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Published: March 27th 2006
Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang
Monk and wheelbarrow in foreground.(Dave writes)
After our last blog entry we got a bus to the border of Northern Thailand and Laos. We crossed the Mekong there and bought our visa before taking a two-day boat trip from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, with a stop for one night at a village on the way. The boat was packed with backpackers and quite cramped and uncomfortable (most people sit on tiny wooden benches), the scenery was great and we made a few friends on the way so overall it was enjoyable.
Luang Prabang is the highlight of Laos for most travellers and we adored it. It's a town predomiantly composed of white French colonial architecture and green palms, with wats scattered around the town and plenty of nice restaurants. It was interesting to see the remnants of French rule - baguettes, creperies, french restaurants etc. There was also a great night market there with high quality fabrics, all in all it had a lovely laidback atmosphere that tempts you into spending most of your visa there.
Whilst there we did a day trip by boat up the river to the Nam Ou caves, a cave complex that is well known for
Crossing the Mekong
Leaving Thailand for Laos. the large number of Buddha statues and figures that have been deposited there. On the way up we stopped at two villages, firstly to see a paper-making village, which was interesting, then to see Lao Lao (rice whisky) being made - quite rough compared to similar whisky we'd tried in Thailand. We took the trip with a bunch of other travellers, including an English couple called Jack and Becky, and a Dutch couple called Arrie and Joke (pronounced 'yolker' I think!). We met them on the slow boat from Huay Xai.
The next day we went with the same group to nearby waterfalls. We were a bit sceptical at first as waterfalls are usually the quintessential tourist trap, but these turned out to be superb. We spent the day cooling off in the ice-cold limestone-blue water and walking around the river edges. Arrie and Joke found a great tarzan-style swing over the river, actually a vine, and we all had a fun time.
That evening we celebrated Becky's birthday with a few of the ubiquitous beer lao - the cheapest and best beer we've come across in SE Asia. It's now partly owned by a German brewery. When
the stake was bought, a few German brewers came over to Laos to see how they might improve the taste. A blind testing found that it competed with the best beers Europe had to offer and they left it alone! We had a good night and made it back slightly after the Government-imposed curfew (midnight in Luang Prabang, the Government is determined to avoid the 'excesses of tourism' in Thailand reaching Laos).
After Luang Prabang we took a local bus North to Nong Khiaw, a small village next to a bridge across a dramatic valley. The scenery was beautiful. Laos is very mountainous and only in New Zealand have we seen such great alpine scenery. At the same time, the slash 'n' burn season is well underway in the North of the country and smoke fills the skies for days at a time. The bus route passed through plenty of villages and it quickly became clear that Laos is much poorer than Thailand. Most buildings are made of bamboo, schools are few and far between, and living conditions are not that great.
We stayed in Nong Khiaw for two days in a tiny rustic bungalow on the valley
Chilling on the Mekong
Dave passes the time on the water to Luang Prabang with a beer and a baguette. side. We had hoped to go trekking there but the smoke and lack of tourists put an end to that. We did walk out to see a cave complex where locals had taken cover during the last Indochina war.
After Nong Khiow we took another boat journey back to Luang Prabang with even more beautiful and dramatic scenery, images of river life passing us by. The river levels are very low at the moment and the journey was quite an adventure at times - breaking one propeller and having to get out of the boat at one set of rapids and walk alongside it.
Stayed one night again in beloved Luang Prabang then we caught a bus East to Phonsavan to see the famous 'Plain of Jars'. The bus journey was a bit of an endurance test, being tired already from so much travelling. The seats were a little too correctional for my posture but the main issue was the road - weaving around mountains, it was like spending six hours in a washing machine. Surprisingly, it was the locals who were being sick throughout the journey, I think backpackers get used to being thrown around. Along the
Playing by the river
A common sight on any boat journey in Laos. road were armed men, presumably Government-employed, and we saw one armoured personnel carrier. In the past Hmong rebels (not being too pally with the Government) have robbed vehicles on the road, although recent Government successes have made it much safer. On a brighter note, we met a nice English couple called Dean and Kate who shared our Phonsavan experience.
Arriving in Phonsavan was quite a strange feeling. The roads are wide and dusty, the whole place had the feeling of a former military outpost. We decided to leave as soon as possible and booked a tour of the plain of jars for the next day.
The plain of jars, from a tourist point of view, at the moment consists of three sites that can be visited. Each site consists of groups of large stone jars and their lids leaning in the countryside. The jars are thousands of years old and much of their history and use is still unknown. It is mostly agreed that they are part of complex burial practices. I think the jourey was worthwhile to see such an unusual site. Many people equate it with England's stonehenge.
You may or may not know, that
during the 1960s the beautiful countryside of Laos was carpet-bombed by the United States. This was one of the worst bombing campaigns in history - four million dollars worth of bombs were dropped every day for about 10 years, giving Laos the unwanted record of being the most heavily bombed country on Earth. About 30-40% of bombs did not explode on impact and as such the country is now littered with unexploded ordinance (UXO).
The UXO covers the whole country, including the plain of jars area which has been partially cleared by a British organisation called MAG (based in Manchester!) in coordination with local and Government employees. So as we walked around the plain of jars we had to follow the markers and keep in the white-coloured zones. It was quite unnerving and definitely necessary as that evening we visited the MAG office and were told that only last year a large bomb was discovered at one of the sites that tourists visit. At the same office they showed us the kinds of bombs left behind from the 1960s and how MAG was dealing with them. The guy told us that only a week before he had attended the
Royal Funeral Carriage
Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang. funeral of three young children killed by a cluster bomb, which they had found in a field and been playing with. Having seen first hand the work that MAG do, it is definitely a very worthy charity that we will continue to donate to in the future. If you're interested you can read more at www.mag.org.uk
After that very sobering day we caught the rollercoaster bus back along the route we had came and headed for Vang Vieng. Poor Kate had picked up some kind of stomach bug and suffered all the way there.
Vang Vieng was once a beautiful town on a river plateux with limestone mountains lining one side of the valley. It is now still beautiful, but heavily touristed and full of young travellers. 'Friends' DVDs are played non-stop on the main street. The main activity there is 'tubing', an activity that Laos people also enjoy, whereby you float down a river in a tractor tyre inner tube. On the way down the river makeshift bars offer swings and zip frames to plunge into the river from. We had a go, bought a couple of beer lao on the way. Gem was terrified of the
Weaving
At a village near Luang Prabang. swings but still did it (I have a great video of her screaming!) and we had a good laugh. The river was so low we had to paddle most of the distance and arrived after sunset back in the town feeling very tired!
We took a bus to the capital Vientiane yesterday, which has been very very hot. As it's my birthday tomorrow we've booked into a really nice hotel room with air conditioning and a television in our room! Luxury! So we took a few beer lao back to our room last night and watched the Charlton and United matches, great fun. It's also nice to be able to watch BBC World and catch up on the news.
Today we took a tuk-tuk to the immigration department to extend our 15-day visa, Laos just deserves more time. Then we visited two tourist sites - a bizarre concrete version of the French Arc De Triomphe (called 'Patuxai') to commemorate the Lao people that died during the pre-revolutionary wars, and the Buddhist stupa that is essentially the national symbol of Laos (called 'Pha That Luang').
So far we have loved Laos, it's beautiful countryside and wonderful people. The
Nam Ou Caves
Plenty of Buddhas for everyone. kids especially are great - one kid chased me down the road in Luang Prabang wearing a monkey mask! They're so smiley and relaxed, the whole country has a laidback and calm feel that we really agree with.
So now we'll celebrate my birthday in Vientiane with Arrie and Joke before heading to Vietnam.
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melanie
non-member comment
great read of laos
gem and dave your journeys nearly end but your blog still as enjoyable to read and still lots of action! ps. dont forget teddie no new photos!!