Maly Hotel Phonsavan

... So many people were killed during the bombing at the time, which is tragic enough in itself as they were civillians, but the fact is that 30 years later, the cluster bombs dropped didnt all explode on landing and have embedded themselves in the earth, and when they are touched during farming or by children playing they explode and kill. There are still many many thousands of these left scattered all around various areas of Laos, this province is particularly badly affected. It is a ...

... Advisory Group) shop. Now, you non historians maybe asking yourself, why is she mentioning the Vietnam war and Russian tanks in Laos. Well, during the Vietnam war, America was conducting a secret war, by constantly air bombing Laos. The USA had agreed not to bomb Laos and signed an agreement with the UN. However, for years it broke its agreement illegally carpet bombing not just military bases, but 80% of all of Laos towns and villages ...

... finished. <br><br>That evening after the tour we had a group dinner at Kongs. As well as a lovely meal, many shots of Lao Loa were passed around, as well as conspiracy theories on opium &amp; the CIA, rude jokes, barefaced insults and the odd Lao rebel song. Great night and Kong and his uncle come highly recommended. <br><br>www.maginternational.org - an organisation doing its best but there has to be more funding out there for quicker methods of removal.<br>

19th September <br>We arrived in Phonosavan which was definitely off the beaten track, the<br>center of town was quite eery rather like a ghost town. The main street<br>was really wide but unnecessarily so as there were no people, I think we<br>were the only people there. Laura, Callum, Mei and myself stuck<br>together got a guest house and eventually found a restaurant in someones<br>garage. We then found a tour agency that would take us around the<br ...

... a trench dug in the hillside by Lao soldiers.<br><br>The day disintegrated slightly towards the end as the guide concentrated less on guiding and more on flirting but we got rid of him easy enough in the end. All in all a really good day. Learned loads and saw loads and now we're totally knackered! Going to bed for an early night as we've a fair bit of moving around in the next couple of days. Will blog again from Bangkok.<br><br>All our love!<br><br>Lucy and adele xxx

... The whole setting create an odd vibe. One we&#8217;ve felt since arriving. One of those vibes that you can&#8217;t really put a finger on but it&#8217;s lurking everywhere you go. An inescapable grunginess. I realize that this vibe could be the product of having lived in a paradise for the last month. So I cast away initial negative thoughts of the place, but not until now I feel like it&#8217;s not just me. True, it&#8217;s much different than Luang Prabang. This place ...

... though and our guide was Mr Kong Keo the very well-traveled hostel owner who amongst other things used to be a climbing guide in the Swiss Alps! He brought his 2 kids along and we all had fun playing tunes on blades of grass and making them into things at the end of the day!<br><br>The following day we were up really early to get the local bus on to Vang Vieng. We didn't quite realise what we were in for but when the plastic bags were handed out (3 per person) we began to have an ...