“The goal is to die with memories not dreams”
Unknown
This is the continuing account of our 2018 trip to the Asian countries of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia (see other blog entries).
We leave Thailand by taking a slow boat to the.....
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.
The last time I was in Laos, I flew from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, however there is a 'slower' way of getting there and it requires getting yourself to the Thailand border, crossing it and then taking the two-day "slowboat" down the mighty Mekong River from the Laos town of Huay Xai via Pak Beng and onwards to Luang Prabang.
We crossed the border and got a cheap hotel in Huay Xai. The next morning at 10:00AM we board the slowboat and start our journey down the Mekong River to our next destination.
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| The Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge that you must cross to get to Huay Xai. |
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| A Mekong River slow boat is a boat that is slow. Well not actually super slow, but it’s slower than a speed boat, hence the name. The trip from Huay Xai to Pak Beng will take 6 hours. |
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| The slowboats have basic seating and a couple of bathrooms. The enclosed area is where the crew live and it also houses the engine. The passengers sit up front in mass (up to 100+ people). |
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| Cargo boats, laying low in the water, also ply these waters. |
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| A farmer taking advantage of the river-beaches that line this part of the Mekong. |
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| The Mekong, translated 'Mother of Waters', is the 12th longest river in the world (4350km). Starting in the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China's Yunnan Province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. |
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| The passengers settled into the 6 hour journey downriver to the next community. |
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| Of course we take an open-aired boat just as northern Laos is going through a rare cold-spell. Whereas the normal temperature is around 28C it was a cool 20C. Damn the torpedoes. |
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| Pak Beng. Not much happening in Pak Beng, it's a kind of a "get-em in and get-em out" type of town. |
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| Hotellers pounce on the unsuspecting tourist as they disembark from the boats. "Hey mister. You stay my hotel $20." |
On day 2 of the trip downriver, instead of two 'slowboats' we are all packed in to one boat, albeit a bigger one, but all on the one boat nevertheless. In addition, the weather has taken an even further dip in temperature making this 8 hour day one of endurance!
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| Little villages line the river and it seems our slow boat stops at every one of them. |
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| For the villagers the River is the only supply line with the outside world. |
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| This is what 13C looks like for people who don't have 13C clothes. |
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| This would be an awesome trip if my teeth would just stop chattering! |
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| Of course there is more than one way to warm up! This Asian guy had a amble supply of rice moonshine and was sharing with his fellow passengers! Actually the shine wasn't bad I have to admit. |
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| Meanwhile the Mekong, with its sandy banks and rocky outcrops just continue to glide pass. |
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| Getting closer to Luang Prabang...... |
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| The Pak Ou caves on the Mekong River have been a place of worship for more than a thousand years. |
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| The port of Luang Prabang. I think I'm frozen to my seat. |
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| Various sizes of slow boats moored together. |
From the Port we grab a tuk-tuk into the city of......
Luang Prabang
Beautiful Luang Prabang has an air of faded grandeur, with French colonial buildings jostling with ancient red-roofed Theravada Buddhist temples. A narrow, mile long peninsula between the Mekong River and Nam Khan River holds the historic district of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Considered to be the best preserved city in Southeast Asia, it's packed with gracious homes, shophouses and temples.
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| Our tuk-tuk driver was obviously the kingpin of the tuk-tuk drivers because he didn't leave the Port until all the other tuk-tuk's were packed and off, forcing us to patiently wait.....and wait.....and wait.. |
After looking for and securing a hotel, we rent bicycles and head out to explore and see the many sights.
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| The historic 'old town' with its narrow alleyways are the perfect place to ride a bike. No cars. No tuk-tuks. No scooters. |
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| With 33 gilded wats within the historic town it wasn't long before we came across some of them. Here a monk is banging the drum. A drum so huge he has to climb up on a stepladder to bang it! |
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| The selfie miesters with Mr. Buddha. |
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| Melanie's new favourite food. Sun dried beef jerky! |
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| We paddled through a market that was obviously there for the locals (I made this brilliant deduction based on the fact that there were no tourist to be seen). |
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| Laos is a landlocked country, so all these dried fish came from the silty Mekong River. |
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| The Royal Temple, Haw Pha Bang, was only completed in 2006. |
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| Three or four bamboo bridges span the Nam Khan river linking Luang Prabang's peninsula to the rest of the country. |
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| Why do people cross the bridge? We crossed it because it was there! |
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| Dug out canoes moored on the Nam Khan River. |
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| The monks obviously have dragon races on the Mekong, because every Wat had a long boat, such as this massive one. "Hey Melanie." |
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| A large stupi and a small bicycler. |
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| WAT'S THAT! |
Over the last 20 years Luang Prabang has seen a flood of investment, with once leprous French villas being revived as fabulous boutique hotels, with some of the best chefs in Southeast Asia moving in. However, for our suppers we avoided all the chic restaurants and headed instead for the Night Market.
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| When I was here 12 years ago this market was a lot smaller, now it stretches for 1.5kms with two sides making it, technically speaking of course, about 3kms long. All I can say to that is WOW.!! |
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| Many of the merchants put a red canopy over their patch of the street which at night gives the market a 'red-light district look'. |
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| This is what we came for!! Meat on a stick and spicy noodles. All that and a beer, not bad for $4pp.!! |
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| "What to have? What to have? Hmmmmm" |
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| "Look Mel!! We got a seat with a view!!" |
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Sitting on plastic seats at the market......free
Eating awesome Asian street food.....$4
The cost of the slow boat to Luang Prabang......$36
Melanie happy to be in Luang Prabang.....priceless. |
Dominating the old city centre is the 100m tall Phu Si mountain. Our agenda today was to climb that mountain and have a look. So we did.
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| It's 329 steps up. |
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| Three hundred and twenty five.......three hundred and twenty six.... |
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| The selfie miesters strike again! |
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| Looking out at Luang Prabang and the river Nam Kham. |
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| We descend Phu Si on the northern side so we can get a chance to see the Wat Thammothayalan temple..... |
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| ......this Wat has a series of gilded Buddhas nestled into rocky clefts and niches all around. Pretty neat actually. |
Maybe the next four pictures are a little disrespectful!! The top four things you should not do with Buddha.......
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| #1: You should not play Patty Cake with Buddha. |
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| #2: You should not try and stop traffic with Buddha. |
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| #3: You should not fall asleep with Buddha. |
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| #4: You should not volunteer to lead prayer class with Buddha. |
We weren't done with Wat Tammothayalan yet.....
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| Yes there is a cave here! And we all know our thing about caves! |
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| At the end of the cave were some Buddha's and a monk holding an AA meeting. |
We get up at an unbelievable hour to take part in the monks'.....
morning call to alms
Daily at dawn, saffron-clad monks pad barefoot through the streets of Luang Prabang while pious townsfolk place tiny balls of sticky rice in their begging bowls. It's a quaint, meditative ceremony through which monks demonstrate their vows of poverty and humility while lay Buddhists gain spiritual merit by the act of respectful giving.
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| "How did I get talked into this one?" |
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| 6:00AM and not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, however that didn't stop the shopkeeper from taking up position. |
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| The monks will eat well today! |
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| Bring out the charge of the light brigade. |
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| One ball of rice for you, and one ball of rice for your friends! |
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| "ALMS! ALMS for the needy." |
For our next destination we take the 6 hour mini-bus for the 220km trip to......
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 mountain scenery and overflowing with activities, such as caving and kayaking down the river.
Like a rural scene from an old Asian silk painting, Vang Vieng crouches low over the Nam Song river with a backdrop of serene cliffs and a tapestry of vivid green paddy fields. In 2012, the Lao government closed the river rave bars and is, instead, rebooting itself as an adrenalin-fuelled adventure destination. However, if you are looking for some Lao culture, Vang Vieng isn't the place to find it.
Although the 6 hour mini-bus ride to Vang Vieng was painful, the scenery was awesome.....
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| Drying 'something' on the side of the road..... |
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| ......thrashing the same 'something' on the side of the road. |
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| A typical country Laotian bamboo home..... |
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| .....a typical Laotian home gathering for supper! |
As with all new places, after securing a hotel, we head out to explore our new surroundings....
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| We walked across the bamboo bridge over the river Nam Song and continued onwards. |
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| Some local young lads catching a few fry for supper....... |
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| .....and some local not-so-young harvesters picking "river weed" for supper. |
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| We asked for a room with a balcony and a view....well we got a balcony. Nice view of the building next door though!! |
Later the night we went back out for a beer and such...
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| The Full Moon Bar complete with laughing gas on tap, but first..... |
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| .....a glass of tasty bumble-bee liquor. The jug in my hand contains about 300 fermented bees floating in the complimentary moonshine! Yummy. "Anyone hear a buzzing?" |
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| As Melanie always states: "when in Rome........" |
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| Hee Haa! |
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| Oh Dear......we bad! |
After our nitrous oxide experimentation we go for a stroll....
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| You could have these cottages for a song on the Nam Song river. |
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| We stopped and watched as some Asian guy released a Chinese Sky Lantern that lazily floated away into the night sky. |
Vang Vieng is known for its activities centred around the Nam Song River and the many limestone karst mountains dotting the landscape. Today we explore both!!
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| We start our adventure here on the Nam Song river about 20 minutes out of town with a beautiful view of a limestone karst towering over a small village. |
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| It was another 20 minutes to walk to our first destination through some pretty awesome scenery. |
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| Life on the Nam Song river. We see the river as a playground, they see it as an essential part of their daily life. |
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| Our first destination was a small temple/cave at the foot of a karst mountain called Elephant Cave! |
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| This cave (actually more cavern than cave) is so named because of it's elephant look-alike limestone stalagmite. |
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| The temple/cave was riddled with Buddhas and other religious symbols including this oddity. |
The transition from cave to water. Next on the agenda is to explore another cave via a river running through it.....
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| Aaah yes, the ole-explore-the-cave-on-a-rubber-innertube trick.... |
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| ......self-propelled using whatever limb is available! |
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| The cave entrance. Not much I know but doable. |
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| Inside looking outside. |
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| And now for something completely different. |
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| Using whatever means available to move we go upstream, in a cave, on a rubber inner tube, until we can go no further and then we turn around and go back from whence we came! |
After our cave tubing experience we head back to the river for our kayaking finale.....
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| "Let's go......come on. Get this show on the road. Get these boats in the water. Come on. Let's go." |
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| The last time I was in Vang Vieng I did this kayaking day trip and here I am again, 12 years later, doing the same trip! Go figure. Haven't grown up at all! |
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"Turn off your mind and float down stream"
The Beatles: Tomorrow Never Knows
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| The river takes us pass some of the most amazing scenery..... |
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| ......giant karst mountains jut out of the jungle like something taken from a Chinese painting. |
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| No he's not panning for gold but rather he's a river weed harvester. They apparently eat it, which of course means Melanie & I have probably eaten it as well. |
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| And this is where our kayaking adventure ends! Could be a worst location! |
We take another torturous mini-bus the 157km to the capital city of........
Vientiane
Vientiane, the bustling capital city of Laos, is set on the steady waters of the Mekong River. The historic old quarter of Vientiane, with its over-abundance of temples and tree lined boulevards, is the place to hang and watch the city go by. So we did!!
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| Our hotel, the Mixok Inn, had a great 'people-watching' deck where we drank cold beer and 'people-watched'. Never mine the wires! |
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| Municipal worker. |
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| "Gentlemen, start your engines" |
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| The sights and sounds of a typical Asian city. |
As always; exploring the city is on the list....
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| The President's Palace. Nice looking digs for a communist government. |
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| Vientiane's Arc de Triomphe replica, the Victory Monument..... |
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| ....the tower was built in 1969 with cement donated by the USA intended for the construction of a new airport. Who needs an airport when we can give the people a tower!! |
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| Looking out from underneath the massive arches. |
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| The selfie miesters with the classic ceiling pose.... |
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| ....the Chinese, they see one person do something with a selfie stick, and then they all got to do it. |
Supper time was classic Asian street food, simply the best.....
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| BBQ whole chicken $3...... |
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| ....add a few noodles and 'presto' you have an awesome meal. |
The last word in Laos goes to these two guys.....
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| "Hey Phil, it isn't raining you know?" |
Cheers......
