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Wednesday 14th - Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw
We met the rest of the people that we were due to be on the bus with for this tour. 2 of people work for the company but hadn't done this tour before so were checking it out. It only operates in dry season and this one was the 1st of the year. That left Aussie Alan and two lovely sisters Vicky & Becky from Oxford! Along with Xay our guide & Tun the driver.
The first stretch was a short journey of 3 hours into the most amazing scenery of limestone karsts to Nong Khiaw. Our accommodation was a bungalow overlooking the river set in amongst these massive limestone karsts. It really was so picturesque.
We went off to view the Phathok caves. I ashamedly admit that my war knowledge in general is pants but especially pants on the whole indochina, Vietnamese conflicts. Lets just say we both learnt a lot from this tour. Essentially Laos was being bombed for nearly 10 years by America. During this time the locals were forced to hide in caves to avoid the bombings. They still had to go out to work the fields but did so under the cover of moonlight. We visited a cave where over 200 people lived, for 9 years, it was a decent sized cave but I cannot imagine the conditions they suffered inside there for that length of time. We left there via a branch over the river.
We had been recommended the herbal steam sauna by the girls who had been here before. It was a little sauna where they burn different types of beneficial wood & roots. Stripped down to a sarong we both went in. I couldn't see a damn thing for the steam, it was so thick. Found the seat & sat down hoping there wasn't anyone already there. My god it was hot. The aim was to go in 3 times, each time for 10-15 minutes and inbetween you come out and have a cup of ginger or lemongrass tea. So I managed about 5 and 5 and couldn't go in a third time. Sy was crazy and did 20, 15, 10 and an extra 2!! Infact I left him hopping in and out of the sauna to try a Laos massage. One of the younger boys of the family did my massage & although similar movements to Thai it's far less brutal. There was a funny moment when I showed him my implant to avoid massaging it. There was a total shocked look of "WHAT THE f*** IS THAT?!!!" In his eyes. At the rate we've seen babies over here, it's clear there is no family planning available that they can afford.
We spent the evening having a lovely meal & looked forward to what we'd see on the journey tomorrow.
Thursday 15th - Nong Khiaw to Vieng Thong
We have a spectacular drive through the Hua Phan Province and the Nam Et National Protected Area. There are around 200 wild tigers here as well as many other species. It was nice to see a protected bit of land in amongst the farmland. Xay told me there are 15 protected areas in Laos, it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things but at least it's something.
We stop at a local village school & watch the kids play Pétanque, as popular here as it is in France. They hide from our camera until Sy turns it into a game. They creep closer like "what's the time mr wolf" until he turns around to snap a picture. They shrieked when then were caught and hid behind each other for safety. They followed us as we walked through the village where pigs, chickens, dogs are all running around freely causing havoc. Sy posed for some funny photos so I could show them what we were doing. They were all interested to have a look at the photos & how the machine had captured Sy being silly. We then took some photos of them and showed them what they look like in the picture. It was a lovely experience, it's too easy to come to somewhere like this & take photos without realising some of these hill village children will have never seen a camera or understand what it does!!
We arrive in Vieng Thong, checked in then go to check out the areas hot springs. We bought some eggs to boil up there but halfway up the walk we accidentally broke ours. Just as we arrived at the hot springs, Richard broke his egg too, it clearly wasnt the walk for eggs. Thankfully they sold eggs at the entrance, so we all bought replacements. We enjoyed boiling them in the springs. There were a few other things to do there but unfortunately we didn't have enough time before the sun came down. So we walked back, eating our eggs that had been boiled by Mother Nature herself & chilled for a short whole before dinner.
Friday 16th - Vieng Thong to Vieng Xai
We left really early to go to our next destination. Our 1st stop destination was the remote Hintang Archeological Park to check out some mysteriously arranged stones that are suggested to be over 2000 years old. They were tall and thin like tombstones but just randomly placed in the middle of the jungle. I nearly killed myself getting up there. Im awful at going uphill and this was really steep. We walked up & up, i checked on my phone and we'd walked up to 4800ft. Halfway up the jungle got denser & I had grouped with Sy & Vicky. Sy was being patient with us two slow coaches, the climb was tough. Vicky noticed some leeches & I hadn't even considered them. A little later I looked down to see them on my shoes. Having never seen one before in the flesh I wasn't sure how I'd react as I'm pretty good with most insects but discovered they really freaked me out. We managed to get to the top & I drove myself mental with the feeling that they were crawling up my leg & in my shoes. I didn't know if it was in my head or they were really there. By the time we reached the top I had some time to check. There were some inside my shoe, some inside my sock, one making it way up my trouser leg. I just wanted them off and now. Being in company I couldn't make a crazy fuss but in my head I was having a right proper spaz. To be honest I couldn't enjoy the stones that much as when you looked at the jungle floor you'd actually see them heading towards you. They're quicker than I thought! We headed back down & I don't think I've ever walked downhill quicker in my life. Down side I screwed my feet doing it, by the time I got back to the van I was mentally & physically done in. Don't get me wrong the views were amazing but I think this was one stop I could have done without!!
We then continued onto Vieng Xai. We arrived at the most amazing spot. Limestone karsts everywhere & the cutest little bamboo bungalow to sleep in. We were headed off on a tour of the caves. This area holds some of the most important caves as they were inhabited by the founders of the Pathet Lao, a communist political party still in rule today.
The caves we visited were beautiful & it's crazy to know people lived in them for 10 years. One of the biggest caves also housed over 2000 of the army & had a theatre inside for entertainment!
We headed into the village for dinner, a typical Lao experience as it took 3 hours for the food to arrive. Definitely a Laos time restaurant!
We bumped into a group of 6 bikers from the West Country that were on an awesome route around the country. We 1st bumped into them in Vieng Thong & it turned out we would see them for the next couple of days in the same towns. They were a funny bunch & they were having the time of their lives.
Saturday 17th - Vieng Xai to Phonsavan
First stop this morning was the market in Sam Neua. We purchased a whole bunch of things we didnt know what they were for lunch. Unluckily for us they all tasted like crap so stuck to the sticky rice. Had a funny moment as we were looking for Alan to tell him something but he couldn't hear us. We were all shouting "Alan" then realised we all sounded like that "Walk on the Wild Side" sketch with the prairie dog. We enlightened Alan with the video later that night as he was a bit confused to find us all in giggles when he finally heard us!
We drive onto the Saloei Waterfall, the waterfall itself was lovely. Unfortunately for me my thoughts of lovely scenery were disturbed by the image & sounds of a couple of pigs being slaughtered. I Had to put my earphones in as it really got to me. After that I just wanted to go back in the bus & carry on. We then drive along a road they refer to as the 'Roof of Laos'. It was breathtaking scenery, a little scary driving that close to cliff edges but we had a very good driver!!
We arrived in Phonsavan and after a beer & much needed French fries (!) we headed off to the MAG office. MAG (Mines Advisory Group) is a British NGO. We were to watch a video that would bring into perspective the struggles this country faces.
Laos has had over 2 million tonnes of bombs dropped on it by the US, this is more than all of the bombs dropped during World War 2. The US bombing of Laos was unprecedented, they carried out 580,000 missions which breaks down to 1 plane load of bombs being dropped every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day for 9 years. The United States dropped 80 million cluster bombies on Laos. Up to 30% of these did not explode leaving up to 24 million bombs unexploded hidden around the country.
We learnt that a cluster bomb shell contains up to 600 bombies and the design is that the large shell breaks before impact spreading these bombies everywhere. Inside each bombie are a lot of ball bearings. When a bombie explodes these ball bearings shatter through the body. Sometimes they detonate on impact, some on a time delay & the 24 million mentioned above is the amount laying in wait on hills, in rice paddies, in school playgrounds that Laos has to live with.
So far 50,000 people have been killed from UXO's (unexploded ordinance (bombies)) and many more injured. For a war that cost the US the equivalent of $9 million a day they have only invested $1 million to the clear up.
MAG advised that most of the injured are children as they think they're balls to be played with or farmers working their fields. The bombies are everywhere & it's impossible to think how people walk around knowing that they could accidentally set one off. MAG estimate it will be 200 years before the country is bomb free.
It was a hard film to watch as there has been so much loss for these people & so much danger still exists for a war they had no part in. We took some time reading about some of the kids stories before we donated to their efforts. It was hard to not be weighed down by the magnitude of what we'd learnt. We were certainly glad to not be American.
Sunday 18th- Phonsavan to Luang Prabang
Another early start as we drive to see the 'Plain of Jars' sites. These sites were only cleared of bombies in the early 2000's in a joint project with various organisations & UNESCO. We stopped off at a village where the villagers recycle the old bomb metal into spoons, bracelets etc. Sy had a go at making a spoon, turns out he's a natural with melted aluminium. We bought a few items from him & moved on to the plains. The jars are really strange as it's still unknown today why or how they got there. They're big enough to fit me in most of them, the most feasible is that they were cremation pots. We enjoyed getting some nice photos & then it was back on the road for a very long drive back to Luang Prabang.
It was the girls last night in Laos before going home to the UK & they invited us out. I shifted my bus migraine & we joined them in Utopia after dinner for some goodbye drinks. There was a little scuffle as one of the customers spotted something that a waiter freaked out over and killed with his flip flop. After checking the other waitress hadn't been bitten they explained it was a centipede. Well known for its extremely painful bite & potentially fatal without medical care it was a quick reminder how much we don't know about the creatures over here & what's safe or not. Shame he killed it but I understand why. We carried on drinking until the party moved on to another place, Sy & I were bushed so bid our farewells and headed back to the hostel for some much needed kip.
The next 2 days are all about laundry & chilling before we fly down to Vientiane, the capital. It was a 12 hour drive or 40 min flight decision & with the next week or so planned on a bus we decided to treat ourself to a flight! Very nice it was too!!
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