Blogs from West, Laos, Asia
May 21st 2012
Tired of catching bus after bus on the dusty, bumpy, windy roads of Lao, I headed down river to Vientiane on kayak. Despite the dry season we paddled down rapids and jumped off a cliff face. Covered in dust from the tuk tuk ride (my white tshirt now brown from the dust picked up on the road), we decided to spend the extra 2 dollars and checked into a really nice hotel. I was soo greatful for the clean white sheets, aircon and my first hot shower in just over a month. I spent the next day going from airconditioned cafe to cafe siping ice-coffee, reading and planning my next travel move. In the afternoon I walked along the river front and chatted to another travelor eager for a talk.... read more
May 20th 2012
Luang Prabang is a beautiful and peaceful town wedged between the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. Its known for its crepe and fruit shake stalls and chilled out vibe. I easily spent hours on end chilling out, sipping a fruit shake, in a cafe overlooking the river, watching the fisherman down below try for a catch and the young locals swim in its shallows, trying to escape the heat of the sun as its light danced on the rivers surface. In the cool (or less hot) of the morning and afternoon I wondered through the streets, looking at the markets, temples and local school. I went to the Kuang Si falls one day and had cheap drinks in a really cool bar called Eutopia after seeing the sun set over the town from the Phu Si ... read more
May 20th 2012
Party Town! I floated through a limestone cave on a tube and kayaked down the river with a group. The river is surrounded by huge jagged, black karsts and beautiful mountains and forests. The second day we floated down the river on tubes. Bars line the 3km strip on the river, all with loud pumping western music, huge slides, rope swings and flying foxes (all of which I had a go at). They all had westerners working at them chatting, dancing, raving and throwing out waterbottles to pull you in. There was over 120 different guesthouses all with hundreds of rooms in town as well as heaps of restaurants to choose from. But the real choice came in what episode of family guy, friends and southpark was playing at each one. Once this important decision was ... read more
We celebrated second life at Luang Prabang
Published: May 15th 2012Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang
May 14th 2012
We left Xiangkhoung soon after breakfast, we went up to the intersection on the mountain, Phou Khoun, a small little town where you can see two rows of wooden shoplots, many Hmong, Laos and Hmu ladies selling vegetables, you also get to see tourists making a lunch stop and to ease themselves. This intersections is actually a cross road to Vientienne, Xiangkhoung and Luang Prabang. To reach any of these three destinations, you need to stop at Phou Khoun. Remember to bring your own lunch. After lunch we headed towards Luang Prabang. While going down the winding zig zag road , it began to drizzle. I noticed our driver was tired and drove very fast to finish his job in Luang Prabang. The 4 wheeler skidded, making a 180 degree turn. My two lady friends right ... read more
May 13th 2012
1545, Vientienne was once known as the administrative city, The Kingdom of Lan Xang (millions of elephants). Believe to be 1000AD. The Siamese colonised and ransacked them in 1828 and the french helped Laos to regain their capital after that. Todate, the population in the city is about 210,000. Population of Laos is 6.5 million. Language spoken: Lao, Thai and French(majority) Some said Vientienne is a sleepy city, some said Laos is a communist country. I said it is a peaceful country. Vientienne is a dragon awaken from his dream. No highrise, rambling collections of villages, modern houses and walk-up apartments, people tend to their own daily activities, no traffic congestions. Vientienne is moving on its own pace. Slow and Steady. They do not have to rush for modernisation. I think this is good. It was ... read more
May 13th 2012
One of the first things we notice in Laos is that time flows differently. It doesn't seem to progress linearly any longer but stays frozen for most of the day except for brief infrequent intervals when through the accumulated static energy the time bursts through the wall of inaction and things somehow come about. We learn very fast that L.P.D.R. doesn't only stand for Laos People's Democratic Republic but also for Laos Please Don't Rush. The Laotians are probably the most horizontally inclined nation out there. As a local saying goes too much work is not good for your brain. Everywhere you look at, there's always somebody lying low in a hammock. We in the west have so much to learn from these people. If you miss your bus, take it easy for a day and ... read more
May 13th 2012
Met dezelfde groep als in Vang Vieng zijn we met ze allen naar Luang Prabang gegaan. Gezellig met de groep naar de waterval geweest, deze ligt ongeveer 30km van Luang Prabang. Mooie waterval en je kan er ook lekker zwemmen, ook hebben ze hier een beren opvang. Toen is iedereen weer een beetje opgesplitst naar andere bestemmingen. Zelf had ik besloten om een tijdje in Luang Prabang te blijven, om onder andere mijn travelblog te doen. Heerlijk chille dagen in mijn eentje gehad. Uitslapen, blog, tempels bekeken, aan het zwembad gelegen, boek gelezen, muziek geluisterd en natuurlijk naar de bar geweest! Lekkere dagen hier gehad en niet al te veel gedaan! Na al die bus reizen heb ik mezelf een cadeau gegeven in plaats van een bus reis van 32 uur...... een vliegticket van Luang Prabang ... read more
May 11th 2012
Na "the loop" hebben we een bus gepakt naar Vientiane. Hier heb ik een fiets gehuurd en lekker rond gefietst! Omdat mijn keel nog steeds ontstoken was (en de vorige antibiotica kuur niet had geholpen) werd het tijd om naar de clinic te gaan. In Vientiane hebben ze een internationale clinic en inderdaad de keel was nog ontstoken dus met een lading medicijnen weer weg gegaan. Ik had echt een super Gym ondekt in Vientiane. Eindelijk weer is een normale barbell in plaats van een holle buis. Wat ook natuurlijk zijn charme heeft. De kosten van de Gym waren 45.000 kip dan mocht je gebruik maken van het zwembad en de Gym. Als je 65.000 kip (6,50 Euro) betaalde kreeg je een uur massage erbij! Dus eerst lekker trainen om vervolgens een duik in het zwembad ... read more
May 11th 2012
Jaja mijn blog is bijna weer up to date! Van Vientiane zijn we naar Vang Vieng gegaan. Wie Vang Vieng zegt, zegt ook tubing! Ook is het een echte party place. Ondanks dat ik niks had verwacht van Vang Vieng was de natuur hier weer super, dus het is meer dan alleen een party place! Omdat de brommers erg goed bevielen hebben we hier weer een "loop" gereden. Eerst stop was de blue lagoon! Yesss lekker springen uit een boom en lekker zwemmen! Bij de blue lagoon is ook een mooie grot dus die ook weer bekeken. Pittige grot om door heen te lopen dus Victoria is drie keer gevallen en die dag had ze ook al haar been verbrand tegen de uitlaat. Dus daarna ging zij weer richting het guesthouse en ik heb de loop ... read more
May 7th 2012
So the last time i wrote i was in Hoi an and it was the night before Bruisers Birthday! We all went out for a nice meal and his parent paid as a brithday treat which was nice :) we ended up getting wasted!! bruiser was sick all over the floor in the bar below, however did manage to get a birthday motorboat from sammy and elle. The next day it was bruisers actual birthday, sam and ellie left to go onto kuala lumpa and austraila. We went to the bar at about midday for breakfast and started drinking. Here we lasted until 6ish - the beer was less than 9p and therefore the whole day drinking for all of us i think came to about £15!! We then went in the pool, me and adam ... read more
