Ok so J and I haven't been quite keeping up to date with the whole blog thing. It's hard when there's so much going on and so much to do! So apologies. The following actually occurred from October 11th onwards.
After we got back into Hanoi from Sapa it was appproximately 4am so we checked back into the Especen hotel for a few hours kip. Sufficiently rested we headed out to wander around the city for one last time. I think we both agreed our time spent in Northern Vietnam was more enjoyable compared to the rest of the country. Hanoi is so charming, as mentioned before the French influence gives it a much more European feel compared to H.C.M.C. and its' streets are so leafy and narrow and constantly bustling with activity. There is absolutely wonderful 'people watching' to be done here. With that in mind we took a cyclo (a three wheeled bicycle with a large bucket seat over the front wheel for passengers, max. capacity two people!) to the infamous Bia Hoi Junction. This is a cluster of small shops/ bars/ cafes which sell Bia Hoi (the local brew which Hanoi in particular is famous for and we had yet to taste!). Consumption of bia hoi is an extremely social affair - in the city anytime of the day you can see groups of Vietnamese squatting or sitting on small plastic furniture drinking and chatting. So we pulled up a chair and enjoyed a drink whilst watching the comings and goings at this busy junction. It was also the cheapest beer we've drank to date at 20c a pop, and it goes down pretty easy too.
Later we strolled over towards Hoan Kiem lake which is the centre point to the old quarter. It is a beautiful lake with big droopy trees encircling it and a lovely red ornate bridge linking it to a small island in the middle. It's all very picturesque. Anyway as you can gather we really liked this city and this country and were very sad to be leaving.
Vietnamese people certainly give the Irish a run for their money in the friendliness stakes. They are loud, chatty and vibrant. They appear to be very family orientated and have a very laid back attitude to life. So often you can see them taking 'time-out' from whatever it was they were doing to have a cup of tea and a bit of craic with friends. In the evenings as opposed to post-work drinks they huddle together on make-shift bars on the street pavements and drink tea and eat. It's worth mentioning here that the furniture they sit on is that plastic variety like childrens garden furniture. The sight of any big long lanky Westerner on it looks ridiculous! Not only are these people "all that" but it's also an extremely beautiful, diverse countryside. With a tragic history to keep your mind occupied, breath-taking countryside and pretty towns for your eyes and senses to feast on, it's very easy for time to pass quickly in Vietnam. All I can say is we'll be back.
Right so onwards to Laos that evening. We had to make a decision as to whether we would pay for an expensive one hour flight or take a 22 hour bus journey (not a sleeper bus!), after about 15 seconds we decided to let Mastercard pay for our flights and not think about it. We'd seen enough buses to date and were sick of them, plus the thought of travelling along Laos roads by night didn't entice me, in hindsight that turned out to be a very wise decision indeed.
We flew with Laos airlines, one of the oldest in the world I believe, and it was on a Fokker 70 (for those of you who don't know what that is (like I didn't) it's a flippin propellar plane! James had mentioned it would be a turbo prop but that hadn't really registered with me. I was a little unnerved to say the least when I first saw it. It was fairly small, and all the passengers were taking photos beforehand like it was a flippin' amusement ride! Fitz you'd have loved it! Anyway once the free BeerLao started flowing I settled down into what turned out to be a very enjoyable flight!
Luang Prabang
After what was yet another visa money-making scheme on arrival we picked up our bags and made our way into Luang Prabang centre. We settled into a nice spot on Thavisouk for a few nights - cheap as chips.
The following morning we set out for a stroll around the town. And what an unexpected beautiful place it turned out to be. It's incredible to land in a country and realise how little you know about the place. Laos came as a bit of an afterthought for us, somewhere we weren't quite sure we'd have time for. In retrospect we should have made alot more time for this country. We stayed a week in total, that gave us only a glimpse of what Laos has to offer.
We had breakfast at the imaginatively named 'Restaurant Lunang Prabang Bakery'. It deserves a mention for it's yummy treats. J tried the local speciality sticky rice and it was well.... sticky. Afterwards we walked around the main penninsula of the town that juts out into the mighty Mekong River. The city only opened itself to tourism in 1989 after the fall of the U.S.S.R. and Soviet bloc governments.The next decade saw private enterprise being legalised and so shops re-opened and villas etc got turned into guesthouses. The city was added to to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995. This brought about a ban on buses and trucks in the centre, this combined with the fact that the citys' main bypass is far from the city centre contributes to making it a very calm and quiet place. It is by no means a party town, it has an 11.30pm curfew for bars and this all contributes to maintaining its traditional disposition. It's absolutely choc-a-bloc with temples, and as a result the monks wandering about in their saffron coloured robes is a very common occurrence. It's definitely an abiding memory of the place.
As we strolled around we could see the young monks, only boys peering out over the monastery walls. It really is a fantastic place. We had a BeerLao at the 'Big Tree' restaurant that overlooks the river and watched the practising for the boat race. Due to our flukey timing we had arrived in Laos for one of its' biggest annual festivals. The boat racing is done in approximately 80ft long wooden boats, in which sit maybe 20-25 men in single file and at the bow and stern are beautifully ornate carvings. With all this activity going on across the river we decided to pay a more than willing local to bring us across on his boat. The other side was a very muddy affair - a bit like Oxegen but with bad music and boats..... hold on exactly like Oxegen without boats. A few more BeerLaos were consumed as we sat and watched the craic. Most of the locals were fairly steamin', back in the town later most of the local proprietors of the various establishments were mixing up orders and dropping bottles of beer as they tried to conduct their business - all very amusing.
Later that evening we went to the local Red Cross Headquarters and took a herbal steambath (sauna). It was heavenly, not only do you get to indulge yourself for less than 2 euro but also donate to charity simultaneously - a feel good factor all round! It was the hottest sauna I've ever experienced. They were segregated, two wooden cubicles side by side. When I first went in I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face let alone if I was about to step on some tiny Laos woman. Sarongs are provided to everyone boys included. James looked amazing in a sarong - I wish I had a photo....
In the womens sauna it was all very busy indeed. I sat there just trying to breathe, and last more than two minutes whilst the various women around me were rubbing their skin with what turned out to be natural yogurt!? In the mens sauna they were stretching in what is a very confined space much to James's discomfort!
It was a thoroughly satisfying experience, that done we headed down to the local night market. It is dubbed as being the most tranquil market in S.E. Asia. It met it's reputation. It was so enjoyable to wander around a market and now be hassled or shouted at to buy. However I think there is a part of me that secretly likes all the fuss associated with a normal S.E. Asian market! I had to restrain myself from adding more to my already bulging backpack.
We ate that evening at one of the market stalls, their local Spar equivalent was selling chicken baguettes for US$1. Not exactly an exotic culinary choice but it was delicious and as it turns out a bit of a local specialty. Complete with a couple glasses of wine on Sisvangvong before lights out finished off a great first day in Laos.
What we were about to embark on the following day turned out to be one of the maddest days we've had, quite an adventure! Our guide picked us up about 8.30am and we drove an hour to a local village from where we started our trek portion of the day. It was three hours of mainly uphill walking in the jungle and it was very hot! Just as we set off James asked On, our guide, what wildlife live in the jungle..
"Snakes" - a raised eyebrow on my part as I spluttered "What??!!"
"Wild boar" - a slight atrial flutter and a further exlcamations..
"Bear" - full blown heart attack and a few more profanities from me.
On 'reassured' me that the bears would be asleep and the boar not on our trail. I wasn't best pleased but trekked on all the same.The scenery was spectacular. We walked through dense bush and occasionally through open fileds in which we saw people harvesting rice by hand. Whole families were out in the sun chatting and laughing as the thrashed crops using the most basic of equipment.Some of the flora we encountered included rubber plants and teak trees.
Later as we walked through dense bush On called to us to "make noisy" so as to frighten any potential snakes from our path. "But they're not poisonous are they On?" , to which he replied "oh yes very, they're green snakes, very poisonous." I instantaneously broke into song, the Jungle Book tune 'Bear Necessities' was the first to come to mind, J laughed but joined in all the same. So there we were like two eejits in Laotian jungle singing Bear Necessities for fear of been bitten by flippin' green snakes. I would have laughed at the time but I was shittin myself to put it bluntly. All very funny in retrospect though.
After what was an intense climb we stopped for a breather and a banana. On pointed to the caves high where the bears apparently sleep and thought it would be funny to start calling out and waking them. I laughed in spite myself at the absurdity of the situation. On was trekking in jeans, jumper, sandals and socks (dad?!) for fear of his dark skin becoming any darker. J and I were in sweating in shorts and t-shirts hoping for a tan. It's a funny world.
On is 20 years old, he does this everyday, his plan is to make enough money, improve his English and eventually move to a bigger city to study I.T.
We finally arrived at the waterfall signalling the end of the trek. Bearing no snake, boar or bear bites we were fairly pleased with ourselves. Next up was an elephant ride around the waterfall. We named ours after a certain Irish rugby pundit and newstalk presenter with whom he shared a multitude of characteristics. Begrudgingly George wobbled us around for a bit, for which we kindly repaid him in bananas afterwards.
Following on from this exertion a swim was just what we needed. The waterfall was not your stereotypical image of a tropical fall, but instead consisted of a series of limestone shelves over which the water rushed. It was breath-taking, a trifle cold but a welcome cool down all the same. A snake in the water caused great comotion amongst a group of Chinese tourists who been busying themselves perfecting various poses for all the photo-taking going on - nothing new there.
The final leg of the day was the kayak back, approximately 2 hours. Our initial enquiries about how difficult this would be were laughed at. Myself and On shared a double open kayak, while James had one to himself. On may I add was about half the size of me but twice as strong. So we were back once again in the familiar muddy waters of the Mekong (well a tributary).Within minutes of being afloat James was overturned as we passed the spill out point from the waterfall. Once we stopped laughing, and J had managed to heist himself back onto his kayak we passed the following hours floating down river at a good pace, soaking up the sun and enjoying the fabulous scenery - Northern Laos is very mountainous.
During the last hour we hit rapids that were by no means gentle. James once again came flying out of his kayak in spectacular form as he went over a rock. What ensued was to be slightly disastrous. As his kayak floated by On and I, On jumped from our kayak in attempt to catch and save the loose kayak.
James grabbed hold of me, I was holding a branch, the water was loud and fast, within seconds On was gone from view and James and I were on our own............
James and I were in the double kayak now and rapidly floating downstream, we started paddling in an effort to find our guide, oh the hilarity of it all. We chose the wrong path way after a split second decision and encountered more rocks. This time it was my turn to get wet, as our kayak glided over a concealed rock. It was all a bit chaotic and with our guide (nor anyone else for that matter) nowhere in sight I have to admit I was nervous. After clattering along a series of rocks I managed to pull myself back onto the kayak to discover my shin cut fairy deeply, bleeding and quite painful. Holy God what were we getting ourselves into - complete amateurs!
On emerged from the trees along the shoreline just as we manged to pull in, and we were very happy to see him! For a few minutes I thought J and I would be navigating our own way home in the approaching darkness. He had managed to save the other kayak, which was pulled ashore. How he did so with no paddle is a mystery!
We were back in action - On back with me and J in his kayak again. We were minus a paddle so I was afforded the luxury of doing nothing for the remainder of the journey while the boys laboured away at the remaining rapids. Just as the sun was setting the welcome site of the company owner and his jeep greeted us on the shore - he was waving his phone and was obviously relieved to see us - we were much later than expected. When he saw my bloody leg he decided not to charge us for the lost paddle and seemed a bit anxious as to what we were going to do.
It was one of the most exhilarating things I have done in a long time!
Back in Luang Prabing later that night we again visited the Red Cross to steam our aching limbs, followed by an amazing Indian dinner for only a couple of euro. It was our best day in Laos by far, and one of the best of the whole trip.
Vang Vieng
The road from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng consists almost entirely of hairpin bends and is less than a comfortable ride. It was unnerving at times to look out the window and see how close we were to the edge especially given the recent news that a double decker tourist bus had toppled only days previously killing two and injuring many.
We ended up staying in Thavisouk Hotel, undoubtedly the nicest accommodation in town. It was equivalent to a 4 Star at home. We had an enormous bedroom on the top floor and a large balcony with stunning mountain views. We were in heaven and all for about Eur12 a night.
We headed down to the river front later in the evening to join in the last of the festivities. On the last day of the boat festival it is tradition to release flower and candle wreaths into the river and we joined the locals and bought a wreath of our own and watched in the dark as hundreds of these sparkling vessels floated downstream.
The following day we rented bikes.My leg was still quite sore from the kayaking so trekking was out, and cut too deep to risk water activities. This was a pain in the bum since Vang Vieng is so famous for tubing and we missed out!
About 5 minutes cycle out of the town and across the river brings you right into the countryside. We cycled to a lagoon, J jumped in and had a swim while I watched jealously. After lunch there we climbed about 200m to a nearby cave. It seems that in these parts the locals will put up a sign and erect a ticket 'office; beside anything resemblig a lagoon or a cave. You could easily disappear into a cave system without a trace! We climbed up to this particular cave out of curiosity. What we discovered at the top was an entry only big enough for one of us to squeeze through at a time - potholing not being our cup of tea we promptly turned around again and descended!
A funny thing about Vang Vieng is that lots of the restaurants have tv's playing series after series of 'Friends' and they're always full of people watching and eating dinner?! Nuts. It might be something to do with the fact that for a few extra cents you can ask your waitor to add grass/ methamphetamines/ magic mushrooms or even acid to your milkshake/ pizza or whatever it may be you're consuming! Whatever tickles your fancy I suppose.
Vientiane
The nation's capital leaves alot to be desired. We stayed only two nights, so I suppose to be fair we didn't give it full exploration. We held up in the Youth Inn directly across the road from 'Sticky Fingers' cafe which alone is worth the visit to Vientiane. The food is divine especially if you've been travelling for awhile.
We did some strolling around, it's centred mostly around the riverfront (the Mekong). In attempt to catch some sights we plodded off to their equivalent of the Arc de Triomphe. We were just in time to catch the locals out doing their evening exercises in the park that surrounds it. It was the main thing of interest we visited and to be honest it was an ugly monstrosity.
Dehydrated and J walking beside me with his tongue out I took the hint and suggested we sample what Vientiane has to offer by way of entertainment. Our first stop was a Mexican bar (naturally) and then it was on from there to two French restaurants where we drank too much wine and talked too much shite, but had a great night in the process.
Our last day in Laos was relatively uneventful. For want of something to do James entertained my need to purchase a Laos fridge magnet. Unlike many other S.E. Asian capitals Vientiane is not full of tacky souvenir shops so that quest kept us occupied for awhile. Fridge magnet in hand we caught the 5pm bus to Bangkok.
After we got back into Hanoi from Sapa it was appproximately 4am so we checked back into the Especen hotel for a few hours kip. Sufficiently rested we headed out to wander around the city for one last time. I think we both agreed our time spent in Northern Vietnam was more enjoyable compared to the rest of the country. Hanoi is so charming, as mentioned before the French influence gives it a much more European feel compared to H.C.M.C. and its' streets are so leafy and narrow and constantly bustling with activity. There is absolutely wonderful 'people watching' to be done here. With that in mind we took a cyclo (a three wheeled bicycle with a large bucket seat over the front wheel for passengers, max. capacity two people!) to the infamous Bia Hoi Junction. This is a cluster of small shops/ bars/ cafes which sell Bia Hoi (the local brew which Hanoi in particular is famous for and we had yet to taste!). Consumption of bia hoi is an extremely social affair - in the city anytime of the day you can see groups of Vietnamese squatting or sitting on small plastic furniture drinking and chatting. So we pulled up a chair and enjoyed a drink whilst watching the comings and goings at this busy junction. It was also the cheapest beer we've drank to date at 20c a pop, and it goes down pretty easy too.
Later we strolled over towards Hoan Kiem lake which is the centre point to the old quarter. It is a beautiful lake with big droopy trees encircling it and a lovely red ornate bridge linking it to a small island in the middle. It's all very picturesque. Anyway as you can gather we really liked this city and this country and were very sad to be leaving.
Vietnamese people certainly give the Irish a run for their money in the friendliness stakes. They are loud, chatty and vibrant. They appear to be very family orientated and have a very laid back attitude to life. So often you can see them taking 'time-out' from whatever it was they were doing to have a cup of tea and a bit of craic with friends. In the evenings as opposed to post-work drinks they huddle together on make-shift bars on the street pavements and drink tea and eat. It's worth mentioning here that the furniture they sit on is that plastic variety like childrens garden furniture. The sight of any big long lanky Westerner on it looks ridiculous! Not only are these people "all that" but it's also an extremely beautiful, diverse countryside. With a tragic history to keep your mind occupied, breath-taking countryside and pretty towns for your eyes and senses to feast on, it's very easy for time to pass quickly in Vietnam. All I can say is we'll be back.
Right so onwards to Laos that evening. We had to make a decision as to whether we would pay for an expensive one hour flight or take a 22 hour bus journey (not a sleeper bus!), after about 15 seconds we decided to let Mastercard pay for our flights and not think about it. We'd seen enough buses to date and were sick of them, plus the thought of travelling along Laos roads by night didn't entice me, in hindsight that turned out to be a very wise decision indeed.
We flew with Laos airlines, one of the oldest in the world I believe, and it was on a Fokker 70 (for those of you who don't know what that is (like I didn't) it's a flippin propellar plane! James had mentioned it would be a turbo prop but that hadn't really registered with me. I was a little unnerved to say the least when I first saw it. It was fairly small, and all the passengers were taking photos beforehand like it was a flippin' amusement ride! Fitz you'd have loved it! Anyway once the free BeerLao started flowing I settled down into what turned out to be a very enjoyable flight!
Luang Prabang
After what was yet another visa money-making scheme on arrival we picked up our bags and made our way into Luang Prabang centre. We settled into a nice spot on Thavisouk for a few nights - cheap as chips.
The following morning we set out for a stroll around the town. And what an unexpected beautiful place it turned out to be. It's incredible to land in a country and realise how little you know about the place. Laos came as a bit of an afterthought for us, somewhere we weren't quite sure we'd have time for. In retrospect we should have made alot more time for this country. We stayed a week in total, that gave us only a glimpse of what Laos has to offer.
We had breakfast at the imaginatively named 'Restaurant Lunang Prabang Bakery'. It deserves a mention for it's yummy treats. J tried the local speciality sticky rice and it was well.... sticky. Afterwards we walked around the main penninsula of the town that juts out into the mighty Mekong River. The city only opened itself to tourism in 1989 after the fall of the U.S.S.R. and Soviet bloc governments.The next decade saw private enterprise being legalised and so shops re-opened and villas etc got turned into guesthouses. The city was added to to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995. This brought about a ban on buses and trucks in the centre, this combined with the fact that the citys' main bypass is far from the city centre contributes to making it a very calm and quiet place. It is by no means a party town, it has an 11.30pm curfew for bars and this all contributes to maintaining its traditional disposition. It's absolutely choc-a-bloc with temples, and as a result the monks wandering about in their saffron coloured robes is a very common occurrence. It's definitely an abiding memory of the place.
As we strolled around we could see the young monks, only boys peering out over the monastery walls. It really is a fantastic place. We had a BeerLao at the 'Big Tree' restaurant that overlooks the river and watched the practising for the boat race. Due to our flukey timing we had arrived in Laos for one of its' biggest annual festivals. The boat racing is done in approximately 80ft long wooden boats, in which sit maybe 20-25 men in single file and at the bow and stern are beautifully ornate carvings. With all this activity going on across the river we decided to pay a more than willing local to bring us across on his boat. The other side was a very muddy affair - a bit like Oxegen but with bad music and boats..... hold on exactly like Oxegen without boats. A few more BeerLaos were consumed as we sat and watched the craic. Most of the locals were fairly steamin', back in the town later most of the local proprietors of the various establishments were mixing up orders and dropping bottles of beer as they tried to conduct their business - all very amusing.
Later that evening we went to the local Red Cross Headquarters and took a herbal steambath (sauna). It was heavenly, not only do you get to indulge yourself for less than 2 euro but also donate to charity simultaneously - a feel good factor all round! It was the hottest sauna I've ever experienced. They were segregated, two wooden cubicles side by side. When I first went in I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face let alone if I was about to step on some tiny Laos woman. Sarongs are provided to everyone boys included. James looked amazing in a sarong - I wish I had a photo....
In the womens sauna it was all very busy indeed. I sat there just trying to breathe, and last more than two minutes whilst the various women around me were rubbing their skin with what turned out to be natural yogurt!? In the mens sauna they were stretching in what is a very confined space much to James's discomfort!
It was a thoroughly satisfying experience, that done we headed down to the local night market. It is dubbed as being the most tranquil market in S.E. Asia. It met it's reputation. It was so enjoyable to wander around a market and now be hassled or shouted at to buy. However I think there is a part of me that secretly likes all the fuss associated with a normal S.E. Asian market! I had to restrain myself from adding more to my already bulging backpack.
We ate that evening at one of the market stalls, their local Spar equivalent was selling chicken baguettes for US$1. Not exactly an exotic culinary choice but it was delicious and as it turns out a bit of a local specialty. Complete with a couple glasses of wine on Sisvangvong before lights out finished off a great first day in Laos.
What we were about to embark on the following day turned out to be one of the maddest days we've had, quite an adventure! Our guide picked us up about 8.30am and we drove an hour to a local village from where we started our trek portion of the day. It was three hours of mainly uphill walking in the jungle and it was very hot! Just as we set off James asked On, our guide, what wildlife live in the jungle..
"Snakes" - a raised eyebrow on my part as I spluttered "What??!!"
"Wild boar" - a slight atrial flutter and a further exlcamations..
"Bear" - full blown heart attack and a few more profanities from me.
On 'reassured' me that the bears would be asleep and the boar not on our trail. I wasn't best pleased but trekked on all the same.The scenery was spectacular. We walked through dense bush and occasionally through open fileds in which we saw people harvesting rice by hand. Whole families were out in the sun chatting and laughing as the thrashed crops using the most basic of equipment.Some of the flora we encountered included rubber plants and teak trees.
Later as we walked through dense bush On called to us to "make noisy" so as to frighten any potential snakes from our path. "But they're not poisonous are they On?" , to which he replied "oh yes very, they're green snakes, very poisonous." I instantaneously broke into song, the Jungle Book tune 'Bear Necessities' was the first to come to mind, J laughed but joined in all the same. So there we were like two eejits in Laotian jungle singing Bear Necessities for fear of been bitten by flippin' green snakes. I would have laughed at the time but I was shittin myself to put it bluntly. All very funny in retrospect though.
After what was an intense climb we stopped for a breather and a banana. On pointed to the caves high where the bears apparently sleep and thought it would be funny to start calling out and waking them. I laughed in spite myself at the absurdity of the situation. On was trekking in jeans, jumper, sandals and socks (dad?!) for fear of his dark skin becoming any darker. J and I were in sweating in shorts and t-shirts hoping for a tan. It's a funny world.
On is 20 years old, he does this everyday, his plan is to make enough money, improve his English and eventually move to a bigger city to study I.T.
We finally arrived at the waterfall signalling the end of the trek. Bearing no snake, boar or bear bites we were fairly pleased with ourselves. Next up was an elephant ride around the waterfall. We named ours after a certain Irish rugby pundit and newstalk presenter with whom he shared a multitude of characteristics. Begrudgingly George wobbled us around for a bit, for which we kindly repaid him in bananas afterwards.
Following on from this exertion a swim was just what we needed. The waterfall was not your stereotypical image of a tropical fall, but instead consisted of a series of limestone shelves over which the water rushed. It was breath-taking, a trifle cold but a welcome cool down all the same. A snake in the water caused great comotion amongst a group of Chinese tourists who been busying themselves perfecting various poses for all the photo-taking going on - nothing new there.
The final leg of the day was the kayak back, approximately 2 hours. Our initial enquiries about how difficult this would be were laughed at. Myself and On shared a double open kayak, while James had one to himself. On may I add was about half the size of me but twice as strong. So we were back once again in the familiar muddy waters of the Mekong (well a tributary).Within minutes of being afloat James was overturned as we passed the spill out point from the waterfall. Once we stopped laughing, and J had managed to heist himself back onto his kayak we passed the following hours floating down river at a good pace, soaking up the sun and enjoying the fabulous scenery - Northern Laos is very mountainous.
During the last hour we hit rapids that were by no means gentle. James once again came flying out of his kayak in spectacular form as he went over a rock. What ensued was to be slightly disastrous. As his kayak floated by On and I, On jumped from our kayak in attempt to catch and save the loose kayak.
James grabbed hold of me, I was holding a branch, the water was loud and fast, within seconds On was gone from view and James and I were on our own............
James and I were in the double kayak now and rapidly floating downstream, we started paddling in an effort to find our guide, oh the hilarity of it all. We chose the wrong path way after a split second decision and encountered more rocks. This time it was my turn to get wet, as our kayak glided over a concealed rock. It was all a bit chaotic and with our guide (nor anyone else for that matter) nowhere in sight I have to admit I was nervous. After clattering along a series of rocks I managed to pull myself back onto the kayak to discover my shin cut fairy deeply, bleeding and quite painful. Holy God what were we getting ourselves into - complete amateurs!
On emerged from the trees along the shoreline just as we manged to pull in, and we were very happy to see him! For a few minutes I thought J and I would be navigating our own way home in the approaching darkness. He had managed to save the other kayak, which was pulled ashore. How he did so with no paddle is a mystery!
We were back in action - On back with me and J in his kayak again. We were minus a paddle so I was afforded the luxury of doing nothing for the remainder of the journey while the boys laboured away at the remaining rapids. Just as the sun was setting the welcome site of the company owner and his jeep greeted us on the shore - he was waving his phone and was obviously relieved to see us - we were much later than expected. When he saw my bloody leg he decided not to charge us for the lost paddle and seemed a bit anxious as to what we were going to do.
It was one of the most exhilarating things I have done in a long time!
Back in Luang Prabing later that night we again visited the Red Cross to steam our aching limbs, followed by an amazing Indian dinner for only a couple of euro. It was our best day in Laos by far, and one of the best of the whole trip.
Vang Vieng
The road from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng consists almost entirely of hairpin bends and is less than a comfortable ride. It was unnerving at times to look out the window and see how close we were to the edge especially given the recent news that a double decker tourist bus had toppled only days previously killing two and injuring many.
We ended up staying in Thavisouk Hotel, undoubtedly the nicest accommodation in town. It was equivalent to a 4 Star at home. We had an enormous bedroom on the top floor and a large balcony with stunning mountain views. We were in heaven and all for about Eur12 a night.
We headed down to the river front later in the evening to join in the last of the festivities. On the last day of the boat festival it is tradition to release flower and candle wreaths into the river and we joined the locals and bought a wreath of our own and watched in the dark as hundreds of these sparkling vessels floated downstream.
The following day we rented bikes.My leg was still quite sore from the kayaking so trekking was out, and cut too deep to risk water activities. This was a pain in the bum since Vang Vieng is so famous for tubing and we missed out!
About 5 minutes cycle out of the town and across the river brings you right into the countryside. We cycled to a lagoon, J jumped in and had a swim while I watched jealously. After lunch there we climbed about 200m to a nearby cave. It seems that in these parts the locals will put up a sign and erect a ticket 'office; beside anything resemblig a lagoon or a cave. You could easily disappear into a cave system without a trace! We climbed up to this particular cave out of curiosity. What we discovered at the top was an entry only big enough for one of us to squeeze through at a time - potholing not being our cup of tea we promptly turned around again and descended!
A funny thing about Vang Vieng is that lots of the restaurants have tv's playing series after series of 'Friends' and they're always full of people watching and eating dinner?! Nuts. It might be something to do with the fact that for a few extra cents you can ask your waitor to add grass/ methamphetamines/ magic mushrooms or even acid to your milkshake/ pizza or whatever it may be you're consuming! Whatever tickles your fancy I suppose.
Vientiane
The nation's capital leaves alot to be desired. We stayed only two nights, so I suppose to be fair we didn't give it full exploration. We held up in the Youth Inn directly across the road from 'Sticky Fingers' cafe which alone is worth the visit to Vientiane. The food is divine especially if you've been travelling for awhile.
We did some strolling around, it's centred mostly around the riverfront (the Mekong). In attempt to catch some sights we plodded off to their equivalent of the Arc de Triomphe. We were just in time to catch the locals out doing their evening exercises in the park that surrounds it. It was the main thing of interest we visited and to be honest it was an ugly monstrosity.
Dehydrated and J walking beside me with his tongue out I took the hint and suggested we sample what Vientiane has to offer by way of entertainment. Our first stop was a Mexican bar (naturally) and then it was on from there to two French restaurants where we drank too much wine and talked too much shite, but had a great night in the process.
Our last day in Laos was relatively uneventful. For want of something to do James entertained my need to purchase a Laos fridge magnet. Unlike many other S.E. Asian capitals Vientiane is not full of tacky souvenir shops so that quest kept us occupied for awhile. Fridge magnet in hand we caught the 5pm bus to Bangkok.
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