Laos

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Hello everyone 😊

Hope you all enjoyed the nice and depressing Cambodia blog! Thankfully Laos wasn't quite as depressing (although, like Cambodia, it has a landmine problem, has suffered through various wars, and is the most bombed country in the world!!).

From the slightly dodgy Phnom Penh we took a flight North up to the capital of Laos, Vientiane. It, along with the majority of places in Laos, had a very French feel to it. For a capital city is was extremely small and quiet, but compared to the rest of Laos it is pretty big. We spent 4 nights in the capital and took in the usual sights. Saw a few wats (temples), and other monuments. Overall though the place was pretty dull.

After our Stint there we caught a bus 3 hours north to Vang Viang, the backpacking capital of Laos. It is only a very small place, but it is famous for its karst scenary and the activities available. You can do rock climbing, caving, and kayaking. The most famous activity though, and the one we took part in, was tubing down the Nam Xong River. Basically a tuk tuk loads up with the inner tubes of tractor tyres and then takes you North a few kilometers. From here you are free to float down stream, just like a 'lazy river' in waterparks. Their is an added dimension to this though as on route are several riverside 'bars', with swings and Zip lines (all made out of bamboo!) which try to tempt you in with cheap beerlao! We stopped at a couple but if you stopped at all of them you would be a seriously drunk tuber!

After only a couple of nights in Vang Viang we proceeded North again, on a nine hour bus journey, through the mountains, on some seriously twisty roads (not a particularly pleasant journey) to Luang Prabang which is town protected as a world heritage site. Placed just along side the Mekong river, Luang Prabang is an extremely nice little place with plenty to see and do (for a few days at least). The town had a really cool atmosphere with wats and buddhist monks everywhere!

From LP we then had the mammoth task of getting to Houy Xai and the Thai border in the North. To do this we had to get a slow boat all the way up the Mekong which took us two days (19 hours travelling!) with a stopover in the pretty grim place of Pakbeng (whose electricity is cut off at 10pm!). It wasn't too bad though and we managed to catch some good scenary.

That pretty much sums up Laos. Like I said in the last blog, we are now in Chiang Mai which is really nice. Will try to put pics up of that later as well.

Goodbye for now 😊

Chris n James

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Photos

Beer Lao!
The pride and joy of the Lao nation! Tastes good and at $1 for a big bottle it's a bargain!

Patouxai - Vientiane
At the end of a long road, which is very much like the Champs Elysees in Paris, stands this four sided arch, which again, like Paris, is similar to the Arc de Triomphe. French influence again!

View from Patouxai - Vientiane
Looking along the Champs Elysees-esque road.

That Louang - Vientiane
Laos' most sacred religious building.

Dodgy Bamboo Riverside Structures!
The riverside bars were all dodgy little bamboo structures. There are plenty of swings and flying foxes as well built with the same stuff. Don't think they'd get past health & safety in England!

Slash and Burn
You see slash and burn being used all over the country. They basically just stick a torch to the trees and let nature takes its course. Basically a man made bush fire. This one actually delayed our bus to Luang Prabang as the flames had engulfed the road!

Twisty road to Luang Prabang
Its only about 150km to Luang Prabang from Vang Viang but because the roads are so twisty and they go high in to the mountains (as you can see here) it takes forever!

That Chomsi - Luang Prabang
That Chomsi sits on top of this small hill (Phou si) and the main town is based between it and the Mekong.

Monks descending from That Chomsi
Monks are everywhere in LP. No matter how many you see, it is still quite a novelty.

Royal Palace Museum
The old Royal Palace before Lao became a PDR (People's Democratic Republic).