Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Almaty, Kazakhstan

Yet again, a blog and podcast is more then overdue! We have navigated our way through the deserts of Mongolia, circumvented the world’s second largest saline lake in Kyrgyzstan and arrived in the home country of Borat, Kazakhstan. The Earthbound Astronauts have truly landed in Central Asia, pleasantly overwhelmed by antics!
 

To listen to the podcast click Here!

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - May 12^th – May 14^th

We both had heard differing opinions of Mongolia, yet all negatively portrayed the capital, Ulaanbaatar, ironically coined “The city of nomads”. We, however, were determined to arrive in Ulaanbaatar with an open mind unhindered by prejudices formed by others or by our interesting experience in the border town. As we arrived, it became evident as to how hard that would be; presented with a city that was a jungle of concrete and dirt, completely void of any positive emotion. It was our first encounter of a former soviet state and, unfortunately, the soviet influence had definitely left its mark. Not only was there an aesthetic unfamiliarity but as the predominate second language was Russian, communication became just as foreign.

We decided to stay in Ulaanbaatar just long enough to apply for Kazakh visas. As it was the weekend, we had a few days to explore. Surprisingly, on Sunday, Ulaanbaatar was completely lifeless. For those that listen to the podcast, you would know that we had our first run in with an opportunistic thief trying to ’liberate’ my wallet from my pocket, not helping improve our already fragile opinion of Ulaanbaatar. Heading straight to the Kazak embassy the following morning, we somehow had our incomplete applications accepted even though the embassy employee was shocked as to why we even wanted to visit Kazakhstan especially without an invitation. Elated to have the opportunity to escape the capital, we began to devise a plan to leave. To our pleasant surprise, we serendipitously teamed up with the aforementioned Dutch couple, Frans and Sien, and a Finnish/Swiss stallion, Nik, deciding to head to Dalanzadgad, the capital of a southern province and the gateway to the largest of the 32 Gobis or deserts. A day before leaving, Casey, Nik and myself ventured out to a nearby town to visit a small monastery. This is where Casey and I had our first taste of hitchhiking as we jumped into the back of a truck to get to the monastery. We were then offered a lift returning us to the capital, which was our first true glimpse of Mongolian hospitality. Sadly, after being in Tibet so recently, we had been partially desensitized to monasteries, and this one certainly lacked intrigue.

Leaving Ulaanbaatar was a true saga as if we were stuck in a malicious gravitational field. After first going to a bus station that did not have buses to Dalanzadgad, we were mislead by ‘taxi’ drivers that kept our friend’s packs hostage until we paid multiples of what was initially agreed for a ride to the correct station. After finding the robust soviet van heading to our destination and being told we had five hours to wait, even after we offered to pay for the remaining seats to leave then, we waited next to the “Black Market” for almost four hours before being told our negotiated price was now acceptable, even though the van was now full of people. Miraculously, we finally departed for Dalanzadgad arriving the following morning, but not before enduring two flat tires and a five-hour breakdown.

Dalanzadgad & tour - May 15^th – May 19^th

Dalanzadgad was a small town situated amidst incredibly arid terrain. Finding a hotel for the night and having a tour organised twenty minutes after arrival marked the beginning of our amazing adventure in the Gobi. Amusingly, as we just arrived in our hotel room our van driver’s friend followed us into the room used our toilet, took a piece of our salami, smiled at us and then left to the bewilderment of us all. This town did however contain a few hazards that Casey and I both seemed to encounter. I stepped on and partially entered a poorly secured manhole and Casey, whilst venturing back from attempting photography of the stars, plummeted into an unmarked pit, protecting his camera, but losing the key to our hotel room…

We were collected the following morning by our driver in a Russian van identical to the multitude of others we’d seen. We drove through some incredibly diverse terrain, roads and signage a non-existent luxury, relying on the instincts and experience of the driver to navigate through this extremely foreign environment. Arriving at our first ger (tent or “yurt” in Russian) camp situated next to an immense sand dune, we all decided to climb the sand wall to inspect the other side and visualise the landscape we had just traversed. We struggled up the deceptively sheer dune where at the top we marveled at the sand dunes on one side and the incomprehensible greenery on the other. Racing down the dune proved to be the easiest part of the trek, and the most enjoyable, especially as I witnessed Casey trip and hit his face in the sand. The day was then completed by an anticlimactic camel ride that involved our uncontrollable camels relishing the opportunity to eat, prompting the guide to make us grab the reigns of the camel behind, forming a caravan of camel riding shame. Returning to the ger camp surrounded by goats we spent our first night in a Mongolian ger.

After another day driving in the Mongolian wilderness and viewing a canyon where a copious number of dinosaur bones had been found, we arrived at our second ger camp, which was home to a large Mongolian family. Staying in what we believe to be the ‘living room’ ger, we were introduced to various games using sheep knuckles. Feeding us like they thought we’d never been fed before, we stomached traditional Mongolian pasta and rice filled with fat and sand and drank traditional camel milk tea, of which I am not the biggest fan. Enthused by the kindness of the family, Casey and Nik were ushered over to help catch baby goats and place them into a small pen, a highlight for them both. The following day we visited a national park that contained an ice river where we had the opportunity to walk along the ice and marvel at the amazing ice formations. This marked the end of our short tour in the Gobi as we returned to Dalanzadgad in preparation to return to Ulaanbaatar the following day.

Ulaanbaatar - May 20^th & May 21^st

Catching a public bus rather then an unpredictable Russian van turned out to be a very successful experience. We did not need to stop for mechanical reasons and the trip, which had taken us sixteen hours a few days before, only took eight hours to return us to the capital. It was by this point that the capital was a welcome sight as we all looked forward to a meal that had either a little more flavour or less density then food we’d been eating over the previous days. We celebrated collecting our passports from the Kazak embassy, complete with a visa, a triumph for us both. This afforded us another three days before we had to be in the capital to catch our flight to Bishkek, another great opportunity to see another part of Mongolia.

Torelj - May 22^nd – May 24^th

Casey found the Torelj national park, approximately seventy kilometres from Ulaanbaatar, which contained numerous tourist ger camps and, the major attraction, a golf course. Feeling enthusiastically confident about the direction we needed to travel we started walking with the intention of adopting the common Mongolian practice of hitching a ride. We walked over ten kilometres before we decided it was time to raise the arm indicating the desire for a life. Less then thirty seconds passed before our first car stopped to offer us a ride. The first car travelled about a kilometre before stopping at a group of houses. Our spirits partially dampened, Casey sort out a luxury car parked on the side of the road who quickly offered us a lift to our destination. Dropping us off at the entrance to the national park, we thanked the driver for his hospitality and continued following a dirt road adjacent to a beautiful river. After walking for about twenty minutes we caught our third and final ride. This driver attempted to communicate with us and even made a call to his English speaking wife asking her to translate that we would pick her up on the way and that she would recommend a good location. After picking up our driver’s lovely wife, they dropped us at Turtle Rock (a rock shaped like a turtle) leaving us with both advice and her business card incase we needed anything translated.

Walking past Turtle Rock, heading down a dirt road towards a monastery, we saw a small group of gers. We approached the camp and were welcomed by an incredibly jolly man who welcomed us with open arms. We spent the afternoon relaxing looking forward to the impending golf game the following day. Waking early and walking the five kilometres to the Chinggis Khan Country Club to play golf, we were severely disappointed when we discovered a game of golf would cost us $80AUD each, a price we refused to pay. In defeat, we decided to climb an incredibly steep hill before travelling overland to return to our ger camp. This saw us accidently encounter a marsh, which I, unfortunately, was a victim. We left the following day, catching a ride with a British woman we’d met at the camp, but not before the man embraced us both, completing our amazing experience in the national park and solidifying our opinion of the nomadic Mongolian people.

As we returned to the concrete capital, it was hard not to reminisce about our time in Mongolia and the pleasant unfamiliarity of a country and people whom are trying to create their own identity after so recently being part of such a uniform regime. The following day we headed to the airport preparing to enter our first ‘Stan’, farewelling a society, which had sincerely proven that superficial appearances can be deceiving.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - May 25^th & May 26^th

We hesitantly arrived in Bishkek with an unfortunate stereotype of the ‘Stans’ affixed in our minds. After leaving the airport and catching a van through an incredibly green city to a large apartment complex, which turned out to contain our poorly marked hotel, we were slightly shocked to realise that the private room we had paid $20AUD each for was in fact a vacated family bedroom/lounge room. This was also topped off by the fact there was no door on the room and the family was sleeping in the kitchen. As we walked down the streets of Bishkek, premiering our money belts, it was obvious that people could see we were tourists and stared at us with the cold, interrogating stare we’d first met in Ulaanbaatar. Spending an extra day in Bishkek before we were going to depart for the countryside, we decided to see a movie, Star Trek 2. After enjoying the incredibly cheap price to see the movie and the fact that we could bring a beer into the cinema, we were slightly taken aback when the movie was in Russian… A first for everything. One positive thing that can be said about Kyrgyzstan though is that the pastries and breads are amazing! We were told by our incredibly hospitable ‘hotel’ manager that Bishkek was incredibly safe, which filled us with a mild sense of confidence to venture out and see the city square at night. This was a great experience as we saw fountains in the square luminesced by surrounding lights and people roller-skating. Yet again, our predetermined prejudice and hesitation seemed unfounded.

Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan - May 27^th – May 31^th

Leaving the uneventful capital, we headed to the tourist town, Choplan-Ata, on the northern side of Lake Issyk-Kul, the world’s second largest saline lake. Amusingly, a taxi driver asked Casey where he was from. After Casey answered, the taxi driver exclaimed “What are you doing here?! You crazy!”, a statement that amused us to no endh. As we arrived at this completely desolate town, we luckily found a pink hotel down a side street at a reasonable price. Wanting to explore this beach we had heard so much praise for in Bishkek, we headed to the edge of the lake. Walking along a dirt road past a plethora of abandoned shipping containers that had once contained shops foreshadowed what we were about to encounter. As we found the beach, it was obvious that this potentially once vibrant and prominent site was now a product of neglect, completely tarnished by a human presence.

Staying only a night in Choplan-Ata, we progressed onto Karakol, a town to the far east of the saline lake. Finding a hostel that was highly recommended by Lonely Planet, we decided to spend three nights in this sullen town. After spending a day recuperating we decided to visit the Karokol Valley. We walked about ten kilometres out of town before we reached the ticketing booth of the national park. Being prewarned to ensure we received a receipt, we had a very amusing conversation with a park ranger who attempted to barter a price to enter the national park without a ticket, no doubt a potential source of his side income. The valley was extremely beautiful as we walked past rolling hills covered in greenery and a bubbling brook all incorporated by a backdrop of snow capped peaks. It was hard to avoid thinking that the beauty of the landscape was tainted by humanity. In an ironic response to our criticism, we were offered a lift back into town by a very hospitable family. The following day we caught the bus back to Bishkek, where in just a few days we had lost the hesitation and gained the confidence to walk down the street with conviction without pondering our safety or the safety of our belongings. A true story of growth.

We have just arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but I’ll leave that for the next blog. That brings us to now. Entering these two very different yet comparable countries has taught us both some vital lessons. As we continue to travel the world we see differing cultures and the hardships they have and continue to overcome on a daily basis. We are starting to gain an appreciation of why certain cultures seem superficially cold, abrasive and intimidating unreceptive. Whether it is due to past necessity or the effects of rapid change, it is obvious that these cultures we have experienced are true products of both their history and environments. With this in mind, I cannot avoid personally reflecting upon our own culture, pondering the differing perceptions people form of us through their varied experiences of our country and it’s people.

Keep posted.

Vientiane, Laos to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Wow! It’s been a long time since the last post, but we have been going strong and there is a lot to catch up on! Casey and I have enjoyed our time in both China and Tibet and have ventured forth into the unknown of Mongolia! I have a lot of information to cover, so I’m taking a slightly different tack and writing about location rather then day-by-day. Welcome back and enjoy!

To listen to our more then overdue podcast click here!

Vientiane & Luang Prabang, Laos - Mar 28^th to Apr 3^rd

After enduring Vientiane in all is ‘grandeur’ (or incredible lack there of!), we decided to continue on to Luang Prabang, the popular pinnacle of Lao tourism. Luang Prabang was a truly beautiful town, isolated from the majority of westernizations. The town was very laidback, making it easy to lose track of days. With the sites of the town consisting of a mighty 32 wats, the Pak Ou Buddha caves on the Mekong and the magnificently formed Kuang Si waterfall, it was easy to see why Luang Prabang was a highlight for anyone venturing into Laos. We joined a tour to see both the Buddha caves, which were naturally occurring caves consisting of Buddhas of all shapes and denominations, and the waterfall. The waterfall and associated pools were a truly majestic sight. Deposits of calcium had created a tiered waterway while simultaneously making the water an intricately deep turquoise. Casey enthusiastically photographed the landscape before we both relished the opportunity to swim in the beautifully temperate water. 

Feeling that we were finally ready to farewell South East Asia, we organised a bus to Kunming in the Yunnan province, China, but not before I had the displeasure of joining Casey in the age bracket of the mid-twenties.

Kunming, China - Apr 4^th to Apr 9^th

After successfully entering China with near to no issues we reached our first point of call, Kunming. Kunming was our first real reintroduction to the western world in two months! Tempted by Maccas, KFC and a Chinese fast food chain, Dickos, we needed to employ self-control to avoid blowing our budget and maintaining our semi-authentic cultural experience. This was also where we fruitlessly tried to satisfy our hunger for fried dumplings, which in hindsight aren’t as common in china as Australian Chinese restaurants depict. An hour and a half from Kunming is a popular local tourist attraction that Casey was desperate to see, The Stone Forest. As the name suggests, the attraction was in fact an impressive forest of stone. Unfortunately, the forest was partially ruined by the sheer number of tourists and the attempt to convert the natural beauty of the site into an artificial amusement park, a more then common occurrence around China. The amount the Chinese government was involved in controlling the population was slowly becoming evident as we discovered we were blocked from accessing Facebook and our blog, and the number of police had multiplied since our time in parts of South East Asia where we didn’t even know what a policeman looked like. We then continued on to Guilin, only a torturous 24-hour seated train ride away.

Guilin, China - Apr 10^th & Apr 11^th

Guilin was a quaint town that we were using as a gateway to the awe-inspiring town, Yangshuo. We still enjoyed Guilin; where you can find a plethora of differing and exotic Chinese foods including self-selected skewers fried in a chilli sauce that really stimulates the taste buds!

Yangshou, China - Apr 12^th to Apr 16^th

Yangshou is the town that inspired the floating mountains in the blockbuster movie Avatar. It was incredible to see landmasses rising from the flat surrounding terrain in such close proximity to buildings as if the locals were oblivious to this formidable backdrop. The main tourist street, West St, was saturated by Chinese tourists (that included all nightclubs), which was refreshing, having recently escaped the tourist demographic of South East Asia. After seeing bike rental businesses all around town, Casey and I decided that would be the best way to see the incredible landscape. We, of course, needed to do this in style so we hired a tandem bicycle. We inevitably were a spectacle, as people did not see two large bearded westerners riding a tandem bike regularly. Yangshou was a truly magical location and it was easy to see why this was such an iconic site.

Shanghai, China - Apr 17^th to Apr 21^st

After another grueling 24-hour seated train ride we arrived in westernized Shanghai. Now, Shanghai is an amazing city and is definitely one of my favourite cities we’ve visited thus far. Casey having visited China twice before was able to act as my tour guide around some of the ‘cultural’ sites such as the main shopping street, East-Nanjing rd, and a local electronics market where sales people were ruthless for a sale. Not only were we targets for people trying to lure us to teahouses, but Casey is convinced he was offered ‘services’ by a guy in the male toilets. It was also in Shanghai we decided to obtain visas for Mongolia, which ended up being incredibly easy and falsely foreshadowed what we would expect from our next country, but more about that later. The highlight of Shanghai for us, and inevitably the people that have to look at us, was the shaving of our beards. I bravely opted for full facial hair removal where as Casey decided to only trim his facial monstrosity. As we farewelled our homeless look and welcomed back a small amount of class, we prepared for the jewel of our Chinese adventure, a tour in Tibet.

Lhasa, Tibet - Apr 22^nd to May 2^nd

Our visit to Tibet had been an impromptu decision whilst we were in Luang Prabang, and even though we had to join an intensively organised tour to see this mysteriously isolated area, the organisation of permits and payments still added complication to our very fragile plan. Whilst in Shanghai everything had finally come together (except monetary issues with the company that continued into our first few days in Lhasa, involving calls from our travel agent ‘Debbie’ whilst we were inside sacred Buddhist monasteries...). We had organised to catch two 48 hour trains to both arrive in and depart from Lhasa after our eight day tour of Lhasa and the Mount Everest Base Camp (EBC).

We boarded the train in Shanghai and both got comfortable in our hard sleepers on the highest level in our cabin of six beds. This was an interesting train ride for numerous reasons, not only did the train reach an elevation of 5000m while we ogled the beauty of the Tibetan Plateau, but we also had to adjust to having about 50cm between our beds and the ceiling of the cabin. Elated to have arrived in Lhasa, we were welcomed by the sight of extremely heightened security. We were collected by a guide holding a sheet of paper garnishing our names and taken to our three star hotel, which was possibly the nicest we had stayed in thus far. Lhasa was exquisite! As we drove through the streets for the first time, we were met by a strange mixture of present day domineering China fused with the repressed, yet courageously prevalent, Tibetan culture, all on a formidable backdrop of snow capped peaks. Every Tibetan person we met was so merry and friendly, solidifying our opinion of the Tibetan people as the kindest and warmest we have encountered thus far.

The following morning (whilst I was battling with a slight level of altitude sickness) our freshly formed tour group visited the oldest Buddhist temple in Lhasa, the Jokhang temple, and the surrounding Barkhor st, a remnant of old Lhasa. This was followed by a visit to the Potala Palace, the rightful residence of the exiled 14^th Dalai Llama. The Potala Palace was magnificent, a structure that commanded respect by its sheer position above the town and the deep religious significance the palace held to each and every Tibetan. The intricacies of the palace were a marvel in themselves as we caught a glimpse of the spiritual ideologies that form the cornerstone of Tibetan culture. Throughout the following days we saw a multitude of monasteries such as the Drepung monastery, the Sera Monastery and the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. All the monasteries we visited were unique in so many ways, differentiated primarily by the founding denomination of Tibetan Buddhism or the particular focus of worship. Unfortunately, due to the number of monasteries we visited, it became increasingly difficult to distinguish them from each other, however, this did not subtract from their individual majesty.  We did have the privilege of seeing monks debating in a courtyard, which they use as a method of revising their teachings. This was a very impressive sight as we were able to see monks in their natural environment.

Travelling from Lhasa to EBC was incredibly impressive as we skirted the beautifully vibrant Yamtso Tso Lake and scaled vastly steep mountain ranges whilst enduring frequent police checkpoints and permit checks. After staying a night in the very authentic Tibetan Rongpuk Monastery, which is the first EBC, we were taken to the second and third Tibetan EBC. Mount Everest was a spectacular sight! Casey and I were truly mesmerized by the beauty of the peak and the highest point on Earth, a sight that makes you ponder the magnificence of nature. We had reached the pinnacle of our tour, so we then began the decent back to Lhasa and inevitably our return to reality outside of Tibet. We boarded another 48-hour train, this time to Beijing, continuing to gestate the experiences we had gained and the memories we will forever cherish. I cannot mention our time in Tibet without mentioning our German friends Thomas and Hanna. It was more then a pleasure to meet them both and a definite highlight of the tour and our travels thus far.

Beijing, China - May 3^rd to May 8^th

Arriving into Beijing demonstrated that our time in China was drawing to an end before we departed to Mongolia. We were determined to be proactive and visit the Kazakhstani embassy to obtain visas for our distant arrival; we, unfortunately, were met by about fifty well-prepared Chinese nationals, which ruined even the slightest chance of obtaining even the forms required. Determined to make sure this day of enthusiasm was not in vain, we continued to the train station to buy tickets to the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. We were again met with disappointment as we were told that they could not sell international train tickets at the train station and we would have to visit the “International Hotel”. After visiting said hotel and refusing to pay the $200AUD for a ticket, we determined that we could reach the border town by train and, at the insistence of our hostel manager, would still be able to leave the country before our visa expired, which is profoundly frowned upon by Chinese customs officials.

We booked a tour to see the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. As amazing as the Great Wall really is, the highlight of the day was getting to toboggan down after walking the steep incline of the wall. The construction of the Great Wall is truly impressive and it’s hard to believe that it stretched as far as 6000km. As Casey had already seen the Forbidden City, I ventured to the well-known sight solo before meeting Casey at the Chinese national museum. The Forbidden City was amazing and is definitely a testament to the Chinese dynasties of the past. However, I must admit that the number of security personnel and cameras around the Forbidden City and Tiananman Square was a true spectacle in itself and took away from the whole experience. Casey and I were able to use our time in Beijing to not only decide on our plans for the next few months, but also book some flights to ensure our continued world journey.

We were both ready to say our goodbyes to China and boarded the train to the tiny border town, Erlian, the only point where tourists can cross from China to Mongolia.

Zamin Uud, Mongolia - May 9^th to May 11^th

Waking up in Erlian still in possession of all our belongings was a good start to the day that, unbeknown to us both, was only going to get longer. We fortunately met a nice Dutch couple that we decided to accompany across the border. Now, the border between China and Mongolia can only be crossed by car, and only certain cars are allowed to cross. So after an hours walk to the first border checkpoint we had to pay for a jeep. After paying a guy and getting into his vehicle we waited by the side of the road waiting for him to drive before another vehicle pulled up that we were ushered into. This new vehicle crossed the first checkpoint, but the driver was then abused by a solider and made to turn back. We, again, waited at the first checkpoint until we saw our first driver exiting from the second checkpoint guard station. We then successfully managed to cross the second checkpoint and were dropped at Chinese immigration and the vehicle entered the line so we would be met on the opposing side to continue our journey. We crossed immigration, relieved to know our visas were still current (with only four hours remaining), and continued to wait for our driver. After waiting 45 minutes we came to the upsetting conclusion that we had been left at the first immigration stop and would need to find another ride to continue. This was quite an issue as most cars had people hanging out the sides at any rate and luggage on the roofs and bonnets. Luckily, a jeep was just about to leave the third checkpoint and saw an opportunity to make some money and welcomed us in, there were now nine people crammed into the jeep. With Casey sitting on my lap and both our packs unsecured on the bonnet, we arrived at Mongolian immigration before repeating the process and arriving in our first Mongolian town, Zamin Uud.

When arriving in the barren wasteland that was Zamin Uud, we headed straight to the train station to secure train tickets to Ulaanbaatar that night. We discovered that there is no order in the train station, after waiting two and a half hours in one line, Casey had moved, yet it was possibly a metre in the wrong direction whilst being sandwiched between two Mongolian women. I, joined by my Dutch friend, was lucky enough to reach the front of the line where after waiting for two hours was told that the tickets were sold out and that we were unable to buy tickets for the following day until morning. Leaving the train station incredibly frustrated we eventually found an incredibly overpriced hotel that had a shower but no water. We then ventured to a restaurant and managed to consume a very oily meal that was supposed to resemble a steak.

The following morning we again went to the train station to try and secure tickets for that night. There were four police officers present that had managed to form three almost orderly lines in front of the three ticketing booths and were stopping people from joining at any point. Casey and I, each with one of our Dutch friends, joined two separate lines. The police presence was great until they decided to leave when I was still ten people away from the window. This caused an abrupt amount of both pushing and general chaos. Luckily, the police returned and we were able to buy four tickets to the capital. Whilst on the topic of chaos, I have almost been hit by cars twice since our arrival in Mongolia. My theory is that no one needs to drive properly because the police are busy maintaining order in the train station… We easily jumped on the train and arrived in Ulaanbaatar the following day, but I’ll leave that for the next blog. Our opinion of Mongolia so far is not great, but we are hoping that the border town is not a true reflection on the remaining country. We have found this to generally be the case in other countries and still have high hopes for the remainder of Mongolia.

That brings us to now. There was a lot of time to cover and I’ve skimmed over some truly amazing experiences and locations, but it’s a pretty good overview of what we’ve been up to. Our time in China and Tibet was amazing, the people and the landscapes are truly incredible, and I feel lucky to have been able to see so much of it in such a small amount of time.

To keep you all in the loop, Casey and I have booked a few flights for the next few months for: Astana, Kazakhstan to Tbilisi, Georgia; Casablanca, Morocco to Amman, Jordan and Cairo, Egypt to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Also, Casey has enrolled to do a two week course in intercultural experience in Germany and I have enrolled in a two month long intensive French course in Lyon, France. So we definitely have some pretty exciting things to look forward to in the coming months. As always our love goes to our friends and families and we hope everyone is well and enjoying their own adventures. We are now back on the radar and have unrestricted access to Facebook and the blog, so we’ll make sure we don’t leave it too long.

Keep posted.

Earthbound Astronauts have landed in China!

Just to let every one know, we are in safe and well in China. Unfortunately due to the Chinese internet firewall, we are unable to access the blog to post anything (other then a way I found to use the internet unrestricted for 10 minutes). We are currently planning our trip to Tibet, hopefully it'll all work out and we'll have plenty of exciting things to tell you when we post next. Hope everyone is well back home. Keep posted!

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Vientiane, Laos

We have a lot to catch up on! We have regrettably finished our journey through the intriguingly beautiful Vietnam and have arrived in Laos to continue northward on our voyage to the red giant, China.

To listen to the podcast click Here!

Due to the sheer number of days since the previous blog, I have combined days spent in the same location. Enjoy.

Mar 8^th

We had previously organised to reunite with two girls we had met whilst on Koh Samet, Sofie and Mari, and join them slowly staggering north to the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. Having jointly decided with the girls to leave Ho Chi Minh City the following day, this left us all with a full day to see as much as we possibly could of this Vietnamese metropolis. We used the morning to visit the war remnants museum, which had been cringingly described to us as an emotionally evoking experience similar to that faced at the S-21 museum in Phnom Penh. After walking in the heat and humidity that accompanies all large Asian cities, we arrived at a museum surrounded by varying types of grounded aircraft and decommissioned armored vehicles, all marked with the badge of US possession. As we entered the museum, we yet again were reminded of the atrocities of war and the continued struggle consecutive generations face due the effects of Agent Orange. Unbeknown to use both, the museum closed at 12 and would not reopen for an hour and a half, we felt we had satisfied the required visit and left the museum slightly relieved. However, the lack of complete objectivity in this museum did play on my mind, as there was clear bias towards the North Vietnamese. This contrasted heavily with my favourite museum, the Berlin history museum, which chronologically explores the checkered history of Germany in a purely objective manor. Regardless, the war remnants museum was a good introduction to the brutal war a mere 40 to 50 years earlier.

We had organised to travel with the girls to Nha Trang, primarily a beach town that was about 10 hours away by bus. It is at this point that I’ll mention that Sofie wasn’t feeling quite well at this point of our journey, which was a reoccurring theme over the next few days.

Mar 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, 12 & 13^th

We said goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City as we boarded the coast-bound bus, happy to be leisurely heading north along what we later found to be the tourist trail. The bus to Nha Trang took us passed some amazing scenic coastline and picturesque landscapes created by mountains that, without warning, disturbed the uniformly level terrain. As we stopped for lunch in another beach town called Mui Ne, we were introduced to our first taste of Russian tourist domination as English was superseded by Russian in all restaurants and shops. As we arrived in Nah Trang, we luckily arrived directly in front of a hotel that suited us perfectly for the duration of our stay. My only criticism is the fact that Casey and I were asked to change rooms twice starting with an amazing room that was for six people and finishing with a closet built for potentially one and a half. This was because a single girl wanted a balcony… The mind boggles.

As we arose the next morning, Mari told us that Sofie yet again was feverish and was an odd green colour, which strongly suggested a trip to the doctor. Waiting for both Sofie and Mari to return left Casey and I to endeavor to the beach where we were shocked to see rather large speedo wearing Russian men precariously scattered along the beach. As the girls returned we were again shocked to learn that Sofie had a mild case of Dengue fever and required three consecutive days of treatment each with a four-five hour session of intravenous fluid administration. Fortunately, this did not tarnish our time as Sofie started to feel fine after the first treatment, and could choose the time of sequential treatments over the following days. We then spent a few uneventful yet relaxing days visiting the beach and trying a plethora of restaurants in the area. We all also went to a massage parlor and enjoyed hour-long massages, something that was quite foreign to both Casey and myself. One night that stands out amongst the rest was the night we decided to visit a mall that had both a bowling alley and karaoke. After about an hour of karaoke in a private room that Casey informed us was not soundproof, I feel the staff were probably happy to farewell the Backstreet Boy singing Westerners.

We had decided to catch a night bus to the historic town of Hoi An. The night bus was an adventure in it’s self as we were given the seats at the back that, unlike all the other individualized seats, were five adjoining seats. This did not cause problems for our group of four, yet the lone Austrian girl that had been instructed to join us may have had a somewhat different experience.

Mar 14^th, 15^th, 16^th & 17^th

We arrived in Hoi An at an outrageously early eight o’clock before we, as was extremely common at the end of every bus journey, were hounded by people to stay at there hotel or employ their transport. We walked from the bus past rows of buildings and shops all coloured a rustic mustard, a reminder of the earlier French influence. We reached a hotel, which we later determined to be run by quite a shady group of people, who insisted we sign a handwritten agreement that if anything went missing from our room it was our responsibility. Unfortunately, Mari was stung by this policy as 500,000 dong (A$25) went ‘missing’ from her bag. After mentioning this missing money, our possessions luckily are still all accounted for. Hoi An was a beautiful town that had a spectacular old town that boasts a tantalizing mixture of Japanese, Chinese, French and Vietnamese influences. The sheer number of tailors made Hoi An the ideal place to go for specifically tailored items, a service we did not employ even though we were tempted by matching felt suits…

We spent a day with hired motorcycles and traveled to the UNESCO world cultural heritage site, the ancient Cham city of My Son. Unfortunately, the heritage site did not quite live up to the expectations of a UNESCO heritage site, but the highlight of the day was enjoying the formidable Vietnamese roads once more, with a passenger no less. Getting use to a slightly slower pace whilst traveling in a group suited us all and gave us a good opportunity to relax and reflect on our adventure thus far. It was very different traveling with another pair, but an extremely welcome and refreshing change. The next destination was chosen to be Hué and after being told by a hotel staff member that there were three types of seats on the bus and that the cheapest seat type was unavailable, we bought the tickets that were not near the bus toilet at a dearer price. When boarding the bus for the 4 hour journey we evidently had been conned by the hotel again as this approximately 20 seat bus did not have a toilet or seating allocation. This finalized our time in Hoi An, a place where the buildings are incredibly beautiful, yet tourism had obviously impacted this town, at least partially, for the worst.

The next town of Hué was equally as beautiful and our opinion of the people was in a much more positive light. Once again, when we got of the bus, we were dropped at a hotel, the Google Hotel, which was the nicest we have stayed in thus far. We had free Wi-Fi, free coffee all day, free beer after five o’clock, breakfast for US$1 and large rooms with proper showers that had been lacking from each and every room we had previously stayed.

Mar 18^th, 19^th & 20^th

Mari had innovatively suggested we all compete in a self-created scavenger hunt, which saw each member of the group contribute specific tasks to complete with the intention of being issued a corresponding number of points, the team successfully gaining the most points would be named victorious. Some of the more exciting tasks included: swimming in the river, fitting three choco-pies in your mouth, dancing in the street, wearing team uniforms, wearing a rice hat in all photos and finding a German. Every task was required to be completed with corresponding photographic evidence so each team could successfully claim the points associated with the task. Though it was an extremely close battle, I am happy to say that Sofie and I took out the title of Scavenger hunt 2013 victors, earning ourselves a dinner purchased by the opposing team. The scavenger hunt proved to be a great way to see the city, but traveling’s not all fun and games, our hotel staff made us drink a few beers while playing pool and were upset when we decided to stop drinking free beer… Stressful life.

With our Vietnamese visas ending on the 27^th, we were keen to head to Hanoi and travel on to the fabled Ha Long Bay. We boarded another night bus where, like all transport in Asia, we battled with seats obviously made for people of a smaller stature. We arrived in to Hanoi, again at an outrageously early time, at a bus stop on the outskirts of town. After finding a taxi to take us to the Old Quarter to find accommodation, we spent the day discussing potential ways to go to Ha Long Bay, enjoying the sites around Hoan Keim Lake, which Casey and Mari decided to run around. It is here that we also enjoyed crab spring rolls, potentially the best spring rolls I have ever tasted. We settled on a planned cruise of Ha Long Bay, which was three days and two nights aboard a junk (boat). This inevitably turned out to be a fantastic option.

Mar 21^st, 22^nd & 23^rd

We were picked up from our hotel by a bus that took four hours to reach Ha Long City where we boarded a small boat that took us to our awaiting junk. It was a slightly weathered three-story boat that consisted of cabins on the lower level, a dining room, kitchen and wheelhouse on the middle level and a deck with shelter on the upper level. The cabins were extremely nice, and included a very nice bathroom with a proper shower. A short while after settling in our rooms, a very indulgent lunch was served before we were to board the smaller boat to travel to the ‘surprising’ caves, which contained three caverns of increasing size which had been formed through the weathering of the stone over countless millennia. We then had the opportunity to jump in two-person kayaks and go around a few of the smaller islands that make up the much larger complex of infamous Ha Long Bay islands. We were ferried back to the junk, enjoyed another sumptuous meal before being left to our own devices. This included sitting on the deck and admiring the incredible number of other ships that were anchored in the same area as their lights dance on the surrounding, almost undisturbed, water.

The following day, a smaller two-story boat picked us up and took us for a very scenic journey to a cove where we had the opportunity to swim, kayak or relax. Casey and I took the opportunity to unobtrusively float around the cove wearing provided life jackets. They cooked lunch for us as they had done the previous day, to the extremely high standard, and then returned us to the junk where we had gained another group of passengers as some people chose to only spend one night on board. The most recent additions decided they’d take up the offer to do karaoke until just after 11, which was amusing at best. We then woke and enjoyed breakfast and lunch aboard the junk while it leisurely sailed back to the original port at Ha Long City. It was amazing, and equality upsetting, how fast the two nights had gone. We again boarded the bus in the opposing direction towards Hanoi, returning to our hotel as if our expedition to Ha Long Bay was just a distant memory or a reminiscent dream.

Mar 24^th & 25^th

Deciding we would leave Vietnam and the girls on the night of the 25^th, pushing our visa departure date to the utmost limit, we had a full day to farewell two people that we had become exceptionally close to over the passing weeks whilst still being able to enjoy what we were yet to see in Hanoi. In pairs, we ventured out into the city with the intention of seeing all we could. We were lucky enough to see the presidential palace, the outside of Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum (we couldn’t go in because it was only open from 8.30-10.30 every day except Monday and Friday) and enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at one of the many highly recommended Gecko restaurants around Hanoi’s tourist area. Our final day in Vietnam was spent making sure we had everything we needed to leave and spending the fleeting time with our friends before they too left Hanoi that night. As we waited for our bus to collected us from the hotel we said a very somber goodbye knowing our paths would cross in the not too distant future.

Our hotel pick up was a man on a motorbike that drove in front of us as we followed him through the streets of Hanoi gradually gathering people. We boarded a small minibus that brought us to a hectic bus terminal. We then boarded the bus that was intended for our journey. I am fearful that Casey and I were accomplices to some kind of underground Oreo trade from Vietnam into Laos as a multitude of boxes filled the seats on the lower levels and under the bus. After being asked to sit in the two seats at the far back of the bus, the remainder of people’s luggage was sandwiched next to us. The bus was truly at capacity.

Mar 26^th & 27^th

No one knew how long the bus was suppose to take to get to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We were told 20 hours, yet judging by the copious number of unnecessary stops along the way, it could have taken us days. We woke on the morning of the 26^th parked at the front of the growing queue by the border awaiting the time it would open. We had a relatively smooth walk across the border where we walked about a kilometre on international soil before painlessly being issued our visa for entry into Laos. The bus ended up taking 25 hours to reach our destination; this was primarily due to the fact we stopped for a two-hour stop for an unknown reason and secondly, due a required tire change. We stepped off the bus relieved to have finally arrived and followed the people on the bus, all whom had bonded over the possibility of spending another night on the road, to a hostel. The hostel was quite nice, but lacked the privacy we were hoping to write the blog and podcast. The following day, we found a guesthouse to settle down in for the day providing an opportunity to write the more then overdue blog post. And that brings us to now!

I loved Vietnam; it was a beautiful country with an amazing culture and people. It has definitely been the highlight of the trip for me thus far. Our visa for China is valid for entry until the 8^th of April, leaving us just over a week before we want to cross the border. We really aren’t paying Laos the respect it deserves time wise, but we wont rush through the places we do chose to stay. We are hoping everyone is well back home. We are still loving traveling and going strong.

Keep posted.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Yet again, it has been a while since we have posted a blog, a podcast or any photos, and for good reason. We’ve left Cambodia and have been “occupying” ourselves in Vietnam, but more about that later.

To listen to the podcast click here!

Feb 26^th

Unfortunately, the appeal of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, was purely due to the remnants of the Khmer Rouge regime and the reminder of Cambodian genocide a minute forty years before. The emotion of this day definitely outweighs any other on our trip thus far. The anxiety we both felt as we walked towards the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum, which in the height of Khmer Rouge reign was known as Security prison 21 (S-21), was extremely burdening to say the least. S-21, was originally Tuol Svay Prey high school, a fact that is still more then evident at the museum. As we apprehensively visited each room of the three story buildings of the four that formed the complex, we caught glimpses of the horrific brutalities that occurred in each, contributing to a systematic regime of torture, interrogation and inhumane slaughter. The S-21 staff were meticulous with the information collected on each prisoner, this fact will haunt us both as we passed the photos of scared and confused men, women and children whom had succumbed to the mindless hate of their own people. After leaving S-21 in shock as we contemplated what man was truly capable, we still had one destination, the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. After much deliberation on whether we could emotionally handle another gruesome reminder of Khmer Rouge reign, we decided we should see this iconic resting place of nearly 17,000 innocent Cambodians.

As horrible as the Killing Fields really were, it was presently very tactfully and was a place of memory and tribute to the potential three million people killed during the three year and eight month Khmer Rouge reign. We were guided around the site by an audiotape stopping at gravesites, which had been adorned with mourners’ wristbands. The voice of the man that guided us on this journey will be a hard one to forget as was his wise words about genocide having occurred before and, hauntingly, the inevitability of it happening again in the future unknown, a chilling thought after witnessing the travesties that are so deeply engrained into the culture of each and every Cambodian. We then had a very solemn tuk tuk ride back to our hotel, lost in reflection trying to digest the emotional day piece by piece.

Feb 27^th

Deciding to stay an extra day in Phnom Penh, determined to finish our time in Cambodia on a high, we decided to walk to Psar Tuol Tom Pong or the “Russian Market” to conduct a bit of retail therapy and acquire me some new thongs as their predecessors were held together by a can ring pull found on the bridge at Angkor Wat. This proved to be quite an enjoyable endeavor as we left with items we had no intention of buying prior to our Russian Market experience. We had a nice dinner where Casey ambitiously ordered frog from the menu, which was actually quite nice, and prepared to leave Cambodia the next day. Our time in Cambodia has been a life experience that will never be forgotten by either of us, yet we were ready to leave and progress into the next leg of our trip, Vietnam.

Feb 28^th

We boarded the bus in Phnom Penh, said our goodbyes to Cambodia, and excitedly watched the evolution of the bus’ external surroundings as we crossed from Cambodia into Vietnam, where our visa had been valid from the previous day. I must note, that whilst on the bus, the choco pie incident was rectified by the parties involved. Intending to stay just under a month in Vietnam before we moved on, we were ecstatic to be starting what appeared in our minds to be a new adventure within itself. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, shocked by the lack of tuk tuks and decided to walk to our hotel positioned in the tourist district. Vietnam is a communist country, the first I believe I have ventured into, my expectations were pleasantly surpassed as we were had entered an obviously prosperous country with a strong history and culture. Our one issue lay with the lack of Facebook access, which, unbeknown to us, was restricted in Vietnam. After quickly rectifying this issue, finding a relatively easy solution, we were able to calmly plan our next step. We enjoyed dinner and inspected the nightlife of Ho Chi Minh City, finding the shear number of near-to-empty bars full of Vietnamese women quite peculiar…

Mar 1^st

Sorry about the earlier ambiguity about our activities in Vietnam, however to reduce the worry and stress of our family and friends we refrained from earlier sharing the details of our adventure South of Ho Chi Minh City. This is primarily due to the fact that we hired a motorbike each and ventured onto the perilous roads that form Vietnam’s traffic system. We decided to venture south of Ho Chi Minh City to My Thó, a city on the Mekong. Our tenacious initiation to the roads of Ho Chi Minh City were both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. As we got use to riding on the right-hand side of the road and the laws of the Vietnamese roads (a reconstruction is listed below) our confidence began to skyrocket as we both had to reign in the adrenaline junky within. As we arrived in My Thó, we ran into difficulty, as each hotel wanted two passports, yet Casey’s passport was being held as collateral for the motorbikes. After painstakingly finding an Internet café and printing of a copy of Casey’s passport, we were able to find a hotel that would house us for the night. We were also desperate to find accommodation due to our stupidity of wearing singlets and short shorts, we were inevitably burnt on our faces, arms, shoulders, thighs, hands, ears and feet. We enjoyed a cold shower and a nap before feeling like we had to explore the town. It was that night that we determined that it’s not a Vietnamese dish unless it has three types of meat in it, as we enjoyed an omelet/pancake hybrid with chicken, prawns and pork.

Mar 2^nd

From My Thó we ventured about 110km south to Can Thó, which the Lonely Planet labels “the epicentre of the Mekong Delta”. Other then the persistence of locals trying to secure our business on “boat trips” the following day, Can Thó didn’t seem to be as vibrant as we hoped and it was definitely a short lived stay. The multitude of tourists here was also another reason that we disliked this town. We enjoyed some of the local Vietnamese beer, Saigon Green, the VB of Vietnam, and called it a night planning to travel to a city on the east coast of Vietnam the following day, hoping we could visit a beach.

Mar 3^rd

The town that was in proximity to the beach was Bạc Liêu. Now, this town was more like what we had in mind when we wanted a town that was untouched by tourists. We stayed at a establishment that on one side was a hotel and on the other was a karaoke bar “Karaoke 168”. We utilised the Lonely Planet to determine the Vietnamese word for hotel and found this relatively new business in an area that seemed to be densely populated by other karaoke businesses. We walked to a local karaoke bar, after a misunderstanding with the karaoke staff in our hotel thinking we wanted to “order” two girls to sing karaoke with us, and watched people sing memorised songs. Interestingly, everyone stopped to look at us and found our attempts to thank them in Vietnamese an opportunity to playfully mock us. It was obvious that they didn’t have much experience with tourists, especially western tourists. We continued to walk around the town, intrigued by the number of lights that draped the city. We came across a number of men that were sitting in front of a convenience store drinking beers and ushered us over to them. We then enjoyed a very animated conversation with these very generous and friendly people that offered us food and drinks, whilst taking photos of us with each member of the group. It was great to be included and really did feel like we were at the heart of Vietnam and were fortunate enough to have enjoyed this opportunity with some very gracious people. We decided we liked Bạc Liêu and decided to stay an extra night affording ourselves the opportunity to go to the beach the following day and try to recover from our reoccuring sunburn.

Mar 4^th

Enthused by the opportunity to visit the beach, we rose and headed in the direction of the beach. We were sorely disappointed. What we had imagined to be a pristine, untouched beach, turned out to be a polluted wasteland that was used as a fishing port. We returned to our hotel feeling very disillusioned and after a visit to a “Mart” that sold clothes and had a supermarket upstairs, we retreated to the hotel with a box of choco pies in hand. We then enjoyed a day of recuperation and dinner in a night market, where, like most establishments, people argued over who would have the difficulty of serving people that couldn’t speak Vietnamese. This marked the point where we decided we would start making our way back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Mar 5^th – A month down

Determined to travel to a town on the other side of Vietnam, Rạch Giá, without retracing any of our previous steps we travelled south. We travelled down some of the quaintest roads that were barely big enough for a single vehicle, this didn’t stop trucks from playing Tetris with our lives! They were truly beautiful riverside roads though, that deserve mention. We continued on until we reached the town that we knew would lead us north to Rạch Giá. Due to a lack of signage, or highly ambiguous signage, we had no real idea if we were going in the correct direction. Poorly calmed by the insistence of locals that we were in fact heading to Rạch Giá, we continued onwards. That said, we were very confused when we arrived at a point that required we board a ferry. Having no idea where the ferry was heading and seeing no mention of Rạch Giá, we adventurously decided to board. We competed to get to the ticket booth to buy our ferry pass and then waited in a caged section that was used to limit the number of motorbikes on each ferry. We were released from the cage and progressed onto a ferry to the delight of the other ferry passengers, whom found it very interesting to see Westerners using this mode of transport. After getting off the ferry we continued onwards until we finally saw a sign indicating a town that we knew was right next to Rạch Giá. We continued on and by some miracle, we stumbled into our desired town. We shook hands and marveled at our day’s accomplishment.

Not only was this a pretty interesting day worthy of report, but this day also marked our first month milestone. We enjoyed a beer to celebrate the day and to celebrate the month. With some reflection, it is amazing how much we have seen and experienced in such a small space of time. It makes me wonder about what is install for the Earthbound Astronauts in the coming months… However, I digress.

Mar 6^th

We continued on our pilgrimage back to Ho Chi Minh City, and intended to stay in the town we stayed in on the first night, My Thó. This day was inevitably one of the largest riding days we had, at roughly 240km, which on Vietnamese roads can take a while. We were traveling as planned and hadn’t run into any directional issues as of yet. We’d been riding for a while, and we were both starting to feel it and were ready to call it a day, yet we hadn’t seen any signs for My Thó for some time. We progressed towards signs indicating towards Ho Chi Minh City, knowing that My Thó was just outside the city. Casey, spotting a “sign” suggested we turn right. We continued down a small road that eventually lead to another ferry. Casey then confessed that the sign was an “unofficial sign”. We backtrack to a hotel on the road right next to the main highway. We neglected the plan to make it to My Thó, willingly as we had already visited the town, and call it a night. Yet, not before enjoying chicken with soup containing chunks of liver.

Mar 7^th

Finally the day had come when we got to return to Ho Chi Minh City and return the motorbikes. We had an amazing time with them, yet our bodies were starting to feel the strain of travelling every day. The roads were extremely busy today, it was mayhem! After a few near misses we were definitely ready to get back and return the bikes from whence they came. Casey was spotted by a policeman travelling in the heavy vehicles lane, and ushered to the side of the road. He was asked for his motorbike papers and license, which of course, he could not procure. The officer then told us that he would have to take the bike, which we could collect and pay a fine. He then went on to say that we could also pay the fine now and drive away. It seemed very much like a bribe, which was definitely confirmed when he offered Casey “50% off”. We paid him one million dong ($50), but gained an experience, our first bribe! We continued into the city, where the Laws of Vietnamese roads (Constructed in a list below) truly came into play. Our experience driving in the city can really be summed up by one statement “these people have no desire to live!”.

We said goodbye to the motorbikes, celebrating that they didn’t claim our lives and reacquainted ourselves with a bakery that had been at the pinnacle of Vietnamese bakeries so far. And that brings us to know. Our bodies are incredibly sore and are in need of numerous days of recovery, but we have gained an amazing experience that money truly can’t pay for. Unless you’re Casey in the heavy vehicle lane...

LAWS OF A VIETNAMESE ROAD*

1. Small gives way to big (Most of the time)

2. If you want to do something illegal, beep. The more you beep the higher the illegality of your actions eg. Going in the opposite direction to traffic requires constant horn work.

3. Stay to the right, unless of course, you don’t want to!

4. Wear a helmet, anything on your head will do…

5. You need to surpass the speed limit if you want to survive.

*Note: Any of these rules are subject to change without notice and may indeed be false.

The Vietnamese roads are not for the faint-hearted or those that value their lives.

Next we are going north.

Keep posted.