Eggs On Sticks Flying Past The Window

Hey everybody,

We've been in Chiang Mai for two days now, just hadn't gotten round to posting a story yet.
The bus we boarded in Hanoi to go to Savannahket was actually on its way to Vientiane. So when we got to where one road went to Savannahket and the other to Vientiane, surprise surprise, they tried to kick us out and weren't planning to pay for the ticket. So when we refused to get out they kept on driving, as this wasn't going to get us to Savannahket I made my way to the front of the bus where I started a discussion with the bus personnel. They then translated everything I said to the people in the bus so they could get a piece of the action and laugh at us! In the end they stopped a bus going to Savannahket and still they wanted us to pay for the ticket. But of course we didn't because we had already paid for a ticket for Savannahket back in Hanoi. Anyway, in the end they paid and we got on the bus to Savannahket for the last bit of a very long day.

In all Asian countries there are people selling food to the local busses. And Laos is a real star at this. As soon as a bus stops ten to twenty women come running towards the bus waving sticks with all kinds of food past your window and walking through the bus selling their ware. They mainly sell eggs, crickets and bits of chicken on sticks. And as you can't see the person selling the food it appears to be flying past your window on its own.

Savannahket is just a small town on the Mekong with a border with Thailand. So we only stayed there for one night and caught the bus to Pakse the next morning.

Pakse is another small town. We went to the temples at Champasak from there. Catching a Sangthaew (a pick-up truck with a roof and wooden benches inside) that was stuffed full of people (no vehicle is ever full in Asia) and from Champasak we went the last bit of the way in a motor cyclo to the Wat Phu temple. The temple was nice and the view from the top of the hill was good, but after seeing way too many temples, we weren't too impressed. After the moto cyclo dropped us of in Champasak we had to find a way to get back to Pakse. Luckily there was a Tuk Tuk with a few tourists going back to Pakse so we drove back with them. While waiting for the ferry we decided that after seeing it so many times, it was time to swim in the Mekong. The water was nice and cool, you just had to keep your head well above the water, it's one of the world’s dirtiest rivers. When we got back to Pakse we posted our Vietnam story, and as this took a bit longer than expected we couldn't get any food anymore (Pakse is very dull at night) and just went to bed instead.

After having a bit of a sleep in we went to the bus station to catch the one o'clock bus to Tadlo. The bus didn't look like it was up for the trip with rust everywhere and the windows being stuck to together with sellotape. We sat and waited in the bus for three hours while more people and loads and loads of bags of rice were being piled into the bus. At four o'clock the bus finally started moving...for about a hundred meters before breaking down. So the bus got pushed a bit to get started again and every time it stopped this process had to be repeated. When the driver got behind the wheel his window fell out when he slammed the door! That's what you get if your windows are taped together! Two hours later we got to Tadlo. There we had to walk for about half an hour to get to the village. So after a quick meal we went to bed.

The following morning we went on a four hour walk and visited some waterfalls and villages on the way. The children in the villages were really cute yelling Sabaidy (hello in Lao) and waving at us. We then had a few hours to relax before our elephant trip. Sitting on the elephant was rather uncomfortable, but good fun. Having a hungry elephant he destroyed half the forest by eating everything we passed. We also visited one the villages we came through that morning and the children all found it really great that this big animal was walking through their town. A group of boys even followed us well into the jungle!

The next morning we caught a bus going to Pakse (this one was in a lot better state than the last one and actually moved!) and then caught another bus going to Si Phan Don from there.

Si Phan Don means 4000 islands and is a group of islands in the Mekong. The next day we rented bikes to explore Don Det and Don Khong. The islands were covered in rice fields and little houses. We visited an enormous waterfall on Don Khong. After "linner" (were back on our two meals a day diet, can't fit more than that in anyway) we rented tubes and floated down the river, walked back through the village and did it again. Nice way to see the island and the sunset from the comfort of your own lazy arse hanging in the water :p

Catching another Sangthaew back to Pakse which wasn't only filled with people but also contained some bunches of life ducks and chickens that were thrown under the seat and on the roof! There was also a basket with dead fish covered in ice (and of course the ice started melting covering the entire floor in smelly fish water) and something alive (no idea what) in a bag...That ride took a bit too long for my liking and I was very glad to get back to Pakse. There we had to wait the rest of the afternoon for our night bus to Vientiane.

That bus was an enormous double-decker VIP bus going directly to Vientiane. The following morning we got to Vientiane, Laos capital city. As there is not much to see there we caught a bus to Vang Vieng straight away.

Vang Vieng is the backpacker capital of Laos and we noticed that straight away. Walking through the main street the sounds of four different "Friends" episodes were blasting out at us from the restaurants. We went on a tubing tour down the river. The scenery was beautiful, enormous limestone cliffs, but this was ruined by all the makeshift bars along the river where backpackers come to get totally wasted...

One afternoon of Vang Vieng was more than enough and we headed for Luang Prabang the following morning. Luang Prabang is the former capital of Laos and is filled with temples and French colonial streets. We visited the royal palace museum and a few temples and did some more shopping. Luang Prabang also has a really good fancy French restaurant. So this was our Laos "splurge" opportunity. We took this chance to dress up in our nice new Hoi An clothes and for one night not feel like the grubby backpackers we've become. We were slightly overdressed, but that compensates for all the times we've been underdressed. We toasted to "not killing each under for 250 days" with a glass of wine (forgot how good a glass of wine can taste after not drinking for 3 months) and enjoyed our three course meal. The food was absolutely delicious and very cheap at only 19 dollars a person! I haven't eaten food that good in a very long time, if ever, so this was a real treat.

From Luang Prabang we took the bus to Luang Namtha. A nine hour bus drive through the mountains on a very bad road..not so nice. We spent the night in Luang Namtha and boarded yet another Sangthaew the next morning. Two hours later we arrived in Muang Sing where we organized a two day trek for the following day and relaxed a bit.

The trek wasn't really what we had expected. Because of the rain all the paths (if you could call them that) were slippery from the mud. My shoes were also very slippery so I fell many many times and had great difficulty getting up and down the slopes. The first few times I fell I still found it pretty funny but after a while I got fed up. And when I discovered leeches (bloedzuigers) on my legs I just wanted to get to the village as soon a possible. After seven hours of walking we arrived in the village up on the mountain top exhausted and thirsty (we only had two litres of water for the whole day) The village was ok and the view was nice, but definitely not worth the trip!

The following morning we climbed up to the top of a mountain and after that we went up and down mountains for many more hours. Falling many times again I couldn't wait to get back to Muang Sing. And then the leeches were back again, and this time there were lots more than yesterday. We were pulling leeches of our legs the whole time and I really started to freak out when I discovered one on my bottom! Finally we reached the village. Gladly this village was really nice. The kids had great fun posing for photos and looking at them on my camera.
When we got back to Muang Sing we washed our clothes (they were covered in mud) and had a failed attempt at finding food. So we just went to bed instead as we were utterly and completely exhausted. I left my shoes in Muang Sing, after 6 years I have now officially declared them dead.

The next day we went back to Luang Namtha where we caught a bus to the Thai border. We spent most of the day in the bus, a real blessing after walking for two days. The following morning we went through Lao customs, then got a boat to the other side of the Mekong and entered Thailand. Had a bit of a culture shock going into Thailand after three months, it's so much more modern here having shops like 7 eleven, Starbucks and Boots. We have about two weeks left to visit Thailand before going to our last destination: Barcelona. So now I'd better get back to enjoy these last two weeks of Asia before going back to the Western world.

Ciao Ciao,
Laura