Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 35

With my arrangements all settled, I boarded a twin engine plane to Houei Xai where I would start my boat ride up North to Luang Nam Tha. My guide, Xai met me at the airport and after an unusually long time standing around waiting for the bags to be offloaded we were off to load the boat. We packed up rather quickly and were off by 10:30am, an hour after my plane landed. Xai had said that we might arrive in the dark but we made good time and after 3 stops for the appropriate stamps, we arrived at the boatman's village right at dusk. The scenery along the way was beautiful and peaceful. At the boatman's house it seemed like all the children in the village were there watching TV. They were all captivated by ... read more

So, we finally got all of our passport/visa stuff taken care of and after a delayed plane flight to Kunming, my bag getting lost by the airline, a 5 hour delayed sleeper bus departure and one bouncy night spent on a bus, I'm finally got of China!!!!!! It's not that I didn't enjoy China, I was just very ready to get to some place a little more calm and Laos fits that perfectly. As I said, our bus leaving Kunming was delayed for 5 hours which was simply annoying because everytime I would inquire as to when the bus was going to show up, they would say "In 12 minutes", ok, wait, wait, wait, still no bus. Ask again, same answer. Finally they gave us a time, but it was a good hour of constant asking ... read more

Tra Cina e Laos non esiste nessun tipo di confine fisico: foreste cedono il passo ad altre foreste, ma un forte cambiamento lo si avverte nella gente, i gentili e simpatici lao, il cui stile di vita e' decisamente piu' rilassato rispetto a quello dei loro vicini: il lavoro nei campi non e' mai frenetico, e' facile trovare uomini distesi all'ombra di un albero assorti in una profonda dormita; in citta' tutto si muove piano, dagli autobus, che aspettano pazientemente di riempirsi, ai negozianti, che si prendono il loro tempo prima di servirti ed in alcuni casi se ne scordano del tutto; uomini spensierati suonano la chitarra sull'uscio di casa, le donne, come sempre in Asia le piu' grandi lavoratrici, trovano sempre un attimo per ridere e scherzare; bambini seminudi giocano con i cani, polli ed ... read more

I spent a couple of days trekking in northern Laos from Luang Nam Tha to a hill tribe village, Ban Nam Lai, where we spent the night. There were no roads at all to the village, so not even a motorbike there, and other than the odd Man Utd item, life there seemed to our European eyes to be unchanged from what it must have been like hundreds of years ago (although the villagers may well feel differently). The hill tribe was Akha, and fortunately for us we arrived on night 1 of a 3 day wedding celebration, which we were invited to. This involved us, out of politeness, having to down shots of lao-lao, the rice whiskey here, which the groom then rewarded with a handful of sweeties and a fag. First time I've experienced ... read more

Hello one and all! Long time no talk - sorry for the lack of communication, Patrick and I have been internet-less for quite some time. The lack of e-mail has been one of the many differences we have noticed between Laos and Vietnam. We emerged from the plane from Hanoi into a land of calm, quiet, and beauty. Luang Prapang, the 2nd or 3rd largest town in Laos (at 26 000 ppl) is situated between two rivers, the Nam Ou, which runs from Northern Laos, and the Mekong, originating in China I believe. The surrounding area is a dense jungle of beautiful green colours and much wildlife, I am sure. However, the life in Luang Prapang isn't so wild. It is beautiful little town, with tidy streets and shops and welcoming restaurants lined along the Mekong. ... read more