Laos: Luang Prabang

Sad as we were to leave Thailand (Yes, we both love it!) we needed to move on, as it dawned on us that we had 5 more countries to visit in 13 weeks. In case you are wondering, they are (in order) : Laos, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and India, before landing in London for Xmas.

We better get our move on! So we booked a 1 day trip from Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos. This was sold as a 6 hour minivan + 4 hour boat ride - a 1 day trip. This is a relatively new route using a new border crossing and sounded great, as the other border crossing is 3 days of travel. The minivan picked us up at 10pm and we got on our way. We got some Dramamine for the trip to help put us to sleep, and Toolman managed to get a little rest, but its hard when the minivan is lurching all over with Thai-style driving...

We stopped at about 4am on the edge of Thailand at a open-air food stall and were instructed to get out for breakfast.



The food must have been sitting there for a long time, maybe even the night before - it was cold, rubbery and awful! Toolman attempted to have the toast, but the jam was fake raspberry flavored, like a melted lolly (and not in a good way). It had no texture and was simply un-eat-able. Not one of the whole load of travelers (about 10) ate more then a single bite. The coffee was OK, but empty stomach + coffee is not always a smart move. After 15 minutes of trying to wake up and figure out what to do about the food situation, we all just got back on the minivan to signal that a) breakfast was done, and b) we wanted to keep going.



Another hours drive got us to the border, where we got stamped out of Thailand.



This is the exit to Thailand. Thailand drive on the left, and Laos on the right, so it was a bit odd driving between the 2 immigration posts in a Laos taxi-ute (left hand drive) on the left of the road. This was only about 500 meters, and once that was over, we were on to the rally section that wasn't mentioned on the "1 day" pamphlet.



The rally section was a rough dirt road that winded round the (beautiful) mountains for about 3 hours. It was kinda fun, but we were already tired...



... as shown in this (bad) picture. The scenery in the mountains was very nice though, almost like NZ with all the lush greenery. The dust kicked up covered everything.



We eventually got to a small village that edged onto the Mekong river, and transferred to a slow boat - yes, thats what they call them. As we were running late, we had to run between them, and we ll got baguettes thrown at us for lunch. Toolman managed to pick out the meat...



The slow boat ride was very gentle and quiet, which was a relief after the ute-hoon. Unfortunately it took about 6 hours, which really started to drag when you are tired and dirty.



We had plenty of time to look at the scenery, which is very impressive. The mountains are very sharp and angular, and constantly changed as we cruised up the river.



The cave above are full of Buddha statues, but we didn't stop to have a look.

We finally got to Luang Prabang and it was within the stated 1 day (just - about 22 hours of solid travel) but it wasn't so bad really. Getting off the boat, we were greeted with the usual hoard of touts looking to lure us to their guest house. We hadn't booked anywhere, so we surveyed the laminated cards with pictures and picked a place that looked tidy and comfy.

Thankfully we picked well, and it ended up being new and clean, as well as the cheapest accommodation that we have had anywhere on our travels. A double room with oscillating fan and a private bathroom with hot water cost 140 Baht (NZ $6) per night.

We happened to arrive the day before a major local holiday and event: dragon boat racing. Our guest house guide (name: Listh) organized a minivan and driver for anyone interested in going, so us and a Swedish pair (Emilia and Marcus; they are "just friends" now...) went along. As the minivan wasn't full, Listh stopped off to pick up his wife and child.



The setting was beautiful - this picture doesn't do it justice. The mountains pierce the clouds! In addition to dragon boat racing, there was a large market, and lots of food, drinking and dancing - a fun introduction to Lao culture.



The market had all the usual trinkets on offering, but it was aimed at the locals, so mostly inexpensive stuff. There were lots of carnival type attractions - small rides, throw-the-dart-at-ballons-to-win-a-toy and such like. Lisths' wife and child went off to meet up with other family, while he showed us falangs around.



This is how they do pirate movies and software in Laos. Wandering around the markets we realised how short the Lao people are. They are a fine featured race, and Princess really felt tall among them - honestly very few were as tall as her!



The actual holiday and festival celebrates the retreat of the monsoon, and all the local villages compete against each other to see who is the best village by way of a round-robin knockout type event. The rule are pretty lax, and so some boats only have a few people, and some have lots. This doesn't seem very fair, and the longer boats (=more people) always seemed to win.



The race went under this bridge, so it was a good place to view...



... but Listh showed us a better place! This spot had a great view over the river, and in addition to watching the boat racing, the other time honored tradition at this event is drinking! There was 2 choices: Beer-Lao and Lao-Lao. The former is obvious and surprisingly good - us non-beer-drinkers liked it; the latter is home-made rice whisky. Listh told us that it is about 60% alcohol. It certainly tasted like it was...

We had plenty of both, and things got a little blurry towards the end of the afternoon.



Toolman couldn't help taking a photo of stylish, pimpin' grandad.



This is our guide and new friend, Listh, and hid son Bank. We spent the afternoon talking about Lao life and culture over the various drinks. Us falangs bought all his drinks, and as he is shorter then Princess, he was looking pretty wobbly by the end of it. and no mums, he wasn't driving - we had a driver waiting back at the van.

All in all, a really fun day, and Listh was quite a character, especially after a few Lao-Laos...

As we were leaving, a group of English people who we had bumped into earlier in the day came over and explained that they had lost their ride back, and were stranded. We kindly let them pile into the van, and subsidize our travel home!

Early to drinks, early to bed.



The next morning we got up and had a wander around Luang Prabang itself. This is a Wat on the top of Mount Phu Si. Yes, the pronunciation can be misheard for a ruder word. This hill gave a tremendous view out over Luang Prabang.



The Mekong, which we slow boat-ed down the day before in the foreground, and the amazing hill/mountains in the distance - very scenic.



We also looked at the Wat, and the multiple Buddha statues on the hill.



There was a Buddha for every day of the week! This one was Sunday, from memory.



Also of note was the Buddhas footprint, but unless Buddha was a Yetti, we are skeptical..



The next place to visit was a local waterfall, which is always welcome when it is so hot. Listh organised another minivan and driver for us. As we arrived, we got a "tip" from some random falang who was leaving to go up the left hand side track, we assumed for the excellent swimming...




The track was very NZ like, but quite steep and tiring. This section was particularly treacherous - the waterfall was cascading over the steps!



In addition, they were slippery, and a few steps were missing. After climbing for about half an hour, we realised that we were at the the top of the waterfall, and that there was no-where suitable to swim- ARG! A (careful) descent back down, got us back to the start, where we found the rest of the group who were leisurely swimming in the lovely waterfall. Oh well, at least the water was cool and plesant, though we think there might have been leeches nipping at our heels...



The other attraction here was an orphaned tiger named Phet, who had been captured and traded 4 times in the first couple of weeks of her life. Thankfully, she was confiscated from the poachers (aka bastards!), who had stressed mistreated her so badly that most of her fur had fallen out. A pen was set up and she was nursed back to health, and now she lives next to the waterfall. Its not an ideal (wild) life, but at least she is comfortable and healthy now.



The area also had black bears who had also been confiscated from poachers - these bears are either kept alive and harvested for bile, or killed with body parts used for pseudo-health reasons. Makes us sick to think about it...



We got back to the mini van to find that the driver had won at pool, and so he got the bounty as shown above. He assured us that there was plenty of meat on them for dinner. We weren't convinced. Still, a fun day!



We have seen this so many times - a rough, rural house with a satellite dish. Even the hilltribes have them! Some aspects of the modern world are quick to catch on; others (hot water, fridges etc) are yet to arrive.



Isn't the scenery awesome! Tune in next time for the event that both our Mums have dreaded: the drunk-inner-tyre-tubing...