bus ride to Vientenne

The bus ride from Lauang Prabang to Vientiane was, shall we say, long and arduous. It took about ten hours to got nearly two hundred miles on one of the very few paved roads in all of Lao, up and down some of the steepest terrain that I have ever seen, weaving through some of the most stunning karst mountain formations on earth.
As the road wound its way up and down the mountains and along ridge lines, with steep drop offs on the side almost everywhere you are treated to fantastic jungle covered peaks rising up everywhere, and at only ten bucks it is worth the price.
Pictures.
1. In the early part of the trip we are above the cloud line for most of the time.
2. Heading up the long climb.
3. Pretty typical sight on the Lao plateu
4. There were not a lot of these little villages along the route but there were some clusters of little thatched huts scattered up and down the hills, clinging to the sides of the mountains, looking like the first strong breeze would blow them off.
5. Everywhere you go in Lao you can get a fruit shake for about 5000 Kip, or fifty cents, the main ingredients are pineapple, mango, coconut, and banana.

bangkok two

Some more pictures of Bangkok. Bangkok is a big sprawling urban mess, always moving with, it seemed to me, not much of a soul, just a way station to better parts of Thailand and south east Asia.
1. Offerings of joss sticks, incense, at a temple.
2. The one thing that Bangkok has in abundance, other than child prostitution, drugs, and traffic that is, temples. These spires are in one of the main temple complexes.
3. The best picture that I took in Thailand, the roofs of three temples.
4. A long corridor at the royal palace.
5. My first real sit down Thai food, in a real Thai restaurant, boar curry. Eating this, with all the fresh herbs and spices, was like chowing down on a garden, all the flavors and spices exploding in little drops in my mouth.

bangkok one

Some more pictures of Bangkok.
Pictures
1. The reclining Buddha, a huge statue in solid gold, about eighty feet long.
2. More spires
3. Standing guard, a demon stands watch at the entrance to a temple.

bangkok market

Some pictures of a market in Bangkok. At this place almost everything is for sale from fresh fruits and vegetables to huge casks of raw tobacco. All kinds of people are scattered throughout the market, from Muslim woman in their headscarves to talit dotted Hindu women shopping for beans and tomatoes.
Pictures
1. Looking out the back of the market on a little canal. Bangkok is known as the Venice of the east and these canals crisscross the town.
2. An Islamic woman paddling down a canal opposite the market.
3. Turtles, live from the bucket to your table.
4. Sticky rice for sale in bamboo, already cooked. You buy these ready made treats and carry around the bamboo. When you are ready to eat it you simply break apart the bamboo and chow down.
5. Shallots, red pepper, onions, gwagenal, the main ingredients in Thai curries

I'm gone!

This is the last post for a couple of weeks as I am heading off to the Laos Peoples Democratic Republic. I will post pictures and I hope lots of stories when I get back.
Take care all,
ara

skiing

With Rachel and Nate, Ruthies brother and sister, here in Sokcho for the first time, we wanted to show them a good time by planning a little skiing trip at Yeong Pyong, South Korea's premier ski resort, and a hopeful Olympic site. Alas it was not to be as both Nate and Ruthie were crippled by some sort of weird stomach bug, but their lose was a gain for Carrie Ann and Ashley, two beginner skiers who were able to make the trip with us on short notice.
After leaving Sokcho very early we drove south and west, deep into the largely snow less mountains, finally getting a view of man made runs off in the distance.
After the girls got geared up, I didn't have to thanks to Jason (I owe you brother) we headed out.
The skiing itself was a blast, especially in the morning before the real big crowds got there and the snow as all pushed to the sides of the runs.
After teaching Carrie Ann, who is from Zimbabwe, and Ashley, from Maryland, two girls who had never skied before the rudiments of getting down the hill without killing themselves Rachel and I headed up and explored the mountain.
Even though the snow was almost entirely man made and Koreans ski like they drive, with no cares or fear of others and without looking around, stopping and sitting in the middle of the run is quite normal, the day was great as we skied thousands of vertical feet.
From trails to wide open runs we carved turn after turn down the mountain and I even got to get on a couple of black diamond runs despite the late afternoon crowds.
We had such a good time on the lower peaks that we never got to ride the gondola up to the far peak and do a 5900 meter run, but oh well, there is always next time.
Pictures
1. Rachel and I getting ready to head out
2. Rachel at the top of Gold Peak
3. The view from the top of Red Peak
4. Ashely looking up to the puppy slide (as Carrie Ann christened the bunny hill)
5. An actual action shot of Ashley in mid wipe out

nate and rachel in sorak-san

Another trip to Sorak-san, this time with Ruthies brother and sister. No matter how many times I come to this park I am always amazed by the stunning beauty of the mountains. Wether it is summer, fall, winter, or spring there is always something stunning to see here in thies exceptionally beautiful part of Korea, if there is a god he did create paradise here.
Pictures
1. The Wilson family with the biggest Buddha in Korea
2. Look, another temple shot
3. A Buddhist shrine
4. Another temple
5. View from the cave at dusk