Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 40

Its been a really hectic week travelling from Vientiane on a 4 hr bus trip to Vang Vieng; another 8hrs to Plain of Jars; a further 7hrs to Luang Probang; a 8hr slow boat and 8hr bus to Luang Nam Tha where i currently am. We took the 4hr bus trip from Vientiane to the river where we kayaked the rest of the way to Vang Vieng. The blow up kayaks were really hard to steer so i zig zagged and 360 degreed the entire thing. I also mustered the guts to jump off the 30ft cliff into the river towards the end of the journey...pretty terrifying and several people we rather red after impact. Vang Vieng was amazing....one of the few remaining hippy hangouts with opium dens; outdoor lounge cinemas and cafes playing re-runs ... read more

Both of us are feeling a bit fuzzy this morning after celebrating last night with food, Beer Laos and Lao Lao (Laos whiskey made from rice, tastes a bit like sake). In Sydney I would be lying in front of the telly trying to get over my hangover whilst Steve would be playing computer games; here we sit looking at the Nam Ou river, eating rice soup and drinking Lao coffee. Instead of the TV we are watching the villagers prepare in excitement for the Boat races tomorrow at Nong Kwai. Muang Ngoi have a team entered for the event but not enough money to attend. So yesterday they invited foreigners (Falangs) who are staying in the village to participate in a boat race to help raise funds. We were supposed to go kayaking but thought ... read more

Early on 2nd April we crossed the border into Laos at Houang Xai after spending an ordinary night in Chiang Khong which is a basic border town with not much more than a few (very cheap) guesthouses and a few businesses. At the border, we did note that although it was Sunday, many people were getting their Laos visas. It seemed that we have happened upon a bit of a scam, as those travellers on our mini-bus to Chiang Khong yesterday were told that they had to arrange their visas through the mini-bus agent (at 1500 baht each for a fifteen day visa) as they wouldn't be able to get it at the border as it was Sunday. Anyway, as soon as we crossed the border, we headed for the bus station to buy our tickets ... read more

We bought two boats in Muang Ngoi and silenced our many critics by getting to Luang Phrabang alive and with the surviving boat in enough of one piece to still float with one person bailing full time. Friday, 24th February, 2006 I had a bit of a seedy start this morning, having been pressured into drinking vast quantities of Lao Lao, a highly toxic condensate made from rice wine that is best used for lighting fires or as an industrial cleaner. Jonas, the German, was in for buying a boat and got Barry, the Irishman in by asking him, "What are you going to tell your grandkids?" Three English lads, Fox, Steve, and Stuart, and two English girls, Hannah and Kerrie, also came aboard, so we went shopping for a couple of boats. The first boat ... read more

Muang Sing is a small village in a plain of rice fields just to the edge of the Golden Triangle in north-west Laos. In spite of govermental antidrug enforcement squads the locals still plant a lot of opium. And they sell it just about everywhere. When I walked down the main road old women approached me and between the jewelery and bracelets they offered, barely hidden in the palm of their hands were little packets of brown sticky stuff, an occasional 'Gansha' they whispered to make things clear... The main festival place was outside of town, some kilometers away on top of a hill, at the golden That Xieng Tung, a Stupa very similar to the big That Luang in the capital Vientianne. On the festival day the whole village was coming to the stupa. Everybody ... read more