Travelblography by Jason Ricks

Remnants of an Ancient civilisation - Angkor Wat, Cambodia

A change of mind (and pace) - Thailand to Laos

A quick re-cap: I've been in Chang Rai, Northen Thailand one night, having taken the night bus from Chang Mai, 3 hrs south. I was moving North with the intention of making a crossing at the border with Laos by bus, and then to continue my journey by rover boat all the way down the Mekong river and into Luang Prabang, Laos. This was a great idea, in theory; in practice, I'd been a little somewhat over optimistic about time needed to traverse the northen part of Thailand (known as the golden triangle, as you have three borders - Thailand, Laos and MyanMar, the later formerly known as Burma and where my dear grandfather fought during the Second World War) and so had to make a decision; whether to push on through by bus into Laos and carry the extra few days, or to take the bus back to Chang Mai and fly to Luang Prabang from there. I decided on the later which leads us to the story of my attempt to leave the country.

The initial drama that was my early attempts at calling Lao airlines and the following journey to board the flight from Chaing Mai, couldn't have been scripted any better for Carry On Comedy. Having consulted the LP guide for airline contact details, I was offered the hostels mobile phone to call and establish times of flights leaving for Luang Prabang, Laos. Scanning down the list of available airlines that serviced this city was like reading a who's who on goingdown.com. Thai International was my first and most comfortable port of call and so I rang their number; a very soft and polite voice answered, in such a tone as to infer it was actually a voice recording. Lot's of "hellos?" and confused pauses ensued, followed by me finally rattling off my flight requirements, only to be most politely informed I was in fact speaking with the receptionist at a local gymnasium in Chang Rai. So much for the Lonely Planets up to date information. No problem however, as she gave me the correct number for Thai Airways (I can then only assume this happened a lot otherwise I can't explain how she knew the number of by heart) So fantastic, back on track....until of course Thai Airlines informed me they didn't service Luang Prabang...but again, were more than helpful and provided me with the number for Lao Airlines; an airline with which I have no familiarity and to be honest one which didn't immediately conjure up images of a brand new aircraft. The phone rings, but this time with an American voice on the other end of the phone...wow, I'm thinking to myself this is impressive, Lao airways employ ex-pats! What a service. Only to have it confimed that yet again I'd been given the wrong number and I'd in fact called an American girl at the home in Chang Mai. How very odd. I eventually got through and was then informed by a Lao airlines representative that she didn't know how I could buy a ticket for a same day departure. Completley baffled at my lack of progress from albeit incredulous answers, I had no choice but to push on, and on I did push, to the bus station, still muttering misgivings about Lao airlines and now 3 pounds down as the hostel forgot to mention they'd charge me for the calls.

So, here I am, at the bus station, gunning for a 4pm flight departure out of Chang Mai; time is of the essence, which part explains my jumping up and down in the ticket queue and general demeanor of someone needing to visit the toilet. Histrionics were to no avail; as I arrived to the ticket booth I was informed that the bus that I needed was now full. The next departure would mean me missing my flight, bearing in mind I still hadn't managed to get a ticket for that either this wasn't the best news I'd had that day. My options were dwindling fast and so I did what any good natured Londoner would do in such situations, I began calling out very loudly for a taxi. However, it would seem that I had picked the only bus station in Thailand with no taxi drivers; aside from looks of bewilderment at the sweaty chap looking fairly distraught, I had no response and so headed for the information desk. Relief, she was able to book me a taxi but it was going to cost me £40; so with one hand I was now paying and part negotiating for my taxi fare whilst with my other I was calling Lao Airlines (again, but this time with my mobile - which is a no win situation - I'm keen to speak as quickly as humanly possible to minimise my phone bill whilst the lady on the other end required that I spoke slower than I actually believed was humanly possible). Taxi paid, ticket reserved, and my free monthly inclusive calls well and truly hammered in less than 2 minutes, I was half way there; now it was time for some damage limitation on the fare front. I moved back into the main bus station and began canvassing the ticket queue for would be taxi companions; offering the same rate as the bus. To my delight I had little problem picking up 3 fellow companions; 2 very well mannered and polite guys from the Thai air force who were both dressed in full regalia. Our fourth companion was a local tourist guide on his way back to Chang Mai, who as it turned out was a real help as he was the only one of the newly formed gang (aside myself) that could speak any English. All I can say I that we must have looked an interesting little group as we departed for the taxi. Compared to the lead up, the ride to the airport was fairly non-incidental; the driver was of course driving at twice any speed limit you care too mention from the Western Hemisphere, but it was all in the name of getting me to the airport on time.

Buzzing but exhausted I arrived to Chang Mai airport on time; in fact, I had enough time to spare for one last Thai massage before boarding the plane and saying goodbye to Thailand.

Generations - Luang Prabang

 

 

Luang Prabang - Laos

Taking a walk through the various monasteries and ancient temples in luang Prabang offers an up close and personal opportunity for talking with the numerous young buddhist monks dotted around and for snapping some intimate portraits. It's a wonderful feeling to turn a corner or exit an otherwise deserted part of the a temples grounds and to find several monks, dressed in their orange robes simply going about their daily activities; it feels for just that moment you've walked into a completely different world and one that I personally love to photograph.

 

 

These large wooden huts provide housing for the young monks and are located within the grounds of their respective temples' grounds.

This particular temple was located five minutes from the old town in Luang Prabang; I had arrived at lunchtime and was lucky to just catch the monks moving back inside.

 

        In recent years, with the backing of UNESCO, some of the Monk's quarters in a few temples have been restored as classrooms with the aim of providing training for monks in the skills need to ensure the ongoing preservation of the temples; woodcarving, painting and buddha casting are all skills in high demand in order to bring the temples back to their full glory.

Each younk monk that I met at the temples that I visited had a basic but sufficent command of English ; "Where are you from"..."how long have you been in Luang Prabang";all asked with genuine interest and heart felt sincerity. Entry into the monastery schools begins at 13 and finishes at 19yrs. These particular young monks seemed very content and smiled with openess and ease between the group and with myself. I retired the camera for a few minutes and tried to lend a helping hand with some DIY; the monks were busy crafting new handles from wood for the various machetes lying around. Their attention was drawn to the subject of football and henceforth two of the group began building a makeshift football from the long streaks of bamboo leaf lying around.

 

Luang Prabang is encased on two sides by the Mekong River to the West, which meets up with the Nam Khan river running up and down the eastern banks of the city. I decided to take a short but neverthless exhilarating boat trip across the Mekong to the banks on the other side; from there I could spend a few hours in the local village whilst making my way up the hill towards the Buddhist temple I had seen shining so brightly the previous evening.

 

The river banks were busy with women working, toiling with vegetable allotments and scrubbing clothes bundles of various sizes in the silty water. Children too were everywhere, playing in the sand and generally running amok. As I approached the village I was greeted by children running and laughing as they competed for my donations for their flower bundles.

The children of Luang Prabang.

 

The children of Luang Prabang.

It's a race to reach the new arrival first with your carefully prepared bundle of flowers, taken as an offering to the Buddha at the tope of the hill.

        I stumbled across an old temple just up from where I landed on the river bank;this old monk seemed to be passing the day at the window sill and seemed wholly content. This image speaks of history, wisdom and humility.

The Elephant of Chiang Mai

There are certain small but surreal events that occur when traveling through countries for the first time that are very hard to explain at a later juncture; moreover, it's particularly difficult to contextualise regarding my frame of mind and hence avoid the "you had to be there" scenario, nevertheless I'll give this a go.

It had been a long journey north from Ko Phi Phi earlier that day; three flights, various taxi rides interspersed between each stopover, all taking me to my final destination, The Ramming Lodge in Chiang Mai. The hotel was very nice, which is a rather bland term, but it was just that, clean and nice. In fact, it was more boutique than hotel and for £20 a night, a real steal. I retired to my room for an hour or so, finger punched the remote control and before I knew it found myself immersed in a light hearted, soppy film on HBO. Life was altogether 'normal' and my surroundings felt comfortable and familiar.

I decided to take a stroll; hunger was getting the better of me (again). I gravitated towards the local street vendor outside the lodge and tucked into some Banana Rottee and raisins, thats a fatty pancake cooked in oil and butter to you and me. Nothing out of the ordinary, just your regular tourist street scene, internet cafes hogging both sides of the street, music blaring out of the bars further on down, coupled with the notorious and gracious calling of the Thai bar girls "hello...welcome,welcome!", the cooing just faintly brushing past my ears as I rolled on down the street. This was like most tourist hangouts I'd seen in Thailand and so I decided to do a quick tour of the surrounding blocks to get my bearings for the next day whilst contemplating grabbing a quick beer and game of pool on the way back.

Head down, focused on spearing each carefully squared slice of banana Rottee with my makeshift spoon come toothpick, my attention was suddenly drawn to a heavy figure just to my left; a quick look up was to reveal a sight that both surprised and delighted me, an elephant of about 6 foot in stature standing in the middle of an alleyway. My immediate reaction was to burst out laughing; we were in the middle of Chiang Mai city, I had an internet cafe to my left full of travellers furiously typing away emails, whilst to my right a row of retail stores, and yet there stood this elephant, for all the world as if it actually belonged in the alleyway and it was I that had intruded. There were a group of people standing around the elephant chatting away in a manner that suggested the elephant far from being the main attraction was actually just one of the gang, hanging out and catching up on gossip...and then before I had time to shoot more photos, the group said there goodbyes and dispersed. I could have sworn I saw nelly give a considered wave of the trunk as he sauntered off.

I later discovered whilst in conversation on a flight to Laos, that the elephant is infact something of a icon in Chiang Mai. Moreover it can be regularly seen wandering around the city with its Thai owners. I was also informed the cheeky fella has a flashing light hanging from his rear end, one can only assume this was not of his choosing but instead intended to give moped traffic fair warning when looking to dodge and weave through the streets of Chang Mai at great speed.