My trip to Laos was very memorable for all the wrong reason, well not really, but lets just say I was a little unwell and spent a large majority of the time in my hotel room!
The first two days were in Vientiane, the hotel was pleasant enough, however the little I did see of the capital did not impress me, my nameless travel companions held similar feelings! So we boarded a bus and headed to Vang Vieng. The trip was not unpleasant on its own, however the two 19 yo ignorant, immature English girls made the trip unpleasant. Arriving in Vang Vieng was an experience, the only word to describe the town is frontier, imagine country and western movies, the long, brown, dusty road onto which our hero and villain emerge for a shoot-out, only Vang Vieng is missing the rolling tumbleweed! Ok so maybe that’s a little harsh, but the main street looked slightly similar, but instead of saloons and sheriffs offices, there was restaurant after restaurant suppling similar nondescript Laos/Thai food with the usual western mix to backpackers who were all glued to past episodes of the Simpsons or some trashy Hollywood movie. (Another Brit who had been there two years before suggested it was a great way to contain all the young backpacker to whom watching old movies was better than seeing the sights of an amazing unspoilt country!)
I was just pleased that we decided to blow the budget and stay in a room costing $US35 a night, I know this seems cheap but not when you are backpacking! It was an amazing place run by a Girl from Australia, who was born in Wagga Wagga and grew up in Sydney!!! Some of my photos from the last post are of the view across the river from our room. The scenery was amazing, even just from the hotel room and it was an incredibly relaxing few days. The main attractions of the place are caving, river tubing and exploration, however I was unable to do any such activities.....
We finally decided to move on and were incredibly thankful the two British girl, although were leaving the same day as us were on a different minivan! Some among our group were very concerned at the chances of both girls surviving the 6 hour trip in a minivan holding 9 people!
Next stop on the itinery was Luang Prabang. This is a UNESCO city and it was so easy to see why. The place was stunning!!! It was an ancient capital of Laos, was once home to the Emerald Buddha now held in the royal Palace in Bangkok. The city has a huge French influence being governed by the French for a long time. It also contains numerous Wats and saffron robed Monks are always around - sometimes behaving "un-monkly" having a chalestine smoke! The city was amazing, the night markets spectacular and the food incredible - we finally got to taste real Laos food! It was wonderful! The town was also home to giant geckos and giant snails.....
It was decided that we should catch the slow boat from Luang Prabang to Hoi Xui on the boarder with Thailand, stopping at Pak Bang on the way. This was not my choice! Each day consisted of a 9 hour boat ride. The view was spectacular, however the seats were very hard, the boat small and somewhat cramped and the toilet does not deserve mention... these last three points were somewhat more significant for me being unwell than for most people..... When we finally docked at Pak Bang I could have cried for joy, had I not known I would have to suffer the same trauma the following day!
The boat trip really was beautiful and I really would advise anyone thinking about making the trip to do so - as long as they are not suffering from food poisoning! I did manage to take some lovely photos, however not all the sights the river produced were appreciated. Halfway through the first day I noticed something blue and brown like clothing floating in the water - however the clothes appeared to be full of water, that is until further observation suggested it was in fact a body. I turned away thinking I may be mistaken, however when I faced the other passengers - Local Lao - and they were all looking at me waiting for a reaction, I realised it was in fact a body floating down the river. Nothing was done about this, no one seemed to care, I guess they were all certain none of their relatives were missing along the river....
Pak Bang was a cute little town. Im sure it survived purely because it was half way from Luang Prabang and Hoi Xui. The buildings were all shack-like, however incredibly they all appeared to have their own satellite dish - cant go without cable!!!
Hoi Xui was a slightly larger town, however also did not have much to offer in way of attraction other than being the first port of call when entering Laos from Thailand. WE stayed our last night in a guesthouse run by a lovely Lao couple who meet when they were in Paris studying. They had a number of interesting stories to tell.
The following day we paid our 20 Baht and crossed over to Thailand!
- mose
Views from the boat trip up the Mekong
