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Published: March 12th 2008
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Leaving Chiang Ria.
Luxury travel no, Cheap yes! I left Autumn and her Thai friend Gaye in Chiang Rai as I wanted to spend a night in Chiang Kong which was an ok kinda town but the main event was tomorrow and I was so excited about going to Laos. Autumn's mini van (Gaye went back to Mae Sot) was late and so we were the last ones to cross the border in to Laos and consequently the last to arrive on the slow boat to Luang Prabang. We boarded the packed boat maybe 60 other travelers and were sent to the back, the kitchen. However there were only 7 of us in there and I'd say we got a really good deal. Autumn had bought lots of supplies and we soon unpacked a banquet of goodies. As we got settled and started Day 1 of our journey a guy came in to the VIP area (as we soon named it) he was carrying a big cleaver and an equally large bag of weed! So surreal! Any hoo he proceeded to roll joints and ply everyone in VIP with Beer Lao (the best beer in SE Asia). It was certainly a "Doors" moment!! We chatted, napped, grazed, read and
The Cool Dude!
If you see this man he will try and give you some Erb!! wiggled on our cartoon covered cushions for the 6/7 hour journey to Pak Beng.
We arrived with exhausted bums to find a GH and information that that evening was the start of a 3 day festival and we were invited to join the locals for a party. Excellent. Autumn and I accompanied by, Pawn, the daughter of the GH owner arrived to find the towns people wearing their finest, drinking copious amounts of beer Lao, singing, munching spicy papaya salad and dancing the night away. We had a blast and entertained the locals with our attempts to Lao dance. Autumn got top marks and I seemed to be a hit with the 15 year olds,pretending to be gansters, MTV is in SE Asia, Oh and a Very friendly 60 year old!! All the guys in Pak Beng now have video clips on their phones of me and Autumn boogie ing on down. It was a fabulous introduction to Laos and with hardly any Falang (note the l has replaced the r) I felt privileged to have been invited. We walked home in the dark as the village had no electricity that evening? Maybe all the power was need for
Who's the Daddy?
Sunset on the mighty Mekong. Stunning. the festival? Autumn sang her favorite Karaoke song, Pawn danced and Me and my torch sorted out the lighting!
The following morning after a leisurely breakfast with views over the Mekong (which starts it's journey in Tibet and enters the sea in Southern Vietnam) We literally walked the plank to start Day 2 of the slow boat journey to Luang Prabang. We couldn't believe we got VIP again but with only 5 of us this time we all had room to lie down!! So again the napping, chatting, reading, munching saw us through the next 8 hours. The views were spectacular. River beaches saw ox drinking and bathing. Fisherman with their bamboo rods hoping to catch dinner. Children bathed as their mothers washed clothes, pots and pans. It was such a pleasant journey and I was actually really sad to leave our temporary home.
We arrived in Luang Prabang at around 6 and set about finding a room, We did with little effort but more money. There is a Hmong tribe street market here every night and the goods are beautiful. The quality is really good and it is truly a shoppers paradise. I have had to restrain
Autumn.....
....is too big for this town. myself but did succumb to a glass ring and some new flip flops. Oh the extravagance!! What else?? Oh I had the best Indian curry ever, there are proper pavements!! To explain, pavements as we know them do not exist in Thailand and I have gotten used to walking in the road but here... real actual pavements!! Wow!! Luang Prabang is charming, beautiful, quaint, laid back and has lots of bakeries. Yum Yum!! It used to be a French colony hence great baguettes, wine and even cheese!! Another rarity in Thailand. In fact 3 of my favourite things in abundance in Laos, humm, will I ever leave? I am heading South tomorrow and will hopefully end up at 4000 Islands near Cambodia.
Other facts about Laos:- It is communist. Sadly it is one of the most bombed nations on Earth due to the US carpet bombing between 1965/1973 to counter the presence of the North Vietnamese. It is illegal (arrest and deportation) for a foreigner (unless married) to have a sexual relationship with a Lao citizen. The French added the silent S on the end of Lao. 85% of the country is unmanaged vegetation, due to the terrain and the amount of UXO's still to be cleared from the war. It is home to wild elephant, bear, leopard, tiger and the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin (which I will try to see) So there you go, every day is a school day!!
Miss you all x I'm waving..... my cheese baguette!!! x x x x
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