Laos PDR (Please Don't Rush!)

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I certainly got my fair share or massages in Laos, I have had a very relaxing couple of weeks. We arrived in Changi Mai early and slightly sleepy after taking the night train from Bangkok, I spent the day visiting a few temples. I hired a tuk-tuk and he proceeded to take me to a temple I had not requested to go to, after that shaky start we were back on track. All the temples were fairly new, bright colours, highly tacky to my eye. The highlight was some road side Phad Thai delicious. I spent the rest of the afternoon at a day spa; manicure and pedicure and of course a Thai massage. Love those things they bend you all over the place and put some real pressure in. In the evening the group went to a temple that sits on a mountain out side of the city, 300 steps, gave great views back down to Changi Mai. This place, Doi Suthemp, was bling-tastic ... gold everywhere. After we watched the Monks chant for a bit we headed back to the city for some night market food which was really tasty. I think in the part of the world you get way better tasting food from markets and stalls, compared to some average priced restaurants. The next day was a bit of a drive to the Thai / Laos boarder, munched on honey dipped baked banana chips, I seem to be talking about food a lot, it is a big part of travelling in this region cause it is so good.The next stop was a temple called Wat Lung Kun, if I thought the last temple was bling, this was a real treat. It was glistening white, like Don Jonson in Miami Vice. It had been built by a local artist with his own money so he was building it his way, it had crazy creatures everywhere and at the start of the walk way to the main temple there are 100's of hands reaching up from the ground. The paintings inside the temple were interesting, depicted 9/11 horrifically with oil drops, guns, evil spirits etc. This is where I also picked up some coconut icecream, rather refreshing on a hot day. After another hour drive we visited a Hill Tribe museum and watched a rather entertaining video. The commentator said, 'the women do all the hard labour and household work, while the men relax... but they don't seem to mind this responsibility', or perhaps they have not been educated to know better. And some of the Hill Tribes wear bath towels on their heads rather than their traditional hats, so that made for a funny photo, but sad really. We arrived at Chiang Khong late evening, just in time for my final Thai massage, a little old women who must have been in her 70's nearly pulled me in half, brutal. She was very cute, she kept kissing my arms and saying 'i love you', great. Our guest house was situated on the Mekong, so I awoke to a beautiful sunrise.

We crossed over to Laos in a canoe type boat and got our passport stamps.. welcome to Laos! I then changed about US$120 and got over 1,000,000 kip in return all in 5000 notes, I had the biggest wad of cash, felt like a drug dealer or something. The next 2 days were spent on a slow boat down the Mekong. I was very impressed with the boat, mainly cause it had a toilet on board, it was very big and they had removed seats from a bus and transplanted them on the boat, plus there were mats for sitting as well, luxury really. The scenery was beautiful; lush forests, rolling hills, goats and cows drinking, and little villages, but mostly it was untouched jungle. Our capital for most of the first day was an 11 year old boy! All the adults were too busy playing cards. We arrived in at Pak Beng a sleepy trading point with trucks coming from China and also the forests being destroyed and sent to China, another fabulous thing China is doing! The following morning I went for a walk and watched the town wake up and the market set up, then did some yoga and I became star attraction for some of the kids on the way to school. We had another peaceful day cruising down the Mekong, there were more jagged rocks protruding from the river and more tall lime stone mountains started to appear. We stopped at a small village to have a look at how the local tribes live, we were able to stroll around and the little kids followed us. Then we got dragged into a wedding party, I felt a little intrusive to be honest, but danced for a bit and we took our leave. I don't really like that kinda thing. Before we arrived in Luang Pabang we stopped at Pak Ou Caves, 2 caves with 1000's of Buddha imagines inside, rather cool.

Our guesthouse in Luang Pabang was lovely, little huts on the river however we were a tuk-tuk ride away from the centre of town and all the action. On our first night we found a food night market that did a plate of beautiful veg food for 500kip (US$0.50), marvellous ... pumpkin, beans, fresh spring rolls, fried banana's... heaven. Needless to say I had dinner there every night. The Hmong (local tribe, persicuted by the communist govt as they fought them in the 70's funded and backed by the CIA) night markets. It was grand shopping there, no hassle no yelling and not too many people, I didn't end up buying anything as the quality of the stuff wasn't that great. And to be honest carrying the Tibetan carpet is just about enough for me. Our time in Luang Pabang was pretty busy, we set off at 6am the first morning for Alm giving. This is where the monks walk around the town collecting their daily food from the locals (or in our case tourists). It was very touristy, flashes of cameras left right and centre, the poor monks, but I suspect they are use to it by now .. and of course I am a tourist and I was there taking photos, however I managed to blur most of mine, champion. We then went for a walk through the morning market, which was a buzz of local life. For sale were; rates, crows, bugs, plus your usual fruit, veg and fish. We pasted on the rat and bought a papaya and french roll. That is another great thing about travelling in the old Indochine ... fresh french sticks. After our roadside breakfast we went to the Royal Palace Museum, nice building but generally fairly dull. The rest of the morning I strolled around the town visiting a few Wats, the highlight was Wat Xieng Thong, it was an older temple so not so bling. In the afternoon I spent some time papaya shakes, reading and watching the Mekong go by. Then once again I was off for some spa action! A Lao massage, which is a lot tamer than the Thai and a facial which was divine. Lots of creams and lotions and some kind of honey scrub. I scrambled up Wat Phusii for a great view of the town and also the sunsetting over the Mekong and surrounding hills. I did a touristy thing and bought a t-shirt, the naffist one I could find; 'Laos - Jewel of the Mekong'. The following morning I went for a jog around town and saw some local Alm giving which was cool, some nuns all dressed in white were handing over sticky rice to the Monks. That morning we drove into the hills and did a 3hr trek to Khong Sii falls. We strolled through a Hmong Villi age, over a few hills, through the jungle and past women working in fields. The water fall was rather spectacular. Sometimes I can find some waterfalls a bit ho-hum, but this one was massive and very beautiful. It was very wide at the top with trees growing out of it, then it fell a good 40ms plautued a bit then fell again another 60 odd meters, very dramatic. Next we fed a tiger which was in captivity as its parents were killed by poaches when it was a baby, it was a beautiful creature. The we went to watch heaps of Black Asiatic Bears play, but rather sad as they were all saved from poaches and there were heaps of them. That evening I had another massage which was oil based and pretty strong. My last of the trip.

It was a 7hr drive to Vang Vieng, it was a very windy road to being with, we had 2 people puking. The scenery was wonderful, we topped a ridge to see line stone mountains emerging from the earth like large creatures, it was stunning. Vang Vieng is situated on a river with a vista across to the lime stone mountains. The town is very westernised, very westernised, they actually play friends repeats in a lot of the bars and restaurants and there are actually people sitting there watching it. But this place is know for its drug culture, so that may explain people watching endless episodes. The next morning we had free for activities, I signed up for a kayak / cave trip on the Nan Song river. It was so picturesque, and not another soul around for the first part. I was put with the guide due to my lack of skills, but that was good really cause I just paddled and didn't need to worry about steering, great! We paddled down the river in between towering lime stone mountains, the water was nice and calm with dragon flies buzzing all over the place. They were amazing colours, hot pinks, blues and yellows. Our first stop was a tacking jumping / beer place, I sunbathed for a while and listened to Nirvana which they were playing full tit on their massive sound system. On out way to the cave we past a few tubers, you simply got given a rubber tube to float down the river, the people looked pretty relaxed. Next we visited a cave, however I only made it half way, it was full of water and we were wading chest deep. I made a good decision as another girl got grazes all over her shins and feet. It was another 30min paddle back to Vang Vieng from their. It was all rather funny at the end, we had to pass under a bridge and we hit it, so the guide flip out the back of the boat, I clung on and managed to stay in, great! It took us 3hrs to drive to Vientiane that afternoon, the capital city, we only hit a puppy a 1 cow. The cow did a bit of damage to the front of the bus, and it was only a bit shaken and gained a slight limp. The puppy however didn't come off so well. That evening I ate at a Mekong river side restaurant by candle light, very romantic.

We had one day in the city so we made the most of it, after my usual jog and yoga, a couple of is hired some bikes and we set off on our personal tour of the city. I was a little tired that morning since my room mate had got in at 4am then a few hours later proceeded to puke on herself, super duper. Our first stop was Wat SiSaket, the only Wat left in tack after the destruction of the city by the Siamese in 1820's. I loved the courtyard walls that housed hundreds of little niches and shelves containing 6800 Buddha images. We road on to the 'Vertical Runway', it is the Laos answer to the Arc de Trimophe, kind of. Cement that was suppose to be used for rebuilding the runway after the war was diverted by the communist to building this monstrosity. It is still not finished and a bit of an eye-sore to be honest. The view from the top was ok, Vientiane is certainly very spread although the population is less than 130k. Pha That Lung was the next stop, basically a huge golden stupa. We then went to the markets which were a little disappointing, mainly junk for sale. Lunch was riverside. Then we set off on a 26km ride to the Buddha Park, it took 2hrs and we barley made it before closing time. It took longer than we anticipated and it was a tough ride with cars, trucks, bikes, school kids and potholes to avoid. But I really enjoyed the ride. The Park was worth the effort, it was amazing and look great since it was dusk. Some crazy artist had basically created Buddha and Hindu statutes of all shapes and sizes and put them in a park, he is now living in Thai, forced to flee for his anti-commy views. Then we tried to ride back, got about 8km in, however we were exhausted and more to the point there was no light, no street lights, nor did our bikes have lights. We managed to flag down a tuk-tuk and pile in with all the bikes, not that comfortable for the 45mins jounrey back but beggers can't be choosers. After dinner on the water front again I had a fairly disastrous evening, basically had the squirts all night. Brilliant considering the next 2 days were travel days. But by the time we left I had nearly come right, I didn't eat for 24hrs and now I am all good again, yay. The drive was great to the boarder town of LakSao, we pasted over the Ammamite Mountains and alongside the Ho-Chi-Min trail used for running supplies during the war. This is the part of the country that was most devastated by bombing during that war. We went to the local market to pick up lunch for the following days 12hr bus ride to Hanoi, I passed on the BBQ'ed rat.

The boarder crossing into Vietnam was relatively painless exercise. The funny thing was, while we were waiting for our passports I walked into the country to use the bathroom which was situated across the car park. Very strange security, given there were tonnes of people sitting around in pressed uniforms, reading the paper and smoking. The efficiencies of a communist country. Our bus was fantastic, more spacious than the Laos bus with AC. They make these yummy rice wafers filled with caramelised peanuts so I got stuck into them during the journey. The traffic was mental as ever and we saw an accident with 2 people lying dead on the road. It is rather funny all the local men don these army green safari style hats, I think crash helmets would be a better option. Once I arrived I quickly went out to meet up with Nicky and Quentin who were also in Hanoi, so it was great to have a catch up over a few vino's, local Delata warm white wine, not a bad drop, however wont be bringing any home with me. I have now spent a few days in Hanoi, but mainly wandering around the old quarter ducking in and out of shops and sorting out my trekking and Halong Bay trips. I start on my Sapa Trek tonight, leave on a night train. Should be interesting since it is a private tour, so me and the guide staying at local villages, very interesting indeed.

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