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Published: December 1st 2006
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Sittin with Mama and Papa
The best guesthouse we have stayed. Mama feeds you banana and tea till you bust Sabadii to all!!!
Last we left you we were headed to Luang Prabang, Laos. What a charming town but by far the highlight was our guesthouse, Oudomphong. As we entered this guesthouse in the evening after our slowboat from Pakbeng we questioned our choice as the bed was almost bigger than the room itself. We decided to stay the night and consider changing guesthouses in the morning, but that was before we met "Mama"!! Mama runs the guesthouse along with"papa" as we affectionately call them. Mama greeted us every morning with a melodious "sabadii!!" And endless offers for bananas!!! Mama went out of her way to make sure everybody was happy. One night I became very ill, due to something I ate, and ended up with a fever. Mama checked my temperature, sent out for rice soup, made sure I had extra blankets and plenty of hot water and even tucked me in!!! Mama's TLC broke the fever that evening!! And by the next day I was feeling so much better, with Mama still checking my temperature to make sure I was okay!!! You can't get that kind of service at the Hilton!!!! While in Luang Prabang we took a
drive to vang vien
prettiest and curviest drive we've had nice cool dip in a waterfall, visited what ended up being our favorite cafe JoMa's, visited the night markets, made great friends which formed our group of 7, hopped on a private mini-bus to our next stop Vang Vieng.
Vang Vieng to say the least is picturesque!! The 3 hr drive from Luang Prabang consisted of windy roads with outlines of Limestone cliffs and mountains!!! As we arrived at our guesthouse, Riverside Bungalows, my jaw dropped as we pulled up to a scenic view which we would enjoy for 5 nights!!! Highlight of Vang Vieng is tubing down the Nam Song!! Along the river were strategically placed bars playing Bob Marley tunes, offering snacks and cold drinks . It is here where a kind Lao man would pull you in with his bamboo stick in order for us to partake in yes....BEERLAO and in most cases Lao lao (rice whiskey). By far the most fun we had on the Nam Song were the rope swings!!!! Situated high above the water was a circus like trapeze where you could swing and let go about 30 or so feet above the water and hopefully not land on your back or face!!
Us havin fun
doin our thang! After good long day of tubing and swinging, time to head to Jaidee's!! Jaidee's was small bar that offered free Lao lao shots, an array of drinks, and oh yes the infamous menu of Happy drinks. Will managed to get his Karaoke on with Nancy (Canada) at a nearby disco where the locals were thoroughly impressed and personally invited them to come again!!! Will and I also took a day to do some caving, my first time. Will and I navigated through Tham Sang Cave with one headlight, we went as far as we could treading through puddles, barely scathing our heads on low overhead rocks, then our headlight started flashing!!! We thought this may be an indication that the battery was low!! As we hurried back we were relieved to hear voices of other tourists in the cave and finally we were back at the entrance!!! we decided to extend our stay to celebrate Blaine's birthday (Canada) so back to Jaidees. As we packed up and said good bye to Vang Vieng and good friends we headed towards the Laos capital, Vientiane.
Our intention was to stay maybe 2 nights in Vientiane.....due to our waiting time our Vietnam
visa we've now spent 6 nights here in Vientiane!!!!! Our group now consisted of 4: Will and I, Chris (USA), and Toby (AUS). We all set up camp at Dragon Lodge, and meandered the streets of Vientiane. Our first day we all decided to jump in a Tuk-Tuk to Xieng Khuan Buddha Park. The park show cased an array of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures. We also took a day to visit Laos' version of the Arc de Troiomphe, Patuxai. Patuxai was built to commerorate the Lao who died in prerevolutionary wars. The most interesting aspect is that it was built in 1969 with cement donated by the USA for construction of a new airport therefore its is also referred to as "the vertical runway" by expats!! If you were worried that you have not heard about enough temples, set those worries aside. Pha That Luang is a beautiful golden national monument in Vientiane. The stupa appears on Laos' national seal. So we've mentioned our daytime activities.... The nights we're just as interesting if not more so. We all would agree on a particular theme dinner for the night which consisted of italian, french, japanese, etc. We ventured out in the
Da boys
Chillin with some new mates alex(right) and toby city to find some interesting bars....some reason we would end up at Khop Chai Deu a great outdoor bar with pool tables and live music indoors and plenty of great people watching. Another bar worth mentioning Samlos a dimly lit bar with sports playing on a small screen and a friendly bar staff. But most interesting nights were definately at the now infamous Don Chen Palace. The bar located on what seemed like the roof of the hotel but really only situated on the 3rd floor, had a great outdoor bar, buffet, night club and Will's favorite.....Karaoke. Will decides to rent out private karaoke room where the boys belt out tunes ranging from the Temptations, Red Hot Chili Peppers, even some Toni Braxton (wink wink Toby)!! As voices became hoarse it was time to move this party to the dance floor. Don Chen Palace played an interesting mix of Thai pop, American dance or hip hop, and what we can only guess were Laos slow ballads. Music was interesting.,.....the people...that was something else. Alot of the night we played the guessing game.....boy or girl? It was hard to tell as most asians have a petite frame and "delicate?" features. We
laughed at the obvious ones, cringed at the disgusting ones, and scratched our heads at the ones....well we just weren't sure of. Good fun nonetheless, enough fun to come back the next night!!! The gang just about had enough of "the palace" and the he-she's so.....Bowling it is!!!!! Two nights of bowling, drinking and eating and that completes our stay here in Vientiane. We leave you here as we fly to Hanoi, Vietnam. As always we wish you were all here, hope you all had a happy thanksgiving, and to all our new friends travelling: safe travels home or your next destination and keep in touch!!!!
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Gram
non-member comment
Tourguide
Thanks for the interesting tour. Michelle is a good guide. Please you two observe all customs and culture so as not to cause any problems. I say a prayer for your safety. Thanks for keeping us updated.