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Published: December 21st 2014
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I've spent the last week in Laos and it has been so interesting. Its very different to Thailand - a lot less weasternised and much more poverty. Our guide has been telling us what Laos was like when it was occupied by the french and later by the Japanese. During the second indochina war Laos became the most bombed country in the world per capita. We have seen lots of Lao villages along the way and it has been interesting to see the houses made out of bamboo, women grinding rice and lots of children running around. As a communist country there is censorship with regards to demonstrations etc but unlike china people have access to the internet and outside sources such as Thai tv.
Our first destination in Laos was Pakbeng - a remote town overlooking the Mekong river. For dinner I sampled a traditional Lao meal called Lap which consists of ground chicken with lime juice and herbs.
The next day we continued our trip down the Mekong river by boat, stopping off at the Pak Ou caves on the way. The first cave contained over 4000 Buddha statues which was very impressive. People give a statue
to their monk who brings it to the cave for them. After arriving in Luang Prabang we headed out to the street market for dinner. I had chicken breast on a stick and pork gyozas - pretty adventurous for me! After dinner we browsed the huge night market and practiced our haggaling skills!
The next day we visited the Kuang Sii waterfall which is the biggest waterfall I have ever seen. We decided to climb to the top of the waterfall which was supposed to be a 20 minute walk through the jungle. After over an hour and a half of walking, one stream crossing and a ripped pair of trousers later we had to accept that we were lost and turn round and come back. We never saw the top of the waterfall but we did get to swim in the bright blue water at the bottom when we climbed down. We also went to a bear rescue cente where they rescue bears from chinese farms who harvest bear bile for traditional medicine. In the evening we were cooked dinner by a local lao family. The food was amazing, especially the chicken curry and the fried aubergine. At
the start of the meal the family blessed the food and then us by tying string around our wrists. We ended the day with a drink at a bar called utopia which overlooked the Mekong river and was popular with tourists looking for a game of midnight volleyball.
On our final day in Luang Prabang we went on a bike tour of the town where we visited a crematorium, a temple and cycled across a rather precarious bridge. We also visted the UXO (unexploded ordinance) museum where we learnt about the large ammount of unexploded bombs there are around the country and how this is detrimental to lao people and the development of Lao and the work being done to remove Uxo all over the country. After this we climbed up to a temple on a hill where we watched a strunning sunset.
The next day began with a 7 hour drive to a village just outside of Vang Vieng to spend the night in a local homestay. The drive through the mountains was beautiful and we even stopped off at a service station where the toilet is facing a huge open window with no glass and an
amazing view over the mountains! At the homestay I was staying with 2 other girls and a local lao family. The mother did not speak much english but she told us she had 8 children. We met some of her sons who were very keen to meet us and give us lots of beer lao. The mother lent us some traditional skirts and we set off to eat dinner with the rest of the group in one of the other homestays. After dinner we got to take part in local dancing with the village children. They taught us some local dances and they were so cute! It was an interesting nights sleep with two us us sharing a single mosquito net but it was a great experience.
The next morning we transfered to a hotel in Vang Vieng - known as the party town of Laos. We then went tubing inside a cave. This is where you sit in a rubber tube floating in water and you pull youself through the cave using a piece of rope. The cave was 500 meters deep and was amazing to see although it was pretty chilly! After a bbq lunch by the
cave we kayaked 10 meters down the river back to the town. The river had some small rapids which made it exciting! We stopped of for drinks at one of the party bars a long the way. After watching the sunset over the mountains we went for dinner and drinks at an irish bar.
The next day we traveled to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We had a wonder round and climbed up victory gate - which resembled the arc de triomphe. This was built as a celebration when laos was freed from the french - a wierd thing to build I thought! Later on we watched the sunset over the river before eating our final lao meal and wondering round the night market.
On Friday we decided to celebrate an early Christmas and when I woke up there was a stocking full of chocolate in my bed! We flew to Hanoi which took most of the day. We were taken to the wrong hotel so when we arrived it was quite late. We went out for a traditional vietnamese meal in the old quarter of the city. I tried Pho Ga which is chicken with rice noodles in a broth. Its quite nice but I much preferred eating curry in Laos! After dinner we went to a bar which was very busy and we celebrated christmas early! There were lots of locals in there but also lots of tourists wearing santa hats and tinsel.
The next morning we went to visit Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum which is where you can see Ho Chi Minh's body. It was a very impressive building and everybody was very quiet and ordered as they walked round. In Hanoi it is impossible to forget you are in a communist country as the flags are everywhere. Our guide was very keen on Ho Chi Minh and explained that the vietnamese people are so grateful that he gave them freedom. When asked if they have elections she explained that they do but the people who win have been chosen already. She wouldn't say much else about it as we were in a public place. We also visited the temple of literature where there was a big statue of Confucius and and graduatiom ceremony taking place. In the afternoon we went to see a water puppets show - where the puppets perform to vietnamese singing and music. After this we went for a drink in a skybar that overlooked the city and the lake - it was very pretty and a lovely way to end the trip. Hanoi was the busiest city I have been to on my travels and a few days there was enough! There are so many people and so so so many mopeds! People can carry 12 boxes or their whole market stall on one tiny moped!
I am now on a flight back to Bangkok, from there I will fly to Colombo and then back to London (49 hour trip home!) I can't wait to see you all and thank you for following my travel blog 😊
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