Laos

Friday, November 13 continued. We were off to Vientiane, Laos. We flew for about an hour and then stop and a very small airport in Paske to clear customs. Back in the plane we went to fly for another hour or so before landing in Vientiane. Driving to our hotel we decided that Laos lay somewhere in between Thailand and Cambodia in so far as development. It wasn't nearly as westernized as Thailand but it didn't seem to have the prevalent poverty that Cambodia seemed to have. After checking into our hotel we went for a swim and had some lunch. Next we decided to walk into the main area of town and wander around a bit. Vientiane had a strong french influence – the result of being a french colony for a number of years. Vientiane seemed to have some nice spots but overall there really wasn't too much to see or do. Keith and I had a beer along the Mekong River and watched the sunset. We then had dinner where I had probably the best plate of spaghetti I'd ever had (surprisingly). We then went back to the hotel. I called it a night and Keith went and got a head, neck, shoulders and foot massage for the equivalent of U.S.$10.

Saturday, November 14. It was a bit of a lazy morning. We had some breakfast and I spent sometime trying to finalize our accommodations for Bali. Around noon we checked out of our hotel and checked into the hotel where we were to meet our tour guide. The hotel wasn't as nice as where we had stayed the night before, but it was in a more central part of town. We had a delicious pizza for lunch and then met up with our guide who would be showing us around the sights of Vientiane. We had signed up to do an “independent” tour – meaning were not going around with a bunch of other people but rather we had are own private guide who would make sure we got from place to place okay. He seemed like a nice man. He had a “gus” growing out of the side of his cheek which I tried hard not to stare at (they are considered good luck in Asian cultures). We spent the afternoon with him seeing the highlights of Vientiane. We went to Vat Sisaket, a museum that houses over 600 Buddhas, Hor Phakeo, a temple that once housed the emerald Buddha before it was taken to Bangkok, That Luang a huge gold stupa that is considered to be the country's most cherished religious monument and Patuxay, a monument that was modeled after the Arc de Triumph in Paris. On the way back we stopped at Talath Sao, aka the Morning Market, which sells just about everything and anything. Not one person ask us if we wanted to buy anything – it was a welcome change from the constant solicitation we had encountered in Thailand and Cambodia. We stopped back at the hotel for a bit of a rest and then headed out to dinner. We went back to the same place we had been the night before, but sadly it wasn't as good as the previous night. Neither Keith nor I were feeling “quite right” so we called it an early evening.

Sunday, November 15. After breakfast we were picked up and brought to the airport for a short 35-40 minutes flight to Luang Prabang (as there is no train system in Laos the alternatives would have been a 3 day boat ride on the Mekong or an 11 hour bus ride through the mountains). We were met in Luang Prabang by our guide's brother-in-law – our guide had been double booked. We checked into our hotel, which was nothing fancy but had the basics, and had some lunch. Luang Prabang is quite small and charming compare to Vientiane. It's up in the mountains and it lays on the Mekong River. Luang Prabang used to be the capital city, but it was moved to Vientiane in the 1500s. My Lonely Planet describes it as the following, “...this once sleepy capital is perhaps the most sophisticated, photogenic city in the whole of Southeast Asia. With its orange-robed monks, and fantastic food at the many bistros, cafes and night-market, Luang Prabang is a wonder place to kick back for a few days.” So we were off with our replacement guide to see the sights of Luang Prabang. Our first stop was the Royal Palace Museum, followed by Wat Xieng Thong and Wat Visoun (two temples). Our tour for the day ended at Phu Si, a temple that rest atop 300 plus stairs, where we saw an imprint of Buddha's foot (it was quite large) and watched a beautiful sunset. We bid our guide farewell after sunset. We wandered through the night market, one the best and cleanest markets we've come across so far, and grabbed some dinner. We then called it a night.

Monday, November 16. After breakfast we met up with our original tour guide and went for a boat ride along the Mekong River. The boat ride along the Mekong was beautiful and relaxing. We had the boat to ourselves and the weather was perfect. We stopped at a small village along the way nicknamed “Whiskey Village” were they sold silk and of course rice whiskey made with various animals, including snakes, scorpions and hornets. We then headed to the Pak Ou (about 25km by boat from Luang Prabang), two caves in the lower part of a limestone cliff which are filled with Buddha images. As an aside, Keith and I have learned quite a bit of Buddhism though we are a bit templed out. We headed back to Luang Prabang on the boat and bid our guide farewell. We grabbed some lunch at a place called JoMas (owned by Canadians) and headed over to the Phousi Market – once again a market that sells just about everything and anything. Keith was in search of a new pair of flip flops – though he found quite a few pairs, none of were big enough – they just don't grow folks as big as Keith here! The rest of the day was spent lounging about. We had some dinner and called it a night.

Tuesday, November 17. We were up bright and early. At 4:00 am and 4:00 pm the monks bang drums at their respective temples (to signify something but we can't remember). In the morning approximately 200 monks from all over the area come to the center of Luang Prabang to get breakfast from the people. Keith and I headed out at 4:00 am to see this, only to discover that the monks don't generally arrive until 5:45 am. I headed back to bed, being content to look at pictures. Keith wanted to see this for himself so stayed up and headed out at 5:45 am. There were groups of 20 or so monks coming from every direction to get breakfast. Keith said it was an interesting sight but that I didn't miss too much. After breakfast we decided to head to the Tat Kuang Si waterfalls. It was about an hour tuk tuk ride and we got to see some of the beautiful countryside and mountains. We even passed an man trekking on an elephant. On the way to the waterfalls there was a bear rescue center where they housed maybe 8 or 10 bears that you could watch play, eat, and lounge about. The waterfalls were beautiful. There were several layers and at various spots you could go swimming. My Lonely Planet describes them as the following: “...wide multi-tiered waterfall tumbling over limestone formations into a series of cool, turquoise-green pools. After climbing through a bit of the jungle to the top, Keith and I went for a swim. As an aside, the jungles in Laos have tigers, bears, elephants, boar, deer, monkeys, snakes, etc. - though fortunately we didn't see any of them during our climb. After a few hours at the waterfalls we headed back to town – and just in time. As we were driving back, the rain set in and the cold weather arrived. When we got back to town we had a late lunch. I then headed off for a manicure, pedicure and facial (for about $12 all together). Since Keith and I had had a late lunch we decided to skip dinner and called it a night.

Wednesday, November 18. The cold season had officially arrived. So far the weather for the most part had been in the 90s (unusual for this time of year) – now the temperature hovered somewhere around the high 60s to low 70s. After having spent weeks in the 90s it felt quite cold to us (or at least to me) and I had to pull out my jeans and fleece jacket. Today was overcast and made for a lazy day. After breakfast, we went shopping for a bit where I bought a cheap watch (the third one so far on this trip as I seem to keep losing them) and Keith bought a new pair of flip flops finally – his other ones had almost rotted off his feet. We then checked out of our hotel and into the hotel where we would be staying for our last night. It was quite nice hotel but the room didn't have a television (which was just fine by me but Keith, not so much). We wandered around town for a bit, had a pizza for lunch and then went to go get massages. We both got hour massages for about $12 combined! The massages were very nice though Keith's masseuse was pushing so hard on Keith's back, that she bunted – it was quite amusing. Afterward we grabbed a glass of wine, showered, and did a little more shopping at the night market. We then headed to a restaurant called Utopia. It was a bit of a trek through various side streets, but the restaurant was right on the Mekong where you sat on cushions on a bamboo floor. The restaurant had old Indochina war artifacts, a huge beach volleyball court and a crow's nest. The food was delicious and it was the perfect place to spend our last night in Luang Prabang.

Thursday, November 19. After some breakfast along the Mekong, we checked out of our hotel, hopped in a tuk tuk and headed to the airport. We were headed once again to Bangkok, for just one night, with our ultimate destination being Bali. A few thoughts on Laos... Keith and I very much enjoyed our time in Laos. Although the Temples of Angkor in Cambodia were spectacular, Laos as a whole was wonderful. The people are very friendly without being pushy. They would bargain with you but wouldn't solicit or harass you like the people in Thailand and Cambodia. They seem to have a very laid back approach to life.