Month: December 2015

Sunset boarding on the train to one of our all time favourite cities, Bangkok, where we have been more times than we can count. We had not been for four years and were so full of anticipation that we had trouble sleeping, like children the night before Christmas.

Many people don’t like Bangkok and only see it as a gateway to the islands; it is chaotic, noisy, dirty, smelly, greedy, debauched and absolutely wonderful. We did not care that much for it the first time either, but have grown to love it over the years. There are few cities that provide such sharp contrasts.

You can sip drinks on top of a skyscraper with eternal views one moment (Moon Bar at the Banyan Tree is our favourite)…

…and drink cheap beer on plastic chairs in a cheerful soi just minutes away.

The city is too spread out to be able to determine a proper downtown or central area, but we usually spend a few days around where there are lots of tall buildings, not being faithful to a particular area (Sukhumvit this time).

But we always spend most of the time in the old town, Banglamphu. It is like a village within the city with small markets, temples with chanting monks, children and chickens running around and people’s living rooms dropping out on the streets. All moments away from restaurants and bars, some industrially trendy (is that still trendy btw?) and some with fluorescent lights and plastic chairs (probably more trendy in the anti sense). It just doesn’t get more diverse than that.

We stayed in Bangkok for three weeks and since we were a bit deprived of city life, we spent way too much money on restaurants. There is just too much choice for people like us, with more appetite than sense. Not to mention those breakfast buffets that has ruined not our economy as much as our waistlines.

We also spent a fair amount of time at our favourite bar, fortunately and unfortunately next to a khlong, meaning it’s pretty but mosquito infested. Our favourite Thai restaurant is called Hemlock on Thanon Phra Athit by the way. And we had the best Neapolitan pizza ever at Peppina, with fresh black truffles and taleggio, an unimaginable bloody umami explosion. And yes, we have been to all those famous pizza places in Napoli.

We also had dinner at the stunning, time-capsulated Hotel Atlanta, which has looked pretty much the same since 1954.

When we took time off eating, we looked at pretty buildings. This is the former East Asiatic Company, next to the Oriental hotel where we usually have afternoon tea, which I suppose would be categorised as eating.

We love the Jim Thompson house museum, it must be one one the prettiest houses in SEA, but it can be pretty crowded. Another museum which is almost always empty (is there anything better than an empty museum?) is the Bangkokian museum, a beautiful teak building from the 20’s.

It was inhabited by a doctor and these beautiful old books made my medicine heart somersault, especially the tropical disease one. When I don’t eat, hike and frequent museums I actually spend a lot of time studying tropical diseases.  I’m currently doing a distance masters degree in infectious diseases at The University of Edinburgh, it focuses on international health, including both animals and humans.

We also visited some art galleries, which succeeded in making sense, which is a bit of an accomplishment when it comes to modern art. There is usually an old school TV/video with some incomprehensible “message” standing in a corner, we always compete on who finds it first. I remember one exhibition, I think at the Whitechapel gallery, where the obligatory TV showed mouths flashing by accompanied by the sound of dripping water, no further explanation was given. Stuff like that is difficult for a scientific and logical mind like mine.

Our stay coincided with the highly worshipped and loved king’s birthday, the festivities and celebrations are endless and the biggest holiday of the year. Everyone dresses up in yellow and the amount of lights put up would put the worst Christmas crazed American to shame. I don’t know what day the Swedish king’s birthday is.

 

We left China on a filthy bus, the most and only unpleasant leg of our journey so far. Thus, even more pleasant to arrive 24 hours later in tropical Luang Prabang. We had not been in Laos for 15 whole years and were very happy to be back. There is something so incredibly accessible about South East Asia (SEA); it is efficient and laid back at the same time, everything always seems possible somehow.

Luang Prabang is Laos’ cultural enclave, with a plethora of temples, museums and workshops. Some temples are more serene than…

…others. This dragon beast is obviously there to scare off evil spirits, seemingly a recurrent theme in most religions?

LP had changed so much in the past 15 years, from a sleepy village to a bustling town. It was still equally pretty though, the exploding tourism had been pretty gentle in its expansion, maybe the UNESCO status has helped to maintain its atmosphere.

Our pretty hotel was over 100 years old and had just been beautifully restored to its former glory. Sometimes tourism really helps in the preservation of old buildings and land marks. One thing I don’t get with tourists in SEA though; some kind of mass psychosis makes them wear those terrible flowy elephant clad “ethnic” looking trousers. Can’t someone tell them it’s cultural appropriation or something? I’m not sure it is though, the locals don’t really wear them, but just say anything to make them stop. At the same time, please make white backpackers stop with the dreads and cornrows as well. End of cynical Stockholmian rant.

How on earth did I forget Laotian food was so fantastic? I thought I never forgot a good meal. There were so many good restaurants we ended up staying over a week instead of the planned three days. Everything was so incredibly fragrant with enormous amounts of lemon grass, kaffir lime, mint, banana flowers and other mystical wondrous herbs (no, not the happy kind!).

But the best part of the tropics is to go jungle hiking!!!

I have a serious Dr. Livingstone kind of complex, whatever that is. Hiking in the verdant, thick, steamy jungle is something I just can’t get enough of.

Joen, however, is less enthusiastic. He does love the jungle, but has a severe snake phobia which limits his enjoyment. He kept close to the guide. I normally don’t like to hike with a guide (it takes away the explorer feeling) but in this area it can be difficult to find the paths independently.

Unimaginably blue rivers and banyan trees.

This part of the jungle is more cultured, you come across quiet a lot of people and villages. These people are harvesting rice.

Little piglets break my heart.

The human piglets are rather adorable as well. These cheerful little ones belong to the Khmu tribe.

And these girls belong to the Hmong tribe.

Initially we planned to do a bit of traveling in Laos, but ended up staying only in LP, and briefly in Vientiane on our way south.

One of my favourite things in China are its parks, not because they’re pretty but because of the fabulous people watching. Although parks can be fairly lively in the summertime in Europe, the Chinese just takes it to a whole other level when it comes to park activities.

One of the most popular things is dancing, they do some sort of aerobic/square dance/tai chi hybrid kind of dance in big groups. I get equally excited every time I see it. You can sometimes see it in the streets or on squares as well. Here is a youtube example.

Many people play music. A melancholic musician playing some kind of string instrument.

If you are really lucky (you don’t see this as often) you can see senior citizens performing theatre plays. This lady is putting her make up on, getting ready for the show.

Tadaa! Full costume and make up on, ready to enter the asphalt stage.

Most adorable audience ever.

Another performer singing traditional folk songs (I think).

With her dedicated audience.

I’m not sure I would trust this dapper poker player much, he probably has a trick or two up his sleeve. You can see a lot of people playing cards, mahjong and other games as well as couples dancing (like a Chinese waltz), communal singing, fun fairs, people getting acupuncture and god knows what else. So make sure you have a peek at whichever park if you go to China.

Unwarranted photo of the Chinese Jetson family home.