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Published: June 25th 2010
Hello again. We would firstly like to say that our current total blog viewings is at 995 and has been translated into 7 languages so good work! As we are now in Vietnam,we thought it now time that we told our Laos story.
As previously mentioned we arrived into Chang Kong and crossed the Mekong at the same time crossing the border into Laos. The border control consisted of a couple of people sitting in a small hut saying that we had to pay an extra dollar to get in as it was sunday and they needed overtime to be paid. The principle in itself was highly frustrating and we thought we were going to be in for a rough time throughout Laos. We were taken by Tuk Tuk to a rest area before our long voyage stocking up on provisions before boarding our boat. The slow boat was similar to a canal boat, but with the hull stripped with just lots of lines of wooden pews to sit on. Te locals clearly knew the score and snapped up the few cushioned seats early doors. The previous night Mark had been picked up by a lone motorbike man after looking
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View from the slow boatfor the England match on t.v and taken to a bar. There he met three fellow English supporters who also happened to be aboard our boat. Needless to say we were all disappointed by the game. Anyway we slowly meandered down river, with Thailand on our right and Laos on our left. Dotted along the river were floating bottles that id where local fishermen's nets were. Every now and then we pulled over and dropped off a local or two as they made their way back to their villages. The scenery was green and lush but the river was a horrible murky brown that even put the Thames to shame.
We carried on for the best part of the day before we pulled in at our village where we were to stay the first night, Pak Beng. As we got off the boat we were bombarded by locals trying to get us to stay at their guesthouse. The three guys and us followed the main hoard, with their leader claiming that he had been there before and his guesthouse was worth a visit. Fortunately the guesthouse he recommended was quite nice, overlookig the river and employing some very friendly
staff. It had a nice family feel and we ate dinner whilst chatting to the 3 boys. The next day we woke fairly early for our prompt departutre. We had baguettes made for the journey and settled on a slightly older boat to our dismay, with even more uncomfy chairs. However, the surrounding landscapes were amazing soon ending our pains. We played cards with the boys as well as two american teachers along the way. Towards the end of the day however thenovelty did begin to wear off and we were pleased when we landed at Luang Probang. Againwe weremet by the hostel sellers, and wanting rid of them walked off in the direction the lonely planet dictated. The guesthouse we found was cheap, pleasant with friendly owners. However as we were quite close to the river we found that there were quite a few creatures hanging around.
Lung Probang is quite a small town, surrounded on two sides by the Mekong and the Khan rivers. Laos runs on a different time to most places we have visited, and allow the locals do hassle you to buy, shop or eat at their establishments they are really friendly and generally
life moves fairly slowly. We visited he nightmarket the first evening, which sold the usual clothes and souvenirs. The next day we arranged to meet up with the boys, Gibbo, Josh and Ben now GJB, to go to the Kuan Xi waterfall. It is quite a tourist spot with the TUk Tuk drivers offering to take us there all along the main road. We travelled the hour into the countryside by taxi, who waited for us as we visited the waterfall. The one hour return journey cost about 5 pound each. The waterfall was bright blue in colour, with many tiers and pools to the falls. We walked to the top which was a serious climb, leaving one man panting for air and another turning back. However the views form the top were stunning. The drop here to where we started climbing was about 50m with a few different layers. We climbed back down and walked along the river until we came to a swimming area. This had a rope swing hanging from an overhanging tree and a 4m waterfall that could be used for jumping off. The pool was incredibly deep allowing crazy locals the jump off the top
of the tree. GBJ and Mark soon set to work trying to flip and generally make as much of a splash as possible from the swing. Suz also had a go, brilliantly captured below by Mark but o the whole preferring to swim around in the pool. It was lucky we got there early as later on the pool was full of people with a large number, 11, waiting to photograph anyone that jumped off the swing. It was a little bit like the olympics. We retunred to the car park where our man was waiting, and after having lunch we went back to LP. When we returned home, we decided that we would meet up with GJB and have a game of football at the local pitch. When we got there a game was beginning and after playing with some of the local kids for a bit we were invited to partake in the big game. It was a lot of fun and they were better than expected. Mark's team lost, his excuse was that he had no footwear..
The next day we explored town further, taking a trip to the Mekong aswell as walking up the steps
towrds the Wat that was situtated in a small green area, similar to Central Park in NY on a smaller scale that house the temple at the centre. We managed half of the stairs before surrendering to the heat. By this time we had both been taking Malaria tablets which made Mark feel quite unwell one evening. We booked to leave the next day to head down to Vang Vieng, the social capital of Laos and the home of "tubing". The road to Vang Vieng however provided us with the most spectacular views we have witnessed so far. Everywhere was lush green and great pillars of rock that erupted vertically out of the earth were also covered. Dotted along were paddy fields and small mountain villages that were often perched on top of sheer cliffs. Suz claims that the creators of Avatar must have researched the area. It really was amazing.
We arrived later into Vang Vieng and eventually found a guesthouse after Mark was abducted for a short time to take a look on the back of his motorbike. The guesthouse was again clean, pleasant with friendly owners. It was at this time that Suz's illness struck. Malaria
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Mark swinging tables claimed their second victim. The second day we took bicycles to the main Cave system in the area, Tham Poukam. The road was cobbled and when we stopped for a drink at a friendly rest stop owner were shown the 40c shaded thermometer reading. It was hot. After another bit of cycling about 5km in total, we arrived at the blue lagoon. Here a river ran through, had a rope swing again and a tree to jump and dive off. We swam around for a while in the blue water talking to a few travellers and had some lunch. We then went to visit the caves which were enormous. Our new camera is a bit basic and couldn't really capture the true magnificence of the cave. It was a bit scary just going by oursleves as the cave was vast and very dark. In the middle there was a random shrine, with a laying golden Buddha. We explored a bit further but were slowed by the lack of path and failing torch. We left and returned home quickly in the fading light whilst being constantly harassed by mosquitoes.
We had a chilled out day next with Suz not
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Suzanna swinging feeling very well and rented a moped to explore the areas around Vang Vieng. We managed to see beyond both ends of town through various villages, surrounded constantly by stunning landscapes. We returned home and Mark watched the second England game,again with GJB who also went to Vang Vieng. Another disappointing evening. The next day we took a taxi up to the tubing area. Tubing occurs along the Mekong river and consists of many travellers stopping at bars situated along the river having a drink before jumping in and sitting on an inflatable rubber ring carrying them down to the next bar. Each bar has huge rope swings and jumping stations, with seasoned travellers granted enough air time for three and a half back flips! We didn't rent the "tubes" as stories were told of losing deposits etc and just floating down stream on our own accord. The cocktails on offer were sold in buckets and were rich and full bodied. Suz was on the water. Mark was not. After sampling a couple of bars and generally taking in the lively atmosphere we floated down to our final bar and out of the river into a taxi and home. We
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Mark and GJB jumping in had a nice dinner, which is always cheap and simple and went to bed, both feeling unwell for different reasons.
Mark awoke the next morning in a daze. We spent the day in various Cafes, strangely they all played tv show, "Friends" constantly. We both very much enjoyed it and sat through a couple of series. We booked our bus down to Vientiane the next day as well as a flight from Vientiane to Hanoi in Vietnam for the following day as the roads are poor in Laos and the journey would have taken about 30 hours. We got onto what we thought was our bus to Vientiane, which was tiny and full and very uncomfortable. However we were taken to the bus station where we changed to a better coach that took us the 4 hours to Vientiane. Vientiane is the capital, and despite this we had been constantly told there is little to do there. These people seemed to be correct as it was very different to other locations in Laos. The people seemed to be in a far greater rush and were a bit more pushy. The hostel we were in was also very expensive which
was the trend, but it was nice not to have a busy schedule of sightseeing. There really was very little to see or do so we found a small restaurant for dinner and relaxed.
The next day we awoke late with our flight in the afternoon, packed and got a taxi to the airport. The time on our ticket, which was worryingly just a print out ended up having the wrong flight time on it. However, as we were so prepared we had plenty of time to play with.. The airport was very small as was our plane. A small twinned propelled job that looked like it had seen better days. Despite the flight being a bit shaky it was fine and we were even served lunch. We arrived into Hanoi at 5pm where we were immediately faced with a difficult job of reaching our intended guesthouse. The lonely planet warned us of foul play,shifty locals, lies and scams, but we were still surprised. We were told to change taxi,and then our driver said we had to pay more to drop us off after agreeing the price whereby we spent a few minutes with another couple stubbornly not talking
and refusing to move, we were then dropped at a totally different hostel where the owners told us that it was the one we wanted to go to. Our time Vietnam had not begun well, leaving us feeling cheated and angry at the ploys of the locals. Our impression of Hanoi did not improved greatly over the next day, leaving us on the alert for scams and tricks and combined with Suz being unwell, lead to a fairly stressful time.
We really enjoyed Laos, and seeing as many travellers miss it we were delighted and surprised with what we saw and experienced. The locals are unbelievably friendly and combined with the breathtaking scenary and things to do, we left begrudgingly but with massive recommendations.
More Vietnam to follow in a couple of weeks. Photos will be added on our next trip to an internet cafe.
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jenni
non-member comment
yo ho hanoi!
Hello Mark and Suz, It sounds as though you are having an incredible time! Laos looks stunning, idillic infact! Sorry to hear Suz has been unwell, expecially in Hanoi which sounds as stressful as I found New Delhi! South East Asia sounds very interesting, when the people are friendly it really does add to the experience! I am now convinced I will have to go sometime! On the day of the england game Joe and I tried our hand at some watersports; wakeboarding and knee boarding! I only wish the lake we were falling into was as nice and clear as that Lagoon! Enjoy Vietnam! Im looking forward to pictures of Haylong bay! Speak soon! xxx