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My visa for Laos finally arrived and I booked my bus ticket immediately for the very next day. I was up early to be greeted by more rain and when the bus eventually turned up, the driver putting chains on the wheels to make sure we stayed on the road! Bags stored and covered with a tarpaulin, we set off with the usual Cambodian 'more people than seats' rule in full effect. Despite the rain and muddy roads, the bus journey was fairly non-eventful and we arrived at the border in good time after a quick (and planned) bus change in Stung Treng. The border crossing itself was a little odd as there were just two small wooden huts with red and white poles across the road. The huts marking the respective borders were separated by about 300m of no-mans land. Our bus dropped us on the Cambodian side and we were pointed in the direction of the first wooden hut to exit Cambodia. I think we must have interrupted the guard's lunch as he wandered out of his hut in his vest still chewing his food. He gestured me into the hut and silently checked and stamped my passport before asking for a $1 'administration' fee. I was then pointed towards the other wooden hut further up the road so I wandered through no-mans land and met the Laos border guard. He was fully dressed and after doing the necessary asked me for a $2 'administration' fee! I hoped everything in Laos wasn't twice the price! Once through the border we boarded a different bus and were taken to a boat station where we boarded a long tail boat which too us to the island of Don Det. Don Det was billed as the busiest of the Four Thousand Islands area so I planned on having a few beers that evening.
A quick walk along a muddy track from the jetty I found the first Lonely Planet recommended guest house. It wasn't quite what I expected as it was just a line of shaky looking wooden huts on stilts beside the river with a block of shared toilets close by. A look inside the room convinced me to look elsewhere as the room had just a bed with a cardboard thin mattress and nothing else inside. The hammock outside the room would have been much more appealing had it not been for the countless mosquitos buzzing around. Twenty minutes and several guest houses later it seemed that they were all the same with many seeming to have a farm as the primary business with the guest house side of things just a hobby. To view the rooms, I negotiated my way past chickens,cows,ducks,geese and pigs in most places! I was starting to lose hope when it started to rain heavily so I nipped into the nearest place and after finding it had it's own toilet (pure luxury!), I agreed to stay there. It was only after settling in and plonking myself in the hammock that I noticed a bloody great eagle sitting on the sign for the guest house. It made a change from chickens and geese though I guess! Once the rain had stopped I wandered out to explore the area and found more very muddy paths and not much life at all so I quickly decided to move on to Pakse the next day and booked my bus ticket. On the walk back to my room I met a guy (Aoy) on a bicycle who stopped and chatted for a while and invited me to his restaurant that evening. He told me he was off to buy fresh fish and vegetables so I agreed to go to his place that evening. His place was very nice and right on the riverside and he was delighted when I turned up later that night. He seemed like a nice guy and sat me down, brought over two beers and told me all about Laos and how he had studied English at university before setting up his own business. He also told me he had had no guests in his bungalows or customers in his restaurant for 3 weeks! I knew it was low season but this set the alarm bells ringing a little. After about 15 minutes he dropped the bombshell that he was bisexual and very lonely and asked if he could hold hands with me across the table. I politely declined his kind offer and suggested he should just cook me a meal. There was only electricity on the island between 6 and 9pm so I figured at least I could escape quickly and not have to spend all night there! I ordered my food and Aoy disappeared into the kitchen to cook my meal. When he reappeared he had changed into a skimpy pair of shorts and a vest and asked me if I would like a massage after my meal. Once again I politely declined and ate my meal as quickly as I could with Aoy sitting opposite me at the table telling me how handsome I was and how lonely he was! It all got a little too much so I decided to leave soon after the meal and poor old Aoy was gutted. He insisted on giving me a big hug to say goodbye and I'm not sure if it was his notebook or something else pressing against my leg but I wasn't about to ask questions so I quickly set off into the dark and slithered home along the muddy footpath.
Still chuckling about my unexpected advances the night before and after a short boat ride back to dry land, I jumped on the bus to Pakse early the next morning looking forward to civilisation. City life works much better for this traveller I think!!
The intention was to fly North from Pakse but after checking in to a guest house I discovered the airport was closed. This and a quick walk around town told me there was no reason to stay in Pakse any longer than necessary so I booked a night bus to Vientiene (the capital city) that evening. My guest house weren't very helpful when it came to refunding my money so after much negotiation, I took the hit and agreed to a 50% refund. After another abortive attempt to update my blog, I got to the bus station early. Once on board the bus appeared to be very spacious compared to the ones I'd taken in Vietnam as I had the equivalent to a double bed and plenty of room to spread out. My illusions were shattered when the stewardess told me I had to share with another person so I sat and hoped for a hot Scandinavian beauty to hop on board. Sadly what I got was a big black Frenchman the size of Patrick Viera! Thankfully someone got off the bus halfway there so after a very uncomfortable few hours, 'Patrick' hopped over to the spare bed and left me to sleep in my big bed! Laos wasn't working out how I thought and I could see why many people skip the south of the country and head straight to Vientiene!
I got to Vientiene around 6am and took a tuk-tuk with an Italian guy to the centre of town. Lonely Planet saved the day yet again and we booked into one of the recommended guest houses close by which had the added benefit of a free breakfast. I'd been pre warned by a few travellers that Vientiene wasn't that big and that turned out to be the case so after taking in a few of the sights I booked a bus to Vang Vieng for the next day. I spent the rest of the day and night cruising around town taking in the sights and enjoying what is a very nice city with lots of good shops,cafes and bars. Another early start the next day and I met two German girls over breakfast who were heading to Vang Vieng too. On the mini bus transfer to the main bus (which adopted the Cambodian method of more people than seats!) I also got chatting to an English guy called Alex who was good company and we ended up sitting together all the way through to Vang Vieng. The drive north to Vang Vieng was beautiful as the Laos scenery got more and more mountainous although the road wasn't for the faint hearted as it twisted and turned it's way between the hills and valleys.
After the bus trip, myself,Alex and the two German girls (Johanna and Berit) headed to the LP recommended hostel which turned out to be a little remote so we found a lovely place with riverside bungalows set in nice gardens which were cheap,clean and nearly new. Vang Vieng had been described by several people I'd met along the trip as the Magaluf of SE Asia and we were surprised to find a fairly sleepy town with several nice bars and restaurants and no sign of the predicted chaos. The four of us headed out for a few beers and a nice meal and had a good night exploring Vang Vieng. We were joined at one point by a hugely drunk Geordie lad who could barely speak and had lost his friends but with a little collective persuasion we managed to send him happily on his way into the night. Alex and I rented mountain bikes the next day and set off to explore the local area where there were several caves and lakes. Ten minutes into the trip we bumped into Adam, an Israeli guy who Alex had met in Vientiene so two became three and we pedalled away and had a great day exploring the area. At one of the caves we met a group of local children, who followed us on the climb up to the cave entrance. They quickly asked us for money but we were determined not to 'cave' in so we pressed on up a steep hill to the cave entrance. They were all carrying head torches but obviously we had nothing like this so we wandered into the cave without any of the right equipment. It quickly became pitch black in the cave and we instantly became totally reliant on these children to guide us through the cave which was very wet and slippery and potentially quite dangerous. My little lad was a diamond and guided me through the cave, pointing to where I should put my feet and hands as we walked and I was very happy to give him some cash when we emerged from the darkness! Another (rather saddle sore!) night out in Vang Vieng ensued after our epic journey with an impromptue pool competition taking place between our ever increasing group although there was still no sign of the predicted mayhem in Vang Vieng. I even found time to book my flight out of Luang Prabang to Bangkok for three days later. After another breakfast by the fabulous river scenery of Vang Vieng it was time to head to Luang Prabang and for the first time I found myself feeling like I was leaving a place a little too soon.
The minibus journey to Luang Prabang was beautiful with the Laos landscapes getting better and better as we headed further North. Alex and I quickly found a guest house in the centre of town and headed down to the river for a beer. I ordered my visa for China and then checked my email to find I'd had a message from Lara who I'd met in Cambodia saying she was in town so the three of us met up and had a good Indian meal before having a few drinks around the bars in town. The bars were some of the best I'd seen in Asia and the atmosphere around Luang Prabang was really chilled out and relaxed. To cap a cool night we finished up in a great little wine bar where I had probably the best glass of red wine I've ever had. It may have been the alcohol talking but we all agreed to rent motorbikes the next day and take in a few of the local sights. The only bikes available were manual transmission which I had never ridden before but despite my initial reservations (and after a little persuasion) we rented them anyway! After a nervy start, and with Lara perched happily behind me, we set off but within 50 yards Alex had misjudged a pedestrian crossing and had dumped his bike on the road! Thankfully there was minimal damage so we pressed on and had a great day whizzing around the roads and saw some fabulous landscapes and waterfalls. One of the waterfalls had an area for swimming and the water was so clear and blue that it was too much to resist so we all jumped in for a splash about. On the way back home the bike started to feel a little wobbly and after immediately thinking it was Lara jiffling about, it turned out to be a puncture. Thankfully we had just passed a garage so I turned the bike around and wobbled back to see if they could fix the tyre. With lots of pointing and gesturing I managed to explain to the mechanic what the problem was and he set about fixing it although I'm sure his flip flops and a vest would never pass a Health and Safety test in England! Being obvious tourists, I was all set for a huge bill and Alex, Lara and I discussed how much this guy was likely to charge and what we would agree to pay. Once he'd done his thing, I had a few notes in my pocket ready for a bit of negotiating but when he said the bill was 3000k (30p!), I quickly paid up and we set off before he could change his mind. Another big plus point for Laos I thought...nice honest people and a beautiful country to boot.
My China visa has arrived as promised the next morning so thankfully the next leg of the trip was all good to go. After a good breakfast with Alex and Lara we haggled our way into a tuk-tuk to the Pak Ou caves which turned out to be a little disappointing after the other caves I'd seen in other countries but once again the ride there and back more than made up for any minor disappointments. We headed back into town to take in the central temple and then we all splashed out for a traditional Laos massage. The guy doing mine was a little camp so I wondered if I was in for another Four Thousand Islands experience but thankfully he was very professional and I almost dozed off midway through. After a quick shower to wake myself up, we headed out for a quick souvenir shop at the wonderful night market and then dinner with Johanna, Adam and Berit who had come up from Vang Vieng. We all had a great night out and had a great time swapping travelling stories and poking fun at each others accents (maybe you had to be there!) and I was certainly sad to leave Luang Prabang the next morning.
It turns out that Laos Airlines is one of the few airlines that does not publish it's safety results and employs pilots that other airlines refuse so this may be the last blog update...........
Missing you all terribly (honest!)
Andy
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