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Frey Kat Danielle's SEA Travels
We have been in Laos for a few weeks now... so here is an update of the highlights
We spent a bit of time in Luang Prabang enjoying the night markets, a funky little book shop (that had the best cafe upstairs that didn't mind us napping there!), the food and of course the beer. Our favourite beer garden gave out free shots of Lao Lao, but none of us could stomach it (the cocktails they made to disguise the flavour were no better). We went out to the Pak Oi caves and the Kwang Xi Waterfall. The waterfall was huge and beautiful, it had cool swimming holes further down stream, with a very cool tree to jump out of! While in Luang Prabang (the 2nd time) Freya and Kat were also lucky enough to see the district boat races. The race day was also a holy day and you could tell - the town was alive! Markets and popcorn stalls (of which we indulged a little too much) lined the streets. The festivities carried over to the water where locals stood in the mud all day to cheer at the finish line and party boats filled with lady boys cruised the river pumping out music. The monks watched from a distance on the hill. The actual races were amazing - they crammed about 40 men, two abreast, into these long wooden boats and after finally getting the boats even at the starting line (the current was strong) the men jumped to action. They sped along, gliding across the water. They had perfect timing, everyones arms raised at the same time (this may have been because of the whistle that shouted out the beat...). One boat wasn't so lucky... one moment it was cruising along, the next moment everyone was swimming - much to the crowds amusement!
We also took a slow boat to Nong Khiaow. The scenery was stunning and Freya spent a lot of time drooling over the huge cliffs (it is a pity that unexploded bombs courtesy of America would make exploring these areas unsafe). At the end of the trip Somsai, a local Lao boy working on the boat took a liking to Freya. Martine told him that she had a boyfriend (imaginary), but he invited the crew to Karaoke anyway. After dinner and a few beers we headed over to the bar. The boy didn't show (he must have been heart broken), but we had a blast. There was lots of singing of English and Lao songs (thank god for the words on the screen). The English songs all had lyrics that went a little something like this... i will love you forever, i will love you forever and ever... you are pretty like flowers etc etc etc. There was also some pretty bad dancing which Katrina (unfortunately for some) caught on video... We also explored the Pha Toke cave where locals sheltered for almost 2 decades. Areas of the cave were marked out for the hospital, communications area and district government 'hall'. The man who ran our guest house (who was a little boy during the war) told us that by day everyone sheltered in the caves and by night people went out and worked the land for food. We all had trouble imagining what it would be like to live like this for years. The next ay we travelled upstream to Munag Noi and stayed in cool little bungalows. We also walked out to another cool cave that was a lot more enclosed than the last one, but it had a cool little stream running through it (that Danielle managed to drop her torch into).
Nong Khiaow was also the starting place of our epic bus trip. The destination was Sam Nuoa in the North East of Laos. After the bus didn't show on the first night, so we tried a second night. It was meant to arrive between 7pm and 12, we had inside information on this second attempt and so we waited from 9pm. After many false alarms, the bus finally came at 1am. We piled on and climbed over the bags in the aisles and settled in for the 14 hour ride. However, the bus-god had a different idea. After an hour we stopped because the bus had overheated and after that we came across a few mudslides (a problem with travelling in the monsoon season). We made it though the first one, the second had logs on the road but we managed to slip past, but the third one had a truck blocking the way that had failed to get through. So at the 2 hour mark we did a U turn and headed back the way we came only to get stuck at the second mudslide where we spent some time cutting down the branches that we had squeezed past on the way there. Exhausted we pulled into a town at 7am that was one hour past Nong Khiaow (in the opposite direction to where we wanted to be). With time constraints, we decided to cut our losses and we headed back to Luang Prabang. At least we still got our pringles!
While Danielle went ahead to Vang Vieng, Frey and Kat stopped off at the Plain of Jars at Phonsavan. Basically the purpose of the big jars carved from giant blocks of sandstone (and how they got from the quarry to the surrounding areas) is a mystery. The most popular theory is that the jars were used in burial rites as archeologists have found human remains around the jars. We went to three sites with jars and along the way we saw some pretty huge bomb craters and some more beautiful scenery. We also got value for money as our jovial guide pointed out a few extra things including a plane crash (there was a dirt hole - apparently the metal from the plane was taken to make spoons...), the traps that the locals use to catch swallows (to eat), a 'chinese bullock' (these long tractors/buggy things) and a tanker (with no wheels or top). It was very interesting hearing about his and his family's experiences of the war and the aftermath. He found a bomby (they say it funny) in his rice patty and because there was only one the village wouldn't send anyone to disarm it so... he did it himself! We heard similar stories from the guy in charge of the Mines Advisory Group for the province, who told us that that selling the scrap metal from the bombs (which they disarm) is a huge source of money (albeit illegal). The experience left us feeling a little numb, but the 15yr old Laos boys at our guest house would have none of it. Instead, they made us play the card game cheat and had us in fits of laughter.
Well thats all for now! p.s. sorry for any spelling mistakes
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