http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Laos en-us Wed, 14 May 2008 01:13:03 BST Wed, 14 May 2008 01:13:03 BST Yes here is an update written in real time not written in longterm retrospect as I intend to do when we return from our travels.We are currently in Luang Prabang in Laos a tranquil respite and hourlong flight from Hanoi and the rest of Vietnam. Sarah and I found Viet Nam to be by far the most stressful place that we have traveled as of yet but we have escaped...And to quite an stunning http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-275098.html IT has been another eventful week for me here as the good times continue to fly on by. To start is off my roommate Brad and I went and played soccer with some of the Thai kids who are studying English at the same school as us. While I was just struggling to keep up we somehow managed to win four of the five games we played so I will have to go play again this week. After soccer we went out to piz http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-275071.html Day18 Luang PrabangRefreshed after our early night we headed out in search of a Lonely Planet of Laos feeling out South east Asia one wasn't cutting it and then headed off on the Walking Tour. First stop was Big Brother Mouse a company set up to publish and distribute books to young Laos children to help them learn to read and write. Feeling that was a worthwhile way to help this incredibly poor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-275011.html We left Vietnam for Laos our driver was a total nutter even by Asian standards he nearly hit cattle and cyclist he would say it's good driver but i would say more luck than judgement. To cross the border we had to pay 30 for a 30 day visa and it's well worth it. We head from the border to the capital Vientiane. The city is well laid out and not at all busy with the mekong flowing at the border be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-274393.html LAOSIt doesnrsquot take long to settle into the languid lifestyle of Luang Prubang. The contrast with the bustling streets of Bangkok was stark as we boarded our large tuktuk and headed through the lush streets towards our hotel along the Mekong River. I immediately loved this town. There was of course a steady stream of twowheeled traffic mopeds bicycles motorcycles one of the firs http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-274122.html Just a another day in the office....As you have most probably noticed I Romi have been kissed by a Muse and managed to catch up with our entries... It took a 2 days...Thai visaOn Monday we had to go and get our Thai visa as we have to leave Lao by tomorrow Thursday. We have rented a bike and off we went found out the the first turn we took and then tuned around was after all the write tu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-273810.html I liked Laos very much although there is no coast. That is why I moved down to south Thailand by bus and train two nights and two days of traveling quiet exhausting but when I arrived in Au Nang I knew it was worth. In Koh Hai I found a real bargain. Small bamboo bungalow seven meters away from the beach including visits from mice and geckos but just 8. Sfr a night Other resorts with sto http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-273387.html Vientiane the capital of Laos did not disappoint. My Indian dinner with Michael former Peace Corps Volunteer was great. And I met some awesome folks at my guesthouse Lili Patricia and Kieran. Somehow it came out that Kieran's birthday was coming up and having spent some birthdays far from home my heart went out to him. So we rented bicycles to go to the temple and have an herbal sauna and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/blog-273132.html Day 22 Kayaking to Vientiane from Vang ViengAfter a quite evening we rose early ready to hit the rapids with our Irish mates Carl and Martha. After a couple hour tuk tuk ride we arrived a our lauching point on the Nam Lik River. Following some very brief kayaking instructions is was afterall only our first time we boarded our two man kayak and set off. After some zig zagging down the river we fina http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-273090.html Day 20 The bus to Vang ViengWarned that this was a 'hairy trip' by some fellow Aussies we loaded up on some Kwell before changing mini bus three times and finally setting off. The five or so hour trip was windy but very scenic with a couple pit stops for necessities such a pringles The four of us searched the town for cheap but clean rooms and funnily ended back where we started at Thavisouk G http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/North/blog-273077.html Laos is a really beautiful and amazing country. Carelessly I didn't plan my Vietnam visa very well and so I could have spent much longer in Laos but every extra day more than I'd planned was taking time from my Vietnam visa. I got the slow boat along the Mekong river from the Thai border down to Louang Phabang. The boat took two days of about 9 hours with an overnight stop in a village Pak Beng a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/blog-273070.html So after our horrible experience crossing the border we arrived at the 4000 islands...which is a bunch of island in a river Very beautiful but hard to apperciate at first because of the anger towards the day We went to find a place to stay and thought our luck had changed when we found rooms with fans Well they did have fans but only between 69 pm...not sleeping hours So when we went to bed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-273057.html Again I apologize to those of you who have been following my travels for not having written before but until last night when I actually sat down and wrote everything down I didn't think I had done much. Now I realize this post will probably be really long. So here goes...Once I arrived in Laos' capital Vientiane I realized there was not much to do here so I packed up and headed north with a Can http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-272995.html PhonsavanWe have arrived without any complications only on the way there it was absolutely pissing it down. We had lovely welcoming committee waiting for us and look they even have banners ...with guest houses... we got put into minibus and were taken to a guest house...Plain of JarsNext day rented motor bike and hope there is not going to be heavy rain as we don't have time to waste so Plain http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/East/Phonsavan/blog-272768.html As we did not have much luck weatherwise up north we went to Nong Khiaw... only we had to go again to Oudomxay and sleep over. The journey was again on a bus nothing spectacular happened only that I Romi almost killed one local guy as I was trying to open window with orange in my hand it flew out and hit the poor guy in his head... ops... Nong Khiaw wow... beautiful ... mountains... sun http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Nong-Khiaw/blog-272748.html Our visa were sadly running out we have to move next destination Phongsali.We had to go through Oudomxay where we spent one night before heading up north. And what a surprise it started to rain don't tell me the wet season is starting it is not due for another month... but why would that surprise us... and surely as it was raining I had the privilege to have my first encounter with leech wh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/North/Phongsali/blog-272701.html As expected we took this day easy and did not do much at all played cards and made plans where to go next... Muang Sing tomorrow.We have rented a motorbike and drove to Muang Sing. The ride was spectacular cool breeze the smell of the forest and as far as you could see hills covered in trees what more do you need....Once we have got to Muang Sing we found out there was not much to do so we d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/North/Muang-Sing/blog-272696.html 2 DAYS KAYAKING... no problem... maybe more like swimming... at least we won't have to worry about Thai visa once our body's will float down to Thailand...... who's the captain... Me Romi so who will end up most of the time in the water as we had experienced this before...OK let's swim how long for we kayaking today... 5 6 hours LEFTSIDE.... RIGHTSIDE... RIGHTSIDE...was what I Reni was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/North/Luang-Namtha/blog-272667.html As soon as we have arrived to Luang Nam Tha from China back at beginning of March we knew we wanted to come back and surely enough here we were.....Same guest house same guy at the Green Discovery.... lovely cup of tea... lovely people... just chill.... And someone had a great idea Reni to book another track... where now just walking is not good enough for us how about bike treck and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/North/Luang-Namtha/blog-272642.html SABADEE PII MAI LAO Happy New Year Laos Not only we come here to pick up our Malaria tablets that my Romi's friend Lucy was bringing to us but we come to celebrate.... Laos New Year .... and it so happens to be on my Romi birthday... how old.... well.... do I have to say... the 3...O.... but at heart 13... O....The best day of all the celebrations was the 13th April.... the most wat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-272638.html Vientiane Capital of Laos http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-271820.html Vang Vieng TUBING http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-271808.html Hi EveryoneHope everything is going great back at homeSorry we havn't blogged for a while apart from the mini Burma blog. We left the last blog in Thailand so will carry on from there...From Chiang Mai we went onto Chiang Rai which is about a 3hour coach ride north so the scenery changed from flat to bumpy mountains. We decided to walk out to our guesthouse Akha River Lodge but ended up walk http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-271746.html Aprs les deux jours de bateau j ai donc pass presque deux jours galement a Luang Prabang ville trs connue et trs touristique mais pas trop du Laos.Ambiance trs paisible beaucoup de moines notamment. Le rituel du maitn de trs bonne heure et assez impressionnant avec des centaines de moines qui viennent rcuprer de la nourriture donne par les habitants dans la rue.Dans la religion boudd http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-271725.html Day 12After a fairly boring couple of days we were pumped for the Gibbon experience A rarely advertised three day trek aimed at preserving the jungle but allowing high paying tourists to visit it without destroying it. We'd been lucky enough to hear about it through Mark and Chrissie whom we meet in China thanks guys.We set off with four packed into the cabin and another four in the back. A ve http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Ban-Houayxay/blog-271166.html Still in that town. I liked that river trip on the tire so much I go right back and do it again. It's all about the landscape. Thomaz my new pal doesn't like floating down rivers. He's rented a moto again and taken off roaming the countryside. I'm on my tire smoking a ciggie. I dream againTOGREBWhat will you do now Togreb The old man turned his head towards his companion while steadying his n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-270920.html In the tenth year of Samudra Gupta kingdom of the Oryas.ldquoStore the heart in a deep pool to foster its marvellous root. Turning to the summit for nourishment he deviates from the path. Pay heed then the provider of what man seeketh. Weak in spirit thou cannot provide. Persevere the path solitary taken it is He thou seekest in verity.rdquo ARUN. He is the Encompassor the allencirclin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-270919.html On the bus ride to Luang Prabang I met a bunch of people who were getting off the bus in a town about half way there spending a few nights and then taking a boat down to Luang Prabang. It sounded a lot better than staying on that bus for another four hours so I jumped off with them. We ended up being pleasantly surprised by the scenery in the town Nong Khiaw which I had heard nothing about. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-270894.html Alors pour une fois je suis a l heure et beh oui je vais parler a la premire personne pendant trois semaines... snif. Je vous livre du tout chaud car je viens de finir mes deux jours de trajet en bateau sur le Mekong. Pour une fois que je trouve un caf internet qui marche bien et rapide j en profite car cela faisait longtemps...Je crois que c est sans doute un des plus beau trajet de transp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Ban-Houayxay/blog-270870.html After several days of debating if we should suffer through another long bus ride or fly to Vietnam we opted for the bus which stopped at Phonsavanthe starting point for the Plain of Jars. The flight would've been a 1 12 hour ride versus what turned out to be 2 days of 13 hour bus rides through windy roades and small villiages. The cost was the deciding factor. Bussing it was cheaperand cert http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/East/Plain-of-Jars/blog-270785.html