Off the Couch and On the Road

The 6-hour bus ride went quite quickly and by the time we arrived in Hin Boun near the border of Vietnam, we were refreshed and relaxed. We stayed in a village, relatively average sized in this area, of about 1000 people.

One or two of the kids knew a few words of English, but the majority didn’t - so we communicated in the international language of hopscotch, hand-clapping games, and a great one called ‘let’s look at Sarah’s photos and realise most of them are shit and are of boring things like trees, waterfalls and pigs. But it was great fun (don’t worry you will all get to play soon!).

Our local guide cooked us a meal of fresh spring rolls and tamarind dipping sauce as well as soup, rice and vegetables which was heaven. It was great to watch village life, and interesting to see how work and life is so intermingled in Indochina. People don’t choose where, when or how they work, it’s just what they do as part of their day. Street-side restaurants are within the living rooms of the family, undoubtably with a TV and a few kids sitting 2cm away from the screen watching Power Rangers (some things don’t change wherever you go). Kids also help their parents with the work as soon as they can walk, and you can see the young girls of 10 or 11 stop what they are doing and cock their head, hearing a baby cry, before going to see if they can settle it. They are also kids mind you, and then try to push each other off the blaconies. As you do.

We slept on mattresses in two huts, mosquito nets hanging over us from the ceiling like coocoons, and woke to roosters crowing before saying goodbye to our newfound friends and travelling a few hours to the Vietnam border.

We have been told that if Laos is a sweet friend sitting at a distance, then Vietnam is a stranger yelling two inches from your nose. But we are all looking forward to the challenge.

-Sarah

The essentials used to be keys, keycard, phone and Asthma puffer. Now, they are mosquito repellant, passport, cash and Tiger Blam - which can officialy cure any affliction known to man.

I wake up bruised, sore, bitten, hungover and tired most days, but not bored. Never bored. And I think the happy singsong voices of ‘Sabaidee!’ everywhere we go is a sign that money really can’t buy hapiness. Which everyone knows of course, but I don’t think many people actually believe it. After all, the villages we have visited have nothing in the eyes of most westerners, but they respect everything they have, which is more than I can say for most.

After a free day in Luang Prabang, spent relaxing in the town and catching up on internet and washing, we ended our stay with a  beautiful dinner lit by fairy lights in the gardens of our bungalow guesthouse. We all loved the town and didn’t want to leave.

Unfortunately we had to suffer a flight to Vientiane the next morning. I say suffer, because it was hell, and from memory those who go to hell suffer quite badly. It was a 40-minute flight with no air-con and most of us were quite grateful to be on solid ground when we arrived.

Vientiane was a strange Capital City (the term of which is a technicality, and not necessarily a descriptive one), quite a bit bigger than Luang Prabang and yet not as beautiful, more to do with less to see it seemed.

We played more cards and enjoyed drinks by the Mekong (the other side of which was Thailand) and planned our free day the following morning. Some of the group hired bicycles, and I walked. Nobody walks in Vientiane, and I suppose it would be like watching somebody crawl down George Street. But hey, a bike is a bike, and I don’t do bikes. So I walked.

After seeing temples and a replica Arc de Triomphe (the US gave Vientiane a shitload of concrete to build a highway after the war, and the Laos government stuck two fingers up at the US and built a structure to honour the French instead) we had a well deserved kindy nap and celebrated Marcus’ birthday with dinner and drinks at the pub, including a plate of marinated and fried crickets.

They were actually really good, although I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes whilst I ate them. Still, as a year for trying new things, I don’t think with a plate of insects I am doing too badly.

Tomorrow - a 6-hour bumpy bus ride on dirt roads to stay a night in the homes of villagers near the Vietnam border. Which means more bruises and mosquitos. Thank Buddha for that Tiger Balm.

-Sarah

By the time we were well and truly sick of playing cards, we arrived in Luang Prabang early afternoon the following day and travelled in tuk-tuks to the guesthouse. They were individual bungalows amongst beautiful gardens and a pond, and ... [Continue reading this entry]

We officially left Thailand and crossed the river into Laos the next morning to board our boat for the two day journey to Luang Prabang. We stopped off at a village on the way, offered salt to the village chief ... [Continue reading this entry]