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Published: December 23rd 2006
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Vang Vieng
Our riverside bungalows in the background Hi Everyone, hope you're all doing well and enjoying the festive spirit in your respective countries!
Rich / Slivs we thought of you guys on the 16th, and hope that you had a truly special wedding day. Look forward to seeing the pics.
Since we last wrote, we spent a few more weeks in Laos and have crossed the border into Thailand which is the last of our destinations until we get on the plane for Sydney next month...hard to believe its approaching so quickly.
We headed North in Laos after Luang Prabang for some more adventures of kayaking and trekking. It was quiet and isolated up there, so different from what we'd experiened anywhere else. On one morning we set off for our trek and upon ascending the nature reserve (protected and known for its beauty), our guide kept stopping to pick at his shoes, and then told us very casually to watch out for the leetches - we immediately looked down to find our shoes and socks covered with these ugly worms, it was horrendous and so hard to pull them off as they stick to you. Definitely NOT the highlight of our trip so far!
Vang Vieng - Laos
A lazy afternoon watching the sunset I've never felt so repulsed, they are so slimy and quick to get to you. I escaped with one bite .. Craig not so lucky, he was nailed 5 times - 2 of which had crawled up his legs to suck on his lower back...arrgh! The bites don't actually hurt but they sure bleed a lot from the anti coagulant and were itching for days afterwards.
That joyful experience behind us, we ventured south to Vang Vieng. A place which truly is as hedonistic as the guidebook promises. It's a backpackers paradise set in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by stunning scenery - drastic mountains and a river carving through them.
We camped out at some fantastic bamboo bunglows with views simular to the Drakensburg back home. The restaurants, perched on an island, are connected by rickety bridges - quite stunning. They really have it sussed there, you order lunch at the bar and have it served to you on little makeshift bamboo huts over the river - we spent a good few avie's there lying on the hammocks watching the sunset...not too shaby!
And then of course the tubing is what everyone does in Vang Vieng. It's
Vang Vieng - Laos
The riverside restaurants a great day of sun, riverside pubs and monkeyswings over the water.
4 Thousand Islands was our last stop in Laos, its at the very south bordering Cambodia. The islands are so basic and that is the appeal. There are no roads and no electricity, just a generator between certain hours of the day and Mekong river water is pumped through the outside showers. It has a real slow time island atmosphere - a couple we met there had been returning each year for the last 8 years. At $1.50 for accommodation you can almost understand. And of course it didn't take me long to locate the only baker on the island! An Australian guy who'd set up there 3 years ago and is doing a booming trade - helped daily by my indulgences in the time we spent there.
The trip from 4 thousand islands (Laos) to Ko Tao (Thailand) took up the next 38 hours of our lives. We took every form of transport imaginable and even shared one horrific leg of the journey on a tuk-tuk crammed with people, buckets of fish splashing around, live chickens and a snake (horror of all horrors for me!).
We thought we were over the worst by the time we boarded our ferry for the island of Ko Tao in Thailand, only to discover the swells were 7m high - the effect of the previous night's storm - it was one helluva trip, with tissues and plastic 'sick' packets being issued to everyone (much needed by myself & half the boat..) but we survived the 3 hours pale faced and sweating.
It is amazing though how a Thai massage on the beach followed by a coctkail and a good night's sleep helps one forget so quickly...and of course, it still beats a bad day in the office!
Craig completed his open water skuba diving course on Ko Tao at a great diving school, where they do barbecue's every night on the beach, and we'll be meeting up with some mates tomorrow to head across to Ko Lanta (on the west coast) for Xmas, it promises to be very festive!
Wishing you guys all a very happy Christmas with friends and family and all the best for 2007!
Love Craig & Ruth
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Mart
non-member comment
Merry Christmas
Good to hear you are still having a great time. Glad you survived the leeches. Happy Xmas and hope to see you in Oz in 2007. Take it easy, M