Finally, Civilization again
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2007
1
67
82
Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
Louang Phabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
This is a cool little city. Two streets dedicated almost entirely to the tourist heaven. Everything we had not seen in what seems like forever. Cheese, baguettes, bakeries, ice cream, and just about any other western delight you could fancy. But we got in around 10 PM and were not able to realize any of this. We hopped a tuk tuk into the city from the bus station, and he dropped us off a the completely wrong place, just as it was starting to rain. We had to walk through the entire night market, with our bags, through the rain. I would also like to point out that the tents that cover the entire market are just 6 inches too low for me to walk past so I had to walk in a crouch the entire 500 meters.
But the next day we did find all of those things. We thought we would have a very easy day doing little, but we were captivated by the city, and just started walking. Outside the tourist heaven there was a real town, and we explored around. Louang Phabang is one of Laos oldest cities, and one of the only ones that was not destroyed by US bombing during the Vietnam War. There is a hill that looks over the entire city, and atop that hill is a very old Buddhist temple. At the end of our walking we found ourselves at the foot of this hill, and decided, since the day was still very nice, to climb it. From the top here, we got our first glimpse of the Mekong in all of its glory. Well, its more than a glimpse really, you could see it stretching on for miles. The city is nestled below this hill, and covered up by lots of green foliage. Tons of rolling hills stretch far to the north and seem to start falling into the south. But that warm, brown-orange ribbon cuts through the green as far as your eye can see. And WIDE!! I never realized just how big this river really was, especially so in the rainy season. I have stood at the banks of the Mississippi, and she doesn't even compare. We met a pair of Mexican guys up there as well, its been a long while since I spoke Spanish, and it showed. After a little more soul searching up on top of the mountain we climbed back down to the city. That night we wandered the night market perusing all the great handicrafts, thinking about what we might buy, the blankets, sarongs, silverwork, and much more.
The next day was more of the same really, though we didnt climb up the hill again. In the afternoon we met Pepijn, Natasha, and Curtis, whom had been following us since we entered the country, and they invited us to meet them at Lao Lao garden for BBQ that night. A few minutes later, we found a perfect little wine bar. As we were taking a peek inside the owner snuck in and chatted us up for half an hour or so. We promised to come back the next day, but said we had made plans for the night. And the BBQ turned out to be a real blast. Like 10 of us at the table, and we had two hot pots on coals in the center of the table, with a delicious bubbling liquid, and a center to grill our many meats. We drank and ate for a few hours laughing all the time. Pepijn, Natasha, and Curtis told us they were heading to Vang Vieng the next day for some tubing, and we decided that this would be the group to go with, so we packed up and left with them the next morning.
Funny though, we got to the bus station, and they said the 10 AM bus wasnt going because there were not enough people. We spied a mini bus station across the street and went to check it out. There were about 50 tourists over there booking minivans to Vang Vieng for one dollar more than the bus. I just didnt understand. But, we got our tickets and were gone fifteen minutes later, so.. not my problem.
We were a bit sad to leave the wine bar and our purchases at the market behind, but Vang Vieng we had been waiting for, for a long time. 4 years, since we were told about it in Central America. Here we come tubes.
