Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 509

Today is a special day, it is exactly 6 months to the day that I flew off to San Francisco, yes 6 months of living in various places out of a rucksack, and it's also exactly 6 weeks until my flight home, yes just 6 weeks until I fly out of Hanoi in Vietnam back to Singpore, then the long haul back to London, and then an Easyjet up to Inverness. I am just working out my plans for my return, in fact I'm pretty sure what I'm doing, but I'll announce when I'm certain. Now then, did not do a trekking trip in Laung Prabang in the end, too many companies, not enough people on each trek, too much money, dissapointing but I'd rather keep the cash, got an idea for a cool trip in ... read more

Sa bai dee! Or hello to you. Hope you lot is all well and 'appy. As you may have guessed we've just spent two and a half days in a jungle paradise. We went north from Luang Prabang by bus for a few hours then caught a boat to Muanf Ngoi which is in the middle in nowhere. The bus ride was beautiful. We went past lots of pretty little villages. They are made up of lots of wooden houses on stilts, each with thier own little gardens....each with their own huge satalite dish....... The boat ride was even better. Every village we went past had kids playing in the river and there where buffalos having baths to. The river also runs between mountians so it's amazing scenery. When we arrived we headed straight to a ... read more

The last city I visited in Laos was called Vang Vieng. I don't know what it translates to, but it should be something like "Backpackers' Paradise". Vang Vieng is a little boom-town on Route 13 that pretty much exists only to be a travel destination for foreigners and somewhat-wealthy Laotians. There are lovely mountains, beautiful sunsets, plentiful jungles, and a slow, winding river lined with bamboo-hut bars. The restaurants serve good western food and play American DVDs (mostly episodes of "Friends"). The bars serve a variety of Marijuana, Opium, and Magic Mushroom joints, foods, and drinks (as well as $1 Beer Lao that only comes in 22oz bottles), all of which keep the backpackers tuned-out and the town's economy booming. We pulled into town after a very rough bus ride, so desperate to find toilets that ... read more

We nemen de bus naar Phonsavan om er de Plain of Jars te gaan bezoeken. De bustocht was zalig... De weg kronkelt tussen de smaragdgroene hellingen, met hun grillige vormen, die afsteken tegen een saffierblauwe hemel. Af en toe dacht ik er toch aan dat dit Route 7 was, een van de hotspots van de Hmong guerilla, en dat tot op vandaag. Veel toeristen verkiezen te vliegen naar de Plain of Jars, om zo een mogelijke aanval te vermijden- en bovendien biedt het een spectaculair zicht op de bomkraters - maar we hebben gecheckt of er recentelijk incidenten waren, en het bleek van niet, dus... Dit brengt ons in een nieuwe provincie, en een van de meeste verwoeste provincies in het hele land... Tussen 1964 en 1973 is praktisch ieder dorp gebombardeerd geweest... Door de constante ... read more

Well, it's been awhile since I've written. I do have a good excuse, however. I've been in northern Laos (pronounced 'Lao'), and there's hardly anywhere with internet here and it is always very slow. I promise you that I will be catching everyone up on the adventures that I've had over the last 10 days or so, but in the meantime, here are a couple highlights: + I took the bus from Bangkok to a town called Ayuthaya, checked out ancient Thai ruins and discovered a band that plays what the Thai's call "Life Music", which is really fun. + From there, I took a bus to Chiang Mai in the north, which is a cultural center and a backpacker haven. I stayed at a beautiful place by the river, with an amazing Singaporian woman and ... read more