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Hi,
Well we're now in Laos! We've been here for a week as of today, and so far we're having an incredible time...Last Thursday we crossed the border from Chiang Khong via a boat over the Mekong river from Thailand into Laos. I managed to slip and put my foot in the river whilst lugging our huge rucksacks out of the longtail boat, and the mud stayed with me overnight, whilst we completed another mammoth bus journey to Luang Prabang. Unfortunately the slow boat down the Mekong, which took two days, had been cancelled because of low water (China has dammed the river further up, and not enough water is getting through). However, the scenery on the bus was awesome, with incredible views over karst mountains and little hamlets where the bamboo and thatch houses stood incongruously with huge satellite dishes! The bus however, was not as VIP as we had become used to in Thailand. No 'air hostess', no meal, no toilet and an erratic air-con. Worst of all, we were on the back row, which meant we couldn't recline our seats, and were stuck in pretty uncomfortable positions all night.
We arrived in Luang Prabang on Friday morning, and immediately fell in love with the city. It has a really relaxed vibe, and a small town atmosphere around the historic centre. It's pretty picturesque too, with wats (temples) on every corner, jutting out as a peninsula to where the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet. The food is really good too, albeit a little different. On our first day we sampled a 'five bite' Lao platter, which had a selection of traditional Laotian dishes. This included water buffalo skin (like a beef jerky) with a chilli jam, Luang Prabang sausage (not that different from home, but served cold), an aubergine and peanut paste mix wrapped in lettuce, pickled green vegetables and pickled bamboo shoots. Interesting!
On Sunday, we met Jo's parents, who are going to be travelling around the rest of Laos with us. It was really good to see some familiar faces and to catch up with them, and Jo was really excited seeing them again after 7 weeks apart.
On three of the days we were in Luang Prabang, we rented bicycles. And yes, we did have sore bums by the end! It was a great way to see the city though, as it wasn't as tiring as walking everywhere, and negotiating the small amounts of traffic was no problem. Everyone seems to drive in Laos so slowly! We used the bikes to tour around the local wats, cross the old bridge to the other side of the river, stop off when we felt like it for drinks (usually a Beer Lao!), and find good places to eat. On Monday we visited some temples on top of Phu Si, a hill 100 metres high that towers over Luang Prabang. This proved quite a walk for us all! When we reached the top we all collapsed in the shade, and spent a fair while resting from the heat. The hill gave some good views over the city, but they would have been even better if not shrouded in smoke. The surrounding hills are susceptible to the 'slash and burn' agriculture employed by many Lao people.
On all three nights in Luang Prabang with Maggie and Dave we visited the night market. It was good fun to walk along past all the stalls, and to pick the odd things out to buy. There was all manner of clothes, jewellery, accessories, furniture and bits and bobs. Maggie managed to buy a fair few things, with the help of Jo, as presents for people when they got back. Dave didn't seem to be too amused at the time by how long this took! On Sunday night we also went for an awesome meal at Lao Lao Garden. Here you get the chance to cook your own food on a barbecue. A bucket of hot coals was placed in a hole in the middle of our table, and the barbecue was placed on top. Around the rim of the barbecue, we had a soup which we cooked with eggs, various vegetables, mushrooms, tomatoes, noodles and broth. In the middle we cooked the meat: water buffalo; beef; chicken; and pork. It was all very tasty and good fun too!
On Monday we all had a traditional Lao massage. I personally found this experience less painful than the one I had in Bangkok, though for Jo it was the other way round! As I was next to her I could see her grimacing and letting out the occassional gasp of pain! The next day we woke early to give alms to the monks of Luang Prabang. This involved the monks walking down the street (at 6:15 a.m.!) with their bowls outstretched, and lay people putting into their bowls various foods. We bought some sticky rice and bananas to put into the bowls. We had to sit on mats so we weren't higher than the monks, and keep our heads bowed when we put the food in, as marks of respect. After going back to bed for a while, the rest of the day was spent by the Tat Kuang Si waterfalls, 32km south of Luang Prabang. These waterfalls were incredibly beautiful, multi-tiered specimens, with brilliantly turquoise plunge pools. All around the waterfalls was thick green vegetation as well. We managed to bag our own pool in which we went for a really refreshing dip. The water wasn't too cold, and we even got Maggie in!
Yesterday we had another mammoth journey, from 9 until 4, on a bus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. This was one of the most scenic journeys I have ever been on in my life, with pretty much what I described between the Thai border and Luang Prabang but on a grander and more majestic scale. Some of the karst mountains were huge, and the road was particularly windy and high up. I wouldn't recommend it to someone with vertigo! We eventually came down into the valleys, and past emerald green rice-fields, to Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng has a bit of a reputation as a party town, and whilst we weren't particularly into that scene, we didn't think the town had a lot of character in itself. However, tubing down the river in the inner tubes of tractor tyres today more than made up for that! This was really relaxing, as we just kicked back all day, for 3.5 kilometres from where we were dropped off right back into town. The scenery, as usual, was great. Unfortunately we had all forgotten to put on suntan lotion this morning. My excuse was that it was quite grey and overcast both yesterday and when we started! The sun came out though, and we all fried. I put my tshirt back on, but this must have been too late, as I have an extremely red chest and belly now, as well as burning on my arms, legs and face. Ouch! Dave and Jo were the same: Dave had even tried ripping up some Lao money and using it to cover his sensitive nose! Maggie, somehow, escaped a little better off. We all now look like beetroots! We've smothered ourselves in aftersun, and we're hoping we'll be able to face the sun again in a few days time!
Tomorrow we move on to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, for around three days. Then it's off to the south of Laos until a week on Sunday, when Jo and I say goodbye to Maggie and Dave and cross back into Thailand.
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