29th Mar, saw UXO bomb disposal teams at work! =D

Cave Tham Ting near Luang Prabang- a huge cave with a huge buddha figure and lots of miniature buddha statues as well. supposedly, everytime a local goes there, he brings a statue to place it there. it used to be a royal patronage place so the villagers taking care of this temple-cave had a rather good life and had good terms with the royal family.

Pls dun go for the ridiculous Lao elephant camps that cater to tourists... not sure about the reputation of all these camps but when i was there, i saw 2 handlers ill-treating an elephant. they were using the elephant to drag 2 huge logs and when the elephant stopped to rest, the handlers started beating the elephant and the elephant had no choice but to continue on. when they saw me taking a photo of them, they stopped beating the elephant and kinda said sth to each other but i could tell it was about me. they then went away into some private area though this time without any beating and rushing...

elephant camp near the cave

hmmmm... Unexploded Ordnance in the vicinity? guess i better take care when cycling thru then!

Saw a UXOLao vehicle and a team huddled under a huge military style command post tent, resting and having lunch when i cycled thru this part. when i cycled a little bit further, i saw an obvious area marked out with signposts and  strings on the floor with obvious "Do not enter unless you wanna die" feel. stopped to look around the area and suddenly the UXOLao vehicle that i saw previously came over!

the marked out area with signposts spread out every 50m or so...

They started unloading all their equipment and its obvious that they are looking for UXO from the equipment that they carry (metal detectors, some kits...) stayed around to look and some dude suddenly asked me to follow him and said "photo, bombie, photo". errr ok... if the expert says its safe to follow him in, i guess its safe then!

2 of the seniors/team leaders waiting here while the rest went in with all their equipment

thats a bombie (left) beside a mortar (right)! the mortar was inside the ground and he was carrying the bombie but jus dropped it inside so that i could take a photo of both of it LOL. this mortar was under a tree and the tree was marked "53" in red, and he said it was the 53rd bomb in the area. wow...

the marked out area that i was talking about and the sign reads "Detector Balancing Area" no idea what it means though... but i think it translates into Do Not Enter

decided to stop at 2pm for an early rest at this beautiful place beside the river...

28th Mar, Luang Prabang

morning market in Luang Prabang...

the daily night market with all its buzz and makeshift tents materializing out of nowhere

yummmy... i get this fantastic fruit shake almost everytime i see it. breakfast, lunch, dinner =P

a 10,000 kip "buffet" in a side street where you put as much food as you can possibly stack on a plate and tuck in!

woke up really early around 5+ to pack up and get ready to see the famous and very popular alms giving ceremony in Luang Prabang. its a daily ritual where monks will walk thru the the streets in Luang Prabang and ppl would be kneeling on the floor to give food to the monks when they pass by. they mostly travel in groups of about 10 or so depending on the size of the monk population in that particlar temple, usually with an elderly monk in front whom i think is the head abbot of that particular temple. i only see ppl giving sticky rice and bananas and nth else. wonder if there is other kinds of food that they give but didnt see any other than these 2 haha.

Heard that because the alms giving ceremony is so popular with tourists, there are some cunning locals who actually sell bad food that are leftovers from days before so as to earn more profits. this has resulted in some monks getting food poisoning and many of them want to stop this morning alms giving practice but supposedly the government ORDERS them to continue at all cost, prob because it brings in so much tourist dollars... in case you are not aware, the govt is still very much in control of everything and its not exactly very open yet...

the locals...

the farangs...

and even the monks participate in this morning routine!

26th Mar, feels real great to see a Singapore constructed water tap in Laos!

showering at the top of the mountain at close to 2000m is freaking cold! brrrr

top of the pass with a beautiful view all around =D

cycled all the way until 8+pm at night and it got really dark before i finally managed to find a place to sleep. mainly because the route was mountainous and there were little camping places available... oh wells at least i still got to sleep 8hrs tonight! hehe

alot of locals up in the mountain lay out these tree barks along their homes. not sure whether its used for building homes, handicrafts, some medicinal item or perhaps its some kinda veggie food? hmmm...

when i was cycling thru the rural mountains from Vientianne to Luang Prabang, i saw alot of World Vision communal taps that were built by Australia, Japan and Korea. didnt really think much of it until i saw one that had the words "Singapore" plastered on it and i immediately stopped to have a look.

cant explain it in words but when i saw this Singapore-sponsored communal tap that the locals are using and really benefiting from, i felt really proud to be from Singapore. all the locals were looking at me when i was there wondering what the hell i was doing and when i said "Singapore' and pointed to myself, and then to the words on the tap, i think some of the locals understood and started smiling.

i guess its good to know that your country is doing something for the poor people of other countries and you can see that they really benefit from the aid because when you are 1000+m up on the mountains, getting clean water is not something as easy as just turning on the tap in singapore. locals often have to work for many kilometers carrying buckets of water on their backs jus to have enough water for survival. but when we turn on the tap in singapore, its so easy that sometimes we dun even bother to close it because well, we are rich and we can afford to waste water rite? shame on you if you think that way!

the taps were in rather remote areas and i cant imagine how remote the areas mus have been years ago when the Singapore team first came. it was prob even remoter than it was now, so good job to the singapore volunteers/staff for choosing such great locations where help is really needed!

the Singapore-sponsored World Vision tap!

24th March, met 2 interesting swiss cyclists along the way!

i wonder where this dude gets his money from... he mus be living like a king in Laos.

the monks of the temple sending me off after staying there for a night.

a makeshift gym with concrete blocks and rusty iron rods. hmmm mayb i should exercise a little...

shit... havent been exercising for too long alr...

better get back onto my bike instead and leave this to the pros!

2 swiss cyclists that i met along the way. the guy in yellow has been travelling around the world for 4 years alr!

21st March, Vientianne.

the big Monster of Concrete in downtown Vientianne.

even the sign there calls it a monster =D

Wat Phra That Luang - one of the most important temples in Laos, and in SE Asia as well

interior of the temple...

mini chinatown in Vientianne with lots of chinese food, shops, guesthouses etc

really nice spicy bbq stuff. the gals making it said they think its from sichuan. they jus see everybody making it and they also follow and make =S

local night market. this is a bingo game with orange juice, detergent, milk etc for prizes LOL

Wat Sisaket

missed the Lao National Museum when i passed by it because it looked so dilapidated from the outside. had to look around for a bit before i found it. lots of local propaganda inside the exhibits... bad americans, comrade "Laos Hero", great development & happiness in Laos villages etc

19th March, back into Laos again!

fresh cockroaches galore, ripe for your picking if you fancy!

damn noisy to sleep right beside the road nia...

a really cold day where i even had to stop and take out my jacket and gloves(some dude gave it to me in vietnam) to wear!

give me 8 suns and i will shoot them down anyday.

a huge sculpture park that has buddhist and hindu figures sometimes placed right beside each other. mayb the hidden meaning is that all religions teach the same thing-to be good and benovolent. hmmm...

shit! no bicycles allowed on the Friendship Bridge?!

As soon as i neared the Thai Lao border, I saw signs that said no bicycles/motorbikes/pedestrians allowed on the bridge. huh, how come nobody ever told me about this rule?

like any law-abiding citizen, i dismounted from the bike in front of the sign, went to the immigration checkpoint, smiled my best smile at the border official, cleared the Thai immigration and walked forward to the passenger bus waiting to ferry ppl across into Laos.
like any 20-yr old who thinks he is invincible, i decided to try my luck, turned away from the bus, walked back along the road back to the Thai side, got on my bike, pretended to be ignorant, and cycled across the checkpoint!

The following are rules to follow if you want to cycle thru
1) keep shifting your head and eyes all around and pretend to be very interested in the surroundings (although it can be tough because it is a boring border checkpoint!) but the main aim is so that you do not look at the border guards or have eye contact with them.
2) cycle at a normal pace (too slow, later kena caught. too fast, obviously you are sneaking across so will kena caught also ...)
3) prepare a "huh, i didnt know there was such a thing?" speech and give the best blur face you can, if you do happen to get caught.
4) if you get pass the checkpoint, start to speed up about 100m away so that if they suddenly spot you, they will be too lazy to catch you and will jus close 2 eyes and continue eating their fried chicken wing.
5) dun post it online lest you get charged of Lèse majesté by the holy King of you-know-where. (didnt you hear that its ALL-encompassing?)

the middle of the Friendship Bridge!

and i am back in Laos again!

13th March, i went on air on a radio show! =D

some snacks that an auntie insisted i take with me =D

supposedly the highest buddha statue in the world in this posture (cant rmb wat this posture is called)

i was couchsurfing with a british guy, Mark carver, in Maha Sarakham, Thailand and i got a really unique opportunity to be a guest on Maha Sarakham University's english radio program! i think the weekly radio show is called "The world around us" or sth like that... he is a english teacher there and Shammis(i think its spelt this way?) is an Irishman teaching english there as well. shammis has been doing this weekly radio show since 2006 and i am proud to have been a guest there! =D had some chat with them about my trip, how i got to meet Mark, Singlish etc... yea i kid you not, they are actually pretty interested in Singlish and from my conversations with them, it seems like quite alot of foreigners actually know about Singlish and think it is a great example of english evolving to integrate local identity.

i am not kidding you but Mark actually told me that he first got to know about Singlish when he was in Cambridge and one of the professor there wrote a chapter about singlish in his book! the theory is that Singapore got to "master"/learn english so quickly, prob in less than a generation, because we have so many local words and it becomes a "street language" that locals actually use and not just another 2nd language that we are forced to learn like in other countries.

they asked me about Phua Chu Kang and wanted to learn some singlish phrases from me so being a helpful "teacher", i thought them some phrases! sorry Mr MM Lee & Mr smaller-but-still-important-Lee for ruining your Speak Good English Movement but i cant resist not saying some singlish on the show... pls dun call me back for Reservist because of this heinous crime. Sank u valley much much.

me at the radio show with Shammis (left) and Mark (right la duh...)

今天我是你的代办DJ! LOL some random chinese song =P