Travels:Laos. The Golden Stupa.

Vientiane
Day 15
Saturday,January 3, 2009.

Back in Vientiane, and this time, we are staying at a more comfortable hotel called the Tai-Pan. It's across from the Mekong and right in the heart of the buzz of Vientiane. I like this hotel better. It's new, modern and the breakfast hall do not stink!! This is the last day in Vientiane and the only full-day here before we leave for KL.

Husband J wanted to go back to Patouxai ("Ptooi!" in J-language!!) because he lost the pictures from when we first got here. I was cool with that, as long as we do not have to climb up that darn building again!! J wanted to capture the building with the right light (yawn! Photographers!), so we hired a tuktuk. This time, J created a bit more buzz. It's Saturday, and it was not hot, so there were a bit more people and tourists around. A group of Lao boys found J's height very amusing and decided to take pictures with him!! It was a lark! And that opened doors to people around us asking where he is from and most importantly, how tall is he!! And, I was conveniently referred to as "your woman", even though J kept repeating "my wife". Yep! They think I'm a Thai prostitute!! Grrr...

Patouxai - revisited!

Right after, we had to rush off (to catch the sun - yawn! Photographers!) to the golden Buddhist stupa, That Louang, about one and a half kilometres from the Patouxai. It was already late in the evening, so the wat was closed. This is perhaps the most important religious building and Laos' national symbol. We got off the tuktuk across from a field that looked like it is being built for something - a car park perhaps? Or concrete grounds for stalls? The grounds surrounding the stupa is huge with small gardens and a small shrine at the entrance. We took pictures, walked around a bit, climbed on our tuktuk, and head back to the hotel.

Entrance of That Louang

That Louang, the national symbol of Laos

We were out for dinner one last time by the Mekong. Tomorrow we head back to good ol' KL.

This has been one amazing journey!

xoxo,
puss.inheels@yahoo.com

Travels:Laos. Conversations with a Monk.

Luang Prabang
Day 14
Friday, January 2, 2009.

Last day in Luang Prabang. Feeling better today. Which is a good thing because today is a long day.

We checked out of the guest house at 11am, and wondered around Luang Prabang for the last time. Our flight out with Lao Air is at 8pm, so we had the entire day and more to waste. We left our bags at the guest house and stopped by at a few restaurants along the Nam Khan (river) for lunch and coffee.

By this time, I think husband J and I were ready to go home. We had a week here and there wasn't anywhere that we hadn't seen. So we didn't really have any plans on where to go. I was getting a little restless after lunchtime. This ended up to be a long wait!

We were walking the familiar street near our guest house when J realised we didn't visit the two wats there. Not another wat! I was a bit bored. How different can these wats be, from the hundreds that we've seen?? J insisted, I relented. I went along, looked for a bit and told J I'll be waiting at the entrance. And so I sat down at the top of the stairs waiting for my husband, while he amused himself with his camera.

A young monk with an orange beanie was walking up and down the grounds holding a book. He came by and started speaking to me in Lao. I gave him the "I-don't-understand" look, and he immediately blushed and asked me in English, where I was from, and if I spoke Thai. He continued to ask if I was waiting for my parents!! *LOL*

This monk I found out as we talked, is a 17 year- old monk-in-training, who has been at the wat since he was 13 years old. His ambition is to follow the footsteps of is older brother - to be a full-fledged monk, and he has another 3 years before becoming one. I had a private and delightful conversation with this young monk, named 'Ek'. His English was commendable, certainly a lot better than most of the Lao folks you meet here. And I told him that. He said they learn English 1 hour a week (on Wednesdays) at the monk high school, but he decided that wasn't enough. And so every lunchtime, he'd rush over to the library to study English on his own. I was so impressed!! I was so taken by this young man, so motivated, so determined! I wished we met sooner!

This could've easily been the highlight of my entire trip - a single conversation with a monk-in-training.

**And I still kick myself for not having a picture with Ek >.< xoxo,

Travels:Laos. Sabaidee-Pimai!

Luang Prabang
Day 13
January 1, 2009.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!

SABAIDEE-PIMAI!!

Taking it slow and easy today. Feeling a little nauseous, so pretty much stayed in bed the whole day. Body feels feverish and weak. The weather was cloudy and moody.

Went out at night to the Hmong Market to buy things for home and friends. It was a quick in and out as I had to rush back to the hotel. Had bad diarrhoea. Body was aching from lying down too long...

Getting ready at the Hmong Market

Arranged for checkout tomorrow at 11am. Flight back to Vientiane is at 8pm. Long wait. Hope I will feel better tomorrow.

Calling it a night. Swallowed panadol. Groan! I hate being sick on a holiday!!

What a "great" start to my new year...

xoxo,

Travels:Laos. Bears, waterfalls and lanterns. G'bye 2008!

Luang Prabang
Day 12
Wednesday December 31, 08.

Husband J and I decided to spend the last day of 2008 with some bears at the waterfalls. After breakfast, we took a tuktuk to Tat Kwangsi, some 30km outside of Luang Prabang. The ride was pleasant, passing through the countryside, with river creeks and vegetable fields. It was a nice change getting out of town. Ever since I saw a lady with the words "Tat Kwangsi Bear Rescue Centre" written on her t-shirt, I insisted to J we must visit. Rescued animals is something of a "must-see" for me.

We arrived at Tat Kwangsi and paid entrance fee (but of course!) and walked through a beautiful reserved forest area. We got to the waterfalls and it was breathtaking! I have never seen water so blue! At least not from waterfalls! This was one was almost green. To be precise, it was turquoise in colour. The water is clean, as swimming was not allowed near the falls.

Tat Kwangsi Waterfalls

Turquoise water from the waterfalls

We walked a bit more, nearby was the Bear Rescue Centre. There weren't any bears in the enclosure but soon enough, the keepers let them loose and out they come!! These bears were rescued from homes, where owners made them as pets! I don't understand that logic! They are wild animals! They can't be made into pets!! How some people are so ignorant is beneath me. Sadly, this is an almost normal phenomenon in Asia. All of them are orphaned, taken when they were young after their mothers were killed.

But I was happy to see some 11 happy, healthy Moon bears prancing around, with their heads in tree trunks, sniffing out the ground and the like, looking for food. I was fascinated. I could sit there and watch them forever!

Bear Rescue Centre, Tat Kwangsi

So nice to laze in the warm afternoon sun...

J and I bought t-shirts, with the money going to the centre. I was a happy camper. Anyone providing good homes for animals in-need, is in my good books. There also was a tiger sanctuary nearby, but we walked and walked, and searched and searched, and found nothing.

We came out looking for our tuktuk driver for almost half an hour. Damn this drivers - they all looked the same!! Didn't even remember the tuktuk's plate number!! So we went in circles looking for the guy. You'd think, right, at 6' 7'' anyone would instantly recognise J, but nooooooo. No one showed up for awhile. We eventually found our driver and went home.

Back in Luang Prabang, we stopped by at the Dalat Market, said to be the heartbeat of Luang Prabang. Errrrrm....not anymore methinks! It was quiet and there was nothing interesting sold there. I think the main market is now the Hmong Market which happens every night.

Tonight was a little cold. As the night wore on, I was slowly feeling a little uncomfortable . J was stalling me to keep me from going back to the hotel. After all, it's new years eve. It would be interesting to see how they celebrate it here, or if they do at all. Well, they do. There was a concert with local singers singing to bad sound system, and they put tables and chairs along the main street with tents of hotels and restaurants selling food. Everything you need in one place.

At midnight, the locals light up lanterns and let them go up way up into the sky. So they were plenty of lighted lanterns floating, it was quite a sight! So this is how they celebrate New Years in

this neck of the woods. I would imagine, Lao New year would be the same.

Happy new year!!

I'm happy J and I are not in KL this new year's eve. Wonder where will we celebrate 2010...

xoxo,

Travels:Laos. Enjoying life on the Nam Khan

Luang Prabang
Day 11
Tuesday December 30, 2008

Just when you think Luang Prabang can't get any prettier, husband J and I walked to another part of this little town, along another river called the Nam Khan (River Khan). The sun came out at about 10.30am so it was sunny and warm, and we were taking in the beauty of this part of town. The scene was gorgeous - monks in their orange robe crossing a bamboo bridge, kids screaming half naked covered in mud, whilst swimming and diving from a home-made springboard made of tree branches! It was a delightful sight! These kids have real fun, without the trappings of tuition, music and dance classes, computer games or chat rooms. They enjoy being out of the house with friends. It's like how it was some 30 years ago - when I was young. Except I didn't have a river, just a filthy smelly monsoon drain near my grandma's house!! Ugh!

Spring diving from a homemade diving board on the Nam Khan

Monks crossing the bamboo bridge over the Nam Khan

We walked up to Wat Xieng Thong, one of the oldest wats in Laos, certainly the oldest in Luang Prabang. There was a main wat, and a few little ones scattered around the big grounds. This wat seemed to be popular; there were a lot of people! I was a little "wat-ted out", so I didn't spend much time admiring the paintings or the architecture. J seemed more into it.

Big grounds around Wat Xieng Thong, oldest wat in Luang Prabang

After much photo taking at this old wat, J and I walked to a nearby restaurant and I had beef pho. It was delicious! We walked some more and passed by rows of springroll skins put out to dry on woven bamboo racks. They looked a little different than the ones mom and I saw in Vietnam, these had pepper seeds in them. So far, I've never come across raw springrolls with pepper seeds in them.

Letting the springroll skins out to dry

We came back to the guesthouse and had a siesta for the rest of the afternoon. Went out at night for dinner and had fish lab at one of the restaurants nearby. The lab was a bit too salty, so I didn't quite enjoy that. Hung out at JoMa for a bit before returning to the guesthouse. Tonight is colder than usual in Luang Prabang.

xoxo,

Travels:Laos. Pak Ou Cave

Luang Prabang
Day 10
Monday December 29, 2008

After breakfast, we told the Bel Aire Villa ("far-away villa") people that we were leaving today. Husband J had to clear some paperwork with the agency that booked us. We brought down our bags and were sent by the villa's driver to town, where we dragged our bags to our new home - Channuane Guest House. After settling in, we took a walk down the Mekong river bank to look for a boat that can take us to see Pak Ou Cave, a cave where all the old and no-longer-in-use Buddha figurines are kept. The ride cost us USD45, and honestly, I swear we were ripped off, although J kept insisting it was a standard price.

The journey on the water took us nearly 2 hours, with stops to fill up petrol along the way. It was a nice ride, but the wind made it a bit chilly for me. Thank God I have my wrap!!

The entrance to Pak Ou Cave

We arrived at the cave and paid 20,000 Kip for entrance. There were many old and disfigured Buddhas there, and I didn't find the cave all that fascinating. For USD 45, this outing was a quick one. In and out. Unless you're a huge fan of Buddhism, Pak Ou Cave is nothing to shout about, and a waste of your afternoon and money. Oh! Well!

Disfigured and unused Buddhas inside Pak Ou Cave

When we got back, I had sticky rice and tomyam at about 4pm. It was a long day. The tomyam was hot and spicy, yes, even spicier than Thai's in my opinion.

We didn't do much at night. I didn't have dinner. Was a bit conscious of the fact I had late lunch and sticky rice at that! I do not want to come home fat!! I just bought a watermelon shake for 5,000 Kip at the Hmong Market and later an overpriced apple juice from JoMa. The Lao people sure love their fruit shakes. I would've enjoyed it more, if the weather wasn't cold!!

Tomorrow's another day in Luang Prabang..

xoxo,
puss.inheels@yahoo.com

Puss in lazy mode

Sunday
9.30pm
@ home

I have a few more days left on my Laos journal, and yes, I should be doing them instead of this meaningless entry, but.....Oh! Well!!

Tonight is Chinese New Year eve, and the firecrackers are already going off. It'll be in full force at midnight and beyond, so disturbed sleep tonight. Joy.. Thank God tomorrow's a public holiday. Not that it means anything to me since I am on holiday all the time!

However, I'm in Lazy Mode. Lazy and Bored Mode. My sister just text asking whether I want to go somewhere this Tuesday, because she's bored. *shrugs*


It's Chinese New Year, many of the shops will be closed, although some will open from the first day itself. Funny how the whole country goes *dead* during this celebration..

I will be back with the remaining stories from my Laos trip.

Stay tuned*

Meantime, Happy Chinese New Year of the Ox/Cow/Moooo....

xoxo,

Travels:Laos. It's true what they say about Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang
Day 9
Sunday, December 28, 08.

After an ordinary breakfast at the "far-away Villa", we head into town and climbed up to Wat Phu Si. The wat is on top of Mount Phu Si, which dominates the centre of this little town. It wasn't a hard climb (though Husband J is inclined to disagree - he claims I complained 3 times whilst climbing up! Blehh!), and we chose to go up passing by little houses built along the hill slopes. We passed by people's backyard, and went through their gardens, and they didn't seemed to mind, or too polite to say anything. I'm sure they are used to it, as Luang Prabang is nothing but tourists, tourists and more tourists!

The top has statues of Buddha all over, and a lovely view overlooking the valley. The top is tranquil, and clean, but we weren't really interested to see Mr. Buddha (you see one, you've seen them all!!), but the view of Luang Prabang was picturesque. The area around this wat is slightly narrow and small, but because it is up on the hill, most tourists give this a pass. So it wasn't crowded at all.

After J and I were done taking pictures, we climbed down to a little cafe opposite the Luang Prabang Museum to have coffee. The whole entire street looks quite different during the day. At night, it is filled with tents with Hmong folks selling their wares. During the day, the narrow street is peppered with tour offices, restaurants, coffee houses and small craft shops. The buildings are rustic, very colonial French, and the streets are narrow, but clean. Luang Prabang has been on the UNESCO World Heritage site for a decade or so. Tourism has boomed since then but it has little effect on the vibe, look and atmosphere that is Luang Prabang, it's so refreshing! Unlike other Asian towns or cities where we try to look as western as we possibly can, Luang Prabang is pretty without even trying to be, and it is as Southeast Asian as it gets. It's true what you hear about Luang Prabang: it is a pretty little asian town!

Typical Luang Prabang street. Clean!!

After coffee, we walked across to the Luang Prabang Museum (or the Royal Palace Museum), where it housed Royal properties and religious royal objects. No cameras, shoes, and bags are allowed and we found ourselves shuffling for a free locker to store our stuff. Laos is a Communist country, one of the very few left in the world, and they still proudly hoist the Soviet flag!! They got rid of the royal family, and this museum is all what's left of that bit of their royal history.

We walked along the narrow streets by the Mekong, where there are plenty of restaurants for you to sample western or Lao food. I went for my new favourite: Fish Lab with sticky rice for lunch. It was nice; eating and enjoying the breezy afternoon by the Mekong.

View from the many restaurants along the Mekong

After lunch, we decided to start looking for a place to stay. It is getting closer to New Year, so almost everything is booked up. All the houses near the town centre are renting rooms to tourists. If they are not running a guest house, they are running laundry service out of their homes. It's like the whole place is just catered for tourism. Everyone is a part of it!!

After a few unsuccessful attempts (nothing was available), we got lucky with Channuane Guesthouse, run by a 52 year-old Lao lady who speaks impeccable English. The guesthouse was newly opened a month ago, and it is her birth house! She grew up in that house and now she has turned it into a business. The house is big but we were even more surprised when she took us to see our room. It opens up at the back with more rooms and a big balcony. It is a mansion!! She gave us the 'Honeymoon Suite' for USD40 a night, breakfast included. J and I were very happy. Problem solved. The hotel is near the town centre and we can come and go as we please.

Stopped by at JoMa because I was *dying* to have a piece of Pumpkin Pie I saw yesterday at this cafe. So I said to myself, I must have a piece before I leave! And today is the day! My love for pumpkin pies goes waaaaay back during college. I used to have it like almost everyday!! So imagine how ecstatic I was when my eye caught a plate of pumpkin pie all the way here in Luang Prabang! J has never heard of pumpkin pies before this. So I happily introduced him to one my favourite desserts. Had it with whip cream of course, and JoMa's black coffee. Ummmm..mmmm! Yummy!

All the way in Luang Prabang, had my first pumpkin pie in 15 years! Yumm!

Tonight was a little cold. Walked around the Hmong Market, and went back to the far-away Villa at 9pm. Tomorrow, we are packing off to the Guesthouse. Good-bye villa!!

xoxo,
puss.inheels@yahoo.com

Travels:Laos. Hello Luang Prabang!

Luang Prabang
Day 8
Saturday, December 27, 08.

This morning, as we were getting ready to leave Vang Vieng, it rained. It's just weird - when we were about to leave Vientiane, the weather turned gloomy and cold, and now that we were about to leave Vang Vieng, it rained. We must've been THAT lucky, huh?!

After what seemed like an eternity for Husband J to check out from the hotel, we were picked up by the tour company we bought the tickets from, to transfer us to the terminal. This time, we took the minivan. A bit more expensive than a bus ride, but definitely a little bit more comfortable.

We left Vang Vieng at 9am, as scheduled and made our way to Luang Prabang. It is a 5 to 6 hour journey, depending on the conditions of the road (and weather), and today, it rained, so the roads are wet, muddy and slippery. The scenery to Luang Prabang is pretty. Typical Southeast Asian I guess - paddy fields, with huts and rivers running through and the stunning limestone hills as the backdrop. And because it was raining, the clouds hung a bit low as well, making it look even more picturesque. The roads were awful; one kilometre was tarred, and then one kilometre was dirt. And it went on like that for quite awhile! So it was quite a bumpy ride. I think there were at leas 10 people in that van, so it was quite full.

30 minutes or so into the journey, we arrived at no where, with mountain tribal women seen selling fruits at the side of the road. There was a long line of vehicles. Uh-oh. Accident. Sure enough. One bus had one side in the ditch! Don't think anyone was hurt, the passengers were all at the side of the road waiting for another bus. Up ahead, a tanker was struggling to do a u-turn. The road was small, and it was not tarred. It was dirt road, slippery and muddy from the rain. I'm sure this happens a lot, especially when it rains. We waited for more than 30 minutes before our van driver bravely crawled uphill on the dirt road. Let me remind you that the van was full, and it was a van, NOT a four-wheel drive, which would have worked better in this condition!!

The ride after that was pretty smooth. We went uphill, through winding roads. The beautiful scenery along the way kept me from wanting to throw up (and pee!). We passed by many tribal villages, and it looked as if their houses were moved right to the edge of the hill to make way for the roads. Kids were playing at the side of the road, the womenfolk sitting together weaving dried grass to make into house tops (ceilings?), pigs and chickens running around.. it was quite a ride!

We had 2 stops, one was in the middle of no where in the highlands, where I had to pay 2,000 Kips to kids to use the toilet! Can't bargain OK! One mat salleh asked if he could use the toilet for 1,000 Kip, and this cute boy with rosy cheeks said, "No 2,000 Kip, no toilet!" *LOL*

The toilets were clean though, so it wasn't too uncomfortable for me. J had his baguette sandwich, I just hung around. It was so muddy, wet and cold, I just wanted to get back in the van and get going.

We did eventually, and the rest of the journey was nice and bumpy!

We arrived at the Luang Prabang bus terminal at around 4pm. It was bright and sunny, and a bit warm. We had trouble finding a tuktuk driver who knew our hotel (it is a new hotel), so we finally paid 20,000 Kips to take us into town. Once in town, we were delighted to see a familiar cafe -JoMa! We ordered food and coffee, sat and chilled before asking another tuktuk driver in town if any of them knew our hotel. Luckily one did, and off we went. We were taken to a bridge, which only allowed bicycles and small motorcycles to pass through. Apparently, the hotel is right after the bridge, which meant we had to drag our bags across the bridge. There was a small path way with wooden floors for pedestrians, and so we dragged our bags across the river, on to the other side. I am afraid of heights, so looking down and admiring the river below was not an option!!

Sure enough, the hotel was right after the bridge, much to my relief! However, we were put in a villa, some 20km away from the town centre beacause at this hotal, the rooms are full!! The hotel driver then drove us there way, way into a village and into this huge traditional looking mansion. This was our villa!! To get to town and back, we must arrange with the driver to send and pick us up. An arrangement that did not sit well with me nor with J.

Bel Aire Villa: beautiful place, but waaaay too far from town!

The room was exquisite. With wooden walls and shutters, I really felt like I was living in a Lao castle. We were surrounded by a village and not far, a river. But because it made of wood, and it was during the cold season, the room was cold. The beds were nice with very thick covers to keep us warm, but staying in that room was a little unpleasant. We didn't want to stay at the villa anyway, we wanted to see Luang Prabang town! So we had to make an arrangement with the driver to take us into town, and arrange for a time for him to pick us up. Hmmm...

Our room at the villa. Beautiful, but cold!

In town, we had dinner, and had coffee at one of the sidewalk cafes and watched the world go by. Every night, at the main street, there's the Hmong Market, where the hill tribes will bring their crafts down for sale. I was wide-eyed. I didn't expect the things to be so beautiful!! It's a lot of patchwork, and I like the fact that the graphics are quite simple. There were bed covers, pillow cases, tissues box covers, bedroom slippers, big ethnic handbags, the list goes on. It is so different from the stuff you see in Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia! I wasn't planning to shop because I thought the crafts must be same-old same-old, but I was totally surprised! I might change my mind after all!!

The Hmong Market. Some great Lao crafts to take home.

The buzz at the Hmong Market. Every night until 10pm.

J and I will check out the guest houses nearby tomorrow. Hopefully we can find something and spend the rest of our week here near town.

Meantime, back to our villa, back to our cold room....

*brrr*

xoxo,
puss.inheels@yahoo.com

Travels:Laos. Rotee and Lab on a cold day.

Vang Vieng
Day 7
Friday, December 26, 08.

COLD morning!

The weather suddenly turned gloomy on us - it was slightly overcast, bad for photography, but great for a walkabout. And that was exactly what we did!!

We walked to Party Island to see the 'aftermath' of the Christmas parties. Last night, Husband J and I had to sleep through the throbbing of techno, but it stopped when it began to rain. Our hotel is quite a distance from the island and we could still here the drum and bass. Imagine if we stayed nearer in town - we would've been pissed off!! Party Island looked like it was having a major hang over! It was dead, of course, with hardly anyone insight. Walked by the river bank where sofa beds made out of bamboos lined the banks. Nice place to chill out, read a book or just take a nap. But today was a little windy and chilly, so the bamboo-made beds were empty. There were a few people enjoying the view from the hammock, and some were reading or playing cards. It was a very chilled-out day, in every sense of the word!

Party Island - the hangover!

We came back to the main town and was feeling hungry. Ever since I had a taste of the local rotee, I wanted more, fattening or not! Stopped by the rotee stall by the roadside and ordered a banana-honey rotee. We were amused this whole time we were in Vang Vieng, there were at least 3 restaurants playing 'Friends' over and over again!! The travel books were right about the bars playing 'Friends' all day and night long, we just didn't understand why! Of course J refused to sit in one of those restaurants! There was also a tuktuk loading up big tyre tubes to go tubing. This was one activity we initially wanted to do, but after the boat ride yesterday, and saw how incredibly slow ( and boring) the tubes float down the river, we decided not to do it after all. Can't imagine tubing today, the river must be colder than usual!!

A couple sneaking a kiss while watching 'Friends'... in the middle of the day. And night. Nothing but 'Friends' all the time!

Loading up the tyres. Let's all go tubing!

We quickly realised today is one day too long to be in a little town like this. Gorgeous view, exciting things to see, but really!! We're itching to get to Luang Prabang!!

Head out again to town for dinner. Ordered fish lab this time, and it came with sticky rice in a cute little traditional woven container. All for 20,000 Kips. I wasn't keen on the rice, but having it together with the fish lab was a whole new explosive taste!!

Lemme tell you, if I remember anything about Lao food, it's the lab. With sticky rice.

*my mouth is watering now... sigh!*

My new favourite food, and exclusively Lao - the Lab with sticky rice. To die for!

Driving the tuktuks and trucks in the river - for a quick wash!

xoxo,

Travels:Laos. Chang Cave & The Blue Lagoon

Vang Vieng
Day 6
Thursday, 25 December, 08.

*Merry Christmas*!!

Our laundry was piling up, with not many fresh clean clothes left to wear, so we sent a huge bundle to the shop next door to have our clothes washed. 10,000 Kips for 1 kilo. OK. Sounds reasonable enough!

Decided also today, we do what the locals do, forgo the bridge and just cross the river by foot!! The water was shallow enough to do that and so we waddled through the cold river!! Yes, COLD!! It was in the morning, and it was still a little chilly. My foot went numb half way across the river!! Walked on a dirt road when Husband J received a call from family in Sydney to wish us Merry Christmas. Right in the middle of no where, and here we were on the mobile phone to Sydney!! *LOL*! Gotta love technology!

We crossed a bamboo bridge to a lovely area called the Vang Vieng Resort. The famous Chang Cave is in this resort and the gorgeous Blue Lagoon. It's a cool spring with 'blue water' at the foot of the cave - absolutely gorgeous!!

The cave was closed for lunch (!!!), and so we had lunch at a nearby restaurant. The food was ordinary.

The entrance to the cave is 15,000 Kip each, and you have to climb a set of stairs that leads up to the main cavern entrance. A set of stairs = 100+ steps uphill!! I huffed and I puffed, and made it! Whoa, what a workout!!

The Chang Cave is a big cave and easy to explore. No crawling, no dirt, it's already been paved with cement. From the main chamber, you can look over the river valley, and see much of the countryside.

View of the paddy fields from the top of Chang Cave

View of the river valley from Chang Cave

Later that afternoon, we hired a speed boat next to our hotel for 70,000 Kips, to take a tour of the river. It was a blast. The scenery was beautiful, we passed by many river bars, restaurants, places to chill out, saw people tubing down the river, kayaking and at the top, there were river parties, where the river is deep enough for you to dive in!! It was nuts!! Like all of a sudden, bam!! Parties!! Loud music!! People splashing in the water!! That was a scene we didn't anticipate!! The boat ride took an hour and it was bliss!

Came back and had the local pancake (rotee). I had mine with banana and chocolate and it was heaven!! Before we head back to the hotel, we got bus tickets to Luang Prabang on a minivan this time. We walked a bit more, onto the bamboo bridge, across the river and got home. Picked up laundry which cost us 70,000 Kips (7 kilos of clothes?!)!!

For dinner, we stayed in, ordered chicken lab. Whoa!! Loved it!! It tasted much better than the beef lab!! It had shallots, chillies, lemongrass, mint leaves, spring onions and coriander leaves. Wow!! Lab. Yummmmmm...!! Food-wise, Laos has not yet disappoint me..

This has been a good day!

xoxo,

Travels:Laos. Caving in Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng
Day 5
Wednesday, 24 December, 08.

Today, we wanted to discover a little bit more of this beautiful town, so we thought it would be good to do a bit of caving today. And that's one of the things you can do in this town. Vang Vieng is surrounded by limestone caves, and almost all of them have been discovered and have become a tourist attraction.

We had to get to 'the other side', so we had to cross a bridge. This is Laos, as nothing is for free. We had to pay 4,000 Kip each to cross the bridge and back!! We passed through villages and paddy fields and it was a very hot day. It is not the season for rice, as the fields were an ugly brown. But I reckon it to be a beautiful scenery when there is rice planted and of course during harvesting when the rice turns yellow.

It was ages before we reached the Tiger Cave, and yeah, it's 10,000 Kip for entrance, with torch lights provided!! The cave was small, we only managed to get in one of the small chambers, and we had to squeeze through a very tight, small and narrow hole. Imagine my poor 6' 7" husband trying to fit into the hole!! J managed anyway but to go further meant more tight squeezes for him. So we went out, got in through another entrance which was even smaller!! I had to get down on all fours and crawled my way in!! In that process, I slightly twisted my left knee, and so we aborted going any further. Not that we could anyway, the cave was too small for J! I think J was extremely frustrated, though I was happy to turn back and head home!

Back in town, we had tuna sandwich on a lovely baguette. I tell you, they make awesome sandwiches here, and they're simple sandwiches too!! Then back to the hotel for a siesta.

Tonight was another cold night. For dinner, we decided to try something exclusively Lao - the Lab (meat salad). We ordered the beef lab, tomyam and I had sour fish soup, which was da bomb!! Awesome food!!

Nam Song-how can anyone not love waking up to this view?!

This is life in Vang Vieng - forget taking the bridge, just drive through the river!

xoxo,

Travels:Laos. Beautiful Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng
Day 4
Tuesday, December 23, 08

Husband J and I paid 80,000 Kip for a bus ride to Vang Vieng, and the van transporting us to the bus terminal picked us up from the hotel at about 9.30am. I love this door-to-door service!! We picked up more passengers along the way before we finally got on the big blue bus parked as the driver was loading the bags. It took us over an hour before we finally moved because a couple of tools arrived late! We were not amused, why did we wait for them?? It was very thoughtless of them and they didn't even apologise, though it wouldn't have mattered - we were annoyed at their tardiness.

The scenery to Vang Vieng was nothing to shout about. About an hour into the journey, we stopped by at some small village out of nowhere for a toilet/lunch break. The toilets here are clean. They use water too but they're not stinky, dirty or slimy like in Malaysia. I was happy for the break, as I am the Queen of Pee!! J decided to have a tuna baguette sandwich, I was still full from breakfast.

We jumped on the bus for the remaining journey to Vang Vieng. It is a 3-hour ride and by the end of that 3 hours, I was beginning to think if we were ever going to reach until I saw limestone hills. I knew we were close.

Vang Vieng is a small little village known for its outstanding natural beauty, with limestone karst dominating much of the scenery. It's been a backpackers' mecca for many years, and is popular for tubing, kayaking and caving activities. J and I dragged our bags to the hotel - I was lost out of my head, but I found out later the town is one small circle, that takes you back to the hotel in no time.

Vegetable gardens by the Nam Song

We stayed at the Nam Song Villa, a small but new hotel on the river bank. It is very picturesque, very beautiful. The Nam Song (Song River) is the life line of this town. It's not big like the Mekong, but unlike the Mekong, the Nam Song has clear water, so you can see the small pebbles that make the bed of this river. It looked like out of a picture book, the scenery is breathtaking! Part of the river bank is filtered with vegetable gardens, and the locals use the river for everything, even driving to cross to the other side, bypassing the bridge!!

The way of life on the Nam Song - picking out seaweed from the river

How can you not love waking up to this view??

The nights were cooler here than in Vientianne. We found out very quickly that there is nothing much to do at night after the sun goes down at 6pm, unless you decide to stay up, head down to Party Island for a bit of...partying. But we're old goats, we don't party, and hung out at the hotel's cafe overlooking the Nam Song enjoying a cup of coffee. And that's what you pretty much do in Vang Vieng - chill out.

View from across the hotel's cafe.

Sunset in Vang Vieng

p.s. Happy Festivus, for the rest of us!! *LOL*
xoxo,
puss.inheels@yahoo.com