South Africa & SE Asia 2008

Day 55 - 65 Luang Prabang / Vang Vieng / Vientiane / Ba Na Hin / Pakse / Don Det

It has been a long time since i wrote this so ill recall the most memorable event…

The Buddha Park an hour outside Vientiane (Bus 14 from the local bus st.) was really worth while seeing.  It is a small enclosed park area with a vast collection of stone statues of spirtual, mythical, human and animal figures.  The majority of statues are of Buddhas, but there there are also Hindu gods, and probably others that i didnt recognise.  They are mostly huge, as in tripple life size, but they range from life size to collosal. There is a stone building near the entrance and climbing through the animal mouth opening you enter a dark center where you can spiral your way up (a bit hands and knees at times) to the opening at the top to get a view of the park.

Ba Na Hin was worth going out of our way for, at least for the jourmey through the countryside, undisturbed rural villages and as a base to visit the 7m long cave it is known for.  The day we took to visit the cave, was memorable firstly for the experience of the local transport, when the bridge hasnt been built and there has been too much rain to drive through the river - that doenst stop you, just wade through. But bless the drivers who took us as they guided us through the waist high water with care.  So with no vechile, the 4 of us heading for the cave and 1 of our drivers waited in a small village for an age while the other driver headed of to the next town on a bike to get us some transport. I love the way the drivers just weren’t fazed by the disturbance.  When we finally got there the cave was really good fun, and to state the obvious: very dark, wet and enormous inside.  But no it isnt a normal cave, the whole thing was a little surreal actually, the time you spend inside, and the vastness of the cave makes you a little disorientated.  The boatmen have to keep stopping and get you to wade because it is too shallow in parts, which is all the more fun with limited torch light.  Particularly my recently bought non-branded batteries, which meant i couldnt see past my own nose using my own torch.

The Jounrey to Pakse characteristically Laos - the rule is there is always room for one more person. From Ba Na Hin we went to Tha Kek in the back of a pick up bus (well half my body hung outside because it was a bit full) then waited for the afternoon bus of unspecified arrival/departure time to Pakse. Where we sat ourselves at the station was so full of petrol fumes i decided to move away, but didnt realise i eneded up sitting next to a stand selling bbq’d rats.   So this coach, i wish i had got a picture of becuase the gang way was waist high of luggage, boxes, food, and of course a motorbike, leaving passengers to Indiana Jones it stepping on the arms rests holding the over head rail.  It was a squeeze even on the seats…but an entertaining jounrey with our little off roading side trip to a village to drop off what we think were a football team (who laughed at emily for her refusal to accept their Lao Lao whiskey).  Even the coach load of people seemed entertained by the coach going down the pot-holed dirt road - pointing and talking loudly about our little diversion. 

Don Det - i wouldnt say this was a highlight exactly - it was memorable however and certainly made us appreciate our next stop in Phnom Penh.  We had a no electricity 80p bungalow each (bed bugs and all) and a lack of sleep due to the heat.  We only stayed 2 nights and spent most of our time cafe crawling down the dirt road in search of cold drinks. There is a bakery (of course a western owner) that did fresh bread and cakes in the afternoon, and that was welcomed by Emily and I.  Don Det was not as developed and touristy as i had expected despite having given up a very long time ago on paying attention to any description Lonely Planet gives on a place.  There is a nice terrace restaurant run by a Belgian guy - people tend to congregate here at sunset, it certainly is a good place to be.

Onwards to Cambodia…

Day 50 - 54 Chiang Mai/Chiang Kong/Huay Xai/Pak Beng/Luang Prabang

There is a  direct bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Kong, which prior to arriving at the station we didnt know (we were expecting to change in Chiang Rai).  If you do want to go via Chiang Rai, book the day before as they were booked up that morning we arrived and i dont think they go every hour as we heard and the buses to Chiang Rai.  It was of course an uncomfortable 7hr trip but as we got off the bus we greeted by a woman from a guesthouse with her truck (i will add the name later as i recommend this place).  Nearly a dozen of us packed into the truck and were taken to her lovely guesthouse overlooking the river.  It was clean, cheap, good food, big portions, nice atmosphere and she was really helpful and chatted to us about places to go.

The slow boat left from Huay Xai at 10.30am so she took those of us heading across the border in her truck to the river crossing.  You go through Thai passport control, cross the river and a minute later are at Laos passport control filling out visas forms ($35 for UK).  Then you have a short tuk tuk ride to the ferry port and note they will tell you the boat has left already to try and get you to take the speed boat!  We were slightly confused as to where all the backpackers were…thinking ah this will be sweet - a spacious 2 day journey. No. They were all on the boat already and had been for a good hour at least…well we managed to get seats at least.  They are cruel benches, tiny seats and a single slat for the upper back, but hey whatever.  The view was good, the same over the 2 two days but nontheless it felt like you were surrounded by so much land and space, seeing only bamboo huts every now and then, and a few villages.  As for comfort it wasnt too bad actually, but i did spend the 2nd day on the floor.  Bring something to sit on, a good book and some water as it is expensive on the boat.  The night stop in Pak Beng was fine, we found a cheap guesthouse with disney princess bedlinen (?!) oh yeah, and had a dinner with the 3 Chileans from our hostel. 

Luang Prabang is a great place and we are happy to be here, and because it is a World Heritage site and apparently the best preserved city in South East Asia the pavements are mostly intact, which is nice.  No more than that obviously, it just has a certain feel about it, the buildings are pretty, nice architectural detailing, the place has charm, and it is completely different from being in Thailand.  We spent our first day exploring, sat in a couple of cafes, and went to the night market. 

Today we went to Tat Kuang Si for 130,000 Kip return for 2 of us (7/8 quid), which is where you will find an absolutely beautiful waterfall, with many tiers and small areas of gorgeous blue water to swim in, and a one with a tree you can jump from.  We walked to the top of the waterfall, I say walk, scramble or climb are more appropriate for some parts.  It was well worth it as between all the trees you could just see down to bottom and out across the landcape of the wooded mountaneous hills fading with the distance.  Needing to cool down headed for one of the pools, which was full of monks by the time we arrived there.  The orange of there robes, which had been thrown over branches while they wore fabric tied into shorts, was striking against the blue of the pool.  It was not a sight or sound we had expected, 30 odd young monks jumping from the tree trunk into the pool, some shouting laughing, and the crash of the landing in the water.  It took me one failed attempt and then Emily standing next to me to get me to jump in.  Emily took a jump from the mini waterfall on the other side with a monk who was chatting to us earlier.  Intially we felt slightly uncomfortable about being in swim wear but i guess it didnt really matter in the end.  Although a very young monk with his camera phone was a little suspect. 

It was a fine and memorable outing.