Tuesday, May 26, 2009
6:36 PM

Sabaidee Laos!

Laos.
20 to 25 May.

Twenty-four. Muang Khua & Oudoumxay. The road conditions on the mountains were horrible. Some parts were well-laid with tarmac, but most parts were really under construction, which really meant huge rocks lain on the ground for the past 1 year and no workers in sight. Some other parts, logs, rocks and mud cover the road, and you should count yourself lucky if the edge didn't fall off in a landslide. Once, in an attempt to squeeze past a truck on the narrow road, the minibus driver drove us into a ditch. So here comes adventure again, where the truck had to tow us out of the ditch. And to get across a river without a bridge? You simply drive into the river and through it.

Fixing the tow rope.

We had to be towed out of the ditch.

Awesome view on the border crossing.

A different terrain as we reached Laos.

So, after a long and bumpy ride from Dien Bien Phu, and a chilly customs check atop the mountains, we reached Muang Khua. Along the way we met a Japanese solo female traveller, Shino, and a Chinese, Jiafu, who crossed the border to work in Laos. Jiafu led us to cross the river and get a songthaew to get to the bus terminal 2km away.

It was a long wait to get to Oudoumxay, and when we got on the bus from Oudoumxay to Luang Prabang, the bus had to fail us 300m after the bus terminal, and took another 1h to get fixed. These 2 days of border crossing have to be the most adventurous part of the trip, and I highly recommend this route for its unpredictability and exciting factor!

Getting our bus ticket from Oudomxay to Luang Prabang.

No wonder they wished everyone good luck. Breakdowns are so commonplace.

Twenty-five. Luang Prabang. It was quiet, peaceful little town. After checking out Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang's most magnificent temple, we stopped by another Wat where I chatted with a teenage monk. This monk seemed to be very motivated in his studies and loves to practise speaking English with visitors. He's also heard that Singapore is a clean and modern place, and seems to have aspirations to do undergraduate studies overseas.

Mekong river, view near our hostel.

Luang Prabang was the land of wats.

Wat Xieng Thong

Thor stuck close to Shino like a PA. so humsup!

Elaborately embellished interior.

Intricately carved doors.

Painting of the Bodhi tree.

I love the bright orange monk robes.

Baby pet owl.

Lunch was beer and Indian food at Nazim's.

View of Luang Prabang from Mount Phu Si.

Sunset at Mount Phu Si

Phousi Night Market was probably the cleanest, quietest and most beautiful night market I've ever been to. In Vietnam, all the stuff would be strewn all over, and you probably have to dig for what you want. But at this market, the items lay neatly on the floor mat, with minimal touting.

Oil massage at Lotus was pretty comfortable, but I was deeply in need of a foot massage which, after some miscommunication, I was deprived of. But I felt better after a Beer Lao again at Khob Chai!

Twenty-six. Luang Prabang Province. We woke up early in the morning to find the thousands of monks begging for alms, and the women of the families kneeling outside their houses and along the streets to give sticky rice to the monks. Sellers of sticky rice immediately flocked towards me to get me to buy from them so I could take part in this "grand parade" too.

Daybreak.

I wonder why people said the Pak Ou caves were worth the visit as they were ugly and filled with lots of unwanted Buddhist sculptures. On the other hand, Tat Kwang Si was paradise! I don't understand how the falls can be so blue/turquoise! The park also features conservation center for moon bears which have suffered in the region as people tapped them for their bear bile.

Home-made Lao whisky - Laolao.

Liquor with snakes, scorpions and centipedes.

Beautiful butterfly.

Kitty!

Puppy!

Chicks.

Best of friends!

The view outside Pak Ou caves was beautiful.

Ancient Buddhist images on the wall.

Laos is the Land of a Million Elephants.

But I'd rather see free-ranging elephants.

I don't understand why Tat Kwang Si is so turqoise.

Very good grammar.

The local bus ride to Vang Vieng that night taught us the difference between a VIP and a non-VIP bus. A local bus meant that people get on and off the bus between the boarding location and destination. The bus company adds stools in the center aisle so they can earn more money, and local people can pay less to get to another place. Because most of them are skinny and have weak constitutions, and that the roads were so winding, many of them puked.

So we reached at about 2am at Vang Vieng and found our way to Nam Song Gardens. Timo and Tris were so drunk by the time we found them, looking for sandwiches to eat at the night food stalls. This is indeed a wicked party place, where food stalls also cater to these party animals.

Twenty-seven. Vang Vieng. Tubing is the thing to do at Vang Vieng, which is floating down the muddy Nam Song river on a float. This is one place in Laos you can walk around in bikinis, and get lots of drinks! In fact, it's really not about tubing, it's about drinking and drinking and drinking! For me, I wasn't too keen on getting overly-intoxicated on the rivers given that I wasn't a strong swimmer anyway. But the swings and flying fox caused quite a bit of screams and adrenaline rushes!

View from my bed!

The landscape in Vang Vieng is really beautiful.

Tristan doing his swing!

That's me screaming away on the flying fox!

Without these crazy angmohs, Vang Vieng wouldn't be so fun!

Without Shino, I'd be the only girl!

The birthday boy had every right to be drunk!

Intoxicating ourselves throughout the tubing!

Twenty-eight. Vientiane. I guess 1 day of crazy partying was more than enough for most Asians. The thing about Vang Vieng is that it's a very white place. Many white girls walk around the town in bikinis, though it was written on the guidelines that they should not walk around like that. I even saw a local girl walking around in a white wet T-shirt. Party tourism has really polluted the place, and perhaps disturbed their usually peaceful way of life.

I always thought Laos would be a relatively tourist-free place, but I was utterly taken aback by the flocks of white backpackers, and many noisy English and American party animals in Laos. Even in Vientiane, most of the backpackers' lodges were full!

We met Mae for dinner at a nice restaurant - Kong View Terrace - where we had really spicy lap, som tum, Lao curry (which was even more awesome than Khmer curry), chicken tendons, Laos seaweed and of course, Beer Lao. The Lao curry had to be my favourite!

Vientiane is a place where there are both rich and poor people. We saw a few Porsches go past, and many Laos locals hanging out at the pubs and restaurants. And just across the Mekong river was Thailand.

Twenty-nine. Vientiane. Breakfast at Scandinavian Bakery was awesome!

Talat Sao (market) had absolutely nothing that we would want to buy, like electronics and ugly clothes. So we headed for the highlight - Patuxai. Indeed the Patuxai looked like the Arc de Triomphe, built to commemorate the pre-revolutionary war heroes of Laos.

Patuxai is Laos' Arc de Triomphe.

Since we still had plenty of time before crossing the Friendship Bridge to get to Thailand, I decided to do the herbal sauna. It was probably the best steam sauna I've ever done. The pressure was so great I felt like I just had a 5km run!

Other than these, there's really nothing in Vientiane, but I quite liked it for its quietude, with less bikes than in Vietnam and Cambodia. One interesting thing is that the people appear conservative in the day, usually wearing their sarongs, but are dressed in mini skirts and shorts for the pubs at night!