Tubing, Machine Guns & Madness

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I fell totally in love, what a great feeling it was, it gave me that euphoric feeling of true love found at last. Of course I'm talking metaphorically as my love was instantly with the country of Laos, the people, the culture and the religion. Imagine for one moment lush rolling green hills and valleys, sleepy towns and villages, beautiful Pagoda temples, buddhist monks strolling the streets in bright orange robes with umbrellas, local fisherman throwing their nets into the mighty Mekong river from small wooden boats and children playing and swimming along the banks and this is somewhere close to daily life in Laos. The moment I landed in Luang Prabang it was evident that Vietnam was a whole universe away, I hadn't been on a plane at all but instead I had been transported by spacecraft a million light years away to some distant planet. The chaos I as expecting as I arrived at the airport was nowhere to be seen and as I exited the terminal I was greeted by a polite local who said that a 'tuk tuk' would cost $2 dollars to the town centre. As I climbed into the 'tuk tuk' I met Jason a fellow Brit and we shared the cost into town and that was to be the begining of our friendship and joint interest in travelling through Laos. We checked into the same guesthouse overlooking the banks of the Mekong and within minutes we were watching the sunset with beers in hands and were soon consumed in conversation relating our personal travel experiences so far in Asia. After eating the most delicious dinner at a local restaurant we both agreed that after only 3 hours Laos was going to be a special country to travel through and we were going to have the most amazing journey.

Luang Prabang is the capital of the north, its buildings and streets follow the lazy meandering of the Mekong river, beautiful Temples or Wats are all over the town and their pointed and impressive gold spires rise over palm trees. Old French style colonial buildings line the streets and house small local craft shops, handmade silks or cafes and restaurants, some are crumbling and in need of decoration but this all adds to the authenticity of the towns history and charm. At night the entire length of the main street is closed off to traffic and is turned into a night craft market, each little stall lit with small bulbs transforming it into a scene reminiscent of fireflies bobbing and weaving its entire length. The town has a 'sit back and relax' theme to it and its not long before you are sitting at a cafe watching the world drift by and engaged in conversation and negotiation with the cheeky local children eager to sell you a bracelet or necklace. The first thing they will say to you is "you are so handsome" followed immediately by "buy this bracelet or buy that" soft sell followed by sudden closure all within seconds. Suddenly life becomes very different and there is no hurry or rush to do anything and any thoughts of rushing to this temple or that waterfall and then get back on the road soon evaporate. It's very easy to forget the days so rather worry about getting back on the road I enjoyed all the activities and sights available in and around Luang Prabang starting with mountain biking to some of the villages nestled in the hills. Only 'mad dogs and englishman' cycle in oppressive heat and ferocious sun, which obviously includes Jason and I as we wilted and searched desperately for water, before finally finding a small village miles from the town. We drank our water with all the desperation of two people who had been lost in the desert and had come across an oasis just in the nick of time. We entertained the children and taught them some english and became the village celebrities as people came to look and stare at these two strangers or nutters who had cycled so far in such heat when most locals are swinging lazily from a hammock in the shade. After our mountain bike expedition we were feeling more adventurous and decided a day of kayaking the rapids of the mighty river was for us we signed up eagerly and brimming with confidence. We shot the first set of rapids as though we were professionals riding the crests perfectly then at the second set capsized within seconds. We both scrambled and held onto the kayak mindfull of the rocks just below the surface and saw the Mekong closer than most toursits as we rushed through and in the churning white waters. To our bewilderment this was pretty much the pattern for the rest of the day, unless the water was flat and calm we simply couldn't stay upright and we both felt there was definitely something wrong with the kayak and not our rapid skills. Just before lunch we stopped at the rivers edge with our guides and watched local divers searching the river bed for gold. Boats on the surface are fitted with generators that pump air down long lengths of platic tubing fitted to a face mask which the diver is wearing, a kind of modern day version of the original old brass diving suit you see in old hollywood movies. These divers spend over an hour at a time at depths of 90m in nothing but an old t-shirt collecting mud from the riverbed in large bags. When they return to the surface they relay with another diver and someone else starts to 'pan' the collected riverbed for deposits of gold. We excitedly watched and waited expecting to see a large round nugget being held aloft to the shouts of 'gold, gold' but it was just an anti-climax. The gold is in fact mere gold dust and they collect no more than a sprinkling the size of my smallest finger nail, a bucket nearby refelcted a mornings work and contained enough gold collectively at best to make nothing more than a 3mm long safety pin. As we watched a generator ran out of petrol and there was a panic to refill it and restart it before the divers below ran out of air. It took over 4 minutes to restart the generator and pump precious air below and it struck me then that this was a very dangerous way indeed of making a living for such little reward not exactly just another day at the office scenario.

The next day we visited the Tat Kuong Si waterfall 8km out of the town. A bus ride over a very bumpy and rocky road takes about 45 backside numbing minutes to reach the waterfall. The waterfall is spectacular and plummets from some height above you over limestone rock and crashes into a pool of bright blue water, this pool is linked to another and then another and so on and its easy to find your own pool in which you can swim and relax. The pool I chose was away from the main concentration of tourists and was shaped of rock into a perfect oval, a constant stream of water was filling it from other nearby pools and I had my very own natural jaccuzi. As I lay in my little pool of bubbles thinking a glass of champagne right now would certainly make this the best moment I'd had in Asia so far I was joined by two Americans. Suddenly the moment was lost as they embarked on a 'gee' moment 'gee isn't this great', 'gee how beautiful', 'gee have you been here long', 'well yes, long enough to get out and find somewhere with less 'gee gees' about' I thought. A small but steep path eventually leads to the top of the fall and you get an impressive panoramic view of the valley and surrounding hills and the water pools that eventually tumble over to make the falls.

We chartered our very own private boat for the afternoon to take us up the Mekong to visit the Pak Ou caves and a local river village called Ban Xang Hai or the simpler name of 'whiskey village'. The journey up-river against the natural downflow takes around 2 hours, we passed many people who live and work on the river. Fisherman hard at work pulling in their nets, boatbuilders hard at work handbuilding new wooden boats, women washing clothes, children playing on the banks or swimming. Eventually we arrived at the caves, the entrance is situated high above the river and boats have to moor alongside a floating jetty and then its a steep small climb up to the cave's main entrance. The cave itself is crammed with a variety of Buddha images and statues, a kind of graveyard where unwanted images are placed, a small shrine is also available for those wishing to kneel and pray to Buddha. Considering the time it had taken to journey up-river it was rather unimpressive and dare I say dull and within 30 mins we were heading back down river to the 'whiskey village'. Due to having the river flow in your favour the return journey is far quicker and we arrived at the village in just 20 mins after leaving the cave. The 'whiskey village' is really a tourist dominated village on the river banks full of craft stalls however it specialises in producing large amounts of 'lao, lao' local rice whiskey hence the village's name. This local rice whiskey is produced by nearly every other home and small stills and large pottery fermenting pots can be seen everywhere. It comes in two variations of colour and strength, we first tried the red coloured variety which was palattable and kind of okay-ish. The second and clear variety was like drinking aviation fuel (not that I've tried aviation fuel), when it reaches your stomach it spreads a rapid heat sensation that within seconds has your senses saying to you 'damn I'm on fire and about to spontaneously combust, put me out now' like the guy from the fanatstic four movie'. At 40-50% proof (tasted more like 140% though) it will clearly blow your socks or at least your flip flops all the way back to Luang Prabang without them even touching the river and getting the slightest bit wet. The locals love the stuff and apparently 4 glasses is enough to get them dancing like something from 'Riverdance', or singing like the rejects from 'Pop Idol' or babbling in a language they haven't spoken since there were at least a year old. Suffice to say one taste was reason enough not to purchase any of the large bottles on sale. The best part of the day was when we left the village, we had timed the sunsetting perfectly and as our boat made its way back the sun slowly glowed reds and pinks illuminating the sky and waters reflection as though setting fire to both, we arrived back just as the last of it slowly sank below the horizon. The next couple of days were spent relaxing and enjoying the town and we visited many of the local temples or Wats and the Royal Palace now the local museum, the latter impressive for not only its architecture but exhibits of Laos' Royal past. As you walk the streets, you can see the local monks strolling around or reading books in the shade, most of them are very young and its the best way for many to get a good education. I spoke to Mong who was 16, his english was excellent and he was very articulate and careful with his use of vocabulary, he showed me his text book and he was reading some very complex philosophy for someone so young.

Sadly it was time to consider moving on, Jason and I decided to travel together for a while as we both intended traveling the same way down and eventually through Laos. We left Luang Prabang and took the bus to Vang Vieng notable for 'tubing' the latest and supposedly best and the thing to do whilst in Laos. The bus ride took best part of the day as the road lazily follows the contours up and down, left and right around the valleys and hills. As a rule I never get travel sick but this constant motion of being pulled in opposite directions at every turn had me feeling a little 'queezy' so it was a relief when the bus stopped for lunch. A guard stood nearby the restaurant on duty with an AK47 machine gun watching everyone getting on and off the buses, I didnt think he was there to make sure everyone ate their lunch, two days later we were to learn why.

We arrived at Vang Vieng in oppressive heat and walking just 3 steps with my rucksacks had me looking like I had just taken a shower without bothering to dry myself with a towel. After walking around various guesthouses we found somewhere clean, decent and cheap. Our guesthouse was located on the edge of the old runway, this was last used by American B52 bombers during the war to carpet bomb VC forces in Cambodia and Northern Vietnam. Now however, the runway is just a large vacant and unused space that acts as a large free car park for buses and 'tuk tuks' or large open air tents playing loud 'karaoke' music (more on that later). The town itself at first glance (come to think of it second, third and all subsequent glances) is sadly unimpressive in looks, one main street through the town has a number of restaurants to choose from with most guesthouses and the river running parallel to it. As we looked for our eatery for lunch the thing that really strikes you as very odd is that all the restaurants have large flat tv screens playing episodes of 'friends' or 'simpsons'. The volume so loud that you can stand in the middle of the road and hear and see at least 6 different episodes at the same time. There are large sofa seated areas of cushions and pillows in front of the tv's with many young backpackers lying down all afternoon in front of them, watching episode after episode well into the early evening. Why on this earth would you travel all the way to Laos to sit and watch constant re-runs of 'friends', some travellers had apparently spent up to two weeks or days idling away in front of the tv. At night the street strikes a resemblance to Bangkok as neon signs and loud music blasts to get your attention and patron. At 11pm most of the bars along the main street are slowly winding down for the day so most travellers head for the small island bars a short walk away across small bamboo bridges that cross the river. As we arrived at Smiley's Bar it was obvious to us both that maybe we had made a mistake, we both looked at each other as the scene was of drunken western travellers revelling in cheap beer or drinking from small buckets filled with Vodka and Red Bull, it was madness. We were offered sips from these buckets and after 3 or 4 declined and opted to stay with the beer, as the crowd got drunker DJ Martin from Ireland rocked out such 'wonderfully woe' classics as Village People's 'YMCA' to raptuous shouts of his name. Just before the stroke of midnight as my ears were about to leave for my guesthouse without me, we were saved from anymore musical delight and delictation as the local militia arrived and closed down the bar. They were brandishing their AK47's, this must surely qualify as the oddest way to call 'time please' and politely but also firmly tell you its time to leave and get to bed. In my book when someone carrying a machine gun tells you to drink up and go to bed then thats exactly what you should do and without hesitation I might add. 'I haven't finished my drink yet but you know thats okay I'll just leave it here maybe it'll still be sitting here tomorrow night right where I left it no problem, good night'. Its kind of like a night curfew albeit unofficial but official, its not publisized but it still happens every night. Looking at the state of everyone anyway I'd say on the whole it was a good thing as some people definitely don't know when enough is enough and blatantly stand in line for more as oblivion desperately beckons to them. I nearly forgot tell you the significance of the buckets of Vodka and Red Bull everyone was drinking from. Apparently they contain more than just Vodka and Red Bull and are laced with illegal substances for good measure or a good measure (whatever) in order to get you there, where you may ask, where else into the 'tunnel of love' if catch my drift.

So onto 'tubing' the pastime sweeping Laos and 'the thing' to do. So what does 'tubing' entail? Its all quite simple really, you hire a large inflated tractor tyre, get taken by 'tuk tuk' upriver, throw the tyre in the river, throw yourself in the river and then sit on it and float lazily down river with the current for 6km back to town. Sounds idyllic doesn't it floating lazily down river looking at mountains and forests, animals wandering down to the waters edge, birds singing, just like the scene from Disney's animated version of Snow White. This is how it could be, however thats not quite the reality I'm afraid. As you round the first bend you arrive at your first bar on the bank, playing all 'Boney M's' greatest hits 'There's a brown girl in the ring tra la la la aahhhhrrr'. Every attempt is made to get you to stop, cheap beer, high swings that plunge you desperstely near the shallows they even throw ropes with floats on the end to reel you in like 'fat fish' caught on a hook. As we passed by we could hear the next bar before seeing it, this time 'Bob Marley' was doing his best along with the staff to reel you in. Then it occured to me we were exactly like those little yellow ducks that float around at the small fairground stalls, with little hooks on top, waiting to be plucked a number on the bottom guaranteeing a prize, in this case 'Beer Lao' at just $1 a bottle. Obviously the young backpackers were out long before us and by 1pm they were in full swing to the music and into the beer, some didn't even bother to get out of their tyres and simply had their beer bought to them before floating off down the river bottle in hand. By 4pm some individuals are so drunk that they meander down the river with absolutely no care or due attention to themselves or to anyone else, as they shouted up and down river to one another as though they were at an open air rock concert. I'm not an old misery or turning into 'Victor Meldrew' we stopped for a beer or two ourselves, but of course it only takes a couple of idiots to spoil the atmosphere of the surroundings. If you are in your early 20's and with a group then drinking really cheap beer at 10am on a lazy river I know is really good fun but early morning and all-day drinking is just not my thing I'm afaraid, give me a temple first at any time of the day. But with cheap drink in such abundance (literally hanging off trees, certainly at every bend in the river) then thats exactly what is going to happen it's just a matter of time, I'm not sure what all the locals make of it, just imagine the same scene on a summers day on the river in Henley.

Another box ticked and time to do something a little more cultural and meet the Laos locals. We hired a local guide named 'Keo' to take us treking into the surronding countryside to meet some of the hill tribes that live outside of the town and notably in the mountains and hills, the Hmong people. Our first stop on our trek bought us to a small village in the valley I photographed some of the local children and Keo took us to the local Buddhist Temple. At the temple he introduced us to the head monk who was 78 years old, he had lived all his life around this temple and village he would also end his life here as well. As I looked at his face and skin, which was like old dark brown crumpled leather and his smile revealing just a pair of remaining teeth, I wondered what kind of discipline you must have to pray and remain at the same place each and every day and never want to venture further than the edge of the village. It's something that we in our modern Western societies can't understand or really appreciate, this dedication to religion and way of life, he is even considered good luck to the village and will bring them good rains for the rice season, essential to their survival. He decided that both of us should be blessed, so taking both our hands in his he started chanting some ancient prayer calling on Buddha to look over us and then he blew on our hands to blow the bad and negative spirits away. He finished by tying a small piece of orange string around our wrists and once more continued in his chanting and then we were blessed with Buddha looking over us for the rest of our trip in Laos. Keo told us we were very lucky and wherever we would go in Laos the people would know we had been blessed by a high priest. Of course neither of us felt any different or empowered by some spiritual force enabling us to perform miracles but I was asked on 2 or 3 occasions where I was blessed especially when I travelled through Cambodia.

After our blessing we approached a river and Keo directed us to a bridge that spanned the width of the river gorge. Now I've crossed some bridges on my journey especially in Nepal and some were bad however this bridge we were about to cross was more of a high wire act at the circus. It looked also as though it were used in an 'Indian Jones' film 'The Bridge of Doom' and after filming was complete it was transported here for tourists. It was the famous act from England the two flying 'J's' who were going to attempt crossing a river suspended 20-30ft up using no more than two wires and a bit of crumbling bamboo with the river raging far below our feet. In fact the river was about 2 to 3 ft deep and had it been flowing any slower it would be flowing back uphill, into the mountains and back down the hole and source of where it had come. It would have been easier to cross the river the old fashioned way and gotten our feet wet, but like sheep we followed our guide one foot in front of the other swinging about madly from side to side, waiting for the swinging to slow before taking the next step. Eventually we reached the safety of the otherside and continued our journey into the remote hills and villages, as we walked Keo started to tell us the reason for the armed militia in the towns. We told him that we had heard machine gun shots during the night and they had awoken us early in the morning. The Hmong poeple who live in the hills, account for around 1million of the overall 4 million population, want to be left alone in the hills to grow their own food etc. However, the socialist government enforces taxes on the food they grow and according to the Hmong these taxes are too high. They maintain that there is little left for them finacially, they are extremely poor and struggle to live, therefore they have armed themselves and periodically attack govt installations or troops. Occasionally they visit towns as a reconnaisance exercise to find out what government troops are in town and observe their movements. The government soldiers are trying to push the Hmong back and further into the hills away from main settlements and tourists towns, therefore local armed militia patrol the streets enforcing early curfews in the event noone is hurt should there be an armed incident of some kind. Neither the Hmong nor the militia and government want to damage the tourist industry and its valuable income to the poor economy, however some locals I met definitely cited that a major civil unrest could be inevitable and was only a matter of time before friction took place. There has been unrest here within the last 2 years and two Western tourists were injured as the local bus they were travelling was shot at by Hmong, we were advised always to travel using the tourists buses when in the north. I also heard stories of Govt troops being caught by Hmong and shot, how much of this is true or just propoganda is speculative remember this is a Socialist country. There is a murmuring of politaical situation developing in Laos because there are armed militia patroling the streets at night and you don't use machine guns just to make sure people go to bed. I'm not so sure they are soley around for tourists safety as some locals who rely on tourism would have you believe. Their presence may well be to keep the Hmong away and in the hills but many of the locals in town wouldnt talk about it and just say its nothing to worry about at all.

So we arrived in a small Hmong village and they are indeed very poor, many living in wooden huts, some corrugated roofs others using thatched bamboo. These homes could easily blow over in the event of a major storm and I wondered how many times this had actually happened and how many times the villagers have had to rebuild their homes again. Keo introduced us to some of the locals and we sat and talked to them whilst we had a water break. They were polite and took a keen interest in the both of us and spoke very good English, not once did we feel threatend in any way. I didn't mention the trouble we had heard of and Keo advised that maybe we shouldnt bring this up in conversation. We saw young children making bracelets to sell to tourists and men weaving baskets from strips of bamboo before we finally left the village and started to climb a small hill. The climb got steeper and as humidity and temperature was so high we were dripping with sweat in seconds making the climb even harder. It was a good 45 minute climb to the top and as we rested and drank water I looked as though I had just stepped out of the shower or had been swimming in the sea, it was so hot it was hard to breathe. We were halfway down the hill on the otherside heading for another remote village when Keo asked me the time. When I told him he realised the village was another 3 hours of walking each way and we only 3 hours of actual daylight left. So we had to abandon our trek and head back the way we had just come and take a look at some local caves instead, we had climbed uphill for nothing and I cursed him for not having a watch. This however was Keo all over, he had no concept of what time or day it was, when I originally booked him I'd arranged it two days in advance, but every day beforehand he would ask if we were going treking today. The caves were pretty uninspiring on the whole but it was good to walk in the countryside away from the backpackers. At one cave we visited it had the 'footprint of Buddha' on display, yes his actual footprint and a shrine next to it. On closer inspection it was clearly hand carved from the rock by someone to look like a footprint and didn't really resemble a proper foot unless Buddha has 5 toes all of equal length and is a size 2000+. We payed our respects and picked out a stick each a kind a religious equivalent of taking a 'community chest' card in Monopoly. The stick has a number printed on it which corresponds to a piece of paper with the same number, this paper could reveal good or it could urge caution or bad times coming in your life. It all depends how good you have been and only Buddha can decide your fate, if you will get a favourable note and reading. Keo translated mine which read along the lines that I would settle down and have lots of children - all girls. I tried to explain to him that I had a son so that kind of shoots the whole 'lucky paper' theory out of the window. Apparently Buddha moves in mysterious ways, he must do, standing at around 10 storeys high and equal length toes leaving footprints about but is never actually seen. I think you'd notice the odd giant tramping the earth dishing out good wishes here and there to order, me a skeptic, I'm open-minded to be proved otherwise of course. Finally we met Keo's family, his sister and father, they work from dawn untill dusk everyday in the fields growing rice, vegetables and fruit for the markets. Framers are generally the poorest of people anywhere in Asia and literally scratch a living and existence from the land, they rely solely on the weather and specifically the monsoon season which allows for rice to be grown. Its hard back breaking work every day of the year, they offered what little they had, lots of fresh Melon and we sat in the field with his family and exchanged conversation with Keo as translator. It never ceases to amaze me that those that have so little are willing to trade that prescious little they have worked so dilligently and hard to grow in order to be polite and curtious. I gave the children some sweets that I had bought that morning and paid his family for the fruit we had eaten and been offered freely and we were thanked with genuine big smiles and many handshakes.

Time, yet again, to move on and the next day we travelled by bus to Vientianne the Laos capital. We arrived late afternoon found a cheap guesthouse, my room so bad it inspired the journal 'what do you expect for $5 a night?' The next day we found another guesthouse which wasn't much better but I didn't intend staying in the city very long. Vientianne is pretty dull actually for a capital city, there is a couple of sights worth seeing, but its really a stopping point to the South and this is where Jason and I parted company. I enjoyed Jason's company immensely, we had some good conversations, some good laughs, some of those laughs at my expense I might add, at my frustrations. He beat me most nights at pool, well actually I think I was lucky to win a game but then he had a distinct advantage over me, he had Buddha on his side. Alone again, I left for Champasak an island village in the deep South that had an ancient Hindu temple now listed as a world heritage site. I took the overnight coach to Pakse, the journey passed suprisingly without an incident, except I slept little and arrived at 5am and had to walk 3km to the ferry point to catch a boat down river to Champasak. On arriving at the river's ferry point I was told that a ferry service no longer existed, in my Lonely Planet it said it did, but I was assured the $1 ferry was no longer in service. It had been taken over by the private sector it now cost $5 to go downrivier, you may think 'so' but let me assure you everything is relative in Asia and $5 is a lot of money here. For example you can eat and drink out for at least 2 nights on that amount of money, so free enterprise was running riot on the river. I was soon joined by other travellers all holding their Lonely Planet guides and we all took turns at waving our copies in his face, in deep negotiations with the enterprising ferryman. He wasn't prepared to budge, pay $5 or go and get the local bus, he didn't care and moaned about the price of fuel for the boat as being so expensive. It reminded me of that Chris de Burgh song 'dont pay the ferryman, dont pay the ferryman ah ah' so we travellers closed ranks on him. Surely simple mathmatics would appeal to his good sense of reason, he had 2 people sitting in the boat and therefore had $10 so far. There were 12 of us prepared to pay $2 each, he could either go downriver with $10 or with $34 in his pocket regardless of fuel surely you'd have to be pretty blind or stupid not to understand the simple maths involved. Unfortunately he seemed to be both blind and stupid at the same time and couldn't understand this simple logic, no matter who or how many times it was explained to him it fell on deaf ears. He was now afflicted with 3 disabling ailments and still unwilling to budge on cost. The departure time came and went and the conversations continued by the river as I grabbed a coffee and sat watching the river and felt the morning sun's heat start to humidify the air. Finally, he capitulated and agreed to $2.50 each I believe 'that's a right result' and I was off down the river to Champasak.

Two hours later upriver we arrived, I was tired, very hot and sweaty and needed a shower the first person to offer me accomodation must have been amazed when I offered little resistance '$5 for the night I'll take it'. After a cold shower I hired a bike for the 8km ride to the temple out of town, however my bike wasn't a mountain bike with the required many gears for the local terrain. Oh no. It had a little shopping basket on the front, was a pinkish red colour and had just one gear and the brakes and brake handles were there but neither worked. The saddle also had the annoying habit of suddenly collapsing under my weight to the lowest position everytime I went over a bump so my legs bowed out as though I were on a childs or clowns bike. No matter how hard I tightened the lever it collapsed on me within minutes. So picture me if you will cycling 8kms looking like I was on a childs bike with my bowlegged knees sticking out flapping at the warm air around me and struggling to steer in a straight line and no brakes, "we need more speed captain" said a faint voice faintly like Scotty from Star Trek in the back of my mind. It was also noon and the sun beat down on me and was so unforgiving considering my cycling situation as were the local village children who would fall about laughing at me or chasing me as I struggled to pass them in a straight line. When I arrived at the temple I was melting like one the dummies in the fire scene from the finale of the movie 'house of wax' and gulped 2 litres of water down without it even touching the sides. The temple of Wat Phu Champasak is a collection of two small ruins of palace buidings of an ancient Hindu temple on one level, then a steep staircase leads to the temple sanctaury itself. A Buddha statue now resides in this sanctuary where Vishnu would have once been as Laos is primarily Buddhist in religion. An ancient stone path guarded by Nagas (3 headed snake) leads you to the foot of a hill and its a steep climb up narrow stone steps to the temple nestled halfway into the hill. A rock has an ancient painting of an elephant and there is a rock carved with a crocodile, it is a revered and ancient site and many were coming to pray to the Buddha statue in the small temple and light insence sticks. However the highlight for me were the intricate carvings in the stone doorways of Hindu Gods and Goddesses even for their age they were so detailed. After an hour I made my journey back in the same way as I had arrived and was relieved to reach my guesthouse and collapse on my bed.

The next day I left for 4000 Thousand Islands further South and near the Cambodian boarder and after taking the ferry across the river I was picked up by the local bus. As I got in the back, my bag thrown onto the roof, I looked at a sea of faces all Asian, I was the only Westerner on the bus. A few kms up the road I was told to get off and wait by the road for another bus that was heading South as this bus was heading North to Pakse. So there I sat by a road junction with my rucksacks, no visible bus stop to be seen, not knowing if I was even in the right spot in the middle of Laos and on my own, the road stretching off in either direction as far as the eye could see. I wasn't worried this is how travel is in SE Asia and I had been in this position many times over the last few months. Eventually a bus turned up and it stopped next to me I told them where I was heading in Laos and they nodded, again my bag was thrown onto the roof and I was told to join it. Inside sat at least 30 to 40 passengers, some with bags of plants and vegetables, others with buckets of fresh fish caught that morning, children, babies, goats, chickens, bags of clothes it was a menagerie of local delights. There was no room inside and I took up my spot on the roof and held on tightly as the bus drove at some 80kms an hour. This is convertible roulette and absolute madness. There is nothing like the wind rushing through your hair or ducking at low tree branches or wires that cross the road, it gives you that real sense of... well how can I describe it, a real sense of value on your life. I only wished I had prayed that morning to Buddha myself to look over me and bless me with a safe bus journey. Eventually we stopped at a village and I was upgraded to standing on the small tailgate of the bus, vendors try to sell food and drink to the passengers and such delights as cooked spiders (tarrantula) or large black beetles on sticks or even bags of small crunchy bugs are on offer. All delicious I'm sure but I'd rather have had a bag of peanut M&M's maybe some wine gums or some crisps, I would just have to wait until later. As we sped along the road I spent the next 2.5 hours standing at the back of the bus, the road rushing just passed my feet, occassionaly the driver would throw an empty and used bottle out of his window and shards of broken glass would fly at my legs. Falling asleep wasn't an option for me and I tried to stay ever alert so as not to tumble off the back of the bus especially when going over large bumps in the road. Finally we reached my junction and I headed towards the river in order to grab a ferry to the Islands (remember that's where I was heading) I'd nearly forgotten myself in all the excitement of the bus journey. The same old negotaiation with the ferryman 'how much, ten for that you must be mad. I'll give you five!' eventually I was heading across the water to the Islands. As the name 4000 Islands implies there are many, however only a handful are habitable as many are just too small. I chose Don Det, with the view I would move on and explore Don Khon another Island nearby. What an amazing spot, a paradise on this planet if ever there was one. I chose a small room in a bamboo hut on stilts directly on the river for $2 a night, I had my own hammock, there was no electricity and generators supplied enough to power the lights two hours after dark, after those two hours it was simply candlelight or torches. I had a marvellous 4 days, sitting in my hammock reading, swimming in the lazy river, eating the best fresh food ever and exploring the Island. Children played and swam by the banks, people bathed and washed their clothes in the river, fisherman could be seen throwing nets out to catch fresh fish. This was one of the highlights of Laos for me, to get away from the modern world, no phones, no internet, no traffic, just 'kick-back' and do as the locals with no stress of modern day living. I spoke at length to the woman who ran the guesthouse and although she spoke little English and I very little Laos we managed to communicate enough to understand eachother. I gleemed some insight and understanding into daily Laos life. These people are very poor and as many questions as I asked and had answered I would never really know or appreciate how hard life is for her, her family and the Laos people in general. We are too sheltered and really for us its like a 'looking glass' into another world, we will never know the daily hardships these people have to deal with. The personal hardship as a relative faces life threatening health issues, there are no doctors or hospitals for hundreds of miles. I also saw many children with only eyesight in one eye, the other pure white or rendered useless as eye infection from river parasites/insects is common to young children, no surgeries or medicine for treatment out here. In spite of it all though, the Laos people remain a happy friendly people, willing to learn about the tourists and their lives, never malicious in any way even though we are the equivalent of millionaires in their country. I suppose in reality we are just that, for example the average yearly wage in parts of Laos is as little as $150 per year, some earn even less! Many are resigned that they will never leave their country, many will never leave their villages or area where they have been born and sadly many will never live to an old age. I found the Laos people always inquisitive, always smiling and saying hello, they are also very attractive in appearance compared to any of the other SE Asian communities. Laos is and remains a special place for me because of the Laos people and was by far my favourite destination in SE Asia and I urge anyone travelling this part of the world to make sure they definitely come here. Regardless of what I have said about the possible political implications here long-term, its a wonderful country and I saw western families and their young children travelling and enjoying Laos as much as the backpackers and hard-core travellers.

My time in Laos was coming to its end and after leaving Four Thousand Islands I returned to Pakse and booked a flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. My next blog 'The Good, The Sad & The Ugly' I will publish when I get to Australia. It takes quite a bit of my time to write these blogs and I will consider getting a computer when I get to Australia, so my apologies for the length of time between them. I hope you are enjoying reading them and they convey some of the humour and interesting things that have happened to me on my continuing journey into countries, cultures and peoples of the world.

Just an update for you. I'm presently in New Zealand having travelled from North to South of Cambodia. I crossed the border into Thailand and met Jason for 8 idyllic and relaxing days on the beaches of Koh Chang, believe me I needed the rest after Cambodia. I flew to New zealand and have been here for two weeks touring in my own campervan around the hills and mountains. I have seen wild dolphins at Milford Sound, shot through the canyon rivers on a jet boat and have river borded down the rapids and have even been mountainbiking around Lake Wannaka. I will arrive in Australia around May 17th and will get to work on updating the rest of my travel experiences for you to read at your leisure. Take care guys and miss you all and I wish you happy travelling whichever country you decide to visit this summer.

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Photos

Eating
Obviously not all were sleeping and I caught this one cheekily munching, thinking noone would notice, amongst the bamboo.

Sunset
Watching the sunset over the Mekong River was a daily occurance.

Studying
Monk studying English. Everyday time is put aside and spent learning English, commitment and dedication to learn second to none.

Temple
The Buddhist Temple within the Royal palace complex at Luang Prabang. Insude the walls were decorated with ornate gold leaf images.

Monk Boat
Even the monks from the local Temple have their own boat for transport.

Buddha
One of the many Buddha statues that cann been seen in the temples or Wats around Luang Prabang.

Fast Boat Upriver
The fast boat upriver, tourists are advised that taking them is at their own risk, accidents and fatalities are regular occurrances.

River Children
Children can be seen playing along the banks of the Mekong River at every waterfront village. They would always wave and shout hello as we passed by.

Fisherman
Not fisher of men but definitely fisherman hard at work all day making a living from sunrise to sunset.

Caves
Some of the many discarded Buddha statues left at the caves a kind of graveyard of old statues.

Detail
A close-up of one of the many statues that are still worshipped even after they have been left within the cave.

Children
Some of the children we met in the hills, always happy always saying hello.

Bridge
The 'Indiana Jones' bridge that Jason and I crossed, carefully!

Hmong Village
One of the many village houses that made up the Hmong village in the hills.

Sleeping
The humidity is so high that for some the best option in the afternoon is a siesta!

Water Carrier
Of course there isn't much in the way of running water from taps therefore that has to be collected from the river.

Farming
Working from dawn till dusk in the fields, there are no hose pipes so watering is by hand, not the old fashioned way in Laos, the only way!

Waterfall
Your intrepid explorer and author discovers a waterfall for Queen and country, except many others had already found it, 'gee what a shame'

Kayaking
Kayaking leisurely the Mekong, except Jason and I spent more time in it than on it.

Lunch
Our kayak guide rustles up a nice BBQ for lunch.

Watching
As we ate our BBQ lunch the local children watched hoping they would get whatever we didn't decide to eat!

Tuk Tuk
One of the many thousands of 'tuk, tuks' in Vientianne and throughout Asia.

Golden
The impressive Golden Buddhist Temple in Vientianne.

Ancient Temple
The ancient Hindu temple complex at Champasak.

Ancient Temple Detail
The carvings within the stone were the most impressive part of the temple, even today the detail is incredible.

On Yer Bike
My stupid excuse for a bike, the saddle kept falling too low at every bump and it had but one gear.

4000 Islands
A view of the 4000 Islands that are formed by the lazy Mekong River.

Bridge
This 'french made' railway bridge links two of the islands, I spent a day on the other island exploring beaches and villages.

Memories
the river lazily flowing past, children playing and swimming, men fishing and buffalo grazing. 4000 Islands was just bliss, sweet memories!

Finally
My travel companion and who I consider good friend Jason, good company and good conversation, even if he did thrash me at pool most nights.

Comments

[Foxy]

Tubing
Another great blog. The photos are amazing and your writing, as ever, is really interesting and I couldn't do anything but read once I started Loads of love Foxy xxxxxxx