Recently in Laos Category
We've definitely been on the tourist trail here in Laos (we've heard it referred to as the "banana pancake trail", because all the tourist guesthouses and restaurants serve them). It seems like every day, no matter where we are, we run into at least 5 other tourists who were on the boat with us from the border. There's no way we could handle traveling like this all the time, but it's ok for a little bit. And we still manage to find our little escapes too. In Vang Viang we decided to follow a recommendation given to us by an Australian guy in Pakbeng for a nice guesthouse on the opposite side of the river from the main tourist center. He had been there just a few days before and told us to just cross the bamboo bridge and it would be right there. But when we got to the river, there was no bridge to be seen. Turns out the bridge is only there during dry season and was taken down the day before we got there. During wet season there are little boats that ferry people across. As I stepped onto the boat, water started to gurgle up into it from a hole on the bottom. The boat guy noticed and didn't seem too worried; he just stuffed a plastic bag down into the hole.
The guesthouse turned out to be great--quiet, friendly, nice rooms, beautiful garden, relaxing hammocks and yummy banana-chocolate shakes. We also met a really nice couple there, Jill and Jeremy from Spring Lake, Michigan. They did a similar round-the-world trip four years ago and we had a great time exchanging stories.
The natural scenery is gorgeous in Vang Viang. Monday we walked a few kilometers up the road to an organic farm that I had read about. We had a delicious lunch there--goat cheese sandwiches and mulberry shakes. They accept volunteers to help with farm work (though there's not much to do during the rainy season) and also to teach evening English classes that are open to children and young adults in the community. We probably would have stayed there for a while if we had more time--maybe next time!!
Tuesday we took a long walk to the Tham Phou Kham cave. It was pretty impressive to stand in there and just feel the weight of the rock and the mountain all around us. Afterwards, I couldn't resist a dip in the inviting swimming hole nearby. We met up with Jill and Jeremy that afternoon to go do what every other tourist in Vang Viang does--tubing down the river. Despite the relatively high cost (more than our room) and the idea that the locals must think all these farangs are a bit crazy to spend all that money just to float down the river on a brightly colored inner tube, it was lots of fun and another great way to take in all the beautiful scenery. (Though most other tubers seemed less interested in the scenery and more interested in stopping for a beer every few hundred meters--we stopped too, but just once for take-out).
Yesterday we took the bus from Vang Viang to Vientiane, the capital. Somehow we managed to pick the seat between two different vomiters. The one in back of us didn't bother us too much, but the one in front was a little worrisome since he began to throw up out the window (which we shared) of the rapidly moving bus. Luckily we avoided getting covered in vomit, but Michael did have to deal with a strange guy tapping him on the shoulder the whole way, trying to repeatedly get his attention to point and laugh at the vomiting girl.
Hopefully our bus ride tonight will be a little different. We're leaving at 7 PM for a 22 hour ride to Hue, Vietnam. I think that's record length when it comes to bus rides!
I know there were some high hopes posted in the comments, but it's hard for anything to seem romantic when you're smushed on a little boat with about 70 other people, sitting on just about the most uncomfortable, bum-numbing benches imaginable for 8 hours, 2 days in a row. At one stop we all thought we were about to be joined by a dead water buffalo that we saw two men carrying down the hill toward our boat. Instead, they tied it to a little canoe-like rowboat (so that the buffalo was in the water) and dragged it down the river to some unknown destination.
But I do have to say, despite all that, it was a beautiful trip. The scenery was gorgeous--lush green hills, steep cliffs, and rocks jutting up from the water. It all has a pretty wild feel to it, you don't ever see much evidence people or development, just a few tiny villages every once in a while. We were pleasantly surprised by the village of Pakbeng, where the boat stopped for the night. We'd heard from others that it was a rough introduction to Laos, with run-down guesthouses full of rats and cockroaches. Maybe we were just lucky, but we found one of the cleanest guesthouses we've been in for a while for just $2. Even the mosquito nets had a nice, freshly-washed smell to them--it's funny the things you get excited about after traveling for a while!
All in all we're happy we did the trip, but also happy when we finally made it to Louang Phabang yesterday evening. This is a beautiful town, with a lot of French influence in terms of architecture (and food too!). But it's also very touristy, which for us has lately been having the effect of making us less interested in a place, or especially in those sites or activities that all the tour agencies advertise as "must-sees" and "must-dos". So instead of all that, I rented a bike for the day and just explored a bit on my own, while Michael did some reading and journaling. After that we enjoyed a long lunch by the river and then climbed Phou Si (the Sacred Hill) for a beautiful view of the city complete with sunset (it didn't rain all day today!).
I think we're going to head out tomorrow and take a bus down to Vang Viang. There's an organic farm there that we're going to check out.
