Blogs from East, Laos, Asia - page 17

After all that, we finally arrived in Phonsavan (of Plains of Jars fame) with frayed nerves and a lovely Aussie gent in tow. Let's call him dodgy Uncle Steve (note: *contrary to his nickname, Steve is a very accomplished fellow who speaks half a dozen languages (including Vietnamese better than I can) and is currently working for an NGO in Cambodia that deals with such hot topics as landmine removal, aids education and water conservation). I can't really say that the Plains or the Jars contained within were all that spectacular. Historically, they're interesting enough. Jar experts speculate that they were used for ancient cremation rituals. Being the irreverent, godless person I am I naturally took the opportunity to jump into one of them. I instantly felt quite melancholy and jaded about being a young woman ... read more

Rick: These hornlogs are coming thick and fast at mo. So thought I'd give the long winded blog slog a go this time instead of Becky, I think there is something for everyone in here (and maybe a little offensive to some) so......... We only spent about a week in Laos but was enough to get a feel for the place as we travelled right across hilly North Laos. Its a really lush (literally very green) relaxed country making me cast my mind back those long 10 months ago when we started travelling in South America in places like Equador, Peru and Bolivia. Also maybe a bit like Thailand was 20 years ago, before the onslaught of Westerners like me! We had very, very, long, slow winding boat and bus journeys giving a amazing insight into ... read more

This was absolutely the most exciting bus ride of my life...and the longest, and the scariest, and the most uncomfortable as well. Nine and a half hours on twisting mountain roads going through the most beautiful scenery...I got bit by a leech when the bus got stuck and we all had to get out and push so that is another first for me - it's not painful at all and I didn't even notice til I got to the hotel in Phonsavan and my leg was covered in blood and happily the leech had already fallen off so I didn't have to actually deal with it. En bus de Sam Neua a Phonsavan, on a eu le totale: ecrasement d'un canard, coincage dans le boue (tout le monde descend pour aider a pousser et je pense ... read more

Woke up early on the morning of the 12th and had to rush around buying tickets for Phonsavan with only half an hour to spare. This suited me rather well, as I wanted to make a reasonably sharp exit after checking out of the guesthouse due to the damaged fan. Made it away safely and arrived at the bus station with very little time to spare. After loading our bags onto the roof, we were hurredly ushered onto the bus only to find that our seats were taken. After speaking to the driver, just to ask whether it was ok to sit in any seat, he promptly shooed the mother and child out of our seat and made them sit elswhere. At the time I felt quite bad about it, however it was certainly worth it ... read more

After 4 days I left Luang Prabang and took a bus to Phonsavan. Its a good 8 hours to the east and is the site of "The Plain of Jars." I have heard good and bad things about this attraction but since I have over three weeks still in the country and was going to do a whole tour of the north it seemed like a fitting stopover. As usual on the bus I met some fellow travellers and we stuck together on our Phonsavan adventure. Many guesthouses will have a van or hire a tuk-tuk to pick up passengers when they get off the bus. Since having people stay at their establisment is a good portion of their livelyhood, their days activities seem to funcion around when buses get in from different cities. The one ... read more