Aymi’s Adventures

Arriving in Luang Prabang was quite a shock to the system, it was so quiet and there were no tuk tuk drivers waiting at the airport, hassling us to take us into town. I never thought I would say this, but I actually missed them, I was at a loss of how to get into town!

Luang Prebang itself is really pretty, with candles and small nightlights dotted everywhere, streets lined with vendors selling everything from fruit to fried bats, lamp shades, slippers, trousers, jewelry, everything you can imagine. Wandered around the whole villiage visiting various temples and the Royal Palace Museum which had actually changed it’s name to the National museum (which confused me a little). Then took a tuk tuk to a beautiful waterfall with Gil & Cat, we never even thought to take swimmers, which was silly as the water was so clear and refreshing (as I found out when I slipped in and bashed my toe up – again!!!).

From there I took the 4 hour bus to Vang Vieng (which took over 6 hours) and wandered around for a while before an interesting night out with a Dutch girl named Mika, and Irish dance DJ??, some very drunk people (not me for once) and jacket potato’s cooked on a fire in the bar we were at. The next day I took a kayaking tour starting in Vang Vieng and finishing in Vientiane with 3 hours of Kayaking down the Nam Lik river inbetween.

The first 2 hours in the taxi van (like a pick up truck but smaller and with a roof but open sides) had 10 of us plus all our backpacks and paddles squished into the back, 7 double kayaks on the roof, 3 people in the front and 2 people hanging off the back – climbing onto the kayaks on the roof when they got bored of standing! The Kayaking itself was ace, although the rapids were a bit dissapointing, it was only level 1-2 though and I did start with level 4 in Ecuador! We stopped in a beautiful spot by the side of the river for lunch where they cooked us kebabs and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves served with a bread roll, it is the best meal I have had since being here – they dont really have any traditional dish of their own, unlike Thailand and Cambodia whose foods were amazing. Then we stopped for a bit of cliff jumping, which I chickened out of and just went for a swim instead.

The only word that can describe the last 2 hour bus journey into Vientiane is “dusty” and even that you cannot imagine. There was a little more space this time as it was a different truck, all the bags were on the roof and there was only 11 of us and the driver, the other guides went back with the Kayak truck. The narrow, bumpy, dry red dirt road really did not mix well with my contact lenses, or my lungs for that matter, I dont know how they cope with it. Most of us sat with Sarongs over our heads for the first hour just trying to breathe. By the time we got out we all had fantastic tans – the amount of dust stuck to our arms and legs was disgusting and everytime you tried to brush it off you just rubbed it in even more! I still havent washed my clothes from it, but dread to think how much dust is wrapped up in my top.

Vientiane pretty much sums up most of the capital cities I have been to, dirty, unfriendly and unhelpful. I thought it might be different in Asia as I liked Pnomh Penh and Bangkok so much, but it actually reminds me of all the capital cities in Central America with the exception of Panama City, which I hated so much. There is nothing majorly wrong with it here and no one has tried to pull any scams or anything, but I wouldnt be suprised if they did. The accommodation is also a lot more expensive for much worse rooms. I mean US$8 for my own room with AC, hot water (a luxury I am not used to anymore), cable TV and a fridge – (sounds ridiculous doesnt it), but when your used to paying US$3 and getting a much nicer room in a friendly guesthouse with really nice helpfull staff, without the needless AC, TV, fridge and hot water it makes you kinda annoyed.

I met back up with Gil & Cat here and visited Xiengkuane Buddah Park, which was kinda creepy with all the giant buddah statues everywhere, it felt almost like a weird graveyard, I felt like the buddah’s were watching me, but it was pretty cool to see. Also went to some Stupa that i’ve forgotten the name of and the Mini Arch De Triumph (also forgotten the correct name of), which did look similar, but didn’t have the same problem of not being able to get anywhere near the real one because of the traffic!  The best thing about Vientiane was discovering all the delicious French style deli cafe’s where I had some amazing sandwiches and cakes – not very Asian I know, but definately the best food i’ve found in Laos.