Sa-bai-dee Laos

 Our first sleeper bus was taking us from Kunming in China across the border into Laos to Luang Prabang, it had 2 aisles and 3 lines of slim line bunk beds, complete with little Snoopy (well, Snopy) duvet and pillow sets. Travelling through the last of China we passed mile on mile of poly tunnels, at one point there was nothing else as far as my spectacled eyes could see, when China do something they do it on a grand scale! I didn’t even try to sleep until well into the night, even after dark the views were enjoyable and I could still make out the hills and see low lying cloud covering the bottoms of the valleys. We crossed the border in the morning and were immediately greeted by two enormous butterflies fluttering around a nearby bush; they looked the size of a small garden bird, one plain black and the other black with a yellow tip on its bum. Welcome to Laos!

Once in Laos it was as if China had never happened, the people disappeared, the cultivation relaxed, the roads became bendy and eventually more potholed and I felt like we were back in Nepal again. The road continued to worsen and the drive got slower as we hit more landslides, more mud and bigger potholes. The landscape outside was now wild in comparison to China, the forests were thick and hiding all sorts of secrets right in front of us. Driving through it my lasting memory is of the whispy dainty little leaves from various types of bamboo trees hanging out over the road, they’re so elegant and pretty, these are the details that remind me what part of the world I am in as I gaze at any mountains in sight and compare them to Scotland’s.

Our first stop was the city of Luang Prabang, hard to believe with a population of only 50,000 that this quiet little place could be classed as a city. Such a lovely place to wander around, the main street is home to temples, a monastery, a stoopa, a market, a night market and various other beautiful sights. At the end of it we join the river Nam Kan just as it meets the Mekong river. We took a couple of tours up the river on a wee local boat, the first being to a waterfall, the Kuang Si Falls. We got a few hours cruising on the Mekong River, then a 20 minute ride in the back of someone’s pickup up to the falls, its then a short walk to reach the bottom and the pools that you are welcome to swim in or use the tree swing. The main waterfall itself is a gorgeous tropical sight, it looks like it’s come right out of a Disney film set as it cascades down over the rocks. We climbed the hill to the side of the falls, a steep climb of 20-30 minutes up the muddy hillside, not ideal in flipflops. Once you reach the top though you are rewarded by the opportunity to walk across the top of the falls, about 1-2 metres from the edge of the drop. This was the most exhilarating experience, we waded knee deep or deeper through the river, near the edge I could hold on to the bamboo fence for support against the current and the slippery rocks. At some point I could look right over and see the pool below, at other times only the other side of the valley was visible, but the whole time I was thanking my lucky stars that I have the opportunity to be in a country where the health and safety rules are relaxed enough to allow this little adventure to take place. Even going down the other side was exciting, the path was very steep and at times the best way down involved holding on to some creepers or branches, I’m sure Tarzan wasn’t far away! Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better we then had to go down some wooden stairs that were built in to the side of the waterfall and get soaked all over again! The best waterfall to visit, I had a great day, and still had a further couple of hours cruise on the river left to get home.

The next outing was to some caves near the town, the Pak Ou caves were once home to monks as well as places of worship although now they exist only as shrines to their much loved Buddha. There are two caves which are thought to contain over 2500 Buddha’s, many different kinds and sizes of Buddha’s hiding in the nooks and crannies of the rocks or taking pride of place around the centred large Buddha. You need a torch to enter one of the caves as its deep and pitch black with some Buddha’s hiding in the corners! It’s another interesting place to visit and another excellent excuse to take a few hours cruise on the Mekong.

Up and down the river there’s evidence of how much it is used in local life. There are people fishing from it and all along the edge there are bottles floating marking where a fisherman has some nets down. At other points we passed people sawing wood, loading boats with logs, transporting other goods or just parking up their canoes to go to work. All the boats are fairly basic, long thin canoes with a tiny motor attached or longer larger boats that carry passengers. The bigger boats, ones which might carry goods a greater distance have a house on board and washing hanging out to dry. The most interesting boat for me was the fuel station, moored at the side of the river this boat has one side fairly open and two pumps within, we pulled alongside and the boy jumped aboard to fill us up! When another boat pulled up alongside us he made sure that its occupant extinguished his cigarette before coming too close which was a relief to all of us, some rules really need to be applied!

The final point of interest for us was the march of the monks. This takes place every morning around sunrise every day; the monks walk up the street in single file and get their food from the locals who take a space at the side of the pavement to offer the monks some rice and some bananas. The march here is the longest of its kind in the world. The monks here wear bright orange clothing and so it cuts a fine picture to watch them making their way up the main street, some with umbrellas up against the morning drizzle. We kept a fair distance from them, I feel they are due respect however I was disappointed (though sadly not surprised) to see how many tourists didn’t seem to mind getting in their faces and even flashing cameras right up close, you can see they are shy people and some look uncomfortable at being the object of so much attention.

The nest stop in Laos is Vang Vieng, a town which has placed itself well and truly on the backpacker circuit as it is home to the craze of tubing. This would involve a lorry tyre inner tube and several bars to stop at along the way. First stop we rented out tubes for the day, then get a tuctuc up to the starting point of an organic farm just outside the town. The first bar offered us a free shot of whisky and a wee friendship bracelet and this seemed to be the norm for most of the bars. The drinks on offer are buckets of cocktails which are pretty cheap when they use their local whisky. In these unusual pub circumstances we would be jumping in a river at every opportunity and so a new game was developed for our entertainment that day, we’ve named it Cocktail Bucket Blowback and basically one person fills their straw with the cocktail and then fires it across the at anyone with their mouth open! Naturally most of this is sprayed across the other person’s face but if some lands in their mouth it’s considered a success! Throughout the bars we had swings to play on and a slingshot game and twister and various other games intended to keep you at the current bar but we kept moving on, aware that there are over a dozen bars to get through. In between times it’s a lovely gentle ride down the river floating in our inner tube and then as you approach a bar they throw a bottle on a rope out to pull you in with. It was a really great day, we had so much fun and despite a few cuts and bruises no one was badly damaged in any way, which came as a great relief as the tubing has a terrible reputation for being very dangerous. I think the worst thing to happen was when I half disappeared through a floorboard!! The bars are wooden decking and some parts may be a little rotten, it was the funniest thing to be walking along and then one leg disappears down a hole! Big bruise to show for it but no real harm done!

The rest of Laos was a bit of a blur for me. We had a day of recovery from the tubing and then took a couple of buses to a place called Savannakhet which we stayed in on the way to the border of Vietnam. I don’t know what my sickness was but I slept for the best part of two days and therefore missed the latter part of the country. I’ve really enjoyed Laos and I love how wild the countryside is, it’s so thick with trees and bushes and really rustic looking, it’s such a pleasure to drive through it and daydream into the hills and forests, and so quiet you feel like you’re really getting into the country when you drive through. The food's been nice too, I had one of the nicest curries yet here in Laos and while it said it was local it tasted like a Thai dish, really tasty coco-nutty flavour, yum! Next stop, Vietnam!!