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Phra Chai's village
On Sunday night, the party was in Phra Chai's village. Other songs, other dances, other opportunities for me to talk with some guys from the staff. Other opportunities to take pictures :) On the road again... rice fields It's quite sunny, isn't it ? Blame...
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Opening the eyes of the Buddha
Among the Buddhist traditions, one of them is about "spiritualizing" the Buddha statues, putting a spirit in it. For this, a ceremony is held during which they open his eyes. They were covered by wax beforehand, and the head was covered by a white cloth,...
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What happens next ?
So, know that we're here, let's update you to my current situation. Still in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) for tonight, but I'm heading to Mae Sariang tomorrow afternoon. I wasn't really supposed to go there at first, but I saw that the only real Thai...
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Laos Laos
anti_''.bug_fck The legacy of colonisation... petanque ! But everyone has his own style ^^ In the boat from Huay Xai to Pak Beng. Behind a mountain of backpacks, I hide with Lao people from the mass of drinking backpackers. Only 11am and they begin their...
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To the refugee camp
So here's a map of the area. Laos in the north-east, Burma in the north-west, Thailand in the South. You have Mae Sai at the northern part of Thailand, the border town, twinned with Tachilek. It's 4 hours away from Chiang Mai. But on Wednesday, we went...
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Monks stories
I'm spending so much time with them that I take for granted so many details that you are not aware of... I'm gonna try to share them a little. Story number 1 : monks give without thinking twice They live from donations, from the alms offering, from the...
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In the markets of Burma
Mong La market - next to the Chinese border Here, the market is set under a wide rook, people settling in long rows, in the middle of odds and sods, of vegetables and platic pans, rice baskets and shampoos, yes, here, just behind the water guns... But...
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A night in the Jazz Club
Hiro arrived by chance into the North Gate Jazz Co-op, which is situated quite obviously... at the north gate (chang puak). The band playing on Mondays and Wednesdays needed a guitarist... and there he is. I accompanied Hiro 3-4 times to the Bar, just...
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Buddhist time
So... the main point of the trip was "spirituality", as Angeli said. Yes but... I had already visited many temples last time and I was feeling much more like discovering Burma than visiting the temples a second time. So, curiously enough, I saw only 3...
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Luang Prabang Wats
For those who who doubt that LP is a buddhist city, you just have to put one foot in the street : novices are everywhere. There are about 300 monks and novices in the peninsula - and you cannot miss it. When I arrived, I was really surprised. Not by their...
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Buddha Day
I just got a phone call saying "Hey, we saw the pics on your French blog but... couldn't understand a thing !" Here's the translation. Yeah, all of it... I wish I didn't say one of the sentence, though ^^ Buddhist live according to the Lunar Calendar....
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Mae Sot market
Mae Sot is a weird city... I don't know whether it's Padho Manh Sha being killed here last Thursday... or maybe it's just the usual atmosphere... ? People don't smile... Usually, you do the beginning of a smile, they smile back and you can make a huge...
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Odds and ends - 2 ^^
My plans are getting kinda set now. More or less ^^ - Sunday : graduation ceremony of Aom - Monday to Wednesday/Thursday : border town of Mae Sot, refugee camp of Mae La - On the 25 th : going to Laos, my visa ends. 3 weeks in Laos - March 15th : plane...
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I'm sure I wrote it bad :)
On the frozen windshield yesterday morning, in front of my mother's shop. I just got the impulse and I had no dictionary to check whether I was writing something correct or not. Whatever... I wish you all a very happy New Year. May it be 2009, 2552 or...
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Pak Ou Caves
If LP in itself is not enough, no problem : you have some day-trips just waiting for you. One of them is Pak Ou caves - 2 hours of slow boat, stop in a traditionnal village, caves, going back. Bridge to the "traditionnal" village, from the Mae Khong River...
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Songkran - Thai New Year
Yep, I am almost one month late. But better late than never, he ? ^^ So, hum... Happy New Year ! It's the 4th in 6 months, crazy.... So it was the Buddhist New Year, on April 13th, celebrated in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and the Yunnan province...
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Revelling in the village
On the Saturday evening and Sunday morning, it was "ceremony time" in Ban Mao, next to Chiang Tung. The Saturday was more about traditional songs and dances, the Sunday about Buddhist chanting and a speech in Thai, that I quit after a while, because I...
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Help Burma
Yes, I'm in Cambodia, internet is not always at its top and I'm not aware of most of what's happening in the world. But... Burma is close enough for me to hear about it. So, if you're as news-isolated than I am, you may know not that Burma was hit by...
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Couchsurfing...
Once more, I have to thanks CS (which are not the letters for Counter Strike...) for having made me able to meet awesome people during my trip. On Thursday, one "tete d'ours" (Azlan) came to KL and introduced me to his... girlfriend ? Girlfriend... ??...
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Pulau Perhentian
Ok, just before talking about Burma, I would like to post some pics of the Perhentian Islands, on the East coast of Malaysia. Azlan, now, you'd better go before the coral is all dead... Don't forget to take Shafiq with you ;) View from my room. Yes ^^...
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Pika
Ok, let's close the KL chapter with Pika. It's high time, lol, I left KL 3 weeks ago... Yeah, I stole your picture, maafkanlah. Can I ? :) Had to open the source code of your profile on CS to find the adress of the pic, bwah Anyway, er... He's the one...
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Crying for Democracy
There are times when you just want to hope it's going be better somehow. You just want to think that, no, it should not be possible that it remains that way. You want to believe that something - anything - will happen, like in the movies where everyone...
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Free Hugs - CS meeting
Hum... Here I am again... Actually, it's not when I'm in the real jungle that I stop writing this blog. It's when I am in the city jungle, surrounded by too many people and busy with too many meetings to be able to come and write both my blogs. Sorry...
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In the paddocks
For those who didn't know, Kuala Lumpur hosted its 10th Formula 1 Grand Prix on March 23rd. It was for this very reason that I went to Malaysia. Me, a girl crazy about cars ? Not at all ^^ But it happens that my uncle works for the Renault F1 team, as...
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How to do nothing for 1 week in KL
So I get my visa on a Tuesday. And took the plane on a Saturday. You're going to ask me why ? Well, 1/ because I bought my ticket only once I had my visa. 2/ because Azlan was coming on the thursday and also because I wanted to see the KL Couchsurfers....