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Published: September 16th 2006
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Mekong River Kid
Coolest kid I've met on the road yet. This was taken during the slow boat down the Mekong. Been in Laos for close to two weeks now, every moment amazing. What a great country, constantly surprising me, constantly impressing me. From the slow boat down the Mekong Laos is: Jungle covered mountains, rice patties, speedboats ferrying passengers north and south wearing crash helmets and life jackets, small villages with little kids running along the river bank waving and jumping up and down, ice cold beer Lao, a flask of Thai Whiskey, uncomfortable seats and good conversation with people from all over the world stuck on the same boat as me for two days. From the local bus Laos is: Jungle covered mountains with clouds covering the peaks, rolling green hills, twisting and turning roads crossing mountains with shear drops and no guardrails, pine forests, small villages hugging the road, bamboo houses with thatch roofs, cute small children running around naked on the side of the road, friendly Lao people, local Lao people their heads in their arms plastic bags at the ready car sick for hours on end and did I mention...no legroom. And I enjoyed every minute of them both, every second spent on a boat or a bus has given me time to think and reflect, they
Hey buddy...
Not quite sure what this golden statue is, if it's a Lion it's the tamest Lion I've ever seen. where long and at times uncomfortable but they make for great memories and stories. And that's what traveling is all about anyway...experience!
Travel is slow going in Laos, which is nice because it gives me a chance to look around, soak in the sights, sounds, smells of everything we encounter along the way. It has taken us 8 hours on a mini-bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong followed by 14 hours over two days on a slow boat down the Mekong to get from Houayxay to Luang Phrabang. Then it took an 8 hour bus ride on a local bus to go from Luang Phrabang to Phon Savanh followed two days later by a 6 hour local bus ride from Phon Savanh to Vang Viang. Where I am sitting right know trying to recall all my thoughts from the last two weeks of time on the road. Yesterday was a big day being Moskowitz's 28th birthday and all, still recovering since we started the feastivities when the clock hit midnight the night of the 26th and didn't stop before the clock hit midnight the night of the 27th.
Our route through Laos goes... Houayxay...PakBeng...Louag Phrabang...Phon Savanh...Vang Viang...Vientiene...Don I'm Rich Bitch!!!
Check-out how many Kip I got... Khong...
The last two weeks all started when I met Kate (from England), welcome to the blog Kate, in Chiang Mai after going out alone for a few beers and some pool. Her and her friend Cath (from England) came back to the Royal Guesthouse and instantly I knew they looked like fun people to chill with. Me and my new friends drank the night away staying up until the wee hours of the morning. At some point during the night I invited Kate to travel Laos with us since her friend was heading home and she made me laugh all the time. Thus began the two fun filled weeks on the goon tour of Laos.
So I got really lazy with the blogs and I just got around to finishing the Laos blog, started this one about three weeks ago. And I say lazy because at the moment I'm sitting in a small Internet cafe in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam having left Laos behind over two weeks ago and already passing through Cambodia. Just haven't had the time to sit at the Internet long enough to finish, So I think the pictures will do most of
Kids Playing
Would have been funny if the canoe capsized. the work in this edition of the blog. Let me just fill you in on all the highlights of Laos...
Luang Phrabang is one of the nicest cities I've visited, set in green jungle covered mountains on the banks of two rivers, the architecture is a cross between Asian and French, the town is filled with great restaurants, amazing coffee, lovely people and more Wats than I can count. Really got a feel for the place since we spent 8 nights just relaxing, chilling and doing as little as possible, I think we fit in a few sight seeing adventures during our time, plus I wouldn't want to forget to mention all the reflexology foot massages I found the time for. We then headed south to Phon Savanh, home of the Plain of Jars. Hundreds of these massive stone jars made of primitive concrete litter the green plains of this part of Laos and are probably the only reason to head to this part of Laos. The theories on the jars are mixed but we were told they are two thousand to four thousand years old. The place gave me a Stone Henge feel while I was there. The
Rice patties
The walk to Site 3 was amazing, it just took us right through the rice patties. I did slip in the mud, but luckily didn't end up in the water. sad thing about this part of Laos is that it's also littered with mines and unexploded ordinance that the American military dropped here during the Vietnam War. We saw trench lines used during the war, bomb craters, amputees, a massive new orphange/school and shells from defused bombs. The town itself reminds me of the wild west, dirt roads, barely any tourists, and after Ten at night you could swear you saw tumble weed rolling across the street. Headed south to Vang Viang home of Happy Pizza, stunning scenery, Moskowitz's birthday, riverside bungalows and one off the greatest activities ever conceived...tubing down a river lined with bars. You just hop in your tube, lay back and grab the bamboo poll that the locals stick out to help pull you in, then you just load up on Beer Lao and enjoy the ride. Couldn't have picked a chiller place to celebrate Moskowitz's 28th Birthday, we just spent his big day doing a bar crawl. Split the rest of our time in Laos in Vientiene, the capital and then down in Four Thousand Islands. Vientiene was nice, not as impressive as Luang Phrabang but the food was great and the coffee was as
Another One of My New Buddies
Asian kids are great, always love taking pictures... well. Four thousand Islands is way down in the south of Laos, near the Cambodian border. The Mekong river splits into many parts hear and creates thousands of islands. The highlight of our visit was taking a bike ride around the island. The people here live in Bamboo huts, work in the rice fields and just live life.
We worked our way through Laos over a three week period, took the entire trip overland by boat, local bus, mini bus and VIP overnight coach. Every minute of my time there was amazing, hopefully one day I will get to return to Laos. We woke up one morning caught a eight thirty boat with intentions of staying in Laos another one or two nights, instead we found ourselves going from Don Det, sort of spur of the moment to Cambodia. So I woke up planning on sleeping in one country but instead found myself in another, isn't traveling great! I've already been in Vietnam for four nights and spent more than a week in Cambodia since leaving Laos. Brian, Kate and I have now been together in four countries and for over five weeks, not sure I've laughed this much
The Slow Boat
THis was our speed demon of a bpoat on the Mekong...Don't those chairs look comfortable? in my life. We have fun all the time and it's amazing how a small twist of fate brought us all together. Next blog...Cambodia, stay tuned!
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TravelGoon
Brian Moskowitz
I think that statue is actually a Liger
It's pretty much my favorite animal