Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008

1 motorcycle, 10 provinces, numerous cities, villages and towns, countless litres of petrol and oil, 6 days, 1400 kilometers, 1 amazing guide (gnok!), hundreds of photos, endless amounts of memories, indescribable feelings, unreal landscapes, 3 breakdowns, ZERO flat tires, billions of mountains, zero changes of clothes, 1 pair of muddy kicks and an indeterminable amount of breathlessness and I'm back from my motorcycle trek of the Northern Provinces of Vietnam. Safe and on my way to celebrate with my friend, Mr. Dien, at the local Bia Hoi club.

Wednesday, Mar 5, 2008

I left Cydney and Justin to return to Hanoi. The reason I returned was simple: I was to pursue an adventure that I was told would change my life. Tim, in Saigon, more than a month ago, told me about a motorcycle trek through the north of Vietnam.

After departing for Cat Ba Island I met with Dien at Footprint Travel and tried to set up a trip north but the days were "ify" and unfortunately for me there were no guides able or willing to accompany me on this trip. So I decided to leave for Cat Ba.

Now that that is behind me (although I wish I could remain there for much longer) I got back into touch with Dien and he surprised me with news that I had a guide and that if I wanted to leave tomorrow morning I could. So I took a couple buses back to Hanoi and will rest up for my trip which begins tomorrow. I won't be able to update this blog anytime in between my travels.

I will be gone for six days. Traversing the north eastern providences of Vietnam,flirting with the Chinese border all the while. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck--my first time on a real motorcycle: a Russian Minsk--the only way to explore Vietnam, I was told by Mai in Cat Ba.

Tuesday, Mar 4, 2008

Ha Long Bay is incredible. The mythology surrounding the Karst islands is that a dragon descended into the bay and remains on earth to protect the harbor and the Northern Vietnamese people. Therefore, the islands represent the half-submerged body of the dragon (it's a big one I suppose).

The trip was magnificent. Cydney and Justin, and I chartered a private boat to discover, on our own time, private and beautiful areas of Ha Long Bay. We kayaked through a huge tunnel cave which opened to a secluded lagoon connected to another, but shorter, water-cave-tunnel. We explored the tributaries and the beaches.

There really is nothing to compare with riding on the upper sun deck of a boat into the sunset.

Monday, Mar 3, 2008

I woke early again to eat a quick breakfast and go climbing.. in Ha Long Bay. That's right, I made it here.

I arrived in Hanoi after a 50 minute plane ride and with two new friends: Sydney and Justin. We shared a hotel. The next morning I woke up and tried to organize my last two and a half weeks here . I'm trying really hard to figure out what I want to do in Northern Vietnam but it just seems like I do not have enough time do any half of anything that I want.

I decided to head to Cat a island, the main inhabited island in Ha Long Bay. So I shared my idea with Justin and Sydney and they thought it'd be a nice change from the face pace and overwhelmingly loud hustle and bustle of Hanoi--I kinda liked it though. So we set off at 1:15pm and arrived after another long series of bus, bus, boat, bus to Cat Ba Town just as the fucia sun was about to drop behind one of the karst islands.

After we settled in at another hotel I was finally introduced to Erik and Onslo, with who I have been in recent contact with concerning their climbing trips and adventure opportunities in and around Cat Ba Island. They were East Coasters and was great to meet some excited and super extroverted climbers. We reserved a climbing tour the next day at 8 with two other travelers from Holland: Yaris and Minogne--both exceptionally friendly and were perfect additions to our lonely 3.

So the climbs were great. The views were excellent. The bay is inspiring. It reminds me of Thailand's islands but if even they were all collected and pushed together their number, size and beauty would be shadowed by the islands surrounding Cat Ba. I climber three routes: two really really easy ones, and one rather difficult one (climbing it twice, once to learn the sequences and the second time to patch it all together in one shot without falling). It was a huge accompishment for me and I have been on cloud nine since I touched the anchors--I can't wait to climb part-to-full-time when I get home! I also led my first lead climb! STOKED

After watching a colorful sunset... (again, one can't really explain what happnes during these moments) we headed back to the Cai Bae harbor, passing through a sleepy fishing village. These villages float on the water, their boats (almost 5 times the size of their precariously floating huts) docked on their porch. We traveled through a colorless hanging of cloud, dusk, twilight, and mystery. Each light lingered in the mist as we hit land and went for dinner and this internet session with these massive MASSIVE blog updates.

Friday, Feb 29, 2008

Luang Prabang is really quite an amazing place. Very quiet, surrounded by two rivers and nestled in the mountains of Northern Laos. The past two have been spent just hanging out and visiting the markets, testing the foods and exporing the areas surrounding the city center.
The weather has been cold and miserable. We took a tuk-tuk to a local waterfall which was beautiful.

Joe fell in the water and may have ruined his camera but the card is alright and the pictures are saved. As for the camera, I may never know its fate. I leave the crew tomorrow, and I'm sad about it.

But on the topic of leaving.. as we were leaving the waterfall the sun popped out and afforded us a great sunset from atop of the central Wat in town.

[Let me digress for a moment] There were many Wats around Luang Prabang and we ended up visiting quite a few of them, each still in use. The discipline it requires to be a monk: to live in a temple (for any amount of time), and to be so reverant is actually very admirable, almost frighteningly uncomforatble--but enticing at the same time. Being in Laos has really made me think differently, about many different things. I like it.

The sunset was beautiful. It set between the mountain tops. It set slowly and underneath clumped clouds which gave a great contrast of purple to orange. The cameras of a million tourists were clicking away the last remnant of the sun before it set behind the mountains as I just watched and knew I'd never forget this place.

My flight leaves tomorrow at 1645 and I'm not ready to leave. I think it's because I'm leaving without Laos. So at some point I need to come back and get it.

Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008

Well last night deserves a note.
The sunset was incredbile. The hike was exhausting and the company was perfect, although we were sad not to have Johanneke with us--she left early yesterday for Luang Prabang.

From atop this mountain you could see the innards of this valley which were entirely flattened by the towering mountains on each of its sides. Smoke from villages could be seen while the mooing of cows was heard over the laughs and conversation of at least 6 Lao children that followed us to the summit. The four of us (Joe, Laura, myself and Joe) were speechless with this view.

Not much more can be said here about this sunset.

ANYWAY, moving on to today.

We left early and drove through fog and cloud to Luang Prabang with a brief view of heaven (to a mountain lover). The road we traveled was thin and curvy and entirely dangerous. At some points we squeezed next to a large transport truck and multiple motorbikes side by side on steep mountain passes with steep drop offs, but I'm writing this now so I've made it.

Luang Prabang is another one of the most beautiful "major" cities in Laos. It is quiet and entirely influenced by European (mainly French, I think) architecture. It also boasts one of the most impressive night markets, which I'll have to check out. As soon as we arrived (about 6 hours, or maybe 8 hours later) we arranged for another rock climbing outing. This time on a rock wall that holds a view of something a bit more rewarding than just another rock face (like the one in Vang Vien). Our lunch was prepared right in front of us and was delicious.

The CREW!But before the night before the climbs we bumped into Johanneke again, along with her and the Joes' long time travel partners Stu and Kari. So, that night we celebrated their travels and time apart with a trip to a great bar where we shared jokes and stories then moved to another bar and then went bowling.... ILLEGALLY. Yeah, but it's run by the cops. Figure that one out.

The night was long but amazing, and I am happy to have met and spent some quality time with Stu and Kari, even though they might not entirely remember all of it.

Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008

Still in Vang Vien, and happy to be. I've pretty much settled here: dinning at the favorite spots, frequenting the favorite bars, all the product of quickly settling in to this friendly place filled with unlimited adeventure opportunity.

I'm sad to say goodbye to this place. I'm sad to leave the great side-of-the-road food stalls, where two beautiful Laos women cooked me breakfast each day, lunch on occasion, and dinner when I wanted huge, cheap and tasty appetizers before a more expensive meals with my friends.

We leave tomorrow morning for Luang Prabang. Today is an off day: we napped, and read our books in hammocks overlooking the mountain range and the river which we tubed down the day before. That was a great day.

We rented tubes to laze on the river in. Picture this: 6 of us floating down the slowest river on the planet occassionally stopping at a bar for a beer, shot of Lao Lao (the really bad bad Lao rice whiskey), maybe a swing on th rope swings, maybe a game of sand volleyball, maybe more floating; and you've pictured perfection.

Now we'll go for dinner with my ladies, then go for a hike to watch the sunset from atop this mountain we heard about.

Saturday, Feb 23, 2008

The past three days in Vang Vien have been unforgettable. I will only list the bare minimum for fear that any type of literary reflection would not do justice to the experiences.

Nathan had previously visited Vang Vien around New Years and Christmas and so set us up with a nice place to spend out time. The following day he showed us some sights, which, even upon waking up, are mind blowing; the first of which was the river. Nathan had worked at a bar which sat on the edge of a river, next to countless other bars. The reason for this is that people rent tubes and lazily float down the river, about 4km, at which point the bars appear boasting free shots, cheap drinks, desserts, and most important of all... ROPE SWINGS. So good.

(that's me, cannon-balling a passerby that got to close to my jump target!)

We spent all day drinking and swinging and meeting people and caring for those around us.
The night was long, but the day even longer, and the next morning was spent quickly shaking off a hangover while we prepared for a full day of rock climbing. 7 routes lates and about 7 hours as well we found ourselves sore and ready for a big dinner. But not until I engaged in the plastic beer crate challenge. That was fun.

Oh, we also went caving to a couple of places. One with a buddha inside:

As the boys are watching futbol, and the girls are watching friends in the myriad of bars playing family guy, friends, simpsons, etc I'm catching up on my blog and listening to some tunes. I'm entirely shot and can't wait to sleep tonight.

Thursday, Feb 21, 2008

Vientiane is a wonderful city. I felt entirely at east here, even though we arrived at 6am and had to walk around for a bit to find a guesthouse with available rooms.

The city is quiet but busy, the markets are clean(er) and the vendors are much less pushy, the weather was hot and crisp and the roads perfectly inviting for a day-long bike tour of the city. I visited some beautiful Wats, including the most famous Wat in Vietntiane Wat: Wat Pha That Luang:

This temple seemed to be made entirely from gold, or at least covered in gold flakes. It's color and brightness was overwhelming and made the day seem hotter than it was. Never have I seen a better color combination between architecture and sky--each color made the other much more dramatic.
We got lost on our way back and took an easy night. I think we may go to Vang Vien tomorrow afternoon or late morning. I might not go because I might have a party to go to... got the invite son!

Well.. didn't end up attending. Instead we met up with Laura and Nathan who were finally able to catch up with us. We took the late morning to explore one of the last sites in Vientiane and that was the Buddha park, home of the famous reclining Buddha, 25km from city-center.

This place was filled with statues, ranging from both the buddhist and hindu traditions. It is a very interesting place, full of photo opportunities. My favorite sculpture was of an orb, symbolizing the entirety of life on earth; on the insde were three levels: one depicting hell, the others, heaven and life on earth. When you reached the top of the sculpture was an opening which stood 10 meters abover everything else in the park. And on top of this orb was the tree of life--definitely a great piece.

After we were filled with the many buddhas and multpile faced gods we went back to Vietntiane and head off to Vang Vien.

Not only did we spend, and exhaust, two days in Loas' capital city of Vientiane, but we did so with the company of Laura and Nathan who were finally able to catch up with us.

Monday, Feb 18, 2008

We arrived in Chamapak around 1pm and hurridly hired a tuk-tuk to show us Wat Phou, a Famous World Heritage site. We checked this place out, although it was dotted with hundreds of locals as there was a large festival needing to be prepared for in two days. We lucked out because it would have been heaps worse.We decided it'd be best to head back to Pakse for the night, instead of finding a place in Champasak we headed back to Pakse, and, again, met up with the Joes.

The following day was such a great day: full of waterfalls and motorbikes. We drove for hours and saw the following waterfalls:

1) E-Tu Waterfall;2) Tad Niang;3) Tad Fane; and
4) Tad PaxuamEach was a huge surprise--we were planning on visiting only one, maybe two of these falls. Each had a rickety staircase. Tad Fane was the biggest waterfall I have ever seen in my life and therefire I must say was my favorite. But based on feeling, surroundings and beauty, I'd say I liked Tad Niang most. There was a natural viewing platform comprised of a small mountain of rock and soil positioned as if made to contemplate these huge falls--interesting.

We leave this evening on V.I.P. Overnight bus for Vientiane. 13 hours.

Sunday, Feb 17, 2008

This morning at breakfast, I bump into Nathan and Laura (from the Mekong boat trip and Phnom Phen)! Stoked. I invited them over to join us for breakfast and spent the day, myself and Johanneke, Nathan and Laura, and Joe and Joe on a Laos Boat (a very thin wooden canoe--with the tendency to tip, take water and never go straight) pushing our way through rough current to a secluded beach on the other side of the Mekong.

Its so great to meet up with old friends (about one week old, to be exact), both for the stories we share and the catching up we do, and of course the quality time, which is all the time. We loosely set plans to meet up in Vientiane or Vang Vien in Northern Laos at the end of this week. The origianl four of us set off for towns further north. Johanneke and I are going to Champasak to check out another Wat and the Joes are spending the night in Pakse--I think that's the plan.

Its sad to leave good friends--whom I want to travel with--so soon, but I know our paths will, and HAVE to cross in Vang Vieng, or else the universe will explode.

Saturday, Feb 16, 2008

We arrived yesterday late afternoon by moto, bus, bus, boat, bus, bus, boat (that's 4 buses and 2 boats!) to Si Phon Don, a small group of islands located in the area of the Mekong River known as "4,000 Islands."

The first thing that happened to us when we exited our personal boat that was ready for us on the mainland was.. nothing. And surprisingly so! It was unbelievable that no one would beg us to stay at their bungalow, or rent their bikes or force us to make a rash decision on where we might want to eat, drinks, stay, or how to get around. I knew I was going to love this place; and I have so much so far.

Johanneke and I walked around the island and sat on a bridge (connecting Don Det to Don Khone) to rest. There I ran into Oefie, an Irish woman who I had met in Saigon not four and a half weeks earlier! Small world. We arranged a time to meet for dinner and then we met up with the Joe's from Ban Lung, from two nights before. What a great time. Also, this is the rice pudding over here: chocolate, coconut, hidden bananas, and probably condensed milk and rice:


Si Phon Don, more specifically, Don Det pretty much equals "nothing to do but relax." Not finding a bungalow with a hammock is impossible. This should give you an idea of the laid-back-ness of this place. For some it is a haven for illicit drug use and happy shakes, but for others (myself included) it is perf for the max relax.

Our first full day was spent bike riding, coincidentally bumping into the Joes again, around the island of Don Det and crossing the Bridge to nearby Don Khone. This island boasts a very large series of tumbling waterfalls, which, after blowing out one of my tires and returning it for a replacement I really enjoyed. I could not keep up with the number of waterfalls and cascades; each time I walked 10 meters down the river there were 15 more waterfalls: some small, others large, some immediately close, and others 100 meters off on the horizon. It was a remarkable place.
From there we rode to a small and private beach. I scrambled some rocks and soaked up some sun. We returned back to Don Det's "city center," but not before stopping an enjoying--at length--a delicious lunch, including many pastries from The Bakery.

The bike ride was draining and so we retired. Hammock lazing is great.

Now I am on the porch of my bungalow, watching the greens darken as the sun sets not wanting to leave this place. So I don't think I will just yet.

Thursday, Feb 14, 2008

I know its been a while since my last update but internet has been really expensive here and there and slow az. As I write t his now, I am facing a beautifully peaceful river, also in front of my favorite tree I have seen in a week. So, starting from a few days ago:

And the latest "here" and "there" are Kratie and Rattanakiri Province, among others. Early on 12 February I sadly left Courtney and Mel and hoped on a bus to a small town called Kratie, whose highlight attraction are freshwater dolphins and a good sunset. I chose not to embark on the expensive journey for the brief moment of seeing a mammal breathe then submerge not to be seen again by my eyes, so I enjoyed the quiet town and became reacquainted with Kryie whom I had met in Siem Reap at Ta Prohm. She was with Johanneke, another girl who we met on a bus trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Phen. The town was so quiet and I met many locals and enjoyed an early night and morning to relax with before yet another bus further north to the province of Rattanakiri.

This was a great place: small, excellent guesthouse and an even more spectacular environment. I traveled with Johanneke and this other girl named Erika and split a room to make it a bit cheaper. We woke early the next morning and rented bikes to ride to the crater (volcanic or meteoric) lake, "Yeak Loam." It was beautiful and some of the first freshwater we were able to swim in. I hiked a few kilometers around the circumference of the lake. There we met other travelers, two from England (Joe and Joe) and Yanna and Sanna (from Germany and Holland respectively). We made plans to meet up that evening for drinks at their hotel and left to seize more of the day.

I hired a private motorbike driver to give me a tour of two local waterfalls that were popular in the area. The first, Katieng, was very large, and beautiful, and best of all.. quiet--no one was around. The second, Cha Ung, was crawling with people but the falls were a tad bigger and slightly more aesthetically pleasing, but again, the large quantities of Cambodians bathing in the river denied me an opportunity to sit quietly with the waterfall; although, it did give me a cultural appreciation for those in the country I have been traveling and enjoying quite a bit.After our ride through Rubber Trees and Rubber Nut shrubs I returned with enough time to veg-out, recoup some energy and spend the night with new friends. Tomorrow I go to a new country: Laos.

Sunday, Feb 10, 2008

Having bought a three-day pass (either one-day, three-day or week-long.. great selection) I obviously want to get my fill of Wats. With this in mind I set my alarm for 6:30am and was out the door before 7 with a bike that I would ride into the "park."

The ride took about 45 minutes this morning, close to an hour, but I was treated with a quiet observation of "the tree" at Ta Prohm. It certainly is a magnificent place. About ten minutes after I arrived the effect vanished as BUS LOADS of Chinese and Japanese poured in from BOTH sides of the Temple almost entirely consuming the tree, roots, view finder, and atmosphere. It was a shame, but gave me reason for pressing on. The grounds at Ta Prohm are huge and I explored them decently enough.

Here is my last photo before the "tourists" and this one seconds after they arrived--literally seconds; they flooded the place as if there was a race to the roots, as you can tell: multiple poses going on here.
From there I rode my bike to Takeo,l another pyramid-type temple, which was enjoyable but a little crowded so I left on a long bike ride--after breakfast--to a temple I seemed to have missed the previous two days: Banteay Kdei. Afterward, I triple-backed over the same road, past Ta Prohm, past Takeo to the small and secluded ruined temple of Tanei. I couldn't have more pleased with this place. So quiet, so natural; I felt as though I was the first to come upon it. There were no obvious signs of restoration and with the combination of the wind, the deafening silence and the mossy dark sandstone this place was heaven compared to many of the other temples in the area. I soaked up as much of this zen as I could and took it with me to Thammanon and Chau Say Tevoda temples, then finally back to Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat is HUGE. The scale, compared to other Wats, is at least double, possibly triple the size. And I'm just comparing the size and height of the temples inside the city walls and inside the barricaded protecting wall. The land is enormous around the Wat and I felt dwarfed by it's size and what must have taken place there hundreds of years ago. Visiting this place, among all of the other Wats has stoked my interest in the History of the Angkor people and I will certainly feed my curiosity when I have time to.

At this point I must biked over 28km, in the blazing hot, unforgiving, sun. I was tired and visited every single major site in Angkor and beyond. I returned to my hotel at 2pm, when I said I'd meet back up with the girls. Since then I've been trying to make room on my laptop for all of these pictures (since the new camera has a slightly larger file size than the old), and making sure I know which pictures go with which Wats. I must have visited 25 wats. Phew. It was worth each second and each sunburned skin-cell but I can say for sure that I am shot, and definitely ready to return back to Phnom Phen to secure my visa into Laos, a cheap night's sleep, and a day of reading.

Saturday, Feb 9, 2008

The long distance Wats are on out list of things to see today. After hiring a tuk-tuk (this time ensuring that he spoke English and was good-hearted, which he was) we set off for the distant temple of Kbal Spean. After almost an hour of tuk-tuk riding, which really is that great after the first time you ride one, we confronted a rather large detour--actually, one where there was no detour. The main bridge connecting one side of a river to the next (that which contains two great sites) had collapsed under the weight of an enormously heavy truck transporting sand. The bridge was made of metal but, and tell me how this makes sense, its supports were made of wood. Not surprisingly the bridge was reduced to legos and the driver as trapped inside the cab. Our driver mentioned that this happened another time, three years ago.

We waded through the river water to get to the other side to explore Banteay Srei, known for its great intricate etches. It was worth it, because some of these threshold carvings and designs were genius. I am befuddled to understand the time and skill required to produce some of these pieces of art. Not withstanding, the surrounding grounds were impressive as a moat encompassed the inner temple and it wasn't as crowded as it could've been... having the bridge prevent the large tour caravans and all.

We waded back through the river and headed back the long road, not being able to view Kbal Spean. Bummer. In lieu of this obstacle we visited Banteay Samre. Headed west for me to climb a billion stairs (yeah, a billion) to quietly contemplate the ruins of Phnom Bak. The road after this was AWFUL. the LONGEST, SANDIEST, BUMPIEST, DUSTIEST, WORST road on the planet to ride a tuk-tuk on... and we were on it for ever.

Afterwards the temples of Roluos greeted us with unique architecture and great bricks for the setting sun to paint on. We were all very tired and Mel and Courtney were feeling under the weather, and it was the end of the day, so we returned to Siem Reap (on better roads). I watched the sunset from our open roofed restaurant. A good ending to a full day of tuk-tuk and wat.

Friday, Feb 8, 2008

Wat-explorage day kicked off at 9:30am and lasted until 7pm.

Mel, Courtney and I first entered the huge fortified city of Angkor Thom where I found my favorite (so far) Wat of the Day. Upon first entering the first temple, Bayon, I was blown away with the immensity of these grounds. There are I believe 54 towers, each of which is etched with a 3-dimensional smiling face. We took out time around these premises and then wandered to another area of the walled city.
Baphuon was another temple (under heavy renovation/construction) but was worth the high, steep steps to view the crane and scaffloding!

With that bore behind us--which it hardly was, because to create something of this design and stature in 1200 A.D. is quite imperssive--we entered the royal palace walls and quiety toured Phimeanakas a pyramid-like structure which was pretty cool, but hard to remember because what came next took my breath away!

PREAH PALILAY. I can't say anything more:
Next was Tep Pranam, followed closely and quickly by Prasat Suor Prat and the Terraces of both the Leper King and of the Elephants.

We visited several more temples after we left the City (including Preah Khan and Neak Poan) ate ate lunch, having to haggle the store vendors down from $3 a meal to $1.50 a meal, and still we paid .50 more than Cambodians.. I must admit that this place is leaving a very poor taste in my mouth only because so many people are selling needless things and aren't really selling them, but, rather, forcing you to buy them or make a deal with them: "hello sir, would you like cold drink? $2 how much you pay?" Let's make a deal.. no. Each time you enter a temple you don't have time to reflect on what you experienced not two seconds earlier because every single person that sells something is running toward you, merchandise in hand, annoying you, haggling you, and not getting out of your way--it's frustrating, but usually I reply with something smart, but it usually goes unheard. One little girl (while visiting [[[[[) could count to 10 in every language, even Irish! Many of the children sell post cards and are very smart and speak excellent English, like our friend Gia, but should stay in school instead of harassing everyone and their mother's at the one place that should be the center of their country's pride! Although, many ssay they need the money to pay for book to go to school, so...

We hit three more Wats, the first being my favorite, Ta Som: Next was Eastern Mebon and Pre Rup; both elegant but similar to the rest in stature and immensity.
A brief note: while taking photos of each place I play a game with myself which is "try to take a great photo, but without EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN SIEM REAP being in it." Its difficult but rewarding--random white and red t-shirts, purple caps and colorful dresses really ruin the ruins.

My other favorite (I had so many) was Ta Prohm, but the pictures I took were rather worthless because of the tourists just slothing all over the roots and temple--yuck. Very pretty though, if you could filter out the people. But it was disgusting here. The tourism is out of control, and this is the first place that I've felt naseaus just looking at people and tourists and everyone posing for a picture. It took about twenty minutes to snap this one because everyone takes turns posing with the incredible tree. I say everyone respect its beauty and enjoy a person free view of it.

Because of this we were quick to leave and just in time to meet the herd of people slowly moving up Phnom Bakheng to witness the same glorious sunset. This was the icing on the cake: first, because it was very beautiful and I was happy to see the sun which was baking my skin all day finally set; and two, because there were so many hundreds of people on this temple, with their cameras clicking away. Flashes all over the place and people yelling and calling out to others ruined what could have been and should have been a serene and tranquil sunset--yet, as happened all too often throughout the day, the beauty is disrupted and fleeting, and I was constantly reminded why this earth is dying and of modern humanity's eventual habit of destroying both history's and nature's more finer creations.

We have two more full days here, and there seems to be much more to see, so hopefully we can escape to more remote Wats and enjoy a quieter view of another sunset. Wish me luck!