Honey, I Dont Want To Alarm You, But...

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Well we have finally found the energy to head out of Laos and into Thailand ready to go through to Cambodia.

We dragged ourselves away from the Nam Song River to head north to Luang Prabang. Having now done the Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang road four times, we actually managed the return trip without anyone losing their breakfast, a great achievement! Although the trip is six hours of winding steep road it is an absolute must, perhaps not four times but definitely once; it gives an amazing view of life for many of the Laotian people.

Sights along the road makes the winding back and forth worth it: beautiful bare bottomed babies; flame red chillies drying on roadsides and rooftops; water buffalos on the side of the road,; piglets, chicks and calves meandering along the road; huts perched on hillsides, stunning views of mountainsides; soapy families washing at the roadside wells and in the creeks; boys fishing; markets full of pumpkins, markets full of watermelons, markets full of things we have no idea of; little (tiny) friends walking arm in arm by the road, laundry drying on the front of huge trucks driving goods through Laos; and smiling, happy people sitiing outside their very modest homes.

It was great to be back in Luang Prabang and we were still in awe of how beautiful it is. Even in the short time since our last visit we have noticed changes in the city, hopefully this does not herald the start of huge changes (although as a UNESCO protected area it may escape some of the not so nice affects of opening up to tourism). Several more upmarket shops have appeared and the Amantaka hotel has been completed and had a soft opening season. Not being familiar with the hotel group we rolled up on our two old bikes three to a bike for a peek around the $600US to $1200US per night resort!

The kids loved being back in Luang Prabang and quickly made friends with some of the young street sellers, aged from about eight to 14 they sell trinkets on the streets after school and on the weekends (until all hours). Many afternoons were spent playing soccer and checkers and the girls doing each others hair all in the alleyway next to the hotel. Mitchy accepted the invitation from some of the Laos guys who work at the guesthouses next door who we had ‘met’ (as well as you can when there is little common language) in April and jumped on the back of a moto to play a game of soccer with them one afternoon. He was able to get past the stares and shouts of “falang, falang” (white man) to score a goal which he was suitably happy with .

After expending all of that energy a couple of afternoons were spent at Dyan Sabaii relaxing and eating lunch overlooking the Nong Khan river, taking a long boat over and then trying to avoid getting stuck in the mud (literally) on the other side. Luckily happy hour went from 12 to 7pm with long neck beers costing less than $1 and ‘gin slings’ at 2 for $2.50, the boat and mud were worth it. We tried out the Laos BBQ or sindad which was far more successful than in April when we were very tempted to BBQ a couple of the children. The sindad is referred to as a Laos BBQ although it is very similar to a fondue with a BBQ plate over coals filled with coconut water to cook greens, morning glory, egg, vegetables and noodles while meat is barbecued on top. The kids loved cooking their own lunch and no-one managed to cook themselves, always good when kids and flames are combined.

We spent another afternoon out at the waterfall which being the end of the rainy season was much faster flowing and more spectacular although also a lot chillier! The kids and I all braved the water for a short dip but when the teeth started to chatter it was time to get out!

In preparation for the Bun Awk Phansa which is the end of the three month rains season and Buddhist lent, occurring each year on the 15th new moon, monks at the temples were busy constructing bamboo and tissue paper ‘boats’ to parade through the street and display at the temples. Our daily walks took in the temples to watch the progress, some of the constructions taking on fairly elaborate designs of lotus flowers and temples. Two days before we left Luang Prabang Mac befriended a monk at one of the temples so we made several visits to say hello and watch the boat building. On the day before we left the monk asked us to visit that evening to say goodbye and presented us all with string bracelets which he used for a baci ceremony. The Baaci is a Buddhist practice to mark any manner of special occasions. He placed the bracelets on each of our wrists and whispered messages and prayers for good luck for us. It was a beautiful gesture and the kids were really touched.

The children are still enchanted by all things Buddhist and were all eager to get up early and watch the alms ceremony again. It was as beautiful as in April and all the more special as Mac’s friend was in the beginning of the procession and gave us all a beautiful smile and wave. The alms ceremony is a real spectacle of colour and display of reverence from the lay people to the monks. It was nice to go at a time where there was not the tourist ‘circus’ of our previous visit.

Our trip to the ceremony also reminded us that although the world at times seems huge it is never as big as you think: another Western family with two young children was up early to watch the ceremony and stopped me to ask if we had been in Chengdu, China recently. It was amazing but they had recognized us after we had stopped them in the street on our first day in Chengdu (population of millions) in May to ask them where was a good place to eat for four hungry kids. Unfortunately we were catching a van out of Luang Prabang in an hour so we only had time for a brief chat but what a coincidence!

We were tempted to stay in Luang Prabang to see the colour of the boat processions for the New Moon festival but Grace wanted to spend her birthday at Vang Vieng and watch the candles, flowers and incence floating down the Nam Song. The Laos people have such a connection with their rivers and the new moon festival gives a chance to symbolise this. The day of the New Moon is celebrated by local people with longboat races on rivers all over Laos and we had a great view of the finish line in Vang Vieng at Thavansouk. For such a laid back group of people the Laos definitely know how to party and a huge crowd gathered on the banks of the river for the day with cases of Beer Laos, speaker systems and dancing shoes! We found it a little difficult to keep up with the boat race process but worked out who the winner was at the end of the day as the boat and crew were loaded onto the back of the truck with the trophy held high and the team singing what we presume were victory songs.

The night time festivities were far more sedate with families and friends floating banana leaf ‘boats’ down the river in the dark. Some families make and decorate their own boats, although in true Asian style stalls spring up everywhere for those who want to buy them. Mother nature put on an amazing display of thunder and lightning for the event lighting up the mountains and water at frequent intervals. The strong breeze made lighting the candles a little tricky but many of the boats, including ours, were placed on the river alight and floated down the river while fireworks shot off into the night. Not to miss an opportunity little boys waited in the water and checked boats floating from further upstream for any money that may have been attached for good luck. Fireworks were in abundance, set off in the streets and over the rivers.

Grace had a lovely birthday and was very pleased with her choice to be back in Vang Vieng, and is now very happy to tell everyone that she is officially a decade old! We had a little family surprise party with sweets and chocolate cake which the other children were very excited about helping to organise (decorations were a very Buddhist inspired theme due to the festival the day before meaning orange and yellow tissue paper and candles were in good supply) . Lunch at her favourite café followed by a massage for the girls (which Olivia talked all the way through!) and then a surprise candle, cake and Laos rendition of happy birthday from the staff at the hotel made for a great day.

After a few days back by the Nam Song our time in Laos came to an end and it was time to brave the bus back to Vientiene to cross into Thailand ready to make our way across to Cambodia. (Our plan to stay at the Organic farm was changed as poor Olivia trod on something in the river cutting the sole of her foot and wasn’t able to wear a shoe which may not have been helpful when feeding goats and picking mulberries).

We have loved the introduction to Laos life that we have had this year. The people are lovely, the cultures are diverse and interesting and tourists are generally well treated and catered for. The countryside is breathtakingly beautiful and has so much to offer for travelers in terms of scenery and adventures. With so much to experience explore it is difficult at times to believe that this is one of the poorest countries in Asia and many people deal daily with the issues that poverty brings. For up to forty percent of children in Laos this means not enough nutritious food and they remain malnourished. Health care services are generally basic and for some any form of effective health care is very difficult to access.

If a group of people deserve a change of fortune the Laos people definitely are worthy. Laos is the most bombed country in the world per capita , apparently equivalent to one bomb every nine minutes for ten years and thousands of uxo’s still litter the countryside. Around fifty percent of the victims of landmines and cluster bombs are children even now.

From what we have seen there is now a real push here for green tourism and business that give back to the people of Laos in terms of resources and sustainable tourist projects. We are sure to be back again one day in the hope that this is being achieved .

Successful border crossings still give me the thrill of feeling like a real traveller and crossing to Thailand from Laos was great, made easier by the fact that you don’t need a visa for Thailand, although frustrating that by road you only get 14 days rather than 30 by air which really limits what you can achieve as far as sightseeing in the country.

We stayed at the Mutt Mee guesthouse in Nong Khai (a bit of a tourist icon) again where we have great memories of meeting the Girards and then traveling through Laos with them. Thailand again proved a little trickier to make plans in which still surprises us. An overland trip through Thailand to Cambodia does not seem to be easy unless you go via Bangkok which is not really our preferred option so we stayed a couple of days to try to organise our trip. The Mutt Mee is a pretty laid back place so it wasn’t too difficult to spend a day or two there.

Mutt Mee is on the Mekong and right amongst many tourist eateries and market and there was much excitement one evening when Mitchy came back to the guesthouse to say that he had seen a baby elephant outside in the street. A baby elephant in the city would be pretty easy to spot one would think, but by the time both boys simultaneously got hit in the head by the swing as they jumped off to go and see the elephant it was more elusive than first thought.

Luckily, if the Mitchells can do anything it is a great elephant impression; well so we thought. The first few locals seemed to know what we were after and pointed us through to the market. The tuk tuk driver by the market also seemed to know although Mitchy was sure that he said, “baby elephant yes, market, market but don’t buy a hat”; the café staff however flicked through their menu and tried to point out the ‘baby elephant’ dish, forcing Mitchy to do a solo elephant impersonation, only for them to shake their head and say, “no; no have’! Not to be discouraged the Mitchell family continued on, rushing through the café to the waterfront straight into the path of the baby elephant. All were suitably impressed, the boys instantly forgetting about any pain from their run in with the swing as the kids fed the gorgeous creature with sugar cane.

The 3 ½ hour bus ride from Nong Khai to Khon Kaen was an experience even for us, now fairly used to Asian bus trips. We all had seats on the bus however didn’t realise that in this regard we were actually quite lucky. As the trip went on the aisle began to fill up with passengers, and the plastic stools were brought out. The ‘conductor’ had a system that we weren’t able to understand but in part it involved walking up the bus on the arm rests to rearrange the stools and the passengers. It has meant that we will be checking for a pile of plastic stools on buses before we board in future! The bus also had a stop for forty minutes at a bus terminal with the engine on and no-one getting on or off (apart from people selling fruit and drinks), there was no indication as to how long we would be staying and with four kids and nowhere to go this was fairly frustrating!!

As a treat we have booked a couple of nights at the Pullman in Khon Kaen which totally blows the budget but is lovely. The kids have spent hours in the pool although with the delicious buffets on offer I think all of our bathers may be a little more snug! Our first impressions of the hotel were great and the kids and I quickly settled into the highlife by the pool while Mitchy did his usual walk around the block to see what was about. I’m not sure about anyone else but the words, “honey, I don’t mean to alarm you” generally tend to have the opposite effect on me and this was definitely the case when Mitchy returned from his walk to tell me that there were over 100 police outside the hotel with some in riot gear. Luckily (for Mitchy) he had checked on what the story was and apparently this is ‘normal procedure’ for a visit from the Interior Minister. The police seemed to dissipate quickly after we saw the Minister leaving the hair salon in the hotel and the excitement was over soon after, so maybe they just do a great comb over there!

So for now it is the life of luxury while we try and finalise plans to get into Cambodia (again!).

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Photos

Village
Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng

Baby Elephant
"sorry sir not on menu"

Hard Work
Collecting Wood on the way to Luang Prabang