Day 13 Vientiane Exploration

Day 13 Vientiane Exploration
After a great night’s sleep in my air-conditioned palace, there’s just time to finish my traditional noodle soup and Lao coffee, before my big day of exploring.

Firstly it’s off to the ……..Monument, which has some great views of the city. The Monument was built by the Laotians after the war with cement donated by the Americans that was supposed to create a new Airport runway….such is the mindset of the Lao people. They are so friendly, you never hear them swear (even in traffic) and they have a ready smile and very polite and respectful way about them. With their extended family policy there is always a deferential treatment towards older people, so over here they treat me like a god…Ha Ha.

After a short respite from the blistering sun and heat in a local park where I captured some shots of this little girl demolishing an ice-cream whist out with her grandparents, I head in search of a bar I’ve heard of call the Sunset Bar which overlooks the Mekong. After walking for about 5 km upriver I finally give up and have a quick beer in a Scottish Bar ( yes weird I know) only to walk 20m up the road to find it in front of me DOH.

I have visited loads of temples today, one in particular is said to hold a clipping of the Buddha’s hair and there are loads of people praying and making offerings to the temple statues and the monks. The temple of is also said to be over 2000 years old and use to house the Jade Buddha (which now resides in Bangkok after it was supposedly stolen during some fighting). The temples are really very calming places and it’s hard not to be effected by these peoples honest belief in what seems an undemanding yet fiercely followed and respected religion. I would go as far as to say that it permeates every part of their day to day lives adding a lot to their relaxed and open attitude to others.

It’s now the end of day 13 and I’m sat at the Sunset Bar sitting overlooking the Mekong, and it’s time to stop typing and start soaking up the atmosphere as the sun slowly sinks into the west……

Day 12 Vientiane Capital of Lao.

Day 12 Vientiane Capital of Lao

It’s farewell to the very beautiful Luang Prabang this morning and the hostel host Mr. Shampoo as I once again board Lao Airlines for the short but very turbulent hop to Vientiane the Capital of Lao. I’ve pre-booked a hotel at $20 a night , which is a bit of a luxury, but all well worth it with my own private shower ( no post soap interruptions), air-conditioning and TV with more channels then a man could hope for (no porn…I know what you’re thinking).

As a part of what is now a ritual I quickly dump my bags and head out for a bit of sightseeing before nightfall. Vientiane is a vibrant and sprawling city that sits beside the Mekong. Although not the traditional location of the capital which was Luang Prabang, until after the war and the over throw of communism after the departure of the Americans and the CIA, it is still a charming and busy metropolis.

I stumble across a number of Temples and the markets but I decide to head home for an early night so as not to spoil my exploration of the next day.

Day 11 Luang Probang Laotian cooking classes.

Day 11 Luang Probang Laotian cooking classes 11/05/10

It’s an early start this morning with a stomach that has somehow survived the night without any impromptu trips to the Loo.
Speaking of the toilet, they don’t have the most sophisticated ablution system so once you’ve been number 2’s which often resemble number 3’s, you have to flush your butt with a shower hose then deposit any remaining paper in the nearby bin…god I love traveling!!!
So into town where I meet with my fellow “wantabee” gourmets, we chose several meals from the menu available and board a Tuk Tuk for a trip to the local markets to discover what it’s like to buy the produce first hand.
The market has just about every type of vegetable, animal and mineral menu ingredient that you could imagine including all the things that hop, fly, and croak and all of them crawling with flies. Not your regular Aussie “if you swat me I will leave you in piece flies, but the campaign hardened Mekong fly that is as angry as hell and just won’t take no for an answer”. After wrestling half of our menu from the vendors and the other half from the flies we happily head back to the cooking school in the sound knowledge that if you haven’t experienced the joys of dysentery before then the wait will soon be over…..
We set about immediately learning the finer points of Lao cooking some of which I will hope to demonstrate on my return home. I hope the conventions team is excited about this as I am…ha ha.
The class was actually really good, our teacher was great and we where soon chopping, smashing, mashing and julienning our way towards lunch.
After pulverizing everything in sight including my fingers once or twice it was into the kitchen for the actual cooking, which apart from losing an eyebrow in a very nasty wok incident, everything went well and after our triumphant meal was consumed we were all awarded certificates and band aids in equal amounts…..in retrospect I do think the 50% proof Lao whisky they where insisting we drink may have had a contributing factor to some of the afor mentioned mishaps.

Day 10 Luang Probang Lazy day in town.

Day 10 Luang Probang Lazy day in town 10/05/10

So into town again for some more temple shots, lunch and then over the bamboo bridge to walk through the local village. Got a great shot of a monk crossing the bridge! Tonight I’m going to see a local ethnic fashion parade and check out the night markets. I also have booked to learn how to do some Traditional Lao cooking as tomorrow is my last full day in Luang Probang.

The ethnic fashion parade was quite good. They have it at a local bar, and they are showcasing over 20 of the local hill tribe traditional costumes, most of the models seem quite young, and they seem to be having a lot of fun playing up to the camera as it flashes away.

After the show I head over to the night markets, they are mainly for the tourists, but I accidently meet up with one of the staff at the backpackers and we buy a buffalo stew, a pigs brain dish and sticky rice, the northern Laotian staple dietary meal and head back to the hostel.

After the show I head over to the night markets, they are mainly for the tourists, but I accidently meet up with one of the staff at the backpackers and we buy a buffalo stew, a pigs brain dish and sticky rice, the northern Laotian staple dietary meal and head back to the hostel.
After reassuring us all that the stew is not spicy we all tuck into the buffalo with chunks of skin etc only to discover that the Lao version of spicy would put Chernobyl to shame resulting in the urgent but justified downing of a couple of Beer Lao’s the local brew.
I head of to bed wondering what my stomach will make of all of this before dawn.

Day 9 Luang Probang “Oh my Hangover"

Day 9 Luang Prabang “oh my hangover” 9/05/10
Oh what a hangover!!! I stay in bed most of the day, and then go out for a long pizza lunch, followed by heading straight back home. This is the ideal time to catch up on my picture gallery for my blog.
Apart from that I pay Shampoo what I owe him so far and for the 7 nights, 14 beers, water, meals, tours and laundry it comes to $126, less than $20 per day, it is so cheap.
Back to bed for a good nights sleep.
Here is a random collection of other shots from in and around Luang Prabang.

Day 8 Mekong Kayaking and Pac Ou Caves

Day 8 Luang Probang Mekong Kayaking and Pac Ou Caves 8/05/10

Today Kieran, Adrian, Ben and I are heading off to Kayak down the Mekong and see some religious Caves. After getting the Kayaks (Big surf ski’s), we launch onto the Mekong with our guide Joy.
The river is still low due to the lack of rains and the rapids are very small but the sun is out in force and it’s nice just slowly paddling downstream.

We see guys casting for fish and some water buffalo, plus kids swimming. It feels surreal to kayaking down the Mekong a bit of a buzz actually. The scenery is all teak forest and bamboo with rocks etc interspersed across the river. We pas a huge karsts like cliff face as we go, with 100 of butterflies on the muddy river bank.

After about 10 km we stop for lunch, fried rice at this family hut, there are some elephants that head down to the river for a swim. We chill out and then feed the elephants. The Mekong has really opened up here with loads more boulders and the view is great.

After lunch and getting attacked by the chicken and it’s chicks we cross over to the caves. The LP people have been depositing Buddha statues there for 400 years and there are over 4000 Buddha’s spread over the upper and lower caves. The upper cave goes’ back about 60 meters and you need a torch, where as the lower cave is more like a cut out in the cliff face, but still impressive with all of the different statues etc.

After leaving the caves we kayak for another 6km’s down to a village that makes Lao whisky out of fermenting rice and they have snakes, gecko’s and scorpions in bottles the contents of which are for medicinal purposes, I buy a bottle to share with the other later that night as there is supposed to be a big Drum & Bass party at a secret location on the river.

Later that night I head to the night markets to buy a new shirt and shorts. I get the whole lot for under $10, what a bargain! After eating I meet the others and we head out to find that the party has been cancelled due to the police so we go to the hive bar and the eventually to a local disco that has a mixture of Thai, English and Lao tunes, it’s pretty weird but we all get really drunk and I eventually head to bed at about 2am.