Backpacking sketchbook 6: South - finally! 8:55 AM

What a relief to get going. We flew to Pakse, jumped on a songthaew and got out of Pakse as soon as possible. Thank God we weren't stuck there! Our journey to the 4000 islands took a good few hours on the road, it was great to cover some distance and get some clarity and open space.

The 4000 Islands are located on the Mekong river in the South of Laos. There are various islands to visit and we liked the sound of Don Det an Don Khong. A fisherman took us to Don Khong in his longtail boat. It was wonderful to be surrounded by a mass of fast moving fresh water - such a different landscape and energy. We wanted to go to Don Khong because of its traquility and silence - but it was a little bit TOO quiet - with no other diners in any restaurants in sight. It was a strange feeling to order a banana pancake and after waiting 10 minutes you see one of the owners little sons come back with a bag of eggs. Things move slooooow here. We made our move after one night to Don Det more due to lack of time than lack of fast paced life.

Don Det is a typical place for backpackers to get stuck in. It's chilled and quiet but with enough travellers around to have a good time. The perfect place to find some hippies moving around in a world of cherry picking, working in hostels and smoking copious amounts of bamboo bongs. It hasn't been trampled on to a point of aboslute tourist destruction and the basic accomodation keep the lanie's away... for now.

I turned my drawing into a mural at "The Happy bar" and loved it. We savoured the little time we could spend until we had to move on to Ubon Rachatani to catch a flight to Phuket.

Backpacking sketchbook 5: Almost like Christmas in Laos 11:15 AM

The festival of lights arrived. The first time we strolled into a temple yard filled with paper lanterns we were filled with wonder. Really wonderful wonder. It was the first moment after our terrible ordeal that another positive emotion took over. I know I didn't write about the ordeal - but basicaly we - well our two travelling companions - were targeted as tourists by corrupt police and it was hectic and horrible. I will just say this DO NOT go to Vang Vieng.

Annyhow the festival of lights was busy, noisy and visually amazing. I have never seen so much life in Luang Prabang - If I closed my eyes it almost felt as if I was back in a nightmarket in Taiwan. We followed the crowds and hung out at the temple were the brightly lit and ornate handmade boats were finished off, carried down to the river - accompanied by loud chanting and drums and being send forth on the Mekong.

We watched many lanterns being lit and released into the air and by releasing the lanterns we secretly asked that all our worries will be over and set free into the night sky. We almost lost our ears to kids being totally irresponsible with firecrackers and finally settled down at the nicest bar next to the river for a well deserved bottle or two of red wine. Bidding Luang Prabang farewell along with saying a sad goodbye to our friends who had to stay for an unknown period of time.

My advice for the New Year: Believe in that lantern and let the worries go!

Backpacking sketchbook 4: Luang Prabang...we linger. 3:12 PM

If you love Art Deco, window shutters and wood this will warm your heart! It certainly warmed mine as we lazily walked around, when the heat allowed it, taking pictures and admiring the buildings. We also rented bicycles and cycled around town stopping at the market, shops and little restaurants for a bit of drawing and reading, a Beer Lao here and there as well as meals and snacks.

Luang Prabang was vibey - there were all kinds of preparations happening for the upcoming festival - paper lanterns were being made and hung up. Paper and bamboo boats were being built and you could feel the excitement in the air. When it was too hot to be out and about we hung out on the balcony of our guesthouse listening to tunes, and late at night when the curfew set in (yes at 12:00pm in Lao you have to check in at your guesthouse) we drank wine on the little private stoepie at the back of our guesthouse quietly sharing our lives, laughing, crying a bit and catching up as you do with good friends living far apart.

Introducing unrouxly kids! 11:47 AM

It's so rewarding drawing with kids. Their drawings makes me laugh and inspires me. A lot of time the kids don't get what makes their drawing special and I quess that's part of the charm.
Teaching Taiwanese kids English has very definite ups and downs and drawing together is defintely an up! Apart from the normal English as a second language classes I teach illustration at my house as well as a little growing class I have at a school.
These drawings were all done by kids around 6 years old and I loved their expression and interpretation. It's amazing how their drawing ability just comes naturally and how everyone seems to lose it when they get older. I don't believe it for one second - everybody can draw - it's just comparing with the Jones's that gets in the way!
Keep an eye on my unrouxly kids page on facebook for more from these unruly kids.

Backpacking sketchbook 3: Luang Prabang. 10:31 AM

Luang Prabang is just one of those places that you'll love. Thanks to the mix of French and Lao culture the town is filled with beautiful architecture, Art deco and colonial buildings built with immense amounts of wood. Good food - wonderful baquettes, noodle soups, good coffee, wine, a bit of that air that just the French can add to a town and then there's the Lao people. So sincere - you can see people's genuine good wishes when greeting strangers. Friendly open faces filled with happiness.

The first morning we awoke to beautiful sounds drifting into our room. There was a local omie playing a khim - a traditional instrument - on his stoep across the road. The khim has 42 strings and is played with two flexible bamboo sticks with soft leather at the tips to produce a soft tone. Lovely soothing, exotic and a good introduction to Luang Prabang.

We ate breakfast in the mornings next to the Mekong, strolled around avoiding tuk-tuk drivers saying "tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk" every time you passed them by. We went swimming in the waterfalls and looked forward to dinner daily in one of the many awesome restaurants around. I loved drawing with some of the local kids - without talking a word to each other we understood exactly what we were doing. Such a great universal language!

We learned that there was a big festival coming up and decided to lay low, rest and stay to join in the festivities.

Backpacking sketchbook 2: Vientiene. Breathe out. 11:56 AM

It was such a relief arriving in Vientiene. First of all meeting up with our friends and travelling companions who we haven't seen for ages, secondly the pace of Lao. Things move slooowly and I was desperate to chill out after a hectic year of adapting to Chinese culture, teaching and the pace of life in Tapei compared to Cape Town. Thirdly the food. Sigh. Wonderful spicy beef salad, green papaya salad, french baquettes, hot lipton tea with sweetmilk, lao coffee, beer lao and so much more.

We spend a day or so catching up, eating, drinking and hanging around. The guesthouse had a lovely balcony with a view over the temple across from the road. It was run by a student as well as a dog. The dog looked cool. I first slowly stretched over that he can smell my hand - he looked ok, and then I patted him. I mean there are obviously people coming in and out all the time - it's a guesthouse. Then the dog bit me! "OUCH!" I said. "Did he bite you?" The student said. I said yes. "It's a very bad dog" he said. So that makes things ok? Right. Nice to be in a place where things are accepted for what they are I quess.

Okay off we go then, on to the next stop.

Backpacking sketchbook 1: First stop Kuala Lumpur 11:21 AM

After a hectic busy time our holiday finally arrived. Armed with my new camera, drawing pens, sketchbook and alot of relief we flew to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We liked it. The diversity of the country is something that is very appealing as a South African living in Taiwan. Taiwan is very much one culture. One food style, one language, one big force (there are a few subcultures and languages but they are still more similar and still function as one nation) So the mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian was a breath of fresh air. I loved encouterering some Afrikaans words originating from the Malay language - I spotted a few: piesang, inspirasi, pos, bagasi - I'm sure there are plenty more floating around. We didn't do much exploring - but relaxed with great company, a bit of drama and a good meal - ready to fly to our next destination the next day.

Tarien, Pierre & Pepper 12:38 AM

I received a request from a lady in Pretoria to make an illustration as a first anniversary gift to her husband. It's a great commission to do and it became even better as I received more information from the one year wifey. She described her husband as patient, caring and full of love for her. He loves coffee, technology, and as young tatooed 'dominee' he has a passion for the youth. She's an art teacher loves proteas, birds and painting. They also have an awesome little dog called Pepper - I love little schnauzers! Their photo's were creative and full of love. They're a good example of a cool modern happy couple living in my hometown. I like it. So I made them an illustration reflecting their vibrant little unit and added some loose elements they could use for personalised stationary. No more Woolworths cards for friends birthdays. It's been a pleasure!