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Published: November 3rd 2005
Young Beauties
After I had taken this photo I moved towards them to show the picture. Unfortunetly this was too much for them and they broke down in tears. I'll certainly never forget them. This was in the north heading to the overnight village stay.Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I've finally made it over to the country on the top of my Asia list. My time is shorter, but I'm here regardless. I boarded a minibus in Hanoi which then proceeded to drive me out to the middle of the sticks which was slightly concerning. Luckily the shadow of a long bus poked out from behind a petrol station and I boarded with all of the locals. It was going to be a long journey ahead and the fact that my chair was stuck in the upright postiion was a hinderence , but not a stopper.
Four hours later an abrupt stop awoke me from my slumber. The driver and several other passengers were outside hitting parts of the engine with a hammer. Starting to think I might never actually make it out of Vietnam I walked outside for a closer look. As much of a problem solver as I may be, I couldn't really help in a mechanical way so I returned to my 'comfy' seat and hoped for the best. The outdoor mechanical crew grew and the bus was being rolled forward and backwards for a jumpstart like no other. Amazingly it worked.
Vang Vieng coffee shop
Sipping on a watermelon shake, maybe watching an episode of friends. The worls goes by very slowly here. We arrived at the border at 6am, but had to wait until the magical gates openedat 7 am. Being a Saturday and out of hours we were forced to pay a special fee (still only $1) but then had to remain waiting for others on the bus that were seeming to have a few troubles with visas. How frustrating it was that we actually pulled out 9:30 am. The driver from that point onward seemed to feel it was necessary to continue stopping at each available spot for no particular reason at all. Buggery bugger. Although it was always intriguing to people watch at these points, especially when people started pulling out their opium pipes!
Finally reaching the final destination of Vientiane, Laos' capital city, my only priority was to find accomodation. I parted with my $2 for a bed, and bought a bus ticket for the morning up to Vang Vieng. I can't seem to get enough of buses these days! I realized I wasn't giving Vientiane any time, but I hadn't heard of any amazing tales from this city. There are some museums and markets, but I'm wanting a bit more then that these days. During
Soccer and the Kursts
This was the view from my riverside bungalow in Vang Vieng. my short exploration of the city in the evening it was hard not to recognize the differences in life here in comparison to Vietnam's capital city, Hanoi. Can you imagine a city that has no ATM's? Or how about hand painted signs at the police station and bank? It's the simple life out here, and I'm not talking about Paris Hilton's show. It all puts a smile on my face, although still not enough to stay for a few days. Looking forward to some outdoor recreation in the north.
I found a great bungalow in Vang Vieng. It didn't have the beach view as within Thailand, but instead a mountain face, a river, and a soccer field that the local kids enjoyed. I soon learned that these mountains were in fact called 'karsts', as their irregular limestone features have created many caves. It was such a pleasure to just chill out on my front porch with book in hand. When I finally felt as though I should be talking to people other than myself, I ventured into town. I had heard of the 'Friends' cafes, but couldn't really believe it until I got sucked in myself. The coffeeshops
Martian tree
I figured if I found nobody else to talk to, this tree might be able to communicate to me! provide lots of cushions to lounge around on after your meal which is a good thing as they also play season after season of the show Friends. I've never watched so many shows back to back before, but that's just what happens with life in this town! You get sucked in to doing nothing much, and then you realize you've seen 7 episodes-no commercial breaks condensed the time of course!
To make up for my inactivity the first day I signed up for 'tubing' down the river. A perfect activity for the day as it didn't require huge bursts of energy just sitting my butt into a plastic ring and floating downstream! The group that I had joined were soon hollered at by folks on the shoreline waving long sticks and throwing ropes at us. When we pulled ourselves in we realized that we had found our first (of many) riverside bars! As the beer dropped into to my belly I somehow built up the willpower required to jump off the 20 foot platform precariously nestled in a treetop. There was a rope swing I could have opted for that was about half the height, but the beer
Jumper
This was the first jump...took me about 15 minutes to talk myself over the edge but I finally managed! did the trick and I made it the top and over! The next stop was a swing that was pulled back by a long rope with several people running with rope in hand. The more quickly and further they ran, the higher I went. I heard from others that the cannonball I managed as I swooped down and above the water would have scored a near 10 in a competition!
After a few hours and a few too many stops along the river, I clambered out of the water and rolled my tube back into town. I'd like to apologize now for those who received a drunken email from myself, as I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself being so drunk at 6pm, so an internet cafe it was! Of course, I passed out very soon after.
Slightly hungover, I boarded yet another bus the following day. As I arrived in Luang Prabang I met Mike coming off of the bus and we proceeded to traipse the streets looking for accomodation. Once we found cheap rooms, we began exploring the slightly sleepy town. There was an interesting night market not far from our chosen
restaurant. The women that sat behind their blankets filled with goods mostly lived on the outskirts of town, though some a little further and belonging to some of the local hill tribes.
Having learned the best way to explore a town is on two wheels, Mike and I rented a couple of bikes for the following day. We stopped at a temple on the way out of town and I was suitably impressed with the golden paintings inside. The shiny mosaics on the outside were quite impressive as well. As Mike waited for me outside the temple I think he was a bit concerned that that might be the only type of exploration I was interested in. Luckily for both of us, I agree that once you've seen one temple- you've got the just of it. So that was my Laos culture intake! As we carried on peddeling around town, we saw farmers crops reach the very edges of the river banks. We saw boys playing 'hackisack' with a wicker ball over shoulder height net. We watched a six year old girl peel an orange with a 10 inch blade. The sights and the smells were irreplacable so
Tubers
It's a tough life we lead... it was nice to top off the evening with a glorious sunset.
I'm glad the alarm sound that I have set to my phone is , "I'm walking on Sunshine" being sung by Katrina and the Waves, as waking up at 6:30 a.m. is something I'm not quite used to anymore. I suppose every now and then it's okay, especially if the following activity is worth it! Treking and rafting for 2 days is certainly worth it!. Our group stumbled into the back of the pickup with rafts and kayaks stacked on the roof, and we were off.
The small talk was just starting to get interesting when we arrived in a village from which to start the trek. The kids stared at us, and we stared back with smiles. Games of hide and seek began, but we were encouraged by our leaders to not dawdle at this point. We walked down the rivers' edge and waited for enough water to be scooped out of the bottom of the boats before we were paddled across. And then the hike began. It was a couple of hours later when we stopped for lunch, and the pure uphill
River Bar
Had a few drinks at this bar. Amazed I made it back to my tube actually! slog made food and drink that much more appreciated! One of the tour leaders' KeeLee kept to the back of the line with me "ensuring we took in nature's sights more thoroughly". Being 5 minutes behind the rest ended up being a more pleasant experience than I thought.! There were a few points along the way that gave us a spectacular view. Green treetops for miles and miles.
We passed through a couple of smaller villages before reaching our accomodation. I never ever thought that my arrival would cause such a stir in such a remote area, but our group seemed to intrigue the villagers as much as they intrigued us. Individuals would be looking over fences or a very brief eye contact as they passed with a huge sachel of rice on their backs. Some of the villages only had about 10 families living in the area as the government had moved most of the families to a more accessable location. The tour company that was taking us on this tour, ensured that only 2 or 3 groups had ever walked the same route before. As much as that may be a sales line to catch a
Swing
I did the swing twice it was so much fun! Looking at it now though, it seems a bit high! tourist, I believe it. Laos is just starting to embrace it's tourism potential. I hope the mountain villages don't all loose their charms.
After 6 hours of hoofing up and down and through the northern land of Laos, we arrived at 'our village'. Word that we were on the outskirts must have got out early as there was a line of kids to greet us. The line soon became a mob that moved with us along the road all the way to our host house. It was a strange experience, but we all smiled and laughed and took endless photos. The fact that we were covered in dirt and smelling like wild pigs didn't seem to bother anybody. I suppose it's a little bit normal for visitors to not be in their finest considering the route one must go through to arrive! As the option of a shower wasn't really available upon arrival, we continued to walk around the village and play games with different groups of kids. Looking back at the photos, there are certainly a few kids that seemed to jump in front of every picture. Beautiful faces.
As our dinner was being hunted
Cats
Familiar looking cat Sally? They were very entertaining to watch down, killed and then plucked, we continued taking in the life of all of those within the village. Girls start having their babies at 15 and are well looked after by other members of the family. Some children that had been born with abnormalities that might push them to the outside of life in a western world, had been embraced here. It was an inspiring visit in so many ways. As much as I wanted the experience to go on, after our yummy chicken stew I passed out on my wooden bed. It was the best sleep in a long time. Although the rooster at the end of my bed certainly got a wicked sleepy glare at 5am.
The scenery along the route that we took out of the village the next day was quite different to what we had all ready seen. We crossed wide open sticky rice fields and ran through grasses that were 6 feet high. Why run? Being groped by trees and leeches at my feet made me feel like I had become GI Jane all of a sudden. I slipped down a few muddy patches to add a bit of authenticity to my
A cat 'fight'
The entertainment continued jungle look. Soon enough, my knees felt the downward pounding and I was back to my usual pace. And then finally it was time to cross the river again. A spot of lunch and then on to kayaks and the raft.
Having rafted along the Zambezi in Zambia, I felt as though I could handle just about anything that came my way. We passed a few stunning waterfalls and gasped and the entire beauty of the area. We had one kayak for 2 people, one single kayak, and a raft for the rest of us. We took turns for a bit of adventure, as the river wasn't roaring huge challenges at us. That was, until I got on the single kayak.
I was confident when I first sat in the kayak. I've done a little bit of sea kayaking in the past, so on a river couldn't be too much different could it? I paddled along and smiled at a couple of fishermen. The raft and other kayak were quite a ways behind me, so I tired of waiting and decided to take a deep breath and complete the approaching rapids with confidence, as a true
Green Green Green
This was taken during one of the stops from V.V. to Luang Prabang. Canadian should right? Well, I didn't have a *ucking clue what I was doing, so when I fell out I seemed more pre-occupied on holding on to my hat and the kayak than watching what size the rocks were coming up. I was rather lucky this time, so I managed to use the rock to climb back on board my vessel and proceed in the slightly calmer waters. As the other boats were still behind me, I couldn't marvel in my achievement of getting throught that last one, just yet.
The other boats then passed me and looked back to see how I was getting on. I was in the middle of a little bit of bumpy water, so I waved, smiled and yelled "See you in a minute!". Taking my eyes off of what was ahead of me was a bit of a mistake. In addition to completely throwing my balance and rolling me back into the water. Not too worried, I bobbled along. But then my bum hit a few too many rocks below me and my panic set in. Perhaps a bit more instruction and I would have floated on without concern, but gasping for
Luang Prabang street
The high street, nice and sleepy breath and trying not to continue bashing myself as I was swept downstream was a little more than I had bargained for. When I traded the kayak to be back in the raft, the relief planted a big smile on my face, "Let's go!" Next time I might take some lessons.
When we completed the river route, our vehicle met us for the journey back into town. Unfortunetly we still had a couple of hours to go, but lucky enough the driver knew of a beer stop to put a few more smiles back on our faces. We reached town and made our way to a restaurant for the final feast. It was a great meal with the Polish boys Filip, Bart and Junior. With Aussie Deb and English Jo our table had so much more to talk and laugh about. Amazing how a bit of excercise and cultural experiences can change the dynamics of a group so much! American Mike rejoined the scene as well, having had a couple of days chilling out and writing his best selling book. It certainly ended up being a fab final night in Laos.
After a few last minute
Elephant Art
I only went to one temple in Laos and the artwork inside was incredible errands in the morning, I made my way to the airport. Time in Asia has been very condensed at the end, so my next few days are returning to Thailand to see a few more beaches.
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Claudia
non-member comment
Wow!!!!
You have had the best time in the whole world! I am sooooooooo envious!!! But you know me, I need a matress wherever I go, so I feel I have seen the world through your eyes, thank you! Miss you loads and yes we would like Aunt Fiona to come back!! You have to write a book oneday, ok!!!! Love you lots, Claudia xxx