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Welcome in Laos
From Taunggyi
to Kengtong in Myanmar to Border town
Tachilek
In Thailand to Mae Sa and Chiang Rai to
Philanulok and Khon Kaen where we turn North
to Laos and Vientiane
It
was the 9-4-08 we transited into
Thailand on our way to Laos and Vientiane
the capital, Not much had happen on route.
We were in
Highway No1 South, driving 100 km/h which, as far as we remember
we did it last between Islamabad and Lahore
in Pakistan. The
bad roads the feared "fall ins" which strain tiers, springs and
body were no more. Gone they are and
hopefully for good. Nothing but
straight fine double lane as one expect in Europe. On the roadside
a temple with this weird creature half man
halve woman which we
share with you. The king of Thailand looked gracefully from the
picture.
From Mae Sa Southbound to Chiang Rai where we put up for the night,
parked JAMBO safely and went to sleep.
we liked to know more but no one understood
us
This gateman is a rubber figure
The king, loved
by all
Thais Help
us dear reader if you know whom HE/SHE
represents
Thursday 10-4-08
Updating the Web site took us until noon, on
fine roads further South, turned East we
reached in the night a petrol station and
slept in
JAMBO. It was hot. Not before I chased a Mosquito for an hour
, which after few minutes as we almost
sleeping, flew around the ear
again . "SSSSST" Torchlight on. "Where is he? gone again." Finally
he ended his bloodsucking life on a curtain
where my hand hit him
decisively. The bloodstain is proof.
Friday 11-4-08
Early up , two hours later we were at Khon
Kaen and directed JAMBO North, we had only
200 km more to the border. A fine breakfast
in the morning sun, open the bright day for us. The INDOCHINA NEW
YEAR is arriving, and the water festival,
therefore many Lao's
working in Thailand were heading home in whatever transport
available. To meet their family, some
drunk already, enduring the journey
on the back of a truck.
By
11:00 am we were at the border and met an
Official send by our Embassy to help us
through border formalities on the Lao side.
A kind gesture.
Line up for
the border chop
and over the Mekong bridge, into Laos
We rushed, as the Embassy is closed for a
few days until the 16th because of the new
year and we would not have been able to
make the usual Flag picture with them. Therefore our first short
stop was a hotel to clean up and then
we went straight to the
Embassy.
 
On our Embassy gate
and the first photo with the remaining
Brunei staff
The Laos Ambassador was just
transferred to India. (We are sorry for his
health). There are only three Brunei
officers left. One was on
maternity leave. Left are two. Ms Ani Zuraini Dato Paduka Hj
Abdul Aziz and Pg Madihi Pg Hj Omar.
the "all staff" photo
and our "Charge de Affairs" Ani Zuraini
She is by far and wide the most beautiful
Charge de Affairs we have seen on route, of
all Embassies. Including the Foreign too.
The daughter of the former Brunei Ambassador to Canada and Seoul
(Korea) she will surely have a bright
carrier ahead. Thank you for
receiving us, thank you for sending an officer to the border,
thank you for the correspondence before, and your kind welcome. It
was a pleasure indeed to meet these friendly
officers.
Within 25 minutes we were on the way in Vientiane, gratefully off
course, as we got a car from the Embassy to
show us around.
So, this is Laos and we are here! Country number 33. The landlocked
Lao people's Republic as it is officially
known, covers just
235,00 sq.km, consisting mostly of rugged mountains and narrow
river valleys.
Most rivers flow into the Mekong the border with Myanmar and later
the one with Thailand. It was the
hinterland of Indo China,
during the colonial period. The French concentrated on the
resources of Vietnam considering Laos
(and Cambodia) the backwaters
without much attention. But one must say it was never forgotten by
the military.
Communist Vietnam used the Ho Chi Min trail through Laos to supply
its forces in the South, while the US waged
a viciously
destructive secret war against the Vietnamese army and its Lao
allies. More on this at a later stage.
Academic opinion differ as to
the origin of Tai speaking people. not much is know of the early
movements and way of life. They gradually
expanded in 800 AD from
China Southwards. About 1200 AD, they emerged across a broad belt
of land from the Shan state ( east
Myanmar) Northern Thailand
and Laos. Then in the 14th century, the kingdom of Lan Xang
was established. However powerful neighbors
made life not easy for the
people and Lan Xang plunged into a period of fragmentation and
decline, and unfortunately for Laos the
Siamese established a
hegemony thought Siam and Laos, their armies occupying Vientiane
and other areas. Wars were fought and Laos
was almost
partitioned between Thailand (Siam) and Vietnam but the French
arrived in 1858 and history took another
course. 50 years of war had
devastated Laos. Vientiane was overgrown with jungle.
Then the Haw from Yunnan, rebels out of the Qing Empire fleeing
South, crossed the border to Laos in ever
increasing numbers. These
guys armed, ruthless with nothing to loose, looted and killed at
will. When the French withdraw in 1953 Laos
gained independence as a
constitutional monarchy. But in 1954 the US arrived and begun to
fill the coffer of the Royal Lao Government
here in Vientiane.
Between 1963 and 1973 large areas of Laos suffered massive bombing
of which most of the world knew nothing. The
Chinese were
active too. Laos became battleground. Although legally prohibited
(have they ever cared for legality?) the US
intervened secretly
backing the Royalist forces, Laos was torn apart by civil war
involving Chinese, Vietnamese and US backed
forces. Then -we have
plenty bombs on stockpile at military bases in the US -, by 1973
nearly 600.000 "sorties" that is killing
from the sky, were flown over
Laos. "Mr. President we must bomb Laos and the Ho Chi min Path!"
The war mongers might have suggested.
In average, one planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day
for nine years. Dear reader does it turn
your stomach upside
down? Two million tons of bombs were dropped on this tiny
landlocked country. 500 kg explosives for
every person in Laos. (1/2 kg is
enough to blow a wall down).
It was to no avail. The single most expensive covered action of the
US ended in failure. IN 1975 the communists
took over Vientiane.
500 lbs "US presents" from the sky
Saturday 12-4-08
The Kilometer counter showed 47.739 km,
since JAMBO left Brunei. It is more than one
time around the world on the way home.
What a fine machine and JAMBO the car had been in Mecca
and Medina too. Are we going to auction JAMBO when back in
Brunei? Sell it to the Government to be kept in the Museum for our
youth to see in the years to come? We do not
know.
We had lunch on the riverbank and encountered here the first,
and maybe the finest crickets, fried and
ready to be consumed. Deep
fried crickets? from the price a delicacy. What you mean
"disgusting!" Three dollars we paid for them
and took them "Tapau." Whether
we tried one or more, must remain a secret.
Song of the day:
" Yati smiling "Cheese", finger liking
cricket "sticked" in the teeth..."
The good heart of our queen contributed
heavily to the handicapped center . But it
was Py Mai Lao, the water festivity. Which
is to
brings luck. A few pictures of two kindhearted Queens, a not
so sober director, who could hardly hold
himself, teachers drunk and
wet, was all what we saw. Never mind, maybe another time.
Working hard the
whole year. But today enjoying karaoke,
dance, water and beer
Here our Queens
of days long gone, inspecting the
Institute and the
filled up director "musch hav Ethorithi
letta to vischit"
We went to the Buddha park a 20 km away suppose to be a
tourist attraction but after Myanmar, no
attraction to us, are these
images made from concrete, bricks and mortar, passing the
"Arc of Triumph", we mean the victory gate
standing now 50 years.
any resemblance
with Paris is pure coincidence
The "That Luang" the sacred stupa of
Vientiane
King Fangum
united Laos
The last king Cy Sa Wang Wong Watana
The world is represented by this ball
shaped construction, to be entered through
the mouth. Heaven is up, down is hell.
Naturally
everyone climbed up and out.
the sleeping
Buddha
and protected by seven (again seven?) cobras
a few monks are
left in Laos compared to Myanmar, communism
takes it's toll the
youth go with western ideas
Saturday draws to an end, from every corner of town there is music
and laughter, it is the Py Mai Lao,
the new Year.
This evening we are invited for dinner. And by 8:00 pm we sat in a
fine fish restaurant, together with the
Charge de Affairs, Ms Ani.
It was a eventful evening ,lots of talk and fine cuisine. The hours
fly fast and back in the hotel we packed
already for tomorrow.
Sunday 13-4-08
We left early towards North. An
estimated 6 hours drive to Xieng Kuhang
Province, and the provincial capital,
Phonsavan, Our map
showed a new road, a shortcut and we intended to use it. Hartmut a
friend of ours was consulting engineer and
the overseer of road
projects here for several years and perhaps this was one of his
projects. He had some hair-raising stories
to tell.
overland taxi North of Vientiane
The uncompleted bridge
The road was fine, new,
straight, and smooth. We had to divert at an
uncompleted bridge, and were shortly after
stopped by four
uniformed men. Maybe police or army, greenish khaki and Russian
plate cap. "What?" Harun asked the
approaching officer, He can
do that with a sour face. The guy had a pip and a strip.
Energetically he directed us twice to the
road side, until Harun reluctantly
obeyed. Now all four of them came from all sides and babbled
something among themselves, which we did not
understand.
Then one of them peered into JAMBO and realized the load and
conversion of our vehicle. He shouted
something and directed us to
get out from the car at once. You know this body gesture practiced
over and over in police or army school?
We refused. "No" said Harun.
He was now trying to open the locked door himself. It was the same
as long ago in Africa, If these guys,
knowing nothing else than to
shoot, make baby, count to 30 for the day of the next salary, and
living with hungry belly, if they would see
our electronic equipment,
the laptops, cameras, the sat phone, the tracker and GPS, we are in
the soup indeed.
There is likeliness we are considered suppliers of guerrillas and
bandits still quiet common here, or spies
and brought to the
headquarter and maybe our equipment is confiscated by the boss for
the authorities against a handwritten paper.
They just keep it as
we have to leave the country one day. And sell it maybe afterwards,
and the car too.
Knowing all this we realized,
how close we were. Then, Harun made the
"upset show". He shouted in English, slam
the map to the
dash board and before they realized what was going on, engaged
gear, made a swinging turn, too fast for
them to block the road and
we drove off, in high speed out of eventual trouble. Maybe they
call by radio assistance, maybe they do
nothing. We did not know.
Once we are on the main road where people are many, any action
against foreigners becomes difficult for
them. After 20 minutes we
reached the main road and continued our journey to Xieng Khuang.
We passed a region with abundance of Limestone mountains- likely
caves too, and decided to check it out. As
mentioned it was New
Year, most Lao's had holidays. The Restaurant under the 500 m high
cliffs was busy, a band made music a girl
sung, no, rather she
screamed out of tune. Families enjoyed eating, drinking, sitting in
the water.
After paying 10.000 kip we were allowed to park and looked for a
cave, which was in the vicinity. But a group
of youngsters had control
over it. If we only pay 10.000 kip again fore each of us we would
be allowed in. That was too much for us in
an economy which trust
not their own money. Why else is Bath the Thai cash, and US
dollar welcome?
the river
flowing from the caves
looking good, singing bad
A cool
idea
to have benches in the stream
on the
way to the caves
yesterday the goat was alive...
The limestone outcrops,
mountains like the Mulu ridge in Sarawak
continued for another 100 km. There must be
plenty unexplored
caves. The country has Eco tourism potential here.
Limestone mountains
and folks at the Phu Khon Junction
Vertical cliffs typical limestone formations
Out of the gorge flows a crystal clear
stream
Mountain
kids
see the white pebble on the bonnet? It is
ice.
Further Northward we went climbing two more
passes and at Luang Prabang turning
East driving for another three hours. Into a
thunderstorm and hailing, ice fell from the sky. Gosh we move
slowly that the ice balls do not smash our
windscreen.
Phonsavan the present day provincial capital had a good hotel for a
reasonable price. Every one was in festivity
mood. Shops closed,
petrol stations too. People lined the streets, dancing and water
splashing with buckets and hoses. It was a
happy time for them.
We had reached around 5:00 pm, it was still enough daylight to
visit the very reason we came here in the
first place, the plain of Jars.
Huge stone jar-shaped vessels are spread over a dozen major
location in the vicinity of Phonsavan.
Locals, hunters and gatherers
speak of many more. But what are these megalith containers for?
They are dragged in site no 2 up a hill. A
French archeologist
studies in 1935 over years these sites and concluded, they must
have been funerary monuments, meaning, cut
the body into pieces
and stuff the deceased inside, or the jars are used as container
for his possessions. Something hard to
believe. Here, a single
civilization flourished between 300 BC and 300 AD, that is for 1000
years, .
Site no. 1,with about 250 jars
the weight was calculated at 15 tons
various opening- round
and this is square
this one
was broken by an American bomb
and here Harun investigated, "we needed 5
men to get him out"
Artifacts found in and around the jars included beds from china,
bronze figures from Vietnam, and ornaments
from Thai- culture. This
allows us to conclude the civilization using the jars was highly
developed and had trading links with their
neighbors. But what they
were really for, remains a mystery. (If they would be for grain or
rice storage why so many on one place? Why
not next to the home
neatly placed?) It was amazing to look at the silent witnesses of
the past. Nearer from our times we found
more sinister artifacts. As
the Ho chi min trail is close the whole area was subject to carpet
bombing by the US in this secret action war
of whom the common
man in America or Europe knew nothing. All to stem Communism. Bomb
craters, mines and other remains bear
witness of this
inhumane activity. No one sue them yet for crimes against humanity.
Warning
signs on the entrance. Has the US paid any
money for their actions? Here New Zealand
helps
The tourist office in Phonsavan
MAG stone directing you
Mines advisory group, MAG stone, indicating
where one can walk without being blown up.
Presents from the Sky for
the people of Laos. There was never a war
declared, nor did Laos do anything against
the US.
American
spoils of war next to our hotel
shrapnel, small unfilled iron balls for more
killing efficiency
See the round holes on the rim? There are
iron balls inside which when exploding
spread farther and are more effective in
killing and
wounding. We chased a doggie away who wanted to pee on a US
machinegun next to the helmet. What a
disgusting, not respecting
action that would have been!
You
see this man America? It is you who did
that. An unexploded mine blasted his leg
away and changed his life from a farmer to a
cripple. US, your guys who decide to wage war to reduce ammunition
stockpiles and direct world event according
to your plans, in
neglect of life and humanity,
these impersonators of Satan himself, should be here to search for the left over's from
their actions.
The only hope is our
Almighty. He must deal with them severely. But we all should start to think realistically.
There are always men
behind a war. Look for
them, expose them, otherwise they continue what has been doing for the last century.
Arrange for
wars, as it is in their benefits. Every
bullet, bomb, missile cost
money and has to be replaced by better ones. The profit flows
into their pockets, soaked with blood
from the victims.
Monday 14-4-08
As our journey to the Xieng Khuang
province took us a whole day, we therefore
searched for a faster, an alternative route
out of the
high plateau. Our map indicated a secondary route Southbound via
Ban Man to Pakxan on the Mekong. Inquiring
with the hotel boss
and another person, yes there was a road out. How long would it
take manager?" He looked at JAMBO. "With
your car maybe 6
hours." Is there anyone driving the route? Yes every other
day a bus. We should have looked at it, but
we did not.
The 6½ hours out was no road, not even a track sometime. Mud
holes, and steep slippery narrow clay tracks
up and down the
mountain where the vehicle just start to glide, no brakes hold. 6½
hours of tensioned nerves, hopes, prayers
and concentrated
driving, no mistake otherwise we are in trouble. Not one error was
permitted! "JAMBO so sorry " we apologized
to a machine, when
the tires fell into another mud filled pit which we had to get
through. Slowly driving ? You cannot as
there is likeliness to get stuck.
One has to maintain a second gear speed. Would we have known what
awaits us, we never take this route. There
was no vehicle on
the road, no tire marks either. That made us more worried. And
young men in civil dress, all had one thing
in common. Machine guns
hanging from their shoulder belt. Army? Rebels? We did not know.
Four hours into driving, hill up hill down. Sporadically a farmers
home, next by cassavas planted on the
slopes. That gave hope again.
There must be vehicles coming, as they have to reach the market.
we were always happy to see a few huts
spectacular view when again up on a mountain
pass
This is
no track to drive alone.
The mud came over the bonnet and onto the
wind screen
Sometime no wooden bridges. Here we are
happy we were almost out
Finally after 5
hours we, counting the minutes, we reached
two (illegal?) logging camps. There is now a
way out for sure. We met the
oncoming "bus" on the road. It was a 4 w/d ,ex- army vehicle,
pained in yellow. He had on the rear tires
extra thick chains mounted for
additional grip. Would we have seen this before we would have
chosen the longer comfortable route back,
that is for sure. It was the
worst trip for JAMBO of the whole expedition.
This is our JAMBO out of the "mess" in
Pakxan
and the "water for cash" festivity
We convinced the boys to direct the water
festivity concentrated to one place, that is
our vehicle and earn some cash, which in
return
will flow down as beer the throat again. It was a good idea they
agreed and JAMBO got a small clean
up.
He earned no money only screams
Thanks Almighty, the Mekong again
Since it was 3:00 pm we drove on Southbound and reached Savannakhet
in the evening, happy to be here. The happy
drive lucky
drunkards on motorcycles had added to our worries too. Near the
timber camp on mud road in a curve came
two guys on a
motorcycle in fast pace, much to fast to make it around. The
machine, driver and rear sit companion
took off from the high
embankment like ski jumpers straight into the rain filled ditch a
2meter below. The last we saw was legs stuck
out of the water.
Hopefully they did not break their bones. Since another motorcycle
followed them, their friend maybe, we drove
on.
Before Savannakhet, a motorcycle, a man and woman, she sitting
sideward's. Suddenly the motorcycle rear
swung left and right,
while he was breaking. The women could not hold herself and fell
onto the tarmac. He finally managed to stop.
The rear tire had a
puncture that is why he slinger. JAMBOS brakes are excellent. A
local vehicle would have likely run her over.
These kind of unusual experiences made us to decide getting out of
Laos, like fleeing before a disaster struck.
Our final words?
Here they come: "We all know Laos is poor with all negative actions
attached. Child prostitution and pornography
is present over the
Mekong border to Thailand. "You can f... me every day if you double
my salary" said the maid to our friend who
worked many years
here. That is an exemption sure, but we saw young
boys drinking beer including girls on the road,
seeing them how some behave in
shorts and very small shorts, winding their bodies in the rhythm of songs
from the radio,
gives rather the impression,
there is not much distinction who will be the favor for tonight. And a NO is rather a
"maybe yes". But we
could be
hopefully wrong.
The 'Social realism" meaning communism, which rolled over the
country between 1975 and 1990 changed
culture and tradition. The
idea that a Lenin, Stalin or any other communist dictator is
everything and God does not exists, that
prayer is plain nonsense and all
Buddhist monks are parasites can only be thought for sometime, and
to simple people. Man is more than what he
sees only.
Communism, the idea of a Jew (Karl Marx) failed in Russia. No
other political experiments cost so many
lives, hook people on a
vodka bottle instead of a mosque, church, or other spiritual
institution. Man needs something to look up,
to hope for, if you take it from
him, nothing is left only desires and frustration if not fulfilled.
The impact of Communism is seen here. We
praise Myanmar, and the
decency, the integrity of its people, no matter how poor. I
remember the praying woman before Buddha her
handbag was open, as she
bought flowers and while praying Harun put silently a
banknote into her bag, without she noticing.
Will this increase
her devotion? It will be a confirmation of heir prayer. And who
knows, maybe Buddha acted through the
gesture of my hubbi?
Laos will revive, spirituality must come back, the youth need a
"inner future" too.
But for now Laos needs international material help, we hope it
pours in.
We met the one leg farmer
the other was blown away another the victim
of the US.
He is no more a
man. He cannot have children. We gave him little, but we should have given him the funds to go the
Vientiane for an
artificial limb. All the
way we though about it. It would have cost - so we read- US100.- only. If we sleep in the car we could
safe the
funds again. But it was too late.
Very sorry to you, although you will never know of our thoughts and regrets. It was the worry
with the
road which made us to forget what
had to be done.
And to you, guys in Washington and Wall
street we pay hearing aids out of our
pockets. That you might listen to the
monotone
tok tok of a crunch made from an iron pipe. The man is a victim of
your actions!
our route through Laos
Tuesday15-4-08
We are on our way to Cambodia driving south. In every village,
every town groups of youngsters dancing and
splashing water. Pick up
trucks with big buckets, and kids on it, returning the cool fun. No one is upset, be it a
pedestrian a motorcyclist or an
open car. This is new year and luck is splashed onto strangers too.
Although when seeing JAMBO, some where not
sure. Others
poured the full load.
Music and bright eyes, dancing and happiness. that is what a New
Year is all about. No need to get drunk.
waiting for the
victims
see how concentrated the "Shorty in
Blue" waits
Girls, we wish you all a bright future
Late afternoon we arrived in Pakxe and put
up in a hotel for the night.
Wednesday
16-4-08
After a sound sleep we left Pakxe towards
the Cambodian border a 240 km away. The
road was fine and progressed speedily and
reached the Laos custom barrier before noon.
Showing them where to chop us out on the
carnet it was a matter of 5 minutes.
Some still enjoyed the happy new year and
danced with the girls in a tent
nearby. The boss a young and kind guy put
his signature
in the carnet while moving in
Samba steps to Laos music. All were happy,
we too. Are we not to see now another beautiful
country
although with a recent tragic
history?. The Laos immigration was 2 km
further down the road. No problem, they chop
us out and we
drove to the Cambodian side.
"Hello gentlemen and how are you" Harun was
in good mood. " The immigration man checking
the passports, finally commended:
" No problem you have a visa." With your car you got to see
custom. "Where is the office?" "Over there
under the trees." We looked
and yes in front of a wooden hut was a table, a few plastic chairs
around, on one an uniformed man, the
custom officer.
"Good afternoon Mr. Custom
boss, here is our carnet for you." He did
not look at it. "We are from Brunei and like
to transit Cambodia
please." No reply. "Are
we here talking to a wall or what?" "Sir
would you please stamp the carnet, Harun
open the page.
You see here Laos custom had
chopped us out, now you have to chop us in."
The man did not speak. Another traveler, a
Cambodian
arrived at the scene." Sir would
you please translate to the officer, that we
like to transit Cambodia and need his
approval. The reply
was terrible:." Your
paper is not valid in Cambodia". Don't
say that, we are
from Brunei we are also South East
Asian, and together
with Cambodia in several
Institutions and organizations. "The car is
not from ZULU hinterland, It is from Brunei, Brunei Darussalam..
Your Ambassador
in Brunei confirmed to us, there is no
problem to go into Cambodia." The other
customer translated. But the officer
had an iron face. We went back to
immigration, they were obviously not happy
with this situation too. "Can you help
please?" No, they
could not.
Harun went back to him. "No English "
he said but pulled a green paper out
of the drawer. "This Ministry of Finance,
you go,
OK."
" Can I get this document from you?" Harun show him money
hoping it is possible.
"No" now he spoke a little
English. All we did, the begging the smiling
the upset show all was to no avail. This man refused JAMBO"S
entry into Cambodia. Consequences
did not matter to him.
Back to Laos Immigration which had chopped
us out in the passport. "Reverse the
departure please the Cambodia custom man
does
not allow the car in." "He is
crazy" said one. Dear reader we had no visa
for Laos as it was used, and the car could
not go to
Cambodia. This was the
situation in the bush of southern Laos. But
they cancelled the exit stamp, and attached a small note
for his
colleague for our departure somewhere else." Thank you!" we shacked
hands. To Custom. The boss insisted
first to dance with Harun
in the group of drunk and wet soaked women, which he had to obey.
Only then, smiling like
a child or someone which is very happy.
He commanded his officer: "Do it! Do it!"
Entrance chop
into the carnet and we drove 240 km back to Pakxe.
Luck with us, we were in southern Laos
again, but had a whole
day and 500km wasted. Now we thought the situation over. We could
not go to Cambodia from here, but could try
from the Thai side
with help of our Embassy. "Shall we stay another night in Pakxe
town?" Harun asked me." Better not we go out
tonight." There is a
bridge and road to Thailand and we drove right on it, heading west
to the border. Before we chop the passport
and carnet out again,
Harun went over to the Thai side confirming whether we could cross
with our carnet here. They had computers,
that was a promising
sign. The boss came on a motorcycle. After checking our document he
said the relieving words: "OK, no problem!" Now
only we
cancelled our visa at the Laos side. "You have to pay overtime!"
said the officer and show us a handwritten
poster on the wall." After
4:00 pm the staff is exhausted from sitting, biro holding and
concentrated study of documents. Therefore
we had to pay B$5.- to get
out of Laos. This border is open until 8:00pm."Four hours overtime
every day? hard working people.".
By 7:30 pm the border documentation was
completed, we were through, on one side upset,
on the other happy to be out of Laos.
We
travel first to Bangkok, inform our
Embassy in Phnom Penh, which hopefully has
ended the celebrations, perhaps they check
the
situation out and if needed, are kind
enough to get a permission for JAMBO to
enter Cambodia. One would think the South
East Asian
Countries are one family and movement is easy but here in the
hinterland of north Cambodia sat an officer
under trees who though
otherwise. Behaving like a stubborn child.
The "NO PASS" Cambodian border after 33
countries and 48.700 km
Dear reader
sorry for our diversion but we are heading
west. Click Thailand
if you like to follow our story.
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Sponsors
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Supported by Tourism Board, Ministry
of Industry & Primary Resources
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