Blogs from Luang Prabang, West, Laos, Asia - page 157

After a 12 hour overnight bus ride we arrived in the most laid-back capital city ever - Ventiane. We did the walking tour suggested in the guidebook which covered most of the city and it took us just over half a day! The number of westerners here was also a bit of a shock to us after our trip down south. Several temples later we moved onto Vang Vieng - stunning scenery and outdoor sports galore! So beautiful we found it hard to leave. We are now in the UNESCO world-heritage listed town of Luang Prabrang, known as the 'jewel of south-east asia'. Further photos of this bit will follow shortly.... read more

Another bus trip awaits us. We have caught more buses on this holiday than I care to count. A foggy morning provides a beautiful sight as it crawls gently over the tips of the Vang Vieng mountains. It becomes obvious very quickly that the following 7 hours on the bus may well be very enjoyable. The mist engulfs the tall, staggering mountains. The sight off the long fall cliff is formidable. The constant slowing down to carefully plot a course over the fallen rock and debris is a reminder how dangerous driving on these wet mountains can be. We stop at a small restaurant for "lunch" (at 10:30am??? go figure) As I sit there trying to eat while ignoring the chickens and the cow, I think to myself "this is definatley the most bucolic restaurant I ... read more

- FOOD: Hotel restaurant breakfasts and squid with ginger dinner - gooood; expensive but oh so nice salad; posher restaurant food; cocktails; Mekong fish. - AREA: Best preserved town in S E Asia: Winding mountain roads, rivers with terraced banks, palms, peaceful roads; Buddhist and French architecture; Wat Xieng Thong temple - mosaic everywhere; chained up monkeys; long stretch of fantastic night market; Phu Si hill with temples, cave shrine and Buddha footprint; giving blood and having massage at Red Cross; plinkety-plonkety music; midnight curfew; Tat Kuang Si waterfalls on Singh, the elephant; bear and tiger sanctuaries; circus village stop. - PEOPLE: Most people sleep during the day here - they're more laid back than usual!; friendly masseuse; kids fascinated by Singh, adults scared by Singh; cute village kids who are already vendors; men (and some ... read more

The 6 a.m. Monk Procession At 6 a.m. the Novice Monks have a procession through the town where locals offer food to them, mainly being Sticky Rice and Chicken wrapped in leaves. It is quite a lovely sight to see these young men silently walking down the road and modestly taking the offerings of food. Don't make the mistake that I did, believing there were only a few monks: there is a whole procession that eventually make it to the offering. To this day one of the strangest things that i have done: believing I had missed the last offering and chasing a Monk up the street with a bag of sticky rice whilst wearing my pyjamas. As my first stop off in Laos I thought that it would be rude not to try the national ... read more

It all began very much like a Bruce Lee film should. A late afternoon sun was emerging, doing its best to protest the wet season. On a rustic wooden ferry, I stood silently at the bow, watching the turbid waters of the Mekong River race the storm clouds that were fleeing in a southerly direction above. Between the river and the sky, the banks of Laos held defiantly still as our vessel struggled to maintain a steady course. Uniformed officers waited on the shore, mirroring my posture and my silence until at 1630 on 29 August 2005, I stepped on Lao land for the first time in 28 years. Let's just say that the past five days have been amazing. In which i justify the title... Luang Prabang, the former Royal Lao capital has to be ... read more