Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 13

Nong Khiaw ligt zo’n stukje ten noorden van Lang Prabang, en daar geraken is…een ervaring. De goedkoopste manier om er te geraken is met de local bus, kost zo’n 40000kip en duurt een kleine vier uur. Probeer je bij ‘bus’ alsjeblieft geen lijnbus voor te stellen, het is eerder een geimproviseerde, omgebouwde overdekte pickup. Probeer je daarbij wél voor te stellen dat we daarin met 23 mensen zaten (alleen achterin, voorin zaten er nog 5), samen met een stapel valiezen en een halve markt aan groenten en fruit. Blij toen we eindelijk aankwamen aan het busstation en konden overstappen in een iets ruimere minibus die ons naar het centrum bracht, reed deze nog geen twintig meter verder vast in de modder. Na een half uur proberen te duwen, trekken, een andere pickup in te schakelen (maar ... read more

Wednesday 1st June Went to Siem Reap airport and flew to Luang Prabang. Went to Spicy Backpackers hostel and settled into a 16 person dorm. Not recommended. We went for a walk through town and spent time at the night market giggling at the little "love" badges that say "leave me you die" or "love all my breath." Thursday 2nd June After a horrendous nights sleep we up'd and left and checked into another hostel in our own room with AC and a hot shower for less than would we'd paid for a 16 dorm room. Evidently should have shopped around! We then went to the local waterfall with Alice and Cheryl, some lovely girls from the UK who had both been teaching in Cambodia. The three of them got in and chatted away whilst I ... read more

The end of our stay in Vang Vieng and the start of our time in Phonsavan was struck with freak streak of constant rainy weather. A local man in Phonsavan commented to us that it was very strange that it had rained at that time of year, and it had caused a lot of problems with their herds of cattle. The day after we arrived the sun was back to its blazing glory, along with clear blue skies. This was good timing since we had planned to go on a tour to see the famous ancient 'Plain of Jars'. The Jars vary in size and shape but are generally quite large and made of thick heavy stone. There are hundreds of sites with thousands of these jars spread across the hilly landscape . We were grateful ... read more

Laos is a truly amazing place. We have had the pleasure of spending the last 2 weeks in this beautiful albeit rapidly developing country. At the moment we could be better (2 days ago I spent a 9 hour bus ride holding my stomach, only to purge all contents at the stops, since late last night Andrew has decided to copy me and has been ridding his body of internal contents for the last 12+ hours), but at least the scenery is beautiful and the people are extremely friendly. So we have pretty much (unintentionally) followed basically the same route that I took through Laos 4 years ago. It is amazing to watch a developing country in the midst of development. So much has changed in 4 years - there is now a supermarket and a ... read more

7 mars 2011 Luang Namtha est hyper tranquille malgré les banques, le musée, les quelques guesthouses et restos qui s'y trouvent. La ville y abrite 35 000 personnes mais c'est à se demander où ils sont tous passé. C'est comme un oasis où tout le monde aurait décidé d'habiter le désert aux alentours. Il y aura un peu plus de vie au soleil couchant mais quand même, ce sera la paix totale dans la ville. À midi, la chaleur devient réellement pesante malgré que je sois dans les montagnes, tout au Nord du Laos. Je n'ose même pas imaginer la température qu'il fera au mois d'avril dans les îles au sud de la Thailande. Le peuple laotien est un peuple très très calme. Tout le monde ici semble au repos. S'enrichir ne fait assurément pas partie ... read more