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Published: January 28th 2008
Vang Vieng From the Philippines we flew to Bangkok, where we only spent a couple of days catching up with friends who also happened to be in the city. It was great to see some familiar faces, and go beyond the usual where’ve you been, where you going next conversations that we usually only have time for with the majority of people we meet.
From Bangkok we caught a bus up to Nong Khai near the Laos border, and crossed over with minimal hassle getting our Visas at the crossing, we then jumped on a Tuk Tuk the last few km to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Over breakfast we decided to carry straight on to Vang Vieng, a backpacker mecca a few hours further north. We’d heard mixed reports about the place, some people said they loved it, others not, and to be perfectly honest, the way it was described, both in the guidebook and by people we met, made us believe it really wouldn’t be our thing, but we like to make up our own opinions so we thought we’d check it out.
We’d been told that the main activity in the town is tubing (sitting
in an inflated inner tube) down the Nam Song River (which runs past the town), stopping at various makeshift bars along the way, until you finally reach the town, where you can then lounge around the many bars and restaurants chomping on ‘happy’ pizza watching endless re-runs of Friends on the big TVs. Like I said… really not our idea of fun. To be honest, when we arrived, the scenario I just mentioned is exactly what we found, what was understated though was just how incredibly beautiful the surrounding
karst scenery, and accompanying river really are. It really isn’t hard to see why the area became such an attraction in the first place.
On our first day, we hired a scooter to explore the surrounding caves and scenery. Riding a motorbike isn’t normally an issue for us, as we ride them all the time, the only problem was the roads were really terrible (once we were bouncing up a dried riverbed) and we were given a brand new bike with only 40 or so km on the clock. Every time we heard a stone ping off the front or the undercarriage jarring against a rock, we cringed, hoping that
it left no noticeable mark, which we’d have to pay through the nose for when we returned it.
Some of the caves we visited were quite interesting, though they would have been better if we’d had a good torch so we could explore further. Outside one though there was an inviting river with a few rope swings, which was just perfect for cooling off.
Our second day in Vang Vieng, we spent on the river, only we decided to try kayaking with a guide rather than tubing, this way we were more in control and maybe a little more informed as to what we were seeing. It’s a really beautiful river filled with locals doing their own thing, and it was a really nice leisurely paddle. We stopped at a few points along the river, taking in the bars and jumping platforms, one was particularly spectacular as it had a ridiculously high rope swing, and after a few deliciously ice cold Beer Lao’s it would be wrong not to give them a go! We also stopped at some caves which the Lao used as shelter during the war with the Chinese, and were given the opportunity to blow
out our candles and wander around in total darkness like they had to. Pretty scary stuff, especially as our guide decided to ‘disappear’ for 10 minutes or so, leaving us on our own, stumbling around in the dark.
After finishing on the river we made our way back into town and were invited by our guide to make a guest appearance at an English class that he teaches every evening. As this would be a great opportunity to get away from the usual crowd we thought it was a great idea and turned up to find a class of smiling faces, aged between 14 and 19. As we really didn’t know what level they were at, we were pretty much useless at teaching them anything that they didn’t already know, and I think we just ended up being more of a distraction. It can really dent the self esteem being laughed at by a whole class for an hour, but it was good fun, and we really enjoyed the interaction it gave us with the local kids.
We really enjoyed our time in Vang Vieng, sure it can be a little tacky, but it was amazing to see
the Lao people going about all their usual day to day activities with all this tourism going on around them. The river is still utilised as I imagine it always has, with fishing and the gathering of weed for food, the only difference is every now and again a tourist floats past, also the scenery is simply spectacular and it would be a real shame to miss it.
Luang Prabang From Vang Vieng, we caught a local bus to Luang Prabang, a seven hour journey through the rugged terrain. Situated on the Mekong and Khan rivers, it’s littered with dozens of Wats (temples), and it’s quite usual to see several Buddhist monks strolling around town. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995 as it’s a prime example of a well preserved union between traditional Lao and colonial architecture, and they’re not wrong as it really is a beautiful town with an amazing atmosphere.
We spent a couple of days enjoying the town’s waterfronts, Wat hopping and browsing the really laid back (by Asian standards anyway) night market. We also enjoyed a massage every evening as you really can’t go wrong for $3!
While
we were strolling around the town we came across a cookery school with day long courses, some of the proceeds of which go towards a local orphanage. This seemed like a great opportunity as we’ve always wanted to try a cookery course, and here seemed as good an opportunity as any, to try and inject a little Asian flavour into our cooking.
First thing in the morning we were taken to a local market where we were talked through a variety of the local ingredients, and given ideas of what alternatives to use when we’re back home where some of it won’t be available. Faye and I always end up going round a produce market wherever we go, so although this wasn’t particularly a new experience for us, it was great to actually have someone there with us who could tell us what we were looking at, rather than us just wandering round muttering ‘what the hell is that’ every five minutes.
Once back in class, we were shown how to make a couple of dishes then given the opportunity to go and try it for ourselves. We then ate what we made for lunch. This was the
set up for the day… We were shown some dishes, had to make some choices as to which one we wanted to try making, and then got cracking, finishing up by eating the results. Although we were undoubtedly given fairly simple recipes to try, it really was amazing what flavours you could create just by throwing a few ingredients together in a wok and then giving them a quick stir. It was a really enjoyable day, and hopefully all the knowledge we gained will stick long enough for us to give it all a try when we get back home, thankfully though we were given a recipe book, which should prompt the grey matter.
We decided to leave Laos early as we were getting a little anxious about leaving it so late to get down to the south of Thailand for New Years Eve, so we decided to change our plans and spend Christmas in Northern Thailand. The easiest way to do this was to catch a slow boat from Luang Prabang up the Mekong all the way to Huay Xai at the Thai border. It took two days (9 hours each day) of slow chugging up the river
sat on small wooden benches but it wasn’t a bad journey as the views were pretty spectacular, and the boat was quite large with few people on it so we had plenty of space to stretch out.
Although we didn’t stay long in Laos and saw very little of what the country has to offer, it certainly gave us a taster of what an amazing country it is, and we now know that we want to return when we undoubtedly come back to South East Asia in the future.
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Angie
non-member comment
hey....after a long time
hey guys!! I'm so glad you're still travelling and that everything goes as planned. Once I promised to be with you...and read all your journals... i'm so sorry I didn't do it. but I do have the subscription so from time to time I check on you... it seems like you're having a wonderful time... Well, enjoy!! :)) Greetings from Croatia! Angela