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Published: September 6th 2008
Ok Ok I have always been a wee bit out of date with this blogging thing, intially due to the problems with the site at the start and the lack of decent machines en route. So as Nat is chilling out in our hostel reading a book, we have walked our socks off here is Chiang Mai, I thought that it was a good time to catch up, so here goes.
The bus journey...
So we left Vietnam aboard a bus bound for the Laos capital, to say this journey was a nightmare would be a severe understatement. We set out at 7 p.m, as you may all be aware of from Nats email we were packed in with bags of rice rolls of material and other containers which we had no idea what was contained within. There was no leg room, and our bags had to go across the back seat because the hold, you guessed it was full of swag. Initially there was only six tourists on the bus but soon enough the bus filled with locals destined for Laos also. Anyways the bus was packed with no room and there was an electrical storm raging. Anyways, I wont bore with the details but we arrived the next day at 3p.m and the mission was over. We sought out a tuk tuk with a couple from England also unlucky enough to be on the bus and headed for the city centre.
Vientaine
Our initial travel plans only gave us five days for Laos, however as our plans developed we soon thought better of it and decided to give Laos 15 days. After the other major S.E. Asian cities we had experienced we were expecting to see yet another busy, huge, sprawling metropolis but nothing could be further from the truth. Vientaine was like a soothing hippy hang out, as we arrived on Sunday everything was pretty much closed. It so reminded me of Dublin on a Sunday afternoon before Sunday trading laws were introduced, the place was like a ghost town, which was for us totally welcome. We did nada here accept walk about, drink beer and eat... HAPPY DAYS!!! We spent a couple of nights and then caught a bus to Vang Vieng about 3 hours to the north, home to the famous Laos tubling. The amount of "In the tub, in Laos" t-shirts we have seen people wearing whilst touring Vietnam, we werent quite sure what to expect from this place.
Vang Vieng
So after a three hour bus trip we arrive in Vang Vieng. This trip was nothing compared with our mammoth twenty four hour trip, but enough about that. This place was slightly strange as you have some amazing scenary on all sides but the main two streets of the town are littered with bars all of which are showing Friends. It's almost like a weird Friends cult has been setup in the middle of Laos. Given our first impressions of the town we decided to book a two day trekking and kayaking trip with a company called
Green Discovery Laos. We spent the rest of that afternoon sitting in some bars perusing our newly acquired French phrase book. To explain, as there is alot of dead time whilst travelling we decided that we would attempt, at least, to learn French, given that this whole region was Indochine a French colloney our choice is not so weird. Bex darling we have already pencilled you in for some lessons upon our return.
The next day we arose bright and early ready for our "moderate" trek. So we checked out of our $6 dollar room, Jim you would be proud, just about managing to wash of the smell of the musty bed linen and had breakfast. There were two other guys on our trip Ziggy a lawyer from America and Bobby a taxi driver from Munich. Just want to big up Nats as she was the only female on the trip she was such a little stud over the two days, she owned "them-thar-hills", cudous to ya hon. Vic, you may need to post another worry doll, as I think Nat went through that one in one afternoon on the mountains.
It was obvious in the early stages of the trek that this was going to be more intermediate to advanced rather than moderate. As the rain began to fall rather heavily early on the path became slippery and demanding. It was somewhat demoralising to see both of our guides trekking in flip-flops... mental. Due to the weather we didn't reach "base camp" as expected for lunch so our guides decided we should stop on the mountain and they proceeded to whip up a culinary feast. After lunch the trek became more challenging and it was weird how quiet everyone was, just the sound of hearts beating anxiously could be heard. It was soon after that our guide advised that the potential of picking up a couple of hitch hikers...leeches was almost inevitable!! The brochure never mentioned these little blithers and we had no salopets. We ascended and descended another mountain to be then told we had to cross a river, like wade through it. I knew we should have waterproofed our trainers when the shop assistant in the Cambridge branch of Blacks asked, however, we couldn't stop now we were only about an hour away from our digs and it was all flat from now on. Sure enough approximately one hour later we arrived at our lodgings. There was around 15 individual bungalows it knocked the socks off our $6 room in Vang Vieng.
Nexy day was kayaking and we awoke with the overwhelming sense that it would not be as difficult as the previous days trekking...WRONG!! Nat and I drew the short straw and were paired together, so no experience and the river was flowing quick given it is the rainy season. After a quick demo, this is a kayake and this is a paddle, and what to do if you capsize we were off. Everything was going smoothly until, just before we were due to stop for lunch, our guide decided to advise us what to do when you go over a rapid. The problem was the ominus sound of the water crashing over the rapids drowned his voice out, the only thing both Nat and I heard was the "... biggest rapid in Vang Vieng", as you may already be aware we capsized a rather chilling experience not because of the water but because the sheer force of the water, anyways our guides were brilliant and they rescued us within a flash. We eventually stopped for lunch and after that we floated off down the river back to the town.
When we arrived back, we felt that we deserved some luxury after our two days of intense activities so we decided to shun our $6 room and book into a $25, Jim you wouldn't be so proud of us, not exactly roughing it. This is where our new mate Ziggy was staying we got on with him really well so we just hung out with him for the next couple of days. We went tubing which is the business a must do if you get here it is so relaxing, but the pubs dotted along the river have some awesome swings, both Ziggy and I were like two kids on these things. Tubing lasted pretty much all day and we were all shattered after it so we all hit the town with one thing in mind chilling out. So we all ordered pizza and vegetated in front of a whole season of Friends... Good times.
Luang Prabang
We arrived slightly later than scheduled due to a flat tyre and a small skermish between a local and a tourist over 30,000 about 1.50, no I hear you all saying he wasn't Scottish but an Austrian, sorry Cat if you are reading this. Anyways Luang Prabang is a beautiful picturesque place and a UNESCO site. We spent a lot of time bartering with the local Hmong village people who hold a market every night, Nat went nuts buying loads of stuff for the house, we are now carrying around a "hand made", because that makes it worth while, duvet set, can you believe that?
After spending four nights we decided that we would sail up the Mekong River into Thailand to finish our two weeks in Laos in style. We absolutely love this country it is beautiful and the people are so genuinely friendly. See a selection of our most recent snaps:
Hoi An and Hue
Hanoi and Ha Long Bay
Laos
Bye for now
Nat and Steo
p.s. We are aware of all the issues in Bangkok and have modified our travel plans slightly.
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Mike
non-member comment
Hi
Hi guys, sounds like you two are having an even better time than you first envisaged, long may it continue. Really excited for you both, the blogs excellent keep it up! That bus journey is nothin' try the trip from Clonsilla to town, now thats harsh!! All is well back here, though we may just have the edge on you two when it comes to rainfall!! Happy travels, love you both Mike n D!