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Hi Everyone,
First let me wish you all a very Happy New Year, I am still on the catch up with these updates but I am getting there!
We had just endured one of 'Those' journeys which anyone who has been to Laos will empathise with. Vang Vieng was not my favourite place, it struck me as nothing more than a backpackers resort with the only real activity being floating down a slow moving river in a lorry tyre inner tube, getting drunk, taking drugs and getting ripped off. If that's your type gig, good luck, but with the 'Little Mafia' cruising round town in a black 4 x 4 with blacked out windows watching what was going on and from what you here, in charge of the whole operation, I wasn't impressed. We did have an unfortunate incident or two at our guest house which had been recommended in one of the well known guides books which didn't help matters but after the second night there I had decided to leave as soon as I could because quite simply this is not what I came to Laos for. At the risk of upsetting our little group I announced my intentions over breakfast the next day and to my surprise and relief they all agreed and had already been discussing the matter prior to my arrival at the table. So apart from the stunning scenery along the Mekong, Vang Vieng was a bit of a disaster, we moved onto Vientiane, the current capital of the Country.
The Country certainly throws up up incredible contrasts, economically, scenically, demographically, historically and socially. The North is poor, very poor, Luang Phrabang is culturally rich and very pleasant, Vang Vieng is exploitive, Vientiane is small but culturally betwix and between, obvious links still remain with the French and with Europe. for example nice restaurants serving red wine and Plate de Fromage, Scandanavian bakeries, pizzarias and baguettes, it's here if you want it, up until now we've had mostly only local food, now we had all manner of choice. The museum on the other hand was pure Communist, pure and simple. Propaganda abounds, everyone is wrong apart from the Communist party. Oh well so much for enlightenment.
We had a good guest house thanks to Dean doing a sterling job in finding this one whilst we all scouted around. With decent rooms we all enjoyed some good days in Vientiane. One of the highlights was a visit to the Buddha Park, an area outside the City where a hoard of very large concrete Buddha images are located in a park. If you think one image is like any other then think again, this was ecleptic collection if ever there is one. The Reclining Buddha is all of 40 meters in length and created a wonderful backdrop to the scene. We walked around for a good hour of so and just at the point where I thought I would melt in the heat we all had a cold drink before jumping into the waiting taxi to head back into town. We went via the Friendship Brdge which links this part of Laos with Thailand, Dean and a Dutch girl we had met were crossing back into Thailand from here so they chopped off and made their way whilst we continued our journey.
That evening we feasted well and treated ourselves with wine and a chesse platter from the said French restaurant, how wonderful was all that rich cheese, wow it was lovely, after so long to taste goats cheese and brie on bread and crackers with a spot of decent plonk, oh so good!
I had taken the opportunity to have my hair cut as I really can not stand it being long, I found this 'little' place as you do, with two Ladies both of whom were busy with other lady customers, I was going to make my excuses and leave but one of their friends outside took hold of my elbow and ushered me back inside to an empty seat. Being a little confused because the sign outside said Gents Hair dresser the only clue inside was a male model magazine..oh well in for a penny in for a pound. I sat and waited whilst the woman, who was clearly the owner, kept smiling at me and indicating that she would not be very long, I had time so I sat back and relaxed. I was actually surprised at how quickly they dried the customers hair, both ladies had really thick pure black long hair but it seemed to be dry in no time at all; why do girls back home take so much time? Just a thought! I was shown to the chair - this was it, now try an explain what I wanted! Cut throat razor Sir? No thanks, Crippers? Yes please Number 3, okay good start, now to communicate that I wanted the top scissored. Well success, this was the best cut I'd since being away. I was not finished yet, once cut into shape I was shown to the sink, hair washed and head massaged for a period longer than it took to cut my hair in the first place then back to the cutting chair and stretched this way and that, shoulders massaged, head turned, pulled, stretched again and then patted down and cleaned up. Fantastic. I had been there for 40 minutes, the cut took 10 minutes the remainder was just pampering, how great was that? All for the princely sum of 40000 Kip about three pounds twenty pence. Wonderful.
Rosarie and Jim departed the following day leaving Marcia, Marika and I, I was on my way to Pakse further South which was always part of my plan and meant that I would effectively follow the Mekong all the way through Loas by the time I had finished and gone onto an area known as 4000 Islands (I can't think why!) Pakse was my launch point for the Islands where Laos gives way to Cambodia. Marika had decided to accompany me to Pakse but her journey was going to differ in that she was going onto Cambodia from there by plane.
We had decided to travel in the Sleeper Bus which our Guest House owner arranged for us. Now depending on who you talk to the journey is 9, 10, 11 or 12 hours long so sleeping was a good option and saved a day in travelling. The time arrived and we left Marcia at the Guest House, we set off on a tour of various establishments around town picking up more and more people before finally heading fro the bus station. The taxi was now hopelessly overladen and had numerous backpacks precariously stacked on the standing platform at the rear of the seating area. How we didn't lose any heaven only knows but we arrived at another of those curious sights and experiences one has whilst travelling. Ahead of us were a selection of six of the most brightly painted, 'blinged' up double decker coaches you have ever seen. All had paint jobs to put the most adept 'air brusher' to shame, they had huge chromed wheels and rear light to put Blackpool in the shade. Once directed to our vehicle which had a mixture of callypso images and butterflies festooned all over it, we entered via the central lower door, or at least I did. My pack had been taken somewhere down the front of the lower level and I had no control over it which left all my kit rather vulnerable so trusting to luck I ventured upstairs to find my seat / bunk. Whilst Marika kept an eye on her kit I went and found my spot, this is when I started to laugh, you see these vehicles, albeit huge, have interiors designed for the East, now there is nothing wrong with that unless you happen to come from the West, you are more than 5' 8" tall and you are of average size or slightly bigger. If this is the case you are in for a little surprise. Instead of having a bunk each all sleeping arrangements allow for couples only! Therefore, you are provided with as four foot wide bed space which is about 5'8" long. Oh and to soften the effect you have fuschia coloured curtains, teddy bear print blankets with pink pillows which are far too big for the bed width and there is no-way you can fit them in without wrapping them around your head! A middle aged French couple were in the bunk ahead of mine / ours and looked up when I burst into laughter. I called down the stairs to Marika, " Marika? You know we're friends? Well I think that friendship is just about to receive a severe test! " The poor girl nearly got off the bus when she saw what the fuss was about, I think she was quietly mortified, poor thing. The French couple started to laugh when they realised that we were not 'together' so to speak and the upshot was that poor Marika had to put a brave face on the matter and that was that. We made ourselves as small as possible and we did end up with a bit of space. I'm not sure I should have told her that she was the second Finnish person I had slept with since I'd been away, the poor girl was showing signs of trauma already - and who can blame her!
Arrival at Pakse turned out to be quite civilized, at 6.00am a steward came round and handed out packaged wet face cloths to wake everyone up. I was of course sound asleep at this point and was woken by a knee in the back, no, not Marika, the Steward. We then lay there not saying much (hope I hadn't farted in my sleep and upset her!) and watched with the pink curtains open as the sun rise above the horizon. Pakse is a small town and the guide books will tell you it doesn't have much going for it, having now got used to interpreting what others say about places, I would agree! We mooched around and set off in search of somewhere to stay. Fortune smiled on me and us again as we took a cut through to the main street and in so doing passed a street cafe where a Frenchman called Bernard was sitting with his wife having breakfast. He called out asking if we were looking for a place to stay and with that told us to go to a hotel where he was checking out of a good room and which he knew we could have if we wanted. What a decent chap, we rounded the corner to a hotel called The Chinese Wall and within a short time Bernard arrived expalined the situation and the deal was done. We then moved into a massive room with two double beds, a private bathroom and air con all for five pounds each. My room mate was looking abit jaded and was clearly in need of some sleep so I made myself scarce and set off into town. I spent the day very successfully arranging the remainder of my stay in Laos, booked flights for Thailand, and Cambodia, and bus tickets for 4000 Islands and travel across the Border back into Thailand. I booked accommodation for Christmas and New Year in Chiang Mai and then started planning the next couple of days in order that everything would fit in.
The evening time is much cooler than the day as a lovely breeze blows down the Mekong and there are some great outside cafes along the river bank where it is possible to just sit and take in what is going on. The second day I took the opportunity to stroll along the banks of the river and sat at one of these cafes just on a corner which caught the breeze, it was a lot cooler under the trees as the day was very hot and close. The tables were sheltered and as you look out across the water, Thailand sits about half a kilometer away. The river was busy with activity as it is the Campasak sports festival. I watched with amazement as long canoe type boats raced up and down manned by 12 furiously paddling men all calling out to the rythem of the 'stroke' and berating one another if someone got it wrong.
I sat for well over an hour eating a local spicey salad and steamed rice wiith a cold Pepsi. What a great lunch with entertainment all around, it was hard to pull myself away, so I didn't!? I stayed there a while longer and then saw that a volleyball match was about to get underway across the street. I walked over to the sports area and discovered that there were two courts, a full sized court with mens teams battling it out and a reduced size court for beach volleyball where two female teams were about to do battle, - Oh dear what a choice, which one to watch!!!
See you soon,
Chris
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