Trying to Get Off the Beaten Track in Laos
Travel Location: Luang-Prabang,Laos
Vietnam ended better than it started, although I got taken out by a killer cold that sent me to bed parts of the last few days there and in Vientiane, Laos. We spend one night abord a boat in Halong Bay in N. Vietnam as a trip from Hanoi — really beautiful. We slept on deck, swam off the boat and looked at caves on the islands. Vietnam ended up nicely and I much preferred Hanoi to Saigon — quieter, prettier, more laid back.
Since Friday we’ve been in Laos. We met up with a couple of Alexandra’s friends. John E. and his wife Francis and John D., who are working as lawyers in Taipei and Tokyo — so they came over for a long weekend to join up with us. Laos is more off the beaten track for tourism (e.g., backpakers galore and lots of internet cafe and cheap eats ang gusthouses for $4-8 a night), and it is great to get back to basics here. Roads are spotty (potholed, washed out), buildings dilapidated, schedules all over the place and things run late. All the things that don’t bother you at all when you have no place to get to quickly. One of the ex-pat guys we met who lives her got Dengue Fever, which gave us a little pause. It’s the big full moon festival, so everyone has a long weekend and it is much fun for the locals. In Vientiane we were a 1/2 block from the river when the carnival-like atmosphere was catchy. I wish I was feeling better to enjoy it more. We saw kickboxing, dart throwing, throw the ring around the (live) duck’s neck game, and more.
We took a 1/2 day kayaking trip down the river, fell in multiple times. I lost my Africa t-shirt and hat to the rapids, but the hat was rescued downstream. We then took an interesting trip with the canoe truck up to Vang Vieng. The children were chanting at us when we passed and we asked one of the guys what they were yelling (it translates as foreigner long noses!). Then for the full moon festival in this little place we saw the boat races in the late morning, early afternoon. They paddle in long skinny boats holding about 20 people with 3 people standing at back with long oars who both paddle and steer.
I continue to be amazed at the people I encounter in SE Asia, the Laotians and Cambodians are so friendly and open with us. Their strength under tough conditions amazes me. An Indian restaurant, Nazim, that we had eaten at at the night before was hit by a bolt of lightening just at the end of the boat racing. Of course there is no fire department in Vang Vieng. The whole town seemed to pitch in to try to put it out. It started to spread to the house next door. People started to clear our their posessions from the adjoining stores and houses and everything looked dicey for about a half hour. Many of us felt impotent, and had to do something other than being voyeurs, so many of the backpackers started moving things outside and down the block and helping to put out the fire. I don’t think anyone was hurt but it looked for a time that the whole block could come down. With only one bulldozer, dozens of tiny plastic hoses and buckets, and rakes and bamboo sticks, the main fire was put out and the restaurant demolished and the house, while scorched on one side and missing some roof tiles, survived intact. It was an exhilirating hour and a half.
From there it was up to beautiful Luang Prabang — one of the prettiest mountain drives I’ve ever been on. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO Heritage site and beautiful old-style Indochine city with tons of monks and temples (wats) along the Mekong River. Last night was the end of the 5-day full moon festival. Large boats (20+ feet) made of paper, bamboo, flowers and lanterns and lit with candles are paraded through the streets and then sent down the Mekong River to great revelry. Kids throwing firecrakers, etc. Individuals buy or make small, round boats made of flowers with insense and candles and you send it along with a wish down the river. Alexandra and I each partook and bought one. Her boat got farther than mine (it got hung up in some wire and then a kid waded out and took the candle). Sigh…I guess that means my wish went out too?
We decided to try to really get off the beaten track, so to get to Thailand we are taking a 10 hour bus ride up to this town, Luang Nam Tha, near a national park by the Burmese border. Then we are taking a 4 day river-rafting trip down the river to the Thai border. Along the way we are staying with Hill Tribes in their villages, etc. No running water, just the river itself — so I’m truly looking forward to something more basic.
Next stop — back to Thailand. Eliz
