Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 6

So when I saw Laos on my tour itinerary I did know what to expect. I thought it would be completely non built up and not habitated. I was surprised by the beauty, the early curfew (people by law need to be home by midnight) as well as the impact the modern world has had with many of our current technology on view everywhere. Do: If you are also going to Vietnam I would do Vietnam first and then Laos. Its a nice calm after the storm. In the capital enjoy wandering as it feels like a small town instead of a temple. In Vang Vieng go tubing or kayaking. Take time to people watch all the multi ethnic backpackers as this is often a stop over between cities. In Luang Prabang, bathe, ride and feed ... read more

We are loving Luang Prabang. It is rural and full of wonderful places to see. The hotel is small and very sweet full of teal furniture and woodwork. I still can't transfer pictures from my camera so those will wait until I get home! Today was very special because we went to a small village and visited a school. The children are so beautiful and welcoming. We all sang songs and each child gave us a flower lei and took our hand to take us to there classroom. After that we visited the Hmong community and had lunch at the elders home. Very early in the morning we sat on the street side and gave the monks sticky rice. I have learned so much about the monks and the process most boys go through to be ... read more

Bevor wir nach Laos fuhren machten wir halt in Dien Bien Phu. Dort brachten wir unser Motorrad in die Werkstatt, um es wieder ein bisschen auf Vordermann zu bringen. Wir waren nicht sicher wie viele Werkstätten es in Laos gibt, wo sie Englisch sprechen. Deswegen haben wir es noch in Vietnam gemacht. Am nächsten Tag wollten wir nach Laos. Wir fuhren gegen Mittag los und kamen 1 Stunde später an der Grenze an. Dort hiess es man darf nur Motorräder aus dem Dien Bien Phu District nach Laos "exportieren". Man machte uns aber darauf aufmerksam das es weiter südliche einen anderen District mit einer Grenze gab, wo Motorräder nach Laos mitzunehmen kein Problem ist. Was allerdings ein Problem war, das diese Grenze nur für Laoten und Vietnamesen offen war. Es war also kein Internationaler Grenzübergang. Das ... read more

With the last grains of sand in the hour-glass of my Thai tourist visa rapidly trickling away, I scurried to the Thai border and bade farewell to the country that has been my second home (yet again) for the past few months. As I approached the boat landing for the short long-tail boat ride across the Mekong River, I could already see Thailand's friendly neighbour beckoning warmly in the near distance. And barely two minutes (and THB40) later, I was there! Immigration at both Thai and Laos ends were a breeze, with nary a queue and friendly officers, which really put my tiring visa run experiences at the Cambodian border at Poi Pet in stark contrast. And so, after getting off the boat at the Laos end, clearing immigration and walking up a short slope, there ... read more

13-19th Mar It was so slow. We got a boat up to Muang Ngoi Neua. We had to go over rapids, they were so fun. The whole boat went up and down. We eventually got there and went to see some caves, they were so big. When the U.S.A came over to bomb Vietnam , if they didn't drop some on Vietnam they would drop them on Laos. There were more than 100 people living there. There were still some medicine bottles, food tins and gas lamps there. There was this really sparkly rock, which had lots of crystals in. It was as high as my whole arm. It was so dark we had to use torches. On the way back we went canyoning and tubing, I used the tube. On the first rapid I was ... read more