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Published: January 15th 2005
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Hill tribe kids on washday After a great experience in China (I WILL be back - soon), it was time to cross into Laos (don't pronounce the 's' - you sound like a twat). Laos is in the stone age compared to China, but it has an amazing laid-backness about it. It is like a migraine that suddenly lifts - you forget you had it. Nobody beeps their horn, you can breathe air that doesn't smell of cigarettes and there is a lot less gob rolling/spitting.
Spent the first few days on a trek in the hills. Having seen what has happened with overtourism in Thailand, the Laos authorities have put a clamp on trekking tours and you can only go on 'eco-friendly' tours. This means that you cannot buy cola from the villagers (although you may be able to get opium). Also no beer. They make up for this by distilling their own 'Lao-lao' and liberally passing it round to the tourists. After the fourth round, sleep is guaranteed.
I am now in Luang Prabang. Possibly *the* cool destination in South East Asia, I remember boring the pants off many a person in the office telling them that this was the 'real thing',
Scary bug
Not really, just chuffed that this photo came out. etc., etc. Four years later and the local airport is getting a lot busier, the town seems to be about 3 times as large as I remember and you can get a pancake and a milkshake-smoothie anywhere. I remember saying that the main strip would be like Khao San Road in 5 years. Not quite there yet. Don't come here and ruin it people, it's mine. (Aw, go on then, but be quick.) Why is it so good? It could be the French colonial style of the town peppered with Buddhist temples or just the great restaurants serving my faveourite: buffalo curry with sticky rice. It is jammed with gift shops and relatively touristy, but with one difference: a lot of the things you buy are made in the shops you buy them from. Even the paper used in the paintings are made there and dried outside the shops.
People keep asking me how I manage to get these photos on me blog when I am in Bingo-Bongo Land, or wherever. The record needs to be set straight: everywhere in the world, someone has a better mobile phone than you. If the natives don't want to eat you, there
The sticks
Loatian hill tribe village where I stayed. is internet access. And everyone in the world saw "Finding Nemo" before I did.
Do you remember Gladiators? Nothing to do with Russell Crowe chopping heads off with two swords and then assuming the pacifist high ground, it was a game show in the early 1990s where people who spent a bit too long in the gym got their 15 minutes of fame. After playing silly games against uber-bouncer types with names like Wolf and Hunter, the contestants had to do the 'final run'. The run was an easy-ish assult course, but at the end they had to run up "The Travellator", which was a bastard climb up a conveyor belt running against you. Always my favourite bit, especially when they fell flat on their face and had to eat rubber. Well, the Timor Sea (separating Indonesia and Australia) is my Travellator. I am still eager to cross from Britain to Oz without getting on a plane. Getting to Indonesia from here is a piece of cake. From there, hmmm. Shipping companies, in reply to my 'human cargo' enquiry have given me a wide berth, citing insurance or something as their reason. Yachts is the way to go, but
For sale
This guy stopped our truck and sold lots of dead things to the passengers I think I said before that is a long shot and I understand it is going to be cyclone season when I get down there. Nice.
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anonymous
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I really enjoy reading your travel blogs. Each entry is a little 5-minute escape for me from my mundane life. Keep up the good work. - Jerry