Laos

With no beaches in sight, landlocked Laos has avoided the large-scale popularity seen in neighbouring Thailand– and is all the more charming for it. Don’t get me wrong – I love Thailand. But if you fancy a break from Full Moon Partying, the wonderful chaos of Bangkok, or the well-trodden jungle treks around Chiang Mai, head for Laos for a laid-back week or two. Alongside top city destinations such as Vientiane and Luang Prabang, rural Laos is incredibly beautiful, home to bright green paddy fields, forested mountains, rocky limestone outcrops and gushing waterfalls.

In fact if you close your eyes and picture Thailand a hundred or so years ago, before it became a mainstream destination, you could almost be imagining sleepy Laos.

Arriving in the capital, Vientiane, the first thing that strikes you is how quiet it is. You’d never guess it was a capital city if you didn’t already know, and there are few sights to keep you there for long. It’s a pleasant place to spend a couple of days, though – dotted with crumbling French colonial villas, Buddhist temples, French restaurants and riverside bars where you can watch the world go by on the immense Mekong River.

One of the main attractions in Laos, however, is its natural beauty and potential for adventure sports and activities. Whether you’re into climbing, kayaking, rafting or river tubing, there’s plenty to keep you busy on the rivers and up the mountains. One of the country’s main ‘centres’ for outdoor activities is the pleasant riverside town of Vang Vieng, which is surrounded by awesome, rocky limestone Karsts that point skywards, filled with deep caves and caverns. Hordes of travellers flock here and often find themselves staying longer than planned, seduced by the beautiful scenery and laid-back backpacker atmosphere. There are lots of places o visit from the town, including waterfalls and rural villages, and it’s well worth hiring a bike to explore independently if you have a map or a GPS (or just a very good memory!).

Another of the country’s most famous attractions is the mysterious Plain of Jars in Xieng Khuang province, a vast area dotted with hundreds of huge stone ‘jars’ of unknown origin. There are five popular sites to visit, all within reach of the town of Phonsavan, serving up some completely unique photo opportunities.

Perhaps the most memorable place of all in Laos, however, is the gorgeous northern capital of Luang Prabang. This UNESCO World Heritage-listed city is completely captivating, with a small town feel and some great backpacker hostels and cafés. The oldest part of the city is perched on a tiny peninsula created by the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, surrounded by misty mountains – climb to the top of Sacred Hill (Phou Si) to watch the sun set for some spectacular views. The city’s best-known sights include the ancient Golden City Monastery (Wat Xiang Thong) and the Royal Palace Museum, but most enjoyable of all is just soaking up the lazy atmosphere, taking in the lovely French provincial-style architecture from colonial times, and enjoying freshly baked bread and coffee in one of the many backpacker cafés.

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I’m on the edge. My heart beats harshly against my chest as adrenaline surges through my body. Not even my pride can stop me from admitting that I am petrified. Fear grips me and I am immobilised. Unable to do anything. What the hell am I doing?

Continue reading “My Moment of Shame” »

Anyone who has gone Tubing in Laos uses the same word – “awesome”.

I am currently in Vang Vieng (Laos) nursing several injuries after one hell of a day. Tubing is quite hard to describe. Imagine an 18-30’s holiday TV advertisement and stretch it throughout a day. Throw in a river, tractor inner tubes and rope swings and you get the general idea. If you still can’t picture it I have made a video for you!

Tubing is great fun and unlike anything I have ever seen or done before. However, the experience can sour if you are not careful. We had been advised by several backpackers to be mindful of the time. I think we were having too much fun to notice…

We found ourselves at the penultimate bar with only a few tubes. We had to share one between three which is a particularly difficult feat. I can only speculate that people steal them and collect the deposit. It soon became dark very quickly and despite being beautiful, star light wasn’t particularly helpful. We all linked up and I guess we thought there was safety in numbers at least.

We hit a patch of fast rocky water and found ourselves split up. I must admit I was pretty scared. I couldn’t see anything or anyone. I’d heard that only four days before a young guy on his honeymoon had drowned. Was certainly food for thought as I was on my own in the dark floating down a strange river. I managed to scramble to a riverbank but the current was so strong that I fell and hit some rocks and would have been swept away if I hadn’t of been pulled out by one our party (thanks Nick you literal lifesaver). Half of our party had made it to the same riverbank but we had no idea where the rest were. We couldn’t see a way out besides a fence which couldn’t be climbed so we ended up knocking it down. We had just knocked our way through into someone’s back garden while they were sat in it!

All I said was: “Taxi?”

You wouldn’t get away with that in the UK!

To cut a long story short we made it back safely and the others had managed to make it to a different riverbank and get a taxi. It wasn’t entirely a happy ending though. During our treacherous adventure a local boy had swam out to us, helped us paddle and then swam off. Turns out while we were distracted by the thought of drowning, he was busy robbing a bag which had four girls passports, cameras and purses.

Despite all this I would still do it again. Tubing is so much fun. It just happens to also be a bit dangerous. My advice would be don’t do it in the dark! The guys and girls have gone to do it again today! My knee and ankle is painful to walk on so I gave it a miss. Who puts big rocks in the river for me to fall into? Silly if you ask me.

On a happier note, enjoy the video!

Lies. You will be told many of them on your travels. You’ll be told that things are closed, that it’s two minutes away, that it’s a special price or that you don’t look fat. Bullshit. You’ll hear it all the time but the biggest one has to be that you shouldn’t do the two day slow boat down the Mekong River in Laos.

I left idle Pai to its own devices and made my way by bus to the border. As the door slid open I prayed for someone to talk to. No more Hebrew or German, please let the guys in here speak English! I didn’t get someone to talk to, it was even better; great friends and one hell of a brilliant time.

I was apprehensive about crossing the border, had some drug cartel stashed drugs in my backpack while I was sleeping? It all played on my mind. Unfortunately it was rather ordinary. Especially the part where the passport control officers didn’t smile. Is it in their job description that they can’t smile or is stamping passports and looking at terrible mug shots all day really that depressing?

Our arrival guide wanted to have a talk with us in his office which consisted of a plastic table set up right next to this shiny minivan with its air con blasting away. This friendly chap told us all kinds of stories. You can’t stand up on the boat, there is no food or drink, hotels are expensive and captain jack sparrow might come and get us. The list went on, but there was however hope. The shiny minivan could get us to Luang Prabang in one day rather than two and of course was a much better prospect. I didn’t care if I had to sit on the roof, with a rooster for company. I was getting on that boat no matter what he said. It turned out to be the best thing I ever did.

Fearing the worst we stocked up for our hellish journey. Supplies included Oreo’s, copious amounts of Whiskey, an acoustic guitar, nine plastic cups, iPod with speakers and a sense of humour. Nine plastic cups? There were eight of us. It’s a mystery, it really is…

I’ve never had so much fun on a boat. Although saying that I don’t think it had much to compete with as the ferry between Dover and Calais isn’t much to write home about. However, sitting on a bag of rice for nine hours is. The sky was always blue with puffy white clouds that looked like candy floss. If the captain (aka captain pug wash) was in a good mood you could lie outside and top up the tan. There was no shortage of embarrassing music to be pumped from my mp3 player (read: Peter Andre, Steps, Savage Garden etc) and everyone seemed to be able to play the guitar and sing. I’m considering buying myself a guitar now. Although I realise this won’t help me with the singing.

I’ve so far only noticed two differences between Laos and Thailand. This being the 11.30 curfew and having to take your shoes off before you go into places. Taking your shoes off with a backpack on is more of a challenge then you might think. Was a bit strange getting kicked out of a bar at 11 and we were told the only place left open after this time is bowling. Late night bowling it is then. Very strange!

There is a must see in Luang Prabang. I couldn’t tell you the name of the waterfall but any tuk tuk driver will know what you are talking about. There’s rope swings to play on and a fantastic view!

This amazing bar in Luang Prabang, Utopia, also has a volleyball court in the middle of it. As you do. After a rather heated and undecided game, a re-match is in order. After pulling off my shirt, beating my chest and doing the Haka, I’m going to have to put my money where my mouth is. Don’t worry those guys are going down…