Lao(s)
Sabai-dee,
Its no surprise that our time in Laos has been absolutely amazing - almost everyone we have
talked to, who has traveled the Indochina area, told us that Laos was their favorite by far. Laos is a small country (landlocked by Thailand, China, Vietnam and Cambodia) and life here is quiet and easy going. Right now we are in Vientiane, the capital, and we still can't get over how small and quiet this town is. If you are looking for nice country in Asia to relax in - this is it. The people here couldn't be nicer, the food is delicious, there are fresh fruit shake stands ($0.50) on every corner, beautiful rivers, breathtaking limestone mountains and a ton of colorful culture.
We crossed over from North Vietnam into Laos about 2 weeks ago on a comfy little bus, and by that I mean one of the worst bus rides on our whole trip (our bus rides in India,
Nepal and Africa had nothing on this one). Half of this small bus was filled with rice sacks, forcing 30 people to share space maybe big enough for 10! Todd was lucky enough to get half a seat and I got comfy on a rice bag on the floor next to him. We (we made some new travel friends on this ride) thought this was quite comical when we left the terminal and we were all laughing until the bus stopped five minutes later to take a lady with a huge rice sack. The rice sack went on the floor next to the side door so the lady had to crawl through the window. After this the bus stopped 2 more times and picked up 5 more people who all crawled in through random windows shoving and pushing until every single square inch was full - some folks were sitting on window frames with just their feet inside. This bus ride lasted 8 wonderful hours and we all had to get out and get back in (through the windows) for the two border stops. By the time we got into Moung Khoa we all in chronic pain and in desperate need of a beer.
The next morning we took a 4 hr boat down Nam Ou river to a small village called Muong Noi. A German girl we met in Indonesia told us about this little town and boy was she right. We ended up spending 6 wonderful days here swinging in a hammock (here is a photo of the view from our bungalow's hammock) with a book in one hand and a bottle
of beer Lao in another. We spent the evenings with our new friends from the bus ride (a Canadian couple, a girl from Austria and three sisters from the states) playing cards and drinking Lao Lao (cheap local whisky). Muong Noi is a small little place with no cars/bikes or internet and so I was very surprised when I heard there was a Russian couple running a restaurant here. What a small world - this was a young Russian couple we met back in Agra, India (4 months ago) who have been backpacking just like us. The story is that they came to Lao to renew their Thailand visa and fell in love with Moung Noi. They ended up renting out a bunch of cabins and a restaurant. We dined here our last night and the food here (Veranda Restaurant) was absolutely amazing! That night we also met a retired couple from Michigan who have been sailing around Asia for the last ten years. What an amazing couple! Next they plan to go to Africa where they are meeting their grandson (their graduation gift).
Before we left Muong Noi we went on a two day trek through the mountains to visit some local villages. This trip was amazing. We went through tiny little villages far off in the mountains.
Many were hours away from the river and locals have to make the long trek once or twice a week into Muong Noi to buy/sell products. We ended up staying the night in a small village called Ban Biewkhan. This village had about 30 families living in small bamboo huts on stilts. This was a wonderful experience - at night everyone was outside with women sitting in groups braiding hear, people bathing at public faucet, kids playing war with bamboo guns, and men walking around with little babies. Our time here was peaceful and serene. That night we had a traditional meal in one of the homes - that included a few bottles of Lao Lao!
After Muong Noi we spent a few days in Luang Prabang. This is a world heritage site and is filled
with beautiful temples and amazing architecture. We ended up coming here just in time for the annual festival of light. We saw a parade of large handmade boats that were lit up with candles and then sailed on the Mekong. All the locals were out on the streets drinking and setting off fireworks (we saw little 3 year olds running around with firework sticks that were twice their size).
On walk through the dozens of old wats (temples) we met a nice monk novice. He came to greet us and we ended up spending an hour talking to him about his life. He is 19 years old and next year he has to make the decision to either become a monk or leave. He has applied to some schools in US and we have promised to get him in touch with some of the temples in San Francisco that might be able to help him. His English was very good and his dream is to study ecology. He also invited us to return to his monastery later for their evening chanting. This was an amazing experience. We got to sit inside the temple behind 20 or so monks (some as young as 10) and hear them chanting mantras for almost an hour.
Today we are in quiet little Vientiane waiting for our night bus that will take us South towards a place called 4,000 Islands!!
Cheers - tatyana
Lao Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035976&id=1081248185&l=ccfc3fb692
Its no surprise that our time in Laos has been absolutely amazing - almost everyone we have
talked to, who has traveled the Indochina area, told us that Laos was their favorite by far. Laos is a small country (landlocked by Thailand, China, Vietnam and Cambodia) and life here is quiet and easy going. Right now we are in Vientiane, the capital, and we still can't get over how small and quiet this town is. If you are looking for nice country in Asia to relax in - this is it. The people here couldn't be nicer, the food is delicious, there are fresh fruit shake stands ($0.50) on every corner, beautiful rivers, breathtaking limestone mountains and a ton of colorful culture.We crossed over from North Vietnam into Laos about 2 weeks ago on a comfy little bus, and by that I mean one of the worst bus rides on our whole trip (our bus rides in India,
Nepal and Africa had nothing on this one). Half of this small bus was filled with rice sacks, forcing 30 people to share space maybe big enough for 10! Todd was lucky enough to get half a seat and I got comfy on a rice bag on the floor next to him. We (we made some new travel friends on this ride) thought this was quite comical when we left the terminal and we were all laughing until the bus stopped five minutes later to take a lady with a huge rice sack. The rice sack went on the floor next to the side door so the lady had to crawl through the window. After this the bus stopped 2 more times and picked up 5 more people who all crawled in through random windows shoving and pushing until every single square inch was full - some folks were sitting on window frames with just their feet inside. This bus ride lasted 8 wonderful hours and we all had to get out and get back in (through the windows) for the two border stops. By the time we got into Moung Khoa we all in chronic pain and in desperate need of a beer.The next morning we took a 4 hr boat down Nam Ou river to a small village called Muong Noi. A German girl we met in Indonesia told us about this little town and boy was she right. We ended up spending 6 wonderful days here swinging in a hammock (here is a photo of the view from our bungalow's hammock) with a book in one hand and a bottle
of beer Lao in another. We spent the evenings with our new friends from the bus ride (a Canadian couple, a girl from Austria and three sisters from the states) playing cards and drinking Lao Lao (cheap local whisky). Muong Noi is a small little place with no cars/bikes or internet and so I was very surprised when I heard there was a Russian couple running a restaurant here. What a small world - this was a young Russian couple we met back in Agra, India (4 months ago) who have been backpacking just like us. The story is that they came to Lao to renew their Thailand visa and fell in love with Moung Noi. They ended up renting out a bunch of cabins and a restaurant. We dined here our last night and the food here (Veranda Restaurant) was absolutely amazing! That night we also met a retired couple from Michigan who have been sailing around Asia for the last ten years. What an amazing couple! Next they plan to go to Africa where they are meeting their grandson (their graduation gift).Before we left Muong Noi we went on a two day trek through the mountains to visit some local villages. This trip was amazing. We went through tiny little villages far off in the mountains.
Many were hours away from the river and locals have to make the long trek once or twice a week into Muong Noi to buy/sell products. We ended up staying the night in a small village called Ban Biewkhan. This village had about 30 families living in small bamboo huts on stilts. This was a wonderful experience - at night everyone was outside with women sitting in groups braiding hear, people bathing at public faucet, kids playing war with bamboo guns, and men walking around with little babies. Our time here was peaceful and serene. That night we had a traditional meal in one of the homes - that included a few bottles of Lao Lao!After Muong Noi we spent a few days in Luang Prabang. This is a world heritage site and is filled
with beautiful temples and amazing architecture. We ended up coming here just in time for the annual festival of light. We saw a parade of large handmade boats that were lit up with candles and then sailed on the Mekong. All the locals were out on the streets drinking and setting off fireworks (we saw little 3 year olds running around with firework sticks that were twice their size).On walk through the dozens of old wats (temples) we met a nice monk novice. He came to greet us and we ended up spending an hour talking to him about his life. He is 19 years old and next year he has to make the decision to either become a monk or leave. He has applied to some schools in US and we have promised to get him in touch with some of the temples in San Francisco that might be able to help him. His English was very good and his dream is to study ecology. He also invited us to return to his monastery later for their evening chanting. This was an amazing experience. We got to sit inside the temple behind 20 or so monks (some as young as 10) and hear them chanting mantras for almost an hour.
Today we are in quiet little Vientiane waiting for our night bus that will take us South towards a place called 4,000 Islands!!
Cheers - tatyana
Lao Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035976&id=1081248185&l=ccfc3fb692
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