Laid Back Laos... - Blogabond

With Thailand successfully completed we embarked on an overnight bus journey from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang in Laos. We were lucky to stop near the border for one last Thai temple exploration. The white temple was the king daddy of all temples and our mission through the rain was indeed worth it. The temple design was one of the most diverse I have seen. In the photo below you can see the walkway leading to the temple and the eerie section of hand sculptures reaching up from the ground.

Arriving into Luang Prabang in the early morning with severe lack of sleep meant that bed was in order. After catching up on a few hours sleep we went off to explore. We were impressed. The town had a great mix of Asian and European influence. The beautiful temples, French architecture and the former grand palace provided us with some excellent photo opportunities.

Monks could be seen all around, walking down the lush tree lined streets which were surrounded by both the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers. The food was also some of the best and we both enjoyed our daily chicken and Mekong River fish from the laid back night markets and riverside food stalls. What's more the locals were so friendly and genuine. This was one relaxed town and we sunk into the lifestyle just fine ;-)

We spent some time visiting the various temples situated around the town. The Phu Si temple was positioned high up on the hill providing us with great views over Luang Prabang.

Wat Xieng Thong was the most famous temple in the town and dates back to 1560. At one of the other temples we were lucky to speak with a couple of young 15 year old monks. It was interesting to learn about their culture and dedication they put in. Nic couldn't get too close as they are not allowed to have any contact with females! They had only been learning English for a short time and their interaction with tourists is a great way for them to boost their vocabulary and for us to also learn about their lifestyle. Later that evening Nic went to see a Laos dance theatre performance which she enjoyed, while I spent some more time looking around the town.

Pak Ou Caves was next up on our list. The cave was accessed by a 1 and a half hour boat ride upstream a beautiful stretch of the Mekong River. There are 2 caves within the cliff both full with a variety of Buddha statues. Whilst the cave was a good visit,

the scenery during the boat trip was the highlight of the morning. Our boat made a stop at the Ban Xang Hai village, otherwise known as 'Whisky Village'. We met the locals who showed us a range of bottled whiskey they had made, each containing a different creature, including snakes, scorpions and geckos. The whiskeys are made for a variety of purposes including joint pain and building strength. We each tried a shot of 60% proof whiskey which was potent to say the least.

We took a trip to see the Kung Si Waterfall in the afternoon. We were greeted at the Park entrance by a big happy sun bear! The reserve has a conservation scheme for bears rescued from poachers. He looked in good shape and we were both impressed with the size of the bears enclosure.

Kung Si Waterfall is one the most stunning waterfalls I have seen on our travels to date. The water runs from the main pool throughout the jungle, passing over a number of smaller falls which were equally as beautiful as the main fall itself.

We set on a trek to the top and half way up realised we should have made our way up the other side. The route was so muddy and it was only a matter of time before we took off our flip flops and continued bare foot. The views from the top were awesome. We were a little anxious standing at the top, seeing the water rushing over the edge. One false move and we would have been falling a long way down.

On the way home we predictably stopped at a local village where the women and children were selling all sorts of handmade crafts. Nic made the gigantic mistake of buying a wristband from a woman outside her house and within seconds she was surrounded by a gaggle of children chanting “You buy from me, You buy from me”, much to my amusement. I, however, managed to escape. Afraid that she may never make it out of the village, Nic leapt into the van thinking she was safe, however, the 'Children of the Damned' still circled like vultures.

Later that evening we met up with Rich, an Australian guy we had met on the way to Laos and went for some drinks. It was a great evening, although as I have been drinking less since coming away travelling I have turned into a bit of a lightweight. It's all good, it made for a cheap evening!

Vang Vieng was to be our next destination and we enjoyed the scenic bus route which passed through the beautiful Laos mountains. Vang Vieng was a great little town and the surrounding scenery was simply stunning. 'Friends' was shown in just about every restaurant and bar. It seemed to do the job of getting people through the door. We did get a few sneaky surprises on occasions, mainly getting passed the opium menu while waiting for our food. Crazy. When the French invaded back in the day they permitted opium production to flourish and Laos became a big producer of the crop. In 1998 Laos was the third largest illicit opium producer in the world. As a result of the government's commitment to address the issue, during the period of 1998 and 2005 the country's opium cultivation was reduced by 94% and addiction dropped by 80%. Pretty impressive. I contemplated having an opium spliff starter but after giving it some thought I felt it wouldn't have complimented my Laos chicken curry. (!!!)

Tubing is of course the main activity that people come to Vang Vieng for. This is basically where you float down the river in a big old tractor inner tube, stopping along the way at make shift bars before jumping back in the river via rope swings! We were a little disappointed to learn that the tubing operators weren't due to open because of the high waters the previous few days rain had bought. After grabbing a bite to eat we were pleased to see that with no sign of any further rain in sight the tubing operators had in fact opened so we picked up our tubes and took a tuk tuk to the launch site. We were informed of how 3 people have died tubing already this summer through a combination of high river conditions, back flips, drink and mushroom shakes. We were beginning to wonder if we would make it through alive!

The launch point involved sliding down a big metal slide straight into the river... great fun! The river was flowing pretty fast so as soon as I hit the water I was off. Nic was up next and the strong current had made her veer off to the wrong side. She ended up getting stuck under a bridge because the water was so high. It was a little scary to be honest but me and another lad nearby got her free. We re-energised with a big hug (after the obligatory screaming in my ear for 10 minutes from the shock!) and then jumped back in our tubes and made our way to the first bar, which by now was rammed with travellers. The rope swing had to be done so I stepped up first. It looks pretty damn high when you climb up (especially when you are just on some rickety old bits of wood). I reached for the swing and took a big jump which felt like I was plummeting for eternity before I was plunged deep in the river. You then get thrown a rope so you don't end up floating off for miles. Nic stepped up next and seeing her face was priceless! The photos aren't the best (no waterproof camera) but you get the idea! Floating down the river surrounded by such amazing views was epic.

Our Kayak tour turned out to be one our Laos highlights. We kayaked 18km downstream and there was no better way to see the stunning surroundings of Vang Vieng.

There was definitely something wrong with our kayak (or Nic?!) though as we managed to capsize a total of 3 times. Things were getting a bit silly. I think our guide just thought we were both positively rubbish at kayaking until he had switched to the kayak with me. We set off on our challenge to paddle up the rapid... without success... we capsized. This was only the second capsize in our guides 10 year kayaking history. He couldn't believe it.

This was a good time to re-fuel and we stopped for our barbeque lunch which of course

was delicious. Laos food is big in the game. They know how to feast well. After lunch we were back on the river. We stopped off along route to visit one of the nearby caves. The water was unfortunately too high for us to enter the cave but the short hike to get there was worth it nonetheless, as we passed through lush green rice fields. I have recently become a fan of rice fields and when you see the photos it is easy to see why.

Next up was a stop at an organic tea farm for a fine cuppa before continuing kayaking further downstream to visit one of the other nearby caves called Tham Non, also known as 'sleeping cave'. In order to enter the cave we had to pass through a cool spring which was very refreshing. We had to swim upstream through the cave clinging on to bits of rock and forming a human rope line. It was great fun and such an experience to explore an undeveloped cave with nothing more than candlelight. Awesome! Once we made it to the end we able to explore the the main cave room. It was an impressive room that was home to hundreds of locals that took refuge from the bombs during the war. It was hard to imagine people living in the cave day and night.

Having found a rock climbing operator in the area I signed up and enjoyed a days climbing over the amazing scenery below me. First we had to hike a short distance to get to the rock face crossing farmland, streams and a rocky incline towards the end.

The limestone cliff provided us with some great climbs although the midday sun made it hard work at times. It appears that Laos climbing safety equipment is not quite up to the same standard as Thailand , however. The woman who was also climbing with me was an experienced climber from Australia and after she inspected the anchor at the top she was looking rather anxious. There were also no bolts on route to the top, but instead there were slings (loops of rope attached to the rock) so when our guide asked if I wanted to lead the climb (climb with the rope and attach it to the top) she strongly advised me against it. I thought it was best to listen to her as she seemed to know what she was on about.

Despite the slight safety issues we had a great days climb and it did give me more determination not to fall off. I also completed a 6b+ climb which is my toughest climb yet so I was chuffed. We had another tasty barbeque lunch which our guide cooked up... top stuff.

On our final day we went to explore the most well known cave of the area, Tham Jang. This cave was used as a bunker in defence from the Chinese in the early 19th century. Once in the cave grounds we were greeted by a welcoming blue spring so naturally we jumped in to cool off. After having a little swim we made our climb to the top of the steps to visit the cave. This was a developed cave and was good fun to explore. Again we were treated to some awesome views.

Last stop on our itinerary was the capital city Vientiane. After checking into the hotel we went into town to see the sights. Vientiane again had a mix of predominantly French and Asian influence, a result of the French rebuilding much of the city in the early 20th century, after the destruction that had been left by the Siamese invasion. We enjoyed some donuts from one of the French bakeries on route to the museum. Although there was only a small amount of English in the museum it was an hour well spent. Further research helped us to understand the missing links. During the 60's and early 70's Laos was effected by an unacknowledged conflict known as the 'Secret War'. Northern Vietnam used eastern Laos to move huge quantities of war material down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The USA responded with the largest bombing campaign in history. 2 million tons of bombs were dropped by the USA between 1964 and 1973. Approximately a third of these bombs didn't explode. These are disasters waiting to happen, especially for children and farmers. Understandably then Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) is a serious killer today in Laos. The British organisation MAG (Mines Advisory Group) has been helping to clear UXO in conjunction with UXO Laos since 1994 so slowly things are improving. Cleared land can then be used for long term development including agriculture, schools and irrigation canals. Check out http://www.maginternational.org/laopdr/ for more info. They are doing a good job. There is a long way to go, however, the reality is there are still over 200 casualties per year, almost half of which result in death. These are the consequences of a bombing campaign that finished almost 40 years ago. Absolutely shocking.

We continued on our journey through the town stopping off at some of the temples, the city fountain and the palace, although we did get hurried out of the grounds very quickly by the guard. Ooops, I don't think we were supposed to be in there. We had a fantastic curry on route too. Nic noticed the sun beginning to set over the river in the distance so we set off in the direction of the sun. I am very glad we did as we witnessed one of the most spectacular sunsets of our whole trip.

The next morning we hired some push bikes costing a whole $1 each for the day. Value. The purpose for hiring the bikes was to visit the Pha That Luang, the most important national monument in Laos. It symbolises Buddhist religion and Laos sovereignty. When the sun shines on it it looks very impressive and can be seen from afar. Nic's bike had some crazy stand device that she had trouble using. It was very funny watching!

Laos has blown us away. The country has matched up to the old style South East Asia I had pictured in my head. It was a part of Asia that I had not yet come across. The country is beautiful and we both enjoyed being surrounded by the natural beauty rather than travelling far to find it. There appears to be a positive future for Laos and the local people seem to recognise that too. The issues surrounding Laos have made me think about communist and capitalist politics and the future that lies a head for the country. It has sparked an interest and I look forward to learning more. It is great to see the country benefiting from tourism and rising out of poverty, but this comes at a price. With a growing number of tourists the country will no doubt change at an alarming rate just like it's Asian neighbours have done over the years. Will it manage to retain its soul? Now that is the question.

written by

SupandNic on October 5, 2010 from Luang Prabang, Laos

from the travel blog: Sup and Nic's World Tour!

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