Week 9+10 Laos

Now if you're anything like me, you will know very little about Laos. Heck, I didn't even know how to pronounce it before arriving! Laos is Thailand's pretty little sister; with luscious green mountains, more rivers than roads and waterfall landscapes you'd be proud to have as your desktop background. Also of interest is that 85% of the land is unmanaged forest and that the USA bombed it 250 000 times in the "Secret War".

Luang Prabang

If for no other reason than its name is fun to say, you should go here. It's a peculiar little town which is kind of like the love child of France and Asia. It's also a welcome change to be able to get something to eat that isn't either noodles with rice or rice with noodles (much as I enjoy Thai/Laos food).

 Quaint little night market just kicking off

Nous sommes en France? (excuse the poor French)

Getting here is a bit laborious. We arrived at the Huay Xai border crossing in the North, went through the routine process of being fleeced by immigration and then hastily searched for any means of transport away from the border. The options were: a quick boat (highly recommended by the travel guide if you fancy ending your life); a slow boat (taking two days) or an overnight VIP bus. Well! we thought, VIP doesn't sound too bad. 

We were wrong. It was genuinely the worst bus ride of my life. There was a chicken under my chair which clucked when I put my feet there. Meanwhile, two people behind me were vomiting violently and the speakers above were playing psychedelic Laos music at ear splitting volume. The roads were so bumpy I'm pretty sure I got air a few times.

When we arrived we clambered into an open top taxi (called a Sorngtuk, but not spelt like that). Moments later an ice cold bucket of water came from behind and soaked us. To say I was startled is an understatement. We had arrived during the week long New Year's festival (Pii Mai), where everyone throws water at each other. Something to do with spiritual cleansing (and having fun). Apparently the Laos people think I need a lot of spiritual cleansing. Thailand have a similar thing called Songkran.

Just accepting my fate - Pii Mai New Year's Festival

This mode of transport, whilst incredibly fun, made us the ultimate water bomb targets

Luang Prabang has some of the most beautiful scenery I think I have seen on my trip so far. Here are a few of my favourite snaps.

Kuang Si Waterfall - this place rocks!

The dodgiest boat ride you will ever take - to Pakou Caves

It's the bear necessities, the simple bear necessities...

Another shot of Kuang Si falls because I like it so much

Pakou Caves - there are hundreds of Buddah statues in there

Having fun at, you guessed it, Kuang Si falls

Vang Vieng
Next up is Vang Vieng, a charming little tourist location where tubing is the main order of the day. We were especially lucky to arrive during the New Year's celebrations, which added an incredible atmosphere to the experience. The locals are amongst the friendliest people you will ever meet and were plying us with free drinks along the entire 4km stretch of the Mekong River. Albeit at times the drink was a cocktail of beer, ice and river water.

Tubes up!

 

Sabaidee Pii Mai! (Happy New Year's!)

 

Karst your eyes on these beauties (My puns get worse every week. I'm certain of it)

 

More dark holes in the Earth - Phu Kham Caves

Vientiane

The capital of Laos and also the most boring place I have visited so far. It feels like being in England, but with more mosquitoes. This sentiment was proved especially true when it started raining (this being the first real rain I've seen on my travels so far).

If you find yourself in this place for logistics reasons, do as we did and hit up the bowling/snooker club for the evening.

Tha Khek

Again, another place we didn't really want to go to. We booked a local bus to "Kong Lor Cave" and ended up overshooting our destination by 200km to this barren location. Still, at great cost we were able to charter a tour to go see the caves from here anyway.

For obvious reasons this is the best shot I can give you of Kong Lor Cave

Kong Lor Cave is well worth a visit. It's a 7km long natural tunnel through the limestone mountains. As you can see, the bottom is flooded, making a guided motor boat a necessity. Your guides will take you, at uncomfortably high speeds, through the darkness. It is perhaps the spookiest thing I have done, with visions of Harry Potter springing to mind.

Relieved to be back in the light

Another unfortunate thing about Tha Khek is getting out of it. The daily bus to Hanoi turned up 8 hours late. Still, I wouldn't have minded, except it was full. I then had a split second decision: whether to chance waiting a few more hours for a bus to another Vietnam location several hundred miles from where I wanted to be. OR! Get the 7 hour bus back to Vientiane. I reluctantly went with the latter option.

I was "lucky" that upon arriving in Vientiane (for the 2nd time) that I was able to bribe a bus driver to let me on a "full" bus to Hanoi. This did mean another 22 hour bus ride without a seat though. Fortunately the Laos people were so friendly. They offered me a space on the floor with them, ordered me dinner and stopped the Vietnamese scamming me. I was less keen on them hugging my legs and putting their feet on my chest during the night.

Sleeping under the bus seats (Vientiane to Hanoi)

Trip Statistics

Places Visited: (5) Huay Xai, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vientiane, Tha Khek (just arrived in Hanoi)

Distance Covered (excluding ridiculous 7 hour detour): 1760km