Laos

I love Laos. For those of you that can't be bothered to read the blog, that's it summarised in three words!

Beautiful scenery, friendly people, and awesome local beer - what more could you want?

We crossed in from Cambodia at a place called Si Phan Don. Si Phan Don is home to a place called The Four Thousand Islands, and, as the name suggests, the place was pretty special. We were staying on a small island called Don Khon, and the word "basic" doesn't even begin to describe it! We stayed in small bungalows on the Mekong river, complete with a cold water shower, and a toilet with a scoop flush. Electricity consisted of one small light bulb and a table fan, so going to the toilet at night was an exercise in seeing in the dark! To put it simply, if anyone wants to get away from civilisation for a few days - Don Khon is the place to do it.

I can see those thoughts whizzing around in your heads already - what did you do for two days, how did you cope without city comforts, etc, etc. This was actually a refreshing change from the big cities of Cambodia and Vietnam. We spent a morning cycling the 7km circumference of the island, in the blazing heat, and in the afternoon, we agreed to go out to see some waterfalls with the proprietor of our guesthouse - a man known only as "Papa". Now this was where the fun started!

Papa is a small man of indeterminable age, who speaks little/no English. He took us out on his boat, clutching only a small bag for his fish, and a small bottle of water. Only, it turned out that what we thought was water was actually homebrewed whisky, and during the course of our excursion, he must have consumed about half a litre of the stuff. Anyway, the heavens opened for our little trip, and we were confined to a random shack in the middle of some rice fields on an unnamed island. The rain finally abated after about an hour and we were soaked through! I think that this was the first time I had felt cold in about a month! In the meantime, the level of Papa's bottle of Lao Lao (homebrewed whisky - aka paintstripper) continued to fall, and when he finally did take us to the waterfall, he was pretty intoxicated. We crossed over some precarious looking bridges and structures, and to our surprise, Papa skipped over them with ease! We clearly underestimated the old man! We arrived back in one piece (just), but this wasn't our last encounter with Lao Lao...

From Si Phan Don, our next stop was in Vang Viene. Now everyone I had spoken to so far had spent time in Vang Viene, and I was getting a marmite vibe about the place - you either love or hate it. The reason for this is that Vang Viene is a beautiful place with fantastic scenery, however, the town itself has developed into somewhat of a hedonist's paradise. Many years ago, someone must have had the idea of riding down the local river on large rubber tubes; this developed into a backpacker's rite of passage, and hey-presto, your very own tourist trap is born. Unfortunately (depending on which way you look at it), this brought with it the accompanying drink, drugs, rowdy tourists, and noisy clubs and bars.

During our two days in Vang Viene, we experienced both sides of the town, and I have to say we enjoyed it a lot. On the first day, we took a trip to the surrounding caves. Its a strange feeling to experience total darkness and quiet, but in these caves, we were able to do so. This trip was rounded off with a visit to the water caves, whereby we rode on a tube into the caves, armed only with a head torch to guide us away from the low ceilings. It was pretty amazing.

The following day, we went tubing on the Nam Tho river. As I mentioned previously, the concept of tubing is floating down the river on the rubber tube, observing the beautiful scenery and soaking up some sun. The reality is very different with 6/7 different bars along the way, blasting loud music, and offering rope swings, mud pools, zip wires, and cheap buckets of alcohol. Despite the Magaluf-like feel of the activity, it was pretty fun!

From here, we went to Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang was fantastic, but before all this, I have to describe Lao Lao experience number 2. We hired a minibus from Vang Viene to Luang Prabang, and to our surprise, we got the same bus and driver that we got from Vientiene to Vang Viene. Anyway, we were driving along, having a few drinks (we had picked up some cocktail buckets for the road), and somewhat strangely, the driver stopped about 5 or 6 times in the space of a couple of hours, in order to take a leak. We thought nothing of it, and carried on driving. Anyway, about an hour later, the driver stopped the car, and decided to sleep for 20 minutes; seeing as it was a night time drive, we thought this acceptable, albeit strange, so just ignored it. Finally, about an hour later, the driver got out of the car and started to throw up!! We were all worried that he was really ill, until he got back into the car, and said "Lao Lao Lao Lao Lao". It was only after this that we noticed how erratically he was driving! What made it even worse was that we had been driving over windy mountain roads. We made it there in one piece in the end, but the lax Laos attitude was very worrying; it also made me think that Laos men were all degenerate alcoholics!

So Luang Prabang... Three words (or possibly two) - "Bo Pa Nyang". This phrase means "no problem" in English and is a favourite phrase of the Laos people (and consequently a favourite phrase of myself and Apu). Luang Prabang was a beautiful town, surrounded by especially stunning scenery. Particularly impressive was the Kuang Si waterfall, in which we were allowed swim, and which I felt was the best sight that I had seen on my trip so far. We liked this waterfall so much that we went back a second time, hiring a motorbike to get there.

Another day, we took a four hour trek in the searing heat, followed by two hours kayaking in torrential rainstorms - typical of the tropical weather in Luang Prabang. Another highlight of our time here was swimming with the elephants - this is a once in a lifetime experience, and we were able to ride the elephants into the water, and to hold on for dear life as these elephants misbehaved; definitely one not to be missed!

Luang Prabang should also be noted for its market, which is the favourite market that I've visited in Asia. Instead of the local tourist crap (fake Polo shirts, Armani Jeans and Mont Blanc pens), it was refreshing to see local handicrafts, art work, lanterns and the like. Needless to say, I spent a fair bit of money, and made my bag about 2 kilos heavier!

We also found a chess set in our guesthouse, and myself and Apu spent several hours by the river, pitting our minds against each other in games of chess. I'm sorry to say that I will never be the next chess grandmaster, and I'm currently on a large losing streak. I bought a chess set though, and aim to overturn my deficit against Apu when I return to the UK.

We got a little too caught up in the "Bo Pa Nyang" spirit, forgetting what the date was, and Apu could have missed his return flight to the UK. Luckily, I checked my watch the day before he was supposed to fly, and we managed to book the bus to Vientiene, and he got home alright in the end. The "no problem" spirit is very contagious!

I'm currently in the Thai metropolis of Bangkok - will post more about this later.


I'm aware that this blog is very disjointed, and not up to the quality of my earlier blogs, and this is because its been written in about four different sessions. So I apologise in advance (actually it isn't in advance, seeing as you'll have already read this blog).

A whirlwind tour of Cambodia

My stay in Cambodia commenced with a hangover – courtesy of a final “quiet drink” in Saigon which inevitably degenerated into mayhem. We crossed from Saigon into Phnom Penh by bus, and yet again, I was graced by the presence of a local bus driver sitting next to me. This time however, I maintained my cool (largely due to lack of energy), and the journey went through without any hitches.

We arrived in Phnom Penh itself in the early afternoon, and the temperature there was stiflingly hot. We spent the afternoon walking around the city, and eventually went into the National Museum of Cambodia. Here, we saw lots of ancient Hindu and Buddhist artifacts from in and around Angkor Wat – unfortunately, having had minimal sleep the previous night, and still recovering from a hangover, I wasn’t in the best position to absorb all that the museum had to offer.

The next day was yet another early start, as we paid a visit to S-21 (otherwise known as the concentration camp of the Cambodian war), and the Killing Fields. For those unfamiliar with Cambodian history, about 30 years ago, a communist regime seized control in Cambodia. This regime, led by a man named Pol Pot, aimed to institute a pure form of communism through destruction of the educated classes and empowerment of the peasant population. The result of this was the deaths of over 2 million Cambodians through both genocide [of educated persons] and famine. During this four year period, almost a third of the Cambodian population died.

So S-21 was a former school turned prison, where thousands of Cambodian prisoners were housed. Only seven of those prisoners survived. Particularly poignant were the thousands of pictures of all the prisoners that had ever stayed there – each prisoner was photographed at the start of their internment; some of these people were just children when they were imprisoned. In addition, we were supplied with information about the different torture methods used in this prison, and were shown a moving film about a Cambodian couple interned in the prison at the same time.

Understandably, everyone was quite upset and depressed after visiting this prison, and we made the short journey to the Killing Fields. As the name suggests, this was the place where thousands of people were slaughtered in the name of the Khmer Rouge (Cambodian Communist Party). The methods of killing were particularly cruel - bullets were deemed too expensive, so people would be killed with machetes, axes, and other farming implements. Following on from this, their bodies would be cast into the pits dug as mass graves. Thirty years on, the Killing Fields consists of a beautiful, serene grassy area surrounding a small lake. However, a closer look allows visitors to see fragments of bone in the ground, and lowered land where the graves had been dug. At the end of the visit, we were greeted by the horrifying sight of a tower of hundreds and hundreds of skulls that had been excavated from the site. It makes one think about the cruelty of humanity.

From the capital, we got a minibus to Siem Reap - famous for the Angkor Wat temples. I can't find any superlatives that begin to describe the magnitude and beauty of the Angkor Wat temples. The temples we visited were all huge, and there are literally hundreds of them! We started by visiting the main temple at sunrise - this was a sight in itself - the huge temple was reflected in the small lake at its forefront, and the sun was rising in the background. To be honest, I can't really do the complex justice in words, and if anyone's thinking about paying a visit to Angkor Wat - do it! We also saw one of the temples where the Tomb Raider film was filmed (I couldn't remember it - probably too busy watching Lara Croft!), and it was surreal - there were trees that had grown over parts of the temple, crushing parts of it - it was what I imagined ancient ruins to be like. In all, we spent 2 days at Angkor Wat, and due to the stifling heat, it felt like enough. We barely scratched the surface though, and some people can spend weeks exploring the lesser known temples.

In Siem Reap, I also had my finest meal in South East Asia. It was a traditional Cambodian curry called an "Amok". The food tasted like a cross between Thai, Malaysian and Indian, and it was a coconutty, creamy curry served in a banana leaf, accompanied by wild rice. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! On the whole, my culinary experience has been disappointing: after the highs of China, I have been resorting to eating "fried rice with vegetables", "fried noodles with vegetables", and if I'm lucky "noodle soup with vegetables". Despite the Buddhist traditions in these countries, the vegetarian fayre isn't very extensive which means that I have had to resort to rice and noodles in the extortionate travellers restaurants. Vietnam was slightly better as they did have a few pure vegetarian restaurants - no such luck in Laos and Cambodia. Its a shame, because I'm always one for trying the local cuisine, but I haven't been able to do so here.

I digress. From here, we got another minibus to Stum Treng (the town next to the Laos border) - arriving at 3am and leaving at 10am the following morning in order to get to Laos. From what I saw of the town, there wasn't much going on, so the 7 hours there was more than sufficient!

So I experienced the heady heights of Angkor Wat and the devastating lows of S-21 and the Killing Fields. It is strange to imagine that only 30 years ago, a genocide took place in that country, and yet the people were still so upbeat, and ready for a joke and laugh with you. Having said that though, the scale of the poverty there is clearly visible and very disturbing. We were also cheated a couple of times by minibus companies and enterprising tuk tuk drivers. Despite having spent less than five days there, I got a real feel for the country and its somewhere I'd like to revisit in the future.

I'm currently one country behind on my blogs (I'm in Laos), so I will update soon!

Its been a long time since I blessed you with two blogs about Nha Trang and Dalat, receiving only three replies in return (one of which was self-penned), but I continue to soldier on! I am now in Siem Reap, Cambodia - the home to Angkor Wat, but before that, I have to tell you about Vietnamese war monuments, Mekong cruises and border crossings.

From Dalat, I went to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh - I will call it Saigon for simplicity's sake. Saigon is Vietnam's largest city, its financial hub, and houses Vietnam's largest expatriate population. I got there from the sleeper bus, had a wander around, settled on a hotel and planned my next few days.

The first day, we visited the War Remnants Museum - a museum housing various relics and photography from the Vietnamese-American war, and displaying an incredibly huge bias towards the Vietnamese (understandably of course). Some of the images were truly shocking, demonstrating the massacres at My Lai and other places, as well as the long term effects of American use of Agent Orange and Dioxin. Overall, the museum was very interesting, and at times shocking, to someone who had previously been ignorant about the causes and effects of the Vietnam war. There were also some poignant statements from leading American commentators at the time, talking about the injustices of this war, and they seemed equally applicable to the Iraq War. Thought provoking stuff!

In Saigon, I also visited the Cu Chi tunnels. These are a network of tunnels an hour from Saigon, that were home to a group of Vietnamese guerillas who succeeded in greatly disrupting the war effort. We were shown some of the booby traps used by the guerilla forces - the designs were extremely clever and effective. We were also offered the opportunity to fire genuine AK47s and M-16s - a chance graciously turned down by myself. Finally, we were given a 15 minute tour through the tunnel network. The tunnels were less that a metre high, less than half a metre wide, poorly lit, and very claustrophobic - at times, it was quite scary, and I was amazed at how the guerillas would spend hours down there at a time!

During the rest of the stay in Saigon, I visited several other monuments including the Reunification Palace, the state Post Office, the Notre Dame cathedral and a couple of temples. Some impressive architecture etc.

Saigon has earnt itself the status of Vietnam's city of vice. A common sight was seeing old, fat European/American men with young, attractive Vietnamese girls. A sad situation but something that shows the power of money in the Eastern world.

My personal highlight from Saigon was this small street bar that we found in the heart of backpacker district. This little bar is called a "Bia Hoi"(literally "draught beer") and they do a litre of beer for 11,000 dong (about 44 pence). Now this beer is unlabelled, comes out of a questionable looking tank, and tastes watered down, but for this price, who complains?! Anyway, this bar would attract Vietnamese locals, expats, and backpackers, and it provided a perfect vantage point to see one of the main streets in Saigon. During a 15 minute stretch at the bar, you'd see people trying to sell dried squid, quail eggs, peanuts, cigarettes, CDs, and even people offering massages on the street! The low price of the beer meant that we frequented this place a number of times, and on more than one occassion, a quiet drink led to us ordering "one more jug", followed by another "one more jug", and so on... This happened on my last night in Saigon, when, despite having to catch a bus to Phnom Penh at 7am the following morning, I was convinced to drink beer and whisky until 4am - not a wise idea but fun all the same!

In between all of this, I took 3 days out to do a cruise on the Mekong delta. This wasn't so much a cruise, as a series of small boat trips punctuated by visits to local islands to view local produce. The scenery was fantastic, the weather was good, and we were provided with plenty of fresh fruit. We also had a chance to visit a floating market and floating village - both of which provided me with ample snapshots! There's not really much more to say - other than that the mosquitoes had a field day with this tourist meat, and by the time I left, I felt like a pin cushion (very old fashioned simile there!). I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I'm in Cambodia at the moment, and will try and blog about Cambodia at another opportune moment, but for now, I'm having an amazing time here. I've been joined from some friends from back home (Apu, Rakhee, and Rakhee's sister and friend) - and its been nice and different travelling with some familiar faces!