Taupo, December 30

"With these things there's no telling,

We'll just have to wait and see,

But I'd rather be working for a paycheck,

Than waiting to win the lottery..."

-Bright Eyes

Said goodbye to Kevin and the family and bussed in the rain to Taupo, adventure capitol of New Zealand (actually, I made that up, but there sure are a lot of outdoor sports available here -if you call jet boating a sport). Hiked up to Huka Falls and had a bathe in the geothermal hotsprings. Taupo appears to be a tourist town by a lake, but done well instead of tacky. They have made impressive investments in public and private infrastructure to make this place attractive to visitors and locals: extensive greening of streets, innovative lamp standards and benches, beautiful public garbage bins (and recycling!), pavers, no chain-link fencing, structures kept in good nick, etc. If only Canadian towns of 35,000 looked this good!

Napier, December 27-29

"I ran aground in a harbour town,

and lost the taste for being free,

Thank God he sent some gull-chased ship,

to carry me to sea..."

-Bruce Cockburn

The festivities continue. More eating and socialising with outgoing/laid-back Kiwis. I may be recovering from the food-poisoning weight loss in Thailand. Spent a lovely day out on the boat with the relies (yes, that's me in a full wet suit -I am now confident that I can scuba in West Coast waters. This water was freezing cold buy I was toasty). The guys got lobster and sea urchin (the former tasty, the latter, not so). Then we fished, catching a dog fish and an eel -not eating fare.

Today was wine tasting day, and I picked up some nice locals for Kevin and Paula to enjoy (I can only carry 2 max). The highlight of the day was a lovely Malbec that they said tasted of "toasted Christmas cake"! It did.

New Zealand (Napier), December 23-26

"Four seasons in one day,
Lying in the depths of your imagination"

-Crowded House



Ahh, Christmas in the southern hemisphere. Sweet as. My parting gift from Bangkok was being shortchanged by a cab driver (are cabbies ever honest?!), and flew to Hong Kong, then Auckland, then Napier where I was pleased to se Kevin again. In good Kiwi style we headed straight to the workingman's club for some local brews and the meeting of countless friendly Kiwis.

Christmas in New Zealand featured many of the traditions and rituals from home with some delightfully notable exceptions: i) X-mas Day contains two full-on meals: lunch (turkey, ham, BBQ salmon and trimmings) and dinner (mostly same); ii) swimming in an outdoor pool, plus cricket with the kids, iii) numerous toasts and speeches. Met lots of great people, whose names I have already forgotten. No surprise there. I even pulled in some nice gifts of local wine, which, incidentally, is excellent.

Weather is clear and temperate today, just how I like it in winter.

Bangkok, December 21-22

"One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble,

Not much between despair and ecstasy"

-Murray Head

Back in the City of Light and happy to be here. Some of my fellow travellers despise Bangkok, but once you get away from the backpacker places, it's a breathtaking city (in more ways than one). I splashed out on a boutique hotel in the Silom Road area which is pleasant while still lively (less punters and more high end hotels and locals). The hotel is a sleek, compact affair with just the right touches of good taste: lots of white plaster walls and real wood furnishings, a sunflower over a wooden bathtub, a hip little hotel bar, and dance music playing softly in the halls. Dance music? It eventually became apparent that I am staying in a place favoured by gay travellers: the good taste, the dance music in the halls, the gay staff, and the men's guide to Bangkok in the room! All this for about $120 a night (including a nice breakfast).

It was also a good choice location wise, as I planned to visit the Dome, an outdoor rooftop restaurant where I had an exceptional meal and service (visiting a restaurant alone, one relies on more heavily the service to make the experience). I started with a Southeast Asian Martini (a blend of gin, lychee liqueur, ginger and kaffir lime) and squid cakes in sweet chili sauce (yay, finally felt safe eating squid!). The had spicy Thai morning glory and Bresse chicken in lemon sauce. As my Aussie companions would say: so good.

OK, now I'm off to Auckland for the next stage of the adventure. Happy Christmas to all!

PS: the sidebar pics include some of the Thai-glish that I love to capture: the first one is the info booklet in my hotel (it's a fancy way of saying "six" channels) and the latter was a SkyTrain platform advert (I would have visited but was concerned that they were not specialized enough...)

Vientienne to Bangkok, December 20 to 21

The trip from Vang Vieng to Vientiane (Laos' capitol) was the coolest mode of transport I have yet taken: kayak! Admittedly, we left VV by truck, and arrived in Vientiane by truck, but for part of the journey we kayaked. And not wimpy, slow water kayaking but helmet-requiring rapids too! The guide took my glasses from me during one difficult rapid stretch, which I was thankful for as we tipped into the river and had to rescue another kayak er who was stranded on a rock. After lunch, my guide asked to borrow my lifejacket and returned my glasses. Of course, this pretty much meant that my kayak would tip! (I blame the lousy balancing of the other guide who shared it with me!). I was pushed under the water and quickly realized that the current was holding me under. I was thankful for my dive course instructor's words: stop, think and resolve the problem. I surfaced to discover that my glasses were still on.

The truck broke down on the way into town, thus ensuring that I got a full compliment of true Laos experiences. Had a nice dinner with my travel mates down by the river. Although they snickered at my insistence on seeing the kitchen where the food was to be prepared, I was especially thankful later on when another guest in my hotel began vomiting loudly about 4 a.m.!

Here's the stretch of river that tipped me into the water. Hope there's no river worms breeding in my brain now...

Vang Vieng, December 19

Well, this place has won me over. Kinda. As a fellow traveller commented, it's a bit like a frat party (attended by the banana pancake crowd). But some beautiful scenery and there are some good people around.

I rented a mountain bike and headed off through the rice fields to the hills to take in the landscape. And got a good traditional Laos massage. Met up with some Aussies from my minibus and have strengthened my resolve to visit that country to do diving, surfing and city exploration.

I had planned to do the rite-of-passage tubing thing today but several of my companions got food poisoned last night (having seen the kitchen on my way to the toilet it was really no wonder). I was lucky to escape unscathed and have reverted to my fallback diet: vegetarian only, high heat meals. This means pizza and soup, but it's only a few days.

PS: read the news online about the fiscally irresponsible Conservatives. I now have 30 billion new reasons to hate that man. As if the origonal reasons weren't enough!

Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, December 15-18

"For it's stupid to laugh and it's useless to bawl,

About a rusty tin can and an old hurley ball..."

-The Pogues

Well, the above quote was inspired by my biking experience in Luang Prabang -long story short, my rented bike was stolen while I perused the most gruesome images of Buddhist purgatory (who knew?!) in a Wat. I hope there's karmic justice for the thief. The mistake of not locking it up cost me $70, so I can't complain too much.

I took a kayak trip along the Ou River which was spectacular. And a cooking class on Laos food that included a trip to the market to learn about ingredients. Laos people are proud and knowledgeable about their culture, including food.

I also watched the monks collecting alms one early morning. The disappointing part was the other tourists who, despite numerous explanatory posters around town, obstructed the entire ceremony with photography (including flashes). One guy I met was so peeved about a tourist's behaviour that he rushed up to one and took his photograph!

Had a lovely dinner out with my companions at a festively-lit garden style restaurant where we had a Lao style BBQ. This consists of a large clay pot filled with coals, over which sits an urn that contains both broth (for hotpot) and a grill (for BBQ). Delicious and fun!

And then onward to Vang Vieng, one of the strangest places in Asia (and that's saying something). It's like a cross between a North American rec room (with regard to bad taste and the ubiquity of television), a derelict bar district, and Khao San Road in Bangkok (loud, loutish expats). Of course Asia influenced (surprisingly calm locals wait patiently for drunken guys to get off the roof of their truck, locals still smile at me). I'll reserve judgement on this place until I have had a few more days here.