Asia: Laos 2007

"Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost."

Erol Ozan

This is the continuing account of my 2007 trip to the Asian countries of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia (see other blog entries) with my brother Wayne.

In keeping with our trip to Southeast Asia, my brother Wayne, and I leave Thailand (see previous blog) and fly to the country of.......

Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos

Laos may at first glance, appear to be nothing more than a mountainous, slow-moving and lightly populated country isolated from many of the changes taking place elsewhere in Southeast Asia.  With a strong traditional Buddhist culture, and noticeable French influence (they once occupied the country), Laos is one of the most intriguing countries in the region, one that actually limits tourism as a matter of policy, to ensure that places such as Luang Prabang remain unspoiled.  With small, charming, comfortable hotels with teakwood floors, locally woven fabrics and the ambience of another century, Laos is one of the best places to visit for travellers searching for somewhere off the beaten path.

Our destination in Laos is the former Royal capital.......

Luang Prabang

Beautiful Luang Prabang has an air of faded grandeur, with French colonial buildings jostling ancient red-roofed Theravada Buddhist temples and stupas with gold spires beneath Mount Phousi.  A narrow, mile long peninsula between the Mekong River and Nam Khan River holds the historic district of the city, an UNESCO World Heritage site.  Considered to be the best preserved city in Southeast Asia, it's packed with gracious homes, shophouses and temples.

We arrived in Luang Prabang and looked for a hotel.......

One of the interesting things about Luang Prabang is how laid back the place is.  Perhaps one of the reasons is that many of the streets are so narrow that vehicles cannot access them.  Our guesthouse is just down this lane.

How laid back is this place?   Ooooooh pretty laid back!

This was the Laos Government notice in my hotel room.  These were in all the hotels in Laos and it was just too good not to include here!!  Love them translations!!

Later that night we went to the market......

The Night Market in Luang Prabang, perhaps the cheapest in Southeast Asia.

Wayne haggling over 5 cents on a 50 cent pipe.

The next day Wayne is sick so I talk one of the employees of our guesthouse to take me to a traditional restaurant.......

He was employed at the hotel I was staying at and I agreed to buy lunch if he would take me to a good "local" place.  The 'place' was a sidewalk cafe, definitely off the beaten path, that served really cold Beer Lao and Water Buffalo Blood soup (consisting of coagulated blood curds) and a hot.....very hot stir fry!

After my bizarre lunch I went exploring Luang Prabang......

The famous Mekong River.  These boats carry passengers from here up to the Thai border and back.

The gorgeous 16th century Wat Xiang Thong temple

Dragon roof struts guard the temple.

Inside the temple, gold-stenciled wooden pillars support a ceiling decorated with dharma wheels.

My exploring around town brought me to the Stairway to Heaven!  Well maybe not THE Stairway to  Heaven but pretty darn close.  Mt. Phousi, is a large hill that dominates Luang Prabang.  The stairs zigzag up the hill passing more images of Buddha then I've ever seen!  And I've seen me a lot of Buddha!

A rotund Buddha image.  Don't actually see many of them in this part of the world, the Buddha's here are usually the slimmer version.

Hanging with Santa while he's on his summer retreat.

Buddha and his groupies.

Always my favourite Buddha, the one that's taking a nap!

And yet another Buddha.  This fellow is sitting atop of Mt. Phousi, so I guess that makes him the top Buddha.

A fisherman fishes the Nam Khang River that runs thru Luang Prabang.

A view of Luang Prabang from atop of Mt. Phousi.

Later that night Wayne was feeling well enough to go for supper.....

First we need money.  The only ATM in Luang Prabang.  Everyone's hoping there's enough cash in there for all of us!

Paul & Charlotte (we met on a trek in Northern Thailand) recommended this restaurant down some back alley where the food was awesome.  Its been my experience that in Luang Prabang every restaurant is down a back alley and the food is always awesome!! 

We settled for the white fish stuffed with lemon grass and barbecued on a stick and served on a banana leaf.  Without a doubt perhaps one of the best fish meals I've ever experienced. 

The next morning I'm up real early to see the monks......

At dawn, everyday, hundreds of Buddhist monks gather at the Wat Xiang Thong temple for "tai bat",  a 6AM walk through the misty streets to gather alms.

The citizens of Luang Prabang sit on the side of the street handing out alms (rice and other foods).   This 'tai bat' is the only food these monks will eat today.

We board the bus for a six hour bus ride to Vang Vieng..........

The road to Vang Vieng.  Basically up one mountain down the other side.  Repeat....and repeat some more!

Entire communities exist along the only main road in Laos.

Kids are required by the State to attend school until a certain age.  These village kids are on their way home for the day.

The landscape is amazing.

We finally arrive at.......

Vang Vieng

Situated midway between the capital of Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng has become (for better or worse) the backpacker's pit stop while in Laos.  It's surrounded by splendid karst scenery and overflowing with activities, such as caving and tubing down the river.

For many, Vang Vieng is the highlight of their trip to Laos.  If your idea of an ideal night involves scoffing 'happy' pizza and quaffing Beer Lao's all to the background of never-ending Family Guy episodes, then you're going to absolutely love this place. 

The town is riddled with such an array of guesthouses, restaurants and shops that it's hard to know what to do on arrival.  Just about every shopfront on the main street of this small but rapidly developing town caters exclusively to the tourist dollar.  If you're looking for some Lao culture, Vang Vieng isn't the place to find it.

We rented motorcycles and went exploring around Vang Vieng......

The reason this tourist mecca has sprung up is because of the gorgeous Nam Song River and the magnificent karst mountains that the river runs through.

Besides the scattered van and/or bus, we only really saw two types of vehicle in Vang Vieng.   The family convertible ......

....and the real work-horse.  The scooter!

The view from our hotel.

The next day we go......

Tubing

Tubing is an interesting experience:  One floats lazily down the Nam Song River in a tire inner-tube.  As one floats pass the many riverside drinking establishments that line the banks, the bar-boys toss ropes out to you (with amazing accuracy) and if one is interested, you grab on to the rope and they will pull you into their establishment.

We hook up with Paul & Charlotte, the Irish couple we originally met on a trek in Northern Thailand (see previous blog Part 1).

Now this is what I'm talking bout!

We didn't get far (about 100 metres downriver)!  The first take-out on the river was a place where we bought a bucket of booze to get our nerve up for the cable-slide-ride!  

Wayne demonstrates the Cable-Slide-Ride.  First you climb up a very rickety bamboo platform several metres above the river, then clutching the handle on the pulley you jump.......

......gravity takes over and away you go......

......and splash down.  We give Wayne a 5.9 for that great face-plant into the river!

Back on the river.  Wayne floats pass a huge Tarzan Swing.

This river is our playground today, but it's their playground all year!

These kids were born with web feet I'm convinced of that!

Coming up fast on our next drinking establishment with a good sturdy looking Tarzan Swing.

I will now demonstrate the correct way to Tarzan Swing.  First, you once again climb a rickety bamboo platform high above the water.  Next you grab hold of the hand bars and......and......OKAY give me a minute.... its higher than it looks.....jump!

And away you gooooooooo.......

Now be honest.....I DO look something like Tarzan!?!??!?

At the end of a fun filled day..........

I ask you......can it get any better than this?

The next day Wayne was sick, so I went caving by myself.......

To get to the caves we had to cross the river.

The first cave we went to was called the Elephant Cave.  This cave, with it's elephant look-alike limestone was also riddled with Buddha's.....which means they could have easily called it the Buddha Cave!

A smiling Buddha adorns this cave.

Our second cave required a walk to get to....

....including a trek through some local rice fields.

The opening to the final cave (I know it looks like an arse).  We entered the butt using inner tubes but this soon gave way to squatting, crawling and slithering along the muddy and/or rocky cave floor.

The Great White Caver.

 The next day we head back to Luang Prabang....

Wayne looks on in total shock and disbelief.....our "air-con" bus, which wasn't air-con, nor was it a bus, breaks down in the middle of nowhere!  ....But we make it, albeit 2 hours late!

Well that's it for now, see you in the next update as we fly to our next destination: Vietnam!  Cheers......

DIARY ENTRY:  Monday November 12, 2007  12:37PM:  Here I am in Luang Prabang, Laos.  We arrived yesterday (Sunday Nov 11/07) afternoon and found a guesthouse in a quiet back-alley place.

Saturday (Nov 10/07) in Chiang Mai (Thailand see previous blog Part 1) we did very little, basically sat around the pool and read.  However; that night we went out on the town.  Wayne ran into a girl from Victoria that he had met there.  We stayed at the bar for awhile (it was a real party happening there).  Later on the way back to the hotel I stopped at another bar and met a German who kept asking me out back and to smoke hash.  I paid for it the next day as I was very sick.

So today I was writing in my journal and started talking to one of the guys that work here and him and I went for something to eat.  It was an interesting meal.......water buffalo blood soup (a clear soup with chunks of coagulated blood) and some other dish with the only thing I recognize being cherry tomatoes.

After the bizarre lunch, I walked around and climbed up Mt. Phousi to look at Luang Prabang and the Buddha statutes there.

DIARY ENTRY:  Tuesday November 13, 2007  6:12PM:  Got up early this morning and went out to see the monks going around collecting their alms.  

We had to be at the bus station by 7:30AM for the six hour bus ride to Vang Vieng.  This was a somewhat interesting trip, albeit long, because we climbed very high into the mountains.  Of course, what goes up must come down!  Towards the end we entered fertile farmland with spectacular karsts.

Wayne insisted on finding a guesthouse with air-con and we ended up in a not-so-nice place, but it does have air-con.

Afterwards I grabbed a quick shower and we rented motorcycles and went exploring around Vang Vieng.  The bikes cost us $2.00 for 4 hours plus a $1.00 for gas.  Not a bad deal but we had seen everything by 6:00PM so we returned them early.

Tonight we meet up with Paul & Charlotte (Irish couple we had gone trekking with in Northern Thailand) for supper.

DIARY ENTRY:  Wednesday November 14, 2007  10:27PM:  Well today was great!!  We did the tubing thing on the Nam Song River.  We put in at around 11:00AM and floated only a few metres before we stopped for a beer and a cable slide into the river.  This slide is where you climb up on a platform from which you jump while holding a pulley, which slides down the cable until you splash into the river.

From here we again launched into the river with our tubes and stopped about 100 metres downriver for more beer and a tarzan swing (about 12 metres high...yikes).  This practice continued for 2 more times before we finally settled in for the remaining 3 kms of lazy floating downriver.  It was great and we got some great pictures.

Tomorrow we go kayaking and caving......again it should be a real experience.

DIARY ENTRY:  Friday November 16, 2007  12:44PM:  Sambai Dee (Laos for hello).

Well Wayne wasn't feeling very good so we decided to stay in Vang Vieng one more day until he got over the shittens!

Yesterday (Thursday Nov 15/07) I went caving and kayaking on the Nam Song River.  We went to the Elephant Cave  which wasn't much more than a large opening in the cliffs.  There were several Buddha's inside and a limestone formation that looks like an elephant. 

After we walked to another cave where we took inner tubes into a cave.  This was much more like a cave and it went for quite the distance.  At one time we had to abandon the tubes and walk, squeeze and crawl along the way.  After the caving experience we ate and was soon on our way on sit-aboard kayaks.  This was the same river we had tubed on the day before, so we came up on the same bars and tarzan swings!

Tomorrow we head back to Luang Prabang to catch our flight to Hanoi.

DIARY ENTRY:  Saturday November 17, 2007  6:49PM:  Got up this morning and took the bus back to Luang Prabang.  It was supposed to be a mini-bus but in reality it was a mini-van.  It was supposed to be air-con but they never turned it on.  About half-way we got a flat so the 5 hour trip turned into a 7 hour trip.  A lot of people were upset by the trip but I say, "Don't sweat the small stuff."

Last night (Friday Nov 16/07) we went for pizza at the Family Guy restaurant.  This is where they play Family Guy reruns....all day.  The pizza was good and we decided to go to 'Joe's Bar' for a beer after, but could not find the place.  This is the only bar in Vang Vieng that stays open past 11:00PM.  It remained elusive for our entire stay.