Liliana’s South East Asia Adventure

Ok so I will try and give more detail about my trip so far.  Every place that I’ve been to either in Thailand or laos is touristy.  Thai so far is the most touristy.  It was good to get away from there because of that.  I’m sure if I had gone to smaller villages and places it wouldn’t be so bad but alas places of interest tend to be jam packed with foreigners.  So as I said before I left Thailand and crossed over on a little boat to the otherside of the mekong River to the Lao border.  From there all the tourist walked up the stairs to the border crossing.  Donald the nurse from Oregon and I got in line to buy our visas.  The other two travelers already had their visas.  After paying etc and handing over a lovely picture of myself I got my visa.  We then were shuffled into a tuk Tuk and taken to the dock where the boat whould take us down the mekong.  It was a long thin boat that had seats jammed together.  Not very comfortable if your tall.  Donald and I were the last to get ont he boat because we were eating some food.  People were being shuffled from one place to the next in shifts. 

Around 30 or so tourist were on this boat.  The first day was fun.  We were sitting in the back with others from europe etc.  They were drinking lots of Lao beer and smoking.  One nice guy from Poland had a bottle of wiskey that he was trying to share with everyone.  He kept trying to give me a capfull but I was saying no thank you.  He also had cigars that he was passing out.  It was quite fun.  We were chatting and having a good time the first day.  It was loud by the engine and It sucked but the last one on and so the last to pick a good seat.  It was funny on the boat I ran into the same Italian that I had met in Bangkok days earlier while on the train to the airport.  We were going to meet up in Chaing Mai but missed each other.  So after 8 hours or so on a cramped boat we made it to the first nights stop.  Luckely there was a toilet on the boat.  the scenery was really pretty along the mekong.  Rock out croppings were everywhere and nice sandy beaches.  It would have been nice to have stopped for a few minutes at one of these places but oh well.  Every so often you would hear these speed boats that were called the fast boats.  Instead  of 2 days to get to Luang Prabang it takes only 6 hours or so on one of these.  The only thing is sometimes they crash because they are going fast.  I would never take one. 

Ok so fast forword to Luang Prabang.  The second day boat ride was a lot better as the boat was bigger.  Not as much drinking either as people had partied out the day before.  Luang Prabang is a beautiful French colonial town that as I said before is a Unesco site.  I will take some pictures today of the building.  The temples are lovely as always with enate gold siding.  Monks from 12 on up are everywhere.  They have on these beautiful orange robes like  clothing.  I haven’t taken a picture yet I don’t think but will ask an dtry and get one.  So the first day we went to these lovely waterfalls that the pictures cannot capture correctly.  The color of the water is this aqua marine color.  The second day we went to this stuped cave that houses old buddhas.  Not worth the trip but in the travel book it sounds like it something great to do. 

So for breakfast I’ve been getting a contenental breakfast.  Sorry no spell check.  Basically I get a french baquette, Lao tea, juice and a bowl of fruit.  The fruit bowl includes.. banana, watermellon, pinapple, papaya and this local fruit which I don’t like that kinda similar to asn apple in color but not taste.  For lunch or whatever I will eat mixed Vegetables and rice or Vegetable/noodle soup.  Last night I had Spring Rolls with some peanut type sauce.  Interesting enough while in Thailand I thought I would be eating lots of vegetables with this peanut sauce I love so much from home.  The two thai restaurants I’ve been to serve this kind of peanut sauce.  Its the kind you get in Pat Tai.  Well I guess it didn’t exist in northern thailand or its just a reginal thing who knows.  So far i’ve injoyed my trip but that it is very touristy everywhere I’ve been.  LP is is nice small town and is not westernized at all like Chaing Mai.  No Starbucks thank god.  I figure if I don’t want to see any or very few travlers I will ned top go to small towns that no one visits.  It’s ok I guess I just have to remember that.  The people of both Thailand and laos are supper nice.  Sometimes you get an A hole.  For example today I was trying to barter for a book at out guest house called Sakdee Guest house.  The used book was $5 and so I say no way to much so he says $4 and I go are you kidding?  I then say listen I will give you a crisp clean US dollar and he responds rudely back.  What ever I will go somewhere else to find a book.  It was a Dan Brown book and it looked good but maybe I can find a copy of angles and Devels or whatever the book is called.

Ok so my next stop is onward to the capital of Laos.  I have to choose but to go there to catch a bus or flight to Hanoi.  I don’t really have the money but I think I can afford a plane ticket to Hanoi.  Thank god for my income taxes which I will be receiving or have already recieved.  My other option which was my original plan was to take a bus to Vietnam.  Discussing it with Donald and the 2 other travelers Shannan from Demark and Jon Piere i’ve decided to fly.  Supposedly the roads in Laos are horrible and a bus ride to Hanoi would take around 20 – 24 hours.  Ugh.  the cost is a lot cheaper only $20 but the adventure of the trip.  Well….  I don’t have the time to do it anymore as I want to give myself a month for India.  I was suppose to also go to malaysia and Nepal but I’m going to skip these two countries.  Nepal has gotton worse with the Moaist and is not 100% safe.  Supposedly this girl from the USAS is there right now and says that it’s safe in the Katmandu valley area.  She’s probably right but I don’t want to rush my time over in SEA South east Asia countries so I will just skip it this time.  Malaysia supposedly is a little more stuffy of a country.  I will for this reason also skip it and split the time there between here and India.  This will allow me not to have to rush throughthese countries.

So reading in my book I have found out some disturbing facts about laos which John you probablt already know.  Dad also.  Anyways Laos is the most bombed country in the world.  I forget the stats but during the Nam war every 7 mintues or something like that a bomb was dumped in the mountain regions between Laos and Vietnam.  I’m sure you all know that both sides in that said that they would leave neutral Laos out of it.  Not the case.  I guess it was called the Silent war that USA citizens didn’t know about.  Un exploded bombs are everywhere in those regions.  So if you were to do trecking you would want to be very careful.  Where I’m at it’s afe it’s just in the mountains etc.  In terms of vietnam I believe they call it the American War.  If all goes well I will catch a plane to Hanoi tomorrow when I arrive.  Tonight I catch a night train to vientine and then Vietnam.  Well I’ve talked enought that I can’t type anymore and you guys will need lots of coffee to read this blog.  I hope this has made up for those missing days of nothing?  He he he.  So I had a $3  one hour massage yesterday may go get another one today.  My mistake again was I asked for a traditional Lao massage and it’s kinda like athai massage they put your body in positions that I would never do.  I will try and get an aromatheropy massage that is less harmfull to my body.  1 1/2 hour is only $6.  Take care and hope everyone is doing fine.  Ciao will write a day or so after I arrive in hanoi which is northern Vietnam.  Shall be quite nice.  i’m not going toeven attemyt to load pictures becasue it doesn’t seem to be working.  I will need to ask someone from this travel site.