Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 518

Two nights ago from Luang Prabang I booked myself a bus, which they called the 'vip bus' for 5 dollars to Vang Vieng. It is located halfway between Luang Prabang and Vientienne. This town is a 'bug out'. First off, the town is surrounded by the most beautiful scenery I have EVER seen. It's like the garden of eden. Lonely Planet describes it as the scene from King Kong, which is a perfect description. This isn't the bug out part. I have read some things in the tour books about this town in the middle of nowhere in Laos, but nothing could have prepared me. This town has been TAKEN OVER by Western backpacker stoners. People come here and never leave. I am NOT kidding. Supposedly, a famous club promoter from Britain pretty much 'invented' this ... read more

We did a quick trip through Laos, about a week in only the biggest, and therefore most touristy, cities. It’s a beautiful country, and the atmosphere is much more relaxing and welcoming than Vietnam. In the northern city we visited, Louang Prabang, electricity and telephones only arrived about 5 years ago. Even in the capital, Vientiane, there were some dirt roads and all open sewers. Wow, we really loved it. Lots of sitting around, and lots of looking at temples. We arrived in Louang Prabang, unwittingly, just as the yearly boat racing festival was beginning - the biggest party in town. There was a gigantic street market for a couple of days, and thousands of people came in from the countryside to watch and compete. The city was just PACKED and there was music and food ... read more

Well, I survived my 3 day jungle trek in Chiang Mai. Met a great bunch of people - there were 9 of us plus our 2 guides, Bond and Peter Pan! We rode on elephants, trekked up to a height of 1000 metres, swam in waterfalls, camped in a hill tribe village and bamboo rafted down a river - all a really great experience! I also learnt 2 new drinking games - which I'm happy to share when I get back! From Chiang Mai I travelled further noorth to Chiank Kong and from there I took the slow boat to Laos. The boat ride was a 2 day trip down the Mekong river. The scenery was beautiful. Day 1 ended with a night's stopover in Pakbeng - my least favourite place I've stayed so far - ... read more

We spent most of today chilling out, we had a bit of a wander around town but didn't get up to much. In the evening we headed with Julie to a Wat a few miles out of town to a Meditation course. This consisted of 20 mintues sitting meditation, 20 minutes wakling meditation, then another 20 minutes sitting. We all got on ok with the sitting but when it was time to start on the walking we all found that our leg's had gone dead! The walking meditation involved everyone walking around doing chicken impressions and trying not to get bitten by the millions of ants that were around and Becca and Julie were trying to contain their giggles. It was all good fun though and we got a nice talk on mindfulness and how you ... read more

Getting Here We hadn't heard good things about the road to Vientiane, in the guidebook it advises you fly as it's safer! And we were about to find out why ... When we got on the bus we found some people we knew - the scottish vet, Frazer, we met a couple of days ago, plus Julie who we met on the slow boat, so chatting with them helped to pass the time. Shortly after getting on the bus we noticed the armed guard, we had been warned by Frazer, but it's still a bit of a shock. I think Becca had expected him to be in full camo gear with facepaint and the works, but in fact he was in jeans and a hoodie (a hoodie in this heat - he must be mad). The ... read more