Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 39

Hello from Viet Nam - safely in Nha Trang after sitting out Tropical Storm Durian with enough food and supplies (chocolate and beer) to last a lifetime. The last blog ended with me just about to begin the trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge, so fittingly, that's where this one begins! I caught the bus with Janet - travelling from Zhongdian to the starting point of the gorge where we left our packs at a guesthouse and started the long trek that would last 2.5 days. The one thing that stuck in our minds was the "28 bends" - a series of hairpins that we'd tackle the following day - they wind their way up the mountainside and it takes a gruelling 2 hours to complete. So it took us a bit by surprise when we had ... read more

Crossing the Thai-Lao border, the difference in travel-style is immediately apparent. Most places I'm used to, you could just jump onto a reasonably comfortable, decent-sized coach, train, plane or boat and be whisked off to your respective destination in relative boredom. Travelling in Laos, though, adds a whole new dimension of interest. Firstly, comfort and travel here don't really go together in the same sentence. Secondly, the country hasn't fully developed a decent travel network at this time - sure, you can get around without too much trouble, but it's a lot more hassle than, say, the UK or Thailand. For us, the whole experience is made a little harder by the fact that our guidebook really isn't suited to our style of travel (we're using the Footprint Guide to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which is ... read more

Laos Terrible Legacy Although officially a neutral country, Laos was host to a secret and terrible war between the USA and Vietnam. As a result, Laos earned the distinction of being the most bombed country in the history of modern warfare.- Staggering Statistics - The USA conducted over 10,000 missions during the nine-year war and dropped over a million bombs. This equated to one ton of explosives dropped for every man, woman, and child living in Laos at the time. The war in Laos was so secret that the country's name was never included in any of the original US records; it was referred to as "the other". Neutral Laos was off limits according to the Geneva agreement. As a workaround, the US sent CIA agents and soldiers in under the guise of civilians; the air ... read more

We have just arrived into Luang Nam Tha which is in the North of Laos, not far from the Chinese border. We have had an incredible week - not always easy and often uncomfortable - but filled with amazing experiences. We finally forced ourselves to leave the beautiful and relaxing city, Luang Prabang, and headed west by water, bound for Luang Nam Tha and determined to get there avoiding buses when possible. The two day journey on a long boat allowed us to see incredible scenery. However, the scenery didn't really change for two days and becomes slightly less impressive when you are sat on a really hard bench with a numb bum for the second day in a row! We stopped in a small town for the night which had nothing remarkable except the wide ... read more

On my first day in Muang Ngoi, a quiet picturesque backpacker place (almost a contradiction in terms) I met Ernie, who was keen to go hiking the following day and was looking for someone else to join to halve the price. I had breakfast with Ernie, Brian and Tania before setting off on the trek with them. Brian, a head ranger from Canada, and Tania, a doctor from Perth, decided during breakfast to join us. Of course, there was no chance of be getting injured or needing survival training - that would only happen when there isn't a doctor or ranger around. We set off at 0900 with our guide, Peng, and porter, Weu, for the 40 minute walk to the caves. They were caves. And like most caves in this part of Laos they had ... read more