Noël sur le Mekong

Quand j'ai écrit à ma mère qu'on allait passer Noël sur le Mekong (lien vers les photos), je ne croyais pas si bien dire. On a pris un bateau de Huay Xai à Luang Prabang, deux jours de croisière sur le Mekong avec un arrêt pour dormir à Pak Beng. Attendez... Il fallait voir le bateau, une barque longue et étroite avec des bancs en bois, remplie à capacité. Première journée, six heures de descente, paysages magnifiques. Le 24 au soir, on a très bien mangé à Pak Beng, un petit village tout en longueur. Le matin de Noël, lever à 7 h. A 7 h 30, on est dans un petit resto - en fait une plateforme avec un toit - pour le déjeuner : crêpes, oeufs, pain baguette (les Français ont laissé la recette avec du fromage Vache qui rit et la pétanque - petang en laotien - avant d'accorder l'indépendance au Laos), et ont se fait faire des sandwichs pour la journée qui s'en vient. A 9 h, embarquement. On se met finalement en route à 10 h pour une journée de 9 h de bateau, assis sur une planche. Il y avait moins d'espace que dans un autobus scolaire.
En cours de route, ça n'a pas empeché le capitaine d'arrêter sur la berge de plusieurs villages pour prendre quelques passagers de plus et mettre de grands paniers de bambou remplis de poules, coqs, canards et dindes sur le toit du bateau. Nous supposions qu'ils étaient destinés au souper de Noël de Luang Prabang et qu'ils seraient farcis et grillés dans quelques heures.
Beaux paysages encore, la forêt vierge - ou presque - tout le long du parcours, mais à la fin du deuxième jour on prenait pas mal moins de photos. On commençait à avoir hâte d'arriver parce qu'on avait déjà commencé à avoir faim, les sandwichs étaient mangés depuis longtemps. Et c'est à ce moment que le moteur a lâché. La boite de vitesse si vous voulez tout savoir. Le silence impérieux du moteur était accompagné du silence stupéfait des voyageurs. Le bateau dérivait, emporté par le puissant courant du Mekong, et se dirigeait vers des rochers acérés avec une centaine de personnes à bord et non moins de poules, coqs, dindes et canards sur le toit qui, eux, ne s'étaient aperçus de rien. Heureusement, nos marins d'eau douce ont réagi rapidement et seulement avec le gouvernail et un rame, ils ont réussi à sortir le bateau du courant pour le laisser dériver doucement plus près du rivage. Un pêcheur s'est approché rapidement en canot, on lui a lancé une corde qu'il a attachée à un rocher. Le bateau a glissé tranquillement jusqu'au bord, nous étions sains et sauves.

J'ai aperçu notre capitaine, debout sur les rochers avec son téléphone cellulaire. Il avait enlevé son pantalon pour sauter à l'eau et tirer le bateau. J'ai dit à Patricia "Passe-moi la caméra, notre capitaine est en petites culottes". Spontanément, Julien a levé les bras au ciel et a crié : "Capitaine Bobettes!" Ce qui nous a fait éclater de rire avec quelques Français. Le telepone ne fonctionait pas et le capitaine est parti en canot avec le pecheur, sans rien dire, laissant les passagers pour le moins perplexes. Une anglaise a dit : "Well I guess that's what they mean when they say We're all i the same boat". Un Canadien de Nouvelle-Ecosse s'est exclamé : "I feel like I'm in Survivor!" ce qui a détendu l'atmosphere pour ceux qui ont le sens de l'humour et qui connaissent la série télévisée. Les autres riaient jaune.

Une passagère, une Laotienne chiquement habillée à l'occidentale, a servi d'interprète (elle parlait aussi bien le français et l'anglais que le laotien). Elle a dit qu'il allait chercher un autre bateau à Luang Prabang et qu'il serait de retour dans 1 h 30. Il était 17 h 10. Comme je disais à Julien qu'on devrait faire un feu parce qu'il allait bientôt faire noir (c'est plus facile de ramasser du bois quand il fait clair, surtout quand il faut s'assurer qu'il n'y a pas de scorpion caché sous la branche), j'ai vu que d'autres s'y mettaient déjà, un peu plus loin sur une plage. Nous sommes allés les rejoindre pour donner un coup de mains. L'enthousiasme contagieux de Julien faisait rire toute le monde.
La nuit est tombée a 18 h 15. Quelques-uns ont essayé d'entonner des chansons de Noël mais ça n'a pas pris. Tout le monde était calme, mais on commençait à avoir bien faim. Il y avait de la bière et des chips à vendre à bord, mais j'attendais de voir ce qui se passerait. Certains avaient entendu dire que le bateau arriverait avec de la nourriture. Vers 19 h 30, un petit bateau est arrivé. Nous étions auprès du feu, à environ 50 mètres plus bas sur la grève. Une fille (une Belge flamande) est venue et a annoncé : "On passe la nuit ici, ils ne peuvent pas naviguer dans le noir". On s'en doutait bien, mais personne n'avait osé rien dire. Il n'y a pas d'éclairage sur les bateaux et aucune balise le long du Mekong malgré un fort courant et de nombreux récifs sur une rivière qui serpente. Julien était ravi, les autres se sont résignés.

Pour souper, ils nous ont donné des nouilles instantanées (style Ramen). Julien a eu un paquet pour lui mais Patricia, Evelyne, Noemi et moi avons partager deux paquets avec un couple de Lillois. Sur le coup, on s'est dit que c'etait vraiment "cheap". Mais ils n'auraient pas pu apporter autre chose rapidement. Faire livrer de la pizza à cent personnes à une heure de bateau de Luang Prabang? Même trouver des nouilles pour tout le monde était impossible. Le capitaine avait aussi apporté de la bière, pensant profiter de la situation pour faire un peu d'argent. Il a failli y avoir une mutinerie à bord! Mais, reprenant notre calme, nous nous sommes emparés de la bière sans gêne et sans équivoque et nous nous la somme partagée (il y en avait moins qu'une par personne). Tout le monde parlait de la volaille qui jacassait sur le toit. On pourrait se cotiser et en acheter aux paysans? Mais qui les égorgerait, les plumerait, les evicérerait? Comme on se "mettait a table", Julien a repéré un petit scorpion qui s'amenait tranquilement près du pied de Patricia! Un brave l'a pris avec une branche et l'a jeté au feu.
C'est dans ce contexte que nous nous sommes demandés s'il ne vallait pas mieux dormir sur le bateau. Mais non. Ca avait l'air d'un bateau de refugiés, ça puait, ça jacassait. Nous avons donc sorti nos sacs de couchage et nous avons dormi sur les berges du Mekong, autour du feu de camp.

Le lendemain un bateau est arrivé je ne sais plus à quelle heure. Ils ont attaché les deux bateaux cote à cote et nous avons rembarqué. On a mis deux bonnes heures avant d'arriver, affamés! Priorité numéro un, trouver un resto pour se payer un vrai déjeuner de Noël avec jus de fruit frais, crêpes, salade de fruit et un extraordinaire café laotien.
(Luang Prabang est, en passant, une petite ville absolument ravissante classée au patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO).

Monks and Mountains

After Kanchanaburi, we took a night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (this was part of our comparative night train study: for comfort, Thai trains definitely take the prize, but they don't come anywhere near Indian trains for food and general entertainment!) Chiang Mai is a relatively small, very pleasant town in the north of Thailand, full of temples, surrounded by a square moat and beyond that, mountains. All of these temples means of course many monks, all walking about the town in their bright orange robes, usually in groups, or hanging out at the Wat (temple). What really intrigues me is that they are often very young, in their twenties, but sometimes even as young as 10! So one day, we went to a temple where they had Monk Chat:
J-F went in the morning and the girls and I in the afternoon. We spent at least two hours chatting with a couple of monks who, much to our surprise, had a great sense of humour!
Another highlight of this part of our trip was a three day trek (well the tour agencies all refer to it as trek, it makes you feel adventurous, but you could just call it a hike) an hour outside of Chiang Mai, which included a short elephant ride (kind of like a pony ride but higher up!), whitewater rafting and bamboo rafting. Of course all of these activities were fun, but what I really enjoyed was being in the middle of a bamboo forest, so lush and exotic, and the feeling that we were truly isolated from civilization (even though there was probably a road we couldn't see a few kms away)! We slept in bamboo huts with thatched banana leaf roofs, near a hilltribe village (with a fire literally inside the hut!, I can tell you now that we're back alive), in fact, we froze, it got so darn cold. The hiking was a real challenge, mostly up the first day, mostly down the second, and mostly in pain on the third! Julien hiked the whole way without a single complaint since our guide gave him his handmade slingshot and he happily fired berries at the trees the whole way. In fact, I was quite fascinated by these guides, they could make anything out of bamboo, and hiked way faster than us, with seemingly no effort and no specialized equipment- meanwhile we're all huffing and puffing in our fancy hiking shoes.
We were quite sore when we got back, so of course we "had" to treat ourselves to a massage the next day. A rough way to end 2008!

Bridge Over the River Kwai

After one day in Bangkok, we took a day train to a village called Kanchanaburi, which is on the River Kwai. Now you history buffs should recognize the name, and for the others (like me, who has no memory for history, or much else for that matter – in fact, I'm writing this blog so I can remember what I visited when I come back!) here is a short description: This is the area where the Japanese forced thousands of P.O.W.s to build a train track during the second world war – the terrain between Thailand and Burma is extremely difficult : the prisoners had no equipment and basically had to lay track through the mountainous jungle with their bare hands, and a few chisels. They were mistreated, underfed, disease was rampant and the living conditions were atrocious. Sixteen thousand people died over the span of about three years, and the prisoners themselves built cemeteries all along the railroad. After the war, the remains were repatriated to Kanchanaburi in two large cemeteries, one of which we visited. There is a famous movie called the Bridge Over the River Kwai, and the now famous bridge is also in this village. It was bombed and destroyed by the allies in 1945, but was subsequently rebuilt. We walked over it : it's not such an amazing structure in itself, but this part of history, I will certainly remember!

Sun, Sand, and (no) Snow - sorry, couldn't resist!

As you can see from the photos, we made it to the beach in Thailand (it's all part of a very scientific comparative beach study, although we haven't received any funding yet!) We decided to take a night train from Bangkok since it was cheap and would get us to Ko Phi Phi by noon the next day. It's called a V.I.P. bus. which means that you get (overly excessive) air conditioning and a (somewhat) reclining seat. And other tourists who drink all night and decide to tell their life stories to each other until long after midnight. And what they don't tell you is that at 6 o'clock in the morning you get tossed off the bus on the side of the road (i.e.waiting terminal) where you wait around for two hours until a mini-van takes you to the ferry terminal to get the boat. I vowed I would never take the bus again.
Ko Phi Phi is an absolutely beautiful island off the west coast of southern Thailand. The middle is white sand beaches lined with the requisite palm trees, both ends are rock cliff formations jutting out of the jade coloured water, topped with lush greenery. The water was warm and the weather was fantastic, as it has been basically for the past five months (I've noticed that in these countries, people never talk about the weather, I guess because it's always nice! except when it's the rainy season, and then it rains all the time!) So, back to Ko Phi Phi: we were quite surprised to discover that food and accomadation were so expensive (almost double what we were paying in Bangkok!). And it's very touristy: shops everywhere, bikinis galore, sunglasses, bars, cafes, and an infinite variety of boat tours, diving, snorkelling... all geared towards twenty year olds on winter holidays who want to party!! Now it's not that I don't like to have fun, but it wasn't the quiet beach we had expected. And even Long Beach (for those who have been there before), is completely developed with high end bungalows all along the beach.
Ko Phi Phi was hit by the Tsunami quite badly, and hundreds of people died. In fact there seems to be a lot of rubble around that I suspect are remnants of the disaster. Near the beach there was a small memorial set up by families of the victims, with photos and messages. We also spoke to several residents about their experience, the lady who rented us our rooms told me her sons had moved to their grandmother's village (on the mainland) and were too afraid to move back. Although of couse I had seen it on the news, it seems so much more real you when you are sitting in the exact spot where people were sitting four years ago, when this gigantic wave just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
We did go snorkeling and it was incredible: many varieties of fish I had never seen before, entire schools of fish, all swimming so close I felt that I could just stretch my had out and touch them! We all loved it, and the backdrop made it all the more beautiful.And after a week on the beach, you guessed it, budget obliging, back on the night bus! This time we took a government bus, which includes a stewardess (can you say that for a bus?) who brings you snacks when you board and coffee in the morning!

Nouvelles photos

Sapin de Noel au centre commercial Central World. Pour voir les premieres photos de la Thailande, cliquez ici.

Le temps s'est arrêté

C'est Noël? Les centres commerciaux de Bangkok ont beau s'être affublés de décorations de Noël dignes de la plus grande fête commerciale au monde, le climat chaud et humide nous fait douter de l'imminence du 25 décembre. Comme c'est l'hiver, la température descend autour de 20 degrés la nuit (+ 20, pas -20), mais elle remonte bien au dessus de 25 des 10h. Difficile de ressentir l'esprit des Fêtes. C'est vrai que bien des Québécois vont dans le sud pour les fêtes, mais ce n'est pas la même chose. Avant de partir, ils ont eu un avant-goût de l'hiver (et quel avant-goût vous avez ces jours-ci!) et ils en prendront plein la gueule au retour. Pour nous, c'est l'été. Depuis cinq mois, le temps s'est arrêté. Le temps s'est déjà arrêté en Afrique, quand j'ai vu ces hommes pousser et tirer des chariots remplis de pierres, pieds nus sur la route brûlante. Le temps s'est arrêté en Inde où, sur les chantiers de construction, des femmes en sari portent des paniers de gravier ou de sable sur la tête. Elles sont des Intouchables, exécutant les besognes les plus dures dans des conditions abominables, sans que personne de sourcille. Elles sont à l'Inde ce que les ânes sont au Kenya. Et encore, à Lamu nous avons vu un centre de soins pour les ânes blessés ou malades. La valeur de ces bêtes est reconnue...Le temps semble avoir recommencé à faire son chemin en Thaïlande où les gens se sont mobilisés ces dernières semaines (ils manifestent en fait depuis plusieurs mois) en faveur de la démocratie. Les images que vous avez pu voir a la télévision sont l'exception. A Bangkok, les manifestants chantaient, scandaient des slogans, distribuaient des tracts dans la plus grande jovialité. Des secouristes distribuaient des bouteilles d'eau et assistaient les gens qui souffraient de la chaleur. Évidemment, ce sont les débordements qui ont été présentés aux informations. Des Suisses, rencontrés ici, se désolaient que dans leur pays les gens ne suivent pas l'exemple thaïlandais. Et pour nous, les Thaïlandais seront-ils une inspiration pour défendre la démocratie?

Au Kenya et en Inde, les difficultés vécues par certains segments de la population m'ont semblées insurmontables parce que tellement profondément encrées dans la réalité que les gens eux-mêmes n'imaginent pas que ça puisse être autrement. En Thaïlande, je retrouve confiance que les gens ont le pouvoir de dénoncer la corruption, le détournement des lois et des traditions, et d'obtenir des changements.

Et Noël? A Noël nous serons au Laos où nous découvrirons un autre peuple, une autre réalité sociale. Si nous sommes chanceux, nous pourrons remplacer la dinde par un canard et nous penserons à vous, quelque part sur les rives du Mekong.

Sawadee Thailand

Our departure from Delhi was late and disorganized. (Typical of India, some might say, but stilll quite suprising for an international airport.) We waited for about two hours to check in, and then got sent to the boarding gate where we waited some more, receiving no further information until we spotted some familiar faces (the couple in front of us at the check-in counter) standing in a line to board the plane!! We joined them and boarded the (correct) plane, and everything went pretty smoothly from there. We finally left around one o'clock in the morning, at which point they came around with drinks and snacks... followed by a complete meal! I know they're trying to placate customers, but in the middle of the night? A taxi from the airport in took us straight to our guesthouse, where we promptly went to bed! Now if you think traffic in Montreal is bad, try Bangkok. Several times we came to a complete standstill, but the drivers don't get annoyed, they just turn the motor off and wait.
We spent about five days staying in an area called Banglamphu. Our guesthouse was on a tiny street lined with traditional two storey homes, with open living spaces on the ground floor, that spill onto the sidewalk. People cook outside, eat outside and the kids play in the street - it feels a bit like you're in a small village, but in the middle of a huge city. We were five minutes from the Chao Phraya River, where you can catch a boat - local, public transportation, about fifty cents per person. This is the best, cheapest and fastest way to get around, and lots of fun in itself as there are many students (all in school uniform, and yes, Villa Girls, perfectly ironed and no buttons missing!) and even a space reserved for monks!
The boat takes you to a sky train, an overground subway, right into the new downtown with huge super modern shopping plazas - quite a contrast from our "village" neighborhood. Here everything is very western, glitzy, and expensive! There are flashy Christmas decorations everywhere now, and hundreds of Thais taking pictures of themselves (especially fashionable teenagers). We did too, of course, although at 30 degrees, it feels nothing like Christmas. There is a walkway underneath the skytrain which is really neat as you have a view from above, and never have to cross the street!
A few sights included an amazing buddhist temple (with a gigantic reclining golden Buddha), the flower market, and the Bangkok Museum (with 1000 year old ceramics, carved ivory, intricate pearl inlay, wood and stone sculptures, etc...no one was getting paid by the hour when they made these things!) One evening, Jean-Francois and I ended up at a royal funeral event for the King's sister who died... a year ago. Apparently she was well appreciated, as there were thousands of people in attendance, and we were the only foreigners!
First impressions of Thailand? It's incredibly quiet... people don't honk here constantly like they do in India. Even people on motorbikes or bicycles say "beep beep" instead of honking. Just that makes it so much more relaxing. And, it's clean. Every morning vendors sweep the street and garbage (collected in wicker baskets!) is removed regularly. Quite amazing for such a densely populated city. And great street food: pad thai, fried rice, fish, seafood, fresh fruit salad, everything is made on the spot, it's cheap and delicious!

India, Then and Now

We are in Thailand now, but I just have to write a few more stories about India, or I won't have a clear conscience!
After Nasik, we took a train to Aurangabad, where we visited one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen. They are called cave-temples, basically huge rooms carved directly into the cliffs by Buddhist, Jain and Hindu monks, between 600 and 1200A.D. There are about thirty-five temples in all, each one decorated with intricate carvings, columns and sculptures, both inside and out. Apparently the monks carved from top to bottom, which allowed them to avoid scaffolding, but someone must have had a master plan, because everything is perfectly symmetrical. And considering the building took place over hundreds of years, the master plan must have been passed on from one generation to the next. (Un vrai travail de moine, comme on dit!) It's all quite mind boggling. And the most incredible part is that everything is still in good condition... they just don't make things the way they used to! While we were there, a group of students were scrupulously taking notes (girls, of course!) while the guide gave them detailed explanations. What an amazing field trip.
From here we took a final train back to Delhi, which brings me to my train story. From Mumbai onwards, we decided that we would try taking non A.C. coaches, (no air conditioning) , i.e. travel like the locals. Well, this was a true adventure. Even if you have a ticket, which we did, our seats always seemed to be occupied when we boarded. People kind of looked at you, shuffled their stuff around, squeezed over, and made room for you. Or disappeared temporarily, leaving you your seat, only to reappear awhile later only to squish onto the bench beside you. The array of vendors was unbelievable, selling everything from socks to salad to popcorn! And non-stop chai (Indian tea), I was starting to become addicted. Which reminds me, what do you do with the paper cup once you've finished? Throw it out the window of course! Needless to say, Miss Reduce-Reduce-Recycle had some problems with this! I couldn't do it, so I would put it on the floor in a corner, but then a train employee would just pick it up and toss it out the window himself!
On our final overnight train, on the sleeper beside us when we boarded were two gurus, wearing
what you might call a toga. One, a rather plump guy with a long grey beard, was dressed in orange, including his turban; the other, a small skinny guy, was all in white. The orange guy was also wearing wooden sandals, and had a copper teapot tied to the windowsill with an orange ribbon! I was half expecting a genie to pop out. This was too much. I was dying to take a picture, but could find no way of doing so discretely, and didn't wan't to insult them. So I just watched them all evening, far better entertainment than any reality T.V. show. At dinner time, they reached into their bags and produced a feast, all in little stainless steel containers, which they spread out between them, and ate cross-legged on the bench. They even offered to share with us, but we had already ordered from the train staff. During the night it got incredibly cold (hard to believe since it was about 30 degrees when we got on - this explains the sock sellers) and the small skinny white guy put on his jacket and offered his blanket to Evelyne! True Indian hospitality.
The night before we flew out of Delhi, we got to stay with a lovely couple at the High Commission of Canada - we feasted on spaghetti and pizza, a taste of home at last! We got to use a washing machine (what a treat after four months of washing all of our clothes by hand!) and had some great coffee! Merci beaucoup Pierre et Heidi!