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Published: February 12th 2007
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Laos
The Disneyland of Asia..... I recently somehow managed to delete over 100 photo's so there wont be any on here of Laos, Vietnam, or Japan. Gutted is not the word, and the worst thing is that it was totally my fault. Bugger! However I managed to salvage a few videos which you'll see on the next entry and added one to the 'Tribe Called Palong' post which shows the elephants playing football.
Update - Found the pictures! Turns out that I'm actually an idiot.
I decided to head up to Laos because many travellers had tipped it as a nice place to visit but also because its a place where you can take part in something called 'The Gibbon Experience' which I'd heard so much about. A 12 hour bus journey from Bangkok to the border wasnt particularly appealing but I was an ardent pro at this by now and the night journeys are always the best because you dont have to put up with the awful thai karioke music videos that are always played painfully loud. After quite a few coach journeys, these videos are starting to do my head in. Its the same love story recycled with the problems of the
One of the bars
Fully stocked with alcohol and some kind of goodies that i didnt notice at the time. 2 main characters getting together, usually involving the guy fixing his bike at some stage or another. Maybe all the songs are about mechanics I dont know. You wont catch the locals singing to them but they seem to like watching them The only other issue that remains with the night journeys is sometimes air conditioning being on stuck on for the whole journey which always results in sore throats but not the end of the world.
We arrive at the Laos-Thai border at 5am and it was surpsingly busy. There was a bit of talk going around about 2 people who had been killed there a week ago. Apparently they were wanted rebels or something, it seems like another one of those 'I know someone who knew someone....' stories that people like to tell and are very hard to believe. Even more so when you actually get to Vientiane (capital city of Laos) as its an incredibly quiet and laidback place. Its nice to visit but there isnt really much to do here. The soviet flags of socialism take a bit of getting used but the french influence is also there to be seen with plenty of bakeries
and good food. The downside of this means that most places serve baguettes instead of toast with breakfast which means I have to give up on my boiled eggs and soldiers for a while. Ah the hardships of travelling, you just cant get the same effect with baguettes you know, perhaps one day they'll learn.
One of the strange things about Laos is the curfew that is set for 11:30pm, not a great place to party. There is a bit of slack with this but its incredible that everything shuts down so early and youre left wondering if your guesthouse will let you back in if youre late again. Its a very nice place to relax and the people are very friendly and are keen to help but english is not as prevalent as it was in thailand. Not a problem unless like me you get lost on your rented bicycle and dont know the name of your guesthouse. A trying time at sunset.
After seeing all there was to see I headed up in a minivan to Vang Viang which is backpacker central. It looks like a small village that has been hit by tourism and accomodate
for it by putting everyone on one small road. Not that its a crodwded place, far from it, its a great place to relax and soak up the view of the mountains in the background. There is one annoying thing though and thats the 'friends' tv show. Not that I hate the show but it is everywhere here. Out of about 12 open restaurants that have tvs, 11 of them are constantly showing 'friends'. The only place that doesnt advertises this and prides itself on this fact.
One of the things people come to do in Vang Viang is 'tubing'. This involves being given an inflatable wheel to throw on the water and sit on it as the current guides takes you down the river. This is a total laugh as once round the corner you see all the riverside bars and where you can stop off at to join each individual party at each individual stop. There's a bloke with a long bit of bamboo at each bar and you signal to them if you want to stop as they will hold out the bamboo for you to grab and then pull you towards the bar. You can have some beers, soak up the party and sun, or use the swing ropes to jump into the water before getting back into your 'tube' to head down to the next party. Even though the sun is out and strong; the water is suprisingly cold and it takes a bit of courage to get back into the tube each time but its worth it. Luckily I'd had some good tips about when to head down the finish area, its gets freezing once the sun goes behind the mountains and you have to leave at the right time to be able to make it to the end as many people found out the hard way. Another thing at the end is a scam by the local kids. They will shout to people gestering to them that they're at the end, take their tubes from them as the people get out of the water and then charge them to get the tubes back. Pesky kids! It works a treat though.
After enjoying the backpacker atmosphere of Vang Viang I headed up to Luang Praban which is Laos' second biggest city after Ventiane. Not that you can really call it a city but it does have more restaurants and even the luxuary of a place to get money. There are only 2 atm machines in the whole of Laos I am told, wherever you get the cash they it will be in wrapped wads and you feel rich, I toyed with the idea of spreading the money out on my bed to sleep on as there was so much. Luang Praban is a nice place, although surprisingly pricey to stay. Of course by pricey I mean a lot of places charge $10 dollars or more for a night. I've been spoilt by thai prices. One of my favourite things about this place is the cakes, there are an endless supply of cake stalls and I attempted to use all of them.
All in all Laos is a nice place to visit, great scenary, very nice people and lots of other laid back travellers to meet. It did leave me wanting a bit more, though the tubing was big highlight of my trip so far.
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Aunty Bern
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Eggs
James, just a quick comment...Uncle James travels all over the U.S. (as in Trucker)but one of the things he wants when he visits me is dipper eggs and soldiers.'Cos in restaurents overhere they will serve the eggs in a bowl??? I swear not an egg cup to be seen!!!!!