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Published: November 24th 2009
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So.. after Thailand we took the
ferry across the Mekong river into Laos (Huay Xai) where we booked onto a 2 day slow boat heading south to Luang Prabang before we had even cleared immigration. The process was both very convenient and somewhat muddled: as we (and others) queued up to fill in visa applications we were helped through by friendly tour operators selling boat tickets while ensuring you filled the right forms in to get into the country.
Slow Boat The slow boat trip included an overnight stop off in the tiny village of Pak Beng which was a delightful surprise. We weren't expecting much as the only mention of the village in our guide book was a warning against bag snatching scams when getting off the boat. However, we found the place strangely fascinating. The one street leading to/away from the pier was lined with an even mix of guest houses, restaurants and convenience stores that were packed with TV's & toys as well as your standard bottled water, crisps & bread stuffs. Seriously, this place must be a central supplier of TV's for Laos. There were at least 15 shops each dominated with shelves of the
things. One of the things that made our stop particularly interesting was that we arrived at the climax of a 3 day festival. We're not sure exactly the purpose of the festival but there were lots of fireworks being set off all along the road by entusiastic youths, adults and (worryingly, given our stiff upper lip British upbringing) small children. I had Graham doubled over by an off hand comment about how
"liberal" it seemed. I also pondered at the implicit irony of a people being so amused by commercial explosives in a country so infamous for having the biggest UXO (unexploded ordinance -i.e. land mines) issue on the continent. A very real danger. However, bangers and fireworks were being thrown all over the place. We were even a little bit scared by the liberal use at times - i.e. when they were going off in our path!
As well as setting off a shed load of fireworks the festival involved an en masse night launch of hundreds of little paper boats adorned with candles. Very pretty. See photos!
Then we ended up at a random outdoor local disco, where we learned how to dance Laos style -
very strange.
Luang Prabang Apparently one of the most beautiful and cultural places in Laos. Unfortunately Kerry was very poorly while we were there and so we missed most of it although Graham did venture out alone to see one of the big impressive Wats (Wat Xieng Thong) and very impressed he was.
Also managed to take a trip south to Tat Kuang Si where we spent the day swimming amongst multi-tiered waterfalls - very cool!
About being poorly, by Kerry:
Firstly, to say that it was tummy trouble is enough said about the specifics me thinks. In hindsight I could have saved a lot of trouble by just buying the antibiotics that finally cured me on the first day there. However, I'd been ill twice before and the 2nd time it was just food poisoning and as one of the main symptoms was throwing up any time I moved much I thought I'd give it a chance to sort itself out and opted top take the complete rest & bland food approach to recovery.
Yes, we did have pregnancy alarm bells ringing so ruled that out right away with rigorous testing (to great Pak Beng
small child with massive sparkler thing - it shot out fireworks in bursts relief).
Graham was the perfect doting husband in my hour of need and found a place that would make me steamed chicken, rice & veg with no sauce, pepper, oil or anything else that is vaguely interesting. And that's mostly what I ate, plus lots of re-hydration meds.
So 4 days later when I wasn't better we became a little bit concerned so went to the local hospital. They had very limited means and so were not much use except for reassuring me that my blood pressure & blood sugar were fine and they only charged me for the blood sugar test so I won't be too harsh on them. We legged it out of there as soon as we realised they weren't able to help and because the nurses B.O. and the smell of the urinals had made me feel worse.
The next day I was only a little bit better than I started out so Graham got me some antibiotics and within 2 days I was well enough to travel.
The moral: just take the antibiotics. If they work, great.
We did manage to see the palace museum while in Luang Prabang which was
pretty interesting. Kerry liked the shiny glass mosaic tiling, Graham was generally impressed with the artwork & other displays. A highlight for us was the night market where we fell in love with Laos handicrafts. We splurged on a couple of paper light shades that were light enough to post home but otherwise had to hold back from buying. it was tough! Anyone with a penchant for bedding should get to Laos!
Vang Vieng Tubing: twice. Once in the morning to admire the scenery when the river was quiet, once in the afternoon once the carnage had begun.
Basically....hire a rubber ring, float down the river admiring the scenery and stopping off at increasingly debauched bars with spectacular scenic backdrops. Lots of mud volleyball, waterslides, etc etc and met a lot of cool people. What do I mean by debauched? Well, most bars had two menus - a drinks menu, and then a menu serving, er, other things.......
We made it less than halfway the second time before it got too dark (and we were too drunk) to make the rest of the journey even remotely sensible (although a lot of people who didn't realise how
long and unlit the course was).
Note to people thinking of tubing at Vang Vieng. From around midday onwards things start kicking off on the river. We're talking hundreds of 20-30 somethings drinking, dancing, swimming, diving, falling in the river, getting covered in mud..........it's a helluva lot of fun. I mean, A HELLUVA lot of fun (one guy I spoke to was tubing for his 15th day straight), but.......people have died on the river, either because of excess or, unfortunately, plain bad luck. Have fun but look after yourselves (and each other)......there, that's my Jerry Springer moment! Now get stuck in, you crazy fools 😊
Vientiane Spent more time here than planned (see below) - chilled place, stayed in a pretty plush hotel, ate French food, went to a water park and visited the very cool Buddha Park (a garden full of Buddha carvings - see photos).
We left for Vientiane the day after our Vang Vieng tubing escapades. This may explain how Kerry managed to misplace her passport someone between our Vang Vieng hostel and the bus to Vientiane 😞
Quote from Mrs Levere at the time : "Well I'd rather lose my passport than
my MP3 player, it'll be easier to replace than all the lost downloads". Hmmmmmmm.........
Spent a week in the capital trying to trace said passport and liaise with the British Embassy in Bangkok via the Australian Embassy in Vientiane (there's no British Embassy in Laos) to get a replacement. Proved to be a waste of time (getting info and responses from Bangkok via email was like getting blood from a stone) so after a week we headed back into Thailand to talk with the British Embassy directly (with Kerry using temporary travel papers issued by the Aussie Embassy).
Just to rub things in, we arrived back in Bangkok early on a Friday morning so that we could get to the British Embassy when it opened.....only to find out that it was closed for a public holiday. So we had to wait until Monday to get anything done....aaaaaRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!) We also wanted to get the new passport in Kerry's new married name, which required us to present an original marriage certificate. Queue the beginning of "The Great DHL Fiasco", a comedy starring The Levere Family (Kerry, Graham and Papa Levere back in Blighty), The Evil DHL (booooo-hissss) and a
not insignificant comic cameo by the hopelessly uncommunicative British Embassy (jokers).
Thanks to Dad for helping us sort this one out (eventually).
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