Pilgrim Break

Sorry for the lack of news. I will try to write articles about Japan ASAP. I am now in New Delhi and we fly tomorrow to Srinagar.

See you then!

Here are the very few pictures that I took in Cambodia. We just spent 5 days in that country so it was a bit tight. Anyway enjoy!

2 days in Siem Reap (to see Angkor's temples), transfer to Phnom Penh and then 2 days in the capital of Cambodia. Yes.

 

Market in Siem Reap

 

Shoes shop

 

Street fish spa - they were big, so you could really feel their teeth on your skin - interesting sensation anyway!

 

Lots of popular, cheap and delicious street eateries in Siem Reap

 

Party mode: ON at Angkor What? bar

 

What happened for this photo to happen:
- we played snooker with Laura in the bar mentionned above
- drinked 2 buckets of vodka-something
- danced awkwardly to the 'fabulous' music
- Laura went back home, I continued playing for a while with 2 Cambodian guys
- I sort of met some Korean people
- I went back 'home' by bicycle but did not really find where it was, instead I found this bar where I met the guy in the picture above

 

I was the only non Cambodian guy in this bar, the music was only local love songs and everyone knew the lyrics (200 people that is)

 

yay!!

 

OK this is Angkor Wat the morning after, seen from the point of view of a hangover photographer so please... ouch... less light please... less noise please... ouch...

 

Patterns

 

...

 

...

 

wops... I think he saw me...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off road to avoid the buses of tourists (of people like me that is)

 

Interesting places to find off the beaten track

 

Walls and moss

 

Hi there, howya doin'?

 

Trees are coming back

 

Trees and stones

 

Restoration going on

 

Heads and gate

 

Swamps

 

Butterflies playing in the shadow of the gate (sounds like a horrible fantasy book title...)

 

Back to the civilization... one of the great advantages of riding a bicycle is that you're not asked if you want a tuktuk ride every 3 minutes

 

Shrine and trees

 

aww...

 

Maintaining the smile

 

True in strange colors

 

Just an elephant and its driver

 

And this marks the end of our trip in Cambodia which lasted around 4 days. Very short time but very enjoyable. The Cambodian people were very friendly, open and very happy, it was always with great joy to talk with them. 

We spent a last night in Phnom Penh to "celebrate" our separation with Laura and Elsa that were about to coming back to France. We spent the night at Pontoon Club - quite a crazy night if I remember well!

 

Next adventure: JAPAN!!!

And here are the pictures of Laos! Sorry for the lack of updates but the month in Japan has been so dense that I did not take the time to write anything new. Anyway here are the few pictures I took in Laos - I have been really in a sort of no photos land during 1 month, so there were very few to choose from.

Basically, we went from the North-East of Laos (Sam Neua) toLuang Prabang, then to Vang Vieng, then to Ventiane, then to the 4 thousands Islands in the South close to the Cambodian border.

 

Just before starting with Laos, a cock fight in the streets, Vietnam

 

Now is the very first picture taken in Laos. After the 18 hours trip from Vietnam to Sam Neua we found a hotel, went to eat, slept, took breakfast and met the belgian girl playing snooker in the picture. We wanted to go visit the Viengxay caves but it did not work with the driver, so we just went for a pub crawl in Sam Neua.

 

Going back to the hotel, half drunk.

 

Evening light

 

haha hoho!

 

20 minutes later, we get back to a place I thought was a karaoke - it actually was a wedding party going on since 2 days... they invited us very warmly to share their enthusiasm, and numerous beers...

 

New friends

 

ergfhhh...
It was hard to leave the patry as everybody wanted us to take a "last shot" before going... and with almost as much beer on our clothes than in our stomachs

 

The morning after, we take a bus from Sam Neua to Luang Prabang - should take around 15 hours or something

 

Misty light in mountain roads

 

13 hours later...

 

Temple in Luang Prabang after we found a delicious french bakery - nice to have some really good croissants in the morning !

 

Gorgeous Buddhist temple, Wat Xieng Thong considered as the most beautiful in Laos

 

Side decorations

 

Golden pattern

 

A good compressor is always needed in a Buddhist temple

 

Little shrine

 

Buddha

 

Another temple

 

The stairs to Phu Si hill

 

Stunning view on the town and province

 

They also have flowers up there

 

Boats on the Mekong river

 

Hours later

 

Coming back from the restaurant, on the other side of the river

 

More

 

Vertimore

 

The day after we went to Kuang Si waterfalls. Laura and Elsa wanted to go by motorbike and me by bicycle so I rented a bike and we met there. Very nice 26 km ride up to this gorgeous place...

 

awww...

 

Let's swim here!

 

Going back - the sky is all hazy because of the farmers burning fields - it almost snows ashes sometimes

 

The "Ladronnettes" are back too! woohoo!!!

 

Picture taken on the way from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, by kayak (for a part) - I did not take any pictures in Vang Vieng

 

Tuk tuk ride with locals to reach Ventiane

 

Party time in Ventiane - we will end up drinking cocktails (many) and going to a club and party rather hard...

 

Hangover and lazy riverside in Ventiane

 

Now in 4 thousands islands just chilling for a few days

 

Plus, they have excellent local herbs here...

 

Just doing nothing - everything is slow here

 

yup

 

We decided to go for a kayak trip however

 

Nice place for a picnic, really close to the Cambodian border after observing fresh water dolphins

 

Big waterfalls woohooo!

 

And already leaving this paradise place after 3 days of coolness - now we head to Cambodia. See you there!

 

 

 

We decided to spend only one week in Vietnam to have more time in Laos. The following pictures have been taken in Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa mountains in the North. We went for 2 all-inclusive tours as it was more simple to organize. I did not take that many pictures however.

 

Hanoi motorbike long exposure

 

Halong bay cruise reflections

 

Racing boats in Halong Bay

 

Smoking on the deck

 

Our new friends for 2 days

 

Flashy cave (Thien Cung) - "You have 2 minutes to take pictures here, ok? ok."

 

Incredible structures non-the-less

 

Electric blue

 

Underground panoramic

 

Dumb and dumbers in the cave

 

Getting back to the boats

 

After a short kayak session, floating fruit shops with delicious fruits! Lot of floating houses around.

 

Back on the boat

 

Karaoke evening with the crew

 

Our guide singing

 

One of the crew members

 

Example of the songs I have tried to sing phonetically... instant failure but lot of fun!

 

The day after we stay on Cat Ba island and go for a short walk in the mud and wet forest - here is the very secure 40m high platform.
Nothing to see around, the fog is too dense, but that walk was really fun and muddy.

 

Halong Bay

 

Ship head

 

Low perspective on the deck after a night of tasting cocktails on Cat Ba

 

Elsa preparing the trip to Lao

 

Waiting for the night train to Sapa in the North of the country for 2 days in a traditional home stay

 

Our room in the train

 

Côté couloir

 

@ Sapa Summit Hotel, waiting for our guide to call us

 

Ah here she is on the left with young girls walking with us

 

Our "guides"

 

The group, ready to go to the villages

 

Sapa View Hotel. Foggy that is.

 

Giant bamboo forest on the way

 

yayy!

 

Short break

 

The only moment where we could see something

 

Remote villages - as soon as we reached the village all the little girls tried to sell us something, it's part of the trip, they help you walk and do the conversation, and you buy a little something. I got a jaw harp.

 

Finally arrived at the guest house, talking next to the fireplace

 

The best french fries ever, with salt and garlic

 

Self-reflecto-twisted-mirror

 

Our guest preparing the dinner

 

Neighboors passing by

 

Kutsushita check OK - the dinner was really delicious and the rice alcohol was also quite good and helped us sleep in a very fresh air

 

The morning after, kids playing knucklebones

 

Kids playing

 

ehhh?

 

ohahhhh

 

Colorful morning

 

Getting back to the civilization

 

Te, our guide

 

Back in the mist

 

Beautiful mother and baby

 

Mysterious walk

 

More mist

 

Plastic shoes people

 

Local school

 

Happiness. Kids playing shifumi to decide who's gonna carry who :)

 

The other side

 

The other side, part II

 

The last supper with our group - lovely people!

 

In Hanoi, breakfast in a nice café

 

Drawing on the table

 

Saint-Joseph Cathedral seen from the café

 

Next step: Lao! We took a train from Hanoi to Thanh Hoa - very interesting experience! We almost did not see the stop in the town, fortunately Laura saw it just in time. It was quite a struggle to get out of the train however with everybody rushing in while we were trying to get out...

 

Dusty window + extreme filter

 

Welcome in Thanh Hoa + extreme filter II.
We plan only to stay one night in this town and to take a bus the morning after.

 

Trying to find accommodation - not a single tourist around, everybody looks at us + extreme filter III.
We find a nice hotel where I negociate the price with the owner in German. #wtf

 

The morning after in the bus that brings us from Thanh Hoa to Xam Neua in Laos - you can not negociate and we pay twice the price of local people...

 

Slight problem with one of our wheels

 

Last picture in Vietnam

 

Next step: Laos!

 

For our last week in the Philippines, we decided to go to Palawan Island. We took a plane from Manila to Puerto Princesa just after the Merapi hike. And it goes like this:

 

In Puerto Princesa, karaoke or girls for hire, hard to tell...

 

Blurry girls

 

A little bit later, in a reggae bar, homemade shade and local cocktails...

 

We took a very early bus to El Nido after the numerous shots at the reggae bar... hangover in a minibus driving fast on dirt tracks with a cock singing inside a box next to you is quite an experience

 

But well, look at that!

 

Amazing scenery

 

Walk for 30 minutes and see no other tourist. Yummy!

 

...

 

OK let's stay there the whole afternoon

 

arhhhrrhhrhrrrr !

 

Sunset on El Nido

 

Very calm dusk

 

The next morning

 

Nice bay

 

Kids playing

 

ok...

 

...

 

The best curry vegetables ever on this marvelous beach - for less than 2 euros

 

Let's make a nap

 

yeah sounds good to me...

 

Shadow play

 

Sun setting down

 

Magazine cover stars

 

Girlsssssss!

 

Simply friendship

 

ouh yeah bis!

 

Youhouoah

 

Dinner in the streets of El Nido

 

Stars are my friends

 

Kayak session

 

Laura

 

Playing with the white balance

 

The day after we went visiting the longest underground river in the Philippines in Sabang

 

Parking lot

 

The entrance

 

Mighty tree

 

BIS

 

Getting deep

 

Some of the rooms are amazingly high - the atmosphere is truly something in here

 

Reaching the exit

 

De guchi

 

​After this trip to Sabang we went back to Puerto Princesa to take a plane to Manila, then take another plane to Hanoi - Vietnam. Next article to follow sometime!