Loving Laos (north)

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Laos

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Vientiane
October 16th


So I've turned the corner into the final leg of my trip. I'm past the half way point and after an eventful night of sleeping at the airport I'm finally in Laos. No more flights until my big one home. No more needing to be somewhere by a certain date. All I have to do is get from A to B. While waiting for my plane to leave KL I starting talking with a Aussie guy who was also heading to Laos. He had been here before and gave the stories he told just built up my excitement even more. We were both only spending the day in Vientiane (Laos' capital city) and then moving in the same direction so we decided to head along our route together when things line up anyway.

The flight into Laos was amazing. The views from the plane were beautiful. There are no skyscrapers. No big cities. Just green and trees as far as you could see. After we landed and got our visas sorted out we started talking to a German guy who is working here in Laos and he gave us a ride into town. After finding a place to sleep and having an awesome lunch the Aussie guy and I split up for the afternoon and I headed to see the few sites there are in Vientiane and to just take in the city. On my way to Pha That Luang which is a huge gold covered temple and is one of Laos national monuments I made a stop at Patuxai which translated into English roughly means Arc of Triumph. It was really beautiful to see and is a salute to Laos' days as a colony of France. Its actually really cool. On most of their signs there will be Laos and then underneath it there will be French as opposed to English like most of the countries I have been it. Another language note is that I've seen quite a bit of Korean here too and I am really surprised at the number of Koreans I have met that live here permanently. I didn't think many of them would move to a country like this.

Walking around this city is actually really cool. Not only is the a lot of sings of its french history but there are also a lot of monks throughout the city which reminds me a lot of Chiang Mai. Also Coke was a dominating logo in all the other countries I've visited but in Laos for some reason everywhere you look its Pepsi instead which is kind of weird. The city itself is super laid back which is what I've heard this whole country is like. I even walked through a market without getting asked to buy something which was a first for me. The transport drivers do ask you a bit but when you say no they're completely fine and leave you alone which is cool too. One guy did ask me though if I wanted a lady and when I said no he said "boom boom" with a wink just to make sure I understood. I thought this was pretty funny.

After exploring the city I headed back to my room and met up with Michael and we headed out for another awesome meal on the Mekong river and then continued on for a few drinks and a few games of pool. Nothing to big though as we have a transport day ahead of us and the big backpackers city of Vang Vieng. One day in Laos and I already love it here. This is what I pictured Thailand was like about 20 years ago before tourism really took over. There is a sense of the tourism stuff here but it still hasn't taken away from Laos yet so it allows you to still get a really cool feel of the country.

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Vang Vieng
October 17th- October 20th


So up somewhat early after probably one of the best sleeps I've had on this trip. We headed to the bus station area and found a Minivan driver who will take us to Vang Vieng but we have to wait for about an hour to see if he can get more people into the minivan which was fair enough. I really like sitting at bus stops and just people watch. You get to see so many different people heading in so many different ways and it really gives me a good chance to just sit back and soak in where I am. Before long we are off with 3 Americans. 2 from Alaska and 1 from Ohio of all places. The have also been to Laos before and loved it so much they came back which seems to be a common feeling I've gotten from talking to people both here and on the rest of my travels. Traveling here is a bit of a tiring ordeal though as a 150 km ride from Vientiane to Vang Vieng takes about 4 hours. They have a good amount of paved roads but the problem is most of them aren't exactly in great condition but luckily the drive is just beautiful. With green, mountains and interesting people all around the ride flies by.

Vang Vieng is a pretty cool town. It has 2 little that hold most of the action which unfortunately has become pretty tourist oriented. The main draw though inst the town itself but rather what surrounds it as the chance to tub, rock climb, kayak, and white water raft surround this city. I've heard this city has really built up from what it used to be years ago but that southern Laos give you a chance to experience what this city used to be which is good as I am heading there in a few weeks. I spent the afternoon just exploring the city with Michael and we ended up meeting up with the Americans. Micheal headed off on his own towards the end of the night and I stuck with the Americans as we bar hopped for the evening meeting tons of cool people along the way.

There are a few polar opposites about this town. As I mentioned the town itself, all be it super small is a bit tourist oriented. There are many bars that play episodes of friends, the Simpson and family guy around the clock. They do this because many tourist and backpackers come to the area as a search for their "happy" meals that many places offer. Weed, Mushrooms, and even Opium are all available here. On the other hand just a simply look around and you can see green rice fields and limestone cliffs in every direction. Should be a good couple of days.

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So my first day here I decided to hope on the main draw here and that was to do some tubing. You get carted off on a tuk tuk up river where you hope into a big inner tube and float back down into town. Now not only are you floating down amongst some amazing scenery but along the way many bars have popped up that give you a chance to grab a few drinks and also jump into the water via swing, zip line or slide. By the end of it you meet almost everyone at one of the little bars or along the river and then head off together to a few of the bars back in town that night. While in line to head off the Americans showed up so the four of us headed in together. Not even in the water 5 minutes and already there was a bar fishing us out of the water via a long stick for us to grab onto. This bar had both a zip line and a big swing but since one of my lifelong fears is dislocating my shoulder in water, let alone a country with no real medical system, I decided not to do these today and instead I would opt to platform jump or slide into the water.

This is what most of the day entailed really. Float down the river a bit, grab a drink, and repeat. With the odd plate of food or game of mud volleyball thrown in. The scenery you're in though is just amazing and is usually the icebreaker used when meeting someone new. At any given moment you can look around and see someone just starring off with a look of amazement. There were many times while floating down the river or sitting on the banks drinking a beer loa that I just had a though of how stupid this was as it was so amazing. As I mentioned you also meet a lot of people along the way that you see for days to come. Every time you walk down the street in Vang Vieng you can't go 5 minutes without seeing someone you know and even up in Luang Probang I met some people I met while tubing. A cool experience I had was at the last bar where I sat down with some locals who spoke French. I sat with them for about an hour and we tried to communicate the best we could which didn't take us to far but it was definitely a really cool experience. Definitely a day I wont forget.

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Today was a solo adventure day as I took to some of the neighboring cliffs to do some hiking and caving. Along the way some small children came up to me and pointed at my water bottle but not really knowing what was going on I just kept going. On my way back I passed by the group of kids to see them making music by banging pop cans and water bottles on a table. They were having a blast and 'm guessing they wanted my bottle to help out their band which I thought was cute. While heading to the caves, just after I saw the bottle band, another boy came up to me and asked if I needed a guide for 10,000 kip (just over a buck) to one of the nearby caves. Lak showed me around to the first cave which wasn't too big but housed a cool looking Buddha at the back of it. I continued my walk and a few caves later I got to a really cool cave that not only was pretty big and housed some bats but it also had a little lagoon to swim in. I was struggling a bit with the heat by this point so a dip in a super cold lagoon was exactly what I needed. After visiting a few more caves I began to hear thunder far off in the distance so I decided to head back as I was probably about an hour away.

After freshening up at bit I headed into town to grab a late afternoon lunch, massage and wonder through the town. After a while I bumped into Michael who had down some rock climbing today (which I had booked for tomorrow) and we grabbed some amazing Indian food. He headed off on his own after dinner and I grabbed some dessert while watching some family guy before packing it in for an early night as I was quite tired from yesterday and hiking around in the sun all day. I still can't get over how beautiful this place is and I hope some of my pictures can capture even the sliest bit of this. There are so many times today that I would just stop and look around at the scenery. The people here are also so nice and everywhere you go you get a hello (which in Laos sounds like "say buddy".) Everywhere you go you get smiles and warm greetings even though their English ability is pretty low. This place is definitely living up to the hype.

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Today was a rock climbing day for me and after a good breakfast I was picked up and we headed for one of the nearby cliffs to learn how to climb. 2 of the people in my group are already pretty good climbers so they helped get things ready while my guide taught us what we needed to know. Before long it was my time to climb the harder of the 2 morning climbs while everyone else waited to do the other climb. It was amazing. I've always wanted to so something like this and my monkey feet definitely came in handy. Also because of my shoulder I really focus on not using my arms to much which actually is what you need to do so it makes climbing a bit easy for me. Well in some ways anyway. After a few tough moments I eventually reached the top. On my way down I spun around to take in the amazing view of the rice fields and other cliffs the are all around us again again there is no way to describe how amazing the area is here. The views are even amazing from the bottom where we start are climbs but they can't compare to the top. My 2nd climb was much different then the first. The first one was a straight up climb where as this one had a lot of nooks and crannies you needed to wedge yourself into which was really cool to do. Bendiness and monkey feet definitely paid off on this climb.

After an awesome shish kabob lunch cooked on an open fire we had our final two climbs for the day. Lunch was served on a Banana leaf which was pretty cool and I've slowly noticed that they use banaa leaves for a lot here which is really cool. The first one I did was the longest of the day. The first 18m are pretty easy but the final 12 are super tough. I also realized about half way up that I had forgotten my chalk bag and with me being the sweaty guy that I am this was a bit of a problem later. Anyway I made it up to about 24m before my hands where just to sweaty to be able to grip the tiny holds so I couldn't make it to the top. I did make it the highest though out of the beginners so I wasn't too disappointed. The 4th climb I could really do because you needed to not only use your arms a lot but you needed to use your right arm above your head way to much for my comfort level so I climb about half way up until the right hand area and then came back down as I didn't want to risk hurting my shoulder. Rock climbing was amazing and such a bigger work out than I would have though as both my forearms and calves were a little tight the next day. I really wish it was a hobby I could take up seriously but knowing my shoulder I don't know if that's possible. After rock climbing I cleaned up and ran into Michael and we grabbed a bite to eat before heading out for a few drinks since I was heading north tomorrow and he was heading back south.

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Luang Prabang
October 21st- October 24th


Well today was a long transit day as about 150 kms took about 8 hours to drive. the main reason this time wasn't so much the condition on the road but merely the fact that the road weaved itself up and down mountain after mountain and our bus just couldn't do this at a decent speed. All that said though the drive itself was probably one of the most breathtaking drives I've ever been on. Green and hills as far as you can see. Again I took pictures but they wont even come close to capturing how amazing this drive was. Another cool thing about the ride was that I knew about half the people on the bus from my time in Vang Vieng.

After being dropped off in Luang Probang a group of solo travelers joined forces and all went to the same guest house and I ended up sharing a room with an Israeli guy I had met a few times in Vang Vieng. After finding a place to sleep we all headed out for dinner and I had probably the best burger (water buffalo burger!) I have had since leaving Canada. We followed this up with a few beers and a movie before calling it a night after a long and tiring day. So not much to report since I was on a bus all day but I can already tell from my first few hours walking around this city that it has a really cool feel to it. More tomorrow.

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Well today was one of the most random and awesome days of my trip s far. From seeing a pig being sinned in the street to talking with monks, today had it all. After typing up some blogs in and internet cafe filled with minks I spent the rest of the day wondering the city just visiting the many wats (temples) and taking in the old trench style buildings. Since this entire city is a UNESCO site I figure everything had something to offer. This city is beautiful. There are monks everywhere dressed in orange robs and so many older buildings left over from their french colony days.

While visiting a wat I heard a young monk, named Oon, say hello to a man in Korean and I later asked him if he spoke Korean and he said he only knew hello. He asked if I would mind sitting and talking with him so he could practice his English. After mentioning that I taught English in Korea he ran off and got a workbook and I went over some words with him teaching him the meanings and pronunciation. Before long there where about 5 monks all joining in on the mini lesson and conversation. One of the weird things was finding out that their favorite singers/bands are westlife, blue and linkon park which I thought was quite funny. We talked for a long time and the even asked for Lonely Cakes website so that they could see some of the stuff I'll do once I'm back home. They even asked for my email. I can only hope that they email me.

My next stop was at a place called Big Brother Mouse which is a charity place set up to help children not only learn English but also how to read. The literacy rate for Laos is only 60%!a(MISSING)nd many kids have never seen a book let alone own one. I bought a bundle of books and tossed them into the donation box and asked about volunteering opportunities since I had a few days in town. Every morning they have a chance too hang out and help some university students and in the evening you can play with kids as they hope the interaction will help them learn English. So in the evening I headed to where they have to place to play with kids only to discovery that it isn't running this week. As I turned around though a guy who was 22 came up and asked if I could sit with him instead as he would like to practice his English. It turns out he is a "college" student or their equivalent anyway and is one of 20 students who live at his school because they are all from the country side. He told me that it is very hard for his parents to send him here and that they work non stop to be able to afford it. After about half an hour of talking to him he invited me inside to join him and his friends for dinner. About 5 of us squatted around a small table eating sticky rice and traditional Laos food. Such an amazing experience. Even though they wouldn't take it I left them some money for dinner before leaving as he said sometimes they can't afford anything to eat and that they often have to pool their money together. This was another awesome and amazing experience I had today that couldn't have been planned. Truly awesome.

Some other events that happened today was that I got shocked twice while plugging my camera in to get charged which doesn't mean much expect for the fact that lightening struck not far from me later in the day so I think electricity had it out for me. I also ate at one of the many bakeries they have here, again a nod to their French past, and there I had one of the best cookies I have had since my rations ran out in Korea. Oh yeah and while walking down the street I saw a guy skinning a pig just to the side of the road which was pretty random. To continue with the randomness I ended my night bowling. Yeah I don't know either. Luang Probang has a curfew of 12 so everyone has to be inside by then. I heard this is because they want to preserve the quietness of the town. Because of the curfew many places close down around 11:30 but since this is early for many tourists and younger Lao there is a bowling alley built just outside of city limits that everyone heads too. Since today was a pretty random day I thought I might as well keep it going and crammed myself into a tuk tuk with 16 other people and headed of to bowl. A random ended to and awesomely random day. I don't think I will ever forget today. Definitely a highlight of my trip so far.

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After having a bit of a lay in I headed out to Tat Sae waterfall for the day. After having some breakfast with Dima, the Israeli guy and sorting out my new room as he is leaving today I was picked up and was on my way. I grabbed a nice nap in car on the hour ride and before long I arrived at this beautiful waterfall. This waterfall was really cool as it is actually a bunch of small falls kind of like stairs with one big fall at the start. It also has a lot of pools you can swim in which was really awesome as it gave me a chance to cool off not to mention the fact that you can jump into them from nearby trees. There was also a centre here for some Asian sun bears that had been rescued from poachers which were neat to see.

When I arrived back in Luang Probang I took to the market which is probably one of the most easy going and laid back markets I have ever been too. No one hassles you or hounds you into buying anything. Even if you stop to look at something no one jumps on you which is awesome. I hate how in most markets you can't even stop for a second because someone will latch onto you and try and pressure you into buying something. With the market here you can stop an really take in everything which is amazing. This is really like all of Laos and something I really like about it here. I also like how they're 2 versions of street meet are baguette sandwiches and banana pancakes.

After the market I caught some dinner before meeting up with a few of the guys and walking around the town. Feeling like I'm fighting a bit of a head cold today so I decided to hit they hay early especially since I have a very early morning planned for tomorrow!

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Today began early as a few of us planned on catching the dawn procession of monks. Every morning in Luang Probang the monks walk the streets in parade like fashion to receive rice from people. It was really cool to see but at the same time it was hard to watch as so many people are standing around literally feet from them taking pictures. I've read all over this town that they don't mind you taking pictures as long as you don't use a flash and stand on the other side of the street but the sad part is that doesn't stop some people from going all out, tri-pod and all. Either way though still a cool experience and something worth seeing.

After catching some more sleep I walked the last bit of town I hadn't gotten too before donating some extra clothes I had, clearing the pics from my camera onto my hard drive and trading in some books as I will have a ton of reading time on my hands over the next few days. I also had to amazing meals today at local mom and pop restaurants that cost me a total of 1.75 combined.

Some things I've noticed:

Earlier I mentioned how you continually meet people you've already met well today while walking around I bumped into a guy who I met tubbing and later discovered was staying next to me in Vang Vieng which was weird. Also it is really easy to tell what time of day it is by what tuk tuk drivers ask you. If they say tuk tuk its during the day time but as it gets later they start asking you if you want special smokes, then a lady and real late at night they throw a 4th option of opium out there for you. Its a pretty funny ritual each time too. Also the rain here is really weird. You will be walking in sunshine and feel a few big drops and within 5 seconds it is absolutely pouring. Then about 15 minutes later is stops just as quick as it started. Lastly there are many signs around from other countries mentioning how they are helping aid in the development of Laos which is cool. These signs aren't huge but if you look for them you can see them. Also I don;t know if I mentioned this or not but Beer Lao signs are absolutely everywhere and for about a but 25 for a big bottle I can see why it's so popular.

Anyway tomorrow I am spending about 8 hours on a bus to catch a 10 hr over night bus to the south of Laos where I hope to do some trekking and home stays with some hammock filled island time thrown in for good measure. It'll be tiring getting there but worth it once I'm there I'm sure!

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no pictures yet but will post some as soon as I can

**** To see my pictures from Laos click here ****

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