Laos - Part I

I've lost count of the number of people we've met on this trip who have raved about Laos, going on and on about how gorgeous the scenery is, how nice the people are, the awesomeness that is 'tubing' (more on this in our next post), as well as how it's the one place they've found good cheese and crusty baguettes.

As tempting as it was to stay on in Chiang Mai and continue with our massage and kickboxing training, the lure of Laos was just too hard to ignore.

Our whirlwind tour began in Luang Nam Tha. We've heard there's some amazing trekking there but weren't really kitted out for this. For one thing, Karl only footwear was a pair of sandles, which aren't exactly ideal for the jungle. So instead, we signed ourselves up for a day of kayaking. I thought it might be fun for Karl to help me write about it so my text is red and his is blue:


SHEENA: We were part of a group of 8. After the very fetching life-jackets and helmets were handed out, we were all paired up into two-man kayaks.

Unfortunately, the kayaking gear was
more 'Sheena-size' than 'Karl-size'

Predictably, Karl and I got lumped with each other for the first half of the trip – unfortunately we don't make the best team when it comes to kayaking. We spent a large part of the journey fighting the current, lagging behind, trying to avoid low-hanging tree branches and paddling furiously to prevent ourselves from spinning around in circles.

Paddling - not easy

Just when we thought we'd got the hang of it, we approached the first set of mini-rapids. The current was pretty fast, but on this first one all we had to do was navigate ourselves past some bushes bizarrely growing in the middle of the river and towards the calm waters beyond.


KARL: I was the first to fall over, trying to get in the kayak before we'd even begun. I was also the first to fall out, at the first rapid. Clinging to a bush for dear life I noticed Sheena cheering at our success at the first rapid, only to turn around and realise she was celebrating alone. Despite previously being instructed to float down the rapids in the event of falling out, I thought “Fuck that, I'm not letting go” and tried to pull myself along the bush and out of the water. This was almost impossible and eventually I had to let go and floated down to where everyone was politely waiting.


Once Karl had climbed back in, we continued onwards. Falling in looked bloody scary and I was quite pleased that I'd managed to stay on board. I made it my aim not to fall in at all during the rest of the journey. We were warned that the next rapid was going to be bigger so we formulated a plan where Karl was captain and I did whatever he said. I'm no good at navigating so this worked for me. We were doing well for a while. This time we steered well clear of the first set of bushes and prepared to paddle hard to the left to avoid another clump. For a while we were convinced we were going to make it. But instead we collided head on, capsized and fell in. It turns out falling in isn't nearly as scary as I'd thought. All you have to do is lie back and let yourself float downriver until you get to calmer waters. A few seconds later, still clutching my paddle, our guide hauled me out of the river. But where was Karl?


I clung tightly to the bushes, and watched in slow motion as the Dutch couple's kayak collided with me and capsized. I was wedged between my kayak and the bush, the Dutch guy was wedged under my kayak while his girlfriend clung to a rock. Thankfully he surfaced, and we watched in slow motion while the French couple collided with us. It took all our strength to un-wedge the kayak and steady it while all three of us attempted to climb on. High-fiving, we floated down river and joined everyone else.


Our guides both jumped into the water to swim back and help the others, leaving me to single-handedly steer their boat to the riverbank. It was filled with lunch, bottles of water and other supplies, so this was no easy task. Several long minutes past and I was starting to wonder if Karl was ok. I had a little lump in my throat from swallowing a fly whilst steering the boat to the riverbank (it was hard work and I'd been breathing heavily, with my gob open). As I sat there hoping it wouldn't lay eggs in my belly, a kayak with three very wet and very tired looking people approached.

Whilst waiting for our guides to rescue missing paddles, flip flops and waterproof bags, we sat with adrenalin pumping and recounted our own versions of what had just happened. Although it was scary at the time, it made for an exciting story later. After one more small rapid (no one fell in), it was finally time for lunch.


Laos has a huge backpacker scene and it's hard to get away from the western and Thai food offerings. The one and only traditional Laos meal we ate turned out to be the best of the whole two weeks and is perhaps up there with the greats from our entire trip so far. Despite being really simple it tasted fantastic.

Lunch! Karl looks very pleased with himself as he
clutches his hunk of sticky rice

Three giant banana leaves formed a communal plate and everyone tucked in with their hands. We had juw (a spicy tomato chutney), grilled fish, steamed vegetables and sticky rice. Dessert was bananas. When the food was finished, the remains were wrapped in the banana leaves and thrown into the bushes to decompose.

The remaining rapids were going to be much bigger and our guides decided we weren't paired up correctly. Sheena got to freeload on the guide's kayak, I was paired with one of the Dutch guys. This turned out to be much better, and my new teammate and I stormed through the rest of the rapids easily, only once getting beached on a rock.


With our new pairings, each kayak now had one person who definitely knew what they were doing. I got to ride with the guide. This meant we were always the first ones to go through any rapids, and more or less guaranteed that I would stay on-board and safe for the rest of the trip. Although at one point I did almost get decapitated when we paddled towards a line that had been strung low across the river, managing to duck only just in time. The rest of the rapids were bigger and faster than any we'd encountered so far, but being safely aboard the guide's kayak I could paddle along and enjoy them without any fear of falling in.The rest of the time, we floated along admiring the scenery and chatting. When he asked whether we had a big river in London for kayaking, I thought of the murky Thames with centuries-old poo probably still lying at the bottom and said “No”.


My teammate and I were cruising along so comfortably we had a chance to lie back and watch the scenery pass us by. Laos is almost entirely jungle (something like 85% is unmanaged vegetation) with rolling hills, bizarre limestone karst formations and the weirdest trees/plants I have ever seen. The insects were just as interesting, and for the second half of the trip my kayak was home to a swimming, jumping spider that kept swimming back every time I threw it overboard.

These stunning rock formations are known as 'karsts'

Unfortunately, because the water was a little rough, we didn't really get a chance to take many photos during our journey down the river. So instead, here is one of us posing in a kayak, beached on some rocks by the riverbank, at the end of the trip.


Afterwards, we waited in a local village for our ride back to town. As Karl and I shared a can of strawberry Fanta, the French lady made a baby cry, the Dutch group politely declined an offer of fried rat from the locals and a very wrinkled old lady smoked a really big joint.

Part II: Coming Soon!

Back to school

There were five of us in my beginner's class at Sunshine Massage School. As we went round introducing ourselves, I quickly realised that everyone else was a lot more 'spiritual' than me. They all mentioned their experiences with yoga, ashrams, meditation, healing energies, visions and so on. The closest thing I'd come to a spiritual experience recently was standing inside that bell at Doi Suthep temple. It didn't matter though, they were all extremely lovely and we all got along really well.

Class photo (Shawn & Shane at the top, Elle, Me, Dot & Natalie at the bottom)

When it came to traditional Thai massage, I was relieved to find out that I wasn't the only complete beginner. And it didn't matter that some of us were new to it, because our teacher Dot was an absolute legend. Kind, wise, ever so slightly eccentric, extremely generous and open-hearted. She was awesome.

Dot with her new favourite DVD, Kung Fu Panda

Every morning she'd begin the day by singing a prayer, after which we'd recite another prayer together and spend a few minutes thinking about the people we love. I know that might sound a tad cheesy, but it was a great way to start the day. It filled us with positive energy, which really reflects in the massage you give. Think of it this way – would you really want a Thai massage from someone whose in a bad mood?

Positive energy...

Class started at 9am and finished at 4pm (with an hour for lunch), and over the course of ten days we learnt how to perform a full body massage. Dot would use an assistant to demonstrate how things were done, and then we'd pair up and practise. Before I started the class, I'd assumed that this meant I'd spend half the day practising massage on someone else, and the other half of the day enjoying a massage while my partner practised on me. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as relaxing as I'd hoped. Not only is Thai massage a bit of a workout for the masseur, we were all still learning about how much pressure to exert on different parts of the body when using our elbows, knees, thumbs etc. By the end of the week I was absolutely shattered and very achy. I never realised there was such a thing as too much massage!

I know it looks like I'm trying to wrench this poor girl's foot off,
but it's all part of a traditional foot massage. Honest.

My daily routine was this. Wake up at 7:15am, snooze till 7:30am, then get up and shower. Leave the hotel at 8am. If Karl was at training, I'd get some breakfast before hopping on a sangtheaw, which is a cross between a taxi and a bus. The first person on tells the driver where to go, and he might pick up other passengers along the way if they're going in the same direction. If Karl wasn't training in the morning, he'd drop me off to school on the motorbike.

Sometimes I'd think back to what I was doing this time last year. Back then, I would never have guessed that this would be my life one year on. Cruising through Chiang Mai to massage school on the back of Karl's motorbike before he goes on to kickboxing training – if I hadn't been holding on, I'd have had to pinch myself.

Dot's classes ended up being about much more than just Thai massage. Every day she would bring in a different sweet, drink, potion or lotion for us to try. The most memorable has to be a bright green drink that she laughingly calls 'Chlorophyll'. I did a bit of a double take at first, as I'd mistakenly thought she'd said 'Chloroform'. Once we'd established that it was a drink she'd made from a type of grass, we agreed to have a taste – weirdly, it smelt and tasted exactly as you would expect the colour green to. We sipped it nervously at first, but Dot wasn't impressed and urged us to gulp down half a mug each, chanting “yes yes, drink quickly, get oxygen in the blood!” Mmm, green...

After lunch, before beginning the afternoon teaching session, we'd all recline with full bellies (the cafe round the corner does great food and the best watermelon shakes I've ever had) while Dot told us funny stories, share some words of wisdom, read our horoscopes or teach us to read our palms.

On our second day, Dot organised a class trip to the hot springs just outside the city where we boiled eggs in the geysers and soaked our feet in scalding sulphurous water. It's good for you apparently, even if it does leave you with pink legs for the rest of the evening. While we were soaking our feet, Dot pulled out some more goodies. Tamarind salt scrub for our feet and tumeric powder for our faces (it left my skin feeling nice and soft, and not yellow thankfully). And then a mystery white powder also for our faces, which she waited for us to apply before informing us that it was tooth powder. That explains the tingly feeling. Left my face feeling minty fresh!

On our final day we had to successfully perform a 2.5 hour full body massage, without looking at our notes. It was a lot to remember, and quite tiring, but it went well and we all passed.

Dot had very touchingly arranged a little 'graduation ceremony' for us. We were each presented with a certificate, a mini bouquet, a flower garland, a little flower broach and a bottle of massage oil. Dot sang a short blessing for each of us, while applying a gold bindi to our foreheads, before sitting us down for a group prayer and some last words of wisdom.

Getting garlanded and blessed

Yay I passed!

Me, Dot and her little cuddly toy Cookie. She kept telling us
to smell its bum because it's chocolate scented. V weird.

That evening we took Dot out for dinner to a great vegetarian, macrobiotic restaurant called Tianzi. The food was delicious and all super healthy, and we all completely stuffed ourselves. There was a brown rice salad (more like a casserole actually), Chinese dumplings, garlicky mushrooms, fried sweet courgettes and some amazing wasabi spinach. Really spicy, gets right up your nose. Dot told us a hilarious story about a woman she knows who had a pet cockroach that she named Joy (it died), and taught us a couple of dances (she used to be a dance teacher), and eventually the time came to say goodbye.

Dot demonstrates some traditional Thai dancing

It was a great two weeks – I met some lovely people, and learnt something that I never thought I'd be able to do. As with Pai, if I ever get the chance to come back and do this all again, I definitely will.

You can find more photos of our final exam and graduation ceremony here

All Pai Myself

Ever since booking our trip, Karl had been toying with the idea of spending a few extra weeks in Thailand to learn Muay Thai kickboxing. It's not something he'd done before, but it seemed like it'd be an amazing thing to learn whilst in the country. When he was handed a leaflet in Chiang Mai for a local kickboxing school, with a two day trial period available, it seemed silly not to give it a try. He loved it (as we kind of knew he would!) and decided he wanted to stay in the city for a few weeks to train. It's very intense, with two training sessions a day, seven days a week. But a week's training costs just 2200baht (45 pounds), which is fantastic considering a kickboxing lesson in London can cost around 10 pounds per session. All in all, it seemed like an opportunity way too good to pass up.

This was all well and good for Karl, but it did leave me in a bit of a pickle for a couple of days. What the hell was I going to do for three weeks?? I didn't fancy just hanging around waiting for Karl to get home from training every day. After uhming and ahhing over my various options (volunteering, solo travel, a course etc) I packed my bag and set off on my own to spend a week in a town called Pai – it's in the north of Thailand, three hours drive from Chiang Mai.

Naturally, I was very nervous about the idea of travelling alone. I needn't have worried, because I actually ended up having one of the best weeks of the trip so far.

Pai is an amazing place. It's nestled in the hills (as all the best places seem to be!) so the weather is cooler than in the city and the views around town are stunning. It's a small town, with just four main roads, a bunch of little lanes, two traffic lights, and a river running alongside. It's very peaceful and chilled out, and the people (locals, tourists and expats) are incredibly friendly. So while Karl punched and kicked his way through the week, I kicked back and relaxed.

I really lucked out when it came to the guesthouse I stayed at. I chose a place called Happy House, which is run by Fritz, a Dutch Australian who retired here a year ago. He runs the place with his partner, a really lovely katoy (ladyboy) called Arnon. Fritz is a great guy, who really looks out for everyone staying at the House. He worries if anyone has been out all day and not returned by sunset, is always happy to give guests a lift into town or to local sights, and he always makes a point of introducing everyone to each other.

I met a truly great bunch of people at Happy House. There was Kali and Linda from the UK, who were staying in the big bungalow. A Swedish couple Erik and Sandra were in the little bungalow. Later that week, we were joined by another couple from the UK, Tom and Kate.

Happy House has an open-air living room upstairs with dining table and chairs, sofas, free tea and coffee, a stove if you want to cook your own meals, and great views of the hills. It's very homely and I spent a lot of time just lounging around with a book or my journal. It was a bit like being back at uni, where all your friends live close by, and there's always someone hanging around to have a chat and a cup of tea with. And before you know it, three hours have passed and the rest of the gang returns home in dribs and drabs from wherever they've been that day.

Living room with a view

In the evenings, we'd all gather at the bar, where Moo the resident guitarist would play for a couple of hours and we'd join in for a bit of a sing song if we knew the words. Then we'd all go out for dinner together, before ending up either on Kali and Linda's balcony with a bottle or two of Sangsom (Thai rum, always a welcome guest at any Pai party!) or at a bar listening to some of the town's great live music.

Towards the end of the week we hired a few motorbikes and went for a long drive through the hills. I know I keep saying this, but seriously, the landscape in Pai is just incredible. Look!

Our motorcycle convoy!

Our drive ended with a trip to the waterfalls. You'd think I'd be sick of waterfalls by now, but this one was super cool. It'd been quite a sunny day, and the water was cool and refreshing.

After a bit of a swim we sat on the rocks with a couple of beers, and later on our way back to the bikes we met a guy who recommended a mini hike up to another part of the waterfall. The walk up there was like an adventure playground. We made our way over rickety bamboo bridges, hopped from rock to rock over little streams and gripped bamboo railings as we inched across sloping walls of rocks with little nooks for footholds.

Rickety bridges and dodgy railings - at least there wasn't far to fall!

Eventually we came to a magical little cave with a little opening at the top through which the waterfall cascaded down, bathed in sunlight. My camera couldn't quite cope with the light, but Linda got a great shot:

The swim and the walk had made for quite an energetic day (especially for Pai, where an entire day can pass by without you actually having done anything at all), and we were starving by the time we returned home. A feast was definitely in order. We popped out to the market and bought some salad, and a whole roast chicken flavoured with garlic and herbs. Some mayonnaise, drinks and baguettes from the shop completed our spread and we had the biggest and best chicken sandwiches I've had in a loooong time.

Earlier that morning we'd decided to book ourselves in for a Thai massage. I've always thought of massage as being something relaxing, but Thai massage is something else entirely. I asked the woman if I should take off my dress and lie on my front. She looked at me strangely before double checking that it was a massage I wanted. It turns out that clients stay fully clothed for Thai massage.

It's basically a bit like having someone bend and twist you into different yoga positions, while occasionally doing some sort of acupuncture with their thumbs. Once I'd gotten over the fact that there are no scented oils or gentle hands, it was actually brilliant. She pulled and stretched my arms and legs every which way, and kneaded my muscles with her elbows, knees and feet. By the end of it I felt limbered up and good as new. Although there was one scary bit when she stood on the back of my thighs and pushed all her weight on my lower back. If I'd been able to breathe I might've told her that I was worried about throwing up my sandwich.

I'd looked into massage courses amongst other things (Tai Chi, Thai language etc) before I'd left Chiang Mai, but at that point hadn't really known what traditional Thai massage was all about. Now that I'd had one, I decided that it would be a great thing to learn. After some research, I picked an accredited place called Sunshine Massage School in Chiang Mai. My ten-day beginners course would begin the following Monday!

The next day was Fritz's one year anniversary of being in Pai, so after a day at the swimming pool we set about organising a bit of a celebration. Another feast was in order! Fritz whipped up some homemade crisps to eat with our beers while we prepared a huge batch of fried rice flavoured with pineapple and bacon (sounds weird, tastes great), a plateful of sausages (they'd run out of chicken) and an enormous salad.

Tom fries the bacon (top), while Fritz makes homemade crisps and
Erik cooks up a batch of sausages (bottom).

We also had a bash at making balloon animals to decorate the place. Animals proved a bit difficult and while Sandra managed a three-legged, multicoloured giraffe, the rest of us settled for abstract shapes.

Sandra and her fabulous 'creation'!

Eventually at around 10pm we all sat down to our meal. Fritz opened his presents – a novelty hat, and a glass decorated by us with gold stickers. We had a great evening that started off with food and drinks in the bar, while Moo entertained us with his guitar playing. Fritz very kindly opened up a free bar for the evening, but we also bought a our own bottles of Sangsom from the shop to prevent drinking him dry!

Fritz with his gifts

Later on the party moved up to Kali and Linda's balcony. Some of the others had purchased harmonicas earlier that day, and it was only a matter of time before these were brought out for a bit of a singsong, which eventually turned into an impromptu 'jamming' session. We acquired a tambourine from behind the bar, Kali had a little rattle and another girl who had joined us for the evening brought along her flute. I was on 'percussion' with the rattle – I have no musical ability so I couldn't really be trusted with anything else – and we played and chatted until daylight slowly began to creep over the hills.

I hope you like jammin' too...

The next day was a Saturday, and time to head back to Chiang Mai. Pai is one of the only places that I've actually felt sad about leaving, it's one of those places that really gets into you and makes you want to stay forever. It's beautiful and peaceful and safe. For such a small town it has an wealth of interesting and talented people – musicians, jewellery makers, Reiki experts, artists, writers, everything. As I left I decided that I would definitely return again some day for a longer stay. But for now, it was time to head back to the city for my first day at school.


Note: Some photos courtesy of the lovely Linda

Tale of Two Cities

We've been in Thailand for a month now, and I haven't told you a single thing about it – sorry! So much has happened that I just haven't had time to blog, which I guess is a good thing. There's a lot to tell, so I've split it up into a couple of posts.

The reason we returned to Bangkok at the beginning of June was to meet up with my lovely friend Tara, who I've known since high school. Back home, we get together every couple of weeks for a good natter, too much sushi and waaaayyy too much wine. The thought of not being able to do this again for a whole year was just too much to bear, and before I left London she made plans to come out to Thailand with two of her sisters, so that we could do pretty much the same thing on the other side of the world. Sushi was replaced by green curries and pizza, and in place of wine we had some amazing whiskey shakes (think whiskey blended with fruit and ice – amazing), and a fab time was had by all.

During the day we left Karl to his own devices while we escaped Bangkok's heat in some air conditioned malls for a spot of lunch and some window shopping. All of this might not sound too exciting to everyone back home, but it's been SO long since I spent time with my friends – it's not till I spent a few days with Tara that I realised just how much I've been missing it!

Along the way, we saw some of the effects of the recent protests, which had taken place predominately in the Siam Square part of town, where most of the big malls are located. We tried to enter one of the shopping centres but were informed that it was closed. One look at the next mall along, Zen World, told us why. It has been completely burnt out in a fire – and I mean totally wrecked. There's just the skeleton of the building left.

My photo only shows a very small section, but the mall is actually an entire block long and the extent of the damage is the same across the whole thing. It was quite shocking because the buildings and street surrounding this mall look pretty much untouched. And on the surface at least, the rest of Bangkok seems to be business as usual – you'd never guess any rioting had taken place. Anyway, I just though it would be an interesting update compared to my last photos of the protesting (a couple of months earlier), when people were camped out on the streets, happily enjoying picnics and foot massages.

Tara and I also decided to see a couple of temples while we were out and about. There was Wat Pho with the huge reclining Buddha, which was pretty cool:
But the highlight was probably this:


I don't think I've ever seen one of these outside of a theme park or beach!

Meanwhile, Karl had his own adventures, making friends with a Thai guy called Daeng, and spending the entire day eating and drinking, returning home only to collect the bottle of whiskey he'd bought from duty free the day before. He stumbled in at 5am after finishing the whiskey with his newfound friends and going to a local nightclub! The next day was spent nursing a horrendous hangover, but it sounds like the spontaneous adventure was definitely worth it. Oh, and he got a haircut from a gay hairdresser who tried to cop a feel. Fun times!

After a few fun-filled days, Tara flew back to England, and Karl and I headed up Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. It's Thailand's second largest city, and it's a lot more chilled out than Bangkok, with plenty to do.

What with our love of both cooking and Thai food, it only made sense to do a cookery course. Thai food is one of those things that never tastes quite right when I try to make it at home, so I was very eager to learn how it's really supposed to be done. We chose a company called Cooking at Home, run by some friendly ladies who have a really nice open-air kitchen just outside the city. We made pretty much all of our favourite dishes – Thai green curry, hot and sour Tom Yum soup, green papaya salad, spring rolls, and mango with sticky coconut rice. These are our delicious creations:

To be honest, after over three months of eating out, it was strange to be back in the kitchen and it took a while to remember how the whole cooking thing works. For example, just after this photo was taken, Karl managed to fling a chunk of spice paste into his eye.

It took a little while to recover, but once we got going it was a lot of fun, and the food was fantastic (if I do say so myself).


We were given recipe books too, which is handy because there's no way we'll be able to remember everything when we get back next Feb!

The next day we hired a bike and rode up the nearby hills to Doi Suthep temple. Well, the bike wasn't very good, so we kind of chugged up really. And once we reached the temple, there was an enormous flight of stairs to climb – they're stunning, but a killer to climb.

At the top, once we'd caught our breath, it turned out we weren't correctly attired to enter the temple, so we hired some extra clothing to cover up. I got a nice long wraparound skirt made from beautiful blue Thai fabric. Karl got baggy pants.

The temple was beautiful, and there were stunning views of Chiang Mai too.

Plus we found some bells to play with. And in.


We'd read that not much further up the hill from the temple is a little village with an awesome coffee shop. We hopped back on the bike and chugged up a little further. We followed some signs and made our way up a very windy, very potholed, uphill lane. Very slowly, and very bumpily. According to the Lonely Planet guide, it was only supposed to be a few hundred metres up the lane, so after driving for a few kilometres we were beginning to doubt whether we were on the right track. We chugged back down, asked for directions. No, we were on the wrong road, we had to go further back down the hill.

We drove down, found a temple and asked an English-speaking monk for directions. No, we'd been on the right lane in the first place, we should go back up to the lane and drive for 10 kilometres to the campsite, and it was just past there. Should we bother, we thought? Half an hour and a lot of fuel later, we were at the campsite. We checked at reception and were told it was just a few kilometres further down an even more potholed road. Another 15 minutes later, we came across a teeny village with just a handful of wooden buildings. Finally! It was an awesome coffee shop – an open-air wooden building, overlooking a lush green coffee plantation, with the hills in the distance.

All it served was strong black coffee and Thai pot noodles. We had both, and sat for a while to enjoy the view until we noticed some rain clouds in the distance and decided it would be wise to head for home. Unfortunately, we weren't quite fast enough. Only 10 minutes later we got caught in a torrential downpour. The roads got slippery so we stopped off to shelter at the campsite for an hour until the rain had eased up, and then set off again through some lighter rain in a bid to get home before sunset.

It was pretty grim at first – the temperature is cooler in the hills, so we were damp and shivering until we'd got far enough down the hill to feel the blanket of warmth that surrounds the city. But all in all, it was a fun little adventure, and must surely be the biggest journey we've ever made for a cup of coffee!