Laos 2008

After breakfast we catch the bus to Vang Vieng. The bus doesn’t have AC, and it’s very hot, but the breeze is enough to stop us cooking. The views are great, especially as we near Vang Vieng where the terrain becomes much hillier. The bus stops at a small resort, right by the river. The resort looks really nice, and the rooms are a good price, so we decide to stay here for a night.

We spend the afternoon sitting in the restaurant, re-hydrating ourselves, and watching the strange spectacle of large trucks and tractors driving up and down the river (as the bridges are too small to carry large vehicles). We are tempted to take a swim in the river, which we are unsure about at first, but when the kids leave school they all jump in the river, so it seems pretty safe.

In the afternoon Abby does a fine job of cutting my hair, which was getting a bit long for comfort.

Tomorrow we hope to take a good look around the area, and maybe go tubing.

In the evening we speak to our friend Cameron. He was thinking of taking a short trip away, and we suggested meeting him in Hanoi, Vietnam. Fingers crossed!

Today is hot, really hot! We catch a tuk tuk to Pha That Luang, the amazing golden temple that is the oldest in Lao, and one of their shinning symbols. We wander around taking photos, but it is so hot that we have to dive for the cover of the shade as soon as we leave. Abs isn’t feeling so well so we buy a umbrella to keep her in the shade.

We walk down to the bus stop and try and find the bus to Buddha Park. Several taxi drivers tell us that the bus takes 2.5 hours and will finish by the time the park closes. I don’t believe this, but I’m unable to find any official information about the bus times. I do find the bus though, but it is already full and we don’t fancy standing for the 45 minute ride. The taxi drivers want 150,000Kip for the ride, the bus is about 10,000Kip each. A girl approaches and says that a tuk tuk to the park will cost 50,000Kip return. We agree to this and are led to the tuk tuk.

The ride out to Buddha Park is an interesting one and we pass a few sights. The end of the road is bad and the tuk tuk fights to negotiate the muddy lane which is being made worse by the construction lorries which are dowsing the road with water to keep the dust down.

Eventually we make it to Buddha Park. It’s quite small but packed with amazing constructions. Strangely the monuments are all relatively new, being made in the last 60 years. There is actually quite a lot of concrete around.

We shop and chat to a monk for a while. He is keen to practice his English. We exchange postal and email addresses, and will communicate soon. In a few days is the Laos New Year, and he was particularly keen to take us to the south to celebrate it with his family, but sadly we don’t have the time.

I buy the tuk tuk driver a bottle of water, but he doesn’t accept it, which seems strange. After the ride back to Vientiane city I go to pay the drive 60,000Kip instead of 50,000Kip as a nice gesture. But, he then claims that the deal was 150,000Kip, all via his mobile phone as he doesn’t speak English. I say no way, I triple checked with the girl that the price was 50,000Kip for 2 people, return. He looks puzzled and drives over to his mate, who does speak English. His mate isn’t very interested in helping with the situation, which confirms to me that it is a scam. We leave him with the 60,000Kip and walk away. It’s a shame that such a nice trip should end with a scam, but we don’t look back as we walk to the guesthouse.

Vientiane is surely the worlds most peaceful, laid back and carefree capital city. Laos is described as one of the worlds least developed countries, and yet Vientiane shows wealth, both financially and spiritually, prosperity and a warm and working commitment to communism. I suspect we will more signs of poverty outside of Vientiane, but for now we are enjoying kicking back in this amazing place.

Just about every corner we turn we see colourful monks, temples, people and all of the sights and sounds that make Laos what it is. It will soon be the Laos New Year, and a fair has been setup on the bank of the Mekong River.

After getting our Vietnam visas this morning we wander around for a bit, absorbing the fascinating world of Laos. We decide to take a swim, and find the local swimming pool, which is a nice pool, and very cheap. After cooling down from the 40 degree Celsius heat, from which we have caught more than enough sunshine today, we head back to the hotel, and out again for dinner.

After a late start to recover from yesterdays traveling we head out and walk around Vientiane. We stop at the black stupa, take some snaps and then see the Arc d’Triomph in the distance. We head up and find some shady breeze underneath the monument. There are a lot of monks here, so we take a lot of photos and I have a quick chat with one. It’s very cheap to climb the steps inside the monument, so we go up. The views are great.

We see a water park in the distance which looks very inviting. I work out it’s general location and we head down and start walking. We stop at a mobile phone shop and buy a Laos sim card. We keep walking, and although we can occasionally see the water park through the distance we can’t find a road that takes us there. We do stumble upon what looks like a wedding party, with everyone dancing and having a great time. We get a few smiles and laughs from them. After more walking we follow a lane and find the water park. Unfortunately they are still building the park, so we walk through to the entrance and grab lunch at a cafe.

We head out again and find 2 great temples. The first is very active with monks painting the statues , carving and blessing people. There is a really good vibe at this temple. Soon after we find another temple, but it is very quiet. We do see the house where the monks live.

We head back to the hotel, relax and grab dinner.

After only 3 hours of sleep we wake up at 04:30. We say goodbye to Cameron, for the second time this trip, we don’t know when I will see him next. Our taxi arrives at 05:30 and we ride out to the airport. It’s quite busy considering the early hour, but we check straight in an enjoy some breakfast.

We grab the front row seats (having paid for priority boarding) and we are soon in the air. We eat our food and I spend the rest of the flight sleeping. As we near the airport in Laos we both enjoy looking at the different landscape passing under the plane.

Once we are inside the airport we fill in the paperwork and get our visas, which is straight forward. A girl from Taiwan is having trouble with the officials as there is some confusion about her passports. They are saying that she has to return to Malaysia, she says the Malaysian officials have made a mistake. The Laos officials seem to be running around trying to resolve the situation for her.

Outside the airport we relax in the lovely atmosphere that falls over Vientiane. Without any hassles or touts we pay for a taxi to Joe’s Guest House. We get a room at the guesthouse and relax with a drink by the Mekong River.

Vientiane is so relax and friendly. We got a 30 day visa at the airport, and we hope to stay in Laos for more than the 2 weeks we had planned.