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Published: August 9th 2007
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Another day, another country...Does this mean the first "leg" of our trip is over? I think I've decided that South East Asia is our first proper leg, so that makes Laos next.....finger, or something similar. And anyway we'll be back in Thailand. Yesterday we reluctantly said goodbye to Chiang Mai for good, although we will be back in Thailand in a few weeks, though much further south. We spent our last full day checking out the new city, which is much busier than the old quarter, but I still really liked the place (and you wouldn't believe where a Starbucks can pop up). Wandered into a gorgeous little gift shop and treated myself to my first holiday jewellery item - a must! That evening we went to the night bizarre (after a BLEEDIN DELISH mexican dinner), which the city is fairly well famed for. I am of the opinion that markets are pretty much like temples; after a while they all merge into one and it all gets a little bit tired. This market however, really was worth a look. As well as the usual stalls (which get very repetitive) there were indoor areas with an unbelievable amount of jewellery; from
your usual wooden holiday necklaces to really high quality silver. Claud picked up some clothes along the way. We ended up going to a little pub called the Shamrock Bar (I promise we were inside before we realised what it was called!), for a few drinks. The owner, a thai guy called Dom, sat down with us for the night, and basically kept the bar open for us. He was a fantastic bloke, filled us in a lot about the history of the region, and told us how he used to own four bars in the south but lost them all in the floor. So there we were, mid conversation, when who popped up behind us than a BABY ELEPHANT!! No kidding, this was whack bang in the middle of the city, nelly junior turns up. Obviously, Sabrina screamed. There were two nasty blokes with the elephant, one of whom had a hook in its ear. So cruel. Dom told us that it is illegal in Thailand to treat the animals so badly, but that at night, the police turn a total blind eye. We've heard a couple of nasty stories about how the elephants are treated at the touristy
camps, so I think we'll be avoiding them altogether. Anyway, we soon dried our tears for nelly, and the night turned into a late one and it wasn't long before Claud was serving behind the bar, and we took complete control of the jukebox. Dom dom dom, it's never a good idea to tell three Irish girls they can stay as long as they like.
So with sore heads (and a heavy heart, aw) we said goodbye to Chiang Mai this morning. We decided a while ago that we're going to fly in and out of Laos (cue boos and hisses from "proper" be-dreadlocked backpackers), One hour on a plane sounds a whole lot more attractive than going on a boat with no loos for two days. Plus, the ticket was only 100 dollars, which really isn't all that much in the grand scheme of things. The only snag was, we were flying Laos airlines, famed for their lack of a safety record. That, and several foreign embassies (including the irish i think, but would ya really trust the miniature dermot ahern??) have warnings in place advising their citizens not to fly with them. Dodge. My apprehension was not helped
Behind the bar
...and making ourselves at home at the Shamrock Bar by the message on the fold up table on the seat in front "Please use Seat as Flotation Device". Oh good god. BUT, except for some dodgy turbulance mid flight, the whole experience was a breeze, and I only really felt close to death for a few minutes. Easy peasy. And (take note Michael O'Leary) there was even some grub on board. Not that we ate it of course.
Less shaken than after your usual tuc tuc experience, we arrived in Luang Prabang airport and were ROBBED of 36 dollars for a visa. However, I must say when we got our passports back, it seemed like a bargain - the visa is the coolest one I've ever seen, providing instant passport kudos! Luang Prabang is a world heritage site, and its location is truely stunning. It's set in the middle of gorgeous green mountains, which are constantly visible as you wander around the village. The road into town isn't much more than a wide dirt track, and due to the lack of options on hostelworld.com, this was the first place we hadn't booked ahead for aacomodation. So we had to go along with one of the locals...the place we've booked
into is fine, but we do kinda have to walk through a shack/local living room to get to our building. We were all happy enough with our room, until Larry the Lizard turned up later on. Oh dear. Despite his diminutive size, Larry still managed to spark mild panic in the Irish camp. Predominately in the Sherlock quarters. But after much nancying about, we decided Larry or one of his close relatives would probably turn up in any room in this country, so we kinda have to get on with things. Wandered around the village tonight, and it really is very pretty; tiny little shops selling all sorts of trinkets, restaurants, massage salons and the odd wine bar line the main street Sisavingvong. There's a Hmong night market every night on a couple of the side streets; canvas stalls are lit up by pretty little coloured lights. Thanks to its UNESCO stamp of approval the entire place is completely undeveloped and is definitely the most rural place I have ever been too. Being "rural" however, also seems to mean everyone goes to bed by 11 o'clock, so we were forced to snuggle up with Larry, without so much as a
Singha to calm our nerves.
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Roisin
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MEADSER!!!
Hello Lady, so great to hear of all your adventures. Sounds like you are having a great time. Hmong markets - so jealous! Fair play with the mountian bikes - I took the jeep! Will email goss soon xx