Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 561

We ended up catching up with Arno after we got a tuk tuk to the waterfalls. He was riding some of the way with one pedal but luckily some locals helped him out on the way to re-attach it. The big waterfall in Luang Probang is very beautiful but is crowded with tourists. Thinking that we'd be a bit different, we hiked to the very top and peered over (a daunting sight to say the least). After coming back down, we'd definitely earned a swim at the base of the waterfall, where the water is clear and fresh but extremely cold. Some of the boys (including a crazy Queenslander who was trying to climb up to the top) jumped off the rocks into the pool just below the waterfall, while i took some action shots. Around ... read more

We've been on the road a month now! Okay, here's some things we've noticed on the way, but don't really fit in a blog. 1. Laotian goats are very muscular. 2. There's a brand of toilet paper here called 'Sit & Smile'. 3.The Eagles followed us all around Thailand. Every...Single...Town. I kind of got used to it, and have now chosen Take It Easy as my favourite song, because really, you shouldn't let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy. Stuart wasn't as impressed, mainly because he had to listen to me singing into our torch, or a bottle, or a fork... 4. In Luang Prabang I had a drink called a Lemon Nana! Here's a picture... 5. Also, here's a picture of a tiger for Harry, and if you go back to the ... read more

It must be more than a week since I've updated, oic! Luang Prabang: We arrived a couple of days before Christmas (via a propeller plane; Stuart was pretty excited by this), and stayed nearly a week. There's not actually that much to report from there re: activities, because we kind of took it easy. It was that kind of town. Mostly, we wandered about and sat along the Mekong at the little restaurants there and read our books etc. Yes, Stuart is reading! I even have a photo. We weren't all that energetic because the people staying in the room next to us were two of the biggest @#@#($)()%*)*@^)*@%^)*6's ever. I truly, truly hated them for keeping us up every night. You get that way when sleep is hard to come by anyway, and then some ... read more

The VIP bus regurgitates the passengers for Vang Vieng onto the gravelly disused airstrip that separates the town from the highway. Disembarking, approached by tuk-tuks and leaflets for guesthouses - I choose the first, $3 a night with the hottest shower I've experienced in south-east asia I decide to stay at the Thavisouk. It's the 26th of December 2005, I plan to stay a few days and head to Pak Say and the four thousand islands fairly quickly. The town of Vang Vieng is small, a couple of streets lined with backpacker bars, low slung tables with comfortable recliner cushions popular in Thailand. Canned laughter spills out on to the dusty streets, the sounds of endless episodes of “Friends” being played on DVDs from restaurants I vow never to attend. Despite a heavy cold I decide ... read more

Last letter lost in cyberspace. Hope this one takes. We arrived in Vientiane last night on Air Lao, an airline not certified yet by international standards, but the propeller kept going round and round and got us here safely from Bangkok. After checking into our rooms at the Settha Palace, lovely French colonial restoration, we had dinner at 10:00, one of our best the whole trip. It was french cuisine, and I had delicious lamb chops, Tom had sirloin and Manuel eggplant. We were in heaven after a day of travel. This morning after a less delicious breakfast we meandered into town, a small city actually, the capital of Laos, but pretty rustic. We visited a few Wats (vats, here), walked through town checking out the shops and had a delicious Lao lunch. Lao is known ... read more