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We took our most expensive flight so far from Vietnam to Luang Prabang, because every guide book mentions about about the 2004 tourist bus that was stopped by bandits and 20 tourists were killed! So to be on the safe side we thought we would take the plane! Did I say safe? The plane we were taking to was a plane with propellers not jet engines, everybodies faces on the bus including our own was a picture and horrific thoughts ran through our heads. Actually the plane was a pleasant trip only an hour long, the reason they use prop planes is that the runway at Luang Prabang is very short and these are the only planes that can land and take off.
Now when Mikey and Kev tell you to get the camera out for a picture (by the way they are on a round the world trip and have no camera!!!) you know something special has caught their eye! One look out of the plane window and it was clear. Loas is a beautiful country and coming into a land in Luang Prabang town which is in a valley surrounded by emerald green mountains and dramatic limestone
Oh Dear Our Plane
When we saw this we nearly died along with everyone else heading to the plane! peaks with rivers meandering thru the valleys make North Loas very beautiful.
I would highly recommend that when travelling to Loas to make sure thatt you take enough dollers and kip for your visa! We thought that we would have get the money for our visas at the airport there must be a money exchange or atm at the airport? Surely? There must be? Nope Neither!So we are in a foreign corrupt country trying to get a visa. It is clear that we are in the immigration authorities hands. You could almost see the $ signs in their eyes. We got told a price for the visa and a fee for the services and taxi into town! 150,000 kip to get into town 2 miles away and $40 for a visa, which was $5 more. I quickly looked into the bible and a taxi ride should be 10-15000 kip, the guy then reduces the price, I didnt even realise we were bartering! Our other problem is that Visa is not accepted at the two ATM's in town only maestro. Plus both these where broken! We managed to exchange our money at a money exchange in the town (lesson learnt!)
Luang Prabang is a small town, which is actually very nice. The nightly market is beautifully laid out and some lovely hand crafted merchendise is on offer, at insanely cheap prices. How these people live is beyond me, the average wage is Loas is a bottle of beer loas which is 1$. Talking of beer loas this is a great beer which is brewed by carlsberg. The strange thing about loas is that at 10.30pm all the bars and restaurants shut. The only place open is the bowling alley, youve guessed where we ended up. Bowling in bear feet was definitely a strange experience.
Our guesthouse was extremely nice and had only been open for 3 weeks when we arrived. It was so clean, well until Mikey had a projectile vomiting fit during the night! The poor fella had been suffering since Siam Reap (Cambodia) , and this night was his worst. We were very concerned for mike, and put our plans to travel in the morning by slow boat for 2 days to Huay Xai for the gibbons on hold, as we could travel until either mikey improved or we had to seek meducal help. Fortunately Mikey
A wedge of cash!
Anyone guess how much this is? did improveover the next couple of days, with alot of bed rest. While Mikey was resting Kev and I used the extra time to explore Luang Prabang.
Now this was the first location that we actually felt comfortable hiring out mopeds, as there is so little traffic and the roads are very simple. However the local government has stopped all the hiring of mopeds to the foreigners as there were to many accidents. So we hired mountain bikes instead, which is actually a great way to explore the surrounding areas, and we actually found ourselves powering past the tuk tuks and moped as they go so slow much to the amusement of the locals.
The temples on the slopes of Phu Si in the middle of town are well worth the hundreds of steps upto the top for the magnificent views across the town and mekong river. Also a visit to the Tat Kuans Si park is a must. Its main feature is a multi tiered waterfall which tumbles over the limestone formations into a serious of cool turquoise pools. Also here there is a tiger that was saved from poachers and a bear sanctuary.
We eventually
got thru to the gibbons experience to change our date and are now going for the 10th May, so we have a slight change of plans and shot down to Vang Vieng. There is only one reason to go to Vang Vieng and thats for tubing, down the Nam Son River. Now I didnt take my camera as water and electronics dont mix. It takes 4-5 hours to get down the river and along the way there are various bars, which offer a nice stop off and the opportunity to use the large zip lines and swings into the river this was great fun. Apart from the tubing the town also offers Kayaking and Rockclimbing up the dramatic limestone cliffs. The views from the river thru the limestone cliffs was amazing.
The other pastime is the town is usually reserved either when it is raining or when eating in the evening. All the cafes/bars play films and reruns of friends, I think we must have watched about 20 episodes!!
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Twitchey
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Wish I was there
Well you know the old saying 'wish you were here' well its quite the opposite for me, that place looks absolutely amazing, I hope Mikey is on the mend as that must be putting a 'damper' on his trip and probably worrying for you all. Certainly looks like you are visiting some pretty wonderful places and the pictures you are getting are looking very proffessional. Just to let you know, Beccles (UK) is still pants and we all wish we where there with you!! - Take care, keep up the good work (if you can call that work!)