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Published: April 28th 2007
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From not having booked anything in Pai, at the end of my last post, we managed to sort out (in less that an hour, I'd like to point out) an overnight minibus to the Thai/Laos border, along with a two day boat trip that would take us down the Mekong river to eventually end up at Luang Prabang. And we were very pleased with ourselves.
All well and good, we thought. Well, sort of. The minibus was driven by a man who didn't believe in corners, the result of which was absolutly no sleep (ever tried to snooze on a roundabout whilst it's spinning? No? Me neither, but I can only imagine the nauseating effects are similar to the windy mountain roads/mad driving combination we experienced).
Turned up to the border at Stupid O Clock in the morning (the border being a river that you need to get a boat across, followed by a hut you need to show your passport at), only to discover that during the fun and games of the waterfights in Chiang Mai, I had completly soaked my passport, as had Ro, and all the stamps and Visa stuff had run to the point
Mekong River Boat
OK, I'm well aware that this photo is only showing the posh confy seats on the boat. I can assure you that ours were not like these...but its the only photo I have. of disappearing. Uh oh.
Actually, it was fine - they didn't blink an eye - used to it I guess. So, we made our way to the dock, where we got on out boat that would take us to Luang Prabang. The boat was great, bar the tiny wooden benches that we would sit on for two days. But the scenery along the Mekong was incredable. As it runs through a mountinous vally, we were more-or-less constantly surrounded by rocky outcrops, bright sunlight, and the mighty Mekong. And just to make the time go faster, the enterprising folk who ran the boat sold BeerLao and crisps too.
By the evening of the first day, we made it to the halfway point of the journey, where we got off the boat and found a guesthouse to spend a saddle-sore night in. This was only after rescuing our bags from the 'porters' who appeared, and tried to set off up the hill with out being asked to, and who would then demand money at the top.
Absolutly nothing special about this place, just a stop-off point. Amusingly, the power goes out every night at 11ish, so the lights and
Waterfall outside Luang Prabang
Finnish bloke called Joel jumping off one of the little waterfalls and into a pool. fans all stop working - so if you aren't in bed by that point, you struggle to find it.
The next day consisted of much the same. Fortunatly, we met a load of nice people on the boat, so the whole journey was actually pretty fun.
Got to Luang Prabang mid afternoon, and found a hostel (pound a night, by the way - bargin). Didn't do a huge amount that night, explored a bit and ate. Laos food seems to be fairly similar to Thai at the moment and yet I still love noodles and rice. Luckily.
Luang Prabang, by the way, has a really French feel about it. All the architecture, baguettes etc etc - throwbacks from when the French colonised Laos (until about 60 years ago).
The whole time we were there, it was very hot, around 45 degrees. So the ideal plan for the next day was to head off to a local waterfall, where we could go swimming. Dead nice place, similar to the ones we went to near Bangkok actually.
There was the typical market on every night here as well, selling all the locally made stuff - scarves, jewelry
and clothes. And at night, after the few bars shut - at about 11 - everyone who wants to stay out moves to the local bowling alley to carry on drinking. Bizzarre, but apparently this is a common thing throughout Laos.
On the last morning we were there, we got up at 5 in the morning to feed some monks. The Buddist Monks get up every morning early, to collect their alms (?) from people - essentially, they walk along with bowls, and people fill them with food for their day. So, we sat on a street corner, with a load of sticky rice, and waited for the 200ish monks in the town to come past. Very, very tired at that time, but glad we did it.
After Luang Prabang, we moved down to Vang Vieng. This is a pretty popular place amonst travellers, because of all the activities you can do here - climbing, kayaking and tubing, mainly. Tubing was hilarious - essentially, you go a few kilkometres up-stream of the village with a rubber ring, and float down the river, back to the town. On the way are loads of roap swings and death slides; and
far too many river-side bars. Great fun. Sadly, no photos, cos my camera would have gotten ruined.
Unfortunatly, the following couple of days, I got food poisoning, so couldn't go climbing or kayaking. When I felt better, we had to leave, because by this point we are some way behind schedule.
Next stop was Phonsavan, to see the Plane of Jars. These are a multitude of ancient stone jars, some taller than me, scattered around the countryside. No one really knows why they are there, but the suspect some sort of burying ritual in at least some of the sites.
The whole area was also covered in bomb craters and has had to undergo extensive mine removal to make it safe. In fact, everywhere in town you look, you can see relics from the war, from grenades and bullets to huge bombs used as decoration. Apparently, the entire province was levelled, and so most of it is only around 35 - 40 years old.
Then, after spending only one night here, we headed South, to the capital of Laos, Vietienne. This has the same French feel that Luang Prabang had, and although there isn't that much
to do, it is a nice place to waste a bit of time. We went for a drink in a riverside bar to see the sunset, and instead got stuck there for two hours in the most torrential rain I have seen in ages. Thunder, lightning, the lot. Not that much of a suprise though - we are fast approaching the rainy season out here, so we'll just have to get used to it.
Did a bit of sightseeing yesterday, including the Laos version of the Champs Elysee and the Arc de Triumphe - which was built with concrete the Americans donated after they has bombed the country to bits. We also went to see the Laos national monument, a huge golden building called Pha That Luang, which features on theit national seal.
Tonight, we plan to get a night bus to a city in the south, called Pakse. From there, we will go to the Four-thousand Islands (a group of islands in thye middle of the Mekong which are supposed to be very nice), and that will be our final stop in Laos. Sad, because we are behind schedule, we are having to rush a little bit
to make sure we don't fall behind anymore - we could have easlily spend a lot more time in all of these places. Ah well, I'll just have to come back.
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