about Hils
TravelPod Badges
|
  | |  |
Happy times in Vang Vieng
Entry 34 of 169 | show all | print this entry |
Well I'm still in Laos. Someone (who shall remain nameless) has been complaining that my entries are somewhat confusing and it's difficult to tell where I am. So from now on I will try and make my entries clearer. In summary of SE Asia (for those confused) I spent the first 3 weeks travelling around the north of Thailand where I met Mascha (from Switzerland) and Hamish (from NZ) who talked me into joining them in travelling through Laos and Vietnam. Last Friday we left Thailand, crossed into Laos and spent 2 days travelling down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang (Laos). We spent 3 days in Luang Prabang before getting the bus down to Vang Vieng (Laos) where I am now. We will head further south in a few days to Vientianne (Laos) before crossing over to Vietnam.
So what have I been up to:
Sunday 31st August
Tonight we climbed up to the temple on top of the hill in the middle of Luang Prabang to watch the sunset. From the top we could see for miles. There was a beautiful golden temple we could see in the distance surrounded by moutains. There were a lot of tourists watching the sunset and it was here we met Neil from Falkirk.
Monday 1st September
Having spent 14 hours cramped in a little boat, sitting on a hard wooden seat coming down the Mekong River, you'd think the last thing I'd want to do would be get on another boat and travel back up the river, but that's exactly what I did this morning. Hamish and I decided to go and see some caves, which were really good. The first cave wasn't very big and it was full of little buddha's. The second cave was a bit bigger and you needed a torch to wander around inside. We also visited a paper making village where they showed us the different processes involved in making paper. We also visited a Lao Whisky Village. They have big clay pots which they fill with rice and water (I'm sure the water is just taken right out the Mekong). Other than this I'm not sure what the process is.
After having a chip butty and chocolate fondue for lunch we decided to hire bikes and find the national museum. After lots of cycling around and asking people where it was, we found it on the map. The museum was in the old palace which was quite impressive. The main hall inside was inlaid with japanese glass showing different Lao folktales. After this we cycled out to see the golden temple which we had seen from the hill top the night before. There were 5 levels to the temple each room getting smaller as you climbed up to the top. The last level was in the dome at the top of the temple and there was just enough room for about 2 people to squeeze in. We then cycled back to town as there were big thunder clouds coming in. In the evening we all went to see a traditional Lao show with Lao ballet dancing. Half the show, which was supposed to be outdoors, was cancelled due to adverse weather. The other half the show involved a ballet, which if you hadn't read the programme, would have made no sense whatsoever. The costumes were amazing though - bright and colourful and they wore the most amazing masks. The rest of the show consisted of girls in traditional Lao costume dancing round the stage. They were very slow and on for a very very long time and I fell asleep.
Tuesday 2nd September
Today we decided to hire motorbikes so we could ride out to some nearby waterfalls. Unfortunately there was a policeman going round all the bike shops and closing them down as they weren't licensed, so we ended up just being able to get 2 bikes for 6 of us. In the end we hired a tuk tuk for the day, which was probably better 'cos he knew where he was going and it also cost us a lot less than bikes would have. We had to get another boat down another river to reach the first waterfall. It was a really impressive waterfall and we couldn't figure out how it had formed. The waterfall flowed right through the forest. We had some fun coming down the waterfall on rubber tubes before someone noticed that there was a ladder up a tree which we could jump off of into the waterfall. Hamish went up first to jump but chickened out and only jumped from half way up the tree. Mascha went up next and she just leapt off straight from the top. Of course after that all the guys had to go and jump - they couldn't be shown up by a girl. After all the guys had jumped it was just me left. So up the ladder I climbed - by the time I got to the top my heart was racing and I felt sick. It was about 4m down to the water and it looked so much higher once you were up there. I nearly jumped so many times and then chickened out. Eventually, after about 5 minutes, Peter just counted to 3 and I just jumped. I screamed the whole way down. I was shaking after but it was really good fun!
We got the boat back down the river and it was an other hour onto the second waterfall. On the path up to the waterfall we passed a tiger. Phet She and her 2 brothers had been captured by poachers in 1999. They were rescued but the 2 brothers died. Phet She lives by the waterfall in a huge big enclosure. We were lucky enough to see her inside. I've never been so close to a tiger before, she was beautiful and I even touched one of her huge paws.
The waterfall was spectacular. It came down the side of a huge big cliff and everytime you thought you could see the top, you noticed a little bit, higher up, hidden among the trees. We climbed half way up the waterfall and walked out onto a little ledge. We could look up and see the water pouring down the hillside above us and we could look down to see the water crashing below us. We went for a quick swim before heading back to town. We went for our last meal which turned out to be the cheapest and tastiest we've had since arriving. Eating out in Laos is an interesting experience. Half the drinks will arrive before the food. Each dish then arrives at 5 minute intervals before the rest of the drinks appear. Then when you've finished the meal the spring rolls that you ordered as a starter will suddenly appear along with the other 2 drinks that you're still waiting for. You do get used to it very quickly.
We had a very early night because we had to get up at 5.45am to catch the bus to Vang Vieng.
Wednesday 3rd September
It was a 6 hour bus journey to Vang Vieng today. It didn't seem that long however, as the scenery was amazing. The bus wound up little narrow roads into the moutains, through little wooden villages behind which we could see the peaks of nearby moutains appearing out of the mist. We eventually pulled up into a small village, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by huge limestone karsts. We'd arrived in Vang Vieng. We had to say farewell at this point to Neil who was heading onwards to Vientianne.
We quickly found accommodation and headed for a walk along the main street - it didn't take long. We eventually found a pub with a pool table. Before long there were about a dozen of us in the pub playing pool and backgammon for most of the afternoon. We headed on to a pizza place for some dinner where we ended up spending most of the night. Vang Vieng is a very happy town!
Thursday 4th September
We're just having a relaxing day today. It's really wet which we're using as an excuse not to do anything. We hope to go kayaking in some of the nearby caves before we leave and also go tubing down a nearby river.
I hope I haven't bored you all too much with my ramblings.
Until the next time.
Hilary
PS For anyone that goes to Wallacestone Primary School. I met Neil at the top of a hill in Laos and his mum, Mrs Stewart, works at Wallacestone, so he's asked me if I can try to pass a message onto her. The message is that Neil's running out of money and if his mum could put some into his bank account he would be most grateful (a million pounds should just about cover it) - Thank You!
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries by hils, from Lao Peoples Dem Rep or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
42 votes 
This is a top pick!
