Laos: Vang Vieng (Day 126-127)

Our bungalow alone between 3 ponds
and away from the yunkies...

7 hours bus ride to get to Vang Vieng on one of the most curvy road we have been so far... But again beautiful landscape. I should have talked about transportation in Laos before as it is slightly different than in other countries. You don´t travel at night as the road are quite curvy and dangerous and drivers are commonly  insane! We saw so many accidents on the road and experienced (see next post) the worth bus trip of our life. One good thing about not travelling during the night, is that we could enjoy the scenery which is not to be missed when travelling in North Laos. The only night ride we chose was for the 14h to go down from Ventiane (capital city - see later post) to the Boloven Plateau in a sleeping bus (with double beds!!). Let´s talk briefly about Vang Vieng, famous for its Tubing where young  teenagers from all over the world comes to get drunk in the river and watch friends on TV in one of the numerous bars of the town. I won´t go into details about the touristy side of Vang Vieng as it is chocking (girls in Bikinis... while the Lao culture is quite preservative in that manner) but will talk about what we enjoyed of our day (1 only) on the other side of the river where Laos culture and landscape can be found. We loved our lonely very basic bungalow for the 2 nights and our 14 kms walk to the Blue Lagoon... We nearly got ripped off twice... Ripped off is a strong word as it only involved 10,000 Kip but they still tried to get us in the so-called Blue Lagoon twice along the way which was obviously further from what we read... Cheeky those ones! We finally made it and enjoyed our afternoon in the Pakhoum Cave and swimming in the Lagoon. 

Just beautiful...

The Blue Lagoon at the Pakhoum Cave

Laos: Luang Prabang (Day 123-125)

Kuangxi Waterfall - Thierry is swinging...

Luang Prabang, UNESCO world heritage site where the Nam Ou River meets the Mekong River. We talked so much about this river before that here we were: meeting the Mekong. Very lively city where you can feel the previous French colonisation (houses, bakeries...) Indeed, we enjoyed eating delicious cakes (oh food when you take us!) and also having a hot shower (it had been quite a while now). The city is well-known for its numerous temples and monasteries. Every morning, hundreds of monks from the various monasteries walk through the streets collecting alms. It is a ritual and not a tourist attraction... Indeed, we enjoyed our 3 days there, walking around (as the sunshine had started to shine again), going to swing in the clear blue Kuangxi Waterfall (I again surprised myself swimming in freezing cold water :-), listening to the afternoon musical ritual of the monks, having our first Lao massage at the Red Cross followed by a herbal steam sauna with locals... but we found it a bit too much... made for tourists like the Hmong market at night. Relaxing time however after our rough travelling in the North. 

One of the practice of Buddhism is to give alms to the monks. Their food for the day comes from this ritual, held very early in the morning. They are only allowed to eat food given to them on the morning of each day, received either from this ceremony or from family. It is a very regimented ritual, with closely observed etiquette and routines.

Luang Prabang, UNESCO World Heritage Center

Where the Nam Ou river meets the Mekong river...

Novice monks collecting alms in the morning (dawn)

The Royal Palace

Weaving silk carves...

Laos: Nong Khiaw/Muang Ngoi (Day 118-122)

Dramatic scenery...

After spending the day in a bus sitting next to a fighting rooster, singing every now and then, followed by a fair ride in a tuk-tuk, we finally arrived in Nong Khiaw, in the North-East of Laos. Dramatic landscape: the Nam Ou river surrounded by mountains. The most beautiful scenery so far in our trip... We might stay a bit longer than expected here, we thought at first... But we knew that the journey were not ending in this quiet little town; an hour by boat and we were in Muang Ngoi. Here would be a little paradise without the mist and the clouds. Indeed, we did not enjoy the best weather as we had to cope with the rain and cold for a few days coming from a sudden change in climate due to the Japanese Earthquake. It should have been summer... and without any warm clothes (we left them all behind in Bangkok), it made us remembering what is to be freezing! But the weather gave an even more dramatic charm to the rocky moutains partially hidden by the white snowy clouds and it did not stop us to go trekking and have one of the best memory of our trip: partying in the mud with locals at Huay Bo village, 2 hours away from Muang Ngoi. Indeed, a wedding was taking place! We were welcomed by the lovely family hosting the SANSANOUK homestay (which consists of mattrasses on the floor of their own house in the traditional village where you pay 5000 Kip for the night - about $0.5). About 10 other falangs were staying that night too as they all heard about the wedding. We were the only one who did not have planned to stay due to the rain and not knowing about the party. We did not need a long thought before deciding to stay even though it was cold and we were in short and T-shirt, nothing else! Worth it though! Dancing around a table, men inside the circle ans women outside, moving your hands is the typical dance. And shot fo Lao Lao every 5 minutes is the tradition. Dancing and drinking is not the only thing they did. A wedding involves the whole village where everyone gathers to cook: killing pigs and buffalos to make a big stew, cooking kilos and kilos of sticky rice... We enjoy observing the whole process even though blood was around and heads of killed buffalos too... As the weather was not improving, after 3 days, we headed back to Nong Khiaw where we were supposed to board on a flat wooden boat to go down the Nam Ou river to Luang Prabang and enjoy the  most dramatic scenery of Laos. But rain and cold made us change our plan and on the road again we were. 

 

On the boat to Muang Ngoi...

Muang Ngoi main street... village only accessible by boat...

Sacrifice of a second small pig for a wedding in Ban Huay Bo village (2h walk from Muang Ngoi) Quite remote...

Cooking for the wedding...

Everyone in the village give a hand... (real big knife!)

With Mama... our real mum for everyone!

Freezing cold and very muddy after 2-day rain... (not really prepared to the stay at the village overnight but so  much fun we had!)

Laos: Luang Nam Tha (Day 114-117)

SABAIDEE Laos!

After a long journey in a mini-van from Pai to Chiang-Khong (very curvy roads), we crossed the border without any difficulties. In not even an hour we were in Laos with our visa, withdrawn some KIP, get on a tuk-tuk to the bus station and bought our ticket to Luang Nam Tha (Northern Laos). Easy and AUTHENTIC start in Laos as we were only 4 'falangs' in the bus (meaning 'tourists' derived from first meaning which is 'French'). Indeed, the hundreds of other tourists went all on the same way, straight to Luang Prabang (we will go later) by boat. It is great to start off travelling in a country and not to have to enter in a big city, harder & busier to deal with. So here we were with Eric (French) and Miki (Australian), our first 2 travel buddys in North Laos. Indeed, when you travel in less touristy area, you soon realize that you follow the same people for a while. And it is an advantage when wanting to go trekking around Luang Nam Tha. So we were already 4. The town is not really charming but you know why you are here: trekking. In less than 2 hours, we had already done the round of guides and chosen a 3-day one near the China border staying in 2 different tribe villages: 'Black Tai' and 'Akha'. So here we were with 3 more people Karine (Swiss), James (English) and Ken (Canadian): a great team! Without forgetting Syvone and Peng, our guides - young and energetic... so that the pace during the trek was kind of rhythmic. Surrounded by stunning scenery during 3 days, we lived with the daylight - woken up with the roosters' and pigs' shouts and going to bed around 8.30 pm (very hard to fell asleep even though we had busy walking days). Great memories of playing petanque in the 'Black Tai' village with flashlights at dusk or showering in the river with 2 little girls that kept following us around and teaching us 'akha' language without reference to English. 'Lao Lao' alcohol has been part of the fun too (much stronger than the one in Pai, Thailand)!... It will be an unforgettable trek! And lucky we were as the rain started to pour down as soon as we were back to town and where we heard about the Japanese Earthquake...

Day 1 - 'Black Tai' village

Water - central point of the village - where everyone meet

The ONLY shop in the village (surprised to find one already)

Roosters - everywhere they are... If you don't see them, you hear them

Our host feeding the pigs - Lao people are far from being muslim!

Shower time...

We finished the 'Lao Lao' bottle in about 10 mns so happy time...

Sacrifice of a pig for the spirits at 6 am...

Primary school students... So cute!

I swam in every waterfall... who could believe? Cold water? Pfouff... ok for me!

With Mina & Moulee, our 2 akha village keepers

Who is helping cooking? of course Chilli... (Thierry's nickname in Laos)

Day 2 - 'Akha' Village

Family picture after a great 3-day trek...

Thailand: Pai & around ( Day 109-113)

Having a bath with an elephant... a great time!

It is said that there is nothing to do in Pai. We disagree... Though, this is indeed the suitable place for relaxation on the terrace of your bamboo hut by the Pai river while reading a book or enjoying a few drinks with people you have met along the way, we have done so much more and will keep great memories of our few days here. We swam and played with an elephant in the Pai river, just both of us accompanied by the mahut (person looking after the elephants). We are not really keen in participating in those activities especially when it involves animals but passing by with our scooter, we saw 3 elephants waiting for someone to sign up to go and have a bath as it was particularly hot here during the day (and cool at night). So after bargaining, we heading straight to the river riding on the neck of the elephant. Big smile on our face... and on her face (trunk) when we were splashing her with water. Another great memory is our 2-day trek near the Burma border with an overnight stay in a Lahu village... Waterfalls along the way, bathing in the river after a few hours of walking in the jungle and the discovery of an hilltribe (tasting a squirell curry, drinking rice whiskey with the medicine men at 9 am, listening to Pat our guide telling us stories about opium, cultural traditions of the different tribes in the region, watching the locals gambling big money on poker...). We will be heading north Laos in a few hours for more trekking and discovery of ethnies. Just time for a last thai curry after a 2-hour massage...

The Lahu village we stayed at...

Thierry & the medicine man drinking rice whiskey at 9 am

 

Thailand: Chiang Mai & around (Day 103-108)

Lively city where you can learn pretty much everything you want from thai cooking, massage to drawing, jewellery making... Thierry is now a qualified Thai chef after a 3-day class! The food in Chiang Mai is just 'sublime' and we did not eat once in a restaurant, only in the street which allows to savour all the local smells, the busy but relax life, the vibrant atmosphere of the numerous markets among which the sunday market which is simply huge and high in colours, music... We also enjoyed having a few glasses of organic white wine made from Lychee or Strawberry... after nearly 4 months, it was just delicious... There are numerous activities around Chiang Mai, so we went to say 'hello' to the elephants and highly enjoyed the show where you can see elephants playing football or painting surprisingly well...  Visit of Doi Suthep, the most beautiful and animated buddhist temple we have seen so far. Umbrella making, a Hmong village... This is still a quite touristy place but very enjoyable for a few days... An uncommon experience: a blind massage (a thai massage done by blind people). We thought we would enjoy more than what we felt, very different from the other ones as they only apply presssure points but no movements at all... However, it is amazing what they can do despite their disabilities and happy to have been involved.

Mango sticky rice



Doi Suthep