I have spent so little time in Laos and barely seen anything, so I don’t have much to say about the place.
One thing is for sure: It’s a very beautiful country, green hills everywhere you look. Such an attractive place.
I mean, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT?
Kids are everyhere. They are running alone in the streets, or with their parents at work. Honestly, I saw more kids than I saw adults. And they were all adorable.
Service was non-existent, but even worse than ever before. We once sat in a restaurant for over an hour without even ordering. If you try and call for a waiter, they are out pretending to be Waldo, or they completely ignore you. Shame, because this country had potential to be an awesome place to visit, but it’s hard booking tickets, getting a room or ordering food.
All in all, I know that I could have seen or done more, but Laos wasn’t really for me.
In India, I was addicted to my Lonely Planet book. Here, we just went with the flow. I haven’t looked through my 40 pages of notes about what to do and see in the places we planned to go to. Instead, we did some island hopping, then went to the mainland to be productive. And boy was it a great way to do it.
A few things were different. This time, we barely learned the language or the history of this country. We didn’t do many cultural things or much sightseeing. We partied a lot, and actually met people. We got addicted to 7-11 toasties and Chang beers, chicken with cashewnut and pad thai. I slept in dorms that others would describe as nasty, but I had some of the best times in those. The nature here is beautiful, although we didn’t see a lot of it, and it rained a lot in the month and a half we stayed there.
When I first arrived in Thailand, I was surprised to see so many women – I barely saw any men the first few days. They all spoke almost perfect english, until we started island hopping. I really felt safe at all times, even walking home by myself at three in the morning in Bangkok, partying alone at full moon party, and doing a lone toasty-run during a pubcrawl in Koh Tao. I rarely locked up my belongings, and didn’t sleep with my fanny pack stuffed with passport and money. I felt safe and comfortable.
Service is horrible, as in India, and the waiter usually forgets at least one thing – but in most places they serve everything at once instead of as soon as its been made, which was the case in India. We didn’t tip once, which we always did in India. We learned that you must always take a cab with taximeter if you have the option – a tuk tuk is more than double the price!
Generally, Thailand is expensive – especially on the islands. It must be the fee to ship it from the mainland that does it, and the more north we traveled, the cheaper it got.
The islands are paradise. Not neccessarily visually, but the atmosphere and the people really make the place what it is.
On the mainland, the partying seems more aggressive (I’m thinking of Bangla Road and Khao San Road), but I generally really liked that atmosphere and the options to do things during the day, like going to the movies and nice stores for purchasing electronics, for example.
Oh, and everything is whitening. Creams, sunscreens, deodorants… Wtf!?
I fell in love with Thailand (and elephants) and I would go back in a heartbeat. I am, because my flight home is from Bangkok.
Originally supposed to be Delhi > Goa > Mumbai > Gujarat > Saurashtra > Pushkar > Jaipur > Delhi > Agra > Varanasi > Calcutta
Ended up going to Delhi > Vagator > Arambol > Hampi > Mumbai > Udaipur > Jaisalmer > Jaipur > Amritsar > Rishikesh > Agra > Varanasi > Calcutta
During my first week here, I was asked to describe India in a few words. I couldn’t.
After spending 4 weeks in various places around the country, I’ve decided that it’s a place of contrasts. On a broken and dirty road, you’ll see a group of women in colourful sarees walking. Next to a lavish temple full of flowers, colours and carvings, you’ll see a beggar without legs. I’ve been in the desert, I’ve been on the green fields. I’ve seen devastating poverty, and I’ve seen over-the-top luxury. So, incredible India is a country of contrasts.
First of all, let’s talk about the people. 80 percent of them are out to get your attention. 5 percent want to grope you, and 5 want nothing to do with you at all – they will flat out ignore you. The remaining 10 percent are the most helpful and friendly people you will probably ever meet. We’ve been so lucky to meet a few in the sea of annoying or digusting locals that have crossed our path. Women don’t seem to like us very much. I don’t know if it’s in general, because of the oppressed and rapey culture, or if they hate us because we look different, vulgar even, and are intrusive. It sucks, because we usually rely on women for help, it feels a lot safer. Many local men seem so horny, they will back their elbow into your chest, just to get some sort of human contact. It’s great, because all places are swarming with men.
We learned a few words in Hindi that we used so many times a day, it’s going to take some getting used to when we leave.
Namaste – hello, goodbye Sukriya – thank you Nahi – no Ha – yes
Service here is almost non-existent, at least in restaurants. The waiter – there’s usually only one – will be gone most of the time, or visibly unhappy with either you or his job. Food is also served whenever it’s ready, so if you order multiple dishes or are in a group, you often get your food at seperate times. Funny thing is, the best service we had was at McDonald’s. They sure looked happy and attentive.
Scams are inevitable. Taxis, tuk tuks, you name it, they will try to scam you. Bargaining is a daily struggle, especially those places where all the drivers will agree on a fixed price for you, so no matter who you ask, they all know that they have to offer you the same price.
Hygiene isn’t very good. Sure, they insist you only use your right hand for “clean business”, like eating, shaking hands, handling money, and touching stuff. Still, you see men on the side of almost every road, urinating or spitting. Their spit is an orangey-red. There is also trash everywhere and NO trashcans. You’ll see plenty of cows on the side of the road eating the garbage.
I’m not a fan of the food, either. I can’t handle spicy food (interesting that I chose to go to Asia, I know), but most of the food here is a thick gravy or puree made from peas, or spinach, covered in various spices, that basically makes everything taste the same, and then they might drop some paneer into the mix. I do love naan bread and masala chai, or even a good lassi.
India is a very beautiful country, yet there’s an unpleasantness to it. The atmosphere is busy, and colours and religion is thrown in your face, and you have to take it all in – but don’t stand there too long, or you will be swarmed.
I will definitely go back to Vagator for the lazy afternoons with a beer in hand, Mumbai for the colourful movies, Jaipur for the Pink City and all it had to offer, and I wish I could see the Taj Mahal everyday. I will definitely be back, but until then,
