Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 508
April 25th 2005
We quickly passed through the small capital of Vietiane, staying only two nights and hitting the hot tourist spots before moving on south. Our goal was to get to Si Phan Don before the full tilt of the Lao New Year began, also know as Pii Mai. Otherwise we were likely to either have a very delayed bus or a slightly drunk Lao driver. Neither sounded very appealing. A 6 a.m. bus ride brought us down through the mountains and dropped us off on the southern side of the city, near the Mekong River and by a huge indoor market. I pushed aside my desire to shop, shop, shop and we hired a truck to take us to the center of town. Suprise, suprise, it was only two blocks away and we were charged $3 ... read more
April 24th 2005
After Luang Prabang, I headed (by bus) to a town called Vang Vieng...which as far as I am concerned is know for its RIVER TUBING...and to all my loyal readers at home...you fool's know how I love to go TUBING. I am telling you, the tubing here is at another level. We need to up our game up at home. So I have been traveling with these two German guys all though Laos, and they where with me on the rafting trip. So this is the way it works. You get a tube...get a ride up river and then just sit back and chill....or so you think. After about 5 MINUTES on the river you pass the first BEER LAO station. Now there are stations about every 5 minutes down there river....and each one out does ... read more
April 22nd 2005
Arriving in Vientiane, after 24 hours on the bus from Hanoi, was like stepping into a war-zone. Every one of the dusty side streets showed evidence of a recent skirmish. They roamed in gangs, some as young as 3 or 4, armed to the teeth with pistols, pump-actions, and buckets. Just when I thought I'd found a safe street to walk down, a sniper from a second floor balcony got me in the back... "Sabaidee Pii Mai" he screamed as his friends laughed. I certainly left Vietnam and made it to Lao (don't use the 's' if you're cool) at the right time - smack bang in the middle of Pii Mai Lao (the Lao New Year, similar to Thailand's Songkran), a three day, country-wide festival of water splashing (to wash away the sins of the ... read more
April 17th 2005
After a few days of the New Year’s celebration I was kind of done with! I mean....it was really fun at first...but when a country is having a holiday like that you really cannot do anything else! So I decided to head into Laos.....by the "Slow Boat". And it was AMAZING. There are times on my trip when I really feel like I am doing something amazing...times when I'm like "hey I am on the other side of the world", and this boat trip was one of those times. It took two days to get from the Thai - Laos border into Luang Prabang, and just about the whole time was spent on this boat. But it was really enjoyable (and I finished all 3 books I had been carrying around). I was even able to ... read more
April 14th 2005
Laos - dont know much about it?? I'm not surprised - this land locked country is the forgotten country of S.E Asia; nestling in between it's exotic and dangerous sounding neighbours: Thailand, Vietnam, China, Burma, and Cambodia. Lacking the economic dynamism of the rest of the region, it sits, quite happily, in a bit of a timewarp (the hammer and sickle still flies proudly from all public buildings) - and it's all the better for it - an utterly charming place. With the faded french colonial buildings, traditional temples and a sprinkling of communist era buildings, it's a real eclectic mix. The people are kind, helpful, and dont really have the energy or desire to try and rip off tourists, so it's an absolute pleasure to visit. Lao's only really claim to fame is the title ... read more
April 12th 2005
Okay, so it didn’t rain for forty days and forty nights so I can’t quite compare myself to Noah, although we did see some irritated chickens fluttering around on the patio and some very anxious looking bison wandering around town during our 90 hour rain shower. The same day that we arrived in Vang Vieng, eager to test our paddling skills on the bubbling rapids, the sun decided to take a break and hide for three days while the rain and gray clouds took over the spotlight. Various eateries and cafes took advantage of the stranded travelers, pulled out their pillows and showed movies and episodes of “Friends” around the clock. There was nothing else to do except watch the Ross and Rachel saga over and over and over……. Just as we were about to ... read more
April 11th 2005
Luang Prabang This used to be the capital of Laos and you can tell as it still has a lot of the charm. It is coming close to the end of our adventure in Laos, so we are chillin with the Loas people and saying SAWAIDEE, millions of times a day. This means, hello, good morning, good afternoon....etc and every other greeting you could mange. The Vat Xieng Thong is located here which is a beautiful temple in which the royals used to live in. ...more later.... internet down again. I will concentrate on the photos as they tell a thousand words. ... read more
April 6th 2005
Well we made it.... and trust me this is an accomplishement to say the least. Travelling between Thailand and Loas is lets just say complicated. I have many stories to tell about our travels, but I will save that for later. For now it will talk about Vientiane what a beautiful quaint city, where we seem to be the attraction of the locals, very few tourists in this town and we have enjoyed it tremendously. Laos has a strong French presense and you can see a lot of French arhitecture and colonial houses. We managed to get secure a an old French colonial house as our guesthouse, which we enjoyed for a few nights. Attractions in the city Patouxy- this is very similar to the Champs Elysees (sp?) in Paris. great view of the city! Stupa ... read more
April 6th 2005
From Vietiane we rode the "VIP" bus (more about that later) to Vang Vieng. This is a the city between Luang Prabang and Vietinene and a must stop, as the distance and roads are much too long to drive in one go. We stayed at a guesthouse right on the Nam Seung river, which turned out to be stunning. we had mountain views and of course the river turned out to be the car wash so of course we got some good kicks out how people wash their car in this country. We went to check out some caves, saw a Mong village tribe, walked some sketchy bridges, saw the elephant cave temple. I have included some photos, more about them later (my internet is running out) ... read more
April 5th 2005
After a great reunion in Bangkok, Graham and I have gone off on our own adventures as we finish our time in Asia. We spent 3 days in Bangkok, while the Prin Nepal abroad was breezing through town...we stayed in their palatial hotel with them and joined them for the delectable and extensive buffets along with their tours of Bangkok. I am spending my last 2 weeks of Asia in Laos. My first 2 days were spent in the Laos capital, Vientiane, where there is not a great deal to do. There is some history and interesting architecture along with plenty of friendly Lao people--I spoke at great length with 2 local Buddhist monks my first day there. For the last 3 days, I've been in the relaxed and quaint village of Vang Vieng--very similar to ... read more
