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Published: February 22nd 2009
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LAO
The slow-boat pulled into Luang Prabang as the sun was setting behind the high distance mountains set against the Mekong river. Disembarking was approximately fifteen newly formed friends - representing Germany, Holland, Chile, Argentina, USA, Aussie (Myself) and the remaining balance being British. Finding a guest-house to accommodate all was not going to be easy as we clung together for a while wandering this unfamiliar territory. Breaking up into smaller groups was to be the better option. I paired up with Craig, a Londoner who had just commenced his twelve month journey traveling the South-Pacific. After much door knocking and refusal's, as accommodation was scarce due to the Chinese New Year's festivities celebrations, we finally, settled on a very average guest-house room along side a very noisy main road. This had to do for the night, the following day we would search again for better accommodation. We finally met up with the remaining gang for late supper on one of the many street stalls, sampling the local cuisine and comparing notes on our guest-houses. This made our choice for a new guest house the following morning very easy.
During our stay the group would generally split up
into smaller groups and we'd go our separate ways, only to meet up again in the evening for dinner and drinks; debriefing our individual accounts of the day. The nights in Luang Prabang and as we got to know them traveling Lao are very short. Businesses generally closing up around 11:30pm and guest-houses having a kerfew of midnight. Part of their culture in having family time together after their long day of work. A welcoming change.
Most of Luang Prabang tourist attractions are in the Old Quarter, on the peninsula bounded by the Mekong and Nam Khan river. Dominating the town center is the high hill of Phusi Si housing a temple at the very top. Climbing up you are rewarded with superb views of the town below and especially in the evening watching the sunset, disappearing behind the distant mountains. Luang Prabang is a quaint village town with many temples dotted around, all easily covered on foot, here you come across many orange-robed monks going about their daily chore. Road-side food stalls, cafes and bistro's are plentiful, it's certainly a culinary sensory delight. In the evening the main central road is closed off to traffic for the
night market selling anything from textiles, handcrafts, jewelery, lanterns, mass produced T-shirts and other souvenirs. Certainly a place to lay back and enjoy your time spent at your own leisurely pace.
Next it was onto Vang Vieng - 4.0 hours south of Luang Prabang. Here this small village of around 25000 habitants offers a plethora of western comforts and camatosing video bars - yes open air cafe/bars screening on large plasma screens non-stop repeat episodes of 'FRIENDS'. Different episodes and seasons from one cafe/bar to the next. Is this their way to secure it's claim on visitors?, for the majority of the young backpackers passing by. But despite this Vang Vieng is set besides the Song river and jagged limestone mountains - boasting it's famous attraction of Tubing, Trekking, Caving and Rock Climbing. Our first attempt at floating the 4.0 kilometer down stream river course on big tractor tires only lasted about 800meters. As the first kilometer enticed all tubers to stop over at the many open-air bars along the river, thumping with western music (yes even the doof doof music found it's way to Lao), giant water slides, giant swings, flying foxes and of course beer to
keep party revelers at bay for the whole day in one big part scene. We eventually completed the 4.0km river course on our second attempt two days later, determined not to stay too long at the bars as the river course took almost 3 hours on a very slow current. I understand now why the first kilometer was the preferred for most. Biking was another way to explore the nearby country side, so hiring a bike for $2.00 a day was pretty good for value, heading into the country side passing through small villages, stopping to explore caves and cooling off in a blue lagoon completed a joyful stay in Vang Vieng.
Our means of travel to the capital city of Vientiane, further south - was to hook up with a day tour group and kayak about 4 hours down stream on the Song river passing through spectacular landscapes and rock gorges and to add to the Kayaking experience, kayaking through level 1 rapids. This being far more an enjoyable experience than traveling by bus. We finally arrived at our river's end to board a passenger truck for the final hour journey into town. As seven boarded we
quickly became 20, all jammed in and hanging off the back as the driver decided to pick-up locals along the way for additional fares. This was meant to be our private transport to Vientiane despite being a truck not a mini bus as assumed - This was Lao way of taking advantage of the system - besides who were we going to complain to as the tour operators were back in Vang Vieng and the driver was merely a sub-contractor. So we all found it rather amusing, especial watching an old lady in her 70's or so hanging on and sitting on the edge of the tailgate door of the truck, - Just for the record, I did offer my seat to her, but in our attempt to understand one another, I think she felt it was much more comfortable hanging out on the back - guess she was used to this form of travel.
Vientiane ia a friendly capital, full of smiles and joyful welcomes, it's studded with many crumbling french architecture mansions, tree lined streets and steaming noodle street stalls. On the face of it, it's rather a big town than a capital city, conveniently compact
for travelers, main activities centered around a 2.0 kilometer radius. Full of things to see from Buddha Park to the morning markets, the beautiful Golden Phat That Luang (Buddhist Stupa) and a rich selection of international cuisines mostly French.
Here our stay with the group was short, and we said our farewells to our short but amazing journey and friendship as each had their own ideal itineraries, some heading North and into Vietnam (my self for instance), some heading further central into Lao ,and some further South close to the Cambodian boarder, others had not time left as their travels neared the end. So it was good-bye and hoped that one day we may cross paths again.
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