Laos
In total, we spent 3 excellent weeks in Loas and greatly enjoyed the majority of it. We entered the country in the north, by getting a small paddle boat across the Mekong from Thailand and then made our way south. The Mekong in the life blood of the country and as we learnt, everything happens on the river.
We decided to take a 'once in a lifetime' two day slow boat trip down the Mekong, that would take us to Louang Probang. It was a guidebook that coined it a 'once in a lifetime' trip but after an hour of the 20 hour trip, we were sure that the author's tongue must have been firmly tucked in his/her cheek! It was hot, crowded and full of other tourists - not the authenic experience that we'd been hoping for. Nonetheless, we made the best of it and met three lovely American boys, with whom we passed the hours playing cards for beers!
A few beers with the American boys
The journey was at times interesing but the scenery was mostly unchanging for the duration and to say the least, we were glad to arrive in the lovely Louang Probang. The influence of the French and the beautiful buildings and temples, made Louang Probang a delightful place and deserved of its World Heritage status.
A night out in Louang Probang
Posing before the big jump and then........
On Laos travels took us further south to Vang Vienne, which was quite a traveller town, where the main street consisted on bars that showed episodes of Friends - quite a surreal experience. The small town revolved around the river and the beauty of the surrounding area. We did a kayaking river/bar crawl, which involved pulling onto the bank at various points, risking your life on very high - and safe? I can't be sure - rope swings and having a beer!
The temperatures got a lot hotter as we headed down south and the heat certainly hit us as we stepped off the plane - apparantly it was 41c. Our first stop was Champasak but we got straight on a boat and headed to the small island of Don Dieng, in the middle of the Mekong river. We decided to spend two days in a hut under the banner of "ecotourism". The local village had built two huts to accomodate visiting tourists; a sleeping hut and a communal hut for preparing and eating meals. The facilities were basic, there was no electricity to guard against the heat or supply much needed cold beers and no running water. The lack of facilities were however, more than compensated for by the rawness of the experience and the incredible friendliness of the villagers who looked after us.
The life of the villagers on Don Dieng was very basic and there was some frustration at their lack of electricity, especially when they were taunted by the dazzling lights of the town across the river. The water supply was also limited and where it did exist, it had to be pumped out of the ground and carried to the home. This was a women's job and was mostly undertaken by young girls, whose education was sacrificed to get it done.
At dusk, the riverbank came to life with kids playing during their nightly river bath, women washing themselves and the clothes and fish being hauled in from the day's catch. At all times, the Water Buffalo looked on and shared the water with the villagers.
The Mekong riverbank at dusk
It was Champasak were the "Drunk in Laos" incident occurred and Catherine having written a seperate blog just for that, I think that it has been well and trully covered! That is, with the exception of getting jumped on by a couple of local kids earlier in the day!
Always willing to help out the locals!
So, to continue, we left Champasak - after a day's delay - and travelled with live animals, bags of cement and bamboo poles in a 'songtheaw' (see below) to Don Khong, which is the main Island in an area known as the Four Thousand Islands. The journey was certainly interesting and we bought our breakfast of sticky rice, corn on the cob and fresh spring rolls from the sellers on the side of the road.
Public transport in Laos
We only had a day in Don Khong so decided to make the most of it and head out on another bike ride! We planned to take a route recommended in the guide book but forgot to take it and set off in the wrong direction. On the plus side, we saw almost the entire island on our 20 odd mile bike ride but the scars will take a while to heal. The road were depressingly long and straight and the heat shimmered off the tramac in the distance. A few 7up breaks kept us sane but did not stop my throwing my hat in the gutter in a fit of exhaustion! Catherine eventually stopped laughing, picked up my hat and we continued!
A glamorous Catherine keeping her cool on the long, hot roads of Don Khong!
Laos ended with a few days relaxation on the Island of Don Det, were we stayed in another hut and enjoyed a pleasant view of the river as we lazed in our hammocks. The weather was hot, hot, hot and the humidity took hold during evenings and made the nights somewhat restless. In spite of the heat, the eccentricity of our guest house owner and her repetoire of local dishes quite us entertained and well fed.
To finish the Laos blog, I have to mention Beer Lao. In our 'Beers of Asia' League table, it ranked top, well above the rest (and it was cheap at 40p for a 650ml bottle), which was a good job because Laos' free trade economy only allows beer Lao to be sold in the country!
Drunk in Laos
We were staying in a place called Champasak in Laos and had been cycling for the day, to see yet another temple. We were trying to get something to eat but apparently it was a village festival, so it was party time for the locals and most restaurants were shut. We went into a place which looked busy but were told that there was no food being served. However, they invited us to join them for a Lao Lao, which is a locally made rice whisky, that the villagers make themselves. Of course, we accepted, just the one mind you. It tasted foul, I haven't drank white spirit but I would imagine the taste to be similar.
We had a bit of a chat with the locals who kept handing us shots of Lao Lao and because we are very polite and did not want to offend anyone, we accepted every one. Eventually we started to feel the effects of the home made paint stripper and decided that enough was enough and we should head home. I would like to be more specific about the length of time we spent with the locals, enjoying their hospitality but unfortunately, it is all a bit of a blur.
We still had our bikes and had to cycle about half a mile to our guest house and this was where the trouble started. I mounted my bike and began to cycle. Unfortunately, my co-ordination momentarily left me and I cycled straight into a ditch and over the handle bars I went. A group of locals picked me out of the ditch and put me back on my bike but I cycled straight into the ditch on the opposite side of the road. The locals ran over and picked me back up. I just kept laughing and shouting Whisky Lao Lao, Whisky Lao Lao, which they found hilarious - and a perfectly acceptable excuse for drunken behaviour - and patted me on the back and kept shaking my hand. At this point, Laura was laughing hysterically and telling me how stupid I was not to be able to ride my bike. A second later myself and a group of amused locals were picking Miss Menzies out of the ditch!
We eventually got home after mustering up all our powers concentration. The next day was a total loss. We were meant to be leaving but we have to stay as we felt sooooooooooo bad.
A few days later in the different place - further south in Laos - we got chatting to a couple of girls that we'd met previously and had seen again in Champasak . After a while one of the girls said, "was it you two that were riding around Champasak totally drunk?". They had heard about it from another couple, which just shows, you that we can still get a reputation wherever we are in the world!
This only confirmed my suspision that these foreign cycles have inferior steering. I will be writting a strongly worded letter to the hire company!
Laura may have been able to get on her bike and cycle straight if only she had stopped laughing and opened her eyes!
