Welcome to Tübingen, Germany, Europe 2008, pt1

Prost! Enjoying a day with Silivren and Bjornstjerne inside the renaissance Collegium building.
Above is a view of the city from the castle below.

B and S live right in the center of town, it's great. The market in the old town sits right in front of the Rathaus (townhall).

More coming up from lovely western Germany soon ...

Phu Chi Fa and Siam Gate: One Foot in Thailand the Other in Laos

"Phu Chi Fa" is this dramatic cliff on the border with Thailand and Laos in the Chiang Rai area. As we saw when we went up, there is no clear border demarcation. The Lao and the Thai have been arguing about this area for some time. The Lao insist they should have some share of the revenue brought in by visitors. Clearly, Thais don't agree with this. But the border remains extremely porous; when you walk up there, one step down the ridge of the mountain or cliff and you're in Laos. So there's a good amount of movement into Thailand, particularly of the Hmong who are pretty much being hunted down by the Laos government while Thailand turns a blind eye and sends them back. With all the craziness in Burma this atrocity gets completely overshadowed. You can see various villages from the cliff--and a Laos army base too.

Below is a picture of "Siam Gate." Unlike Phu Chi Fa, this is not a known spot at all. It is an entry way the Lao used especially during the Vietnam war to get into Thailand. Nowadays, you can just walk right into Laos! Pornsak and J did it a few weeks before; when we went, some men from a nearby Lao military base (supposedly) hammered some rickety bamboo together and blocked the 'gate'; no more gallivanting in Laos without a visa! But, hey, anyone would be able to just jump over of crawl through it if they really wanted to.