Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 551

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Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng March 5th 2006

So to get from Hanoi to Vientiane, Laos, we had to take the bus. An interesting ride, it was... sure lived up to it's name of the "Hell Bus from Hanoi". Gah! The first few hours were fine... our friend Tanya was on the bus... cool. Then, we switched... in the middle of the night... to this crummy smelly bus, half packed with giant boxes and sealed bodybags of goodness knows what (the border-cross busses here have a bit of a reputation, so we hear, for smuggling illicit goods. excellent). We had to wake up a few Vietnamese folk in order to get a seat... random bags of vegetables and other things were evvverywhere. We (luckily) found seats together... it was a packkked ship! And then our journey began... very rickety bus, but it was, however, ... read more
interior of a v. cool wat
that thuang is blingin'...
srah and the goldness

Asia » Laos » South » Si Phan Don March 4th 2006

Got the nightbus to Pakse from Vientiane last night, it took about 10 hours but I reckon i slept through most of it, so it was ok. We arrived at Pakse at 6am, feeling and looking pretty rough: We were greeted by tons of tuk tuk drivers offering to drive us everywhere- we managed to fend them off so we could get our bearings. We decided to leave Pakse straight away and catch a "bus" to the 4000 Islands (as the name suggests, these are simply loads of Islands that lie in the South of Laos in the Mekong river) The journey from Pakse to the Islands was quite an experience, we were in a truck typed thing that could hold about 10 people, but we managed to get 32 passengers on it (About five of ... read more
Dolphin Point
Mekong Sunset

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang March 4th 2006

Packed and checked out of Amphone Guesthouse. Biggest spider either of us have ever seen was on the wall two feet above Todd’s head. Mini-van was late leaving for Luang Prabang. According to The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia (p.509), “The section of Route 13 between Kasi and Vang Vieng continues to be a target for Hmong bandits and insurgents.” Right about there, the spare wheel decided to fall off from under the van. Stopped, tried to fix it, couldn’t, strapped it to the roof. While we were stopped trying to fix the wheel, a couple of guys walked by carrying machetes. On route we passed more guys with machetes and some kids with AK-47’s. Ride was about 7 hours through winding mountain roads. Possibly the most beautiful scenery we’ve ever seen. But 7 hours of ... read more
Car Trouble
Mountains
Mekong GH Balcony

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang March 4th 2006

Our adventure into Laos has probably been one of the top experiences for me on our trip so far! We rented a 4 wheel drive and driver from Hanoi to take us to Nam Xoi, on the Laos border. Our driver did not know much English except for when we would see animals along the side of the road he would name them and say "buffalo...yum yum" or "chicken very good very good". As we got further and further from Hanoi, it became more and more interesting. Rice paddy terraces and minority tribe villages passed by the dozens. After 9 hours of bumping along, we reached the Laos border. We were just in the nick of time to cross before the border closed and then we caught a shared taxi to Sam Neua where we found ... read more
Guest house rules
Local bus station (Sam Neua)
Village people

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng March 3rd 2006

The morning view from Amphone Guesthouse was spectacular—limestone karsts in the distance, before the morning mist burns off. Breakfast at Lucky—omelet baguette, sticky rice with mango, pineapple, and banana, and lao coffee. Lao coffee is black and strong and so good. Walked out about a kilometer to the first cave after crossing a local toll bridge over the river. The Mini-Mags didn’t cut it and we couldn’t go too far into the cave. Walked another 5 km to Phoukham Cave. Long walk but lots to see. Steep climb up to the cave entrance. This time we rented a head-lamp. Were able to go a fair distance into the cave, very cool, very big. Got a ride in a “tuk tuk” (more like a chopper tractor with a home-made trailer for passengers) back to Bamboo Bridge. Crossed ... read more
Vang Vieng 2
Bridge
Nam Xong River

Asia » Laos » East » Phonsavan March 3rd 2006

The plain of jars is fascinating and interesting historically - both for the 3000 years they've been there and the damage done during the American War. But the bus ride was even better! I visited the plain of Jars with two Slovenian girls (later I was to check out the CIA factbook to find out where the hell Slovenia is) and two Austrians that I met on the most interesting bus I have ever been on. Friday 3rd March, 2006 Woke up, stood up, and collapsed in agony as pain soared through my lower back; I knew immediately that my old army injury had returned to haunt me. Back in 1995 during fire and movement drill on an officer training course I had put my back out and had limited movement for 8 years until, on ... read more
Our overheated bus
Refilling the water tank
The Plain of Jars

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane March 3rd 2006

Good day to you all and here is my first official blog on this new site. I was having many comments of "how do you use your bloody site" so ive changed to a new one. Here also I can download more photos- sweet! So anyway, I havent managed to leave a blog for a bit now cus Im a lazy arse and too much has been going on. So Ill start my news from where I left off- Luang Prabang. This place was a bit of a mystery to me because everyone hyped it up as being one of the best places to visit in South East Asia, but I was not so overawed by it. We spent 2 days here generally just chilling and relaxing on the river fronts. Again, the people are so ... read more
Breakfast by the river
Double dutch
Revolutionary Laos

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane March 3rd 2006

2nd March- Woke up relatively early today, the fact we were in a Dorm meant that when some people start waking up inevitably everyone else wakes up. Laos used to be a French colony, it seems that the "Frenchness" of the country is more apparent in the Capital than anywhere else we've visited so far- French restaurants and more french language. We had a really nice breakfast this morning, (Observant Jonny pointed out in classic style that it "Had a bit of a French Feel to it", he must have spotted the French pastries and noticed the fact that the name of the restaurant was Cafe du Maison- Nothing gets past that lad!) We went on a bit of a mission looking for places that would sort out a Cambodian Visa for us, everywhere was saying ... read more
Fountain
Patuxai
The Main Man

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang March 2nd 2006

Phew! We made it to Luang Prabang. After that boat ride I would've been happy with anything but we were lucky enough to get a reasonable room on the quieter side of town. We spent our time in LP checking out the sites of the city, a highlight being the climb up Mt Phou Si (no jokes) to see the views of all around - it was amazing. Back on the ground we explored the various Wats around town, one of which was crumbling and overrun with trees - quite pretty. We ate at the vegan buffet in the night market - a very cheap way to catch up on our greens and very tasty. The night market itself was really neat - it stretched out along the main street which was closed to traffic (mostly) ... read more

Asia » Laos March 2nd 2006

Breakfast at Croissant d’Or again, we love this place! Checked out of Lovan and walked around. Stopped for coffe and tea at Croissant d’Or and checked email. Back to Lovan to wait for bus to Vang Vieng. The ride to Vang Vieng was about 3 hours. Lots of bamboo houses on stilts and winding mountain roads. Incredible scenery, beginning to see how most people in Laos live. Arrived in Vang Vieng with little daylight left. Found a guesthouse with okay room for $3/night. Had dinner at Xayoh Hotel on the Nam Xong River. Walked to Xayoh Downtown Restaurant for our first tasting of lao-lao (Lao moonshine). The main drag in Vang Vieng seems like how Khaosan Rd. might have been 20 years ago. Definitely a place for people to chill, especially if you want to catch ... read more




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