Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 12

I woke up at 6am and had a quick shower and coffee before heading up to the main road with Nina to catch the songthaew to the bus station. We were joined by Jan from Holland who was also doing the 3 day ethnic hilltribe trek with us. The bus left at 7.30am and took just over 3 and a half hours to reach Boun Tai where we met up with our guide Bulad and jumped in a cramped minibus for another 2 hours. The four of us got off the minibus at a small Akha Mochi village situated on the side of a hill. All the girls in the village were dressed in traditional clothing which Bulad explained was due to the fact that they were celebrating their New Year. They seemed a lot more ... read more

Well the last week has been pretty mental and non stop. We had a 2 day slow boat trip down the mekong river from Chiang Kong in Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos. It was an absolute blast, the 1st day our boat was half empty so we basically had the run of it. Loads of beer in the sunshine, great people and spectacular scenery, couldn't ask for more. Day 2 was a little more crowded and after a bit of a standoff with the boat guys we eventually got on the boat. Luang Prabang is a beautiful little city in Laos with a bustling night market, lovely french colonial architecture and a couple of nice temples. We managed to find a great little bar on the banks of the Mekong which was basically a shack ... read more

Imagine if you will, a village with no tarmacked roads, in fact, no vehicular land transport and accessible only by boat on therusset-opaque waters of the Nam Ou river. A village where the generators that provide electricity hum into life just after sunset for a mere 4 hours of power. No wifi. No hot water. No fridges. Chickens, dogs and barefooted children wander the lanes between flimsy looking bamboo constructed homes. Women bathe in the cappuccino coloured waters of the river washing themselves, their clothes and huge baskets of sticky rice. Men chop bamboo and carry balanced on the shoulders bunches of freshly machete cut morning glory. Imagine that cockerels are the morning alarm clocks and the steady beat of themonks’ drums from the village wat echo every morning and evening – the sounds reverberating off ... read more

Our guide La, picked us up from the Ancient hotel in a minibus with driver Pra (?). We drove for perhaps an hour over narrow paved roads heading northward and eventually alongside the Nam Ou River which we would travel down a week or so later. Initially parallel to the Mekong River, then the Nam Ou and then at Huai Kan, we headed north west towards Udom Xai. The roads were now dirt, getting quite rough and steadily steeper. In some places we were surprised that the little Hyundai minibus which was not 4x4 was able to do the job. At least the air-conditioning worked. On the road to Boun Tai the villages got progressively poorer, the jungle thicker and the number of pigs and chickens, greater. This was a long trip, probably 10 hours. By ... read more

It's 7.36pm on Tuesday 6th September- Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I'm currently sat upright in bed running two laptops, catching glimpses of Big Cat Diary in the background and listening to the snores and snorts from Scott as he probably dreams of snow or something cold! After typing the previous sentence I've realised I should probably reduce my carbon footprint immediately and turn off a few things, okay a sock in Scott's mouth it is!! We've already passed through Vietnam and spent three weeks travelling north to south so I have a lot to catch up on. Brace yourself - This could be a long one! This is where all the activity happened and to this day we still regularly talk about this section of the trip for many reasons as you'll come to understand. Where do ... read more