Day 46 - Laos is a calling

Firstly, apologies for the length of the last post - I did ramble on a bit, but I had nearly two weeks of activity to document - we'd been busy :)

So we've left the freezing cold north of Vietnam, sold the bikes and used to dosh to fund a flight into Vientaine - the capital of Laos. The Vietnam leg of our the journey has come to an end, and the whole path we took from bottom to top can be seen here in the final visual journey-progress update map. We made the cross-country journey in a small Airbus 2-engine propeller plane that took just under 2 hours. The airport is just outside the capital, a quick taxi ride later and we were in the centre of the hotel district.

We read it can get busy in the peak season (now), but we had no idea it would be so hard to find accommodation. We tried a few hotels at first - all full. Lukas stayed with our bags and a beer, while Petr and I continued hunting - still no room, then I continued on my own. After nearly 2 hours I'd tried over 30 hotels, only 3 had room, and only one was (just) in our price range, and clean enough to consider spending and time sleeping there. So decision made, we checked in grabbed some grub and hit the sack.

The weather is sooo much nicer here - it's in the high twenties, still a little overcast, but we can stop wearing two jumpers and a jacket to go outside. The shorts have been promoted up from the bottom of the backpack, and the jumpers relegated back down to the bottom where they belong! The city itself it pretty small, and there's not an awful lot to do here - quite a few silver-tourists around, which says it all really. So we started exploring our options for travel out of the city, and off into the countryside where we would see the countries real beauty. Luang Prabang in the north is a place we all agreed we would like to have a real good root around, but it's all very remote and isolated and agreed we’d likely need to buy some tours of the area. After some research we decided there was another place we wanted to check out en-route first; Vang Vieng. So after a day of exploring Vientaine city on knackered girly pushbikes we'd rented for the day (loads of fun!), we were booked on a bus to head 180km north.

Locking up our girly bikes outside a riverside drinking hole

Laos certainly has some beautiful scenery, and we were sorely missing our bikes and experiencing the freedom (and speed - this was one slow-ass bus!) we'd grown accustomed to. Got ourselves accommodated in Vang Vieng , and instantly we could see what the guidebook meant about this being a backpackers haven - this town only exists because of backpackers, and all businesses here are geared to the travelling way of life. It's a real party town with bars and restaurants pumping out music, or airing endless episodes of friends from DVD boxsets, as the hungover travellers all lie down on giant cushions transfixed to the tone of familiar TV. Our first evening there consisted of going to an island where there are 4 large open bars with bonfires and cheap BeerLao (the rather nice local beer in giant 640ml bottles), and travellers drink in their hundreds - a nice place to meet new people and share stories an tips for places visited.Brand new visual-journey progress map for Laos.

There are many caves in the surrounding area along a small river that are ripe for exploring. We wanted to do it on our own so rented more push bikes - this time mountain bikes - and they were really really crap! Lukas went off doing his photography thing while Petr and I tried finding these caves. Found a couple that extend a few kilometres into the mountainside, but they were pretty straight, and not overly interesting. A cave we tried later was much better with loads of compartments and giant openings to root around in. You pay and entrance fee and are handed a torch, as they are completely pitch-black inside.

Inside the coolest cave - jet black wit only a lame flashlight to look around. And no one else for miles - we had them all to ourselves! Great fun!

Stopping for beers along the way, we met Lukas later in the evening, and decided to extend our stay another day to partake in the tubing everyone we met raved about. Particularly this Ozzy guy who we met in the evening who was pissed off his head, who we later discovered was returning home to Oz after living in Bournemouth and working in Walkabout there for two years - small world! I also met a fellow Bournemouth-ian later that night too - Bizarre!

Sipping down Lao-Lao (local rice-whiskey) cocktails from buckets - classy!

Tubing the next day started just after lunch, you pay your dosh, get given a giant inflated inner-tube, and get carted 3km up stream to the drop point. Quick cocktail at the bar before getting wet, and you just jump in and let the current take you downstream. After 50m we were drinking beers on the bamboo-made bar of the first drinking hole of many en-route. There are hundreds of people just floating along, with rope swings and zip-lines into the water that we were all having fun using. 6/7 hours, and countless BeerLao's later we'd run out of light and made it back to shore.

Tubing down the river with the sun on your back, magnificent scenery, and a beer in your hand - we loved it! More images of us getting pissed up.

Next morning we had pretty monster hangovers, but had to sport them all day on another bus journey - which today took us to Luang Probang, a further 200+km further north. Updated visual-progress map. Again - scenery was breathtaking - as we drove around massive mountain ranges, and through tiny village communities. I had a pretty rough time on-board, with a bout of travel sickness not helped by the remnants of the night before swishing around my stomach the whole way. But about 6/7 hours later we made it. Met a nice Australian girl, Mailey, on the minibus, and after sharing a ride into town together, we all found a hotel, and are sharing 2 rooms to help spread the cost. Tomorrow we intend to do the sights of the town, and book ourselves in for the next tour - probably some waterfalls in the area first, then the big 4-day adventure. After which,.. who knows?

Generally Laos has been a pleasant experience so far. It's very different to Vietnam. Everything in Laos seems to happen at a much slower pace. There are a lot less people here, and the majority of the population live in villages, not cities, and everything is just more rural. The people as a race are slightly different too - usually taller and broader with slightly redder skin, and different shaped faces. The building styles are different too, and conditions are generally much more basic - running water is by no means everywhere, but satellite TV seems to be, with many small wooden shacks sporting a 3m dish in the front garden. There is less traffic on the roads - most of the traffic is actually made up of cars here, not bikes, and no one seems in a rush to get anywhere - politely waiting behind slower vehicles until it's safe and clear to overtake - no horns!

The food has been better in my opinion, but we've only really been in touristy places so far.. expecting food quality to deteriorate rapidly once we start getting rural. But I don't think they eat dog here, so fingers crossed - no more nasty surprises when blindly ordering, if indeed there's even a choice. That's it for today, but more to follow shortly ;) Over half-way through our time away already! So better get a move on - lots still to see! TTFN.

More fantastic images by Lukas as usual.