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Published: March 2nd 2007
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Soaked in the jungle
Caught in a tropical downour outside Luang Prabang As mentioned on my last blog the journey to Vientiane (the capital of Laos from Hanoi involved a 24hr bus journey which was as much fun as it sounded - we got very little sleep and had to wait 2 hours in various lines for visas into the country. However we did meet quite of few travelers on the bus which was fun and we ended up hanging round together through Vientiane and Vang Vieng. Also on the bus, which goes further to illustrate the randomness of South East Asia was a man with a brown bag full of baby chickens which wouldn't stop cheeping the whole journey, it was very cruel but accepted way to carry livestock around on a public bus here!
We only staying in Vientiane for one night moving quickly onto the more backpacker aimed Vang Vieng. Vientiane is a strange place for a capital city; it’s a very very quiet sleepy little town on the river with not very much going on after 1030 with the few bars available shutting down, a world away from Hanoi and other SE Asian capitals. The tourist scene there is mainly for older people and so we didn’t need
Tubing
Swinging into the river too long there, particularly as we are likely to pass through again on our way into Thailand.
Vang Vieng on the other hand is a lot of fun with lots going on for back packers, although again due to the nation midnight curfew most bars shut by 1130, although there are ways around this! On our first night having found accommodation in lovely little bungalows on the side of the river slightly outside the centre of town, although as town Vang Vieng isn't particularly large like most places in Laos. We had a few drinks and a meal at our guesthouse where the owner introduced us to Tiger Whiskey, a local brew that costs 75p a bottle, needless to say we didn't have to venture any further that evening!
The next two days we went tubing which is the main reason Vang Vieng is so popular with backpackers. Tubing involves being dropped off 3km up stream with the large inner tube of a tractor tire and simply floating downstream for the rest of the day back into the town. All the way down the river are lots of wooden bars selling beers and full of backpackers, they all
Trekking
Babs leading us through the jungle also have huge rope swings, zip wires, high dives (some around 10m high for you to jump into the very deep parts of the river). and sandy volleyball courts. Mixed with the baking hot sun and the absolutely stunning scenery of the river running through the mountains these two days proved to be some of the best fun we have had in the last 5 weeks and was a good break from the more serious side of things in Vietnam. With all the swings and bars both days we never made it more than 1 km down the river and had an interesting experience trying to find a tuk tuk to take us home from a field in the middle of nowhere!
For our fourth and final day in Vang Vieng we decided to take in more of the scenery of the nearby mountains, we traveled 6km out of the town to Poukham caves which was a hairy experience. Unlike the caves at HaLong Bay where lots of tourists go and full of electric lights and tour guides you are simply given a torch and pointed into the direction of the cave, which takes a dodgy climb over the
Luxury accomodation
The village we spent a night in rocks up the side of the mountain to get too. Its pitch black inside but goes very very deeps and slowly and with a few hairy moments we managed to navigate our way around the cave and get back out in one piece. Laos, like most of SE Asia, doesn’t go in for the health and safety thing so one slip and your down a dark hole never to be seen again - even if you are seen again you won't get much medical help in Laos the lonely planet suggests if you get ill in this country go to Bangkok to be treated! Outside the cave is a large lagoon of crystal clear blue water and full of huge fish so jumping in and swimming around was a great way to cool off and enjoying more stunning surroundings.
After Vang Vien we had a travel day up north to Luang Prabang, as the crow flies it’s probably only an hour or two away but due to the very windy mountainous roads it was another 9hr bus journey for us! Luang Prabang as a town is quite pretty although mainly cafes and restaurants and a few temples, including an
Elephant trekking
Not ideal after a night out! impressive on at the top of a hill in the middle of the town which is lit up at night. There is also a brilliant night market selling only goods made locally so every item is one of a kind, like the whole of Laos its relaxed and laid back you can stroll round without people trying to sell you things or shouting for your attention, a welcome break from Vietnam and Cambodia where this is non stop!
However the main attraction of Luang Prabang is the surrounding country side and so after two nights in the town we booked ourselves onto a two day trip into the country side which involved a 15km cycle out to a local village, followed by another 15 km trekking up and down hills visiting more remote villages and seeing how many people in Laos live away from the cities in self sufficient villages, it was absolutely fascinating to see although a little shattering given the heat and the difficult climbs through the jungle. At one point we also got caught in a tropical storm which was one of the biggest downpours I have ever seen we got drenched. In the evening we stopped at another village for the night, staying with a local family which was another once in a life time experience. We got a lot of strange looks from locals for being white as not too many people stay here but they were all friendly. We slept on the floor and were fast asleep by 9pm like the rest of the village shattered from a days trekking. The village has little access to electricity and so the days remain based around sunrise and sunset unlike the west. Apart from the villages one of the best parts of this experience was being in the hills with nothing but jungle surrounding us no one noise of human life in site it was very peaceful and a change from all the cities we had visited so far.
The next day was a 3hr kayak ride back to the city going over some dodgy rapids and me and Babs having a few fall outs on the way, kayaks do seem to bring out the worst in people! Although it’s all cool now. We were due to visit an elephant camp in the afternoon but weren't able to do to it being overbooked so were able to extend our trip and go the next day. That we visited a few bars around town and met more backpackers who showed us the best way to avoid the 12pm curfew, go to the bowling alley which is the only place with a late license, by 2am it was full of drunken Europeans and Canadians scoring zero after zero but not really caring about this just that the bar was still open! The next day feeling a little rough I found that riding an Elephant is definitely not a good idea with a hang over! Again it was a another experience, I wasn't too sure if this was a good thing or not, the Elephants are well looked after and fed and wouldn’t be able to live around here in the wild however you feel bad that they have to take tourists around the jungle 4 or 5 times a day.
We have one more evening in Luang Prabang but its still up in the air where we will go next, either straight to southern Thailand to enjoy the Islands as we have only 19 days left in SE Asia before Australia or brave the 3 day slow boat to Chaing Mai and try to experience Northern Thailand, although we have heard nothing but horror stories about this overcrowded and difficult journey so really aren’t too convinced! However where ever we end up I'm looking forward to Thailand but have absolutely loved Laos, a real laid back country with a great culture and atmosphere.
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christina mills
non-member comment
we're watching you!
Hi James, Just want you to know that we obviously enjoy reading Laura's blog but we also enjoy yours and Barbara's too. Between the three of you we get a great picture of your travels!