http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Laos , West , Vientiane en-us Thu, 23 May 2013 17:57:48 +0000 Thu, 23 May 2013 17:57:48 +0000 Nevyspaty som vystupl z busu o 515. Hned tuktuk. Tych som odmietolbolo zbytocne skoro ranopri laoskych lemrach pochybujemze by bol volado na recepcii tak som sa vydal 8km pesi do mesta.Dal som si orieskyzjedol jablko a vyrazil na cestu.Este bola tma ale siel som na vychodtakze fajnovy vychod slnka ma sprevadzal celou cestou. Cesta nezazivnarovinkadomcekybudovy. Stretol som aj par psovti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-780091.html Ausing staying an extra day in Hoi An and another extra day in Luang Prabanit and a deadline to get back to Bangkok on the 21st I had little time in Vientiane. And when I say little I mean LITTLE. How little you ask Just 8 hours.The town seems small and adorable and had no doubt that I could accomplish what I had wanted to see while there. Okay to be fair I didn39t really no exactly what I wa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-777062.html Vang Vieng was kind of hard to leave. We had such a chilled out time there.On our 3rd day we we hit the tubing place got our tubes and our hands marked with a number each in permanent marker. We were group 913. Everyone in VV wear these florescent tshirtsshortstankshatsbags that say in the tubing..we don39t quite understand this grammatically incorrect phrase but it works for the fara http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-776517.html Overnight train from Vientiane to Bangkok 45 FebruaryI39ve always loved the idea of overnight trains. The whole idea of waking up with the world rushing by and travelling through exotic lands while you sleep reminds me a bit of a fairytale. The last and only overnight train I39ve taken was in Egypt where my friend J and I were ridiculously excited about every little thing from the train http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-776225.html This is the first blog I39ve done in a while partly because the internet connection in Laos is very primitive and partly because I39ve been having too much fun to bother spending a couple of hours sat at a computer screen. I think last time I blogged about arriving in Luang Prabang so I39ll kick off with that.The first thing we did when we got to Luang Prabang was climb the Phousi Mounta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-775481.html http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-770593.html We had for the first time during this trip booked onward transport our fiveday train ride to Singapore so we had to be in Vientiane by the 26th. We realize in retrospect we could have avoided backtracking although the thought of being on any bus ride for more than 12 hours thus being able to visit more of Laos but having then to take the bus from Luang Prabang to Bangkok a whopping 23 ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-769853.html The traffic has come to a halt. Up ahead a bus and truck have tried to pass each other where road works have closed half the road. The result of course is inevitable. In Australia there would be some law and order but remember we are in Laos. First the cars and vans move forward as far as they can blocking the road. Then the crowd gathers around the accident waving hands nodding in agreeme http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-769377.html HuayXai Luang Nam Tha Luang Prabang Vang Vieng Vientiane Tha Khaek Tad Lo Champasak Don Det We had high expectations for Laos and were overjoyed with the consistent warm welcomes delicious local cuisine and authentic beauty. We started with a night in a border town Huay Xai then continued a ways north to Luang Nam Tha where Rebecca did an amazing jungle trek with http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-769178.html It39s been an eventful few days We went to Pai in Northern Thailand on the 20th of January. It was an absolute delight The drive up there was incredible something like 762 bends Not ideal if you get travel sickness. The views were mountains forrests greenery for as far as the eye could see Pai was quite a small place but compact with loads of cute cafes and bars. We checked into a little http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-768972.html The bus ride from Vang Vieng to Vientiane was one of the shortest rides we had in a while it was just over 3 hours and for once we actually got dropped in the city centre most of our other buses have wanted to drop us off at the bus stations that are several kms out of town or charge us extra to get into downtown. Once we got oriented we started looking for a guesthouse there are a few city bl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-767833.html Ya en el centro de la ciudad que parece muy pequena a la par de Bangkok me dispongo a buscar el IHOUSE el lugar que tenia reservado ya para alojarme... estaba super cerca solo a un par de cuardas... asi que no me costo nada hallarlo.Vientiane no me sorprendio en absoluto todo esta cerca para moverse e ir de un sitio a otro luego de alojarme el lugar estaba bien tranquilo parti para encontrar u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-766061.html Preparations for a Buddhist wedding involve a lot of eating. In the days leading up to Ohn and Justin39s wedding friends and family members gathered at the family house to help prepare and party. The house is situated close to the road on about an acre of land fenced in on the sides with the local 39barbed wire39 of broken bottles set into the top of a concrete wall. Wrought iron gates http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-765174.html Luang Prabang Laos to Thakek Laos 30th Dec 2012 10 Jan 2013Distance covered so far since 20 Dec 1361.73 kmNew Year was difficult this year. Mel was upset when she discovered that Andy had fibbed. The 39mushrooms39 in her noodle soup at lunchtime weren39t mushrooms it was stomach lining and Andy knows that he really should have been more honest with her. That evening Andy was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-764393.html Sunday 2nd DecemberChecked out had breakfast tried to log onto Facebook on the computer but it was a no go not sure if we said before but Facebook is banned in Vietnam but the hotel owner changed the IP address on the computer to California..haha. Got snacks pringles and cookies from this little shop down the road we say shop but it was about two metres wide and about one metre long rubble fl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-760781.html We take a drive out into the mountains what a bumpy ride to visit our last stop in Laos Vientiane one of Asia39s sleepiest capital cities. Traffic is all I can say ...... oh and stench from the rubbish of the Lantern festival geez you have to hold your nose to get through this. We jump on a tuctuc visit Wat Sisaket Phat That Luang temples the half built Arc De Triomph....... Laos mos http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-758696.html A 16 hour overnight train ride and a couple connecting rides carried us out of Bangkok over the Mekong River and into Vientiane the capital city of Laos. While most capital cities tend to be overwhelming polluted urban sprawls word was Vientiane was different a little more mellow. That isn39t the case when you happen to arrive during Boun Awk Phansa the end of Buddhist Lent. Thousands of p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-755734.html The next day I get the 9am minibus finally one with legroom and ac to Vientiane the capital of Laos. I have changed my travel plans slightly and instead of going down to Southern Laos and into Cambodia i39m getting the overnight bus from Vientiane and into Hanoi. I hole up in Vientiane to get the blog up to date. There isn39t much to see here for a capital well if there is i don39t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-752181.html We got on the bus in Luang Prabang at 8pm and arrived in Vientiane at 5.50am We then got a taxi into the centre near the fountain for 20000 kip each and started looking for hotelsguest houseshostels however I had already gone online to get a heads up on accommodation and had provisionally booked a hostel Vientiane Backpackers Hostel as it was 1.cheap 5 each per nyt80000 kip for both 2. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-747069.html I hope you enjoyed the photos of Hanoi ... But no I39m not in Laos as per the listing of this blog I arrived in Hanoi yesterday at around 4pm. Before Hanoi tales I39ll finish where I think I left things... So Wednesday was when the Scottish lads left and we saw them off myself Hope Jared. Then when we all went to a tex mex place for tea and once again the addiction of beer loa kicked i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-746598.html