#13 from SE Asia: The decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu

From Dien Bien Phu, Viet Nam
February 5th, 2010
post #13

I am an avid amateur military historian. In May, 1954, the Viet Minh decisively defeated the French forces that were trying to keep Viet Nam as a colony. The defeat was so complete that the French had to drop all negotiating positions at the Geneva Conference that was going on concurrent to the battle. The battlefield fact was that the Viet Minh had won. The French army was destroyed and captured. The war was over. Read the rest of this entry »

#12 from SE Asia: Excuse me sir, but you are TOO dark…

#12 from SE Asia
from Dien Bien Phu, Viet Nam
2/05/2010

When I rode my bike into the hotel in Dien Bien Phu, I was dirty. No doubt about it. Sweaty from 2 days of pedaling and no baths. Plus, when the trucks passed me on the road, the dust they kicked up stuck to me. I was clearly the dirtiest person checking into the hotel today.

As soon as I check in, I take a shower. Then I do my laundry. Or if I am staying a few days, I have the hotel to my laundry for me.

So I come back down to the hotel desk all clean and fresh with my last set of clean clothes on. Then the concierge and a few of the maids come up to me. They point out the contrast between my face and arms to the rest of my body. I am, right now, as tanned as I can get on my face, arms, and legs. But the rest of me is my normal pasty white winter self. The concierge pulls up my sleeve and looks at my white skin.

Good, she mimicks. Read the rest of this entry »

#11. From SE Asia: Entering Viet Nam

Post #11
Dien Bien Phu, Viet Nam
February 5th, 2010

(note: I am at times severely constrained here by bandwidth and the Viet Namese national firewall. Often I cannot see images, and Facebook and numerous other sites are blocked by the Viet Namese government)

I left Muang Khua, Laos at 5:30 in the morning ready to have my bike carried to the Viet Nam border by bus. But when I got to the river to be ferried across to the bus pickup, I discovered that the bus had already left, 30 minutes BEFORE its scheduled departure. If I did not find an alternative, it looked like I would be riding. I had heard that this road was not finished, but I figured ‘What road is?’

While waiting at the river, I met a very interesting British couple. They had been working in Shanghai for the last 5 years and now were finally taking the big tour. They reinforced what I had heard about terrible road conditions thru the mountains of NE Laos. Then, as if by magic, an SUV comes up to us and the driver asks if we would like to pay for a ride to the border of Viet Nam. $6 a head. Well of course. It was still dark. We loaded up and were off. Read the rest of this entry »

#10 from SE Asia, up the Nam Ou River without a paddle…

#10
February 1st, 2010

En route

So, what are the ‘bad’ things that happen with travel like this? People ask me about this. I am sure that some of you simply would not enjoy this kind of travel as much as I do, if at all.

So here goes:
1. Communication. You cannot speak with them or read their language. And hand gestures can only go so far.

2. Price misunderstandings that lead to disputes. Try to get the price on EVERYTHING beforehand. And if it is a big-ticket item, have them write the price down.

3. There just may not be a room where you arrive

4. ‘Flexible’ schedules. The bus or boat leaves when it is full, and does not leave until it leaves. We cyclists do not have to deal with much of this.

5. Potential sickness. I have been sick once on this trip. It was for one day. This seems to be a part of international travel.

6. The money hustle. Depending upon the area, the locals can really work you hard for money. You must be ready for this, with a firm ‘no; when necessary.

7. A little bit of lurking anxiety about the unpredictable. I am traveling alone, without backup. I have to look out a bit better for myself.

My original route included going west to Oudaum Xai. Other travelers had told me it was not an interesting city. The elevation maps also showed some very steep climbs. So I decided to modify the direction of my trip. I packed up my bike and rode 50 km NE to Nong Khiew. This is a pleasant town on the upper Nam Ou River. Mountains rising straight out of the side of river. It is not overwhelmed with tourists yet. I spent a relaxing evening dining and chatting with a number of older French travelers. From here, I bought a ticket on a motorboat up the river and rapids to Muong Khua.  Read the rest of this entry »

#9 from SE Asia — the beautiful Luang Prabang

Post #9
Luang Prabang
January 31, 2010

(note: I struggle daily with these computers and keyboards wherever I am, with low bandwidth, site blockage such as facebook, and EXTREMELY loud boys playing video games in the Internet cafe RIGHT NOW, shreiking while playing loud music, completely unaware of the concept of keeping their voices down)

Luang Prabang is the traditional capitol of Laos. With its many Buddhist monasteries and temples, it is still the spiritual capitol of Laos. When I rode in hot and tired in the late afternoon, I happened just by coincidence to get a wonderful room directly across from the main Buddhist monastery, the Senesouk. $15 @ night for comfort. I accepted.

I was greeted every morning before dawn with loud drumming from the monastery. Some of it was faster than I expected. I got up to have my morning coffee and croisant and watch a procession of perhaps one hundred orange-robed monks passing by with their food bowls for the populace to fill. Quickly and I was recruited (more like ‘dragged’) to fill the monks’ food bowls. These women had much food and offerings to give the monks. But they, as women, must not touch the monks. So they grabbed me. Shouting inconprehensible instructions to me in Lao, they drag me over to the front gate of the monastery. For 20 minutes, as the monks come out, they fill my hands with food, mostly sticky rice, which I must quickly put into their bowls as they pass. The monks accept the food impassively. As my coffee cools on the table… Read the rest of this entry »

post #8 from SE Asia, “These are our children…”

Hello from Luang Prabang, Laos, January 30th, 2010

Post #8

“These are our children…”

I spent a 1/3 day climbing around 3000 feet. I had to walk my bicycle a lot of the way. I simply am not able to pedal for any amount of time up a 10% slope. On the way I met a Korean man my age, Kang, going the opposite direction, pedaling from the Himalayas to Singapore. He too was walking his bicycle. And he walked it 100% up slopes. He was doing his trek 100% by muscle power, however long it took him. We talked of life. It was like we had already known each other.

I get to the top of the ridge. I know that I have a quick 2000 foot descent. 10%+ down in places. So I do the mandatory brake check. Each wheel alone must be able to stop the bike. In 3 weeks I have gone thru 4 brake pads. Everything checks ok, and I let her fly. I don’t let the speed get over 25mph. Wowwwwww, this is fun. In 15 minutes I am at the bottom, 12 km ahead. 4 hours up, 15 minutes down. That is ok. But I know that I have another climb right ahead of me. And that does wear on me mentally. I do like riding the flats and rolling hills much more. I guess it is just the mid-westerner in me, and my age.

While I am rolling downhill I coast into a small town. They are having some kind of carnival with a wonderfully primitive, homemade carousel. I stop, and then I see it. The ice cream man on his motor scooter. I check, and he has the ‘other white ice cream’, coconut. I tell you, the homemade, straight-from-the-shell coconut ice cream here is as good as it gets, better than any vanilla. They will sprinkle cashews on it if you want. And it is much better to a hot hungry cyclist. So I order one. I get a mid-sized cup. Simply delicious, at a price of 12 cents. Ahhh.  Read the rest of this entry »

#7 from SE Asia: The Damm(n)ing of the Mekong River

Post # 7 from SE Asia
1/29/2010
from Luang Prabang, Laos

The Mekong River is unlike any other river in the world. At the end of the dry season, the Mekong is a series of shallow small rivers spreading over the wide Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam. But at the height of the monsoon floods, the Mekong can increase its waterflow 30X, to become the third greatest flowing river in the world, after the Amazon and Brhamaputra of India/Bangladesh. When the monsoons come, it rises so fast that it will cause its lower tributaries to flow in reverse for months at a time. This alternate flooding and drought surprisingly has created some of the most fertile land and the greatest fresh water fishery in the world. It has fresh water dolphins and manatees, giant sting rays, 10 ft catfish, and 1700 unique species of fish.

Or it used to be so. Read the rest of this entry »

#6 from SE Asia — the one-armed cyclist, and a road attack!

#6 from SE Asia
Greetings from Luang Prabang, Laos, 1/2 way across Laos
01/28/10

I want my friends who are non-bicyclist tourers to understand the fraternity/sorority of fellow bicycle tourers. When we see each other on the road in distant lands, we almost always stop and greet each other enthusiastically, even though we often are tired. For we are rare compared to other travelers and tourists. We share notes and advice on routes, places to stay, beautiful sites and such.  Read the rest of this entry »

Post #5 from SE Asia, pedaling across Laos

Hello from Vang Vieng, Laos
1\25\10

arriving in Vientianne, Laos

I have currently pedaled 1/4 the way across Laos. I crossed The Mekong River on the Friendship Bridge near Laos’ capitol. Now this is an interesting crossing, because in Thailand you drive on the left side of the road, but in Laos, it is the right side. So just how do you switch? (clue, it is NOT gradually). Well, when you cross, there is an X crossing. It is helter-skelter as you cross the X from the left side as vehicles going the opposite way cross the X intersection cross in the opposite direction. When you do this, do be careful. I have found that it takes a lot to unadjust yourself and drive (or pedal) on the left side. One false ‘flashback’ and you could be road kill. Read the rest of this entry »

#4 from SE Asia — the Sala Kaew Ku sculpture garden

I had previously heard of this sculpture exhibit. People said that I had to see it, so I did.

Luang Pu, a Laotian national, had a mystical vision as a young man where he, like Alice in Wonderland, stumbled into a hole and visited an enchanted world. He later fled Laos after the Pathet Communist takeover in 1975 to Thailand. In Thailand, he already had a large following. There he built his vision of his mystical world with a number of untrained artists. It is a combination of Hindu and Buddhist images with a complete Salvadore Dali twist of bizarreness. The artists themselves are in poses with Buddha, Krishna, Vishnu, at varying ages in the artists’ lives. Luang Pu’s body lies embalmed under a glass plate, surrounded by blinking lights. His media is mostly concrete, with wood and brass.

This is unlike anything I have ever seen. I have no reference points to anything else. This man was obsessed, and obviously, very charismatic to have drawn so many other people to volunteer to create his vision.

These sculptures are LARGE. Some are over 25 meters high. There are many of them, and they demand your attention. This sculpture garden is a tribute to the power of a man’s obsession. It could never have been built without it. Walking thru it, you will be overwhelmed at the scale, detail, and originality of the work.