Laos - Part 1

Vientiane
Vang Vieng
Luang Prabang
Nong Khiaw
Muang Noi
Muang Khua
Phongsali

We spent two days in Laos capital city, Vientiane. A nice city on the river ... the most chilled out capital city in the world. We took in most of the sights by foot and spent a whole afternoon in the bowling alley. Two pairs of socks and three games later we had spent our 'fun' money and had to drag ourselves away. Opposite the bowling alley was the local shooting club and Olly could not resist blowing the budget and trying his luck at shooting an old Russian Luge ... the boy has a talent ... he hit the bullseye on both attempts!

We then took the public bus up to Vang Vieng, which included a very interesting toilet stop - men behind one bush and women behind another. Thought about getting the old she pee out, however decided that the Laos locals were not yet ready to be exposed to such a sight. Not sure lady boys have reached Laos yet!

Vang Vieng is a strange town, a fine example of the backpackers taking over. In it's favour, the surrounding scenery is beautiful with limestone peaks as far as the eye can see. The town is really laid back and full of 18 year olds lying around all day watching episodes of friends, after consuming one too many 'happy shakes'.

We spent the day tubing down the Nam Song river. On the way down you pass by loads of bars, where the staff throw you a rope and drag you in! Each bar has a tarzan swing of some kind and we began to realise why so many people in town were injured ... beer, lao lao whisky and tarzan swings ... not a good combination. Our guesthouse even offered crutches for free!

After two days in Vang Vieng, we left for Luang Prabang and like most people, we absolutely loved it. The drive over was brilliant and when asked to describe it, these were Olly's words of wisdom ...
'inspiring, open karst scenery, mild tropical wilderness, pot dirt (as he consumed a pot noodle on the way), car sick, windy roads'. Shakespear eat your heart out!

Luang Prabang is another very relaxed town with a lot of temples to visit and a good night market to wander around. We hired a right old chicken chaser and went on a day trip to Tat Kuang Si waterfall, which was amazing. The waterfall tumbled over limestone formations into cool, crystal clear pools, which you could swim in - paradise! (God, think I am turning into a guide book).

After a few days relaxing we decided to begin our journey north to Phongsali. We tool a minibus to Nong Khiaw, which was an interesting ride. The driver decided to bring his wife with him ... oh what a mistake. Every so often she would make him stop, out she'd get and off she would wander around the shops / markets. Meanwhile, we all had to sit in the van and wait for her to arrive back with various purchases. One car battery, bag of coal, bag of vegetables and whatever other crap she could lay her hands on later and we were off again until she needed some more retail therapy.

We finally arrived in Nong Khiaw and it all seemed worth it. The place is beautiful . We stayed in a bamboo hut overlooking the river and mountains. We took a walk into the countryside and visited some caves that were used as a military regional base during the war. On the way we stopped in a restaurant to get a drink and a local man came in with a big lizard he had caught. He sold it to the restaurant owner (who let Olly hold it) and they planned to keep it in the cellar alive until some chinese tourists passed by.

The next day we took a boat up the Nam Ou river to Muang Noi, a tiny village on the river. There we met Olga and Angel from Barcelona. They had been trekking in Muang Noi and had spent a number of evenings with their guide, Peng. They kindly took us with them to Peng's house and we spent the evening together with his family. His wife cooked up a mean feast ... buffalo skin with chilli sauce, noodle soup, sticky rice, banana's and biscuits (all that was missing was a cup of yorkshire tea for a dunking session). This was all washed down with beer and lao lao whisky. Peng got out his special bottle of lao lao, infused with herbs and a porcupines kidney - which tasted quite nice actually.

The next day we left with Angel and Olga and took another boat up the river to Muang Khua, where we said goodbye to Angel and Olga here (which was a shame as they were really nice) and took another boat up the river to Hat Sa. The scenery was brilliant and we encountered a good few rapids on the way - which was fun. On route we managed to terrify a little girl, just by being 'falang' (western) - although to be fair Olly's face is enough to scare anyone ... and she spent the whole journey hiding from us. By the time we reached Hat Sa, we had acquired numerous bags of sand, rice, catfish and a giant basket of raw buffalo meat - which Olly had the pleasure of sitting next to. From Hat Sa we took a truck 20k to Phongsali, a nice little town in the mountains. And from here the adventure began ...

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