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Published: November 18th 2009
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Hi All
Its Laura this time picking up from Sam mid Laos. (for Luang Prabang photos, please see Vang Vieng blog)
We had only heard good things about Luang Prabang and after the bus journey we needed it to live up to its expectations. It did. On arrival we found a place to stay with another British couple, Andy and Carrie from Devon and met up with Naimh and Darragh again for food. Just walking through the city in the evening you can feel how relaxed it is. Plus after great food, on a BBQ cooking our meal of meat ourselves, we knew we are going to like it.
We spend the next few days exploring the city, Wats and views in the never ending sunshine. So much of the architecture is adorned in gold that combined with the sun’s rays you really feel like you are almost glowing yourself. The French influence is still strong here and the city had a real charm.
However for both of us it was at night that Luang Prabang comes alive. The main street is closed off and transforms into a great night market. Sam loved the food, BBQ fish
on stick is the only way, eyes and all. For me unsurprisingly it was the rows of jewellery stalls which Sam became scared of. No hassle just happy locals plus cake and ice coffee.
We also headed over to a local waterfall where we were surprised to find such an extensive piece of nature with many tiers. There was also a bear sanctuary and it was nice to see happy animals playing. Unfortunately all other tourists to LP did the same thing. By the time we were ready to go for a swim in one of the tiers pools the place was packed and there was some kind of rope swing competition on the go. The market was waiting for us though, meat on stick always makes you smile!
Many people tend to forget how long they have stayed in Luang Prabang as time flies and we could have easily stayed there for weeks but it would have just made us fat.
Instead we headed north again to Nong Kaiw, a 3 hour journey that miraculously took 2 hours, how we got through it I am not sure. When we arrived we needed to take a slow
boat up river for another hour to reach Muang Ngoi, our destination. The boat was doing the school run so gave us a great opportunity to see the locals at their best. Muang Ngoi is a little village that was destroyed in the Vietnam war by US bombs. It has now been rebuilt involving a few parallel roads in line with the river, overlooking stunning lime stone karsts. I would say on a daily basis only about 20 Falang ( tourists) turn up here as it is so remote but beautiful. It still felt liek we were doubling the population.
From the village it is easy to walk into the hills and explore villages and countryside. This makes this place very popular with tourists wanting to get further off the beaten track but we still felt like we were imposing on the locals lives. Tourism is their main income and everywhere you turned there was another building site which is quite an achievement considering they only have electricity between 6-9pm. We could definitely see the beauty but I think this little place will get more and more overrun with tourists and will become unrecognisable in time. They need some
help to sustain themselves so their desperation for our money shone through which made us feel uncomfortable. The poverty in Laos was clearer once you leave the main cities and highlights why this is still classed as a developing nation. Hopefully the government will share the profits from tourism with teh rural areas that desperately need it.
We did however have a nice few days in Muang Ngoi, we met a couple living in Portsmouth and ate as much as possible as usual.
The plan was to head overland west to the Thai border but time was going to be tight to be in a beautiful place for Sam’s birthday. So in order have the time to see as much as we wanted in Thailand we decided to head back to Lunag Prabang and fly into Chiang Mai, Thailand. The transport back to LP was a larger tuk tuk bus that at one point had 27 passengers, a chicken and luggage. This time it did take 3 hours, still impressive considering the vehicle. So with numb bums we got back to Luang Prabang and booked a flight for the next day. It is always reassuring going back to
somewhere you know, especially if you liked it first time round. We knew we had to just head through but I think we could have easily got lost in the market for a few more weeks. We were both ready for Thailand.
We like Laos. It is as relaxed as we had been told so you get far less hassle however you should never go to order food hungry as they have not mastered cooking more than one dish at a time yet. They are still learning regarding the tourism industry but are not as aggressive as Vietnam which helps. It does seem that the sun always shines in Laos which always helps but we were intrigued to see how it compares to Thailand.
Right that is Laos and we are already in Thailand and will update soon. Plus pictures should be flowing through to you all now from the last month so check them out.
Continue to keep us updated about everything from old Blighty.
Miss you all, lots of love
Laura &Sam
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Ken
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Glad the sun's shining somewhere !
Hi darlings Laos sounds amazing - and I'd gladly trade the odd numb bum for just a glimpse of sunshine. Your adventures are wonderful and we're loving the updates so keep at it ! We miss you both heaps. Ken x