Well, it's been a while since I've posted and unfortunately using the internet is a bit expensive in Pokhara so this post is going to have to be brief. Let's do a timeline!
December 22ish: Went to Angkor (Cambodia). Lots of old temples, pretty impressive, but to be honest temples aren't my thing. However, the way we saw the temples was pretty cool. On the advice of some other travelers, we hired the Rock 'N Roll tuk-tuk to show us around.
This guy had clearly brought his tuk-tuk to Xzibit, because it had been thoroughly pimped. DVD player, karaoke machine, reclining seats, cooler, and a disco ball. While most tuk-tuk's would somberly pull up to these sacred temples and quietly discharge their passengers, this guy would make sure the music was cranked to 11 and then pull up, do a few circles and shout "ROCK AND ROLL!" with his right hand on the handlebars and his left in the air.
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| I don't remember what he was singing, but I bet it was rock n roll. |
December 26th-January 10th: Met my mom in Bangkok! This was a total change in travel style. We stayed in these places where you get your own room and you can make the temperature of the air be whatever you want!
But this was a great two weeks. We did plenty of things that my typical travel budget would not normally allow, like elephant trekking, Thai cooking classes, and eating in restaurants where you aren't afraid to drink the water.
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| Funny pictures don't need funny captions. |
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| I was told to include one mother/son picture. Aww. |
January 11th - January 17th or so: Back to Laos! This was the easiest way back to China and as it turned out my cousin was traveling in Laos at the exact same time. So we met up, explored the countryside on a rented motorcycle, and I think I convinced her that Laos is in the running for best country in the world. (Besides, of course, for the police who took our boat. I still don't like them.)
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| The Brown family has big heads. Our helmets did not fit these girls. |
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| I rode in a floating plastic Rolls Royce too. |
February 1st - 3rd: Plane to Kathmandu. This should be about a 4 hour flight from Chengdu, but I was able to save about $50 on the ticket by going basically all over the world on the most roundabout route to Nepal ever devised. First from Chengdu to Guangzhou (this is in exactly the wrong direction), 6 hour layover, Guangzhou to Dhaka (which, by the way, is in Bangladesh. I did not know this until I landed there), with an 18 hour layover in which I massacred at least 300 mosquitoes, though I took quite a bit of damage myself. Both dengue fever (which I've already gotten once) and malaria have a dormancy period of about 10 days, so I'm still hoping I made it out of this layover relatively unscathed. Finally I made it to Kathmandu.
February 3rd - today: Nepal is amazing. The mountains are huge, the air is clean, the people are kind, and the food is good (and cheap). I am now in Pokhara and just got back from a 3 day trek in the foothills of the Himalayas. Thinking I would be in the wild for 3 days, I had brought my backpack with my tent, sleeping bag, food, cooking equipment, etc... (35 pounds or so all told) but it turned out this trek was through villages, hills, and rice paddies. When I pitched my tent on the first night, I was quickly accosted by locals telling me all the terrible ways I would die in the night. They seemed pretty convinced that tigers would eat me. One of them spoke pretty good English and invited me to stay at his home, where his wife cooked a delicious meal. When it came time to eat, I sat at the table with the husband while she ate on the floor. Needless to say, I felt like I was imposing just a bit.
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| This is their home. Though this place is much more inaccessible than the villages I saw in Laos, the homes were much larger and sturdier. |
After India, I think I will go to Australia. My money is running very low, and I already have a visa to work for up to a year in Australia. I'm not sure when this will happen. Okay, time for lunch.
