Laos on wegotoeleven

Mekong river slowboat

Sun, 22 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Most people I’ve spoken to who have been to Laos have said they wish they had more time to spend there. When we arrived at Vientiane, I couldn’t really understand why. Sure it was nice and the food was great, but there isn’t much to do. Considering it’s the capital, it’s pretty empty. Vang Vieng was fun for a couple of days, but it got old very quickly. There’s only so many backflips you can do into the Mekong, a finite amount of drinking (unless you’re “party party party”, which i guess I’m not…) and about 2 or 3 decent caves to see and explore. The Blue Lagoon was awesome though. But Luang Prabang was a different story altogether. We have spent 9 days here, and even though a few of them were spent idly meandering down the main street, grabbing pastries, baguettes and really awesome pizzas, we could have stayed another week. Again, it’s not like there’s loads to do, but the atmosphere is so welcoming, friendly and relaxed that we were okay being lazy. I love it here. So I’m pretty sad that today we’re leaving for the Laos border town of Huay Xai, on our way back to northern Thailand.

It’s made so much easier though, by the fact that we’re travelling via a 50 foot river boat up the Mekong river. It’s a slow boat, so we stop for one night at Pak Beng, and then resume the journey tomorrow morning. The first leg should take about 6-8 hours, and - contrary to all literature I’ve read - it left on time. The sights were amazing. There were plenty of solitary shacks on the hillsides to the north and south of the river - we even saw a couple of herds of water buffalo. Which was cool.

It’s a bit overcast today, so every now and again the clouds split, and a shaft of light from the sky lights up the hills, casting shadows on small houses and shacks beneath them.

Beautiful. Serious, this beats 15 hour overnight bus journeys anyday.

Alms

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Waking up at 5:00 am, regardless of the reason, is never an easy thing to do. It’s easier for me, as the curfew in Laos states I should be inside and off the streets by 11:00 pm, but regardless, I like my sleep and therefore, it’s a difficulty.

However, this morning, watching the Alms ceremony in Luang Prabang made it worth it.

Being out in the street this early, there’s not many people around. The sun is barely up, and I’m finding it very hard to keep my eyes open, or stand up straight steadily. So there’s me, on a cross roads outside my guesthouse, wobbling and bleary eyed like a drunk guy, plus bedhair - i must look a right state. At about 5:30, things start to come alive a bit more. Men, women, and children - and the occasional “Falang” (the Lao word for “White Westerners”) - start to bleed out onto the street. The Lao people carry bamboo floor sheets, small rice pots and plastic baskets, and set up on the pavement along the Sakkaline road. By about 5:45, there’s about fourty people sitting on their sheets, with a few people walking around selling Sticky Rice to tourists. I don’t buy any; I heard that you shouldn’t take part in the ceremony if you’re not a buddhist, and I don’t want to be disrespectful.

By about 5:50, I spy a cloud of orange in the distance up the Sakkaline road. I check my camera to make sure I don’t need to use my flash, and set up on a small corner on the opposite side of the procession. As the monks approach, I get a very humbled feeling. Everything is quiet, there are no cars, tuk tuks or motos, and everyone is kneeling, eyes to the floor, handing out small balls of rice to the monks passing by.

By 6:00, the monks have passed and have turned west on the crossroads. Even though I’m knackered, an experience well worth the trouble of waking up so early. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t slightly emotional. No wonder people love Luang Prabang.

Laos it bruv, part 2

Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

“Laos the rain, bruv!”

I don’t think i’m ever not going to stop using “Laos” in this way. For those who don’t get it, in England, we have a demographic of people that use the phrase “Allow it, bruv” meaning something to the effect of “I know that what I’m doing is wrong, but please allow me to do it”.

So anyway.

It’s approaching rainy season here, so every now and again we get full on torrential rain that “prevents” us doing activities such as swimming in lagoons, visiting temples, or even walking down the Sisavangvong road, looking for food. I use inverted commas, because it doesn’t really stop us from doing much, and it’s actually quite nice because it’s so damn HOT here.

Laos really is beautiful. The scenery is amazing, and Luang Prabang is on one of the best stretches of the Mekong river that I have seen in SE Asia. The people here are so friendly, and the food is something else. Luang Prabang is one of the more expensive places in Laos, but it’s all relative; A large pizza for 2 people costs about 50,000 kip (about $6.25) from one of the colonial-style boutique restaurants in central LP, but I imagine that stuff would be a bit cheaper in the old town - which I’ve yet to visit.

It’s odd, because i’ve not really done much in LP because i’ve been getting over a fever, but at no point have I felt like i’m wasting time in my guesthouse (which is also beautiful) because the attitude here is so laid back. The government enforce a curfew at 11:30 pm, meaning no bars pubs or clubs are open after, and you need to be off the streets by 12am. Plus, as i’ve previously mentioned, it’s so damn HOT here, that I really don’t feel like stressing out about seeing as much as possible, in the fastest time possible. I really feel relaxed.

Anyway. Apologies for lack of postage (again), i’ll hope to get more up in the next 2 weeks; because after that, we leave SE Asia for the USA!