Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng is a bizarre contradiction of riverine landscape of black karst and sleepy rice fields and late night party scene on Don Khang (aka Party island). Till August 2012 this place was packed with tourist who mostly came here to ‘tube’ down stream of the Nam Ou river and stop at every bar for a drink which resulted in accidents and even regular deaths due to accidents. This time the government did take action and closed all the bars down along the river and there’s a curfew at 23.00 in town.

I arrived with a sceptical feeling due to these reports and experiences from other travellers at Vang Vieng with my new travel companion Kiki (a Dutch teenager traveling after high school). I noticed immediately that the town was very quiet but packed with little shops, bars, restaurants and many food carts in the street. Where was everyone was the first thing I’ve asked myself?

The atmosphere of the town itself is one of lethargy by day and debauchery by night: tourists sprawl out in the pillow-filled restaurants, termed "TV Bars", watching re-runs of US sitcoms, Friends and Family Guy episodes until the sun goes down while sipping on a fruit shake, beer or eat some Western food. In the evening it’s time to party.

The next day I went tubing with Kiki and some other travellers and I was surprised that I really liked it. The landscape is beautiful and you’ll pass it slowly in your tube downstream. There are only 2 bars re-opened after the closing down so very hard to get drunk or get into a party mood. The trip downstream can be done in 2-3 hours if you don’t stop and paddle your way down but we managed to do it in 6 as we enjoyed it so much and had regular stops to rest.

In the evening you have dinner at one of the many restaurants who show movies or the US sitcoms but if you opt for a quieter environment than this is possible. Again there’s a curfew so around 22.00 the restaurants close but only ‘crazy monkey’ bar has a license to serve alcohol till 23.45 so that’s where everyone is heading for a last drink. However if you prefer to continue drinking and even dance than you need to head The Moon which is a local disco on the outskirts of the town and much fun till 2am.

Sadly after two lovely and relaxed days in Vang Vieng with my fellow travels a very grey cloud appeared on my horizon as in one day I had the following experiences.

During the day my debit card was swallowed by the ATM luckily after an hour anxious wait a kind bank employee retrieved it from the insides of the machine so I was very much relieved and happy to be reunited with my plastic card.

That evening we were booked for a sunset hot air balloon flight which ended unfortunately with a visit to the tourist police. Due to the weather the balloon wasn’t able to stay in the air and pass the mountains for the expected view of the river and sunset. After 45 minutes the trip was finished and a start of a very annoying, un-satisfying discussing with the company to get some kind of refund for this trip. I experienced a very nasty conversation with the agent who booked the trip for us who after 15 minutes refused to talk to us and suggested we would go to the tourist police. As we were at our wits end we went there with hopeful expectations. After half an hour of interrogation of the ‘police’ (they are actually military) I realized that they are fed up with tourists and that they won’t cooperate or assist you with your issues. I filed a report but knew this won’t lead to anything, after a finger pointing outburst from the guy who said you can take the offer to have the flight tomorrow morning again or you leave now! We were both shocked and agreed to take the offer and change or busses to leave the next morning to get at least the chance to make use of the $80 price tag. In fairness the sunrise flight the next morning was beautiful and we felt that we got worth for our money in the end...

When we returned to our hotel we were in need of dinner and a beer so we left to go out only to return 2 hours later to get ready for an early start. But the day wasn’t over yet so next disaster struck; my camera was missing from the room but no signs of a break-in! Later we found out that one of the windows wasn’t locked (we never checked this) so I can only assume that this was the entry point for an unwanted visitor. I wasn’t happy at all especially when no sympathy from the hotel owner who said it wasn’t possible that someone had entered the room.

So the next morning I had to visit my ‘friends’ at the tourist police station again as I wanted to have my needed form (proof) for my insurance. As you can image I went there with sand in my shoes as I knew they wouldn’t welcome me after last night. Unfortunately, this was the case and I was told to go back and search the room properly, talk to the owner as they wouldn’t issue a report or some sort of proof that I informed them of my loss.

It was the 13^th March and I felt that Laos wasn’t pleased with my visit or at least the town of Vang Vieng. I took the bus later that morning deflated and ready to leave this country but wanted to give them and myself another change.

My view is that some parts of Laos are fed-up with tourists as they invaded their beautiful country who  - in Vang Viengs case-  don’t appreciate the beauty only trashed the place with drunkenness and accidents. So I can empathise with them on that level but due our presence, Vang Vieng or other places have been put on the Laos map and accumulated work for many locals. I’m afraid that in a couple of years’ time most backpackers will not stop off at Vang Vieng anymore with enormous consequences for the population.

Tubing

kiki and Angel

Elephant mahout experience

Luang Prabang is one of the two big cities in Laos and hosts affordable top-class cuisine but also the nightly food market where you can pile up a plate of vegetarian food for 10.000 kips (£0.80). The colonial buildings and 33 Buddhist temples makes you reach for your camera at every turn. The peninsula is bounded by the Nam Khan river and Mekong Delta so you can take boats to many destinations, kayak or just walk along the river.

After a day of exploring on a bike I’ve visited the Wat Xieng Thong (temple), the Old quarter, the bamboo bridges and the old concrete bridge and finished my day with a meal and browse on the night market. The next day I took a tuk-tuk to The Kuang Si waterfall and had a swim in the very cold water.

The next day I started my 3 day elephant mahout experience just outside Luang Prabang. I wanted to have an experience with animals during my trip and felt that his was the one I would do.  During the 3 days I would learn about elephant background, information and the mahouts verbal and physical ‘commands ‘ to communicate with your elephant. So on day one I learned to sit on my elephant called Sophie’s back, how to control her and practice my knowledge the next couple of days. The day starts at 6.30am when you collect your elephant from the forest where she stayed the night, walk back to the eco-lodge and feed her some sugar cane. Than walk to the river for her (and mine) bath and ‘park’ her at the day centre where tourist will visit and maybe have a ride on her back. As an elephant eats 250kg a day you give her some banana plant trunks and pineapple leaves. Then it was time for me to have breakfast and get changed and return to spend the afternoon with her. One day we went out on a 2 hrs trek into the forest and had a lovely packed lunch there before heading back. When it’s time to take your elephant back to her resting place you first bath her in the river and walk to her ‘bed ‘for the night.

The eco-lodge is a lovely location just outside Luang Prabang and I was lucky to have a room with a view to myself as it was very quiet. Apart from the early start I had time to relax and enjoy the beautiful Laos riverside.

My last day I kayaked back to Luang Prabang with my guide Phat and returned with great memories and a new friend called Sophie.

Elephant mahout experience, www.mahoutecolodge.com

Pictures of my experience :www.dropbox.com/sh/7ssr1rqr0f1q7ky/8ztqjsBA2o

Angel and Sophie

Boat trip to Nongg Khiaw

It’s been a while since I’ve entered Laos for the second time and updated my blog ( and you) on my adventures and experiences. Well I had quite some adventures so I will start at the end and work my way back to when I’ve entered the country.

After spending a couple of days in Luang Prabang I left by slow boat to explore the Northern part of the country which I was told would be worth a visit and very different than the rest. At 9am I arrived at the ‘pier’ to buy my ticket and wait with several others to enter the boat. Finally we (12 Westerners) walked with all our luggage to the small boat which only had 8 seats. There were 4 old car seats and 4 wooden chairs chained to the boat so we all guessed that there must be 2 boats to take us to Nong Khiaw. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case so 8 of us were lucky to get a seat and the other 4 were with the luggage in the back. After a petrol stop (on the water) we did set off with one our boat. The scenery is beautiful from the riverside as the river banks are very green and it’s used as allotments for the locals, they grow their fresh herbs, string beans and cabbages. These locals also make use of the river as it’s a source of income; they dive to the bottom of the river to fill buckets to collect stones or sand as they can sell a truck load of it for 500.000 kips (£40). The river also feeds them; you see many men or children in their ‘Calvin Kleins’ with little fishing nets or fishing rod and a little basket around their waste to catch fish; women will pick river weed from the bottom of the river as it’s a delicious meal when it’s dried and fried with sesame seeds. But last but not least they use the river to have lots of fun and by this I mean the children playing or swimming in it. When you pass with your boat they jump in or try to reach you or just start waiving and jumping up and down to get your attention. Apart from that the views are stunning as along the way we left the villages and had big mountains in front of us to keep our eyes busy to take it all in.

However at some point the boat slowed down and I could clearly see the pebbled bottom of the river so we were ushered out of the boat as it was too heavy for the shallow water. So we took of our shoes and started pushing the boat to the deeper water. The pebbles were very painful to my bare feet so I started walking very slowly, cursing the stones and the boat that we had to get off. I started way behind the rest of the passengers and boat but I just couldn’t face walking on the pebbles. The locals thought it was funny and laughed but luckily one lady with a flat bottom boat felt sorry and said I could hop on to hers and she took me to the boat. So that was a great safe and panic over, we got back onto the boat and could rub our painful feet and dry our clothes. After 15 minutes we were taking in the view again and enjoying the ride.

But after half an hour we stopped again and I thought well this must be a toilet and/or lunch break but I was wrong. The river was too rough for us so we had to get off again and walk till we could catch up with the boat again further down the river. We all giggled and said “what’s next a cycling ride maybe?” This wasn’t the case but we did two more ‘toilet’ stops along the riverbank before we arrived after 7 hours at a rustic little town on the bank of the Ou River called Nong Khiaw. It is squeezed in between some of the most fantastic limestone mountains north of Vang Vieng. Nong Khiaw is simple in layout and small enough to walk around. A large concrete road bridge connects Nong Khiaw on the western side of the river with the village of Ban Sop Houn on the eastern side of the river, where many of the river-view bungalows are found and where I’m staying. I’ve visited the Pha Tok Caves which are set high in a limestone cliff sheltered villagers and Pathet Lao fighters during the Second Indochina war, inside a few signs identify points where command posts were stationed. The trail to the cave passes through many rice paddies and gives you a good inside how the locals live. The "ticket desk” is manned by a local family to support their income so usually it’s a mother with her small children who are camping out there for the day. Here I was able to communicate with some of the children who were playing near the cave and in the river which confirms that I prefer the little villages rather than the cities which are less personal.

I’m now moving on to Luang Namtha which is a beautiful area for several days tracking trips.

Petrol station

views

Nong Khiaw

Mini break in Thailand

It may sound weird but after 3,5 months traveling I was in need of a break to revitalize my body and soul. So I decided in a spur of the moment that I was leaving Laos after just 10 days to travel 1500kms to the Island of Koh Phangan in Thailand for some R&R. First stop was Bangkok which felt much nicer than my first visit – I’ve avoided the Khao San Road area- and took the overnight sleeper to Surat Thani. In the train I met Carl and Angeli who were on a holiday from their day job as flight attendants at Emirates. They told me that they were getting ready to party in 6 days time for the famous Full Moon party at Haad Rin Nai (Sunset Beach). I had no idea and never heard of these parties – where have I been-  in Koh Phangan. So with that in mind I entered the island which looked very much developed and like most beach resort places but it was surprisingly quiet.

My main reason was to come here for a rest and practice some yoga; I was informed to try a yoga place at The Sanctuary.  Booking in advance wasn’t possible so you just had to try to get a bed / place there on the spot.

The first two nights I stayed in the busier area (Raad Rin Nai) which was getting ready for the Full Moon party, most evenings it was very quiet so I couldn’t image that in 6 days time the same beach would be crowded with 10 thousands of people/youngsters. The place had many eateries which could cater for the Westeners so they feel at home and have a burger with chips, sushi, pizza, pastas or a kebab (I had a very nice wood oven baked pizza). Luckily, the small Thai places served Pad Thai, Curry, Tom Yam or other soups for £1.50 too. Everywhere you could by a ‘bucket’ which is a small children’s sand bucket filled with a can of soda and a small bottle of spirits. The prices started at 100 Bath (£2) so no wonder people get drunk very easily and cheaply.  I went for a bucket every evening on the beach to view the young crowd, the fire dancers and loud music. Needless to say I felt old as I could easily be their mother!  Every day full boat loads were entering the island so I called them ‘Full Mooners’. On day three I started my yoga at the Agama centre www.agamayoga.com which looked a well established, organized place which attracted all sorts of people.  Later on I found out that some of them were here for weeks or even months. The centre is in the North of the island (Shrithanu) which has a bohemian feeling with an ‘older’ crowd or families. Along the coast there are many small beach villages with little huts on stilts from very basic to a luxuries version. The beaches are beautiful and the sea is very calm. There are eateries which cater for vegetarians/vegans, fresh roasted coffee with cakes, fresh fruit or shakes and of course a Seven Eleven. My days were filled with a morning yoga session, than a 5 hours break- which I usually spend at my hut or beach- followed by a 2 hrs afternoon session.

The coolest bar I came across during my visit was Sunset Pearl Bar which just opened 3 weeks ago and is run by a German young couple who have a great vision for style. The bar is Ibiza style both music and interior but the best selling point is the view over the ocean. The place is a bit out of the way and hard to find but I do hope they can get it on the Koh Phangan map and make a success of it as they rock (Facebook, sunset pearl).

During my mini break on the Island I had 4 yoga days which were enough to give my body a rest and workout.  My mind digested a lot of new information; some I’ve found interesting; like exploring new areas which were unknown for me but are part of the yoga universe and gave me a taste for more.

I’ve learnt that I like to practice yoga as its good for your body and mind, I like to encourage myself to continue to practice yoga during the rest of my trip. I also learned or it may be a reminder that you can’t take the grounded person out of me to become more ‘macrocosm’ or let go the boundaries to enjoy the chanting during the sun salutations or feel comfortable at a spiritual evening gathering, chanting and dancing to the chanting. My lovely London based yoga teachers Maggie and Jude always said that it doesn’t matter if you don’t feel comfortable to practice at that level. Enjoy yoga on your terms as that’s what it’s all about and you will take what you need from the practice. During my time there I stayed in the place which feels comfortable and safe for me with the odd exploration in the macrocosm  world. Even after 4 days of yoga I still find it hard to meditate or put my mind to rest while you’re ask to listen to your body and enter the macrocosm, or other zones. For me that’s usually the time that I go through my To Do List or decide what to eat afterwards! Some people may understand this and some won’t. After 8 days I left the Island with most of the ‘Full Mooners’ who had no or hardly any sleep; were still in their party outfit; had wiped out -colourful painted faces; some of them were still under the influence of something; coping with a hangover or just in need of a bed and sleep. While waiting for the boat they were keen to get junk food, sodas, sandwiches and lots of water into their system to get ready for the trip to their next destination. On the boat and later on the train I was surrounded by Full Mooners who couldn’t wait to put their head down.  On the contrary I left rested, my body (muscles) stretched, my shoulders raised, a small bag with life experiences and a smile on my face but most of all I’m looking forward and energized to continue my travels. I’m returning to Laos now to explore the rest of this country and its population.

Playing with fire on Sunset Beach

The bucket!

Sunset Pearl Bar

and it's views.....

Life, oh Life, oh life....

Another bus trip; to Tat Lo

This area is ready for the tourism boom that is quickly approaching with three waterfalls to explore and enjoy.
I was traveling with local bus from Paksé South bus station which was a sand pit with lots of busses and a local market. Cows, dogs, cats having a stroll and probably thinking what all this commotion is about. My bus was an old battered one and my bag placed on the roof, no aircon. I was there early to get my ticket, drop bag, have breakfast ( bowl of soup) and got seat on the bus which was already filling up. When it was almost time to leave a tuk-tuk with 6 Westerns showed up, they entered the bus and made their appearance clear (loud voices). They were from a certain country where this is common or I should say only when you're outside your country. Six of them and only 2 seats so some of them were seated on plastic stools in the aisle, however two 'gentlemen ' claimed the 2 front seats left which were empty for a reason. The bus left but just outside the station we picked up some more locals incl a mother and tiny baby but the 'gentlemen' didn't feel inclined to give up their seat and sit in the aisle. They just smirked at their mates that they had the best seats in the bus. That over we continued but after half hr someone screamed "stop the bus" apparently a man was having some kind of seizure or it seemed like it. So the bus stopped and commotion all over to find out if it was serious or not. The Westerners were all over the man and trying to find a solution but the locals just said he was asleep!
We continued our trip and an hour later the man left the bus walking on his own feet with no recognition of what happened earlier. The very slow journey continued with stops to drop locals off at their destination or packages at shops, people look after each other and are very helpful, don’t complain that they have to stop at many stops or sit in the aisle of the bus.

Tat Hang waterfall