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Published: December 18th 2009
31/10/09
On arrival at the border where the train stopped we quickly got a tuk tuk to a place where we could arrange some visas for Rachel and Andy and also arranged a private taxi to Vientane. At the border post Rach and Andy were required to fill out some additional forms and so I opted to wait for them to finish before I headed through and only found out that the visa that I had was not stamped and I had to que for some extra time while they quickly walked though the line , again no good deed goed unpunished.
The taxi was a lovely Mitsubishi and after a short and uneventful trip that should have cost a lot less than we paid but we were dropped off very close to the city and after settling down in a nice coffee shop me and Andy sorted out some accommodation and settled in to wait for Sarah to arrive from Cambodia.
Went out for a lovely meal on the river Mehkong .
1/10/09 - 7/10/09
After meeting Sarah we headed to Vangvieng but when we got to the bus station we were too late to take any
of the buses as they were full and we would have to wait for another two hours so we negotiated a private bus with another four people and headed off , happy that the price we paid was only 60000 kip each.
We had missed the VIP bus which was cheaper and in our bus we had a mix of people as well as three monks so I was not too surprised to pass the two local buses that left before us as well as the VIP bus that was broken down at the side of the road.
The first hotel we looked at wanted 60000 kip each to which I told them in no uncertainty that was too high and was pleasantly rewarded with a 100m walk to where the price magically dropped twenty k. In the end we found somewhere that suited us all very well and after a freshen up we headed out to a bar to enjoy the sunset and and meal.
On the bus up there had been a Lithuanian guy and a german guy as well as an Australian couple with whom we were having a meal with as well as going on a
bit a drinking session and so after dinner we headed off for an island that had a bar called the Rock bar.
This was where the night became interesting as we were all aware that if anyone was caught smoking weed there was an on the spot fine of up to $ 1000 however they didn’t seem to have a problem with you having Opium or magic mushrooms with them being freely available on the MENU !!!
So I settled down to some local Wiskey and red bull whilst this Aussie had a Opium joint and some one else had some mushrooms.
Well the red bull in Asia is definitely stronger than elsewhere and I was wide awake to see the Aussie appear to have a stroke cos his whole face seemed to change and he sank into the floor which must have felt like the Trainspotting film for him cos it looked like that from my point of view and every now and then he would raise himself up and seem to have something profound to say and then just mumble incoherently it was hilarious for us sober lot !!
The girl on the mushrooms only managed to drink
a quarter of her drink before she went off flying and staring at the funny lights , she told us the next day.
I don’t condone what was done but it is peoples choice and after they knew how I felt they accepted my point of view but still chose as adults.
The next day we all went tubing down the Mehkong but only managed to get onto the river at around 13h00 it was a total hoot with loads of people having a great party on the river and only actually going about 400m it six hours as you move from one bar to the next with each bar having some draw to try and coax the people there instead of the next bar.
The first place had a swing that was at least ten meters up and you would climb the platform and then swing and let go into the river , well it took me a couple of shots of Wiskey and another slide to get the @!?s to do the first one and when I landed I got the most horrid enema from landing on my bum !! but by the end
of the day I felt I had cured my fear as I had kept at it all day and done more than the rest of the guys we were with. The fun at the last watering hole with the tiled super chute that you lay down in and at the end you hit the water standing up in had to be cut short as we still needed to take the rest or the journey back down the river to get our tubes back so that we would not lose our deposit.
This had me paddling till I was exhausted and then running through the shallows and the streets of Vangviene to arrive at the depot two min in time hey yah for the Scots!
The following day started with me feeling tired and just going for a walk in the paddy fields and ending with me in bed with a fever worrying that I had swine flu but with a little doctoring from my friends I was soon feeling better and I had also lost my taste for beer which had better change if the beer blog is to continue!!
8/10/09
After moping about in Vang Vien for
a few too many days I managed to get a taxi to Luang Phrabang with some other people who included a couple from the isle of mann a very brash Italian guy and an Israeli and the driver was an Israeli who was marries to a local girl and they were off to LP for a holiday.
The road was not very good and as I thought that I would not get time to stop I chose not to drink very much which caused me to get dehydrated which I had not been before and wont recommend to anyone. The trip was normally supposed to take 7 hrs and I was much surprised when we arrived around 5 and ahalf hours later as the Italian guy was beginning to turn my stomach with his regalings of his eleven fingers that he thought very funny!
The couple from the isle of mann and I took our leave and ended up at the same guesthouse which was very nice and away from the street so quite as well.
Had a shower and then headed out for a drink in a part of LP that harks back to the French era with very
nice bars and cafes, however the prices were harking back to the Europe I have come to despise as most of the tourists come in by plane and cause the prices to rocket as they have no idea the value of money here which can be seen in the numerous 4x4’s lining the streets ( the roads are not that bad )
Ended up at a bar where the waiter kept returning to tell me that they did not have what I had ordered!!
In the end I had to ask what he did have and it was Gin and Rum oh and some Tequila!
I ordered a mixed fruit juice with a shot of Tequila and when it arrived the mixed fruit was Papaya with Tequila, I don’t understand why people can’t just say we have not got any of that Sir!
Checked my email and found out that Angela happens to be arriving at LP by speed boat the following day , so I email her to let her know I’m here and I’ll see her the following evening.
9/10/09
Up relatively late and go check email and a museum and end up running
into three folk who have just returned from a motorbike trip of 1000km round the province of LP which took them five days , sounds like the kind of thing I would like but need to see what Angela has planned.
Angela’s boat arrives at around 5 pm so I hire a tuk tuk and go and wait at the quay where I am rewarded with a lovely sunset just as the roar of two long tail speed boats break the silence and pull up at the shore.
True to Angela she is sporting another bag and looking much the same as when I last saw her in India but she has definitely travelled and I am jealous that I did not get a go on the speed boat but do remember that they are not advised but any travel organisation and later find out that the one Angela took was piled high with all sorts of stuff making it difficult to enjoy the ride.
Go to dinner and pass the night market which is right outside where I am staying and go to a place with free wifi where I have a disk typical of the area called O-ram
that is a soup with beans chicken and pork and either Dill or Fennel personally I think its Dill.
10/10/09
After breakfast at a lovely French bakery which is really a little too overpriced and not that worth it except for the apple pie , the coffee being like syrup and the bill like a bitter pill, we head around for a walk and end up booking a tour to the waterfalls which surprisingly leaves late and then the driver decides to stop and top his mobile phone while ten of us wait! It finally takes me yelling at him to move we are fed up of waiting to get him on the way.
The drive to the falls is quite quaint , however I am very tired and sleep or dose most of the way and am abhorred at the destination , a crowd of restaurants and snack bars all vying for the thousands of tourists pilling out of minivans and buses. It was somewhere I vowed never to be a part of and yet there I was.
After paying the entrance fee of 20000 kip I wondered off up to the first pool and past the
bear rescue centre where all bears that are poached and rescued are brought to recuperate and see if they can be set into the wild again , which is unlikely as they were very young when their mothers were killed and had not learnt any social skills to live in the wild.
Further on the aquamarine of the water can be seen as it pools at the last pool before heading down the valley to be one of the many tributaries of the Mekong.
At the second pool there is a rope where people swing into the water below and I am rewarded with the sight of one of the guys in the bus with me taking the rope and not realising when to let go and swinging back into the tree unable to let go until he has bounced off the tree and is over the water again. All good things come to those who wait!
I have a swim but don’t enjoy the little fish that want to eat my feet so get out after a few minutes.
Unfortunately I have left it too late and the walk to the top of the falls
is too long for the amount of time that I have and all I can do is go to see where they cascade down into the first pool where I take too many photos again.
The trip back is lovely and I whish that I could stop and take photos of the senery as it passes by , Angela however is undeterred and takes snaps with her new DSLR all the time.
We have dinner at the same restaurant again and I have a chat to Andy from London.
11/10/09
Up early as we had decided to do the caves as well today before Angela takes her flight back to Bangkok to see her cousin.
We arrive at 8 and head down to the boats where we sign in , I guess in case we drown and they need to know who was on which boat ant then we get divided up and put in sixes on different boats for the 2hr drive upriver to the caves.
The view is spectacular going upstream on the Mekong and soon the mist burns off and the jungle can be seen both sides of the river stretching off into the distance
, I guess its all a matter of time before the logging starts here as well.
The first stop is at the village which has become renowned for its wiskey brewing , it also has all the other knick nacks that you find at all the markets.
I met a German guy travelling around by motorbike , he said he had been to Bali and seen the factories where all this stuff is mass produced in their billions well maybe not quite!
After the stop we head on through the rocks in the river that make the speedboat run so dangerous as the rainfall decreases and the water level drops they become invisible to a boat doing 70km/h just below the surface. The first sight of the caves is impressive which is a good thing as once you have paid to enter them it soon becomes evident that though they are good to see they are not really impressive and the hike to the top to see the cave at the top is even less impressive especially when you have to contend with all the people trying to see you little birds in a cage that you are supposed to
release that are probably trained to return , therefore making it a most profitable renewable resource!!
The trip back to LP is a lot faster and we find ourselves back in LP around 13h00 with not much time left before Angela has to make her trip to the airport and Bangkok.
I head off after saying cheerio and try to book a flight to Hanoi in Vietnam but they all seem to full until I check online myself and manage to get a booking then its back for a shower and out to dinner where I have O-ram again except I like it so much I have two helpings , I love the stuff.
I’m asleep at 9pm after the last two days of cramming so much in and using some M-150 my body just wants to sleep!
Went for a sleep and some relaxation and then went out at 6pm to see the French girls that I met in India just leaving my guesthouse after finding there was no rooms , what are the odds of that!!
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