Beach bum III

Back on Om beach Gokarna, idle, aimless. The same familiar faces are here, but something has changed. Everything is reflected in myself, as I am far from a neutral observer, it feels spent. The same tank-top wearing lads and lasses who behave so impeccably in Thailand, Laos, and Bali have added Gokarna to the end of a Goa trip. It was a gradual but inevitable shift, the travelers are fewer, and the Goa goers are more. Welcome to new Palolem.*

This week there are no motorbikes for hire, the rickshaw drivers have been on strike to demand this. The police have duly seized any hired bike with Karnataka plates. This will change with enough trips to Bengaluru, bikes with new rental approved numberplates are already appearing. Anything to appease the land mafia (the excessive headcount of rickshaw drivers) or the sea mafia (the extortionate cartel of boat owners controlling the water).

Without convenient motorbikes I resorted to other measures: pedal power, and the still bountiful state bus company. The state buses cost only pence, and serve just about every hamlet of the state. Most tourists seem unaware of this now, and travel exclusively by private "sleeper"** buses, like lambs to the police extortion post.

I explore to the north, and to the south, but could not find the beach of my mind. Still, it's about the journey isn't it. I make a trip to the beach known as paradise under my own steam, by sea***. I haven't seen people swimming often, it must have gone out of fashion. Instead the popular exercise seems to be a morning jog by the water. Paradise is a little cleaner than I remember, but a little busier than one might imagine.

*Palolem is a 2-week tourist town in south Goa, where the second hand book shops collect a history of whatever pulp was popular last year.

**Only very heavy sleepers have a chance of sleeping, though the low rumble of the engine is pleasing, the occasional horn blast or launch into the air keeps gentler souls awake.

***It turns out swimming beyond the bay is ill advised, jellyfish.

Rickety old government bus

This, it's my paranoia, fearing left behinds in Modi's prosperity ambitions. Such as the ATM guard who now protects a machine where the only note is several days of his pay. For the rich tourist the new Rs2000 bank note is also a bit of a pain, when your expenses are in the range Rs10 to Rs700, and change is not easily available. The game of change conservation begins afresh!

Actually this is something of an understatement, nobody who can avoid it wants to touch a Rs2000 note. It's a giant white elephant but it's all that is left in the ATMs. When the average Indian might be living on Rs400 per day what use is 5 days money in a note. The median income is far lower due to the high proportion of agricultural workers, below Rs200 per day. Imagine trying to spend a £250 note!

The same people were gently encouraged to deposit any money in a bank by the immediate cancellation of the old high value notes. Let's hope the pain is worth it.

An Indian couple in the street approach me and ask for change for a Rs2000 note. They look like tourists. The man stands looking slightly lost, rolling the note in his fingers. This is not how you hold money, it really is toxic.

Hypocrites unite

I watched 'winter sleep', a Turkish language film probably catering for the international-film-buff market. The protagonist is a hypocrite, who blogs, to the silent despair of his wife. Story told, who is anyone to write about anything.

I'll begin slowly. Bengaluru was pleasant, I met a friend living in a nice neighbourhood. Wide roads, white painted 3-4 storey blocks of flats, palm trees and the odd public park. Not dissimilar to a somewhere in southern Europe, until you spot a cow in the road. There are signs of change in the last few years, card payments, drivers wearing seatbelts. Apparently the police can report offences using a phone, which is recorded and sent to the registered address. An Uber driver shows us his list of violations, including stopping on a busy road. Uber and an Indian equivalent are popular here, cheap rate, no haggling. I'm told it's not so popular with the competing rickshaw drivers.

Despite this efficiency the traffic is terrible, and the pollution deposits a black film on your skin, nose and eyes daily. I'll daydream a little, a whole city car ban, electric transport only. It would require an exceptionally strong government! The first stage of the city metro is nearly almost not-quite compete after a decade of construction, but the city's popularity demands more!

A different kind of tourist

Everywhere I see the Brits are visible in Thailand...
Tank tops

No tops

Tattooed arm holding a beer

Phones out, tinder in Thailand

Off to the islands

Great vengeance and furious anger

Eco-tourism is a great idea in theory, who could argue with it. But the reality doesn't always match the dictionary definition. Who can know the true impact of a business which adds 'eco' to it's promotional material without detailed research. The so called 'greenwashing' is simple, add a few images of trees, animals and local villages, add a blurb about supporting the community.

It's the same technique the elephant tour operators of Thailand have used to convince tourists of the ethics of their trip. Of course every elephant business is a sanctuary, nobody is going to say non-domesticated animals brutalised until they follow commands. On a national policy scale eco-tourism could be a success. The creation of a protected area, bringing in foreign currency, provides an alternative to commercial exploitation, farming and logging. But this depends on a very capable government.

Much of this frustration stems from the poor state of Nam Ha nature reserve in northern Laos. Officially it's been a protected area for a long time, and ecotourism has been promoted for many years. The arrangement seems to be that you part with 30+ dollars a day, and maybe 5 of these go to the owners of homestays. And since the numbers of tourists x 5USD is not enough, destructive practises continue unabated. Unsurprisingly they are not keen on independent trekkers, no maps, and agencies will tell you nice lies about being arrested 'by the army'. (One village was concerned about police trouble but this was the minority). Land clearing is still going on, Google maps satellite images show forest where there is none now. Any path into the forests ends in a felled tree, cut into planks in situ. The houses are surrounded by mountains of broomsticks freshly picked.

I'm starting to think the original aim of the project was never costed. I don't see how the income from 100 daily tourists can ever be expected to non-destructively employ tens of thousands of people. It's only even a factor because of the vast wealth difference between the two populations. If you really want to protect the forest send the children to school in the city. Education is the key to protection.

Bridge Trolls

Beware of the bridges around the biggest tourist spots in Laos, for there enterprising trolls lurk demanding ransoms between 5,000 and 10,000 kip (£0.80). But it's not all like this.

Several Laotian families hosted me from their hospitality, refusing money for food, and accepted only a modest money for sleeping. And the endless glasses of Beerlao offered to a foreigner who chances on one of the many celebrations. Anything is cause for a party in Laos.

Map locations for Vang Vieng, Laos

There are fairly interesting caves around Vang Vieng, but finding them can be a little tricky. There is also plenty of misdirection, several 'blue lagoons' have sprung up around the original blue lagoon. Now I'm old and less adventurous it's easier to use a smartphone, despite the fun I had with two other tourists searching through the undergrowth for hours. The trouble is, in Laos half of the roads haven't been added to Google maps, let alone tourist places. You end up scouring the satellite images for the winding yellow lines, with limited data.

Some local locations:
Tham Hoi & Tham Loup
(Possibly aka snail cave)
Tham Hoi is a pretty good adventure; pleasantly undeveloped and quiet, several kilometres of cave with glittering white deposits and an underground river. You can explore both up and downstream, but you sometimes have to swim which is a fairly unique experience underground. Sharp and slippy rocks though, fairly dangerous for the feet. Entry for both caves 10000 kip with torch. Apparently Tham Loup is also pretty deep, nearby and included. We cycled it's about 14km.
Tham Hoi entrance google maps

Tham nam (water cave)
Seems to be the location for underground tubing... Buried under crowds of people.
google maps tham nam

Pha Thao cave
North of vang vieng roughly 10 km. It's got a few big chambers and impressive stalactite galleries. One guide book suggests it is 3km but none of the side passages seem to lead anywhere after less than 200m. Quite quick in the end, 10000 kip, worth it perhaps en route to the others.
Google maps pha thao cave

'Python Cave' (I forget the Laos name)
If you're cycling or driving the loop in the valley on the west side of Vang Vieng, this cave is worth a stop. It's many hundred metres long, and takes an hour at good speed. Ignore the sign which says 'finish here' after the first hundred metres! Generally tall chambers, not too much stooping, but occasional other tourists which lessens the adventure. Entry 10000 kip with torch.
I think the location of python cave, Google maps

The rip off.
You don't know what you are spending your kip for until you get inside. Only a few metres of cave are easy, followed by a more dangerous stretch on a sloping surface. This didn't seem to go anywhere.
I think this is the location, on the route to the overcrowded blue lagoon.
possible Google maps 

Blue lagoon, cave, zip line, crowds.
Search for the 8 parked minivans on Google maps, though this is out of date, expect more.

Mechanical failures 2

Laos is continuing its impressive run of mechanical failures, this time we're adrift. The ferry across Ang nam ngum was going well, I could see the far shore, but then a bang and the already noisy engine developed an additional gunshot noise. The second bang finished the job, and it stopped. I can hear the familiar clank of people rummaging in a toolbox, but to my untrained ears this one sounded serious. Not that I thought the previous two could be repaired as quickly as the Laotians did. I can't see any paddles, just 40 people, 3 motorbikes and 2 chickens.

Would you believe it, it runs, after barely 40 minutes. Tentatively at first the driver increases the throttle and we're back to dry land without further incident. I'm impressed.