Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 5

ooh...a traffic light! I was wondering why our bus stop before entered the town center, seem like Namtha took another step further to became a city! but look around the surrounding...well...the road work from the airport is almost finish, town still expanding and more houses, but the town still the same...quiet! wondered where the economy come from? where are the money? there must be something behind the scene! for us tourists...those bunch of trekking agency, guesthouses and cafe around the night market is the business center. not much had been change from my last visit 2 years ago. but room rate along the main street seem to be unified to 70000kip for the same old room and same old service. lucky there still couple of places offered room for 50000 that I could afford to lazy ... read more

OK I have gone & done it. I ate dog. Yep, dog, as in a family dog. My Laos friends live high up in northern Laos. Their family had a dog, a black dog, which is traditionally considered better eating or better for your health. It kept running away and they knew that someone else would eventually kill it for dinner so they decided to do it themselves. They also knew that l was arriving after a 7 or 8 hour journey in a bus filled with all manner of produce & people along some very tired & winding roads. And they appreciated that I had gone way out of my way to visit them. So as a festive treat, they cooked up in Laos style, black dog, lizard, bamboo rattan & spiced wood. How could ... read more

The bus trip to Luang Namtha was back to our usual standards, cramped with extra people sitting in the aisle, hot and sweaty. The scenery was beautiful as we wound our way up towards the northern border of Laos, China and Myanmar. The area is famous for trekking in the jungle and visiting hill tribes. The villages in the mountains retain their own animist beliefs and local customs and there are over 20 unique ethnic tribes. There are similar trekking experiences in Thailand and Vietnam but this area has not been on the tourist as long. The region is particularly important in Laos as the Nam Ha jungle was designated as the first national park in Laos and is also one of the biggest parks in the country. Luckily for me, Luang Nam Tha town is ... read more

We woke up early to get a tuk tuk to the bus station where we would get our 'VIP' bus from. The 'VIP' bus was okay, wouldn't call it VIP though half the seats were broken and reclined fully backwards when any weight was put on them, the roof would suddenly start having water pour down and the air conditioning was a little breath of air. But we got to Vang Viang safely which is the main thing and there were some lovely views on the way. The route was up and down some mountains so was very winding, we passed through a lot of remote villages so saw how local people live away from all the backpacking areas which I enjoyed seeing. We arrived late afternoon and walked to the centre of the town where ... read more

We had a busy morning as we moved to a different guest house, and then booked our bus journey for the next day to Vang Viang. We went to the Kuang Si waterfalls for the afternoon which were around a 40 minute ride out of Luang Prabang. I saw my first elephant being ridden down the road on the way there!! On the walk up to the waterfalls we passed by a bear rescue centre where they look after black aslatic bears then release them back in to the wild. The waterfalls are so clear and blue and it was very nice to be able to swim in them especially as it has been so hot! They had the little fish in which clean the dead skin off your feet, it made me jump at first. ... read more