Slow Boat Activists

A relatively post-dated entry. Our slow boat ride from Chiang Mai to Laos about 1 week back spelt bad news for buttocks – it either makes you wish you had more flesh on them, or it may remind those who had paid for expensive exercise regimes targeting the posterior.


In any case, we thankfully got seats. One miserable family didn't. They ended up dwelling in the engine room amidst a mountain of backpacks. These harsh conditions of rattling eardrums and breathing exhaust fumes are perfect for nurturing activists. And so came along two outstanding younglings no older than 10-years-old, intent on seeking public opinion regarding their plight and the general boat ride experience.


My picture here shows the interim collation but the results are predictably heartening. Majority of the 100+ passengers voted against a recurring experience, and indeed nobody was crazy enough to want to sit in the engine room. But still, we're just tourists. I shudder to think of illegal immigrants all packed up in the suffocating hulls of benign-looking ships, dreaming of a better life in foreign lands provided they survive the trip in intact health, and manage to find a non-exploitative job upon arrival. Maybe that's what my grandparents were thinking of when they migrated to Singapore...

Whimsical Qualities

It's only after travelling with my wife for a while did I realize a strange habit of hers. She keeps leftovers in her daypack, even the expired Khong Guan biscuits that we accidentally bought in Pak Beng. This continued for a few baffling and tormenting days (my issue over freshness) before the truth dawned upon me. She uses them to feed creatures big and small we meet! Thus animal-feeding has somehow integrated itself as a component of our travels. And I'm sure the pigs and ducks in these pictures don't mind expired food. We certainly don't.

Fairtrek Cobras in Laos

Just 3 days ago, we got ourselves a trekking trip around Luang Prabang (Laos) from Fairtrek. It’s a little more expensive, but just a little step further for our tourist dollar injection going to a better cause than another rich man’s pocket. Don’t believe the Lao locals when they claim a trek is a “short” one. Like our Hmong guide who lived in the mountains before seeking higher education in the city, the trek’s like a walk in the park for Guy (not sure how to spell his name). And we had some great conversations with him! And that’s a picture of him happily strumming away at his creaky Hmong string instrument, and us witnessing cock-fighting.




Some interesting things we learnt. A Singaporean encountering a cobra will shriek and runaway; In contrast, a Laotian encountering a cobra will shout for joy over his lucky day, kill the cobra and ask friends over for a meal of snake meat. Next, we learnt that the Laos government outlawed the growing of opium as a cash crop based on moral grounds. While that caused many farmers’ incomes to plunge (like that of Guys’ parents), drugs still find its way easily through the borders with Cambodia or Thailand. Would then legalizing opium-growing be a lesser of two evils given how black market drugs may still devastate youth in such a country?




And a mind-boggling observation bugged me – why are so many villagers spending so much time collecting plant stalks to weave broomsticks, when only one sells for S$0.60? Feels almost like broomstick exports comprise 25% of Laos’ GDP. Though gleaning some insight off Guy, prosperity does hinge much on the availability of opportunities. If broom-making is the only viable skill that these villagers have acquired, there’s indeed much space here for social enterprise to make an impact.

Slow Boat To Laos

And so we decided to take this slow boat ride into Laos. The advice from Lonely Planet wasn’t far off – indeed humans get treated like hapless cattle on occasions. Our boat (over)brimmed with mostly backpackers like us, and the operators seem to hold the belief that all of us knew what’s happening, so instructions aren’t necessary. Even what time the boat will leave. It gets tragic for some travelers who aren’t conversant in English as people start bouncing updates off each other.

The boat made a pitstop in the middle of nowhere. Small kids from a distant village then came racing by with snacks and drinks, shuttling with heavy bottles of over-priced Beer Lao to feed the alcoholic habits of the frat-party-like backpackers in our midst. It gets a bit heart-wrenching. Thoughts fly – do these kids get to attend school and why are they here selling beer? Where are their parents? What opportunities lie for them ahead?

Linda (a Thai we befriended and who’s working in Singapore) shared with us during dinner that the people in Lao are much poorer than those in Thailand, and the outward syndrome of “greed” stems primarily from the lack of opportunities in Laos. A structural and systemic problem indeed. So who’s to blame the kid for (presumably) skipping school and sell Beer Lao to touristy farangs? If I were that kid, I might just run a bit faster to reach that farang waving that fat dollar in the air. That could possibly mean a difference in whether my household gets any electricity that week.

Gibbons in Boiling Hot Soup

Given our patchy access to Internet, updates to our travel blog are likely to be more on a post-dated basis than for whatever happened today. Anyway we survived Flight Of The Gibbons a few days back! It’s much safer than we thought – the insane notion of flying around using zip-lines at the near-canopy level of the forest. Go google about it if you’re keen, with some of our pics posted on Facebook here.


Our nice driver who also happens to be a Christian, later brought us to a nearby hot springs to soak the weariness away, with a mysterious alchemic post-effect – our wedding bands minted in silver turned gold. And strangely it regained its silvery appearance a few hours later in the van. Either the hot spring waters had some interesting chemical composition that flirted with our rings, or our jeweler sold us fake stainless steel ones.

Then our 2 nice Japanese friends (the Yamaguchis) from the Gibbons gig scooted by the hot springs to join us! Apparently the practice of cooking in eggs the hot springs is a norm in Japan (and for Thailand), so we had great fun watching the eggs boil away for a small egg party thereafter.

Motorcycle Diaries

We got our motorcycle licenses yesterday! And while the bike-riding of yesterday reeked of intoxicating exhaust fumes from the legendary Thailand traffic, traversing through the countryside today reminded us of scenes ripped right off some Japanese anime – a young couple clinging on dearly to each other and the their small motorbike, zipping through the freezing forest floor, dust particles swatting their numb faces, small jungle animals peeking out from all corners. And as usual we got lost. Had to ask the locals for directions back to Chiangmai whilst the Fahrenheit dipped, the fingers were numb after gripping the throttle in the icy blast, and the sour-pork rice during a pit-stop dinner didn’t help cheer our spirits. In any case, our biking explorations only allowed us enough time to visit a tucked-away waterfall, as we glanced past other attractions that were closed by the evening. And well, the motorbike license part is not true – they don’t check at all when you hire one. Sharon already knew how to ride a bike, and Willy evidently just learnt today. We got a smallish bike with a low cc, didn't go too fast and with God's grace, that has kept us safe so far. :)

Off To A Flying Start

Welcome to the blog of our (mis)adventures throughout parts of the world! For who prayed for us, attended our wedding and loved us – Thank You! We really appreciate your continual prayers for our safety during our sojourns.

Our families and close friends sent us off at the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station earlier on Monday night. And Willy’s bag was as usual heavier than Sharon’s, even though it looked smaller. ;)

Map of Trans-Siberian Railway & Connecting Routes


Many had asked about our route and so here goes: Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (SGP) - Chiangmai (Thailand), Vientiane/Vang Vieng (Laos) - China (not sure where but certainly Beijing) - Vladivostok/Irkutsk/Moscow/St. Petersburg (Russia Trans-Siberian). We plan to thereafter traverse Eastern Europe and Eastern Africa after suffering through the intense Siberian winter, but we'll see how along the way. The objective is to keep the trip flexible, unpredictable, and possibly full of (mis)adventures. And yes, keeping ourselves safe and sane at the same time.

Praise God, we also experienced the first miracle on our overnighter train to Kuala Lumpur, trying to catch the flight to Chiangmai at the LCCT. The arrival time of the KTMB train at KL was crap. And just as we mused about ditching the flight and exploring alternatives, Willy turned on his phone and received a msg about the flight being delayed by 1.5hrs. Rocks!

Passengers evacuating the Culprit

And if you thought we caught the Airasia flight happily....think again. AK896 was a mishap with fortunately, zero casualties. The captain announced the riveting news of a plane technical error just as the flight attendant wafted past with food that actually smelled decent. We were flown back to KL (I think some passengers were in jitters) and transferred to another aircraft that warbled with happy noises during takeoff. But thank God, the fact that we can blog now from Chiangmai about the non-freezing weather meant that flight went pretty smooth.

Somehow our minds are now gravitating more towards the adventure-friendly countryside of Vang Vieng (Laos) so we might ditch Chiangmai earlier than expected. :)