It’s been a week since I came back from Laos. I didn’t write about the trip immediately because one – I simply had no time. And then I thought, it might be good to let the “iron cool off” for a bit so that I could gain some perspective on my reflections of the country.
However, at this point, I can honestly say that my feelings for Laos haven’t changed a single bit. And I miss it terribly.
Day 1
My other half and I arrived Vientiene in the late morning, together with my parents. But whilst we were on this short backpacker’s trip, they were going on the tour package. The moment the van (we thumbed a lift to our little hotel on my parent’s tour group van :) took us out of the airport and into the city, I fell in love. Vientiene was charming! There was no congestion, not much vehicles on the roads and certainly no hastily-built skyscrapers disrupting its skyline. How should I say it – it was love at first sight. I think one phrase best describes it – I fell in love with the “old world charm”.
We checked into Hotel Laos, a little budget place at the Haysoke district. I do not know what was in the air of Laos, but I loved everything I saw and I also loved the little hotel we stayed in. It wasn’t new or modern but it was very clean with a pond view. We freshened up and then went out to explore the city. I don’t think I can even call it a city. More like a town. Peaceful and quiet town but it wasn’t dead. We walked to the riverside for lunch and finally settled on a little shack next to the river. The Mekong River….. brown as ever. MOH ordered a fried rice and I chowed down on a “Yum White Noodle Chicken” and we also shared a Laos Salad. It was good! Of course, they took their time. It was all in slow motion (and I have to say – slower than Cambodia).
We went on to walk the entire town, stopping at the Hmong market and also the Talat Sao market – which also connects to a modern shopping mall with familiar brands like Nike, Adidas, etc. I even negotiated in Laotion with a street vendor who was selling woven baskets (those used for steaming Sticky Rice – a staple diet of the Laotion). I was quite impressed with myself, really :) The thing that I immediately noticed about the Laotions was that they were not out to get me. I just didn’t get that feeling from them. They were really quite gentle and the men do not group around and behave in an uncouth manner. They were friendly and also helpful, despite the language barrier. Also, they were not so “in your face.” When you say “no”, they just take it as that, unlike the very irritatingly persistent Cambodians or Vietnamese – even if you decline taking their moto or tuk-tuk rides, they still kept chasing after you!
Vientiene was spacious. The main roads were 3-laned. The pedestrian walkways were wide. And not to mention, clean. It seemed like the Laos government was taking their time with the development of this little country. I hope they do and not rush into the throes of development like their neighbours. I think if properly planned, Laos can still be developed and yet not lose her charms. The one thing that was starkly different from their Cambodian neighbours (I haven’t been to Vietnam in awhile and it would be unfair to compare that) was the fact that we saw no beggars on the street nor slump areas. Believe me, we walked almost every nook and corner. Of course, we could see the poor people, not so well-to-do, but the disparity wasn’t a gap wider than my waistline!
We visited the Phatuxay – which is their Independence Monument. It was said that they built the arch similar to the French Arc to spite them. And instead of 2 entrances / exits, they built four. We climbed all the way to the top – 7th floor and got a bird’s eye view of the city. Tired and hot, we made our way back. I just had to grab their little snacks along the streets and guess what? I fell in love with these too! The main ingredients used are sticky rice flour and sticky rice. I had a little sticky rice ball dumpling with a savoury peanut filling (and you eat this with roasted dried chilli) and also a slice of black sticky rice cake. Yums. We walked back to the hotel and had a little tea-time snack at a local stall selling Vietnamese delights.
That evening, we walked to the Ban Anom Night Market. Street food galore!!! We had some grilled bacon (or I hope it was bacon) and also some fried cricket with lemongrass. Crispy and tasty :) We walked and walked some more and bought more snacks along the way – namely the very delicious fruit shakes that was pure fruit juices ice-blended and then made our way to The Fountaine. This place was utterly romantic. I felt like I was in Paris just being at The Fountaine and it was surrounded by quaint little French-colonial restaurants. We waited for my parents here to meet up because they stayed just down the road from The Fountaine. And then we sat down at Dao Café for a Beer Lao. I have to say – the Beer Lao was quite good.
It was time to call it a night and I was excited with my journey ahead of this beautiful country.
Day 2
Woke up bright and early for breakfast at the hotel. Since we were still early, walked out, had my internet fix and got back to the hotel to wait for our bus pick-up. We were making our way to Vang Vieng! It was just tremendously easy to travel in these countries. The transport comes to pick you up right from your hotel and moves on. But surprise! Surprise! It was a tuk-tuk which came to pick us up from the hotel. Were we going to make that 4 hour journey to Vang Vieng on a tuk-tuk??? Oh, no, no. He dropped us off at where the bus was waiting. Our luggages were hauled to the roof-top. And off we went!
The journey was rather pleasant. I mean, the roads were not your fancy highways, more like some old trunk roads with bumps and all. But overall, it was ok. And the scenery was quite serene – little villages dotting the roads. There was one stop for snacks and toilet-break before we finally arrived at Vang Vieng at 2.30pm. Looked like it had stormed there earlier, but when we arrived, it was only drizzling. I have to say, I was rather disappointed with Vang Vieng. I got the feeling that this town was trying to be, but not be. Nevertheless, we went on a tuk-tuk to look for a place to stay. Vang Vieng was rather deserted. Very quiet, no hustle and bustle. True to what the travel reviews wrote – every eatery was playing either “Friends” or “The Simpsons”! Strange. We finally settled on GrandView Guesthouse. It was reasonably clean but the view was spectacular! We faced the river and against that was the mountains. Surreal.
We went out and wanted to go tubing. First, for some food. We stopped at a little local shop and had fried rice (MOH loves fried rice) and I had rice noodles. But we didn’t have much time to go for tubing because I didn’t want to pay for the experience and have to rush it. The rules strictly said we had to be back with the tube by 6pm or else we would be fined! And it was already 4pm by the time we tried to pay for it. Ah, also, they were having the Vang Vieng International Mini Marathon so I went to the district office to enquire. How odd – they don’t even publicize this and the fact that they call it an international race! I wanted to participate, but was torn between the trip journeys. Secretly, I didn’t want to spend too many days in Vang Vieng. So, I didn’t register immediately.
Since we couldn’t go tubing, we negotiated a tuk-tuk ride to the Phak Toum Cave and Blue Lagoon. It was a bumpy 7km ride on dirt road. MOH decided it was worth paying the money since the poor guy’s tuk-tuk seemed likely to fall apart at any minute due to the bad roads. Again, the ride was made enjoyable with the utterly beautiful scenery of limestone hills and green, green, green paddy fields. Finally, we arrived at the Blue Lagoon. Had to pay an entrance fee. And by golly, the water wasn’t blue!!!! But since we came all this way, might as well jump in. Oh boy, the water was freezing and the current strong. But it was still fun. After half and hour or so, when our bodies were numb as hell, we got out of the water. We decided to climb the cave. We only made it one-fifth of the journey. Both of us were in flip-flops, it was steep and extremely slippery. Climbing down would’ve been hazardous and we decided that we didn’t want to get trapped there when night falls. Bumped into some other sperlunkers on the way down. One was a Japanese guy who could seriously talk. Held us to his stories for a good half an hour before we said we had to go.
We grabbed a chocolate & peanut pancake on the path in to our hotel. It was actually “roti canai” – Laos style. It was quite good, or we were both just starving. We walked out again looking for a dinner place and then we settled on Sticky Rice Café. MOH had a fried noodle and I had the Pork Larp with Sticky Rice. Yummy yummy (in the days to come, I would be sticky-ricing myself out throughout the trip!!). After dinner, we walked to Elephant Crossing Hotel where my parents were staying. We seem to be catching up with each other on the tour :) The hotel was really nice, the room was really cosy too. It was dark, but apparently the view was very beautiful as well. My Dad loves the notion of wining and dining by the waterfront – be it the sea (1st choice) or the river!
I can’t wait to get a move on to Luang Prabang. I had heard so much about how beautiful the place is and like I said, I was a little disappointed with Vang Vieng. I think the problem with Vang Vieng is that they tried to make it to become this little backpacker’s place and molding it to the likes of Koh Samui or Phuket but Vang Vieng just does not fit the profile. It is too beautiful. The view too grandiose to turn it into a backpacker’s hub with rows and rows of bars and riverside open-air discos. It was an ill fit.
Day 3
Woke up to a beautiful, beautiful view from our guesthouse balcony. It was drizzling and the clouds enveloping the mountain tops were just …. mesmerizing. We didn’t want to waste such a beautiful morning and thus went out for a walk. We walked across the bridge and saw the remnants of a party at one of the riverside open-air discos. Tsk.. tsk.. tsk…. We then went back, grabbed our luggages and made our way to the travel agency to await our pick-up to the bus station. We had brekkie at the Luang Prang Restaurant. I had a Sticky Rice Noodle with spicy soup and MOH had a sandwich. The noodle was rather awesome! A tuk-tuk came to get us to the bus station and from here, we boarded a “mini-bus” (which was really a van) to Luang Prabang.
We started the journey at 9.30am and at 11am, the driver had stopped us at a deserted roadside shop for lunch. The view was scenic throughout the journey, however, the ride was very bumpy. It was a good thing we were smart enough to get the front seats. It was supposed to be a 5 hour journey! And believe it or not, it was only 180km from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang (ok... maybe the distance was a lot further). Midway through, there was a long line of vehicles stuck in the middle of the mountainous road. There was a landslide and two trucks were stuck in the mud! Oh boy! I sure as hell hope we won’t be stuck forever. Our driver wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed and he seemed not to know what to do. The little villagers and some local tuk-tuk passengers actually co-operated to make a narrow path right on the edge of the cliff for vehicles to pass. Our driver had to pay them some money so that they would help push the van while he was trying with all his wits to get us up and out of that track. I found it odd that he didn’t ask a single one of his 9 passengers to get out of the vehicle first. But well, a few dozen strong men managed to push us up and ahead and therefore, we carried on with our journey. I really had to stop for toilet but alas! The driver didn’t understand what I was trying to say. I had to draw the toilet signs for him before he understood. We made another stop at a little hilltop town. The air was very cooling – much like Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.
Finally, we arrived at Luang Prabang bus station. From here, we were engulfed by little guesthouse agents trying to get travelers to stay with them. We picked one, and got on the tuk-tuk that would ferry us over to the guesthouse. And since I didn’t particularly want to hunt anymore, we decided to stay at the Shayada Guesthouse. It was quite nice. Only 100,000 kips. For that price, I have to say – it exceed expectations. The accommodation rates seem to be getting cheaper and cheaper as we travel north. We freshened up and headed out for our walk. We had been walking so much since we got to Laos.
I love, love, love Luang Prabang. It was charmingly quaint and just had such a romantic feel to it. The main street – Sisavangvong St looks a little like Jonker Street but just way more spacious, less busy and again – I don’t know why, just that romantic notion to it. We had wanted to go on the home-stay experience, but it cost too much money! Well, we went for food first and again – along the Mekong River. So, so, so damn delicious! We ordered a Lao Mushroom Salad and Fried Sticky Rice. After the light meal, we went back to Tiger Trail Outdoor Adventures to book our half day elephant experience :) The guy there was really friendly and even told us that we were going to be in Luang Prabang for the Boat Race and Buddha Day – which means, lots of activities and stalls will be happening in this little town (which is the 15th day of the lunar calendar). Then, we started exploring the night markets. It was like the entire town was made up of markets! From the traditional Tribal Market (where the Hmong tribes from the mountains hawked their handicrafts and wares) to the Street Food night market and to the normal night markets the likes of the Malaysian night markets. We bought some pork patties for snacks and kept walking on while waiting for my Mom & Dad to show up. I had wanted to look for the 2009 SEA Games souvenirs but none seemed to exist. When I asked the Tiger Trail agent, he said that it was due to the fact that the government hasn’t even issued the licenses yet. I think the government hasn’t even made the announcement because a lot of the Laotion doesn’t seem to know that they are hosting the SEA Games next year!
Finally, Mom & Dad showed up. We walked the Tribal Market for a bit and I stopped at a 5,000 kip buffet stall. Yes, it was a stall, selling dishes – all you can put on your plate for 5,000 kips. Had some of their salads. Quite yummy. I’m turning out to be quite the glutton in Laos! I loved the Tribal Market simply because it had a lot of the ‘boho’ stuff which I liked. I bought a Champa bag! Champa is elephant – I am not sure if it is the Laotion language to mean Elephant but I do know at least, that the SEA Games icon will be Champi & Champa (girl & boy elephant) :) So, I’m just gonna call all elephants Champa cos it befits them!
On the way back to the hotel, bought a chocolate and banana shake. I decided that I do not want to go back to Vang Vieng so soon and will stay another day in Luang Prabang. I am falling head over heels with Laos day by day. What had really charmed me so much?
Day 4
Woke up at 5.15am hoping to catch the Tat Ba (giving of offerings / alms to the monks) but we got downstairs at 5.45am and only caught the back of the monks walking away! We had missed it! Shucks. Nevermind, we’ll catch them again tomorrow. We got our stuff ready for our half day trip and walked out to Sisavangvong again. The market was to be a whole day affair in lieu of the boat race festival and we saw some of the boats practicing. We had noodles at some street side stall for brekkie and then made our way to Tiger Trail to await our ride for the Elephant Experience.
Oh my God. It was a dusty-dusty ride on the tuk-tuk to get to the elephant camp. We were literally covered in dust. We also made friends with some of the mat sallehs that were going for the tour too. I had dust covering me from head to toe. No kidding. When we got to the village, we took a boat ride to get to the camp area and had to do very, very slight trekking to get to the camp. And at the camp – I was truly captivated by the elephants. Eversince I read the book “Water For Elephants”, I had been captivated by these large creatures. But not until today, that I got so excited at being so close to them! We got to ride the elephants – and I got to be a “mahout” for the day and rode on Champa’s neck. Mahout is a Laotion elephant caretaker / trainer. Our elephant’s name is Metaham (of course, I doubt this is how you spell the name). I learnt more Laotion words : “Bai” = Go; “Sai” = Left; “Kua” = Right; “How” = Stop. It was a really nice 1 hour ride in the jungle. The elephant had no smell but the bristly hairs were extremely pokey and scratchy. But who cares! I was having so much fun!!!!!! And then, I got to feed the elephants some bananas too. Metaham was so, so, so cute. And cheeky. I think he could smell the bananas from a mile away! Looked like I have now discovered my favourite land animal (my other love for dolphins evoke similar intense insanity!)
After that, we took the boat again along the river to get to the Tad Sae waterfalls. I tell you, the waterfalls made Telaga Tujuh in Langkawi looked rather dismal. It was beautiful and gorgeous! There were many people there. We had packed lunch – which was part of the tour and we opened our lunch boxes to gleefully find fried rice and vegetables in them.
And then, we took the plunge into the absolutely ass-freezing water. They had made a so-called pool area at the bottom of the falls and roped it off, so we could swim a bit in it despite the current being absolutely gushing-strong. But the water was just really cold. Even my brains froze. We left Tad Sae after an hour or so. Many of us on the tour said we would have gladly stayed the whole day. It was nice, breezy, cooling, everything!
It was another dusty, dusty ride back to town. Huh – right after we washed off all that dust, we’re now caked in it! In Luang Prabang, we walked all over the town looking for the Lao Red Cross. You see, I was hell-bent on supporting all things NGO about Laos. We wanted to get massage done and the Lao Red Cross does it to support themselves. The map in the Stay Another Day booklet was so off its mark! Finally, we found it. And had this oil massage. The girl was tiny, but my God, she was strong. I had blue-black bruises all over that evening. !! After the massage, we went into town because I wanted to get my Lemongrass Ice Cream. There was an ice cream shop in town which sold that. It was super-super delicious. We ordered a Lemongrass Ice Cream and a Beer Ice Cream, which was really a sorbet.
Finally, we got to shower. Then, we walked out for dinner. Again, based on the Stay Another Day recommendation, I was determined to find Tamarind. And I was so glad to have found it. The food was so utterly good. I had a Mango & Lemongrass shake while MOH had a Chocolate & Banana Shake. It was so potent. No water added. So you can see, one basically gets filled up with just the shakes! We had most of the Laotion food platters and a simple sautéed rice noodle. (I accidentally had buffalo meat too)…. And we even bought a Lao Lao drink as well as the absolute fiery chilli powder as souvenirs.
After dinner, we started our shopping spree. Or rather, I started my shopping spree. I totally went bag-crazy and I bought 6 Champa bags!!!! Ok, I think I was still under the spell of Champa when I bought the bags. But I have to say – the Laotion people were so easy to buy things from and negotiate with. Like I said – they don’t make me feel as though they were out to get me – the idiot tourist. You know what I mean? I also bought all souvenirs and then we went over to the riverside for a supper of Papaya Salad and Honeydew Shake. We didn’t meet up with my parents tonight.
Day 5
Today, made it a point to wake up really early – 5am so that I do not miss the Tat Ba again. Plus, today was a bigger deal to the Tat Ba as it was the 15th Day of the Lunar month – which coincided with Buddha Day. Since it was Buddha Day, young & old alike came out in droves to give offerings. I found out later from a nice & friendly hotel staff (not the one we were staying at, but the one next door) that the Tat Ba is offerings that people make to their relatives who have passed on. Anyway, as I observed the Tat Ba within the “rules” stipulated – shoulders, chest and legs covered, I realized that when their alms bowl were full, the monks give out their food and stuff back to the people. And usually, these “people” they gave to were the beggars. This had to be the first time in five days that I saw beggars. I think in a way, you don’t have much begging or hungry people because of the Tat Ba done all over Laos (most prominently in Luang Prabang). Because the beggars usually end up with baskets full of food from the monks. The monks had actually threatened not to do Tat Ba before, due to the fact that many tourists do not observe the ritual with respect (exposed skin, using camera flash, standing above the monks, etc…). You see, in Laos, a monk is revered. When observing the Tat Ba, we squat down or sit somewhere so that we appear lower than the monks.
Anyway, after that, we walked to Saffron Café for brekkie. Apparently, they had the best coffee in Luang Prabang! We shared a breakfast set of bacon & eggs because I still wanted to get to the market and have my street food :) We decided to skip Khoungsi Waterfalls today as it was just too much traveling and I wanted to be in town to see the Boat Race and all the festivities attached to it. Plus, MOH wanted to visit some stupas and he was falling ill too.
We climbed Mount Phousi. Everytime I pronounced the name, I can’t help but giggle :P Anyway, there were many statues of Buddha here, including Buddha’s footprint (I have little faith – the footprint was huge and I seriously didn’t think Buddha was a giant! But MOH disagreed. Funny, for a guy who is always apprehensive about things, he has a lot of faith indeed!) I don’t recall the name of this Wat. But it was the tallest point in Luang Prabang town. And the view was quite spectacular too. But it was so hot. You know, the sun in Laos is just vehemently scorching. No wonder in all the paintings that depict monks, they were always carrying umbrellas. All Laotions carry an umbrella – not to protect from rain, but to protect from the sun. Even 10 seconds under the sun, your skin gets painful already! So, because it was so hot, and also Luang Prabang was rather crowded (due to it being the Boat Race Festival), we decided exploring one stupa was enough. The rest of it, we were happy to just glimpse from the outside.
We walked about and around, the entire town was in fiesta mode with stalls set-up lining the Nam Khan river. All the locals were out in full force to cheer their teams. Each village must send a team, otherwise, they have to pay to support other aspects of the Boat Race Festival. It was really great community co-operation to keep things alive. Again, another thing odd to me was that – it wasn’t made into a tourist attraction. We only knew about the Boat Race when we got into town and just so happen that we were able to be around. I guess, it was truly just a local affair. But I think it was an experience worth going for! Just the crowd and festivities! And the stalls – food, games, odds & ends, etc …!
We had lunch at the same riverside stall (as the first day in Luang Prabang) and this time, I had Aurlam (a Laotion stew with chicken, aubergine and sticky rice) with Sticky Rice (so I got sticky-riced twice over lunch) whilst MOH had the Khou Savy noodles. He had a Pineapple Shake and I had a Mango Shake. I tell you, the fruit shakes are a great brain-freeze on a hot day. It was only 11.30am when we finished lunch….. gleefully – it means more time for other snacks later :) We walked so much in the heat today and finally, cooled off at Dao Café (the branch of the Dao Café in Vientiene). Had a cup of coffee before we walked into Lotus de Spa for a 90minute session of the Laotion Herbal Massage. It was oil-free which was great. Much like a pressure-point massage and then they used this herbal wrap to pound on your back. I loved the fragrance from the herbs. After that, we stopped for Lemongrass ice cream again. This time, I ordered 2 scoops of the ice cream for take-away. We continued walking on. We had set our mind to have dinner at Tum Tum Bamboo (another NGO-run restaurant) and so made our reservations before making our way back to the hotel. I wanted to walk some more while MOH was feeling ill and wanted to go back for a nap. So he did and I walked around, looked at the Boat Race a bit, watch the people cheering and jeering, and then, met up with my parents – at the ice cream shop again!
We had dinner at Tum Tum Bamboo (cute name). Again, the food was super awesome. Had Deep Fried Bamboo Shoot stuffed with Pork, a Fried Jelly Noodle (which was really Tang Hoon) and a Minced Fish Larp with Sticky Rice. For dessert, I couldn’t resist the Sticky Rice Ball Coated with Peanut and Coffee Cream. It was so goooood! And guess what I had for drinks? Sticky Rice Wine. I wonder what all these Sticky Rice is doing to my body system. More like – the fatty bits.
We met up with my parents and then walked the market a little. It was now quiet at the market since the Boat Race was over and most people had returned to their villages. Tonight, it seemed like the vendors were not too interested in making a bargain. Maybe they had made enough over the last 2 days! We then went to Le Peppilion by the riverside for drinks. Thereafter, Mom & Dad took a tuk-tuk back to their hotel while we walked back to ours.
Day 6
Happy Birthday to me!!!
Woke up at 6am and walked to town to look for brekkie. Was all excited when we stumbled upon a morning market. It was a wet market selling some breakfast snacks as well as vegetables and meat. I was so excited at seeing black sticky rice and bought two! We walked on over to the riverside and stopped at the same place for breakfast. I ordered a Khao Savy noodle, but a Pho came instead. There was no time to get them to change it so I ate that anyway as we had a bus to catch. The Lemongrass tea was really good too. I was feeling very reluctant at leaving Luang Prabang today and going back to Vang Vieng.
When we got to the Guesthouse, we found out that the pick up had came and left! But will soon return again for us. Darn in, for once, they were early! Though Shayada Guesthouse was nice to stay, I didn’t think the staff were friendly. Plus, upon check-out, the guy pissed me off because he charged me for an extra night and insisted that we had stayed four nights. I was like – “No! We only stayed three!” We just left him money for three nights and walked off to the waiting pick-up van. And guess what? I left my precious, precious sticky rice behind :( I don’t know why, I was so upset, I cried. Leaving Luang Prabang was getting to me! Plus, I was a little annoyed too at MOH for not having planned anything special for my birthday :(
We bussed all the way to Vang Vieng and stopped twice on the journey. When we arrived in Vang Vieng, we didn’t want to go too far, so checked-in to Babylon Guest House. It was fairly clean and at 80,000 kips, a steal. But I think of all the places we stayed at, this had to be the worse. Even the towel was …. horrible. I still wish I was back in Luang Prabang. Vang Vieng just wasn’t romantic. Nor charming. But I have to admit, Vang Vieng’s scenery was grandiose. Beautiful. It just doesn’t fit that backpacker’s partying place.
We rented a mama’s bike and MOH fetched me on the bike all the way, 4km out of Vang Vieng to go to the Organic Farm. The ride was fun! And the scenery, like I said, grand and spectacular. At the Organic Farm, we had intended to have dinner there. But because we met a couple (been meeting the couple since Vientiene on the bus to Vang Vieng – but they stayed on in Vang Vieng) who said the food wasn’t that great. So, we just snacked on Deep Fried Mulberry Leaves with Lime Honey Dip and a Mulberry Shake (which was awfully good brain-freeze drink). The Mulberry leaves were really good too.
We biked all the way back before night fell…… we stopped at a night market. It was actually the remnants of the marathon carnival. There were game stalls and bumper cars. And ….. I found sweet Sticky Rice again! This time, even better – I don’t know how they do it, but these were stuffed in sugar cane!!!!! It was so good, that I bought another large one – intending to save it for my bus journey tomorrow.
We returned the bike and went around looking for food. It was extra quiet in Vang Vieng today and all the eateries were running empty. Stopped at Oh La La Café and had a Spicy Raw Prawn Salad, Chicken Larp with (you guessed it!) Sticky Rice and MOH had a Rice Noodle. We had the Lao Lao (Lao Vodka) and a Lao wine each. It was very very delicious food. I was getting fatter and fatter by the day. The amount of sticky rice I consumed……. !
We walked back to the hotel and called it a night.
Day 7
Woke up at 6am and went for breakfast at the Friendship Café. We were going to go tubing today. I had a Sticky Rice Noodle. Midway through our breakfast, it started to rain. Oh no!! I hope it stops because I do so wanted to go tubing! Well, it was the first real rain I saw in Laos. And it did stop. So we went to the tubing shop and got us our ride to the start of the tubing journey.
Tubing was quite good fun. The current was strong and at some points, there was slight rapid – I wouldn’t say life-threatening, but was cool anyway. At one point, I got trapped amongst some rocks and had to use my wits to free myself safely. But overall, it was really fun. The scenery? What can I say – just grand. Spectacular. Beautiful, postcard-perfect. There were a few bars along the riverside where you can stop while tubing. All you need to do is call out to them and they will throw a float out to you. You catch that, hang on to it while they pull you ashore. We were pulled in twice but didn’t stop as we didn’t have the time to stop. One of it was an old man. I do not know why, up till today, this old man’s image remains starkly in my mind. He had a very kind face and I felt really bad that he pulled us in and we didn’t stop. He had said “Come in. Sit down.” And I told him “oh, no time,” and he just smiled. I felt so bad that I gave him 2,000 kips for pulling us in anyway. When we neared the end of our tubing stop, a little Lao kid jumped in and pushed us to shore. I had no idea what she was doing at first, and I thought perhaps she was just hitching a ride. Later on, she said “this is tubing stop. No more tubing.” And then asked for 10,000kips as a payment for “pushing” us to the shore! This, I felt quite cheated by. In the end, because we had no small change, she walked away from us and we walked off too.
We showered and checked out and then went to Luang Prabang Restaurant for lunch again while we waited for our pick-up to take us to the bus station. We were now nearing the end of the trip and making our way back on bus to Vientiene.
After a 4 hour extremely bumpy and slow ride, we arrived Vientiene at 5.30pm. On the first day in Vientiene, we had already booked a place to stay – Riverine Guesthouse (which faced the Mekong River) and so we just walked straight there when we arrived today. This place was the nicest of all the accommodations. Of course, it was new. It was cheap too. We showered and then quickly walked on to explore the city once again. I had missed Vientiene. It was so peacefully charming. Again, walked over to The Fountaine. Waited to meet up with my parents.
When they got there, we walked over to The Deck, by the riverside to have drinks and for MOH and I, to have our dinner as well. We ordered a Luang Prabang sausage (yes, I just can’t get enough of Luang Prabang), and a Duck Larp + Steamed rice (they ran out of sticky rice). Soooo yummy. As you can see by now, I had done Pork Larp, Chicken Larp, Fish Larp and Duck Larp. Then, we parted with Mom & Dad at The Fountaine, we continued walking back to the Hotel Lao area where we first stayed and did our last minute shopping at a 7-11 type shop. We got coffee and some instant noodles J Then, we finally made our way back to our guesthouse – via The Fountaine – I can’t get enough of this place too…….. and called it a night.
Day 8
Woke up at 6am and went for a walk by the riverfront. It was a beautiful day, not hot. What can I say – since we had time, we walked over to The Fountaine again!!! Then we went back to the hotel. Buffet breakfast was included in the room rates and the breakfast spread was pretty good.
Then, we got on a tuk-tuk to go to the airport. That was it. I was so, so, so sad to leave. It was not that I was sad that the holiday had ended. It was that I was leaving Laos. I had really come to absolutely fall in love with the country.
I still do not know what about Laos had charmed me so much. What spell did Laos cast upon me? Maybe one day, I will find out. Meanwhile, I am looking at the next earliest opportunity I can get to make a getaway to Vientiene again.
To Laos.
