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Published: January 14th 2007
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Holy Oranges, Batman!
I have no idea what the locals do with all of these, but this is just a few. The whole street was lined up with people with piles of oranges! At least they'll get sufficient Vitamin C. Ahh, I love the smell of diarrhea in the morning! And in the afternoon. Evenings too... NOT! Oh well, such is the hazard when travelling, isn't it? Rob and I just returned to Bangkok after spending two wonderful weeks in Laos. We spent the entire time travelling with the same five people who we started with us on the slowboat to Luang Prabang: the Thompson's (Russ, Audrey, Brodwin, and Reese), a canadian family from Victoria, and Micheal, an extremely cool Aussie. The Magnificent 7, as I like to call us. Hey, it was the best nickname I could think of, and let's face it - we are magnificent! Or at least I am, anyway. No? OK, pretty magnificent. A little magnificent? How about a dash of magnificence? No? Shit! Well, screw you too!
Anyhoo, a couple quick notes about Laos. It is a communist country, has a population of about 5 million, and is one of the world's least developed countries. It is also one of the world's most beautiful, at least in my eyes. The seven of us travelled from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng to Vientiane, except for Mike, who left the group early to meet up with
Wat Phra Phome Phao Temple
Pretty cool temple, they let Rob and I go all the way up to the peak of it! his girlfriend in Chiang Mai. I have to say, our group's travels together were just awesome, and during that time there was a lot of booze drunk, sights seen, and toilets hugged.
Let's start with Luang Prabang, shall we? It's a beautiful little city on the Mekong River, with a lot of french architecture throughout (the country used to be a french colony). There's lots of temples to see, and night market is beautiful. Most of the stuff for sale there is all hand-crafted: from silks to paintings to wooden bowls to jewellry. Plus, it's the only city in Laos where I didn't get some sort of food poisoning!
Getting accomodation in Luang Prabang was tough since the city was packed with tourists staying over for New Year's Eve, but we managed to get something. However, none of us were really happy with our accomodation, so we went into town and looked around for a better place. As luck would have it, the seven of us ended up booking a huge house for $35 US/night for the next two nights! That's $5 US each for all you non-math whizzes out there. Anyway, we went back to our current
Unknown Temple
Sorry, the name escapes me... hotel for a small drink to celebrate, snowflake became blizzard, and let's just say our neighbours were glad to see us go the next day!
As for New Year's Eve, it was quite a blast! We spent the night with some local college kids and drank their homemade Lao Lao - a fermented sticky rice wine - with them. Actually, the word 'wine' is putting it nicely. 'Moonshine Sake' is a more accurate description; that's pretty much what it tasted like. The Lao Lao you buy in stores is strong enough to stiffen your lip, but the stuff these guys made was
strong. 190 proof, if I'm not mistaken. It sure knocked Rob on his ass - he was out of commission the next day!
From Luang Prabang, we caught a bus to Vang Vieng. The bus ride there was spectacular; awesome mountain scenery everywhere you looked. As for the city, its nestled between a bunch of mountains and the Nam Song River, and is really just a spectacular place to kick back and relax! You can sit back on a rickshaw patio and watch the sun go down over the mountains, float down the river on a
Wat Chom Si
Located near the center of town, it's the most noticable temple in Luang Prabang. tube while enjoying an ice-cold Beer Lao, go on a canoe or kayak trek, or literally lie down on a bed in a restaurant and watch an episode of
Friends. Oh yeah, the
Friends thing. Vang Vieng is also a popular destination for opium smokers, hence the beds in the restaurants.
I had a fantastic time in Vang Vieng! The Thompson's and I went tubing and kayaking, and we all got together for cards, beer and Lao whisky in the evenings. In fact, the only really bad thing I can say about the city (apart from the
Friends thing) is the food preparation. I only got hit with a mild case of food poisoning here, but Rob got fuckin' drilled! He was basically out of commission during our whole time in Vang Vieng, which sucks because I know he would have enjoyed it.
Unfortunately for me, I found out what Rob went through in Vang Vieng once we got to Vientiane. I don't know what I ate, all I know is it mangled my innards. Stuff wasn't coming out both ends (thank God!), but what came out of me can only be described as shit-mist... enjoy your meals,
WTF..?!
This is at the top of Wat Chom Si. Don't ask no questions, I won't tell you no lies! folks! For those of you counting, that's about 3 episodes of food poisoning in 3 weeks - Wheee! So people of Laos, listen carefully! When getting ready to cook, boil the river water for at least 5 minutes before you use it, don't let the raw meat sit out in the sun, and for Fuck's sake, wash your hands!!!
I'm glad I got sick in Vientiane as opposed to Luang Prabang or Vang Vieng - it was the dullest place I've seen in Laos. It's the country's biggest city, but it's really not that impressive. I did manage to check out a couple of the sights though - the Arch De Triomphe and the Pha That Luang (the country's most important national monument), so at least I can say I saw something while I was there.
So that about covers it. Like I said before, Mike took off early, and Russ, Audrey, Bronwin, and Reese left for Hanoi, Vietnam the same day Rob and I left for Bangkok. I'm glad to be back in Bangkok - we both are, actually. The body needs some time to heal, and we're back in the hostel with the rooftop pool. What
Luang Prabang Market
The night market in Luang Prabang is sweet - lots of handmade stuff. better way to heal than in a rooftop pool? Today's our last day here though; tomorrow we're off to Cambodia.
Toodles!
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Gerald
non-member comment
Some of your best pictures yet!! Keep up the great journal entries, Nicole and I always look forward to them. Glad you had a good new years despite the hershey squirts. Your tubing trip reminds me of Mexico but the Nam Song river looks way funner. Take care and have fun. Gerald