Day 1
We got off the bus after 3.5 hours and arrived in the small, tourist ramshackle of a town called Vang Vieng. It is clear the only think attracting tourists (aka young adolescents looking for a dangerous way to get intoxicated) to this place is the tubing. You can rent a tube which promises to be "safety certified" by the Laos government for around 15$, of which you will get back around 5$ if you bring the tube back. We jumped off the bus, threw our things into the sketchiest guesthouse we could find (the room rates were 3.50$ a night including breakfast) and ran to the tubing rental store. But, not before buying a waterproof case to carry our money down the river (1.50$ well spent). We got to the river, which was anything but "leisurely" and was most definitely brown. Abandoning all warnings from our parasitology lecturers who told us never to swim in fresh water in South East Asia, Katie and I hoped in a boat with our tubes that brought us to Bar 1. After a game of beer pong, which we lost to two showoffs from Virginia, we hoped in our tubes and swam for dear life to Bar 2. The current was so strong I thought there was no way in hell that I was making it to the other side simply by paddling. But then out of nowhere a rope comes flying at you with a green water bottle attached to the end. I grabbed on and almost got ripped out of my tube. After maneuvering the river and leaning towards one side I let the Laos dude who was holding the rope reel me in. After I was safely on shore I looked around and saw that Katie had also made it safely to the other side. We walked up to the bar, grabbed some free shots of Laos Whisky (ewwww) and I ordered a Beerlao. Katie, realising she had very little money left, took out everything she had and asked what she could get. She was handed a bucket with some ice, energy drink (surely whatever was in there is illegal in Canada) and god knows what else. We stayed at Bar 2 until we saw the tubes were getting low (some crazies always think they can swim the river so they don't rent tubes and then they steal yours when they realize they will be smashed to bits by the rocks) and then we headed down the river. This is where things start to get fuzzy. The bars are no longer numbered and promise things like "happy time" and other things involving illegal substances. We got to the Slide Bar and I watched Katie fail her first attempt and then have to jump into the river, followed by a successful slide into the water at full speed. We knew it was getting close to dark, and it being our first time on the Nam Song (aka river of death, we'd heard a girl went missing two weeks ago) we stopped at a few more bars and then stumbled out of the river and took a tuk tuk back to town. Exhausted, we went and got Laos head massages (best idea ever) and then passed out in our room (complete with stifling air, ants in our beds and lizards on the walls).
 |
| Fully spray painted after a day of tubing |
Day 2
After eating breakfast and chilling on the balcony of our guesthouse for a few hours, Katie and I went and bought full tubing gear (shorts, T-shirt etc.) and headed back to the tubing rental shop once more. This time we knew what to expect so were a little more ballsy when it came to how far we wanted to go down the river. We planned on getting ourselves all the way back to the town sometime around dark and hoped we didn't die along the way. We started out at Bar 1 once more, but this time the Beerlao wasn't going down so easy. We decided to head to Bar 2 when all of a sudden two girls asked us if they could tag along on our tubes because their friends had already left without them and they were sharing (bullshit, they were too cheap to pay the 10$). Reluctantly we said yes, we didn't want to see anyone die (this may be a slight over-exaggeration but whatever, the river was fast!). The girl holding onto my tube was basically dead weight and I didn't make it to the Bar in time. When I finally caught the rope, my tube flipped and between trying to save the tube and my sunglasses (after all this I really didn't give a shit about the girl...who made it across much more safely then I did) I smashed my leg and foot into a massive rock. Now bleeding and bruised and definitely pissed off at the cheap b*itches who tried to ride with us on our tubes the only thing I could do was drink to numb the burning pain (seemed like the only logical thing to do, I didn't have any Advil available). We walked to Bar 3 and continued drinking. We ran into a fellow Montrealer
 |
| Nam Song River as seen from our guest house |
Luang Prabang
Day 1
Paying 12$ for a what-was-supposed-to-be a 7 hour bus ride seemed like a cheap and easy way to get to our next location. It was not. It was not 7 hours, it was 11. And it was not easy, considering for the majority of the trip I was scared for my life. After driving for what seemed like 3 years and stopping twice for food and a washroom break (thank god because I'm sure the bus was also charging people for use of their sauna which was clearly on full blast) we came to a spot on the mountain road that had been washed out. The bus decided to drive on through and got stuck. After trying to reverse (while being 5 meters away from the edge of a cliff that dropped off for about 2 km) the bus swayed to the cliff-side and I actually thought we were going down. The bus miraculously gunned it through the mud hole, but not without popping a tire of course. We all debarked once more (it was either that or literally die of suffocation in the bus) and waited out the extra delightful hour of travel. All I can say is that the mountain scenery was beautiful but it was too bad I couldn't really enjoy it due to the stifling heat and fear of falling to my death in a bus of 50 people. Once we arrived in Luang Prabang (and after mentally kissing the ground and thanking God I was still alive) we went in search of a guest house. We settled in a nice dorm with AC (for only 4$ a night) and then headed out to check out the night market. We stopped at a local restaurant for some Lao food and then headed to bed around 11:30, when all the shops and bars close.
 |
| The Lao mountainside our bus almost toppled off of |
Day 2
We woke up at 5:30AM, me having to press the snooze button on my alarm 4 or 5 times, and walked into the main square to see the monks on their morning walk through town. We bought some bananas and sticky rice to feed to them. After about half an hour of observing their morning rituals we climbed back into bed. At 9:30 we started the day. We ate breakfast alongside the Mekong river (I ordered a baguette, 2 eggs, fresh fruits, melon shake, tea, bacon and fried potatoes all for 5$...and yes I ate it all). After breakfast, I could no longer ignore the cold-turned-into-what-I-think-is-another-sinus-infection so I researched where to get some sort of medical care in Laos (extremely hard to come by). I ended up taking a tuk tuk to the provincial hospital and after speaking to a nurse/doctor(?) I self prescribed some amoxicillin and got her to give me a prescription for a 5 day treatment. After paying 6,000 kip for my antibiotic regimen (about 75 cents) Katie and I were on our way to explore the town. (I'll keep you updated on the antibiotic situation...hopefully I'll be able to breath again soon). We rented bicycles for about 2.50$ and drove around the small town that is Luang Prabang. We ended up at the local pool and had a pineapple daiquiri to beat the heat. Once the sun started to go down we walked up the 3 hundred or so stairs to Phousi hill to see the view of the city. We stayed until almost sundown and then walked back through the night market. We met some people in our dorm and went out for Indian food with them, a quick drink and were back at the hostel again, ready for our trip to the waterfall tomorrow.
 |
| Monks collecting alms at 5:30am |
 |
| Chillin poolside in Luang Prabang |
Today we slept in until 10, took our time getting up and then headed to Joma cafe just down the street from our guest house. This place was recommended in the Lonely Planet and they definitely got it right. The cafe is quaint, plays relaxing tunes like Death Cab and has air conditioning (definitely needed considering its been around 34C in the afternoons). The coffee is great and if you get a large they offer you a free refill and a free small coffee the following day. I tried the fruit, granola and yogurt for breakfast with a coffee and it was quite delicious. Katie and I, and some others from the dorm spent the morning catching up on emails and then decided to visit the waterfall. We took a tuk tuk with another Chinese couple and drove into the countryside for about 45 minutes. Once we got to the Kuang Si waterfall we payed the 20,000 kip entrance fee (about 2.50$) and started to trek the well kept paths. There were many tiers to this waterfall and it was definitely the most beautiful I've seen. We climbed up to the third tier and jumped off the rocks into the pool of swirling water below. After a few jumps we made our way up passing by different levels, all beautiful in their own way. Once we reached the end of the path and the beginning of the waterfall we stopped and sat in the sun just listening to the sound of the water hitting the rocks. The fall was probably 800 m high and a mist was blowing in the wind keeping us all cool despite the blazing sun. It was such a relaxing place. We climbed back down in time to meet our tuk tuk driver who brought us back to town. We spent the next few hours relaxing (in typical Laos style) and then decided to try Lao Lao Gardens for dinner. Probably one of the best meals of the trip, we were set up with a personal bucket of coals with a metal cooking surface placed on top, with a groove to hold soup broth. We poured in the broth and added vegetables, eggs and glass noddles and waited for the soup to heat up. Meanwhile, on the top of the cooking surface we placed a large piece of animal fat which dripped down into the soup and also made the surface oiled enough so our chicken, pork and water buffalo did not stick while we cooked it. We dipped the cooked meats into Lao Lao BBQ sauce (the best I've ever had) and drank our soup in small bowls with lime and chili peppers. We finished off the meal with a shot of Lao Lao whisky and then met up with some friends from school who we ran into at the waterfall (small world). After a few drinks, we called it a night and made it back to our guest house for the 12:00 am curfew.
 |
| Kuang Si Waterfall Luang Prabang |
Day 4
Getting another good night's sleep Katie and I woke up, packed our things and headed over to Saffron Espresso cafe also recommended by Lonley Planet. Two-for-two, this place was also great. We ordered vegetable panini sandwiches which were made with fresh baguette and delish fresh roasted veggies. The sandwich was made with a tasty garlic mayo and it was definitely a challenge to stop eating when I was full (this thing was made for 2 people). Although the cafe has amazing food they still don't have their wifi up and running to we headed back to Joma for a few hours before we have to leave for the airport. I ordered a small mocha and was not disappointed. It was delicious. In a few short hours we will be boarding the plane to Hanoi and will finally be in our third country of the trip.
who obvioulsy had common friends with Katie, them both beng from the West Island. We chatted for a while then grabbed the last 2 tubes and headed down the river. After the Slide Bar, which we did not attemp this time things get blurry once more. After the last bar we decided we wanted to make it back to the town. It was getting dark so we linked up with a couple from Iceland (how ironic as we had just been discussing that we have never met travellers from Iceland) and continued down the river. Once it got very dark out (and we started getting a little worried) three Laos kids jumped out of the split in the river and tried to "save us" however, we were not drunk enough to be fooled by their tricks so we kept floating. Eventually we got back to what we thought was the town and emerged only a few meters from our hotel. The only downfall was that we lost the husband of the Iceland couple. We were all a bit worried but luckily we found him wandering up the road with his tube about 10 minutes later. Having survived our second day, Katie and I stopped in at Q Bar, got our second Laos massage and headed to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment