Blog no. 3: LEAVING THE CHILLY NIGHTS BEHIND

August 19 2015

Blog no. 3: LEAVING THE CHILLY NIGHTS BEHIND

26.1.2015 (Nong Khiew - Luang Prabang) LEAVING THE NORTH

On our way to the bus station we grabbed some more fruit at the market, saw a nice pomelo tree and boarded the bus. And yeah, this was really a special ride, I was lucky to be sitting on the spare folding seat with enough room for legs while Marija was sitting at the back with 3 more people although there was room for just 2 more.

The drive took us 4 hours on a winding, bumpy road and one boy in the back was sick and threw up most of the time, poor boy. It is good to have good music you can listen to pass the time quicker and more pleasantly. From the bus station in Luang Prabang we had to pay 20.000 Kip each to get to the city center and they drove us directly to our hotel which we reserved in advance and which was quite expensive. You can find cheaper places there that are not advertised in the internet, it is just good to come in the morning and search for available rooms at about 11 o’clock when people check out, because earlier they don’t know yet if rooms will be empty. We ate at an interesting restaurant called Tamarind, ran by a local and his Australian wife, who want to explain and demonstrate Laos cuisine. After lunch we climbed Phou Si Mountain (little hill with Themple on top) to see the famous sunset.

Well, if you look past hundreds of tourist you can see a really amazing sunset, but for me it was a bit overcrowded. It was very interesting as on the way down we met some young monks that were really nice and spoke good English and wanted to talk to us a little bit. We ate in a small restaurant just close to our Villa Luang Sokxay, across the KingKitsarath Road, I don’t know how it was called, but it had a big frangipani flower inside and very delicious curries for a good price ☺. Afterwards we walked through the night market just observing all the things that they sell here. If you need to go to the toilet there, don’t use the public one, I’ve used all sorts of toilet, but I still have bad feeling just thinking about this one ☺!

27.1.2015 (Luang Prabang) EXPLORING THE STREETS OF LUANG PRABANG

In the morning we moved to a nice, cheap place near Utopia bar. In Laos it is not a problem to sleep near a bar, because they stop loud music at about 11 o’clock ☺. As I was flying home from Vietnam, I had to get my Vietnam visa, because you can’t get Vietnam visa on arrival. If you fly to Vietnam you can get it at the airport if you fill in some internet forms before, but if you arrive by land, you need to get it at consulates or at agents. At first I thought it would be cheapest and fastest to get it at the consulat, but actually I got it at Siem Riep in Cambodia at an agency (5Oceans) for $62 in one day, while in Luang Prabang at the consulate it would cost me more. Luang Prabang is a great place to discover by bike, not too big and the roads aren’t that busy. We rode through the peninsula and enjoyed the scenery, visited magnificent Wat Xieng Thong where we saw a couple that was just getting married in the traditional clothes.

It is so nice just to wander around the city and enjoy everything it has to offer. We found a big fruit market near Wat Tat Luang where we bought a giant watermelon, little oranges and tamarinds. We were looking for Ock Pop Tok Living Craft Center for a free short tour where they showed us how to make silk and weave textile. Later we crossed the old bamboo bridge, I really liked the views around it, the river, little boats and the hot sun. We were hungry so we wanted to go to Dyen Sabai which is across the bridge, the restaurant looked nice, but the prices were a little too much for us (not really expensive, but we were on a budget), so we walked further and found no other restaurant. Luckily we found a lady that was cooking sweet potato, because we were already a bit tired and quite hungry.

We decided to cross the bridge back to get lunch and we chose a restaurant by the river - nice view, but nothing special, so for diner we returned to the great restaurant from the previous day - I like to try different things, but if I know that one place is really good, I like to come back ☺! We went for a massage at Lao Red Cross, it was quite ok. In the evening we returned to the night market where I bought some things - a bag, slippers, 2 scarves, a wallet, a knife and beautiful silver jewelry - a necklace and earings. I also bought a nice bag at a shop called Lemongrass, owned by one Dutch guy who lives in Luang Prabang. To me it was really strange, in Luang Prabang you could get either really cheap things (at the markets), but not the best quality, or very expensive things. There should be more places like Lemongrass where you could buy good but not over priced things.

28.1.2015 (Luang Prabang) SWIMMING IN THE WATERFALLS

In the morning we went to the Royal Palace museum, a nice place. It is not big, but you need quite some time for the visit because before entering the museum you have to put all of your things in closets. Because of the crowd you have to wait for an empty one for a while, so it is better to visit it early in the morning. At 11 o’clock we went to Kuang Si falls, they drove us there with a van for about an hour. I think we had only about 2 hours there, which for me was not enough, because it is a really beautiful place! First we ate some fruit ☺ and then we saw the wonderful, big waterfall. We climbed up a little bit where it was calmer and really beautiful. Then we walked along the waterfalls and the clear blue water looked so refreshing that I absolutely had to swim. The water was great and I found a place with not so many people and really enjoyed the swim. The colors are so vivid there and even though there were people around it was so peaceful.

They told as at what time we had to return to the parking. Marija and I were already living on Lao time, which meant that we came on time, but still wanted to go to the toilet. I thought that we will surely not be leaving on time, but I guess the other tourists didn’t switch to Lao time yet and they were all already waiting for us ☺!

In Luang Prabang there is a big choice of cheap smoothies which are perfect for a quick satisfacion of your hunger before you eat something more concrete. Feeling refreshed we went to Traditional Art & Ethnology Center and were lucky enough to scratch just enough money for the tickets as we were just running out of Kips. It was pretty interesting, describing different Laos tribes and I really liked the exhibition on Stories from Women in a Changing Laos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P0Fj0J5yxg). It is describing the ritual women in Laos go through after giving birth. In the evening, while we were packing our bags again, we realized, it was so nice to spend a few nights at one place as that meant no packing for a while ☺.

29.1.2015 (Luang Prabang - Vang Vieng) ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Early in the morning we got up and observed the traditional alms giving ceremony. The morning alms round (in Lao: Tak Bat) is a living Buddhist tradition for the people of Luang Prabang which, because of its beauty, has become a major tourist attraction. When tourists are unaware of its customs their inappropriate behavior can be disruptive. I would recommend to observe it, but with respect to the monks and the locals, which means observe it from the distance and don’t use flash while taking photographs. And of course: wear appropriate clothes like on other religious places (shoulders, chests and legs should be covered) and avoid physical contact with the monks. They start walking just before dawn, at first it is a bit dark, but soon you can see them clearly. Later we found a nice market where I bought curcumin root to bring home for souvenirs ☺ and delicious sticky rice with coconut for the road. And of course a giant watermelon and other fruit! We were supposed to be leaving from the bus station at 9 o’clock, but they picked us up a few minutes before in a tut - tuk. We were picked up first and then the tuk - tuk was starting to fill up. It already looked full and I was joking that they will put some more people on strange sits near the driver, on the side with legs just hanging in the air, and they really did this ☺. I was happy that was picked up first ☺!

The bus was late, as usual. At Vang Vieng bus terminal (about 3 kilometres from the city) they wanted 20.000 Kip each for the ride to the centre, and the whole bunch of us said it was too much, so we started walking and they drove past us and offered 10.000 Kip each, which was acceptable for us. They took us to the toll bridge because we heard it is nice to stay on that side of the river as it is calmer. There are a few bungalows there, as we arrived in the late afternoon, some of the bungalows were full, but we found a nice one - with a view on a little river. It is located after the toll bridge on the left side, just before the second bridge, I don’t know how it is called, but they rent rooms inside the house and outside there are bungalows and the cows were walking around in the garden ☺. Cheap, basic accommodation with a very nice view. Vang Vieng is a nice town, not because of the town itself, but because of the surrounding mountains and the river.

I had a very good massage in the second saloon on the left from toll bridge, I think it was Lao Red Cross, one strong girl gave me a really good massage. We ate at Veggie Tables Restaurant, which was nothing special, and we had a little trouble communicating - like usually, they nod your head like they understand you, but they really don’t ☺. Afterwards, we borrowed bikes and were at first a bit skeptical because I had to leave my passport for guarantee. But it turned out that they had great bikes (Giant) and we really needed that because of the bike ride we were planning for the next day. Before you rent a bike for a long ride, check a few places and check the bikes first, especially the breaks, here the guy was washing them in the evening, which meant that he really took care of them properly. I grabbed the delicious Lao dark beer and Marija pancakes and we went home through seasonal bridge, which you can cross without having to pay.

30.1.2015 (Vang Vieng) BUMPY BIKE RIDE

In the morning we started our very sportive day. We decided to do the west Vang Vieng loop, about 26 kilometers long, which is not that much on concrete road. But as this road was dirt road with a few better parts, but mostly very bumpy, it was a really good training for us as we learned later ☺. Along the loop you can see quite a lot of caves, lagoons and a viewpoint. Usually you have to pay to see all of them and some are nothing special so prepare before and research which ones you want to see, because some people can be really tricky and advertise something special and later you realize you were fooled. It was already getting very warm and we decided to go to a viewpoint on the top of Pha Ngeun.

The climb took us about 45 minute and is was a nice path, although at first we had to get rid of one strange local guy who wanted to go with us with a machete, but we preferred to go alone ☺! Some kids also want to “show you” the path up expecting to be paid. I don’t really like to give money directly to kids in this area - that encourages them to beg for money and don’t go to school, which is not really doing them a favour. The view at the top was very relaxing, I did my morning exercises there and felt so good. I met a girl at the top, who was doing the same loop.

The drive was nice if you don’t mind the bumpy road and the hot sun. The nature was beautiful, I loved the view while crossing the bridge and we found a market where I bought some cucumbers for refreshment. We passed some buffalos that were eating by the side of the road and Marija was very careful around them as she heard they can get quite aggressive, so we were really working our leg muscles to the maximum as we were passing them ☺. We also saw a snake passing the road, so we waited for her to pass as she had the right of way ☺. Our goal was to see the Blue Lagoon and we were already so hungry when we saw a nice restaurant by the water and found out that it was for Sae Lao project - a project, whose goal is to preserve the culture and beautiful landscape that surrounds this area through sustainable forms of farming logging and development in general. Very nice place with a good cause, the food they serve is organic and the price is really good. But actually there I ate the best meal on my journey, fried bamboo shoots! They were really amazing and I’m still dreaming about them ☺!!

Luckily as we arrived at the Blue lagoon (Tham Phu Kham) it was already a bit late, which still meant a lot of people, but not too much. We climbed a very steep path to get to the cave, Marija decided not to join me inside. To go in you need a very good light, I used one on my phone which is really strong, but if you don’t have it, they will lend you. The cave is amazing, very big and you should be very careful while slowly going deeper and deeper into the dark. It has many paths so it is good to remember where you came in, I tried sticking to the right side of the wall not to get lost. As I was already so deep in the cave, that I couldn’t see any outside light, I met the girl from the view point who was just returning from even deeper part of the cave. It can be quite creepy if you are alone, so we went deeper together and it was amazing. You can see the stalagmites, some are covered with something that makes them shiny, it looked like silver, very beautiful. When it was enough we returned and as we were two it was no problem finding the way back, but if I was alone, I could freak out, because if you think about where you are, in the middle of nowhere, it can be quite scary. We turned off our lights for a moment and it was really dark ☺. I would really recommend doing this but it is better in company. Later we took a refreshing swim in the beautiful Blue lagoon, where you can jump from different height from a tree, very nice! As both Marija and I were still dreaming about the bamboo shoots, we returned there for another portion for each and were really satisfied with the choice.

As it was already getting dark we jumped on our bikes and cycled back home. At the end it got really dark and Marija was faster than me, so for about last 15 minutes I was driving alone on a bumpy road I could not see - I was pumped with adrenaline and hoping that I didn’t miss the right road back ☺. But I wasn't alone on the road - there were quite a few people walking or riding bikes in the dark. I was so happy when I arrived home! Neither of us felt like partying during our travels, but we decided to get a drink and went to Kangaroo Sunset Bar, where we got a nice pineapple Lao Lao (Lao Lao is Laotian rice whiskey) cocktail. We stayed there a little bit, I got one more Lao beer and we talked to one guy from Africa, whom Marija met at the Blue Lagoon and whose sister is married to a Slovenian guy, weird coincidence! It was really funny, because there were a lot of Koreans there and when it was Gangnam style, they were so happy and danced like crazy ☺! Well soon we left and went to bed as the next day we were about to spend a lot of time on the road.

31.1.2015 (Vang Vieng - Vietienne - Pakse) THE NIGHT BUS

The road to Vientienne was quite ok and we stopped at a free restroom!! We couldn’t believe it, because everywhere in Laos you have to pay about 2.000 Kip for really dirty toilets and this was the cleanest public toilet and also free! When we arrived at about 1 o’clock in the Vientienne bus station, we were lucky to find a local bus that went to the bus station in the center and was really cheap! There a lot of people “kindly” offered us the ride to the city center, but luckily we knew that we were already there - loving the GPS and aplications google maps and maps.me which were very useful for finding out our location. Our first mission was to find a good night bus to Pakse. Marija red that King of Bus is really a good bus company, but we didn’t know how to get tickets for it. After eating in a nice Vietnamese restaurant, we went searching for bus ticket and you know how it is - when you search for something, usually you can’t find it ☺. Tourist offices were closed or they didn’t speak English. We had a choice: spend the whole day searching for a ticket for King of Bus or get a random bus company ticket and explore Vientienne.

After some time we decided the latter, left our luggage, rented bikes and were very pleased when found a big Arc de Triomphe called Patuxay Patuxai. We climbed the stairs and on the top the views were amazing. I actually liked this town, it is specious and nicely located next to the mighty Mekong. It is a bit crowded comparing to the rest of Laos, but you can see a lot of things, a lot of themples and it has a nice market. It is a very alive city compared to the rest of Laos.

We ate our dinner and a giant coconut before going to the bus station. There were a few dosens of different night busses, ours was the SengSomboundCompany. Before the drive you really have to go to the toilet, because they do have toilets on board, but don't use them if it is not urgent ☺. We thought that we were lucky because we were two people travelling together - there are beds on buses, which are meant to be for two people, but are so narrow that I really wouldn't like to share my bed with a stranger. But as the bus wasn't full people that were traveling alone had beds for themselves, while Marija and I were squizzing together in ours - and don't forget, we are both big girls, more then 175 cm tall ☺. Behind our bed there were 3 empty beds together and Marija wanted to use them. But all of a sudden, after I had just fallen asleep, she was back in our »bed«, because she was told to leave the back beds, I guess they were for drivers, but they were actually empty most of the time. Good night ☺!!