Vientiane, Laos : 18 Dec 10

My last day in Laos and the last day of my 7 week wander around SE Asia... had mixed feelings but looking forward to getting back to Nepal.  The first thing I did was find a nice Guest House to move to ... was nice but too many rules for the guests!

Because I had withdrawn too much money last night from the ATM I decided to spoil myself with a nice relaxing massage.  Went to a place recommended by the Lonely Planet.  What a mistake.  I had a body scrub which was great cos I had 7 weeks of SE Asia dirt in my pores but the massage was the most painful thing I have ever been through in the my life.. well nearly!

At the end my neck and left shoulder were killing me and I couldn't turn my head to the left without excruciating pain shooting up the left side of my neck.  The boss lady asked me at the end while I was sipping my herbal tea "how did you enjoy your massage" ... I tried to smile but was more a grimace and said "oh it was pretty good thank you" :-|  I will never have a Laos massage again!!  ... 2 1/2 hours of pain and 300,000 kip later!!!  Oh well at least I spent some of that 1,000,000 kip! 

My last dinner in Laos I had at my favourite restaurant in Vientiane ... Sabai Eli ... great food, red wine and live music ... bliss :))

Vientiane, Laos : 17 Dec 10

Today I got a bus to Vientiane ... advertised as 8 hours ... took 14 hours cos the &%# bus broke down after 3 hours!!!  Oh joy!

When the clutch started making really horrible noises I thought oh no !!!  And sure enough 1/2 an hour later the bus broke down in a little village on the main road to Vientiane ... nobody was told anything and nobody knew what was going on.  I slept nearly the whole time and then over 3 hours later another bus turned up.  Finally we arrived into Vientiane at 10pm to the northern bus park.  The Tuk Tuk Mafia was waiting for us.  It was late and I didn't have any accommodation booked but this group of backpackers were arguing with the Tuk Tuk drivers over 10,000 kip ... just over $1 ... grrrrrr ... I just wanted to get into town which was 10 kms away and get a bed and go to sleep! 

Finally we arrived into town and I wandered the streets for awhile... very daunting when all the guest houses have "FULL" on the doors at 10.30pm at night and there are miscellaneous men and hookers on the streets.  I found a dodgy guest house and I mean dodgy ... but he wanted payment there and then and of course I had no kip so he made me go out on the street again at 11pm and get some money ..... WTF .... so I had to walk past the miscellaneous men and hookers on the street corner in search of 80,000 kip.  I offered to leave him $20 AUD as a deposit and I would get the money in the morning but oh no he wanted his 80,000 kip right there and then!!!!  I got to the supermarket ... they wouldn't change AUD ... found an ATM .. pulled out 1,000,000 kip ... in my rush realised it was way too much money for one more day in Laos.  Oh well at least I had a bed for the night!

Luang Prabang, Laos : 16 Dec 10

Today I was feeling a bit worse for wear ... it wasn't the beer last night honest!

I walked all the way ( a very long way ) to the nicest WAT in Luang Prabang and when i got there and after I had paid my entrance fee I realised I had left my camera back at the Guest House ... not happy JAN!!!  And I had my thongs on too so I had to walk all the way back to my Guest House, get my camera and change into my more sensible shoes.

Then I walked all the way back ... it was worth it too ... what a lovely WAT and there were monks hanging around and it just had a lovely feel to it.  I sat in the WAT for awhile and just soaked up the atmosphere.  Lots of gold buddhas again. 

Then I walked all the way back nearly to my guest house and visited the Luang Prabang Museum which used to be the Royal Palace.  More buddhas but was interesting to see how the royal family used to live.

And then it was MORE drinking and debauchery with Mick and Dan :))  We went to the Blue Ice Bar again and had a fantastic night.  It was crowded with lots of very interesting people and we sat at the bar all night and made friends with the bar staff.  Was a very late night but hey it was my last night in Luang Prabang and maybe I won't see Mick and Dan for another 23 years !! that was my excuse anyway ... Luang Prabang has an 11.30pm curfew ... but we were there til after midnight ???

Luang Prabang, Laos : 15 Dec 10

Today I had planned to have a lazy day but ended up doing touristy stuff.  I walked up to the WAT on the top of the hill for gorgeous views over Luang Prabang... apparently it is the sunset spot but don't think I will be walking up all those steps again to see a sunset.

There were lots of gold buddas and a footprint of Buddhas foot ... hmmmm all I can say is that Buddha must of been a very big man cos his foot print is bigger than me! 

Visited the WAT across the road from my guesthouse ... Thalinh GH ... very nice and very cheap rooms ... you have to share a bathroom but i didn't see another guest the whole I was there so really had the whole bathroom to myself!  I have to mention the night markets too in Luang Prabang... gorgeous handcrafts and a shoppers heaven.

And that's pretty much all I did today ... but met up with Mick and Dan for another night of drinking and debauchery.  We went to Blue Ice bar.... loads of fun and very interesting patrons.  We were sitting out front and Travis (who I trekked with) wandered by so he stopped for a drink too.

Luang Prabang, Laos : 12,13&14 Dec 10

Completed the muddiest 3-day trek ever ... but still loved every minute of it .... and I do this for fun??? :))  I'm sure some of my family would think I have lost the plot ... hehe

Geez so where do i start  ...

Day One (12th Dec) ... found out last night that I have two trekking buddies joining Mr Bee (my guide) and me on this trek.  I was very excited and met Travis from NYC, USA and Chris from France in the car on the way to the trail head.  (Unfortunately Chris was not feeling very well and she ended up turning back a couple of hours into the trek.)  We started the trail at a little village about 1 1/2 hr drive from Luang Prabang where there were kids to see us off.  And then it was up hill from there and very hot! 

     
We stopped at another very tidy little village where all the houses were made from bamboo on stilts.  I couldn't believe these villages so close to the busy Luang Prabang but yet so remote.  And there were more kids.  We had lunch in one of the homes and all the villagers came to watch us eat ... we sat on one side and they all sat on the other side of the room.  We felt bad about eating infront of them cos they all looked so poor but Mr Bee said it was ok.  One little baby was very social and she was just learning to walk and was determined to sit on our table.  Her very young mother kept dragging her away but the baby won eventually ... that is after she pee'd on the floor but it was quickly mopped up with the babies sock :))  I gave her a round and round ride on the table which made her laugh.  She then got fascinated by Travis's flash big camera and was determined to get her hands on that.  Was a very entertaining lunch.  We set off again with all the kids waving us goodbye.

We walked into our first home stay at a Kamou Village about an hour later and then it started to rain.  We settled into our home for the night ... we were staying in the home of the village chief and his wife, mother and father and mother-in-law, and two sons all lived there too... then we took a walk around the village and Mr Bee showed us inside a few houses and explained the Kamou culture and way of life to us.  And there were lots of kids.  I played soccer with one little boy and then showed him how to play cricket with the ball and a bit of wood from the firewood stack.  They all thought this was very funny.  We watched a group of adults digging in a field and we found out that they are soccer mad and are making a soccer field.  It was a very lumpy soccer field.  We met a man who is 52... he has 11 children ... oldest 23 and youngest 10 months (he was looking after 9 of his kids when we met him) ... his first wife had died and now he is re-married and his first two children have passed away. 

Then it was time to wash.  Everyone goes to the local creek to bathe and it's set up with pipes so there are a few washing areas.  I didn't wash :( but Travis and Mr Bee braved the cold water and they attracted an audience of kids .. well it was probably more Travis washing attracted the audience!

So for dinner we ate in the kitchen of the family.  We sat on the floor and had pork fillets roasted over an open fire in bread rolls with lashings of mustard from a bottle.  There were field rats roasting above the fire ... thank god we didn't get served that for dinner .. not sure if I could eat rat but apparently they taste like chicken :))  Next time maybe!

After dinner we went outside and sat round the fire with all the kids and puppies.  There seem to be lots of kids and lots of puppies ... love it :))

Day Two (13th Dec) ... over night I had an allergic reaction.  We slept on the floor with the family on thin mattresses under mossie nets but this didn't protect me from what was in the mattress.  I found out that it was stuffed with flowers and my body didn't like it ... sore throat, muscle pain and an onset of sinus ... but still loved every minute!

We woke to heavy rain so we hung around til as late as we could.  Oh the mud!!!  It was a beautiful walk again... a bit of up and a bit of down and not too strenuous.  We walked through a property in this valley that was all on its own and had a million pigs, chooks, cows etc .. the cows and pigs followed us from one end of the property to the other and we thought they were going to follow us up the hill but stopped and looked at us til they realised we weren't coming back.  The cows even came up for a pat and tried to eat my hand ... not like aussie cows that run away the second you look at them. 

We arrived into our next village, Long Lao, which was a Hmong Village and a lot busier and less remote than the night before ... and there were heaps of kids!  They were all out playing games in the mud .. some of the games were pretty inventive and they were having so much fun ... I guess this is what kids do when they have no tv or computer.  It was good to see and fun to watch them. 

Our home for the night was with a really nice family but we had our own cabin made of bamboo and again on stilts and we slept on mattresses under mossie nets.  I didn't see one mossie the whole time but it was sort of romantic to sleep under a mossie net!

The lady of the house was busy making the bamboo thingies for the roof as apparently they have to reroof the houses every year and this is the womans work.  Big job but she had a huge smile on her face and had a very serene presence.  They had a very cheeky puppy whose mission was to chew everything (our fingers, shoes, legs etc) and it just loved chewing the roof thingies that the lady was making but she didn't seem to mind at all. 

Mr Bee took us for a walk around the village.  We stopped and bought green leafy veges from a lady which was our dinner ... soup and then fried with our main course.  We got lots of photos of the kids just out and about having fun in their free time.  The kids were so cute and so shy. 

So that night after dinner I talked the boys into having a end of trek celebration ... ten beers later and Mr Bee and Travis wrestling and lots of silly photos.  Was a hoot!  The man of the house came out and joined us and showed us photos of himself and his first wife I think it was.  He was just gorgeous ... no English but we communicated anyway.

Day Three (14th Dec) ... woke up to more rain and a bit of a headache :)) We walked to the spring ... crystal clear pond with a creek .. took some photos and flicked off the leeches ... and then kept going to the Huay Xai waterfall... the best waterfall in Laos and it's just beautiful.  Had a swim and washed off all the mud ... our boots had 2 inches of mud on them for the last two days and we had mud up to our knees so it was a fantastic way to finish the trek.   There are black bears there too in a sanctuary ... couldn't believe it! 

Then it was back to Luang Prabang.  This was one of the best treks I have ever done ... it was so good to do a real authentic homestay and really see how the minority races of people live in the villages.  And Mr Bee our guide was fantastic ... so enthusiastic and loved his job and knew so much about the villages and culture of the people we visited.....would definitely recommend this trek to anyone travelling to Laos.

After I called my Dad for his 70th birthday ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOD :)) xx ... I caught up with Mick and Dan.  Mick is a friend from Year 12 Nambour High School and we haven't seen each other for 23 years.  Was so good to meet up again after so long.  Dan is from Laos and left when he was 7 so they have come back to visit Dan's village and family members.  Very exciting

Luang Prabang, Laos : 10&11 Dec 10

I am back from the two days as a trainee Mahout. Was an amazing 2 days and got heaps of time with the elephants. Don't think I make a very good Mahout though!

As soon as we got to the elephant camp we had a trek on an elephant sitting in the basket. The mahout got me to sit on the head of the elephant straight away and he walked behind... talk about being thrown in the deep end !!! Carlos from Portugal was in the basket with me and he preferred to stay in the basket so I had nearly an hour as the newby mahout. I was terrified at first ... felt like I was going to slide off especially when we went down the steep bits but slowly got my confidence. My elephant had the lazies and took alot of encouragement to go forward and lots of yelling of "Bai" which is elephant Lao talk for "Go" but she didn't want to go! I was really worried that my elephant was in pain with my fat butt and beer belly on her head but my guide, Tongcheng, said that the elephants are all very happy and well fed and cared for really well by the mahouts ... this is so true too ... over the 2 days you could tell the Mahouts have a very special bond with their elephants ... was very sweet!

At the elephant camp there is an 8 year old male elephant ... he's the youngest and very small ... there are 2 other males and 8 females... all the females are 40 years old or older so felt in good company :))

After the trek I checked into my cabin at the Elephant Lodge. Had this gorgeous timber cabin with a big deck overlooking the river all to myself and on the bed was a very sexy blue denim Mahout outfit to wear!! At lunch we learnt the Mahout commands ... go, left, right, stop etc.

Then after lunch we got our very own elephant to ride as the trainee mahouts. We went on another trek through the jungle for about an hour and half ... the Mahout walked behind and the elephant kept looking back to make sure he was there .. it was really cute. Don't think she was listening much to my commands. At the end of the trek we all ended up in the River for a bath. This was the highlight except the elephant wouldn't Boun-Boun... squirt me with water :(

At dinner met two Aussie girls, Rachel and Anastasia ... in their sexy denim Mahout outfits they looked like two little Oompaloompas :))

Day 2 we all got up early to take the elephants for another bath. They ran out of elephants so Anastasia and I shared an elephant with a mahout. Poor Anastasia was thrown in the deep end like me yesterday and I felt like the old hand. The Mahout made the elephant just about run down the hill to the river. We were screaming !! It was pretty funny. When we got to the water I got my own elephant ... she wouldn't Boun-Boun AGAIN!!! but she would go completely under the water and then would stand up really quickly over and over ... this was more fun I think than Boun-Boun.

So I said goodbye to the elephants :(( was a fantastic experience and it was so good to see the elephants so well cared for and happy.

After brekky my guide and I got taken to a spot further up the river and we kayaked five minutes to the Tad Sae Waterfall. Beautiful tiered waterfall with lots of swimming holes... the water is blue-green from the limestone I think. We had lunch and then kayaked 2 hours back to the elephant lodge. It's a beautiful river and a busy river ... people harvesting seaweed, fishing, swimming, etc. It was really interesting. The seaweed that they harvest (and there's lots of it) they press flat onto bamboo drying racks and press chilli, garlic, onion and sesame seeds into and dry it in the sun and then deep fry it in oil and it's like a beer snack. We tried some at dinner the night before ... very yum but very oily!

Back at Luang Prabang ... heading off for a 3 day trek tomorrow.

Vang Vieng/Luang Prabang, Lao : 8&9 Dec 10

Have just arrived in Luang Prabang. After 6 hours in a mini bus on a very very windy road I have decided to see my trip out in Luang Prabang (and not go to Luang Nam Tha) as there are some excellent tours to do from here ... I have just booked 2 tours for the next 5 days. From tomorrow I am doing a 2 day Mahout Course where I learn to be an Elephant Driver ... it's a crash course ... but we ride the elephants and learn the commands and bathe and feed them and hang out with the baby elephants too.... sounds pretty amazing .. and then the 12/13/14 I am doing a 3 day trek with Mr B to the minority villages and a waterfall and climb a mountain for a good view of the Mekong. He is going to put the word out to get other trekkers but if not it'll just be me and Mr B.

And then on the night of the 14th I'll catch up with Mike and his partner in Luang Prabang (thanks to facebook). I did Year 12 with Mike at Nambour and haven't seen him I reckon since year 12 so can't wait!

Now getting back to Vang Vieng ... Vang Vieng is like a big drunken Summer Camp for Backpackers!

I did the tour yesterday ... surprise surprise the itinerary I booked was not the itinerary on the day !!

Anyway had a great day and met some really nice people again. We drove to the elephant cave and walked 3 metres into it (this was the caving!) .. it's called the elephant cave cos a stalagmite in the cave looks like an elephant but it's a very sacred cave. Then we drove to another spot and walked to the creek (this was the trekking!) where we sat for nearly 2 hours waiting our turn to tube into a cave.... we were all best friends by the end of the 2 hours ... the tubing into the cave was great.... we pulled ourselves along through this tunnel cave in huge tyre tubes and we had head torches ... we had to get out and walk at one spot and then we got to a dead end and had to go all the way back ... it was fun but the water was very cold ... felt a bit hypothermic by the time I got back.

And then we drove to the Nam Song River (after another short trek back to the car !) and we kayaked down the Nam Song. There were 1-2 grade rapids so this made it more fun. We stopped at the tubing bars.... far out I have never seen anything like it ... all these ramshackle bars on the banks of the Nam Song River with 100s of drunk backpackers drinking and dancing and there are home made water slides and home made swings and the music is blaring ...there were signs up to entice the tubers in like Mud Pit, Mud TugoWar, Super High Brownies, Whiskey Bar, Free Cocktails for the Ladies etc ...it was pretty messy ... I'm amazed only ONE person gets killed a year!! We stopped at one of the quieter bars that had a fairly sturdy looking water slide ... a few in our group had a go but I just sat and watched. Don't think my travel insurance would cover me injuring myself on a homemade water slide! It was funny for the first 5 minutes and then I just got bored... if only I was 10-15 years younger! The funniest was when this girl went on the waterslide and cos she had not body weight she stopped half way down and then had to walk to the end of it and jump into the water.... was pretty funny :))

So we kayaked from the bars back to Vang Vieng .. it's another 2kms down river and all the drunk tired tubers where struggling... a few asked for a tow on our kayak .. felt sorry for them.... and the water was so cold... this was about 5pm ... then all these motor boats passed us heading up the river to try to get some business to tow them back I guess.

Last night I was sitting have dinner in this place that plays continuous episodes of Friends (where I was staying continually played Simpsons ... doh!) and all the drunk tubers started walking and yahooing back into the main street... this was the backpackers behaving badly the night before ... !

Well better go and have a Beer Lao :))