The temptation to get lazy with blogging seems to occur regularly. Maybe it's something to do with the influence of Laos culture, as this place is surely one of the most relaxed places in the world. I think I said I would do a post about the Temples of Angkor but since it seems like such a distant memory (only about 2 weeks ago), and also since anything I write on the subject would miserably fall short of doing the place justice, I will regrettably omit writing on the subject. Though I will say that I was able to indulge in my love of symmetry at Angkor Wat. Man I love symmetry...
We are now in the Northern part of Laos after crossing the border from Cambodia to Laos. A day that a supposed 10 hour bus trip eventuated into about 14 hours. I quickly learned that there is no point in checking your watch on a bus in Laos, and if you do get there on time, it must have coincided with some massive cosmic alignment of stars or something. (I also learned that reading on buses, particularly in Cambodia, is virtually impossible as the volume of the Karaoke they play on the bus is hard to believe.)
Our first stop in Laos was just over the border, a place known as the 4000 islands. We stayed on a little island called Don Det and one of the first things I realised was how quickly tourism can technologically advance an area. We have a semi-outdated Lonely Planet (2007), which told us that the island of Don Det had no electricity, and the little village ran on generators. Upon arriving - in a boat that surely should have sunk - we found an internet cafe and plenty of TV's in households. After talking to Mr Vath, a local guy, we discovered that the island received electricity for the first time only 4 months before we arrived. I'm sure internet followed in close proximity. My guess is Don Det is what Vang Vieng (which I'll mention soon) was 20 years ago, though hopefully it doesn't follow exactly the same direction. We also met a Brazilian guy named Adriano who made me so excited for Brazil - too bad we are missing Carnivale because it sounds like the biggest party on the planet.
To say Don Det was relaxed was a gross understatement - I don't think you could go anywhere without finding a hammock. Adriano, Dave and I hired bikes and rode around the islands for the day. The funniest part of the day was Adriano getting a flat tyre. We were a long way from the main village and upon arriving in a smaller local village he asked every house, by saying "Sabaidee" (Laos for Hi) and then pointing at his tyre. After maybe the 20th house we found someone who happily agreed to fix it. 10 bike patches and an hour later it still had holes. The search for a spare inner tube began. Meanwhile, Dave and I amused ourselves by mucking around with the two little Laos kids, who thought everything was funny. They were particularly impressed by being able to see themselves on a screen after their photo had been taken. And that leads me to one thing I have noticed about Laos and South East Asia in general. Back home, it's rare that you ever see little children playing in the street. It seems to me that this may be mainly due to the advancement of technology. Kids in Laos seem to entertain and enjoy themselves with the simplest of activities. Whether it be chasing each other around or playing with animals, they never seem to get bored or resort to technology for entertainment (often because it is unavailable to them.)
After a few chilled days on Don Det it was time to head to a place that is a rite of passage for bakcpackers in SE Asia - Vang Vieng. After about 30 hours in transit, which included a sleeper bus and a VIP bus (don't be mistaken, as it was probably the opposite of VIP), we arrived there.
It was as if I was in some sort of heaven. You may ask why? Basically every restaurant in Vang Vieng, while serving great food and plenty of Beer Lao, has TVs that play one of three things: Friends, Family Guy or Simpsons. We opted for Friends most of the time. We whittled away hours watching episode after episode while chowing down Lao food and drinking mango shakes - although the best shakes in Vang Vieng were definately Mulberry Shakes, from the organic mulberry farm just up the road.
There is one thing that every backpacker in Vang Vieng must do; Tubing down the Nam Song river. It is almost surreal as you arrive with your tube, to see an array of makeshift bars lining the sides of the river, serving anything from Beer Lao and Snake Wine to "Super High Brownies" and "Psychadelic Shrooms" Every bar also has a rope swing and a flying fox - I made sure I had only had a few beers but some people that could hardly walk were launching themselves into the river. One bar even had a big slide. Under the assumption it was plastic, I quickly realised it was in fact made of concrete and tiles. Consequently, two English guys told us of their experience hauling a guy out of the river who after too many drinks had smacked his head on the slide and was definitely in some trouble. Safety was not a high priority and its hard to believe more people don't get hurt.
The next day we decided to take a different approach and booked a day of kayaking, caving and supposed trekking (more of a brisk walk for 30 mins). With our guide Ktoy and a fellow Aussie named Paul, we headed off. After visiting the first cave I was a bit disappointed as it was hardly a cave at all. The second cave was completely different, we went at least 500m into the cave and upon Ktoy's instruction we turned off our torches. It's a weird feeling as you wait for your eyes to adjust, to soon discover that it is so dark that you can't possibly see anything. An eerie feeling as the drips from the limestone echo. Ktoy also thought it would be humorous to tell us that the cave is home to snakes and he saw one just a minute before we turned off our lights...very funny. It was also a welcome relief from the heat and humidity, as inside the caves it was at least 5 degrees cooler...not so good on the way out though.
The third cave was the most amazing, as it was a water cave and the only way to get in was on tubes or to swim. Once again it was an eerie feeling, and the temperature of the water added to the feeling, as it was fresh to say the least. Following the caving, we kayaked for 8kms down the Nam Song, taking in the views of the surrounding mountains.
That night we went out with Ktoy, and quickly discovered he's got something with the ladies. At dinner we sat near a group of two couples from Thailand, and after about 15 minutes Ktoy managed to have both girls hanging of his every word while their boyfriends glared from across the table. It was a truly comical thing, especially since Ktoy is 29.
After many beers, countless episodes of Friends and a lot of fun it was time to leave Vang Vieng for the more peaceful World Heritage listed city of Luang Prabang. Another VIP bus (this one even less VIP than the last), made the slow journey up and down the mountainous part of Laos to the temple lined city of Luang Prabang. We have only been here one night and already have indulged in the beauty of the place. We visited the night market, where Dave was overcome with joy at the sight of an "All you can Eat" buffet of vego food, with a large plate costing 10,000 kip. (About $1.50 AUD.) That night we went to the only nightclub in the town, which is actually a bit out of town because central Luang Prabang has a curfew of 11.30pm. The group from our hostel consisted of Russians, British, American, French Canadian and me and Dave making up the Aussie contingent. The club played one song in English all night but it was still a funny experience. We also discovered that the row-boat dance move is in fact typically Australian, according to some other Australian girl.
I would put up some photos but the last experience with Windows and my camera didn't end well so I'll either figure it out eventually or hold out hope for a Mac somewhere?
Thanks to all who are reading, hope you enjoy!
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