Advertisement
Published: July 31st 2009
Edit Blog Post
Patuxai
Vientiane's version of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, made out of concrete that the US originally donated to have them build a new airport! Hey again!
So the last two stops on my journey in Laos have brought back vague memories of some places I haven't been to in some time... and by that of course I mean back home and my time in Bangkok!
Well, as far as home is concerned I only mean that Vientiane's quality restaurant scene brought back some fond thoughts of being back in DC. Otherwise, this city is a very sleepy one, a sort of austere place with a some vestiges of Soviet influence. While this country is still officially communist it has opened itself up to foreign investment over the past 20 years, so now the only obvious reminders of this fact to tourists passing through are the hammer & sickle flags that still fly alongside the Lao flag on government buildings. Otherwise, it's hard to really see it, at least I think so.
Unfortunately my time in Don Det had to end and I booked an overnight sleeper bus to go up north to here. First bus took us from the harbor town on the mainland up to Pakse, which is quite a bland city serving as mostly just a crossroads for traffic and
National Stadium
Yep... the national stadium of Laos is really, really small travellers heading between the north, south and Thailand to the west. After a few hours, my fellow travellers and I made our way to the sleeper bus, which, instead of seats, had twin size bunk beds on either side of the aisle all the way down... that is, except for the back, where four unlucky people would have to pack in like sardines. Guess who was one of the unlucky ones? Yep!
I survived that experience unscathed though and once in Vientiane checked into the first guest house I visited and passed right out again! Afterwards, having just a day to spend here, I did some walking around, but was somewhat unimpressed with what the city had to offer.
That's except, of course, for the food! Lunch time I had honey barbeque ribs and then for dinner I stopped by a little French bistro and had a fantastic steak au poivre with a glass red wine... definitely my most sophisticated night since taking off for this trip! What a welcome break this was from all the rice and curry... this in itself made V-town a worthwhile stop.
One attraction I would have liked to have seen was
Che Bike
A Vientiane find the Buddha Park, located outside the city. The park is filled with statues of Buddha and Hindu figures, and should have been a really interesting visit, but the tuk tuks were all charging more than I was willing to spend, so I just decide to settle on this being mainly a culinary visit instead.
After one night in Vientiane I hopped on the bus to Vang Vieng, which served as a reminder of my visit back on Kao Sahn road in Bangkok, with it's heavy backpacker scene, t shirt stands and various eccentricities. Unlike Kao Sahn, Vang Vieng's main attraction is the popular tubing, which I heard so much about I had to give it a shot as well!
Upon arriving in Vang Vieng though, I noticed another quirk to this place. Every bar and restaurant - and I mean
every one - was set up theater cafe-style, facing large TV's that were all playing, randomly episodes of Friends... back to back to back to back literally into perpituity! At this point I thought nothing surprised me anymore, but how does this show even penetrate the Lao backpacker scene this much?? Someone in this town was a genius,
Tubing in Vang Vieng
Rental spot & tuk tuk because everyone is copying it. (Thank God for me there were some maverick restaurants that played Family Guy instead, so my mealtimes were thankfully saved!)
So the main attraction: tubing. Only here in Laos can you get it quite this way. The whole thing is done on such a large scale, but in typical style without any sort of system, rules or regulations, save for the security deposit you get back for returning your tube. Arriving at our first stop, you get to see exactly the way this whole day was going to unfold.
Once the tuk-tuk in town filled up with happy tubers, the driver took us up to the starting point, about 3 kilometers away. There, we were dropped off at a big bar by the river, where people already pregaming for the journey ahead. Nearby, above the river was a trapeze, maybe 20 or 30 feet up, where some of the braver people would swing and let go, falling into the water below, and the people in the bar would either laugh or cheer depending on the quality and execution of the acrobatics they would attempt. There were some pretty painful looking belly and back
flops. It might not have helped that this bar, and all the others along the river, served free shots of Lao Lao (a really potent whiskey) all throughout the day!
So once in the tube and on the river, you'd pass countless bars just like this along the way. If you were interested in going in, you'd just wave to the Lao guy sitting on the banks and he'd toss you a tire attached to a rope and he'd pull you in. Or, lacking a tire, I've also seen a sprite bottle used, and even guys just diving right in and pulling you while swimming back to shore. All these places also had swings, some had slides, and one even had a board in the water with a rope attaching it to a tree that you could surf on against the current. Oh yeah, did I mention no one is wearing life jackets during any of this? Then there was also volleyball in one and an uneven pool table in another, featuring only 5 balls and a stick that resembled a tree branch than an actual cue, making it officially the worst table I've played on in this trip,
which is saying a lot!
Once you get to the bar you just toss your tube in a pile of others, and just hope one will be there for you to grab when you want to leave. Yep, I turned out to be one of the odd ones out, and I had to hitch a ride holding on to someone else's tube all the way back into town at the end, and I have some pretty decent bruises to show for it! Oh, and there goes my deposit, I screwed up the one system they actually had in place!
What a tiring experience... I got back at 8, showered and passed right out without even going to dinner!
So with that done, I took the bus up to Luang Prabang the next day, where I'll be staying until Sunday. Yet another experience, the bus ride involved weaving through some of the most spectacular mountains, practical emerald pillars covered at the top by low clouds. I tried to take as many decent shots as possible, but it was tough with the bus bouncing back and forth on the road. Along the way in the 6 hour journey we
Black Stupa
A stupa I ran into while walking around town passed by a number of villages up in the mountains, literally built on the slope so that the road was on one side of the houses and then a sheer drop on the other side. The life they live must be so isolated, save for the traffic passing through.
So my next entry will be from Luang Prabang, my last stop in Laos! After there I'll be taking the slow boat into Thailand, which will take about a day and a half. There, I'm meeting up with Leila and will be back in Bangkok to catch my plane going home after the week is done. It's been an absolutely amazing trip so far, but thinking ahead is also making me look forward to getting back. I can't wait to see all of you again soon!
Sabaidee!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.124s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0501s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb