storm this evening. Seriously massive. Tried taking some shots with my DSLR, but there wasn’t enough light. Sucks. In all seriousness though, that was the biggest storm I’d ever been in; the sky literally turned black, and within 10 minutes, we had gale force winds, sideways rain, thunder and sheet lightning. Incredible. Susie and I took refuge in a sushi restaurant (LUCKILY, HA) and ordered a massive batch of maki and tempura. Well nice. I then proceeded to save everyone’s lives (as you do) when I noticed a multi-power cord underneath a small brown table, that was being soaked by the rain; it was plugged into the mains, on, and had a desklamp plugged into it. I pointed it out to the owner, who ran out and switched the whole shebang off. What can I say, I also heroically saved their potted palms from stacking it in the rain (twice) without fear or hesitation. Yeah the storm here was ace and the most memorable bit of Laos so far, but i’ve DEFINITELY left my mark on Vientiane. I’m made of legend.

2 days in Bangkok again. This time, sans Songkran and my posse of awesome. Sad times. On to Lao though next, and hopefully there’ll be plenty more people / places to visit and see, and hopefully more opportunities for photo glory. Bring on Vientiane.

Sitting in the bar at our resort in KPN, I don’t think I ever want to leave. I’m thinking of staying here for another 6 months, getting trained in Yoga and becoming a buddhist. Getting my whole body covered in spiritualistic tattoos, and taking up muaythai boxing. Man, that’s a dream… But it won’t happen, because my mac’s at home. I’d miss it too much.

The 13th to the 15th of April in the New Year in most of south east Asia. It’s a celebration of water, and traditionally involves dousing yourself with water that had been used to wash monks, which in the process becomes blessed. Traditionally, everyone is in high spirits, an it’s a time for people to visit their elders, wherever they might be. In Thailand, it’s called Songkran. It’s progressed through the years however, and while it still bears it’s holy significance, it’s now a huge party that takes place everywhere, for 3 days. It’s not even the 13th yet, and already I am utterly soaked. Street vendors and shops sell water guns and plastic pouches for phones and wallets, and the Khao San road - Which is usually packed - is devoid of stalls. There’s now a bloody massive area cordoned off for water fights. ...

Happy Saturday! The sun is shining most-awesomely today, the Bangkok smog has relented making it a bit cooler and brighter, and consequently, people seem a bit happier. Maybe that’s just because it’s Saturday though… Anyway, I’m currently being stalked by two people from our guest house in Bangkok. The first and most intrusive, is a retired schoolteacher from Canada, who lives in Japan. She kind of resembles a dumpy, blond, wicked witch of the west, with a nose to match. She’s currently working on a teaching-material delivery solution that she can sell to schools, and is therefore on her computer most of the time. She originally asked me if I knew how to get online–as she was having trouble, and I wasn’t–and then concluded that when I fixed it for her, that I could troubleshoot any issues she has in the future with her MacBook Air. So far, she’s followed me to the health spa, the restaurant down the road, and almost out to dinner last night (Susie an I ran away like school kids when we saw her creeping down the stairs of our guest house). She also moved rooms to be OPPOSITE ours. None the less, conversation is always of a technical nature, and usually boring, because - as is the way with most people who use technology but don’t understand it - she tends to dispute what I say to her, like she knows better. Usually I just politely nod and agree, and then wonder why the hell she’s asking me in the first place. ...

Back in Bangkok now. It feels like we’ve never left! I love this city. I didn’t know it until we got back here. On arrival, Phranakorn messed up our booking, the double booked us! So we got a free upgrade to the family room!!! AMAZING. Anyway, the train journey last night was hell, it was an hour an a half late, and consequently, we arrived late. It was also insanely cold thanks to the air con, and so I hardly slept. Looking forward to a decent night here though now, back in “Bangkok Kitsch” :) Haiku’s coming soon. ...

After an horrendous journey on yet another sleeper bus, we’ve arrived in Sapa. I can only describe this place as being like a skiing town like Niederau in Austria, just with a distinct lack of snow. It’s about 1300 elevation, so it’s damn cold. The nearest peak is Fansipan, which is about 3000 elevation, and we’d be able to see it if it wasn’t for the thick layer of cold fog everywhere. ...

I vow to never ever get a sleeping bus ever again. I’ve had enough. This one is tiny and smells of rotten garbage. There’s only two westerners on it; myself and Susie; and they’re playing some insanely annoying traditional music throughout the whole bus. We’re on our way from Hanoi to Sapa to do some trekking before heading off to Laos. In other words, another 13 hour sleeper. I’m so desperate to just have a couple of days full on rest, on a beach, with cheap beer and food; maybe some yoga, maybe some running. But at the moment it’s pretty much gogogo, and it has been since we arrived in Vietnam, as we’ve had so much ground to cover. We’re hoping for some respite in Laos, but apparently the journey from Dien Bien Phu, across the border, and into Luang Prabang is a LONG one. I.e 3 damn days. I can honestly say that from my experience, the further north you go in Vietnam, the more bullied you feel. People get more aggressive, the towns and cities get more arrogant, and the temperature gets wetter and colder. Even trying to buy stuff in Hanoi was a mission; on several occasions - on a quest to buy a lens hood because I broke my camera lens (I’ll explain when I’m not ranting) - I approached a guy in a shop, saw what I was looking for, asked him if I could see it, to which he bluntly and blankly replied No. They don’t want your money here. So anyway. Let me put it this way; At the moment, Susanna and I are taking sleeping shifts. Haha.

Before: After:

So the last couple of days have been pretty full on. Following our departure from Dalat, we took a 6 hour bus to the chav-tastic beach town of Nha Trang, where I had an extremely painful ear cleaning session and a razor shave (see previous posts for proof). Awesome. After this, a nasty (but clean) sleeper bus for 13 hours to Hoi An. Which was so awesome, we stayed an extra night. Totally beautiful city and an amazingly hospitable hotel. Yellow french colonial buildings everywhere, with open front shops selling custom tailored clothes, shoes, and bed spreads (ask Susie about the latter). I got an amazing pair of jeans made for £15 and some leather sandals for a tenner. Food here was awesome too, the local specialities were Cao Lau (fresh noodles topped with roasted garlic, slices of pork and sweet basil), “White rose” (small, steamed wantons sprinkled with shallots) and Pho (noodle soup). Unfortunately, it rained most of the time. Yesterday we went to My Son, where there are remnants of Cham Hindu temples - there are Linga EVERYWHERE (crude stone dicks; seriously, there are literally hundreds of cocks in My Son). Kinda like Angkor Wat, but about a hundred times smaller. Today we came to Hue, Hoi An’s sister city, and took a bike tour around to see the Tu Duc tomb, which, funnily enough, wasn’t actually even a real tomb. Weird. Cool though. ...