Advertisement
Published: March 22nd 2010
Edit Blog Post
beerlao!
This cat's expressing how we felt after a day of tubing in Vang Vieng Crossing the border into Laos proved to be easier than expected which is always a welcomed surprise, litterally a 3 min long tail boat ride accross the river and we were there!! Now it was the rest of the journey to our destination of Vang Vieng that would be interresting....Chris and I jumped on our local bus and started the very windy, bumpy, thai pop music blaring, and honking of the horn with every turn we took; smiling laughing and crying about it over the next 22hours,oh what an adventure!! Arriving in Vang Vieng at 6am, dropped on the side of the highway, not even sure which way was town we head toward the river which seemed like a good place to start. After walking around with a confused look, tired hungry and longing for a shower we arrived at the hostel we had arranged to meet Tyler and Jenny only to find it FULL!!! Not to worry, early days, we walk around the corner and our new friend Noi saw the look of despair in our eyes as he offered us a twin room with two beautiful beds and a hot shower... we were sold!!! Once refreshed and alive we
Luang Phabang
Surfing the top of the waterfalls!!! met up with Tyler and Jenny, we made some solid plans over a well deserved beer to join the festivities the following day and go tubbing down the river 😊
We could never have imagined what tubbing in Vang Vieng was all about....we rented tubs in the late morning, got on our tuk tuk with the rest of our fellow travellers and 10 mins later dropped off at the starting point. I know your thinking, "lazy river tubbing" sounds nice and relaxing, set on the river with a mountainous backdrop, what more could you want? As Tyler climbed to the top of the ladder reached out from the platform and launched himself, flying through the air on a trapeze, leaving a splash behind, he set the tone for a new age, bar hopping, bucket drinking, swinging through the air and flying down slids kind of tubbing!!! Excited and thursty we jumped on our tub and got pulled into the first bar, but glaring at us in the distance was a big sign that had half price buckets!! happy hour b4 2:30pm!!! Didn't take us long to jump back in the water and order our first taste of Laos whisky, coke
Monks in Luang Phabang
The early morning procession and offerings of food to the monks and red bull😊 Going down like a treat we soon noticed the bar accross the way had free french fries....and hook, line and sinker we were there, after all it was lunch time and it was FREE!!!! I think you're starting to picture the way this day would go....bar hopping (floating), drinking, jumping off trapeze and our favorite....launching ourselves down massive water slides landing in the river!! Bit winded after landing, with the hight and speed of the slide, but liquid courage saved the day😊 Reallizing we spent a good 5hrs and not even making it to the half way point we decided to get a few beers for the road and head downstream....Doing a great job at avoiding most bars we decided to duck in for one more cheeky stop as the sign warned us....LAST BAR!!! plus FREE SHOT!!! A couple of shots later and another bucket, we saluted the end of a fantastic day and as the sun started to dissapear behind the mountains we started paddling down the river.....it wasn't long before we gave up on the 3km paddle and got a tuk tuk to drive us back to town😊 It took us two days, lots of
Mekong
Boat trip up the river, spectacular views on the way! fruit smoothies and lazying around town watching friends before we rented tubs and did it all over again one last time as a going away party, end of travel send off to Chris, the only difference with this day.....we played a solid hour of mud Volleyball and we made it to the end😊
After a sad goodbye, Chris heading south to the capital and eventually home, Jenny, Tyler and I started making plans heading north, first stop, french influenced Luang Phabang. We got our first taste of authentic Laos market food....probably my most interresting buy, what i thought was a hard boiled egg, turned out to be a chicken embryo, although i'm sure it had some much needed protein I oppted against it. We spent the first day exploring the town and visiting the temples and the Royal Palace museum. The following day visited the nearby waterfalls. About 5 or 6 tears of beautifly turqoised colored waterfalls, we swam and hiked the better part of the day here. Feeling refreshed and revived we booked our transport for the next day, a boat going up the River to the small village town of Nam Kiaw. I have to explain that since
we arrived in Laos we've had a haze hanging over us, this we found out is due to slash and burn. Once the cultivating season is over, they burn the fields, so much so that the air accross the contry is covered in constant smoke...making it harder to appreciate the horizon. However on the morning of our boat trip there was a cold front which meant although it was chilly out the air had lifted uncovering the beauty far in the distance....thank you mother nature!! Now we were lucky enough travelling in the dry season to even be able to take this boat upriver, but in order to do so we had to take a smaller boat, and of course trying to make the most out of the trip the boat was packed full of tourist!!! Not taking into consideration the weight the boat was now carrying, about 2hours in and we reach a low point in the river, we were beached as! Young and up for the adventure about half the boat including myself jump in the river knee deep, taking weight out and dragging the boat upstream😊 Around us Limestone cliffs, riverside villages, kids swimming, fisherman and curious
???
Waiting at the crossroad.....watching life go by and impressive home made water powered generators, dotted the river. 6 Hours later and we arrive, to say the least it's an interresting feeling beeing in a village where you know the 16 foreiners in town!!! (that's just to give you an idea of it's remoteness!) On the one side of the river were the guesthouses and restaurants where we belonged, and if you crossed the bridge the locals were playing football in the nearby schoolyard, kids were running around in the street with curious eyes, big smiles and happy waves...the simple life. We spent a day exploring the nearby caves and sadly after some bad Indian food that night Jenny and i both got sick. Much to my dissapointment i ended up in bed the next day getting hit harder than Jenny, as they went hiking to some nearby villages.
Still a bit weak the next day, we hit the road less travelled...East. 9 hours later we arrive at a crossroad where we get dropped off, as the bus heads north east and we want to head south west....its 7pm and theres no lights around.....out of nowhere a man comes out and says "guesthouse? the only one in the village!" ok. its simple but it's all we need till the morning bus ride, no food to be found we head to bed, tomorrow will be an early start as we don't know when the bus might turn up....what a day! The next morning we wake up with a giggle at 6am, no one having slept much but at least it would prove to be our cheapest night at 1.50$ each, I reach for my daybag happy i saved my apple for breakfast only to reallize my zipper was chewed broken and my apple was half eaten!! Disheartened, we sit outside waiting for a bus we don't even know will arrive...After 3hrs watching the locals walk up and down the street carrying who knows what to who knows where, chickens, dogs and pigs roaming the streets, our stomachs still empty and no sign of a bus we start to consider hitchin. Another half hour passes and still now we're not sure if this was the "bus" we waited for, but as an empty van turns the corner and we make eye contact the driver sees the desperation in our eyes as he looks questionningly i say our destination and he acknowledges that's where they're heading, finally with a glimmer of hope we head south.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.216s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0939s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb