Blogs from East, Laos, Asia - page 8

Ich bin in Phonsavan und es ist eiskalt! Nur 18°C abends und es herrscht ein eisiger Wind, so dass es sich noch kälter anfühlt. "18°C sind doch angenehme Temperaturen", werdet Ihr nach Eurem kalten Winter jetzt wahrscheinlich sagen, ich rede aber nicht von angenehmen Erster-Frühlingstag-und-endlich-Sonne-18-Grad, sondern von Mitte-August-und-seit-zwei-Wochen-nur-Regen-und-wann-wird's-mal-wieder-richtig-Sommer-18-Grad! Ich machte für einen Tag Zwischenstation hier, weil ich mir die Ebene der Tonkrüge anschauen wollte. Der deutsche Name ist eigentlich nicht ganz korrekt. Eigentlich handelt es sich um riesige Steinkrüge, die an drei Standorten in der Umgebung von Phonsavan scheinbar wahllos in der Gegend herumliegen. Sie stammen von einer Megalithkultur und sind ungefähr zweitausend Jahre alt. Ihr genauer Sinn und Zweck ist noch nicht ganz geklärt. Es spricht einiges dafür, dass es sic... read more

Because we were due to fly out again this afternoon Tey arranged to meet us at 7.30am this morning. He was most concerned that we did not have jackets because it was so cold. He may have been feeling the cold this morning, but we thought that it was blissfully cool!! From the hotel we drove to the Visitor Information Centre only to find it was still closed. As an official UNESCO-trained guide, Tey has to purchase a permit each time that he is taking tourists to visit the jars. After a very short wait, during which a couple of calls were made, a staff member arrived to open up the visitor centre. With our permit purchased we were on our way to Site No. 2. Site No. 2 is about 25km south of Phonsovan. The ... read more

Our stay in Phonsavan was going to be brief, and we had to carefully decide which sites to visit so as to make the most of our trip. After arriving at about 9 in the evening after an unfortunate minivan breakdown, we put up at Nice Guesthouse. Yes, it's true that our place of lodging was called Nice Guesthouse and I'm pleased to say that the place, for it's low price of 80,000kip a night, does live up to its name. The aforementioned breakdown presented us with the opportunity to be acquainted with Kati, a most cordial Swiss lady, who was also on her way to Phonsavan in our minivan with her husband Erwin. While waiting for the vehicle to be repaired, Erwin decided to give Phonsavan a miss and head straight to Vientiane with a ... read more

It was cold enough here to see my breath this morning. There was thick fog covering the surrounding karsts, and I could hear loud music down the street, but there was little action in view of the guesthouse, which was a charming series of bungalows, each composed of one room and a bathroom. I walked over to the restaurant, clearly affiliated with the guesthouse as they were situated together upon the same driveway. I ordered some coffee from a woman hanging around, and as is the norm around here in smaller towns, received hot water with a ‘3 in 1’ coffee packet dumped in, the packet containing a powdery mix of milk, sugar and coffee. The packets are surprisingly tasty. I exchanged good morning pleasantries with the man who worked at the Tourist and Caves Office, ... read more

Come next morning I was not exactly well rested, but was keen to get up and check out of the hostel and check into the nice hostel (actually called “Nice Guest House”) we’d gone past the previous night. That done we had some breakfast and then waited outside the tour organisers for our minibus to the Plain of Jars (or “pots of jars” as Sammy put it). Some Lao children came up to us to test their English, trying out a variety of pre-prepared questions. When our minibus arrived two of the girls were invited to come along with us and the two Germans in our tour group. We drove out to a “whiskey village” where some local people prepare rice whiskey. Tasting was limited due to the fact that I don’t drink, the Germans had ... read more