Luang Prabang

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From: annette rusling
Date: 23 February 2011 18:05:14 GMT+07:00
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Subject: Luang Prabang

So after finally disembarking from our slow boats it was time for the accomodation hunt in Luang Prabang. By now I had surgically attached myself to my group of Canadian girls I met on the journey so Candace, Andrea, Joanna and me found a place by the river to spend our first night. Our only real thoughts that night were of food, and luckily Luang Prabang has a lot on offer. There are plenty of restaurants selling both Laos and Western food, but by far our favourite place to go during our time there was the street at the end of the market full of food stalls. You can load up a platefull of vegetables, various rice dishes, noodles and pasta for 10,000 kip (less than a quid) and the fresh/fried spring rolls going for 1000 kip each formed my staple diet.
 
The highlight sights-wise around Luang Prabang (for me at least) was Kuang Si waterfalls. About 30km outside the city you can charter a tuk-tuk for about 30000 kip each and the driver will wait there for you until you are ready to go home. This is not an into-the-wild type waterfall, on the contrary it forms the centre of a well looked after park, but this means this gorgeous place is well protected. I have never seen a waterfall so perfect. The swimming areas were as blue as they come and some of the falls seemed so symmetrical it was almost Disney. I would definitely recommend making the effort to climb to the top. The views of the mountains and of the rest of the park were incredible.
 
The same park is also home to rescued bears. Unfortunately all the animals seem to do now they are in captivity is laze around, but they would apparently have been victim to poachers if they were not looked after in the park and it was interesting to see the local species. The bears there (I think) were Asian Sun bears with cute faces, black mains and a golden strip down their middles.
 
Now to the nightlife in Luang Prabang. An interesting experience indeed. Luang Prabang as a city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means the beautiful Laos temples which sit in harmony with colonial French architecture are ptotected but it also means they have curfew. That's right, curfew. After findin an excellent nightspot at Utopia bar (on the river, very chilled, various seating areas and even a beach volleyball court) it felt like the evening was just getting started when the bartenders started shutting up shop. Where to now? was the cry heard around the whole city. The answer? Discoteque of course! It was hands down one of the strangest places I have ever been. Local people were mixing with drunken westerners in a warehouse style building while bad pop music played and a projecter seemed to be showing soft porn over everyone's heads. The highlight of the night had to be Justin's dancing (another Canadian). The man had no inhibitions whatsoever and was doing his best to whip out the craziest moves in the place. Second highlight was the conga line everyone joined.
 
A good night was definitely had by all and I was looking forward to partying on the river at my next destination, Vang Vieng. (Next blog post!)

Two day slow boat to luang prabang

Having boarded my minibus to the laps border not feeling the best, I was not looking forward to a ride full of sharp mountainous bends, arriving at a guesthouse at 3 am and spending two days on a boat. But the experience was actually pretty good fun.

Our minibus driver expertly navigated the mountain roads and the (seemingly normal) practice of overtaking on bends was made less terrifying by the reasoning that it was dark so any oncoming traffic would be visible by virtue of headlights.

After a couple of hours kip at a standard guesthouse on the Thai side of the Mekong river we were driven to the smallest passport control I have ever seen to receive our Thai exit stamps. We then took a taxi boat over the river to Laos. On disembarking we joined the queue for our Laos visas. And we waited. And waited. We were told he slow boat left at 10.30. This came and went. We waited some more before eventually shoving our passports through a window all at once and hoping for the best. Eventually about 4 hours after we arrived at the border we were officially allowed to enter Laos for the sum of 35 US dollars. Hooray we thought, time to get on the boat. But no. We went to the office to check in, once again had a passports removed from our grip and waited some more. After purchasing sustenance we the boarded a tuktuk to the dock... And waited some more. Eventually we boarded the boats with relief, out passports back in our possession and settled in for the 6 hour trip to the midway point.

Although it is a longer process than getting a bus to luang prabang I highly recommend the slow boat. The scenery is awesome and it is an excellent way to meet people. I spent the first day drinking beer Laos and playing cards with people I am still travelling with over a week later. I couldn't imagine a better introduction to Laos and I am looking forward to seeing more!

Next posts: luang prabang and vang vieng. Current location: Vientiane.

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Pai

After trekking in Chiang Mai I let my sore muscles recover with a day learning how to cook some delicious Thai food, then I got myself on a minibus to a small town called Pai. The journey consists of a three hour ride through the mountains, which, although beautiful, consists of over 700 hair raising bends that could present a challenge to even the most iron-clad stomach. It was worth it though, as soon as I stepped off the bus I knew I would love Pai. It is quite westerner heavy but is incredibly laid back. After looking at a couple of guesthouses on the main strip I got a tip to head to the river where I checked myself into a bamboo hut, resplendent with hammock and porch and with free wifi. All for about 200 baht (less than 4 pounds) a night (and there are cheaper places they just didn't have availability). I then spent the afternoon doing what Pai is designed for - chilling out. I had coffee with friends and dinner with another couple of women I met at cooking class. In the evening I went to check out what the nightlife is like. It seems I arrived a day too late for the really lively nights - Friday and Saturday.

The following day I discovered most of the sights around Pai  - natural hotsprings, waterfalls etc. are most easily accessed by scooter or motorbike. I have never driven one of these. Nevertheless I decided this was not a problem and when the rental guy asked me to prove my ability proceeded to give too much throttle and nearly flatten a Thai person. I was promptly rejected. Fair enough. As my more skilled and mechanically gifted friends left me in a trail of dust I was contemplating what to do when the solution presented itself to me "mototaxi miss?" - Sure! I hopped on the back of a motorcycle and entrusted a stranger in a reflective vest with my life and limbs. The ride was pretty beautiful and only interrupted slightly by the constant chatter of my driver: "How old you?" - "23" - "Ohhh same same...you drink?" - "Err, no [lies]" - "You smoke?" - "Err, no [truth]" - "Hahaha you good" etc etc.

We arrived at a waterfall abut 15km out of town and I spent a pleasant couple of hours watching local kids dive kamikazee-style into one of the pools and sliding on he bellies over the smoothed over rocks.

My mototaxi driver was waiting for me and proceeded to make the ride home pretty awkward by asking me out for a drink. Having politely declined I then had to spend the next 20 minutes gripping on with my thighs to avoid death while leaning as far back as I possibly could. On the plus side this was an excellent abdominal workout.

My final day in Pai was fairly uneventful. I was not in the best health after the meal I had eaten the night before so I adopted a group of English girls and spent the day chilling at the pool at Fluid bar.

If I'd had more time in Pai I would have loved to have visited the hotsprings as the sun sets (the nest time of day to go) and I have also heard good things abot a place called Jungle Farm from a group of Canadian girls I met on the next leg of my trip and had some good times there. But sadly I was booked on a minibus to the Laos border where a two day riverboat journey awaited. Time to say goodbye to Thailand!

Next stop: 2 day slow boat to Luang Prabang.

Trek Packs and Pachyderms

Any trip to southeast Asia is not complete without some from of trekking. Unless you stuck only to the party towns you would be hard pressed to avoid it. With that in mind I jumped in the back of a truck with 9 strangers, bound for the hills about 3 hours from chiang mai.
What I learned about trekking:
1) Do not book until you arrive in town. I paid three times as much booking it from home and it was less straightforward.
2) Pack light. The company provided me with a fairly large pack which I (naturally) filled. Everyone else had been given nice, modest sized bags. So the company screwed over my wallet and my back. Thanks. The thought I was burning note calories had a very limited comfort value.
3) Everyone I have spoken to had a slightly different trek route and experience. If you are trekking near chiang mai don't expect it to be really challenging hiking, and don't expect to walk the entire day. For us, the first day began with a trip to a waterfall and weekend start walking until after lunch, the second was broken up by an elephant ride ad the their was spent entirely on the bamboo raft. (If you go in dry season you won't be able to white water raft, at least not particularly well).
4) Night time is very very cold. Take warm clothes and expect to use them.
5) Lastly, embrace the group you are with, I met some good people and they definitely made the experience a lot more fun!

Although I had a really good time on my trek and would definitely recommend the experience, I did have some reservations about the elephant riding. When we arrived at he elephant camp, from a distance it looked like the elephants were chilling by the river, fairly free to do as they pleased. However, on closer inspection we discovered they were chained up. During our ride the mahouts (trainers) who accompanied us would sometimes kick the elephants, either to make them go faster or just for sport. From what I have heard this isn't typical, but it did not make for an entirely pleasant experience. Despite this, in Thailand elephants are traditionally working animals, and since the government
banned logging (for teak) tourism offers the people an income, and therefore the elephants some protection. There a re also organisations with a more highly tuned code of ethics, where travellers can go and witness the ellies in a more natural setting.

(One more tip: before you go bamboo rafting ensure your guide has a firm grasp on left and right. Ours either did not, or he did not explain that he would be steering the raft one direction while instructing the group to steer another. We crashed a few times, the first of which resulted in me spectacularly consigning my first pair of fake ray band to the scrap rap having fallen headlong in to the ass of the girl in front of me. When recovering from our crashes, or going through rougher water out guide also seemed to adopt a rather Victorian attitude - 'ladies get out and walk, only gentlemen now' - this was more than a little infuriating ad it felt we missed out on some of the fun.)

Overall trekking was a good experience I would definitely repeat and an excellent way of meeting people if you are travelling solo. I would give it a solid 6/10.

After trekking: on to Pai then a slow boat through to Laos!