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Published: July 28th 2010
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Vang Vieng
This was the view from our guest house room's balcony Starting the trip, Laos was the country I knew the least about. Every other country on our itinerary I had some conceptions of what it would be like before I set foot in the country. Laos was the only place that was a blank slate in my mind. Of course we've only been here 7 days now, and we're crossing back to Thailand tomorrow, but mostly everything here has been really good. I'm in the capital at the moment, which is really unlike any capital I've been to. It is the largest city in the country and yet it is still so rural. The tallest building I've seen is probably our hotel, only 4 stories tall. It is right on the Mekong river and we can see into Thailand from the riverside.
After the 26 hour bus trip from hell, Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, we got into town around 8 in the morning. Needless to say, a large chunk of that day was lost with a nice long nap. Luang Prabang is a nice little city on the Mekong river, built on a peninsula before two rivers converge. It is also surrounded by scenic green mountains covered with thick
jungle. The town, despite it's remoteness, is quite touristy and I was really surprised at how many foreigners were there. The town center itself is a mess of guest houses, cafes, and other businesses catering to tourists. It's saved from being a complete tourist trap by the charming but crumbling French architecture and incredible scenery. Laos used to be a French protectorate and you can see French influence everywhere. I'm not sure but it appears to be a second official language as it is on all the official documents and government buildings I've seen. We stayed two days, which was more than enough. Mostly spent our time hanging out in cafes and cycling around town when it wasn't raining. We did go to a really cool restaurant across the river where we tried Lao style fondue. It's so fun to cook and eat so be sure to give it a try if you make it out here.
Next up was a mercifully short and comfortable 6 hour bus to the south to the small town of Vang Vieng. The scenery on the way was really second to none. The valleys were fillled with mist and the mountain tops appeared
to be floating on clouds. Vang Vieng is well and truly on the tourist trail, but I really didn't mind as it is easily the most fun place we've been. Or at least I enjoyed myself, Yumi had the traumatic experience of nearly getting swept away on an inner tube. The main thing to do in this town is tubing. Basically you rent an inner tube, a tuk tuk takes you a few kilometres to the north, and you can float back to town at your leisure. The riverside is dotted by numerous bars which you can stop along the way for some refreshments. That is if you can paddle your way to the riverside before being swept past. It's wet season and the river is really swollen and moving fast, making the whole thing a bit too much for Yumi who can't swim. At the end she got swept past the finish dock and a guy with a boat has to race after her before she ended up merging with the Mekong and headed for the ocean. What was a funny moment for me was quite traumatic for her so I couldn't make fun of her as much as
Yumi
Still at the happy stage of her tubing trip I wanted.
Vang Vieng is such a perfect spot, scenery is beautiful, people are unnaturally friendly and there is so much to see and do. I Spent the rest of the time caving, hiking, cycling and hanging out with some local kids who never seem to have to go to school. Quite a few backpackers as well, meaning for a small rural town the night-life was going strong 7 days a week. Just another place that I would love to go back to someday. Three days later we had to press on to the capital, Vientiane.
The capital was less than 200km away but the bus took 6 hours to get there. The highway system in Laos is quite run down and even the countries main highway quite often is single lane with no dividing line. It takes forever to wind your way through the mountains to get anywhere. Also nobody seems to ever be in much of a hurry to get anywhere. Laos culture is incredibly laid back and sleepy. Even when the bus breaks down and we have to wait for a spare part to arrive, nobody seems to get stressed.
A few other interesting
Caving
is sweaty work points about Laos. Or at least thing I think are interesting but most people probably could care less...
- Laos is the fault line between driving on the left or driving on the right. First time I've been in a right side driving country in a few years.
- There are no police or army that I have seen anywhere. People here are so laid back and the crime rate is next to zero.
- There are no foreign fast food or convenience store anywhere that I've seen. Even in the capital, which is a nice change. Thailand has a 7eleven approximately every 30 meters in every city.(not an exaggeration)
Tomorrow it's back to Thailand, we've got an overnight bus taking us to Bangkok. When we first crossed into Laos it was over a river, so I am looking forward to crossing overland to see how they handle switching the traffic to the other side. Then it's onwards to Cambodia. I imagine next time I write something it will include some impressions and pictures of Angkor Wat. This is one of the things we have wanted to see the most.
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Nairb
non-member comment
Lazy French
dude, that almost sounds exactly like Congo with the "laid back not in a hurry to do anything" attitude. I think it most have something to do with the French culture. Here in Congo, they start work at 7:30am....but you're lucky if they are actualy doing some actual work by 8:30am. Then they get a 30min coffee break at 9am. After that they get a 2 hour lunch at noon, which you're lucky if they get back from lunch ready to work by 3pm. The only difference here is the crime rate is not as laid back. It's been quite similar in other former French colonies that I've been too.